Uncertainty

I'm in a strange place right now. I don't have a job, although I'll start one soon. And my husband is now out of work temporarily. And I'm nervous, but kinda happy about it.

My husband works in construction so lay offs should be something we're used to but we've been blessed with steady employment for a good long time. How long will he be off? We don't know. Early estimates were phrased in weeks but then that changed.

It scares me because we've gotten so comfortable lately. We have money in savings, so we should be fine for a while, but I'm not sure how many months we can go before it catches up with us.

On the other side of things, having him around is just wonderful. We've been working on some much needed house work. We've been able to spend time with the kids. We've been able to spend time together. If it wasn't for the money factor, it'd be perfect.

Anyway, I feel a bit better just expressing fear. At the end of the day, as long as we can keep from panicking - ok let's face it, as long as I can keep from panicking - this could be a wonderful time for us. Wish us luck though!

Another day, another coat

Today's gonna be slow and simple. We put the first coat of stain on the floors last night and, after we go pick up some more, we'll add a second coat today. We're hoping the second coat will do it, which will allow us to polyurethane later today and have the floor done by tomorrow. And the floor is the key. Once its done, we can get in there and paint the walls, give the trim one final coat, and then move furniture back in.

I'm sure it will be quite a sense of accomplishment when we're done, but it will be tempered by the fact that we'll then have to move on to the next room. LOL

Even my wrists hurt...

So yesterday was spent sanding everything we own. We sanded the walls. We sanded the floor. We sanded the trim. And then we got the first coat of paint on the trim.

So my hands are all worn and sore from the sandpaper. And my sinuses are filled with dust and not real happy about it. And my muscles hurt.

Hopefully today is the day things start to come together. At least somewhat.

How was my weekend? Sweaty.

So I had an excellent weekend but one where I worked really, really hard. I mentioned a few weeks ago that they finally evicted the guy who squatted in the apartment out behind ours. But, since then, the owner of the building has been doing a lot of work to the apartment and he at least seems to be trying to make sure the guy doesn't come back. And that has made a huge difference.

Since it's a much nicer environment around here these days, we feel better about staying in our apartment. So we've started working on some improvements, especially since Not-So-Ex's work is slow lately.

The first thing we did was work on the floors. There's God-awful carpet, but underneath is the beautiful, but badly damaged, East End floors. We started with the dining room, pulled up the carpet, and started scrubbing. Today we'll continue working and start sanding so we can refinish the floors.

We're also gonna start painting. We've got the lovely white walls like most apartments, but ours are all old and such so they're very much in need of some updating. But, since this is an old townhouse, we have the benefit of walls with molding around the top and all kinds of old wood trim. So we're gonna clean them all up, sand, and repaint with some nice, bright colors.

It's a lot of work, but it feels good. And I know we'll be thrilled when its done. Especially since I can't really use the kitchen right now since a lot of the stuff from the dining room got stacked in the kitchen. If anyone wants cupcakes, we're gonna have to get finished up!

Watch out Huntington!

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is coming to Huntington in one week! We'll be at the Cinema 4 in Huntington for a one week run so come on out and see the film.

A moment of gushing...

So I can't quite get to sleep. And I'm watching a movie. Ok... not just any movie. I'm watching 500 Days of Summer. And I LOVE this movie.

Narrator: This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only love two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.

Just for a bit of background, I love romantic comedies, but I'm not a romantic. Happily ever after endings make me happy, but in that sugar fix sort of way - it's great, but you know it'll never last. But what I truly love is the practical, but happy, endings. And 500 Days of Summer has the world's most honest, realistic, but optimistic, ending.

This movie tells a love story. But it's not the story of the ONE. It's the story of the one who you may have thought was the one, but was really just a false alarm. It's the story of the bliss, the misery, the excitement, the heart break of a relationship between a boy and the girl that he thinks is THE girl, but turns out to just be another girl. And how those relationships can change you.

The story isn't told chronologically. Instead it bounces from the highest point to the lowest point and to all the points in between. And it ends when he can finally let her go. And, much like in real life, the point where he finally accepts the truth is the point where he lets the one story end and another story (Will this one really be a love story? Who knows?) soon begins.

But, to be less serious and crap, I have to say my favorite moment is the dance sequence. Yes, you heard me right. There's a full-fledged, totally choreographed, I-was-walking-down-the-street-and-suddenly-had-to-dance-with-total-strangers scene. And, for just a second, Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked so much like Will Schuester that I gleeked out just a bit. And I'm ok with that.

