Resurgence

I know I haven’t been keeping up with this blog. My work schedule has been hectic recently and, honestly, I just never got around to it. However, at this moment, I am not as “busy” as I usually am and have been thinking very long and hard about a lot of things. This post is not going to be about my travels or about different things I have done. It is going to be more reflective upon myself than anything else.

For example, I realized that I can look back on my life and realize I’ve lived in stages. I had my life in Greenwood (not pleasant), then my life in Corning and high school there and in Bath. Then, thank goodness, I went to college. My life changed drastically when I arrived in Alfred, NY for my sophomore year of school. I met the most wonderful girls and a really great guy. I spent a good part of a year with that person only to realize that he wasn’t who I thought he was. Thus ends that stage, however I always kept my best friends in the world. Then began my years of saying F U to everything, but mostly men. I was the ultimate single lady, not taking a lot of people’s feelings into account. During those years, I was lucky enough to spend four wonderful months abroad where I learned so much about myself.

Coming back from that time, I once again slipped into who I was before I left. I had my girls but I was also someone whom I didn’t like. Looking back at it now, yes, it was a way of escape but I do not agree with how I did it. Then, I easily fell into another stage. At the end of my college career, I met an absolutely wonderful guy. We were amazing together but after awhile, the stress and anxiety I had about not finding a job and he had over school and social life, took its toll. I wasn’t taking not being in school very well, I missed my friends and the social aspect, as well as the classes. I am writing this now because that glorious stage of my life has ended and I have no clue what the next one will be.

I will try to keep up with this blog. I have no idea where I am heading, but I will let you know when it happens.

Early Christmas!

So today, I was surprised when my dad came home from work saying I had a package.

Earlier the mailman scared me half to death delivering a package for my mother, but it really was a package for me! From my dear girl, Rachel Gorman! She is living in the Czech Republic and experienced the christmas markets in Prague and sent me some lovely gifts. I opened the box and I found a shot glass (so us) and a Kinder surprise chocolate along with a letter. However, when I was repacking the box, I noticed that there were things wrapped in the paper towels that were also being used as cushioning. There were the cutest little wicker ornaments that I am going to hang on my Christmas tree.

 

 

The three cute ornaments, the characteristic shot glass, and the “surprise” from the Kinder Surprise chocolate, a ninja mouse!

Thank you so much, Rachel, for helping to get me in the mood for the holidays. It’s been really difficult considering the fact that it has snowed only once or twice.

Monotony and confusion

Two words with negative connotations.

While I am not saying that my life is solely this, it does have some elements of it. I am loving my job as a server at Applebee’s, despite the letdowns with seldom unfriendly guests and unsubstantial tips. However, two drawbacks are the few amount of hours and that I do not work every day. While when I work, I get an average of 15 dollars an hour, I only work for, at most, 4 hours at a time. Also, on the days that I don’t work, it is the same old routine. I watch lots of Netflix and take naps. Oh, and eat.

There’s more and believe me when I say I’m not complaining, I’m just letting out my frustrations. I have this strange thing that when I get my heart set on something, it is so strong and it consumes me. In my current situation, it’s Scotland. I was planning on going and I told everyone, and then when I couldn’t, my heart was broken. I have been really stressed recently because I am starting to think that I will not have enough money to go this year, even. My family has been trying to get me to look at grad schools in the US as a back-up plan. But I’m stubborn and my dream is at stake. However, I have been taking their advice, because I want to be able to see sense and reality (although I am trying my hardest to make Scotland my reality). I have been looking at Catholic University and New York University, along with some others.

 

A real, live waitress!

So. The first week of my server training at Applebee’s has gone off, I cannot say without a hitch, but without any real damage.

Starting on Monday, I worked a grand total of 18 grueling, long hours, learning the ropes and watching orientation videos and taking quizzes. There is actually a lot to learn and a lot of information that I have to process in order to succeed. However, even though it has been long, I enjoy it very much and I am making mad bank.
Unfortunately, during training, I was not allowed to take home my tip money so I worked my magic and then had to give my tips to my trainer. On Wednesday I made 75 dollars in tips and on Friday I made 85. It is really depressing having to hand that over to someone else.

