One Down, Five to Go?

Hope everyone had a sweet Valentine's Day/weekend! I didn't get any pretty shots of our bakery cases, darn it. This is just an extra little table we put out for bakery overflow during holidays and special occasions. You can't see it here but I made over 50 lbs of fudge and we dipped over 500 chocolate strawberries.

We are pondering trying out king cakes for Mardi Gras this year and then there is St. Patrick's. But our next big push will be Easter, followed by the triple whammy of May (graduations galore, Mother's Day, and for some reason many, many birthdays).

Eli's class had a little Valentine party on Friday where they mainly OD'd on sugar. Aaron went for the both of us since McKinley's was so busy. Their school was closed yesterday as was the bank, so Aaron and I took Eli to the zoo. We hadn't been in a while. It was a little chilly outside and not crowded at all so that part was actually nice. We saw the mama lion and her cubs being very active. They looked WAY too big to still be nursing and it looked like she was over it (this was my unprofessional observation). Poor mama. No wonder she is getting so skinny looking. Every time she would try to lie down they would run at her like swarming bees, and she would wearily yet quickly get back up and begin pacing. We also got a rare up close and personal encounter with one of the large male gorillas. Very beautiful, but yikes. So glad for the Plexiglas or whatever was between us at that moment.

Now I am having a hard time getting mentally back in the swing. Better get to it. Have a great week. Love you all, Stacey

Fireproof

We watched the movie Fireproof last night. It was awesome! Our sweet and thoughtful manager (Lori) gave it to me because we were talking about it when it was at the theatres late last year.

My father-in-law had just recommended to Aaron that we watch Facing the Giants, so Aaron went out and bought it. When I looked at the cover I figured it would be just another Friday Night Lights, Texas style football movie. I popped some corn and settled in to watch not knowing a thing about it. Boy was I blown away. The acting was a bit mediocre, but if you can get past that and get into the story...holy cow. I don't remember ever crying so hard at a movie before. I was a total mess. I think Aaron was struggling to keep it together too. I never did thank "Grandpa" for the movie suggestion....thank you! I loved it.

So I came to work the next day and was telling everyone what a great movie and tearjerker Facing the Giants was, and our manager said, yea, she had just gone to see Fireproof in the theatre and it was done by the same group (side note: the acting is much better in this one). I told her I would love to see that as well, but knowing our track record of getting to the movies, I was sure it would be on video before I did. Well, I have mentioned that our manager is an angel before, but I am really serious. She is always giving me little uplifting things just in the nick of time (like a cross that sits on my desk that says, "May the Lord Bless you and keep you...", and a bracelet that I wear almost daily that says, "It was then that I carried you" from the Footprints in the Sand story). The movie Fireproof is very uplifting and inspirational and I would think most married couples could relate to this story.

www.fireproofmymarriage.com

Ode to Aaron

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Okay, Aaron told me I was being sufficiently negative in my last update. I think it may read different than how I was thinking it. In my head it sounded comical, but he assured me it doesn't come across that way (for some reason, this is comical to me, too). Sorry, folks, I am not a great writer. But this is a good venue to "vent" every now and again!

I always hesitate to talk about Aaron on my blog because both of us (and especially Aaron) are fairly private people. But at the risk of getting into trouble, let me toot my husband's horn for a minute. Aaron has a real-life career that is totally different and separate from my bakery. But that can't be the end of it for him, bless his heart. No normal life shall he experience. Some aspects of running this business have inadvertently fallen on his shoulders and I don't know how I could make it without him.

Let's see.....Aaron gets off work from his real job, picks our son up from school and brings him home. When I get home we trade off and Aaron comes to the bakery. He "closes" the store every night (that he is not traveling for his real job) which is basically overseeing employees, ensuring hot appliances are turned off, lights are turned off, alarm is set, etc. He also looks through the special orders and prepares the production report for the bakers which tells them which cakes and pies to make for the next day. Every other Thursday night we have our floors deep cleaned, and Aaron always deals with our cleaner guy, and sometimes he is not finished until 10:30 or 11:00 at night. I can't even keep my eyes open that late most nights. Every Saturday Aaron prepares the next week's schedule for our kitchen employees. He is also our light bulb changer, and sometimes cleans our ceiling fans (gross). He does many odds and ends tasks, and could probably navigate the routes to any grocery store in a three mile radius with a blind fold on. He often gets office supplies and puts in our big copy orders. Yes, now that I think of it he is definitely the Director of Production and Printing. All of our menus, menu boards, and business cards are in stock b/c of my husband. He is also the eagle eyes around here, looking for anything he can tell us we are doing wrong (HA). It is okay, most days I can't see the forest for the trees so fresh eyes are an asset.

In any event, I don't tell Aaron how much I appreciate him enough. Thanks, Aaron, for all you do for us both here and at home!!

Random Update

ELI IS MY LITTLE SUNSHINE!!!

This is the most pitiful blog page ever. Some folks update their blogs daily, while I am obviously very hit or miss. All I can say is "holy cow". Whew....is January any indication of what we can expect from the rest of 2009? January is supposed to be our "take a deep breath" time. Following an exhausting holiday season, we look forward to the brief slower pace. It should be a time I can get organized both at work and home, do some long term planning for the business, work on the books for tax season right around the corner, spend some extra time with the family, etc.

