76 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010.

The picture is of some mushrooms and leaves. John has an eye for these things and he took the picture on a hike with the dogs.

Our recycling dumpster was taken away today. There was hardly anything in it but it is our last one of the season. We will call them in the spring to take it away again the next time. I went to the customer's cabin who are here for a month and put their recycling in the dumpster. It hardly made a difference. The dumpster was severely empty. Oh well.

I was on a mission today. I loaded up the van with the cleaning supplies and started on the cabins. I cleaned the Ironwood, Aspen, and Maple cabin in one day. Ironwood cabin would have customers arriving tomorrow. I was going to be visiting with my son on Wednesday so I had to clean it today. The cabins were fairly clean so they went fast.

Needless to say I was very tired after cleaning three cabins.

John was working for hours trying to adjust all the piers. The water keeps rising and the piers keep getting under the water. He's had his hands full.

I got a phone call from a friend late afternoon. It was really nice to hear from her. I sat outside the cabin talking to her and after awhile noticed I was really cold. A cold front came in and in a matter of an hour we lost 10 degrees or more.

The colors on the trees are at their peak. It is absolutely amazing to see how the fall colors brighten up everything. Our island, lake and drive all are absolutely beautiful.

I made us dinner and we relaxed for awhile. Since no one came into the lodge, we closed up and went to bed. The day just flew by.

75 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Monday, September 27, 2010.

The picture is of our lodge prepared for the quilt retreat we just completed. Now we have to get the lodge ready for regular business again.

Pam and I got up pretty early. We had some customers leave and I closed down the cabins. Pam finished packing up her vehicle and she was gone before I had even woken up. We had a very fun retreat. I was still tired and wanted to relax today but I had some work to do.

I went around to every cabin and stripped the beds, turned off the heat, turned off the refrigerators-hot water heater-stoves and lights. I pulled all the dirty sheets and laundry and put it in the basement to be cleaned. Then I made up new bags of laundry for each cabin and delivered them to the cabins.

I spent most of the day taking a rest after that. In preparation for the Packer game on Monday night football, John and Dave moved the log futon sofa into the lodge, brought up a loveseat from the garage and got the lodge ready to watch the game.

I took a shower and got out some sandwiches and snacks and the customers came in when I was pulling them out of the refrigerator. We watched the Packers lose. It was a sad evening.

When I was talking to one of our customers, she said she was from the area. So we started talking about who we both knew. It turns out she once dated my uncle who died in the Vietnam War. It sure is a small world.

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Sunday, September 26, 2010.
Today everybody is eager to learn a new technique at the quilt retreat - trapunto. After an entire day of cutting, sewing and more, we had successfully learned an easy way to trapunto. Wow to say the least. Paula Reid is a great teacher.

We had one person cancel late out of the retreat, and since I had already ordered the food, rented a machine, bought the kit, reserved the cabin, etc., I had an empty space. I felt bad but couldn't do anything. I asked a woman who is staying at our resort for a month if she would care to sit and join us and she said she would try. She didn't know much about sewing but it was nice to have someone sitting in the empty chair to join us.

We learned a lot and had some fun. Pamella seemed to have fun too and she helped us with our questions. She would have loved to sew, but knew that she couldn't with all of us needing help periodically. Everything turned out well.

John worked outside most of the day. He cut down some trees that had fallen over a trail, went for a short kayak ride, raised some more piers, secured some things that were trying to float away, and mostly just stayed away from all us ladies.

By 4pm the retreat was finished. Pam and 2 others helped take down the tables and machines. I helped put away things too and take down tables. The caravan of cars left and it was just Pam and John and I. We talked about the retreat, cleaned up the rest of the stuff and then sat down to relax. We settled our bills and both of us broke even with our expenses for the retreat. We are undecided if we will do this again because of all the hard work.

Pamella had the most work and she really was organized. How I would have gotten through this without her, I don't want to think about. It is imperative that a resort owner have co-sponsors for big events such as this. This I have learned.

John asked us if we would think about doing another retreat and we shook our heads. But you never know.

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Saturday, September 25, 2010.
The first official day of our quilt retreat is underway. Attached is a picture of what the lodge looks like. We have 8 sewing machines all set up from the Bernina dealer; tables and notions from Pamella's Place and people from all over. We learned techniques for applique for Halloween and how to operate Bernina 440's.

John worked outside most of the day raising the piers. We got rain and the piers are floating away. So he worked really hard getting them all adjusted. It rained most of the day so he will probably have to adjust them again soon.

Paula Reid is our quilt retreat teacher and she flew in from California. She arrived late last night and this morning she came into the lodge for a cup of coffee. She also needed a towel. There was no way she could pack her own because her suitcase is so full of stuff for all the other classes she has to teach. She will be flying to North Carolina or somewhere in the Southeast on Monday.

I gave her a towel and she told me that the sump pump was going off all night. She had to go and sleep in the loft. I felt really bad and apologized. Hopefully she will still be okay with the retreat experience in Mercer.

The windows in the lodge fogged up pretty bad. It was cold outside from the rainy and cold weather. We still hadn't put up the outside storm windows up since they had been painted this June. How are we supposed to put them up, I wonder?

Later in the day the sun came out and the colors of fall just about popped out everywhere. It was beautiful.

We took the group to the Odonata shop before dinner. At first some of the group didn't want to go, but everybody bought something. Then we drove to dinner at the Pines Restaurant. They serve wonderful food, and we had a great time.

Later the ladies came back into the lodge and sewed some more on their projects. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and I was glad. Paula went to bed early because she hadn't slept good the night before and I did too. I left Pam talking with 3 ladies in the lodge. I had done a lot of work to prepare for the retreat and it all hit me. By 10 p.m. I was in bed. It was a good thing because I had to get the coffee going early the next morning.

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Friday, Sept. 24, 2010.

The picture is of the lodge in retreat mode. Bernina supplied the sewing machines and Pam of Pamella's Place supplied the rest.

I cleaned the Ironwood Cabin in preparation for the arrival of the quilt retreat teacher and her driver/attendee. Then Pam and I organized surge protectors, sewing machines, lights, chairs, ironing board/iron, gift bags, and a lot of little stuff. We ate salad and chicken brats and were just finishing our late lunch (2pm) when the first few people arrived.

We introduced ourselves, talked for awhile, handed out gift bags and showed them their cabins. Soon they were settling in and picking a sewing machine for the classes. The class will start at 9am sharp, with breakfast starting sometime around 8am.

After visiting for awhile and listening mostly, I called to verify a certain restaurant was open before 5pm. We jumped into a big SUV and drove there for an early fish fry. We had a drink at the bar, ate dinner and were back at the resort by 8pm. The dinner was fantastic and we all had fun.

The teacher and her driver/attendee arrived at 10:45pm, much later than we thought. They had a nice dinner and drinks on the road and everything was fine. I showed them to their cabin and they were impressed. They should be because I gave them the best one.

