Day 4…After our crazy night in Fremont, we decided to make Thursday a relaxing day. We had to suck it up and spend $50 on breakfast again since there isn’t anything gluten-free anywhere close to the hotel. 

We spent the day at the pool and went for a quick, delicious, cheap lunch at In & Out Burger. It’s a burger and shakes chain only on the West coast. We’ve been wanted to try it since we’ve seen it many times on food tv shows. The hype is real; they are better than 5 Guys, who have the same concept. 

Why is In & Out better, and why won’t they come to the East Coast? You won’t find an In & Out Burger anywhere east of Texas since they are adamant about using fresh beef raised for them specifically; they won’t compromise quality by shipping it across the country. Boom, that’s it, sad but true.

Why is it better? Please don’t get me wrong, 5 Guys is delicious, but what makes In & Out better is the delicious spread they add to their burgers. Their spread and going “animal style” used to be on a secret menu, but the word is out, so now everyone can order what the cool LA kids get. 

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We ordered off the now-famous secret menu; Double, Double, Cheese, Animal Style, Protein Style with Cheese Fries. Deliciousness; a perfect double cheeseburger with finely chopped grilled onions, spread, tomatoes wrapped in a lettuce wrap. The fries were kickass as well, costing half the price of 5 guys. 

A nap and more pool time all afternoon made for a relaxing day. I was looking forward to the evening; we saved the Paris Hotel & dinner at a French bistro called Mon Ami Gabi; they are extremely gluten-free friendly which was a refreshing change from the rest of the places on the strip. 

Paris is my dream place that I haven’t been to yet, so this was a must-go-to place for me to visit. We made a reservation and got to sit on the patio, which is directly across the street from the Bellagio Hotel’s fountain show. 

We started with an order of escargot and a bottle of French Rośe champagne. I’ve never had escargot before, and it turns out; they were delicious. The restaurant is very serious about their gluten-free customers mark serving every dish with wooden toothpicks that read “Allergy,” to be sure.

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We were on the fence about ordering the raw oysters that all the other tables were ordering. We’ve had Oysters Rockefeller before, which are cooked, but never raw, live ones. I’ve watched people eat them a million times and watched how much they love them. 

I asked the waiter about the raw oysters and told him I never had one before; therefore, I didn’t want to order the 1/2 dozen on the menu. He asked the chef if he could send 1 oyster out to taste, helping make up my mind about ordering.

My one raw oyster came for me to try. It was plain; it didn’t have a mignonette. I tipped my head back as they do on tv. I started to chew it like you are supposed to do. I tried not to think about the fact that the oyster was raw. 

I had to swallow it; it was hard to do. I would not spit it out, so finally, I got it down. The waiter asked how I liked it, and I told him it wasn’t something for me, but thanks for letting me experience it and to thank the chef for me.

Our meal was leisurely and slow, like how the French eat to savor their food. I ordered a classic; French Roasted Chicken with Pomme Purée topped with Sautéed Mushrooms and Pearl Onions. 

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Marty went with Steak Frite; Filet Mignon with Au Poivre Sauce and Hand-cut Fries. The fries were short so that they could be eaten easily with a knife and fork. Apparently, the French don’t pick up long fries and dip them in ketchup at a formal meal. 

My chicken was juicy and had a delicious herb flavor. Marty’s filet was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was fantastic. He loved the fries; he said the more you ate, the more you wanted. 

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We finished our French meal with Chocolate Mousse and Cream Brûlée, both of which were to die for. It was a great experience with the bistro situated next to the replica of the Eiffel Tower, which is as close to Paris as I will get for now. 

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The Eiffel Tower was directly in front of the Paris Hotel. I took a selfie of us and another photo kissing Marty standing under the Eiffel Tower as I have dreamed of doing for decades.

