Keen Observer of the Human Condition

Wednesday's Wine - Another Reader's Recommendation

2009-12-30T23:53:00.003-07:00

So, I've been unable to find time to blog. Or maybe, just too busy or too tired...or too brain dead. Anyway, I've been taking some time off over the holidays (btw...Merry Merry and Happy Happy everyone!) to rest, relax, and relativize (hanging with the family). And speaking of family, I recruited my sister in law to assist with the following wine reviews. A person, of indeterminate gender, named jackson popped by my blog a few weeks ago and recommended that I try Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon which can be had for $2.97 at the local Walmart. Alas, in Colorado that actually isn't the case as all adult beverages must be purchased in a liquor store or bar type establishments. So, since I'm in Texas, I bought it and the Oak Leaf Shiraz. And yes, they were both available for $2.97.

First we tried the recommended Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon. We both found it a bit thin and more like a Merlot than a Cabernet. It didn't have the boldness, or at least the heft, one expects of even the cheapest of Cabernet's. But if one PRETENDS it's a Merlot, then it was okay to poor. My sister in law suggested that it might be good for making Sangria. We also thought, it would be acceptable as a table wine served with an equally inexpensive dinner. But not with guests who are savvy wine drinkers...heh.

Next, next we tried the Oak Leaf Shiraz. Initially, I found it had a musty oak scent, but the flavor was definitely an improvement over the Cabernet. However, my sister in law pointed out that it didn't really taste like a Shiraz, but rather it tasted like a Pinot Noir due to the spicy notes. It did seem a bit strong in flavor, and not in an especially great way. However, I left it to sit and breathe for awhile and it improved quite a bit, although it had a bit too much alcohol on the finish. Still doesn't taste like a Shiraz though...heh. I think after leaving this out to breathe for about 30 minutes, it would also make a good table wine or an excellent Sangria. And better than the Cabernet.

So, for around $3.00, if you live in a state that allows alcohol sales in the local Walmart, you too can experiment with ultra cheap wines. Me personally, I'll stick to the $5.00 to $10.00 wines...heh

Tuesday's Time Waster - How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

2009-12-29T14:54:00.002-07:00

Courtesy of Jannie Funster I found out awhile back that I'm 48% addicted:

48%

Created by OnePlusYou

Go to Jannie Funster's Blog to find out your level of addiction...hehehehehe

Wednesday's WineSSSSSSS

2009-10-28T23:00:00.010-06:00

So I know I've been away for awhile (see previous post for excuses...er...reasons). I still don't have a replacement for my personal laptop. Today being a snow day at school, but having the work laptop at home, I decided to catch up on wine reviews! Lucky you, my three remaining readers, I have seven wines to cover. Yeah, just because my laptop died didn't mean I stopped drinking wine. Though, I must admit I've rediscovered my liking for vodka tonics and beer...heh. A reminder before the reviews. All of these wines can be had for about $10.00 or less and generally (though not always) have very high ratings (mid 80's and higher) than would be expected at those price points. I get great deals on wine at both 3S Liquors and at Applejack Wine and Liquors.

Starting in my own state of Colorado, I bring you a Rose (yes, it's PINK), but Rose's are still better than White Zinfandels which are still PINK, not white. And actually, I found this Plum Creek Palisade Rose, 2008 quite tasty. For those of you trying to imagine where in Colorado any vineyards might exist, the Palisades are on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and known for their peach trees. In other words, the Palisades are on the western edge of the state. Warm summers and cool nights make for pretty decent wine. Here's what the winemaker's at Plum Creek say about their rose in 2004 and I think it still applies to their 2008 vintage:

"Palisade Rosé is a light, semi-sweet Colorado wine made in the traditional style of great Rosé. The grapes are pressed as soon as they arrive in the cellar. The juice is left a very short time in contact with the grape skins in order to give the wine a delicate color.

Merlot grapes from our Somerset Vineyard give a fruity and lively character to this handcrafted wine. A rich viscosity enhances the wine’s silky smoothness. Luscious strawberry and cherry tones abound in the nose and on the palate."

I don't remember what I had for dinner with this wine, but I'm pretty sure I had some really spicy green chile one evening. And a rose with it's fruit forward flavors is a nice counter point to the spicy heat of green chile.

Speaking of white zinfandel's. I did manage to force one down. The label on this La Famiglia Guadagni White Zinfandel, 2007 from California might look familiar (and as Syd would say...looks like...well you know...heh) because I reviewed another wine from this vineyard awhile back. Anyway, I admit that I bought it for the label and because I liked that other wine too. While I was looking for a picture of the bottle I found this short description on the Western Importers' website:

"This bright and lively White Zinfandel comes from Lodi California, the heart of the California Zinfandel region. The nose is bright and inviting with aromas of berries, citrus blossoms, and strawberries. On the palate it is more of the same with a crisp refreshing style of wine that finishes with the heart of a Zinfandel."

I actually liked this white zinfandel, though not enough to make me like ALL white zinfandels...heh. In the past, I've found that white zinfandels go well with ham, pork and spicy dishes.

Moving on to the white wines. I actually got talked into trying this
Louis Latour Ardeche Chardonnay, 2006 when I was looking for a wine from France that was under $10.00. Just as with white zinfandel, I'm not a big fan of chardonnays. However, instead of an overly buttery feel, this one was a bit more crisp. It still had notes of oak and vanilla as with many chardonnays, but I liked it much better than most. I recommend pairing chardonnays with poultry dishes, especially a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. This will go well with any poultry dish I think. I might even be likely to buy it for this coming Thanksgiving now that I think about it...heh!

More along the lines of white wines I like is this Angeline Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 2008. Nice and crisp with mellow fruit flavors. Wine Enthusiast rated it a 90. That's a big value for the price and style! This is what the winery said about their wine:

"Fresh floral, honeydew melon and bright tropical aromatics lead to crisp and lively green melon flavors. This wine finishes soft and light with a lingering touch of citrus."

They recommend pairing with shrimp or a spicy halibut. I think it went well with salmon too.

I know this is a tiny picture but, yes, that is a leopard on the label...I think. I pick this Herding Cats Merlot/Pinotage from South Africa at 3S Liquors at the suggestion of a fellow patron. She left the store with several different Herding Cats wines, so I figured, "What the heck!" I also pick up another one of their wines for a later review. In the meantime, I found this red blend pretty good for the price and you seriously can't beat the name. Also, bonus, a wine from South Africa (home to Charlize Theron I might add). Internet Wines.com provided this description:

"This wine is smooth and supple with aromas of cherry, vanilla and mocha tones. The palate is soft and velvety with a lingering aftertaste following though."

They also recommended serving this wine with spicy beef dishes. I would agree, but then I love pretty much anything spicy...heh.

Of course these days I'm rather preoccupied with many things Italian...okay a specific Italian... Anyway, why not have an Italian wine too!?! This Falesco Vitiano Cabernet Sauvignon Sangiovese Merlot, 2007 blend from Umbria, Italy seems vaguely familar. Oh that's right, I reviewed the 2006 vintage...heh. This red blend was dark with a mix of fruit flavors including some notable plummy flavors. I enjoyed it quite a bit...which is why I've had it two years in a row to review. Of course, I had it with spaghetti and, later, with a great steak.

The last wine for today's review is another of the Gallo Twin Valley line: Pinot Noir. I last had their Hearth Burgundy which was surprisingly really good, but apparently I forgot to post it here. Anyway, their Pinot Noir is pretty good too. I've had better and I have had worse when it comes to pinot noirs. But for under $10.00 for a 1.5 liter bottle it's a great value to have around as an everyday table wine. If you like pinot noirs and are having a big party, a few bottles of this will definitely fill the bill! Serve it with heavy o'dourves or a nice steak dinner.

Enjoy! And check back in this location in a few weeks for pictures and a review of my cruise with Sweet.

Preoccupations and a Dead Laptop

2009-09-28T19:44:00.002-06:00

I mentioned in one of my last posts that I was on a journey. Have to say it's kept me rather preoccupied. Work, too, has been very busy...just like this time last year, but far less stress. Then there's the matter of my laptop. Alas, the motherboard burned out at the battery recharging component. I don't quite get the process of that, other than it appears the battery was drawing too much electricity through the motherboard due to failing to hold the charge for very long. The moral of that story is, when your battery becomes toast (usually within about 18 months) buy a new one. I'm currently back online via my old desktop. It's rather slow. In the meantime, I have been trying new wine almost weekly, but haven't found time to blog on them...see reasons above. I promise to get to them as soon as the RAM I ordered from EBAY shows up.

Sunday Surf - Happy Birthday to Me...heh

2009-08-30T15:58:00.005-06:00

I know y'all (15 of you by the looks of the follower's list) are wondering why I haven't been blogging very much. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're dying for some wine recommendations. Alas, I'm still working on a few of those, so none today. But I did think I'd share what I did for my birthday this year. Of course, today is actually my birthday, but Saturdays are more fun...heh

So yesterday, I went to Water World for Girl Splash 2009. I was going to go when the park opened at 10am, but it was chilly and partly cloudy all morning. I decided to do some house work and run some errands. By around 1:30 the sun was more out than not and I decided to finish my last errand and go. Earlier in the week, I bought a Resident ID for where I live because Water World gives discounts to residents of two cities that share one recreation district. It was $6.00. An all day pass for Water World is $15.00 this summer. So for the same total cost as a Girl Splash ticket, I could also have discounts for two years to all the other recreation offerings in the area...heh. I'm cheap, I know. As it turned out, it only costs $7.50 if you show up after 2pm. YAY! I had a bunch of fun with some of the local lesbians who aren't afraid to show some skin, AND I got a lovely hat from Carve Designs!

Later I went to dinner with my friend K. H. She wanted to try a new restaurant in the Highlands area just due west of downtown Denver. It's called Julia Blackbird's. Kind of Californian style Mexican food. K.H. and I rated it an 8 overall. We liked the patio dining option and it was actually too cool inside anyway. We started off with margaritas. K. H. had a Pomegranate margarita which was so good, she had another later. I had a regular margarita, but it was so-so. I've had better, but it wasn't bad. Then we had chips and salsa...mmmmm. The salsa was spicy and had good flavor. They followed this with guacamole made table side. They used two whole avocados, tomato, garlic, green chile, lime, etc. The guac was yummy. The only thing it needed was either spicier green chile or some jalapeños.

Later, our en tree's were delivered. K. H. ordered a shrimp burrito with green chile and avocado garnish. She said it was pretty good. It looked fresh and yummy to me, but I was too stuffed from the guac to care about trying it. Plus, I didn't want to be disappointed that I hadn't order it instead of the Chicken Cordon Green. The chicken was supposed to be "stuffed" with green chile, but instead it was over grilled and a bit dry with a green chile laying on top. It was also swimming in a soupy green chile gravy. The grill flavor was good though and the green chile also had nice flavor. However, the dryness of the chicken and the watery consistency of the green chile gravy made the en tree rather disappointing. I took most of it home to doctor into something better for dinner later this week.

The last thing I did was go to Her Bar (see link in the right hand column) for drinks and mingling. They charge $5.00 to get in the door, but you get the first drink on the house. They should really put some restrictions on this (like only wine, well, or beer) because I got an $8.00 drink (Grey Goose and tonic with limes)...heh. My office assistant also found my gift certificate (thanks Tammy!) So I bought another Goose and tonic later on in the evening. By mid-night I'd met a gal (a girlfriend of a long time acquaintance who shares my same birthday). The owners of Her Bar (also friends) offered to buy each of us a shot to celebrate. We had one of my very old favorites: A Screaming Orgasm! HEHEHE! Because I know y'all wanna know, it's made of vodka, Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, and a splash of Amaretto (that's the part that makes it a Screaming Orgasm instead of a regular one...heh). Later I had a coke and then I went home.

So there ya have it...how I celebrated my birthday. Well that and some texting through out the evening. BTW...there sure are a lot of people going out to socialize at bars, yet spending the evening texting instead of TALKING with fellow patrons...heh. Guess the world is much bigger than a little ole bar now...

Saturday Surf - Facebook

2009-08-08T22:51:00.002-06:00

I set up a Facebook account last fall...or maybe winter. I don't remember exactly, because I didn't really want to set it up at all. My sister in law recommended it a few times and then she told me she posted pictures and videos of my nephews there. Then the folks at work were toying with it and I thought about it some more. I think I figured out that one of my good friends was doing more posts there than on her regular blog. Anyway, at some point, I figured "What the heck." I'd just use it as my family and old friends connection site. I used my actual given name and said my main purpose is networking (keeps the riff raff away...lol). And I'd keep it very neutral and clean...no raunchy jokes and links...heh ('cause you never know when you're going to be googled).

Then slowly over months I was "friended" by family and old friends from high school. I only have real world friends on my Facebook account. Which means I've either met them in person, or have spoken with them by phone over the course of more than a year or so (actually only one friend falls in that category...heh). I get regular requests for "friends" who do not meet that criteria. I suppose I could start a TheWeyrd1 Facebook account, but really isn't it enough to have a blog for my fun pop culture and gay community pursuits and leave the Facebook for my boring real world stuff?

The one really nice thing that has happened as a result of my Facebook account is reconnecting with a friend from high school. Apparently, she "knew" I was a lesbian and she is too. I'm like, "Dang, why didn't you tell me!?!" In my head I'm thinking, high school would have been so much more interesting! But she had things to sort out. I guess timing is everything in life and it's been really nice having someone to chat with that "gets" where you're coming from because they were literally THERE. Course, I don't know where this "new" friendship will go, but the journey could be interesting...

Wednesday's Whine - What I Did This Summer

2009-07-29T20:18:00.017-06:00

I worked extra duty on and off at the J.O.B. from which I should have taken an extended break. I did this so I could pay for:

1. Remodeling my bathroom and starting the remodel of my kitchen.

Bathroom before...notice the ugly tile and old toilet:

Bathroom After...notice the new bamboo floors and low flow toilet, but try not to notice Tucker's unmade bed under the counter...heh:

Before and after pics of my kitchen:

2. The trip I took to Oregon but not for vacation exactly. I went to take a class so I can renew my license. But while I was there I did manage to visit my half-sister for her 60th birthday and meet my new great half-niece (which means I'm only half old, by the way). I'd post pics, but I don't post individual pics of my family.

3. The whole day I spent at the Denver Pride event. Actually, since I was in Oregon, I missed the Women's Pride Party. As a result I didn't spend that much money.

