this is how i’m doing: in case you were wondering…

I’ve heard great things about their Sunday brunch, and in about 9 hours I’ll be experiencing it first hand.  Maybe I’ll sneak in a run before brunch… maybe. Do I have to mention how much I love food?

Went and saw my buddy Corey and his band play in Allen last night — dude, Mustang Sally is still probably my fav.

*EDIT* — I did get in a run this morning and it was wonderful - now off to brunch!

**EDIT AGAIN ** — It was definitely worth it - best brunch I’ve ever had!

Do you have enough iron in your diet?  A quick way to check is to look in the cabinet with your pots and pans and look for your cast iron skillet.  Don’t have one?  Then you need more iron in your diet.

Mine was $20 at Target and has got to be my favorite piece of cookware.  Weighing in around 5 pounds, it’s not exactly light which is good.  That bulk holds on the heat like no other and will give you forearms of steel as you maneuver the thing from stove to oven to sink to campfire.  In the mornings I cook homemade (alright, home COOKED) tortillas on it.  It’s great for pan frying anything worth pan frying and makes the absolute best cornbread.  Go get one today, and become an Iron Chef.

Can I take a moment to tell you how much I absolutely LOVE food?  Of course I can.

I absolutely, without a doubt love to eat.  I love the mix of flavors, textures, colors, aromas — eating is hands down my favorite pass time.  If I could redesign American culture I would center it on the dinner table.  I am convinced that Americans are overweight not because we don’t count our calories but because we don’t appreciate the art of cooking and eating food.  Why shouldn’t eating be an art?  It’s a beautiful thing when a great wine or beer is matched perfectly (or even not so perfectly) with a meal.  It is a wonderful event when you’ve eaten the perfect portion and you push back from the table fully satisfied and convinced that God created food and drink for our enjoyment.  How unfortunate is the soul that is imprisoned to a life of artificial this and diet that!

My future wife will not have to be a woman that can cook, but one who can eat… and preferably one who doesn’t mind cleaning

Well, I’m back. In case you didn’t know I was in Baltimore since Thursday for work. Well, it was a conference — so I guess it was really for “work”. Here’s a summary:

I stayed here (and had a beer) — The Renaissance Harborplace hotel where I racked up major Marriott rewards points.
I ate fish and chips and drank beer here — the Wharf Rat English Pub.
I also ate seafood and drank beer here — M & S Grill
And I ate seafood and drank beer here — The Rusty Scupper
Oh, and I ate REALLY good seafood (but no beer) here — Legal Seafood.

Between eating great seafood and trying new beers I also went to a bunch of sessions on academic advising and stuff like that. The conference was actually really good — I learned a lot about my current profession and look forward to putting some of my newly acquired knowledge into practice. Well, that’s about it. I had a blast and now I’m going to bed because I’ve got to go back to work in the AM. I should have taken the day off…

Guys, keep praying for our brothers and sisters held hostage in Afghanistan - pray that they are light in a dark, dark place.

I did something yesterday that I said I would never do. I got on a roller coaster. Two if we’re counting. Seventeen years ago was the last time I had been to Six Flags of Texas; I was eight. It was definitely an experience like no other. If you’re wondering which two I rode they were Batman:The Ride and Flashback. No, I did not scream like a little girl - (although apparently I screamed like a middle aged man). After those two I was feeling pretty tough until my mind took over and started looking at the loops and drops of Mr. Freeze and the Titan - I had enough roller-coasting for one day.

So why was I at Six Flags some may ask. Most probably will not, but for the few that might I’ll subject everyone to the answer. Justin and Angela are getting married on Saturday so we had Justin’s bachelor party at Six Flags yesterday. Hands down, THE most fun I’ve had at a bachelor party. I don’t understand why people complain about waiting in line for rides - I think our longest wait was 5 minutes… two words - orange wristband.

After the thrills in Arlington we headed into downtown Dallas hoping to find some good eats. After wandering around in circles for nearly an hour we happened upon a 3 story Mexican grill named the Iron Cactus. This place was worth the aimless wandering. The blackened ahi tuna fish tacos were simply splendid. The Mexican Chocolate Mousse - heavenly. It was one of those meals that makes me think “Man! God is Good!” Our God is the God of the stars and the universe but he also created taste buds - and for that I am most grateful.

In other news, I found out last night from one of our pastors that the Village is going to be planting a church… in Austin! Oh, it gets better. This is going to be a joint venture with the Village Church and Hill Country Bible Church in Austin (Yes, for those of you that know him this is where Michael Dennis is at). I’m excited. Jacob, the pastor guy who was telling me this, is going to be moving down there in about 4 weeks with his family and they plan to officially launch the church in fall 2008. I asked Jacob if he had heard of IHOP (which he had) and told him about my buddy Felipe who is working at AHOP. With the things that the Spirit is doing through AHOP, HCBC, Hope Chapel and now the Village - Austin is going to be a VERY “interesting” place in the coming years.