Vermont Shortbread Company

Winter Hibernation

It seems that this happens every year around February, March, and April.  I do a bit of hibernation and re-evaluation.  So like the cold, stark, Vermont winter landscape, my blog may indicate that there's not much going on in shortbreadland, but never fear, under the surface, we're preparing for a spring bloom which generally corresponds with my birthday in mid-May. 

After the holiday rush and dealing with various meaty personal obligations and challenges, this is my time to chill.  Literally. It's cold as all heck here in northern Vermont and I tend to want to stay close to home cooking huge pots of chili and reading cheesy novels.  I think my tolerance for Vermont winter is waning as I get older.  I will never be a snow bunny (on the other hand, I'm definitely not a "flock to the beach resort" sort of person either).   

In the shortbread world, here's what we've been up to:

• Long term planning (4+ years when there are no more kids in the house!)
• New product development (sorry, I can't tell you what that means yet)
• Maintaining and building current local customer relationships
• Evaluating pricing (butter has skyrocketed lately)
• Evaluating packaging options
• Thinking about the locolvore movement - fad or does Vermont Shortbread Company need to get on board and make some new buying decisions?

In my personal world, there's been similar evaluation going on (I think they call it mid-life crisis, though I don't like the word "crisis" because this is FUN!)

• Substitute teaching in the Burlington Public Schools.  I love, love, love the flexibility and the work. 
• Learning a new baroque piece on my piano.
• Taking weekends off (mostly).
• Freelance writing projects.   
• Reading (anything from historical fiction to food writing to the latest research on parental alienation syndrome - not to worry, this particular research is not for my personal use)
• House and mind catharsis - selling my junk on e-Bay for a great source of extra income!
• Watching my teen daughter grow and become more independent. 

I'm off to the bakery now.  Next week is winter break for our kids, so there will be no teaching.  I need to drum up some shortbread sales to fill the gap.  I'll be blossoming all over the place come spring, but for now, my writing is inconsistent...as it needs to be in preparation for spring. 

Who Won the Super Bowl?

Seriously, I really didn't know until this afternoon (Monday).  I usually boycott the festivities and work or knit instead.  I'm a real party animal.  :-) 

Last night I opted to drive my daughter and her 4 teenage friends to a Super Bowl party in Jericho.  Driving home, with thoughts of homemade chili in the crockpot, I was very careful.  The roads were icy and it was snowing lightly.  Plus there were cops everywhere.  So tooling along near Mount Mansfield High School below the speed limit, I was not prepared to lose control of the car on an icy bridge.  My car did about two Z's from side to side before planting itself firmly in the guardrail overlooking a river (stream?).  I don't know what the body of water was; all I knew was that I was quite sure I was going in it.  My mind flashed to an episode of Mythbusters which talked about getting out of a sinking car.  Luckily, the guardrail held.  I bent it about 4-5 feet and recall looking down toward water, but my wheels stayed on solid ground. 

I have a good driving record.  I was not drinking, I was wearing my seatbelt, I was not speeding.  That's what freaks me out today - thinking about following the rules, doing the right thing, and still bad things can happen at any moment. 

Wow, that could make me really paranoid. 

Or it could make me think more about living in the moment, a sentiment that often strikes me as very cliche...but the other choice (constant anxiety) isn't too appealling.   

I'm undecided right now.  The whiplash hurts too much.  I'll be back to shortbread business soon.  I'm glad to be safe and healthy right now.

Maybe I'll start watching the Super Bowl and think about incorporating more fun (and junk food) into my world.