If you know me in person, you may not be terribly surprised to learn that up until I was about 18 years old, I was rather painfully shy. I was social enough around people I was used to and comfortable with, but if anyone I didn't know ever tried to talk to me, the blush that would bloom on my face in an instant would be powerful enough to heat a room. I have the sort of complexion that's made to blush and, like me at that age, my blush was an overachiever.

I'm still not the most outgoing person ever (big surprise), but I wouldn't call myself shy or easily embarrassed these days. But there were two moments last night when I was surprised to feel embarrassed. The first has to do with this website.

I suppose my natural reservedness is one of the reasons I have never made a big deal about this website to anyone I know in person. I haven't kept it a secret, and I think it's great when people I know show up and make comments and such, but I don't really tend to talk about it much (or at all) in person. I can't remember how the topic came up, but all of a sudden, we were talking about my website. Several of the people Brad and I were out with last night didn't know about it, so there were some questions about it and I felt surprisingly awkward. I really have to get over that.

The second embarrassing thing pretty much has to be written about, because after it happened, there were several comments about how I would have to blog about it today. And so I will.

So last night, we went out with a group of eight (including us). I was ravenously hungry, having barely been able to eat a thing in the past four days and finally gotten my appetite back. We were at Davanni's, where you place your order and then sit down and wait for your name to be called eventually when it's ready. But Brad and I showed up last, and therefore everyone else was getting their food way before we were.

I was ready to chew off a limb, but waited very patiently. (What? I totally waited patiently! I may have compared my stomach to a star imploding in upon itself and becoming a black hole, but I did so in a very patient manner.) Name after name that wasn't mine was being called and meanwhile, our friends were finishing up their food.

Finally, after many agonizing minutes during which I was becoming more and more lightheaded, I heard the sweet sound of my name. And that's when the other seven people at the table spontaneously erupted in loud cheering and clapping. I felt a breeze as everyone in the whole restaurant swiveled their heads in our direction.

After the clapping died down, I was pretty much rendered immobile with embarrassment, so Brad went up to get the food and I think it was Tracy who said, "now you have something to blog about tomorrow!" So of course, in the event that these four people who've never seen this website before decide to show up here, I kinda have to write about this.

Pizza. Mmm, good.

So last night I learned that my blush still works, but it's not nearly as potent as it used to be. And I learned if I'm going to have a website on the internet where anyone in the world can read whatever I'm writing, I've really got to get used the idea that people I actually know might be curious about what goes on here.