To put this in perspective, before I could start blogging this morning, I had to wake up an hour early to clean my bedroom. My room is not big, in fact, it's tiny. But it was a mess! My weekend was hectic and long, a lot of work and, in the end, a ton of fun. It took a lot out of me, but it left me with a lot of great memories. Now, it's time to get back on track. Just in time for another weekend.
The big deal last weekend was our second Murder Mystery Weekend. The theme was a 1942 high society birthday party. Truly A. Snob was turning 18 and her parents threw a coming out party for her. Everyone was here to celebrate Truly becoming a woman! To give you an idea of the nature of the mystery, here is a list of some of the guests at Truly's party.
- Truly's dad, Charles H. Snobb, one of the wealthiest men in the nation, Charles inherited a vast fortune at an early age including two oil fields, a horse track and Snobb Steel Inc;
- Truly's mom, Marie D. Snobb, daughter of the deceased presidential candidate Affrey D. Nott, met Charles H. Snobb at one of her father's convention. Enamored of her beauty and extraordinary charm, Charles almost immediately proposed to Marie, who was enamored at the size of Charles' estate. Now, Marie is the owner of her own underwear business, and she is known as the lady who put lace in underwear.
- Fuller S. Gold--Many years ago, Charles H. Snobb lost a cousin to a freak mining accident. This cousin, Fuller S. Gold, was thought to have been buried in a cave-in which happened while he was searching for gold in Colorado. A few weeks ago, Charles received a call from Fuller himself who it seems had escaped death but had been walking around with amnesia until he saw an advertisement for Snobb Steel. Suddenly, he remembered who he really was and has returned home to the Snobb Estate to surprise Charles who he has not seen since they were children.
- Sue D. Huktov-- The famous Russian defector has become one of the best known singers in the world. Her seductive performances always leave her fans, especially the male ones, shouting for more.
- Guido Raviolli--Guido is the epitome of everything a father does not want in a son. . . unless, of course, that father is Chet Raviolli, the late Cheese King of the country. When Chet died last year of natural causes, Guido inherited a vast fortune and dozens of cheese factories. Crass, smelly, lazy and utterly annoying, Guido may not have a single gratifying bone in his entire body, and he has only been invited to Truly's celebration because his is the neighboring estate.
- Governor Knottworth Spitt-- The aging governor has been in some sort of office for well over 20 years, and people are still trying to figure out if he has actually accomplished anything. Most people didn't even know he existed, but with the outbreak of war people are starting to look at their political leaders more closely to see who got us into this mess. It is this kind of voter awareness that is making the Governor nervous about the upcoming election, and he hopes to win some votes by attending Truly's party.
- Scoop R. Duper-- As the ace reporter for the “National Gossip,” Scoop has been sent to cover the Snobb party. Never have so many members of high society gathered in one place, and there are sure to be some great stories here. And he will get them no matter what it takes.
- Father Avi Ross-- As the Snobb family’s faithful priest, Father Avi Ross has come to bless Truly in her ascension into adulthood. Although the Snobbs have not been to the St. Bernard Church for over three years and haven’t invited him, the good Father knows a chance to spread God’s love when he sees one. And if he gets a chance to ask the wealthy guests for a meager donation in between Hail Marys then so much the better.
- Coleman Pinch--As the butler, Coleman Pinch takes it upon himself to make sure the entire Snobb estate is running smoothly. His no-nonsense demeanor may not make him the life of the party, but then Coleman hates parties. He believes in keeping things in strict order and he is the most valued of all the Snobb servants.
- Wanda Ringfingers--Wanda has been the Snobbs' head maid for quite some years, even though Marie D. Snobb complains that whenever Wanda cleans the room there seems to be something missing afterwards. Tonight, Wanda has been asked to serve the guests, and she is only too happy to do whatever she must to keep the guests smiling.
- Karen A. Child--Karen is Truly's nanny and has been with the family ever since Truly was born. While traveling, she met an American sailor who proposed to her. They were married on spot, and the sailor was shipped out immediately overseas to fight in the war . . . but not before Karen became pregnant. Two years later, Karen is proud mother of her own baby boy, Brad T. Child, to love until her husband returns home.
