Checklists galore…

Hello strangers! I haven’t had the chance to write for a couple of days, not because I didn’t want to; life is bat shit crazy right now.

Since last week, all of our large wholesale customers have put in substantial orders because it’s almost Oktoberfest season which begins at the end of September. We’ve also heard from a few retailers that haven’t ordered for a while.

Filling large wholesale orders is never a problem, except right now, we are scrambling to get them all done and shipped out before we leave for Vegas in less than 10 days. The good news is since they will have just received their product, there shouldn’t be any big surprise orders when we get back.

When we first started the business, I would get stressed out looking at the big picture; on the journey, we fill one order at a time, feeling accomplished as we check each customer off the order/delivery list.

I am a list maker; I plan everything, down to the last detail, which helps keep me feeling in control and calm…well, ok, not calm, but calmer. I make to-do lists, shopping lists, menu planning lists, business to-do lists. I use my calendar for everything because I can’t remember shit anymore.

This week besides filling orders, I am organizing and packing for a trip to my brother Dan’s on Saturday. We are leaving directly from the Troy Farmers Market, so everything has to be packed Friday night since we get on the road Saturday mornings around 5:30 am.

My sister Jennifer is going too, along with her kids Sofia & Julian. Dan and his wife Liz have three girls Tabby, Celeste, and Lizzie. We were supposed to all spend Labor Day weekend together last year, but like everything else, it didn’t happen.

I am super excited to spend time with my brother and his family. So far we’ve all only spent time together during Christmas and New Years up here in Vermont back in 2019. I love learning more about my biological siblings every time we get together. We text and stay in touch during the year, but in person is best for getting to know someone.

My siblings and I have so many things in common it’s amazing; we all love to cook; Dan and some of his family need to be gluten-free like me, which makes food prep easy since we know what each other can have or not have.

When they visited Vermont, they all stayed at an Airbnb close to where we live. The three of us, plus Marty went grocery shopping, we planned our meals earlier, and we all pitched in cooking. This made me so happy being able to show them cooking tips and hacks. We have another sibling who, ironically, is a chef. Jennifer and Dan said that I move around the kitchen just like he does; I am told we also have a lot in common. My other brother and I have never been in contact, but hopefully, he will want to someday.

We plan to get back to Vermont Monday afternoon; we have a lot of prep work to do in the production kitchen. Tuesday, we are having a pool installed. WAIT WHAT? That’s right; we bought a pool yesterday! I got tired of my water mister and pretending I was at a pool. On our way home from deliveries to Saratoga, NY, we stopped at a pool place to see what they had. They had our pool! 💦

We said in the car if we could find a good quality above-the-ground pool at a good end-of-the-season price, we would consider buying one. We ended up buying the 15 foot round floor model that comes with a brand new liner and everything else you need for a pool. Plus, they could install it! Marty and I do everything ourselves, but we didn’t want to tackle putting up a pool right now.

Am I excited? Hell yes! After all, we picked our Vegas vacation, a hot and sunny place with lots of pools. Both our quick getaways had pools, so I was thinking, we work hard, we love pools, so why the fuck not?

It turns out we have the perfect level spot in our yard. Marty used to have a large garden railroad with LGB trains. Since we started the business four years ago, he hasn’t had the time to rebuild the layout like he wanted to do. There will still be plenty of room for his garden railroad; now, the trains can run around the pool!

The rest of next week will be spent in the production kitchen and making our big deliveries in NY. We are leaving next Sunday night for our trip, staying in Albany overnight, making getting to the airport, which is across the street from the hotel, a snap, plus we have a safe place to leave our vehicle.

Needless to say, I’ve got a lot to look forward to in the next two weeks. I’ve packed for the weekend and for Vegas in my head a dozen times. I have a traveling checklist for the first trip ready to go; I have to start working on the Vegas one ASAP. Luckily we have a Walgreens downstairs in the hotel just in case I forget something important. Whew!