The End of the Season Blues
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!
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!
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