Starting a new job

Since Cookie magazine closed last October I've been working part time. I had a great schedule: three weeks in the office with one full week off. It gave me time to do things at Vivi's school (the last two months have been spent producing the school's yearbook, which just came in from the printer!), plus plan the garden upstate. Next week, however, I start a new, full-time job. I like to think that certain life events present themselves to us for a reason that may not be very clear at first. This job seemed like such a life event. I wasn't looking for a new job; it found me.

I have to confess that I was a little apprehensive about giving up my relaxed work schedule, but the challenges and rewards (health insurance, anyone?) won out. The first thing that my family and several friends asked me was if I would keep up the blog. I was surprised by the question. Of course I plan to keep this up, I really enjoy doing this. In fact, I think working longer hours will actually make me a little bit more organized. I won't have the luxury of one week a month to go upstate to check on the house, the garden, and Mom. Instead I will have to really plan my weekends around chores (weeding, weeding, weeding) and the farmers markets. It will also help me become better at meal planning. I anticipate some late hours in the beginning, so I'm going to rely on Fred even more to make dinners, and to post on some of our dinner successes and failures.

When I first started writing this blog, my idea was to cull various recipe newsletters to take the challenge out of making a kid-friendly, healthy dinner every night. Since I bought the house upstate my focus has shifted to planning a garden and trying to eat locally. With this new job, I think my original mission will come to the forefront of the posts, while our gardening and attempts at a locavore lifestyle will be woven through the writing.

For the next few weeks, the posts may not be as frequent as they have been, but I hope our story stays interesting, and we can inspire you to try a new recipe, plant a garden, or eat locally. Stay tuned.