Have a Reason to Wake Up

I woke up at 7:45 this morning after going to bed at 3:40. Why? It’s my mother’s birthday and for once in many years (maybe 10!) I’m physically spending the day with her. But she’s not up yet. Oh, no way. She went to bed maybe around 1am, and there’s a general rule in our family that you do not disturb each other before 10am, so I don’t expect to see her for a little while yet (it’s 9:05 as I write this).

1st layer cooling, 2nd in. We’ll see if I #NailedIt or produced something edible.

7:45 to 10am. What on earth was the writer doing all that time? Baking! As the title suggests, we all need a reason to wake up and this is particularly true when your family is visiting and you are all night owls. So, my reason to wake up this morning was to bake a cake for my mum. Now, Mum might not like the cake since it’s only my second attempt at this type, I don’t have any frosting, I only own a toaster oven (life in South Korea) and I have a tremendous record of butchered baking (Nailed It is one of my favourite shows because I can relate!)

Evidence of baking at 9am. Mum still asleep, thankfully.

Licking the bowl was a little odd at 8:20am and washing up after myself to keep my small kitchen clean for visitors was tedious, but actively preparing a token of love for my mum on her last full day visiting me half-way across the globe was worth pulling myself away from my cosy pillow.

Can I scrape that burnt bit off?

My reason to wake up changes daily. As a writer, sometimes it’s because I have a great idea and my mind won’t stop churning it over. As a teacher, I often have deadlines and complete planning/checking/grading rather close to them. As a wife, rarely it’s to cook breakfast (yeah, that didn’t last!) As an expat in South Korea, I might want to dash across the city/country to find a possibly authentic western dish or beautiful view.  As a Christian, I know I need my time with God to remind myself of the reason I wake up every day and how it’s possible that I can.

Air fryer trays work pretty well as cooling trays!

I will have a reason to wake up over the next month. More on that soon. As for tomorrow, I'll be getting up even earlier to take my parents to the airport. Even though it's a sad one, it's a good reason to wake up.

Could be worse!

Decorated with coconut spread, with a layer of 'stracciatella' chocolate pieces in sponge, plain vanilla sponge and 'funfetti' sponge. Everyone had a slice and no-one is sick so far.