the domestic zoo

I have been having the most incredibly vivid dreams lately. Not upsetting, or even all that unusual, just normal stuff that feels incredibly real. Like last night I dreamt that I had found a really cool old chair that I was going to re-paint and re-upholster for my room. I woke up wondering if I had paid the guy and then was rather disappointed to find out that it didn’t actually happen. This kind of thing has happened to me every night this week. I’m inclined to believe it’s the diet change: wheat grass and berry smoothies for breakfast, Super Green Food smoothies for lunch with a half a PB sandwich, and beans and veggies for dinner. Who knew that eating healthier also meant crazy dreams? If that’s the case, then Lent will be rather more…interesting.

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I’m writing a letter, and it’s a lot of fun. I tried the pen pal thing a long time ago and it never seemed to work out, so I had forgotten what it was like to actually write to someone. I’ve already finished almost four pages and still don’t feel anywhere near finished with it.

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I’ve finally found the computer I want: MSI Wind. It’s got 1G RAM, a 160G hard drive, wireless, a webcam (huzzah for video blogs), is incredibly fast, has a 6+ hour battery life, and is Laptop Magazine’s Editor’s Choice for best in its price and size range. Best of all, it comes in white! All for $380, plus the cost of an external CD drive. Dad is getting one as well, Mom will be inheriting Dad’s old laptop, Stephen is taking the family’s desktop, and Hannah is getting my desktop for her room. Everyone’s a winner.

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Also, I am a comment slacker. I know this. I haven’t been keeping up with the f-list, or the blogs in my feed reader, or flickr, or uploading my Project 365 photos, or writing on the pet’s blog, or my other blog. I’m choosing not to allow myself to be stressed by any of this (in keeping with the ‘the internet will not run my life’ goal), so if I’ve missed some big news, don’t take it personally. I’ll be back on my game shortly, I’m sure.

The computer here at the switchboard is periodically making these horrid whirring noises that make it sound as if it’s going to explode or take off of its own accord. This machine is way older than even East Timor (ba-doom-CHING)

Speaking of computers, I think I need to buy myself a refurbished Dell laptop. I’ve been wanting a laptop for awhile, given the flexibility that it would give me to bring my computer to work or just somewhere else in the house that’s more comfortable than my desk. The worst part about my current set-up is that the USB ports stopped working months ago, which means that moving photos from my camera to my computer is a convoluted processes involving our networked family computer, the net result of which is an unbelievably slow turn-around time for photos, and who needs that hassle? The Dells have the added benefit of being far more within my budget than, say, a Macbook. Though a girl can dream…

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Did I mention that I was in yet another fender bender this past week? And just a few days after picking up my car from being repaired after the last accident? It happened while I was on my way to meet with Fr. A, of all times. A truck hit my back bumper while I was waiting to pull out onto the traffic circle. We both pulled over, off of the circle, and he was profusely apologizing. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I’m an MP."

Now, I’m pretty sharp, but I confess it took me an inordinately long time to figure out what he meant. Then he explained, and I really did believe him, that he was just out of the Army and borrowing the truck of a friend who is still in Iraq. He (the driver) was going to be flying home to California in just a few days, and he insisted on paying out of pocket rather than billing his friend’s insurance.

But even after taking it home and having Dad look at it, we just couldn’t find any significant damage. Amazingly, you’d really only know that I was hit at all if the sunlight hits the divets (left by his license plate) at just the right angle. I called the still-apologizing driver and let him know that he didn’t need to worry about paying for repairs. The poor guy sounded pretty relieved.

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My icon wall is sadly barren for the time being. Slacker me finally brought them all in to be blessed at the altar for 40 days. The upshot is that they’ll be there during a time of the year when there are more services than usual. The downshot is, of course, that I miss them terribly and won’t see them again until Lent is almost over.

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On a lighter note, I received packages from  and  , which totally made my day. Each of the gifts were so thoughtful and sweet. My family kept asking me: "Who are these people?" "What did you send them?" "How do you know them again?" What can I say? I’ve met some really cool people on teh interwebs.

Lent is such a wonderful time of the Church year. A time for reflection and renewal, a time for increased prayer, increased giving, and the practice of self-control.

And, perhaps on a less pious level, Lent is the means by which we explore new and interesting ways to cook beans (although Lent doesn’t technically begin until Monday, this past week was meat-free).

These crispy black bean tacos were a smashing success. I replaced the slaw the recipe called for with romaine lettuce, and you could easily do without the feta (making this both vegan and Lenten-friendly). And once you’ve assembled the ingredients, making them takes just a few minutes, which was great when we all went back for seconds. The lime and cilantro give this a bright, summery taste. We’ll definitely be making more of these over the next few weeks.

(via smitten kitchen)

I’m not feeling led to take a Lenten break from the internet for the first time in a long while. For now it seems, I’ve got my internet priorities in the right place and have thusfar resisted getting too drawn in or too involved to the extent that it overshadows my other goals (more time for reading, devotion, etc.) So this Lent, I’ll be sticking around…and blogging a heckuva lot more about food.   asked for more recipes and   said he was sick of just eating beans, and already I’ve got new recipes from   and   that I can’t wait to try. So here we go:

Crispy Black Bean Tacos

(via smitten kitchen)

verdict: a smashing success. I replaced the slaw the recipe called for with romaine lettuce, and you could easily do without the feta (making this both vegan and Lenten-friendly). And once you’ve assembled the ingredients, making them takes just a few minutes, which was great when we all went back for seconds. The lime and cilantro give this a bright, summery taste. We’ll definitely be making more of these over the next few weeks.

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side note: we did end up getting our power back shortly after noon on Monday, so that was a relief. I got over my snarky attitude and used the time to sit down and plow through several books that I had left unread. Even small misfortunes can be a blessing.

I had been planning to write a post this week about my mountain of half-read and unfinished books, after realizing that I only ever finish about two-thirds of the books that I pick up to read. I’m not sure if that reflects my indecisiveness or a staggering inability to commit, but it’s certainly not because they’re not good books.

And then yesterday, we lost electricity for the morning, and with nothing much to do except sit and enjoy the silence, I saw an opportunity before me. I sat down and I finished three books.

First, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I found thoroughly enjoyable and as a bonus, it has given me the desire to write long letters in the British dialect. I received the book as a Christmas gift and I had only just gotten around to picking it up, due in large part (I admit) to my expectation of something slightly…schmaltzy. Maybe it’s the name: anything with ‘Sisterhood’ or ‘Society’ in the title tends to have a Lifetime movie feel to it, but not this book. It’s just smart and funny and absolutely captivating.

Then I took a to an entirely different genre, and finally finished reading The Orthodox Way. I started reading it months ago, and somewhere in that time, I just put it down and forgot to pick it up again. It’s an excellent book, and I have a feeling that I’ll be reading it over and over and over again in the years to come.

As for the last book I read, well, I’m almost ashamed to admit how long I’ve been working on it. I will say that it was also a Christmas gift.

In 2007.

And I’m almost equally ashamed to admit just why it took me over a year to read Barbara’s Kingsolver’s perfectly wonderful book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Because every time I did, I felt so darn convicted about the way we shop and the way we eat that I put the book down and wouldn’t touch it for weeks at a time. Some people lay out all their issues on romance novels and self-help books? I work out my issues through books on food.

But feelings of utter inadequacy aside, I did finish it, it was a great book, and I look forward to taking steps toward a better way of shopping and eating. Baby steps.

And now my unfinished book pile is down to just three, and my ‘great-books-to-recommend-to-everyone’ pile has grown some more. But that’s for another post…