There is a fine line between fun and stress, so my blog posts have been coming out at a snails pace, because I don’t really feel like I have much to say. A story here, a story there, but very uninspired. So I apologize for all the Oldies but Goodies that I keep pulling out of the hat. I plan to become inspired shortly. There is a lot on the horizon for me, both personally and in business.
My life has been full of deadlines lately…
A lot of “I need this yesterday” or “Hey, what ya doing? Can you take a look at this?” at work, with jodycakes, at home…
On the cake front, jodycakes is re-inventing itself. Since my move back to Texas, I have been inundated with a lot of orders for people that have dietary restrictions…A LOT. I am shocked because in Cali, a lot of people eat Vegan/Gluten/Dairy free because it’s trendy, not ‘cos they have Celiac’s or allergy issues. I truly thought that I would be doing the whole Paula Deen thing with all of my cakes - you know, using 2 lbs of butter and that is before the butter cream icing.
Last weekend, I did a Gluten Free naughty cake for a guy who was going out to a deer lease…yeah, 3 guys heading out to the woods for the weekend, with a cooler full of beer and a boob cake. I, like anyone, who is a business owner, sometimes question the validity of my existence in what I do…but just when you think you’re not the greatest at what you do, the Universe KNOWS to pick you up.
I received an email from the guy, with pics that said this:
Hey Jody
Your cake was a HUGE success. The Birthday Boy is the one in the blue shirt.
I think you can tell how much fun everyone is having.
Best quote was from (birthday boy)!…. Man, I am not used to people doing things like this for me!
I hope that makes you feel as good as it made me feel!
Thanks Again!
So it is always nice in this busy world to hear feedback from someone…especially if it brings such pleasure.
I have been talking with one of the fellow Chowhounds about a way for us to come together and do business. I will keep you posted.
On the work front, layoffs/payfreezes are imminent - so it’s always scary when you work for “The Man”. My boss is good at keeping us abreast of the lastest, but it unnerves me to no end, when Houston, is finally feeling the economy crunch that has been hitting the rest of the country already. One of the reasons I moved back to Houston, was because the oilfield patch seemed to be buffering said crunch…but not so much anymore.
Mr. G is plugging away at work too. They normally work 55-65 hours a week, but his company has cut everyone’s hours EXCEPT HIS to 45 hours a week. This is such a blessing, but it stresses him out to no end. I feel bad because he ends up with NO life at all - and then there is me, sucking every second that he has free from Saturday night to Monday morning…Hey G, thank you for all that you do - I absolutely adore you!
We have had something happening EVERY.SINGLE.WEEKEND for the last 8 weeks…and another weekend full of BBQ Cookoff, Quincenaras, Chowhound events…guess, I should learn to say no.
A very positive thing that I have to mention is that we have never really lived beyond our means. Luckily for us, Mr. G is the monetary brains of the family and curtails spending to what we have without becoming overextended in credit land. A lot of people who work the type of overtime that he works, get screwed…they go out and buy all the toys and end up to their eyeballs in debt and don’t know how to cope once their pay/hours are taken from them.
We plan to be debt free very soon and for that I am grateful. Hopefully after we get all the green card stuff sorted out, we’ll be able to take a proper honeymoon. And in the words of Jimmy Buffet, we wanna fly to St. Somewhere…
We also have some big changes coming up in the next 6 months in our living arrangements…he was kind enough to humor me to look at houses last weekend. Wasn’t I just speaking about living beyond my means?!? Oh, okay, you’re right. Probably not gonna move to the Heights anytime soon, so we’re leaning towards the possibility of moving back into our rental property, as the tenant will be vacating soon. That’s good because we’ll be saving the dough there too. Plus we’ll both be much closer to our jobs and closer to town…thank GOD FOR THAT!
While I was searching for homes online, I searched the neighborhood of our very first house (rental) because we really liked living there. The first house to pop up as sold was the VERY SAME HOUSE we lived together in 2001. We couldn’t afford to buy it then but it had so many great memories and looking at the pictures online bummed me out that it had just sold last week. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
Also, a huge huge HUGE thank you to everyone that has been so uber supportive regarding his mom! The good juu juu vibes are awesome…we truly appreciate it.
So with that said, I will try to be MORE INSPIRED and get something out to you that will have you laughing for days…or perhaps I will leave that to Lindaloohoo????!!!
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3 Comments
I am so proud of you! You are kicking butt with jodycakes. You have truly found your artistic calling, ya know. Not only do you get to help people but you get to do it in a tasty way!
You and Mr. G (I always think of Summer Heights High when I type that LOL) deserve a break and a gorgeous honeymoon. If you two need to get away before your honeymoon St. Portland is a great place to visit!
Love to you both.
I think you have been doing fine :-D. I am always proud of the way you are able to live life to the fullest while keeping both feet to the ground. I can’t WAIT to hear what’s up with jodycakes. I told you there was a reason you moved here to figure out all that healthy cooking
… and I think moving into the rental is a GREAT idea right now. Save the cash for another purchase and then you’ll have two properties. Love you girl.
Reading your blog makes me almost feel like you’re here, Jody. Boy, I miss you, but you sound so wonderful and happy and joyous!