Hi All,
Wow! Time flies. Its a new school year term. 2010-2011. So far, we have had a great opening. Our counts are down, way down. But we are hoping business will pick up. We opened the school with no problems. No equipment problem and no lunch money problems.
In the past we have had the students order their lunches on a lunch count form in the morning. This year I decided we would not use the forms. The students can come in and take whatever one of the five lunches we offer. They seem to like it. The teachers love it. I never realized how big a deal it was for the students to fill out the lunch count form in the classroom in the morning, but it surely must have been. I told one teacher that I would not be using the form and soon enough everybody knew.
I have been asked many times "How do you know how much food to make now?" All I have to do is look back on my production records from last year and make that amount. I had a lot of food leftover the first week but so far this week, its going well. Not much waste. Now that we have worked a full week, I just look at what we served last week and make about the same amount.
One thing I am not happy about is that we are not allowed to sell ice tea to the teachers and staff this year. I begged and pleaded to no avail. The teachers would come in to buy the ice tea, then pick up another item like a cookie or fruit, soup, chips or whatever. Since I don't have the ice tea, they aren't coming in. I am losing business.
My boss says we can not sell it because of the wellness initiatives. All I know is it sucks that an adult can't have something like an ice tea if they want it.
Other than the ice tea, everything so far is great.
I worked all summer on my book and am very happy with the progress made. It has been edited and I am working on those changes. Once the changes are completed (I think I have six more pages to do), I will write the chapter headings. Last week I got a wonderful story to add to my book from a lunch lady in Delaware. Very exciting.
I am still seeking some stories. I am mainly looking for "good" teacher stories for my Chapter about Lunch Ladies and Teachers. If you have a story about your interactions with a teacher that was good, please send it to me.
I better sign off. I am exhausted. This whole work thing is over-rated!
All is well.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" TV Show
I just watched the two episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I will admit that I was dreading it. Almost to the point of making myself sick. As you all know, I want to improve the reputation of the lunch lady and I was feeling that this show was going to put us in a bad light. Which it did in some part, but I do think that it wasn't all bad. And, I am glad I watched it.
Some of the things I loved about the show:
The lunch ladies, especially Alice, the no-nonsense lunch lady who gave Jamie the hardest time. Everybody knows a lunch lady like Alice. I bet she has been in the business for 20 some years and is working hard and doing the best she can with what she has to serve. Even though it sounded like she wasn't the acutal boss at this school, certainly she is the "real boss". I loved how she told him how she felt, yes she could have used less sarcasm, but realistically, everything she said was truth!
I was glad it showed the kids reactions to the food Jamie served. I was afraid it would show the kids as loving everything he was trying to do because in reality, it wouldn't go that way.
I loved that it showed Jamie's emotions when he was given a hard time. YES, I know it is TV and he is a chef but he is also an actor. Was it real emotion? Seemed so to me, but I did like that it showed the emotions of the lunch ladies and Jamie. It was obvious that the lunch ladies were not actors, you could feel and read everything they were thinking on their faces. It would be the same thing I would have been thinking and saying.
That's just a few things I loved.
One of the things I didn't like was the look on Alice's face when Jamie said "how long have you been a lunch lady". She didn't like that term at all. HELLO! That is what the kids call us. I urge all lunch ladies everywhere to embrace, yes embrace the term "lunch lady". Why fight something that has been going on since the first school lunch was served. I bet even cave men called some woman "lunch ladies". If we can embrace the term and make it a term of endearment, instead of term that when we hear we feel belittled, the reputation will change. I simply must get a hold of Alice and try and help her with this. (I can't wait to send her a copy of my book when its published). A "lunch lady" is a woman who serves lunch. A "cook" is somebody who cooks. A "welder" is somebody who welds. WHY O WHY do some dislike the term? WHY O WHY the stigmatised? One thing for sure is that each and every one of those ladies love those kids. It was obvious that they want the kids to eat what they serve so they serve them what they want. Don't we all do that? Yes, I guess we need some tough love in school food service. The trick is to gradually start introducing them to the healthier foods and options. Not come in and drastically change everything they know about there lunches in three days. But that wouldn't have made a good TV show.
Most of us have had the experience of having somebody come in at our job and are told that we are "doing it wrong" or "could be doing it better" or "wants to change everything". How many of you like that? Its happened to me many times. You shake your head and say "go for it, if you think you can do better, go ahead". Which is what the school district and the lunch ladies did. I think Jamie could have done a much better job of speaking with the lunch ladies and the school district about what he wanted and why he wanted to accomplish what he had hoped to. Maybe there was some of that which wasn't in the show. Who knows? But nobody wants somebody to say "I can do better than you", especially when you have been doing your job for many, many years. It makes you feel angry, sad, sarcastic, and can break you heart. It was no wonder the lunch ladies felt the way they felt. And most of us feel, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". However, in reality, it was broke as Jamie said since the statistics proved it.
It showed Jamie coming in at 7:40 AM. HA!!! Those lunch ladies had probably already been there for an hour or almost an hour by then. Jamie said "oh, the kids are already eating breakfast". Yes of course they are already eating. He had almost missed the whole process. Come on Jamie, get your butt up earlier if you want to see the kids eating breakfast. The lunch ladies would have respected Jamie much more if he would have been there when they opened the doors.
One thing you love about kids is they don't usually edit what they say. I liked the experiment Jamie did with the chicken, cutting all the mostly usu able pieces of chicken then pureeing the carcass, making it look like a chicken nuggets, and the kids wanting to eat it. That is truly reality! How many of you really want to know what is in the food you eat. Generally, I don't. I love my beef and never watch shows about how beef comes to my dinner table.