Total attendance estimates depended on who was reporting. The GLBTCCC (PrideFest organizers) said Denver's event is the 7th largest in the country with 300,000 in attendance. The city put the number closer to 100,000. I'll play the odds and say it was about 200,000 over the two days. Here's a crowd shot at the end of the parade:

4. The spur of the moment opportunity to go to an Indigo Girls concert. I think I spent about $30.00 or so, but the big expense was the time spent on a bus getting back to the parking lot from the remote location of the actual event. The actual location supposedly holds around 900 people, but I think the crowd was smaller than that...yet it was sold out.

This is a picture of the stage (with the opening act playing) which backs onto the Poudre River (which was running high, by the way):

My replacement camera for the one that stopped working after a week, doesn't take good pictures at night. Of course it was identical to the first one and also stopped working after a week. I've since upgrade to a slightly better one. But in the meantime, here are the girls and their guest keyboardist (whose name I don't recall):

Now for the WHINE:

1. Tomorrow I finish another continuing education class so I can get one of my many licenses renewed.

2. Friday, I take another class to renew another license...this one's so I can keep my J. O. B. There's more whine in there somewhere, but I'm just too tired to whine about it now...heh.

And now for some WINE:

I did have that bottle of Harlow Ridge Sauvignon Blanc recently. It was crisp, as I like my white wines and as most Sauvignon Blancs tend to be, but not particularly exciting. Nevertheless, for $6.00 it was very good buy. However, it wasn't so great that I would serve it to a dinner date...heh. I would serve it on a hot summer night to pals hanging out around the swimming pool though...

Saturday Surf - What Kind of Lesbian Are You?

2009-07-18T19:49:00.009-06:00

I'm home on a Saturday evening. How depressing is that? Then I'm noodling around on the net and find this quiz in the forums on AfterEllen.com:

Which type of Lesbian are you?

The Undefinable

You just like ladies, and that does nothing to affect your lifestyle or appearance. You are you, and you are unique! In fact, you're probably bi. You should check that out.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Sheesh. I am so NOT bi. I already checked that out in college...like everyone else does...in reverse.

Wednesday's Wine - Other Ladies' Recommendations

2009-07-15T16:08:00.006-06:00

So today I'm doing something different. I'm sharing a drinks link, an old friend's spirit recommendation, and an online/email buddy's wine review (because she doesn't have a blog). So first off, you may have noticed my extra long list of links and blogs that I like or follow. One of them is the relatively new De-Cantation in which she reviews three wines with two under $10! Go check them out.

My new old friend (HS friend who I re-connected with via Facebook) loves her some Grey Goose Martini's. I prefer vodka tonic when I'm not having a glass of wine or a cold beer. We decided to have a text toast of Grey Goose, and I must say it's SMOOTH!

My online buddy, Kath wrote to share about a Malbec she tried since she was inspired by another recommendation she found on this very blog:

"Having my first ever Malbec tonight.......Black Mountain Vineyard, 2005. Watson's Grove, CA. $3.99 at Trader Joe's. I'll let you know how it is..."

Later (and not that long later...heh), she wrote to share the following review:

"The bottle reads:

"With an intriguing cross-section of flavors that range from fruit to floral, Black Mountain Malbec offers a very pleasing experience. Notes of violets and orange pekoe tea join with raspberries and plum. The finish is velvety as soft tannins delight the palate. Take advantage of this wines depth and complexity.It pairs nicely with a variety of cuisine...

"Very nice, indeed. really smooth and subtle. I will definitely seek out more Malbecs in the future. Thanks for suggesting. ;) "

Just a suggestion, but understand if you don't LIVE IN California, their wines might cost a tad more somewhere else. In other words, a $4.00 bottle of wine might run closer to $8.00.

ENJOY!

Wednesday's Wine - Harlow Ridge Petite Sirah, 2005

2009-07-08T20:13:00.006-06:00

Despite my efforts otherwise, I could not find an ACTUAL picture of this bottle of wine, but since the label pretty much looks like the other Harlow Ridge wines that I've reviewed so far...you can just imagine it in your minds. So on with the review...

This wine, like the others, is from the Lodi region of California. I may have mentioned in a review of another Petite Sirah, that this grape is NOT to be confused with the Shiraz, Syrah, or Sirah grapes. They may have some original varietals in common, but they taste quite a bit different. A good Shiraz, Syrah or Sirah (different spellings related to where it is grown) is going to be "fruit forward" or as I once read, it's a wine that has a "big fruit" taste. Conversely, Petite Sirah is more earthy and actually kind of "small fruit" in taste. Maybe that's why it's called petite. What I do know is that this grape has been used in the past to give other wines more depth in flavor and color. In the last few years it's been showcased as a wine grape on it's own.

Harlow Ridge Petite Sirah, 2005 is typical for this grape. It holds up well with steak and probably other savory meals such as stews. I don't think it makes a great summer red, however. In fact, I still prefer Harlow Ridge's Cabernet and Pinot Noir. On the other hand, at $6.00 I would buy this one again. It's earthy with a vaguely tart edge. Not much alcohol on the finish, but a tad more than the other two just mentioned. Overall, I'd drink it again...in the winter...with some nice beefy stew and crusty bread...in front of a fire...in my fireplace...heh.

Enjoy!

Wednesday's Wine - Harlow Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006

2009-07-01T15:03:00.007-06:00

As promised and early in the day (since I'm on vacation) I bring you the follow up review on one of the other Harlow Ridge Wines. This time it's the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Lodi region of California.

I went back to 3-S Liquors to pick this and another Harlow Ridge Wine for about $7.00 or $8.00 (I really should write the prices down). Anyway, the clerk, who is a wine geek himself and a neighbor, said he didn't find this Cabernet Sauvignon that good. I have to say I disagree. While hunting for a picture of the label, I found this VERY BRIEF review:

"Jammy and spicy, with distinctive geranium notes and herbal cherry flavors on a medium frame."

I not sure what "geranium notes" taste like although I understand that tastes are often associated closely with scents. If you know what geraniums smell like, then this wine may TASTE like what you think geraniums would taste like based on their scent...but only vaguely since it's just "notes." I do agree that it's somewhat "jammy" and definitely spicy and a bit of cherry midway on the palate. Also a bit of alcohol burn on the finish. I will give the neighbor guy some due since this wine is definitely not a typical Cabernet Sauvignon. On the other hand, I liked it. And for the price, I think it's a pretty good value.

Keep in mind that it's a bit spicier than most Cabernet's when deciding on your menu. I had it with bbq pork loin and later with a blackened steak salad. Both times the flavors of the meal stood up to the wine.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I got the Harlow Ridge wines for $7.00 it turns out when I went back to find out and NOW they're at a new sale price of $6.00!!!

Wednesday's Wine - Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, 2006

2009-06-24T20:03:00.011-06:00

It's Wednesday, so it must be a wine post. Ooooo boy, another good bottle for under $10.00 right!?! Um, yes. And, uh no. I'm not in Colorado today...actually haven't been since Friday morning. Yeah, I'm in Portland, Oregon. Did you know that Oregon is known for Pinot Noir (they're also known for Rieslings, but I don't have a liking for sweet wines, so not much to share about those...)? Well, anyway, I spent the weekend with my half sister and her daughter's family. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I ended up touring wineries on Sunday with only my sister. Somewhat surprisingly, it was fun (could be that happened because she was the designated driver...heh). We went to three wineries. The first of which was Secret House Vineyards (the others were LaVelle Vineyards and Sweet Cheeks Winery). In all, I think I tried close to 20 wines. It was mostly sips and small swallows, but you know they kind of add up...heh. My sister did try about 5 or 6...mostly Rieslings.

So back to the possibly under $10.00 bottle of wine, but might not be...hee. As you can see in the title, I had the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, 2006 made by Secret House. But let's start at the beginning. It's quick, really. First I had the 2005 Pinot Noir and it was pretty good. THEN, I had the 2006 and my socks were blown off. It's OMG yummy. What makes it extra yummy is that I got it for $10.00. But, uh, you can't. So really, it's not fair, because I've devoted my Wednesday's Wine posts to wines you can get for under $10.00, at least in my part of the world (aka, Colorado). On the other hand, I did get it for $10.00 (exactly, because they don't have sale's tax in Oregon) and if a bottle of wine cost me $10.00 or less I believe I'm still obligated to share...at least the information...right??? Heh.

I must say, this is easily one of the best Pinot Noirs I've ever had. It might be one of the best red wines I've had in a really long time. It actually sells for more like upper $20's low $30's if I recall correctly. And because the owners are selling the winery, they marked all of their wines down to $10.00 a bottle regardless. If I wasn't flying home, I would have bought several bottles. As it is, I'm now staying at a hotel in Portland for a class and am nursing a bottle over a few days. The difference between a really good $10.00 (or under) wine and a mediocre wine over $30.00 isn't much. But the difference between a really good one in the $30.00 range and a good under $10.00 is definitely noticeable.

Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, 2006 has a great berry type fruit taste on the front of the palate (I found out recently that this can mean it's "fruit forward"). However, it's NOT all fruit in the front. There is definitely a scent and taste of oak right at the beginning. It's kind of anticipatory of the complexities to come. This wine is somewhat bold in all the flavors without any one being overpowering and they all linger on the tongue. There is a bit of alcohol on the finish, but it's less than the burn of alcohol that lower cost wines often have. Here's what Ron Appetit (who must have an "appetite" for wine...heh) says on the back label about his wine:

"A lush, full-bodied Pinot Noir, with intense flavors of berry, black cherry and currants. A complex Pinot that will be wonderful with a robust meal. This varietal speaks to the mystery of wine in a most elegant voice."

Yeah, what Ron said! If any of my readers live ANYWHERE near Eugene, Oregon, I recommend visiting Secret House Vineyards by June 30th to pick up this wine. I found it went well with a meat pizza, as well as left over Turkey Schnitzel. I would have preferred it with a good steak, but in order to have the wine, I have to make do with carry out. Tomorrow, I'll probably have the rest with some kind of beef stir fry from the Chinese restaurant near by. By the way, you KNOW a wine is good when it's still yummy in a Styrofoam cup!

ENJOY!

Wednesday's Wine - A White One and a Red One

2009-06-17T21:41:00.006-06:00

So last week, starting on Wednesday, I had new floors put in my kitchen and bathroom. I still drank some wine prior to Wednesday, but somehow I didn't get around to sharing...heh.

The weekend before the floors were installed I had the white wine. Then over the weekend to celebrate the floor completion (along with the installation of a new low flow toilet and energy efficient dishwasher) I grilled a steak for dinner. Of course, that required opening a bottle of some kind of red wine.

The white was another Pinot Grigio. I think I might like Pinot Grigios a little bit...heh. This one is Lumina Pinot Grigio, 2007 from the Ruffino Winery which is in Italy. Hopefully The Gentleman will stop by and give us her opinion on it. I found it crisp and generally pretty good. I've had better ones, but for the price (around $8.00 from Applejack Liquors) it was a good buy. Depending on what you like in a white wine, it could be good by itself, but I would prefer something else for sipping. On the other hand it went well with chicken and veggie stirfry. Here's what the folks at Ruffino said about their Pinot Grigio:

Lumina means "Illumination of the moon"; the label's quartered-moon icon represents the ancient alchemist's symbol for this planet. Lumina is a Pinot Grigio with a well recognizable personality. Its medium-bodied structure and full aromas makes it stand out in the broad Pinot grigio category. This wine, which was first introduced in 2002, has in fact been so well reviewed by consumers world-wide that its production has grown well beyond 1.000.000 bottles per year in only 4 years.

I also picked up a Malbec at Applejack for around $8.00. Malbec is gaining some popularity among red wine enthusiasts, but it is a bit different from other reds. It's not a bold red like a Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. On the other hand it's not as wimpy as Merlot (sorry...heh). This 2008 Tilia Malbec is from Argentina and is definitely complex and yet smooth. I noticed the fruit flavors (kind of a berry/cherry taste) on the front of the palate, however it also seemed a tad spicy in a mellow kind of way. I liked that it didn't have the alcohol burn that some thinner reds have at this price point. Here's what one wine purchasing website said about Tilia Malbec, 2008:

The 2008 Tilia Malbec presents a dark purple color with violet highlights. The nose offers bright black cherry aromas with light floral notes and a touch of toast. The mouthfeel is full and rich, with ripe, concentrated cassis and black raspberry fruit flavors interwoven with a touch of chocolate and sweet spice from light oak aging. This finish shows ripe, silky tannins.

I loved it with my steak and another evening with my Taco Bell (as a result of multiple trips to the store after all day post construction cleanup, I was too tired to cook...heh). By the way, both bottles were screw top, but that didn't take away from the experience and it's much easier to keep the wine longer...but not as long as you can with box wine...heeeee.

ENJOY!

Saturday Surf - I Got Tagged...dang it.

2009-06-13T10:43:00.004-06:00

Jannie Funster tagged me and this is what she wanted to know:
1. Who is the hottest movie star?

Unlike Jannie, I'm not going to be equal opportunity and pick both a guy and a gal. I don't honestly look at the guys and think "ooo, he's hot"...heh. As for the women, well there are so many. But in the hottest category I think I would pick Charlize Theron. When I was younger, I would have picked Jodie Foster. She's still hot, but she hasn't been doing a lot lately...so I haven't seen any HOT pictures of her. Also, I'm kind of disappointed that she broke up with her long time partner to pursue a younger gal. Kinda cougar like. But really, it was the acknowledging of her longtime partner in such a sweet way and then a couple months later she moved onto the younger gal. Not so hot.

2. Apart from your house and car, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?

Probably my computers and Treo cellphones. The first Treo was around $400. The last desktop computer was $1600. I'm a bit of a geek, but only a tiny bit.

3. What’s your most treasured memory?

We moved a lot when I was a kid (no my dad was not in the military and neither was my mom...at least not after she got out of the Navy and started working and THEN met my dad). We moved to Omaha in the mid-70's and lived there for 2 years. That was probably the best time in my life as far as having friends and being part of the cool group. It might have had something to do with the boy next door (yes, there actually WAS one and yeah, I might have been inclined to marry him someday...he treated me like an equal, which is very important). He was very popular and liked me (though not really THAT way) and included me in everything. I totally loved my life when I lived next door to Rob.

