Puts Hair On Your Chest

Oatmeal, that is. And quite effectively (or so I'm told). It's also my breakfast-of-choice for the month of November.

My weekend was productive. I like that in a weekend. There was coffee and letter writing and great running weather. It has also been great eating weather. It's chilly enough that have to bundle up, but you arrive at Commons wanting warm grub. On the way out, you can bask in the warmth of your own digestion all the way down the Chapin steps before you noticethe chill. Across the office, Californian Quinn is oozing joy that we made it through October without any of the white, fluffy stuff as it did last October. Snow-shmoe. I say it's pleasant.

Speaking of pleasant things, I did some serious eating tonight. The Cross Country team is traditionally hosted by Coach Dave's family at their lovely home in Pecatonica, IL each season for a little something we call "The Breakfast of Insanity." Sunday night dinner is always a challenge with the dining hall closed (as you read every week on the blogs), but today my main challenge was leaving enough room to, erm, fully appreciate the meal. I dined on stuffed blueberry french toast, spinach quiche, hash browns, pumpkin bread, and homemade applesauce. Those of us who were more carnivorously inclined polished off the greater part of a pig in bacon. All of us left drowsy. Thank you, Mrs. Eckburg.

With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon, everyone is scrambling to make plans and looking forward to seeing family and friends at home. It's not a bad study plan, but I'm taking a new tact this year: I'm studying my way towards mashed potatoes. Starch is an excellent and seasonally appropriate motivator. Try it out. Add garlic. Add butter. It's delicious.