Blogmas: December 8, 2020

NOT EVERYDAY CAN BE MAGICAL

Today I was excited to bake some cookies. Except, yesterday was extra long and I woke up exhausted. That bone-weary tired that no coffee can fix.

But, cookies was on my homemade schedule for the day and so I forged ahead. I was SO excited to try this new recipe for minty-chocolate thumbprint cookies. I mixed the whole batch up and….something was wrong. I checked the ingredients, but that wasn’t it. I tried adding a little more wet but nothing seemed to help. Just look at it.

A dry but bright green bowl of cookie dough.

It looks like very old play doh. Don’t worry. I threw it away. I was so disappointed though. So, I tried to make something different – a found objects nativity. It looks so beautiful and easy on social media. Ummm…. it’s not. Tried a Christmas movie and then music and I realized I was making it worse and worse. The harder I tried to force the Christmas spirit the more elusive it became.

Finally, I just had to allow that days like this happen – even at the Holidays. And I have the luxury of being able to just go to bed knowing that the worst thing that happened to me today was a botched batch of cookies.

I could have come up with something (anything would be better than that green mess) to post for day 8. I could have skipped it! But, in striving to showcase perfection I would miss my own goal of a simple and joyful Christmas season wouldn’t I? And, truthfully, if I had skipped Day 8 I’d probably just stop Blogmas altogether because that’s the way perfectionism plays out in me.

Instead, I’ll tell you what I did. I turned on a non-Christmas movie, and wrapped presents. I cut myself with the scissors and one of the rolls of wrapping paper I bought seemed to be designed to repel tape. Still, I forged ahead! I turned the darn paper inside out and kept wrapping. They aren’t beautiful, but they are done and I am laughing so hard picturing myself retelling the story of this gift’s wrapping day fiasco to my best friend.

This is not the year I am going to attempt a perfect Christmas. I am happy just having a perfectly good time. Oh – and next time I will take that “soften butter” direction seriously.

UPDATE: softening butter doesn’t matter as much as using the right amount. When will I learn that 1 cup of butter is 2 (two!) sticks, not one! I fixed it and made them and they were delicious.

Tell me, please! How do you turn a day around?