This is my fancy “Gold Bracelet” for the “Women and Infants Hospital” which has been my home away from home these days.
Oh, and I also have a semi-permanent ID badge so I can come and go without checking in every time.
Jenna is just 36 weeks along today. One doctor said she wanted her to try to make it to 39 weeks this week and another doctor (yesterday) said she thought she should consider getting induced to circumvent the risks of a full abruption which is very dangerous to both of them and would mean emergency surgery. She would like to go into labor on her own but the prospect of spending 3 more weeks in the hospital is daunting so maybe one more week to see if it happens and then reconsider?
Poor thing has really been through it with this little guy. Hospitalized 4 times now and the diabetic diet along with pricking fingers 4 times a day just adds to the fun!
She actually said “One thing is for sure, he’s going to be an only child!” the last time she was admitted. lol
I think that will change once she gets through all this and that the next time will be a breeze in comparison but don’t tell her I said that right now. SHHHH.
Anyone want to place bets as to when he will arrive?
I think he’s going to surprise us and demand and grand entrance into this world some time this weekend! What do you think?
He is already surrounded by so much love. This little guy will be the light of all of our lives, no doubt!
Stay tuned for the next post. Hopefully it will be soon and with pictures of our new baby boy.
Marketing your business is THE most critical part of not just surviving
but thriving especially in this tough economy! The Social and Mobile Marketing Revolution is HERE!
But why is it that every time I do a networking event or give a marketing workshop so many small business owners do not have a marketing plan or even a budget for one?
Click Here to Learn More About Mobile Marketing!
It is really scary how many businesses are surviving just by the skin of their teeth (if teeth have skin. I don’t know where that saying came from).
Not to mention how many business owners I meet that have NO online presence! I mean ZERO! Not even a website!
Not to mention how many businesses that have NO mobile presence! ZERO!
Not to mention how many businesses that have NO Facebook presence! ZERO!
Like or not social media is here to stay! Facebook is the 800 million pound guerrilla! And it’s here to stay folks. Not only that it is going mobile too.
So if your business hasn’t started building a presence and a following online and with mobile by now then it is in serious jeopardy of losing out completely!
Gone are the days that you could put an ad in the yellow pages and wait for the calls. So few of your clients/customers ever even open those yellow dinosaurs anymore.
Your business not only needs a presence online but a MOBILE presence now too! If you don’t have a great mobile friendly website the search engines will provide the user with your competition who does!
We were so impressed with the results when we first implemented our mobile marketing strategies. One of the first businesses we built a mobile site for had almost 30 people that signed up via a mobile search to the marketing funnel we created inside their mobile site before we even put it out there with any marketing or print material!!!
That is proof positive that mobile searches are happening in huge numbers and that the search engines will provide users with a great user experience by providing them with mobile friendly results!
Well, I have some Good News and some Bad News:
Good News: The internet has forever changed marketing as we know it! The power of the internet makes reaching our target audience much more affordable and achievable.
Bad News: There’s a learning curve and it still takes time to implement (or you can outsource it and it will cost money, but not as much as media buys, etc.)
Most people I talk to about this mobile and social marketing revolution just don’t know where and how to begin!
“Start where you are standing” is what I tell everyone. Don’t try to do everything all at once right out of the gate. Pick one or two things, master them and move on to the next one.
It is overwhelming to get our arms wrapped around all the new technology, internet and tools available. And, guess what? It changes every day so it’s a moving target.
If you don’t have a website yet you can get a free training course here. It will walk you through step by step how I set up high ranking websites that get traffic and it’s FREE to join the challenge.
Watch for my future posts where I will let you in on my secret ninja tricks and tools to help you with your online presence!
First Published in the King Arthur Flour’s Catalogue in 1993 see original below with photo of Sally and her daughter Jenna
Crust
1 Cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup solid vegetable shortening
1 – 3 TBS. ice water (depending on how much you need to get it to stick together)
Preheat oven to 350º F
Put the flour and salt in a bowl big enough to work in half the shortening with your pastry blender. Put the remaining shortening in and blend ‘til it looks mixed, but lumpy. It’s OK to handle and mix at this point, but once you start to add the ice water, overhandling will make the curst tough, so try to keep handling to a minimum. The water should be ice cold and added gradually, mixing a little with a spoon after each addition.
When dough starts to hold together a bit you can grab hold of it with your hand sand form it into a ball. Be sure to use plenty of flour on your hands and on the wooden board, where you’ll roll it out. If it’s really sticky then you’ve added too much water so try to knead a little more flour into it, folding it in on the board. Remember don’t succumb to the dreaded Pie Crust Paranoia (you can do it!) Usually the harder the dough is to handle, the flakier the crust, so its’ worth it to be patient.
Transfer the dough to a floured board. Roll the dough as thinly and evenly as possible. Don’t worry about any imperfections when the crust is rolled out, because after you transfer it to the pan, any problems can be easily patched.
Filling
8 Cups peeled, cored and sliced apples*
¾ Cup granulated sugar
¼ Cup King Arthur Flour
up to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste)
up to ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (to taste, I usually leave this out. Just a personal preference)
*Paula Reds are our first choice, then Cortlands our second; both are juicy and tart which makes for great baking apples. McIntosh are also acceptable.
