morning coffee and chocolate sheet cake

I cut myself a piece of leftover Chocolate Sheet Cake to go with my morning coffee.  I finally tried the Pioneer Woman's version of this recipe for our dessert yesterday.  I must say it definitely lived up to it's reputation as the best ever.



In fact after tasting it, I realized how much trouble I could get into with this sheet of chocolate goodness in the house.  I promptly set about dividing it into old pie tins and dispensing it to neighbors and friends.  Of course, I kept a tin of it here...after all, chocolate and coffee are just about the best combination ever.

I found the cute strawberry coffee mug at the thrift store for .95 cents.  It makes sitting down to Monday morning coffee and my day planner even more enjoyable.

As I sit here writing out what I'd like to get done this week, it strikes me how much of what I do doesn't change much from week to week.  It can be so easy to get caught up in the routine of it all...to lose sight of the blessing in the sameness. 

My thought for this week comes once again from Ann Voskamp's one thousand gifts.

     "Balancing the basket of fresh towels on one hip, I step in the back mudroom door into a still-teetering pile of jeans dirty from the stone picking out in the fields, into the shoes strewn, the LEGOs scattered, the half-baked experiment in the mudroom basin that involved green dye and too much sand, the kitchen sink always filling, the pantry always emptying, and I can see it and who could miss it, the herd of dusty footprints tracking mud across the kitchen floor?  The washing machine groans.   The oven timer beeps frantic.  I have no idea where half a dozen kids are. 

     I step over the darks and lights sorted.  Why doubt the date to fully live?  Now and right here.  Why not let all of life be penetrated by grace, gratitude, joy?  This is the only way to welcome the Kingdom of God."

What a thought, huh?  Fully live right now...embrace today...offer grace...give thanks... and live joy.

xo, Patty