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NO SOUP FOR YOU. (But lots for me.)

It's no secret I love soup.  Back at Cornell, the Sister and I would groggily hit up the Lincoln Cafe on Sundays for brunch.  And what did I look forward to more than the spicy chicken sandwich with extra caramelized onions and mayo on the side (for my french fries)?  Soup of the day, of course.

Tuesday night, the Wife roasted a chicken, so I took the carcass -- stripped of leftover meat -- and made my own stock with it.  I used to just boil it six ways to Sunday, but the Wife's brother insists that the pot should be in the oven instead of on the stove.  Something about even heating.  I think he may be on to something.  Anyway, I put Chicken Little in the oven at 200 degrees and forgot about him for about four hours, added a roughly chopped onion, leafy celery stalks, bay leaf, peppercorn and thyme, and left it to work for another two hours.

Once strained (through a cloth), it made for amazing broth.

I don't like watery soup.  I want something substantial.  So I roasted a pan of potatoes -- which I completely forgot about and burned the everliving hell out of, necessitating a quick walk to Whole Foods for another bag of spuds and a second, more successful attempt -- and garlic.  While that was going, I chopped up a few carrots and celery stalks, then pureed half the potatoes, all of the garlic and a can of cannellini beans (which I can never seem to spell) along with two cups of chicken stock.  Then I poured it all into the pot and fired up the burner.

Chopped some kale while that was heating up, which I eventually added to the pot -- after the soup had time to condense a bit -- along with the other half of my roasted potatoes (chopped small-ish), another can of cannellinis and the chicken meat.  After 30 minutes of simmering and salting to taste, I had the Wife top off the pot with some homemade dumplings (flour, eggs, milk, salt and baking soda).

The result?  Deliciousness.

I'd miss me, too.

So I got a lot of crap for not blogging for the last few weeks.

Basically, it all boils down to laziness.  Apparently Bank of America had some sort of, um, "concern" regarding the security of several debit cards, and issued me a new one.  Thanks, Bank of America.  Especially for unhinging all of my automatic debits, including Typepad's (I pay $4.95 per month for the privilege of sending my thoughts into the abyss.  I know I should probably be more appreciative of my bank looking out for me (and I would be, too, if I didn't suspect it was their fault my card may have been compromised in the first place), but what a pain in the ass.

Anyway, I'm lazy, and am just now getting around to updating my billing information.  So now that it lets me login again, I'm back at it.

I will resume the full account of the wedding. 

But not yet.

Because I have some exciting news.

No seriously, it's exciting.

I mean, I'm excited.  I'd hope you'd be excited.

It's okay if you're not though.

Mostly.

Ahem, ANYWAY:

I have a new job!  An awesome, interesting, actually-uses-my-brain job.  A job that doesn't involve mind-numbing searches through Westlaw.  Or legalese.  Or annoying clients.  Or even attorneys, for that matter. 

No more court battles over which insurance company gets the privilege of screwing its customer.  Not for this kid.

Well, at least not right now.  It's a contract position, but I'm no less thrilled about it on that account.  And who knows, maybe they'll wanna keep me. 

Oh, right, the details.  I'm consulting -- fancy-speak for working wherever I'm needed -- for the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions.  Much as the name implies, the Council acts as a forum for the major religions and spiritual traditions of the world -- from Ahmadiyya to Zoroastrian.  Every five years they facilitate a Parliament, which is swinging around this December in Melbourne, Australia.

No, I don't get to go to Melbourne.  But I do get to work on some very cool projects related to the conference -- one of which had me reading the UNESCO Convention (relating to World Heritage Sites) and Operational Guidelines all day.  That's a Happy Place for someone who emphasized international issues in law school.  I'll also be doing quite a bit of research into nuclear non-proliferation issues, and if I'm lucky, I'll be playing czar with the program book.

So yeah, I'm doing lots of research, writing, editing, outreach and project management for a nonprofit based in Chicago -- from the comfort of my Boston apartment and, more often than not, my underwear.

I told you it was exciting.

Nine.

What were you doing at 9:09 on 9.09.09?

Me? I was eating oatmeal, banana and peanut butter.