So I had to speak in church last week with Mindy. We got selected not just because we are the new people in the ward, but also because our next door neighbor is in the bishopric and helped us move in (part of the payback) and also because John Winter is in the bishopric as well. I was very impressed with Mindy's talk. She always says that she is not a public speaker, yet her message was clear and her points were backed by thought, principle, and scriptures. Mine, however, was not quite as interesting, I could see many people nodding their heads and even a few of the old guys were drooling! ha ha
The topic was quite interesting for a sacrament meeting. We were to speak on family relationships. I was a little intimidated by the topic so I started to prepare my talk 20 minutes before we left for church. I kept asking Mindy to prepare a talk for me, but she just wouldn't. Darn the luck. Luckily Mindy saved the day and prepared such a wonderful talk that all I had to do was mumble a few words and fake a few people out for a minute and it was over!
Thermopolis is such a beautiful town. The other day Mindy was gone to SLC with her parents and there was a dash of sunlight left before darkness encroached on the high rise skyline. So I took Brio and Sassy out for a ride in the truck. We first headed out to the Buffalo pasture. We didn't see the Buffalo out on the pasture, they were all corralled up and feasting on some really green hay. But the pasture provides some really great views of the city. You see the town much differently from up there. From the Buffalo pasture we went out the county road (headed towards Worland) that is on the opposite side of the river. It's a dirt road and that's why you take them... just to see where they go. Lots of hay fields and micro ranches. As I passed by all these house I noticed they all had one thing in common. A big truck or trailer out front with huge water tanks on them. What a pain that would be to haul water every day.
We took a day to go back to Powell and Cody for pleasure and house business. I decided that since we had the whole day we might as well take the scenic route. We went to Anchor Reservoir and then out another dirt road 37 miles to the high way. That's why I love trucks! We had terrible traffic at one point... a herd of cows jamming up the road... no point in getting your road rage hemmoroid all fired up... they hear those cuss words all the time and they never catch on! It was a beautiful trip and I really found some nice places to explore on the wheeler.
It is quite different now for us... we just found out that on holidays we will have to speak, fight, or swindle our way for a room at my mom and dad's for holidays when everyone comes over. I guess now all my brothers and sisters can't call me a momma's boy anymore cause I moved so far away... wait a tick... I still live the closest!
Enough rambling. I have chores to do.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A Long Time...
These last few months have been very, very busy. We moved to Thermopolis. Looked forever for a place to live and settled on a little house to rent for now. I think that we looked at every house for sale here in Thermop!
When the 16th of November came I don't know that I was ready for what was about to happen. I was scared to death, thrilled, and nearly pee'ed down both legs a time or two! The condition of the store was a little worse than you could see from the outside looking in. We bought a semi truck of groceries and that was only a small improvement... 4 trucks later the store finally felt like it had product on the shelves even with the massive holes from where the previous owners had pulled the ordering information from items that sold out.
For the first few weeks Mindy stayed in Powell and I lived at the Super 8. Let me tell you, if you have the opportuninty to do that... or get kicked in the teeth with steel toed boots... take the steel toed boots! I lived there for almost a month with no fridge, no microwave, not hot water on some days and rusty orange-ish black-ish water on most days. Lucky for me I didn't have to be there all that much because the store required a lot of time. I was spending a 120 hours a week at the store trying to clean things up and make them presentable. Fortunately I am now able to only spend around 75-80 hours a week... maybe I'll get a part time job with all the free time I have! Ha ha
The work has been really rewarding. The people of Thermopolis have almost declared the store sacred ground. They were hungry for a store that treated them as a guest, and gave them a choice. The comments we still recieve are tear jerkers, and literally people still come up and introduce themselves, saying how appreciative they are we came to town. It really gives the 20 years of work prior to this a lot of validity. For 20 years I helped build the name Blair's Market, the brand, the end product... and for those who experienced it they loved it! It's also been a testament to Kent and his hard work. EVERYONE in Thermop has been to the Worland store, and they compare our little store to the Worland store. I have some pretty big shoes to fill. But I know that the hard work will be very rewarding to the guest. It won't be long and we will bust the seams on this little store and be begging the corporation for a store stretcher!
I do have to say that it is wonderful to be able to have Mindy at the store. Some days I know she questioned why I was so tired... now she knows that I don't sit in the office all day and point fingers and shout orders! She works really hard to help us be the best and she is a very valuable asset... and she lets me do what I love, serve the guest.
So for now, we survived the Holidays... and are looking forward to pushing the limits of this little store while we learn, grown, teach and have fun!
When the 16th of November came I don't know that I was ready for what was about to happen. I was scared to death, thrilled, and nearly pee'ed down both legs a time or two! The condition of the store was a little worse than you could see from the outside looking in. We bought a semi truck of groceries and that was only a small improvement... 4 trucks later the store finally felt like it had product on the shelves even with the massive holes from where the previous owners had pulled the ordering information from items that sold out.
For the first few weeks Mindy stayed in Powell and I lived at the Super 8. Let me tell you, if you have the opportuninty to do that... or get kicked in the teeth with steel toed boots... take the steel toed boots! I lived there for almost a month with no fridge, no microwave, not hot water on some days and rusty orange-ish black-ish water on most days. Lucky for me I didn't have to be there all that much because the store required a lot of time. I was spending a 120 hours a week at the store trying to clean things up and make them presentable. Fortunately I am now able to only spend around 75-80 hours a week... maybe I'll get a part time job with all the free time I have! Ha ha
The work has been really rewarding. The people of Thermopolis have almost declared the store sacred ground. They were hungry for a store that treated them as a guest, and gave them a choice. The comments we still recieve are tear jerkers, and literally people still come up and introduce themselves, saying how appreciative they are we came to town. It really gives the 20 years of work prior to this a lot of validity. For 20 years I helped build the name Blair's Market, the brand, the end product... and for those who experienced it they loved it! It's also been a testament to Kent and his hard work. EVERYONE in Thermop has been to the Worland store, and they compare our little store to the Worland store. I have some pretty big shoes to fill. But I know that the hard work will be very rewarding to the guest. It won't be long and we will bust the seams on this little store and be begging the corporation for a store stretcher!
I do have to say that it is wonderful to be able to have Mindy at the store. Some days I know she questioned why I was so tired... now she knows that I don't sit in the office all day and point fingers and shout orders! She works really hard to help us be the best and she is a very valuable asset... and she lets me do what I love, serve the guest.
So for now, we survived the Holidays... and are looking forward to pushing the limits of this little store while we learn, grown, teach and have fun!
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