On the lighter side...

I thought it was time for a cheerier post on this rather intense blog of mine. I have been meaning to place a proper update on here for a few months now but then summer walked out the door dragging September behind it and suddenly I find myself in October. Since I last wrote about my work and life a few things have changed. I am NOW(oops) assistant manager at a cafe under the same management I was working as a server for.
The new role is both stretching and enjoyable at the same time. We have a small staff and for the most part they are my greatest blessings every day. We employ three Ecuadorians for our cooks, who are at various levels of English, and I am at the bottom level of Spanish, which can make it interesting.
The cafe is also a live music venue in the evenings which adds a great aspect. The room often fills up with foot tapping, humming, and swaying fans. Normally I love all the shows we have. Our little place is like Cheers, we have a set group of regulars that not only look after us but each other. The other night I was given a pumpkin by an older gentleman who comes in quite often. He was quite concerned I would see the pumpkin as a tangible pick up line. It is one of those cafe's you read books about and wonder if those type of places still exist. So that is a but of the work part of my life.
My sister and I recently traveled to Europe for a whirl-wind back packing trip. It was only ten days but it went wonderfully slow. We had a brilliant time and enjoyed every moment, except a flight to paris that had a little too much lightening and altitude dropping :).

. We stopped at Bodenseehof in Germany, which is the English speaking torchbearers. My sister was a student there a few years ago. We attended a lecture and Sunday service, as well as talked with the staff some. I love feeling apart of the torchbearer family. It was such an encouragement. From there it was a quick two night stay outside of London.

After that it was on to italy.....Venice of course. A soggy sort of city that utterly stole my heart.
Every where you look there seem to be a thousand pictures to paint and a million stories to write. We only had two days there and the second one drenched us in rain. So we went from cafe to cafe getting cappuccinos and trying to make our back packs fit inconspicuously beneath tables.

After Venice it was on to Paris, France and a dusty little flat where we rented a sitting room and bedroom. Our host burst in every morning with croissants, coffee and a few hesitant English words, and then she would rush off again. We loved Paris though, the Louvre was breathtaking as was Notre Dame. We were not as fond of the Paris underground, but the espresso made up for any transportation difficulties.