Last week, I think I told you guys that I was going to look into hiring someone to paint the trim in our house? Soooooo.... I called up this guy who used to live in the basement of a friend's house, who just so happened to paint her house for $30/hr cash, under the table. I thought this was going to be a perfect option to get the house painted at a reasonable price, and not have to go through one of those large painting companies that charge waaayyyyy too much, cause they can. It turns out that that this guy no longer runs a solo operation, employs???? a crew of 4 people, is booked solid until June but reassures me he can fit in my project for a low low price of $9800. Does this seem absolutely crazy to you? There are so many other things that I would rather do with $9800, like travel, buy a hot tub, buy a horse, hire a dog walker, buy a moped, go to Morocco. So, if you need me, I'll be the one on the ladder, painting all the trim in the house, probably for the next 10 years.

Everything in my life has been at a standstill since last Friday when I got sick. I woke up with a sore throat, cursed that mother f#%^#%^ who got me sick, and have been crying in bed for the last five days. Crying because I've been unable to call in sick for work, aka raising Sebastian - the full-time job that's 24/7. Sebastian started to get sick a few days ago which sucks, but is also a blessing in disguise, cause he's been all sleepy sleepy all day long. Last Sunday night I put him to sleep at 7pm and he woke the next morning at 8:45 am and I was all like 'what just happened?' Why do I feel so weird? Oh, is this what feeling rested is like? And then I started reflecting on the last 7 months and came to the realization that I have been operating at a low-level sleep deprived borderline coma since Sept 19, 2016, which is why I keep getting sick. But, on a positive note,

Sebastian has slept through the night for the last three nights and I am crossing my fingers that this is the way of the future. update - late last night he woke at 3am for a feeding. wha wha.

The kitchen remodel has begun!!! Brent started building the kitchen island last weekend, and it is coming along nicely. Once the island is built, we can tear-out our current island, and then sink, faucet, counters, and tile. I was thinking about doing a big kitchen post in the future, sharing before and after photos. So, stay tuned for that.

For the last five days, I've had no energy to cook. It's been all take-out pizza and Pad Thai around here. I managed to drag my ass to Home Depot on Saturday which was a bad idea because going to Home Depot is always a bad idea, am I right? Yesterday I washed my hair in what seemed like forever, so I'm taking that as an accomplishment. Also, I managed to gather enough ingredients to make this big ass salad, because pizza and Pad Thai for the last 5 days has left me feeling a little nutrient deprived and sluggish. Luckily this salad is loaded with tons of healthy ingredients - avocado, yellow peppers, beans, kale, green onions, tahini! I'm hoping it will counteract the fro-yo that I ate for lunch on Monday and the ice cream sandwich I ate for dinner yesterday?

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TAHINI CITRUS SALAD WITH WHITE BEANS AND AVOCADO

serves 4

prep time: 20 minutes

cooking time: n/a

1/2 bunch kale, chopped

1 small head Romine lettuce, chopped

1 orange, segmented

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 avocado, sliced

1 can white beans, drained

3 green onions, sliced

1 small shallot, sliced (optional)

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp orange juice

1/3 cup olive oil

pinch of salt

Wash the kale and Romaine. Slice the kale leaves from the tough fibrous stem. Massage the leaves with your hands for a minute or two. Chop into bite size pieces and place into a large salad bowl. Chop the Romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces and toss with the kale.

Slice the orange, yellow pepper, and avocado. Add to the greens, along with the can of white beans and onions.

In a jar, combine the dressing ingredients. Shake. Pour over the salad. Serve.