For a better version, click here.

I hate the crack of dawn...

So I'm up way early this morning with a ton to do. I've been doing this thing on facebook where I let everyone know what cupcakes I'm baking when I have an order. In theory, this allows me to sell the leftovers instead of having them sitting around. The problem, which is good actually, is that I end up with a lot of orders to fill in a relatively short time period.

For example, yesterday I announced I would be baking four different varieties. After a bunch of people expressed an interest, I ended up needing to bake eight dozen instead of four. Two dozen went out last night. Two dozen will be delivered to one of my favorite people today over lunch. And two dozen will go out later this afternoon/this evening. And the final two dozen will go out either this evening or tomorrow.

It's a great problem to have, and one I hope continues once I'm on board with Frutcake. Once I'm working there, I'll actually have somewhere to put the boxes of cupcakes without worrying about them falling over! Much less I'll have an actual store where people can pick them up!

One thing I did learn yesterday is that I can't refrigerate and then warm up Italian Meringue Buttercream. I put some in a piping bag, used part of it, then put it in the fridge to use later. When I went back to it, I let it come to room temp and tried to pipe it only to find that it had broken. However, once I put it back in the mixing bowl and beat the crap out of it again, it did come back together again and was perfectly usable (thank God).

Yes, I have skin the color of Elmer's Glue...

So really that title is only an excuse to use some of my favorite dialogue from Rescue Me last night... even though it IS true...

So yesterday I got a job. A two day a week chance to pursue something I truly love and enjoy. And then I spent the rest of the day celebrating.

After the meeting, I grabbed my kiddos, and my cousin as luck would have it, and hit the movies. We saw Despicable Me, complete with popcorn and peanut M&Ms, my new favorite obsession.

After the movie, there was dinner with my parents and some early back to school shopping for the kids. And I even managed to make a couple purchases for myself!

The most important element in my wardrobe!

How cute is that!

Anyway, it was a good, but way busy day. Today should be somewhat slower, but I have tons of cupcakes to make today and tomorrow so I should probably get busy!

Big News

So I've been waiting for this to be a definite deal so that I could announce it. And, as of a few minutes ago, it is.

Starting the middle of August, you can get my cupcakes at Frutcake!

That means:

1. They will be all organic

2. There will be an actual store where you can pick them up

3. If you just want one or two, you can just get one or two

4. If you need vegan, or gluten free, or anything special like that, I'm your chick

5. While the price will go up, the chance of one of my dogs (I'm looking at you Lucy the Asthmatic Demon Dog) stealing them is nil

I am so excited I can barely stand it! I hope to see all of you there!

Slow starts and big breakfasts...

So I'm sitting here waiting on this God awful movie that Not-So-Ex is watching to end cause we're all going out for a big breakfast. And such is the life of this lucky, if ghetto, stay at home momma.

After breakfast, we gotta get back home cause I have cupcakes to bake. I have a small order due later today and it looks like I'll have another one this weekend. We'll see. Plus I have at least two next week, which is awesome. It's nice to bring in just a bit of money, although it normally just means I have money for us to go out to lunch or gas money or some little thing like that. I look forward to stepping up my game soon though so watch out!

I also have to head out to Lincoln Co at some point. My grandparents have requested my presence because it is harvest time and they have fresh corn and cantaloupes and who knows what else. The berries they gave me last week made some great preserves so I'm sure we'll come up with some great uses for all their produce this time too.

Overall, it's a kinda busy day but Not-So-Ex's presence always helps keep me from getting too overwhelmed. It's always nice to have help.

It's the little things...

So the basement flooding has wreaked lots of havoc in my little world. From going without hot water yesterday because the pilot was out to the simple mess factor. But, once Not-So-Ex got the pilot lit, I thought we were on our way back to normal.

But the one thing I forgot was that, when water gets that high, it can mess with your appliances. In our case, and most of our neighbors' cases too, that meant the dryer wasn't quite right. In the past, that just meant giving it a little time to dry and then it was cool.

But, last night, we still couldn't get it to work. This morning, we all prepared for the worst, with Not-So-Ex telling me that, if it didn't start working today, I would have to go to the laundromat. And I HATE the laundromat.

So I got up this morning with a huge sense of dread. I just knew I'd get to the basement, check the load of laundry in the dryer that we had been trying to dry for a day, find it still wet, and have to schlep all my crap to the laundromat.

