what's that in the fridge

i am so perplexed! i bought some silken tofu a few trips to the store ago; i know that i had most likely spied a recipe that called for it that wanted to try. well i stuck it in the fridge where it has sat ever since and i have no idea what i was going to use it for. and it isn't like silken tofu is something that i can just whip up any old thing with, i have no clue what to do with it. i am also currently irritated with myself because i am going to the market after work today and have, as usual, forgotten my reusable shopping bags at home. it would not be that much trouble to go home and get them, but then edgar would think i was home to stay and it's just not really worth getting his hopes up. although when i do get home i will probably have a mess to clean up as i was not able to go home at lunch and let him out. whoops. poor boy!

i got a film called private property from netflix...it is a french film. it drives home how much differently people not from the u.s. think of modesty, etc. there were a few things that put me off at first, but then i remembered that trend, so i guess that makes it okay?

i also saw dark knight over the weekend. heath ledger was really good in it and it made me very sad that he is dead. his performance in this and in brokeback mountain really drive home the fact that he was just hitting his stride and really taking on some challenging roles and doing them well...and now he's dead! sigh...

rotten eggs!

so i am fairly proud of the fact that i know my way around a kitchen...i am a really good cook and most of what i make turns out tasty. that being said...i have absolutely no ability to hard boil an egg. how is that?! i can bake bread from scratch, make delicious soups and stews, pesto, homemade noodles...but, i can't boil a freaking egg?! it is by far and away one of the most frustrating things. my mom promises a lesson the next time i am home, but i worry that it's hopeless! i am headed to my friend's lake house for the night tomorrow and the beginning of the fourth of july holiday and i was getting everything ready to make potato salad tonight...the only hitch in the process was the damn hard boiled eggs! i also whipped together a patriotic bandana for edgar to wear. i'm not really a fan of independence day, however that is no reason for edgar to not look dapper! time to go check on those eggs!

thunder!!

well my my my, we are currently in a tornado warning here in lincoln! i am not abiding by the safety recommendations on the local news channel. mostly because i live in a really really old house that has been converted into 4 apartments and the basement entrance is outside the house and is *super* creepy. i hate basements for the most part anyway, let alone creepy ones. and since the entrance is outside there is no telling if perhaps someone may forget to lock the door and then who knows who could be down there...and if the electricity went out that is the last place on earth i would want to be!! and also because it would require wrangling all of my animals and getting them to the basement which would not be fun at all, and perhaps not even possible! we would all blow away before i could get the job done!

i just heard about a boyscout camp in iowa that was hit by a tornado and there were 4 boyscouts killed and over 30 injuries...how sad.

edgar stayed at my brother and sister-in-law's house while i was in colorado for a few days. ami did a little photo shoot with edgar and bailey and surprised me with framed prints of edgar for my birthday. they are great! they are hanging in my office now and make me smile.

i am a big baby about my birthday...it is one of my favorite days of the year! this year though my parents are in alaska celebrating their 40th anniversary (which happens to be the same day as my birthday), and it seems everyone else is doing something else...i'm moping about it. which is stupid i know because i'm going camping in two weeks to celebrate my birthday and edgar's birthday. i'm very excited about that...although with all of the rain and storms we have had lately i do sincerely hope it doesn't rain!

it is always strange when my parents are out of town...nearly 13 times a day i think of something i want to tell them or ask them, but they aren't home. i don't like it!

it was a tragic beginning to my day when edgar found a baby bunny dead on the sidewalk when i took him out this morning. and then on the way back inside he discovered another bunny minus it's head...i had to pick them up and dispose of them. and there are little blood smudges on the sidewalk...it was incredibly sad.

pioneer cuisine 101

there was quite a storm last night which knocked out the power on my block...normally i would find this quite lovely and enjoy the evening in the dark, but the storm itself was short lived and i was right in the middle of trying a new recipe for vegetarian lentil loaf (like meatloaf but with lentils) as it turns out the recipe needed things like a food processor, and a microwave, and low and behold...an oven; all of which were in short supply given the power outage. while i have a gas range and oven there is apparently some sort of emergency shut off that cuts the gas in the event of a power outage...i spent a good portion of the evening squinting in the dark of my kitchen, by candle light trying to make out the recipe. i got it all put together and then waited out the power outage, chatting with my downstairs neighbor and the woman that lives next door...when the power came back on, i trucked back up to my apt to bake said lentil loaf only to find that the oven still did not work...i later came to find out there is some sort of reset button...so i stuck the lentil loaf in the fridge and baked it this morning...it was pretty tasty for all of the drama that went into preparing it if i do say so myself. i don't really envy the pioneers in their culinary attempts. a few hours with the conveniences of a modern kitchen were enough for me. when i was little i, after reading the laura ingles wilder books i decided that a pioneer life was the life for me and attempted one night to do everything by candle light and refused to let anyone in the house do anything contrary to my pioneer ideals...it lasted all of about 10 minutes before everyone in the house got tired of me!

edgar is going to be turning one in a few weeks and he seems to have mellowed into a different little dog...so much so that all day today i have worked myself into a periodic frenzy thinking that he's really sick and that is why he isn't acting crazy...can that be? or is it just that my little guy is growing up? of course...he isn't acting hyperactive so i assume the worst! it can't just be that he's turning into a well adjusted adolescent pooch!

barbecued with friends today, and it was a welcome break and a good time spent with friends...i have missed that for some time.

so...umm...as a religious journaler (one who journals religiously, not one who journals about religion) you would really think that i would have kept up with this a little better. and now it seems a bit silly to play catch up with everything that has happened since the last time i posted but i suppose i will do my best...i met my maternal birth-family in april, welcomed the birth of athena margaret myers, finished my first patchwork quilt, started my second, planted my first garden, helped dear friends move into a new house, read a lot of books, started to refinish my sofa, went for lots of walks with my stalwart little dog, planned a trip to colorado, rescheduled said trip to colorado, celebrated my godsons' 7th and 5th birthdays respectively, cooked some truly fantastic meals; one involving quinoa (try it, you'll like it!) and i am sure that there is much more in there that i am leaving out. i continue my quest for the nigh on indestructible dog toy, which is proving quite elusive. i have been learning about wine and venturing to purchase some varieties that do not come in a box or a colossal sized jug...rieslings remain my favorite, but i am developing a taste for pinot noirs as well. and i suppose that wraps it up...