Merry Christmas Eve!

Xoxo

The picture didn't seem so dark on my phone. Well, that's the house fireplace spewing warmth and good cheer. Enjoy!

Oh.

Um... Greetings from Coastal Massachusetts...

Oh Christmas tree... Or: That one is mine! And that one...and that one...

Oh, here. This one is for you...

Xoxoxo

I am a wrapper.

Yo yo yo.

One of the best restaurant breakfasts ever!

First, let me admit I am blogging from my phone, so there may be some spelling and layout glitches. I'll fix them later!

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled crazy:

Did you know I am a little bit (okay, a lot a bit) addicted to groupon?

Sometime during Thanksgiving break, groupon demanded I visit The Breakfast Place in Attleboro. I'm sure you know that when the internets make a demand, you must obey, lest they withhold information just when you need it.

For example, say you wake up in the middle of the night and can't remember the name of Col. Potter's horse on M*A*S*H.*** You ask the internets for the info so you can peacefully go back to sleep and the internets cross their arms like a petulant toddler girl and say, "No." May as well do some laundry because you're all done sleeping for the night.

So when the internets wanted us to go to The Breakfast Place, I said, "Okay!"

Can I get a "Nom nom nom"?

The picture is of The Chef's House Skillet. It is called that because it is as big as a house. Or maybe you will become as big as a house if you eat it. I had the Portuguese skillet with chourico and potatoes and peppers and onions and American cheese and eggs and sourdough toast. And we also got gingerbread pancakes, which were OMG just by themselves. Coupled with the skillet? Heaven.

Did you know I am done with school now, speaking of heaven? That means I could theoretically go there for breakfast whenever I want. Or at least between 6am and 2 pm, cause that's when they're open. Every single day! Huzzah!

***Col. Potter's horse's name was Sophie. RIP Col. Potter.

Just saying...

A pictoral ode to 752 words



Oh, Christmas tree

Next year. This I vow!!!

One of the top 10 meals of my life

Opa. Federal Hill. Providence, RI.

You must go. Right now. Go on. I'll wait...

Oh, while you're putting on your coat, let me tell you what to get: Lebanese tasting menu. It's part chef's whimsy and part old standbys, like hummus and OMGah! house-made feta cheese.  Plus!  Joseph Karam, genius chef-guy, even manages to make vegetables taste so good that I asked The Chef for part of his share. That NEVER ever happens!

Plates as far as the eye can see...One time we needed an annex table for all the small serving plates.  And usually I wish they were regular-sized plates. Oh, and this was just the collection of starters. 

FAIR WARNING: Don't make plans to go out afterwards because you won't be able to move and you will be sad because you'll be sitting in an awesome club with an expensive drink thinking about how your waistband fighting the seventy-unpity thousand pounds of delicious food you just ate is making breathing near-impossible.

Or I imagine that would be true...

Oh dessert, how I love you so...

In which I openly profess my love for Gilbert Gottfried...

The man is a comic genius.

First, from our front and center seats (VIP/reserved seats), we saw this:

And then we saw this guy:

And then The Chef told GG jokes that made them both laugh, which seemed only fair because GG had been doing that for us for the previous hour.

"What's 6" long, has a big head and women love it?"*

And then I got this: 

Who's the luckiest girl in the world? If you guessed me, you win a prize. (But you can't have my book. By the way, I was not the only person walking around Twin River casino with a book. Oh wait. Maybe I was.)

XOXO

* Answer:

I just really like this. There is no hidden message

“‘I love you’ means that I accept you for the person that you are, and that I do not wish to change you into someone else. It means that I will love you and stand by you even through the worst of times. It means loving you even when you’re in a bad mood, or too tired to do the things I want to do. It means loving you when you’re down, not just when you’re fun to be with. ‘I love you’ means that I know your deepest secrets and do not judge you for them, asking in return that you do not judge me for mine. It means that I care enough to fight for what we have and that I love you enough not to let go. It means thinking of you, dreaming of you, wanting and needing you constantly, and hoping you feel the same way for me.”

—Jonathan Safran Foer

Something to think about and 503 words

“You have a choice. You can make things better or make them worse. That’s really all there is to it.”
--from the mighty internets but I don't remember where. Sorry!!!

Came home and fought my so-very-sleepiness long enough to pound out 503 words, words I am actually happy about too! (Making things better!)

In other news, I am blogging from my iPhone. I may have just hit the pinnacle of cool. (Better!)

I have to go now. The Steelers are on! (I hope Ben R is better!)

XOXO

Brain dead

I stayed up too late grading essays last night and now my brain? She is dead.  I thought I needed a jump-start, but the Diet Coke isn't doing it.  Either I need to be hooked up to an IV of pure, uncut caffeine, or... Actually, I don't think there's an alternative except fallling face-first asleep wherever my face falls first.

XOXzzzzzz

Zzzzzzzzz...

Last night I went to bed at 10:00 like a good girl, just like always (except when The Chef is away at Man Camp because there's no one to tell me "Go to bed" so I dont't, but that's a story for another day).

And then I woke up at 2:30.

AM.

In the morning, when even most of my students are asleep.

Yesterday we decorated the tree and the house and it was very fun. We put a clock that gongs the Reader's Digest version of a different Christmas ditty each and every hour on the hour. It's a little jarring if you're not expecting it over the course of the day/evening. It makes you go, "Oh. I didn't realize it was XXX o'clock..." and then you move on. Lather, rinse, repeat on the hour every hour.

I thought it would annoy me in the night time, but it didn't.

When I was asleep it didn't.

When it chimed/gonged/whatevered at 3:00 this morning, that was a little annoying. Same thing at 4:00. I vowed that if I heard that danged thing at 5:00 in the danged morning, I was opening the front door and throwing the clock on the dagnabbit lawn. Luckily for the clock, I finally fell back asleep.

Until 5:38 when the alarm went off. If I weren't so lazy and it was my alarm clock and not The Chef's, I would have thrown that on the lawn. One day, alarm clock. Watch your back, because one day, you're destined for the front lawn.

This is my long-winded way of telling you why I have no word count for you. I spent a good part of the day wishing I could go back to bed and the rest of it face-first asleep on couch. (I hope I didn't drool on the leather.)

Well, asleep on the couch until that effing clock chimed a Christmas carol at me.


XOXO (except for you, clock)

764 words (for now)

I came; I wrote; I showered, got ready to go out, and then went out and partied like the rock star that I am.

Stop laughing.

We are going out later. Probably partying more like a chamber music choir member than a rock star, 'cause that's how I roll!*

It's research for my next book! I pinky swear!

XOXO

*Actually, in the movie Rock Star, wasn't Mark Wahlberg's Chris "Izzy" Cole a member of the church choir?

"When is choir practice?"

The Chef is home from hunting and Man Camp!!!

So no words today. Tomorrow for sure! I'm so close to the ending I can taste it. Yum! Almost as good as the pumpkin pie, which I still regret throwing away.

Catch you on the flip-flop!

XOXO

I'm not too shy to share this with you...

Is it really stealing if I tell you I stole this from Carl King's website?

Myths about Introverts!

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introvert. Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

Penny here again.
I thought I'd share these because they are interesting character traits--characters like in my writing, not like in real life. Who cares about real life? :)

And Penny here from the iPad, so you'll not be getting any pictures from me today!