We went into the Paris hotel, and like all the other hotels, you walk right into the open casinos and clouds of cigarette smoke. We haven’t seen or smelt so much cigarette smoke in years. It was weird and disgusting even though I was a big smoker only a few decades ago; I quit back in 1993. We were actually shocked at how many people still smoke; I am not judging anyone, to each his own; we don’t see it here so much in VT; not much happens here in VT, come to think of it! 😂

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We found the part of the hotel that looked like Paris Streets. Everything looked beautiful from afar; then, when you get up close, paint is chipped, wood scraped, and the bathrooms are not as clean as they should be. This is true of all the other hotels we went into. 

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While we walked through our hotel, The Venetian, I kept pointing to Marty to look at the bottom of the white moldings, not a mark on them anywhere. I did a clean glove test in random spots to see if things were dusty; every surface passed the test. 

After dinner and touring “Paris,” we headed back to our hotel and sat in the living room of our suite, looking out the huge window at all the lights. We were in bed early since we needed to be up and checkout to catch our morning flight. 

The beds in our room were very comfortable; as comfortable as our sleep number bed, that is amazing. The pillows weren’t too hard or too soft. The sheets were silky and soft. I loved the closet as well; the light went on whenever you opened the door.

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My favorite part of our suite for me was the bathroom! I picked up a couple of bath bombs at a fancy-schmancy soap and bath place in the hotel. The salesman tried to sell me a shit load of them, but I only wanted two, thank you very much.

I took two luxurious baths that were like soaking in heaven. The stand-up shower had hot water immediately when you turned it on and had perfect water pressure. There was a separate water closet for the toilet, which was very nice. Finally, there was a marble make-up vanity that I loved using; I am a girlie girl when it comes to stuff like this. 

Our suite was a little less than $200 a night. Our taxi driver on the way to the airport told us that pre-covid, our suite sometimes went as high as between $1500-$1800 a night.

We may never be able to afford to stay at a five-star resort again, so we enjoyed and appreciated it very much. Vegas was different! Sin City is the perfect name for it; besides committing murder or stealing, everything else goes!

Day 3…We spent yesterday at a different pool, one that was in the sun. We got there early and claimed good chaise lounges. The sunshine felt great and the pool was nice.

We came to this resort for the sun and pools; we also came to swim. We are the only people at both pool decks that actually swim. 

No one swims! I don’t give a rats ass if no one else swims or not, we do. Being at the pools here at the resort is like swimming through a sea of thongs, fake boobies and false eyelashes. Most women have so much make up on and their bathing suits have never gotten wet. If this is the way the rich people live, they can keep it.

At the pool we discussed getting out of dodge for the late afternoon and evening. Here’s the most shocking thing that I didn’t expect on the Vegas strip, it’s not gluten-free friendly at all. 

Here’s what I expected…to be able to get a gf muffin for breakfast. There is no gluten free pastries or simple breakfast food at our resort. We did go to the only place that is open 24 hours a day, and while we had a delicious breakfast without any bread products, it cost $50 bucks for eggs pretty much. Everything is so expensive. 

The other thing I expected was to get a salad or something simple for lunch. Nope! No one has gf salad dressing or gf sandwiches in the hotel. 

I expected the people who work in all the restaurants to have some dietary restrictions knowledge, everyone we asked about gf options looked at us like we have three heads. You get the point. To find food we have to leave the resort and walk around in circles starving, looking for food safe to eat.

All that being said we decided to try the Fremont section of Vegas. We hopped on the Deuce which is a double decker public transportation that the locals take. The Deuce is clean, air conditioned and have police ride the bus making people have their masks pulled up over their noses; they remove people from the bus who don’t comply.

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Some of eateries in Fremont had plenty of gluten free food clearly marked on menus or the wait staff was informed about what was gf or not. Even the small dive joints had gf options. 

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We had our dinner at one of the original hotel casinos, The 4 Queens which is old school Vegas; the Golden Nugget is still there and packed. There is nothing fancy for rich people in old Vegas and they would hate it; we loved it, of course.