This January was anything but slow and easy. In addition to having a very busy month sales-wise (thank you, Lord), it has been one distraction after another. In a two week period of time we had to fire three employees, and another left on his own accord. That is a lot of turnover all at once. Training multiple new hires will take it out of even the most patient person (i.e. our manager, she is an angel). Everybody has to be trained, but it is painful for all (especially our customers).

While all the staffing distraction was going on our heat exchange goes out on our dining room hvac unit. It would have cost thousands to fix, and because both of our units were past ancient (17 1/2 yrs old) we decide to replace them rather than continue with repairs. That is an expense no one loves to absorb.

In the middle of that going on, we decide to get security cameras (partially based on employee firings). We have talked about getting them over the years, and finally decided it was a necessary expense at this point in our business. Our hope is that they will eliminate some of the questions we have when we are not looking. The day the guys came out and installed the cameras and server, our front computer terminals that we take orders on began to freeze up. We think it has to be more than a coincidence that this happened on the day we get the cameras (what did they do?), but the camera people assure us they have nothing to do with the problem. We (and our customers) have been battling the randomly freezing terminals for two weeks and we still don't know what ails them. I had two IT techs out here last week to no avail, and it is now in the hands of the people who created the hardware to figure it out. We will see.

One day at 11:45 (right as the lunch rush was getting into full swing), the dish washing machine stopped working. The starter just shorted out. Fortunately our tech was here within the hour, but that was worth a little stress and distraction to say the least. Can't continue lunch service with unwashed or sanitized dishes. He fixed it quickly, mercifully. Today our baker tells me the top baker oven is not working at all. Just stopped working. It is only 2 1/2 years old.

I think I am single handedly keeping technicians of every sort in business in this area. Yay.

I think I have given some of my friends the impression that I dislike our business. That really is not true. In reality, I love our business and enjoy coming to work everyday, I just hate all the headaches (HA!!). Maybe we are just getting them out of the way so the rest of the year will be smooth!!! That would be so nice.

I think the owner of the salon next door has the right approach. I am not sure what he does exactly, but he seems to have a lot of meetings and I think he does a lot of long term strategizing. He definitely does not do hair anymore, and he does not order product for his store, or do the books, or worry about scheduling. He has people in place to do all of these things. (That being said, his salon probably has only a fraction of the payroll expense that we do. All of his stylists don't get paid unless they are working on a client. Mine are paid for darning the doors.)

But seriously, I try and wear too many hats and it is simply a recipe for failure. I have concluded that this is the reason I complain like I do. Not because I dislike being here, but because I am overwhelmed. I am the accountant/bookkeeper/A/P clerk, and payroll administrator, the HR director, the facilities and equipment manager, the inventory taker and procurement director of all things edible and non (this one is time consuming), the marketing executive, and the community liaison for philanthropy. I have actually tried to give the latter to my manager b/c I am failing miserably, but even she doesn't have real time to spare. Additionally, I deliver some of the catering orders (I have two on Monday), and help the front when we are busy (especially when we have newbies in training). This week I will be making fudge and chocolate dipped strawberries in celebration of Valentine's. Seems like I am forgetting something, but you get the gist.

So that is work for the last month. Personally we are good. I have been trying to lose weight. I gained a LOT in 2008. I don't know what happened. My old and battered metabolism hit a brick wall and stopped entirely. I was gaining weight for no reason at all, and the normal things I did to lose weight (e.g. stop eating our delicious bakery) didn't work. So I have been trying Herbalife and drinking two shakes a day and whatever I cook for dinner. I have lost 6-8 lbs since the beginning of the year, but have such a long way to go. The one good thing about Herbalife is that you get used to drinking two of your meals (or I have anyway), so that you become a lot more aware of everything that you put in your mouth. I am quite an eater by nature so this is good for me.

Eli is starting soccer in a few weeks. I will write more about that as we get into it. He is so cute and quite a character. He has the funniest expressions, sometimes repeating my words back to me. He knows I don't want him to have too much in the way of sweets, so if he asks for a cereal bar (for example) after school or after dinner, he will tell me "after this no more sweets!". Because he knows in advance that is what I will say. Last night (Friday night), we did not go to eat Mexican like I wanted so I was bound and determined to have a margarita. I blended me up some and sipped one. Then I poured another one. Eli pointed to it and said, "after that, no more drink!". I cocked my head and nodded, and said "Okay, baby. No more." After that I didn't even want that one. Is he counting my drinks now??? Ha. It ended up down the sink in any event.

We are still hoping to get pregnant again one of these days. Some days I think one is all I can handle, but two would be great to complete our little family. What about the lady who has 14 and no husband? What in the heck is she thinking? That Oprah will pay her bills? Whew. I better not judge.

Sleeping Habits

This is not the most flattering photo of our son, but I thought it was funny. He is in the (bad) habit of coming downstairs and getting into bed with us in the middle of the night. At least he goes to bed upstairs without incident, and at least he doesn't sleep in the closet or behind furniture anymore. So I am okay with it. I am really too tired or lazy to force him back upstairs. He usually wakes me up to help him (and his basket of animals) up, I give him some water and a smooch and we fall back to sleep. Aaron may not be so fond of this sleeping arrangement, though! Eli is drawn to him like a magnet when he sleeps. No matter how many times I bring him back my way, he ends up as close to Aaron as possible. On this particular morning I think Aaron is just one shoulder blade away from hitting the floor. Eli looks pretty comfortable, though. Ha!