As I write this the internet is down. I forget sometimes how much I have come to rely on the internet. News, friendship, communication are all tied up in the electronic universe.

I had pictures of Baby Boy taken yesterday. My God, is he photogenic. He doesn�t get that from me, I tell ya, I couldn�t take a good picture if my life depended on it. My Darling, on the other hand takes an excellent picture both in front of the camera and behind it. The photographer seemed genuinely impressed with him but really it�s hard to tell since it is her job to be complimentary. I dressed him in the designer outfit (Ralph) that my fried who works at Bloomies sent for the shower. He looks so cute in the little Polo shirt and pants festooned with little frogs. I have a picture I took of him in the outfit that I can post here. Then she suggested he be photographed in his diaper (although the diaper didn�t show in most of the photos. She brought out a pair of feathered angel wings and sat him back against them. My Little Angel Boy. It was my favorite and is sure to be the grandmas favorite so I got 8x10s for each of us. Then she followed with a blue Santa hat and eventually just Baby Boy just lying on his back looking at the camera. I loved them all. Not at all like my photo shoots where they look so terrible, all of them. When I was doing head shots I would have 50 shots taken and I would be able to find one good one in the lot. I look fine in person but if you take me a moment in time you see the awkwardness that sits beneath the surface. Most people think I am pretty but I swear you couldn�t tell that from my pictures.

I am recovering from my moment of supreme disappointment, depression even, over the state of my affairs. Don�t get me wrong, I LOVE my Baby Boy but I have so much education and experience and I have been reduced to filling salt and pepper shakers and wiping off dessert cards for a living. I have folks who refuse to learn English and have little formal education treating me like I am some sort of imbecile and I work with twelve year olds. The people I wait on are often rude and demanding above and beyond and rarely do they tip accordingly to the excellent service they receive. It wears on a person sometimes. Honestly I think that no matter what your bill is you should leave at least a dollar a person just for the privilege of having your food delivered to your table hot and to order rather than wrapped in paper on a tray. A folks if you can�t afford to leave at least 15% you need to go to a fast food joint or buffet. The other day a family of six spent almost $70 dollars on their meal and tipped me less than 10%. In his defense the father (who wasn�t even ashamed enough to leave the insufficient tip on the table) handed me the money expressing how if he had another dollar he would give it to me. They were demanding (especially the children) and I made frequent trips to the table with refills of soda and bread. They (the couple) are creating a whole new generation of poor tippers. No body should have to work that hard for the graces of the public. People don�t understand the concept of tipping. *Sigh* Of course that�s the job and my father taught me that if you don�t like the job the only thing you can do is find another job, complaining gets you nothing.

My brother (Florida brother) just called and gave me the estimate for the cost of the Anniversary party we are throwing for my parents, 2 grand. Split four ways that wouldn�t be bad but Kuwait brother won�t likely contribute and Idiot boy never has a job long enough to support himself let alone kick in for the event. That leaves Florida brother and I sharing the cost. If I were still at my old job it would be a little difficult but now it seems impossible. My Darling will have to cover the cost (which doesn�t sit well in my craw). Of course he did point out to me that the plumbing I did over the past week would have cost us at least $500 so in effect I �earned� that money this week. Not bad on top of the waitress earnings. The more I save us doing repairs the better I feel about not working so much. I�m not your average stay at home wifey. Soon we will have to tile the living room, hallway and kitchen. This type of job would cost us 3 grand at least. If I do it we will save more than half of that. Makes me feel like more of a contributor to the household than just taking care of Baby Boy (I shouldn�t forget what Daycare would cost us as part of my contribution.) I guess it�s not so bad after all.

Hopefully we will get the internet back soon and I won�t have to post this via dial-up.

Take care all.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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