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Our dinner at the 4 Queens was such a delicious find after being in a food desert on the strip. The place we ate at has been there since 1966, the year I was born. They are famous for their 21 hour slow roasted prime rib, a garden salad, baked potato and fresh veggies for $20 bucks. 

Our meal was so delicious it was ridiculous! It was old school with good service. They weren’t too old school though since they had gf bread as an option and the waiter knew we could have everything but the au jus.

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Fremont is hip and funky and the feeling is more relaxed than on the strip. There is a zip line that runs the length of Fremont street. Every 5 minutes 4 new zip lines fly through the air, some screaming.

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It didn’t come without a cast of characters though. Street performers can basically do anything they want as long as they stay in drawn circles scattered around the floor. 

Performers isn’t really the right word to describe who was standing in those circles, it was freaks; wacked out people on drugs with signs that read “I’m hungry” signs. “ I need money for drugs and hoes” or they were naked, not complete frontal nudity, but pretty close. 

There were people making crosses out of palms like on Palm Sunday, people with political statements etc. it was highly entertaining to say the least. Amongst the crowd were more meth/crack heads, but at least they didn’t have scabs everywhere like the ones on the strip. 

Because of all the bums and crackheads there is no where to sit down to enjoy the real entertainment like people zip lining through the modern high tech open air Fremont street. Live music was beginning at 8 pm; luckily we found a bar with front row seats to the live music stage. The catch was a two drink minimum for each of us. Our 4 drinks together cost the same price as one drink at the pool…$28 bucks. 4 drinks for the price of one!

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The band called Alter Ego came out and these guys were fantastic. I mean really, really good. They played covers and crushed every song; they were professional performers with great stage presence getting the crowd involved.

We met a nice couple from North Carolina and hung out with them singing along to all the songs. We also watched the meth/crack heads tweak out in the crowd and buy more drugs right in front of us from a young girl who could pass as a college student with a backpack; you wouldn’t think in a million years that she was their dealer. I wanted to beat her with a baseball bat after I saw her exchange drugs for money 2 feet in front of me. 

After the bands 3 sets, we set out to look for the Deuce to go back to our hotel. At night it was jam packed and almost as entertaining as the band. We rolled in at 1 am exhausted. 

It was the most fun we’ve had so far in Vegas and have plenty of funny stories to tell our boys and friends when we get back. 

Day 2…Yesterday morning we hit the pool around 9:30 am; all the good chairs at the Venetian pool deck were taken. We found chairs in an area that was pretty much empty.

The pool and the chairs we chose were in the shade of the hotel for the day which turned out to be a good thing for our first day at the pool.

Even though it was 99 degrees, it was cool. It was weird. We’ve heard that the dry heat is manageable; not in the sunshine mind you, but the shade is comfortable. 

We spent most of the day relaxing at the pool people watching. The pool has cabanas to rent for a mere $2,000 and up a day. They were all filled, mostly with people in their late 20s & 30s. The cabanas are 788 sq feet, air conditioned with 75” tv, private bathroom and a personal cabana person. Drinks included but not food. 

The one thing that we couldn’t get over was that everyone was drinking all day long, for hours. We are out of practice and just brought bottled waters with us. I felt extremely dehydrated in the morning from flying and not drinking enough water the day before because I didn’t know how often I’d be able to pee. Sorry…TMI but true.

The day drinking took place with people standing up in the 3.5 foot pools…in the scalding sunshine. I really don’t know how they did it without falling over or being fried to a crisp. 

Even in the food court area of the hotel and casinos everyone young and old were day drinking. Cocktails are available even at fast-food counter-only places. Again, young and very old people. All day. It’s 5 o’clock everywhere in Vegas after all.

After lunch, we got ready to explore the strip again. This time instead of walking we got tickets to the monorail. After we found the actual monorail station we hopped on and headed towards the MGM Grand Hotel. 

