Let's catch up.

Since we last chatted, quite a bit has happened. I made a trip to Texas by bus, enduring many bus trips where a certain couple across the aisle clearly had never heard the phrase "get a room." Of course, the trip also featured many pleasant things, like frantically pointing at the latest herd of cows, staying in homes of very hospitable Southerners who enjoy nothing more than force-feeding you strawberry shortcake, and convincing yourself that it would probably save time to just sleep in your concert black. All in all, a good trip. But it's good to be back.

But as nice as it is to have a routine, it's even nicer when your routine gets interrupted, as mine recently has. Due to all kinds of bizarre circumstances, I'll be going to Memphis next weekend (no, not this weekend) with the Mock Trial team. I'll be playing the role of Timekeeper, an important part, to be sure. Plus, since memorizing the bell schedule and synchronizing my watch down to the second with the school clocks in middle school, I think it'd be safe to say that timekeeping is my passion. So, to Memphis we will go.

And I wouldn't be truly back in the saddle again if I weren't baking. I'm carrying on with the Buffalo Chip Challenge, and if you ask me, it's going fairly well. Round 2 is this week's project, and it is significantly closer to the real deal than Round 1 was. And I would show you a picture, except my camera cord seems to have gone on a little walkabout. But soon, I promise. (Update 3/19: I found it, see?)

They didn't spread much at all. They were not too sweet. I think we're almost there. (The one thing I'm not so sure about is the texture. Mine were more like your normal cookie, whereas the originals were crumbly; when you bite in, your teeth don't compress the cookie at all, they just separate the part of the cookie in your hand from the part of the cookie that will soon be in your tummy. Let's hope that made as much sense to you as it did in my head. Your cookie should stand up to your teeth, show it who's boss.*)

But to hone my procrastination skills just that much more, I've recently discovered a few new food blogs. Exactly what I need, I'm sure. My favorite at the moment: Homesick Texan. Maybe I am one, but more likely is that the food looks perfect. I've already started a list, and I'm kicking it off with this. Followed closely by cookies and cake and cornbread and tomato jam and salsa and, when summer finally rolls around**, lots of peach ice cream. Crank up the ovens, I'm a-coming.

*Clearly, those hours on the bus took a greater toll on my mental faculties than I realized.
**And who decided Illinois could be 81 and sweaty in March?! This is so not what I signed up for.