As many of my friends are aware, Chris and I moved to Seattle for the month of August while he recuperates from his kidney transplant. Having twice weekly labs and twice weekly clinic appointments meant it would be easier to live closer to the hospital than island life allowed.
There were also possibilities of complications. Whidbey Island isn’t as accommodating in terms of treating kidneys or transplants. So, to be safe, we moved to a small apartment walking distance to the hospital, just for the month.
Being away from our cats was probably the hardest aspect of the move. Luckily, we have amazing landlords who took extra good care of our babies.
For Chris, the hardest thing is not being able to DO ANYTHING. Workout? Not for another 3 months. Dishes? Nope. Laundry? Forget it. He also cannot clean the cat litter box for the rest of his life, well, life of the kidney. He can’t even sit for long periods of time.
That restlessness we knew would drive us both insane. So, we worked on my first book, The ZooFit Exercise Guide. It’s a really simple book, not a whole lot of “writing”, except descriptions of exercises and workouts. Mostly photos.
But it’s my first book. And it’s done. And it’s been sent to a Print on Demand publisher.
I’m just now processing this. I am going to be published! I’M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!!
Okay, so this is just a small step in a series of staircases to achieve my ultimate goal- get my masterpiece traditionally published.
Step 1- Self-publish a couple exercise books: ZooFit Exercise Guide and Reuse, Recycle, Reduce Your Waist will be published this fall. In the winter, I am going to complete The ZooFit Conservation Fitness 30 Day Head-Start Guide, a comprehensive guide for getting a jump-start on your fitness through wildlife conservation.
Step 2- Get a logo. Holy hell. I’ve almost got a logo, folks! So, long story longer, Chris and I were going to have the publisher design my book cover, but that would take too long for me, so instead, we designed it ourselves. It’s super simple (it’s a pretty simple book), but once we finished, I said to Chris, “You know? That looks like a pretty good logo!” We worked out some details, and came up with a logo I am really happy with! I’VE GOT A LOGO FOR ZOOFIT!!!
Step 3- Get logo out on merchandise and giveaways. I have an idea of giving pedometers with my logo out at conferences, and possibly at fun runs (especially on Whidbey Island) to increase recognizability.
Step 4- Revamp my website. Chris is working on that, too. I trust him. Right now it’s pretty basic, which works for me currently. But if I am to get the traffic and sell products the way I hope, we need a website with more va-va-boom.
Step 5- Conferences! My first conference is in October, for the AAZK national conference in Denver. It’s a shame Chris can’t be there with me for this monumental occasion, but he will still be on travel restrictions for another couple of months. So, mom and dad are coming out to help me for AAZK.
Step 6- Pimp myself out at conferences to travel to zoos, aquariums, nature centers, and community centers to give talks on ZooFit. I will travel ANYWHERE. I have family and friends in nearly all corners of the country, so no place is out of the question. If you would like me to visit your facility or community to share about ZooFit and Conservation Fitness, hit me up.
Step 7- Write more. Get published in magazines, guest blogs, and get more hits on my website.
Step 8- Take over the world.
Or at least let ZooFit start taking over the world.
So, yay for me! I’m published! Can’t wait for everything else to fall into place.
Yeah this is crazy awesome!