I can talk about it now....

[gillumhouse]

Here is you imagine my face belly laugh for the week.
I have been operating on 4 to 5 hours sleep all week between City duties and my guests (worked with one of the ladies for 15 years). Had to stop and think if it was Tuesday when I was getting a 9 AM breakfast ready before I left at 7:30 to guide a Regional Director (MABB) to where a couple of our member inns are) but it was Thursday this happened.
My City is getting a Community Assessment (evaluation basically) from the ON TRAC people. I have spent several days collecting business cards and goodies for the goodie bags for these folks and have said I would have coffee and muffins at the interview site for when they unterviewed Council & Blueprint Team members, business people, and organization leaders all day. I make a 24 cup pot of Guatamala coffee for them and a 12 cup pot of Ethiopian for my guests. Both pots stop perking. I get a pot holder and get the grounds out of the 24-cup and to the sink. Great! Now I pick up the 12-cup basket and tip it to drain the excess coffee into the pot. My hand slips, basket tips, and coffee and grounds fling all over the island counter! Into my sugar container, all over everything! Can you imagine my face? All i wanted to do was cry - but I did not have time. Breakfast was at 9 AM and the set-up had to be done before 9 because I was supposed to be on the trolley for the tour of the City at 9. Then after the trolley tour, they walked the downtown and we gathered for the Council/Blueprint interviews. After lunch were the business interviews and i was told I was not needed any longer. (Huh? I thought I had a business and had a hat to wear as a business person. Guess not)
They are going to be done for the day at 4:15 so I go over at 3:45 to get my coffee pot and coffee set-up. Door is open and I see community organization people and a man who I had forgotten was also organization beause I think of him as business. So I lean against the door jamb so I do not disturb anyone. One of the assessment team looks at me and says, "Oh, Kathleen, could you just give us 10 more minutes?" I replied that as a business person I thought I belonged. A bit later they drove into City Hall parking lot as I was walking home and stopped so she could say, I apologize for the 10 minutes but that was organizations not business. I then told her that since I am president of the Council of Churches, president of the Garden Club, member of SADA, and a member of the Band I am also organizations.
So there is your laugh for the week.

 

[swirt]

Ooof. That sounds like quite a week. So what was the result? They loved the coffee, and are giving your city the grant?

 

[YellowSocks]

Just say, "Whatever it is, I'm it, and I'm stickin' around!"
...and try to get some sleep, would you? (Says the innkeeper who needs 8 but is averaging 5-6 a night...)
=)
Kk.

 

[gillumhouse]

Ooof. That sounds like quite a week. So what was the result? They loved the coffee, and are giving your city the grant?.

This week will be worse but....
ON TRAC is a WV initiative that is a precursor to Main Street. They were here to evaluate our strengths and weaknesses (and to tell us what we need to concentrate on). We blew them away! They wanted to clone us!
Yes, they liked the coffee and the muffins (gingerbread with chopped dates and fruitcake fruit - I did not realize i was out of both prunes AND dried apricots) and the goodie bags I put together blew them away. I had menues from all the restaurants, business cards from all the palces that had them, register tapes with the business names on them for the ones that didn't have business cards. I had my fly swatters & back scratchers, made a Christmas CD of the Community Band and also another CD of 20 selections of our other concerts, the stained glass shop supplied candle holders w/candles (round ball), the optometrist gave me bottles of lens cleaner, the construction guy gave 2 pen knives and a key ring (they are VERY nice) for the 3 items we needed, the Museum gave a tote bag and a cookbook, the Mission that runs the consignment shop gave a tote bag and a cup, the physical therapy gave a tote bag and a T-shirt, Advance Aoto gave us hats, the dentist gave us toothbrushes, one bank gave business cards, the other bank gave notebook, pen, stress balls.....
Then we had an ice cream social for the community gathering and had over 60 people present - more than at any other city so far. (They are going to suggest the ice cream social idea to the remaining cities they have to visit.)
We blew them away with what our city is doing and has done. They are supposed to give us ideas of how we can get absent building owners to fix up their buildings that have a decent facade but crappy, falling apart interiors. We do need to get our "downtown" looking good. Time will tell...

 

[gillumhouse]

Just say, "Whatever it is, I'm it, and I'm stickin' around!"
...and try to get some sleep, would you? (Says the innkeeper who needs 8 but is averaging 5-6 a night...)
=)
Kk..

I am about 15 minutes from getting to bed. Chapel is done. I baked my burger buns before Chapel, did one sheet of brats buns and the second one is almost done since I got home at 1 AM. Will take the fruit baskets and flowers upstairs in the morning when I go to do the floors - all else is done upstairs for the 2 rooms coming in. Decided to buy the potato salad (ordered 5 lbs.) and will make the burgers tomorrow after I mow the yard (rain this morning plus the chugging but did get 2 loads of laundry done today before I left for the chug and it dried on the line while i was gone. Tonight they did the Park Dedication (had to go as Garden Club) and the Police in the Park Cookout followed. Nice turnout for that too. Night....