Origami 101, and Other Things

You may recall from my cruise last year that I participated in two Origami sessions on the ship, and I was hooked.  Regardless of my gnarly fingers, I was able to manipulate the paper to create several incarnations, particularly pleased with my Frog, a good luck symbol for travelers.

So when, months ago, Manager Rhonda was jotting down ideas for activities for the park's 25th Anniversary in August, I volunteered to teach an Origami class.

"I didn't know you knew Origami," hairdresser Katy exclaimed.

"I don't - but we all learned those paper-folding-finger-things in grade school (remember?), so how hard can it be to teach?"

I generally leap before looking, so this wasn't an unusual action for me.  Whenever I'm teaching myself something new I generally purchase more supplies than necessary because I hate discovering mid-stream I'm missing something.  I did the same thing with the Origami.

Over the months I ordered a half-dozen types of paper, a couple of books and got crackin' until I had my supplies and 'lesson plan' together.  Spoiler:  the class was well attended, and a good time was had by all.

But in the meantime, I also agreed to make Cake Pops for the dessert buffet, paint some signs for the park and learn new Ukulele tunes for the staff meeting.  Definitely learned a lesson:  Sure, I'll get everything done, but at 69 why should I overextend myself like that?  Nobody really expects anything out of people my age anymore anyway.

I only have to do this ONCE, a statement I remind myself whenever I'm tackling something difficult, unusual, or just a pain in the ass.

First came Ukulele Time, I can't figure out how to upload the video; but I performed, "On Top of Spaghetti" for my co-workers, who cheerfully joined in.  I'm developing a repertoire, should I need to perform on the street some day.

I also played a bit of, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips," a special request from Bill, that was fun, too, even without mimicking Tiny Tim's falsetto voice.

Following my disasterous cake pop experience, I became nervous about the upcoming fête.  I researched online some more, and bought the spendy but absolutely vital-for-me thinner to add to the coating.  It can be substituted with white vegetable oil, but I bought the Wilton brand and created these pale green Lemon pops.

Made all the difference in the world.  I was told that sometimes the climate affects baking, which I've decided must be true for us here, a block from the beach with our share of fog.  I baked three batches within a week, discovering that the ratio of ingredients I was developing varied slightly from others.

I decided to make my life easier by leaving the pops to harden upside down rather than dripping down the sticks.  I'm not selling them, and people seem to devour them just the same.

I'd have to say that I was most comfortable while painting the signs, of course.  Rhonda had been talking about them for months but we only got going on them a couple weeks prior to the anniversary.

I was never pushed to finish them by a particular date, but I knew it would be nice for the party so I hustled.  Bill cut the boards, Rick shaped and sanded them and I painted 18 of them over the course of a week.  Drying between coats took most of the time.

The managers were delighted with the results, as were the owners.  The final results weren't what anyone expected, but they shoulda known after seeing my teardrop.  These were the first things I'd painted since Christmas and if felt good to be creative again.

So the summer is officially over and we're all thinking, Thank God!  This year we were particularly busy (and shorthanded), and sadly everyone agreed that visitors were nastier than in the past.  We also agreed it's the current climate, not only travellers. Fortunately, after three years of hearing cranky strangers bitch and take out their frustrations on the staff, I was so much calmer and better prepared.

There were times I was quite challenged maintaining my hospitable 'tude in public, but this year I think the worst thing I said was,

"Sir, are you trying to make my life miserable?"

Improvement.