4. What was the best gift you ever received as a child?

Two guitars. I got the first from my rich uncle and grandmother when I was 12 (my parents gave me a ukulele when I was 8 and electric organ lessons when I was 10...but I kept begging for a guitar...I think they were too poor to buy one). Anyway, it's a Harmony Stella student guitar and I still have it. Very twangy. The second guitar is a Ventura with a split rosewood back. I got that when I was 16 and up until about 10 years ago, I played it almost everyday.

5. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made?

Um...sometimes I think one of my biggest mistakes was recently not insisting harder that some of my older investment clients consider something more conservative for their portfolios. I get told that I'm too "aggressive" in my approach to things when I think someone should do something different than they are choosing to do. So I backed off more than I should have.

However, more personally, I think my biggest mistake was not taking the scholarship offer to Cornell for an undergraduate degree, because I thought (at age 18 when you THINK you know everything) that I would only be allowed to study Industrial Psychology which I didn't want to study. Later, I made the mistake of not pursuing a Ph.D. in Behavior Genetics like I originally had hoped to do when I moved to Colorado from Ohio following my undergraduate degree from NOT Cornell. I wonder if I could get a Ph.D. from Cornell in Behavior Genetics...

6. 4 words to describe yourself.

Intelligent. Introspective. Honest. Humorous.

7. What was your highlight or lowlight of 2008?

Honestly, 2008 was not that great of a year for me. There isn't really anything that stands out as a highlight.

8. Favorite film?

The Hotel New Hampshire. This one stars the aforementioned Jodie Foster. I first saw this while visiting a friend in D.C. over spring break in 1984. My favorite scene (all 30 seconds of it) is Jodie's character in bed AND kissing (and presumably other activities) Nastassja Kinski's character while being secretly observed by her character's brothers, played by Rob Lowe and Paul McCrane (ER). For those of my readers who are into the male of the species, there is a scene in which Rob Lowe's character loses his virginity to an older woman by...well...let's just say he's standing and we don't SEE the woman. Anyway, Rob Lowe's facial contortions during this scene are VERY good and very funny. As a psychologist, this film is awesome...all the sexual issues you can think of are covered on one movie. By the way, it's base on one of John Irving's many novels (most of which have become movies). In fact, The Hotel New Hampshire got it's start as a short story that Garp was writing in The World According to Garp before became a full blown novel itself.

9. Tell me one thing I don’t know about you.

Read the rest of this MEME...it's ALL things you don't know about me...pretty much.

10. If you were a comic book / strip character, who would you be?

Does this question refer to exisiting comic book characters? If so, I'll pick the one that I actually scored out for last year. Actually, it was the comic book character I should DATE:

Black Canary. Apparently the picture expired, but you can still read all about her.

Bonus question: What’s one stupid thing you did today, Weyrd1?

Let my head continue to ache, while doing this dang meme. Thanks Jannie! Now I think I'll go drink some more coffee and take a painkiller of some sort...

PS...feel free to tag yourself, if you like.

Saturday Surf - To My Blog Buddy

2009-06-06T19:05:00.003-06:00

Citizen of the World (who is self-described as A Little Off Kilter)...I'll miss your blog posts...even though many of them made me really hungry. I'll miss seeing the landscape of your travels too. But mostly, I'll miss knowing there's another cool psychologist out there making observations about random things. I hope you'll still visit and leave comments now and then. Until then, I'll raise the occasional glass of wine and toast you (while I visualize pictures of your fabulous meals).

Wednesday's Wine - Harlow Ridge Pinot Noir, 2007

2009-06-03T19:26:00.005-06:00

Well aren't y'all lucky tonight! Here I am with another yummy wine. This 2007 Pinot Noir from Harlow Ridge is slightly lighter in both color and heft than typical Pinot Noirs. Perfect weight for a red wine in summer.

I picked this one up at...well shoot, I went to both my favorite stores this past week. I do remember it was about $7.00. And it's available at a few liquor stores here in Colorado, so I'm sure to have it again. Anyway, it has a lightly spicy nose (which means it smells peppery and spicy), with nice fruit flavors on the finish. I found it smooth, but not wimpy. It was good with a steak that was sliced for sandwiches I think, but I had it pan fried along with steamed asparagus. I finished off the bottle tonight with stir fry in a homemade spicy teriyaki sauce. It also held up well with BBQ chicken.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I bought this bottle of wine at 3S Liquors. I figured this out when I made my weekly stop and saw the display of all wines Harlow Ridge. I now have in my possession, two more flavors! Check back here in the coming weeks to see what I think of these $7.00 wines...

Friday Fling - Going Out...I Think...

2009-05-29T17:36:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was the last official school day of an officially awful year. I can talk about it, but somehow I don't really want to write about it. At least not yet. In the meantime, a new women's bar has opened up in Denver. It's called "Her Bar" and it's partly owned by a gal that owns another bar called "tHERe Bar." Rumor has it that she's opening a third bar as well. Seriously. My guess on the name is "Her Bar Too." That way when she and her girlfriend are out and about they can go the Her Bar, and then to Her Bar too, and then tHERe Bar... Her's, Her's too, and tHERe's... Okay grammatically and spelling wise that doesn't really work out in writing. But it sounded good in my head! Anyway, I hear they have country western dancing on Fridays, so I may pull on the boots and go check it out.

UPDATE: Two-Stepping canceled on account of the Nuggets playing in some b-ball tournament and ya can't hear the announcers over the music...sigh. Maybe next week.

UPDATE #2: The Nuggets lost badly in their own house. However, the movie "Walk The Line" was pretty good.

Wednesday's Wine - Francis Coppola Presents Bianco Pinot Grigio 2006

2009-05-20T22:15:00.005-06:00

In honor of the extra warm weather we're having here in Colorado (until this weekend when it will be rainy and cool for the holiday weekend) I'm reviewing a white wine. I picked up a bottle of Francis Coppola Presents Bianco Pinot Grigio, 2006, last weekend for about $8.00. Right now if you buy a bottle you get a glass wine sipping jar type thing. Apparently, these kind of glasses are used in place like Provence, France by the locals. I like them, they hold just enough wine for sipping with appetizers, or a small dinner.

Anyway, this Pinot Grigio is crisp, just the way I like my white wines. It has some nice fruit flavors without being sticky sweet. Also, there's a bit of butteriness as well. Technically, this is a white wine blend. It's 90% Pinot Grigio with 5% each of Chardonnay (there's the buttery...heh) and Sauvignon Blanc. It was a nice counter point to the fish fajitas I made last night.

Here's what the folks at the Coppola's winery said about their wine:

Our Pinot Grigio grapes are night harvested and delivered to the winery in the early morning, where the grapes are cold pressed and fermented under cool conditions.

Our Bianco Pinot Grigio is also fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel to preserve its fresh fruit aromas and flavors. A small amount of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are blended into the final wine to add complexity.

ENJOY!

Wednesday's Wine - Back by Popular Demand...

2009-05-13T19:08:00.002-06:00

You'll notice that I didn't put the name of the wine in the post title. Yeah, it's not that good. But since I'm an equal opportunity kinda gal, I'm still going to review it. So what's the name of this not quite that good wine? Why it's Sutter Home Red. Yeah, that's the problem. It's Sutter Home. You know when I mentioned that I had a good box wine and everyone said..."ewww?" Well that "ewww" should have been saved for this wine. GACK! It's just too sweet for a red wine. And here's why: it has a sweet white grape in it. Just by including at white grape Sutter Home violated the unwritten RED wine rule that requires that a red wine be a blend of RED grapes...just sayin'... Anyway, I suppose it's okay for someone that prefers their red wines to be more pink and kinda sweet...and chilled. So, you all know who you are...you sweet wine drinkers you...heh. I know I'm being a bit biased here, but I'm not going to post a picture of the bottle or other information on it. You can pretty much find Sutter Home in any liquor store in the U. S. of A.

Of course, you might be wondering WHY on earth I would even buy such a low end wine. Well, I didn't buy it. I was sent home from the previously posted Mother's Day dinner with the remains (half the bottle). I will say, it's kind of my fault that my friend even had this bottle of wine. She went to 3 S Liquors (one of the ones I go to) and asked Joe (one of my wine guys) for suggestions. What's not my fault: she requested a cheap red wine on the sweet side...and that pretty much describes this wine! We had it with her sister's homemade stuffed bell peppers (which were pretty tasty!) and later I had it with cheese tortilla's with avocado. I also had it with meat ravioli. I think it would be better with ham or something else that's kind of salty. Basically, if you buy this wine anyway, serve it with anything that you would serve with White Zinfandel (another "gack"). Anyway...let me know if you try it and actually enjoy it...heh.

Sunday Surf - Happy Mother's Day...now watch this...

2009-05-10T19:37:00.004-06:00

I was invited to dinner at one of my best friend's house by her mother. I had called to wish her a Happy Mother's Day since she's kind of a surrogate mother as my own mother is WAY down in Texas (and yes, I called my mother, too). Anyway, after dinner we watched a rather disturbing movie called Zeitgeist - the movie. If you haven't seen this...and I tend to think most people haven't...you might want to watch this. It will make you rethink your complacency about the role of religion (Judeo/Christian in particular), banks (and I work part time in finance), and war (WWI, WWII, Vietnam, and the current wars) in our lives and how these are used to oppress people. Then, if you really think about it, it might make you rethink the male of the species (they seem to the the common denominator)...or not.

Sunday Surf - Lunch/Dinner

2009-05-03T21:22:00.005-06:00

My blog buddy, Citizen of the World, regularly post pictures of her meals. They look yummy usually. I generally don't have the creativity to stop and take some pictures. Especially since I usually eat at my coffee table...heh. Anyway, I finally got around to making a recipe my mother gave me years ago. It's called King Ranch Chicken Casserole. I happened to have the ingredients in my pantry, so I decided to make it. Here's what it looked like out of the oven:

Here's the recipe if you desire to have something yummy with cheese on it.

1 Chicken breast - broiled and shredded

Tortilla chips - enough to layer twice in a 9 x 9 casserole

6 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 can Rotel

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 4oz. can of chopped green chile

1 cup finely chopped onion

milk as needed (optional)

After cooking and shredding the chicken, place in a bowl and combine with all of the other ingredients except the cheese and chips (add milk to the mixture if baking uncovered). In a 9 x 9 casserole (or similar size oven safe cooking dish), place a layer of chips on the bottom, a layer of the chicken mixture, and a layer of cheese. Repeat the order for a second layer.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove lid and broil for 10 minutes (or until cheese is browning) at 450 degrees. Let casserole stand for 10 minutes uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with a romaine salad or Mexican slaw and a crisp white wine (or lemonade). Serves 4 large portions. The full casserole has about 1540 calories or about 385 for a large serving.

ENJOY!

Sunday Surf - A New Obsession

2009-04-26T23:45:00.000-06:00

In efforts to keep myself completely distracted from matters at work...and to counteract insomnia...I have developed a bit of an obsession. Otalia. What is this, you may ask if you're not a regular reader over at AfterEllen.com (link to the right). It's the pairing name of two characters from a soap opera. Yes, it's true I watch soaps. It started accidentally in high school...and no it wasn't General Hospital (although all my friends were obsessed with Luke and Laura). I was home really sick, but tired of being in bed all day, so I started watching As The World Turns (ATWT). I was obsessed then with Betsy Andropolis played by a young (but older than me) Meg Ryan. I had a crush on her, ok. Anyway, over the years I've tuned in when I was home during the day. In college I got hooked on All My Children (AMC) for many months when they had a lesbian psychologist. I mean, how perfect was that!?! AND that was back in the early 80's! Gay was just getting a toe hold and then AIDS happened (Real People featured an episode on the gay rodeo curcuit...who knew).

Anyway, a few years ago when I started having a very light daytime work schedule, I started watching AMC for a new lesbian storyline, as well as ATWT which had a gay storyline. I also watched Guiding Light (GL) because it came on after ATWT and was good background noise to whatever I was otherwise doing (generally prepping proposals for clients). Yet, somehow I missed it when two long time female characters had their previous love triangle storyline shift into a major love story just between them. Granted the subtext was so buried at first, that anyone would have missed it, but usually I see subtext where is there is none, so go figure how I missed it when it was purposely there.

The characters are Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera Aituro. Hence, Otalia. After youtubing for the past two weekends, I've managed to catch up on the episodes leading up to the shift in the storyline. Seems like multitasking got in the way of good productive TV watching...heh. Anyway, if you're interested in Otalia, go here to watch most of the episodes available on youtube. Some are full episodes in multiple parts, but many of the ones since the beginning of this year are cut down to just Otalia. If you want the whole storyline from the shift on, start on the April 1, 2008 episodes. Yeah, 2008. This story has actually been in the works for several years, with the set up to the storyline shift occuring in early 2008. For current episodes with everything but Otalia cut out go here.

Saturday Surf - Dressing Up for HRC

2009-04-25T09:14:00.002-06:00

I'm going to the HRC Colorado annual dinner tonight. It's a dressed up affair. Yeah, I'm dressing up...in a DRESS...and heels. My feet will probably hurt tomorrow, but it's for a good cause. I was invited last year, and really I should have gone. But lacking in funds and time, I didn't go. I think I missed my opportunity to make a good impression with a certain someone who attended and was single. This year it happens that I'm invited to sit at the table of a friend who is actually one of the speakers this year. Wow, who knew. Anyway, if you check back tomorrow, there is a small chance you can see my dress...maybe. On the other hand, I've been having a challenging two weeks in what has turned out to be a really challenging last 8 months. I'm not ready to write about it. It's occupied my emotions to the point that writing in general would sap the rest of what little energy I've had to get through each day. Yeah, it feels that bad. At least I can still stand (or sit) to read everyone else's posts and make the occasional comment.

Sunday Surf - Sunshine Cleaning

2009-04-05T21:25:00.006-06:00

I had a busy weekend. Friday night I went dancing at Tracks for the monthly First Friday party put on by BAD. Saturday night I had a friend and her mom over for dinner. And today I went to see Sunshine Cleaning while Tucker went to the groomer's. So working backwards from today, I'll start with the movie. It stars Amy Adams and Emily Blunt and has gotten mixed reviews, though mostly good ones. I thought it was very good. Definitely worth the price of a matinee admission ($7.00), but don't buy the LARGE soda. You won't last...heh.

