DAY 12

Had a completely satisfying day! Completed 3!!! orders and I am very happy with the outcome. One of them went to a friend of mine for her Anniversary, rumor has it she is enjoying them. I took another to the doctors office with me this morning,along with a stack of business cards~I hope it will drum up some business. One of the nurses did ask if I catered weddings~my heart leapt! Then she said...not that I am getting married or anything, I just wanted to know! OH OK!! Maybe I should start a dating service too, set her up and then cater the wedding! She was cute, but I wish she was really getting married!
So working with chocolate is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for impatient people like me who like to get in, get done, and get out. It is a lesson in self control, in slowing down, being calm~not my forte at all! I decided nap time would be a good time to work, as the baby is a chocoholic. How long could it take to dip 45truffles? To say I am out of practice is an understatement...I have been on an extra long, over extended maternity leave and haven't dipped in a long time! But I thought I was prepared~froze the candy the night before, set up my double boilers in the morning as well as all the utensils I would need. Anything that was NOT chocolate could be set out and not raise the suspicion of said 2 year old. So of course the child does not want to take a nap, he wants to read 10 books, have extra juice and find the cat to give her a kiss~how do kids know when you have something that you need to do? I must give off some kind of vibe or something. So I have learned something in all my years of parenting, if I try to rush him it will take longer and I could blow the whole nap time wide open...So I steer him towards shorter picture books, give him an extra drip of juice in his cup...but then we can't find the CAT *@%*!! I usually rock him to sleep~yes he is 2 , but he is also my last (I hope), today he wants to lay on his pillow with me rubbing his back~I know I am being tested in some way so I just go with the flow. FINALLY I get him to sleep! Time to dip some truffles, I am ready!!! BUT MY HOUSE IS TOO HOT~ I start melting chocolate and then I take the truffles out of the freezer, I see them sag before my eyes~ok I tell myself,don't panic, what would the Cake Boss do???I open all the windows!!! Now I am freezing, but my truffles are happy~I stick most of them back in the fridge and work with 4-5 at a time. 2 1/2 hours later I am done and I mean DONE! OY! MY BACK~CAN IT REALLY BE OVER 3 YEARS SINCE I HAVE UNDERTAKEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT-HA! But on the other hand I survey my handiwork~NICE! I still got it! I stash the goods in the fridge, wake up the baby and run to pick up child #3 from school.
Now here is something not everybody will tell you...wrapping a gift basket or platter to look like something someone might actually want to eat is a fucking pain in the ass!!! OK I said it~it's my blog,get over it! I HATE TO WRAP...ANYTHING!!! Ask my kids,I don't wrap~besides being a total waste of money~I like to hide my kids gifts! I can't tell you the joy I get out of watching 19 and 22 year old men look for gifts~OH YES! If you want your gift you must work for it~I have to retain a little power...So now the baby is up, child #3 is starving to death (his words) and #2 is upstairs obliviously playing video games on THIS BOX~I am dancing around my dining room with a roll of cellophane wrap yelling for someone to find me the tape! With a melt down on the horizon for any one of us, I pull myself together and realize that THIS is why I always falter, how can I be the parent I want to be and do something I love at the same time~So I focused on the task at hand, tuned out the bickering in the background, and wrapped those platters in record time. And then I realized that it was fairly calm in the house, a little messier than I like but nothless nobody was worse for wear, they got dinner~frozen pizza and broccoli-and stories~a little later than usual~but we were ALL happy at the end of the day. I felt productive and content as I rocked the baby to sleep.It had been a good day!