But starting on Tuesday, I will be on my own, earning 5 dollars and hour and keeping all my tip money. So, if you are in the neighborhood (haha get it?), stop by and visit Applebee’s and ask for Alyssa!

Allegany Artisan’s Studio Tour

Yesterday, Aaron, my mom and I spent our day traveling around going to acquaintances studios. This Saturday and Sunday, the Allegany Artisan’s Studio Tour allows the public to come in and look at the artists at work and see their space. Also, Aaron’s favorite part, they have treats like home-made doughnuts, cake and apple cider.

First, we went to Fred Beckhorn’s natural form furniture.

Then we traveled down the road to Marsha Van Vlack’s porcelain tile studio.

My mother spent at least 45 minutes at each one talking to the artist and their family, that it was already getting late when she decided to travel a half an hour to see Spike Jones’ metalworking studio. That was a lot of fun because Spike, a friend of the family’s, offered to help Aaron create something out of iron. So, after a lot of pounding and working the metal, he was left with an iron leaf.

We finished the day by stopping in Andover, NY to visit Walker Metalsmiths, one of my favorite jewelry store, featuring handmade celtic jewelry. As I was looking around, I was captured by the beauty and the artisanship that goes into making the beautiful designs. I have been going to Walker’s for many years, and have quite a number of their pieces. Check out his designs and his story.

“The dog days are overrr”

Today was such a busy day!

I went grocery shopping and then at 1:30 pm, Aaron and I went to Lain’s Cider Mill in order to press the apples that we picked from behind my house. I had nooooo idea that cider-pressing was such an ordeal! It was 6:00 by the time I was done. First they transported the apples up to the loft where they pulverized them all and sent them down a chute onto a cheesecloth. When all the apples were on this, they are raked into a smooth layer and the cloth is wrapped around them. Then they are lifted and pressed between two layers of metal slabs. We got 10 and a half gallons out of our apples and I took 6 and my mother took 4. Both my mother and I bought the materials needed to make hard apple cider, so in 6 months, I will be able to enjoy my homemade cider!

Lain’s Cider Mill is a family run business outside of Canisteo, New York. This was the first time I had gone since I was 5 or 6 and it was actually really awesome. Their apple cider doughnuts were incredible and the whole process of cider making was really cool!

Lain’s Cider Mill. You might be able to catch them before they’re done for the season!

Then, I got a call from Applebee’s in Hornell saying that they wanted to hire me full time as a server! So, now my hours will not be so late, I can have face-to-face customer service and my drive will only be 15 minutes!! So, starting on Friday, I will be waitressing at Applebee’s. You all should come in and request me! I think I will be a great waitress. Plus, when I was researching jobs in Scotland, all the bartending and waitressing pos

ts required experience. Now, I will be able to have that experience for when I go.

 

 

 

 

Homecoming Weekend

Well, this weekend is Homecoming Weekend at Alfred and I got home at 3:00 am Saturday morning. And today, I woke up “early” to go to Ellicotville, NY for their Octoberfest with my mother. It was a beautiful day! Sunny, warm and the colors of the trees are some of the best that I can remember. Check it out here.

Holiday Valley is the ski/snowboard resort in Ellicotville and for 2 dollars each, my mother, Aaron and I took the ski lift up Mardi Gras slope all the way to the top. The view over the valley was gorgeous! Then we went downtown and met up with Aaron’s dad and stepmother.

It was really funny. There were so many people in one area that the Verizon network was busy for that region. Nothing was going through and we could not receive anything in kind. I had never had that happen before, even at other extremely packed events such as Grassroots Music Festival this summer.

We went into Salamanca with Aaron’s dad and stepmother to the Dudley hotel for dinner. It took us about 20 minutes to get seated and 2 hours to get our food. We were one of two tables that were eating and it was ridiculous the amount of time it took. When the food came, it was sub par. Basically, if you are in the area, DO NOT eat at the Dudley. There was only one waitress but that did not explain the amount of time it took for our food to leave the kitchen.

