St. Patricks Day & My Birthday

Well, according to New Zealand time, it is my birthday today. However, I think I would just like to scratch this day out & celebrate my birthday tomorrow according to American time instead haha. Let me just describe my birthday for you-- I was scheduled to work today at 7:00 am to open the restaurant up for the breakfast shift. That is all fine & good (kind of), except I woke up this morning with pink eye. I know...awesome. Well, the hotel couldn't get a hold of any of the other waitresses to cover my shift & although Sonja was also scheduled to go in, she has only worked breakfast once or twice. So, I went in to help her open up & ended up staying for about 3 hours.

Then, the receptionist Steph said they needed some help with the laundry because the laundry lady who is normally there (Bobbie) was out of town. So, I went straight into laundry for about an hour--folding towels and robes & iron pressing napkins, pillowcase covers, and tablecloths. As I was just finishing in the laundry, Fiona from housekeeping came in & said she needed mine & Sonja's help because her other housekeeper had gone home sick. Sooo, Sonja & I did housekeeping work for an additional 4 hours. Today was our second day helping out in housekeeping & let me just say, I have a newfound respect for housekeepers. That crap is hard work!

After work, I tried to go to a pharmacy to get medicine for my eyes, but everything in Napier closes ridiculously early. Moving on from unsuccessful pharmacy trips and with nothing to eat all day but a couple of muffins made fresh by Beau from work and a bit of butter and jam on bread, Sonja & I decided to go to Pizza Hut for a nice hearty meal. Our new friend Mia from our hostel came with us for dinner, and the pizza, garlic bread, fries & Pepsi were exactly what the doctor ordered. Mmmmm. Sonja was scheduled to go back to work tonight for the evening shift from 6:00 pm to whenever needed (usually until about 11:00 pm). I am on call tonight to potentially go in for the evening shift as well, depending on how many reservations come in. The kicker is that Lionel Richie is actually in Napier tonight doing a concert & some backpackers dropped off two Lionel Richie tickets at a nearby hostel for the owners to just give them away to whoever wanted them. Mia, who has connections with other hostel workers, got the go ahead to take the two tickets for herself & out of all the people in the hostel, she invited me to go with her as a birthday present. Unfortunately, work has no idea if they will need me later or not & I have to be available in case I am called in for work. Soo, no free Lionel Richie concert for me. =( What a day!

On a brighter note, I have had some cheerful birthday moments today as well. Mia (the sweet gal who I already mentioned) & Greg from England are a young couple who are currently running our hostel. They have befriended Sonja and I & were sweet enough to buy me a birthday card and some delicious birthday chocolate. Word traveled around the hostel that it was my birthday, so I got some happy birthday wishes from some of the other backpackers as well. It is also Cedric's birthday today, so a group of us from the hostel had previously talked about going out & doing a double-birthday celebration. However, now that I am all pink-eyed, on call for work, and bloody tired, I believe those plans will be postponed.

I'm happy to say that my St. Patricks Day was a heck of a lot better than today. Napier goes wild for St. Patricks Day...it's the craziest thing since EVERY other night except for Saturdays, it is completely dead. So, for the big event, a large group from the hostel put on some green and went out to a pub nearby & got drinks. Then, to make the evening even better, part of our work crew came out as well! It was wonderful =) After the pub, Sonja & I ended up going on a food run with Hayley & Karl from work, while chef Carl & Marc from work went to the beach to build us a little bonfire. We met them on the beach with the food & we all sat there next to our nice cozy bonfire until 3:00 am talking & sharing some laughs. Awesome evening! I love love love our co-workers.

The next exciting evening on the agenda is this upcoming Tuesday when Carl, one of our amazing head chefs from work, and his fiance Megan are having Sonja & I over for dinner! I can't even describe how excited we are...the food is going to be amazing & the company will be some of the best. We are soooooooo looking forward to a gourmet meal...Carl definitely found his calling when he became a chef. Leaving Napier is going to be so bittersweet. Sonja & I have already become so attached to the people from work---we are all like one big family & it feels as though we have known them for ages. Well, I will write more in a couple of days.


Cheers,
Ash