sardines

 

We’ve now reached the point where I’m blogging about what I had for lunch.  It’s time to have this baby, am I right?

Today, on the two-hundred eighty-something’th day of this pregnancy, I finally got around to eating sardines.  I’ve been meaning to eat them for years, and it’s hard to put my finger on exactly why I never managed to do so. 

The pros of sardines are fairly obvious: fish is healthy and sardines are an inexpensive, low-mercury variety that comes in convenient shelf-stable packaging.  What about the cons?  While I have no beef with fish, or with canned tuna, I simply could not get past the can and the question of how to prepare the presumably cold and slimy contents. 

Seriously, I’ve had (different tins of) sardines lurking in the pantry for at least five years.

I’m well rested from taking PTO now and not making any plans, and maybe I’m emboldened by the challenge of our labor-to-come.  In any case, today was the big day.

The worst part was opening the can, which flicked oily tomato sauce in several directions as it opened.  Good thing my cheap, stretched out maternity top already had a stain on it…  The fish itself, which was packed in like a full term baby the day after the due date, was bigger than I imagined.  There were no heads or eyeballs to be found.  Perhaps I was picturing anchovies all along?

I figured that with enough parsley, some lemon and some good toasted bread they couldn’t be that bad.  And it was actually pretty good.  I feel so grown up.

house building timeline

 

Here’s a timeline of the house-building project.  It’s hard to say how long many of the steps will take, but this at least shows some of the dependencies.  The biggest questions is, of course, how much it will cost, which determines when we’ll be able to break ground.  I’d imagine that this is an ambitious timeline and that it will take much longer than this, but it will be worth the wait!

transit and construction update

Seattle is growing and we’re in the center of it!  Aside from the enormous (stalled) SR 99 tunnel project, there are several other exciting projects going on around us.

map of nearby projects

First Hill Streetcar

The streetcar (shown in black and red) on the map on the left is set to open later in 2014.  It will be really handy for my commute from our future house to work, assuming I keep the same job.

23rd Avenue Redesign

Work to make our (future neighborhood) section of 23rd Avenue safer will begin later this year.  It includes cutting four lanes down to three, adding wider sidewalks and better lighting.

Yesler Terrace Redesign

We’ll be walking by this construction site for the next 20 years.  Building has begun on Boren and another little piece that will start this year is a cool new staircase connecting Yesler Terrace to the International District via 10th avenue South (the yellow line on the map above).

Link Light Rail to the South

In late 2016 the Angle Lake light rail station at Pacific Highway and S 200th Street is supposed to open.  It’s closer to my parents’ which will be nice.  By 2023 another stop will open at Kent-Des Moines road.

Link Light Rail to the North

The Capitol Hill and UW light rail stations are set to open in 2016. 

dastardly catastrophe: the end of the apostrophe!

Despite having studied linguistics, I’m really not a grammar maven.   Of course, I certainly enjoy listening for speech patterns and I have some pet peeves.  For example, I think the distinction between “you’re” and “your” is really important.

infant safety: what’s changed in the last 30 years?

I want to share a little bit of baby safety research for our parents, some of whom haven’t been around babies much for the last 30 years, give or take.