Just another day at work...

I blew into the room, the wind around my ankles. Cody waved from the opposite side of the room, and I wave back. I dreaded this day and couldn't wait for it both at the same time. Striding behind the Pantry counter, I locate the first free computer, and enter my number. Addie - Cook, it says. I beam and log in. I hear a familiar voice behind me.
"Oh no! It's Peanut! Run for your lives!" Curtis is looking under the dish racks at me from his position on the Sandwich line.
"Its Peanut*s*, "I correct him, "and good morning, sir." I laugh.
I finish logging in and turn to my counter. Ahhh yes, this is my realm. I can feel the power I now hold. Throwing back the sliding metal lids, I survey my possessions. Romain and iceberg lettus, mushrooms, black olives, diced tomatoes, feta cheese, Gouda cheese, pico de gayo, black bean corn salsa, red onion, red pepper, green onion, parsley, Parmesan cheese, tortilla strips, wontons, and not forgetting the seven different dressings.
I am pleased.
Removing the plastic wrap from the many containers, I sing along with the music blaring over the speakers. We turn it up while we set up our stations each morning and clean up each night, although normally its very hard to hear the music while in the kitchen during working ours while customers are present.
"Build me up, buttercup, don't break my heaaaart!"
Someone whacks me with their towel and I turn to frown at the culprit. Aha! Kristin is here! "Hey girl, hows it hangin?" She gives me a side hug as I take off my gloves.
"It's hanging awesomely, how 'bout you?"
"Not too shabby..." she gives me the peace sign and goes off to sign herself in. I laugh and get back to setting up shop.
Kristin is probably my closest friend at Smokey Mountain. Getting the peace sign from her is always amusing, though, because I never expect it to come from her. She's so sweet, you almost wouldn't think she'd do that(but she makes it work!). She's the only Christian I've found working there thus far, so we hung out together most of the time during training. Since she works the front of the house and I work in the back of the house, I get to see her fairly often. All the servers come to me for their salads, so I know most of the servers pretty well by now. Especially if they're really outgoing like Cody and Kristin and Casey and Melissa and Brian.
11:00 rolled around, and Ben flipped around the closed signs on the front and back doors. We were open for business now. Curtis and I prowled back and forth in front of our stations, commenting on how bored we were. 11:15 came around and our first three customers strolled in.
"Ready to rock, Addie? "Curtis asked leaning over his counter behind me and grinning with that funny smile of his.
"Bring it on!" I bounced around behind my station eagerly. I was ready to rock, although I know that we would all be slammed in a matter of minutes.
I was right.
Twenty minutes later, I was glued to my station, making a side Caesar here a side House there, with a Sesame chx or Greek salad thrown in every few minutes. I was the only one working the Pantry line, so I didn't have much time to stand around.
Behind me I could hear pots and pans clinking and clanking about as Curtis worked the Sando line. He's the only one back there too, so we both were slammed.
In the far left corner is the Pizza line, my favorite of the five lines. Pete, Tenadore, Tom, and Kim were working today, so they turned out some of the best pizzas. Pete and Tom are some of our best pizza makers, so we were in top form today.
The Broiler line wasn't as busy since for some reason their food isn't as commonly ordered, or something like that. Anyhow, I never really get to see the Broiler line, nor do I really know the people back there. Its not directly behind the Pantry line, so I never have to deal with them.
The dish pit was, of course, probably the busiest place of all. Two dishers and one re-stacker and mounds of dishes keeps that place pretty busy, but then you've also got Alec and Tim and Brian back there mixing pizza dough, spreading garlic bread, and reformatting the shift schedule, and THEN you've got the servers going in and out constantly. The dish pit is by far the loudest place in the kitchen(obviously not just because of the giant, expensive dishwasher we've got).
