Thanks Gordon, and I agree....

Hi Dien, thanks for alerting me to the July 5th picnic in Ohio. I'll have to contact Gordon and get more info. By that time, I should hopefully be able to report that I completed my almost 2-yr. old interior design booklet and selling as many as Jimmy Krug!! (oh I wish) And I'm also planning to get into making my own aromatherapy creams and lotions as well as selling the raw materials (exotic butters and oils) for both the holistic/massage and cosmetic industry. This in itself is a very interesting story, which I'm going to ask for comments later on.

And I'm almost tempted to tackle the project mentioned on the board by approaching some indoor parking garages to sell advertising but maybe I should at least get one project completed and see some profits before tackling too many!:-)

I'm not a great one for going to the US on long holiday weekends, especially after Sept. 11. Those border crossings could be real long and I hate long lines. But I think the event would be worth it.

This reminds me of Crispy Creme donuts which recently opened its first store in Canada (Mississauga) which is fairly close to where I live. Anyway, I am not a donut lover so had no interest in lining up for donuts. But fortunately, I was attending a workshop the day the store opened, so the workshop facilitator surprised the group by buying several boxes of the glazed type. Far too sweet for me but very light. Maybe we Canadians don't enjoy the sugar as much as the Americans. And I hope my comments don't start a donut war between US and Canada! As many of you know, Canadians really take their donuts seriously and I think Americans also have a great love for them as well.

Anyway, quite unexpectedly, I had to take a friend to the hospital for a checkup two weeks ago and she lives close to the Crispy Creme location. She begged me to stop. We looked into the store from the street and 'thought' that the store looked relatively empty, although there were easily 40 cars lined up. We parked and in the cold, we were led to a heated outdoor tent. This was the first waiting area. Then as those who were lined up inside the store got served, they let those outside into the store. It took us about 10 minutes to get in the store, and it would have taken another 20 minutes to get served (at least). At this time, I was not amused. But my friend had such a sad look on her face, that I had to contain my impatience. Anyway, the staff made the mistake of giving those in line a sampling of the donuts. I politely took one, suggested she do the same, gave her mine, and headed for the exit. She was horrified that I would do such a thing. But then she phoned me after she got home and said "you know Liz, I'm glad we didn't wait. Those donuts were so sweet. So I can now say that I tasted a Crispy Creme."

Sorry to be so long winded.