A busy weekend ahead

Well, like many of you, I was up and awake before the sun rose to watch the royal wedding.  We all saw it so I won’t gush here but what a pleasant way to start a day, watching two people in love marry, and everyone feeling happy.  A reminder of all that is good in the world and what is truly important.  But for me, now, enough stuff of daydreams and on to the hard work of the weekend.  Last night I spent packing the kitchen and tonight it is touch up painting at the house, painting trim, cleaning, moving food, and pictures from the condo to the house.  We move on Thursday and suddenly it is here.  I am away in Chicago from Sunday to Tuesday nights so I want to have as much done before I leave as possible so my guy doesn’t have to be worried about it while I am away.  Wednesday night can be for last minute rush and then the movers arrive at ten in the morning on Thursday to move us.  I took Thursday and Friday off to move into the new house.  Sunday I think we need to squeeze in a bike ride, since we have not been training yet for our charity cycle ride for the Heart and Stroke society and the 50 kms may seem long and tiring if we don’t get out training.  I can hardly believe how busy this year has been so far and I am not sure when it will slow down!!! But I love busy, means we are building a life, and enjoying it is the most important part!

Wondering what they will be eating at the royal wedding

Okay I am getting pretty excited about the royal wedding tomorrow.  I think I am going to get up at 530 just to see them arrive at the abbey; of course I will probably be late for work tomorrow but I think it will be worth it.  I sure wish I was there for the meal, can you imagine what they will be serving?????  I can only imagine how tasty it will be, oh I can get excited just thinking about what they might be serving.  I will be reading the newspapers really closely tomorrow to find out the final menu and then search the net to try to recreate some of the dishes!!! Hope you will get a chance to see the wedding tomorrow and if you are late for work as well, well it will be worth it!!! Congratulations to both William and Kate!!!!

Packing and royal watching

So last night I packed like I was possessed. How did we collect this much stuff, so quickly, without me noticing?  Seriously I think while we are sleeping our stuff is multiplying like mushrooms under the moonlight, growing and talking about bringing their cousins and far flung relatives to party under our bed, in our closets, under the kitchen sink, in drawers where I should be storing clothes, okay, admittedly more clothes than I need and that could probably be better given to Goodwill than stored in my drawers, but seriously, you should see the pile of boxes growing!  And I only worked on the office last night; I am tackling the bedroom tonight.  That should be revealing.  I worked a bit on email addresses last night but to be honest I ended up slouched on the couch watching made up programs about “possible” meals for the royal wedding.  I can’t believe how much press coverage it is getting and how much of it is really just supposition or filler.  It is too early tomorrow morning for me to get up to watch it live but I do wish them well and will watch it in repeats and in the papers. But I have to admit, as glamourous as it looks from a distance, I am not sure I would ever choose it.  I can see why they want to retreat to their home in Wales away from the glare and just enjoy being a regular married couple.  As much as I love the spectacle, I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to have my guy and our little home and to be packing boxes for our new life in our new home and not confronted with the lack of privacy and choice they have.  Count your blessings.  Love is so fragile and to have the chance and really the freedom to let you love grow and flourish without all the pressures they face is a real joy in life.  

Working too hard

Just a quick note today.  It has been so busy today getting back in to the swing of things.  I feel so bad for my guy.  He spent yesterday tiling the floor in the new house and although it looks great, it just about killed him. He was in pain, and wow, what back pain. I soaked him in a hot tub, fluffed him and put him on the couch and then fed him easy pizza and nachos for crunch.  Poor guy was exhausted last night.  And tonight for me it is hours of packing up the house!  I only have done a few more entries from Texas on my distribution list; just can’t seem to find the time these days!  But a little bit every day will eventually make the job done!!!

