Breakfast & Blogs

The morning after the night of “food, folks, fun and foolishness” with my dinner guests, one would think that I’d be a pooped puppy. Not so much. It seems like no matter what time I go to sleep I still get up at the same time… the ass crack of dawn (aka somewhere around 5 am or 6 am). Hungover and all, I still managed to make my way to the kitchen to try and make a list of what to cook and what ingredients to get out (I’m one of those list people that has to have a list to start a project. I pride myself on being organized when trying to start and complete a task). To cure the hangover, I drank a couple pouches of @onecoconut (it really does work). With something in my tummy, I could now focus what to make my house guests for breakfast. Four men and their significant others and me; how the hell and what the hell was I going to cook? So I reverted back to my days when I would help my older sister cook for everyone. We’d pretty much cook everything we could think of to try and please everyone’s taste buds. Being the health nut that I am, I first put on my list yogurt, fruit salad, wheat toast…. and then I had a #recordscratchmoment. Who was I kidding, these people loved my chuck roast, mixed vegetables and baked potatoes so much that I didn’t have any leftovers of which to put away. So… I crumpled up that list and tossed it. Then I started a new one. This time, I reverted to my college days as an athlete in the cafeteria. We had everything at our fingertips: cereal (of all kinds), eggs (cooked the way we wanted), bread (a variety), waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, grits (I had never heard of grits ’til I got to college), etc. You name it, the college mess hall had it. So I did what I think anyone else would’ve done. I cooked everything I could think of that would be in a buffet. *shrugs* I didn’t mind it so much, hospitality and service runs in the blood. I’m Polynesian and I pride myself on great hospitality with humility. My parents raised me that way, and every other Polynesian you may come across is the same way (unless they were raised by a pack of wolves or something).

On the menu: scrambled eggs (hard and soft), omlettes (egg whites and regular; cheese and ham, cheese only, loaded), boiled eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, belgian waffles, crepes, pancakes, sliced fruit, Orange Juice, Milk, Cereal (sugary or fiber), Apple Juice, Cran-Apple Light, water, @onecoconut (they needed more than I did. They were more drunk than I was) and some tea and coffee for whoever needed some caffeine.

Every burner was occupied (thank God my mentor had the industrial like kitchen and appliances with 6 burners, 2 convection ovens, 2 microwaves and a regular stove. She hosts a lot of events in her own home), every oven and stove was being used, both her XL skillets were being used. PHEW! I don’t know how I managed, but you can guess that I had music on and I was listening to my island reggae playlist (@jboogmusic, @fijdog, @siaosilive, @Teki801, @miss676, @ekolumusic, @nawaimusic, GrooveOperatah, Laga Savea are a few of my favorite reggae artists).

One by one my houseguests began to pile into the kitchen. However, as I was finishing up with cooking and they were setting up the table, we all notices two people were missing. And before anyone could ask where they were, moaning and groaning could be heard down the halls… echoing throughout the flat… and into the kitchen area. Of all the songs to come on at that moment, Morning Ride by @fijdog (one of my FAVORITE songs IN THE WORLD came on). My friends tell me my iPod is psychic all the time because it plays the perfect song at the perfect time when it’s on shuffle. I’m starting to believe them.

As the couple handled their morning “business”, the peanut gallery and friends were commentating the entire time as if we were sportscasters at a sports event: “Go for the field goal!”, “4th and 10!”, “They’re in the redzone!”, “Let’s get a TOUCHDOWN!”, “2 point conversion please!”, “Rah Rah Sis BOOM BAH, WE CAN HERE YOU FROM THE KITCHEN OOHs and AAHs!” My side was hurting from lauging so much and my facial cheek muscles were sore from smiling and giggling too much as well. But the foolishness and shenanigans were far from over.

Once everyone finally piled into the dining room, I flipped on the big screen projector. I hooked my laptop up to the big screen the previous night because my eyes had been hurting from blogging and tweeting from my phone. I figured seeing things from a movie screen would be better for my eyes. My guests didn’t mind. They were actually quite curious as to what I write about and who inspires me to write. So I shared a few of my blog posts with them. I didn’t think they’d be all that interested, but boy were they ever! They loved a lot of things about my blog and I won’t mention what they’ve said. I’m flattered by what their opinions. They wanted to see my twitter timeline since thats how I accessed my blog. They also wanted to see who I follow and who follows me.

The first tweeter that they noticed was @lefolauga. I told them he’s one of my top 5 favorite bloggers. So they all scurried into the living room area for more comfortable seating as they continued eating their breakfasts. I clicked on a few of my favorite posts of Seti’s. The women “aw-ed” and “oh-ed” at Seti’s pride as a father and husband and how he affectionately mentions his wife (SUPERMOM) in his posts. Needless to say, but important to mention (lol), they all found Seti to be awesome! “does he have any brothers?”, “will his wife share?”, “what I’d do for a man like that!”, “what I’d DO to a man like that!”, “he got any kids? I’ll be a cougar *rawrs*” … LOL so on and so forth. All I could say was “I just know him as a funny tweeter and great writer with great values as a husband and father”. The women continued on and on, but the guys wanted to read other blogs. (haha)

I headed over to @laniwendtyoung blog and shared a few of my favorite of her posts (the women were fighting over the keyboard at this time because they wanted to read more of Seti’s material). The guys ABSOLUTELY loved Lani’s sense of humor and recipes. They were bold enough to agree that their women needed pens and notepads to write down recipes and sites with recipes to improve on their menu at home. If looks could kill, only women would’ve walked out the building that morning (lol). “Is she married?”, “she has kids dude! Of course she’s married!”, “oh, I’ll take them too!”, “she can make me laugh ANY day!”, “she can make me desserts ANY day!”, “why can’t you be like her!”… Maaaaaaan, these men were asking for trouble. I quickly scurried off to another bloggers site before a fight broke out.

I call her my “morning newspaper tweeter”. I always seem to be reading @FatFemPinUp timeline during my breakfast. This day was no different. She was up tweeting a mile a minute and the guests were LOVING her confidence, humor and opinions. So I headed over to her blog to give them a taste of creative feminism. Her poems, her opinions on education and politics, her feminist point of view… they loves what they were reading! “Why the **** she don’t have her own show?”, “Why don’t any of you have your own show?”, “Y’all are better than tv!”, “GET IT GIRL!”. We were like zoo animals roaring, screeching, barking and hissing at the big screen. Good thing my mentor’s flat has concrete walls and ceilings, otherwise I’m sure the police would’ve been called by the neighbors for a noise ordinance violation. I had to log out to get them to finish their meals.

But before I logged out I shared @amuuso blog. Sheesh! Their reactions were all over the place. “Oohs”, “Awws”, “Oh no he didnt!”, “oh yes he did!”, “see how y’all drive us crazy!”, “what’s his status?”, “I could give him some lovin’ he ain’t never had!”, etc. I logged out immediately before they started throwing stuff at each other. I had to remember that there were three couples present and I wasnt going to be the one to break them up for introducing them to my favorite bloggers. Uh uh! Not I said @LyfesLyrics.

Another day of laughter with new friends and sharing with them a few people who inspire me to continue writing and blogging. I’m very grateful for them (my twitter friends and new friends). I’ll be seeing them again for the Chicago Bears vs. Packers home game late September. I’m sure more silliness will ensue because it’s a sports event setting. For now, I was joyful for the time they spent with me during my short stint in St. Louis. I’ll forever be grateful for these memories.

Who inspires you? Will you share with your friends and family who inspires you, in hopes that they’re just as inspired as you?