What I've Been Up To...

The past couple of weeks to my own dismay my postings have been fairly sparse. I have been working on a lot of projects on the side and been incredibly busy at work and on some side projects. My blog had to take a back seat during this time as did our dinner table. I've barely had time to cook for us, prepare new recipes and it seems that the times when I have a few moments to spare I remember something else requires my attention. I joined a book club for the first time ever and I have been rushing to finish my first book before this coming Sunday. As an English major my favorite part of classes came after a book was finished and the debates unfurled. I lived for that and thrived off the energy from it, sometimes I would leave class feeling as though I had just ran a marathon, it was exhilarating. So needless to say I missed it and found a local book club and decided to not strive to make the November meeting, but rather kick it off with the October meeting and start in just a few days. I ordered the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin immediately and downloaded it to my Nook but was unable to get to it until 2 days ago. I am already in love with the book albeit I am only halfway through and I cannot wait to discuss it. I am carving those two hours out for myself this coming Sunday and I am going to enjoy them.

I have also taken up hot yoga a week ago to the day. Hot yoga is 90 minutes of Bikram Yoga done in a 104 degree room with 40 percent humidity. It's tough, it's hot and it's incredibly strenuous but it is so rewarding and I have found that in those painfully hot 90 minutes I become renewed and relaxed and come out a new person. I am not thinking, running through mental lists, coming up with recipes, planning our weekend, nothing. I am just there and being Kristin for those 90 precious minutes. Nothing has ever come close to that feeling. This has given me the opportunity to take a fresh look at things and approach them with a renewed energy and perspective. So while my blog has suffered during this time I know there is a good reason for it. You see I have been toying with the idea of writing a book for well over a year now. I had actually written over 10,000 words of it at one point and lost it all to a computer crash. And yes, thumb drives are my new best friend now. In truth I have wanted to become a published author since I was 7 in the second grade. I still remember telling my teacher and my class that that was what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have tested many things in between now and then but somehow I always return to writing. Even with this blog I am doing what I love and incorporating with my love of cooking as well. But back to my book, I have written nearly 30,000 words to date and I want to have a minimum of 55,000 before I start sending it out to publishers. I also made a goal to finish it and be ready to send it out by Christmas. That is now less than two months away and I realized I need to get cracking. So maybe by this time next year you will be able to wander into a bookstore and find a copy of my as of yet unnamed book. But for now please be patient with me I will be updating as frequently as I can.

In other blogger news you may notice a new badge on the left side of the screen for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011. Check it out, I think it will be a blast, I know it may be just the thing that will tip my teetering tower of things to do but that's okay, I'm willing to take a chance. In fact, I would love to host an in person cookie swap this year, whether I will be able to or not is to be determined but I will definitely be giving it a go.

So for now, I am off to bake a Halloween treat to have ready for Monday and then I'll be back to the drawing...er computer board to work on my book...those words aren't going to write themselves.