... And Start All Over Again

Nothing's impossible, I have found

For when my chin is on the ground

I pick myself up, dust myself off

And start all over again.

-- Lyrics by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields

Well, the end of last week certainly took care of any good feeling happening after the beginning of the week. For me, personally, and for a lot of us in the States as well. I was still adjusting to one gut punch when another one showed up saying "Hold my beer."

And now it's Monday morning, which let's face it, few people anticipate with joy. But we're all still here, and we have a choice - give up and be miserable forever, or pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again.

Yet again. There have been so many agains, it's easy to take the giving up route. And if that is what you choose, that's up to you. It's hard to collect your heart and soul when it's been pulverized and put it all together well enough to keep going. I don't know about you, but I tend to go back and forth on it. But then I realize that in spite of what I might wish to do, if I wake up every day, maybe the universe is saying I should try my best.

Easier said than done.

Whenever I am in the depths, and have even one iota of physical and mental energy, I try to make myself do one thing that I hope will be successful. Not necessarily any specific thing, and nothing major. Maybe I'll decide to take a long, quiet walk. Or get rid of one corner of clutter. Anything that I can "accomplish."

On Friday, I took some of the scarves and mittens we wore during the winter and washed them so they could be put away until needed again. (Yes, I  know it's nearly the end of June and we haven't needed them for a while. So sue me.) While I was waiting for the washing machine to finish, so I could hang them up near a window upstairs to dry, I was reading a book, and the main character was making breakfast for some guests, and she made Rosemary-Orange Muffins. Hm, I thought, that sounds good, as I like every word of that phrase. So I headed to Google, and found a recipe that sounded a) good, b) simple, and c) had "normal" ingredients (i.e., not something like "1 milli-teaspoon of the rosemary oil of the plant only found in Bulgaria"). I decided to give the recipe a try for Saturday morning's breakfast. This gave me something to look forward to doing, and in the state of mind where I found myself, that was a definite bonus.

I decided that since I had never tried the recipe, which said that it made 20 muffins, I'd cut it in half, just in case it wasn't really that great. Because if you are not that fond of something, having 20 of them is a lot.

But I shouldn't have worried, because THEY. WERE. YUMMY! 

I would say that it took me maybe fifteen minutes to do the prep - mostly zesting the orange took the longest to do - and the ingredients were things at least in our house are generally around anyway. Especially in the summer when we always have at least one rosemary plant going.

Here are the muffins cooling out of the pan:

And here is my fancy-schmancy presentation, along with the pieces of the zested orange and some cottage cheese:

If, like us, you are a fan of three things - rosemary, oranges, and muffins - you need to make these. First of all, the house smelled amazing while they were baking. Second of all, they were so very very good. And third of all, they taste just as good, maybe even a bit better, the longer they sit. (I wrapped the extras and froze them. Took one out to thaw yesterday and have with a cup of tea, and it was perfect!)

Now the woman in the book I was reading referred to Sarah Chase's recipe, and I must admit I have no idea who Sarah Chase might be. I used this recipe, and can personally recommend it. You can bet that these will be added to our "keepers" and that the next time I'll likely make all 20 of them. 😊

In conclusion, what I can tell you is that yes, I am tired. Very, very tired. I am beyond mad, sad, and frustrated. And so much of the world is crap, we didn't need anymore, but we got it anyway. I hope you can find something small to call a win, because if you are reading this, you woke up today and you might as well try to make that worth something. Even if it's only trying a new recipe that makes you happy.

Time to start all over again. 

Again.