I think the show accurately portrayed Rhonda the Food Service Director and I was glad they showed how much red tape/paperwork is involved in a school lunch. Rhonda was sincere, and respectful of what Jamie wanted to accomplish. But, she was also realistic. It was going to be tough to cook fresh products with the budget they had and in the time allowed with their labor costs. Cooking fresh products is time-consuming. You all know that! That is why there is so much processed food in the market place. Nobody has time for it. Not us the lunch ladies or you the parent. Peel potatoes?? I was like, "no freaking way". We use Potato Pearls in our school district and I admit, I buy them at the store myself. The labor costs associated with preparing fresh foods would increase the budget and would ultimately affect the schools district budget in whole. Let's say he could make the fresh raw foods for cheaper, but labor would still increase. He mentioned olive oil many times. I don't think there are many school districts out there who use expensive olive oil. We don't have it in our schools. Should we, maybe, but can we afford it? I don't know.
Obviously this district is not a wealthy one. It did not show they selling snacks or giving the kids a choice of what's to eat. In our school district we give them FIVE choices and I agree with Jamie wholeheartedly, it is too many choices for elementary school kids. Three choices would be all that I think would be appropriate this age group. I loved when Alice said "ask them which choice they want and go faster?". She laughed when he said "yes". From experience I will tell you that when you ask a kid what they want, especially elementary kids, they don't say quickly I will take chicken or pizza. They look at you and say "what" and/or" I don't know, or give no answer at all. They are just too young to absorb the questions in an environment of loud noise, surrounded by their peers, and be able to quickly say "chicken" or "pizza". They love to tell you "well, I had chicken yesterday" or "my mom said I can't have pizza today because....... " on and on they will go. It would rarely ever be a simple answer. Sorry Jamie, the lunch ladies were right about that.
It showed many breakfast kids which probably means they have a high free and reduced population of kids. Selling snacks to make money for fresh products and extra labor costs wouldn't fly there. I didn't see packers at the school. I would have liked to know if they have a lot of packers. When you have a high free and reduced population, the majority of the kids do eat breakfast and lunch through the school served lunches. I would have liked more details about the school district in general. I know that most wouldn't need that information. Maybe I can goggle that and find out.
The lunch lady said that they cook within the guidelines of the USDA (Jamie didn't even know that term, YIKES). If you get government reimbursement for the lunches you sell, you must serve within the government guidelines. Jamie's needs to take his cute little butt to the government if he wants to change things. There is already a "revolution" going on in school nutrition. Lunch ladies have been rallying Capitol Hill for years, way before Jamie Oliver and Ryan Secrust, (its produced by Ryan Secrust) ever thought of this new reality show. School districts need more reimbursement to cover the costs of fresh products. Congress doesn't want to hear that! If Jamie hopes to improve things, and I hope he can, then he needs to do more than have a show on TV. When Jamie was sitting with Rhonda, the Food Service Director, and said "I just want to put food in the kids mouths" I laughed. He thought it was that easy to say, "oh lets cook fresh and cook whatever I want". It doesn't work that way in the good old USA. Red tape my friends! Paperwork is a big part of our lunch lady job.
I agree with Jamie about why would you serve rice and need a roll too. I think we serve way too many starches on our menus. I remember way back when, the Weight Watchers diet used to go by categories instead of a point system. You were allowed 3 breads a day, 5 fruits, 5 veggies, 3 proteins, or something like that (my memory isn't as good as it used to be). In the bread category was potato, peas, corn and any starchy vegetable. Some days on our menu we have mashed potato (yes the infamous potato pearls) peas, and a roll. Way too many starches. We all know those products turn into fat in our bodies. I learned that at Weight Watchers probably 30 years ago and it still stays with me to this day.
Jamie obviously doesn't know our health and safety rules in our country. Pouring broth or whatever it was he drained into the hand sink is a "no no". Using his hands in our County, is a "no no", even though I agree with him. Gloves are only as clean as where the gloves have been. I hate using gloves unless I am actually mixing some kind of food.
The part where it showed Jamie's showing the parents the fat and food that the school district was serving said volumes. There were NOT many parents there. They said they serve 450 kids a day, there was nowhere near even 1/2 those parents there. This says the parents are not all on board with the changes to be made. The ones that were there said "YES we want to change" but truthfully there was not that many parents there. It all starts at home. Jamie was right though. If he can get the parents on his side (such a sin that there is "sides" on this issue)things will change. In our district all it takes is one parent to call and complain about something and we will get a note that says "no more" of that product. It just happened in our school district. Twice a year we serve funnel cake. (Jamie would have a fit I know). It is usually one of the biggest selling items we have. NOTE I said twice a year! Well, one parent called and said that their child received a bad BMI for their kids because/and/or we have the nerve to serve funnel cake (again twice a year). Now, no more funnel cake. So for sure, Jamie is right! Get the parents on board and things will change.
One things lunch ladies everywhere hate is "waste". No lunch lady enjoys seeing the kids throw out their food or throwing away food that the kids don't take. It showed all that chicken Jamie made that the kids didn't take. I know that hurt those lunch ladies even though I am sure secretly they wanted to prove that the kids would take their offering instead of his.
We are so lucky in the school district that I work. We have been gradually introducing fresh products for years now. We have Wellness Committees that oversees what we are serving. Do I think they go a little to far at times? Yes indeed! Do I think kids are obese because of the meal(s) they eat at school? No, at least not in our school district!
So, that's what I thought of the show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution". Yes school food services needs some help. If Jamie can get it for us, GREAT! I warn him "don't talk the talk unless he can walk the walk". He said he has to change the school lunches in six hours. He can't stop there! Have I changed my opinion about my job since watching the show. Probably. I hate to admit that. But why fight something that's going to happen and is probably true. Yeah, I have been fighting all the wellness stuff, but maybe, no more. One thing I know for sure, its a great time to get my book out there! With school lunches in the media, now is the time. So, I guess I better stop here and finish up my book. Get my Query letter to the publishers out there, take advantage of the press. What's that saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity?