Anyway, I'd been asking a friend of mine to go see Sunshine Cleaning with me over the past few weeks. She said she could plan for today. What she really meant, she needed time to round up a few more people so it wouldn't be like a date. Oh well. She invited Amy's mom to come see it with us (they're long time friends). Unfortunately, she also thought she might go skiing. I think she must have decided all the recent snow was way too inviting to pass up. And if you like to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, I'm pretty sure I've cut that down to about 4 degrees or less (I've also met Ellen DeGeneres...and I have the autograph to prove it...somewhere...). So I showed up for the movie non-date that I suggested and semi-planned only to pretty much be a third wheel. Yeah, not gonna do that again. I didn't figure on a matinee, while my dog was at the groomer's, as a date anyway...sigh. At least the movie was good!

Saturday one of my good friends (you know, the friend that knows just about everything about you and fights with you like a sister...yeah that one) and her mom came over for lasagna. No, I didn't make it myself. I'm a good cook, but I'm not going to spend that much time on something that you can buy at the grocery already made and ready to bake...heh. Anyway, I figured they might eat and run, but they actually stayed for a couple of hours just chatting away. It was nice. It was also a good excuse to clean my condo and vacuum (until the vacuum belt broke anyway).

Friday night, as I mentioned above, I went to First Friday. My friend Shannon Stone spins Country Western for about 4 hours until 10pm or so. I danced to a couple songs and gave a young friend a two stepping lesson. I think I was pretty successful since she looked pretty smooth later dancing with her girlfriend...of the moment. We danced again later in the main bar to current dance and techno music. My legs are hurting now like they do after a workout with weights. Something about deep knee bends and other dance moves my legs don't normally make at my advanced age...heh.

Which reminds me...while I was chatting with another friend by the bar, I saw a 20 something wearing a t shirt that said: "Cougar Hunter." Sigh. I've noticed for about 10 years or so that young women really are going after older women (well lesbian and bi women anyway...just to clarify). At first I thought it was just an online chat room phenomenon, but more and more, the last year or so, I have noticed that my friends have been dating younger women (by younger I mean more than 10 years younger). Of course, THEN I thought my friends were the ones chasing the younger gals. Nope. It's most definitely the young ladies chasing the older women. Of course, THEN I thought maybe it was just older HOT women. Nope. It's pretty random...which in the grand scheme of things is sorta nice.

But really, I worry about this situation. See women live a lot longer than men, so when older straight women (the original cougars) have younger boyfriends, they might actually live together a really long time before they both die not so far apart in time. On the other hand, if you're say...a 45 year old woman with say a 25 year old girlfriend and you both live until your 80's...well it's not a pretty picture for the younger partner. And today I was catching up with my stack of newspapers and Amy (the advice gal) told one woman to have fun with her younger boyfriend if they were otherwise compatible, but even she hinted at the future possible issues...and the unlikely chance of a long relationships owing to things such as "you mean Paul McCartney was in a group?"...heh. Yeah, that happens to me a lot.... Then I saw another "Cougar Hunter" t shirt today. What? Is the universe sending me a message?

Wednesday's Wine - Altos las Hormigas Malbec, 2007

2009-04-01T20:08:00.005-06:00

Yum! Spicy! My regular readers know I like spicy. One can find spicy in wine too. I just opened this wine tonight to go with my New York strip steak (with a spinach and tomato salad). And that's how we are visiting Argentina. I don't recall having had a wine from Argentina before and this is a good start for under $10.00. I did notice that this malbec (yes, it's a red grape) is dark in color and slightly astringent. There's a wee bit of oak and a bit of alcohol burn on the finish. But really, it was spicy like pepper and really good with a steak. I enjoyed it quite a bit, I think because it was kind of bold in flavor, but not as fruit filled as some of the red wines I've had lately. Here's what Altos Las Hormigas said about their wine:

TASTING NOTES
Violet vivid colour, truly varietal nose, with notes of cherry and blackberry, that come out clear and intense. Its true character lies in the palate impression, where structure, freshness and persistence combine giving a very pleasant harmony.

ENJOY!

Sunday Surf - Spring Break Summary and Wine Review

2009-03-29T19:24:00.011-06:00

Does it really count as a Spring Break if you don't go anywhere and you end up catching up on client appointments? I thought not. Oh well, it's probably a good thing that I saved my money...except for that $110 I ended up paying to the City of Denver for a speeding ticket from the week before Spring Break. I will not go into detail other than to say I was speeding, although not as fast as the officer said and only for a minute when I was trying to get out of the way of a potential accident that turned out to be the officer pointing her radar gun at everyone in the line of traffic I was following. See not too much detail...heh.

So in the past month (or maybe less than that) I've tried several bottles of wine. Four reds and one white. I'll start with the last one I had...which I just finished this evening with my dinner of Ravioli (okay, it was that canned stuff from childhood memories...it was on sale...cheap...I had a coupon dang it...heh). But hey, the wine was fun as you can see by the label!

This a 2007 French Maid Pinot Noir is from the Pays d'Oc region of France. Since I was on a bit of a wine buying spree last month, I'm not sure, but I think I picked this one up at 3S Liquors (they have a lot of wines with cool labels) for about $9.00. It was a medium full bodied pinot noir with light tannins and very little alcohol burn on the finish. It also had good fruit flavors, but it wasn't sweet. Obviously it went well with the ravioli. I also had it with pizza and a leftover burger (well half a burger) and 4 leftover tater tots (yes, I also added a salad of baby spinach and cherry tomatoes with Good Season's Italian Dressing).

Staying in Europe and with the Pinot...but going Grigio...I tried this 2007 one from Italy. It's from the producer Mezzacorona. The region is called Vigneti delle Dolomiti (actually I think "Vigneti delle" probably means "wine of"...hopefully the Gentleman will pop by and let us know since she lives in Italy). Anyway, as I recall, this was a good crisp Pinot Grigio and that I picked up for around $7.00. I definitely will revisit it this summer. Here's a quote I found from Wine Enthusiast:

This is a pristine albeit easy wine with clean and compact aromas of stone fruit, yellow flower and zesty citrus. Genuine and aromatic, this is textbook Pinot Grigio with pleasing creaminess on the palate. Pair with pasta salad, grilled white meats and finger foods. Score: 87. —Monica Larner, November 15, 2007.

Awhile back I reviewed Jacob's Creek Shiraz which I found quite tasty. I tried the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon a couple weeks ago with a steak and various other meals. It was quite good as well. Jacob's Creek is located in South Eastern Australia (like most decent wines from Australia). I found it just as tasty as the Shiraz, but of course, less big fruit flavors and a tad more tannins. The vineyard has been growing grapes since 1947 and describes this cabernet as a "full bodied wine" that "exhibits an aroma of mint and blackcurrent (sic) with a palate rich in berry fruit flavors and well integrated tannins (yeah, what I said...heh). Try it, you'll like it for under $10.00.

I don't think I've mentioned one of my favorite cheap wines...kind of the wines that got me started on my quest. Walnut Crest is a vineyard in Rapel Valley, Chile. Back in 1996 they were awarded Consumer Reports' highest rating for red wine as compared by trained wine tasters to some French wines. Anyway, I really love the Cabernet Sauvignon which I pick up at Applejack Wine and Liquors anytime I'm there and it's on sale for $4.00. Recently I discovered this Shiraz. How about that!?! This is new to their collection I think. Or at least Applejack hasn't been carrying it that long. I found it quite good for the price. On their website I found the following information:

Color: Deep cherry red with tinges of purple.
Bouquet: Hints of plum, jam and spice.
Taste: Spicy black berry, plum and pepper.

I have to agree. I also agree with their recommendation to try it with "spicy-sauced" pastas. Of course, I love spicy, so I might be a tad biased about that suggestion...heh.

The last wine I tried was one I grew up seeing in the kitchen: Gallo Hearty Burgundy. Basically, this is a red blend screw top jug wine. I saw it on the shelf at 3S Liquors and couldn't resist the chance to taste what was a regular guest at the dining room table. My mother used to buy two gallon jugs of this, one of Chablis and one of Rose. They would last a month or two. Nowadays, it comes in 1.5 litre bottles for about $8.00 or so. And they did away with the screw top. Too bad about that, since they tend to last longer than when you remove a cork.

Anyway, as red blends go, this was really good! When I told my mother I really enjoyed it, she said it was a wine before it's time...heh. I actually bought a second bottle a couple weeks later and finished it up during this past week. It tastes like a cabernet sauvignon mixed with a shiraz actually. Along with Walnut Crest, I can see Gallo being a regular guest at my dining room table...er living room coffee table (or should I call it my wine table...hmmm). Gallo has branded this wine as one of their Twin Valley wines. This is what they said about it:

Our Twin Valley Hearty Burgundy combines mouth-watering richness with flavors ranging from dark berry to red plum. Well-balanced and approachable, its fruit is complemented by hints of oak and spice. Our Hearty Burgundy stands up well to almost any boldly flavored dish. It's fantastic with red meat and heavier foods such as chili and Italian dishes.

ENJOY them ALL!

Friday's Fling - Spring Break Bonus Time Waster

2009-03-27T10:31:00.002-06:00

So I was visiting AfterEllen.com for my daily dose of all things lesbian/bi women and pop culture... And here I found a fun, if inaccurate, personality assessment. Basically the Typealizer analyzes the content of your blog and provides a Myers Briggs personality result. Here's mine:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

So what's yours?

Tuesday's Time Waster - South Park Avatar Maker

2009-03-24T21:47:00.004-06:00

I know you all have been waiting a LONG time for a fun time waster. Since I'm on spring break, I have a little bit of extra time to waste...heh. You've seen my Simpsonized pic for over a year and I have a fun avatar that I made a few weeks ago for my Yahoo IM program. But at the time I couldn't figure out how to import it anywhere else. But in the process of making a South Park Avatar today, I got the idea to do a screen cap of it so I could show it here. So follow the link above to make your avatar and then open a new browser window to follow these directions for an easy way to do a screen cap. I love the idea of a South Park Avatar, because the guys who produce the show are from Colorado and those kidletts are too funny!

Here's my new South Park Avatar:

Have fun!

UPDATE: I'm a great Auntie now (dang I feel old). My neice just gave birth to my great neice, Mia!!! I'm sure she'll be very cute when I finally get to see her!

Sunday Surf - OpenLeft

2009-03-22T12:36:00.006-06:00

Since today is Sunday, I called my mom. I call her pretty much every Sunday whether she likes it or not. I think she likes it a little bit, but won't admit it, preferring to randomly remind me that I don't need to call so often. Today's topic was my brother and his family visiting for a couple days this past week, since it was Spring Break in Texas. I mentioned that I've been reading things in the paper and on the Internet (did you know Internet is supposed to be capitalized!?!) that are either kinda geeky (Twitter) or political (Obama, AIG, etc.) and I always think, this or that would be something to ask my brother about (yeah, bad grammar, I know...and I always think about bad grammar when also thinking about my mom). Anyway, I called him while he and his family were driving to visit my mom because he said that would be a good time to call (which it would have been except for the road noise, so we hung up). This led my mother to suggest that I go to OpenLeft and I could read his mostly political blog posts along with MANY others.

My mom does not have a computer anymore because she never liked them. She only kept my dad's for about 18 months after he died so that she could check emails until she trained everyone to stop sending email...heh. As you can imagine, it's a bit weird to learn from your non-computing mother that your brother posts somewhere on the Internet. Not that it's a surprise that he posts somewhere, just that SHE was the one to inform me of this fact, instead of say...MY BROTHER...sheesh. After some googling (still not a verb, even though everyone does it) around I found out that he's been posting there for about a year now. I'll never catch up. Oh well, some of it's old political news anyway. I do like the idea of being able to see what his opinion is on various topics though. I say "see" because of course you read blogs with your eyes generally. And I'm not actually an auditory kind of gal, so seeing words makes more sense faster than hearing words. So, if you're a lefty and want to be part of the choir to which is being preached (good grammar sounds so bad), check it out (see link above or to the right in News & References list). If you happen to be one of the random right wingnuts that happen to accidentally visit today, well you can still check it out for an opposing opinion and no one will hear you trying to interrupt the poster by yelling at your screen...heh...except maybe someone who happens to be in the same room with you and your computer.

Saturday Surf - Nothing to do on Saturday Nights Now...

2009-03-14T08:49:00.014-06:00

So one of the long time women's bar...a country western dance club called Ms. C's or just C's...closed at the end of February after close to 20 years. I was going to write a obituary for the place on the following Sunday, but well, I didn't feel up to it. But now, of course I want to go dancing tonight and at the moment, there aren't really any options unless I go to the men's country western bar, Charlie's. They used to occupy the space where C's was, but had to move to a larger building which is how Ms. C's came to be, so actually the space was some kind of gay bar for well over 24 years...not sure really how long. The problem with Charlie's is that the guys there wear tall boots and tall hats. You just can't see around them at all...not so good for um...scoping out the few other women there...heh. Although, I imagine there might be a larger number of women there than usual right now.

Another option is large men's nightclub, Tracks, that currently helps to host the largest women's party in the country...First Friday put on by BAD (Babes Around Denver). Of course, the rest of the month it's mostly men, drag queens, and ladies who love the gay boys...but I suppose the crowd will have more ladies who love the ladies now. The downside of going to Tracks is the cover charge. I suspect it's rather high. The general manager is a client of mine, but I would feel funny asking for a free pass...heh...since he pays me for my financial services. I will say that Denver and Tracks are getting a name with LOGO though. They're filming an episode of Ru Paul's Drag Race there (or they might have just done that) and Briana Stockton from Bravo's Workout and LOGO's AfterEllen.com made an appearance at this month's First Friday (and yes, I did get to meet her...she's much tinier than she seems on TV and her AfterEllen vlog).

The last option for dancing is based on a rumor. The rumor is a new lesbian club is openning. And so the other afternoon I drove by the purported location to take a gander. As best as I can tell, the club is likely to be in a building currently occupied by another club called Dr. Hook's which has two dance floors. My guess is that they'll be "hosting" a women's night and it won't actually BE a women's bar. It's in a dicey location, kind of remote and near an area of Denver called Commerce City. It's a "Gary, Indiana" kind of town (lot's of low income homes and smoke stacks). And I would say, based on the size of the place, that they've got parking hidden somewhere, I just didn't see it when I drove by.