Bronzed and back home

We are home from Mexico and wow, what a holiday!  I am not even sure where to begin.  It was an absolutely fantastic holiday.  So my company sent me and my guy away on the Achievement club, a reward vacation for high performers.  We went to Cabos San Lucas in Mexico and stayed at the Hilton resort on the beach.  What a place, so opulent, just beautiful and our room was to die for.  We had a sunken tub from which you could watch television, gorgeous beds and linens and amazing soaps and creams in the room that we stole every day.  We came home with a suitcase full of free product!  They really treated us well with banquets on the terraces overlooking the sea, and receptions by the infinity pools.  We spent time on the beach and body surfing in the waves.  We went into town and had a delicious meal at Morgan’s a great steak place where we sat in an open air courtyard with stars above and live music at our table.  We went on a breakfast cruise and saw the famous rock formations and arch, and got the chance to see sea lions playing in the water and a special surprise we followed a pod of humpback whales in the sea, laughing at the whale calf chasing its mother.  We had a great party on the beach to end the club with bbqs and buffets, bars, tequila bars, cigar rolling, live music and fireworks over the sea.  It was a great great time.

When we were done we went with two girlfriends over to the Barcelo resort to spend three more days before coming home.  It was equally beautiful and since it was half full we got upgraded to a suite with our own living room and flat screen tvs everywhere you looked.  We swam in the pools and on the beach, ate delicious Japanese food one night in one of the restaurants, went horse back riding on the beach and generally unwound and relaxed.  It was a great time.  We walked into town to a grocery store where I strolled the aisles, checking out the local specialties and came home with a bottle of orange vinegar which I have never tried and a couple of bottles of Rioja red wine.  We could not have asked for a better holiday, took way too many pictures, never enough siestas and both my guy and I unwound and relaxed and reconnected.  The house, the cookbook, the stresses of packing and renovations all receded and it was just us, on our own routine, choosing to do or do nothing whenever we wanted and all of it enjoyed with two great girlfriends for fun.  We have come home refreshed and ready to go.

And a good thing, since today, my guy is laying tiles in the front hallway of the house, we spent yesterday packing and traveling up to see my parents.  Easter dinner was cancelled since my father is still not up to it but they are back home after five days in the hospital.  I think it scared him some; he has never in his life been sick and certainly never in the hospital.  So we went up and had a good visit.  But now every evening is either packing or work at the house because we move next Thursday and the pressure is on to get it all done!  And I am still working on the website and press distribution list for the cookbook and I have to travel to Chicago for work next week for a couple of days.  Not sure we will be sleeping much; good thing we had all that beach time!!!  Glad to be back!

Off to Mexico, beach and sun for us

Well here it is early Saturday morning and I am up listening to the rain and the sounds of wet tires on pavement as the cars go past and my guy is still nestled snugly in bed.  This afternoon we are off to Mexico in Cabos San Lucas for the achievement club trip that I won at work!  And are we ever ready for the break!  Last night, my guy and a friend finished installing all the doors and cupboards in the new kitchen.  The stainless steel appliances are in place and suddenly you can see what the finished product is going to look like and I love it!  The hardwood floor goes so well with the kitchen.  We still have to install the shelves in the cupboards and the under cupboard lighting, gables, all the finishing things but it looks great already.  Even the breakfast bar/island we built looks great, although it is much bigger than I anticipated.  The counter guy came and measured, lots of swearing and cussing, but that looks good and I got to vacuum all the new carpet upstairs.  It is so spongey with the underpadding and a beautiful tan/caramel colour.  Looks amazing and makes the upstairs appear finished.  The house is starting to look nothing like it did when we bought it that's for sure!  But with all this work, we now need the break.

I also got a call after I had gone to bed from my brother to tell me that my father was admitted to the hospital in Indiannapolis last night where he and my mother are on holidays.  They are touring, having been to New Orleans and Dad had a flu before he left that it sounds like with all the touring he never got enough rest to recover.  They ran tests last night and everything came back fine, but they were keeping him overnight since he was suffering from dizziness.  Hopefully he will be discharged today since they were expected home tonight.  My brother spoke to both of them and he said they sounded fine, even if Dad sounded sick. My father has been active, very active his whole life and he pushes too hard and somehow he hasn't realized that he will be 68 in June; he has to learn to slow down a little.  It is who he is but I guess now he just needs to get home and sleep!  I will hear from my brother today before we leave so God willing there will be good news and no worries and they will be on their way home, Mom with a sick husband in tow.  Keep him in your prayers if you can.

