If it's Wednesday, it must be Weinhard

I am an old movie fan, and lately, the classic flick, The Three Faces of Eve starring Joanne Woodward, has been on my mind. Probably because, in a small way, I feel like my life is emulating that story. I know I only have one personality, but I have three "careers" happening at once, on overlapping days and two "start of the week" days. It can all make me a little crazy.

Monday morning is the start of my Monday through Friday job as a Los Angeles insurance broker. I field questions from clients (phone and email) while negotiating with insurance companies, reviewing contracts, proposals, and quotes for my client's policies. Go back to the insurance companies to renegotiate better pricing and coverage terms, which then, of course, means we have to rewrite the proposal to incorporate the various changes. There is also the occasional claim (fire, burglary, auto accident) to report, negotiate settlements and review the settlement terms with my clients.

Wednesday morning starts my Wednesday through Saturday life at the café. Set the tables, make the iced tea, clean bathrooms, sweep floors, wait tables, clear tables, ring up sales, answer phones, keep reservations straight, inventory wine and beer; end of the day, sit with Daniel, and over a glass or two of wine, review the day (what sold, what didn't, menu changes), all while checking my email to check on my insurance clients. At home, I start the laundry. The cloth napkins are washed, dried, and folded to be ready for the next day.

I am learning the "art" (or is it torture) of QuickBooks, SquareUp, and all the other pieces of accounting and bookkeeping that go along with owning a business. This work has always been the bane of my existence. I don't think I've balanced or reconciled a checking account since 1985!

Intermittently, I try to keep my garden alive and thriving, do our laundry, play some tennis, feed the dog (essential), and my somewhat newfound favorite job; writing this column.

Some mornings I wake up, lay in bed for a few minutes to orient myself to determine what day it is, what job I'm doing that day, and hope it's finally Sunday.

On Sunday, both Daniel and I are catatonic. Although lately, somehow, I have stored up enough energy to play some morning tennis with Angel, who's the star of the Whitman College Women's Tennis Team. Besides being extraordinarily talented, she is gracious and astute enough to see that I need a few more water breaks than I did last year when we played.

But here's the thing: both my insurance and restaurant careers have similarities. It's about people and service, a social focus that suits my personality. It's what I thrive on. Being a social person, I enjoy talking and listening to people. Even in Los Angeles, where spontaneous conversations at a Starbucks were often about the audition someone thought they would get but didn't, or the best plastic surgeon to use for whatever needed lifting that week, I enjoyed the interaction.

Here in the Touchet Valley, its surrounds, and at the restaurant, I have a chance to meet and talk to professional farmers (there's a lot more to wheat than I ever imagined). I've also met extraordinary gardeners who have helped me become an almost accomplished amateur gardener, photographers, artists, musicians, winemakers, and brewers.

Exhaustion, tired eyes, and confusion are a small price to pay for the friends and acquaintances I've met and the conversations I have every day. Whatever the day of the week it is, it's less important than what happens that day.