Get it together!!!!

I apologize in advance for the first-world bemoaning I'm about to indulge in, but I feel a need to get it out. I'm in a classic Sunday funk; exacerbated by the fact that I'm coming off of some of the most enjoyable/relaxing vacation time I've ever had {I want MORE} and tomorrow I'm going back to early wake-ups and two hours in idiotic traffic.

But, as I'm telling myself tonight, I need to shape up because life's not one big vacation and I'd probably get bored and restless if it were {as I actually know from experience as a teacher who gets summers off, though I don't like to admit that I get restless by August [right now my brain is trying to trick me into thinking I really, really like all that time off...]}. 

To add to this ennui/whatever it is I'm feeling, tonight I attempted to make potato pancakes from our mountain of leftover mashed potatoes and it was SO annoying. It was one of those cooking experiences that reminded me of...

when I was young {seven to 11}, I was enthralled with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House series {I totally got the correct Laura Ingalls Wilder question/answer on Jeopardy the other night and NO ONE else did...and it was a $2,000 one}. I also had a cookbook of her recipes and one day, without supervision {where were the grown ups?}, I attempted to make these dough boy type things - fried balls of dough then rolled in powdered sugar. 

It was a horrendous and dangerous {considering the burning oil/dough} experiment and I was soon caught/found out/told better. I've tucked away that memory of a bad cooking experience and kind of use it as a point of reference; if something is too hard/not working/burning, then something's wrong. I think what was wrong that day is that I was a wee young to be attempting such a culinary feat and I probably didn't have the oil deep enough/was most likely using olive oil which is not ideal for anything like this/left the dough in the olive oil too long/didn't know about how powdered sugar puffs everywhere with the slightest provocation.

Tonight? I have no idea what went wrong. I followed the recipe and was using our good cast iron skillet but those potato pancakes {which had some added egg and flour} wouldn't stay together which really irked me. And then while I was waiting for them to stick together and turn into actual pancakes rather than chunks of fried potato {still good, just not what I set out for}, they starting burning. It's obviously all still irking me. Maybe the pancakes and going back to work are irking me. Maybe I should just call it a night and go read for two hours? I can't even relax with a shower because I've already taken my shower for the night.

In all, I am grateful for a fantastic nine days off, good time spent with friends, wonderful time spent as our little growing family, and a chance to see a new city {New York New York}...amongst other things.

Here's to a more positive Monday {isn't that an oxymoron?}.
xoxo, natty ♥