Otherwise, still have to pack, tidy up the house and get some more credit for my cell phone.  I am never like this, I usually have everything planned and packed well before departure, but there has just been so much going on I haven't gotten to it.  So still some running around for me before we can start to relax.  And relax we will!  We need it, I just want to spend some time with my guy, when both of us are rested! LOL  Have a great week, keep Dad in your prayers if you can, happy cooking, and I will be back in a week, full of stories of too much food, too much sun and too many naps!!  Miss ya

New countertops ordered, carpet being installed

So yesterday was a very difficult day at work and I was relieved when it was over!  Last night we went and ordered our new countertops and I also selected a thick gauge stainless steel sink from Italy which is extra deep, very nice.  We then of course ran off to Home Depot and bought a new faucet and extras for the kitchen. Today they are installing new carpet, measuring for the countertop and my guy is laying tiles in the front hallway and powder room with a friend.  Last night I completed Louisiana and Colorado, onto Texas today.  But honestly more than anything, we are exhausted and really ready for our trip to Mexico to relax, unwind and reconnect.  We have been just wiped out and need a chance to get rested, nap and get refreshed for the spring.  We have a charity bike ride coming up early June we haven’t started training for, the condo isn’t’ packed at all for the move, and we still have to finish the renovations and I have to work on advertising in time for the launch in mid May.  This has been one action packed year so far!!

Mississippi and Alabama done, onto Arkansas

So today I finished Mississippi and Alabama.  Just doing this preparation work I am learning a great deal about the world, I am discovering places I never knew existed and now I know all their newspapers as well.  I actually find it quite interesting reading the front pages of their papers just to see what is important to them in their little corner of the world.  Somehow all our interests, worries and concerns are the same, kind of comforting really.  Tomorrow onto more states.  I also uploaded some changes to the interior of the cookbook at the publisher.  There were a few things I wanted to change so I made the appropriate changes and uploaded the new files, never talking to a soul.  Technology really is amazing.  And I treated myself to a little pre-vacation shopping for clothes before we leave on Saturday.  Everyone at work who is attending is getting pretty excited without talking about it too much in front of those not attending.  It is like an underground selective secret club that reduces us all to shouts of glee and uncontrollable giggles!  Now we just need a secret handshake!

Making progress

Well I am making progress on my new website.  Slow going for sure since I don't really know what I am doing but it is getting there.  I am finally happy with the layout and the colour scheme, now I just have to come up with the content!  I want to have it done in time for the launch so I still have six weeks or so.  I also spent some time tonight submitting my new URL to search engines so the site will be easier to find.  Do you see the twisting paths I am taking right now, blindly hoping I am doing it all right and that in the end it will make a difference.  I also added two more states to my completed list of email address for newspaper distribution.  Everyday a few more jobs done, a bit more progress and eventually I will be ready for the moment when the book goes on sale!

Previews of the cookbook cover

Woohoo, I released today a preview of the cover of my new cookbook on my website and Facebook page.  I have enjoyed this week with my cookbook and now I think it is time to start sharing what it looks like!  It will be available in stores in about six weeks but I can’t wait to share it.  I have continued to spend the last few days working on my email distribution list.  I now have most of the west coast, the mid-west complete, on to the south and the eastern seaboard.  There are a lot, and I mean a lot of newspapers in the United States.  Hopefully at least a couple with be interested in my new cookbook coming out.

We spent most of yesterday building cabinets in our new kitchen!  But wow what a lot of work.  Last night I took my guy out for dinner.  Yesterday was his birthday and although we kept it pretty low key to work on the house I didn’t want the day to go by with out making him feel special.  We ate way too much last night and I think today both of us are suffering from food hangovers.  I can’t even face food today.  I think he liked his presents; most of them were clothes for our trip to Mexico this weekend.  I won Achievement club at work this year, which is a recognition program for employees at work who have greatly contributed to the organization over the year and this year I was a winner along with ten other employees.  And so the company is sending us to Cabos San Lucas in Mexico on Saturday for a week’s all expenses paid vacation at a swish luxury resort!  I know we had a holiday already this year in Domincian Republic but somehow after all the work for the house and the cookbook, we are both exhausted and surprisingly ready for a week of lying on the beach!  We are really spoiled this year and I am just happy to share it with my guy, my hard work at work has paid off and I can treat him to a special week away that we could never afford on our own.  So all his gifts included shorts, shirts, beach wear.  I just want to go away and relax, the two of us, amid all the hype of the company trip and get rejuvenated and rested so we can come home, start packing and move into the new house!

