Ten years!

No, I don't mean that I have been married for 10 years. That isn't until September.

I am talking about my 10 years of Cooking Light!

More like 10 and a half years ago, my very good friend Craig got me a subscription to Cooking Light. I enjoyed reading the magazine and by reading it, I found out that this magazine had a WEBSITE, and on that website they had a message board. This was in the year 2000 and the internet had just been invented. I was at my job, which is where everyone had to do their websurfing those days, and I discovered the Cooking Light message board. In June of 2000, I became a member.

In those days, there was little thought about identity theft. My username is....my name in real life....I really wish I could change it, but then I would lose my 10 year status. Anyways, this was a brand new experiment in a community and I found a wonderful place to be a part of. Back in the early days, we mainly talked about food. We reviewed recipes that we had made, and asked other food related questions. There was a big uproar a few years later, where they actually broke the board up into three separate boards: Good Food, Healthy Living, and Other Stuff. It turned out to be a good thing. Good Food focused on food. In the early days, we did "cook light" and were probably very annoying about it. These days many are full fat bakers, but most members follow the local eating/no processed food phase. Under the Healthy Living board, I was a frequent poster of a running thread. Also there were threads to join when I was trying to get pregnant, trying to get pregnant and couldn't, and then when I did get pregnant, when I had a baby, a toddler, until now. The Other Stuff board covers everything else. We have had book discussions, I have asked restaurant questions, and of course, political debates. I really do try to avoid those.

In 10 years, I have only acquired between 1,000-2,000 posts. There are people who have posted between 10,000-15,000 times. I guess I am more of a lurker. These people are really smart and great writers. I just don't seem to have the time to formulate intelligent responses. I have met a few people on this message board, some on purpose, some not ;).

I have learned so much from this message board. A lot of it is about cooking, but much of it is not. I always wish I could give back as much as I have received. I try, but I know it is not enough.

Things have slowed down on the message board. It is blocked by many workplaces, and a lot of the members joined a facebook group, but I hope this board never goes away!