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I wanted to visit the MGM Grand & New York New York hotels. MGM grand I knew right off the bat wasn’t nearly as nice as our hotel just by the restrooms; always a tell tale sign for me. 

The paint at bottom of the moldings were covered in black scrapes and chipped. The sink areas didn’t compare and many toilets had massive amounts of tp not flushed. See? Bathroom and kitchen cleanliness speak volumes. 

The hotel had some amazing celebrity chef owned restaurants, but that was about it. We high-tailed it out of there. 

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I wanted to love the New York New York Hotel but we immediately came in contact with very obnoxious, loud, drunk younger people. Basically, they were fucking assholes; not in a good “real” NYC way if that’s what they were trying for. Total douche bags.

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The area of the hotel that was done to look like NYC was pretty cool, but not nearly as realistic or well done like Venice in our hotel. The rest of the place was meh.

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We walked the strip heading back down and this time encountered hookers galore, and meth/crack heads. Working in NYC, I saw my share of bums and druggies, but these people were covered in scabs from head to toe; plus they were skin and bones skeletons It made me very sad that this was the choice they made, I thought about it a lot last night and their family’s. How heartbreaking these situations are. 

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Next up, I found where everyone was getting the weed I kept smelling…almost strong enough to get high myself from the second hand smoke. They have marijuana shops on every corner, I didn’t notice them the night before since everything was so overwhelming. My absolute favorite was the place call Ref Vegas with a wacky, waving, inflatable tube guy in front of the place. Lol! 

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You know the scooters disabled people drive around the grocery store? Well you can rent them to cruise the strip; on the crowded sidewalks no less. Drunk off your ass; while smoking a doobie. This was our favorite site last night. A group of four guys were having the time of their lives while blasting down the strip drinking beers and smoking dope.

On our way we both dodged a messed up guy, on who knows what; bleeding profusely from his head, blood was dripping down his whole face. Our quick moving street smarts saw it coming and we literally split in two and he staggered cursing between us. You can’t take street smarts out of people. Another sad site.

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We were almost back to our hotel; starving and tired. We ate at a delicious place called Virgil’s Real BBQ. They were one of the few places that had gluten-free options clearly listed on their menu, so it felt safe to eat there. OMG, we are so glad that we did! We both had the grilled bbq brisket sandwich with melted cheddar cheese and caramelized onions. A couple of freezing cold margaritas with potato salad and cole slaw made for a delicious meal. The staff were extremely friendly and the service was good. Done and done. ✔️✔️

We ate outside at Virgil’s…it was indeed dinner and a show with all the fucked up, inebriated tourists walking by. We took the rest of our drinks with us and finished them back in our room with the lights turned down looking at the amazing view and lights. We lost track of the amount of sight seeing helicopters going by our window. 

Another day in Sin City and I haven’t even mentioned the gamblers and chain smokers yet. 😂

Hello form Vegas! The last 24 hours have been a world-wind; both flights were smooth with just a little bit of turbulence. I wasn’t afraid at all and enjoyed everything including changing planes in Washington, DC.

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It’s been a long time since we’ve flown; trains to take between gates along with a hundreds of escalators and people movers.

Before we even left the airport we stopped at the liquor store and bought a bottle of tequila…taking the advice of everyone who has ever been here and lost a shit ton of money on cocktails.

You can start gambling right away since the airport has slot machines everywhere!

We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel that didn’t break us right off the start, taxis have set rates now.

Our hotel is mind boggling to say the least! They give you a map because you WILL get lost. Our suite (all the rooms are suites) is beautiful! I love the bathroom with the make up vanity.

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The Venetian is a 5 star work of art resort with so much marble it’s crazy. The ceilings in the lobby are painted…the hotel will be a blog post in itself to do it justice.

After getting the lay of the land we went exploring and were utterly overwhelmed! I can’t even explain it if you’ve never been here.

