A Spring Break Beginning

And so with Spring here and around the corner...I hit the road to spend time in Rogers, AR with Justin.

We have had a wonderful first day together. We woke up late and actually got to sleep in for a change, which has been glorious!! Then we decided to go to Panera for a little coffee and newspaper reading. Little shopping. Getting lost in the antique wooden bookshelves of a wonderful bookstore in downtown Fayetteville. Now we are sitting on a comfy leather couch at a terrific coffee shop called Common Grounds.

VERY LOWKEY!!

Very NICE!!!

I am so at ease and relaxed. It has been a great day and looking to be a wonderful evening with friends. Even though we have snow falling down outside...yes SNOW!!! But it is probably one of those kinds that will melt as the daffodils have already wildly bloomed and started to brightened our doorstep. It will be warm before we know it. It is truly a pretty sight looking out the window and seeing the big flakes fall and knowing that there is not a care in the world...

Just sitting here, sipping this delicious coffee next to the man I adore and knowing that all is right and good in the world!!

An odd random musing...

I went out with my friend Patti last night for drinks. It had been such long time since I had been out and carried on a indepth conversation with a friend. I have missed that. I have found myself in sucha hermit state here lately...

Have you ever found that there is a public perception of who you are and who people expect you to be? I think I shocked a few of my students the other day...

There are times where I find myself in an odd predicament. It usually hits me when I am in a place where I know no one...whether it is at a party or a bar or even in a coffee shop. Preconceived notions would expect that I would be considered an outgoing person and feel right at home, speaking and talking with folks, and getting to know those around me. Actually it is the contrary. I become kind of reclusive and a wall flower of sorts. This later statement shocked my students.

I am more apt to be the one who does not step outside the box and introduce myself if I am in an uncomfortable unkown environment. It is this that I am battling being in a new landscape. I find myself out of sorts at times, trying to find my way in a new city. I am finding that I am less apt to go out and meet people and go out and explore. I may have relied on the idea of safety, of work, of being so busy to get myself to this time and place and not having gone out.

In the past, it has been this uncomfortability that people latch on to and come to harsh decisions that I am stuck-up, snobbish, or rude. It is this comment that hurts. It is the contrary. It truly is that I am just so damn uncomfortable in public situations where I am meeting people left and right and trying so hard to remember names, when I am more of a facial rememberer. I do not feel that I am a smoozer and could never be a used car salesman or go back to work in retail where I am selling something. Maybe I do hold my own in public situations and am over-reacting. Maybe I am just tired and have a low tolerance level at times? Who knows?

i know that it will happen in time. I will get out and meet people in public functions and find myself in more comfortable ground. However, it is tiring to me and I find myself wanting to be more of a hermit at times to protect myself...but I have to force myself to put on that personae that says approachability. Especially with my students.

Keep myself open to the possibilities. Keep myself open to those around me.

PEEPS SEASON IS HERE!!

I have to admit...
I have an addiction...

I do enjoy an occasional soft sugary yummy goodness known as Peeps! Yes it is true.

I know you are shocked.

I think what got me hooked was my grad school mentor, now friend, Tom Bernard. Tom used to get almost giddy knowing that Easter was right around the corner. I remember coming down into the costume shop at NDSU and seeing carton upon carton upon carton of the sugar birds sitting on his cutting table. And he would carry on a conversation with me, while eating not just one bird, but a whole tray...

Yes 5 birds at a time.

Now I will tell you that I am not THAT addicted...but I do enjoy an occasional yummy treat.

They have Peep photo sites...place your Peeps in funny settings. Hysterical!

We have had ritualistic "Welcome Spring" moments that include Peeps on the Grill. Nothing funnier than watching those little birds begin to expand and then sag into between the grates.

Peeps in the microwave...

Boiled Peeps...kinda lack luster in comparison. And now that I read this...kinda morbid and demonic. And a waste of a good treat.

But the ULTIMATE??

Peeps Smores...The sugar gets a little crunchy and almost carmelized...meets graham cracker and Hershey's chocolate...YUMMY...

So perhaps it is the sugar rush...but I am always excited to see the little sugar critters appear on the shelves...knowing that the blades of grass are on their way.

Favorite color of this season??? Tangerine!! Just AWESOME!