Idol "Wonder"

These are the pictures that were suppose to go with the American Idol post.

Night of Glory

I am still trying to figure out all the details of blogging, so pardon my scattered pictures. The story was suppose to be posted first, but I clearly messed that one up. Also, there should only be one post titled Warnick Idol, not two, my bad again.

Warnick Idol

So I get really into American Idol for those of you who did not already know this. I hosted the second annual Warnick Family American Idol. The second year was put on due to high demand from the grandchildren. Luckily the parents (my siblings) were supportive and another succesful performance occured. However, there were a few minor clitches in the first year that required some revisions for season two. The first major one was the competition factor had to be eliminated, along with the awesome prizes given for those who placed. I was afraid making this change would strip the fun right out of the night, but thankfully everyone had a good attitude and was still enthusiastic about it. The kids were a little confused as to why their was no judging this year. We had to keep telling them they were all winners, but they didn't like that too much. I guess they are just naturally competitive-it's in our blood I'm afraid.

The other change was instead of each adult doing their own performances, we had couples perform a famous duet. Zac and I chose a Stevie Wonder song, "I just called to say I Love You." Zac makes a great Stevie Wonder. Christy and Adam sang "Don't You Love me Baby." Christy was able to relive her high school cheerleading years. It was awesome. Cortney sang/danced to a rather odd song about a frog. Apparently she's acquired her dancing skills from her mother, Holly. Cortney says they have dance parties all the time and her mom shows her lots of new moves. Sarah and Jon sang a country song about a fiddler. My parents sang a Shania Twain song, shocking, I know, my mom chose a country song. She is about as country as they come.

The night was definately a night to remember. It is true what they say, you have to create your own memories. It was a great way to kick off the American Idol season and unleash some Warnick talent.

P.S. Did anyone hear about the lady who is not eating until Sanjaya gets voted off? More power to her is all I have to say. Who is voting for that poor boy? Lets put him out of his misery and get on with this contest.

Quote of the Day!

"Powerful people and institutions keep their power by convincing people that they are too small to make a difference- that they should be insecure about their appearance, their knowledge, and the state of their soul. Much of our economy is built on convincing people they are not good enough!"
-Jennifer Farnham

This is for all of us who allow ourselves to be influenced by others in a negative way. Sometimes we aren't even aware of who or what effects us day to day. My in-laws gave Zac and I this quote and we keep it on our fridge.

A vodka what?

Apparantly, there is a difference between a gimblet vodka and a straight up vodka. Unfortunately, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I almost killed an eighty-year old woman. She spoke softly, the music was loud, and I have no other excuses other than I am an ignorant fool. When I delivered what I thought was the vodka she ordered from the bartender I noticed a strange look on her face as the small glass hit the table. Right then I knew I had messed up. I stood there and watched her take her first sip. She nearly joked and spit the small sip back into the glass.
"What is this?" her husband hollered.
"A vodka" I answered nervously.
"That is a vodka straight up, what are you trying to do here, kill my wife?" he replied sternly. "She ordered a gimblet vodka."

I came to find out a gimblet vodka is diluted with water, juice and something else, I already forgot. I am grateful there was a difference in taste with these two drinks or else she could have finished the whole thing and I would have been responsible for her intoxication. I learned at that moment I needed to be a bit more careful about the alcoholic beverages I am serving to these trusting customers. From now on I will clarify the drink order and ask the bartender just to make certain I don't risk messing up again.

I don't know what I am doing serving alcohol. I probably know the least about that kind of stuff. I quickly received my nickname as "Becky the Mormon" and I am fulfilling this reputation, no problem. Actually the guys at work are always so kind to invite me out for a smoke, jokingly of course. The girl I trained with has the nickname of "Chrissie the stripper", so that is cool. She is really good at serving alcohol and knows everything about it because she is a retired bartender. Anyhow, hopefully my naivity doen't get me fired. Good times at the Cheesecake Factory.

Zac is getting old

I am a Musician!