Another important piece of advice we took from friends what have been here; go to Walgreens right downstairs from the hotel and get drink mixers, water and sunblock…I even got a discount using my Walgreens card!

The first night we ate at a restaurant called Yardbird and it was the best fried chicken we’ve ever had. The place is very gluten free conscious. Some mini cheddar waffles, spicy ice cold watermelon and crispy brussel sprouts completed a delicious first dinner here.

Walking…they tell you to bring and wear comfortable shoes; best advice ever! Last night we walked the strip; we were just in time to see the volcanos erupt at the Mirage and the fountain show at the Bellagio. These free “shows” are magnificent for what they are.

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Walking around there were many tourists, people dressed up as topless showgirls and in full S&M ensembles. The Joker and Batman plus some aliens rounded out the these people. You CANNOT take their photos without paying let alone paying a lot more to pose with them. If you don’t know this they will demand you pay them; Darth Vador, I read has followed people yelling for them to pay. We knew this so watched the unknowing people be harassed. Oh well that’s not my monkey.

Along with the above mentioned people there were tons of bums and lots of people smoking dope; you could smell weed in the air everywhere. The walking pace is fast and furious, which is good for us being fast walkers ourselves.

We hit the wall around 10 pm and retired to our room and had a nightcap which I downed and frantically crawled into bed; I was so damn tired after waking up on East-coast time at 4:30 am.

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That was day one guys. Current situation is relaxing by the pool watching the stunningly gorgeous pool waitresses in thong bikinis. We plan to relax for a big part of the day then take the deuce bus to old Vegas to the less touristy and hip Fremont section.

I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. ❤️

Good morning! We just went through TSA screening and are waiting at our gate. Flying today will be the ultimate challenge of living on the journey vs the destination.

I never flew as a child so airplane travel has always been scary for me; today, I am trying to be excited and not nervous. It’s a little hard to tell the difference, I’ll know more once we take off at 8:15 am.

Our first flight is to Washington DC then grab the connecting flight to Las Vegas.

My ticket says window seat which normally would scare the daylights out of me. Sam who loves to travel, gave me a pep talk; he has a lot more experience than me after flying to China & Japan.

Noah flies very often because his friend Steven has his own plane. Steven flies into Bennington, VT from Stamford, CT. He just picked up Noah on Friday night for the weekend and flew him home last night. Pretty cool right? Steven picked up Noah one day to fly to Martha’s Vineyard for a seafood lunch. 🦞

This morning Marty is super excited, he loves to fly. He grew up flying back back forth of Germany while growing up to visit family there.

So here I sit waiting, trying to keep myself calm and focus on experiencing all of it, just like Sam said to.

One of the things on my checklist this week was to pick the pears we had on our pear trees.

I say this week because if we wait until we get back from Vegas they would have already fallen off the trees either rotting on the ground or the dogs would eat them all. Klausie-boy loves pears. 

Now I know that our pears aren’t the prettiest fruit on the block, but they are delicious. It’s like that old saying you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover. 

This year we had our son Noah’s roommates Fred prune the trees in the early spring. I’ve know Freddy since he was 3 years old and I loved watching him work. 

We asked Fred how he knows what branches to prune and where. He explained the technical side of fruit tree pruning then told us what they say, “You cut between the branches making an area big enough to throw a cat through.”

Big enough to throw a cat through? WTF?  I’m not making it up…this analogy comes straight from the mouths of arborists. 

My question is who thought of a cat? Why not a football, which is something you do throw? It doesn’t matter because whatever Fred did worked and the trees looked so much better this summer. 

Last year, we had a high yield of pears from all three of our pear trees. The pears may have been plentiful, but all tiny. Even though they were small they tasted wonderful proving size doesn’t matter. Apparently, looks don’t matter either because they were ugly suckers. 

This year we only had useable, full size pears on one of the three tree. Two trees are of the anjou variety and the pollinator is a bosc. Most years we have both varieties, this year only green anjou ones. 