Of course, I could just go to one of the ACTUAL lesbian bars, but they aren't really set up for dancing. The Detour finally reopened in their new location a few months ago after many delays. I've been a few times and they have room to host small bands, but not really for dancing unless it's a small crowd. The advantage is I live about 6 miles from it and it's directly south of me on the same street. So it's easy to find my way home and I could even ride my bike, if it weren't so hilly! The other bar is Decatuer Street (in the location formerly known as Nobody's Biznes). A friend was a partner in it when it first changed to the new name (Nobody's was owned by some other friends for about 10 years and then they sold it). However, it was a snafu from the start, though it was a cleaned up snafu! Anyway, another friend (who actually IS in the bar business) bought her out and became partners with the gal who was kind of the cause of the snafu. Things seem much better now. They have a great patio, but parking is scarce. This summer, I think they'll be a rather popular partying location.

So with that, I thought now would be a good time to show some pictures of the last party at C's. And bid it farewell. Some of my friends blame the demise of C's on the women's community for not supporting the club as much in the past couple of years or so. They don't really know why the lease was lost. I suspect the rent went up too far or the owner of the property wants to sell it. But it could be that they weren't bringing in enough revenue to cover expenses, because it's true that the size of the crowd had decreased and the women usually came late and left early. And of course, since the last night was advertized as the last night, the girls came out of the woodwork in droves. I have to say, there were many many women there that I don't think I've ever seen before and many regulars that stayed away for some reason. There were a few guys there, too, who were probably saying goodbye to the location that was once Charlie's. I'm glad I went for the last party anyway. The pics really don't do the party justice, but you can see we were having fun!

In the back of this pic you can see the crowd coming in the door and then lining up to buy a drink. I waited 45 minutes in line. THAT never happened before.

Here's the pool playing area. The crowd kind of ended the play there early during the final party.

Doing the Cotton Eyed Joe:

Starting a line dance now:

These ladies (and gents) do know how to strut:

Hey dude...the light is really bouncing off your head...where's your hat???

Dang it, I forgot to catch the ladies two stepping (because it's hard to take a picture while you're dancing, ya know), but there was much of that and some breaks to boogie disco style as well. Tippin' my hat to C's. We'll miss ya girl!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Proctoring Exams for Students

2009-03-03T18:31:00.002-07:00

NCLB (No Child Left Behind) is a somewhat good idea gone terribly awry. You remember having to take exams once a year or once every couple years that all kids in the state have to take? You know, like the Iowa Basics...that I took in OHIO!?! Well here in Colorado we have the CSAPs. I think it means Colorado Student Achievement Plan or something similarly inane. I know I should look it up and get it right, but that would be adding more time wasting to my day. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm NOT a teacher and never in my 17 year (mostly part time) career have I ever been required to spend 3 or 4 hours a day for 2 or 3 weeks proctoring group achievement testing. Sigh. I like some things about my JOB, but seriously this was not on my radar. I then spent part of the afternoon in a debate about who's responsible for helping students that are NOT already receiving special education services when the regular education staff can't figure out what to do next with difficult to teach students and as a result keep trying to get us to help. After much back and forth, we finally found a new way to say the same old thing (No). At least this time it doesn't make us sound like we don't care, because now we get to point them to the right person (or it could be the wrong person, but at least it puts them on the right path...we hope). Sigh. I feel better anyway.

Thought for Thursday - My Take on How We Got in This Foreclosure Mess

2009-02-26T18:16:00.003-07:00

Over at Lynt's blog she wrote a blog post called "Random" and among other things asked the following questions and answered them:

There are three foreclosure properties in my neighborhood. Am I pissed that folks got in over their head, sucked in by ridiculous loan availability when I played by the rules and now have declining property values? Yes. Do I think the government is to blame? No. I think bankers are to blame. And people who weren’t raised to buy what they could afford. An interest-only loan? On what planet does that even sound like it makes sense?

Here's how I responded:

Well...enjoy that wine while I natter on about the loan foreclosure debacle. 1st - actually I do blame the government because going back to at least the Nixon administration (and in both democrat and republican administrations) various laws had been changed that eventually led to the situation where greed was able to take over unchecked (we call part of it "DE-Regulation").

2nd - let's talk more about that greed. I'm not sure which came first the lender's greed or the realtor's greed. But I tend to think it was the lenders because they had to develop and make more available the products that the sellers of real estate start "recommending" in order to convince buyers to buy too much house. I have a financial client who did NOT come to me first when they decided to start house hunting. Had they come to me I would have told them the most they could afford on their income was about $150,000 at prevailing rates and that was on the high end. But no, they went to a real estate agent who was GREEDY and probably had her income based on selling a certain number of homes at a minimum value of $250,000. Since there were mortgage loans available that could be "tailored" to fit the client's income (read "interest only" loan) of course she ONLY took them to see $250,000 homes. They fell in love with a house that her recommended lender could finance and THEN they called me. Yeah, I burst their bubble and we didn't chat much for 3 years (of course, that's because they bought the house). Even the wife's banker brother told them not to do it, but by then they were in on the greed game. Of course, somewhere in this scenario are appraisers who propped up the market values somewhat, because the lenders with the "creative" loans threw business to them...hence more greed.

Have another glass of wine now...

3rd - You might wonder how these buyer's got the idea to finance 100% of the homes and do so without even having money for closing costs. Greed again. I believe this started on a large scale with builders. They began offering money towards closing called "seller's concessions". The actual idea stems from HUD/FHA rules that allow sellers (or supposedly non-profit companies) to provide the buyer with up to 3% of the selling price toward closing costs and, depending on some other factors, an additional 3% for a down payment so that the financing isn't 100% of the price (although they add on a Mortgage Insurance Premium up front, so it's nearly 100% financing anyway...don't get me started on that stuff...heh). Anyway, realtor's that were trying to resell existing homes had a hard time competing with all the new homes what with the new homes being NEW and having access to this creative financing, so they started borrowing the same ideas. THEN the lenders figured out that they could package up all the loans and sell them as investments, so they started offering these creative loans to existing homeowners so they could refinance all their debt. More greed. Then the homeowners saw their homes as debit cards...OMG! You should have seen the really weird loans that came out of that idea...THOSE really haven't gotten the press the interest only ones got...again, don't get me started!

So that's my somewhat educated take on the problem. Now I think I'll get myself a glass of wine...heh.

BTW, my clients decided to move and fortunately sold their home between the two major waves of foreclosures here in Colorado. They only had to bring $2000 to the table to get out. It was rather expensive rental property (they never really owned anything, if you ask me, and it was almost 50% more per month than their previous rent was in a similar size house)...but they did learn their lesson and we're back on speaking terms again.

Wednesday's Whine - One of Those Weeks Already

2009-02-25T21:41:00.002-07:00

So I have this job now...you may have read about it in earlier blogs. It rules my life at the moment (yet one more reason I prefer to be self-employed). Anyway, I've had a few bottles of wine in the last couple of weeks, but no energy to search the net for label pics and general information about them. Then I made a bad attempt at using an example and humor to illustrate a point during a meeting that turned out to be neither funny nor a very helpful illustration...sigh. A coworker was offended and another coworker tattle on me to the boss. I get that it was bad form, but the offended coworker should have come to me and not stewed over it. The other coworker really had no right to go to the boss either but could have come to me about it. I dislike tattletales. I assume that people make mistakes and if they make enough to bug me, then I talk to them directly. Occasionally, I'll seek counsel from a knowledgeable coworker on how to handle a situation or to vent. Just like others come to me to vent. But I'm bad about assuming that obvious venting is considered confidential. Guess that's a bad assumption because I now suspect my venting (as well as some others') is not being held in confidence. This whole thing gave me a 3 day headache. Fortunately, I'm not the one that is apparently going to be in big trouble for sending an email about something confidential in our department to someone in another department. Still, it makes people paranoid to chat with former coworkers in other departments when someone is going to get in trouble over what they've shared. It kind of feels like folks are potentially being set up to not be retained for the next year...sigh. I could be looking for a new gig...or someone I work with will be...or maybe several of us...

Thought for Thursday - Blogging Burnout part 2

2009-02-12T10:37:00.006-07:00

I know y'all miss me a tiny bit. I just figured you might need a break. You know, one less blog page to read for a short while. Rest assured, I am reading everyone else's blogs. I'm even commenting on ocassion! I've also been drinking some wine. I just haven't been sharing it with you...heh. I know, I know. You depend on me for your weekend wine selections. A girl's gotta budget more these days, and finding a bottle of wine that tastes like it was at least $20.00 but getting it for under $10.00 is the ultimate. And here we are facing Valentine's Day with NO wine suggestion. Sigh. Can't count on TheWeyrd1 anymore.

Well...I felt your vibes... So for Valentine's Day, I'm going to suggest a wine I just had twice in 3 months. And no, it wasn't a RED wine. GASP! I bought Insatiable White Wine again just because it was on sale and the sign indicated a really high wine score. I don't remember which publication rated it or what the number was, but it was very high. Especially for a blend. I think it was better the second time through. Another reason to buy it for Valentine's Day: a RED label! With a name like Insatiable on a red label how can you go wrong??? AND, I think it will go well with chocolaty desserts too. ENJOY!

Wednesday's Wine - Borsao 2007 Red Wine and Rose Wine

2009-01-28T20:37:00.009-07:00

I decided to visit Spain via two wines from Borsao. One "Red Wine" which is actually 75% Garnacha and 25% Tempranillo grapes. It is deep reddish purple with berry flavors and kind of earthy. It's a great table wine for the low price of $6.00. The other is "Rose Wine" which is "100% Garnacha" according to the Wine Advocate. They also said that it is "Medium pink-colored, it exhibits an enticing nose of rose petals and cherry. Crisp and dry on the palate, it has a solid core of cherry fruit, good grip, and a fruit-filled finish." -Rated 87, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. It's also around the same $6.00. The first label is the one from the 2007 Red Wine. And the second label is from the 2007 Rose Wine.

I've been sipping on these for the past week. Tonight I decided to have them side by side to see what mostly Garnacha grapes taste like in different levels of development. Of course, I decided to have them with a vegetarian chili that was WAY spicy (I finally figured out which of my baggies of frozen green chilis are the extra hot ones)! Due to the HEAT, I kind of prefered the Rose which is generally served chilled and was slightly sweeter than the Red. It also has a definite cherry aroma even when it warms up. It was definitely a nice counter point to the hot (spicy and heat versions of hot) chili.

Nevertheless, I also enjoyed the Red Wine (Disclosure: I've had this one a few times...heh). It went well with my very tender pot roast over the weekend. The Rose went well with a chicken taco and chips and cheese caso. I recommend both at any price under $10.00. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Wine - Barefoot Merlot

2009-01-21T22:24:00.004-07:00

I've been working on this bottle of wine for two weeks. HUH!?! Okay, I couldn't resist getting a 1.5 liter bottle for $9.00. That's like $4.50 for a regular size bottle of wine (which is a great deal when you don't live in Two Buck Chuck California)!!! Anyway, I know I generally avoid Merlot, but once in awhile you happen across a surprise. So let me tell you a story.

It all happened down in Texas. I was spending a few days with my mother after Christmas and she gifted me with making my FAVORITE all time dinner! This happens to be Beef Stroganoff. My mom's version is served over Uncle Ben's Wild Rice instead of noodles or plain rice. She serves it with a romaine salad and crusty bread. And of course, red wine. My mom doesn't drink red wine as often as she used to due to health issues, but for my favorite dinner she had me looking at HEB (a grocery chain in Texas) for a bottle. There it was on the shelf with it's "Double Gold Medal" sticker and a price tag of $6.00. I know my mom likes a lighter red these days, so I thought, "Hey, it's a double gold medal winner, it must be decent anyway." I also remember someone in the blogosphere suggesting that I try it. Well, I loved it! So much so that I sprung for the double gold medal double bottle size when I got home. That's a lot of good wine for one person...

Anyway, Barefoot Merlot starts out on the front of the palate with some nice fruit flavors. Typical to many red wines, it has some berry flavors mixed with some spiciness. On the back of the palate it's smoother than expected, but slightly astringent. And oddly a bit like dessert, but not sugary.

Here's what I found on Barefoot's website:

JENNIFER’S WINEMAKER NOTES:
Medium to full body, balanced tannins.
Red cherry & plum.
Mocha finish complemented by smoky vanilla oak.

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES:
84 Points BEST BUY
"A little sharp and raw, but there's so much nice blackberry, cherry and spicy cola fruit, and the wine is so balanced, that at this price, its a bargain."
Wine Enthusiast
Tasting Panel
March 01 2007

"The Merlot is rich in plum, mocha notes, a hint of oak, and nice texture."
Quarterly Review of Wines
Tasting Panel
June 01 2007

4 Stars
"This is a very pretty Merlot! It is loaded with scents and flavors of rose petals, chocolate covered cherries and a sprig of mint. This delicious wine is consistent from the first sniff through to the finish"."
Sign On San Diego.com
Sue Straight
January 01 2007

Jennifer, the winemaker quoted above, also made these food suggestions:

Barefoot Merlot is perfect with beef, poultry, red sauce pastas, cheeses and desserts.

I also had it several times with Green Chile...heh. ENJOY!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Watching the Inauguration ALL DAY

2009-01-20T22:16:00.002-07:00

But I wouldn't really call watching history being made a time waster! First, it's just a relief to have a new President in office. Second, it's very refreshing to see the colors of the rainbow being represented (didn't you love the benediction poem)!?! Third, it's kinda fun to see the country partying like it's the New Year and a Superbowl rolled into one. And now I think I shall retire to the bed chamber for some new sweet dreams!

Saturday Surf - Well That's Depressing

2009-01-17T13:54:00.005-07:00

So per usual, I was catching up on my blog roll and over at Deep Confusion I watched Keith Olbermann summarize the horror of the Bush administration in 8 minutes (or really about 9, but who's counting). I'm just glad it's almost over. Thank the goddesses that more rational minds prevailed in November.

PS. Welcome to the new observers. If you click on their pictures, it will take you to their own info pages and you can read all about them!

Sunday Surf - A Green Chile Recipe

2009-01-11T21:34:00.004-07:00

Actually, I didn't surf anywhere on the web to find this recipe. I got it from the wife of a guy that I used to work with and who is an excellent cook. In case you have no idea what green chile is or how it's different from the kind of chili that usually has beans in it (red chili and actually it can be made with or without beans), or you only know of Cincinnati style chili (that's a whole 'nother blog post), let me explain. Green chile is made from green chile. No duh, huh!?! Okay, see here in the west/southwest we love the stuff. We eat it smothered over burrito's or by the bowl or on huevo's ranchero's...HUH???

