NBC-10-Philadelphia-kimwolterman

Last Thursday we sold our composting company. Jim and I started ORMI 20 years ago, following the ban on yard waste in Missouri. We saw a business opportunity as waste haulers, landscape contractors and homeowners would need a place to dispose of their yard waste. I was pregnant with Katie at the time. For a while Jim was the only employee, working out of a shop trailer. I continued to work full time at MOMEDICO and did administrative duties at night and on the weekends. We added a couple of employees and eventually built a nice building on the site.

Time passed and we added equipment and additional employees, and Jim built a thriving landscape architecture business. I resigned from MOMEDICO when Katie entered 1st grade, and set up my office out of our home to handle the administrative side of ORMI. We had grown to 9 employees, multiple semi trucks and trailers in addition to the tub grinder and screens, and created a nice market for compost, mulch and soil.

But things have changed in this industry. Our state legislature nearly overturned the ban on yard waste last year, which would devastate small composters like us. The down-turn in housing starts means less land clearing waste coming into facilities such as ours. We were concerned about having enough material to supply our customers come the spring. And we are about due to replace the tub grinder, which go for around $750,000. Not good for cash flow.

So when we were approached by our main competitor in October about a possible buy out, our ears were open. We signed a letter of intent so that they could look further at our organization, and then they completed their due diligence. Negotiations were made regarding terms and conditions, and we closed the deal on December 30th. Two months from start to finish. Wow!

Yesterday Jim met with our employees to tell them the news, and the new owner came and introduced himself as well as some of his key staff. Our employees will all have the opportunity to keep their jobs, should they so desire. This was an important condition for Jim and me. The employees were understandably shocked, as we had given no indication we were looking to sell. Heck, we weren't really looking! But this was the right offer, at the right time, with the right company. When the guys take a step back and separate their emotions from the facts, they will realize that this new company offers them so much more opportunity than Jim and I ever could have done. Things do indeed happen for a reason, and I think this will be a good deal all around for everyone involved.

Over the weekend I packed up all the ORMI files in my office and added them to the boxes in the basement (some 20 in all), and they were picked up by the buyer. They will arrange later to get the boxes from 2005 and prior which are stored off-site. We will now take my office and return it to a bedroom once it has been painted, and take the little bedroom we just refinished and put the office in there. This will probably also motivate us to redo our master bedroom since it hasn't been done in (gasp!) 23 years. Then the whole second floor will be in keeping with the rest of the house.

As for myself, I plan to initially spend my time finishing dad's book, turning my house research book into an e-book, and doing some research on a book Jim has in mind to write (or have ghost written as the case may be).

2011- bring it on!

...I just can't wait to NOT be on the road again... We have had quite the driving experience here lately. On December 18th we hopped in the car to drive to Chicago to pick Katie up for Christmas break. Jim thought seeing the lights in Chicago would help put him in the Christmas spirit. Was cold enough there to freeze spirits, let me tell you! But we did have fun shopping with Katie and picked up a few last minute gifts. Sunday we headed home for a couple days and celebrated our Christmas here on Tuesday night. At this point I should probably interject that we did ultimately purchase a small tree to decorate so that Katie could experience seeing all the presents spread out under the tree.

Wednesday at noon we loaded up the car and the dog and drove to Iowa to spend a few days with Jim's parents. We had great driving conditions on the way up and back, but got to experience 9 inches of snow on top of the existing 7 inches already on the ground in Charles City. A white Christmas indeed. We got home about 5 on Sunday, unloaded the car and the dog and then left for the Repertory Theater to see "Above the Tavern". This is a great play, and anyone who has experienced Catholic education would get a kick out of it.

Monday morning we got back in the car, sans the dog, and drove the 3 hours to Huntingburg to see Andy and Megan (as well as the rest of Megan's family) at the Englert's house. This was our only chance to see them and exchange gifts since they were leaving for D.C. the next day. We stayed for supper and got home around 10:30 that night. So 3 major road trips in 10 days, and my butt is begging for mercy! I don't want to go for a drive anytime soon.

Having said that, we had a wonderful Christmas and it was great to have the opportunity to see everyone. We are so blessed that all of our family is happy and healthy and that we could get together. Here's hoping for a great 2011!

I'm becoming something of a Scrooge. I really don't want to get a Christmas tree this year, and I am not at all interested in decorating the house. I have the big wreath on the front of the house and the Christmas flag in the pole, but that is it. This is the year that we travel to Iowa for Christmas. Every other year we alternate staying home versus going to Jim's hometown. The years we go to Iowa coincide with Andy and Megan going to Indiana, which works out well since I have no idea how we would ever get them to Charles City. But the down side is that they never get to see the grandparents, and that is just sad.

At any rate, it just seems like such a waste to go to all the effort of the decorations when we won't even be here to enjoy them. I think we may compromise and just buy a small tree this year. Or we are toying with just purchasing a small artificial tree. Jim has always been adamant that we have a real tree, but maybe he is now getting a little like Scrooge himself. I guess I'll just see how motivated we get this weekend. In the meantime, I need to get the Christmas letters in the mail. Ho, ho, ho...

The house is empty again. Even Jim and the dog are over at SWT right now. After a houseful of people and nonstop activity the last five days, it is nice and quiet here. Maybe too quiet.

