Housesitting and Friends Coming to Visit!

I'm currently housesitting for a couple from the church while they are on vacation. I'd forgotten how much I love my quiet time, and relaxing after a long day at work. My friends are gone until Sunday afternoon, and I have been given the opportunity to take care of their cat (who needs absolutely nothing!) and water their plants (all the ones outside are taken care of by the rain we had today). Nice and easy, and on top of that, I get a comfy bed and was able to sleep last night! Another advantage is that because it is in the village, I am much closer to work and can sleep in an extra 10 minutes in the morning. Yay!!!
On a side note, my good friend Heather is coming to visit me soon! I'm super excited, and can't wait till the dates are finalized and the countdown can begin. Another good friend is coming in October, and those dates are finalized and I'm just as excited for her to see NY. Carmel wanted to come for my birthday, so she'll be here at the end of October. It will be so much fun to celebrate with her able to join my family for the week. I'll get to be a tourist again with her. Heather and I had a blast when she was here for the first time a couple years ago. Fun times!

Car Shopping

I absolutely hate car salesmen! With a passion! I don't think they should be allowed in business. They are awful, and they try their level best to take advantage of me. I actually had one guy chew me out royally for asking a friend's opinion and then not buying the car. He informed me that I was letting others rule my life and I should have just bought the car as is, without asking anyone else about it, because asking showed my weakness and proved that I was unable to handle decisions or choices myself. Wow. I tried to explain that I don't know cars, and he does, but the salesman told me that I must not like the car, since if I liked the car, I would have bought it at his price, and since I checked blue book (it was over $1000 less than he was trying to sell it for) and talked to others, he knew he wouldn't be able to help me anymore and I had better get his car back to him ASAP (I was using a different car while they cleaned the one I had been looking at). So after work I took it back, had a friend give me a ride to Bennington, and drop me off. My plan was to walk to various car dealerships and buy a car that night, since I had no vehicle and no way home, etc. Unfortunately, the places were all closed by the time I got there, so I stopped at the Rescue Squad (not knowing what I was going to do, stranded in Bennington). One of the guys was about to get off, and he said he'd give me a ride home. 5 min before he got off, a call came in and he had to leave. The other guys headed to dinner, so I was out walking, this time in the rain (a major thunderstorm had just begun). Within a minute I was soaked clear through, crying, without a destination or a friend. I walked over to the police department, and sat in the lobby as I called everyone I could think of to come pick me up. I finally reached Jason, and he drove over from West Hoosick to pick me up. I called another guy out there to take me to work in the morning, and then used the other employee's car to do deliveries. Our mechanic came to pick me up in a '65 split window corvette, and took me over to pick up our truck (he had been working on it that week). So after that, I was out of the desperate stage, although I still did, and am, looking for a car. I think I may have found one. Too soon to know, but hopefully in the next couple days. No more car salesmen!

A few changes at the coffee shop

I was about to head home from my trip to the Big Apple when I found out that we had an employee quit (for a better job) and two more were hired (kind of spur of the moment, I think). So when I returned, I jumped right into training the two new gals. The part of my job I like the least is training. Nothing against any of the trainees, it's just hard to train someone to do something when even I am not sure what I do to make it work just so. Such is the case with the espresso shot, and steaming the milk. Two things that seem easy until you try them. As each employee then finds out, there is a lot more to this job then handing out regular coffee, with cream and sugar. So many different aspects can make a shot of espresso bitter, too strong, too weak, and even give it an aftertaste. Only doing it 'just so' will make it work. So hours upon hours go into practicing it. My dad has been gone since the beginning of July, only returning last night, so in addition to my normal hours, I've been filling in for him. We are down to one remaining employee who knows the routine, and even she is heading to college soon. So I also had to be there during the new employees' shifts, to continue training. I'm about ready to be done with the whole 7 days/wk 10-15 hrs/day, and all the stress that goes with it. :) The 'new' gals are doing well, and one is already doing some shifts on her own, calling me with questions. I do believe things are going to be pretty much back to 'normal' soon. Or at least I hope.

