Grace Under Pressure

I've always believed that I respond well when put under pressure. That belief has certainly been put to the test during the last few weeks.

Here's a snapshot of our life right now:

- The business (restaurant) in Texas has required two impromptu trips to deal with management/staffing
- We are wrapping up a house we are renovating/flipping
- Got a call from our adoption agency couple weeks back that we will be traveling to Taiwan a month earlier than we thought to pick up Ehren
- Doing our best to get Ehrens's room put together and acquire requisite baby paraphernalia (see previous item)
- My dad's house in Texas closed- requiring coordination of estate sale, etc.

Here's the question of the week- How do you respond when you're unexpectedly forced into a completely new setting, new circumstances, new people and everyone Is looking to you for answers, solutions....leadership? Or to put a finer point on it, it's Sunday morning, there's a diner full of customers, you're kitchen staff just lost four people in the past few days(including your head cook), one of the remaining cooks called in "sick", the city's flooding from 9 inches of rain and a roof leak just collapsed the ceiling over a table.

What to do? About the time the ceiling collapsed on a customer's table, I had to laugh. It was either that or break down crying, and noone wants to see a grown man weep while trying to enjoy a western omelette.