A Big Giant Texas Hug

This morning I had to set my alarm for 6.30am so I could register my middle daughter for gymnastics. Yes, that is the crazy place I live in where registration opens at 7am and by 7.05am, the slots are filled. So I sat in my dark quiet room, in my warm bed and with one eye cracked and the other sealed shut, opened my computer. These past few weeks have brought about so much reflection and honestly, disbelief. I have been thinking a lot about my days stuck in bed, trapped in my home, unable to even drive the kids to school. Summers where my family would spend the afternoon at the pool and I had to stay in. Many moments where I literally begged to die as I was so sick I couldn’t bear the thought of continuing life as it was. And now I’ve just launched a book. A freakin’ book!! I’m not the first, and I’m certainly not the last, and there is so much talent in the world that I really never imagined it would “perform” well. I wrote it because I seized an opportunity. It was one step, much like starting the blog, that helped me claim bits of my life back at a time. Learning to cook, writing recipes, sharing them and interacting with all of you gives me a sense of purpose beyond parenting or being a military spouse. It is absolutely one of my most crucial healing tools, and I have always said that if my book never sold but a handful of copies, I would be grateful for the chance to have even written it. But this morning, with the one eye cracked, in bed, I pulled up my book in Amazon, to see just how the launch day went down. And I literally started crying. In less than 24 hours, YOUR overwhelming support of Down South Paleo and of my work in general stared back at me from my dimly lit screen. This little book baby of mine ranked at #176 of all books. ALL. BOOKS. on Amazon. That is out of many millions of publications. And guess what else?! It ranked #1, that’s ONE!!!!! in FOUR different categories – Paleo, Low Fat (which still cracks me up), Allergies, and Gluten-Free Diets. I am beside myself, literally frozen with disbelief and wow. Because the thing is, I can write recipes and put them out there. But YOU are the reason I woke up to this much amazing. YOU are the reason that the book gained momentum and YOUR enthusiasm for it was just contagious. I know this is just a blip on the radar, a moment in my life that will soon get overtaken by packing lunches, checking homework, washing dishes (ok my husband actually does this one), and bandaging booboos. But today, this morning, this moment, is just so damn awesome, I had to take a moment and write. And simply say THANK YOU to you all who have shown your support. In so many ways that you’ll never even realize, this is what keeps me alive and propels me to heal even further. I am grateful beyond words for the outpouring of love and I want to send it back a million times to all of you, even those of you who hate fried chicken, which honestly I think is a crime. But even you, I send my biggest Texas hug!!! Thank you for this. It is more than I ever dreamt could happen.