Baking to Melt Away the Stress

Man, work can really take it all out of you!  I've only been back with the kiddies for 8 days and I'm already feeling emotional, worn out, and frustrated with "the system".  It's crazy how I let my job affect me so much in both a physical and emotional way.  Although the kids are a lot of fun, it can just be so difficult working with such a large department - too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak!!

Luckily I was able to get off work early and head to the store to pick up some ingredients for baking.  Although most cooks seem to strongly dislike baking because of how precise and "chemistry-like" it can be, I find it so relaxing.  Sometimes when I'm baking comfort food, like the zucchini muffins that are in the oven right now, I can imagine myself back in Canada on a crisp autumn day - the smell of cinnamon really helps this image.  I honestly do feel such a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when I've baked something well.  I know that it will put a smile on my colleagues' faces tomorrow morning and that makes me feel really good.

Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe baking is the perfect way to de-stress my life.  By bringing something I love into a stressful environment I might be able to bring some of those warm fuzzy feelings to the workplace...hmmm....my first social experiment??