But, NO! I opened the dryer to find a load of completely dry, cold clothes. And life looked way brighter from that second on!

Excitement tempered with house work

Have you ever been on the edge of something really exciting but, since you're waiting on details from someone else, you don't want to talk about it for fear of jinxing it and having to go back and announce that, alas, things didn't work out? That's where I am right now. I think I'll have a huge announcement either this weekend or next week, but I guess we'll see. And, until I get all the info, I'm afraid that's where my mind is.

But, until then, I have enough work in this damn apartment to keep me busy for a lifetime. Yesterday there was a sudden, strong rain storm. I have the world's leakiest (and scariest, but that's another story) basement. Yesterday I was getting ready for a meeting, ran downstairs, and saw the water flooding into my basement. I continued getting ready and then ran down again and the water was up to my ankles. One last check before I headed to the meeting and the water was up to my calves.

That last check woulda been really funny if it hadn't been so stressful. I was standing in the basement, water all around me, and a mostly empty plastic tub of clothes literally floated past me.

But anyway, today holds a ton of housework. I gotta get the kitchen in check and get dinner started soon (slow cooker baby!) so that we can have a lovely dinner of Beef Stroganoff tonight. And then comes the hardest part. I will then have to venture into the great beyond that is the basement. So my broom and I will try to make some sense down there. Please God help me.

The bags under my eyes probably need frosted...

So I have a cupcaking meeting today so I made about 7-8 dozen cupcakes yesterday. This is actually a new record for me cause I not only baked, but also frosted, 6 dozen of those cupcakes. This morning I'll be finishing up that pesky last dozen, doing some deliveries, and then going to my meeting.

The strange thing is that, while I was swamped trying to get the cupcakes finished, the bags under my eyes are due less to cupcakes than an overactive mind. Anytime I get really busy or excited, I find it almost impossible to settle down and sleep. And last night was no exception. I crawled into bed a little later than normal, but laid in bed thinking about bakery names and script changes and new fruit combos for future cupcaking for hours upon hours. When Not-So-Ex's alarm went off, I was the one who was instantly awake.

Oh well. I'm gonna get finished up, get the cupcakes where they need to go, and then totally veg.

The exciting life of a momma...

So I spent the weekend doing film stuff. Going to small screenings... doing Q&As... eating with my producer and his wife at all the good places (or at least the ones we could fit into our time and location range)... and generally feeling life a small-time rock star.

So what did I do Sunday, once everything calmed down again? I made preserves. LOL

After going to my mamaw's house last week and leaving with a bag of berries and a bag of rhubarb, I decided that I really wanted to make preserves. As a kid, mamaw's strawberry preserves were the thing of dreams. She insisted they were really easy to make, but they still were simply the most amazing thing I ever ate.

When I got to visit with her for a bit, my son, who is also in awe of her general preserve-making abilities, talked her out of a jar of plum preserves, which we ate as part of dinner that night and then with breakfast the next morning. There is approximately a tablespoon still left in the jar right now, mainly because we ran out of bread.

But anyway, I made strawberry preserves, although I made some mistakes so we'll see if they turn out. After the strawberry was done, I looked around and saw all those berries she gave me and then saw the blueberries I had sitting in the fridge and thought why not? So I made some "berry" preserves.

As of this morning, the berry preserves are setting up nicely but it looks like the strawberry may not jell as well (LOL). But it said to leave them sitting for 24 hours. So tomorrow morning I'll be trying out my preserves on our morning toast. I'll let ya know how it goes!

Perfect Night

Tonight I attempted to attend the screenings of our film, but was a little busy White wrangling so I only got to catch a few minutes and do the Q&A's with Storm. But it was still one of the most wonderful evenings/mornings I've ever had. The best part was that Not-So-Ex was there with me and we both had fun.

Anyway, if you're interested in reading about it or seeing the video of the Q&A, here ya go! I never knew how much I smiled and nodded... LOL

It's about to get crazy!

So today is the big White movie screening (LiveMix Studios, 4-ish and 7-ish) and the Jesco show at the Empty Glass. And things are already getting crazy. My schedule is all up in the air. Not sure when I'm going to be where. But I am trying to ensure that Not-So-Ex and I will be home at a decent hour.

I'm also doing some cupcaking. A friend has a b-day tomorrow so I'm making up her order. Plus, with the film's producer in town, I always try to make sure his wife, who's a fan of my cupcakes, has some for the ride home.

