Normally, food is Patrick's domain, but I made an awesome vegetable soup this weekend that is also non-fat and really low calorie (yes, Alesha, that means 0 points). So - I wanted to share the recipe with the world.

Spicy Vegetable Soup
Serves 8-10

• 2 small onions or 1 medium-large onion


• 1 stalk celery


• 4 lg cloves garlic


• 1 red bell pepper


• 1 medium zucchini


• 1 medium carrot


• 1 broccoli floret


• 1 serrano chili, seeded


• 1 lg (28oz) can diced tomatoes


• 1 canned chipotle chile, diced


• 3 1/2 chicken or vegetable broth


• 1/2 cup tomato puree


• 2-3 cups water


• 2 tsp chili powder


• 1/2 tsp cinnamon


• salt and pepper to taste

Dice first 8 ingredients (through serrano), keeping garlic, onions, and celery in a separate pile. Heat a large, wide bottomed soup pot coated with cooking spray. When hot, add onions, garlic and celery along with 2 generous pinches of salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, another pinch of salt and stir until combined. Reduce the heat (to between medium and low) and let the vegetables sweat for about 10 minutes. Once they have sweated (onions are transparent, mixture is moist and fragrant), add the broth, tomatoes, tomato puree, chipotle and water. Let this simmer, covered, for about half an hour. Add the spices, taste, and add any more spice, salt, or pepper as needed.

I like to have this with some crackers and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. Surprisingly filling and delicious.

As for the serves 8-10, well, I just package it up and freeze it and then I have dinner whenever! |

Are you busy right now? We need to talk. I... um... have some news. I'm leaving you for another job. No - no - it's nothing you did! Really - it's not you, it's me. You've been nothing but perfect. It's just this new job - it's just more right for me. I hope we can still be friends.

There are a lot of analogies that can be drawn between breaking up with someone and quitting a job. The sense of loyalty, betrayal, the nervousness at having to do it...

And now here I am, in the midst of leaving my job of only 3 months at a small software development firm to go be an in-house senior designer at a major publishing company. I feel like, in the break-up scenario, it's like Reality Bites. The current job is the Ethan Hawke character - fun, casual, not to be relied upon for consistent and steady advances but more likely to have sudden bursts of brilliance. The new job is the Ben Stiller character - a little stiff and stuffy and not much that isn't predictable, but reliable and fairly guaranteed to move up in the world at a slow and steady pace.

But leaving a job does have one distinct difference from ending a relationship - the factor of emotion. In a relationship, it (at least should be) all about emotion. At work it should be devoid of emotion. So that's why this doesn't end like Reality Bites.

When faced with the offer for a new position, I had this dilemma - thinking "but - I really like where I work!". In the end, I had to weigh it out, make a mental list of pros and cons, and realize that what I like most about where I am now is the people and the sense of comeradery and working toward a common goal. And, tho it doesn't always work out, I can hope to at least keep a few friends from there.

And maybe the new job will be in a stuffy corporate environment, but - I've done that before, I know what to expect. On the other side it is a promotion, it is at a big company that has a lot of name recognition, I'm interested in their products, the work sounds good, I did like the people I met who I will be working with, and it's more money and benefits. In the end, I think (and hope) I've made the right decision. |

Yes, a meme, I know... Tagged by Nicole Hanusek. I've seen many versions, so here's the most comprehensive I found.

Four jobs I've had in my life:

• Whole Foods Cashier
• Barista
• Wedding Videographer
• Web Designer

Four movies I can watch over and over:

• Wings of Desire
• Room With a View
• North by Northwest
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Four places I have lived

• Durham, NC
• Raleigh, NC (splitting hairs to make 4)
• Cleveland, OH
• Brooklyn, NY

Four TV shows I love to watch:

• Lost
• The Daily Show
• Anything by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly)
• Veronica Mars

Four places I have been on vacation:

• Ireland
• Toronto
• The Netherlands and Paris
• Berlin and Prague

Four of my favorite dishes:

• Malai Kofta
• Sag Paneer
• Thai Basil Tofu Stirfry
• Patrick's Tamales

Four Albums I Can't Live Without:

• The Cure - Disintegration
• ThouShaltNot - The White Beyond
• Interpol - Antics
• Furnace St - Extroversion

Four Vehicles I've Owned:

• 1977 Toyota Corolla wagon named Gertrude
• 1984 VW Rabbit (peeled off most of the letters to read "IT" as the model name)
• 1987 Toyota Tercel that my brother and friends kicked to hell before giving me. It was fun driving home from seeing Cronenberg's Crash in that one...
• 2001 Chevy Prizm - the only car I ever owned that was made in the decade in which I bought it

Four websites I visit daily:

• My Webmail Site
• Bloglines
• Gothamist
• Anything in my links that's not on Bloglines

Four places I would rather be right now:

• In France with Patrick eating fabulous food (hopefully next year for our 30th birthdays)
• Chapel Hill in the springtime
• On the beach in the sunshine
• Humewood Castle with Patrick

Four bloggers I am tagging:

• Five Dollar Beer
• My Life Up Until Now
• The Atomic Librarian
• Organic Mechanic

|

Just to let you all know, I am feeling better. Barely coughing at all and about 96% healthy. Even going to the gym today.

Not much else to say. Some things to talk about on the horizon, but not for public consumption yet. Until later... |

...which has now become bronchitis. Yay. Our brief vacation was nice and relaxing and it was great to see all the people we've missed. Unfortunately, I got a sore throat Tuesday morning and, despite drinking many nasty doses of Airborne to try to ward off getting sick (it was cheaper than Zicam so I thought I'd try it first) I got to find out it's really only effective for colds. By Wednesday night I had the classic flu symptoms - fever, aches, chest congestion, and - weirdly enough - I found out that the fact that it hurt to move my eyes was also a symptom.

Thursday was spent at home - literally not leaving the house. By Friday I felt like I needed to go into work so I hauled myself up. I did research on the modern day Physician's Desk Reference, WebMD and found out that while my flu symptoms were subsiding, the reason I still felt like crap was likely bronchitis. No, I haven't gone to the doctor because - hey - no health insurance yet. And also, according to WebMD 90% or cases are viral and take 2-3 weeks to get over and aside from antibiotics for the bacterial cases the only other thing prescribed by doctors are inhalers, which I already have.

So now it's lots of sleep, humidifier packed with misting medicine, "Chest Congestion" Tylenol, NyQuil, and tons of liquids. And hopefully I'm back to normal in a week and a half. Yes - this seriously sucks. It's the sickest I've been in at least 2 years. Bleh. |