food for thought: Rain!

This has been one of those weeks where no amount of sleep is enough. I went to bed last night before 9, and I woke up at 5:30 and I'm still tired. I could make a daunting list of all the thoughts swimming in my mind, but I don't particularly care to right now. Instead, I'm heading towards distraction-ville. Where I won't think about the fact that it's going to be a straight up rain storm on Sunday, the day I signed up to run a crazy 13.1 miles in Monterey. Check it out:

 

from weather.com

  Yep.

So, I would like a distraction. That's where the lovely internet comes into play.

Food for Thought

My food/life/whatever blog is pretty much a youngin. It hasn't been around very long and I'm always looking for ways to make it better,  to have more fun blogging and all that jazz. I've read quite a few posts about it on other blogs, but none as succinct, honest and enjoyable as this one. 
I especially like his suggestion about recipes that work- I tried a penne with cheese pasta last night from a food blog that tasted good but looked like vomit, I'd never serve it to a crowd, and I'm not sure I want to check out that blog again.

Do you ever have to ask people what date would work best for them for a family gathering, meeting, vacation, coffee talk? I hope so! If not, you may be bossy. Telling people when to meet and what to do.. I know you. If you want their opinion in the planning process- I highly suggest this site for a quick, easy survey of dates when people are free. I really love it!  (and the name. doodle? Come on! Could you love it any more?)

Wreaths. Love them, or hate them? I'm going through a 'love them' phase right now. I was insanely jealous of everyone's kooky Halloween wreaths a while back and now I am bound and determined to acquire a fabulous one for the winter festivities- I'm using these as inspiration.

And this. This Chicago deep dish pizza is on my list 'to make very, very soon but probably not until December soon'.

My husband is an avid mountain biker and our lovely, large dog sometimes gets to go with him on his adventures- here is another biking duo that is almost as cute as the duo I live with. This video really made me smile, it was just what I needed. Isn't little Lily just the cutest darn thing?

I woke up this morning and sauntered out to the kitchen to get a cup of glorious coffee, only to notice I hadn't left the coffee pot in the coffee maker which had done it's job and automatically made the coffee I diligently prepared last night- all over the counter, the floor..

After cleaning that mess up, I made another pot of coffee and decided to start my day with a bit of chocolate. You would agree that that was the wisest choice at the time, wouldn't you? Here's the kicker. It's not just chocolate. It's like holiday happiness in a wrapper, it's the most amazing chocolate to grace my kitchen junk drawer (that's where I hide my chocolate, shh). A good friend of mine recently traveled to the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon and was willing to share a bit of this, holy moly delicious chocolate, and I suggest you get on that website and buy some yourself. It's amazing, really. I take teeny tiny bites so as to savor the bar for days. Mm. It's gingerbread chocolate for goodness sakes! I'm not sure how I survived so many holiday seasons without it.

I teach a lot about writing, in 6th grade writing can be such a blast and I think literary devices make it even more fun- but so hard to teach at times. I think I need a big print of this in my classroom- it sums the literary devices up so well!

Is anyone else as excited about Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me getting a tv show? If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you are missing out my friend.

That's quite a bit of distraction, just the perfect recipe for my tired mind and hopefully yours, not that I hope you are tired.. you know what I mean.

Enjoy!
-m