Attack of the Lardons!

I apologize for depriving my faithful readers of new posts for the past few days. Friday was fairly boring, as I worked until 8, ate lunch by myself (outside) and then goofed off in a non-descript manner when I got home.

Saturday night, I got home too late to blog. I went with SH to JG and BK's wedding. In the afternoon, my dad and I drove to the Governor's Club, which is south of Chapel Hill, in Chatham County. Given my propensity for getting lost my mom argued that this was a good idea. Eventually, I relented. It was a good idea. While the directions weren't that complicated, there is a funny little jog that you have to do around the Carolina Inn and one of the roads is poorly marked. Plus, it was nice to drive through the Governor's Club "gated community" when I wasn't in a hurry. It's an incredibly ritzy neighborhood with several million dollar houses. You can interpret that sentence either way and it's accurate. One of the houses, in particular, is at the top of the highest hill and must have a spectacular view. I later learned at the reception that it cost 4 million and the buyers paid in cash. All the yards are perfectly neat and landscaped with lots of blooming azaleas. The one thing that seemed inconsistent was that the main road was poorly maintained concrete that was falling apart. It was 2 miles from the entrance to the clubhouse, so this whole place was enormous and like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Later, that evening, I met SH in the parking lot for the club house. We went inside and had plenty of time to find the appropriate ballroom. The back wall of the room was all glass, so BK and JG were married in front of a lovely view of the golf course. Afterwards, we enjoyed hors d'oeuvres. We talked to random people and one of SH's friends and her boyfriend. I also got to talk to DS, which was great, since I'd only seen him on Orkut since graduation. Afterwards, we went to a different ballroom for a sit-down dinner. We all had an absolutely delicious crab bisque. I had tuna and it was excellent. It was served with a nice selection of vegetables. It was fun being able to chat with JG and briefly talk to BK. They used to both hang out and work in the computer science labs that I lived in. I once ran into JG on the main campus and he said he practically didn't recognize me outside the Majors' Lab. It was true that I considered it to be almost like my office. SH and I sat with a lot of other people who work for IBM, one of whom I already knew, from recruiting and working as a "campus ambassador" for IBM. I really enjoyed talking to the people at our table and hope I run into them again someday.

The bouquet toss was the most violent one that I'd ever seen. It looked as if several people were knocked over and I'm hoping that none of the flower girls were injured. I was very glad that I had decided not to participate in the custom. The "winner" was the friend of SH's that I met before the meal. She was "somewhat" inebriated and very proud of her victory. Fortunately, her boyfriend seemed pleased, which is a good sign.

This morning I had brunch with JJ and JA at Fowler's. It was a beautiful day to sit on the patio and we actually remembered to sit outside this time. I had a wonderful zucchini and roasted tomato omelet with home fries and fresh fruit. The tomatoes were regular tomatoes, rather than sundried tomatoes, so I liked it quite a bit.

Not too long after I got back, my dad and I went over to the new house again. My builder had finished installing the motor for the adjustable sink, so I wanted to see it. It's very impressive and the hardware looks like good heavy duty stuff. My builder has it covered up with a sign saying "Do not touch", because he is afraid that everyone will spend lots of time playing with it before I even get a chance to move in. The paint is also looking very good. It looks as if they have just a little left to do. The dark green trim in the great room looks really nice and provides just the effect that I wanted. The tile is finished in the master bathroom and that looks perfect, too.

For dinner, my parents I went to Vin Rouge. It was only the second time I'd been there for dinner, but I've been there for brunch several times. I ordered a salad with mixed greens, poached pears, bleu cheese and walnuts. It also had lardons, which are cubes of bacon. I asked for them to leave those off, but I guess they had forgotten. So, being the second-rate vegetarian that I am, I just ate them. I also had a side order of pommes frites. Those were some of the best fries I've had lately. They were uniformly crisp and flavorful. For dessert, I had chocolate mousse, which was very chocolatey, a good choice.