A pollinator? It took us flatlanders probably five years to figure out why the two green anjou trees never bore fruit…it needed a different variety for pollination. Once we planted the bosc tree, we had pears. 

Last year, I gave away tons of pears to people. We had literally boxes of them. People were stuck at home because of covid and welcomed the pears. People made all sorts of tasty looking creations. I made a few pear crisps and pear galettes which are my favorite. 

Over the years I’ve made lots of yummy dishes using pears…here are just a few I found on my personal Facebook page:

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The pears we picked on Thursday we put in a milk crate and stuck them in the walk-in refrigerator until we get back. After looked at my pear posts I am definitely going to make that pear and bleu cheese tart with fresh thyme and rosemary. I’m starving right now while writing; practically drooling on myself. 

Hey, have a great Saturday, we head to Albany tomorrow afternoon to spend the night at the hotel near the airport, although we will be officially on vacation after today’s farmers market. 

We are trying a new place in Albany for dinner that comes highly recommended on the “518 Gluten Free” group on Facebook; I’ll let you know how it is.

See you guys soon…I am planning on writing blog posts from Vegas with some photos; I taught myself how to publish a post from my phone. Yay!

***BTW…Please excuse my upcoming vacation posts including this one. Without my laptop my editing may be fair at best but perhaps poor. Just wanted to give you a heads up. 🤓

After wanting a pool my whole adulthood, we finally took the plunge; I know a shameless pun. I’ve never wanted to spend the money, well, on anything for myself that I thought was frivolous, but at 55, I am not getting any younger. What am I waiting for?

Before the pool was installed, we decided to plant some evergreen trees to create a natural privacy fence. We chose twelve trees in three different sizes to create the look we wanted. The new trees give the yard’s actual landscaping a professional look. 

Whenever we do a project, there are always hurdles to jump over; it’s the Irion way. In this case, the hurdle before planting the trees was ground bees. Marty got stung on Monday night when we started to prep the new pool and trees area. 

Marty is allergic to bees, and it’s always frightening whenever he gets stung; he’s had to make a few trips to the ER in the past. This time I quickly gave him some Benadryl and made a paste of basil leaves, baking soda, and crushed ice to put on the bite. This takes away the burning and pain.

Marty texted Sam, a nurse, and told him he got stung; he immediately said to get Pepcid AC. This seemed weird, but the same drug that helps with acid reflux also helps with bee sting reactions. Who knew? Well, now we all do. I ran out to the store and gave it to Marty within 10 minutes. He was ok thank you, Jesus!

Back to the bees, we also knew we had ground bees under the outdoor kitchen deck; Sam got stung in the back of the head the week before. Luckily, he’s not allergic to bees. These aren’t the good kinds of bees; these are those angry fuckers that I hate.

I got in touch with an old friend of ours, Harvey, who owns a pest control business…Harvey’s Pest Control. As business owners, we always try to get back to people as soon as possible. If we say we will do something for a customer, we make sure we follow through. Harvey has the same work ethic as us.

Even before the pandemic, we found it was getting harder and harder to find a business that would return your call, let alone show up for an appointment. It can’t be blamed on the worker shortage our country is facing right now; it’s like they don’t want our business or our money. Remember the appliance store that dragged its ass fixing our dishwasher? I dragged my ass for the same amount of time before I wrote them a check to pay for the repair.

Harvey showed up exactly at what time he said he would. Within a few minutes, he was in his bee suit and got to work dusting the nests. He explained exactly what he was doing and what to expect. 

We also talked with him about the mice issue we had last year when the mice chewed a hole in our dishwasher hose. He will be coming back quarterly to take care of those guys, too, an issue we won’t need to care for ourselves anymore. 

