Hitting the Curve Ball

Since it’s the beginning of the baseball season I thought I’d sprinkle in a few baseball metaphors to appease the sportsmen in the crowd. Sorry for my lengthy absence here. I’m sure I’ve lost some readership. Let me explain. Since my last posting I have been thrown a curve ball. Just when you think you’re going along just fine, life reels back and fires a screaming curve right into your wheelhouse. In this case that pitch came in the form of a tempting job offer.

You see, I’ve been looking around for a while. Unsatisfied with my day job I was on a quest for fulfillment – which is how Buttercream was born. I was so disenfranchised being a corporate cube monkey that sought fulfillment in baking. I think I could have continued to be fulfilled with a different non-traveling day job while running a baking company in my free time, but it was becoming clear that due to demand, my free time would have started to dwindle. I would always be torn between being a corporate slave to the paycheck and wanting to give it all up and make Buttercream a full time job. There just wasn’t any way to do that right now without moving to a trailer park somewhere.

So when an offer came from a company I used to have some connections to to join them, and that offer included some financial incentives I have only dreamed of and the opportunity to get back to the kind of work I used to really enjoy, I had to decide whether to hit that curve ball, or wait for the next pitch.

There are a few down sides to swinging at this curve ball. First, I have to give up Buttercream. I will be a traveling fool from now on. Possibly as much as 75% travel I’m told. But then, there will be times when I’m working out of my home office too. That won’t leave a lot of time for baking cakes. The other down side – depending on how you look at it – is that I’m leaving my employer of the past 15.5 years. Wow – now that’s change! But I think it’s a good time to leave. My gut tells me that. The major benefit will be that if I do this right I may be able to get back to my Buttercream Dreams in a few years….maybe even full time.

So I’ve decided that I’m going to swing for the fences at this curve ball. It can be an unpredictable pitch, so that may require some work on my part, but I feel like I can rise to the challenge. Of course, if I don’t hit it out of the park, I can still get a descent hit – or I can ground out to the short stop and try again later. Hmm….this baseball metaphor is getting a little depressing, so we’ll just go with the idea that I’m going to hit a home run and leave it at that.

Now, about the little matter of future of this blog. What does this change in direction mean for Buttercream Dreams, you might ask? Well, I think the flavor (pun intended) may change a bit. It may become more focused on general life musings, could be a forum for restaurant reviews, who knows. Any suggestions??

Please check back from time to time. I may not be blogging about my business anymore but I will still share recipes and insights….and more.

Thanks for your interest!
Lindi