Pam and I had talked earlier about the Bernina 440's sewing machines we will be using for the classes. They will be on sale after the retreat for a $1,000 off of the price. If I have to take money out of my retirement fund for my son's legal issues, why not take out some for me to enjoy before my retirement too? I might. We'll see. Its quite an investment.

John got 3 cabins ready for customers today. He also took up the garbage, recycling and compost bins. He dug a huge pile of gravel out of our pile and put it in the holes that had developed from the rain. He also fixed a low spot in front of Birch where water was settling. He worked hard. Then he went to the bank too. When he got home, he was exhausted and he went to bed early.

So now I don't have to clean a cabin until Monday. Yeah! I can enjoy the retreat and have fun with the ladies who have the same hobby as me.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010.
I had to do a lot of work on the telephone today with some legal matters. It was a little stressful but nothing we couldn't handle.

John did a lot of paperwork. We got a call from a quilting retreat participant that she will not be coming to our retreat, a late cancellation. So now I have to scramble to see if someone could at least take her place. I already bought all the food and the sewing machine for the class has been shipped here, etc. So far there are no takers so it looks like I can't refund her money but I will keep trying. I have one more day.

I made up the gift bags for the retreat ladies, vacuumed, dusted, ironed, moved furniture and got the lodge ready some more.

We got an e-mail from a customer saying she lost her engagement ring and if we see it to let her know. She hasn't been here for almost two weeks and we've had several customers in their cabin. Hopefully it will turn up, but if it hasn't by now, chances are pretty slim.

A customer gave me some books to read. She buys them, reads and then gives to us for the resort. She is so nice. I always read them first and then put them in the lodge on the many book shelves we have. We have quite a selection.

Later this afternoon Pamella arrived with the supplies for the retreat. It has been raining like a monsoon so I was a little worried but she got here fine. We talked with other customers after supper and then watched a little television.

I could hear the rain pouring down outside and was getting worried about the fishing boats. If they fill too much with water, they might sink and then the motors would have to be put to pasture for a week or so to dry out, etc. We have customers coming in the next week who expect those boats to be fine. So even though it was after 10:30 p.m., I got on my raincoat, grabbed a flashlight and went to check. The boats only had about 4 inches to sink time. The water in them was within 4 inches of the brim of the back of the boat. I had never seen them so full of water.

So I went out and started bailing. John joined me shortly and within 20 minutes we had all three boats bailed out. Now we don't have to worry about that at least as we try to sleep.

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Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010
I cleaned 2 cabins today, Spruce and Hemlock. I did only one load of laundry too. Then I took the manual dolly and moved 10 sewing machine boxes, weighing 40 pounds each, into the lodge.

John could see how tired I was so he offered that we go out for dinner. Of course I didn't argue.

John had bailed out the boats from the rain, mowed the lawns (which is difficult for him with his disability), went for a kayak outing with customers, checked mouse traps, got some customers set up with a fishing motor boat (instructions, etc.) and so he was very tired too.

We went to Ruggers Landing for their all you can eat pizza for $7. We saw so many locals there it was amazing. John said he was set for social activities with the town folk for weeks now.

We talked with a lot of people we knew and then 2 of them joined us at our table. We all ate our pizzas and visited. It was very fun. One of our friends bought our dinners, which was very nice.

My son called collect and we talked about his legal troubles, too. John and I might have to help him financially, which would be a major set back for us. Maybe I'll take some money out of my retirement fund instead of trying to get out a loan. What a stressful way to end the evening. Tomorrow will probably be no different with regards to my son. We'll see.

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Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010.
I made an appointment for my hair cut and then started working on my chores for the day. I did a couple loads of laundry, vacuumed the lodge, and cleaned our bathroom from top to bottom.

I went downstairs and ironed 3 table linen cloths that were sitting on the ironing board "to do" pile for over a month. Finally they are done. I love linens, but ironing them is a hassle. I put linen table cloths in a lot of the cabins and they add that personal touch that some people notice and like.

I vacuumed out the Maple cabin's porch, moved their living room around a little and vacuumed in there too. When we moved the newer sofa sleeper into their screen porch, there was some mess from moving the old one out. Now that's done so I don't have to worry about forgetting that.

I left for my hair cut a little late but got there only 5 minutes late, which was still okay. My hair cut took an hour because the lady didn't have any pending appointments. I didn't mind.

After the hair cut, I went to the bank and did a deposit. Then I drove to the cranberry gift shop about 10 miles further, round trip. I filled a basket with goodies for birthday and thank you gifts. Then when I started checking out, I noticed they didn't take credit cards. I had to put everything back to their frustration. I did have enough cash to buy a couple things though but I will have to go back soon. I took the longer route through the woods back home because the fall colors are so beautiful now.

I got home at about 4:00 p.m. Just when I walked in the door, the phone was ringing. I picked it up and was told that our sofa was being delivered in 5 minutes. So I quickly made room for it, vacuumed the area, and they were here. It turned out that the door had to be taken off the hinges to get it through, so they did that for me too.

John was out kayaking with customers still so he wasn't here to help. They guys who were delivering the sofa were very helpful and soon the sofa was in place. I had won it at an auction. It is all leather with a recliner at each end and it only cost $275. I was excited to have a new sofa since our old futon's mattress that we sit on to watch TV, etc. is flat like a pancake now.

Then I saw a note on the door that the UPS truck had delivered something and had put it in the Aspen Lodge, or our Aspen cabin. So after the movers left, I walked across our driveway and noticed that all 10 of the sewing machines had arrived 2 days early. Thank God he dropped them off rather than taking them back to the UPS company for me to pick up. This is the northwoods after all and theft is very rare, again - thank God.

I helped John pull up a kayak since he had just paddled into the bay. I told him of my day and he said they saw an eagle sitting in a tree as they passed, a blue heron and several ducks. The customers were very happy and got some great pictures.

John and I ate left over food for dinner and were just starting to relax on our new sofa when I got a call from my daughter. She had bad news. My son was in jail and being questioned on an alleged assault. That is bad news indeed and the rest of the night I was on the telephone or on-line checking on options of what to do, etc. The day did not end well and needless to say it was very difficult to get some sleep. I can't imagine what my son is going through and since I can't call him, I can only hope he will be all right. Tomorrow will be lawyers and more information but I go to bed with prayers in my heart that everything will be okay.

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Monday, September 20, 2010.
I cleaned 2 cabins today. Balsam and Aspen are now all finished. My back was pretty sore but I felt good that I had done something that saved us some money. Hiring professional cleaners sure costs big bucks.

The view out of the back of Balsam was breathtaking with the colors changing and everything. It took me longer to clean that cabin because of the view.

