Why?

It seems like every toddler's favorite question is "Why?" When I babysit small children I often feel like I am being interrogated. Why are you here? Because Mommy and Daddy are going out for a little bit. Why are they going out? I think they are going to dinner. Why? I guess they are hungry. Why? Don't you get hungry before dinner? Mommy and Daddy do too. Why? Because our tummies are empty. Oh, ok.

And just like that the questions end. You can never be sure of what answer will be the one that just seems to explain everything to that small child, but when you find it, all is right and they are perfectly content with the fact that Mommy and Daddy are going out to dinner because they are hungry and their tummies are empty.

Lately I have been thinking about why I blog. Could I not just as easily write in a journal or a never-ending word document that I keep private? Yes. I could. But when I read on someone's blog the other day that she blogs "simply because she enjoys it" I thought to myself, "Hey, I think that is exactly why I do it too."

Blogs, good blogs, offer both the author and the reader something unique that no "Dear Diary..." ever could. For the author, there is some type of adrenaline rush from posting something on the vast abyss of the internet. Original thoughts, belonging solely to the author, lying in wait to be read by anyone who happens to stumble upon the web page. There is a sense of hope that the author's words will resonate with just one other person, anywhere on the earth, and evoke the same emotions the author felt while writing.

For myself as a blog reader, the fact that a person's writing or pictures can make me feel as if I know them personally is amazing. Some might argue that good books are capable of this type of transcendence too. The difference though, is that blogs can be followed and read in "real time." I can follow someone's blog from beginning to most-recent-post, as opposed to the end that inevitably comes with every good book.

It also helps that anyone can create a blog, no publishing house required.

Writing and reading, posting and commenting, creates an interaction, a relationship if you will, between reader and author. It just stuns me that a blog, as impersonal as it could be, can lead to such an intimate connection with another human being. A human being one may never actually know in person, but someone you can still laugh with, cry with, get angry with, or empathize with as if you were close friends.

A good blog, is an honest blog. And I think that can be difficult for people to create. It is hard to set aside a fear of judgment and stop worrying about what people will think of what you write. This is something I find very difficult, but I want to try harder to overcome this fear. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.

I have read countless blogs but there are only two that I make a point of following and reading regularly: "Don't Waste Your Cancer" and "Enjoying the Small Things. These blogs are some of the most honest blogs I have found and that is what's kept me reading. I have followed the first blog since the end of August, just a few weeks after the first post was ever published. The second blog I found more recently but whenever I have a few extra minutes of time, I sit and read a post or two, trying to get caught up. You should check them out - who knows, they might inspire you to start your own blog, or journal, or eternal word document of original thought. It offers quite a release once you actually get in the swing of it and let yourself go.

Why do I blog? I simply enjoy the freedom it rewards me with.

P.S. - Notice those neat links, my blog skills improved exponentially once I figured out how to put those bad boys in there!

sNOw Classes?

I want a snow day. I really want a snow day.

A snow day is the best excuse to do the following:

Sleep in late.
Make pancakes or waffles and eat a leisurely breakfast.
Stay in pajamas - all day.
Watch movies, especially rom-coms or chick flicks.
Bake just for the sake of baking.
Read for pleasure, certainly not for classes.

A snow day should never be used for any of the following:

Exorbitant amounts of studying.
Extra workouts or exercise activities.
Excessive shoveling or ice removal from vehicles/driveways/walkways.
Any activity that could be deemed highly productive.

It seems like every student has a different ritual to bring about the elusive snow day. Until I came to college I had no idea that by wearing my pajamas to bed inside-out or performing a "snow dance" would really, truly increase the chance of a school cancellation. You see, I went to Catholic school. What ritual did I perform? Prayer, duh. In high school, I tended to switch out some Our Fathers or Hail Marys for the following:

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus,

I swear that I did not intentionally put off studying for my Bioethics test until 11:30pm. It's just that Gossip Girl was on and then I had to finish my calculus homework and then I wanted a snack and then before I knew it I had spent forty minutes on Weather.com checking the hour-by-hour forecast. By the way, they're calling for snow, just saying. So...please, cancel school tomorrow...so...please convince Sister Mary Grumpypants that NDA should be closed...so...please if You give me a snow day I promise I will never ever ask for another one ever again - until the next time I have a test and snow is in the forecast...

Also, is snow really the angels having a big pillow fight? That would make sense since thunder happens when you're all bowling up there and rain is when the sprinklers are turned on in heaven...

Amen.

S'moregasm Casserole

Do you like s'mores? Do you have an oven-safe dish and access to an oven? If the answer to both those questions is "yes" go to the nearest supermarket and purchase Teddy Grahams, mini marshmallows, and chocolate chips. No really, go. GO NOW!

My cousin Brian told me about "S'moregasms," a dish he first tried when his college roommate made them at school last semester. This is quite possibly one of the easiest, tastiest, and cutest (those little bear shaped graham crackers are insanely adorable) things ever to make.

The first thing I did was set the oven to broil on "low."

