Catching and Mopping

Ah Saturday. The day to relax and spend time with the kids. The Day started with a nice sleep in. I had only one game to watch today as my daughter had a bye week. Michael's game was at 2:00 so I headed down the interstate and got there just in time to see the first inning. He caught the first and third inning and played short stop the second inning. He was set to pitch the 4th inning but they did not make it to 4 innings before time was called.

I had Concession stand duty at 6:30 so I went to Beef O'Brady's and watch a few college games with the little buddy until my shift. I always try to get the late shift on Saturday's as my one volunteer shift. Reason being they usually close by 7:30 pm due to not many late games on Saturday. The plan worked like a charm again this week as all we had to do was clean up! Yeah Baby! I cleaned the griddle and mopped the floor and Michael showed up to help. He was so funny and wanted to mop for me so I spent 15 minutes teaching him how to mop an institutional kitchen with a full size mop and mop bucket. He was into squeezing the mop dry with the mop press. I also took the time to let him know if he was interested in being a chef he needs to understand that keeping a clean kitchen is part of being a great chef. You want to make sure all equipment functions well and is clean and germ free. He got a kick out of cleaning down the stainless steel wall guards over by the fryers and the griddle as they were COATED with grease. We took some greased lightning and nailed the grease in short order. That Griddle was so clean you could see your face in it. I make sure it gets nice and clean at least once a season. :-)

The Concession manager made me feel good when he asked Michael if he was 13 yet... Michael replied no I'm 10 and the manager relied dang ... I need a good worker like you. I told him Chris was my oldest and he let me know he was so thankful for Chris working the concession stand he saved him when he was in a tough jam and Chris is such a good worker. Better than many of the parents and most of the teens. Definitely made my day and I thanked him for his kind words Even though I knew it was true before he spoke these words. I have always made sure the kids know how to clean the dishes and load the dish washer and do Laundry and cook etc. My mom trained us when we were young and now I feel the need to pass that on to my kids so they will make great adults.

After the concession stand duty. We all went to Tokyo for a nice Japanese hibachi dinner. There were 8 of us. Me and Amy, The 4 kids my Ex, Dana and a Friend of my daughters. We were celebrating good grades by the kids. I'm so lucky to have smart kids. I hope they keep it up through Med School!

It's so weird to go to dinner with my wife and my ex... I would never have imagined it just a few years ago. We have been divorced for 7 years now and it seems that we have been able to toned down the drama and animosity... I'm sure the kids fell better about it too.