nest·ing, (něst)

Nesting: as defined in What to Expect When Expecting, "This unusual burst of manic energy plays itself out in behavior that is dramatic, sometimes irrational, and often humorous (at least, to those observing it)- cleaning every crevice of the nursery with a toothbrush, rearranging the contents of the kitchen cabinets alphabetically, ironing everything that isn't tied down or being worn, or folding and refolding baby's clothes for hours on end."
Enter Shelly. Shelly has officially entered nesting stage, cleaning every crevice of the house every free minute she gets. Last week it started with the shower and quickly progressed mopping the second floor and washing all the base boards in the house. It is crazy phenomenon, similar to a lunar eclipse or a dog riding a bicycle. As soon as there is a free moment, she come out with a bucket of hot, soapy water, her gloves, and the scrub brush ready to clean something. When she wanted to clean the shower, I offered to do it , but she just had mop the downstairs instead. It's an instinctual desire (though it comes with some muttered commentary).

As for me, I have continued to develop my cooking skills, studying from Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. I have also started baking bread. Though I only have one recipe -one from Cook's Illustrated, I am perfecting the process and beginning to venture to new variations. My goal is never to buy a loaf of bread from the grocery store again. The biggest pediment I foresee is needing to get a bread slicer to make those nice sandwich slices. On a side note, Shelly has just left cleaning all the cabinets in the kitchen and has moved to washing down the stairs. We made Shelly's family's famous pita bread. this is not the bread you are thinking of, but instead a Greek tradition. It is a sweet, dense bread made with the seed from a wild cherry pit. We make it twice a year, at New Years and Easter. The only real difference is that the New Years bread has a quarter hidden inside to bring good luck to that person who gets it in his/her slice of bread, and the Easter Bread has a bright red, hardboiled egg in the middle to signify the body and blood of Christ.