Sopapillas

I haven't blogged in so long, and I apologize for that. After the Easter cantata was over I just crashed, including my brain and indeed, my computer.

My computer at church had always been a bit slow, but I attributed that fact to the large music writing program Finale being loaded onto my very tiny hard drive. I'm not even sure my hard drive had MB after it's number. It may not have. I came into work on the Tuesday after the cantata, even though Tuesdays are my day off, and turned on the computer. After about an hour it just died. No power, no warning that it was going to commit computer suicide...it just died.

Anyway, it's been a little turbulant since then. I don't have my contacts for my emails. I don't have people's correct addresses from my paper version of the church directory, so even if I wanted to take the address from there, I couldn't. I feel lost or detached or behind...perhaps all of the above.

On the up side, choir is winding down. We perform once more. A really touching song called "I Carry You in My Heart" based on the writings of Paul and the e.e. cummings poem. It's a tear jerker, but what do you expect on Mother's Day and Senior Sunday (not for old people, but for the graduating people). I've also ended children's programming with not much success throughout the year. And I'm starting the Youth Choir this summer, so that should be interesting.

I've already started Christmas music for the choir. I have everything (adult-wise) picked out. The adult program is going to be HUGE! I have yet to get to the youth/children's program. That's right: I'm doing two Christmas programs. I had so many complain that the children weren't involved last year that I feel obligated to try and do something just for them. Of course, the people complaining weren't volunteering to help, but that's the way the church works...or at least this one.

Sorry for the rant. I don't know what came over me. Perhaps Christmas is already putting me in a slightly more "on edge" mood. It always does. And now, working in a church, it's one of the biggest holidays we "do." But that's a blog for another time...maybe later in the year, like around Halloween when all the Christmas decor starts to appear.

Turning again to another happy thing: my wife and I went out for Mexican food to celebrate that great American holiday Cinqo de Mayo. We talked of one of her friends who is in Mexico at the moment and his comment that we invented Cinqo de Mayo just to have another holiday to drink.

At dinner, living up the tradition, we both got a blended strawberry margarita. Mmm...it was tasty. We ate at On the Border, about as non-Mexican as you can get. Not that it was bad. They have a new menu with many new items. Good stuff.

One new item on the new menu were sopapillas. Most people outside of my immediate family don't know what sopapillas are...and you are, in fact, lesser because of your lack of knowledge. Yes, that's completely snobby, but at least I admit it and accept it.

Sopapillas are puffy pastries that are fried and then doused with cinnamon and sugar. At On the Border, they served them with honey (yuck) and melted chocolate. I had never had a sopapilla with melted chocolate. Let me tell you, as a professional sopapilla taster, this only improved my dining experience. The chocolate was bitter compared to the cinnamon and sugar, but still divine in every way.

Sopapillas, I can say with great certainty, made my day yesterday. If you'd like more information about sopapillas and why I extol their magical, tasty powers, please reference my sister's blog: givinguponperfect.com. My sister will tell you that we have been going to a divy place called Don Chilito's since before I was born. It's a terribly unsanitary looking place, but the food is delicious. Including a giant tub...yes, I mean big, metal lined, you could be baptized in it if it held water sort of tub...full of sopapillas.

I hope that one day you all have the great joy of knowing the puffy sopapilla in a completely infatuated and religious way. They are definitely worth it.