When Reticula said she would try to write one blog post every day this month, but didn't think she'd do it, it got me wondering. This old, neglected blog has been just sitting out there on the back burner, while lots of things have changed in the meantime.

First of all, I need to get rid of that old picture of me by my bike. I haven't been on a bike in over a year. Sad, but true. It's not that I don't want to...well, yes it IS because I don't want to, or I want to less than I want to do other things. You see, I became a grown up. Or something. I just don't have time.

I started a business in 2010. No, it's not a mail order business or a work from home scam stuffing envelopes, or WORSE, putting together little crosses made of nails for half a cent each and sending them to be sold at the Jesus Junk Store in Branson for 5 dollars. Nope, it's an actual business. A Limited Liability Company. With equipment, tax returns, and a business license.

That first year was rough. Never mind the fact that I wasn't quite finished with some of my volunteer work that I had been extricating myself from for a while, or that it's pretty hard to stay on track with your business when your partner is having surgery after surgery after surgery all summer long.

Nope, it was the doubt. It was the huge sense of having made a mistake, of having rushed in. It was the extremely steep learning curve, which kept turning out to be a false peak. I'd get to the top and there was that little dip, with the hidden ascent staring down at me. The same kind of thing I encountered riding my bike on the road to Cerrillos, NM. Giant walls of rock on your left and right have a way of obscuring the view. I didn't know what I didn't know.

It scared me to death.

Luckily, I no longer walk around muttering, "I'm not cut out for this." No, I left that behind about 6 months ago. I don't know what the turning point was. Maybe I started making a little money (it doesn't show, yet). Maybe I gained some confidence from having repeat business. Maybe it was that I randomly ran across a video that said to take the bowl scraper out of the mixer about half way through. It makes the dough come out much much smoother, and that has made all the difference.

Money, perseverance, and luck. That's all it takes. Simple.

Tomorrow I'll write about what else has changed since the last blog post.