Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Good Morning everyone! Welcome back to the Monday Morning Staff Meeting. I hope everyone is well and read to attadk the day.

Here's what we're serving today. It's the country breakfast at the Kane County Flea Market.

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It is hearty fare. There's scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage and toast. All this for $3 because we waited until after 10 a.m., when they need to clear the breakfast stuff out to make way for lunch. Earlier there was also a choice of bacon and corned beef hash but that goes quick.

There's also coffee, tea, juice, milk and water on the table in the back. Help yourself.

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The workmen are all gone and the floors are done! I'm so happy but it seems wierd not to hear the sound of big equipment. As I've said before, I can't imagine undergoing a major renovation. The task now is to put everything back in place.

The bad news is that the sofa we ordered is not going to arrive for at least ANOTHER 4 weeks. We've already waited 10 weeks (the outer limit of the time promised to us). It's being shipped from overseas. This was news to us. Nobody mentioned that it had to travel on a slow boat from China or Morrocoo or wherever it's constructed. Everything else (made in the U.S.) is in the warehouse but I've decided not to take delivery on anything until that sofa arrives.

I'm thankful to be able to finally have some new furniture but dealing with the lack of customer service is grating on my nerves. I've been in sales, I've done customer service and I know how things should operate.

My neighbor has ordered new furniture also so we'll see how her experience plays out.

How about you? Any new furniture nightmares?

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My sewing room is a disaster which matches the rest of the house. The push is on to put everything back together and obtain some semblance of order. Right now it's chaos.

I am working on some interesting new aprons, some colorful crocheted coasters and crocheted floral pins. They remind me of the corsages that women wore on a special occasion. I'll have pictures soon and I'm going to be putting together a pattern for the coasters.

Speaking of special occasions, we have two coming up. The Son graduates from nursing school and will be pinned on May 12th. The Other Mother will turn 90 on July 3rd and we are deciding on how to celebrate. I'm welcoming any ideas you might have because I'm not going to repeat the circus that was her 80th.

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It's not clear whether spring will ever arrive. We went from very, very cold to HOT in one day! My wish would be to have some mild spring days before heat arrives. Today we're back to chilly.

The problem with cold followed by heat, a huge temperature jump, is that it spawns tornadoes. Luckily we were spared although a bunch touched down in Iowa.

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Are you planning anything for April 29th? That's when Kate Middleton and Prince William will be married.

My mom is crazy for anything royal. Her and Queen Elizabeth are the same age and my mom was a big fan of Princess Diana.

My plan is to pick my mom up the day before so that we can rise early (something like 4 a.m.) and watch the wedding live. Unfortunately, since I don't have a sofa we'll be sitting in those fold up camping chairs. We'll have tea, crumpets, scones and more. I've been baking in practice for this because crumpets and scones aren't something we Yanks bake everyday.

My favorite scone recipe comes from Corey Amaro, an American living in France. The scones are soft and tender, made with one container of yogurt. You can find her recipe here:

COREY'S SCONE RECIPE

I made them awhile back but my recent try had a funny result. I'll tell you about it and show pictures later this week.

Do you plan to watch the wedding?

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I love this video and unlike some of the You Tube commenters, I don't care if it's a commercial for a bank.



Another large earthquake in Japan today. How much more stress and danger can these people endure? My prayers are with them.

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That's all for me today. Unfortunately I've got to sort out this mess! Have a great day everyone.


11 comments:

Vee said...

Oddly enough, after moving out an old mattress and spring to move a new one in just yesterday...we are not the princess and the pea...my entire house looks as if a cyclone hit. I truly can not believe how one little issue such as this has resulted in such chaos and confusion. I can't even find my bill keeper to pay the bills.(Now that's a new one.)

The only good thing about this is that I didn't have to wait 10 plus weeks for the new mattress and spring. That's crazy!

(I do want new living room furniture because the old stuff is no longer comfortable. We're getting older and we can't be lifting ourselves from the depths as we are now. I'll be sure to buy American made available pronto.)

No, I am not planning to rise at 4 to watch the wedding. I remember doing just that for Princess Diana's wedding and I believe Princess Anne's as well. But, no, not this time. It does sound like some fun for you and your mother. I'll rely on your synopsis.