With the bee problem taken care of, we got to planting our new trees. We read up on how to plant them, the distance between them for privacy and care. Basically, they take care of themselves and won’t need any additional care in the future, like shaping or trimming them. We put in one of these trees many years ago right in the center of Marty’s garden railroad, which is now a beautiful backdrop behind the pool. The train layout will be rebuilt on a smaller, more manageable scale when Marty has spare time. 😂

We got out a tape measure and a can of spray paint marking where each tree would go. We usually wing things, but we did it the right way this time. The trees are still small but will grow 1-2 feet every year when they are young, topping out around 20 feet. The one we have already is easily 20 feet and looks great.

With the bees and the trees checked off our list, it was time to have the pool installed yesterday. Thank goodness we opted to have the professionals take care of this for us; it would have been a major ass-ache and would take us a long time if we did it ourselves. Time we don’t have right now. Plus, there is so much important leveling that we weren’t experienced in doing.

The guys took their time making sure the ground was dug out and precisely leveled, which took the brunt of the time they were there. I had to leave to make deliveries and go to dance class, so I didn’t get to see the pool until I got home last night. It turns out 15 feet is the perfect size for us and our yard. The great thing was that since it went where the old train layout was, we didn’t lose any more yard space.🙂

Today, we were on the road bright and early making deliveries; when we got home, Marty worked on the pool, getting the filter running, and starting to spread river rocks around the outside of the pool. Of course, we didn’t have enough rocks…we need double the rocks we bought, which will have to wait until we get home from Vegas next week. Another typical Irion project thing.

While I was doing things around the house this afternoon, Marty ran upstairs and changed into his bathing suit; are you coming in too? Um…isn’t it cold? I waited and watched him before I committed to changing and stopping what I was doing. 

He got in quickly and said it wasn’t bad. The water and the air temperature were the same at 70 degrees. I decided I’ve waited long enough for a pool; I needed to suck it up and go in too. 

He wasn’t bullshitting me! It wasn’t bad; I was amazed! Afterward, we put on the solar cover with the hopes of keeping out some leaves and warming it up next week while we are away. We have all winter to keep an eye out for a heater to start and extend our swimming season. We will also design the deck that we will build on the right side of the pool in the springtime. Maybe lumber prices will go down a bit by then.

While we were both in the pool, a black dragonfly kept circling the pool and swooping down near us, continuing to circle us numerous times. I told Marty this has a meaning; how could it not.

I looked up the meaning of a dragonfly and specifically black ones like the one that visited us.

From uniguide.com:

“Like the butterfly, the dragonfly only lives as an adult for a short period of time. Thus, they remind us to seize the day and live life to the fullest. Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today.” 

“The black dragonfly reminds you that some matters require discretion. In our culture of over-sharing and attention-seeking, the black dragonfly reminds you that you have the privilege and a right to your privacy. It’s ok to politely shut out anyone who invades your privacy in an unwanted way.”

Both of these meanings read so true with us, finally getting a pool and the trees we planted for privacy. There are no such things as coincidences in life; that dragonfly let us know that we did the right thing for ourselves at the right time. 

After the Troy Farmers Market, Marty and I headed down to NJ to my brother Dan’s place. My sister Jennifer and her kids were going for the weekend too.

I never heard of the town where Dan, his wife Liz, and their 3 daughters live. We took the NY Thruway to Route 287 in NJ to 78. Once we got on 78, things looked very familiar. The closer and closer we got, I kept telling Marty that I’ve been this way tons of time on my family’s Sunday drives. 

Just as I said, “I do know this place,” I saw the sign for Spruce Run reservoir. That’s it! My father loved Spruce Run, so we visited there a lot when I was little. He also used to fish there with his friends. 

As the GPS led us to Dan’s, I knew the turn for Spruce Run was coming up on the right; my brother’s home is directly across the street from the turn and the sign into the reservoir. What are the chances?

My brother and his wife Liz own a 210-year-old farmhouse across the street from where George Washington stayed, ate, drank, and made strategic plans during the Revolutionary war. My dad and I both loved American history; maybe that was why he loved this place. After all, there are plenty of other beautiful places stocked with fish he could have gone to. 

