Happy Halloween!

Birth of a Salesman!

I tried something new today. I spent half the day in the office catching up on bookwork, and the rest of the day was spent cold-calling on different offices. My plan was just to drop off catering menus and introduce myself. It turns out that there aren't a lot of restaurants that offer breakfast catering, so I took several orders at each location that I stopped at. When I got home, I counted up the number of orders that I received today-- 77! They totaled up to $20,738.36! Not too shabby for a few hours of work! I was so impressed with myself that after I spent several hours writting up the orders, I layed them all out on the floor and took a picture. How cool! 77 orders in one day-- I'm going to start doing this every week!

Today's Book Signing...

Delia did a great job! There wasn't an empty seat at Wordsmith's today! She began by talking about the history of the Flying Biscuit for about 15 minutes and then answered questions for the next half hour. She did a good job of thinking on her feet and answered every question as if she had had weeks to prepare an answer. One guy kept trying to trip her up-- asking about the franchising, the corporate structure, selling out, etc. She answered each of his questions honestly and thoroughly. I think I need to get in touch with a lot more bookstores in the future. If she could do one of these book signings each week, it'd do a lot to dispel the "selling out" myth that has been floating in the air ever since she partnered with Raving Brands in June of 2006.

Delia is a very motivational person. She spoke mostly about how people kept telling her at the beginning that she didn't know what she was doing. After all, she was a 40 year old waitress-- what did she know about business? One of her advisers even asked her "Who do you think you are?" . She relayed her feelings of angst just prior to the opening and said she spent a lot of nights asking herself "Who do I think I am?". She answered by saying that she's not a quitter. She said that she could give up and go back to waitressing, but she knew that she would always regret it if she didn't give it a try. She went ahead and signed a 10 year lease in hopes that that would motivate her to make it all that it could be. And after a few years, it paid off. She did a lot of reading, a lot of studying, a lot of talking to anyone that could give her advice. And she built an empire! One day at a time. She didn't just go to lawyers and business advisers for advice-- she went to line cooks and dishwashers and asked their opinion every time she had to make a decision. Because of her guts and willingness to give a try, she's given hundreds (if not thousands) opportunities to advance in life. I can't even begin to tell you the changes in my life since she hired me. For a former 40 year old waitress with not a lot of education, she turned into the smartest, most inspiring business woman that I've ever had the pleasure of working with.

There were a couple of young girls in the audience today-- 20-somethings. They commented to me afterwards how inspiring Delia was. They felt like they could achieve all of their dreams after hearing her speak today. That's what it's all about. Even if we didn't sell 1 book today, Delia touched those girls lives and that's what's important. maybe these girls will grow up to be the next Martha Stewarts or Paula Deen's and they'll have this day to look back on as the inspiration to succeed.

Who would think that anyone could listen to the author of a cookbook talk, and walk away with a feeling that they could rule the world? That's what working with Delia is all about-- and that's why I can say that I love my job! We all make a difference out there, whether it's obvious or not!

P.S. I also bought 2 books today at Wordsmiths. I don't know anything about them, but they came highly recommended by several people: "The Flawless Skin of Ugly People" by Doug Crandell and "The Stupidest Angel (a Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror)" by Christopher Moore (a signed copy). From what the people at the bookstore told me, Moore is the funniest writer EVER! I'll let you know!

Smart Doggies!

Joel, Mom and Martha came by to visit Lady yesterday. It's been a couple of weeks since the altercation that ripped her from their home, and they were anxious to see her and make sure that she was happy in her new home. Joel brought Lucy with him and was brave enough to put her down next to Lady so they could see each other. I wouldn't have done that, but Joel had confidence that everything would be OK. And it was.

