When we decided to start making belgian waffles for our guests, we also decided to offer a gluten-free option for those who have wheat allergies. Usually, the people with these allergies either call ahead to let us know or put a note in their reservation when they reserve online. Yesterday, we got a phone call from one of these guests. It kind of went like this:

Me: Hello, Meadowlark Inn.
Guest: Hi, I saw on your website that you serve a gluten free breakfast.
Me: Well, we do serve gluten-free waffles.
Guest: How do you prepare them?
Me: (long explanation of exactly what goes in them)
Guest: Where do you prepare them?
Me: In our kitchen.
Guest: Is it the same kitchen that prepares the non gluten-free foods?
Me: Yes.
Guest: Then you really aren't gluten-free and shouldn't be saying that you serve a gluten-free waffle.
Me: But I don't cross contaminate. I have a separate bowl, spoon, separate waffle iron. I thought I was doing everything right.
Guest: When you prepare foods, the gluten is airborne and contaminates the other foods.
Me: So what you are saying is that when people prepare gluten-free foods you would need a separate kitchen to say you are actually gluten free??
Guest: Yes.
Me: Well, I have a hard time believing that all gluten-free preparations are done in a separate kitchen. How long is the gluten airborne?
Guest: 48 hours.
(a lot more back and forth of me being told how to properly prepare a gluten-free meal!)
Me: We actually do have two kitchens, one in our apartment and one outside our inn dining room. So, if I do all the preparation of non gluten-free foods for 48 hours before you come in in only our apartment kitchen, then the inn kitchen would be pure enough to make the gluten free waffles when you come. Right?
Guest: Yes. But would you mind if I called you in a couple days before I come to remind you of all of this?
Me: Of course. Now, do you already have a reservation with us so that I can put it in your notes?
Guest: Oh no, we aren't staying with you. We are staying somewhere else and just want to come eat at your place because our place doesn't serve gluten free!

WHAT????????? Omg, I just can't make this stuff up. I then went on to tell her that we are not a cafe or restaurant and we only serve a complimentary breakfast to the people that are actually staying here. She seemed disappointed and then asked if we had any openings for the night that she wanted in case she could cancel her other reservation (we didn't).

The more we add or the different things that we do here, there always seems that there is always something more to learn. At first, when I got this phone call, the caller seemed very argumentative, so I almost thought I was being "punked". I quickly realized that she was serious and I thought, "Ok, there is always more to learn, and I do want to do everything right so...". But when I heard she was staying somewhere else, it took everything for me to keep my "WTF!!!" bottled up! And although I learned more about how to keep from cross contaminating gluten foods, this is what I learn every day.... Be nice, be kind, be considerate to all of our guests, even the ones that aren't staying here!

It's the one thing that all innkeepers fear the most.... the dreaded double booking! Accidentally booking two guests in the same room! When we bought the inn six years ago, the previous owners handed us their reservation system for the following season. A shoebox with reservations written on index cards in it. Really?? When they went over the business with us, one of the lines they used was, "And when you double book and you will..." I never remember the rest of the line, but I always remember thinking - NO, I won't double book! I signed up with one of the best online reservation systems, making it impossible to ever double book! Many lodging facilities that we know have done it at least once in the past, but this is something that we have prided ourselves on in the past six years of never doing! Well... at least until this week anyway. On Sunday, one of our guests still hadn't shown by the time we were going to bed. We left the usual envelope with their name and key outside on a hook in case they showed up later that night. But no. There it was - still hanging when we woke. It was one of those moments when you realize something has gone terribly wrong. Things start flashing in your mind. Maybe they cancelled and I forgot. And I left their reservation in place (for four nights!) when we could have rerented the room. No, I know it wasn't that. But I was going to check my past emails and see if I found anything. And there it was..... Not a cancellation, but the original email from months ago. The email where they stated they would like to reserve a room for four nights starting Monday...NOT Sunday. Now this could have been an easy fix. Just shifting their reservation one night over. But we were fully booked on that last night. We only had Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for them. We now have 11 guests on Thursday with only ten rooms. I sat at my computer just staring at the reservation calendar for hours. As if something would just pop out and tell me what to do.

