How Much Chocolate is Too Much Chocolate?

To say that my kitchen is not 

exactly functional for normal use 

right now would

be an understatement.

It is much more like a factory.

The boys come in and put their 

Hot Pockets in the microwave

or frozen pizzas in the oven

but regular cooking is rare

at this time of the year.

Sad.

But true.

So, the other evening 

Mom, Chelsea and I met Warren

at the Olive Garden.

Not our usual place to grab a bite

but it just sounded sooooo good.

Our server was one who seemed to 

be going through the motions 

enthusiastically.

What do I mean by that?

Well, she was very animated but you 

could tell that it was all canned, 

so to speak.

Very been there, done that.

I wasn't overly impressed but 

we weren't there to be entertained

so it really didn't matter.

However, as time went on 

there was a thaw in her personality.

She began doing special favors.

We began chatting and her sense of 

humor became evident.

Finally she left the bill and a huge

handful of mints.

Our eyes got big and we each had

a "few".  Then she came back and 

dropped another huge handful on the table

declaring that she couldn't remember if 

she had given us our mints yet.

We laughed and I showed her my 

empty wrapper and asked if 

we made those disappear if we would 

get more.

Well, that was all of the encouragement

this lady needed.

Next thing we knew there was a goblet

full of Olive Garden mints in the center

of the table.

So, we ate some.

Then she asked if we wanted 

any dessert?

I pointed out that I thought we 

had kind of "done that".

She put her head back and 

roared.  She also agreed.

We prepared to leave with goody bag

in hand when didn't that silly lady 

bring another goblet full to dump 

in our bag.

Sheesh!

Chocolate mint overload.

So....if only the story ended here it would

have been more chocolate than this family 

needed, but alas, it does not.

You know by now that our Chelsea

is just a bit of a Starbucks fan.

So, our next stop before heading home 

was our favorite Starbucks store.

One of our favorite barrista's was there for 

the first time in a while.

He said he was happy to see us since it 

had been a while and we told him that he

was the one who had been missing.

He agreed.

He'd been on his honeymoon.

We were so happy for him!!

So...

I'm standing there waiting 

for for our drinks to be prepared 

when this young man

walks over with two very 

chocolaty desserts and says

"Shhh....don't tell anyone, 

but these are for you."

Did I mention....

they were very rich and very 

chocolatey and we had just eaten

about a ton of Olive Garden mints??

Oh. Dear.

But what was I to do?

I thanked him enthusiastically

and took the chocolate.

We shared it.

It was delicious.

No mint.

Just caramel and pretzels.

I so appreciate the servers of this

world.  Their jobs are not easy.

Recognizing that they are humans

with families, lives and struggles

is a good thing.

It makes our interactions with them

so much sweeter.

"Hug" a server today....

they will be shocked!

O.k. so not literally.

But just try asking them about 

their day...and smile!!

Not everyone they deal with 

is as nice as you are.

Who knows,
if they happen to be cleaning
out the dessert case at the end
of the night they may choose
to offer something to you
instead of putting it in the trash.
LOL