Finally Friday

So CBS is working on a new baking show and just had open calls for amateur bakers. They only had 5 cities available and only one of them was in a place where I knew people who were willing to help me out with transportation and board, so Dallas it was. Actually, it was Austin, but that was close enough. I was going to update everyone while I was on the road, but I have a limited amount of patience for typing long entries on the smartphone, so that didn't pan out.

Now that I am back home and have a computer at my disposal, here's how the past weekend went down. I left a bit later than I wanted because the kids weren't feeling great and needed extra cuddles, but I got out the door at a reasonable time. Traffic was a bit heavier than usual for that time of day, but I made it to the airport, got checked in and headed for security. The line was really backed up and moving slow. Odd since they have 6 stations to check IDs, but not so odd when I realized they were only using 1 person for each side. As my plane was starting to board, they added a couple more people and the pace picked up.

When I got through security (thank goodness I didn't get pulled for a random bag check) I had to wait for the train to get me to my gate. I'm so glad they did away with the mobile lounge that used to take forever. As was to be expected, my gate was on the far end and the clock was ticking. If you were puzzled by a blur racing through the concourse and swearing softly, that was me. I didn't dare swear loudly, I'm too out of shape and needed the oxygen. I got to the gate as they were starting to wrap things up and slid through just under the wire. Turned out I was not the last person to board which made me feel a bit better. They really did not want to be delayed leaving, so the attendant stuck me in the closest aisle seat instead of the middle seat I had reserved.

As it turned out, this was not a bad option. We flew out of town, leveled off and they served us our drinks. I had been too nervous to eat a proper breakfast, so I opted for the tomato juice and a water. So there we were, enjoying our beverage and the view of the clear blue sky when we hit a speed-bump. At the first bounce, I picked up my juice. I had my hand poised to lift my water off the tray when we started bouncing like a puppy at a kitten-fest and there went my ice water onto the floor. When things settled back down, I cleaned the ice out of the aisle and waited for a replacement. I could see our attendant carrying on an animated conversation with the lead attendant and it didn't look good. When he came back our way, he explained that he would bring replacement drinks shortly, but that at the moment they were helping the folks back by my original seat. Those folks had gotten the worst of the turbulence and were covered in sodas and juices.

The rest of the flights were pretty uneventful and I got picked up at the airport in Austin in time to grab lunch. My friends always do Torchy's on Fridays, so I had Torchy's Tacos for lunch. I don't know about the rest of the menu, but I can vouch for the carnitas tacos. Mine were so heaped with meat that I couldn't fold it up. I dug in with a fork instead and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, it was off to another friend's house to bake my goodies for the baking contest. I made my Tunnel of Fudge cake that has become the go-to favorite for birthdays at work and I cranked out a batch of buttermilk scones with homemade lemon curd. In between, I was treated to some amazing baked ziti which was absolutely wonderful. Some of the most wonderful people call Austin "home" and I was fortunate enough to get to spend time with them.