I looked at the calendar today and couldn’t believe it has been four months since I last wrote a blog post. It’s not like I haven’t been writing. I have been busy writing, editing and publishing my third novel. It went public yesterday. It is books #3 and #4 in the Sophie London-Evin Foster series. The titles are “STONEHAVEN” & “Four Days to Midnight,” and the book is available on Amazon.com.
This book is the longest I have written so far… 458 pages (108,361 words). When I published my first novel a year ago, I wasn’t sure how it would be received and was pleasantly surprised. It gave me the confidence to continue to write and publish.
When I wasn’t writing, we were painting, purging and reorganizing every room in our house. We cleaned carpets and replaced baseboard in three rooms. They were chores we have been putting off for years and this year, since we didn’t travel, we decided it was time. Now, each room is neat and orderly as are the closets. I can actually sit down at my computer and write without feeling guilty that my office/craft room is such a mess.
Since we received our Covid-19 vaccine in January and February, we are finally getting our lives back to somewhat normal. We spend as much time as we can with family. This year, unlike 2020, we have been able to celebrate all the holidays with our loved ones in person and are looking forward to becoming great-grandparents in the fall. We have even been camping a few times this year: something we didn’t do in 2020. I can’t wait for our next camping adventure.
I do have some regrets over the past year though. I have let my healthy lifestyle take a back seat to other obligations. I think it began when our grocery shopping habits changed during our lockdown period last year. Many of the fresh fruits and vegetables I was used to buying didn’t seem to make it onto my weekly shopping list. I was more focused on finding toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towels along with alcohol, disinfectant spray and wipes.
My eating habits suffered as well. I was back to late night snacking and it wasn’t on healthy snacks. When I got on the scale each morning I convinced myself that I could easily take off the five pounds and then it became ten, fifteen and the dreaded twenty. That’s when I knew I was in trouble.
My husband no longer made his morning run to the post office or to buy the daily paper. We spent far too much time indoors watching television and not enough outside getting fresh air. My daily workout routine fell by the wayside and I’m afraid I haven’t gotten the motivation to begin again. I am working on it as I haven’t given up.
What I have been most disappointed in however, is the fact I let Covid-19 become my excuse for not eating healthy and not doing my workout routine when in reality, I have only myself to blame. Having our lifestyle and routine completely thrown off schedule took away the normalcy of what I had been doing. I let myself fall back into old habits and did nothing to stop it.
I have decided that needs to change. I am again buying the fresh fruits and vegetables and making sure my meals are healthy. I am again eating healthy snacks and not just fog eating. I did enough of that in 2020. I am starting a food log again so that I count the calories for everything that I eat. I am once again setting up my morning workout routine and going to work really hard at following it. I am taking it one day, one steamed veggie bowl and one squat at a time.
Did you find yourself falling into a funk in 2020? It isn’t too late to kickstart yourself again. We still have six months left in 2021 to get it right.
Until next time…”Don’t save today until tomorrow.”
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Congrats on the new book! Don’t be hard on yourself. 2020 was a strange year. We survived though. And we get to adjust this year.
Good luck with the next book. I too had a change in grocery shopping habits and my waistline paid the price – happy to restart those good habits again too.
I definitely sympathize! My 2020 started out healthy, and mid-way through the year, it all went to hell. I am still trying to pull myself out of the bad habits.
How exciting that you’ve been working on another book! Plus, purging & organizing AND starting a new health routine. Sounds like some big wins to me!