School lunches rock! Ahhh, all is well.
Some of the things I loved about the show:
The lunch ladies, especially Alice, the no-nonsense lunch lady who gave Jamie the hardest time. Everybody knows a lunch lady like Alice. I bet she has been in the business for 20 some years and is working hard and doing the best she can with what she has to serve. Even though it sounded like she wasn't the acutal boss at this school, certainly she is the "real boss". I loved how she told him how she felt, yes she could have used less sarcasm, but realistically, everything she said was truth!
I was glad it showed the kids reactions to the food Jamie served. I was afraid it would show the kids as loving everything he was trying to do because in reality, it wouldn't go that way.
I loved that it showed Jamie's emotions when he was given a hard time. YES, I know it is TV and he is a chef but he is also an actor. Was it real emotion? Seemed so to me, but I did like that it showed the emotions of the lunch ladies and Jamie. It was obvious that the lunch ladies were not actors, you could feel and read everything they were thinking on their faces. It would be the same thing I would have been thinking and saying.
That's just a few things I loved.
One of the things I didn't like was the look on Alice's face when Jamie said "how long have you been a lunch lady". She didn't like that term at all. HELLO! That is what the kids call us. I urge all lunch ladies everywhere to embrace, yes embrace the term "lunch lady". Why fight something that has been going on since the first school lunch was served. I bet even cave men called some woman "lunch ladies". If we can embrace the term and make it a term of endearment, instead of term that when we hear we feel belittled, the reputation will change. I simply must get a hold of Alice and try and help her with this. (I can't wait to send her a copy of my book when its published). A "lunch lady" is a woman who serves lunch. A "cook" is somebody who cooks. A "welder" is somebody who welds. WHY O WHY do some dislike the term? WHY O WHY the stigmatised? One thing for sure is that each and every one of those ladies love those kids. It was obvious that they want the kids to eat what they serve so they serve them what they want. Don't we all do that? Yes, I guess we need some tough love in school food service. The trick is to gradually start introducing them to the healthier foods and options. Not come in and drastically change everything they know about there lunches in three days. But that wouldn't have made a good TV show.
Most of us have had the experience of having somebody come in at our job and are told that we are "doing it wrong" or "could be doing it better" or "wants to change everything". How many of you like that? Its happened to me many times. You shake your head and say "go for it, if you think you can do better, go ahead". Which is what the school district and the lunch ladies did. I think Jamie could have done a much better job of speaking with the lunch ladies and the school district about what he wanted and why he wanted to accomplish what he had hoped to. Maybe there was some of that which wasn't in the show. Who knows? But nobody wants somebody to say "I can do better than you", especially when you have been doing your job for many, many years. It makes you feel angry, sad, sarcastic, and can break you heart. It was no wonder the lunch ladies felt the way they felt. And most of us feel, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". However, in reality, it was broke as Jamie said since the statistics proved it.
It showed Jamie coming in at 7:40 AM. HA!!! Those lunch ladies had probably already been there for an hour or almost an hour by then. Jamie said "oh, the kids are already eating breakfast". Yes of course they are already eating. He had almost missed the whole process. Come on Jamie, get your butt up earlier if you want to see the kids eating breakfast. The lunch ladies would have respected Jamie much more if he would have been there when they opened the doors.
One thing you love about kids is they don't usually edit what they say. I liked the experiment Jamie did with the chicken, cutting all the mostly usu able pieces of chicken then pureeing the carcass, making it look like a chicken nuggets, and the kids wanting to eat it. That is truly reality! How many of you really want to know what is in the food you eat. Generally, I don't. I love my beef and never watch shows about how beef comes to my dinner table.
I think the show accurately portrayed Rhonda the Food Service Director and I was glad they showed how much red tape/paperwork is involved in a school lunch. Rhonda was sincere, and respectful of what Jamie wanted to accomplish. But, she was also realistic. It was going to be tough to cook fresh products with the budget they had and in the time allowed with their labor costs. Cooking fresh products is time-consuming. You all know that! That is why there is so much processed food in the market place. Nobody has time for it. Not us the lunch ladies or you the parent. Peel potatoes?? I was like, "no freaking way". We use Potato Pearls in our school district and I admit, I buy them at the store myself. The labor costs associated with preparing fresh foods would increase the budget and would ultimately affect the schools district budget in whole. Let's say he could make the fresh raw foods for cheaper, but labor would still increase. He mentioned olive oil many times. I don't think there are many school districts out there who use expensive olive oil. We don't have it in our schools. Should we, maybe, but can we afford it? I don't know.
Obviously this district is not a wealthy one. It did not show they selling snacks or giving the kids a choice of what's to eat. In our school district we give them FIVE choices and I agree with Jamie wholeheartedly, it is too many choices for elementary school kids. Three choices would be all that I think would be appropriate this age group. I loved when Alice said "ask them which choice they want and go faster?". She laughed when he said "yes". From experience I will tell you that when you ask a kid what they want, especially elementary kids, they don't say quickly I will take chicken or pizza. They look at you and say "what" and/or" I don't know, or give no answer at all. They are just too young to absorb the questions in an environment of loud noise, surrounded by their peers, and be able to quickly say "chicken" or "pizza". They love to tell you "well, I had chicken yesterday" or "my mom said I can't have pizza today because....... " on and on they will go. It would rarely ever be a simple answer. Sorry Jamie, the lunch ladies were right about that.
