Catching up

So much has happened the last few days! Where to begin? Did I mention that we had a kitty? There was a tabby cat living under the cabin next to ours. She adopted us. Our neighbor named her Hersheys. She's very sweet, affectionate, soft. I really hope she's alright now. I hate to think of her out in the snow, with no one to care for her, but we had to move. They needed to open up the guest cabins for guests. They wanted to move us to Wawona (translation: halfway to nowhere) temporarily, and then move us BACK in a couple weeks when the Christmas-tourist-season ends. That would make 3 moves inside of a month. Um. No. Luckily, I got to skip the kicking-ass-taking-names part, because they accidentally assigned us to permanent housing in the Ahwahnee dorms. Now, I hate the Ahwahnee and I hate dorms, but I actually like this place. It's warm and quiet and feels like home. I don't care how many people with more senority want this room. If they want me out, they'll have to come pry my contented ass off this nice (new!) mattress and move my stuff their Damn selves.
I'm getting good at this moving thing, though. We were moved in and unpacked inside of 8 hours this time. Including breaks for breakfast and lunch. Oh yeah. I'm good.
I've started my new job up at Badger Pass, the ski area. It's been so slow up there lately, I'm pretty sure I lost what little mind I had left. 8 hours is a loooooong time when you have maybe half a dozen customers in that entire time and you're not allowed to read a book. I end up spending that entire time staring at my computer screen with the Internet Explorer icon on it pondering whether they really meant that whole "using the internet at work can result in immediate termination" speech. My coworkers spend that time socializing, but I've been sick this entire time, so I lose my voice during every other sentence. Besides, I haven't been feeling all that sociable. I've felt more like crawling into bed and staying there for a few days. Weeks, maybe. Anyway, my soul-crushing flu has devolved into a fairly mild cold over the last 12 days, so it's all good. Plus, I have been told that the next couple weeks will be insanely busy at work, so Yay! Work may actually involve work! Time will fly! I will no longer be borderline homicidal at every drawn-out, tooth-pulling, agonizingly slow moment! Well, I have hope anyway.
Between the new job and the move and the flu, I ended up crying twice my first day at work. Which, believe it or not, is a great way to make friends. This girl Glo saw me crying, grabbed me, and pulled me into a hug. She asked me what was wrong, and when I expressed that I wasn't up to talking about it, she shrugged and asked me if I wanted to help her mix paint. She cracks me up. I lub her.
I only cried once on each of the next two days. As soon as I started holding down food again, the crying stopped entirely. Go fig.
The employee bus leaves Badger Pass around sunset. As we come around the turn to face west, the whole valley opens up before us. Everything glows crimson, all the way to Mt. Diablo. The sunset itself is spectacular. It is the perfect way to end a very long day and begin a very nice evening.

Bracebridge

I volunteered at the Bracebridge dinner tonight. It's a Christmas pageant the Ahwahnee has put on every year for nearly a century. It's set in 18th century England. The dining room is lit only with tall candles and chandeliers. The guests are served a 6-course meal while being entertained by an elaborately costumed cast/chorale, which includes some incredible soloists. People pay something like $300 a ticket to attend this thing.
Unfortunately, I was only in the room for about five minutes of the four-hour pageant. I showed up at five, just as the dinner was beginning. After getting the runaround for a while, they finally cast me as a villager and handed me a costume. I was served Citrus Custard and IBC Root Beer. The guests were being served Ahwahnee wine, Mushrooms a la Grecque, Medley of Cured Olives, Marinated Baby Artichokes, Dill Brined Baby Carrots, Pickled Quail Eggs, and Caviar.
At six the villagers made their first appearance. We drooled over the guest's tables as we peered through the window, slipped in the back door, and passed through the hall. We were only in the room long enough to get from one end to the other. We went back up to the cast area to wait, and were served "Dandelion" salad, Teriyaki Chicken, Broccoli Alfredo, and some really boring rice. For dessert: Pear Pie with a Biscotti Crust, and Crème Brûlée. We waited for two hours (a very long two hours, if you don't mind my saying so). During this time, the guests were dining on ( Read more... )

By the end of it, I was snacking on chips and dip. I gratefully left my plate behind and ran downstairs to grab a wreath and march it into the hall. Then we all knelt while the chorale sang a beautiful Christmas song I had never heard before, marked with operatic solos. Splendid. Even though my feet were falling asleep.
When we marched our wreaths back out of there, it was time to turn in our costumes and skedaddle. It was then 8:30 and the dinner was still going strong. It was really a lot of fun to play in it. I'm sure it would be a lot more fun to attend as a guest, but it couldn't possibly be $300 fun. Could it?