I'd never heard of green chile either, before I moved to Colorado, but now I'm addicted. I was born in Texas and they don't do green chile that much and then I moved a lot, but not in the southwest and mostly in Ohio. No green chile there. Anyway, in the southwest, like New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona green chile comes in a variety of ways. I prefer the most common way since it's the most versitile, and frankly it's focused on the green chile and not a bunch of added ingredients.

This recipe was originally made for either a really large family or for a party. I've put in parentheses what I do instead for a smaller amount to serve a family for one meal or a single person for a few meals (basically in parentheses I cut this recipe down to roughly 1/4 of the amount of ingredients and it still lasts for several meals).

2 to 4 lbs. cubed pork (I use between 8 to 10 oz.)

2 Tbs or so of Olive Oil ( use 1 Tbs)

3 to 4 cloves of garlic chopped or minced (I use 1 large clove)

10 Tbs flour browned in a skillet (I use about 3 Tbs)

10 - 12 roasted green chile peppers rough chopped (I use this same amount even for my version cause I LOVE green chile's and I mix a bunch of mild chile's with a few really hot ones, cause I'm a heat freak!)

4 - 6 cups of water OR can substitute 1 or 2 14oz cans of diced tomatoes for some of the water (I use 1 can and add enough water to bring the chili to the consistency that I want depending on what else is part of the meal...although I like it thicker like a gravy)

Salt or Garlic Salt to taste (since I use a large clove of garlic I usually just use regular salt)

Brown flour in a skillet until tan or light brown and set aside. In a large stock pot, cook pork in olive oil and season with minced garlic and salt until pork is well browned but not burned. Lower the heat to medium low, add flour and throughly coat the pork. Add green chile and stir. Mix in the tomatoes/water and bring to a light boil. Add additional salt as desired. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve it ladled over a bean burrito and garnish with cheese, lettuce, and chopped tomatoes. Or serve it in a bowl with cheese on top and tortillas. Or smother eggs with green chile and cheese...YUM! Enjoy!

PS...if you make it, pop back by and let me know what you think.

Thought for Thursday - Blogging Burnout

2009-01-08T16:53:00.003-07:00

So I went on holiday to Austin, TX for the holidays to recover from the first 4 months of my new J.O.B. and ended up more tired. Driving to Texas and back is exhausting when you're over 40. I remember doing this drive when I was just a tad younger and not feeling so worn out. I think it's mostly related to having a full time job (complete with boss) AND being over 40 that did me in. Anyway, I'm back to work and still feeling tired. So now that I've tired you all out as well, I think I'll go do some more work...on my part time business. Yeah, I don't know how I find the time...heh. Anyway, my apologies for not having the energy to blog lately. However, I did find out that more people wait breathlessly for my wine recommendations than I thought. I promise to drink some new ones just for my stealth wine post readers. Cheers!

Wednesday's Wine - Mouton Cadet Bordeaux, 2005

2008-12-24T09:48:00.004-07:00

This will be a short post due to the holidays. So Merry Happy ChrismaHanaKwanzaKah!

My sister-in-law and I drank this with homemade pizza. My brother had a beer. I pick up this red wine blend at a local Austin liquor store for $10.00. It was good.

There are lots of reviews on the web if you want more detail...heh.

I will say that according to the label, this red wine is a blend of Merlot (65%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) and Cabernet Franc (15%). All of the grapes are in fact grown in the Bordeaux region of France. It was tasty with very little alcohol burn on the finish and a nice earthy nose (scent for you novices...heh).

My sister-in-law deemed it very good since after half a bottle it put her in the mood... Yeah, where did I pack my ear plugs?

ENJOY!

Saturday and Sunday Surf - Driving the ACTUAL Highway(s)

2008-12-21T15:48:00.008-07:00

So Friday we sort of got released early, on our own honor, from work. I ran errands and then went home to get ready for my LONG drive to Austin for the holidays. Lucky dog Tucker spent the day at the Doggie Day Spa. And this time it WAS a day spa. He started out with a half day of Doggie Day Camp where he impressed the Doggie Day Spa workers with his improving social skills. Apparently he's getting over his fear of large dogs. Then he ended the day in the Grooming Salon, being pampered (although I did hear they provide anal gland cleansing as needed...ewww...I'm kinda glad there's someone else willing to do this...heh).

Anyway, I finished my laundry and was trying to geared up to vacuum and pack when I hit the proverbial WALL. I was WAY too tired to drive south Friday night, as originally planned, to stay over at a friend's house in Pueblo, CO. I barely had enough energy to pick up Tucker from the Doggie Day Spa and drive home. I did manage to write several Christmas cards (though probably not all the ones I should have) and watch a couple of shows I had backlogged on my DVR while doing so. Then I went to bed, only to wake up at 4am. WHYYY!?! I did snooze on and off until 5:30am. Prompted by the alarm, I got up, did the packing and vacuuming as well as the usual morning routine (walk Tucker, make breakfast, watch Tucker NOT eat...cajole Tucker...give up and packed the food too).

At 7:30am, I drove across the street to the Diamond Shamrock for coffee and then hit the road for Texas. I stopped briefly in Pueblo to meet my friend at his office (since I haven't seen his office yet and can get a business tax write off for the mileage...I also coach him on retirement plans...heh). Tucker finally ate his breakfast while we were waiting in front of the office. THEN we really started driving. It was all good until we actually got into the state of Texas. WARNING: It is NOT safe to drive even a few miles over the posted speed limits in the state of Texas while in a car with out of state license plates. TRUST me on this. Between my brother and I, we have collected 3 tickets for 11 miles over the speed limit. Not 12, not 13, just 11. If you drive over the speed limit, but definitely under 10 miles over, you will STILL be pulled over and issued a warning. I refer to this as "Driving while living out of state." This will result in, not only a delay, but blood pressure and adrenaline spikes, followed by shaking...go figure. Yep, I got a warning. Thank you cruise control!

I did keep track of flashing lights. Including myself, I witness 5 pull overs. Two were trucks with Texas plates (there are A LOT of trucks in Texas...BIG trucks...and SUVs!) and they do tend to drive really fast. Even when I was only slightly speeding, I got passed a few times and later when I had my cruise control set for the actual speed limit, I was passed left and right...well mostly to the left...heh. The other two vehicles and mine were from the state of Colorado. I'm revising my earlier ticket name to "Driving in Texas while living in Colorado." It's completely bogus that so many Texas vehicles were given a pass for speeding as long as they're under 10 miles over the posted limit, but if you live out of state you get pulled over. I have a friend whose husband is a Texas sheriff. She told me to ask for a radar print out and to also ask the officer when was the last time the radar was calibrated. I don't know if that would work, but since I didn't actually get a ticket, I didn't want to antagonize the highway patrol guy by asking. I did hedge my bets by letting the officer know that I am in fact a Texan by birth...he did happen to ask if I was visiting family after he asked where I was heading which led to my subtly mentioning my home state status...heh. After 16 hours on the road (1 more hour than usual due to doggie exercise and potty stops) we arrived in Austin at 12:30am (for those of you counting, there is a time change from Denver to Austin). And then I was too wired to sleep well...sigh.

Okay, that's my story of driving actual highways, instead of the information highway, and I'm sticking to it! Tucker slept most of the way, which was a good thing, and now after a day of playing with my nephews and meeting my sister-in-law's friends, he's all Tuckered out...heee. Hopefully, we'll both sleep well tonight. Just in case I don't make it back online Happy (fill in the blank) to all!

Sunday Surf - Look What I Got in My E-mail!!!

2008-12-13T16:11:00.004-07:00

Since I had this supposedly all day training class that ended up lasting about 6 and a half hours instead of 9, (with a 1 hour break for lunch), I left Tucker at his BFF's house for an overnighter last night when I finished studying for the class with my old office mate. My old office mate and his wife have custody of Tucker's BFF (Rufus) since their daughter is in college. Apparently, the old office mate's wife decided to let them run themselves ragged in the backyard, after which she bathed them both and dressed them up. Although I know she loves it, she's actually a saint for doing this! Anyway, I thought I share a picture of the results:

That's Tucker on the left and Rufus on the right. Which is actually appropriate since I'm a lefty liberal and Rufus' folks are right wingnuts...just kidding...sorta...heh.

Update: I was informed this evening that Rufus is, in fact, NOT the daughter's dog but the old office mate's wife's dog.

Friday's Fling - Going up...or maybe down... in Flames (and other random thoughts)

2008-12-12T21:29:00.006-07:00

So today was mostly a sucky day. Maybe it's just been a sucky month or four. I really dislike having a boss. But really, I hate that I was hired under less than favorable circumstances and have been rather off kilter and working from a defensive position ever since. I'm definitely NOT in the zone at my JOB. This has resulted in poor communication at times and general paranoia. Though, I've been assured that it's not all paranoia...like that makes it better...sigh.

On the other hand, for my finance business, I had to read 108 pages on Long Term Care insurance over the past week and then take a test on the subject today. Unfortunately, all I had time for was skimming briefly over the information. Good news, since I have at least 10 years experience, I knew most of the answers anyway. Whew! Of course, tomorrow I get to take a follow up class for 8 hours. Gee, I better make a lot of coffee for this.

Now I'm just relaxing and surfing the net. Over at East Jesus I found another one of those cool quizzes we all love. Funny enough, I actually got another rather accurate assessment. It also kinda suggests that I need to go back to finance (and in particular my current company based on what we do...heh). Here's what it said:

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an

Extroverted Money Managing Builder

Thanks to Trop and one of her pals! And by the way, to get to the quiz visit Trop at East Jesus.

Wednesday's Whine - I Forgot to Call in Gay.

2008-12-10T21:22:00.002-07:00

So, I got word Tuesday evening that we of the "alternative lifestyle" were to call in GAY on Wednesday in support of the ongoing protest regarding California's Prop 8 as well as being second class citizens in general. Due to the time sensitive nature of my work (I work with kids who have learning and emotional disabilities) I had some work due on Thursday that I could have possibly finished on Tuesday or on Thursday morning if I had more warning. Sigh. And Wednesdays at work are THE longest days for me. I generally leave the condo at 6:30am and don't get back until 5pm. So in my work induced haze, I forgot to NOT spend money except at gay owned or gay supportive businesses. I'm a bad gay. I hope Pet Smart is gay supportive. Tucker needed dog food and boots. Course in my haze, I forgot to buy the boots (dog food comparisons took about 15 minutes). I'll do better. Really, I will...

Make My Monday - Answer to the Bible Thumpers Regarding Gay Marriage Rights

2008-12-08T19:06:00.003-07:00

I could call this Monday Surf, but it doesn't really roll off the tongue that nicely. Anyway I found a Newsweek article online that's also in the December 15th issue. I was going to post it here in it's entirety, because I wondered how long the link will be live. Alas, I could not figure out how to cut and paste the text without all the extra formatting code that was messing up the blog publishing program... You can cut and paste to your own document program to send out as an attachment to your favorite church going right winger...heh.

Saturday Surf - What Color IS Your Rainbow?

2008-12-06T13:21:00.010-07:00

I was over visiting The Gentleman (and The Lady) and reading responses to their blog posts when I discovered a new blog. First thing I see is a FUN Rainbow quiz. Ya know I love them quizzes. Here's my result (though for some reason you can't see the actual rainbowy picture). What's yours?

Your Rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded indigo and violet.

What is says about you: You are a proud person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. Friends count on you for being honest and insightful. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Friday's Fling - Christmas Present Idea

2008-12-05T22:08:00.005-07:00

For those of you who have a lesbian in your family and are looking for gift ideas, I thought I'd provide the occasional random idea for you. Think of this as my community service plan...heh.

Click on the image above to go to the website for more information. Then check back here for other ideas over the next couple of weeks. Feel free to share some of you own random ideas! Okay, I'm fishing for ideas here...heh.

Wednesday's Wine - Insatiable White Wine, no year noted

2008-12-03T21:07:00.007-07:00

Here's the white wine I promised. This Californian blend is nice and crisp and good with leftover turkey as well as chicken burritos. The blend includes Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio. It can be had for just under $10.00, although I got it for about $8.00. As with most of the white wines I've reviewed, it's fairly easy on the palate and slightly sweet.

Here are some tasting notes that were pretty much what I found:

"Light-to-medium bodied, with with floral, citrusy accents on the nose, ripe citrys, peach and pear flavors on the plate, with a fruity yet crisp finish. This wine is easy to drink and lends itself to light appetizers before dinner, pairing well with a wide range of dishes."

Enjoy!

Friday's Fling - Roasting Turkey

2008-11-28T19:32:00.002-07:00

So I went for Thanksgiving dinner to Tucker's BFF's house. That of course, meant I was without leftovers, although they offered to send me home with some. Anyway, I decided to check out the grocery stores for turkey sales and got an 11.5 lb. bird for $12.00. It took 3 hours to cook according to the package, though I tend to think it would have been better after only 2.5 hours...not that it was bad...or even dry. It was just a tad not juicy enough. Anyway, I had half a baked potato and half an acorn squash with crazins and brown sugar. Oh, and I had a glass of that Fox Brook Chardonnay with it. Afterwards it was left over pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream. Yum! Hope ya'll had a good Thanksgiving!

Wednesday's Wine - Woop Woop Cabernet, 2007

2008-11-26T14:17:00.008-07:00

First off, this LABEL is NOT the label on the 2007 version of Woop Woop Cabernet. The picture is the same, however and it's kinda cool. Not to mention the name of the wine, which apparently means "out there" as in "it's way out in Woop Woop" (kinda like saying it's in Timbuktu) is also fun. And the bottle comes with a reusable stopper instead of a cork or a screw top cap. I totally LOVE the reusableness of the stopper, so I'm saving it for the next bottel of red wine that I open.

Second, I know you all were probably hoping for a white wine suggestion to go with your Thanksgiving dinner, but I frankly I opened this one to go with my Sunday steak dinner, so you get what you get. I do have a white wine review coming soon, but in the meantime, this is the one I already reviewed that I'm taking to dinner tomorrow.

Third, this Cabernet did get a score in the high 80's by at least one of the major wine rating magazines (of course, I can't remember which one...heh). High 80's means the wine is both very good and a good value. You know I love a good wine at a good price and I picked this one up with several others at Applejack Wine & Spirits a few weeks ago for around $9.00.

