Zumba, Cakes, and Porn (What are three things you wouldn't expect in one post, Alex?)

[azriona]

First and foremost, as I just had a worried call from my father-in-law: Andrew is fine.  He had a fever, it was gone by morning, he was jumping all over the place and so I packed him a lunch and sent him to school, and all was well.  We have no idea what caused the fever, but it was clearly short-lived

Comments

[azriona]

Well, I think I'm definitely going to send a message back today saying that no baked goods will be coming on Monday, that's for sure. I don't want to spend my entire Sunday with Andrew under foot and trying to bake stuff. And I'm tempted to also say that I don't particularly want to bake in exchange for money, but I'm perfectly happy to give her the recipes.

I'm not sure that's exactly the best way to go about it (a smart and savvy person would probably come up with a price list and start handing it around) but I think it's the solution that will make me most comfortable. I like baking, but I don't actually want to be anyone's baker-for-hire.

[drinkingcocoa]

Figuring out what to charge can be so fraught! Sometimes, I've ended up avoiding doing the thing altogether because I felt so conflicted, when I would have done it joyfully and immediately without pay

[azriona]

Thing is, a lot of the baking I do already is fund-raising (I just don't mention it here). The cake this weekend is fund-raising, and I put in a bunch of baked goods (and promise of the same) into a fund-raising event last spring. (Two of the items haven't been claimed, but as they were of the "tell me what to bake and when and I shall do it", I'm not overly stressed about it, and the money went to a good cause already so it's not really my loss there

[drinkingcocoa]

Argh, the undercharging for charity. The very thought of that makes me so grumpy. I can't stand the implicit commentary on the worth of the work. I absolutely love your idea of specifying the actual worth.

I don't really feel comfortable accepting money in exchange for baked goods because I don't want to run a business.

Loving this. Applauding you retaining control over your own bliss.

I have no idea why you were awake though.

Husband is away all week on business, plus it's a three-day school week for Rosh Hashanah, plus there's a bit of heartachey family drama, so I'm taking my alone-time when I can. More specifically, though, I had a 10 PM podcast recording and then I stayed up to see if my sloooooow upload finally completed.

[amberfocus]

There are very specific laws regarding the sale of home baked items not made in a commercial kitchen. A few states have special laws that allow it, but you'd best look up your own state's laws before you make your decision. There can be major fines involved.

[azriona]

Yeah, the legal issues are one of the biggest reasons I'm hesitant to do anything like this. Definitely not on an official level, at least. That's not something I ever really wanted to do.

Bill said, upon coming home, that really they just want to reimburse me for the ingredients. But that's not what it sounded like to me on the phone - and frankly, if you want to reimburse me for ingredients, you could just give me a gift card to a grocery store so I could buy more. Giving me money makes it something else entirely.

[neadods]

Yay on the offer to be paid - it's a compliment, if also stress.

And I'm smiling at the "change POV" thing because I *always* do that when I get stuck. Sometimes one scene has 3 shifts.

[azriona]

Yeah - I'm just annoyed I didn't think of changing POV earlier. It was one of those "well, duh" moments.

[earlgreytea68]

Loooove switched POVs, they can be MAGIC.

I think, if I were you, with the cookies, I'd kind of think about what ingredients are costing you. Which I know isn't *that* much, but look at it that way: She probably feels guilty asking you to bake things and not give you ANYTHING for even ingredients, so I might take that approach to it?

Also, you need to read the gyzym Inception coffee shop AU where Arthur is a stress baker and doesn't want to eat everything he bakes and donates it to the nearest coffee shop and is *shocked* when the coffee shop owner SELLS the stuff, because he's, like, "...People would pay me to bake? Really?" Because you are basically Arthur in this story.

[azriona]

I am totally Arthur in that story (judging from your description; I have not read it but will give it a try on your recommendation. Also, I really like gyzym's Sherlock stories). Now I'm curious how Arthur reacts, because I don't know, I feel like money coming into it has tainted the joy a bit.

[earlgreytea68]

Well. He's a very miserable law firm lawyer in the fic, so he ends up quitting his job and triumphantly becoming a baker full-time. ...I admit this is probably why I feel such an affinity with the story!

[azriona]

I just read it last night, and I wasn't halfway through the second paragraph when I thought, "Okay, I think I know why EGT likes this fic so much!"

You've got me reading Inception fic, you know, and I didn't even care all that much for the movie. Heck, I don't even have a clue who played Arthur or Eames (though I'm pretty sure one of them was that Gordon Levitt guy).