Ups and Downs Lately

We're running on empty over here at the Martin casa.  

It's been all hands on deck trying to get the shop open later this week.  There have been a lot of headaches, including failing the plumbing inspection this morning because we need a bigger water heater since we installed a bigger sink.  We installed the bigger sink because we were required to have a three bay sink per the board of health.  So now we are trying to get a plumber and electrician (because bigger water heater = different electrical outlet) in there ASAP.  My parents have been helping us so much by meeting people at the shop for us, building counters and cleaning and even delivering a soft serve sample to a testing company an hour away to get the green light to serve it.  There's so many last minute things that we still need to do, like learn how to use the credit card machine and cook the chowder and pickup the quahogs and get the ice cream delivered.  We would have done some of these things earlier, but were dealing with fridges and freezers not working properly because nothing can ever be easy.

Rant over.

Let's think about the good things, because a thankful heart is a happy heart.

I am so very thankful for my sweet and hard-working husband who is doing 80% of the work on this family business and still makes my heart go pitter patter by sending back texts like this:

Eamon passed his driving test!  I don't think I've ever prayed as many Memorare's as I did while he was taking his exam.

Of course, he came back and tried to pretend that he failed...but couldn't stop smiling :)

I took the younger four kids to Mass on Saturday evening, and then to an ice cream shop to meet up with friends and their kids.  Brendan may be smitten with my friend's daughter, as he followed her around and did whatever she wanted.  Train them young ;)

A former employee of Maggie's Ice Cream messaged me the nicest memories of her summer spent working for my parents in 1992.  She was a college student from England who worked for us (Cape Cod used to attract lots of Irish and English college students looking for work in the summer).  She talked about how much she learned and how my mom would make my brother driver her home from work at night instead of having her ride her bike.  She is now an attorney in London with three kids and her message and photos made my parents so happy.  

The two Maggie's (my mom and my girl) planted flowers at the shop, and we got the signs hung last weekend.

I am waiting on the "Order Here" and "Pick Up Here" signs that I designed to come in.  They will go above each window, and another "Prices Include Tax" sign will go above the main sign.  We will hang some lights around the underside of the awning, and then I think the outside of the shop will be done!

It was officially announced who would be opening the restaurant to the left of us (the ice cream shop is in the middle of two restaurants) and it's a well-known local baker who will do a great job.  When I welcomed him to the neighborhood on social media, he wrote back "We're about to make this block THE PLACE TO BE!!!" and between his words of enthusiasm and his excessive use of exclamation points I know we will get along great!  Dinner and dessert in the village of Fairhaven!!!