Cake-tern!

I got a position as an intern at a bakery! For the next two weeks or so I'll be there twice a week decorating real wedding cakes. Then after that I should be hired! The part-time position will most likely be three days a week. Here are a couple of pictures of the first couple of cakes I completed. Talk about trial by fire, my first day I did two wedding cakes, one 4-tier and one 3-tier. The second day I did two 3-tier wedding cakes. This bakery mostly does traditional buttercream, with some fondant decorations. Thankfully they purchase their royal icing roses, or it would take me three days to finish one cake. 

More than anything I'm really excited to work on my piping skills. I've already learned to ice a cake freakishly smooth. This is so much fun!

I'm so ready to be going back to work. For the past month or so I've been in kind of a funk. Maybe it was the heat, but I was really unhappy. I was getting so frustrated with Lily and she wasn't even doing anything that different. I was beginning to feel really trapped. So I started applying places. I've had a couple of interviews with a nearby museum, and maybe that will still eventually pan out. For now though, I'm having lots of fun as a cake-tern. I had a bit of a breakdown before my first day and I had to call Joe for reassurance that I really want to do this. 

This is all possible due to our very generous parents. My mom and Joe's parents are kindly taking turns watching Lily so I can go play with cake. I'm also in the market for affordable child-care as I know they can't do this forever. I'm really interested in a home daycare, or even just a stay-at-home parent who could take Lily part-time. I don't think I could take her to a big day care center. I have no experience in this area, so any and all suggestions are welcome. 

I'm really happy that it's just a few days a week, during regular business hours, and no weekends. It's just enough time to feel like I have my own thing and I don''t feel like I'm abandoning my child to be raised by other people. The people at the bakery are really nice. I like that this job doesn't involve dealing with other people all day. You get your assignment and you just kind of go at it. There is some chatting with the other decorators, but it takes a lot of focus to do things right so not too much. Mostly we just listen to the static-y radio and decorate away. I find it very relaxing. I'm naturally a huge introvert in that I really get energized/refreshed from spending time alone. When Joe was in the National Guard, I really appreciated having one whole weekend a month completely alone. When I was pregnant a wise co-worker warned me about not being able to be alone once you have kids. I just sort of nodded and figured I would find a way to sneak off every once in a while and just sit quietly. Well, in a whole year that hasn't really happened. So it's really nice to just focus on one thing, think about whatever I want, hum along with the radio, and not have to touch anyone. 

Distance makes the heart grow fonder is a truer statement than I ever believed. Today, my first day off (in two whole days!), was wonderful. Lily was extra clingy, but I expected that. More importantly, I fell in love with her again. Not that I ever stopped loving her, it was just rough for a while. Today we appreciated each other's company and are friends again. And I'm much nicer to Joe, now. He is amazing and has never complained about my being a horrible crank over the past month, but I know I have been. I like having something that's only mine. I've been kind of jealous as Joe goes off each morning to school or to his summer position. I've missed doing something. I think this whole part-time work thing is good for all of us.