It showed many breakfast kids which probably means they have a high free and reduced population of kids. Selling snacks to make money for fresh products and extra labor costs wouldn't fly there. I didn't see packers at the school. I would have liked to know if they have a lot of packers. When you have a high free and reduced population, the majority of the kids do eat breakfast and lunch through the school served lunches. I would have liked more details about the school district in general. I know that most wouldn't need that information. Maybe I can goggle that and find out.
The lunch lady said that they cook within the guidelines of the USDA (Jamie didn't even know that term, YIKES). If you get government reimbursement for the lunches you sell, you must serve within the government guidelines. Jamie's needs to take his cute little butt to the government if he wants to change things. There is already a "revolution" going on in school nutrition. Lunch ladies have been rallying Capitol Hill for years, way before Jamie Oliver and Ryan Secrust, (its produced by Ryan Secrust) ever thought of this new reality show. School districts need more reimbursement to cover the costs of fresh products. Congress doesn't want to hear that! If Jamie hopes to improve things, and I hope he can, then he needs to do more than have a show on TV. When Jamie was sitting with Rhonda, the Food Service Director, and said "I just want to put food in the kids mouths" I laughed. He thought it was that easy to say, "oh lets cook fresh and cook whatever I want". It doesn't work that way in the good old USA. Red tape my friends! Paperwork is a big part of our lunch lady job.
I agree with Jamie about why would you serve rice and need a roll too. I think we serve way too many starches on our menus. I remember way back when, the Weight Watchers diet used to go by categories instead of a point system. You were allowed 3 breads a day, 5 fruits, 5 veggies, 3 proteins, or something like that (my memory isn't as good as it used to be). In the bread category was potato, peas, corn and any starchy vegetable. Some days on our menu we have mashed potato (yes the infamous potato pearls) peas, and a roll. Way too many starches. We all know those products turn into fat in our bodies. I learned that at Weight Watchers probably 30 years ago and it still stays with me to this day.
Jamie obviously doesn't know our health and safety rules in our country. Pouring broth or whatever it was he drained into the hand sink is a "no no". Using his hands in our County, is a "no no", even though I agree with him. Gloves are only as clean as where the gloves have been. I hate using gloves unless I am actually mixing some kind of food.
The part where it showed Jamie's showing the parents the fat and food that the school district was serving said volumes. There were NOT many parents there. They said they serve 450 kids a day, there was nowhere near even 1/2 those parents there. This says the parents are not all on board with the changes to be made. The ones that were there said "YES we want to change" but truthfully there was not that many parents there. It all starts at home. Jamie was right though. If he can get the parents on his side (such a sin that there is "sides" on this issue)things will change. In our district all it takes is one parent to call and complain about something and we will get a note that says "no more" of that product. It just happened in our school district. Twice a year we serve funnel cake. (Jamie would have a fit I know). It is usually one of the biggest selling items we have. NOTE I said twice a year! Well, one parent called and said that their child received a bad BMI for their kids because/and/or we have the nerve to serve funnel cake (again twice a year). Now, no more funnel cake. So for sure, Jamie is right! Get the parents on board and things will change.
One things lunch ladies everywhere hate is "waste". No lunch lady enjoys seeing the kids throw out their food or throwing away food that the kids don't take. It showed all that chicken Jamie made that the kids didn't take. I know that hurt those lunch ladies even though I am sure secretly they wanted to prove that the kids would take their offering instead of his.
We are so lucky in the school district that I work. We have been gradually introducing fresh products for years now. We have Wellness Committees that oversees what we are serving. Do I think they go a little to far at times? Yes indeed! Do I think kids are obese because of the meal(s) they eat at school? No, at least not in our school district!
So, that's what I thought of the show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution". Yes school food services needs some help. If Jamie can get it for us, GREAT! I warn him "don't talk the talk unless he can walk the walk". He said he has to change the school lunches in six hours. He can't stop there! Have I changed my opinion about my job since watching the show. Probably. I hate to admit that. But why fight something that's going to happen and is probably true. Yeah, I have been fighting all the wellness stuff, but maybe, no more. One thing I know for sure, its a great time to get my book out there! With school lunches in the media, now is the time. So, I guess I better stop here and finish up my book. Get my Query letter to the publishers out there, take advantage of the press. What's that saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity?
School lunches rock! Ahhh, all is well.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Update and Holiday Party
Wow, way too long since I blogged!
Just an update, still working on my book. I actually have most of it done as far as the writing goes. I am reading and editing at this point. Not going to make my end of the year deadline but you can't rush a thing like this.
On another subject, last night we had our Food Service Holiday Party. I, along with another fellow lunch lady plan and co-ordinate the event. When we first started this about 7 years ago, we had about 60 people attend the first one. Food service at that time had about 50 people employed. People can bring their spouses and some do, but most don't. (Myself included). Now we have at least approx. 70 people on our payroll. (we opened a new high school and they have 17 people working there on any given day), and we had 18 people at our Holiday party last night.
The employee must pay for the party. Food Service doesn't have it in our budget to pay for it so we set an amount that covers food, expenses for door prizes and our costs to run the party. This year we set the price at $22 but it is a "cash bar". We think this is reasonable. We rent a room, provide games and entertainment, music, dancing, collect canned goods to be donated and EVERYBODY goes home with at least one door prize.
Over the past 7 years our counts to attend the party have been dropping, drastically. The past few years we had close to 40 people. This year we had 24 people sign up, and a few of those don't even work for food service.
My question is: what's up with that? Are we, as lunch ladies too tired to even want to attend a holiday party. Are we, as lunch ladies, not able to afford a party you have to pay for? Are we, as lunch ladies, not the party type ladies? I don't think that lunch ladies are "not the party type". I have attended several conferences where lunch ladies gather and they sure as heck like to party. Or, is it just our district that has less than half of the employees that want to gather together and let off some steam? Do we not like each other enough to spend 4 - 5 hours together outside of work? Are we all so busy we can't take one day out of the year to attend? Are we paid such a small wage that we can't spend $22 on ourselves? We always give plenty of notice about the date. I know the economy is bad but I just don't believe that is the reason for our attendance numbers.
