a celebration of peanut butter and honey

This morning I bit into a celebratory breakfast of toast spread with peanut butter and a generous drizzle of honey. I have good news: one of my part-time jobs is now becoming a full-time job. There is even the possibility (though not a guarantee) that I will become a permanent employee, with benefits. But here is the true, immediate payoff: I will now have two days off in a row to rub together, every week. Insert several thousand exclamation points here.

While this blog is dedicated to sharing my domestic life, it bears mention that lately I’ve been coming to the conclusion my home life and my work life are inextricably linked. They are separate worlds, but what I need from my time at home definitely changes with each shift in my work.

What I needed last night, as I tried to wrap my mind around the impending change, was to let myself feel how exhausted I’ve been. Kevin and I had enjoyed a poor man’s feast out at our favorite local Mexican restaurant. We came home stuffed full of corn chips, pork, and salsa verde. With my belly so abused, it didn’t take long to feel the five months of six-day work weeks add up. I made it to the couch, but it was unfathomable to sit upright. Two cushions joined forces to stabilize my fetal position as I reflected upon just how much work-related desperation I was trying to sublimate with this blog.

When time for bed approached, I pried myself off the couch clumsily. As is my routine, I navigated my way to the kitchen sink and reached for the contents of my lunch bag. Carefully I washed my thermos, my Tupperware and my Sigg bottle. I cleared the grinds out of my Bialetti stove-top espresso maker and rinsed it clean. Usually, I dread these tasks. They mean that I have been at work this day and I will be at work the next. But last night I was surprised. Somehow I felt lighter.

My dreams are a blur except for a snippet about an exercise I started doing to firm up my abs. I awoke disappointed that I hadn’t really done any exercises at all. But it was just a little easier to get out of bed today. My head immediately started filling with all these things I wanted to do, now that I will have more precious time at home. I was awash in images of roast chicken and chicken pot pie, ideas of learning how to put together a weekly meal plan, and a desire to start documenting the paper flowers I’m making for the wedding.

As I breathe deeper and acclimate to having more time in the domestic sphere, you can expect to find roast chickens and meal plans and handmade paper flowers here. In the mean time, I highly recommend a meal or snack of peanut butter and honey on toast. There is something so joyful and comforting about slightly melty peanut butter with a sticky glaze of honey on warm bread. Lingering over it this morning, my thoughts and plans faded into simple pleasure. My mind was clear and a smile materialized on my face. You may not have a radical shift in your work life to celebrate, but I’m sure you can find something to serve as an appropriate occasion.