Tuesday 21 June 2011

Miss Bossy Pants contd....

...this post continues from the last blogpost that was posted on the 5th of June 2011



  After the War of the worlds/Miss Bossy Pants episode I had decided I wasn't going to go back for my training. It just wasn't worth it. I thought about the cash I had burned, It could have bought me a pair of Christian Loubotin shoes with extra change.. but that didn't shake my resolve one bit. I wasn't ready to be beaten black and blue on top cake matter. Call me a coward and you won't be so far from the truth (though I hate to admit that fact)

   I went about my normal business but there remained this emptiness inside like I had left a major thing undone. I tried to get my mind off it but it kept coming back, again and again and again. I was even losing sleep over it.

   My cake tutor had called several times to ask what was wrong. Everytime she called, I gave her the 'I've been so busy Ma, don't worry i'll resume soon' reply. At a point I even stopped picking her calls. Then one day I gathered myself and placed a call to the cake school.

  Pretending to make enquiries, I ask the receptionist a couple of questions, then suddenly she drops a piece of important information... she mentions something about a set that graduated from the school last week and a new set resuming next week. That was the very info I had wished to hear. Miss Bossy Pants was finally out of the way.

  Next week came, and I got my things ready to head to the cake school.  I felt so light and excited (making cakes have that effect on me actually). As I got to the entrance...Voila! It was Miss Bossy Pants at the entrance wearing her funny hat and an apron that looked like the type that was worn during Kunta Kinte's era. She was holding a bowl, I almost fainted.

  Amazingly, she just went about her business like I didnt exist. I was to learn later that a project had been given to all the students to make and decorate a three-tier wedding cake and her cake had won the competition. She was rewarded with extra classes in sugarcraft and modelling for 2 weeks. What? Two whole weeks? I had to struggle to remain smiling after hearing that piece of information.What in God's name.....?  I had high hopes of continuing my cake making program without any hitches, I so wasn't ready to have anyone breathe down my neck, neither was I ready for any argument or exchange of words. I prayed that she too was going to be reasonable and even if she couldn't be friendly, that she'd just avoid me like a plague.

   And that's what she did. I was so surprised, I wanted to say hello but I feared that I may stir the hornet's nest or rouse a peacefully sleeping dog from its sleep. I just went about my business that day and we managed to avoid each other that day and in subsequent days to come. What exactly had I been running from?

  Just then I realised that the things we call mountains are really just mole-hills and all we need to do is walk over them... and that's the truth right there y'all.

Sunday 5 June 2011

War of the Worlds - MizVuitton v. Miss Bossy Pants!

Great things are done when men and mountains meet - William Blake

 Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain. - Unknown

"Smooth seas do not make skilful sailors. - African Proverb

   I've learned in my 'cake' walk that there must be obstacles on the way to fulfill ones calling. I experience mine everyday. The first challenge after discovering Cakes by MizVuitton was getting a place to further harness my raw passion. I was so 'gingered' and bursting with life and energy. I began to search for a place to train but couldn't find an ideal place. Most of the places I found neither had the pedigree nor equipments to adequately train. I searched high and low, everywhere. It seemed so difficult, sometimes, impossible but I kept pressing until I ran into a most wonderful woman who shared my passion and was living my dream with a story similar to mine. Well that's story for another day!

Happy belated birthday Darlene Ugoji from Cakes by MizVuitton
   I started perfecting my baking skills at this really cool place in Ikeja. The first time I walked into the school I was greeted with a sea of people undergoing cake training. My cake teacher introduced me to each  of them one by one and then I got to this lady that seemed really angry,  She wore this scowl on her face and a funny cap that she doubled as a baker's hat. I tried to say hello but she looked away. Right then I made a mental note of her.

  As I made my way to a seat, she barks 'No! No! No! you cannot sit there, someone is already there'.
'Ok" I replied and moved over to the next seat. She barks again,"that seat is also taken'  'Ok" I said again quietly then left the place altogether.

 While the class was going on, my teacher mentioned something about a Convection Oven. Interested, I shot my hand up to ask my teacher a question....

Miss Bossy Pants yells again, 'I don't know how you would cope o! better wait for the next set, we've gone far please don't be dragging us back'. She let out a long hiss. Damn! did she sound like the serpent that beguiled Eve in the Garden.

My teacher gave me this comforting look that said, 'be calm girl'.

 After classes I was trying to clean up the mess I had made on my work table while creaming my butter and sugar for the madeira cake I  was baking. The next thing I hear from Miss Bossy pants is-

Darlene holding up a MizVuitton birthday cake. Love ya to bits hon!

'Why don't you wait till we all finish before you start cleaning up ehn!? At that point I was up to my knees in angry grime.

I looked at her and asked 'WHAT?' to make sure I had heard right. She says again 'This doesn't make sense you should wait till we are done so you can clean up all the mess'.That did it.

 I shot her the MizVuitton (lol) icy cold stare and say 'Please can you just leave me alone'. 

'You don't have any respect, how dare you talk to me like that', the next thing I knew she was charging towards me. I couldn't believe my eyes. This wasn't happening. 


She continued,  I am going to teach you a lesson that will last a lifetime. At that point I was shocked. Where is this coming from? Where was she going with all this?

Tired of ignoring her (so i won't look like a weakling) I yelled back 'You can't do more than a dead rat'
At that point I had to remind myself that I was worlds better than what was happening. I shut my mouth that instant.

She continued shouting,  people were holding her back. I was wondering what she wanted to do. She kept saying she was going to beat the hell outta me.

I felt so terrible.A million horrible thoughts began to cross my mind..... Would this be happening if I was sitting in my cozy office, or if I was in a meeting with some clients at Four Points by Sheraton or even in a drab court room listening to a judge drone endlessly. My spirit broke and I started sobbing endlessly.

 I didn't know where the tears came from but it just  kept flowing like a spring.

  I wished that very moment that my passion was something else, something much more prestigous than Cakes, just cakes, plain ol' cakes. I wished right then that I hadn't taken the time to train for cakes, I wished right then that I was in someplace else, I wished right then.... I just couldnt stop wishing.

As the tears flowed freely I gathered my things and quickly packed up everything I could and left the place. I even left the cake I was baking in the school oven. At  that moment I swore I wasn't goin to ever come there again. It probably was a sign that I should quit and concentrate on  the finer things of life.

Maybe this wasn't for me after all.
                                                                                                    to be continued.....