More of NYC - part 2

Ok, so I have had an insane few weeks. No time to even get on, much less write anything. So, to summarize the rest of the NYC trip, we had an awesome time, did a ton of stuff, including the aquarium, Coney Island, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and a trip out to the Hamptons to visit Steve and his wife Sharis (I love that name!). It was really nice to have Mike and Scott there. Relaxing with friends is something I haven't had much of here. Steve and Sharis have an amazing house, and Steve took us on a tour to see some of the mansions the rich and famous people build. To me, Steve's house was a mansion! He has done so much to it, and it is still homey, with lots of room, and the hosts were wonderful. We had a barbecue (the famous Nathan's hot dogs) out on the porch, and I spent some time relaxing in the hammock by the in-ground pool and hot tub. Let's see, the aquarium was interesting, and I enjoyed seeing all the varieties and colors of the fish. There was a turtle that instantly brought back memories of home group - Dude!!! I managed to get some pretty good pictures, too. Coney Island was fun, walking on the beach after eating chili and cheese fries (REALLY good) and corn dogs (NOT great). The day we headed to see the Statue of Liberty was cool, but not bad. It was a good day for some pictures, and we weren't miserable because of heat and humidity (one of the days was REALLY muggy and I don't handle muggy very well). But this one was not, and while we spent some time on Liberty Island, the majority of it was spent on Ellis Island in the museum. Vic and Marco were the tour guides. Another day Marco took us to the Museum of Natural History, and then we headed downtown Manhattan (I think) to watch 'UP' at a theater - 3D even! Oh, it was wonderful to walk down the street, take the subway (though Marco always seemed to get mixed up at that point) and just have fun, being myself, without the stress of work or any particular schedule. Another day we went to a Mets game. I like baseball, though I'm not as into sports as those guys were. Walking around the stadium, seeing it from all angles, was cool. I even had my picture taken with the Reese's guy. :) Vic and Marco are both Italian, and one night we went to their friend's house (also an Italian) for a home-cooked italian meal. Mmm. Joey did a really good job, complete with wine and salad for starters, and then a goulash type dish with a different wine for the main course. Justin and Vinny are brothers who brought back memories of Mano. Though I didn't have a chance to talk to Justin much, Vinny came with us on the ferry to the islands, and then was also there at Steve's for the bbq, so I chatted with him a little more. Mary, Vic's sister, played the Wii and came downstairs in the evenings (I stayed at their house), and she was able to get off work for the bbq as well. One of my most enjoyable memories from the trip was my morning chats with Vic's mom, Peggy. The others slept in, so I went upstairs when I got up, and talked with her each morning. I don't think she minded, and I was so blessed to be treated as a part of the family. I wish they had been able to join us more often, but even so, they went to great effort to make sure we had anything we needed or wanted. Oh yeah, I can't forget the empanadas (is that right, guys?). Before the Mets game we went to this small place that made them, and just got a few to have during the game. They were sooo good! After the game, we went back and got a bunch more (30-40) and ate them all within a couple days. We did save a few to take to Steve's. Apparently Sharis loves them (I can see why!).
All those things are in random order, but the basic thing is we had a lot of fun. We came back from Steve's just in time to grab my things from the house, say goodbye to Tony and Peggy, and head out for Penn Station where I took the train home. What a trip!

NYC - part 1

NYC is amazing!!! Took a 22' skiff out around Jamaica Bay on Sunday afternoon, and I got to drive for most of it. In the 1st picture I was driving the boat with Russo's on the Bay catering hall in the background. I have so missed the ocean! It was just like Kodiak. If that was all we did, it would have made the entire trip worthwhile.

