and how I’ve missed blogging.  You wouldn’t even believe it.  I’d still blog in my mind and take photographs and compose new and interesting posts in my thoughts.  Yet, they didn’t even make it to my fingertips.

So, where do I start?  A recipe for tomato salad I made with homegrown tomatoes and my beautiful shiso?  My last harvest where I pulled up all of my lovely carrots?  The day after Thanksgiving when I found myself outside with my family tearing down the garden and putting it to bed for the winter?  The series of photographs I took to discuss seed foraging?  These things aren’t exactly timely anymore.

I don’t think I can actually go back now.  I think I have to move forward.  There is so much ahead.

So, I truly could blame a huge chunk of my blogging negligence on work.  My job changed which added significantly more responsibility, longer hours, and more stress. However, I’d be lying to you if I used that and only that as an excuse.

I could tell you that it was because chemo started for my mom over the summer and I just couldn’t focus on blogging.  My focus was solely on her.  There is truth in that.

I could most definitely tell you that a main reason was because of my really big news…
Adding suspense…
Making you wait…
Bringing on the drum roll…
I found out in July that I was expecting a child.  With that brought exhaustion, a major aversion to vegetables, the most upset stomach I’ve ever experienced, and of course a severe case of cranky pants!

However crazy life has been, there is one main reason why I took a long recess from blogging.  My guilt.  I, the animal-loving, vegetarian-eating cat mom found myself in a situation where I had to give myself a daily injection of heparin every day.  If you aren’t aware, heparin is a bi-product of pigs.  How was I supposed to write about a great veggie dish or using earth-friendly pest control while injecting myself with something that came from such a regal animal?

Then, I became so ill I couldn’t eat or keep food down.  My weight was dropping steadily right on through week 15 or 16 of pregnancy.  Vegetables sounded gross, hummus and beans made my stomach turn, and I didn’t even know what to eat anymore.  A friend of mine made several jars of chicken broth for me and it literally brought me back to life.  That was a step beyond taking a medication.

Then, things really started to break down in terms of my diet.  The worst was when I found out I had low iron. Low enough to be critical and low enough to make me do nothing but sleep.  I was eating apricots and fortified cereal and taking iron pills twice per day.  Nothing was working. What came next?  You guessed it.  Red meat.

So, there is my confession.  Two of my friends reminded me recently that I’m the one who said on this blog that “nobody is perfect.”  That we should all do the best we can.  That it shouldn’t be about judgment because I’m not judging other people that are trying to be aware and take the right steps.  I’m grateful for that reminder, grateful for the pigs that allowed me to carry a healthy baby and keep me healthy, and I’m grateful for the animals I’ve consumed while being pregnant.  I have three weeks to go.  Everyone keeps asking me if my child will be vegetarian and I think my husband I both agree that answer is a yes.  Will I be a vegetarian going forward?  Absolutely. That is a whole other blog post.

I’m happy to be back and I can’t believe just how much I’ve missed this.  I can’t predict how frequently I’ll be writing once this little baby is here keeping me busy, but it certainly won’t be a half a year ever again.

I’ll be sure to include a photo or two next post.  For now, you get a super cute picture of my first baby.

By the way, here are some other blogs that kept my interest while I was “away.”

A Full Measure of Happiness: lovely food photos and healthier recipes.  This isn’t a vegetarian blog, but you can skip the meat posts and most definitely check out her cookies, muffins, and green monsters.

The Frugal Girl: all about living frugally.  I stumbled upon this blog when my husband and I were trying to find tutorials of how to refinish furniture.  She also has great tips on saving money and having fun while doing it.  I may just have to start using her Food Waste Friday idea!

Mahoney’s: my favorite garden store ever has a blog.  It is easier to connect to this blog because it is specific to my region.

Ready to Bloom with Holly Worton: a self-help, nice kick in the pants blog that gently inspires you to live life a little better.

Mastering Photo: since this is the work blog I spend time on, I feel it would be a sin to not mention it.  A great, fairly new blog for photographers and photo buffs.