Another one!

Well, I've been slacking on blogging. Sorry! A lot has happened for me since I've been back home from West Valley. I went back to work at the Idaho Falls Olive Garden the day after I got home. Well, that night (I had a Friday night off!!!), I got a call from my General Manager. He was being sneaky and he totally had a smile in his voice, so I knew that something was up. He asked me if I had the Regional Directors phone number. I told him that I probably had it on an e-mail from him somewhere, but he gave it to me and told me I needed to call him the second I hung up with him. I asked him, Tyler, what was going on, and he told me I was in big trouble. I thought NO WAY! Then, I rationalized that if I was in as big of trouble as Tyler said I was, then Jerid (the Director) would have called me. SO, I called Jerid, and of course he didn't answer the phone. I was freaking out! My heart was beating, and I could not, for the life of me think of what this phone call was about! So, about a half hour later, Jerid calls me back...Long story short - Jerid asked me to do ANOTHER opening for a new restuarant! This one is in Sparks, Nevada (pictured above...). I was hoping to get into this opening, but the roster for Certified Trainers has been full for quite some time! Lucky for me, one of the server trainers just got promoted to management, so the Divisional Training Manager (DTM) that is over the Denver Division (her name is Tab) called Craig (the DTM from Florida who did the West Valley opening) and asked who he thought would be a good replacement trainer - and he picked me!
So, this opening will be on May 25, so I have to be in Nevada by May 17! I'm so excited! It's great exposure and it's really fun too. I love training! Plus, the money is good too!! :) Anyways, Mitch is home now, and it's been really fun to have him here too - but it's a bit of an adjustment to live with a boy....ewww. Haha, it's not really THAT bad, but it's different!
THE END.

Ahhh, HOME

There really isn't another word that invokes such comforting and relaxing thoughts as "home". Ahh, I returned home yesterday from my "work vacation" and even though I was really having a great time in West Valley, I really did miss home and my family and friends. West Valley was a great learning opportunity for me, and also a time for me to grow and develop as a leader. I am excited to bring everything that I've learned back home into my restaurant, and I hope that I can do it in a way that is helpful and fun to others. Here are a few photos from my little work vacation and I'll talk a little more about them later on in the week.

Tonight, Mitch comes home!!!! YAY!!!

This is Craig Soles, DTM (Divisional Training Manager). He came to us from Orlando, Florida. He did not enjoy the snowstorms that visited us this March...

Let's see....Here we have Jim, Kristian, Patrick, and Vince. Jim and Kristian are both Certified Trainers (like me!) and Patrick is a manager in St. George, and Vince is the Culinary Manager at the new West Valley Olive Garden.
Me and Summer....at Tocano's. We were stuffed by the end!

This is Levy, Corey, ME, Rique, and Angie...All are CT's except for Angie, she's also a manager at West Valley. This isn't all of my photos, but just a few!

Overworked Syndrome

I think I'm ready for another crazy week - I think... I've got so much going on that it can be a bit daunting to look at my calendar and be enthusiastic about it. Mostly, my calendar consists of work - but who's doesn't? But work is becoming different to me...somehow more of a chore than ever before. I know it sounds wierd, but I think I don't love my job anymore. Do I really not love my job, or am I suffering from what most Americans are suffering from - Being Overworked?

My job used to consist of just going to work when I was scheduled, serving the tables, collecting my tips, and then I was free to leave. Now, my job has had a new layer added to it - F.O.L. It's short for Foundations of Leadership and it is what a very wise former manager of mine used to say is a "Stepping Stone" to MANAGEMENT. Ahh, management. The Golden word for success? I'm not so sure anymore. Allow me to elaborate. When I started with Olive Garden, it was merely another job so I could get the bills paid. During training, I saw many attractive things about the company that I liked. I had worked for other "corporate" restaurants before, and I really wasn't bothered by all of their "policies" and such. I wanted to move forward with my infantile career at Olive Garden. I wanted to be a trainer. Then a manager. Then a General Manager. Then, maybe a Director, or a Divisional Training Manager. All of these titles were so appealing to me. And I wanted it! So, for the next 2 years I worked my butt off for the Olive Garden, along with the managers that I was working for - and also the managers that I would soon work for. But, for all of the work and effort that we were all putting into Olive Garden, we weren't getting a whole lot in return. One manager recieved empty promises after empty promises and finally was fired. Yeah, fired. This is mainly because a new manager made her way to our humble restaurant and desperately wanted this one managers job - and she would do anything to get it. And, to make a long story short, she did. Another manager was fired a short time later for purchasing a game system from an employee. A disgruntled and jealous employee decided that this manager was paying too much attention to the employee he bought the game system from, so she told another manager. He was promptly fired as well. Another manager was lost because he simply was too new, and didn't really understand ALL of the "rules" in a way that would have suited him.
All of this happened in a short period of time. Around 3 months. I like to think of it as a manager a month. Slowly, the glamour and the attraction to making a career with Olive Garden started to dim and dwindle.
I am finishing the F.O.L., my stepping stone, and then who knows where that will take me. I am really starting to doubt if I will have a future with this company. It's scary. Scary to not know. Change is the only constant thing in our lives.
Oh yeah, and Oprah said "Doubt means NO!" Maybe I should start listening to my internal warning signs - and also to Oprah...Is it really telling me what I think it is, or am I twisting the feelings and warnings to say what I want it to say?
I can't be sure.