Now, I am sitting in my bedroom on a Saturday night, about to watch a movie. Ahhh, now, the weekend has a totally new meaning. It is 2 days of not traveling 2 hours back and forth from work and getting home at 3:00 every morning.

3rd Day of Work

Today, I will be starting my 3rd day of work at Sitel in Corning. I am working on the Verizon campaign for live chats customer service.

For the first two weeks, there is intense training from 5:15 pm until 2 am. It is really weird taking a lunch at 10:00 at night and driving the 50 minutes home at 2:00 in the morning. The first day, I had a coffee so the drive was not bad. However, last night, I tried to abstain and the drive home was awful. It was foggy and I was sure to lose my voice the next day because I was screaming along to songs in order to stay awake.

However, these hours will eventually change, I hope. Being able to get the hours I want depends on performance and attendance and I am sure I will be able to master it all. Also, I am driving an old Trans Am that eats 20 dollars in gas each time I go in. So, that’s unfortunate. But it’s a paycheck and I am thankful for that. At least I do not have to work on the weekends, so I can relax and spend time with my boyfriend. This weekend I will be able to take advantage of the probable last nice days of the year. This week it has been very nice but I have been sleeping through the days.

Come one, come all, come find your future spouse!

Before I get into the details, I would like to say that I got a job with Sitel in Corning, NY.

So. What would you say if you read in a guidebook about a matchmaking festival in Ireland? I don’t know if it would be the same as my response, which was, “oh, cool, a lingering tradition from the good old days. Dancing and drinking… sounds like a good time.” So, I decided to go to Lisdoonvarna for the Matchmaking festival. As soon as I got there, I checked into my hostel and the clerk asked me if I was there for the festival. I said I was curious and just checking things out. Then he told me that my first impression was drastically wrong.

It’s not solely a party that has kept the traditional name. According to the clerk, in the very rural areas of Ireland, the farmers never travel or see a woman for the entire year. Round this time of year (September to October) the harvest is in and this festival is a chance for the farmers and for others to find a husband or wife. And they take it seriously. In my hostel room there were two middle age women from Glasgow, Scotland who came just for the festival in the hopes of finding a husband. There was also a french journalist who had flown over just to write about the event. It is a month long festival with a single official matchmaker. There is also a famous saying about Lisdoonvarna; it’s where “parish priests pretend to be sober and bank clerks pretend to be drunk”. But not only is it a chance to find love, it is also a chance for everybody to come in and have a great time drinking and partying. I got proposed to…I declined.

Check it out

This Time Last Year

Well, considering the title, I’m going to reminisce about where I was vacationing last year at this time.

I went on a 10 day vacation/exploration to Ireland. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and have been obsessed with Irish culture since I was a little child. Finally, I got the chance to go, during the break between my classes and the start of my internship. I went by myself and only had an itinerary for the first 3 days. I was planning on just winging it, talking to people and figuring out where I would go next.

I flew out of Paris airport (at a time of a strike, talk about exasperating) and the first sight of Ireland was of beautiful cliffs at the ocean’s edge. I flew into Cork and went out that night and EVERYBODY was drinking because it was Alfred Guinness Day.The next day I traveled by bus to Lisdoonvarna because there was a “Matchmaking Festival” there, and I was curious. There were also the Cliffs of Moher which are absolutely breathtaking and the Aran Islands. I traveled by ferry to the closest of the three islands and spent the day exploring. I missed the last bus back to Lisdoonvarna, though, and had to take a “taxi” with a bunch of elderly, drunk people who spent the whole time joking and singing folksongs.

I had already seen that the people in Ireland were so amazingly friendly. They were always kind and when they found out I was traveling alone, they took me under their wing and sort of adopted me in a way.

That evening I went to a pub with some people I met in the hostel. It was very fascinating because there was a woman about 85 years of age who was staggeringly drunk. At one point, she stood up and started to sing a folksong and she was old, drunk and the song went on forever. However, the people would cheer thinking it was done and the rest of the people in the bar would shush them and were very polite to this woman.

I just have so much to say on this topic so I will dedicate the next couple blog posts to my Irish adventures.