2009 in Review since this is too late for a Holiday Letter

Just a tab bit late for a holiday letter. I have no clue why I just couldn't seem to get it done. Hope you enjoy our adventures.

We have had another banner year of travel in 2009. We tried to slow down some, but still managed to spend 192 days sleeping in beds other than our own. Not too much different than the 201 days we were gone in 2008. We have had some fun adventures, lots of teaching, time to visit with family, and of course working at some super bed and breakfasts. This year we have had some long stretches of being away. So please bear with me as you go through the year. You might want to grab that cup of coffee or soda and settle in for a bit of reading.

We started the year off with an interesting 18 day assignment during February in San Francisco at the Edward II Inn. This was down near the wharf area off Scott and Lombard. The shops around it were fun to wander through when we had some quiet down time. It was the largest inn we have taken care of 28 rooms – we helped reorganize their systems and dealt with a number of challenging issues. It was almost more of a consulting assignment than a straight Interim Innkeeping assignment. This is where I was introduced to the new craze of gourmet cupcakes at Kara’s Cupcakes. Yummy for my tummy.

We were barely home a week when it was time to fly to New Orleans for a March/April 28 day assignment at the Banana Courtyard. This was Lynda’s first time in New Orleans. Fortunately, we were able to fit in a bit of sight seeing when the inn wasn’t busy. We spent a couple of hours at the World War II Museum. Both of us wished we could have taken more time to really go through the history. It is a spot not to miss if you do get to this area. Of course their were walks down to Café Du Monde for Beignets. You definitely have to be careful how you eat these least you get powdered sugar everywhere.

We were there over Saint Patrick’s Day. To fit in with the local crowd you had to carry your alcoholic libations with you. We walked a lot, but Howard got so frustrated driving in the city that he finally broke down and bought a GPS. However we didn’t need any help finding good food to eat. The restaurants in New Orleans are wonderful. Since he is the more adventurous food consumer, he had bar-b-qued oysters, fried alligator, and alligator etoufe. Howard even spent one day at the New Orleans School of Cooking to celebrate his birthday. He learned how to make red beans and rice, corn bread, and pecan tarts – all New Orleans style. Then of course there was Angelo Brocato’s, a 100 plus year old Italian ice cream parlor where we enjoyed some unusual flavors of gelato.

You can’t think about New Orleans without thinking about Jazz. One night we went to a little place called Snug Harbor and saw Charmaine Neville. It was quite a show. We encouraged all of our guests to visit and hear some great jazz. Of course, Lynda had fun taking pictures of the houses, gardens, and whatever else caught her fancy. You can check out all of our New Orleans pictures at http://tinyurl.com/yjpb2ea and http://tinyurl.com/ykjh9wg

No sooner had we gotten home from New Orleans than we were off to teach a five day consulting/class at Casa del Gavilan in Cimarron, New Mexico. This wonderful old hacienda B&B dates from the early 1900’s. It is really in the middle of no where. No cell phone reception, no internet reception, and no TV’s. Talk about unplugging. Fortunately, there was some time to wander the 200 acre property. On one of our walks, we were very fortunate to find a 5 point Elk shed. What made it even more special was that one of the volunteers there found the Elk shed mate and gave it to us. Now all we need to do is get them mounted – next years project. We actually have a blank wall in our living room where it will look perfect.

The land surrounding the bed and breakfast is all owned by the Boy Scouts. The Philmont Scout Ranch is located just down the road a piece. We were able to tour the facility. This was extra special because Howard is an Eagle Scout. However, he had never gotten a chance to go there and experience the facilities as a Scout.

In May, we actually had a family trip back to the Washington DC area (Vienna, VA to be presice) to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of our great nephew Alex Schawb. This was a whole family event as it truly was a celebration of life. Alex is a leukemia survivor. We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed catching up with other family members

Lynda even gathered some more information for her geneology listings on Howard’s family. Howard was the eldest male member of our family present and carried the Torah around the congregation before Alex was passed the Torah by his father, Steve. It was a very emotional moment for both Howard and I.

Our next assignment took us back to Asheville and the Oakland Cottage. This was like going home as this was our third summer at this property. During the 6 weeks we managed the B&B we also taught four different innkeeper classes. Once the assignment ended we both decided that we had bitten off more than we should have. We were exhausted by the time we finally made it home. Speaking of classes, during the year we also taught four more classes at Eastholme in the Rockies in Cascade, CO (two in Jan. and one each in Aug. & Oct.) and one additional class at the Carr Manor in Cripple Creek, CO (May). At this class, we even did bed-side service. One of our students hurt his back the very first day. So, we all sat in his room while he relaxed on the bed and we went over some materials.

Our last assignment was at the Artists’ Inn in South Pasadena, CA. We did a two week session in October and finished up the year with a one month period through Jan. 6. While we grew up in the LA area, have didn’t get to spend much time in the Pasadena area. We are just two miles from the Rose Parade route and three miles from the Rose Bowl where Oregon met Ohio State on Jan 1. We watched the Rose Parade in between serving guests. Caught the repeat for what we have missed the first time. All of our guests who went had a great time. However, the Oregon fans were not as happy as the Ohio fans the next morning.

We did get to spend some time visiting with family and friends amidst working. We saw Laurie and her family in February while we were in San Francisco. We went with them to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park . We had a great time with Josiah & Elijah seeing all of the animals. We drove to San Jose in June for Josiah’s 5^th birthday, and flew in to San Jose in October for Halloween. Howard again had fun carving the pumpkin with the boys.

Nic manned the house while Laurie, Howard & Lynda took the boys trick or treating. We finally have gotten SKYPE hooked up and now see the boys (plus Laurie & Nic) every week live if not in person. Isn’t technology wonderful.

Also visited our friends Sharon & Al Glickman in Henderson three times and had them visit us once while we were in Asheville, NC. We also spent some time with Howard’s sister Marsha, plus Steven & Janet over Thanksgiving in LA. While we were there, we had a chance to see our first Air Force Sponsor Grandbaby – Natalie - daughter of Matt & Rebecca Tompkins. She is a cutie. So, what about the rest of you Air Force and Colorado College kids that are married – we want more grandbabies. We know, we know, it’s not the right time yet.

Health wise, we have both recovered from the car accident of last year. We also managed to settle with the insurance company without having to go through an attorney. It would have been real silly to have to sue your own insurance company on a hit and run claim. Fortunately, we finally got the adjuster to see things our way.

We did take some vacation time just for ourselves. We did a timeshare exchange in Palm Dessert, CA at the Westin. Both of us experienced going down a water slide into the pool at the timeshare.

We also visited the Living Desert Zoo and Biological Gardens – a neat animal and garden park nearby. We finished up the week at a seminar called Never Work Again. It was on Passive Income. It seems there is a lot of work to do before you can get the Passive Income to work for you. Needless to say, we are working on it.

Some first for us this year:

1. Organizing our townhouse community garage sale (we made $172)

2. Selling theatre tickets on Craig’s List (sold them at face value).

3. Having a vase of roses and camellias on Lynda’s desk every day. There are no deer in So. Pasadena to eat the buds before they even bloom. There are plenty of bushes to choose from as there are 100 of them on the property.

4. Getting into the swing of things with the social media craze – Facebook, Twitter, and a new Blog for Inn Caring. The blog has helpful hints, recipes, and ramblings for those in the B&B industry as well as just plain ordinary folk. Become a follower on any or all of the social media pages.

Thanks for reading to the very end. I keep saying things will get shorter next year, but it never seems to happen.

Hugs and Such for a Happy and Healthy New Year for Everyone.

Toot and Teaser (aka Lynda & Howard)