Thursday, August 26, 2010

Back in the Saddle...

Hi friends! Just a quick update on love and life. I'm loving life and am adjusting to the California sunshine (even though I still miss the lovely NYC!).
The rest of my life has taken a little longer to adjust! As I keep being reminded, change comes quickly but the transition is sometimes slowwwwww!

In my ever-changing career, I'm learning what it's like to be my own boss. It's hard! No more complaining about The Man unless I'm willing to complain about myself!

I set up a new website that I'm pretty excited about. And I gave the dating blog a lil' makeover. Things are a-changin'!
Some of you have asked me about my book (thanks for asking!). I've started it over a few times. I guess working in news has trained me to easily kill my work if it doesn't feel relevant (or good). But then... I started liking what I wrote! And then my hard drive died. (so sad!) I was pretty bummed about losing a few chapters; I was heart-broken. It felt kinda like a really hard breakup. One of those really painful breakups that takes a before having the desire to get back in the game. It's still kinda a touchy subject. Ouch.

BUT! Now I'm back in full-swing. It helps that my book deal has finally gone through with all the appropriate signatures and my editor (whom I LOVE!) is rooting me along. So that's fun.
The book world is a really strange business. I feel like I've learned a lot along the way about what it takes to get a book published (let's be honest, I've been the luckiest woman in the world with that and will be forever grateful). Books take so much work to get onto those little shelves! I have an even higher respect now for writers than ever before!

I'm also learning how lonely writing a little book can be. I'm used to focusing on my work while surrounded by the chaos of a busy newsroom. I miss having people around. So sometimes I'll work with noise on in the background. Or I'll head to the outdoor market/mall nearby and will pretend all the passersby are my co-workers. They really are a delight to work with. No one complains about anything!

We're lucky to live fairly close to my mom. Somehow she seems offended if we don't bring our dirty laundry over to wash at her place. She loves us.
And we're about an hour away from one of Evan's brother's place... the other "T&E Johnson" home. It's good to be so close to family.

We have one car and Evan walks to work. The New Yorker in me is still into walking. I miss New York. Have I mentioned that?
For the first few months, I would cry any time I was reminded of New York. I would whimper at songs about the city. I would compare everything to the days gone by ("y'know, we don't even need a car in New York," or "they have the best cookies/crepes/bums in New York," or "I'm pretty sure I weighed 10 pounds less in the city."
I would even get choked up if I watched Law and Order, gazing at the yellow 'caution' tape draped outside bodegas or entrances to subway stations. But now my tears are replaced by the joy for the life I have here with my handsome husband.
Of course, I feel like we had more friends back in New York...

See? I'm making a little bit of progress.