Ok, back up. I took the train to NYC on Sun morning, and Mike, Scott, and their friend Marco were supposed to come pick me up. They arrived after I had stood around waiting at Penn station for 45 min wondering what I would do if they didn't come. We took the subway back to Ingrassia's, where I'm staying, and then later Vic came over and took us to lunch at Gino's Pizza (the best pizza I've had yet!), and then out on the boat. Wow!
Yesterday(Monday) we walked down the road to a bagel place, that had lots of flavors, and the cinn/raisin one I had was huge and very filling. Then we left for the aquarium, after which we walked around Coney's Island. We had a great time - no schedule, no hurry, just walk, talk, and enjoy everything around us. We saw the show, where they had the pet sea lion do his tricks. They were actually pretty impressive, to the point of giving 'kisses' to the kids and people in the front row. After a short break when we got home, we headed over to Joey's house for dinner. He is an amazing cook, and makes the real stuff, since he's from Italy and loves to cook. We had a blast. Justin and Marco came over as well. White wine to begin, then salad, red wine, and he finished the meal off with a pasta/marinera dish that was spicy and delicious! Lots of real parmesan cut up for both the salad and the main dish. Mmm. All the guys have a lot of plans for what we'll be up to the next few days. I think a Mets game is in the works as well.
It's a much needed vacation, and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. The family we are staying with is Italian. Peggy and Tony are the parents, Mary is 22, and Steve and Victor are much older than she is, live nearby, and the whole family is very close. I had a chance to talk to Peggy a couple times, and Tony has been quick to make sure we have everything we need or want. Mary played Rock Band game Sunday night, and she is terrific on the drums. The trip has been great so far.

more 'wedding' pictures

wedding day!!

The homeschool gals had a mother-daughter night, where everyone dressed up formally, and Joanna, Mom and I went. They were having a bunch of the girls modeling some wedding dresses, and I was asked the night before to be a part. The wedding dress I wore was over 70 yrs old! I was worried I'd ruin it by moving, but it was a lot of fun walking down the aisle as a bride, in front of the mom's and all the other girls. It was well attended, and so much fun. As all of us girls were in the "brides' room" getting the wedding gowns on, we took a bunch of pictures (of course), so we have proof that for one night at least, we were beautiful brides!

mowing the lawn

Mowing the lawn at the farm is quite the job. Thankfully we have a riding lawn mower. A couple times, Joanna has ridden along with me as I did parts of it. A few scary moments for me when I thought I was about to roll the lawn mower over on top of me due to the steep hill. I had given Zachary, and then Joanna, my camera to play around with, and between the two of them, they took some good pictures. I'm sure I'll get them up soon. She of course had a blast, which was contagious, and we both ended up having a lot of fun.

headed for the big city!!!

I'm going to NYC! I leave tomorrow morning on my first train ride, and it will be headed down to the city to visit some friends from Idaho. I'm so excited! It's been crazy trying to juggle between doctor appts, car rentals, trying to get the shop ready for the week, doing stuff at home, packing (which hasn't been started as of yet), etc. You get the picture. Anyways, I should have some pics up from the trip in a week or so. I'll be gone until Friday, and am looking forward to some time away. The weather here is amazing today - a slight breeze, sunny with a few clouds, a litttle too warm, but the breeze makes it feel great! I just finished working, and as of 5 minutes ago bought my train tickets, and now I'm trying to figure out how I'll get the rental car returned to Brunswick (1/2 hr drive), after just finding out they closed at 12pm, though my car wasn't due back till 5pm. Hmmm. I'll try to be better at keeping up with this blog since I have more time on my hands this week. Right. We'll see how that goes. :) God bless you all. I think of so many of you that I wish I could see as well.

Pictures of my NYC trip

ok, so here are a few pictures of my New York City trip. I finally figured out the picture part of this. Aren't you proud of me? :) During the day, we took a ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and walked around Manhattan, and through Little Italy and Chinatown. We had an evening out down on Broadway, with a fancy dinner at Serafina's, and second row seats for the Broadway show, Chicago. One of the actresses tossed me the rose I'm holding in one of the pics.

Spring has sprung!!!

Wow, what a wonderful week, at least weather-wise! It's been gorgeous! Up to the 80's for several days now, and 90's today! Shorts and tank tops are out, and everyone is enjoying getting out in the sun. I've had to work every day, but I've started pulling my camping chair out and sitting outside reading between customers. A little bit of sun is a good thing. Just wish I tanned more than burned. Ugh. Oh well, it's well worth it.
My insur. company decided not to pay for some of my medical bills. Unfortunately, they've decided to stop covering the massages. Bummer! :) But the worst thing is they aren't covering chiropractor either, and those were both things helping me tolerate the pain, and therefore avoid going to the ER more often. I've looked into getting a lawyer, but it's overwhelming, and from the looks of it, not going to help me much. Hmmm. Gotta keep working on that end of things, I guess.
I am sooo excited to have some friends coming to visit this year. So I'm looking forward to June, July, and October. I'm also trying to get to Alaska, maybe in August, so there is potential for a busy summer and fall.
Work has slowed down even more, and it is rather boring now. I'm hoping that with the good weather, people will start to get out more. I took the afternoon off today, and have to get my car in to the garage now. The front brakes and rotors need changed. Ouch. I think I'll have him change the oil while he's at it, since it's been almost 11,000 miles since the last one. Oops.