John came over to Balsam because there was an issue with the plumbing. The tub drain was very slow. After a lot of work, he figured out that someone had flushed down a bunch of hair in a wad. They probably emptied out their hairbrush and then flushed it and the toilet drain is connected to the tub drain too. So that was bad but he figured it out himself, which saved us a plumber fee, which is expensive too. So we both saved some money today.

I sewed a little while today and started a new project. I am working on a quilt for my brother and his wife. I had an idea, some free fabric, some awesome designs, and off I went. So I have designed my own quilt. I showed one of the squares to a quilter who is staying at our resort to see what she thought. She said she loved it so its a go. Hopefully Gary and Judi will like it and that I'll get it done by Christmas. We'll see.

John went kayaking again with some customers. He just loves doing that and enjoys it so much, which is good. Our customers love to kayak and the fact that we don't charge extra for kayaking is a plus.

John also worked on breaking up the old sofa sleeper from Maple's screen porch. It has to be broken up in order to fit into the dumpster. He somehow got it into several parts without using a chain saw.

Monday night football was on but I was busy doing other stuff around the house. I did a bunch of loads of laundry and put a lot of things away that I bought the day before. Next Monday the Packers will play and I will have to watch that.

John rubbed my sore back for me as we finally laid our heads to rest. He is so good to me.

67 Day of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Sunday, September 19, 2010. My daughter turned 25 today so my mom and I spent the afternoon with her. We met her in Rhinelander and had lunch, then we went shopping. It was a lot of fun to see her and get away for a day. My mom was fun to spend time with too and she enjoyed seeing Danielle.

I said to my mom that I felt old that my daughter turned 25. My mom said, "How do you think I feel that my granddaughter is 25?" That was a good point.

After we shopped for hours, I said good-bye to my daughter and mom and then I went on my errands.

Since we are so far away from the nearest Menards, when we get the opportunity to shop at one, we take full advantage of it. So I then left the girly shopping and went to do the man shopping. I had a list that was long and it took me over an hour to get what I needed and check out. But I wasn't done yet.

I then drove into Minocqua to get some groceries at the super WalMart. I was closer to home in Minocqua, so when I bought something frozen, it would have a better chance of making it home still frozen, than if I had been in Rhinelander. So then I shopped there for another hour to get pre-packaged items for the resort's quilt retreat this weekend. By the time I was finished, I was dead tired on my feet.

I got home pretty late but still light enough to unload the car, get things put away and get dinner going. I made a shrimp/spicy sausage stir-fry and by the time we were done eating, I was exhausted.

John had taken some customers kayaking and he was tired too. They had a long kayak outing and then he did some work in the yard with various things.

We were both dead on our feet and slept good until the thunderstorm woke me up at 4:30 p.m. Then I had trouble getting to sleep. I had been worried about my son because his girlfriend had left him. He had been on a party-jag ever since. So I said a bunch of prayers for him and then finally fell asleep.

Our golden retriever, Sienna, came over to the bed and needed some attention. She is afraid of storms an this one had woken her up. We pet her a little and then she and we fell back asleep finally in the early morning light.

66 Day of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Today is Saturday, September 18, 2010. We had 2 guys come to help us move around some furniture. I bought a leather sofa at an auction. So that will go in our living room. The leather sofa from the lodge went into Spruce. The foos ball table went into the basement as well as the green loveseat from the lodge. Boxes, etc. were also moved into the basement in preparation of the quilt retreat coming on Saturday.

The movers then put the sofa that was in Spruce in Maple's screen porch. The old one on the screen porch of Maple was moved out to the dumpster.

They moved the snowmobile into the garage, helped John with some electrical and carpenter work, and then they were off.

We found out one of the guys is very experienced in carpentry, so we will be using him to fix up Birch this off-season. We will be replacing Birch's rotten exterior logs and bathroom floor. Maybe we will even make a bigger shower in there too, which will make it more accessible. We will see. His name is Dave, and he will also be staying here in the winter. Yeah! He will be working on the Birch cabin when he can and we will have someone here to watch the resort for us when we are in Door County. His daughter is a friend of ours, and so we know him pretty well. Hopefully it is a mutually beneficial relationship. He will work on repairs and watch the resort. We will have piece of mind that our heater will be working, that plumbing problems will be caught right away and that someone will be here.

Dave and his friend also helped John put the sailboat and 2 kayaks in the storage of the Ironwood II's basement. They are the heaviest boats so that was good that they helped. They also helped put the paddle boat into dry dock. We are ahead of the game this fall and that feels good.

Saturday evening we hung out with customers in the lodge for a little while but otherwise it was quiet.

We were both tired from all the preparation for the movers so we took it easy for the most part until bed time.

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This is the latest quilt I did. It is a fall quilt for the lodge's futon. It was fun and kept me busy for several days.

Today is Friday, September 17, 2010. I finished cleaning Alder today. The people who will be staying in the cabin will be here for a month so I wanted everything to look great.

We moved our bedroom television in there and I finally found the remote, with John's help. Now they will be able to play their DVD's and not have to keep getting up to adjust the TV, etc.

I cleaned the cabin all by myself, which I enjoy, as I have said before. This time I found a bag of candy bars behind a dresser and a bunch of popcorn under the kitchen stove. Like I said, its a good thing I am so thorough. The mice aren't too happy with me though, I'm sure.

In preparation of the quilt retreat that is going to happen at the resort on 9/25, 9/26, I did a lot of work in the basement. We have a lot of miscellaneous stuff stored down there. I took some apple wood slabs to a shed, started a pile of resale shop stuff and cleaned off a large table. Then I started taking things down to the basement from the lodge. In no time the table in the basement was full. I had been working on the basement for many weeks in preparation for this retreat.

Initially I thought that we would be receiving a huge shipment of sewing tables. That never worked out because the manufacturer is "getting out of the business". So the quilt shop that is co-sponsoring the event had to scramble to get tables. She bought some folding ones made just for sewing. She will be bringing them next Thursday when she arrives.

I made a bunch of telephone calls to confirm movers were coming tomorrow. We needed some sofa sleepers moved around and stuff taken out of the lodge. So far it looks like we will have 2 guys to help. Whoo Hooo!

Earlier in the day some customers came into the lodge and said that they were probably going to leave because of the rain. John talked them into going on a waterfall exploration instead. One of their group didn't like the idea and wanted to go home but the majority ruled and off they went. John had spent about a half hour explaining all the waterfall options within an hour's drive. There are 3 waterfalls within 25 miles, and much, much more a few more miles than that. They came back later in the evening and said that they had a great time. We saved them from having another miserable rainy day, they had fun, and we got another night's income, which is always good. They said the waterfalls were beautiful.

Later in the afternoon, after I had finished cleaning Alder, I put on a DVD of a movie I rented from the library. John and I sat and relaxed for a little while and enjoyed it. Then we went back to work.

John worked on a lot of stuff during the day. He had to fix some electrical problem and he worked on the boats.

I did some paperwork, made more telephone calls and prepared the lodge for tomorrow's movers.