So I have been substitute teaching on the side. I can only work 40 hours a week at Cheesecake Factory, so decided to try making a little extra money while I can. Today I subbed for a band class for 5th through 8th graders. They asked me if I was a musician. I don't know why, but the words"yes, I am" came uttering out of my mouth before I could think. To those of you who know me, know that I am the furthest from a musician as it gets. I am tone deaf and can not read any music. The teacher left a packet for them to work on which involved music theory and composing their own song. So when the kids would ask me questions about how to do the assignment, like how to write cleft notes and check for rhythm, I told them I can't just give them all the answers, that would be too easy. I told them they could look in their book or ask a classmate. They seriously believed I knew what in the heck they were talking about. I am a little worried however because one of the kids was deaf and his translator was in there listening to my spit out lies. After class she told me what a great sub I was because I was able to keep the kids in control and maintained respect the entire time. She said she was going to tell Mrs. Hamilton, the teacher absent, to call me everytime she needed a sub. I am sure she will throw in that minor detail that I am also a musician. CRAP!! I guess I will just have to be careful to never accept another job from this teacher. How horrible am I. What I thought was just fun and games has n ow turned me into a flat out liar. This is why one of my New Year's Resolutions is to think before I speak.
On a more positive note, I subbed for a class last Friday where all we did was went to see "Night at the Museum" at an IMAX theatre and to a park for lunch. I can't complain, the movie was free and one I had wanted to see. I can get use to this kind of work. Actually, that day has kind of a funny story behind it as well. The whole day was great until the last 30 minutes we had to kill at the end of the day before the bell rang. Two students ran out of the classroom while I was not looking screaming up and down the halls. I was going to let the kids out early to play outside until school got out, but I was so ticked off I told them they all had to stay in the classroom and just sit there. They were all complaining because I wasn't being fair by punishing the whole class and not just the trouble students. To make a ridiculously long story short, they all hated me by the end of the day and mumbled comments like "I thought were a nice sub" and "thanks for being so mean." Turns out one of the students in that class is in our ward. AWKWARD!! He saw me on Sunday and was like "hey you were my sub on Friday. You were so unfair." I just smiled and laughed and kept walking. How sad, now I am going to be known as the lamo sub in the ward. So much for making new friends.

Ironic

Who would have thought I would be working at the Cheesecake Factory? Not I. It was just a year and a half ago I was ordering a waitresses around telling him/her what I wanted, and now it is my turn to be the slave. I am going to make a top ten list that describes a "nightmare" and, or "high maintenance" guest according to a server/waitress.

1. A party of two order one soda to share, split a meal, and then ask for two "to go" cups.
2. An old lady orders an ice water with lots of lemons and Splenda-homemade lemonade, how sweet.
3. They give you twenty dollars for an 18.00 dollar bill and tell you to keep the change.
4. Can I get that salad with sixteen dressings on the side? Guilty.
5. Can I get a straw, and some more ice, and another napkin, and some more sugar, and a clean fork, and another diet coke, and aaahhhhh!
6. This isn't medium, I asked for a piece of medium steak. Can you get me a decent piece of meat for crying out loud. Can I speak to your manager? Awesome.
7. Can you tell me how many calories are in your Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake? Are you joking?
8. Can I get and ice tea with 3 ice cubes?
9. Can I get a Diet Coke with no straw? I do not want a straw because I have my own and I don't want to get any germs. Is your chicken salad sandwich fresh because I don't like soggy sandwiches. Hello, everything is fresh daily.
10. Arms flailing in the air, eye contact, finger motioning to come, yelling "Check please."

These are just a few of the fun guests I experienced today. I am tired and will most likely have server nightmares, pretty much just the worst things in the world. It is like you can't get away from work. They haunt you and keep you up at night. Anything and everything that could go wrong as a server comes to life in these nightmares. Do you feel bad enough for me yet? Just kidding. I wouldn't still be doing it if I really hated it, and if them oney wasn't good. Lets just say I learn a lot about all different kinds of people at work. Work teaches me tolerance.