Introducing myself

Hello!
i have been a reader/lurker at this site for a while, and just got around to creating a log in, etc. I wasn't going to post as an innkeeper until the title became a reality, but I wanted to thank everyone here for their great information, witty replies, and just plain good humor. I am a huge fan of knowing exactly what I am getting into. I am not afraid of hard work, just of getting the logistics down. Thank you for this site!
I have entered an essay contest to win the Center Lovell Inn in Maine. ( http://wincenterlovellinn.com ) I live in southern NY right now, but moved here from Fryeburg, Maine, so I know this inn as well as anyone could who hasn't actually stayed there. I am really excited at the opportunity; my husband is a landscaper, my oldest workaholic son worked in two of that areas top restaurants as a line cook/prep, my middle son is struggling to get off the ground as an electrician, and my youngest is nearly 16 and is more interested in friends and social life than hanging with us (bonus! He has friends in the area already!). As for me, I have an associates degree in Business Management, a BA in history, worked as a retail manager for six years (on top of many years as a regular retail associate, of course), and also worked as a restaurant swing shift manager for two years (was ServSafe certified, need to renew that). I have seen nasty customers and seen delightful customers... You can't enjoy working in retail or restaurant industry without loving people.
I decided to stick with this site whether I win or not because we found the site wwww.working couples.com and really like the idea of spending the years leading to retirement working together running or managing an inn or similar venture. There is something simply wonderful at the thought of working together to accomplish a goal that we love.
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Susan

Welcome Susan, and if you don't win there are still more opportunities for you ahead! We're glad you stopped in and are sharing.

Thanks for the reply
Realistically, my odds are (in contest terms) one out of 7500 to win, and while that's better odds than the lottery, I am aware that we may not win. I would have written "probably won't win" but where is the fun in that thinking? I am a good writer (college made sure of that) but I am sure that every other essay will be just as good. The essay contest isn't just a cool idea, it's savvy on the part of the owner (and the owner before her).
We moved here to southern NY to look after my husbands elderly parents, and sadly, we are no longer needed here. The website I found (working couples) is intriguing, and I hope something comes of it for us. One of the really cool ideas is moving to Japan to teach conversational English for a year! We would have housing, transportation, and an income. I love that idea!
When I worked in retail as a salaried manager, I caught a little flak for being at my store more than 40 hours a week (between 60 and 90) even though we had the highest sales record and customer satisfaction ratings in the entire northeast district. Go figure. It strikes me that there is no such flak for running an Inn this many hours. As exciting as the thought is, I know I need to give careful consideration to what I intend to take on, so the post of raising children while running an inn was invaluable, even though it doesn't exactly fit my circumstances.
I was worried about being chained to the inn 24/7/365, so it was a relief to read about blocking out time in the off season to take a vacation. The other thing I wondered about was anticipating family and friends who might want to stay at a discount and what if I wanted to gift a room booking to people I really love and appreciate? Do you do that? What's the balance?

Smile4Susan said:

Thanks for the reply
Realistically, my odds are (in contest terms) one out of 7500 to win, and while that's better odds than the lottery, I am aware that we may not win. I would have written "probably won't win" but where is the fun in that thinking? I am a good writer (college made sure of that) but I am sure that every other essay will be just as good. The essay contest isn't just a cool idea, it's savvy on the part of the owner (and the owner before her).
We moved here to southern NY to look after my husbands elderly parents, and sadly, we are no longer needed here. The website I found (working couples) is intriguing, and I hope something comes of it for us. One of the really cool ideas is moving to Japan to teach conversational English for a year! We would have housing, transportation, and an income. I love that idea!
When I worked in retail as a salaried manager, I caught a little flak for being at my store more than 40 hours a week (between 60 and 90) even though we had the highest sales record and customer satisfaction ratings in the entire northeast district. Go figure. It strikes me that there is no such flak for running an Inn this many hours. As exciting as the thought is, I know I need to give careful consideration to what I intend to take on, so the post of raising children while running an inn was invaluable, even though it doesn't exactly fit my circumstances.
I was worried about being chained to the inn 24/7/365, so it was a relief to read about blocking out time in the off season to take a vacation. The other thing I wondered about was anticipating family and friends who might want to stay at a discount and what if I wanted to gift a room booking to people I really love and appreciate? Do you do that? What's the balance?.

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Welcome to the place where innkeepers belong! I hope you win! I saw the contest and it is a nice place. My aunt (who teaches writing) and my mom both thought to enter it but decided that one inn in the family was enough for now. So your static for winning just went up two notches!
When you think of an innkeeper, you think of sitting in the dining room chatting with guest as the smells of the wonderful breakfast floats through the house. You meet people from all over the world. Everyone is happy and its heaven on earth. YES! It's that but.....
Its also stumbling downstair exhausted to start breakfast for the guests since you were up late fixing something or had a late arrival.... Your clothes have holes and bleach spots all over it as you are again dumping shock into the pool as you hope you don't get a last minute walk-in just now or you are weeding the garden....painting....refinishing furniture....the work seems to never end and it needs to be all done before the weekend guests arrive. But if you enjoy doing those things, then dive in, an adventure for every day awaits you!

Duff,
I am a stepmother who raised five kids total, you just described the last 25 years of my life, LOL!!

Welcome Susan!

