I'm at school today on a Saturday and I'm having fun, but the fun is coming at a price. I am completely wiped out. Part of my job at school requires me to have an outside duty. My duty is that I advise an organization. The organization that I advise is called "DEX"- Delta Epsilon Chi...sounds like a fraternity, huh? NOT... DEX is the actual older brother of the high school DECA program, which gets students involved with the professional world, networking, marketing, working in the community, and just having them get their feet with experiences that help them down the road. The state convention is in the twin cities this weekend and I've been involved...boy have I been involved.
Our school is holding the culinary portion of the competition. We are in downtown Minneapolis, but the rest of the convention/competition takes place in Woodbury at another school. The hotel that the students stay in and have all their fun events take place at is in the eastern part of St. Paul, so needles to say...this has been a bit of a logistical pain in the rear. We have non culinary students particpating and staying over at the other site. But, since we are doing the culinary thing here, I'm staying at school and popping in and out of the kitchen every 10 minutes or so to see if everything is okay. I'm basically the overseer, making sure things are running fairly. But, since it's havoc in that kitchen right now and I'm not a judging chef (I'm just the administrator in the way), I needed to get my happy butt out of there... So here I am. I am going to be putting pictures on here showing competitors and their food...so I'm excited about sharing what some of my students are all about.
I'll be going over to the hotel this afternoon for the awards ceremony/banquet. I really hope all of the students from our school, culinary or other, come out with some recognition. There is a graphic designer competing that has some really neat stuff, so I'm really pulling for him to come away with an award.
Last night was interesting. One of the big events that they had for the competitors was a "casino night." They rented blackjack tables, a poker table, a dice game, and a big money wheel and put them in a ballroom. The company trains volunteers how to run the different games, and then we are able to be "the dealers" as a couple of company "pit bosses" move around and watch us to see if we're doing it right. It's not real money and accumulated chips can be used to get more raffle/prize tickets. There's not a lot of pressure...you come there in a white shirt and black slacks...they give you a quick 15 minute training session and you've got a cheat sheet to help you. So...I wasn't too worried.
Samok Daddy was assigned to a blackjack table. I listened intently to the training session and had my cheat sheet strategically placed next to me, so I wouldn't appear to look like a complete dork of a blackjack dealer. I better tell you guys up front...I am not a card player. I am a person who will help out a situation if you need a volunteer to do something...they asked and I helped...but I suck at cards. I never really played them. I knew how to shuffle somewhat well, but I lake really decent coordination with my hands...There were a few times that while shuffling, I spilled my cards, so I didn't look that good doing it. I will have to say that I did get better and I had fun, but having ADD and dealing blackjack is also a bit of a treat. Too many chips...too many cards...too much stimuli...I had to breathe a few times when I forgot to give myself a second card...or I miscounted chips to give back to players. To make matters worse, the woman who was at the table next to me looked like a professional dealer. We had a few minutes downtime and asked her where she learned to do it so well...she said she had an old boyfriend who was a "blackjack hound" and she was always at the casino. It's never good when you have the blackjack dork next to the dealer queen. I got over my embarassment and had some fun...and I actually learned something. No, I'm not going to run out to Mystic Lake and apply to be a dealer...or actaully go play blackjack, but if asked to do something like this again, I won't be so hesitant as this last time.
I got home after midnight last night. So, I've worked my full time job on Tuesday, worked both day jobs and taught night classes on Wednesday and Thursday. I've done the convention from 7:00 till past 11:00 last night and will probably get home at 9:00 tonight. I am done...fried...frickaseed...my butt is kicked...my goose is cooked...and my daughter woke me up at 5:20 this morning when she was shouting at J to get up. So, when I get home tonight, I'm going to ask J to make me a heaping dish of ice cream with butterscotch on top...and I'll fall asleep on the sofa. Hopefully, my kids will understand if I'm a little groggy tomorrow...Oh well...life's still a dance...and I'll sign off with my new motto...SCREW FEAR
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1 comment:
Ah... the fun of being a working parent.
I'm more of a slot machine person. :-) Not much of a gambler. Although, I think those dealers, depending on the tables they're assigned (high rollers vs low rollers or whatever they're called) can make a lot of money from tipping.
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