I got caught up on my backlog of new recipes … finally! They always take longer to type up than I expect but now they’re done and posted in the “Recipes” tab up top.
I know you’re lazy, too, but you actually have to hover over the Recipes tab and then click on the recipes. Sorry for making you work so hard!
But then you’ll see Smoked Salmon Reubens … Cheezy Broccoli Soup … Grandma’s Vinegar Cake …. and more!
Enjoy!
Yay! It took much longer than I expected but it’s finally finished and already selling like hotcakes. Low calorie hotcakes, of course!
It was frustrating that the process seemed to be so drawn out, but I only have myself to blame. Because I was combining all the previously published recipes plus about 60 new ones, I kept finding things that were formatted differently.
I wrote each cookbook at different times, so in one book, for example, I’d capitalize the first word in the ingredient list and in another I wouldn’t. The reader wouldn’t notice because the continuity was there within a cookbook, just not between cookbooks. So when they were all compiled together, it became obvious.
But not so obvious I’d catch everything at once!
However, it’s done now and I want to thank everyone for their patience. I know you’ve been on me for a print book rather than digital, and I hope you think it was worth the wait.
Here’s the link to buy … (THANK YOU!)
And here’s the cover, front and back …
Many of my friends have been admitting to some end-of-the-year blues which is something I don’t really understand. I happen to adore this week between Christmas and New Years, but I am an admitted — and unrepentent — Pollyanna.
Pol·ly·an·na (pä-lē-ˈa-nə) noun a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything
What can I say? I’m perky!
I love that blank calendar, so hopeful and filled with sparkling possibility. I sit down when it’s quiet and glance back through the year, remembering good times and perhaps bad ones, now with the mottled patina that only comes with time and distance.
Then I take a blank piece of paper and start writing down the things I’d like to see on next year’s calendar. Most of them relate in some way to my writing and publishing work, but there are also trips to plan, people to see, parties to host, recipes to create.
I humbly suggest that if you find yourself singing the blues this week instead of a joyful noise, try this little exercise.
Take a peek at your calendar. Where’d you go this year? Who’d you see? Meet anyone new and fascinating? What inspired you? What did you learn? What were your challenges? What were your successes?
Now, grab a blank piece of paper and look forward to the coming year. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to see? What opportunities do you want to pounce on? What will you learn? What will you teach? How will you grow?
Now make a plan. Take your pristine calendar and add the things you know you want to do. Use a pencil because this is a working document.
How often will you get together with your friends? How many times will you go skiing/dancing/to the theatre/out to eat/ice skating/to the beach? Where will you volunteer? Who will inspire you? Who will you inspire?
Make a plan. Write it on your calendar.
A plan without action is simply wishful thinking. Make a plan.
If a year is too overwhelming, focus on the first quarter of the year. Or a month. But focus. And plan to revisit your calendar before the second quarter or the next month. Dream big. Wish. Plan. Revise as necessary. Add your Big Plan to your weekly to-do list.
Revel in your successes and learn from your mistakes. Let go of everything that makes you feel less-than.
I’m not much into resolutions, but in the coming year I’m letting go of guilt. It’s such a waste of energy. As long as I’ve done my best — whether it’s child-rearing, taking control of my health, or crossing things off my to-do list —I’m going to smile, give it a wave, and move along to my next challenge.
I hope your successes are infinite and your challenges surmountable. I won’t wish you smooth sailing with no challenges because mistakes and challenges help you grow into the person you’re destined to become. Besides, having no problems would be boring!
Okay, if that’s too perky and irrepressibly optimistic for you, then I will allow some staring into the abyss. But only for a minute.
Hey … I think I see chocolate down there!
I don’t have a smartphone. In fact, I barely have a dumb one. The coolest thing my cellphone does is make me look more hip than my 81-year-old mother, as long as no one is watching. Oh, and there was that time it rang during a movie and hid its ‘off’ button. That was cool, too.
But some day I’ll upgrade, mainly because of the cool apps you can get, like YumPower. It helps you make good choices at restaurants. Runtastic tracks your fitness activities. And, of course, there’s InstantHeartRate, which is self-explanatory. Unless it’s some sort of Valentine app that I just don’t understand.
Here’s an article with more information about health and fitness apps for your phones. There is so much amazing information right at your fingertips these days.
