Contemplation and Napa Valley

After a very stressfull day, felt like I needed to stop off on my way home for some vino. I am much more relaxed now. The good thing that happened today is that I had 4 different "regular" customers come in all at the same time. Some of the nice ones. The customers who have been coming in for years who didn't huff and puff becuause there were 3 others before them. When did people become so impatient? Why can't they see if there is only one person working, that the customer in front of them deserves to have me spend as much time with them as it takes? After all, they wouldn't want me to rush them. Nothing worse than having someone glare at you with their foot tapping and the "why is it taking so long sigh" while you are trying to help someone else. Grrrrr. So now I am trying to decide what to do for the weekend. Kids are with their Papa.

Turns out the Bob part of me, currently in Montana, is off for the weekend too. He suggested we meet half way in Gillette, WY. and hang out for a few days. I have sooo much to do here. I decided to give our kitchen an overhaul. Yep, all new paint. Guess it will have to wait until I get back. Kids are home for spring break next week...what fun we are going to have.

The Bob part of me hates to make the arrangements and asks me to call the hotels and see who has the best deal. I went to Orbitz who said the best hotel in Gillette was the Clarion. I called the Clarion hotel and they told me their rate was $84 a night, however some irresponsible person broke glass in the pool so it was being drained and wouldn't be usable until Monday, after we already checked out. So, I called the Holiday Inn who informed me thier rates were $101 a night with a functional pool. I personally could not see spending an extra $30 for the weekend just to get wet so I suggested we just stay at the Clarion. So, I called the Clarion back to make resevations. I let them know we might have our dogs with us if I couldn't find someone to puppy sit for the weekend. They said that was fine, however, we would not be allowed to reserve a non-smoking room if we had a pet. I could not believe it! I told the young man my dogs did not smell bad, cigarettes do. He said some poeple have allergies so that was just their policy. I told them "I" had alleries, to cigarette smoke. He said, "thats our policy". Does that make sense???? Me being the good ex-smoker I am...I can't stand the smell. If I go to a bar, I take a shower when I get home to get the smoke smell out. Not much else I could do, I informed him due to their "policy" we would be staying somewhere else. I called the Holiday Inn and asked what their policy was. They didn't have a problem giving us a non-smoking room with the dogs. We booked it. Since then, I convinced my daughter to come by and tend to the dogs. So sorry Clarion, no pets, and no business.
NAPA VALLEY VINEYARDS Reserve Merlot, 2003....Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. So good I went back to the store to get more. Only $9.99 a bottle. While I was there they were playing a song my husband dedicated to me at our wedding and his brother, Pete sang along with his nephew and my step-son, Mario playing the guitar , although I knew the song, I couldn't quit figure out where I heard it before. It was Edwin Mc Cain, "I'll Be". What a beautiful song. The version the radio played was a little different. I've only heard the acoustic version, twice. Also, Iv'e never heard it on the radio before. Weird. Nice. Here are the lyrics, I made fun of the Bob part of me because of the verse that says "I'll hang on your lips", but I didn't really mean it.

The strands in your eyes
That color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from mountains
Thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated,
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows
Of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

Rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
You're my survival
You're my living proof
My love is alive and not dead

Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows
Of heartache that hang from above

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

I've dropped out
Burned up
Fought my way back from the dead
Tuned in
Turned on
Remembered the things you said

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of you life

From the man who means the absolute most to me. I love you Bob.
Get the Napa Valley.

One Of Maddona's Favorites?

Virgin Vines 2004 Chardonnay California. $8.49. Screw cap...easy access, although you do have to take the wrapping off first so it's a little harder to open than others we've tried. It's very soft on the pallate, velvity in your mouth...yet not a very smooth finish. The flavor is delightful. It's light and fruity. The bottle is pretty. If it would go down without the bite, I would say it was very good. But since it doesn't, it's not worth buying. It's too rough. I can't drink it.
I guess the record label, airlines, everything else they do wasn't enough...they grow grapes too. Their slogan for this brand is "un-screw it, let's do it" meaning, hurry up and open this so we can drink it. It seems they are aiming for the younger age groups. Doesn't suprise me, someone with no wine experience would have no problem gulping this down. But for the rest of us, we can find better.
This should explain everything. Now I know why I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. I'm just too old.

Wine Maker For A Day

Click here to enter a contest to be a "Wine Maker For A Day". I did. I hope I win! What fun that would be. I could put all of the other wineries out of business. Ok, maybe not, but it sounded good.

Check out the new poll and please vote!

How do you herd a cat? With a dog? Maybe.

Been a while since I posted anything. Every once in a while the Bob part of me comes home. When that happens, we not only drink wine, but get really busy trying to catch up on things that otherwise have to wait until he is home to do. So many things this week. For one, it's tax time. Personal and business. We have an accountant for our business, but Bob prefers to do our personal taxes himself. We use Turbo Tax. My part in this tax mess is to gather up all the important papers and look up the ones I can't find in any relevant internet accounts. The Bob part of me has the easy part, entering the info I have so meticulously set aside, into the program and answering the questions. Good news, looks like we might get money back this year. Ha! Just in time to pay our property taxes.

Break for some wine. Herding Cats. Merlot/Pinotage. 2004. $8.99. Wine of South Africa. Alcohol 13.0%. Nikita picked this one out. It has the back end of a cheetah running through the label. It's a full flavored red. Somewhat tart. Drinkable. Not a bad wine especially if you're going to serve it at a party. Click this link to see how cats are really herded, this is hilarious.

The other business at hand was moving the bedrooms around. Yes, again. We have been in this house for a little over 3 years and have changed rooms around at least 4 times. It's mostly my fault. I had to promise Bob this would be it for a while. During the last change, we moved our room upstairs because the girls wanted the BIG downstairs bedroom, so we moved them downstairs, just to find out that unless they were both here at the same time, they were scared to sleep down there. So, we moved us back down and the girls back up and they are sharing a room again. We gave them each their own rooms during one of the 4 moves, but it seems like they end up sleeping in the same room together when they are here at the same time anyway, so less mess for me if they are just together.


And... we have 4 birthdays all within about a week. First is Bob's sister, Cherie, then me followed by Mario on March 6th and Nolan on the 7th. Cherie is in Albuquerque, so we only have to send a card. With the Bob part of me being gone so often we thought we would take advantage of his presence by having one big get together for all 3 of us. (also because he didn't make it back in time for mine). I think it turned out ok. The kids were happy and so was J-Dog.






Then there were the haircuts. Can you say High and tight?? Can you give me a WHOOHA? Since he couldn't "re-up", it's his way of supporting our troops? Or perhaps it's so he doesn't have to go for haircuts as often. Nolan went too, but he didn't get the boot camp cut, he opted for the officer do.



Finally, one more bottle of wine. Masi Modello Delle Venezie. 2002. $10.99. Bottled by Masi Agricola, Italia. Aclohol, not enough. 12%. We bought this because our last name is Masitti. Masi. Masitti. get it? Ok, don't get the wine. How many different ways can you say "bad"? abominable, amiss, atrocious, awful, bad news, beastly, blah, bottom out, bummer, cheap, cheesy, crappy, cruddy, crummy, defective, deficient, diddly, dissatisfactory, downer,dreadful, erroneous, fallacious, faulty, garbage, god-awful, gross, grungy, icky, imperfect, inadequate, incorrect, inferior, junky, lousy, not good, off, poor, raunchy, rough, sad, scuzzy, sleazeball, sleazy, slipshod, stinking, substandard, synthetic, the pits, unacceptable, unsatisfactory.
Yep, that about sums it up.