Snow Day!

We are almost literally up to our asses in snow. In fact, the dogs and the Khan are up to their asses in snow. And the dogs love it. They're pretty much the only ones. We got another 6 + inches yesterday and I don't know what time it finally stopped today. But hey! There is a beautiful bonus from all this snow. The pantheon of winter childhood joy and a welcome respite for us grownups too.

The Snow Day.

I drive an hour each way to work which, this winter especially, means dealing with the weather. And despite record snowfalls this winter, this is my first snow day all season and likely my last because I'm ethical like that. But today was awesome. Despite checking my work e-mail about a dozen times, I did virtually nothing. Sarge had me scared for a minute because he mentioned the dreaded "C" word. Yes. You know the one: C-L-E-A-N-I-N-G. I spelled it because I'm normally not one to utter profanity. Oh shut the fuck up already!

Luckily, after cleaning the bathrooms which are small and took less than 15 minutes, that urge soon passed. The sarge, you see, did not have the proper "Sneetag" mindset since this is just a regular day off for him. UGH. I'm just glad he's malleable and quickly came around to our way of slacking thinking and soon settled in for the Firefly marathon on sci-fi. Oh, and a nap. A blessed hour nap on the couch. If my sheets wouldn't have been in the dryer that nap would have been with the Khan or the Sarge and wonderfully amazing. But my couch is good too. Now I'm blogging after spending all day trying to think of how to lighten up the blog after all the bitching political rambling this past week, I just feel like my loyal readers deserved levity. Nothing is lighter than fluffy white snow, right? I am sad to say that I didn't knit. I didn't read. I did jack shit except nap. I really love naps. I did tell you that, right?

Want to know my perfect day? At least I think it would be a perfect day if I could ever have one. Here it goes:
1. Some "snuggling" because no one has to get up or we're awake before the alarm goes off (this never happens).
2. Workout - preferably outside by walking the dogs or taking a really great hike or bike ride.
3. Shower to eliminate the stinky part.
4. Breakfast: Waffles, fresh fruit and tea (coffee would work) or what we call the "Russian Breakfast" - cold cuts, cheese, fresh, crusty bread, fresh fruit and tea. AMAZING
5. I'd go to work. Really. I think workaholic isn't the right word but when I love my work, I am happy to spend time at it. Ideally, it'd be the owner/manager of a place likelike this. The family is at work with me and we all get it done together. Yes, if I win the lottery achieve my retirement goals, I'll still keep working. In fact, my retirement fund would enable me to purchase a place exactly like that and that is what I would do.
6. Playtime. After work, some time with the kids, dogs, hubby... doing whatever. A board game or a movie maybe.
7. Dinner. Healthy, laden with fresh food and eaten at the dining room table.
8. More fun time. If we had the lodge, probably a sauna or dip in the hot tub or lake.
9. Reading time - to the boys, for myself, all of the above.
10. If Sarge plays his cards right, maybe more "snuggling". Shut up Crunchy. That's what you get for reading your mother's blog.

What's your perfect day?

I Am Being Haunted by the Hotel Gods...

A poorly kept secret about yours truly is that, if I had ten million dollars, sort of like the old farmer joke, I'd probably keep running the hotel until it was gone. My long-term, long-time goal in life is to be an innkeeper.

If I could build one, I've got the design in my mind. It'd be L-shaped with our living quarters on the short end of the L and about 60 - 80 guest rooms /suites on the other end. Where the long side and the short side of the L come together would be the full-service restaurant, meeting/ banquet space, fitness, pool/spa and business center on two floors. I believe you need to be full-service so you can hopefully profit from multiple revenue streams. The decor would be classy, yet comfortable. Not too woodsy - I find that puts me off - and not too fussy either. The idea is to make each guest feel like they are at a place they wish was their home. In a perfect world, the lodge (Inn?) would be on about 100 acres so that we could also feature a traditional Russian banya on top of the standard amenities. The banya, as in Russia would be in a separate building and offer a full, Russian style banya experience.

A banya, so you know, is essentially a sauna. But the banya building itself features a lounge area where you can enjoy tea or water between sessions in the sauna and the pool. The banya I was in also had a second floor lounge featuring pool and other table games. The experience, then, is to shower, sit in the sauna until you've worked up a good sweat and then jump into a small pool roughly the width of a lap and a half or two laps in an Olympic sized pool and maybe 20 feet long. Then you return to the sauna and repeat. If you wish, you can take a break with some wonderful tea and a light snack. Personally, I recommend sweetening your tea with one of the fruit jellies or jams available. It is a wonderful, relaxing experience. The best part is that kids aren't there! Sorry. I guess you could have 'family time' and non-family time in the banya, but its use in my dream Inn would be by reservation only to assure comfort and privacy. I don't want your kids in my sauna and you don't really want mine in yours - know what I mean?

Having the acreage would not only allow for future expansion into individual guest cabins, it also provides for some outdoor activities as well. The prime location would have some lake frontage for walking the beach, fishing or just enjoying the view. 100 acres (or more!) would allow hiking and biking trails as well. I also think a location with four seasons would be beneficial to attract year-round business for recreation. The central portion would feature a large, stone fireplace and a cozy place to curl up with a book and/ or a drink of some kind - be it wine or tea (suit yourself!) - and unwind. I love kids, but this inn probably would not attract a whole lot of "family" business and that is fine. Kids can be hard on a hotel. Ask anyone who's hosted a baseball or hockey team for a weekend tournament. Families are great but the management and staff of my hotel would have a 'zero-tolerance' policy for improperly supervised children. Too much liability exposure for me. I think I would attract more business than I would alienate with this approach. Back in my hotel days, I comped a lot of rooms because of "some people's kids" and it really hurts. Trust me. It wasn't the fault of the hotel itself and you still lost revenue. That means that you have to make it your issue and monitor behavior more closely.

That being said, there is a website I found about 18 months ago called HotelsForSale.com. Now, mind you, it is a great site to visit if you are shopping for a hotel or even wishful thinking. However, the problem is that despite the fact that I don't remember setting up a search on the site, I am now getting several e-mails each week calling my attention to new listings like this one. I think it is a conspiracy.