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| Sue D. Huktov and Fuller S. Gold |
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| Scoop R. Duper and Truly A. Snob |
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| Father Avi Ross |
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| Governor Knottworth Spitt |
The Murder Mystery is a weekend long affair. It starts on Friday evening, after check-ins, with an 8:00 reception. The purpose of the reception is for everyone to meet John Bailey, the Murder Mystery host, introduce their characters, and for John to go over the rules for the weekend. Carla and I prepared light snacks for this event: cheese and crackers; guacamole, salsa and chips, and a platter of mini-cookies. Of course, this was after being open for dinner that same evening.
On Saturday morning we had normal breakfast service. When we have this many guests in the house we have to both be up at 6 to start prepping for breakfast which goes from 8AM to 10AM. After breakfast it takes us about 1 1/2 hours to do all the dishes and clean the kitchen. As soon as breakfast was over and the dishes were done, I started prepping for the 5:15 cocktail party and Carla started putting the finishing touches on all of her desserts. Here is a photo of her dessert buffet:
Unfortunately, I know from first hand experience that everything tasted as good as it looked. She made peach cobbler cupcakes (everyone needs that recipe!), homemade Baby Ruth Bars (it was 1942), a birthday cake for Truly with lemon curd and raspberry filling, a triple chocolate mousse parfait and apple roses made with puff pastry and Nutella. The fact that I know how all of these desserts tasted gives you an idea of how far I strayed from my plan over the weekend.
Once we got the desserts and hors d'eouves complete, it was time to start getting ready for dinner service. Dinner wasn't off the table before we started prepping for our breakfast buffet the next morning. On Saturday work started in the kitchen at 6AM and was not over until after midnight. Then I had to be back in the kitchen at 5AM Sunday morning to get the cinnamon rolls out of the walk-in so they could start rising and be ready for breakfast at 8AM. It was a long day on too little sleep the night before.
Most of our guests checked out by 11AM on Sunday, which gave Carla and I a little time to relax, once we got furniture put back where it belonged and the kitchen cleaned up. Much to my delight, four of our guests did not check out Sunday. Friends of mine from Kansas City had joined us for the Murder Mystery weekend and they had booked their stay for an extra day! Jon, Morgan, Taylor and Ashley spent the day on Sunday doing a bit of sight seeing, while I rested and read a book. They got back to the inn around 6:00PM. Four of us played a closely contested game of croquet (which is a lot of fun, when you play by the official rules!) and then all five of us went out to dinner. I am not sure what time we got back to the inn, but I am pretty sure it was after 10PM. That is when we decided to start playing a game of Settlers of Catan. We played with the expansion pack that I got for Christmas, as well as the Sea Faring pack, so we had to get pretty creative with our board set up and spend some time negotiating the rules we were playing by. I have no idea what time we actually started playing, but I do know that the game didn't end until 3AM. Taylor won, by the way. We played in the dining room and we were so tired when the game was over that we left everything where it was, as my friends were the only guests in the inn.
My plan was to sleep in a bit and clean up the dining room later in the morning, but I couldn't do it. I woke up around 6AM and all I could think of was what a mess the dining room was in. I knew once 8AM rolled around, anyone could walk in the inn for any number of reasons, and I couldn't stand not cleaning it up. So I was out of bed by 6:30 and had the dining room put back together by 7:15. Then I went in the kitchen, which wasn't too bad, except for the floor. It was filthy. By the time everyone else got up at 8:00, I was about done mopping the kitchen floor and we were ready to cook breakfast.
So, I had way too little sleep for several days in a row, I ate and drank off plan for several days in a row, and now I have to hit reset. Again. I can't say I regret the ridiculously late night with my friends. I had so much fun playing games and being silly! I don't get to do enough of that as I don't have friends here to play games with, and I love playing games. It has taken me several days to begin to get caught up on everything that got neglected over the big weekend. Now it's time to take care of me again.
There is a lesson in all of this. First, even though managing the inn is starting to feel like a reasonable job and when things are normal Carla and I can manage to find time to take care of ourselves, special events still push us beyond the realm of a reasonable work day and into the territory of overworking ourselves to the point of ignoring our own well being. Second, when I get over tired, I make terrible food decisions.
Yesterday, I had a moment when I said to myself, "I really want to be thin again. I am happier when I am thin. I love the way it feels. I just need to eat less." I know that sounds so simple, but in a way, it is that simple. I do love the way I feel and the way I look when I am thin. I have "an issue with food." I use it as a drug, as a coping mechanism, and I need to stop doing that. I will succeed at this.
I like innkeeping. We will figure this out, Carla and I, and I will get healthy and fit, again. The mind is there. The body will follow. You can count on it!
Right now, I have to shower and get downstairs.
See you tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!
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