Week in Review: Goodbye March, Happy Birthday Gammy and Shop Talk

 Happy last day of March!  March has always been a hardish month for me, full of typically bad weather and sickness and no days off from work or school.  I am happy to welcome April tomorrow.

We have had strep going through our house for a couple weeks, and it's been presenting in weird ways.  The kids have complained about headaches and stomachaches more than sore throats.  They have fevers for days, and even when they start the course of antibiotics, they seem to take awhile to feel better.  Poor little babies.  I am hoping we are through the worst of it and I'll be washing sheets and opening bedroom windows this weekend for a fresh start.

I can't help but sing "shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots" as I pour these out.

I was so sad to hear that another member of LFO has passed away.  The lead singer, Rich Cronin, who died from cancer 13 years ago, went to the same small Catholic high school as I did and was definitely a cool "claim to fame" for Sacred Heart's alumni when Summer Girls played on the radio all day everyday.

Our church has the Living Stations tonight and three of the kids are participating.  Maggie is Mary, Xander is Pontius Pilate, and Declan is the child Jesus.  The directors kind of nailed their roles if I'm being honest ;)  It's always a very moving version of stations of the cross (you can see photos from last year here).

My mom celebrated her 85th birthday last weekend!  I hope I look/feel/act as great as she does when I'm her age.  The kids gave Gammy a cute mug and funny book and we gave her a popular water bottle (I did not pay that much for it, wow amazon) so she can be the influencer she was born to be.  Kidding, but the color (Jade) is so pretty.

 Maggie's volleyball team was moved down a level in their tournament last weekend, and then they won First Place.  So now they are moved back up a level for their tournament this weekend.  I would always rather see them lose to harder teams then win to easier teams, since they'll never improve without stiff competition.  However, that being said, the little confidence boost that the win gave their team was nice.

Phil and I were interviewed last night by The Standard Times newspaper about The Ice Cream Cottage.  I had just pulled in from taking Brendan to gymnastics, and Phil had just pulled in from picking up a three bay sink, so I hope we didn't sound to frazzled.  It's scary to be recorded and hope that your words are being used with the correct intent.  I kept waking up at night thinking about things I wish I said differently or things I had forgotten to say, but then I remembered it's just a small article in a big newspaper and nobody cares about it more than us.

This week, we bought a frappe machine, three bay sink, two dipping cabinets, ordered shirts, settled on a contractor, got an insurance policy and received the legal bill.  Let's just say we need to sell A LOT of ice cream cones to ever be in the black.  It's scary but thrilling, nothing like the stress of going bankrupt to make one work harder!

We put this sign in the window of the shop

After work today we will close on our Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) which I never had looked into before we decided to open the shop.  It's something that I would actually recommend to anyone who has equity in their home to do now.  Basically, you get approved for a line of credit based on how much equity you have in your house (what it's worth less what you owe) and then you have the potential to use that money (for the next ten years) if you need it.  But if you never need it, you're not paying anything extra for it.  It's like a free financial insurance plan.  I'm hoping we never need to use it because the interest rate is 6.75% but it is very comforting to know it's there just in case.

This weekend is full of cleaning The Cottage, Xander's piano competition near Boston, Maggie's volleyball tournament also near Boston, the Living Stations, Religious Ed classes and most importantly Declan's 9th birthday.  See you all on the flip side!