Checking In

Whoa. So life has gotten way more busy than I anticipated it would, despite knowing the work hours of a full-time job. I think what makes it seem so busy is that I'm incapable of scheduling in any sort of "down time" for myself. Chalk it up to my mother arranging my after-school hours during childhood to be busy enough that I would never say "I'm bored." I don't like to leave an empty calendar. As a result, my before and after work hours and lined up with workouts, teaching piano, and other random time-consuming activities. That's why at this precise moment I'm sitting in the parking lot of my yoga studio using sketchy free wi-fi to type up a post. I'll take any second I can get to work on the blog. Because it's not like my weekends can be useful either -- between planning a wedding and doing yoga teacher training, my weekends are booked solid through the time I'm married. Only then will I have one "normal" unscheduled weekend. And it's been that way for a couple of months. Let's just say Monday mornings can be a bit rough.

It's not that I'm not enjoying all these other things! I'm certainly not dragging myself to yoga or to teach piano or home for wedding-planning. I do! The problem is, I used to have down time at work or at night when I was supposed to be "studying," and I could actively blog during those times. I also could access my blog host page and Facebook during the day to update or sneak in some blogging here and there. Not the case anymore. The government doesn't let me access any social media or blogging sites while I'm at work, which consumes 9 hours of my day. Which means the only blog work I can get done during the day is to edit pictures at lunch and let's just say with iPhoto acting the way it is, it's not professional for me to use the kind of language that gets thrown at my computer during editing, in an office setting. So I feel trapped because by the time I get around to blogging most days, it's 10 PM and I'm trying to get ready for bed because I get up at 5:30 to hit the gym. I value my sleep more than blogging, I must admit. If I didn't sleep, this would be easier. I know I'm not beholden to the blog because really, there's no motivation (read: financial) to keep blogging other than I really enjoy it.

The reason I feel the need to get this out there is because I spent my entire day at work looking at food on websites the government doesn't realize are blogs or blog-like. So I spent at least 6 hours (interspersed with real work) more or less combing through recipes that Will and I can make. Heck, I looked at recipes long enough that a) I think I actually want to cook them all by myself and b) I'm going to make crepes. Unrelated, I know, but both relevant. I sent Will and myself big long e-mails with lists of recipes to choose from. It's probably unhealthy how much time I spent doing that. But I did. And you know which site I ended up on last? One of my favorites, Pinch of Yum. Lindsey is great because she outlines all the processes of her blog--where it's come from, how it grows, income, her life, what opportunities the blog has led to, photography skills, etc. I love Lindsey. She's right up there with Sally and Beth. And I so badly want to be Lindsey. I don't know where she has found the time to blog so well! I want her pretty pictures and her yummy recipes and about 1/3 of her blog traffic. But obviously I won't get there if I don't keep blogging. So I'm taking a stand. Against the government, in a way. Block my platform? I'll change how I approach my blogging.

So folks, the summary is: I'm annoyed at myself for not being here enough. I feel like I've let you down (even though there probably aren't many of you who've noticed much). I'm going to try some new tactics and techniques and see where it leads us. Oddly enough, in my lack of posting, I've attracted more daily traffic, so I'm taking that into account too.

Cooking with Willis is going to be back to *normal*, whatever that is going to be. I have hopes and dreams for this little blog and I'm going to try to start putting them into action. After I go to yoga class...and plan a wedding...and go to work...and teach piano...and go for a run....and go to the gym at 6 AM...and practice my instruments...and take care of my kitties...and do the laundry...and pack Will's lunches... the list goes on!