When Lady lived with Mom, she received extensive training (Boarding School, Boot Camp, weekly lessons for over a year). The only problem is that I wasn't part of any of these training sessions, so I didn't know any of the commands that Lady knows. Well, Mom and Joel taught me everything I needed to know about Lady yesterday. We had a training session in the back yard and I was amazed with how much this little dog knows. As long as I used the right commands, I could get her to walk beside me without a leash. Every time I stopped walking, she would sit down beside me. She would never walk past me, but always right at my side. When we got to the end of the yard, I told her to lay down and she did. I told her to stay and she did. I was able to walk all the way back to the house and she stayed until I turned around and said "Come"-- at which point she ran to me at lightening speed. She wasn't even distracted by King or Clara. They followed us around the entire time-- King galloping in circles around her and occasionally giving her his trademark body slam! She never lost her concentration-- just kept on eye on me for a signal of what to do next. But for the fact that she has aggression issues, she's the perfect dog. It's strange that she can learn to be so obedient, yet the one part of her psyche that needs to be altered will not be trained out of her. I think that a little socialization with larger dogs will whip her into shape eventually. Her ranking as the newest member of the pack seems to be helping.

This morning I had some alone time with Lady in the sunroom. We went through all of her lessons and she did everything perfectly again. King wandered in while we were training, and believe it or not, he joined right in and followed Lady's lead. When I told her to lay down, they both did. When I told her to stay, they both did. I don't know where this came from-- up til now he's only been able to sit and shake and that's it. Today, he was a different dog! I really believe that dogs like being trained. They are happy to follow commands- you can see it in their faces. And when Lady was getting her positive affirmations ("Good girl!"), I think King got jealous and wanted to do the same as Lady.

Shelby even joined us a little later and I had all three of them staying, laying down and coming when called. Pretty amazing. Although Shelby has always been able to do these "tricks", it was cool to see her join the kids and have a little fun!

Hotel Indigo Event

I catered another wedding party today at the Hotel Indigo in Midtown. This is my favorite place to cater an event. The staff is so friendly and helpful. I trusted my assistant Alex to pack all of the dry good for the event-- what a mistake. he did pretty good on most items, but he left off a few of the essentials. Luckily the staff of the Indigo had everything I needed to fulfill the order. They even treated me to a mimosa when the party was over.

If you've never been to the Hotel Indigo, I highly recommend it. It's right across the street from the Fox. They have a really cool Mediterranean style lobby and an outside patio overlooking Peachtree St. And like I said before, the staff is incredible. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the hotel allows pets. As long as they don't make noise and the fit in the room, they are welcomed. You could even bring a horse to stay in your room, as long as it didn't make too much noise! The next time you're going to a play at the Fox, make sure that you allow enough time to have a drink on the patio at the Hotel Indigo. You'll thank me for the advice!

My brother Joel came along with me and helped me on this event. This is the second catering job that he's helped me with this month. He was a huge help and I couldn't have done it without him. At one point I had to leave the party to go back for extra food. I would've never done this in the past, but I felt safe that Joel would be able to hold things down while I was gone. And he did.

Everyone commented how much they enjoyed the brunch, and the hosts even gave each of us a huge tip, even though they had already paid us a pretty hefty attendance fee.

Thanks to Joel and the staff of the Hotel Indigo for helping me pull off yet another miracle job!

Sunday @ Wordsmiths

Wordsmiths Books Presents:

Delia Champion
Sunday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m.
Wordsmiths Books 141 E. Trinity Place Decatur 404-378-7166

The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook


The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook is the long awaited second cookbook from Atlanta's immensely popular Flying Biscuit Cafe, consistently hailed as one of Atlanta's top ten restaurants since it opened its doors in 1993. Brimming with one of a kind recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and of course -"flying biscuits"- it's the only cookbook you need to get to the heart of authentic Southern comfort food. Wordsmiths Books is proud to present author Delia Champion for a launch party brunch and book signing. Free food will be provided by the Flying Biscuit Cafe.

Motivational Tapes Available Online...

I've never been a big "goal setter". I've never said "I vow to do so-and-so by (fill in the date)". I've always admired people that had dreams and goals, but I've always been the type to be satisfied with just surviving day to day .

