my sister was texting me this morning while i was still asleep, telling me not to bother coming in to work today, that she'd manage the cafe on her own, because she didn't think it'd be busy with the bad weather. i opened my webcam app and took a look outside: no snow, just rain. since the worst of it was supposed to be overnight, it looked like we dodged another snowstorm that ended up becoming a frozen rainstorm.
i finally got out of bed around 9:30am. despite what my sister said this morning, there was no way she'd be able to man the cafe by herself if it even got the least bit busy. it took me 30 minutes to get ready before i left by 10am. there was slush on the ground and sleeting. i walked to the cafe with an umbrella, making sure it covered my backpack, which i didn't want to get wet. i wore my rain boots and my layered jacket; i knew i'd be sweating and my black puffy jacket would be much too warm.
i bumped into my sister right when she was leaving her place for the cafe. she didn't seem surprised to see me, even though earlier she told me not to come. i told her to contact my 2nd aunt and tell her not to come today.
we had customers before we even opened, a pair of girl friends who were waiting for 2 more to show up. once they all got here they finally ordered. they were chatty but quiet, though there incessant giggling was a little annoying. i worked in the back kitchen fulfilling food orders while my sister worked the front making drinks.
it was starting to look like we wouldn't get anymore customers today. our next customers didn't show up until 2 hours later. in the end we did get a few more customers, and made enough despite the bad weather to make it worthwhile. i even completed 2 chicken curry orders, which up until a week or so ago i didn't know how to do.
getting hungry by the afternoon and not having eaten anything yet today, i found some frozen spanakopita in the basement freezer and baked some on the air fryer setting in the breville oven. i cooked in the air basket alone, figuring there wouldn't be any drips, but close to the finish mark, i saw some pastries leaking so i quickly put a pan underneath the air basket. the spanakopita turned out pretty tasty, but could've spent a few more minutes baking for even crispier crust.
my mother called in the late afternoon, said my father needed to pick up some ingredients and could give me a ride back to belmont after we closed the cafe. it saved me from having to take the bus, which i was prepared to do, even checked out the schedule.
first thing i did when i got to belmont was go into the backyard to check the status of the solar panels. most of the snow had melted and slipped off the panels, including the ones on the sunroom. there was still a bit of snow, but with any amount of sun tomorrow it'd quickly melt. i also checked the yard for rabbit tracks. i still can't quit figure out how they're getting inside. during my inspection, i found a dead squirrel behind raised beds 1 and 2. not sure how it died.
every saturday i also get to check on the status of my aeroponic plants. each one is at various stages of growth. i'm starting to see a little bit of that exponential growth. the most mature mustard green have 5 leaves and a floret of additional baby leaves. even though some of them have long stems, they still seem to be growing well, which is a testament to a plant's natural survival ability.
my parents made dumplings for dinner. earlier when i got to belmont, the pressure cooker was leaking but my mother didn't think it was anything because she was too engrossed in watching tiktok videos on the tv, which she'd been doing since this morning. the 3qt instant pot ended up getting covered in muddy mung bean water. while waking the dumplings, my parents also got to use the baking mat my mother bought last weekend. i hooked up a clamp light in the kitchen so they could see better.
the dumplings were big because they had a lot of filling but i prefer dumplings with thicker skin. i ate with a soy-garlic-chili sauce, using a garlic press to crush the garlics.
after dinner my father gave me a ride back to cambridge. it was still snowing a little bit, but nothing that'd stick.
i watched the saturday night ABC-ESPN broadcast of the sixers-bucks game. milwaukee was on a 16-game winning streak, so naturally i was rooting for philly. the bucks were due for a loss, and tonight it finally happened, sixers winning in glorious fashion in a game where they came back from an 18-point deficit to win it. now the celtics are just a half game behind the bucks. if only boston didn't lose to the nets last night! that was such a traumatic game, i didn't even mention it in my blog post yesterday. celtics play the knicks sunday night, fingers crossed they win it.
i watched the latest saturday night live hosted by travis kelce. i wasn't planning on watching it because i'm neither a fan of kelce or kansas city. but nothing else good was on plus i tuned in out of habit. it was actually pretty funny (SNL has been killing it this season).