Sundays have never been my favorite day but in January – o January, my old nemesis – they took on an even gloomier cast. With Brandon working in Iowa, Sundays feel even worse knowing that on Monday morning he’ll pack up and be gone. Yes, I know he will be home on Friday, but spending weeks apart from your partner can be lonely and hard even though I know that he loves his job and that I’m perfectly capable and independent enough to run my life on my own. I just miss him.

In January we started doing Sunday breakfast and it’s sticking around. We make pancakes, some with chocolate chips and some without, have eggs and a breakfast meat, drink coffee and enjoy butter pecan flavored syrup. The kid wakes up before noon to join us and it ends up being the shared meal of the week. We linger at the table for awhile and enjoy the carbohydrate sweetness of family togetherness before the week starts all over again.