It’s tax time. And this quarter I am writing a rather large check so it’s definitely hurting (so maybe iphones have to wait). On one hand it’s made me refocus on our budget, which I admit we drifted away from a bit this summer. On the other hand, it tells me we’ve beat the odds and done quite well this year. It seems so long ago, but I still remember the phone call back in February when Mark told me he had just lost his job - it was a new job and a chance to venture outside restaurant work for a bit (still food, however), but from the start it seemed like an impossible situation that fell flat even though we had high hopes. The sheer panic that set in was not a good feeling especially when I didn’t have a steady day job. I had the sinking feeling that it might finally be time for me to look for an office job after 5 years of avoiding it, mostly so we can have health insurance. I was loathe to even consider it, but you know, you gotta take one for the team.

Those who know me know that I am a worrier, but I also know how to motivate when I need to. After the initial panic subsided, we hatched a plan to start this business. It’s interesting to read back on this blog, particularly the very first post and one 2 months later (and it’s why we started this blog, to have a place to document and record the process). It’s been an eventful first 5-6 months of business and while we aren’t supporting ourselves yet through baked goods, we haven’t posted a loss either. I can say for a fact that it’s a lot of work for not so much money and while we are getting noticeably faster at baking and packaging, there are nights when I have to drag myself to wrap endless piles of brownies.

So it seems almost impossible that we’ve gotten by this year with even greater expenses in the way of preschool, health insurance and gas, but looking back at my invoices to prep for taxes, I realized that I have freelanced and earned way more than I ever have, almost double what I did 2 years ago, and it’s supporting our family. Luckily I have had a busy year without the usual nervewracking gaps in work.

We’re looking ahead to Fall and the holidays. We need to ramp up because while wholesaling has taken off (Everyman Espresso is already on their 3rd large order), our direct retail sales have been a bit slower which is nervewracking on its own (though I acknowledge that we came out of the gate with unusual good fortune). At the start of business, the owners at One Girl cookie gave us great advice that while there may be a lot of attention and excitement at the beginning, the challenge will be to keep the momentum going. We’ve found that to be quite true. I know we’re entering into a period where a lot of businesses give up and there are certainly days when it seems quite discouraging, but as long as I can keep supporting our family, we’ll continue to grow our little company and see where we can take it.

So this is life. While we don’t have schedules and routines and days can be quite chaotic at the switch, we do have flexibility and loads of time with the kids (maybe too much time, ha!). I’m not sure what the rest of the year will bring, or next year for that matter, but I can confidently say that Mark being let go of a not-so-ideal job situation was probably the best thing that’s happened to us in awhile.