A Culinary Big "O"

People tell me I eat like a bird. (Well, minus the worms.) I do have a stomach the size of a golf ball, after all. Three bites of food, I'm full.

Even with my favorite foods, I generally *can't* eat more than a few bites, however much I might want to. That too-full feeling is just too darned uncomfortable and I'm not willing to endure it.

That being said...

Last night, Scott and I ran away from home for a couple hours. 6:30 on a Friday night is a tough time to go out to eat. Just about every restaurant has an hour-plus wait. Thank the good Lord, we got lucky when we finally decided on The Elephant Bar. Immediate seating!!

We both ordered the New York Strip Sandwich -- an 8 oz. strip on toasted garlic bread with a side of fries.

If I could hand out food awards, this one would win "The Big O Replicator". LOL

It. Was. That. Good.

It was so good that I, Official Bird-Like Eater, ate the ENTIRE THING in a matter of minutes. No thoughts about feeling uncomfortably full. No concern for calories. No attention to anything but this most amazing meal ever put in front of me.

Cooked to a perfect and tender medium, I enjoyed this steak more than any I've had at more expensive restaurants. The garlic bread underneath was softened by the juice of the steak and plenty of butter. The garlic... well, garlic makes everything that much better.

I shared one bite, one single itty-bitty bite, with Scott. (Being allergic to just about everything in bread, he eats very little of it anyway.) He fully agreed that it was amazing and then commented (jokingly, I think), "You better share some more with me so we both have garlic breath later."

Normally, this would give me cause to pause. I generally try to go easy on the garlic at dinner... You know, just in case. *wink wink*

This time, I ignored him completely and kept eating. Does that tell you something about how much I loved this meal? Hahahahahahahaha!

And what's more... I finished my entire steak and accompanying garlic bread in less time than it took Scott to eat even half of his.

Ignoring the fries completely, I pushed my plate back, settled my head on the back of the booth and sighed with heavenly satisfaction.

Scott just looked at me, smiling, and then asked, "Do you need a cigarette?"

ROFLOL!

For the love of the iPhone...

"Sorry, Em. If you don't do your workbook when I tell you to, you have to do it when we go out to dinner."

"But, Mom! It's too dark in here! I can't see!"

"Yes, you can. Get to work."

"Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I can't see! My hand is making a shadow and making it hard to see what I'm doing!"

And Mom whips out the Flashlight app on her iPhone.

The kid's plan to avoid her workbook is foiled again!  Wahahahahahahahahaha!

They FINALLY got it right!

Check it out...

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but can you see what it says at the top of the book?

"Vocabulary words for unlocking the SAT, ACT, GED and SSAT."

Brilliant, I say! Simply BRILLIANT!

Studying for ungodly standardized tests is as bad as making cookies and not eating the dough. There's simply no joy in it. I remember clearly the hours of tedium, the hundreds of flashcards, the enormous efforts of rote memorization. No one ever thought to actually make the study process interesting.

Until now!  I must say it again... Brilliant, I say! Simply BRILLIANT!

So "defining Twilight" uses words and phrases from the "Twilight" series to engage students in actually caring about what they're learning! It gives the SAT-quality words along with page numbers and reference points to use in determining context clues. 

It makes the studying process interesting! I didn't actually buy the book seeing as how Hayley is still (only) three years away from taking the SATs, but I might just check it out from the library just to get a kick out of it.

Hhmmm... maybe I should get it for Hayley now anyway. It would really help her Scrabble game. ROFLOL!

Kudos to up-to-speed publisher Cliff Notes! And kudos to author Brian Leaf for capitalizing on the Twilight market. Why did I think of it first? (Oh, the agony of hearing a great idea that wasn't mine!)

Go Team Edward! Or Team Jacob! Or Team I Don't Really Care!

Look ye out fer a new Delicious as Pie feature!

I'm a-fixin' to give you-un's a shout-out on ye special days, be it a birthday, anniversary or first time picking a messa collard greens.

Just cha remember this: If ya don't see yo-self on this here Shout Out, don't go lookin' for a hangin' rope. Just shoot me an email lettin' me know you're a-hankerin' for some attention!

But seein' as hows I dunno many of yarn's birthdays and 'versaries, cha gotta tell me! I'll be a-lookin' fer yer comments!

(If you're wondering about the Southern talk, it's what's in my head right now. I'm re-reading the amazing novel "Christy". And true to form, the speech patterns of characters get stuck in my head and I think that way until I finish the book. Luckily for my family, I don't speak it out loud. Usually. LOL)

One month down...

A month ago today, we left the green glory of the Pacific Northwest. Thank the good Lord it was dark when we left -- otherwise I would have broken down in tears. I'm not so sure the other drivers would have appreciated all sob-induced swerving.

Moonlight hid the beauty, the mountains, the distant snow and the intense green that the P.N.W owns all rights to. And I drove safely south into the dry, brown, scrub-ridden land of Southern California. 


(This photo must have been taken in Spring when the few drops of rain San Diego gets each year have just fallen.)

Some people see beauty when they look out over the umber-hued landscape. They feel their souls fill with the unique joy that intense beauty can bring.

Several years ago, during our original foray in So. Cal, I spoke to my brother shortly after he moved from San Diego to the mountains of Northern California. He was giddy as he described the *green* leaves in the middle of summer and the deer that roamed his neighborhood.

I cried when we finally hung up. Not because I missed my brother, but because I missed soul-filling beauty. I'd felt such beauty when I studied in Scotland and for years, I was convinced that God meant for me to live in Scotland.

I've never made it back, but I have found other land that inspires my imagination. 


Chicago 'burbs? The prairie near our house was awesome to me... a golden, wild, untouched 5 acre field. 


Detroit 'burbs? Yes. And yes. And yes some more. I adore the Michigan land. During the 13 months we lived there, I fell in love with the trees and the water and the snow and the innocence of open land. Not just a "Nature Preserve" like in Chicago or a park like in San Diego, but miles and miles of untainted rivers and forests.


Washington State? Beautiful, without a doubt. Full of possibility, full of farmland, full of water. But it didn't provide the same rush of emotion that Michigan did. But it sure as heck gave my mind a lot of room for inspiration.


Not feeling it here in San Diego. Truth be told, I generally refuse to look at the ugliness around me. If I did, I'd probably change the area's precipitation pattern for the year with all my wailing and gnashing of teeth.


Of course I'm not depending on my surroundings to determine my inner happiness. No, my inner happiness is bolstered by my husband, my daughters (even when they incessantly bicker) and my far-away family. 


And that, my friends, is what I concentrate on when I drive around the area and see nothing but scrub. The only tears this place is going to see are happy ones.