Well, I had great intentions on posting rather regularly on this blog, mainly to keep family and friends know how our new venture is coming along. Those plans didn't quite pan out, but here ya go... After 2 months, there is lots to tell! We spent the first month cleaning, and creating new "table" menu's. Nikki agreed to design and print them up for us. They turned out awesome, just what I wanted! Simple cardstock menu's folded on each table. That meant we could take down the big menu off of the wall. Trust me when I tell you, it was time to take it down. We added 2 dinners to the menu, a steak and a chicken fried steak. Both have had rave reviews. Jim has proved to be quite the cook! I got to sneak away for 2 days to the Tri Cities for a scrapbooking reteat, and was back in time for Super Bowl Sunday. We had about 25 people, and gave away prizes and everyone had a great time. We even had a couple of guys dressed up to bartend if we needed them. February was our first test in actually planning an event. For Valentine's Day, we decided to do a "Sweet Heart's Dinner" complete with decorations, tablecloths, chocolates, the works. Could we turn this little bar into a quaint little restaurant for one night? And would anyone come? We also hired a local young man to do Karaoke. His wife owns the Quilted Moose in Colfax (there's a plug for you, Heidi). Well, the BR looked awesome (why I didn't get a photo of a set table I have no clue), and believe it or not, the place was packed! Jim cooked for 4 solid hours, and I bartended and waited tables the whole night (I even got to sing!). It was a total success. At one point a customer counted 45 people that had food or empty plates on their tables. Jim got the best compliment from a friend of ours when he said, and I quote...."You've proven one thing to me tonight, you can COOK!" In hindsight, we should have had a back-up person to help me, because I was barely able to keep up. Everyone was very patient though. I think with all of the hours I had been putting in there, and working so hard that night, I got just rundown enough to catch a bug. A nasty one to say the least. I thought with the flu shot, I could side-step the bugs.......but nooo! I have spent the last 2 weeks either on the couch in misery with the body flu (which involved an ER visit), or on the couch in misery with the stomach flu (which should have involved an ER visit), literally back to back. Lost a bunch of weight, am still weak, and don't ever want to be sick again, but I am on the mend at last! I learned 2 things during those 2 weeks. Our channel selection now sucks (we went to the cheapest package when we bought the bar), and our couch sucks even MORE! I get to go back to work tomorrow and am ecstatic about it! Being quarantined in your house is no fun. It'll be a long time before I wish for a day all to myself. Not sure my grandbabies will even recognize me! So back to the title of this blog. 2 months later....and we are proving to ourselves that this was a good decision for us to make. We have paid all of the BR's bills, all of our own bills, and we still have our start-up money in the bank. As it turns out, at this point we have one daughter volunteering her time and expertise so that Jim can have one morning a week off, and by summer, maybe 2 daughters willing to take over for a weekend once a month so we can relax and spend some quality time together in our 5th wheel or on our new motorcycle. What more could we ask for?? Hmmmmm......maybe good health for everyone of you and your families? Yep, after the last 2 weeks, that's my wish for you!
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