Thursday, May 5th was pretty normal, except that instead of going into work at 4pm I went in at 10am and stayed the entire day. Then Friday I went in at 7:30am and didn't get off until after 2am. Saturday was the same. And Sunday I went in at 7:30am and got off around 5pm. I worked a 10 hour day, nd 18 hour day, another 18 hour day, and then a 10 hour day after that. What made it even longer was standing for nearly that entire time. I'd get home and ask Bob to give me a foot massage at 3am, which he'd kindly do for me, then I'd fall asleep during it, and get up a few hours later to go stand some more.
Saturday morning I awoke and sat up in bed to rub the sleep from my eyes. Then I stood up. The familiar throbbing in my feet and tenderness in my knees came back immediately, my hands were stiff and forearms sore from pinching the fruit skewers and pushing them into arrangement foam for hours on end, and my back hurt from holding and leaning over the chocolate dipping pots. It was hard not to whimper as I walked from the bedroom to the bathroom, knowing the day would consist of all the same work, and that I'd be feeling even worse by the end of the day, and worse by the following morning.
Luckily for me, Bob was working as a temporary delivery driver, so he got up with me, sympathized as much as he could, and helped me hobble around as I got dressed and ready for work. Even though I was working non-stop for hours on end, it was always refreshing to see Bob walk through the prep area as he'd scan and take more deliveries. As he walked past me he'd just brush his hand across my back or shoulders. Even though I didn't react to it usually, it was a momentary and pleasant distraction from how much I hurt and how tired I was. It was so nice to have him there for a few minutes at a time, partially because I love being around him and also because I knew he was helping to earn some money.
Speaking of which, overtime pay is great. So is a generous boss who included a hefty cash bonus with my pay check this week. She also let us make an arrangement to take home on Sunday evening. I wish I'd taken a picture! It was so good! It looked like this, only with chocolate dipped oranges, chocolate cinnamon apples, and some white chocolate strawberries, and I put it all in a cute orange watering-can keepsake container:
I'm glad I made it through last weekend. I'm very ready for my usual weekend off. I'm hoping to get the house cleaned today so that we can play all day tomorrow (well, when I'm not working on Jennifer's bridesmaid dresses).
With all that time to think as I stood at work making arrangements and dipping fruit in chocolate, I realized a couple of things.
I want to open my own store really, really badly. I think I want to open a gourmet dessert shop to start with. I never really got tired of dipping fruit the whole time I did that over Mother's Day or Valentines Day. I just really like to make all of it look pretty with swirls and toppings on everything. I stood there, dreaming and fantasizing about what my shop would look like, what kinds of desserts I'd make how I'd package them for customers, how I'd display them, etc. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to actually get out some paper and write down my ideas and create a business plan, and figure out how to get the right start up capital. I haven't been this motivated about something like this in a while (which is why I'm writing about it).
I love sewing and fashion design, but I also realized I really hate keeping up with current trends, projecting the styles for the upcoming seasons and years, and sometimes I actually get tired of sewing (believe it or not). I hate how long it takes to get one piece of clothing done.
Accessories are different. I could make hair clips and jewelery all day long. In fact, I used to do just that when I worked a Busy Beads & Moore in Clarksville. I never got tired of it. I finally finished Jennifer's hairpiece for her wedding, and got it mailed out to her this week as well. It was a $20 item. If I made and sold just 5 of those a day, that's $100 a day! I know that includes supplies, but I'd still profit a lot on those kinds of things.
I guess I like fast results. I love projects that I can start and finish in matter of hours or within the day... Like accessories... And desserts... I'm not a fan of baking with yeast or dough. All the kneading and waiting, kneading and waiting drives me nuts. So cupcakes, cake bites, cakes, pies, tarts, and chocolates are all things I love to make. Opening a shop up to sell those kinds of things would take lots of work and time, (and boy, am I learning how to put in long hours at work) but once it got off the ground, I'd rarely have to go in before 7 or 8am, whereas a bakery requires getting started at 3 or 4am because of all that dough and yeast and nonsense.
So, I'm going to work on slowly gathering the start up capital I need, saving money for it, as well as finding things like a commercial sized mixer (or two!), double-boilers, chocolate warmers and fountains, a display cooler or two, freezer(s)/refrigerator(s), bun racks/carts, ovens.... You know, stuff like that. I know a lot of small companies go into too much debt too soon when they first open, so I'd like to avoid that. I'm willing to use things 2nd hand--heck, even 3rd hand if it's in good condition. I don't need or even want brand new stuff. Besides, I love vintage, antique, and steampunk styles. I intend for my shop to be along those lines, so the older the better (if it works, anyway).
I'm so excited about it, I want to start it up now.
*sigh*
But I can wait. I want to start it when we move to San Diego anyway, so it'll be a while until then.
I guess I'm learning patience, too.
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