So! Day 5. Usual morning routine, pretty much to-the-letter identical to yesterday. The only difference was that instead of having tea while waiting for the doors to the classroom to open, I decided to splurge a little and have a cafe mocha. Homemade style. So, packet of hot chocolate mix dumped into a cup of coffee, with some cream and sugar added. It was good, but not great. Still, it didn't suck.
Class begins, and we quickly dive into the nuances of Usability Testing. Pretty fascinating stuff. Snack time rolls around, and they serve...bread. Lemon poppy seed and zucchini (separate slices, that is. They might not be so good together). Oh, what the hell. I have a slice of each. And, just for good measure, since is the last day, more sesame sticks. Those things should be illegal. Some vanilla tea to complement and off we go.
Lunch time rolls around, and I'm good. Back to my room for an IsaLean bar and my minerals. The last chocolate decadence. Just one oatmeal raisin left, and that will be for on a plane or in an airport somewhere tomorrow.
Back down to class. Now we're actually dividing into groups and coming up with tasks for people to do that we can observe. I volunteer to be the guinea pig and get walked through a couple of tests on using a mobile calendar app. Was a lot of fun, actually.
Afternoon snack. Oh, sweet merciful crap, they pulled out all the stops and baked freaking cookies. Oh, all right. One chocolate chip, one oatmeal raisin. And some apple-cinnamon tea. And water, of course. Plenty of that today.
We finish up our final section of class, and that's it. Seminar's done. Do I really want to go wandering around North Dallas, looking for dinner? Nah. So I go up to my room, take my evening pills, and eat an apple I had grabbed yesterday and hadn't felt like eating. Wanted to give my tummy something to keep the pills company, in case dinner took a while.
So, down to the hotel bar for my final meal here. Same server, everybody remembered my name despite me only being there a couple of times over the week. Well, I do tip well; that probably didn't hurt. But I will chalk it up to southern hospitality.
So, one final glass of wine, a nice Northern California Cab. Very nice. For an app, I think I will have...ooo, a charcuterie plate. Basically italian cold cuts, served with some bread (didn't know about that until it arrived), cheeses, veggies (onions and asparagus) and mustard. Nom. But it was a big plate. OK, the app just became the entree. And the menu didn't mention the bread, but, well, now I can make little sandwiches. I do love to play with my food. So, yes, more gluten.
Dinner was lovely. And, how about dessert, asks Robin the server? Well, let me finish my wine and ponder this, while I look at a dessert menu. Turns out Robin is the dessert menu. No, not that she's offering herself to me for dessert, but that she has it all up in her head, and she starts rattling things off. Cheesecake, bread pudding, apple tarte tatin, ice cream, fruit and cheese (did that one earlier in the week), et cetera.
Hmm.
She walks away and I finish my wine. Do I want dessert? Do I want to just go back to my room and call it good? Dessert? Room? Dessert? Room?
And two words insinuate themselves into my consciousness and gently damn me:
"Bread Pudding."
Ahh, f**k it, let's make my journey to the dark side (at least for this evening, anyway), complete. In a flurry of ridiculous metaphors, I abandon my Yoda inclinations to go straight to my room in favor of that Darth Vader of gluten foods. "Come to the Dark Side, we've got Bread Pudding. -V."
Yes, it was awesome. Yes, it was purty (they made a drizzly pattern of sauces on top, and at first I thought they had given me the cheesecake). Yes, I savored every bite and only managed to refrain from licking the plate by a sheer act of will.
Paid the bill. Walked up the stairs (small victory, there) to my room. Immediately realized that my body was probably going to be very upset with me, so took a Gas-X. And then spent the next two hours, burping mint and farting...well, let's just leave it at that.
Do I regret it? Right now, yes. Once I feel better, I will probably regret it less. And tomorrow, when the cravings are kicking in, I will probably regret it not at all. Hopefully I will prove myself wrong and try to behave as best as I can on the way home. Time will tell.
The good news is that I will have a 2 hour layover in Boston, and my gate is just downstairs from Legal Sea Food. And, well, they have sea food. Imagine that. Very good sea food, as a matter of fact. I can eat healthy there, by damn. So dinner should be pretty safe.
Breakfast is covered (shake). As for lunch? Well, I have a bar, but I might end up eating that at DFW before boarding the flight (as it will have been close to 3 hours since I ate that shake at that point, and it doesn't exactly stick with you for that long (that's kind of the point; it's easy to digest - at home I am usually eating some greek yogurt and granola by that time). So, lunch is up in the air. I'll be in Charlotte, NC for noon, with another 2-hour layover (the first one, actually) so perhaps I can take in some Southern Hospitality (Dixie style) and get something to eat there. Of course, the Deep South isn't exactly known for healthy eating (they're working on it, tho). Anyway, I am not going to worry about it; things have a way of working out.
What I don't regret is the experience. Dallas definitely has its share of charm. Of course, I am only basing it on a couple city blocks of experience, mostly inside this hotel. But I liked what I saw.
Sleep tight, folks. Most likely I will blog some more tomorrow. Gotta do something besides eating on those 2 hour layovers, right?
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