the candy factory chronicles...

       day one: i love this job. i seriously love this job. the morning started with a brief explanation of the back rooms and how to determine what needs to be made and what to keep an eye on. then i met up with kris, the other confectioner, and she began to familiarize me with the equipment by jumping straight in. we started with the chocolate covered strawberries. these were a little scary. mine looked slightly mutated at first, but i kinda got the hang of it as i went along and they started to look like strawberries. then we did raspberries. mine were a little over-large, but a little extra chocolate can't hurt. i think i was more worried about my stuff than she was. the fruits were the most difficult because they kept rolling around and dripping everywhere. the chocolate covered grahams and oreas and pretzels were easy, but then we did katys, which are my favorite so far. wow, those things are amazing. they're like large turtles. i ate one with lunch and another later in the afternoon had a little drip, so we had to be picky, of course. then kris left me. haha. i was all by myself for about two hours on my first day. made about ten pouds of katys, though. haha. now i'm tired and my feet feel a little like mush, but i'm happy. i really think i'm going to love it here. oh, and they're already asking me to start developing the artisan chocolates.

       so i keep checking amazon.com to make sure everything's fine with my order. don't want anything to go wrong. haha. so excited.

       well, i'm going to go unwind some. later.

i am willy wonka...

       well, it's official. i received the call this morning from the candy factory and they offered me the job. i start on tuesday, shadowing and training with the current confectioner, also named chris, whom i met yesterday and she seems awesome. there's a satellite radio in the confection room and we discussed our musical preferences. she loves country and classical, so i'm sure we will get along very well. i'm so excited. my hours are 9:30am to 5:00pm (or 6?) tuesday through friday and 10am to 5pm on saturday. the dress code is a t-shirt and shorts. haha. forgive my enthusiasm. i'm kinda giddy.

       so tuesday night i went to the midnight premier of order of the phoenix with keira and several others. then i went again last night with my mom. she came down to visit and took me out to eat, grocery shopping, and to a movie (she wanted to see it and i didn't complain). it's probably my favorite of the movies so far. they definitely cut a lot out (expected, since the book was almost 900 pages), but they also changed a few things. that was annoying. but i still liked it. even non-harry potter enthusiasts will enjoy it, i think. but yes. very good. and highly recommended.

       i'll keep this one short. i'm excited. lots to do still, though. take care all. later.

step out into the day...

       this is definitely taking some getting used to. i've always liked it best when change comes slowly, letting you take small steps in adjustment and allowing everything to sink in like a slow drip rather than having the plug pulled all at once and being sucked down in a whirlpool. so now that the proverbial plug has been pulled, i find myself looking up from this new and foreign place wondering "now what?" it's so weird that so much has changed. i think that's what's hardest to grasp. i knew it was going to be different, of course, but i don't think i was quite ready for an entirely new life, almost forced to reinvent myself and find out who i am and who my friends are all over again. it's been one month since i've been here, though i shouldn't really count the first week where i was still rushing around with that class and didn't have time to sit down and see where i was, but now that i have some perspective of my surroundings i'm feeling kind of lost. yeah, i'm sure it will all be okay. but i miss the stability of proven friendships. i miss being able to run downstairs to talk to someone. it's a little strange when you don't have loved ones around. i mean, there's a lot that i could be doing, but none of it means the same anymore and it's a little difficult to find the new definitions. i definitely need one of those "life for dummies" books.

       i have an interview tomorrow. i don't remember if i told you already, but the candy factory thing didn't work out. when i went in, they said that they were looking for someone who was going to be more career oriented, instead of someone who was just transitioning. i was pretty bummed, but i understood. but then this last sunday i was over at a friend's house making and teaching them how to make some chocolates, and the whole time i found myself thinking, "i could totally do this." i mean, i really love it. and candy making isn't terribly fast-paced and stressful like a kitchen would be, which was something else i was considering. so while i am definitely in a sort of transition, i figured that there was a possibility it might not hurt so much if i just stepped out into the sun and let my eyes adjust instead of waiting inside for something i wasn't sure that i wanted. so last night i e-mailed the candy factory again. got an e-mail back this morning saying that if i was serious about it to give him a call. so i called. interview's at 10:30 tomorrow morning. i'm so excited, but i'm also pretty nervous. pray for me, please.

       anyway, i have some errands to run, so i'd better get going. hope all is well. later.