The Lone Zucchini

Summer break is winding down. We are done with our travels and adventures. But it’s still hot outside. Blazing hot. Summer weather always lingers overlong in this valley, but that doesn’t make it easier to bear.

Even my garden has collapsed in the heat. It looks more alive than it is. It was on an automatic watering cycle with our sprinkler system, but the undersides of lots of the plants seem to have yellowed and died anyways, except for these freaky fat pumpkin and squash vines that are taking over the yard. It’s that time of year when everyone’s offering free zucchinis and nobody needs them.

I ventured forth into our crispy brown back yard with Jay the other day to explore the ghastly garden tangle, and all I found was one zucchini, one and a half puny carrots, and a single green bean. The lack of zucchinis, more than any of our other garden’s…issues, makes me feel the most like a huge horticultural failure! ANYONE can grow zucchinis! They are annoyingly abundant! Alas, but not for me. My more detailed search through the scary tangled thick vines still revealed only one Lone Zucchini.

It was a giant zucchini, but it was alone. It probably sucked the life out of all its budding brothers. Clearly we had an outlaw named the Lone Zucchini robbing our garden of abundance. Once he finished with his fellow zucchinis, he probably started feasting by night on the watermelon next door, then the corn, the watermelon, and finally the green beans and and the carrots. I don’t think I can blame the lack of tomatoes on him though. That was all my fault—I planted seeds instead of seedlings.

I couldn’t resist a little comic-ification of the outlaw—The Lone Zucchini and his sidekick mustang, C-rot:

 

I have been in a weird funk ever since we got back home from our last trip on Saturday. I just haven’t been able to transition back into normal life. Motivation is at an all-time low, along with patience and creativity. That Lone Zucchini sketch is the first somewhat-creative thing I’ve done all week.

Jeff got his wisdom teeth out on Monday, so he’s been out of commission ever since. I think his Vicodin-trance is rubbing off on me or something. I’ve been doing the bare minimum to keep our house afloat (aka floor not too messy and kids not too hungry). Everything feels so hard! Spencer has come over for 7 or 8 hours each day this week, and him plus Jay, Rose, and a semi-conscious Jeff has made me feel like I’m the Lone Parent versus 4 children:

We’ve been eating easy-but-bland dinners like tortillas, eggs, and noodles all week. It’s boring and blah, but I haven’t had any other good dinner ideas at all, which is weird for me. I’ve been in a major cooking slump all summer. I used to think I’d never need to buy another cookbook because of all the billion cooking blogs out there, but I’ve decided that I don’t trust those random blog/pinterest people that say “this is the best, fastest, easiest, yummiest thing you’ll ever make!” for every recipe they post. Sorry.

I needed a real book from a reliable source to browse, mark, and to hold in my hands.  SO, I got on Amazon and researched some quick-and-easy meal cookbooks, called my Mom for a second opinion, and ultimately ordered The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. The ATK has served me well in the past, and as I read through this blessed cookbook today, I felt my motivation to cook real food slowly returning. Once my food-motivation started trickling back, I suddenly felt able to GO! and DO! So I sat down and whipped up a 3 week meal plan in my beloved Excel format.

This rush of productivity helped me remember all the things that I have been doing amidst the haze of summer doldrums…

I wrote and edited the Primary Program.

I vacuumed the whole house.

I ran 4 miles this morning.

I read bedtime stories 3 out of 4 nights this week!

I made 4 loaves of bread yesterday.

I budgeted our income to within an inch of its life.

I didn’t make fun of Jeff when he was loopy from the anesthesia in the car on the way home from the oral surgeon (I waited till the next day when he was a little less drugged).

I had a 15 minute dance party with Rose yesterday.

Both Jay and Rose said “I love you SO MUCH” and gave me darling kisses at bedtime.

Our AC is working like a dream.

We got our car door fixed.

I harvested that blasted zucchini, cut it up, and made two batches of zucchini bread out of it, and there’s still enough of it left for at least two more batches. BAM.

A few weeks ago my friend shared the link to this sunny blog post about embracing and enjoying each MOMENT that you do something right or good or awesome, no matter how small it is, and not letting the less-wonderful moments cloud the awesome ones. The author called it “drops of awesome” in our bucket of life or something. During the end of summer slump and my weird hazy funk, it helped to count my drops of awesome.

Apparently my ability to see the awesome is directly connected to what’s for dinner.

Food is awesome!