Building our kitchen

Woohoo, so yesterday we spent the day building our new Ikea kitchen.  After much negotiation between my guy and me, we finally chose a kitchen style that we both like that will also work well in our small space.  Our new kitchen won't be very big so we had to figure out what we really needed, how many cupboards we really use and which ones are just filled with everyday crap and how to arrange it so it will give the impression of being larger.  The first thing we did was put hardwood flooring in the kitchen and we ran the boards the long end of the kitchen and extended them right out into the dining room, creating the illusion of more room.  Then we decided to take out a half wall, opening it up again.  We decided that we will put an island on wheels outside the newly removed wall area and put a counter top on it so we can have a breakfast bar as well, so when you look at the space you will also have the illusion that the kitchen is larger because the breakfast bar is outside the main kitchen, looks like it extends again.  If I need it in the kitchen I can wheel it in, if we need it for breakfast or working on the laptop it can stay, and if we are having a party, we can roll it against the wall for a buffet table and make the space even more open.  Finally we asked a good friend to go on the planning tool and design a new kitchen for us.  Yesterday it all arrived and we spent the day putting cupboards together and base cabinets.  By the time we left most of the upper cabinets were in place, the base ones were done and stainless steel fridge and stove were in place!  Today a few more uppers, then on to shelves and doors and stuff and putting the dishwasher in place.  It is coming together and looks fantastic already.  I am so excited and so grateful to all our friends who have been so selfless in helping us with this dreaded renovation!!!  My dream kitchen is coming to reality!

Reasons to stay humble and learning to be a sales guru

Well getting back in the swing of things.  Now I have to start changing my thinking from creating the book to selling the book.  Another big challenge on the horizon.  I have looked carefully through the cookbook and it looks pretty good.  I found one formatting error towards the last third of the book, a paragraph formatting error.  I was immediately upset but quickly realized it is not the end of the world, it is my first attempt, and an error will keep me humble!  So I am going to live with it!  Now the even tougher job, selling the cookbook.  I have no idea or experience in sales so once again it is back to the drawing board and time to start researching, learning, trying new things and asking everyone I know for their advice.  I am still working on my big list of email contacts for a press release once it is available for sale, but I can’t imagine a press release is going to create any sales, so any ideas are welcome.  Other than word of mouth and my family and friends purchasing, after that, ummm, no idea!  I don’t have big buckets of money for advertising and frankly I am not even sure where I would advertise, so I will have to think of some strategies and start slowly with the sales.  Hopefully once we get a few sales and people love the cookbook, hoping so, then maybe word of mouth will start to spread the sales.  Otherwise I may be out on the street corners selling them to commuters on their way to work!

Feeling pretty happy

So I don't have a lot to say today.  I am just feeling pretty happy.  It is hard to describe this feeling right now, a combination of wonder, awe, happiness and disbelief.  I am sure a poet would have a word for it, but for me, right now, I think I will just enjoy this indescribable feeling!

I have my book and it is beautiful

I just got home from Chicago and walked in to find fruits and champagne and flowers waiting for me along with my cookbook nestled in between, displayed waiting for me, like a child with their arms open wide.  My guy came home with our friend Carmela and I opened it.  I can't yet describe the feeling. It is really here, all the work, the tears and pain, the doubts and the hopes, and now it is here.  I can't stop touching it and honestly I just finished holding it against my chest like a child and it is sitting beside me here at the desk and I am so acutely aware of it.  I want to just keep touching it.  It is perfect.  Amazing.  And still somehow unreal.  It hasn't really sunk in yet.  But to see my guy's face, so happy for me and proud, and Carmela so touched by it, it is really an amazing feeling.  It is my first.  Nothing will ever be like this again.

