This is my friend, Holly's blog. She is wonderful and her life makes mine seem a bit, um, underachiever-y.
A Lifetime of Days
Monday, August 9, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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Friday, July 9, 2010
Sno-Biz
What did you do today? I bought a Sno-Biz, Hawaiian Shave Ice! Well, technically, Doug and I did. :-) Cool, huh?
About a month ago, we drove past the Sno-Biz and lamented the fact that it has not opened this year. Paige noticed the "for sale" sign and, on a whim and out of mild curiosity, I called the broker. It was a reasonable price, I thought (not knowing how much a business really costs, to be honest). I called Doug and expected him to shoot down the idea of buying it immediately. When he didn't, I started to think seriously about it.
I met with the broker and got some basic information and then Doug and I met with the broker and seller for more detailed information and a tour. We were impressed with the simplicity of the operation and talked about it but decided the initial investment was just too much for us to take on right now.
About a week later, the broker called and offered us the option of purchasing it for a very minimal investment with the seller financing about 3/4ths of the sale price at a great rate and with unbelievable conditions. I called my dad and asked for a loan for the rest. He responded with an even better rate than I expected and offered to send a check right away. It is in the mail as we speak. We should close on Wednesday, barring any major events. As you might imagine, time is of the essence in a seasonal operation as this is, so we are moving quickly.
I have completed a host of applications and filed a silly number of forms in a span of two days. We are now officially Dolbi, LLC dba Sno-Biz and are well on our way to being legal to hire employees and collect sales tax. I have an appointment with an accountant tomorrow to make sure all ducks are firmly in a row, but so far there have been no real glitches.
We will both keep our full-time jobs and just hope to break even for the next few seasons, but then maybe be able to put money away for retirement and college and cars and vacations and...
So, that's my very unexpected and rather spontaneous news. :-)
About a month ago, we drove past the Sno-Biz and lamented the fact that it has not opened this year. Paige noticed the "for sale" sign and, on a whim and out of mild curiosity, I called the broker. It was a reasonable price, I thought (not knowing how much a business really costs, to be honest). I called Doug and expected him to shoot down the idea of buying it immediately. When he didn't, I started to think seriously about it.
I met with the broker and got some basic information and then Doug and I met with the broker and seller for more detailed information and a tour. We were impressed with the simplicity of the operation and talked about it but decided the initial investment was just too much for us to take on right now.
About a week later, the broker called and offered us the option of purchasing it for a very minimal investment with the seller financing about 3/4ths of the sale price at a great rate and with unbelievable conditions. I called my dad and asked for a loan for the rest. He responded with an even better rate than I expected and offered to send a check right away. It is in the mail as we speak. We should close on Wednesday, barring any major events. As you might imagine, time is of the essence in a seasonal operation as this is, so we are moving quickly.
I have completed a host of applications and filed a silly number of forms in a span of two days. We are now officially Dolbi, LLC dba Sno-Biz and are well on our way to being legal to hire employees and collect sales tax. I have an appointment with an accountant tomorrow to make sure all ducks are firmly in a row, but so far there have been no real glitches.
We will both keep our full-time jobs and just hope to break even for the next few seasons, but then maybe be able to put money away for retirement and college and cars and vacations and...
So, that's my very unexpected and rather spontaneous news. :-)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Khan Academy
My friend, Laurel, posted about the Khan Academy on her blog and I followed the link expecting it to be nice. Holy cow! This site is amazing!
The article Laurel posted about (Global Teacher) only touches on the enormity and quality of the lessons available for FREE! I plan to use this as a very large part of the kids' math, science, current events, and history curriculum fro the rest of their education.
Today, we watched lessons on multiplication tables for Paige and "lattice multiplication" for Levi, which I had never even heard of! Levi also watched the "intro to physics" and we talked about how Myth-Busters uses those principles.
Sal Khan is a genius and amazingly generous man and I am so thankful to have people like him in my "village."
The article Laurel posted about (Global Teacher) only touches on the enormity and quality of the lessons available for FREE! I plan to use this as a very large part of the kids' math, science, current events, and history curriculum fro the rest of their education.
Today, we watched lessons on multiplication tables for Paige and "lattice multiplication" for Levi, which I had never even heard of! Levi also watched the "intro to physics" and we talked about how Myth-Busters uses those principles.
Sal Khan is a genius and amazingly generous man and I am so thankful to have people like him in my "village."
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Yea for volunteers!