Over the course of the next two hours (up until about 2:30 PM), the entire kitchen was slammed. The hosts' waiting list was backed up about half an hour, and more people were coming in all the time. We had to open the tables outside in order to seat more people, so now even our servers were maxed out. Tom called a few more servers in to come take on a "surprise shift". Now the front of the house was every bit as busy and bustling as the kitchen was.
I, meanwhile, was drowning. I had five tickets backed up, and I began wising the hosts would stop seating people. I was on the brink of running out of Romain lettus, red onions, and feta cheese. And the Riverwalk salads were killing me. Having to chop lettus for it required finding a knife and cutting board from the insanely crowded kitchen, making more pico de gayo (since last night's pantry worker didn't stock it for me like they were supposed to), and then I had to wait on Curtis to get me the chicken(I think he takes his time getting the chicken to me just because he knows it annoys me, haha!). I swear, I'll master the Riverwalk yet! You'd think that since I made three today and three last Saturday I'd know it pretty well by now. But noooo, life throws curve balls when you least expect it.
Fortunately, my ticket machine went silent for about five minutes, and the moment I realized this was going to be my one break for a while, I shot off to the walk in freezer. The door slammed shut behind me, and I leaned up against the back wall, feeling strangely like I was in a scene from Mostly Martha or No Reservations. I could see my breath in the freezing cold air, and it was relaxing for some unknown reason. It smelled like ice, lettus, and pizza dough in there, and although it didn't make me hungry, it was an oddly comforting smell. And I revelled in it.
The door opened and Curtis flew in.
"Oh, hey Peanut."
"It's Peanuts, and hi."
"Hey, I'm the one who made it up, I'll call you what I want to."
"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that..."
"Whatever. Have you seen the salami?"
"Yep." I pulled a box off the shelf by my head and threw it to him.
"Thanks. See you out there." He was gone again.
I sighed and began my quest for lettus and feta. Eventually I found them at the back of their respective shelves, and discovered several other of my ingredients along the way. I made a mental note of their positions, knowing I'd be back later to refill on them, and stepped back out into the warm kitchen. My ticket machine began going crazy again, and I didn't even have time to look at a clock, for fear of not being able to keep up with the orders if I wasted three seconds. I sang as I worked, trying to hear the music playing over the sound of the washing machine and Curtis' crashing around behind me.
3:00 rolled around, and by now only five tables had customers at them. And they already had their orders. I suddenly found myself with a second wind, and a song popped into my head. I gave in, and burst into song.
"Hollyyywood! You know I love ya more than one man shooould! Yeah, Hollyyywood!" Collective Soul is a very catchy band. I bopped around as I made a salad for Alicia to take with her when she got off her shift. Suddenly I became aware that Pete was standing beside me.
"... how long have you been there?"
"Oh, not long. I'm working Pantry now."
"No you're not. .. are you?"
"No. I was just joking."
"You're better at pizza anyhow. No offence, dude, but I've seen your salads."
He burst out laughing.
"Yeah... I am better at pizza, you're right."
"Dude! I'm so HUNGRY!" I gripped my counter dramatically.
"Yeah, its not easy making pizza all morning and not getting to taste any of it."
"At least you get to make something you like." I made a face at my "possessions".
"You don't like salad?"
"Not really. It's okay as long as there's no dressing on it. I'd much prefer pizza, though."
"Me too."
We stood and looked out into the front of the house for a moment. Then the buzz of the ticket machine on the pizza line brought us back to earth. Pete turned and headed back for his line.
"Rock it, Pete, "I called after him. He gave me a thumbs up over his shoulder.
In case you haven't caught on, that's how we do things. We rock them. Everyone uses that expression somehow. "Rock and roll", "Rock it", "Ready to rock"... I don't even know who started it. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Crego, though. That sounds like something he'd say all the time(and it is!).
Finishing my salad for Alicia, I looked at it for a moment. I made this one up completely on the spot. Its foundation was the Riverwalk (uhg), with the toppings of the House and Greek salads, with a little red pepper thrown in, and extra chikkin and black bean corn salsa. She likes that salsa. I was proud of my masterpiece, too. I wrote her name on it and set it on the counter.
