.rainy afternoon.

i love rain.

i love it.

i do.


it's raining here today. pouring really. i've got ani difranco on the ipod, soup in the crock pot, my xtratufs drying by the door and rain pounding on the windows. le sigh.

gonna run across the street for some beeeerrrrr later. and make some of trader joe's AMAZING corn bread from a box to go with my soup (yes, corn bread from a box. i am on my way to being a radical homemaker and i make corn bread from a box. i understand the irony). perfect.

----------

.THE SOUP.

i'm a vegetarian for many reasons and super in to nutrition and health and the environment and loving people. there. i said it.

i'm sure you guessed that by now anyway. so, if you are interested, here's what i put in my soup:

vegan bouillon cube (WITH SALT)
earth balance "butter" (the soy-free kind since i have a soy allergy. i get this instead of butter for now until i can start getting good butter straight from a farm)
an ENTIRE huge onion
organic yellow potatoes
green and red lentils
organic red chard - chopped up real small
organic, full-fat coconut milk
organic, canned tomatoes with green chilies (canned tomatoes offer more cancer-fighting lycopene than raw. and they taste better and are more sustainable than raw tomatoes during the winter)
organic bulgar wheat
the few tablespoons that were left of my bulk chickpeas. i didn't soak them first, so it could have been a mistake. they may never get soft....
TONS of my favorite curry powder from limbo (in pdx)
chopped up fresh ginger root
minced garlic (like a whole head)
cumin, turmeric (SO GOOD FOR YOU!), fresh ground pepper corns and a good amount of sea salt (the best kind of salt there is. celtic sea salt. stay away from that silly, processed table salt).
water to cover to the top

it's all sitting happily in my crockpot now while i am about to clean my house . . . i might add some beer to the soup . . .

----------

in other news, the KILLAH BEES are getting ready for their first game of the season! we are playing the hellions of troy in schenectady, new york!!!! looking forward to taking some time off of work and going on a mini road trip. let's see if we can keep up this undefeated thing and carry it over to 2011!!!!

WOOT!!!

---------

DOUBLE WOOT - the seeds i ordered came in the mail today!!! TIME TO START THE 2011 GARDEN!!!

.strong and brave.

photo taken last june of my sister's and i at our big sister's wedding. we haven't all been together like that since . . . can't wait til we all get to be together again!

my big sister is about to have a baby . . . any day now. she's due tomorrow. this is the first grandchild in our family, the first great grand child in our family and my first time becoming a real-live auntie! i am so excited! my sister has been so strong and brave through it all. the only thing i am sad about is that she lives so far away (tulsa, OK) and i am stuck on the east coast (in R.I) and can't be there. i've missed her whole pregnancy.

i do have tickets to fly out to see her at the end of april. but. that's april. sooo far awayyyyy......

i can only send her encouragement and support from afar. we've been talking on the phone a lot more lately and this has been awesome. i feel like we've become closer the last few months and gotten to know each other better. having 6 sisters like i do, it's hard to be close to all of them. especially since i live so far away from them all.

i've also been sending her tons of little packages full of books and clothes and silly things for the wee one. what else is an auntie for anyway?

----------

anyway, i've been slammed the last few days and hope to play catch up today. it's raining like it's the PNW and will continue to do so all week. i secretly love it. i'm rained in with the pup and some tea. time for laundry, checking the kombucha, possibly braving the rain to hit up the grocery store (car is out of comission so this would include walking in the deluge) so i can make more granola, waiting for my seeds to arrive for this year's garden, working more on some art projects i've started, studying my roller derby rules for our upcoming assessments and prepping for tomorrow's day at the massage studio. phew. what a day off.

hudson spending his day relaxing with me while it rains outside

i also have fun news about a recent purchase i've made!! it's funny how little things can make me so happy! i'll post a blog of photos soon . . .