Later in the evening I started feeling very, very disappointed about the lack of participants in the quilt retreat. We had been hoping for much more and I was sort of angry. I had done so much work on this: mailed out fliers to all the fabric shops in Milwaukee-Chicago-Madison areas; e-mailed all the quilt guilds in those areas; met with the local fabric shop owners in person to promote our event; posted the retreat on all the free web sites that I could; dropped off fliers at our quilt guild meetings twice and posted a bunch of times on our Facebook page, etc. We have 7 people signed up. So to make myself feel better, I sat down at my sewing machine. There I was surrounded by fabric, my sewing machine, my beautiful oak sewing desk and I suddenly felt better. I then remembered why I had thought about doing a retreat to begin with - my love of sewing quilts. So I started looking through my fabric and the next thing I knew it was 11:45 p.m. No wonder my eyes were so tired.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010.
Not much happened today. It rained almost the entire day off and on. The sun did come out a little early on, but not for long.

Some customers came into the lodge this evening. I was downstairs sewing, where I had been the entire day. I am making a quilt for the lodge in fall colors. I also did a couple loads of laundry during the sewing time. John didn't hear the people come into the lodge and I did so I went up. One of the customers wanted to use our telephone for a conference call. Her cell phone doesn't get a good enough signal here to do the conference call on it. Her husband and friend also came into the lodge and one wanted a beer, which I got for him. The friend was on the lap top on our Wi-Fi looking at the weather.

They decided that the radar made it look like we were going to have rain for the entire night and into tomorrow. They hinted that they might want to go home early if this keeps up. They had planned on being here for an entire week. Hopefully they'll stay.

John gave them some kayaking ideas and waterfall reminders. The group has seen a lot of what the northwoods has to offer so they will think about it.

John did some paperwork today for his health insurance and did some research on a shotgun he wants to sell. The rest of the day he just read or did little stuff. Earlier in the morning he went up to the dumpster to check that the garbage had been picked up and that nothing had fallen out, etc. All was okay.

I ordered some tickets to see Red Green live in Duluth this fall. Then when I told John, he said that he had planned on visiting his mom during that weekend. It is close to her birthday. I will call tomorrow and cancel I guess.

I had planned on doing other things today besides sewing, but none of them had to be done. So I enjoyed the entire day behind my Bernina sewing machine. The cold, rainy days and nights are all I needed to make me want to sew again.

Tomorrow I will have to clean a cabin but I don't mind. I think that cleaning cabins is therapeutic. I am so used to doing it now that I am almost on auto-pilot when I clean. I feel relaxed and love what the cabins look like when I know they are thoroughly clean. I also like to spend time in the cabins and cleaning allows me to do so. I've always liked to be a homemaker, and if I spend some time in a cabin, I get ideas on how to make it look better, etc. Hopefully that will be the case tomorrow. We'll see.

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Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010.
We received the best gift of all today - a free laptop from a friend. So now my husband and I can be working on the computer at the same time!!! So I am writing you from my new laptop - Yeah! Thank you Cari & Brian!

I sewed and quilted most of the day and did some laundry, which you know is my life. I moved the television from the lodge to our master bedroom. The television I bought at the auction is now in the lodge. The sound is amazing and much better. Then I moved the television from the master bedroom to one of our cabins - Alder. We have some friends/customers who will be staying in that cabin for a month so now they can watch DVD's, etc.

I made up a clean laundry bag for Alder and dropped that off with the TV stand I bought at the auction too. Now Alder looks like a regular house, television and all.

John was bailing out the huge amount of water from the boats when he reminded me to get the dirty laundry from the cabins. Laundry pick up will be coming today sometime. So I went around to a bunch of cabins, grabbed the laundry and put it in the huge hamper on wheels for the laundry company to pick up.

John did a garbage run around the resort with the ATV to prepare for the dumpster pick up tomorrow. The boats were so full of water that it took him over an hour to do. He turned over some kayaks too in preparation for the rain tomorrow.

I checked Birch cabin for the customers who would be arriving this evening. I found a lego, some socks and picked up a couple pieces of schmutz that was on the floor. I also made a stack of kindling, paper and wood in the fireplace to get a fire ready to start. So all the customers have to do is light a match and they have a fire in the fireplace.

John saw me throwing more wood in the wood box outside of the cabin so he decided to split some wood. He went and gathered some more wood, scrap wood and his splitting maul and then got to work. About an hour later he had smashed his thumb. It is a little swollen but will be okay. Just when he finished and was in the house cleaning up, the customers arrived. Perfect timing.

They checked in and then later had a few drinks in the lodge with our other customers who are here. John tended bar while I sewed. He is so wonderful!

I had to make a few telephone calls, but otherwise I didn't do any paperwork today. John did a bunch of paperwork because he had to prepare reports for healthcare, etc. He will have to be ready for a conference call that will be coming in tomorrow regarding his health care. He has a disability, or pre-existing condition, so his health care is different. He has to go into a pool of "uncoverable" people who have pre-existing conditions. Then, per the State, insurance companies have to pick people from that pool and cover them. Every year he has to re-submit information. Its a pain in the butt.

Later I made fried chicken, potatoes and green beans. Then I went to my writer's group at Your Art Studio. It is such a cool place, there's a gallery, shop, classes and the building is core wood construction. This is a must see for anybody in the northwoods. They are in Manitowish, which is half way between Mercer and Manitowish Waters. I was there until after 9 p.m. and had a fun time.

John and I stayed up watching television until midnight. I am amazed at how well we work and get along still. We have been together for over 9 years now and our relationship is easy and comfortable, which is great. We spend every day together and that can be difficult for some people, but not us.

62 Day of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Monday, September 13, 2010.
The picture is of our niece, Jaeden. This was taken only a month ago. Now the water is already too cold to enjoy a swim. The nights have been getting down in the the 40's already. There's a frost warning for tonight.

As soon as I could, I was at the grocery store this morning. We needed milk and dog food. How can any of us have our breakfast without either? I got home by 10:30 and had everything put away, the dogs fed and breakfast done by noon. I had a load of laundry going and had sewed for about an hour before we got the call we were waiting for.

At noon our friend, Frank, called us back to tell us that we should reschedule the sofa moving until tomorrow. We had made a few calls and hadn't received any confirmation of help. So tomorrow Frank will have his company's partner available to help us move the sofa. John thought that he and I would be able to move it. I don't think so. It is a long, leather sofa with two recliners in it. Moving it would be like, me and what army, not just me and John. So I have to wait until tomorrow. I am a little worried because we were supposed to pick up everything by 8 pm today. Frank is the realtor's husband, and he said he has a key to the house and removal tomorrow will be fine. I sure hope so.

Around 2 pm a customer came into the lodge for a beer. He hadn't caught any fish but he wasn't too disappointed. He hadn't been out there for very long. He said it took him too long to get all his poles set up so he got a late start.

