Catharsis & A Domestic Moment

So my rockin' wonderful, awesome husband has started a new thing in our household. A morning for mom. Let me repeat that. A. Morning. For. Mom. What does this mean?! It means that one morning each week, even though its a week day, I get to have a few hours to myself to do whatever I want. It is his gift enabling me to do things that fall in the "want to do them" category rather than the "need to run around like a crazy person and get this done while I don't have children with me" category. Since we own our own business, and he works from home most of the time, we are blessed with the capability to do this. And that is on top of the pre-existing perk of being able to frequently leave the house with no or less kiddos to run errands because he can watch the baby monitor while they sleep. I am an exceedingly blessed woman, and I really think that these kinds of opportunities will enable me to be a stay at home mom for longer than I would ever make it otherwise. I love my kiddos, but I am realizing that eventually, some day, I am going to want a job to do that doesn't directly involve my children or home.

So far I have spent the weekly morning to myself bra shopping the VS semiannual sale for REAL bras (i.e. not nursing or pregnancy related!), going out to an awesome breakfast at Mama's Boy with one of my best friends before she left the country again for an extended time, and having a 3+ hour letter writing session to someone with whom I have had relational strain lately seeking mutual repentance, forgiveness, and the frequently elusive common ground. All in all, a very diverse set of mornings to myself, but all very good and cathartic for me. I think being a serious type A personality with a to do list that will NEVER ENDDDDD has added a few extra challenges and adjustments to be made in maintaining personal health and sanity portion of life as a mother and house wife. How does one allow themselves "personal time" when the work is never all done at the same time? I think I'm learning that sometimes ya just gotta let that list lie. And go buy some bras! Or get yummy breakfast with a friend. Or do your part to bring health to a relationship that has been struggling.  I feel the most emotionally healthy I've felt in a LONG time. So yay for that.

I think all the letter writing catharsis got me in the mood to bake yesterday. And in case you don't have any idea how rarely that happens, let's just say that my husband (to whom I've been married for going on 5 years) had never seen a baking mood strike me before.  I mean, I occasionally bake seasonal goodies with the girls, like pumpkin bread in the fall, or christmas cookies for the holidays, but outside of that and the occasional boxed brownies, or break and bake cookies, thats as far as I go. This is partly because my hubs doesn't like banana or pumpkin bread (my reigning faves), and I probably ought not eat all those loaves primarily by myself.

But, yesterday the idea struck to make zucchini bread for the first time! I've never made it before, but we have lots of zucchini right now because I've been craving my favorite soup, Italian sausage & zucchini soup, despite the fact that its not winter and had decided to make it for the fam anyway.

I hunted around on the web for a recipe that was healthy. You know, the applesauce substitute kind. I think I'm a bit late to that party, but I found one and happened to have all the ingredients on hand. Jack pot! I gathered all the ingredients and even remembered to take a picture for the ole blog after I had shredded the zucchini.

Why the bizarre angle for the picture? Because it best hid all the dirty dishes on the counter by the sink behind it. I thought for a split second about washing them first, and then realized if I did that the desire to bake might be gone by the time I got through with that mountain. I opted for bake first, clean later. That way, at least the baking gets done right?!

And the bread turned out SO good! I loved it, and so did Lorien, and it even passed the test for Brian! I'm gonna have to start making this at least semi-regularly. Brighton has also decided she likes it, but this morning she decided to hit a stubborn streak all hardcore like and refuse to ask nicely rather than demand, fuss, and cry for zucchini bread. So despite many tears, much snot, and a few fits, the poor girl only got one bite, and that was initial bite before she realized how desperately she liked it. So much so I guess that she MUST HAS IT NOWWW, but not enough to actually surrender to asking nicely. It was pretty pathetic, and I would have caved if Brian hadn't been with me for accountability. But seriously. When asked to use her manners and ask nicely, she would shake her head no repeatedly, hit, kick, resist being led through the sign language motions, you name it. Don't think we realized until this morning that she even really has a stubborn streak. Ok. Mom and dad stand corrected on that one. What a joy and a challenge to be responsible for shepherding the heart of a child.

Anyway, the bread was good. Pitch a fit good. So, just in case you aren't already making awesome healthy(ish) zucchini bread, you can check out the recipe I used here. I made it just as recipe calls for, except that I left out nuts cause that's not a fave, and used vegetable oil instead of canola oil because I am seriously allergic to that stuff.