You go fire up your phone while I pull the string taut between my camera and my hi-fi. I’m going to check out the YouTubes.
Do you have a smart phone? What are some of your favorite health and fitness apps?
If you’re looking for a farmers market in Colorado, here is the statewide list created by the CO Department of Agriculture.
If you’re not in Colorado, check your Department of Agriculture to see if they have something similar.
Now go get your veggie on!
WooHOO! Only $2.99!
Even if you’re not interested in buying How To Lose Weight and Get Healthy Even If You’re Lazy, I’d really appreciate it if you’d take a look. Perhaps you might be inclined to tag this product with some of the keywords that are listed? Perhaps you’d like to give it a thumbs up? Perhaps it would help people stumble upon it. Perhaps you could review it? Perhaps you can hear me begging?
Also, I wanted you to know something I recently found out. You don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle books! If you don’t own a Kindle reading device, you can download free apps for your iPhone, PC, Mac, Blackberry, iPad, and Android.
The niftiest thing about that is if you have the free apps for, say, your iPhone, your PC, and your iPad, they’re all linked. So, if you’re reading one of your Kindle titles at work on your PC, then later reading on your iPhone on the train coming home, then even later curled up with your iPad in bed … each device will know where you left off!
Freakin’ amazing!
Anyway … I’m ridiculously proud of my-geeky-old-self for getting it done. Usually, I’m one of those people who, if they flip a switch and nothing happens, stand and stare at it like a Labradoodle trying to figure out where the ball went. I don’t forget about it in two-and-a-half seconds, though. I continue to stare, maybe flipping the switch on and off, while fighting back my pathetic tears, possibly for hours. Imagine my delight to have a project that required no pathetic tears.
I’ll give you a helpful tip if you’re planning on publishing on Kindle. Make sure your cover looks good at about one inch because that’s what people see. If you go snooping around online, pay attention to the book covers that are actually legible when they’re small.
Totally deserves a thumbs up, eh? Or would that be a thumbnail up?
P.S. — Seriously … it would help me so much if you’d click on “Tags Customers Associate with This Product”… anyone can do it and the more I get, the better Amazon likes me. Same with reviews. I’ll even make you a deal … if you promise to review it on Amazon, and don’t want to fork over three bucks, I’ll send you the document for free. Just shoot me an email or comment here. Help a girl out? I’d honor you with BFF status … unless you’d prefer a simple thank you.
P.S.² — Don’t I feel silly … I wrote this two months ago but never published it. Apparently you must click all the right buttons. Who knew!
If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have planned a party for Official Launch Day today. But I’m über-lazy so I’m just going to bloggily proclaim this Official Launch Day.
Please travel with me down the fascinating, annoying, funny, heart-breaking, delightful path toward good health and weight loss.
Learn stuff. Laugh. Share your frustrations and your joys. All with very little effort.
Be lazy. Eat chocolate. Drink wine. Lose weight.
Welcome!
(Please consider emailing the link to your friends … and/or linking to your Facebook page … and/or twittering it. See the little “Share This” button? You can’t imagine how much I’d appreciate it. Seriously. So much. Thanks!)
What’s your biggest ‘healthy living’ challenge? What would you like to read about on this blog? How do you like it so far?
If you’re reading this, it’s because I’ve invited you specifically so you could see what was going on here in LazyLand. Or you’ve stumbled upon it. (If so, kudos to you!)
Either way, it probably seems a bit, um, skimpy in the content department, eh?
True, all true.
While you’re here, though, feel free to poke around and read what’s already posted. Click on “My Story,” read it, then pull down the menu for more. Same with “Get Started” and the other tabs up there.
But please check back later and join our Lazy Mailing List so you can download the freebies. We’ll have all kinds of additional things to talk about …. book reviews, sugar, organics, the Biggest Loser, restaurant advice, spices, the health benefits of specific foods, how to lose those last five pounds (something I’m still working on), the importance of water, money management at the grocery store, and much more.
I plan on posting interviews with nutritionists and personal trainers, asking questions from my readers and things I’m curious about or that are contradictory. I want definitive answers from them!
I’ll have some funny stuff on here as well as more serious ‘Food for Thought’ topics.
But you can be sure there will be oodles of entertaining and educating articles and topics for your healthy living pleasure.
You know, later.
So check back. You won’t be sorry.
Becky