So, it was with a lot of fear that I answered a question that was posed to me back in January concerning Catering Sales. Delia asked me to tell her what my goal for the year would be. Given the fact that I was on a catering high after just beating 2005 sales by 200%, I said I'd like to do the same in 2007-- beat last year's sales by 200%. I dreaded that statement for several months. How could I take over a department that brought in $36,000 in 2005 and have any hope of quadrupling that number in 2007? I would have to sell $144,000 to reach that goal!

But, guess what. As of today, Catering has brought in a little over $130,000 this year and it's only October! I have 2 months to reach the impossible goal that I set for myself, and I'm thinking that it may not be so impossible after all!

If I pull it off, I'll be able to add a great stat to my resume: Increased Catering Sales by 400% . Who wouldn't hire me given that info?

My only worry now is what will I say next January when Delia asks me to set a goal for 2008? Dare I try to double the sales again and strive for $288,000? That sounds like an impossible goal, but $144K seemed impossible earlier this year!

A Review...

When you're alone, sometimes you think deep thoughts. On my return trip from Charlotte this week, I had a lot of time to think and reflect and I imagined my life as a play~ divided into scenes and acts. I tried to remember and relive each scene of my life and came up with a scenario that you may appreciate and relate to. Here's what I came up with, written from a critic's perspective:

• The first Act was interesting, but hurried. There should have been more character development amongst the cast. The message seemed to be that life was great and no stone was left unturned by the main character.




• The following Acts contained an amazing ensemble of players- an ensemble that could rival the cast of "Mary Tyler Moore" or "Friends". The family members and friends of the main character were interesting and the interaction was fun to watch. The main character's views on different situations was thrilling and laughable.




• The Intermission was poorly timed. There should have been more laughs earlier in the show.




• The scenes following the Intermission were mostly soliloquies-- a "one-man-show". Interesting and thought provoking, but how excited can you get over a performance of one person on a stage.




• The fat lady began to warm up her voice soon after the Intermission. The show began to take on the feeling you get when you suddenly discover that you are alone and naked.




• Things picked up in the final scenes. The ensemble cast returned (although many of the players were replaced with new actors). The funny lines returned, but it seemed that the main character was no longer the one with the funny lines-- he was often the straight man.




• Near the end of the show, the curtain began to fall. It moved so slowly that you never knew when it would completely hit the stage floor. It was dramatic and left the audience wondering if the play was really over. The main character didn't seem to realize when it was over either-- he stayed on stage, bowing and waving, long after the audience filed out of the theatre.

Recap: Grand Opening Pics 2007

This first picture is from the Grand Opening of the West Paces Ferry/Northside location in Buckhead. This was the first franchised store. It opened in May 2007. I asked Delia to pose for a picture with me beside my car and the next thing I knew, lots of people were sitting in my back seat! After I looked at all of the pictures I found this one-- Delia and I along with the owners of the first franchised Flying Biscuit. Delia and I wanted this to be a tradition and vowed that we would be at every grand openening party to have this same pose done with newest members of our Biscuit family! One of these days I'll get off my lazy butt and print the pictures in an 8"x10" format, get them framed and hang them in the original Biscuit in Candler Park, along with a little bronze sign saying the date and location of each new store.



This picture is from the Grand Opening of the Marietta store (our 2nd franchise, 4th location). This store opened in late September 2007.

You saw this picture just a couple of days ago-- it's from the Grand Opening of the Charlotte store just this week (October 2007). It's hard to believe that we have 5 locations now!

I'm looking forward to one more store this year-- the Terminus building in Buckhead-- I think it'll open in December. After that, who knows? I have a feeling that the store in Raleigh will be next.

I knew when I first joined the Biscuit team, I was in on the ground floor of something that would be big someday!

Flowers Galore!

Since this is a chilly, rainy day in Atlanta, I thought I'd post some pictures of my flowers to brighten everyone's spirits. I planted lots of pansies and snapdragons last week. They are in the windowboxes, the hanging basket, pots and along my sidewalk. I love the fact that we have flowers that will survive the winters-- it feels like Spring in my front yard already! The pictures don't do it justice, so if you find yourself out joyriding, swing by Westwood Ave and take a look!

