The end of life as we know it....

The ending was abrupt: Workers for the company, which shifted its baking and distribution operations to plants in Ohio and Canada in 2006, told workers Friday that operations would cease and cookies would no longer be made as of Monday.

The company cited rising prices for raw materials and fuel, and on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The company that made Mother's cookies at the end was the Archway & Mother's Cake and Cookie Co. of Battle Creek, Mich. It was owned by Catterton Partners, a private-equity firm in Greenwich, Conn., which in 2005 purchased it from an Italian firm, Parmalat Finanziaria, which was plagued by scandals at home.

In 2006, Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. was uprooted from its plant on 81st Avenue in Oakland and relocated. About 230 employees lost their jobs.

According to industry lore, the company was founded in 1914 by a newspaper vendor, N.M. Wheatley, as a one-person shop. It expanded and moved to the 81st Avenue location in 1949.

Mother's later had a series of corporate owners: a Belgian company, Artal B.V., bought it in 1991; it was owned by Specialty Foods Corp. of Illinois in the late 1990s; in 2000, Specialty sold Mother's and Archway Cookies to Parmalat, which in turn sold the combined business to Catterton for an undisclosed sum.

Catterton said in a statement it "took a number of actions to remedy" the company's financial crisis, "but these actions were not sufficient to overcome the losses and return Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. and Archway Cookies LLC to profitability."

One of those efforts was to seek financing. "But, as you know, the credit environment is very difficult now," said Meaghan Repko, a spokeswoman for the owners, in New York.


"The owners came in to get rid of us, to chew us up and spit us out," he said, alleging their intent was to gain a profit by selling assets and neglecting service of trucks and other expenses.

"This is part of the economic crunch, with the CEOs taking the money out and not putting more money into the company," said Makely. "I'm too old to get a driving job. Who would hire me?"

Quirky Things

Oh good grief. My daughter Leisy tagged me on this. I'm supposed to tell you a few quirky things about me. And honestly, I don't think any of these are quirky but some people do tell me they're odd. So, you're welcome to add your own two cents worth about me (as long as you're nice).
1. I don't like to eat my own cooking. My family complains that they worry I am poisoning them. We sit down for dinner and they're eating my casseroles or homemade soups or whatever and I'm eating salad or cereal.
2. I don't like babies. Never have, never will. I enjoy teenagers lots more than babies. I never felt baby hungry or felt that my arms needed to hold and rock a baby. My own were fine but they were lots more fun when they grew up.
3. I can't sit still. My family does accuse me of being obsessive compulsive about it. I polish the countertops while we're around the island in the kitchen, I pull the neighbor's weeds if we're out side visiting, I'll pick up at other people's homes (just ask my sisters--they hate it), or I'll keep moving to exercise.
4. Speaking of exercise, I'm addicted to walking. I love walking. I do at least 3 miles a day but often 6+ miles. I love to walk early in the morning when it's still dark.
5. Lastly, I love even numbers and hate odd numbers. I can't stand the volume on the tv or radio to be on an odd number. If I can, I'll change a hotel room to an even number if it's odd. I'll finish reading on an even page number. I love the ease of even numbers. They're more friendly.

So, maybe I'm missing something but those aren't really quirky and I can't think of anything else. Can you?

Welcome to Fall!

Zeb and the giant pumpkin patch! Wouldn't that make a darling children's book?

Welcome to fall--my favorite time of year. This weekend the weather is supposed to become cooler and crisper. I'm looking forward to it! Enjoy.

Liberec, Czech Republic

This is an old church in the hills above Liberec in a community called Jested. I met the sweetest old man at the top of the tram line who told me in his broken English about the history of Liberec.




I wandered around the church and dicovered this beautiful leaded glass window. It's hard to see but if you enlarge the photo you can see it. This church was surrounded by apple trees and hanging laundry.






And lastly, the main town square had this McDonalds in a beautiful old building. None of the McDonalds employees spoke English so I just pointed at the pictures and smiled.

Off the balcony off our hotel room and this was THE nicest Best Western we have ever seen!



This is St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The sun was at a perfect angle. Isn't this stunning? It was late afternoon, on a perfect day. I just wandered around with my mouth gaping.


St Vitus Cathedral






From our hotel room window, this is the art museum in the background. I love the red tile roofs.



St. Vitus Cathedral from the outside.

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7 Habits of Happy Kids

This is what I've been working on for the past year. Check it out and go buy the book--you can get it on Amazon.com. Also, go check out www.seancovey.com and see the other cool stuff we're doing. There's a short video clip of the author promoting the book. I set this event up and Metta was there to help me. I was in NYC last week for the launch of this book and it was great fun!

I would love your feedback--good and bad--and any new story ideas.

My son-in-law's Medical Mission to Nicaragua

My son-in-law's Medical Mission to Nicaragua

On one of the days in Nicaragua we visited the landfill... the dump. People live there. It was disgusting really; the smell was nauseating, the flies were suffocating, and the vultures were circling. Driving in, we were all unprepared for what we saw. Cattle were grazing in the heaps of garbage and people were following to pick up anything of value.

We began handing out packets of food that we assembled. Rice and beans and other essentials. We then handed out plates of food. It was amazing to see how grateful these people were for a single plate of food. It was also terrible to see how desperate they became when the food began to run out. We had to place a number of big guys at the front of the line to prevent people from storming the tables of food. The hardest thing was telling the kids that they couldn't have more food because we wouldn't have enough for everyone.

Right now my life is wonderful, but if there comes a day when I'm feeling down or feel like my life is pretty tough, I'll think back to this experience. I could be living in a landfill eating garbage everyday - I am so lucky and totally take my perfect life for granted.