My book has arrived but I am in Chicago

So here I am in Chicago and my book is at home!! I am away for work for a couple of days and suddenly I feel separate from my cookbook.  I don’t actually mind traveling for work.  When I first started out in my career I traveled a lot for work, often three weeks of four in a month.   But I was building my career and didn’t mind the travel; it felt glamourous and important.  But I have to admit it was often hard to build a relationship with someone and eventually I changed jobs because it simply became more important me to build a relationship and give myself the opportunity to meet someone.  I certainly couldn’t while I was traveling so much and frankly I found my priorities changed.  I still travel some for this job but not nearly as much and I love both the break and the feeling of flying home to my guy.  It is so wonderful to have someone to call home to, someone to call from the hotel room before bed, someone to keep our life moving even when I am not there.  I lived in an apartment when I was traveling so much earlier in my career and for many months, there would be no food in the fridge or things in my apartment wouldn’t be moved in weeks.  It was like a nicely decorated storage room!  Anyway here I am in Chicago for work and it will be fine.  But of course now that I am here, my guy has texted me that the cookbook has finally arrived and we got all the nonsense sorted out and it is in his hot little hands!  And all I want to do is rip it open and take a look, feel it between my hands.  Last night though I always spent some time thinking about all the craziness right now.  I have to let go, and relax.  There is only so much I can control and with the imminent release of the cookbook, all the renovations we are doing in the house and the sale and move of our condo I have to slow down and savour this time.  It is crazy and stressful and exhausting but it is also exciting and rewarding and beautiful.  We are building the next phase of our life and I want to experience it and all the wonder that accompanies this change.  I don’t want to be stressed and short and worrying and trying to push the ocean.  I need to take a breath and everything will fall out as it should and it will be wonderful, even more so, once I get out of the way!  Besides, now I have a surprise waiting for me on my kitchen table when I get home!!!

Book frustrations and fun ordering new kitchens

What an enormously frustrating couple of days.  DHL dispatched the book from Cincinnati on Friday morning, and by three in the afternoon when it should have arrived, it had not.  I called them to find out it was sent worldwide express which is not necessarily worldwide or express by any means since if they have not delivered by three pm they will do so by three pm the next business day.  Well that meant not until today, Monday.  I tracked the package this morning and it was on its way.  I was all excited and my guy was going over to the house to pick it up before work. I have our new house address listed with the publisher since that is where we will be in the future.  And of course the DHL courier had been and gone, no book.  I called them to find out it needs a signature and a payment for delivery. Could I change the delivery address, no!  Could I pick it up in their offices, no not until Thursday!  So now I am going to leave a signature to say just leave it and a cheque pasted to the door in the hopes my guy can pick it up tomorrow.  And tomorrow at noon, I am off to Chicago for work for a couple of days.  I seriously just want to see my book!!! And approve it so the publisher can start the processing to get it loaded to book selling sites.  Seriously I am not sure whether I should be frustrated and scream or laugh at this comedy of errors.  I know the real pressure I am creating is my own artificial deadlines but seriously I just want to see it!  My guy has been extremely patient dealing with my frustrations the last few days.  

On a bright note we spent the weekend painting and laying hardwood flooring in the new house and it is starting to look pretty amazing.  Sunday night we went to Ikea and ordered our new kitchen which will be delivered next Friday.  Can you guess what we will be doing next weekend!!  We are moving along well and for anyone who is a cook, go and pick out a new dream kitchen; there is nothing like it!!  It was awesome to think about making island with pot drawers on the bottom, and where I would want cupboard or glass doors or lazy susans!  So much fun.  So you can see some ups, some downs, still the journey!

So excited I could pee my pants

Okay yesterday was depressing, the book didn't arrive.  But this morning, the publisher sent the tracking number for DHL.  It has passed through the Cincinnati hub at 5 am this morning and is winging its way to me!!! I am so so so so excited, weeeeeeeeeeeeeee