Oh a 90th birthday coming up. I have no suggestions, but for my grandmother's 90th we had an afternoon tea at a Bed and Breakfast where there was plenty of parking and lots of room and none of us had to do any preparing, serving or clean-up. It was quite reasonable in price and a real blessing all the way around. Now I am wondering about the circus...

Wonderful to see you here, though from the sounds of things, it'll be next Monday before we see you again. Take care. Call in the cavalry.

Dodie said...

The video was great. Didn't seem like an ad to me at all.
I love scones but I put different fruits in mine, plain ones look like bisquits.
Your home will be lovely when you are finished I am sure.
Have enough weddings in our own family to attend so no won't watch the royal wedding.
90th Birthday, how wonderful hope I make it that long, 7 more years to go.

Vee said...

Just came back to watch the video and for a minute thought it was about the Japanese spirit. It's a very cool video and I'd like to know more about it. Not at all like an ad for a bank.

Terri said...

Hurray!!!! Your flooring is done and you are back... we really missed the MMM! Love the breakfast. This is the only way I can eat that much. Half that is still more than allowed. I'm really in the same boat as the guys in the video. I loved that! Watched it twice and cried and laughed through the whole thing. I'm tired of the pills, tests, shots... etc. I'd love to just "go ride motorcycles" for days and days. Thank you for sharing that.
On the subject of furniture. I put Montomery Wards out of business. I ordered 2 easy chairs and mistakenly paid for them. They were promised Thurs. after next. Got a note in the mail that they would be 10 days late... waited. Then when they called to say they didn't know when they could be delivered (we figured they had to grow the trees first.) we went to the store just before they closed and wanted our money back. They said they'd already counted up for the night, and they'd send us a check in the mail!!!! I said "NO". (How could I trust that they would send a check when they hadn't delivered on the first contract.) I would wait right there until I got paid in pennies - if need be. They could call the cops if they wanted, but I was their payroll clerk, and much loved at the PD. They paid me, and we never set foot in their stores again. It was only about 5 years of me telling the story and they were OB! (I love that part.) Customer is always right, and I was. If they didn't have the chairs available they shouldn't have been selling them. I understand that they were making money on my money the whole time that they had it... probably hoping we would forget that we'd ordered anything. (I wonder how often that happens.)
I'd keep my receipt in a very visable place so you can keep track of how long you wait.
(Maybe call an attorney.)Good luck on your couch.

Bailie said...

Glad things are settling down for you! For your Other Mother, how about a card shower! We just did this for my Uncles 75th. He was so suprised to recieve cards in the mail, he really enjoyed it!

Bailie said...

So glad things are starting to settle down for you!
How about a card shower for your Other Mother! We just did this for my Uncles 75th. We contacted as many people as we could and he ended up with 67 cards! He was so suprised to all of a sudden being showered with cards in the mail, he really enjoyed it!

life in red shoes said...

Breakfast looks yummy, I've been drinking chocolate protein shakes, and you know what? I like them?
You and your floors, I'm still hobbled from the tile stories!
Congrats to your son, if I could rewind 30 years.....
And The Other Mothers Birthday- S.I.M.P.L.E.
And yes, I will be watching The Wedding, but it's also my daughters 30th!
Where does the time go?

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

I wish I could get up that early, but I'll probably watch it later when they air it again. Having a luncheon at a tea room or fancy restaurant sounds like a great way to celebrate a 90th birthday--does she have any preferences?

Anonymous said...

I watched the video and told my husband: "This should have been a movie."

He dug deeper and guess what, it's both a true story and there _is_ a documentary.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/arts-&-leisure/2008/09/29/176613/Real-life-film.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWBGgmzfmj0&feature=autoplay&list=PL75C1E6F2FA3EC89A&index=11&playnext=2

(I hope someone will release a version with English subs.)

Susan in Berlin (embarking on a motorbike trip at the end of May)

Chris from VT said...

Thank you so much for the inspiring video! I cried.

Crafting Marfa said...

I definitely plan on watching the royal wedding. All I keep thinking though is that Diana should be there. Every time that I see William I can see her face in his face. I can see her essence in him. I am still upset about her death. I am so sure that Diana would be helping Katherine and teaching her the ropes, since she had such a hard time getting used to royal life. Let's hope for the best.