Disappointing, selfish night

We were eating dinner, discussing plans for the evening. Mike said he would take the kids to class tonight, and Sarah begged for Double D's afterwards.  He agreed to that, and I started fantasizing about ice cream.  I thought maybe I would go along, but that was a fleeting thought, because my need to be alone for an hour and a half is much greater than my craving for ice cream.  Then a brilliant thought struck me:  after they leave, I will go to Dairy Queen by myself!

I was more cheerful than usual as I cleaned up the kitchen and wished them a jolly goodbye.  A few minutes later, I skipped out to the garage to start my vacation.

What a disappointment to find that I couldn't get out because Mike's darling motorcycle was parked behind my vehicle.  How I loathe that thing!  It's almost always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Way too hot and humid to ride my bike to DQ, so I trudged back into the house.

I decided to whip up a batch of cream puffs. As I was putting them in the oven, I was thinking how quickly and easily that dough came together.  I was starting to feel hopeful and happy again as I made the filling. Twenty minutes later I excitedly opened the oven to see my beautiful golden brown puffs of deliciousness, but wait...what's this?

 Hockey pucks of yuck. Just as the disappointment hits, I know exactly where I went wrong.  In my haste, I forgot to add the eggs.  If you've ever wondered what French pastry dough becomes if you don't add eggs, now you know. The eggs are absolutely vital.

Now I'm faced with a decision: Should I just eat the filling and call it a night or start the whole thing over?  I started over.  The butter and milk were heating in the pan, and I went to get a new bag of flour from the pantry, because I had used the last of the other bag on the hockey pucks. Disappointment #3: the only flour in the pantry is whole wheat.  Who wants whole wheat cream puffs?  No one!  But that's all I have, so in it goes.  I added a little sugar and almond extract to the batter in hopes it would counteract the grossness of the whole wheat.

My precious free time was all gone before I even got to eat a puff.  I hid them behind the lettuce where no one will ever find them, so I can eat one after everyone goes to bed.