Day 44 - Re-entering the Grind

Mega: Back to work. Ate corn nuts, which, sadly, was the highlight of my work day. Did get a lot accomplished though! Then met up with my honey and we went and bought polish sausages and tater tots at the store. Tonight we dined like every 5 yr old child dreams about and it was glorious. That is until it made us sick. I probably shouldn't have put as much cheese as I did on my tots.

Day 43 - Last Day in TX

Mega: Didn't do much on my last day. Had Greek yogurt w/ a banana and granola. That was tasty. Oh, and Dad BBQed some bacon for me, which was really nice. I pretty much spent the rest of the day going through boxes and packing. Pretty blah. Did make it to the airport on time and bought some yummy treats. Texas is big on the pecans so I bought some turtles, pralines, and pecan brittle to bring home and "share." One thing that the airport really lacked was books to buy. It seems that Texans think that magazines are books. So, it took me a while to find a cruddy book to read. Not a big deal.

Oh, did receive two awesome surprises. 1) Low came into the airport to pick me up, which was great! I was even thinking about how nice that would be if he did and low and behold, he was there. Love it! And 2) Low shampooed the carpets in my apartment!! I have been talking about that for a while and was waiting until the rainy season was over so that I wouldn't just turn around and track more dirt in. He, being the sweetheart he is, went out and rented a cleaner and did it for me. I love that man sooooo much!!

Day 42 - Sending Low off Chuy Style

Mega: Went to our first Mexican restaurant in forever. It was called Chuy's and it was okay. The waitress was really nice and the salsa pretty hot and tasty. Other than that...nothing much. But it was our send off meal for Low as he flew back to the City a day before yours truly. Afterward, we went home and I ate the rest of my ice cream that we bought the previous day. Hagen makes this awesome honey and vanilla ice cream. SOOOO GOOOODDDDD!!!! I porked out on that and an ice cream bar. :)

Day 41 - Mosquitos & Crickets

Mega: So, I'm being eaten alive. The mosquitos here lllluuuuuuvvvvvvv me. More specifically, my calves, arms and even my thumb. Augh!! The itchiness is driving me loco. As revenge, Low and I bought some crickets at the Lady Bird Wildflower Center Store and ate them with my dad and bro. They were flavored...sour cream and onion. Very crunchy.

Low: Mega is a vocal sufferer. But in her defense, she has eight bites on one calf. Mosquitos apparently prefer white meat because I am relatively bite free. I have been bitten, but maybe a total of three or four times. I'd say the crickets were good, but it's really not so much the crickets that are good as it is just have something crunchy that is flavored with sour cream and onion. The crickets are just a flavor vehicle.

Day 40 - Home Cooked Meal

Mega: Had my first home cooked meal in years. My dad made broccoli, salad, and for the main course...blackened mahi mahi and scallops. It was fantabulous!! The only downer was that my dad put Kikkoman's soy sauce in his ginger dressing. For those of you unaware of gluten...Kikkoman's uses wheat in their soy sauce; so, it's a no no. Overall, two thumbs up. And had Hagen Daz ice cream bars for desert.

Low: The blackened fish was a treat. I think I will have to convince Mega to get the recipe from her dad. He's a great cook. As we were all eating and enjoying our blackened fish we were talking about how lots of people say "I don't like fish" and never give it a try. There are just so many types of fish, and they are all delicious in different ways. I can buy into someone not liking a particular kind of fish, but to say that you hate all fish is just a little much. I think we all just need to be a little more adventurous in our eating. I will gladly risk having a few bad meals if it means that I get to discover some really great foods and recipes. Getting off soapbox now.

Day 39 - The Salt Lick

Mega: Had Texas BBQ and it was deeelish. That's probably b/c we went to G.W.Ya's favorite place, The Salt Lick. And for those of you who do not know G.W.Ya, it's President G.W.Ya Bush. Yeeeeee hawwwww!! We ordered beef briskets, pork ribs, sausage, and turkey with sides of bread, coleslaw, beans, pickles, and onions. Let's just say, I may have overate a little...

Low: Salt Lick and overeating are mutually exclusive in every sense. I would have to say that the pork ribs were my favorite. Also I like the ambience of the place with the great big BBQ pit out in the open where you can see it. We were trying to clandestinely take pictures of the pit and when the employees saw us they told us to go right on back and take a look and even offered to take photos of us. I guess that's some of that Texan hospitality we've heard about.

Day 38 - Texxxaaasssssss

Mega: Arrived in Texas last night and discovered that dieting in vacation is really hard. Really hard. So, since there has been no improvement with my overall belly health, I texted Low to see if it'd be cool if we bag the diet until I figure out what is truly wrong with my innards. It's hard to rule out food allergies when you feel crummy all the time. Low's response, "I agree. I don't think the diet will help you with your stomach bugs. We should just try not to go crazy. With the exception of Texas BBQ of course." So, I added pork and tomatoes in and no response. However, we went to the pizza place, and though I ordered gluten free crust...kinda forgot to ask about the BBQ sauce. I don't think it did, but dunno.

Low arrived also. Yay! Thankfully his flight wasn't too late and it did give us an interesting opportunity to park by a motel that had the El Tenampa Bar next door. The sign had this awesome gal with a bikini on. Looks like a great place to hang out and meet people...