Andy and Megan flew in last Wednesday morning, and after picking them up at the airport we drove to Pappy's to attempt to get some barbecue. Ever since Andy saw this restaurant on "Man Versus Food", he has been dying to go there. I dropped him and Megan off at the line forming outside the door and went to find a place to park. Before I even got out of the car, they were back at my door saying that a lady had come out of the restaurant advising that there were at least 100 people waiting inside for a table! Not having the time or the inclination to wait in the rain for that long, we went to Seamus McDaniels in Dogtown instead. We got home in time for us to let the dog out, then Jim and Andy went to Union Station to pick up Katie from the MegaBus stop. Megan and I waited at home for JoEllen and Bruce to arrive. Oh, and their dog, Casey.

We had a nice supper and then played Sequence for awhile. Thursday was non-stop action preparing the turkey and all the fixings, and then JoEllen and Bruce headed back home to Kansas City since she had to work the next day. On Friday morning Megan's mom, dad and two brothers drove over from Indiana to spend the day with us. The guys all went to Cabellas and the gals stayed here and got caught up. We ordered pizzas, watched some football and some of the group played Euchre for a bit before the Englert's had to leave. Friday night Jim and I went to the Webster Groves State Championship game at the Jones Dome (where Webster was beaten by a phenomenal Kansas City area football team), Andy went to the Casino Queen, and Katie and Megan hung out at the house.

Saturday Jim, Andy, Megan and I went to the botanical garden to see the train show while Katie did homework, then we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for supper. Katie went back to Chicago on the train this morning, and we dropped Andy and Megan at the airport this afternoon. As soon as Jim gets back from the office we are going to the gym to see if we can undo some of the damage of five days worth of company. More than the bird was stuffed this holiday!

Down the street from me lives a woman who is 95 years old and living once again in the house she was born in. It's a fun story in and of itself as she (I'll call her V) is living with her 85 year old boyfriend (I'll call him D), who actually owns the house now. I was thinking that it would be really interesting to interview her to talk about what it was like growing up in Webster Groves. After all, she probably knew the Morton family who built my house. They lived here until 1938. I understand my neighbor's mind is very sharp, even if her body is failing her. And she loves to talk!

I was trying to figure out how to go about seeing if she would mind answering some questions for me. Well, yesterday while walking the dog I saw the boyfriend (tee, hee!) talking to his next door neighbor, whom I do know. Always one to try to answer when opportunity is knocking, I hurried up my friend's driveway to introduce myself. As I explained why I was interested in speaking with V, D quickly expressed that V would love to talk to me. She loves discussing old times. As she feels best in the afternoons, we agreed that I would just come over one day after Thanksgiving around 1:00. After D went back to working in his yard, my friend said, "You're going to write about this, aren't you?" It ends up that she knows a lot about the neighborhood as well, and she had some suggestions about other elderly people that I should interview before it's too late.

So I may be on to my next book idea. We'll see how this first interview goes.

Last night we went to see the play "High" at the Repertory Theatre. I didn't know much about the play other than the fact that it starred Kathleen Turner and involved a young man with a drug addiction. Oh - and it was listed as being for mature audiences. I try not to talk to other people who have seen plays I am going to, and I don't read reviews because I so infrequently agree with them once I see the play (or a movie, for that matter). It was tricky with this one because lots of people were excited to have Turner in town, and our tickets are the last night's show. This play was actually written by a man who has a drug addiction, but who has been clean for 3 years now. There are predictions that it will head to Broadway, and I can see that happening.

There are only 3 actors in the play - a nun (played by Turner), a priest (Michael Berresse) and the young man (Evan Jonigkeit). While the subject matter is serious, there were some surprisingly funny moments in the play. The set was clever yet somber and didn't detract from the play. All 3 of the actors were excellent, with Jonigkeit doing an exceedingly credible job of portraying a drug addict. It was pretty obvious that Turner was not feeling well as she coughed a lot during the production. But she hung in there, and looked very relieved when her last line was delivered. The play has some interesting twists, and is definitely thought provoking. I "High"ly recommend it.

This afternoon I gave a presentation on composting to a class of 25 4th graders in Cahokia, Illinois. My niece's daughter is in the class, and she had been bragging to her teacher about her aunt and uncle who own a composting facility. As the class has just finished discussing microbes and how they help to break things down, the teacher thought it would be perfect to have me come in and talk to the class. Normally I would just discuss the composting process, but Cordelia had told them I would be bringing my "trash" along, so I modified the program a bit to include recycling.

I talk to the students about the different kinds of landfills and recycling centers available, and then each gets to pick a piece of trash out of my garbage bag. They then have to decide which of the centers that I talked about would accept the "trash". They don't always get the category right, but at the end of the day the point is that of all the pounds of trash I brought along, nothing had to go to the sanitary landfill. It all could be recycled in one way or another.

From there I talk about backyard composting, and then expand on what we do at a commercial composting center. I have large photographs showing them the equipment we use as well as some of the places around town that have used our compost. But by far their favorite part of the presentation is when I bring out our worms so we can talk about vermicomposting. Kids love worms! We have a stacking vermicompost bin at our house, so I have to remove some of the worms and their compost and place them in my traveling worm bin. Everyone was allowed to come up and gently pick up worms if they so desired. Surprisingly most of the kids were game. And my favorite part is when the kids finally figure out that they have their hands in worm poop. Priceless!

But they were great, and I think they enjoyed talking about recycling and composting. And maybe a few will take something home from today and make some positive changes in their own lives.