Blasted Machine

Mike is about to be swamped with school work in the next few weeks.  He has had a light load for the last couple of weeks and now things are really going to pick up.  He's been nervous about the work load and wondering how he will keep up the pace with all the business orders, his job as a father and husband, and school work.  (His callings are only Sunday callings and don't require too much out of him on the other days.  He is a finance clerk and the piano player in Primary)

I've been feeling bad for him and have been thinking of ways that I could prepare to lighten his load for when school becomes busy.  I was thinking about the business and thought that perhaps it was time for me to learn how to use the machine and cut the products out.  Our first product I made on the scroll saw.  It was fun and I liked using my hands but it was slow so we purchased this CNC Router to do all the cutting.  It's pretty complicated.  Mike has been cutting things out for six months now.  He knows the computer program and understands the Router.  Also, he has worked with tools throughout his life.  It's not a completely new skill for him.  I on the other hand do not work with tools.  I don't work with computer either.  I mean, a blog post here and there, email, etc.  I can't even do instagram and only recently have learned a little of photoshop.  I haven't even skimmed the surface of that program yet.  I've learned a bit of the computer program over the last six months.  I know how to turn an image into vectors for instance.  That's a big deal for me.  So now I am trying to figure out how to take our designed product and transfer it to the work laptop that is connected to the router and then set up the wood and get the product cut out.  

It is super frustrating for me.  In fact, I kind of hate it.  I just would be very happy sitting around doing all the design work and never cutting a single product out.  Mike, for the most part, enjoys the cutting out and while he is creative, he isn't super artistic and therefore, can't do a lot of the designing.  I also help do a large portion of the cleaning up of the products and we share the job of shipping but I do all the photography of the products.  (This doesn't even start to describe all that Camille does for marketing and web design, and all the financial book keeping)

So far I've cut out three successful teacher appreciation apples and one that I have to salvage.  It was the first one I tried all on my own and already there is a problem.  At least it was the very beginning of the program.  But oh!  It's so annoying.  I honestly think that if Mike and I didn't like each other so much we might end up in couples therapy.  Ha, ha.  

No, seriously.  

He's been very patient with me and I think I've been patient with him.  But I do not enjoy this part of our business.  

In the meantime, I'm slowly working on the alphabet.  I like my A but think it needs tweaking.  I do not like the B and will have to redo it but I love the C.  I will need to pick up the speed on these letters if I ever want to get all the letters done but to actually make them become a product we will have to own a laser and that probably won't happen for a long time and when it does, I'll then have to learn how to work that and I am not really looking forward to that.