Ben, Sarah, and Caleb's visit, and the week in general

After a week of doing all sorts of things, Ben, Sarah, and Caleb left on the 16th to head home to Spokane, WA. Caleb is adorable! I was able to hold him on a couple occasions, and he is the sweetest little guy! He has huge eyes, and doesn't miss much.

We were able to enjoy a Seder meal at the church with many others, which was really neat. A lot of people participated, and it was meaningful for all.
We took a day to tour Howe Caverns with the Phippens and many of our family. So much fun, and I was able to get some really good pictures. Caleb was content the whole time, and our crew thoroughly enjoyed it all. We drove our tour guide insane with questions he couldn't answer and comments to his monologue that he couldn't counter. Poor guy, but it was pretty funny. The stalactites and stalagmites kept even the youngest enthralled the whole time.
Afterwards, we went on to see the college mom went to years ago. The trip back became an adventure when mom got us lost and the hour trip took almost 3 hours. We teased her to no end, but unfortunately, after sitting so long in one position, my pain level increased rapidly, and by the time we made it home I could barely walk.
After 2 hours of every muscle seizing up and spasming almost continuously, we decided my medications weren't going to work, so mom took me to the Bennington ER. They got me into a room quickly, but it took awhile till the doctor came in. He did x-rays and drew blood for tests. While the gal had the needle in my arm, another episode of spasms hit hard. The nurse was on top of things and jumped right in, jabbing my other arm to get the dilaudid in quickly. Thankfully, that worked to start bringing it down, and after another dose shortly after, the pain was back to tolerable. And of course, I was feeling loopy. When the tests came back and he was convinced that I'd be ok, the nurse discharged me, and we headed home. It was the shortest trip so far, only there for 5 hrs. Talk about an exhausting evening!
Easter morning was beautiful, though a little chilly. My aunt, uncle and cousin came over for Easter dinner, and we shared the afternoon. One of the few days the Coffee Connection is closed each year, so I was able to enjoy the whole day without thinking about work!

NYC Aug 2008

Last August I took off after work one Friday and drove down to New York City for the weekend. An older couple who are customers at the coffee shop had invited me down to stay with them, so I decided I needed a day or two off and wanted to see the city. They have a gorgeous house in Mount Kisco, and Richard knows pretty much everything about the city. One of the reasons they wanted me to come was to meet their son, so he came over Fri night to barbecue and hang out. We got along great, and had a great evening. He made the best filet mignon I've ever tasted! On Sat, Richard and Susan took me to the city, and we played tourist. I'm still amazed at all we did and saw through the course of the day. Everything from a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty to walking down Wall Street, Times Square, and Broadway to 2nd row seats to see Chicago on Broadway. Meals were fancier than I've ever imagined, with 3 or 4 courses. It was an experience I'll never forget! The weather was perfect, and I got some amazing pictures! We didn't get home till after 1am. Sunday I got the grand tour of the area, and then Richard took me down to his office, which is when I began to understand how they could afford to treat me like a queen the whole weekend. His business is doing extremely well, and their clients are all rich and/or famous. Pretty neat to see how he puts everything together. I drove home that afternoon, and was back to work the next morning. The trip was well worth the drive.