3:35 PM. The ticket machine is beginning to go crazy again, but I'm almost finished with my shift! Ben walks by.
"Addie, I need a chocolate cake on the fly now!"
Rats. I hate doing things on the fly. And Ben always wants things immediately and doesn't really understand the fact that things take a few minutes to prepare. I do my best anyhow. I hurry over to the little floor fridge and pull out the cake box. Grabbing a spatula, I place the piece of cake carefully on a plate. Ben is tapping his finger on the counter above me, waiting. I carefully, quickly drizzle chocolate topping on it, and add two scoops of ice cream.
"Speed it up next time, kay?" He turned and left to go eat it.
"Okay."
I go back to my station and crank out as many side Caesars as possible. Kristin joins me, seeing that I'm getting slammed again, and we laugh and sing.
I love this job, I think to myself. I really do. Its tense and extremely busy, but rewarding and fun at the same time! I burst forth into song again as yet another awesome song came on over the speakers.
"Hey Peanut, I'm giving you another nickname. I'll call you The Bird." Curtis was suddenly standing behind Kristin and I, leaning against his counter.
"Another one? Why??"
"Because you're always singing! The customers always get dinner and a show when you work."
"Hah." I grinned and went back to my salads.
"Fine, ignore me."
"Sorry, but I'm kinda busy right now. I'll be off in about ten minutes, and then.... freeeeedooooom!" I punched the air triumphantly, accidentally throwing some feta onto the ordering counter above my own counter.
I wiped it off, grinning innocently. Curtis laughed and went back to his line, shaking his head. "You're crazy, Peanut."
"Don't mind him, "Kristin said," You're not crazy. Not half as crazy as he is, anyhow."
"Yeah... he rides too many skateboards for his own good, "I joked. She laughed.
"Well yeah, he has like.. four!" We both laughed at that.
"I heard that!" Curtis leaned over his counter trying to glare at us. He failed though. He can never keep from smiling very long.
"Can you deny it?" I challenged.
"Like .... well, no."
"Woohoo!" I went back to my salads.
"You suck, Addie."
"Aww! I'm hurt!"
3:55 PM. Jacqueline walks in, and I cheer. My relief is finally here! I finish my salad, show her which items she'll need to stock up on soon, and suggest she does it before the dinner rush kicks in. I grab my paycheck from the office, and scurry off to change out of my uniform. As I walk out the doors, I glance over my shoulder. Kristin runs up and gives me a hug. Curtis, Bryan, and Melissa wave frantically. I wave back, and joyfully exit the building.
It was a good afternoon. I'd worked hard, and that in itself was rewarding. I hadn't wanted to work at all today(I'm never scheduled to work the afternoon shift on Fridays, so today was weird), but I was glad once I was there. I am happy there. I enjoy my work and I enjoy the people around me.
The walk from Smokey Mountain to NSA is half an hour. I listen to my iPod and sing and dance the whole way there. I had to miss math class and disputatio today, but I don't mind too much. It was something I had to do, and I didn't mind doing it. I am just glad I got my Sunday shift covered and didn't have to quit.
The leaves crunch under my feet and stereos blare as they fly by me. I am listening to Coldplay's Viva La Vida (as always). The wind blows my hair into my face, and I smile and sing. The clouds are gray, and I can see the outline of different storm systems as they move in over Moscow. They won't rain, though, for they aren't that kind of systems. Not dark enough, no mammatus on the edges... I wish it would rain again, but I am happy anyhow.
This is my life. Work, music, singing, laughter, friends, food, and joy. As we move into my favorite season of the entire year, my life will only get increasingly better from here on out.

I thank God for giving me this incredible amount of joy in everything. I can't imagine not being grateful for everything I come in contact with. Not just the fun, good things, either. I learn so much from all the hard things; I'm thankful for them too. I truly am blessed.