The Right Arm Blues

Mom had surgery on her shoulder yesterday, but she's home and doing fine now. She's wearing a sling while her shoulder heals. Joel took this picture of her holding his dog, Lucy, and titled it "My Two Favorite Patients".

It's funny that they are both wearing sling/cast on the same arm! I'm so glad Mom doesn't have to wear a lampshade collar, too!

Grand Opening in Charlotte!

This is the new Biscuit in Charlotte, NC. It's a very cool space and hopefully the biscuits will be flying there! Last night was the VIP/Media Party and they officially opened for business today! (Exterior/interior shots)

















Below are the traditional pics of me, Delia and Molly with the new franchise owners & managers in the Biscuit Mobile! We waited a little too late for these pics, and they came out a little dark.

Below is a pictures of the training team-- a stealth group of my friends and coworkers from the Candler Park and Midtown stores. The managers and owners of the new stores all come to the Candler Park store and train with us for 8 weeks, and then the training team spend three weeks at the new stores to assist with "on the job" training with the new waitstaff and linecooks. They've all seen the pictures of the owner/managers in my car and wanted to have a picture for themselves! (If you look close, you'll notice that at some point during the party, I changed shirts~~ I started off with a green FB shirt, but ended up changing into my tan suede shirt so that the new GM would have a logo'd shirt to wear. Lucious-- I better get that shirt back!!!)

More Catering Woes...

I got to work at 5:00am on Monday morning. I did payroll and a few other necessary Monday functions. By 11am, I was in my car headed towards home. I was only home for about 15 minutes (just long enough to let the dogs out) and then I hit the road for Charlotte. My Catering Hotline phone repeatedly throughout the next 4 hours. The last order that I received was for a breakfast for 60 to be delivered by 7am at Northside Hospital. I made a few phone calls and found 2 linecooks that could come in early. There were 6 fruit trays on the order and I found out that we didn't have any fruit in the store. My plans of spending the night in Charlotte suddenly changed. Instead, I enjoyed the party for a couple of hours and returned to Atlanta after midnight. I swung by the house and let the dogs out again and then headed back to Candler Park. On the way to work, I stopped at Kroger and bought a buggy full of fruit. I was back at work by 1:30am and started the fruit trays by 1:45am. By the time the rest of the staff started filing in at 5am, I had completed 6 fruit trays, 2 continental breakfast trays, a sweet treat tray, cooked 72 biscuits, brewed and packaged 6 urns of coffee. I coordinated 6 deliveries with 2 new drivers and my marathon 30+ hour shift ended at 11am.

I'm getting too old to be a miracle worker!

Double the Fun!

I love having two pups that like to play dress up! Here they are trying on their Halloween costumes!

What a Trooper!

Here's a picture of Joel's dog, Lucy, taken shortly after her "altercation" with Lady. Poor thing, she didn't stand a chance in this fight, but she's a survivor and she'll get through this. I'll assure you that Lady isn't vicious-- she has some dominance issues to work out, but she's a quick learner and she's already figured out that she's the newest member of the pack at my house- the bottom of the totem pole. She's been nothing but a pleasure to have around, I just know that I have to keep her away from small dogs in the future.

The Twilight Zone...

I had an appointment this morning with a lady that I'll call "Lisa". Lisa wanted to talk to me about partnering her "company" with the Biscuit for some promotional events. It sounded interesting, so I made an appointment to meet with her and see what see had in mind.

It turns out that Lisa a kook! A major kook! She doesn't have a company. She doesn't even have a job. She told me that her goal in life is simply to promote her dog, Muffy. Her dream was to have her dog ride around in my car (the Biscuit Mobile) for 8 hours each day during the entire last week of October. She figured that people would notice my car, and also notice her dog and just think about the media buzz that we'd create when people spotted her dog in my car. This could be great for Muffy's career, she said. She also told me that it could be a great promotion for the Biscuit! I don't see how it would help my image to have a dog riding shotgun with me while I'm on a catering run-- there would be dog hair all over my platters-- I told her it wasn't a good idea.

