Planning The day for Meat Fest
Assigning The Tasks
Zach In The Pool
Today is Saturday July 4th 2009 and Meat fest is here!
For those of you that don't know we hold a blowout on July 4th weekend at my house and I have the nicest outdoor kitchen around! In the top two photographs it is early in the morning and we are sitting around the living room going over the list of what we need to accomplish before the 65 guests will arrive. It is a busy day already, and it is 8:00 am! So here I am 262 and weight loss has really slowed down to about 8 pounds a month. I am 62 pounds from where I really want to be by my surgaversary on November third, but I still have time.
Next is a picture of Zach and his gaggle of friends in the pool. From 12:00 clockwise, it is Caleb, John, Dan, and Tracy. The pool did not get used much this year the summer was really cold and rainy this year. It was nice to work outside in to get projects done, but really not swimming weather. That is a real shame because I was really hoping to tone up this year in the pool. My skin by this time is really loose and I am not sure quite how I feel about it. Thin is in, but flab is not so much fab....
Next is a gathering of guests around the fire pit. Here we have Mary Anne Smith from Massachusetts, Tracy Knight, My awesome niece Laura, Cassandra, and the Arm of (I think) my brother Doug. We built this fire place over memorial day weekend, and it reminds us of all the years we spent around a campfire when we were camping. Many people do not know this but Ellen and I met camping with The North American Family Campers Association (NAFCA). we spent almost every weekend around this fireplace this summer.
Around The Campfire
Marc
Workin The Room
Talking to Jimmy and Sonny
Thanking Everyone
Today is Saturday July 25th 2009 and it is a big day in our lives, for today is the car show! Marc Boorstein and I have been friends for like 20 years and he and I have been doing the car show at either his place or the lodge for at least 16 of them. He and I have had a lot of help over the past couple of years though. Lee Leonard, Mark Littleton, and their families have been doing the brunt of the work and we try to stick to the working formula. we raised about 1000 dollars for the two charities this year, The Monroe County Diabetes Association, and DARE.
Part of running the car show for any of the 4 of us is working the guests like a cruise director. you need to listen to their complaints, wants, suggestions and such and they are the drawing card, so you listen, evaluate, and learn. so here I am working the room as my friend Warren taught me, and making sure everyone is happy.
See the guy under the tent? That is Sunny Crohn, and with talking to him I remembered our prior relationship from a former life! when I was going to college I had a myriad of vocations, and one of the things I did was mix and deliver paint for a man by the name of Dave Castle. He was one of the nicest guys I ever worked for, and I wish I had been a better employee for him. I learned a lot from Dave though, and yes I made a lot of mistakes, but I did get to meet famous car designers and rebuilders, like Dale from Dale's custom auto, Sal Pietropinto, from Brookwood Auto Body. and Sunny Crohn from Sunny's custom auto.
Here I am thanking everyone for all the help they brought to the table. This was a nice show this year, but we spent to much on putting it on. Perhaps next year we can make more money without spending so much of it. Here is the key... If you want more cash in, you need to do more volunteering. Everyone needs to help out.
End of a hard day!