Well it all started with my husband buying a chocolate factory and since he ran his own ingredient business, you guessed it I am running it. At first he took me through the door and I turned around an told him that when he got cleaning people in and give it a gargantuan cleaning job that I would not step foot into it. After a less than good cleaning job I tried to take my post as owner. It was strange. I owned a chocolate factory. OMG, what was I going to do now. Everyone in my family tried to dissuade me from doing it because it was a lot of work. They said Bird Dog (my nickname) walk away from this mess and forget about the money (great since it didn't come out of their bank account).

I sat down at my desk and hung my head and stared right into a dead mouse. Wow what a start. The building was no more than 2000 sq. ft. Some of the old workers came in the day they saw the lights on and asked if they could have a job. I figured since I had no idea how to pan chocolate I might as well hire them (this was a bit of a mistake something about them holding me by my short and curlys). They started work and then were taking breaks every 1/2 hours something about the hot weather and the chocolate was sticking. Of course it wasn't long before I figured out that is was a total snow job and they were being paid to smoke cigarettes.

I tried to exert my female boss like approach and they weren't having any of it. There were nights I would drive home to upset to be on the highway (I apologize to anyone I cut off on the highway driving like a maniac).

I finally got my first order and was pretty proud of it and delivered it with pride (I seem to remember it was an order of Triple Mint Pearls and Chocolate Covered Almonds) I couldn't wait to see the first check payable to Chocolate F/X. When it came in the purchaser took off the amount that the former owner owed him. I said (you shithead, not really but I thought it) "that this was a new company and you can't do that", but I figured it was my first customer and hey beggars can't be choosers and what if my new company didn't have any other orders!!!!

Of course we started the new company on February 4th of 2005 ten days before Valentines Day. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!

What a day. First of all I really didn't know how to dip a strawberry if my life depended on it. Well by the end of the day and about 2,500 strawberries later I really think I started to get the hang of it. Of course, I did tell you that hubby was there didn't I? Oh, I see you thought he was dead after buying me the shop, right? We had a rude awakening to the trials and tribulations of owing RETAIL (oh God I never wanted to own Retail). Hubby assured me that we were 80% wholesale and 20% retail. Did I tell you that I have brown hair and not blond?? (A little humour there.)

Well from the frying pan into the fire, my next blog will be on Easter. (Joy oh Joy that damn Easter Bunny).

Wonky Willy aka Bird Dog