Friday, December 16, 2011

I. AM. EXHAUSTED.

I have no idea if it is the season, the weather, or what, but I am tired. All of the time. I could sleep at the drop of a hat and have to make an effort to stay awake at work. I take vitamins and supplements. I eat healthy. I could probably use more sleep but I do get 6-7 hours a night. On weekends, I can't seem to sleep past 8. I don't think I am depressed, but wow... something is definitely up!

Busy, busy week. Let me tell you about it. So, I was figuring on 3 orders for this weekend. One for a co-worker's family Christmas party. Another for a family birthday party. And another 'cold call'... someone who liked my page and was planning to order a cake for her birthday.

I started the co-worker's cake Wednesday. Baked the cake, and while it was in the oven, I did all the fondant decorations for it. I was giddy about being so on top of this order. Froze the cake, stored the fondant pieces in the oven, at my husband's suggestion, to keep the cat away from it. Thursday, I found out my co-worker didn't want it for Saturday, she wanted it for Friday. Ha! No problem! I am SET! The gingerbread man cookies had been baked, it was just a matter of decorating them with icing. I did that, let the icing harden, boxed them, stored them in the fridge. Half the order done! I start to fill and ice the cake... as I am efficiently starting dinner for myself and the kids. We are having meatball subs.

So I'm working away.. preheating the oven for the meatballs to cook, while getting the sauce ready and adding spices. I smell something sweet, but I don't give it a second thought... I'm working on a cake after all.

5 minutes later, it's smelling very strong, like burning sugar.

Light bulb goes on. OMG!

In a complete panic, I whip the oven open, to find that it's too late. My fondant pieces for my coworker's cake are melted, resembling burnt sugar and smoking. What do I do?

Cry.

And I continued crying. For at least 20 minutes.

So much for being ahead of the game. This is what I get for getting cocky about this side-business.

I sat in the living room, across from my 5 year old, Caleb. He's playing on his DS, and he knows I'm upset, but he is really, really not sure what to do. Mommy is crying, and I am SOOOO not used to this... he keeps looking over at me, until I ask him for a hug. When he does, I'm sobbing. Whole chest-heaving sobbing. Somehow, he makes me feel better.

I pull myself together. Focus on dinner again. I call my 11 year old Tyler downstairs. He comes down, asks me, "Yeah???" in that 11-year-old way. He stops. Says, "Oh noooooo!". He's spotted my idiocy. I start sobbing again, and he hugs me. I feel better... but dinner is bubbling and I have things to do. I get dinner on the table, with Tyler's help. I asked him if he could help me.. he wholeheartedly said he would help me in any way he could. Bless his heart.

I post a status update... although I am embarrassed to admit how BAD I screwed this up... hey, I'm human, it's gonna happen.

My husband gets up from his sleep in preparation for working his overnight shift.. I ask if he's seen my status. He says yes.. and there go the waterworks again. I just can't fathom how retarded I was! He comes over and hugs me. I feel better. Again.

Tyler worked tirelessly with me, helping me cut out shapes, set pieces aside on trays, washing dishes and helping me clean as we went along... and within an hour, we had all the decorations redone. Problem was, they weren't hardened like the first batch, which was how they were supposed to be, for stacking the star-shaped fondant into a tree-shape. I went ahead and put it all together anyway... I was too drained and emotionally charged to spend any more time on it... and there is no way I could get up an hour earlier to put it all together. It was finally complete.

So there went the personal family baking I was planning on doing. There goes the second cake I was going to start. There goes the rest and relaxation I so desperately needed. And I totally, completely slept like the dead, only to get up... on time, instead of hitting snooze 3 times... to have the order picked up, well before I was usually ready for work.

But this is where the story changes, friends.

When the clients showed up to pick up her order at that ungodly hour, the reaction from her and her husband was, "Holy CRAP!"

Being professional, I kept my mouth shut except to say "Thank you!".

Those words, that reaction was worth every tear I shed over this cake.

Too dramatic? Maybe. But I put my heart into every cake, every order, every time. Being a perfectionist is difficult, but if I think it looks okay, everyone else seems to be wowed by it... and THAT makes me appreciate ever single second I put into it. I made someone's day! Go ME! Go family.. I could NOT have done it without Tyler... omg... he was a total lifesaver. <3

The second cake, for family, turned out amazing, with no mishaps. It's presently boxed in the spare fridge we bought just for this reason.

The third order fell through. I never received a confirmation from her and I was already crunched for time, not to mention EXHAUSTED! I couldn't do another cake this weekend if I wanted to. It might be different if I had tubs of icing sitting around, waiting to be used... or an abundance of fondant waiting for me... but that's not the case... but DAMN, how it could make things easier lol!

Anyway, this is turning into one of my novels... Two glasses of sauv-blanc and a shower, I'm going to pass out into a coma.

Goodnight friends... Hope you all have a great weekend!

Stay sweet!

D

No comments:

Post a Comment