Spring has Sprung...

Spring has arrived!!! At least I hope it has. Last night was our time change. This is always a little bummer for me, and not for the reason you may think. I have never understood those who struggle with only an hour difference with the time change. It's only an hour... but I guess only those who understand my sleeping patterns (or my lack of sleeping) would understand why 1 hour doesn't throw me off. The reason I don't like time change is that the US time and European time changes do not fall on the same night. So, that means for a week or two I am one hour closer to my family, which seems to make a huge difference in the ability to catch my nieces and nephews on skype, before I am passing out for the night. But, time change has sprung us forward and I am enjoying the last few rays of sunlight at 7:30pm. It's amazing how a little more sun can change the perspective and energy level. I have also started to train for the 10k I will be running while I am home. This week was a challenge getting back to a running plan, but it's the good kind of challenge when you feel a relief and freedom in running again.

What does spring mean for the cafe?? It means we pull out all of the outside furniture and sneak outside for breaks in the sunshine. So far this month has proven that each week is inconsistent. It seems that whenever we think that we have figured out a pattern with our customers, it changes. We must accept the inconsistency. But, we have had more people in the evenings, there is something about having sun that keeps people out in the evenings. This is a good thing for us! :) We have been making a lot of contacts with families in the evenings. We have also been bonding with our volunteers and as a team. The atmosphere in the cafe has lightened and even when we are really busy their is still an attitude of joy and fun and friendship. And this attitude, I think, has spread to our customers as well. The mother groups have become so comfortable with us and the cafe that they almost treat it as their own living room. They lounge on the couches and babies are crawling everywhere. Obviously this is both good and bad. But, I think it proves the need for a place like ours, a place where people can feel at home, welcomed, and comfortable. We also have a number of our volunteers who find this like home as well. It has often become a place where we hang-out and enjoy being together in fellowship in the evenings. Ahhh Spring... everyone happy and feeling the freedom from the dark winter.