Welcome, Susan. Good luck with winning the inn. At least you are going in with your eyes open. Let us know how it turns out. Again, welcome.
Go to the other post, click edit and try to delete. IF it will not delete because I replied to it, change the title to Duplicate. Swirt will probably fix it next time he pops in.

Gillis house, I tried to do that before you replied, I can only edit, not delete. I will write duplicate so an admin can take it off. Thank you!

Gillumhouse, I tried to do that before you replied, I can only edit, not delete. I will write duplicate so an admin can take it off. Thank you!

You can't win if you don't enter! I hope you win.

Duff2014 said:

Smile4Susan said:

Thanks for the reply
Realistically, my odds are (in contest terms) one out of 7500 to win, and while that's better odds than the lottery, I am aware that we may not win. I would have written "probably won't win" but where is the fun in that thinking? I am a good writer (college made sure of that) but I am sure that every other essay will be just as good. The essay contest isn't just a cool idea, it's savvy on the part of the owner (and the owner before her).
We moved here to southern NY to look after my husbands elderly parents, and sadly, we are no longer needed here. The website I found (working couples) is intriguing, and I hope something comes of it for us. One of the really cool ideas is moving to Japan to teach conversational English for a year! We would have housing, transportation, and an income. I love that idea!
When I worked in retail as a salaried manager, I caught a little flak for being at my store more than 40 hours a week (between 60 and 90) even though we had the highest sales record and customer satisfaction ratings in the entire northeast district. Go figure. It strikes me that there is no such flak for running an Inn this many hours. As exciting as the thought is, I know I need to give careful consideration to what I intend to take on, so the post of raising children while running an inn was invaluable, even though it doesn't exactly fit my circumstances.
I was worried about being chained to the inn 24/7/365, so it was a relief to read about blocking out time in the off season to take a vacation. The other thing I wondered about was anticipating family and friends who might want to stay at a discount and what if I wanted to gift a room booking to people I really love and appreciate? Do you do that? What's the balance?.

Click to expand...

Welcome to the place where innkeepers belong! I hope you win! I saw the contest and it is a nice place. My aunt (who teaches writing) and my mom both thought to enter it but decided that one inn in the family was enough for now. So your static for winning just went up two notches!
When you think of an innkeeper, you think of sitting in the dining room chatting with guest as the smells of the wonderful breakfast floats through the house. You meet people from all over the world. Everyone is happy and its heaven on earth. YES! It's that but.....
Its also stumbling downstair exhausted to start breakfast for the guests since you were up late fixing something or had a late arrival.... Your clothes have holes and bleach spots all over it as you are again dumping shock into the pool as you hope you don't get a last minute walk-in just now or you are weeding the garden....painting....refinishing furniture....the work seems to never end and it needs to be all done before the weekend guests arrive. But if you enjoy doing those things, then dive in, an adventure for every day awaits you!
.

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I think Duff speaks for all of the "inmates" as Gillumhouse calls us.
You will love your new job (hopefully you'll win) and at times hate it. Here is where we vent, laugh, pat ourselves and others on the back and cry.
Welcome to the forum

Joey Bloggs said:

You can't win if you don't enter! I hope you win..

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Thanks, Joey! I hope we win, too. I haven't told anyone outside our home except my mother and a friend who I ran my final copy by for a quick edit. We need a change, NY has handed us a lot of new and cherished friends, but it's been a lot of loss here, too.

Ice said:

Welcome Susan!.

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Thanks, Ice!

Welcome S4S
Thanks for introducing yourself and welcome. We are a 24/7 team and I can tell you that we have VERY much enjoyed spending the last 15 years working on building and running our inn. It's a great feeling to be able to spend your time with the person you love, make a good living, and celebrate the journey.
Of course, as I am sure you have read, there are a dozen or so super important rules of thumb that make that possible and those likely run across the variety of business opportunities that couples might choose. Best wishes

happykeeper said:

Welcome S4S
Thanks for introducing yourself and welcome. We are a 24/7 team and I can tell you that we have VERY much enjoyed spending the last 15 years working on building and running our inn. It's a great feeling to be able to spend your time with the person you love, make a good living, and celebrate the journey.
Of course, as I am sure you have read, there are a dozen or so super important rules of thumb that make that possible and those likely run across the variety of business opportunities that couples might choose. Best wishes.

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Thank you

Welcome and good luck!

Smile4Susan said:

Duff,
I am a stepmother who raised five kids total, you just described the last 25 years of my life, LOL!!.

Click to expand...

Smile4Susan said:

Duff,
I am a stepmother who raised five kids total, you just described the last 25 years of my life, LOL!!

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Grin! And if you win....the next twenty five years!

Thanks for the intro Susan and I wish you all the luck with the contest. As you've said, it may not happen for you, but it sounds like you're open to other opportunities. It sounds like it's the perfect time in your lives for some change, so if it's winning the contest or something else, go for it!

Smile4Susan said:

Duff,
I am a stepmother who raised five kids total, you just described the last 25 years of my life, LOL!!.

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I can top you - we had 6 when we got married 40 years ago. Because I insisted on adopting hers, theirs, and mine so I am the Other Mother to 5 and Mother to 1 but the oldest and youngest boys consider themselves to have only one Dad.

Welcome and good luck. When is the drawing? Let us know if someone else doesn't.