Baking is therapy.

I hate to admit this, but I am slightly overwhelmed.  I know - the holidays are over.  What is there to be overwhelmed about?  Well, for our family, the first 3 months of this year are filled with activities. 

At the end of this month we are traveling to Florida to board a Disney cruise boat.  I am really looking forward to this trip!  It will be lots of fun and JJ and MJ are really going to have a great time.  But I'm overwhelmed by the thought of packing and traveling again in such a short amount of time.  And we're packing warm weather clothes, not what we have in our closets - so that gets sort of hairy.  Especially for MJ.  Last summer stuff doesn't fit.  And this coming summer stuff is going to be still way too big (she's in 24 months right now and all this summer stuff is 2T).  Ughhh....

My sister-in-law, Whitney and her husband, Billy are waiting the imminent birth of their first child, Mac (we'll just call her Mac because that's what MJ can say the best).  So when we return from the cruise, we will pack up and head to Texas a few weekends later to meet my first niece.  I am really excited for them and excited to get to hold a brand new baby.  But again, more packing and traveling - but this time for a short weekend (I'm not sure what's worse - a long week travel and pack or the quick turn around of a weekend).

Then in March the kids and I are planning to travel to Houston to go to the LS&R with my parents for spring break.  JJ is 5 and has never been.  I think he would get a real kick out of the whole rodeo scene.  And MJ will love saying "COW" and "MOO" over and over again.  Plus, we'll be over there right around her birthday, so what a better way to celebrate 2 years than a trip to remember.  Probably just a half a week there, but again, more travel and packing up kids.

On top of this, I'm back to working, the kids are back to school here, and the Christmas decorations are slowly and NOT steadily finding their way back into boxes.  I feel like the minute we get back into a routine we'll be traveling over the next few months.  Fun travel, but still exhausting.  I might age 2 years this year.

So, instead of doing anything relevant today, I decide to bake two loaves of cheese bread from scratch.  Why not, right?  Its better than facing reality.  My house is a disaster, I lack a grocery list, and laundry needs to get done, but at least we can eat some bread tonight.  Priorities, I know.  But my sanity is demanding that I pay attention to it. 

About to go punch down, separate, and roll the loaves.  Really - I can't think of anything that's more therapeutic than that.