Now I know stuff happens, people get sick, spouses party is that day, other events are the same day but come on.....
Am I whining here? Probably. It is a lot of work to get all the party together and try and provide entertainment that all would enjoy. I know our group isn't a dancing crowd (except for a few of us (meaning me), but we always have other stuff planned. Now I know nobody says we have to do this, we volunteered to do it, and those that attend are always very appreciative. But what does it take to get more involved. If they were getting paid for the hours there, more would attend. Maybe if we had "big ticket giveaways" more would attend (Where would we get the money for that?). Any ideas?????
This year we didn't even have enough money to cover the cost of the bill. Isn't that ugly! The hall told us we had to have a minimum of 40 people to book their banquet room. In the past as I said above, its always been close, so we thought that as usual, at the last minute, we would get another 10 or so people. But that never happened this year. Plus we had bad weather last night so we had an additional 7 people that couldn't make it, understandably. Luckily for us they had paid their money already so we had it to for the hall costs, but we still were short. The other person who runs our party paid for the bill and the money we were short out of her own pocket. We always have a 50/50 drawing which we donate the other "half" to a local charity. This year, our party costs had to be the "charity." For our meager 18 people that showed up, we got $80 that was split, people were very generous. $40 toward our costs. I never expected it to be that much and am grateful for every one's generosity.
I feel bad for those that paid but couldn't make it due to the weather. It was money wasted for them. We don't have the money to refund to them. Not to mention the food wasted! Tsk Tsk! We did call the hall (VFW TELFORD, PA) and they would not let us cancel about 4 days before the party since they already had the food, and we tried to change the date (just by a day or so) due to the weather, but they said NO again. So, we had no choice to have the party, come hell or bad weather!
The people that were there, had a good enough time I think. But in a big room like that, it looked pitiful our 4 tables of six with empty chairs.
We decided no Holiday party next year (or at least not in December). I prefer to take a year or so off and see what happens.
So that's my thoughts on the subject of lunch lady Holiday parties.
I hope you all have a great holiday. Take some time for yourselves and enjoy. Invigorate yourselves. Do something good for somebody else! Enjoy your family, friends and, yes, your co-workers!
All is well.
JoAnn
Just an update, still working on my book. I actually have most of it done as far as the writing goes. I am reading and editing at this point. Not going to make my end of the year deadline but you can't rush a thing like this.
On another subject, last night we had our Food Service Holiday Party. I, along with another fellow lunch lady plan and co-ordinate the event. When we first started this about 7 years ago, we had about 60 people attend the first one. Food service at that time had about 50 people employed. People can bring their spouses and some do, but most don't. (Myself included). Now we have at least approx. 70 people on our payroll. (we opened a new high school and they have 17 people working there on any given day), and we had 18 people at our Holiday party last night.
The employee must pay for the party. Food Service doesn't have it in our budget to pay for it so we set an amount that covers food, expenses for door prizes and our costs to run the party. This year we set the price at $22 but it is a "cash bar". We think this is reasonable. We rent a room, provide games and entertainment, music, dancing, collect canned goods to be donated and EVERYBODY goes home with at least one door prize.
Over the past 7 years our counts to attend the party have been dropping, drastically. The past few years we had close to 40 people. This year we had 24 people sign up, and a few of those don't even work for food service.
My question is: what's up with that? Are we, as lunch ladies too tired to even want to attend a holiday party. Are we, as lunch ladies, not able to afford a party you have to pay for? Are we, as lunch ladies, not the party type ladies? I don't think that lunch ladies are "not the party type". I have attended several conferences where lunch ladies gather and they sure as heck like to party. Or, is it just our district that has less than half of the employees that want to gather together and let off some steam? Do we not like each other enough to spend 4 - 5 hours together outside of work? Are we all so busy we can't take one day out of the year to attend? Are we paid such a small wage that we can't spend $22 on ourselves? We always give plenty of notice about the date. I know the economy is bad but I just don't believe that is the reason for our attendance numbers.
Now I know stuff happens, people get sick, spouses party is that day, other events are the same day but come on.....
Am I whining here? Probably. It is a lot of work to get all the party together and try and provide entertainment that all would enjoy. I know our group isn't a dancing crowd (except for a few of us (meaning me), but we always have other stuff planned. Now I know nobody says we have to do this, we volunteered to do it, and those that attend are always very appreciative. But what does it take to get more involved. If they were getting paid for the hours there, more would attend. Maybe if we had "big ticket giveaways" more would attend (Where would we get the money for that?). Any ideas?????
This year we didn't even have enough money to cover the cost of the bill. Isn't that ugly! The hall told us we had to have a minimum of 40 people to book their banquet room. In the past as I said above, its always been close, so we thought that as usual, at the last minute, we would get another 10 or so people. But that never happened this year. Plus we had bad weather last night so we had an additional 7 people that couldn't make it, understandably. Luckily for us they had paid their money already so we had it to for the hall costs, but we still were short. The other person who runs our party paid for the bill and the money we were short out of her own pocket. We always have a 50/50 drawing which we donate the other "half" to a local charity. This year, our party costs had to be the "charity." For our meager 18 people that showed up, we got $80 that was split, people were very generous. $40 toward our costs. I never expected it to be that much and am grateful for every one's generosity.
I feel bad for those that paid but couldn't make it due to the weather. It was money wasted for them. We don't have the money to refund to them. Not to mention the food wasted! Tsk Tsk! We did call the hall (VFW TELFORD, PA) and they would not let us cancel about 4 days before the party since they already had the food, and we tried to change the date (just by a day or so) due to the weather, but they said NO again. So, we had no choice to have the party, come hell or bad weather!
