Hi Dad! I hope that you are enjoying your new device!! I am thinking of you this morning so I thought I would put up a quick blog post. I hope you were able to get it working on your new toy, whatever it is.
I'm counting hours now! It's 103 hours until I pick Jackie up from the airport! I am delighted that my deployment here at the Bernerhof is wrapping up. It's been tough turning over the reins to the new innkeepers. Their priorities and our priorities are so different. That was bound to be the case, but I still cringe when I see something I don't like that never would have happened had Carla and I been running the inn. Case in point is the dishes. Carla and I always made washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen top priority. In our opinion, there were a few reasons for making keeping the kitchen clean a priority, perhaps the most important one being that neither of us can stand dirty dishes in the sink. But, there are a couple of other really important reasons for keeping the kitchen clean. First, anyone can walk in the kitchen at any time. To see last night's dishes on the counters in the morning just is not cool. Second, you are always prepping your next meal. You need those dishes and the counter space to do that. But, with our new innkeepers, I am consistently walking into the kitchen hours after (and sometimes the next morning after) the last event in the kitchen and the kitchen is still a mess from the previous meal. Saturday, I finished the breakfast dishes at 2PM, after running errands. I shouldn't have, but I did. This morning, upon seeing the cooking class mess from yesterday afternoon still strewn about, I got my coffee and went back upstairs. Jeremiah did tell me how much fun they had snowshoeing with their dog last night. Our priorities are just different.
It appears as if they may be more effective at sales and marketing. They are selling tons of gift certificates, which is great. With each gift certificate they put together a nice little packet to send out, which is a nice touch. That seems to be an effective way to sell more gift certificates. It's a fact that you can't do it all and it appears to be true that you will focus first on what you enjoy and what you think is most important. For Carla and I, we focused on the food, taking care of our guest's immediate needs, and keeping the inn clean and well organized, including the kitchen. When that was done we worked on marketing and sales, the books, and the myriad of other things that needed to be done. Who's to say what is the best way? I just know it's difficult for me to still be here and see it being done differently. I am glad that the hours are ticking down.
I have a damn cold that won't go away. Carla and Scamp had the same cold an it last a couple of weeks, so I don't have any expectations that this cold will be gone before Jack gets here. I just hope with rest, zinc, and vitamin C I will start feeling a bit better pretty soon.
I am putting together a recipe book for the new innkeepers, per Dick's request. I have had a few other people ask for a copy (I guess that is a compliment!) so that's what I am working on today. I hope to have it done in a few hours, and then I will start closing out November books. Those are my last two projects before I call this gig a wrap and I move home and one step towards my next goal, buying my own inn!!
Have a great day!! I'm going to give it my best shot, in spite of this cold!