That's when Lisa pulled out the big guns and told me that Muffy is a drug free dog. Wow, she had a dog that doesn't currently do drugs?!?!? I told her that I have 5 drug-free dogs at home.. at least I think they're drug-free. I'm a little suspicious about my oldest dog Betty-- sometimes she gets a glassy-eyed expression on her face, and she stumbles now and then. I figured it was because she's old, but now I'm thinking that she might have a drug problem that needs to be addressed. Who knows what goes on out in the garage, where Betty hangs out all day with the other dogs while I'm at work?

Lisa told me that she also visits the Grady ICU often and she could "slip some stuff in there" for me. I told her I didn't understand what she meant. She said "Oh, ICU stands for intensive care unit". Hmmmmm.. of course I understood that part-- in fact that's about the only part of the conversation that I did understand. She explained what she meant-- she thought it'd be a great idea to put a catering menu in each of the ICU patient's rooms at Grady. That way, if they woke up hungry, a few of the patients could get together and place a catering order. I turned down that offer as well.

For her last ditch effort, Lisa asked "Who do I need to talk to about changing the names of some of your menu items?". I was very curious-- what was wrong with the names of the foods that we offer on our menu? Lisa suggested that we change the name of the "Muffin of the Day" to a "Muffy of the Day", in hopes that it would promote her dog's name. She also suggested that we change the name of the daily breakfast special to "Muffy's Choice". She also suggested that we could draw a cartoon character image of Muffy in a "Thumbs Up" pose to place on the printed menu beside the foods that she liked. She even thought that a "Thumb's Down" image would be appropriate next to the selections that she didn't like. As if we would ever print a menu based around Muffy and Lisa's recommendations, or put a "Thumbs Down" image next to any of our menu items for any reason!!!

Oh well, at least she's thinking and she has lots of ideas. Wacky ideas, but ideas. Maybe I'm wrong and she's right. Maybe it would be a great idea to change the whole concept of the restaurant to focus on Muffy. As if!!!

OK, now that I've finished telling you about the highlight of my day, it's time for me to check out the bettyfordclinic.com website to search for early signs of drug usage-- I've got some serious concerns about Betty!

A Day in the Life of a Caterer...

With absolutely no exaggeration-- here is a recap of the last 24 hours:

• Tuesday, 1:00pm: I received a call from "Pam". Pam was in a panic because she was hosting a breakfast at 9:00am the following day for 200 people (including the Mayor of Atlanta) and her caterer had cancelled on her at the last minute. Anyway I could pull it off with such short notice? YES!!!!!!!


• Tuesday, 2:30pm: Pam called back to say that she was mistaken-- she needed breakfast for 20 people, plus enough drinks for 200 people.


• Tuesday, 3:45pm: Pam called and said that there would be an additional 20 people in another building needing breakfast at the same time. OK-- now there are 3 venues: 2 breakfasts for 20, and a roaming 200 people that needed drinks.


• Tuesday, 4:00pm: Pam isn't sure about the delivery time-- it could be anywhere from 5:00am to 11:00am. She said she'll finish her conference call and let me know if she wants to confirm the order.


• Tuesday, 5:15pm: Pam called back to request that all beverages must be Coke products. She specifically wanted 100 cokes, 100 diet cokes and 200 Dasani waters. I revised the invoice and also let her know that I only had 150 Dasani waters in stock, but I could fill in the order with Sprite. That's fine, she said. She also said that she would send me a confirmation email soon, finalizing the delivery times and number of people.


• Tuesday, 6:00pm: Pam called -- she still has no idea what time the food/drinks should be delivered, but she just realized that she needs table clothes. I told her that I didn't have table clothes and she suggested that I go buy some. Keep in mind, this order is not confirmed yet, and the delivery time is less than 12 hours away, possibly. I made a run to Linen's & Things and bought six 8' white table clothes, just in case. I came home and sent Pam an email telling her that the table clothes were purchased and I was still waiting for her confirmation.