We had our homeschool co-op meeting today to plan for the fall semester and it was the easiest meeting and the easiest term yet to plan! There are more volunteers for class teachers and assistants than I have ever had to work with. I am used to having to scrounge for classes and beg for assistants and this term there is none of that! We actually have more classes than we need!
It is so wonderful to see the idea of a true cooperative coming together just as the original planners had in mind so many years ago (gosh, what is it, six? maybe?). It took us a bit to get there but it really feels like a family-run unit this time. The fact that there is so much "new blood" this year is also helpful. The homeschool community, in general and in our group, is becoming much more diversified and that is a beautiful thing!
It is so wonderful to see the idea of a true cooperative coming together just as the original planners had in mind so many years ago (gosh, what is it, six? maybe?). It took us a bit to get there but it really feels like a family-run unit this time. The fact that there is so much "new blood" this year is also helpful. The homeschool community, in general and in our group, is becoming much more diversified and that is a beautiful thing!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Summer!
Well, looky here, we might get summer, yet! I thought we were going to be stuck in winter forever!
Last Sunday, Joe closed the Pirate early because it was so cold and rainy and miserable - you could see your breath for heaven's sake! BUT- today was glorious and magnificent - hot (like 90!) and sunny with a nice breeze - just perfect!
I can't wait for tomorrow! The kids and I are going to change the oil and clean out the car before I go to work. I know, you're all jealous, I have such a glamorous life. LOL I love it, though!
Last Sunday, Joe closed the Pirate early because it was so cold and rainy and miserable - you could see your breath for heaven's sake! BUT- today was glorious and magnificent - hot (like 90!) and sunny with a nice breeze - just perfect!
I can't wait for tomorrow! The kids and I are going to change the oil and clean out the car before I go to work. I know, you're all jealous, I have such a glamorous life. LOL I love it, though!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Ranch Dressing
As most everyone knows, I don't eat any dairy. I am allergic to casein and lactose-intolerant. It's really not too bad doing without most things and substitutes are readily available (for a ridiculous price, usually, but that's another post). I hadn't tried to re-create ranch dressing because it's not a favorite of mine, but I did miss dipping veggies in it, so I made some for Christmas dinner and it is amazingly easy and scrumptious!
I searched for recipes and tried to boil five or six versions into one basic template. It's amazing how many "from scratch" recipes included Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch mix as an ingredient. I mean, really! How far removed from scratch cooking are we when adding mayo makes it from scratch! LOL
I made some more tonight and I think this is just about perfect, but as with all things I cook, I didn't measure precisely so it might require some fiddling. Of course, this would also be delicious in the dairy version and significantly cheaper if you use dairy sour cream. I had a stroke of genius that you might have already figured out, but I felt pretty darn smart. Most recipes called for garlic and onion powder. I don't keep them on hand because I'm a purist and just don't think they are ever as good as the real thing and I always have onions and garlic in the house anyway. The problem was that I didn't want any chunks in my dressing and wasn't sure how to add onion and have it still be smooth, then - genius struck! I stuck the onion in the garlic press and - voila! - smooth onion! So, here's the recipe:
Kolbi's Ranch
1/2 C mayo
1/2 C sour cream (real or dairy-free)
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 piece onion (the size of a medium garlic clove), pressed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
sprinkle MSG (but if anyone asks I will deny, deny, deny using this) ;-)
Mix and dip - super easy!
I searched for recipes and tried to boil five or six versions into one basic template. It's amazing how many "from scratch" recipes included Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch mix as an ingredient. I mean, really! How far removed from scratch cooking are we when adding mayo makes it from scratch! LOL
I made some more tonight and I think this is just about perfect, but as with all things I cook, I didn't measure precisely so it might require some fiddling. Of course, this would also be delicious in the dairy version and significantly cheaper if you use dairy sour cream. I had a stroke of genius that you might have already figured out, but I felt pretty darn smart. Most recipes called for garlic and onion powder. I don't keep them on hand because I'm a purist and just don't think they are ever as good as the real thing and I always have onions and garlic in the house anyway. The problem was that I didn't want any chunks in my dressing and wasn't sure how to add onion and have it still be smooth, then - genius struck! I stuck the onion in the garlic press and - voila! - smooth onion! So, here's the recipe:
Kolbi's Ranch
1/2 C mayo
1/2 C sour cream (real or dairy-free)
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 piece onion (the size of a medium garlic clove), pressed
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
sprinkle MSG (but if anyone asks I will deny, deny, deny using this) ;-)
Mix and dip - super easy!
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