Woop Woop Cabernet is very tasty I must say. It's got kind of a dark cherry and grape mix of a scent. It actually reminded me more of a dry Shiraz than a typical Cabernet. Of course, since this wine is from South Eastern Australia (home of the best Shiraz), we might expect that. In addition to the the cherry notes of this wine, it has a kind of peppery spicyness to it and almost a dark chocolate finish with not much of an alcohol burn. This wine is dark purple reddish in color and pretty bold. It definitely went well with steak as well as pizza. It's very drinkable and makes a nice table wine if you want to go up a step from a blend. And frankly, with a name like Woop Woop, you gotta plan on having fun food. The guys that make it, apparently like BBQ.

Enjoy!

Rivalry Week - Say That Five Times Fast!

2008-11-22T15:44:00.004-07:00

I do in fact watch sports. And today I spent the morning and part of the afternoon watching my Buckeyes kick some Wolverine tail! Yes, I am a graduate of THE Ohio State University. I wear the scarlet and gray colors of my alma mater proudly. I even recruit my friends to be fans. I have one of my best friends meet me at our local watering hole/sports bar for all the major OSU football games and dang it, now she's a fan! She even said to me that maybe she'll take an online course or two from OSU, just so she can be a real Buckeye...heh. I think she should take enough courses to finish her bachelor's degree. ANYWAY, I'm just waiting for Michigan STATE to beat Penn State, so Ohio State can take the Big 10 Championship and go to the Rose Bowl. Should that not work out however, I'll still be watching some good OSU football in January, 2009. Just sayin'...

UPDATE: Penn State is kicking the other Michigan team's tail, so the Rose Bowl is not likely for Ohio State. Tune back in for Bowl Bids and the final outcomes of the BCS...

Sunday Surf - What Veggie Are You?

2008-11-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

I was over at www.the-n.com catching up on South Of Nowhere videos. No not the shows, just the extras. Anyway, they have cute quizzes and I thought this would appeal to some of my more adult readers...heh. Here's what veggie I am:

Feel free to share which veggie you are...or not...hee...

Rally Against H8 - Denver

2008-11-15T15:48:00.009-07:00

I dropped off Tucker at the groomer's and headed to downtown Denver for the Big Rally against H8. When I got there...a bit late since I had to drive around and around to find a parking spot. $.85 (all my change) later I had 51 minutes to participate. The rally started at 11:30, but by the time I walked from the parking meter to the Denver City and County Court house, it was noon. This is the sea of humanity:

An as you can see, we are ALL Americans. And as such, we should ALL have the same rights. Even if it's against our better judgment to get married, if we do, then we should at least have the rights and responsibilities ALL married folk have here in America.

I was obviously a beautiful day in Denver to have a rally! Our future's so bright, we all gotta wear shades...or at least shade the camera!

It was good to see so many people coming together to protest such a horrible precedent such as this where a proposition put to the people is one that TAKES AWAY rights. No matter what your personal stand on marriage between any two people might be, taking AWAY rights of a minority group by the majority group is a bad bad bad thing. And it's definitely not what we, the majority of Americans, can support.

I'm not sure who the woman speaking is, but she was running the rally. Or at least she was keeping it moving along....speaker...singing...another speaker...some more singing...

There were a lot of signs. One had a WHOLE paragraph explaining the two parts of marriage:
1. The civil marriage which is the legal rights portion, conferred by the law of the land.
2. The religious marriage which is the one sanctioned by the church of your choice.

America is a country founded on a few principles, one of which is the separation of church and state. As such, the CIVIL right of CIVIL marriage should be available to any two human beings regardless of gender (although I do believe that children probably ought not get married...of course that opens another can of worms). If the word "marriage" needs to be stricken from the law and replaced with "union", I'm fine with that. As long as the rights and responsibilities of what was formerly called "marriage" now applies to "union" and as long as those rights and responsibilities are extended to all citizens. Not that I have any current plans to get civilly unioned. Applications are being accepted however...

Wednesday's Wine - Falesco Vitiano, 2006

2008-11-12T20:39:00.005-07:00

So, the other day I was at my OTHER favorite wine place, Applejack Wine and Spirits, (while I was on my way home from the mountains) and I bought FIVE bottles of highly rated wine for about $41.00! Anyway, one of my choices was a nice mellow red wine from ITALY. Yep, after SEVERAL requests from the Gentleman that I review an Italian wine, here it is! Falesco Vitiano, 2006 is a red blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese.

This wine is a deep red color. It had berry notes in both the scent and taste. My first glass seem to slide down like water due to little or no alcohol taste on the finish. The winemaker notes on the back of the bottle said this wine is "Rick in black fruits and mint. It is mouthfilling with cassis, vanilla oak and a well balanced and ripe finish." Hmmm, well, the mint might have been what made it seem like water in the refreshing sense. Of course, the water thing might have been the Merlot portion of the blend (I generally find Merlots to be somewhat watery).

As I mentioned earlier, I bought five highly rated wines. The Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator each gave this wine 88 points (high 80's and 90's are very good wines). Since I bought this on sale for $7.00, that means this was a great value for the buck. Here's what Wine Spectator had to say about Vitiano, 2006:

This Italian red shows lots of blackberry and licorice, with raspberry notes. Full-bodied, with round tannins and a fruity finish.

I have to say I didn't notice the fruity finish, but the round tannins means that the wine was very smooth. Some additional winemaker notes:

"This is a blockbuster young red wine with explosive, luscious aromas. Vitiano Rosso is deep ruby red in color, and offers a wide range of fruit and spice aromas, including black cherry jam, licorice and tobacco leaf. This versatile wine pairs well with a wide array of food, including meat, pasta and pizza. "

I had it with a meatball sub sandwich, something I can't remember on Monday evening and with Taco Bell spicy Combo burrito's tonight. I think it would be good with any food that you want to emphasize and not overwhelm. Enjoy!

Make My Monday - Tucker and I Survive Our First Days Apart

2008-11-10T22:44:00.003-07:00

I spent Thursday through Saturday at the Beaver Creek Resort (no joke...really). Okay, it was mostly work, but I did get some brief moments to play. I ate some expensive resort food...high priced pizza by the slice on Thursday night. Friday evening brought a little charity casino night...I lost $35.00 playing mostly Texas Hold 'Em and a confusing game called Craps...yeah, I crapped out. I sat in one of 5 different hot tubs Saturday morning...more seminars and then I drove back down the mountain. I was exhausted and I think I had a touch of altitude sickness. Sunday I had a massage and kind of vegged out all day.

Meanwhile, Tucker spent three whole days in doggie bliss with his BFF, Rufus (a very tolerant Bichon Frise whose owners voted for McCain...but I forgive them). I'm telling you, Tucker was either depressed Sunday or complete worn out, because all he did was sleep. I hope he was just worn out. But to be sure, he's got a play date for tomorrow... More doggie WWF. Poor Rufus, Tucker gets ahold of his curly ear and just hangs on for the ride. Oh yeah, and Rufus has a HUGE backyard. Back and forth for hours...I'm sure Tucker was just worn out...really.

Anyway, we've survived the time apart and now we're back to routine again...very busy and boring...

Thought for Thursday - Apparently I'm Pure Nerd...LostInColor Made Me Find Out

2008-10-30T17:07:00.003-06:00

See what Lost In Color! made me do:

Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Pure Nerd

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

Wednesday's Wine - Tin Roof Cellars Rose Wine, 2006

2008-10-29T20:09:00.006-06:00

In honor of Indian Summer I thought I'd try another Rose. Yeah, I know it's pinkish. But like the last Rose, this is no White Zinfandel. Nor is it a sticky sweet wine cooler tasting Strawberry Ripple style beverage.

This Californian wine is another that's made from the same grapes as full bodied reds. In fact these are the grapes: Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay & Petite Sirah. Yes, they snuck in a white wine grape and no, the Zinfandel grape is not the white one. For those of you who don't know, Zinfandel grapes are red, unless they're the White Zinfandel which are of course...WHITEish...or at least not RED.

I found this rose to be mellow and definitely not sticky sweet. If you've tried some of my other recommendations, then you know what Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah and Petite Sirah taste like. This definitely has those flavors, just not quite as deep and bold. Also, the Chardonnay (the white one) definitely takes the edge off the other grapes by lending a buttery feel to the wine, especially as it comes up to room temperature. Being a low priced wine (just under $10.00) it does have some noticeable alcohol, but less so when cold.

This is what Tin Roof Cellars said about their wine:

“With its beautiful deep rose color and luscious fruit flavors, our 2006 Rosé is a delightful example of the many pleasures rosé has to offer. Dry in style, but with a succulent, berry jam-like fruitiness, it’s balanced and made eminently refreshing by a crisp, mouthwatering finish that invites a second sip. Enjoy this crowd-pleasing quaffer chilled, either on its own or with a wide range of foods, including fish, chicken, ham and pork, grilled and barbecued fare, and spicy Asian, Hispanic and Caribbean cuisines.”

Just by chance, I enjoyed Tin Roof's Rose with a blackened grilled steak and a romaine salad with a red wine vinegrette. I have to say that it was a nice counter point to the spices. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Whine - Not Many Comments on My Wine Posts

2008-10-22T17:13:00.002-06:00

I had several people I chat with say they'd love to read my comments about wine on my blog. So I started review wine here. Just as a reminder (and for new readers), my wine choices follow the criteria that they need to be UNDER $10.00 and be recommended. Recommendations can come from any decent source like: my favorite wine guys at 3S Liquors; have wine magazine ratings in the upper 80's or higher; or one of my friends buys it for me...heh. Anyway, if you're enjoying my wine posts, please let me know. Two comments (especially when one is me responding to another comment) doesn't give me much hope that I have an audience. Yeah, I'm aware that I have some stealth readers...but still... Also, feel free to use the comments area to suggest a wine you'd like to see reviewed. I might even bend the rules and review ones over $10.00 if it's recommended by a reader...and I'm not gonna go broke buying it...heh.

Make My Monday - Puppy Survives Losing His Marbles

2008-10-20T20:36:00.003-06:00

Tucker had an appointment with Dr. Tucker the vet. Yep, time to lose the little puppy making items that some call balls. Tucker is only 8 lbs., so balls might be a tad exaggerated. I think marbles might be a better metaphor. Just sayin'. I also had him chipped...in case he gets away...slippery little guy.

PS. Tucker and I support 8against8 who are raising $8000 for the No on Prop. 8 in California over 8 days. Go donate a buck or two or 8 (or more) to the cause if you can. Or at least pass on the info. Tucker wants a second mommy...of course that would require a girlfriend first. But you know how it is with 5 month olds...so idealistic...heh.

Wednesday's Wine - Fox Brook Merlot, 2006

2008-10-15T22:01:00.005-06:00

I'm on my second bottle of this Merlot. Nope, not for the night...heh. What, a second bottle of the same Merlot!?! Yep, I found that this $4.00 Merlot has a bit more body than the usual ones out there for under $10.00 and more importantly, it really tastes good! It has some nice fruit flavors on the front of the palate (that's what you taste initially) and not too much alcohol on the finish. Once again, finding a picture of the label proved illusive. Oh well, just drink more of this one and look at the picture of the Fox Brook Chardonnay label from last week...heh. Here's what Fox Brook put on the back of their label:

"Our Merlot is balanced by concentrated berry flavors with hints of vanilla and oak. This wine makes a wonderful accompaniment to grilled vegetables, roasted lamb and Camembert cheese."

I don't think I'd drink $4.00 wine with roasted lamb, but it did go nicely with pork ribs last night and an Arby's roast beef sandwich today. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Wine - Fox Brook Chardonnay, 2006

2008-10-08T20:16:00.005-06:00

Well summer is over and fall is definitely in the air. We here in Colorado had our first frost the other night. I still have my window open at night though. It's definitely turning into red wine season, but here I am drinking another white wine in service to my loyal readers...heh. Anyway, back when I bought the Fox Brook Sauvignon Cabernet, Joe the wine guy at 3S Liquors suggested that I try the Chardonnay. He knows I prefer crisp white wines and Chardonnays tend to be more on the buttery stick to your tongue kind of wine. But Joe being Joe and knowing what I like was enough to convince me to buy this wine. Of course it was only $4.00, so that might have been a factor.

I decided to uncork this wine last night as a counter point to the last of some milder green chili I made over the weekend. Yes it was buttery, but not so sticky on the tongue. It was sweeter than I generally like, but not cloying. So far so good. It definitely cut the heat of the green chili. I had it again tonight with a blackened steak sliced over a bed of romaine with a chipotle vinegrette. It was yummy...both the salad and the wine. I hate it when I like a white wine. But then at $4.00 I can afford it!

Here's what the back of the bottle said: "Abundant with fruit and citrus flavors that carry through to a toasty buttery finish with a hint of oak." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description. Enjoy!

Make My Monday - Postponed to Tuesday's Time Waster Slot Due To Continued Exhaustion

2008-10-07T20:41:00.006-06:00

Tucker got all gussied up for graduation on Sunday. Isn't he looking handsome! Yeah...he's cute...and dang it, he knows it. So anyway, he had to sit, lay down, stay, wait, come from a wait, and "leave it" (which is exactly what it sounds like). He's a bit iffy on the leave it usually, but apparently he wasn't in the mood for the treat I used for the leave it item...heh. He's picky, just like me.

So here he is in his little graduation cap. He has a diploma too, but it didn't fit in the picture. Okay, I couldn't hold it and Tucker AND the cap...heh.

Tucker is pretty good at following commands...most of the time. Unless he knows he's doing something he shouldn't be doing, then he runs. Friday he got out of the bathroom by squeezing under the baby gate. Once he had a taste of freedom, he didn't let the baby gate being lowered an inch keep him penned in. Oh no...he CHEWED through it on Saturday. But we lesbian types have duct tape, so I fix it and sprayed the whole thing with that bitter stuff that's supposed to keep him from chewing on the wrong things. But he was determined, so today he chewed through the other side and greeted me at the door again. Of course, in the process of putting stuff down and rounding him up, I managed to leave my keys on the counter when I took him out for a walk. GREAT!!!

Fortunately I left my bedroom window open and all I needed was a friend with a big ladder. Well after a couple hours of waiting a round, my old office partner showed up and helped me break into my condo (he has this cool collapsing ladder). We had the neighbors worried until they saw it was me. Then they laughed. Thanks Tucker! We'll be signing up for more classes in December.