• Tuesday, 7:00pm: Pam is ready to confirm, but she's rethinking the number of drinks she needs. She now decides that 150 bottled waters won't be enough. Let's make it 250. I explained that I only had 150 in stock and it was too late to order water to have it delivered in time for the 6:00am delivery. "Can't you go back to wherever you got the table clothes and get some more water?", she asked. At this point, I'm getting tired of this game. No wonder the previous caterer backed out. Anyway, I got in my car and drove to 3 different stores before I found Dasani water for sale by the case. I bought 6 cases, came home and sent Pam an email telling her that I had all of the water.


• Tuesday, 8:15pm: Pam calls and says that she has re-thought the drink situation again. Let's just go with 150 bottled waters. At this point I had 144 extra bottles of water in my trunk that were no longer needed, but I kindly sent her an updated invoice.


• Tuesday, 9:00pm: Pam calls to tell me that the invoice looks fine, and she's ready to give me her credit card number.... but, she doesn't want white table clothes-- she'd prefer beige. At this point the stores were closed--- I told her that I would see what I could do, and she faxed me the confirmation along with her credit card number, along with a request for 5 fruit platters.


• Wednesday, 1:00am: I wake up and go to Kroger's to buy enough fruit to prepare 5 platters. When I got to work, the night crew was just leaving. I prepped the muffins and biscuits, and cut up enough fruit to fill the order. I searched the basement and found some beige table clothes. They weren't clean so I had to wash, dry and iron them while the food was in the oven.


• Wednesday, 5:00am: I arrived on site and delivered everything that was ordered. Pam said "Hmmm... I think we need more water". Luckily, I still had 144 water bottles in my trunk (back at the Biscuit), so I went back to retrieve them. When I got back to the location I started setting up the tables. I put the beige table clothes on the tables, and filled each table with the fruit platters, continental breakfast trays, 200 water bottles and 200 soft drinks.


• Wednesday, 5:45am: Everything is set up and I'm ready for Pam to sign the credit card receipt. Only one problem-- sometime between 9pm last night and 5am this morning, Pam has found some orange table clothes that she preferred. I had to remove all of the food and 400 drinks so that she could remove the table clothes that I had ironed this morning and replace my table clothes with her new-found favorite color of orange.


• Wednesday, 6:00am: After everything was set up (again) I presented the check to Pam. At this point, she advised me that she wouldn't be able to tip me, but if I gave her my address she'd send me a cool T-shirt from her company. I can't believe this-- She's had me working for her nonstop for 15 hours--because of her, I've worked two full days with only 3 hours sleep. And all she has to offer me is T-shirt? I saved her ass-- she's hosting a breakfast for the Mayor of Atlanta and it wouldn't have all come together if I hadn't stepped in at the last minute and been willing to jump through the many hoops to pull it off. And for that, I might get a T-shirt?


• Wednesday, 6:15am: I returned to the delivery van to find that one of my tires was flat. I got prepared to change the tire, and then realized that the spare tire was missing. I called a tow truck and spent the next three hours in the Goodyear waiting room.


• Wednesday, 10:30am: I received a phone call "Hi this is Lisa... I don't know if you can do this or not, but I have a last minute breakfast order for tomorrow for 100 people.....".

And the cycle repeats daily. As unbelievable as this sounds, I swear it's all true. This is my life.........

InSite Magazine

I got an email from my sales rep at Insite and he let me know that we won the Best Bruch award. He said it was a close call and we almost got Best Breakfast, too, but that award went to J. Christopher's. Uggghhh! He didn't mention anything about the Best Caterer-- it wasn't an official category (write in only), so maybe he didn't check it. There's still a chance that I won, but I can be pretty sure that I didn't win. I just wonder if there was a winner of Best Caterer-- since it wasn't a category, could there really be that many people that wrote in for that category? Maybe they just picked the most popular write-in category and named the winner of that one? That's probably the case.

