No More Messing Around...It's Time to Write...and cook!

We just moved. Again. This was much shorter than Chicago to Pasadena, but it was still a move. Moving sucks. You have to pack up everything in boxes or bags and hope that it all arrives at your new destination intact with your animals, your significant other, and your sanity. We survived. It was the hottest weekend Southern California had seen in awhile and we were glad we hired 4 guys to do the trekking up and down all the stairs of our new 3rd floor walk-up apartment. It only took 2 extra trips to Pasadena to get the rest of the stuff and we're settling in. We didn't have wi-fi or TV for a week, which was actually ok.  We got that all connected on Friday, which was also a big pain, but it was done and now I can watch football and Top Chef and Ray Donovan and soon The Walking Dead.

Last night, after we discovered that none of the movies "On Demand" seem to come in HD, Eric and I ended up watching Julie & Julia on Bravo. I had read the book and already seen the movie but it was good to re-watch it (even with the commercials). But, as most books or movies do, it got me to thinking. Amy Adams (as Julie) gives herself a deadline to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking within a year and to blog about her experience. She gives herself a deadline because if she doesn't she fears she won't finish it. As I've discovered with this blog, I tend to not finish things or even write very much anymore and I miss it. So I need to do it more.

With all the stress of moving to a new state, finding a new job, having to find ANOTHER new place to live, the death of my cat, Jasper and getting the new kitten, Chaplin...I've found one excuse or another not to sit my butt down and write, even just one sentence, every day. It's not good for me mentally. I've not gained many new friends out here and have lost touch with my old ones, even though I do get various brief updates via Facebook...but it's not the same. So I'm finding myself a little more emotional, a little more "on edge", a little less easy to live with. I've always believed that writing is a form of therapy for me so it's time to get serious about starting a new therapy session.

So like "Julie" I'm giving myself a deadline. I'm going to write every day until Christmas. There are definitely enough things to write about. (Especially since we have moved into a much more interesting neighborhood). I'm going to keep you up to date on my attempts to reach Chris Hardwick and invite him to dinner, I'm going to let you know about Chaplin's antics. I'm going to let you know what I'm cooking, what I'm not cooking. I'm going to relay funny stories like the conversation the two guys behind me in line at Trader Joe's yesterday were having, and basically I'm just going to write.

I don't expect a newspaper article to be written about me, a book to be written, or anything else grand. I'm just going to put things out there for ME and hope that those of you that read and share it will come along, or just simply take a few minutes out of your day to read it.

Now excuse me, I have to go watch football and think about my topic for tomorrow.