Our lodge is a fully-functioning bar. We have alcohol, wine and beer. We don't advertise to the public though and don't have set hours. We are not interested at this time in getting the bar full every night. Maybe if the economy keeps going the way it has, we might have to think about that. Busy bars make a lot of money. We just want to have a life though and not be in the bar all the time, which is what it would take.

John and I then started on our errands around 3pm. I made a few telephone calls and did some computer work. Then I went up to Balsam cabin and did a very thorough cleaning. I like it when I have all the time in the world to clean a cabin because then I know its done right. John met me up there and replaced the bathroom ceiling light in Balsam. He doesn't like to work on electrical without someone there just in case, so that worked out good.

John had spent a long time organizing the recycling dumpster for pick up tomorrow. He spends a long time pulling out all the aluminum cans for the Mercer Public School. That is our way of donating to the school, he says. There are a lot of cans going out of here every week in the summer. I hope the school appreciates it!

After I was finished cleaning the Balsam cabin, I went around and made sure all the dirty sheets were taken out of the cabins. The laundry gets picked up tomorrow and I want them all ready to go.

After that I made a quick dinner and then we visited with some customers in the lodge again. They came in to see who was playing Monday night football. They didn't stay too long. John then relaxed to watch tennis and then football. I went downstairs to sew a little more. I am working on a quilt for the lodge in fall colors. I hope to be finished with it by the quilt retreat next week. I should be.

I called a couple people today to see if they could help us move around some furniture and we would pay them, of course. I didn't get any call back tonight. I will have to call more people tomorrow.

I have a sore back from the moving of the furniture yesterday, cleaning/vacuuming a cabin and hauling big bags of laundry around. I took an ibuprophen and I'm going to relax the rest of the night in my recliner. I can't wait to get my new leather sofa tomorrow and try out the new recliners. When we are tired, we are physically tired too and really NEED our recliners.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010. I realized I put the wrong date on yesterday's blog. It was supposed to be 9/11.

The picture is of a waterfall just about 25 miles north of here.

Today I sewed for about 15 minutes in the morning then I made a handful of bags of clean laundry for the cabins. Three of the cabins will have to be cleaned by this evening.

There is an auction on the lake today and I am going. We always have to be on the lookout for deals. I went and saw a lot of people from the area there. I bought another ironing board (great for the quilt retreat), 4 oak chairs for $25 each, a TV and stand for $70 and a leather sofa. Hopefully John will like the leather sofa because I want it to go in our living room. We will have to pick it up tomorrow because I couldn't get it in the minivan with the TV, stand and chairs. I know the realtor who is selling the house and he said that I had until Thursday to pick it up.

I was at the auction from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. For the most part it was boring as they went through all the small stuff first. I like auctions though because sometimes you get a great deal.

When I got back at 2:15, there were 3 cars pulling into the resort. Our Maple and Ironwood cabins had arrived early. Check in is 3:00 p.m. and I hadn't cleaned the cabins yet. So I got busy, busy, busy. They were both in their cabins within an hour and a half thanks to John's help.

After the cabins were cleaned, I put some new chairs in Alder, the new ironing board in Aspen and baskets that came with the ironing board (you have to buy a pile of stuff, not just one thing) in Hemlock. At auctions they put a pile of stuff together and make us bid on the pile. I only wanted the ironing board, but I had to get the junk too.

John and I spent about an hour getting the new TV where we wanted it and working. John likes it so that is good. It has better sound and picture quality than any of our TV's too. We have it in the lodge now. The lodge's TV is going to go into our bedroom and the bedroom TV is going to go in the Alder cabin with the new TV stand. Musical furniture.

So after standing all day at the auction and then loading and unloading the minivan and getting the cabins cleaned, I'm exhausted. I took a shower and am almost finished with my glass of wine. The Packers won in Philadelphia too. So its a great day.

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Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010. I woke up to the sound of the rain on the roof. This was not good because we had our resort full of families. At least one person in each family has Spina Bifida and their organization takes our entire resort for a weekend every year. They do a lot of activities, most of them outside, so rain would not be good.

By noon though the rain had pretty much stopped. I had decided to sew most of the morning, and once I get going on a project, its hard to stop. So I made myself go outside several times during the day to visit with our customers and their kids. I had fun talking and joking with them.

John spent most of the day with the group and then we both did some chores. I did some laundry and John - I don't know what. He says he like to just go outside and then he will find something to do. Like I said in an earlier post, we can turn in any direction and we will find something to do.

I found out that this evening the kids would be dressing up in Halloween costumes and go trick or treating to all of our 9 cabins. I told them they should come to the lodge too and that I would have something for them. I made steak and tenderloin on the grill for us for dinner. Then I made pumpkin, raisin, white chip cookies for the trick or treaters. They turned out good and I plastic wrapped 2 cookies per kid. They all came into the lodge around 7:30 p.m. and the costumes were very cute.

After they were done trick or treating, they made a bon fire. John and I went down to it to visit for awhile. We left early so they didn't feel they had to talk to us. We wanted them to have fun with their group. It was a very nice fire and they were making s'mores. Some of the kids were still in their costumes and it was very fun.

It turned out they didn't need one of our cabins, which means that the cabin sat empty all weekend. We had turned away business because we thought we would be full. So when John showed them their invoice, he mentioned this to them but didn't charge them the un-used cabin. He told them that next time even a day's notice would be better than none. Hopefully that won't happen again or we will charge them for the empty cabin.

We love this group and they have been coming up to our resort for 12 years. They also have taken the entire resort each year for a weekend. So we will let them slide this once.

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Friday, September 10, 2010.

Two cabins checked out today so I went into them and turned off the refrigerators. I also took out the dirty laundry, made the bag of clean laundry, and got the 2 cabins cleaned thanks to a lot of help. Then John and I had to prepare for the Spina Bifida Group who were going to fill all our cabins today.

We went around and turned on all the heaters, hot water, refrigerators, pilot lights and whatever else needed to get them ready. Then John noticed that 2 heaters needed to be cleaned out. We have old propane heaters in some cabins which are vented outside. Propane is dirty and leaves a black soot in the burning areas of the heaters. So John took out the air compressor and vacuum. The then blew out the black soot into the vacuum cleaner hose when it was turned on. He's a pro at this. This keeps the soot from blowing all over the cabin. Now the heaters should run perfectly, in theory.

I inspected and fixed a couple cabins issues with things that we missed while cleaning. I did 3 loads of laundry and put away all the professionally cleaned laundry.

After a few telephone calls I did a bunch of paperwork and answered a bunch of e-mails. I got a lot done in the office. I was going to go outside and mow the rest of the lawn, but just then I heard John start it up. There was only the area in front of our living room and private entrance that needed to be mowed.

