Oh, happy day!

It's a happy day for many reasons, not the least of which was the outcome of TAR last night. I'll get to my recap of that in a minute, though. First, a rundown of the weekend. Friday night, I got to see the Longhorn volleyball team advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Saturday they advanced to the third round - Hook 'em, girls!

Saturday, I met my friend Sheila for an afternoon at the Blanton Museum and a late lunch at Romeo's - one of my favorite Italian places here in Austin. It was a theme lunch, since we spent our Blanton time viewing an exhibit by Italian painter Luca Cambiaso. It was a gorgeous exhibit. And lunch weren't too bad neither! Thanks for a lovely Saturday outing, Sheila!

Saturday night, I went to my first holiday event of the season - a potluck and Laurie and Tony's. It was a blast! We had lots of good food and wine and company. Laurie always gets a real tree (as opposed to the pre-lit plastic one that I put up every year), which really kicks off the season, I think. A good time was had by all, which is always true at L&T's!

Sunday afternoon Angela invited some of us over to taste the wines she brought back from the California wine country over Thanksgiving. The wines were incredible, and she did a fab-o job of laying out snacks that were paired with the wines and telling us about the vineyards that each wine came from. Very enjoyable. After the wine tasting portion of the evening, Angela and I watched TAR, which capped things off nicely. Let's recap, shall we??

The teams started with the Road Block of eating camel meat. While I normally demur from all food tasks, this one I could've done. It sounded like most of the teams thought the meat tasted good, and there wasn't an excessive amount of it to eat. The only thing I couldn't figure is how the Blondes got so far ahead of Bama and Rob and Kim after starting out last! I would like to have muzzled Karlyn while Lyn was trying to complete the task. She can be a real bitch, that one.

Next the teams flew to Spain. They all caught up at the airport, which I thought they might. I nearly choked when the Blondes asked the Models if the Models would be willing to step aside at the mat and let them be first. WHAT??? And WHY would they do that for you when you've been nothing but cut throat the whole game??? I was so glad the models were like, "Not happenin'" even though it didn't come to that.

Next was a Detour: Lug it or Lob it.
This was a tough choice, but I would've taken a risk and gone with Lob it, and it looks like that would've worked out - it did for both of the teams that chose it. I was about ready to change the friggin' channel, though, when Kim kept screeching like a banshee. I mean, WHAT is the big deal? So, some people are pelting you with tomatoes. They're not acid bombs. Grow up! And taking time to change clothes after that task before going on to the Pit Stop? I would've been like "Get in the freakin' car!" if my partner did that (and yes, I know they both did it, but I still was incredulous. This is the last round before the finals! Don't waste time with that crap!).

The Pit Stop. Rob and Kim first. Okay. Then Bama. Good. Then...Models, Blondes, Models, Blondes, who will it be?? MODELS!!! Blondes are OUT!!! Hallelujah!!! I'm SO happy that they're out. Not only will I not have to look at their Crest White Strips smiles anymore, but they can't possibly win now, so whoever wins, it won't be a knife in my gut like Treasure Hunters was. Whew.