Recovery Mode

Friday night I came home wiped out from another challenging week. I put myself in total self-care mode. I made a list of things to do that would feel productive and nurturing. There was planting the spring bulbs I bought a few weeks ago at ALDI. I needed to email someone about an upcoming church thing. Rest repeatedly was item number three. Format Astrid and write three pages was code for stop talking about my novel and put some work into it. Soccer game, bake (zucchini bread?), and read a chapter of the widow's book rounded out the list. The widow's book is for research as I delve deeper into what it means for my character Astrid to have lost her husband in an accident.

Writing, baking, and gardening are the current ways I signal to my brain that it's safe to relax, to recharge, to recover from the stressers of life. There is a ribbon of creativity woven into each and my creative, active brain responds.

On Sunday, I came home from church, preheated the oven, and got to work. I made my stand-by favorite raspberry muffins with coconut added for extra sweetness. I'd recently had to send a zucchini to the compost pile because I hadn't used it up soon enough, and didn't want to do that again. I looked up a recipe that called for zucchini, and found Garden Muffins in a Bed and Breakfast cookbook I owned long before I loved to bake.

I cleaned up in between recipes, brewed hot tea, and changed out the laundry. I also thought about how Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but for this working woman, sometimes work has to get done on the Sabbath. I have also found that doing these things can become a form of meditation if I enter them in the right spirit, and  today was definitely meditative.

I tasted a sample of the new recipe still warm from the oven. I planned to take some to my neighbors who do so many things to ease the burden of solo homeownership. Thank goodness the muffins were tasty enough to share. Plus the recipe makes 24 muffins. I need help eating them!

I'm minutes from needing to leave for the soccer game, but I am happy that I can cross off baking from my list. When I get home soccer will come off the list, and I'll only have working on my novel and more resting to do.

I had made every effort to get enough work done during the week that making a trip into the office wouldn't be necessary. I had reached my limits. My nerves were shot, and I really needed to find ways to chill out. Weekends are never long enough, but I have enjoyed the way I've spent this one, and will be ready to tackle another week when Monday rolls around.