Ridiculous...

You know, it seems to be a small theme running through my blog friends right now: LIFE IS HARD. Sometimes it's just hard to find that happy place. I haven't blogged for more than six months, which makes me sad. I used to think I had no time...but I was wrong. Why I ever thought that, I'm really not sure. Here's my deal these days. Probably some of you I have talked to or those who I'm friends with on Facebook know that I've taken on a new endeavor for the last couple of months: Saladmaster.

Let me tell you something. Saladmaster cookware is AMAZING stuff. If you've ever been to a dinner demonstration, you would probably agree with me. I don't think I've cooked a dinner for anyone who hasn't wanted a set after they have seen it in action.  It's a healthier cooking system, you don't have to cook your veggies in water (which gets rid of most of the nutrition), you can fry chicken without oil, bake a cake or make a lasagna on top of the stove on low heat in half the time of any other cooking method. It's easy to clean, and will look beautiful and shiny forever. Did I mention the lifetime guarantee that will last not only your lifetime, but your children's as well?

Yeah. Like I said, fantastic stuff. Now let me tell you what I don't like: the business side of it. Let me list some of the cons:

• They bring you into the business to do your stock program (30 dinners in 90 days will earn you a free set of cookware). Sounds too good to be true? Yep. They say you can sell your set after you're done (to pay off your set you invested in originally), but you have to sell the same size set to SOMEONE ELSE the next month after your 90 days are up. They also don't tell you that your first ten shows (your training phases) don't count towards your 30. So, instead of the original 3 month commitment you thought you were making, it turns out to be almost 6 months.
• They reimburse you for only PART of your grocery expenses, and you don't see any of that money back until the first of each month. We can't even afford to buy groceries for ourselves right now because of all the Saladmaster groceries we have to buy for each show. 
• They want you to use personal testimony, of how much time or money you are saving by using your cookware. I have wasted so much more money doing this because I have absolutely no time to go home and cook something, so I have to eat out. I really have no other choice, unless I just don't eat (which happens too).
• I have made a grand total of about $160 dollars. In TWO months. Pure commission means that if no one buys the stuff, I make zero money. Right now, I am paying Saladmaster to do this job.

There are more, and I'm not going to list them. Partly because I can't remember them, and partly because this post is getting long. Don't get me wrong, the purpose of this post is not only to complain. There are some aspects about Saladmaster I do enjoy, and those are why I'm still doing it. It is just starting to hurt me. Physically, emotionally, financially, you name it. Travis hates it. He has been nothing but supportive of me, and it's really starting to wear on him. He's been coming to help me on my dinners, and helping me get through each one. He even remembers to say things sometimes that I don't, to help my presentation. But it's wearing him down, and he can see it's doing the same thing to me. So I just need to decide what to do. Do I keep on trucking, and hope that one of these days someone actually buys? Or do I just get out to keep my sanity? Your guess is as good as mine.