The people that were there, had a good enough time I think. But in a big room like that, it looked pitiful our 4 tables of six with empty chairs.
We decided no Holiday party next year (or at least not in December). I prefer to take a year or so off and see what happens.
So that's my thoughts on the subject of lunch lady Holiday parties.
I hope you all have a great holiday. Take some time for yourselves and enjoy. Invigorate yourselves. Do something good for somebody else! Enjoy your family, friends and, yes, your co-workers!
All is well.
JoAnn
Friday, June 12, 2009
Its Almost Over
One more week done for the 2008-2009 school year. Thank you Jesus! Two more serving days left. Two more days to get up early. You see, I am not a morning person. I don't sleep all day or anything like that but I like to get up about 9:00, relax, have my coffee, and watch the birds at the bird feeder. That is my idea of a perfect morning.
I gave my speech "The Lunch Ladies Very Bad Day" at the Toastmasters Club meeting on Tuesday. I did win the Blue "Best Speaker Ribbon". I was very nervous but I kept on going. I think I remembered every part of it. Now I must say that out of the four speeches that night (mine included), two of the speeches were disqualified because they went over the time limit. The timing of a speech is very important. I took a 10-12 minutes speech and had to cut it down to 5-7 minutes. But back to my winning the ribbon, I kind of feel like the winner of a beauty contest where the other contestant didn't show up. I wanted all to qualify. I wanted to see if I could win it when all qualified. Now I will never know. But... to be honest, I think I would have won. Mine was a humorous speech and people remember those speeches more than others. At a conference I went to they said "People learn best when enjoying themselves". As far as the speech being "edgy or having some blue humor", the club seemed to be ok with it. Our Club District Governor said it was fine and it was not too edgy for a Toastmaster Club. Or specifically our club. She said she knows of a Toastmaster that is a stand-up comic, and she wants to give her my email so we can "talk". Wouldn't that be awesome. I am sure I will be very intimidated but the opportunity would be huge. I hope I get to speak with her.
I am wondering if I could give the speech at a Chapter Dinner Meeting. I know all my lunch lady friends will enjoy it. I am taking an acting class and am going to work on the speech there. I am hoping they can help me with some of the delivery of the comical moments. In this acting class we are to work on a monologue. I chose a section of my speech. I gave my monologue at the class and the instructor said she was so engrossed in the story that she didn't even see anything she could tell me to work on. One of the other classmates said that she was glad I went next to last since if I would have went first, everybody would have been intimidated. Ahhh, such high praise! I admit that I love it. They were all surprised that I wrote it myself.
One thing I am learning from this experience is that maybe I can "write". I have never considered myself a writer even though I am writing a book. I have always thought of my book as wanting to tell my story. I am getting very excited about getting back to writing for my book this summer
Some of the Toastmaster Club members would like for me to enter the speech in the Humorous Speech Contest in the fall. I have to check out the requirements to see if I qualify to give a speech at that level. If I do, I might just go for it.
I didn't get to go to the SNA National Conference this year. It is in Vegas and I was sooooo sure that I was going. But... things don't always work out the way you want it to. My boss said she couldn't pay for the cost. Maybe just the registration. I even had cheap rooms since I work at a hotel part-time and I got a great deal on a room at $69 per night. The airfare was high and it would have been too costly for me to go. I couldn't see putting all that money out for me to go. Plus nobody else I knew was going. I thought I would be too uncomfortable being by myself in the city that never sleeps. A friend of mine said she would have come with me. But, it is too late to change things now. So......maybe next year. I intend for my book to be done and then maybe I can be doing a book signing there. That would be really cool.
Ahh..... two serving days to go......all is well......
I gave my speech "The Lunch Ladies Very Bad Day" at the Toastmasters Club meeting on Tuesday. I did win the Blue "Best Speaker Ribbon". I was very nervous but I kept on going. I think I remembered every part of it. Now I must say that out of the four speeches that night (mine included), two of the speeches were disqualified because they went over the time limit. The timing of a speech is very important. I took a 10-12 minutes speech and had to cut it down to 5-7 minutes. But back to my winning the ribbon, I kind of feel like the winner of a beauty contest where the other contestant didn't show up. I wanted all to qualify. I wanted to see if I could win it when all qualified. Now I will never know. But... to be honest, I think I would have won. Mine was a humorous speech and people remember those speeches more than others. At a conference I went to they said "People learn best when enjoying themselves". As far as the speech being "edgy or having some blue humor", the club seemed to be ok with it. Our Club District Governor said it was fine and it was not too edgy for a Toastmaster Club. Or specifically our club. She said she knows of a Toastmaster that is a stand-up comic, and she wants to give her my email so we can "talk". Wouldn't that be awesome. I am sure I will be very intimidated but the opportunity would be huge. I hope I get to speak with her.
I am wondering if I could give the speech at a Chapter Dinner Meeting. I know all my lunch lady friends will enjoy it. I am taking an acting class and am going to work on the speech there. I am hoping they can help me with some of the delivery of the comical moments. In this acting class we are to work on a monologue. I chose a section of my speech. I gave my monologue at the class and the instructor said she was so engrossed in the story that she didn't even see anything she could tell me to work on. One of the other classmates said that she was glad I went next to last since if I would have went first, everybody would have been intimidated. Ahhh, such high praise! I admit that I love it. They were all surprised that I wrote it myself.
One thing I am learning from this experience is that maybe I can "write". I have never considered myself a writer even though I am writing a book. I have always thought of my book as wanting to tell my story. I am getting very excited about getting back to writing for my book this summer
Some of the Toastmaster Club members would like for me to enter the speech in the Humorous Speech Contest in the fall. I have to check out the requirements to see if I qualify to give a speech at that level. If I do, I might just go for it.
