Blues

I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated. Ironically, my last post was about making a resolution to update more often! Well, we'll try that again. Since my last post in January, I have landed a really amazing job at Abbott Laboratories (a very large pharmaceutical company) here in Chicago. I love it. What's most amazing is that I can get paid to do chemistry and make a huge difference in the world without all of the horrible slave-like pressure of grad school. Best decision I ever made was to leave with my Master's. I feel like I'm doing what I love and I have my life back too. I also have a great new apartment. 1 bedroom. Too many windows to count and about 3 times the square footage of my last place. Best part: enough counter space in the kitchen for me to lay myself down on. It's amazing!

Anyway, that's enough background information for now.

Dave is studying for his qual and I miss him at night sometimes. All the time. Over the last week he's really been buckling down, working long hours, eating little, and worrying too much. It's literally taking all of my strength not to run over to his apartment and throw my arms around him right now, but I don't want to distract him. Two more weeks of this and then we can go back to normal. To help him de-stress, I've been cooking some amazing dinners lately because it's......farmer's market season!

Last Saturday at the farmer's market I bought asparagus, wild morel mushrooms, rhubarb, eggs, leeks, milk, tea, and some dried strawberries. So: Sunday- I made a hearty 15 bean soup with the leeks and bacon and homemade corn muffins. Monday- spring vegetable risotto with the morels, asparagus, peas, and good parmigiano reggiano I got at Whole Foods. Had amazing leftovers all week. I have a "French Desserts" cookbook that Dave bought for me in France a few summers ago that has a recipe for a strawberry rhubarb crumble that has a modification for dried strawberries. Unfortunately, the entire book is in French, but I can actually make out what most of it means. I think when you start to bake enough you just get a feeling for how most baked goods are generally prepared. Plus, some of the words are similar-ish to Spanish. Meh. Shouldn't be too bad, pretty excited to try it. Maybe I'll consult Julia Child first to see if she has a version (in English!) first though.

Side note: bought a new apron at World Market. Looks like it's from the '50s. It's red and white with a red ruffle trim and red pockets! Best investment ever. To try: cook for Dave some night in this and heels :-)

I am very bad at being an eloquent blog writer. I think part of the reason for this is I haven't had a creative outlet in 2 years. I read scientific journals all day, write deeply analytical reports, and half the time I don't even use words: just molecular models and pictures. I'm not sure how I feel about this actually.

Sometimes, I wonder what my life would have been like if I became an anthropologist instead. I finished Infidel for the third time last week and I'm aching to go back to my progressive ethics discussion group. More on these feelings later.

Still Searching

Well, the New Year has officially been rung in and I'm still looking for a job :-(

I guess the worst thing about not being able to hold a steady job is that I've had to give up cooking. Low income diets suck as far as nutrition is concerned. Unfortunately the only fresh produce I can afford right now is bananas and potatoes. Although, I read once that potatoes have the most vitamins and minerals of any other vegetable, so I guess that's not too bad. But I really miss being in the kitchen doing some serious culinary work. I'm sick of playing the "what should I do with this can of cream of mushroom soup tonight?" game. Bleh.

I applied for a job at a pet store today! That would be pretty awesome.

So, what I wrote above is kind of depressing, isn't it? Jeez. Actually, apart from the job search everything else in Chi-Town is going well. Dave and I are closer than ever. Going through a rough patch in my life searching for work could have had one of two options, but we chose to run toward each other. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is if I didn't have a rough year like this, I'd never be this sure I'd found my soulmate.