The choices you have when this happens are never ones that you want to approach a guest with. You can find another hotel for them for all four nights, you can find another hotel for them for their fourth night, or you can let them have your apartment for that fourth night and you and your family and your dogs and your pride can sleep in your car. I stared at that computer and saw that one of our other guests arriving on that Thursday have come several times before and they come just to enjoy the area and the lake. Maybe just maybe they wouldn't mind coming next week. George said he would call them and ask if their trip dates were set in stone and maybe they wouldn't mind coming a few days later, when we had openings. With my tail between his legs, he explained that we have never done this before and how sorry we were and would they mind changing their dates. Just then, the clouds parted, the stars aligned themselves directly over our inn, and the guest told George that she actually wanted to postpone her trip and was hoping that we would let them out of their reservation this week without a penalty. What! What did she just say! No, this can't be true. From the smile on George's face, I can tell that all was well in the world. The four hours sleep mixed in with the four hours of worrying was all for nothing.

I am sure this is something that I will never live down. "Remember that time that you......blah, blah, blah." Yeah, I did it. But I will never do it again. I will be more careful. And I will take an extra dose of ginko biloba "Natural Mental Sharpness" Formula. And all my future guests can feel confident that yes, that room that they booked for that romantic weekend away will not be shared with complete strangers. And Dear Higher Power in the Sky, thank you, thank you, thank you for watching over me this time and fixing what could have been the ultimate in bad tripadvisor reviews.

Oh and another thing.... my 14 year old son (who will someday be the next Martin Scorsese) posted his movie on YouTube. It is going to be in the Oneonta Film Festival. It's in 2 parts - Carnage of the Minds.

And one last thing... We had an absolutely wonderful photographer that stayed with us a couple of weeks ago as a guest. She was shooting a local wedding. She wrote about us and took some really cute pictures of Sammy (our pup) - North Photography. If anyone is looking for a fantastic photographer, contact Kathleen!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads!!!

Some days you just can't shake the blahs. Today started off badly. When you wake at 1:30 in the morning and can't go back to sleep until the sun comes up - you just know it's gonna be a bad day. Waking with a total of 3 1/2 hours sleep this morning, I just kept telling myself - you'll take a nap later and catch up. Well, there really is no such thing as catching up on sleep when you are an innkeeper. I laid down around 3 this afternoon, to be woken up by my son 45 minutes later, who said I was needed by a guest in the lobby. Nooooooo...... Just a couple of hours really. That's all I needed. So off I go to see what I was needed for. Directions. To a place that was already closed for the day. Oh well. There is always something to do, someone to help.... I'll sleep in September.

Now I can't go back to sleep. I keep thinking... well I am going to have to wake soon to cook dinner anyway. And who feels like eating. I just ate that leftover donut that was staring me in the face (that I didn't need, wasn't hungry, and now I feel even worse than I did before). And to top it off, I sit down at the computer just now and see that there is a tornado warning in our area until late tonight. What is this? Kansas? And it's going to be almost 20 degrees cooler tomorrow with heavy rain and a thunderstorm. Maybe I can just go back to sleep and wake up in a few days. On Friday, when summer comes back.

It's amazing how the weather can sometimes affect our moods. Yesterday was a warm and sunny day. We went out on the boat with friends from NJ (who happened to bring Italian bread, garlic peppers and fresh mozzerella fresh from Hoboken, NJ). Top that with some beer and life was good for a few hours. We barbequed last night and hung out talking with our friends and our guests. A good night. When I woke at 1:30 last night it was to one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever seen. It was as if a switch was flipped. I got up to make sure all the windows were closed and that's when all hell broke loose with my internal clock. Well, I will try to go to bed early tonight... possibly... probably not. A couple Tylenol PMs/some earplugs. Yep. That's what I need. So I can wake up refreshed and chipper. Ready to meet the day... and guests. We just have to get through tonight... and that upcoming tornado. Maybe I dreamed that part. During that 45 minute nap. No, just checked again, it's still there. That warning. With big red letters. And with the way my day is going I can only hope I sleep right through it.

It was a quiet weekend here with some really sweet guests. George and Aidan went away for a few days to Delaware for NASCAR. They met some friends down there and camped out in what appears to be a mall parking lot. Well, Aidan camped (in a tent). George was in a luxury RV, so not really the equivalent of camping. And the added bonus of being in a mall parking lot - Aidan got to go shopping for dvds and video games. Yep, they were living the good life, the American dream. Camping/malls/car racing, all at the same time! While I held down the fort, George had sent some videos from his phone. A real guy weekend. Aidan was standing next to a fence with cars racing by. I was carsick just looking at it on my 2 x 2 phone screen. Yep, I'd rather be here all cozy with my 2 puppies. Just me, Maggie and Sam and half a dozen strangers, I mean guests.

