#35 A Day in Denton

Even though I'm a UNT alum (MS in History), I didn't really participate in UNT life like I did in Austin.  I didn't experience a football game or even local eateries.  Most nights I was lucky if I had time to go through a drive-thru before class.  Thanks to Caitlin and Russell Andrews for letting me tag along to the UNT/UTEP Homecoming game this past weekend.  

We had lunch at The RG Burgers & Grill.  Even though they have all sorts of fun gourmet burgers, the cheeseburger came highly recommended so I ordered that.  I opted out of the lettuce because it's shredded and shredded lettuce has no place on a burger.  Other than that, the burger was great!  The bun reminded me of Hawaiian rolls, a touch of sweetness and beautifully grilled for just a bit of golden crispiness.  They use cheddar cheese instead of American and it was perfectly melted over the top of the think meat patty.  This burger was delicious!  It's always a good sign when you have to cut your burger in half in order to manage it.  The burger comes with bottomless steak fries which were good, but nothing to write home about.

After lunch, we headed over to Voertman's to get some UNT gear and Insomnia to satisfy our sweet tooth.  I sampled the S'mores and Snickerdoodle, both of which were super yummy!

The game had a slow start, but ended with a bang.  Unfortunately we missed the most exciting part of the game as the temperature was dropping and we were getting a bit chilled, so we left at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.  The Mean Green won, 20-17, even though UTEP has the better record.  Being Homecoming, there were quite a few festivities, including an amazing performance by the marching band, which has over 400 members.  They took up the whole football field and were fantastic!  Such a joy to watch them and listen to them . . . so much talent!  

The Perfect Weekend...

No, I didn't jet off to a sunny beach for the weekend and I didn't win the lottery. But I did have a fun-filled, action-packed weekend, overflowing with fabulous things and people. Here's a quick glance at some of the things that make me happy: My brother and his family (this includes the world's cutest nephew) came to town so we could all go to the Rangers-Rays play-off game. It was a bit toasty, but we had an awesome time at The Ballpark, despite a 6-3 loss. Baseball is something all four of us love and it's a great way to spend time together. It was also the monthly meeting of the Burger Babes. What's more fabulous than spending time with some totally spectacular women while enjoying a great burger? This month we ended up at Club Schmitz, an out-of-the way joint that's been around for over 60 years. There's nothing fancy about Club Schmitz, but when you need a good, solid burger, it's the place to go. And the company? Man, I know some pretty amazing women - there is never a lull in our conversations and laughter is never lacking! The big event of this perfect weekend was my 20th high school reunion. I'm sure additional reflecting on this event will solicit future blogs, but right now all I can say is that it was a blast. It is so much fun to hang out with people who influenced you (in both good and and not so good ways) as adults. And whatever differences we had in high school have disappeared. At this point in our lives, we are all just trying to make a good life for ourselves and our families. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I ended up at a pumpkin patch with one of my most favorite families and definitely my most favorite toddler, Lily Pie. My heart got that warm fuzzy feeling when she saw me and came running toward me yelling, "Tia, tia!" Now that's how to enjoy life!