My son, Joey stopped by after work today. He just moved into an apartment and needed a lot of stuff. We gave him a sofa sleeper, sheets, blankets, pillow, towels, and his mail. He has it all sent here because he's not sure how long he's going to be in his apartment. Next time we see him he will get some cooking utensils and dishes, etc. The poor guy has nothing right now. I gave him some food, plastic wear and plates today too. What kind of mother would I be if I let him leave without feeding him? He needed to go right away, so I couldn't cook for him. We will need to find him a double or queen bed soon too. Does anybody in northern Wisconsin out there have a real cheap mattress set?

After he left a lot of our customers arrived. It was fun to see them again. The kids all grow up so fast.

John and I are very tired so it is nice that this group mostly does their own thing. They will be trick or treating amongst each other's cabins this weekend for fun. I told them to come to the lodge too and I would have something for them. What fun!

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Thursday, September 9, 2010. Ten days from now my little girl will be 25. Time sure flew by. In my head I am still her age. How does that happen? I must be losing my mind.

Today flew by. I had some more computer trouble today. The DSL line wouldn't let me fax anything out so I had to take the filters off. Then it worked, finally. What's the use of having a fax machine if you can't use it? So I made it work by figuring things out one step at a time.

The old computer froze up 3 times today. I have decided that every time it does that I will yell, "The computer froze up again!" Not only does that make me feel better, but it tells my husband that it froze up also. That way he can feel my frustration too and finally give in to the fact that we need to get a new computer. We will need a lap top for when we leave for the winter and will be at the mercy of places that have wi-fi. John's mom doesn't have a computer so there is no wi-fi, dial-up or anything. So we will need a laptop to go to the local cafe or library, etc. to be able to use it. This will only be from Jan. 4-April something.

I worked on the computer most of the day. I typed documents, invoices, etc. and e-mails. I made telephone calls, faxed documents and printed out brochures. I got a lot done.

Later I did some laundry, which is almost a daily occurrence around here. I hung some rugs out on the line and talked with someone who was throwing some hoops. Our basketball court is by the laundry line. He was waiting for John to get ready to kayak today again. They love kayaking.

John takes some time to get ready in the morning. His breakfast is a drawn out affair which usually takes over an hour. So the customers were in the lodge asking what time they should leave for the kayak outing, and another couple of customers were asking for directions to the Presque Isle River in the Porcupine Mtns. Park. John got all anxious because he tries so hard to please everyone and he just couldn't please them all at one time. So he started ordering me around. I went outside to help the kayak customers put the kayaks on the trailer. Then I came back in, and helped the other customers with the map. I didn't finish when John took over. Later he apologized for being so stressed. I think men have trouble multi-tasking.

When John took the group kayaking, I did some more paperwork, got the cleaning supplies in the minivan to clean the 2 cabins, got the cabins cleaned, and then mowed the lawn. The grass was pretty high and required two passes over some spots, so it took longer, but now it looks very nice.

When John got home, I drove into town to donate a hand-appliqued and embroidered bag I had made to the Lioness. They are having a Brazillian dance this weekend and needed raffle prizes. The bag took me about 5 hours to make so it definitely felt like a sacrifice to donate it. I hope somebody appreciates it.

After I dropped that off, I had to get some groceries. By this time I was dead on my feet. Needless to say that as soon as I got home I put the groceries away and then took a shower. I put on my lounge wear, or pajamas, early. If someone came into the lodge, the clothes would pass for comfortable clothing. I didn't care, I was too tired to care what I looked like. I watched some of the Vikings game and now after I do this blog, I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted. I think my pillow is calling.

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010.
There were customers in the lodge pretty early today asking for the kayak trip to begin. They had to decide where they were going to go first. After much discussion, they decided that I would drop off the group up stream at Long Lake Creek. They would then paddle downstream to our resort. So I got in the old Toyota Landcruiser and drove the group to the landing. After I dropped them off I went into town and filled up the Toyota. Twenty one gallons later, and a lot of money, I left town.

The Toyota is painted in spots to hide the rust. Attached is a picture of it. Whenever we drive it into town, we get a lot of looks. I think every old resort should have some "classic" vehicle. We even took it through the parade pulling a trailer full of kayaks once. It is even more fun to drive it into town than before we painted it, I think. I also feel a little pride when I drive the thing because it is so old and it still runs and it is a stick shift. A lot of women don't know how to drive stick shift. Also a lot of guys like the old tough looking 4WD's.

I made it home okay even with all the construction on Highway H. I had to slow to a crawl over every bump because they were all major bumps and I didn't want the trailer to get torn off the hitch or trashed or something.

I did a lot of paperwork then because my insurance changed. I have to buy my own insurance because I am self-employed. When I signed up for Golden Rule 9 years ago, they were pretty cheap. Now the rates went up to almost $450/month. So I called our insurance guy, he checked, and I got a $200 premium that even includes dental (after 12 months)!!! Most people in the northwoods can't afford dental insurance, and that's why a lot of us have bad teeth. So I am recommending Anthem insurance to everyone out there! I can finally get my teeth back to good, have regular cleanings, etc. I will have to change dentists to be in the new insurance territory, but I will do what I have to do.

Afterwards I made dinner for the group who will be arriving supposedly by 5:00 p.m. I made stuffed shells, green beans and garlic bread. When they arrived, they were hungry like I guessed. They contributed a salad and bottle of wine, and we talked and laughed until after 9:30 p.m.

After that I made our bed. I had stripped the sheets, blanket, pillow cases earlier in the day so I had to do that. Making beds has become my job, I guess, so making another is not a big deal. This time I put on the flannels and with the cold nights starting, it felt so good to sleep on flannel once again.

I think fall is my favorite time of year. The quilt retreat we are having on 9/24, 25 is going to be when the peak colors are out. I checked my e-mails late and found out that two more people signed up. Hurray! Pam of Pamella's Place said that there are even more interested. We hope for 25 but we'll take what we can get. It is our first year afterall.

I finally relaxed at around 10:00 p.m. and finished my book by Jude Deveraux, "Lavender Morning". It was very good and I could hardly put it down. I will have to get her next book in the series when it comes out.

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Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010
The rest of our customers left today. It was sad to see them go because they were such a good group. They always take a bunch of our cabins, which we really appreciate. This last weekend they took 6 cabins, which we are very happy about. Because of them we were full this last weekend.

After they left I went into the cabins and turned off the heat, refrigerators and hot water. John told me I should have left the heat on so that when I went in to clean them that I wouldn't be cold. He's so nice. John and I stripped the beds and took out all the dirty laundry from the cabins too.

I then went into the basement and put clean laundry in bags and delivered them to the cabins. Afterward 2 cabins are cleaned and I am tired. I still have to clean out 2 fireplaces but I will leave them until tomorrow.

John did a bunch of paperwork and computer work today. I happened to sit down for a little while and did a couple of invoices. Then John noticed that I had the wrong information on a couple of them. I guess I'm out of practice. So I will redo them tomorrow.

