First Heaven Fresh BBQ

It's been more than two weeks that I wrote my last post.  Past two weeks have not been very easy. These are exactly the kind of days when I wonder if it was really the right decision to quit the job and get into a business with limited financing and resource. Haaaaaaaaaaah.....So many issues from different offices all at once coupled with some personal stress really got me this time.  I guess that's what running a micro-multinational all about. It tests your limits and then pushes you beyond.  I have learned that the trick is to keep your calm and knock all the problems down one by one. But it's easier said than done. I will try to write in greater detail about the extreme stress of managing a micro-multinational and the ways to cope with it.  But for now let's talk about the happy moments.

We had the first Heaven Fresh BBQ on August 26, 2007.  It was a beautiful Sunday to be in the Morningside Park located at the east end of Toronto. Despite a few minor glitches, it turned out to be a very successful event. Every one enjoyed the sunshine and the delicious food. Here are a few pictures. 

	An overview of the picnic crowed.
	Tracy, Irfan and Jason taking care of the grilling.
	Roy and Joan Frankel enjoying the food. John's also sitting there in his "Aussie" hat.
	Yoram brought up the idea of family picnic before the end of summer.  I knew that if we did not do it, he would be harassing me all year long and now he's caught in action. :)
	Is Paula checking out Javad's plate?
	Celal, Monica, Jim and Irfan in a happy pose.
	Paula and Tracy worked really hard to organize the picnic. A job well done. What?  You want a performance bonus for the picnic? :)
	It was Paula's idea to have egg throwing contest. She became the victim of her own idea. John seems happy to dodge the eggs landing on his clothes.
	John is doing the prize draw but I still got fingers pointed at for fixing the draw.
	Looks like both Jim and Celal never won anything in their life before. :)Congratulations!
	Three legged race. Azeem literally dragged me to the finish line.
	Paula started the egg throwing contest and now she's blaming others for cheating.
	Ok, As you can see from my pictures I am not the most photogenic person. But I like this picture :)
	I was fully prepared for an hour long speech. I enjoyed the look on every one's face when I pulled this thick stack of papers out. :)
	Believe me, I did not go there straight out of the bed. I look like this because I had to lug a lot of stuff to the picnic spot and it was a hot day.
	People look bored listening to my speech :(  Luckily, I also had a short version ready. Otherwise I would have become the target of all those eggs.
	I know what Roy is thinking.  Roy, I will be more prepared next time. I promise.
	Heaven Fresh first picnic cake.  I wonder who authorized the purchase of a cake. May be I should investigate and deduct it from their salary :)
	Thank you all who attended the picnic and also those who could not make it.

At the end I would like to say that Heaven Fresh could not have achieved this success without the hard work, dedication and sincerity of every one involved.  I feel truly blessed to get to know and work with each one of them. For a micro-multinational people are not the biggest asset of the company but they are the company.

Thank you every one! You guys are the best.