Next all you have to do is layer the ingredients in a dish. I did two layers each of Teddy Grahams, chocolate chips, and marshmallows, in that order.The casserole dish I used is on the smaller side, but I the regular size box of Teddy Grahams was just the right amount.

Don't worry, that little bear isn't scared - he's excited!

Once you've got everything in the dish (prep time is about 2.7 seconds), pop the dish of campfire-deliciousness in the oven and try not to drool while waiting.

I set a timer for 10 minutes but I couldn't wait that long so after about 7 minutes I reset the oven to broil on "high" and paced back and forth for another 2 minutes...

Broil, baby, broil!

Finally! The marshmallows were perfectly toasted, the chocolate chips were melted and gooey, and the bears? Those gosh darn bears were still frighteningly cute under all that marshmallow-chocolate goodness!

S'MOREGASMIC!

C'est progrès!

This semester, French has become a class I actually do not dread going to in the afternoon. Why? Most likely it is because my French teacher is awesome. She is a retired high school language teacher with a southern accent you only hear in movies - less twang and more wholesome, southern belle. Of course the southern accent disappears when she speaks in French. It is replaced with the "ooh-la-la" factor that makes the French language très chic.

She is also hysterical.

When going over vocabulary words for food we spent a few minutes repeating the French words for cheese, blue cheese, and goat cheese. Madame Rose then asked if anyone could think of another typical French cheese. Plenty of people said "brie?" Madame Rose's response, cue southern accent: "Oh my goodness! Do y'all really know what brie is? Lever le doigt (lift your finger, like American's "raise your hand") if you have heard of brie!" Everyone in the class had heard of brie. This amazed Madame Rose who then told us, "Y'all when I was your age, no family in America just had brie sitting in the refrigerator. We didn't even have feta cheese that often! Oh my, this is progress!"

For a brief moment, with my knowledge of brie, I felt like a real Francophone. Merci, Madame Rose! What progress we have made!

Class Act

Today was the first day of classes for spring semester. Just about three and a half months until final exams! A new semester is like a fresh start. My roommate overheard two people in the library today and their conversation sounded something like this:

“What are you doing in the library?!?”

“Oh man, I plan on being here a lot this semester.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, it’s like I’ve turned over a new leaf!”

I think the thought of a new semester brings about somewhat bipolar thoughts for students. Yes, it is a chance to start with a blank slate in new classes. However, it is also the start of a whole daunting list of assignments, papers, tests, etc. that can leave one’s head spinning.

Maybe the “new leaf” attitude is the best one to have though. Remaining positive is half the battle, right? I prefer to have positive people sitting next to me in class than the people who introduce themselves just by saying “o.m.g.i’m.gonna.like.legit.fail.this.class.like.o.m.g.” With that type of attitude (and excessive use of abbreviations) you might as well just start preparing yourself for that failing grade.

A positive attitude and general common sense of course. I mean, you don’t want to be like the kid my brother knows, who in high school registered for “Guitar Ensemble” because he thought it would be cool to learn how to make a guitar…

Have Sprinkles, Will Travel

Cookies in the (probably needs to be cleaned) oven -

where the magic happens if you know what I mean....

Oh dear, these cookies look naked!

Mmmmm, such delicious advertising. Hingham Physical Therapy -
"Great People, Deserve Great Care."
(The receptionists there sure are great too!)

Are your hands cold? Eat a cookie!

Those tacky, colored-lights look delicious!
(My apologies if you and your family use colored-lights.)



Oh hey reader, you're a star!!!!!



Why do you look so angry? Do you not like cookies?

How about some adorable cupcakes instead!

Or perhaps a bouquet of flowers?

There it is: My application/resume for a summer job in any bakery.
Yum.

Bloggy Blog Blog

I’ve gone back and forth about starting another blog. Last year I kept my first blog ever to receive “Experiential Learning” credit for school as I studied abroad. It was a good way to keep friends and family updated on what I was doing gallivanting across Ireland and mainland Europe, as well as helping me preserve the details of my travel memories.

This past semester I started bopping around on Blogger to read others’ blogs. It’s way more productive than idling away on Facebook….sort of. Reading posts by other people actually made me miss my own blogging days of yesteryear. So I began to think – why not start a new blog?

Reasons not to start a blog:

1. Commitment: Starting a blog means actually posting on it. Those of you who followed my past blog know this may have been an area I struggled with a bit – oops.

2. Boring: Ok, sorry fellow bloggers, but some of you are just boring. If I can’t even finish reading one post without getting distracted, you’ve lost me as a reader.

3. ME ME ME: Sometimes blogs become an outlet for an individual to become completely self-centered in what she writes about. The world really should revolve around me, but it doesn’t (unfortunately) and a blog should not revolve solely around me either.

Those are three pretty good reasons not to start a blog. I’ve mulled it over though and finally I’ve decided: What the heck! If I want to blog, gosh darnit I’ll blog! So whether you read it or not, it’s here. I’ve got high hopes for this blog. Tales of family and friends, heroes and heroines, wins and losses, love and heartache, comedy and tragedy…did I leave any other cheesy clichés out?

Get ready 2011, it’s gonna be blogtastic!!!!!