Later I went to the monthly Lioness meeting. We had the senior center's curtains sent in with our laundry and I finally remembered to get reimbursed by the Lioness club. So now I can relax about that. I think I forgot to bring them my expense receipt for 2 months now. Finally I remembered.

After the meeting I went out for a drink with another lady who runs a motel in town. We compared notes about the season's bookings, etc. We both were down in booking in June but our summers were okay. It was fun to get out and talk girl talk.

I got home around 9:30 and John was watching tennis. He stayed up pretty late to catch some of the matches. I read a book until late. That's it for now. I hope you weren't too bored by our life of running the resort.

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Attached is a picture John took of one of his kayak outings this spring. Senna, our golden retriever is in the kayak with him, which is her happiest place - with John.

Monday, Labor Day, September 6, 2010. I had to labor on Labor Day, oh well. Three cabins left today so I went in and stripped the sheets, turned off the refrigerators, gas to the heaters/ovens, hot water and anything else I could. Then I made up the bags of clean laundry. I took the bags and dropped them off in the cabins. I was going to only have one cleaning lady today, so I knew I would have to clean with her.

We started at 1:00 and worked until 4:00. We efficiently cleaned the 3 cabins. I saved $36 by cleaning instead of having another cleaning girl helping today. It was worth it to save the money, I guess. I would have much rather had another cleaning person here to help, but they couldn't make it. The cabins were very clean so they were easy to do at least.

John took two people out kayaking again today and he called at 3:45 to ask that I pick them up. I paid the cleaning lady, locked up the resort and then drove the old Toyota Landcruiser to Arrowhead Road, and the Turtle River. I had to back up the rig because the trailer was on it for the kayaks. Its a good thing I know how to back up a trailer. John had only been waiting for a little while so the timing of everything was great. He jokes that I can back up the trailer better than him. We loaded up the two kayaks while we listened to the waterfall below the bridge. It was very beautiful there.

As soon as I could after we got home, I took a shower. Then John and I rested for awhile. Soon there were some customers in the bar and we visited with them, had one drink each and then they left. That was short but sweet.

It is raining now but it was beautiful today. I had left the tables/table cloths on out on the deck from the social yesterday. So I brought those in before they got wet. I did a couple loads of laundry today also, boring, I know.

I checked e-mails today and we received a couple negative comments about the fact that we will be closed in the winter. We will be closed from January 4th through mid April. Hopefully we won't alienate any customers but we have to try something different once in every 10 years or so, don't you think?

Feel free to leave any comments on any of these blogs. I would love your feedback!

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Senna and Buddy, our ever ready life guards, hard at work.

Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. I didn't set the alarm right last night so I woke up late. I was serving communion at church, so I quickly showered, dressed and then left without breakfast or even caffeine. After church I went to the grocery store to buy stuff for the annual Lake Association Social that we have every Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The social is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. I had to buy paper napkins, plastic spoons and tonic/club soda.

Whenever I open/use a tonic or club soda, it goes flat. I have squeezed the air out of the bottle, thinking that would help, but it always is flat before I need it again. So I was glad to see they were on sale at the grocery store.

Afterwards I stopped in to see a friend, but she was not at home. I got home around 11:30 a.m. and John helped me put the groceries away.

Yesterday he had taken a group out kayaking while I was at the waterfalls. I forgot to mention that in yesterday's blog. He went upstream all the way to the Shay Dam again. He is amazing how fast he can go in a kayak. He can kayak as fast as I can ride a mountain bike.

So when I got home, John was taking out another group of kayakers. He left shortly after eating some breakfast (at 11:00 a.m.). I made him a crab salad sandwich and off he went. He was gone until 3:00 p.m. with the group. I was getting nervous because the Social would be starting at 4:00.

I asked John to move our pontoon boat to our inner harbor to leave a pier open for the lake association members. He had a hard time starting it again, but eventually he took it out for a spin before he brought it into our lagoon.

The sun is shining and the air is cool, but perfect for a party. The high was just 63 at 1 p.m.

I had a lot to do to get ready for the social while John was out kayaking. I swept, vacuumed, moved chairs, furniture and tables. I swept off the deck, put chairs & stools out there, put an outdoor rug, table, table cloths, centerpieces, and candles out. I love doing this kind of stuff. I put trivets on the buffet counter/bar for hot dishes, lit candles, and then made our hot dish. While that was cooking, I cleaned the two lodge's bathrooms and then finished vacuuming the rest of the main house. I was exhausted and then realized that I had forgotten to have any caffeine yet today. So I poured myself some diet mountain dew, and was staring out the window at the lake when a customer came in. She asked me if she could practice on our upright piano in the lodge. Of course! So while I putzed around, I got to listen to a very skilled piano player. John would be jealous, but he had still been out kayaking at this time. She played beautifully for about an hour. She has Parkinson's Disease and her right hand shakes on a regular basis. But when she plays the piano, you can't tell at all. She's amazing.

I called our 80 year old neighbor and invited him to the social too. His dog just had to be put down and he is pretty lonely, I'm sure. He really enjoyed the social.

We had a good group again this year and it was very fun. We had invited our customers but no one took us up on it. The food and desserts were fantastic too.

Later a group of people were down at the beach area. So John and I went down and socialized for awhile. I started a campfire and John and I ended up being the only two enjoying it until around 9 p.m. Then we went up to the lodge. We had customers come into the lodge, and they are still there talking with John. I'll be saying hi and then get ready for bed. John loves talking and could probably talk all day. I prefer to type all day. We work well that way. Can you imagine if we were both competing with talking? It wouldn't be pretty.

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Saturday, September 4, 2010. Yesterday we got a request from a group of 6 to go on a waterfall hike. John's ankle braces he wears because of his disability have left a few sores on his feet. So he has to take it easy on any hikes, or not go on any. Since the group of 6 is 4 children and 2 moms, I thought it would be fun for me to go instead anyway. I rode with them in their car and off we went in the early afternoon.

First we drove to Peterson Falls. The picture you see is of the view from the top of the falls. Then we hiked along the river and several small falls to the upper, larger falls. The kids had a difficult time going through some of the forest along the river, but it was a good hike overall because no one got hurt or dirty. Three of the group shimmied across a log bridge to an island in the middle of the river, right above the upper falls. They said it was very fun. It made me nervous for them.

After we left Peterson Falls, we drove to Gile Falls. That was a very short trip to see the falls, and the kids climbed around on the huge rocks. They had fun there too.

Afterwards we drove to downtown Hurley, Wisconsin, which was only 3 miles from the Gile Falls. There was a Festa Italiana going on. One of the moms is Italian, so she wanted to see if she could find a cannolli. We found some very good ones at the Liberty Bell Chalet, which is owned and operated by an Italian family.

After the sweets fest, we walked around on the 2 blocks of the street fest. It was very nice, sunny and fun. A bat flew out of a building (it must not have liked the music) and almost flew into one of the moms. That was scary. There were several bands set up far enough apart to not compete, and it was nice to listen to the different kinds of music.