Only a few guests this weekend, but fine by me. I need a breaking-in phase when we start up the season. Can't throw 10 rooms of guests at me. I go into a panic. Especially when I am by myself. One room of guests were men from the UK. They were traveling by bike from Boston to Chicago! Did I mention - by bike - bicycle. Did I mention they were around 65 years old. Yeah, if that didn't make me feel out of shape! I don't even like to ride my bike to the store. Even with that cute basket that I have on there to carry the groceries. It's just so much easier to get in the car. A couple of months ago George saw an infomercial for P90X. This extreme workout DVD set. He convinced me to do it with him. You work out for 90 days/7days a week. By the end of that time period (if I was still alive), I was to have the body of a 20 year old. Well, I gave it a good 34 days. I was then officially a P90X drop out. First, I gained 6 lbs. If I am going to suffer for an hour every day, I'll be damned if I am going to gain weight. Yeah, yeah, George said, "But it's muscle!" I Don't Care!!

Well, after meeting those incredibly in-shape older men, I am going to start working out again. Tomorrow. Well, maybe Monday. Not today. Too much to do with the inn this weekend. Remember, I am holding down the inn all by myself. When it's slow like this I can't justify hiring my cleaning girls yet, so isn't - checking in guests/making breakfast/cleaning rooms/washing linens a workout in itself? I am definitely going to start working out again, though. Starting Monday! Not P90X working out, but - maybe I'll go for a bike ride. To the store. With my cute basket. And maybe this 48 year old body can look - 42 1/2 again!

This past weekend we opened the inn for the season. We had some really nice guests, some we knew from previous visits and some were new. It was a great start to hopefully a wonderful season. Every year we try and do something a little different as we open the inn. Sometimes it's as subtle as buying new comforters, one year we added a volleyball court, another we brought in a dvd library for the guests. This year it's a baseball field! People love to play ball in the backyard of the inn. We thought, "Hey, they'll love having their very own ballfield to play on when they stay here." I don't know what we were thinking!

Last Sunday we closed the inn for the season. Every year it is such a bitter sweet moment for us. Although we are tired and we need a break from innkeeping, we miss the inn and we miss our guests. And as the next 6 months go on, the feeling only gets stronger. Which is a good thing. Because by May I forget all about the reasons why this business tires me so and just can't wait to reopen.

Closing down the inn is a time consuming event. There are over 2 dozen plants that need to come home with me. And some of these plants are huge. If someone didn't know me, and saw me going from the inn to our house, they would think I was a florist making deliveries. You can barely see me in the car as I drive down the road with my mobile rainforest. And then there are the frogs. Who decided that was a good idea?? Taking apart their terrarium and bringing them home is such a job. Why do I do this to myself? They seemed so pretty at the Butterfly Pavilion when I saw them. "Let's get frogs." "They look easy to take care of." "How hard could it be to raise fruitflies for them to eat." Pretty. Yes. Easy to take care of. Yes. Raising fruitflies for the next 15 years. What the hell was I thinking. (Oh yeah, the lifespan of a frog - 15 years!) And moving them back and forth twice a year. Not fun. And then there's the 4 story 6' tall chinchilla cage. How I love moving our animals back and forth. Thank god I put the brakes on the whole chicken coop talk. A few years ago Aidan and George wanted to raise chickens. "Oh, wouldn't it be nice to have fresh eggs every morning?" No!! I will buy them in the supermarket like every other normal person! Most people with chicken coops don't live in two places. Don't bring them back and forth to their houses. What were they thinking? Oh, thank god we don't have chickens too!

The next step in closing down the inn is cleaning and packing. 10 rooms have to be stripped. Ugh! The 1,478 things we have outside all around the property have to be rounded up and put away. Ugh! The sign needs to be wrapped to protect it from the upcoming many snowstorms. Ugh, upcoming snowstorms! The lobby needs to be cleaned. The apartment needs to be packed. The refridgerators, freezers, cabinets all need to be stripped of food. I'm tired of just writing this, you can imagine how good I slept by Monday night. I still have a few more times to go back to finish up some odds and ends, but for the most part, it's done.

I get to live in one place for 6 months! Yay! Well, it doesn't really feel like I get to live in one place. With the upcoming holidays and the fact that all our families live in different areas, we will be packing our overnight bags many times in the next two months. Even this weekend, our first weekend home, we have to go to a wedding in NJ. It's been 6 months since I've spent a weekend home. And it will have to wait a little longer. Next weekend! Yup! I'm sleeping in my own bed and I'm sleeping late! God help the dog, kid, husband or freakin chinchilla exercise wheel that decides it's a good idea to make noise and wake me. I'm sleeping in .... November 20th. It's a date!