Just Another Day at Work

I have the greatest summer job.  Ever.  I work for my Nana and Papa.  Papa is a mechanic and owns his own business, conveniently located at his house.  During the summer, my sister and I work there.  We don't actually work in the garage, as I know next to nothing about cars, but we work more for my Nana.  Our job entails a ton of different things, including cooking, cleaning, gardening, running errands, doing taxes, sorting paper work, and doing any other odd jobs that crop up.

Us last summer at work.

The downside is that their house doesn't have air conditioning.  Have you ever tried cooking in an un-air conditioned kitchen in 95 degree weather?  I think everyone should try it at least once, just so they can fully appreciate air conditioning.  One of our main concerns during the hottest parts of the summer is making sure the guys at the garage don't die of heat stroke.  We make sure they have a cooler full of ice water and we take them lemonade and occasionally ice cream during the afternoons.

The odd jobs are definitely the most diverse, including decorating an apartment, beautifying a brick (I wasn't there for that one), defrosting the freezer (multiple times), re-bricking the sunroom, sorting and documenting the entire inventory of car parts (which included three days in the tin storage unit with no air conditioning during the hottest part of the summer), typing and organizing hundreds of recipes, covering the inside of a barn with tulle, installing air conditioners, and a ton of other random things.

We also have lots of fun, of course.  Last summer, I made a sword out of insulation board, and a couple days ago we climbed out on the roof and discovered the joys of shade-bathing.  It's like sun-bathing for pale people who hate the sun.  And we often burst out in song and dance while washing dishes or making lunch.  (Or when grocery shopping, which gets us weird looks sometimes.)

Shade bathing on the roof.

One of the most useful skills I've learned from this job is how to cook.  Unfortunately, I've only learned how to cook for large groups.  We make lunch every day for about a dozen people:  the three of us, eight guys who work at the garage (and they eat a ton), the new intern, and occasionally others who wander in, usually Mom or various Aunts or Uncles.  Many of the things we make don't really have recipes, so I only learned how to make them in the large quantities we use.  One of my favorites is a delicious pasta salad with pepperoni, Greek dressing, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and other yummy stuff.  During the school year, I'll make the pasta salad and have enough to take it for lunch for an entire week, and eat it for breakfast every day.  It's a good thing I never get sick of it.

Lunch today!  We had a Greek theme, with a salad filled with delicious kalamata olives, artichokes, and Greek dresssing, chicken with Greek seasoning, and homemade spanakopita!  The spanakopita took a ton of work, but it turned out wonderful!

Given the fact that I end every day sweaty and gross, I love any opportunity in the summer to dress up and look cute.  I had a lovely opportunity today, when I went shopping and hung out with my friend Eleanore before she leaves for a trip to Hawaii.  It was great fun, and there was much craziness, as there always is when we're together.

So, after this long explanation of my work, I actually won't even be back at work for a while.  I'm heading off to a writing camp for two weeks and I'm really excited!  I love writing, so spending two weeks doing just that, though the thought made my friends cringe, sounds like so much fun!

I hope everyone else is having a great summer, too!