We bought fudge, a few drinks for us women, some ice cream and then we left. We had to stop to get some juice for the kids, so we happened to be parked right by Art Unlimited. For those of you who don't know what that shop is, it is a surplus t-shirt/sweatshirt shop in Hurley. You can get some for $1 each. One of the moms bought $25 worth of shirts and she said she has enough outfits to last her 3 weeks. Funny. If John had been guiding this day's outing, I can guarantee this shop would not have been on the day's activities list. So I'm very glad I went instead. The kids kept saying how they loved the store. I got a kick out of them.

When we got back, there was a campfire and the youngest came up to the lodge to ask me personally to join them. I felt so special and wanted, that I must have been walking on air all the way down there. This 5 year old's mom was upset because he had not told her where he was going, so I know they hadn't told him to ask me. Even though he got into trouble, I still was glad that he had asked me to join his family. All the way down to the fire he made sure I could see where I was walking by shining his flashlight in front of me.

It was very chilly and I didn't stay at the fire long because I hadn't dressed warm enough. But I was there long enough to give them some marshmallows and talk for awhile. It got down to 39 degrees.

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Friday, Sept. 3, 2010. It's the Friday before Labor Day weekend. We have a lot of customers arriving today. So I went into 8 of 9 cabins to get them all ready. The 9th cabin had arrived yesterday.

I had to turn on the refrigerators and make sure water is ready in the ice cube trays. The hot water has to be turned on. The heaters had to have their pilot lights lit. The cooking stove/oven had to have their pilots lit too. I got them almost all done. When I was in the 2nd to the last cabin, and I won't say which one, I noticed a problem. We had a mouse. I went through every dish, pan, plate, bowl, glass, etc. to make sure they were all clean. Then I wiped down the table, counters, shelves, floor and oven to make sure there were no traces of the critter. Then I put Decon (mouse poison) in the cabin where I noticed some stuffing coming out from under a kitchen base cabinet. It turns out the mouse was under the bottom shelf under the sink. There is a little opening between the kick plate and the bottom shelf of the base cabinet.

In every cabin we have an electric "pesticator" sonic repellent for mice, bats and critters of the like. It is supposed to emit a high pitched sound that the little critters don't like. We also put poison in the cabins when no one is in there just in case. When we get the cabins ready, we then remove the poison and wipe up the area with a bleach solution. We do this to be proactive, but when we see a mouse, we are ferocious. I am sure that the mouse will be dead soon, due to all the poison I put under that cabinet, thank goodness.

When customers arrived, we greeted, talked to and visited with them. Some we never met before so it was fun getting to know them.

John and I did a lot of paperwork and talking with the customers, but that was about it. The day went fast.

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The picture is of the view out of the back of our Balsam cabin in the early fall.

Thursday, September 2, 2010. John is on his way back from Door County. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because I kept regretting my last post. I had put in it that no customers were here and that my husband was at his mom's. That was very stupid of me to advertise that I was alone. I won't do that again.

I spent most of the day doing computer work. I fixed a lot of problems with the computer e-mail, read a lot of information someone sent me for computer advice, did a lot of research and then did a lot of computer work. That's boring.

We were expecting a customer today so I turned on the Balsam cabin. I plugged in the refrigerator, put water in the ice cube trays in the freezer, turned on the gas for the oven/stove and lit the pilots, turned on the hot water, and checked that everything was okay. Of course I had to spend a few minutes staring at the awesome views from the Balsam cabin. Out the back of the cabin you can see our private pond. Out the front there is a great view of the lake since the cabin is on a hill.

I took the dogs for a walk but Buddy kept having a difficult time. So I didn't go very far.

John arrived around 5:00 p.m. and I made a nice dinner of fried chicken (in olive oil) and rosemary, garlic vegetables broiled in the oven for an hour. Mmmm Mmmm good.

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Tuesday and Wednesday are here and gone already. Time flies when you're busy. Tuesday John did paperwork almost all day. Then he did a garbage run for me before he started packing to go to his mom's. He wanted to see her since it has been awhile now since John's dad died. His mom, Denny, isn't used to being alone so he wanted to visit and see if there was anything there he could do. He left here around 2 p.m.

When he was packing his bag, I made out a deposit for him. We figured out the bills together and I will have to do some paperwork tomorrow. He will drop off the deposit on his way out of the area. Our bank is 15 miles away, another negative aspect of being so far out in the country.

When he left, I headed down to the basement again. I am almost finished with half of the basement. I got rid of another large bag of junk, burned several boxes and organized stuff for hours. At the end of the day I had enough area to store our snowmobiles in and to set up a seating area. We have a nice patio door to look out of and all there is is junk in front of it. Tomorrow I will organize that area by moving some stuff around and making a seating area. At least that's my goal. We'll see how it goes. I also want to make an appearance at the local sewing/quilting guild. I haven't been able to go since early June. If I want to promote our quilt retreat, I better get networking.

After I loaded up all the garbage in the ATV trailer, I drove it up to the dumpster. I actually filled up half of the dumpster with junk from our basement. We hate to have half a dumpster when it is time to be picked up. That would be a waste of money. So cleaning up the basement saves money too. I like thinking of it like that. The only things I threw out were broken or completely run down items that we could never sell, or odds and ends that we can't find a part for, etc. that aren't worth keeping. John was really nervous when he left that I would throw out something he didn't want me to. Oh well.

I was so tired yesterday that I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. I woke up early too. I don't like waking up too early. Maybe because I had to all those years.

Today I started working on my computer problems. I got an e-mail from a friend of John's who gave me some great advice. So I worked on the computer for a couple hours. After awhile I e-mailed some flyers for our quilt retreat on 9/25, then I got our computer to finally accept e-mails on 3 out of 4 accounts. I still can't figure out why the 4th account won't let me send e-mails, but I'll take what I can get.

I drove our minivan to the lumber pile in the back of the resort property. I had loaded all the lumber from our basement into it and then I unloaded it onto the pile. It looked like our neighbor kids had been going through some of the wood or something because the pile was a mess. So I had to organize the entire thing so it wouldn't fall over. It took me a lot longer than I expected. When the minivan was finally empty and the pile all covered back up, I loaded the van with stuff to clean a cabin with. I came upstairs, watched my daytime drama, Days of Our Lives, while I ate lunch, then went back to work. I cleaned the Birch cabin completely, thoroughly and totally. I moved furniture and everything. When that was done, I only had a half hour before I had to leave.

I had to work in the kitchen at our Lioness BINGO tonight. So I left at 5:15 and was the first to arrive at the Community Center for the kitchen help. I worked until 8:30. My feet were killing me by this time. Now after checking e-mails, answering phone messages, calling my husband and, of course, checking facebook, I am ready for bed. My pillow is calling.