Oh well, all of the "Best Of" issues are over and done with, and my little catering operation didn't get any plaques or trophies. I won't cry. I get my own validation each night when I come home and enter the day's sales in the "Sales Tracker" program that I created. Last week was a huge week for me-- I did $6041 in sales. That's a new record in the Biscuit's catering history! My goal for the year is still $144,000 (double the 2006 sales), and so far I'm just over $122,000! And I still have 10 weeks to go! I had my doubts earlier in the year, but now I'm thinking that I really might reach my goal!

So what if Atlanta Magazine, Creative Loafing and InSite Magazine's readers don't think I'm the best caterer-- I think I've done a pretty good job. Sales are up 250% over last year, and 450% over 2005. That tells me that I'm doing something right, even if I don't have a stinkin' plaque!

End of the Cliffhanger!

I dropped a hint on Monday's blog that I had an announcement about King's sister, Lady.

Lady had another "altertaction" with Joel's dog, Lucy this weekend. Lucy ended up with a broken leg and a cast that she'll need to wear for the next 4 weeks. This isn't the first time that Lady has injured Lucy. Lady isn't a viscious dog, but she does "go off" on stangers and small dogs. Mom & Martha have done all they could for the past 3 years to try to train her... they even sent her to boot camp and did follow up visits every weekend for over a year. They tried their best, but nothing seemed to stop Lady from being overly protective of her food and treats. Mom and Martha feared that her aggressive behavior would get worse and she might attack another small dog or possibly a child, they decided that they had to give up the idea of keeping Lady. It broke both of their hearts and they've each called me in tears since Lady left their house. I know they love her, and after three years it's hard to admit that all of your hardwork didn't pay off.

Things are different for Lady now. She now lives with a pack of dogs and she's taken her place at the bottom of the pack. She is submisive and calm now. I think most of her problem was that she didn't get enough exercise. She had too much pent up energy and she spent 99% of her time in the apartment. Because of this, she became overly protective of her space. Now she has a yard to play in and interaction with other dogs that are bigger than her. It's interesting to watch the transformation- last week she had the Alpha Dog attitude; now she seems just as happy to not be the leader of the pack.

Tease

Here's a tease of tomorrow's blog:

a picture of King with his sister, Lady.

Curious??? Check back tomorrow- this one is a doozy!!

Candler Park Fallfest Pictorial

The Flying Biscuit balloons and frizbees were a big hit with the kids this weekend! I pulled two long shifts adding up to 40 hours worked in a 48 hour time period, but I never felt tired. I had a great helper in the booth this year, my brother Joel! He's a real trooper and never complained once about the long hours.

Once again, we were in the space beside the "Corner Tavern". It was fun spending time (a lot of time) with the Tavern crew. I was shocked when I saw Patrick, the former manager of the original Tavern! He spent the day hovering between the Tavern's booth and mine. For those that don't know, Patrick and I dated a few years ago, and I was pretty upset when he moved to Florida. We lost touch then and this was the first time we've spoken since his going away party.
He's in town til Tuesday, and hopefully we can make plans and try to get together before he leaves town again.
Among other surprises this weekend were: Leslie and her children/grandchildren. I saw them at the Fallfest last year for a few minutes, but this year they were all working the children's play area and we got to see each other often. Leslie used to work with me at Rosenbluth and we've always been close. It's funny how we lost touch for years, but now it's an annual thing that we'll meet at Fallfest and catch up.

I also ran into Michael Malone-- he was the manager at the first travel agency at worked at. He was there to see one of his friends perform, and just happened to show up at the Biscuit booth. We share a common birthdate and of course we both made note that that date is exactly 2 months from today. Sagitarrians all think alike!

I also ran into Helen (Beverly's friend and former coworker)... it wasn't a big shock to see her on a Sunday in Candler Park-- her church is across the street from the Fallfest. But-- it was great to see her, even though I had to do some back-sliding to try to explain why she wasn't invited to Bev's surprise b'day party last month. All I could honestly say was that I wasn't involved in the planning this year, and I didn't have her phone number (all true). I do have her phone number now and she will be invited to the next party! It's always great to see Helen and I don't know how she was left off of the guest list this time.