The Martha in Me

Last night I had been really wanting to make something sweet, so while we were grocery shopping, I conveniently made sure to pick up ingredients for carrot cake and cinnamon rolls. We had some friends over kind of late, so at 11:40pm I decided I would make chocolate chip/butterscotch chip cookies. Betty Crocker knows what she's doing! They turned out amazing!

Tonight, Adam is working a graveyard shift from 6pm - 6am and so I have been trying to pass the time without letting my emotions get the best of me. Really, I was tempted to go to bed at 7, but I decided to stick it out a little longer. I only cried right after I closed the door when Adam left at 5:40, while I did the dishes, and they were all out by about 6 when I decided to take a shower. Yes, that's really early to take a shower, but showers are so cleansing in more than just a physical sense. It felt great! I haven't cried since then and I think this is the best I've done since he started working night shifts =) He has spoiled me lately by mostly working day shifts, which I can definitely handle, but since we are going to San Antonio Wednesday-Saturday he picked up a shift tonight to make sure we'd have enough money since he can't work his usual shifts later in the week. I really admire him for his constant watch over our family. He really makes sure the finances are in order, he makes sure I'm doing okay, he is even reading this book entitled Be Prepared. It's laid out like the boy scout handbook and it's all about practical ways to prepare to be a father. It's written by a comedian, but has some very neat things in it that are even good for me to know! He just might be more prepared about this parenthood thing than I will be! Really though, we both know that I've got the nurturing thing down and he has the providing/protective/common sense thing down. =)

So...tonight I have decided to make this recipe from allrecipes.com called Clone of a Cinnabon. I made it a couple weeks ago and have been wanting to make it again for a while now. In my quest to pass the time so I don't seem ridiculous for going to bed at 7pm I have decided to bake...one of the things I like to do that makes me feel productive! I am such a people-pleaser which is why I want to do this for Adam. What brings me joy in life is when I can do something for someone else. My mom used to say, "When your day is bad and getting worse, keep a cookie in your purse." That means: instead of feeling sorry for yourself when things aren't going how you want them to be...do something nice for someone else. My senior year in high school, I knew I hadn't studied well enough for an exam I was going to have the next day and I was getting super tired and discouraged. So, with the short amount of time I was going to stay awake, I decided to make cookies and take them to all my friends at school the next day instead of using the time to study. I knew that the 20 minutes it took to make cookies was going to make me a lot happier the next day than spending the time studying, which 20 minutes wasn't going to do me a whole lot of good anyway...I should have started studying much sooner! So I went to school knowing I wasn't going to do well on my exam, but I would still be happy and there would be other exams and assignments to bring my grade back up in the class. Now, you know that I just graduated from BYU, so obviously I made it through my senior year just fine and I didn't make a regular habit of doing that, but it was a perfect story for how I'm feeling tonight.

I would much rather if Adam were here with me tonight and I would much rather have him next to me when I wake up in the morning, but since I have to leave for work at 5:30 tomorrow and work an 8.5 hour day instead of just 8, and he won't be here until 6:30, I'll just make the best of it. He'll get to come home to the smell of yummy cinnamon rolls in the morning and I'll get to know that I will have a happy husband waiting for me when I get home from work in the afternoon!

Now, if he gets called in tomorrow night.....it's carrot cake.