Now for the fun part! For this we use our apple peeler/corer/slicer from the catalogue. It makes dealing with the apples so much fun that th e people in our house argue about whose turn it is to peel the apples. Really!
Once the apples are processed they can be mixed with the other ingredients. If the apples aren’t very juicy, you may want to cut back on the amount of flour a little. We like to use about ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and no nutmeg.
Topping
1 Cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
½ Cup brown sugar
½ Cup (1 stick) firm butter
The topping always seems to need the human touch to get the proper consistency. So, I cut the butter up with a knife a bit then mix it with my hands until everything is mixed together but still a little lumpy. Spread this mixture evenly over the top fo the apples.
Bake pie in a preheated 350° oven for about an hour. You may want to put a cookie sheet under it to catch any drips and prevent burning on the bottom of the oven. Check at about 50 mins. It is done when the apple filling is bubbling and the topping is a golden brown. YUMMY
My daughter Jenna (professional photographer) Jennathompsonphotography and her sweetie Mark were going to take a train into Boston but when I dropped them at the station at 7am I said goodbye, kissed and hugged them, snapped a picture and told her to call me immediately if there was a problem with the train so I could come back and drive them into Boston to catch their flight to Bermuda via Newark, NJ (The trip was a birthday gift from her Mark).
Within minutes of driving away my phone rang, their train was an hour and a half late! So, I swung back around and picked them up. Now we were heading to Boston from Providence during rush hour, not good. The one hour ride turned into 2 hours and it was very intense because we were cutting it way too close for comfort. The clock was ticking and we were just sitting in bumper to bumper traffic because the highway turned into a parking lot.
Then I asked the question: “What airline are you on?” Answer: “Continental”
Me: “OH SH___T!”
If you aren’t aware, they are the worst with their strict rules about checking in 45 minutes prior to departure. Some flights do not allow you to check-in online to get your boarding pass and their trip was one of them. If you walk up to the counter and it is 44 minutes prior to departure they will NOT give you your boarding pass even if there is no security line and you absolutely could make it to the gate. Ask me how I know this one. My friend Mimi and her husband had it happen to them and they were there in plenty of time but were in line to get to the ticket counter and Continental said “sorry.”
The race was on. Jenna asked Mark to put the back seat down and get the larger bag so they could repack everything and not have to check luggage as this would be their only chance to make it if they were that tight on time. He did that and she left all of her toiletries in my car and they left the larger suitcase in the car so they could just have carry-on bags.
Mark called the airline and confirmed that the absolutely drop dead time they could get there and get checked in was 9 am. He also confirmed that there were no more flights for the rest of the day. We came screaming up to the curb at 8:55 am!!!!
I blew them a kiss and yelled “good luck” to their backs as they started running. (If you have seen the movie Forest Gump, this is what I call the “Run Forest Run” routine)
I drove away and within 15 minutes Jenna called to say they made it through security already and they were good.
Phew! That was a close one.
Now I was facing a 6 hr. car ride to get home after driving 2 hrs. to get them there. So, I head out feeling relieved that they made it.
When you are praying and begging for something to work out, it’s best to have the end result in mind and not just one piece like getting to the airport on time. Ask me how I know that.
Their flight was supposed to depart at 9:50 so when the phone started ringing at 10 I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, their flight was so delayed (not due to weather but due to an airline/plane issue) that they were going to miss their connection in Newark so Continental put them on another airline (American). They were to go from Boston to Laguardia then be shuttled to Kennedy. Once they got to Kennedy she called me and said they were going to have to wait 5 hrs. for their flight to Bermuda.
Well, after four hours my phone rang again. Now the poor thing is just in tears. They canceled their flight due to weather issues in Bermuda!! There are no flights at all until 6 am the next day (this morning) The airline refused to put them up in a hotel because it was weather related. Mark called Continental and spent an hour and a half on the phone arguing with them to get them to help. Their response was: “once we transfer you to another airline you are no longer our responsibility.”
Even though if their first flight with them was on time they would have had no issues at all and would have already been in Bermuda.
Continental finally agreed to switch their return flight out to the next day and the resort agreed to let them stay an extra night in exchange for the one they lost.
Morale of the story: NEVER book anything with Continental unless there are no other options!
I spoke with her at 4:30 am this morning and they were at the airport and she emailed me at 5:45 saying they were on the plane. I received an email saying they were there!
I don’t know if I mentioned it but because my name Sally Cevasco rhymes with it, my friends used to refer to me as “Sally Fiasco” because there are so many stories like this from my travels. Some of my stories are actually good and fun too but I hope it’s not hereditary! Poor Jenna.
I finally arrived home after being up since 4 and 8 hrs. of driving and no food all day. It’s good to be back.
Life is GOOD!
Here’s Jenna in the “Little Black Dress” she bought to surprise Mark on their vacation:
Most of the time, when it comes to free membership sites, blogs, etc., traffic doesn’t come to mind. Most thoughts sound like “I am getting some authority”, “I am offering something valuable” or “I have something to say”, but believing it or not, consciously or unconsciously the reason of having a free membership site is to get traffic. Read more
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