Domesticity!

I knew I needed to work on taxes and birth certificates and charting and bill-paying and email-answering the whole long day today. (As is the case, pretty much every day, in addition to catching babies and a whole array of other things in my life.)

But today was my first almost whole day at home since I don't know when. A week ago, probably.

I couldn't bear to not fulfill at least a few of my domestic desires. So, I cleaned the kitchen and washed a mountain of dishes with Ruth. And that still wasn't enough, so I decided to roast a chicken with garlic and herbs overnight in the slow-cooker... And put some oats on to soak for a healthier breakfast in the morning. And I really, really wanted to bake something ... like this amazing-sounding lemon pound cake recipe that I've been drooling over on Natalie's blog. But, as usual, it needed to be sugar-free, and coming up with 3 cups of sugar substitute might kind of change a recipe a little too much. So, I opted to bake a Walnut-Raisin Spice Cake with Lemon Glaze. It took nearly an hour to put the batter together, but I wasn't disappointed with the results - it's definitely the fluffiest cake I've ever made, AND ranks up there among the most moist. Who wouldn't love it? My brother, Sam had asked me to bake "something yummy" all day. There's always satisfaction in seeing the smile spread over his face as I hand him a big slice of semi-healthy, really awesome cake. :)

So... I didn't get quite as much paperwork done, but I had a much better day!

Even if I did paperwork/replied to emails 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week, I wouldn't get it all done. So, I am trying to feel less guilty about just doing what I can and then being reasonable and saying, "Ok, ten hours of that is enough for today. I'm going to help my family for a few hours or cook dinner."

One of my goals for 2011 is to be okay with not getting everything done. To be okay with saying "no" to things I really want to/should do, but absolutely don't have time for.

On days when I "just say no" to things that I honestly do NOT have time for, I feel so much better! Those are rare days. Hopefully, 2011 will have many days like that!