The Calm Before the Store

(yes- this is part of the actual store!)

Wow- has it been two months already?

How can time pass so fast when the outside world is so quiet?

Maybe it's because of the icy weather we've been having. It's been in the single digits for a few weeks. I didn't even know the van thermometer could go into negative numbers. So glad my husband was able to clear out the garage in time to avoid the snow- the entire yard is a sheet of ice. Yikes!

Much has happened lately, including all of us getting that lovely little virus that shut down the world. My homemade remedy helped a great deal, and though the actual virus couldn't be avoided, the symptoms were significantly less severe after drinking my special blend of tea.

We're over it now, though my husband is still coughing a lot. It aggravated his Irritated Bronchial Syndrome, but he's getting better each day. 

And speaking of my husband...remember that ice I mentioned? Well, Mountain Man decided to take the shortcut up the icy hill to the garage and sprained his ankle. Bad. I had no clue until he came in the door limping. He was surprised he could walk, no less walk back to the house. So he's been down and out for the past three weeks.

My daughter and I have been playing nurse, and he's recovering nicely.

As for the bakery, the paperwork is slow going, like molasses in...er...February. We have the LLC and the business name, but not much else- I won't go into details, but God let us know that him getting a job was out of the question (the ankle was the 'icing' on the cake- forgive the pun- but we got the point, Lord!), so our focus has been getting the business up and running.

So much paperwork! And of course, the papers we have aren't the right ones. And the mentors for the Small Business Association (SBA) and few and far between, so we're basically doing this blind. But I'm glad God is leading us!

We just have to be patient.

Patience is a virtue I barely have, but God makes me practice it- All. The. Time.

Ugh.

We're still getting to know the natives, but they are hermits and hibernate during the winter months, at least until the weather warms. It was a balmy 35 degrees this morning, and I greeted a few heads that popped out of their hidey-holes as they grabbed firewood or went to their day jobs.

We hear spring is where the action is. Not only is spring when fishing season opens, but flea markets, fairs, and farmers' markets start to pop up everywhere. In fact, we were told to have our yard sale at the first inkling of springtime. So hopefully, we'll have everything sorted by then!

The church folks are warming up to us, and we will start taking new member classes in March. I'm not sure if we'll be involved in any ministries yet, though we'd like to; we just don't want to commit too soon because we have no idea what the bakery will require of our physical and mental strength.

Community meetings are every second Wednesday, so Mr. Gimpy and I will be attending this week. We're curious to see differences from those in Philly, and we need to ask if we should present ourselves as a new business in the near future.

In the meantime, we'll bundle up and take a quick peek at the stars- because winter skies are crystal clear at night, and the view is spectacular.

And we get to go inside and warm ourselves by the propane fireplace when we're done!

Would you like to see a new blog depicting our journey into becoming business owners? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!