23 Weeks

The last two weeks have been hectic with extra work shifts and construction starting on the house.   So far the construction is going well and we have have a whole new closet in the bedroom with drawers and shelves and stuff!  The room already seems much bigger now that there's not heaping piles of clothes and junk in front of it.  There should be just another week with the contractors here.  The bathroom was completely gutted and the rotting area was larger than we initially thought.  Also, a large rat nest was found under the old tub that was removed which explains a lot of weird sounds.  Turnip used to stand next to the tub and bark at the drain.  No more!

Jake and I celebrated our second anniversary and the San Jose plans fell though since I didn't end up working that Monday night.  It was actually a pretty bummer of a day since I was still sleepy from work and the hammering and shop vac noises were constant.  Just to get a little rest I made a sheet fort on the deck with patio furniture.  It didn't really help me sleep but at least I got to lay down and close my eyes.  We'll celebrate at another time when things have settled a bit.  The one nice thing that happened is that Jake got to feel the baby move for the first time!  Oh, and there were sticky buns involved since that's our anniversary tradition.  We ate them the morning of the wedding so I make them for breakfast for our anniversary.  A tradition of yum:

In my spare time I've been relaxing my favorite way, by cooking up a storm with farmer's market goodies.  Here's some chickpea tabouli that sustained me through 2 days of work:

I've been craving Ethiopian food like crazy and last night made a feast.  Instead of the traditional Ethiopian bread, injera, I made a similiar bread of Indian origins calls uttapam.  It's a simple batter made of soaked rice and lentils then blended with some salt and baking powder.  My mom used to make these all the time when we were kids.  She'd put jam in them, called the "roll-ups" and we'd eat them for breakfast.  They are so good and versitile!  Also, a perfectly easy substute for the more complicated injera bread.

I made all my favorite Ethipian dishes, the gingery mixed veggie dish (on the left), spiced red lentils (top right) and spiced collards.  I don't know why I only made this like once a year.  They are so easy to make once you have all the spices on hand.  (Oh, and Pat, I'm going to need to make a Penzey's run when I'm in town!).

I am currently OBSESSED with this cookie bar recipe!  They are seriously the easiest dessert I've ever made and they taste amazing.  The dough is like magic.  I am currently making a double batch right now with chocolate and butterscotch chips to take to work. 

I also can't forget to send well wishes to my grandpa who's in the hospital currently.  Fortuneately the surgery on his hip went well and he's in recovery.  Luckily there is family to dote upon him and I wish I could be there too!  My uncle was also in the hospital but is now out and I hope they can find him the right longterm treatment so he doesn't have to back to the ER for an urgent cardiac situation!  I'll be in Michigan soon to give everyone hugs.

I'm off to work now and will be staying in a hotel in San Jose for three days.  I'm actually kinda excited about it!  Jake will come visit me on one of the days and being me some food.  I'll probably be eating a lot of take out as well.  I then have a glorious week off and promised myself I won't pick up any extra shifts.  My last paycheck was spetacular, but I'm really getting burnt out and all that stress is probably not good for me.