I suck at lying

In a desperate attempt to make some money last week I signed up with a secret shopper service. My experience with secret shoppers came from working at Starbucks and having them warn us about them. At Starbucks the shoppers would take the drink into the bathroom to measure the amount of foam and test the temperature. We also had very important requirements like to ask the guests (Starbucks' word) if they specifically want a Hawaiian Bagel. Not just a pastry, or a bagel, it had to be a Hawaiian Bagel, with cream cheese. And the fear of asking a secret shopper if they wanted a pastry was very real. I thought I would get fired if I got caught asking a "guest" if they wanted "something to eat" but at the same time I felt stupid suggesting to every customer that they needed a Starbucks Classic Coffeecake so I never actually did that.

Anyway, my first assignment was not Starbucks or anything useful and interesting. I had to call a childcare center and pretend to be 5 months pregnant and ask for information. I was not that excited about this because, having never been 5 months pregnant, I didn't even know how to make things up. I had never thought about what I would want out of a childcare center so when she asked me that question I think she figured me out. I was like, "umm, I want you to watch my soon to be born child, like, all day and stuff." And then I was supposed to ask all these weird questions so I asked, "uhh, what kind of classes and teachers do you have?" Thinking to myself, what kind of freakin' class are they going to have for a 6 week old infant. Gymnastics? She obviously had me figured out by that point and just started rattling off all the propaganda for the center. I felt dirty lying to her and stupid for being so bad at it.

All that work and all I get out of that is $9, a packet of information about the childcare center (that will be useful if I ever have a baby in Lexington MA), and this blog post! Now they want me to take my cat to a vet in the area, which would be a free vet trip and less lying, so I'm considering it...

Oh, and an update on last night's dinner. I am horrible at making mashed potatoes! I need you Abra! My potatoes turned out so gummy we could barely swallow them. Any advice on less gummy mashed potatoes?

Frenchie's steak with chanterelles was very yummy as usual though! Cook the chanterelles with butter until slightly soft, add some cream until warm and pour on top of a prepared steak. Voila! Beautiful French meal.