Happy 7th of July!

Today I am celebrating my Independence Day, so to speak. But more about that later.

I woke up to the blissful sound of a crying 2 month old. Although, I shouldn't complain because it was around 9am and my poor wife wakes several times a night to feed him. The sacrifices women make for motherhood...God Bless them!

Once I was actually able to lift myself out of bed to get ready for the day, we had to take our Infiniti to a 76 station across town for a Smog Check at a Test Only station. Across town because it was the only place we could find a coupon for, and a Test Only station because the DMV saw fit to screw us out of more money again. So we get there and drop the car off only to be told it would be an hour or so before it would be ready. Lucky us right? Julia (my wife for those who aren't in our T-Mobile Fave 5) and I with 2 month old Nathan in tow then proceeded to walk across to Quiznos to eat only to discover that Quiznos was no longer there. Happi House will have to do.

I suppose the food at Happi House was ok, but this annoying Asian lady working the counter told Julia she should hold the baby more straightly. Thanks for the advice Super Nanny! I couldn't decide which was more amusing, her parenting advice or the fact that she resembled a love child of Tammy Faye Baker and post-op Jacko. BTW, much love to you MJ. You inspired me as a kid and I will never forget your music and dancing.

After we received the call that that car was finished and it had passed (thank God) me, being the gentleman I am walked back to get the car to pick up Nathan and Julia from the restaurant so they could just relax. You can imagine my delight to find out that the genuis workers there found a way to break the hinge for my gas door. I fixed it later with Krazy Glue (shameless plug) but come on, who does that. If only Bubbles the chimp had looked in the car he would have seen a gas door release button on the dash, but instead he decided to Hulk out on a poor defenseless piece of plastic.

Game, set, and match Bubbles the Mechanic!

So back to my personal Independance Day story. I have been working at Texas Roadhouse as a Service Manager since March and was able to meet some really great people in the process. The only problem I had working there was the schedule. I thought I would be able to just get used to it, but let me be the first to tell you; restaurant hours and families do not mix. You basically have to choose one or the other and I chose my wife and two boys.

Today was my last day sort of. I basically showed up gave back some shirts, got my final paycheck, and left. My last day of actual work was Sunday night. The drive there was about 30 minutes both ways and I just felt like the combination of distance, late hours, lack of consistent days off, and missing my family was too much.

Today I got a chance to eat dinner with everyone for the first time since 'Nam and even play outside with Daniel (my 3 year old). So I guess you could say I felt a little FREEDOM today after the dust settled. I really look forward to having actual weekends off again and coming home at reasonable hours! Heck, I may even get the REAL Independance Day off next year!