And this coming week will be a very exciting and busy one. I'll be spending Mon and Tues baking, probably at Mom's. And then, hopefully, my big meeting will be Wed or Thurs.

But, for now, I should really be focusing on laundry! But then I could say that every day. LOL

Eviction Notice Baby!

I am sitting in my East End apartment this morning, eating my bowl of cereal, and listening to my dogs going nuts over the sounds of the eviction going on in my backyard. And, all in all, it sounds like the start of a good day!

A little background info... We have these very cheap (even by my standards... LOL) apartments out behind our place and there's a guy who repeatedly breaks into one and basically squats as long as he can. And he's a serious mess. The general consensus is that he's mostly harmless, but also mostly crazy. He'll bang on your apartment door... sneak up on your front porch... ask you every single day for cigarettes and/or money for the bus.

We always viewed him as an annoyance. Or we did until the day we found him standing on our front porch looking at our kids. And then we became more careful... more aware.

But now they're throwing his stuff out and he'll be gone. But only for a while, and we know that for fact. We've been here a year in a half and have seen this happen before. But this will still lead to a nice calm spell, and that's always a good thing.

And the calm has now been broken since Lucy the Demon Dog just knocked my son down on the stairs. So I gotta go tend to some punishment for the dogger and lovings for the boy!

If you're local (or even close)

This weekend is the first and, to my knowledge, only time you'll get to see my movie, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (ok... not just my movie but you know what I mean), in WV. Right now, as I hear it, the plan is to have two screenings on Saturday, one at 4:30 and one at 6:30, at a small place called LiveMix Studios. I have no idea where that actually is, but I'm promised an address soon. Screenings will be $10.

Jesco will also be playing at the Glass Saturday night. I'm sure it will be insane, packed, and super duper hot. So plan accordingly. The show is $25, but you'll get a $5 off coupon if you go to a screening.

Hope to see everyone there!

All things work together for good

So it may be shocking to hear but, while I am talkative and occasionally outgoing, I can also be rather shy. Especially with strangers. So, several months ago, when friends urged me to contact a very in-the-know business person in our community - and one that I didn't know personally - I was hesitant. I was scared actually. But, after much poking and prodding, I put myself out there.

And was told no.

Now it was a super kind no. A "we love what you're doing but it doesn't really fit" no. And while I fear rejection in the worst way, I didn't feel rejected. I felt like I tried and that was good enough.

And it seems that that initial contact may help me. I don't really know too much at this point, other than the fact that I have a meeting in my future. And that, again, is good enough.

I feel even more blessed and even more lucky than I already felt. And, at the end of the day, people like you are who I have to thank. My friends who give love and support, but also who push me - ever so softly - to venture out just a bit.

And, as always, while I thank my friends here, I will thank the closest of the close, Not-So-Ex and my family, in person too. Cause there would be nothing at all if it wasn't for them!

The world's longest long weekend...

...still wasn't long enough.

I had the most wonderful 4-day weekend. The kids were home (of course), I was home (still not quite used to that), and even Not-So-Ex was home.

We had parties for Hunt's b-day both Friday and Saturday, but, after that, we just relaxed and did as little as possible. It was blissful.

So today I've got a ton to do. We've gotta clean up from our awesome weekend (cause cleaning is never part of a blissful weekend for me) and I've got a huge dinner to make!

Hope all of you all had a wonderful weekend too!

Not the reddest of letter days

So my morning is off to a rocky start. First off, one would think that one of the benefits of being a stay at home mom would be the whole sleeping in thing, but the cards seem stacked against me. This morning I had a hubby not content to just silently slink out of bed and get ready. Instead, he was in the mood to play and tease and talk. I got him out of bed and on his way, snuggled back in, and then was quickly woken again by the guys mowing my lawn, which caused my doggers to go insane.

I gave it up then and headed downstairs to get busy on the small cupcake order I have for today, which required three trips to the car to get all the stuff I accidentally left in the car yesterday. After I got the cupcakes into the oven, I got a call from Not-So-Ex warning me that his work isn't looking too great and a layoff may be coming. Now we've been through the warnings and the fear several times this year alone, but it makes it even more alarming since I'm no longer working. We'll see what happens, but I'm definitely scared.

But, to end on a good note, tomorrow is Hunt's birthday! We're all excited although, in my case, I'm mostly excited for the cookie cake.