Have you ever seen one of those movies where a character misses meeting people who were destined to meet in their lives? They keep “just” missing each other. They are often at the same places simultaneously but didn’t cross paths…then later, after they do meet, they connect all the dots. 

This has been true for me many times. Marty and I were at the same music events at the same time when we were young adults. I dated the guitar player in a band where Marty was the lead singer. I never saw their band play; I just used to watch Tom practice his guitar at his house.

I can imagine sitting in the backseat of my parent’s smoke-filled car on our way to Spruce Run; I am about 8 years old. After we pull off Route 78, we turn down a country road, then veer off to the right, turning to the reservoir. We drove and turned right in front of my brother’s place before he was even born. The movie audience gasps when they make the connection themselves when they recognize Dan’s future farmhouse.

The movie has many flashbacks, and this would be a big moment in the film. Almost bigger than not meeting Marty until the time was perfectly right. 

I believe people are in our lives to serve a purpose, who are here with us while working through our Earth School lessons. Some people are good, others bad; it’s all about making the right choices and realizing this person’s role and is part of your soul group. It’s very complicated psychic & spiritual shit, but I know for me, this is 💯 true. 

Their farmhouse was pretty incredible, especially since their home is older than ours, and it is right smack in the middle of the Revolutionary War area, very close to Valley Forge. George Washington and Old Honest Abe are my favorite presidents. As a complete wacked out Hamilton fantastic, the play made me retune into the Revolutionary War time period and how much I love learning about it.

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The fireplace in their farmhouse was massive! I’ve never seen one this big except in Williamsburg, Va, on a family vacation one year. I remember watching the actors in their 1700 clothing cooking in a fireplace just like Dan’s. I wanted to eat what they were cooking, I remember. Lol!

There was a big metal arm on the left side of the fireplace with a hook at the end. The arm swung back and forth; the hook was to hold a pot. There was also a built-in bread oven located at the back right wall of the fireplace; I imagined how many loaves of bread and what types of different foods that were prepared. I love food anthropology, and this stuff is right up my alley!

All the wood in the farmhouse was just like our home; hand-plained beams with marks in the wood. The house was solid for sure; they all were, that’s why they are still structurally 200 years later. 

Dan and Liz are restoring the farmhouse, not renovating, keeping, and replacing as many authentic things as they can. We tried to do this when we were restoring our home as well. 

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The weekend was a family-filled time of barbecuing, sitting around a fire pit, talking and getting to know each other, watching movies, and laughing. Having a large family like this is something I never thought I’d be a part of.

I could almost feel my dad’s presence when the adults all went for a historic walk near their farmhouse. This is where in that make-believe movie I mentioned, people start to get chocked because it’s just so heartwarming that we found each other and now we were all together in the same place I used to come when I was a little girl; long before my brother was even born since he is 13 years younger than me. 

When the audience puts away their tissues, they are ambushed with such raw emotion between a sister and a brother. They watch as they get to know each other and see just how absurd it is they the two have more in common than imaginable. Health issues, spiritual beliefs, emotional issues, the same food likes, the love of cooking, and we both love to play the drums and are self-taught. 

Realizing we have gone through so many similar life situations and only knowing each for less than 2 years makes everything bittersweet. I have many things in common with my sister Jennifer; that too would make your head spin. DNA is a curious thing when you never had it in your life before.

I am so blessed and lucky that my family circle has expanded, but it also closed a big hole in the circle at the same time. Every birthday growing up, I wished for siblings whenever I blew out my birthday candles; this gives the movie audience’s heartstrings another tug and a happy ending. ❤️

***I’ve wanted to post this sooner but just haven’t had a spare second actually to sit down and write. I’m getting it in under the wire of my bedtime, which will be very soon. Good-nite! 😴

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!