I didn't get to go to the SNA National Conference this year. It is in Vegas and I was sooooo sure that I was going. But... things don't always work out the way you want it to. My boss said she couldn't pay for the cost. Maybe just the registration. I even had cheap rooms since I work at a hotel part-time and I got a great deal on a room at $69 per night. The airfare was high and it would have been too costly for me to go. I couldn't see putting all that money out for me to go. Plus nobody else I knew was going. I thought I would be too uncomfortable being by myself in the city that never sleeps. A friend of mine said she would have come with me. But, it is too late to change things now. So......maybe next year. I intend for my book to be done and then maybe I can be doing a book signing there. That would be really cool.
Ahh..... two serving days to go......all is well......
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Ahhh, the end of the year is near. We have 7 more serving days left (to serve lunch to the students). I didn't think the end of this year would ever come. What a year! First we had the teachers strike and we didn't go back to work until almost three weeks later in Sept. Because of the teachers strike we had only a few (like the actual day of the holiday) off. No Act 80 days (which is a day when the kids go for a few hours but we don't serve lunch), no extra days around the holidays and no teacher in-service days off. It sucked!!!!
I don't think there is a single food service employee in our district that isn't glad this year is over.
We had many challenges this year in our district. We added a "Vegetarian" choice to our menu. This means we serve five meals per day. My personal opinion is that is too many choices for elementary students. The "Vegetarian" meals don't get ordered by the students except by mistake. We go to the trouble of making them, then when the students comes through the lunch line, they don't want it. Its very frustrating.
In my kitchen we had quite a lot going on. Both of my staff members lost their mothers this year. It is such a tough thing to go through. Both also has to help care for their elderly parent(s) like I do. It is nice that we all understand each other when it comes to such matters. So, we had more days than usual where one of us was out. Luckily since we are all cross-trained in each persons job, we can step up and fill in where needed most. The substitutes in our district love to come to our school. I think we treat them with respect and they appreciate it. Plus we have a nice working environment.
On Tuesday I am giving a speech at the Toastmasters (Public Speaking)club that I belong to.
I am giving a speech titled "The Lunch Lady's Very Bad Day". I wrote the script/speech when I went to a script writing class. It is a compilation of some of the lunch lady stories that I have collected from people. I think it is entertaining and funny. I hope to bring home the "Blue Ribbon" which would mean I won for best speech out of four speeches given that night. I would say it is a little "edgy" or maybe a little bit of "blue humor" but I am going for it. One thing I learned at a conference I went to was: Never be afraid to make a fool out of yourself. I also might like to give the speech at our end of the year breakfast next Wednesday.
I hope to get my book to editing by the end of the summer and published by the end of the year. I have about 1/2 of it on the computer. I just need to get it organized and put the stories I have collected, where they belong. Wish me luck!
So, goodbye 2008-2009 school year. It was a challenge, but we got through it. Next year will be closer to a normal school year.
I hope you have a great summer! Enjoy the time off, rejuvenate yourself. I booked a trip to Cancun, Mexico for my family. Ahhhhh, all is well.
I don't think there is a single food service employee in our district that isn't glad this year is over.
We had many challenges this year in our district. We added a "Vegetarian" choice to our menu. This means we serve five meals per day. My personal opinion is that is too many choices for elementary students. The "Vegetarian" meals don't get ordered by the students except by mistake. We go to the trouble of making them, then when the students comes through the lunch line, they don't want it. Its very frustrating.
In my kitchen we had quite a lot going on. Both of my staff members lost their mothers this year. It is such a tough thing to go through. Both also has to help care for their elderly parent(s) like I do. It is nice that we all understand each other when it comes to such matters. So, we had more days than usual where one of us was out. Luckily since we are all cross-trained in each persons job, we can step up and fill in where needed most. The substitutes in our district love to come to our school. I think we treat them with respect and they appreciate it. Plus we have a nice working environment.
On Tuesday I am giving a speech at the Toastmasters (Public Speaking)club that I belong to.
I am giving a speech titled "The Lunch Lady's Very Bad Day". I wrote the script/speech when I went to a script writing class. It is a compilation of some of the lunch lady stories that I have collected from people. I think it is entertaining and funny. I hope to bring home the "Blue Ribbon" which would mean I won for best speech out of four speeches given that night. I would say it is a little "edgy" or maybe a little bit of "blue humor" but I am going for it. One thing I learned at a conference I went to was: Never be afraid to make a fool out of yourself. I also might like to give the speech at our end of the year breakfast next Wednesday.
I hope to get my book to editing by the end of the summer and published by the end of the year. I have about 1/2 of it on the computer. I just need to get it organized and put the stories I have collected, where they belong. Wish me luck!
So, goodbye 2008-2009 school year. It was a challenge, but we got through it. Next year will be closer to a normal school year.
I hope you have a great summer! Enjoy the time off, rejuvenate yourself. I booked a trip to Cancun, Mexico for my family. Ahhhhh, all is well.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Coincidence or Not?????
Yes I know it has been a long, long time since I have blogged here. Been busy with "stuff". But today was a day to blog about. Here's the latest about what is going on for me. A few weeks ago I decided I wanted a new picture on my computer at work as my background. So I went on the Internet looking for "beaches wallpaper". I picked one of the fist sites that popped up and clicked. Well, it was taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to load so I just keep clicking away and tried to get out of the site (yes I am very inpatient when it comes to a site loading). Then I get this black screen with all this "stuff". Looked like adware or something like that. I "X'd" out of it and it kept giving me that "program not responding" crap...... I knew that I had a problem. Turns out I loaded a virus or a worm of some kind onto my work computer. Double CRAP! It was an accident but I feel horrible about it. I can't get onto the Internet at all (I use it for my orders), or onto our in-house stuff where I get all my information for work. Triple CRAP! I can no longer get any emails either (I get emails from parents when their kids with allergies will be buying lunch so we can be sure they will be safe when they eat lunch, plus I communicate with the teachers by email if there are any changes to the menu). Quadruple......well you know.....