Washington, Idaho, and Alaska vacation

Last January I took a 3 week vacation made possible by a customer who is a pilot, and offered me a couple tickets. So I flew, standby, to Spokane, and spent a week and a half visiting friends all over WA and ID. It was great to see everyone, and I was kept extremely busy meeting up with all my favorite people in the area. Lots of coffee shops, walks, and hanging out with friends. I was stranded for a couple extra days (the joys of flying standby) but finally flew to AK for the last week of my vacation. I flew into Homer and had a relaxing and wonderful time with the Early's who are like family to me. We played tourist some, but mostly hung out, watched movies, and slept. Tracy was off work, because of her pregnancy, so even though Matt had to work most days, I was able to spend a lot of quality time with both of them, which I desperately needed. We even went to Matt's parents' house for dinner and to make kettle corn. That was definitely a highlight for me, and I loved them! No wonder Matt turned out so well! :) Matt and Tracy drove me up to Anchorage for my flight out. It was a 6hr drive, and the scenery was amazing! The snow covered mountains were gorgeous, and it was a sunny, perfect day for the drive. After stopping for donuts at the best bakery ever, we had time to go shopping for quite awhile and eat out at a Chinese restaurant in Anchorage before they dropped me off at the airport. All in all, it was a great trip, and I was refreshed and ready to work again when I got back.

Summary of my life here the first year or two

Ok, so we'll see how this works. I've been here for almost 4 yrs now, and just realized that this might be a good way to keep people up to date (a little slow, I know). Ben and Sarah had a good idea.
Ok, so I arrived in NY on August 1, 2005, and we spent the first 5 months working as fast as possible to get the coffee shop up and running. A lot of backbreaking work to get the lot ready, but very rewarding, since we could see the progress as we did it. Frustrating too, but that was mostly the paperwork side and dealing with the planning and zoning boards in order to get approval. My dad, Ben, and I were the ones working full time on it, but the rest of the family jumped right in to help as well. I bought a car in September, which helped a lot. Mid-december we started training our first employees. A couple of them didn't make it, but 3 did, and stayed with us a long time.
We moved into my grandparents farmhouse, which is 10 min from the coffee shop. As most of you can imagine, I spent a lot of my time lost, trying to find one thing or another. After the first 3 months or so, I could get to the coffee shop and back. To this day I still get lost regularly, but not nearly as much.
On Dec 28 at 11am we got the final approval to open, so I opened at 1pm. We were thrilled! The next year was spent learning our customer base, trying to advertise effectively and inexpensively, and figuring out the ins and outs of running a coffee shop. No complaints, and most of the customers who tried us out continued and became regulars. Word spread fast in NYC and NJ, since 90% of our weekend customers were skiers and travelers from down there that have second homes in VT, and therefore have money and travel back and forth every weekend. The families quickly became attached to us, and I have had many bring me pictures of the kids, bake me goodies, and give Christmas and birthday presents. Each weekend I hear the update of how the kids did in school, sports, etc. Pretty neat. These past years I've had a lot of opportunities to make a difference around here. A lot of people come for advice, counseling (basically), prayer, encouragement, or just to say hi (with or without getting coffee as well). It's neat to see how even a smile can make someone's day.
There are up and downs in starting any business, and there are slow times and busy times, but overall, things are going well at the coffee shop, and people still love the coffee and the baristas.
In June 2006, I started delivering coffee to the local sheriff's department and police departments in the area, as well as to the National Guard recruiters. That has continued, and I have come to consider many of the officers and Guard guys good friends. I often work out or do my computer work at the armory, and we go out to lunch occasionally as well.
2007 was a trying year. Over the course of 2007 I was in a couple no-fault accidents (I'm pretty sure the deer hit me, rather than the other way around). I injured my shoulder a little in one of them, and so I started treatment for that. Unfortunately the doctors I went to misdiagnosed it repeatedly, and the treatment they had me doing was making it worse. Over the course of 2008 I saw a lot of doctors, chiropractors, pain management doctors, therapists, orthopedic surgeons, etc, and every month or so I was informed that they had misdiagnosed it again, and my treatment was changed - again. In August I was switched to yet another doctor, who immediately guessed that it was a nerve, rather than a muscle, as all the other doctors thought. So my treatment was changed again. In December we finally were able to do an EMG test, which proved his theory. I had stretched the spinal accessory nerve, and there is nothing that can be done to fix it. Supposedly it will heal on its own over the course of 10-15 yrs. In the meantime, all that can be done is pain management. So far my insurance has covered 100%. Since he is the only doctor who seems to know what he's doing, I've stayed with him, which unfortunately requires at least 1 trip a week to Amsterdam NY (over an hour away) for injections. I also have 2 chiropractor appts and 2 massages each week. And no, the massages do not feel good! So basically my life recently consists of work, and doctor appts during my breaks.