I'm a big girl now...

OK, so I'm sitting here at the bar, where I have been working all night. ALONE!!! This is the first night I've literally been ALL ALONE, working! Truth be told, I'm pretty damn proud of myself!

Now, sadly the reason I'm alone is that my baby brother is really sick. He started coming down with something last week, maybe Thursday night. Sore throat, then a cough the next day, then by Saturday, he really had something going on in his chest. He came in (after I opened) and says, "I coughed something up at home that looked like a Wacky Wallcrawler!"

Pretty image, huh? By the time we closed Saturday night, he was really hurting. Sunday, he didn't even come to dinner with us (my daddy, sister and I) and then called while we were eating dinner to ask if I could go open the bar. He came in about 8, but looked like hell. He sat on a stool at the bar the whole time, but at least he was there to answer any questions I had. I knew he was really sick because he actually answered me, instead of saying, "Just move, I'll make it." like he usually does. By 10, I could see he was getting worse, so like a good big sister, I went over to feel his head, and he was definitely running a fever. I immediately gave him 2 Advil, and sent him home. It was dead by midnight, so I closed early and went home to get some sleep because...

My daddy left for Italy today :( That's why we were out for dinner last night, kind of a farewell dinner I guess. I took him to the airport like I always do. My sister and her girls met me and my son over at Daddy's for a final good-bye this morning, but my brother never made it. I didn't even want to call him because I was hoping he was sleeping. When we finally left for the airport, I called him, but he didn't answer. He called back a few minutes later, and I had indeed woken him up. He told me to call him back when we got to the airport, which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. He was still sleeping then, and I feel bad that I woke him up again, but he wanted to say good-bye. I told him earlier, the first time I woke him up, that he should try and sleep all day, and that I would open the bar again. By the time we got back from the airport, I had just enough time to jump in the shower, get dressed and get over to the bar to open. At some point, my brother woke up and called to check on me, and I told him to stay in bed and not come in at all. And lo and behold, he never came in! It's now almost 1:00am, and I worked a whole night by myself!! Yay me!! I have made dozens of martinis, and even made one up. Ooo, and it was yummy, too! More on that later...

Tonight has been interesting to say the least. There were some really fun groups of people in and out of here tonight, and I've really been having a great time. And, no one has complained about my drinks! Another night on my own, and I'll be a pro! I'll be flipping bottles, a la Cocktail, in no time! Haha! I crack myself up!

Earlier tonight, a woman came in and was looking at the drink menu and decided she might like a German Chocolate Martini, but was a little confused because the menu said there was citrus vodka in it. I looked, and sure enough, the recipe I had said citrus. Hmmm, sounds wrong, right? So, instead we put together our own ingredients, and I must say, this thing kicked ass!! This is what we came up with:

3 parts Malibu Coconut, 1 part Frangelica, 1 part Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and a splash of cream. Put in a shaker full of ice, shake vigorously, strain into a martini glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

I started this post at about 11ish, and it is now 3:30am. I just got home and I'm wiped out! But all in all, I had a GREAT night. Lots of fun people, and luckily for me, mostly big tippers! I came home with $140 tonight. Not bad, huh? I'm trying to ignore the fact that I worked nearly 10 hours, my legs are throbbing and I'm fighting to keep my eyes open right now. I'm going to focus on the fact that our total ring tonight was only about $360, and I made $140 in tips! That's more than 30%! Very nice, I must say. It looks like I have gas money this week!

At some point tonight, one of my good friends called to tell me her husband's cousin made the Olympic swim team tonight!! Very exciting! I'm far too exhausted to remember her name right now, but I'll try to come back tomorrow and update you. On that note, I must say good night!