Month: August 2002

I had a great time at the DFWBLogs Anniversary Party this weekend! You might not think that a meta-vacation would be much fun, but I actually found it to be very refreshing (that is, if my current situation could be considered a vacation at all, harrumph).

I left Dallas around 1:30pm, after having attended the North Texas Linux Users’ Group meeting in the morning. And, the directions that Tina gave to the Winslow’s house were very good — up until the end. One of the last turns was onto Clear Creek Rd. However, that road turned out to not be labeled at all. So, I ended up just taking a guess after having driving back and forth a few times.

In the end, I found it. And, by almost-4:00, when I arrived, I was quite hungry for lunch (I hadn’t anticipate it taking so long to get there). Luckily, the fridge was stocked with meat, so I made myself a chicken sandwich on the grill outside on the deck.

The bread that I found was Milton’s “Healthy Multi-Grain Bread”. Though it’s 99% fat-free, I don’t know if I agree with that “healthy” claim — it has 28g Carbs and 130 Cals/slice, which is about twice that of normal wheat bread. But, you know what? Early on, I had decided that I’d ignore any attempts at healthy eating for the weekend (I wasn't sure if it would even be possible, in any case).

Healthy or not, that is some fine bread. Dense and full of wheat flavor, it was one of the best breads I had ever tasted. And, it’s apparently available at Sam’s Club (which is convenient).

To let you know how much I love it, I have to drive an hour and a half just to find a place close enough to purchase it. I eat it plain, toasted with peanut butter, or on sandwiches. There is such a distance in order to purchase the wonderful bread, that by the time my daughter and I get back in the car to head home, we’ve already got the bag opened and are eating it right out of the package. […]

(just one of Milton’s bread fans)

As the house was right down on the lake, we made full use of that as well. I didn’t go swimming on the first day, but I did enjoy a boat ride. The Winslow’s have a smallish motorboat that can hold maybe eight people (with padded benches along each side of the boat). Anyhow, that first boat ride was in the evening, and we were able to enjoy the moonlight glistening across the waves in the lake. It was very pretty to look at, and I sure yearned for a camera at that moment (damn this lack-of-a-paycheck).

I went to bed around 12:30, I think, which was earlier than some but later than others. With about ten people in total (maybe more?), there weren’t enough beds to go around. So, I found a fold-out foam bed upstairs and made use of that (you know, one of those foam beds that folds back into a chair, and actually isn’t very suitable in either function).

I woke up with some back pain, but a few ibuprofens took care of that. For breakfast, there was bacon and Pillsbury Grands (along with scrambled eggs, and perhaps a few other breakfast foods that I don’t remember).

Now, being that they were Pillsbury, I would never buy Grands on my own. However, since the purchase was already made, I had some (I can be pragmatic at times). The Grands were fluffy and almost creamy in texture (full of fat, I&rquo;m sure, but recall that I was ignoring healthy foods for the weekend). To my surprise, though, the Grands were perceptively sweet as well. Now, they weren’t cake-sweet, but a level above what bread would normally be. I wasn’t turned off by the sweetness, and actually it was rather nice.

I had a turkey sandwich for lunch (again with Milton’s bread), and a couple hot dogs in the afternoon with Connie. I used the grill, once again. I hadn’t cooked hot dogs on a grill ever before (previously, other people were the chefs for hot dog grilling). I happened to align the hot dogs perpendicularly to the slats in the grill, but I wasn’t sure whether parallel alignment would have made for different cooking times (of note: the propane spouts were in a line running from left-to-right along the width-center of the grill).

As a post-lunch treat, I made some s’mores over the grill. I just placed a couple marshmallows on the two-pronged grill fork and roasted away. And, for some reason, Connie was surprised that I wanted to make s’mores in the summer (?). In any case, they were still tasty.

With dinner, Tina made a salad with avocado. I really liked that, as I’m a big avocado fan to begin with. After my first helping of salad, I went looking for some more. There was more salad but no further avocado present. At that point, Leia offered that there was a spare avocado left over (apparently, just one avocado went into the salad). I thought to myself “Why use a middle-man?” and proceeded to just eat the whole avocado plain (with a touch of salt, of course). Ooh, so delicious.

Lest I forget, throughout the weekend there were also Nestle Drumsticks. Drumsticks, of course, are those ice cream cones that come dipped in chocolate and peanuts. Over the course of the weekend, I probably had two or three drumsticks. The only downfall to Drumsticks is that the ice cream (and chocolate) aren’t the type that are very flavorful when fully frozen. After having learned this (after eating the first one), I made sure to let each Drumstick “ripen” on the counter for a few minutes before eating.

Other than getting lost a little on the way there, I had a great time all weekend, from start to finish.