'Real Food Slow Cooker Suppers' Cookbook ~ UPDATE

Hello from the other side.

Heh. (Sorry.) But seriously...HI!!! I've missed y'all. It feels like this site disappeared into a black hole of blogging for the past several weeks -- which it basically did -- and for that, I genuinely apologize. In the almost three years since I started this blog, I've never missed more than one blog post in a given week...but since the end of January I've missed, well, a bunch. However, in case I haven't mentioned it a time or twenty-seven, I've been tirelessly working on a certain real food, slow cooker cookbook since last fall. And my manuscript was due yesterday. And things were getting DOWN TO THE WIRE. So I basically had to abandon even thinking about my blog -- much less working on it -- for the past three-ish weeks to make my deadline.

But guess what? I MADE IT! I did it. I'm literally on "the other side." And I am so freaking happy and relieved to have it behind me that I can't even begin to describe my feelings of elation (and disbelief) when I hit 'send' on that email dispatching my manuscript to my editor yesterday. Because y'all...that was the hardest I've ever worked on something. And as a Type A perfectionist, I've never exactly had a reputation of being a slacker. But I am so proud of how the manuscript (AKA, all-of-the-recipes-and-intros-and-other-words-that-will-eventually-comprise-the-cookbook) turned out. And as weird as it sounds, this stressful, exhausting, overwhelming experience has blessed me with a whole new perspective on life.

That probably sounds really hokey, but after not getting to really "be present" with them over the past several months, I'm so grateful for my family. My husband did just about everything around the house and/or related to the kids while every bit of my time and energy went into cookbook recipe creation and writing and photography. And then when I sat down three weeks ago to spend, oh, about 18 hours a day in front of the computer to transform all of my work into manuscript form, he stepped it up a notch more, as if that was even possible. And every time I felt discouraged or overwhelmed along the way (which was, ahem, frequently), he bolstered me back up with encouragement and support.

My kids have also been unbelievable through this whole process, understanding that I needed to work "so that I could just get finished" instead of playing with them or spending time with them or heck, even taking care of them (remember, my husband has been doing most of that). And my friends and family have given me grace when I've been absent and/or absent-minded, not to mention all of them who so graciously stepped up in a big way to help me test recipes for this cookbook.

I'm also appreciative of y'all, my readers, for your patience and kind words. My blog posts have been sporadic and my emails and blog comments have gone unanswered for a while now and I'm really sorry about all that...but I hope to get back on track soon. Who knew that it takes a village to write a cookbook?

I certainly don't want to sound like I'm nominating myself for martyrdom or anything here, because in the grand scheme of things, there are a bazillion harder and more important undertakings in life than what I just went through. But when I signed on, I honestly didn't fully realize how this project would pretty much consume every moment and every aspect of my life for a good long while. And now that the hardest part is behind me (I still have more to do, mind you, but the manuscript was the biggest/hardest chunk of it), I am so grateful for the little things and the everyday moments that I can once again enjoy as a part of my crazy, ordinary life. I won't soon take them for granted again.

So! 700 words later, is it evident that I have a lot to say after having kept it all bottled up with no blog post outlet for the past three weeks? This blog is my job, but apparently, it's also my therapy. 😉

So I believe that's enough rambling for today. In summary, thank you, thank you! Today marks one step closer to cookbook publication.

But for now, it's time to celebrate.