Letter to me

Well, hello there! How are you? Forgive me for not writing sooner, despite every best intention. You see, the year has started in a crazy busy fashion and this is the first time since composing my recipe for living that the time and motivation necessary to write a blog post have converged. Anyway, here we are!

I started out by rereading some advice I wrote to myself a year or so ago. Gosh, I sounded really onto it then and everything I wrote is equally applicable today. I'm not sure how much of the advice I have actually followed (or will follow this year), but it's refreshing to know that I'm still thinking along similar lines.

So where am I at right now? Well, I've started my recipe for living with some small scale measures. I listen to lots of music at work and have totally fallen for my noise cancelling headphones. Already this week they have blocked out chainsaws, tree fellers, painters, scaffolders, building noises and a multitude of other unpleasantries.

During the week, I baked a just because chocolate cake using a recipe we found at home and of whose origins we are not entirely certain but it was well worth experimenting with. I foresee lots more just because baking and decorating coming up. Yum!

A friend and I are going to walk the Round the Bays in late February and I am aiming to continue with 10,000 steps a day in preparation. Most days I average 8-9000 steps, so that's a good start. Of course, fine weather helps with my daily total, but I really enjoy the space that a walk with my iPod offers in among all the madness. My almost-daily coffee also is a lovely wee haven. Ahhh.

I'm reading a few books for pleasure at the moment – the first time I've managed this in a while. I began with a recommendation from The Well Read Kitty and am nearly finished Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran. It's an emotionally heavy read about women in China who have been forced through various circumstances to give up their baby daughters for adoption. I picked up The Chocolate Seller on Broadway and his kids by local author Chris Grantham and I'm about to start Life of Pi by Yann Martel soon as this has been on my TBR list for a long time.

So my recipe has begun well. I am pleased with the freshness of the ingredients and the method is working so far. :-)

Until next time ...
Caffeinated Weka