Good to get away, and good to be home

Innkeepers share at least one thing: It is tough for us to leave our businesses and get away for a few days. This past weekend, Mark stayed home while I went to Denver to celebrate my friend David's 50th birthday. While Mark entertained our guests, cooked for them and did their laundry, I spent four days with two of my dearest friends, catching up on old times and creating new memories.

After a drive of nearly 9 hours to get home, I'm happy to be back in my own space, with my dogs, my partner and my guests. Nothing feels quite as good as coming home after a trip away.

And we keep that in mind for our guests. We want you to feel as "at home" as possible while you're here in our home. All we ask is that you don't let the dogs out. Oh, and put on some clothes before you come to breakfast.

Sometimes you just get lucky

When our phone rings late at night and someone asks if we have a room for the night, we tend to be a bit skeptical. After all, we're inviting these people into our home, and we try to make sure they'll be happy -- and that we will, too.

Last night, our phone rang at about 11, and the caller asked for a room. Mark answered the phone and told the caller that we had a room available. When he hung up, he figured they'd go elsewhere, as they didn't indicate when they'd arrive or confirm that they wanted to stay here.

As luck would have it, the couple arrived just before midnight, and I knew as soon as I answered the door that they would love the house. What I didn't know yet was that I would love them as well.

Judan and Christopher live in Fairfield, Iowa, where they are active with the Mahariji University. Judan told me that they both grew up in Fairfield, and we had a wonderful talk about that town and its incredible approach to welcoming this university and its followers, as well as its unique and effective approach to economic development.

She further told me that she believes Fairfield draws positive energy from the universe because there are literally thousands of people meditating there every day. I think she must be correct.

We spent an hour talking about Fairfield, and about life, this morning while they had breakfast. (Thank you to our neighbors Will and Gary for the freshly picked zucchini and apples, which I baked into apple zucchini bread last night and served for breakfast this morning.) I found their positive outlook and approach to life refreshing and reaffirming.

I wish Judan and Christopher safe travels. I thank them for reminding me of the many ways in which this life draws people together.

Oh, the questions they ask

Anyone who deals with the public on a daily basis can tell countless stories about the people they deal with. Here are a handful from this week.

• We had an e-mail from a woman who said she is extremely allergic to dogs. My response said that while our dogs don't roam the house and are never allowed in the guestrooms, they do live here with us. She took the time to call us (no doubt on our toll-free line) to say that she won't stay with us because of the dogs. What did she think we would say? That we'll get rid of the dogs so she can spend one night with us?
• A man called earlier this week to ask about a Friday night rate later in the month. Mark told him that the least expensive room available was $125 per night. He replied, "Yeah, good luck with that." And then he slammed down the phone. Really? The rates for that night at the downtown chain hotels range from $139 to $249. Guess we should wish them all good luck with those.
• Another man called a while back to ask what our policy is on letting children stay with us. I told him that we are happy to have children stay, depending on the number and their ages. He responded that he and his wife would like to bring their eight (yes, eight) children to stay with us. He wanted one room, because the kids, after all, can sleep on the floor. When I told him that I didn't have any rooms big enough to accommodate their family, he accused me of hating kids. Don't tell my nieces and nephews; I'm keeping that a secret from them.
• Always a favorite are the people who call and ask if our rooms are nice. Obviously, we think they are, and we recognize that some rooms might be "nicer" than others -- maybe bigger or with more windows or whatever. So what are they expecting to hear? Book any room except that one -- it's not nice.
• And then there are the people who really just want you to do their work for them. They don't want to stay with us but they want us to give them contact information for other hotels, provide information about what's going on around town or, like the caller at 7 this morning, they want you to give them a visual map of the city. They don't want to book a room; they want a tour guide.
  

Of course, the vast majority of callers are thrilled to have found us, are anxious to book a room and can't wait to experience all that our city and our house have to offer. To each of them, I say "thank you," truly from the bottom of my heart.

Yes, Walt Disney, it is a small world after all

An innkeeper's life gets sidetracked by chores like laundry and cleaning and paperwork. The joy, for me, lies in the guests who grace our business (and our breakfast table).

This morning, three of four guests having breakfast together graduated from Omaha Central High School. So did I; so did my three sisters; so will two of my nieces. We compared notes about teachers and classmates and the pride associated with graduates of this incredible school.

Then we turned our attention to other topics, which is when I found out that one of our guests went to Tarkio College. She was there during my sophomore year. To give you some context, Tarkio was a small school with about 400 students in the early and mid 1970s. So Pamela and I were there, along with our mutual friend Linda Brown, at precisely the same time. Commence more reminiscing, more shared friends.

And then it turns out we all knew Passionetta Prince, who was murdered in Omaha three-and-a-half years ago. And whose killer goes on trial later this month.

And we all knew her because we all are, to one extent or another, involved with the John Beasley Theater.

Just when you think the world is a vast, unimaginably complex place, you find out just how small it really is. I think the moon, the stars and the power that be for putting me in a place where my path can cross with incredible people like those I met today.

Lessons from a cookie

My mission this past weekend was to bake as many gluten-free dishes and treats as possible. We had three guests who required gluten-free cooking, and all in all, I think it went pretty well.

Until that second batch of peanut butter cookies. Two lessons learned:

First, Jif chunky peanut butter has way more oil in it than Skippy Super Chunk. The extra oil make the cookies spread, looking less appealing. Unless, of course, you're a dog, which leads us to...

Second, if peanut butter cookies are cooling on a wire rack on the butcher block, Lucy will, in fact, find a way to get said rack onto the floor. I don't know how she managed it, but she pulled the cookies onto the floor. She was at least kind enough to share them with Izzy. So we had two dogs with upset tummies. And no cookies for our guests.

All duly noted.