Here Comes Summer

Well folks, this will be the last update from the Mystery Meat files for a while, as I am now officially off work! Ahh, the lazy hazy crazy days that stretch before me now...

Last day wasn't too bad. I actually had to come for a full day, instead of my usual three-hour shift. First thing in the morning, we began packing sack lunches. Rows upon rows of brown paper bags: insert PBJ, bag of chips, apple slices, carrots, cheese sticks. Rinse, repeat.

Then on to the cleaning. Now, while I'm sure my faithful readers would just love a blow-by-blow recap of this, I'll just mention two of the highlights.

One: we threw away two hundred pounds of cheese. Really, I counted. Apparently someone didn't rotate the stock properly, and cheese that was supposed to be fine all summer was apparently last year's cheese. It wasn't a "science experiment" by any stretch, but it was visibly freezerburned.

Two: I got a free chemical peel, I think. Commercial ovens suck to clean. I wore gloves, but it was still impossible to avoid getting some cleaner on me as I scrubbed, and within half an hour I did indeed have a couple of sores on my arms just above the end of the gloves. And for the higher ovens, I had to stand on a stool and reach waaaaay in, with my ample fanny sticking out like some off-kilter homage to Pooh's fateful visit to Rabbit's house. I got oven cleaner in my hair, even. Given the chemical burns on my arms, it's a wonder that didn't give me an interesting new do.

During all this, lunch time arrived and we had to stop cleaning periodically to pass out sack lunches and ring up kids one last time. I was very lenient, given the circumstances...though I wasn't specifically permitted to do so, I waved through the few kids who didn't have lunch money. It's the last day, it's a sack lunch that will be otherwise thrown away. Who cares? Mrs. Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day!

And so my lunchlady adventures have drawn to a close for the time being. I shall leave you with this little tidbit, from the white-board notice I was asked to draw up to remind the kids (in yet ANOTHER way) to pay up their accounts during the last week of school.