Anyway, the school district tech says it is a really bad worm of some kind and is in all my files. So I will have to use a laptop for the things I can't get in to. Have you used a labtop????? I am a total PC person and love my keyboard and mouse. First the tech (a very sweet wonderful person by the way) sets up the laptop for me (I wasn't there since I had to leave). She leaves me very specific instructions on how to use it, how to lock it up, etc. However, I can't get a wireless signal in my office so I have to carry it around to find the signal and get a connection. So I wander around with the laptop trying to get a signal. Ok, so far, not a big deal. Then I try and use the little pad you use to move the mouse. OMG! I must be heavy handed or a total idiot! I am moving around the icons, tapping it, hitting it with my whole hand trying to figure out how to use it. Plus, I am scared to death I am going to break it! So...finally three days later, I am kinda getting the hang of it. I do want to master it. I have always wanted a laptop so I am determined to figure it all out.
That is not even the part that made me whan to blog today.
So, today I start up the Point of Sale (POS) system (our computer system that reads the kids cards and has their lunch account information in it) and the register reads the cards and the information I see looks like a foreign language. I could do a few cards at a time, but it would get unreadable. I kept having to shut it down, turn it off and unplug and replug in anything I could find. What a mess! I called our main office and told her I think that my virus got into the POS system and she was like "Oh NO, that is not good". I said "I know". She said she would call the tech person and see if they could come over. Meantime I went back and kept trucking along, barely being able to read the information such as what I had entered in, the names of the kids, dollar amount, whether they did or did not have any money in their account. What a nightmare. But I got through it. I was so happy when that last kid came through and I could turn the darn thing off. (By the way I could have stop selling snacks and had the kids only get a lunch but I was determined to not lose those sales)
During all this process I realized that this was probably not because of the virus, it was a register problem. I remember another manager had the same thing happen to her once. The tech called me and I told her that at first I thought it was the virus screwing up the system but now I think it was a register issue. She told me she agreed and had checked the system and there were no "viruses" in the system that she could see. What a coincidence! I have a virus on my computer but my register goes down around the same time. Hmmmm. I am a person who doesn't believe in coincidences. So I now am wondering what I am supposed to be learning here.
Back to my story. So my boss brings over a new "top" or new "guts" to the register, installs it herself and it seems to be up and running. Whewwww!!! Thank you Jesus! Will it work tomorrow? I have no idea! But whether it does or doesn't, I will get through it, because.... a challenge is good. Keeps the brain running at optimal speed. A challenge makes you realize just what you can do when you have to. A challenge makes you soooo tired you know you will sleep like a baby that night. And I intend to do just that.....
Ahhhh..... All is well.
Anyway, the school district tech says it is a really bad worm of some kind and is in all my files. So I will have to use a laptop for the things I can't get in to. Have you used a labtop????? I am a total PC person and love my keyboard and mouse. First the tech (a very sweet wonderful person by the way) sets up the laptop for me (I wasn't there since I had to leave). She leaves me very specific instructions on how to use it, how to lock it up, etc. However, I can't get a wireless signal in my office so I have to carry it around to find the signal and get a connection. So I wander around with the laptop trying to get a signal. Ok, so far, not a big deal. Then I try and use the little pad you use to move the mouse. OMG! I must be heavy handed or a total idiot! I am moving around the icons, tapping it, hitting it with my whole hand trying to figure out how to use it. Plus, I am scared to death I am going to break it! So...finally three days later, I am kinda getting the hang of it. I do want to master it. I have always wanted a laptop so I am determined to figure it all out.
That is not even the part that made me whan to blog today.
So, today I start up the Point of Sale (POS) system (our computer system that reads the kids cards and has their lunch account information in it) and the register reads the cards and the information I see looks like a foreign language. I could do a few cards at a time, but it would get unreadable. I kept having to shut it down, turn it off and unplug and replug in anything I could find. What a mess! I called our main office and told her I think that my virus got into the POS system and she was like "Oh NO, that is not good". I said "I know". She said she would call the tech person and see if they could come over. Meantime I went back and kept trucking along, barely being able to read the information such as what I had entered in, the names of the kids, dollar amount, whether they did or did not have any money in their account. What a nightmare. But I got through it. I was so happy when that last kid came through and I could turn the darn thing off. (By the way I could have stop selling snacks and had the kids only get a lunch but I was determined to not lose those sales)
During all this process I realized that this was probably not because of the virus, it was a register problem. I remember another manager had the same thing happen to her once. The tech called me and I told her that at first I thought it was the virus screwing up the system but now I think it was a register issue. She told me she agreed and had checked the system and there were no "viruses" in the system that she could see. What a coincidence! I have a virus on my computer but my register goes down around the same time. Hmmmm. I am a person who doesn't believe in coincidences. So I now am wondering what I am supposed to be learning here.
Back to my story. So my boss brings over a new "top" or new "guts" to the register, installs it herself and it seems to be up and running. Whewwww!!! Thank you Jesus! Will it work tomorrow? I have no idea! But whether it does or doesn't, I will get through it, because.... a challenge is good. Keeps the brain running at optimal speed. A challenge makes you realize just what you can do when you have to. A challenge makes you soooo tired you know you will sleep like a baby that night. And I intend to do just that.....
Ahhhh..... All is well.
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