Thought for Thursday - Delayed Due to Exhaustion

2008-10-03T10:18:00.002-06:00

I know you all were wondering what happened to me. No thoughts for Thursday, how could this be? Well, I was tired. Too tired to listen to inane and nails on chalkboard sounding squeaks from Palin. Too tired to keep my eyes open for the stuff I have recorded on my DVR. Too tired to remember how Ugly Betty ended after the big debate finally finished. Almost too tired to take Tucker out for his last potty break of the evening...however, puppy whining in the middle of the night is not something I wanted to hear. I almost went to bed in my jeans, but decided that discomfort would wake me up eventually...and too early. So here we are on Friday...TGIF would be the thing to say, but alas, I have a full weekend of business related stuff. Oh well. Early to bed tonight I guess.

This delayed Thought for Thursday was brought to you by: The NEW JOB. Thank you for your attention.

Wednesday's Wine - Pinot Evil - Pinot Noir Vin de Pays de L'ile de Beaute

2008-10-01T22:31:00.005-06:00

For the record, there is no vintage year noted on the label of this Pinot Noir. I bought it a long while back...or maybe it was a gift. In any case, it was under $10 or it was free (online I saw it in the $6.00 range)! Clearly the best thing about this wine is the label:
I had this wine on a picnic up on my land. I was going to post a picture I took while up there of the leaves changing, but the sun was in just the right spot to wash out the picture making everything look very light green instead of having the contrast of the dark greens of the pines and the yellows of the bushes and aspens. Now I hear it's going to snow up there this weekend. Sorry to all of you that were hoping for some new pictures...sigh.

I digress. Anyway, my picnic guest and I found this Pinot a bit on the gritty side when first opened. It reminded me of those bottles of Chianti that have a basket around the bottle. After a second picnic glass, it seemed a tad less gritty, but that's probably because I was distracted by my company. This wine was definitely thinner than a typical Pinot Noir. It had more alcohol on the finish, which might have been why it seemed gritty at first, and was quite astringent. The nose (how it smelled) was light, but kind of like some choke cherry jelly I once had (choke cherries are very tart). The flavor was okay, but nothing really stood out. Nevertheless, it wasn't undrinkable and the label was good for conversation. The backside of the label has a lovely story about the monkeys, but then they also say it has a velvet finish. I don't think so. They suggest having with duck. I suggest, if you buy it, have it like I did...on a picnic with fruit, cheese, crackers and summer sausage.

Enjoy...maybe...heh.

Thought for Thursday - Taking Tucker to Tinkle

2008-09-30T20:29:00.002-06:00

I think Tucker has learned that if he sits by the door, not only will I hop up off the couch to take him out to tinkle, but I might just hop off the couch everytime he desires to go out, even if he doesn't actually need to relieve himself. Smart little doggie...grrr. He did this three times in an hour. That kind of gave it away. Dang doggie just wanted me to let him out to sniff around, find other doggie doo doo to roll in or eat. GROSS! I'm not falling for the doggie by the door trick again. He gets out every few hours unless he's sick...that's it, I'm drawing the line! Unless he gets even and poops on the carpet. Then I might have to rethink that...

By the way, Tucker graduates next Sunday from puppy class. He has to demonstrate that he can do the following commands: Sit; Lay Down (which he can FINALLY do); Stay; Wait and then Come when called; Leave It (he's not so good at this, since the other doggies' poops are just so enticing) and Drop it (which oddly enough he usually does...unless it's poop of course). GAWD, doggies are just so disgusting sometimes...cute but gross.

Make My Monday - I Survived a Trip to the Hotbed of Bigotry

2008-09-29T21:13:00.003-06:00

And I lived to tell about it! Those of you outside the state of Colorado might not immediately know where I went. I'll clue you in on that...Colorado Springs. Yep, that conservative attracting bastion of the religious right and fan club of the McCain-Palin campaign. I had some work to do there for the children. Thankfully, I was PAID to be there. And now I'm back in the safety of my own home, far away from the bigots. Don't get me wrong though, there are some nice people in Colorado Springs. And the city has an AWESOME view:
Sigh...at least it's a pretty place to visit. I just wouldn't want to live there. The main reason is the Focus on the Family campus and the people that work there. I believe that everyone has a right to have crazy thinking. I don't believe they have the right to thrust it upon others. I also object to the fact that for many years their campus was lit up like a roman candle after 11pm. Not sure if they finally figured out to turn out the lights and join the rest of the state in attempting to conserve energy, but I hope they've seen the light at least in that area...heh.

Thought for Thursday - Another Presidential Poll

2008-09-25T10:06:00.002-06:00

Of course this is a fun interactive poll from Qdoba. Which I'm sure won't be available after the November elections. I'm a fan of their BIG Burrito's even if they're bad for the wasteline. To be fair and unbiased, I also like Chipotle's, however they don't have an interactive poll to share. They do offer several NATURAL meats for their entrees though, so they win on that score. Anyway, ignore the blatant marketing on Qdoba's part and have fun in the mean time. Let me know if you think it has any scientific value...hehehe. My favorite part is that the Chips and Salsa people in Colorado slightly favor McCain over Obama. Funny that people who like the least substantial menu item at Qdoba also favor the least substantial candidate...

Wednesday's Wine - Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Rose Wine, 2007

2008-09-24T20:41:00.005-06:00

Okay all you WHINERS out there...heh...I've relented somewhat and bought some PINK wine. No, it's not a White Zinfandel or one of those icky sweet ones though. My wine guy, Joe, at 3S Liquors knows what I like in general, so when I asked him for a suggestion, he recommended Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Rose Wine, 2007 from Washington state. It costs about $8.00.

I found it to be fruity but not so sweet that it's cloying. In fact, it's a bit tart too. I tastes best about 10 minutes out of the fridge, but still cold. I have to say it's still pretty tasty after an hour. I've had it with beef and chicken fajitas and leftovers...heh. Not bad. I think it would be excellent with pork and especially ham. Salt is a nice counter point to some sweeter wines.

This is what Columbia Crest said about their wine:

Tasting Notes
“Aromas of light red fruits, including fresh cherries, strawberries and a hint of watermelon open this Rosé. On the palate, lively acidity accentuates the bright flavors of berries and cherries and lead into a crisp and refreshing finish.” -Ray Einberger, Winemaker

Enjoy!

Update: By the way, lest you all think I've gone all foofy chick on you, the main grape in this Rose is a Washington state Syrah which gives this "pink" wine a much darker color. Think of it as HOT pink!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Making Report Templates

2008-09-23T19:33:00.002-06:00

Well, today I spent about 4 hours making a template for evaluation data, so I could just put numbers in and then copy and paste it as needed. After all the time put in to this, someone actually suggested that we weren't supposed to arrange data in nicely lined up columns for ease of understanding (last part of that statement is mine). You can see why I love JOBs. Speaking of JOBs, I finally got a salary offer and it was actually a bit more than I expected. All the time spent last week on finding my inservice certificates worked out well! Now I just need to find my Social Security card...it's somewhere around here...I think.

Make My Monday - The Market Was Actually Up Last Week...

2008-09-22T21:12:00.002-06:00

by 3 tenths of a percent. Or so I've been told. The recommended mindset is to not let short term volatility in the market mess up your long term plan. That works pretty much if you're doing a few things consistently.

1. Diversify - Make sure you have a truly asset allocated portfolio.
2. Dollar Cost Average - Make sure you put a regular amount of money into your asset allocated retirement plan every month...especially if your employer is matching it!
3. Discipline - Stick to your plan through thick and thin as it will pay off in the long run. This is particularly true if you've got 10 or more years until you'll be drawing on your retirement plan.

Remember that most companies are gonna be here after the market volatility has stabalized. In the meantime, it's a good time to invest for long term goals, but not so much for short term. It's a good Monday for the long term. Too bad my new job benefits don't start until next month...heh.

Thought for Thursday - Just ANOTHER Example of Appalling Public Policy Approved by Elected Officials

2008-09-17T23:16:00.006-06:00

If you're even contemplating voting for McCain and the woman who's name must not be said, then read this disturbing blog post from Feminist Finance.

Wednesday's Wine - Jacob's Creek Shiraz, 2006

2008-09-17T23:16:00.004-06:00

I know you all have been just waiting and waiting for another wine review (and hoping that I don't WHINE about something). So here's the latest:
Jacob's Creek Shiraz, 2006 from South Eastern Australia. Very nice at $8.00 from 3S Liquors. However, it was not a typical Shiraz. The first taste I noticed was oak. Second, I noticed that it was a bold red and much closer to a Cabernet than I've come to expect from Shiraz (this one was earthy, where most have big ripe fruit flavors). It did have more berry notes than Cabernet, but then I also noticed kind of a black pepper taste on the finish.

Here's what Jacob Creek said about their wine:

"Colour:
Full depth crimson with purple hues

Bouquet:
Ripe cherry and dark berry with dried herb and spice.

Palate:
Ripe blackberry and plum with attractive mid-palate fruit sweetness. Medium bodied, with soft velvety tannins and subtle toasty oak."

Yeah, what I said, except that I noticed some pepper too. Maybe that's what they meant about "dried herb and spice." And maybe I smelled it...hmmm. Well, alrighty then. They suggested that this Shiraz goes well with beef, chicken and lamb. I had it with a steak (off the gas grill out on my balcony) one night, burrito's smothered with extremely hot pork green chili (and I do mean extremely hot...as in spicy hot) and I had it another night, but I can not remember what I had for dinner...sigh. What!?! I've been working a lot (that's probably a whine, huh?). Well anyway, I thought it was pretty good for the price and I would definitely buy it again. Enjoy!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Looking for Inservice Certifications

2008-09-16T18:56:00.003-06:00

I found out that inservice transcripts are really just continuing education certificates. So I spent a couple hours this morning searching for all my different certificates that I've accumulated in the past 15 years. Unfortunately, my car was broken into a couple of years ago and a bag with a bunch of my newer certificates was stolen along with some valuable (only to a psychologist) test kits (I wonder if the robbers tried to figure out their own IQ's...heh). I did manage to throw some definitely useless papers in the recycle pile while I was at it!

I also found out from the HR gal that if I take one more graduate school credit and can round up about 240 hours worth of certificates I can have my salary bumped up almost $2,000 a year. I called the state licensing office to see if I could get copies of the certificates I submitted with both of my license renewal paperwork packets and for $15.00 I can have them tomorrow if I come to pick them up. Meanwhile, I'll keep going through files. Maybe digging through boxes of old psychology files and notebooks isn't quite the time waster after all!

Make My Monday - JOB Status Update

2008-09-15T19:18:00.003-06:00

The school district HR department FINALLY contacted me to request graduate school transcripts! Now I have to call them to find out whether my "Issued to Student" transcripts are official enough (they had a rather vague description of what is NOT official) and also to find out what an Inservice Transcript is, because I've attended many inservices and received plenty of Certificates of Completion, but I have yet to ever see an Inservice Transcript. I suspect, I'll be stopping at my old grad school to request an "Official" transcript of my degree, but we shall see!

Wednesday's Wine - Fox Brook Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005

2008-09-10T17:37:00.003-06:00

Okay...right off the bat I should warn you that this was a really cheap wine. Like $4.00 cheap at 3-S Liquors. So if you're a wine snob, you can stop reading now. I say this, because I couldn't find anything on the internet about this California wine other than a few places where I could buy it and for how much (mostly around $6.00 to $7.00), not even an image. So I know this post will now show up in the google searches.

Anyway, it was really actually pretty dang good. I found it to be a bit thinner in consistency than a typical Cabernet...more like a Merlot. As a result, it wasn't quite as bold. If you prefer a Merlot or one of the pink wines, but want to check out a Cabernet for comparison, this wine would be a good start. Just understand, most Cabernets have more to them than this one does. Nevertheless, Fox Brook's Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 has good flavor and not a lot of noticeable alcohol (which I've mentioned before is often the case with the very low priced wines). It had a bit of a light cherry taste on the front and a smooth finish. For the price I would definitely buy it again. I had it with red chili one night and with salmon taco's another. I think it would go well with nacho's or pizza at a football party too! Anyway, if you can find it cheap in your neighborhood (meaning under $8.00), I would try it out. Enjoy!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Astraware Casino

2008-09-09T15:57:00.005-06:00

About 10 days ago I was messing around with a little program on my Treo 700 (it's one of those Palm based Smart Phones). The little program is a semi-free application that let's me check the weather, the stock market, sport scores and entertainment news. It lets me do other things too, but I don't use the other functions. There's also a section of functions for purchase. One area is for downloading games. They gave me a free one...they're so devious. Anyway, I figured it wouldn't fit on my Treo anyway, since it has way too much stuff crammed on it. But it DID!!!

And this is what I got:

Okay that's a crappy screen shot. So you can just go visit Astraware and check out all the lovely time wasting games for yourself. You can find Astraware Casino on this page.

I have now successfully blown through hours of time and almost $1200 in virtual money. Very handy to play during boring meetings too! Let me know if you have a handheld PDA loaded with games and which ones you like the best.

Make My Monday - New TV Season & Bronco's Football

2008-09-08T21:31:00.003-06:00

I have too many shows scheduled for my DVR. I'm gonna run out of room and have to delete some of my good lesbo movies. The first to go will be the ones I recorded off LOGO...too many commercials and all the good bits cut or blurred...heh. Of course I always delete the show episodes after I watch them. But with potentially two shows recording at the same time, the drive is filling up fast.

It's also MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL with the Bronco's versus the hated Raiders. I'm a wee bit into the Bronco's. That's all.

Oh, by the way, Tucker is feeling better and back to being frisky after spending the weekend feeling a bit under the weather. And the job is getting busier now...just figured you all would wanna know.

Thoughts for Thursday - Working and playing dog owner...is this what my life has become!?!

2008-09-04T21:56:00.004-06:00

Well I got up this morning and did it all over again...well not quite. Wednesdays are killer days since I have to leave for the office at O'Dark Thirty. Hence no time for wine or whining. So today was much better, the sun was actually up when I took Tucker for our morning constitutional. I remember when I slept in until 7am or so every morning...sigh. Today I stayed in the north end of town to do evaluations. But tomorrow it's back to dropping off Tucker at the Doggie Day Spa...I mean Daycare...and racing across town in rush hour traffic to get to the office for meetings.

Fortunately, my first meeting is scheduled for 10am...so I can actually be leisurely about it. Whenever the salary position starts, the 8 hour work days start. Of course when you factor in the drive time it's closer to 10 hours if I'm down on the south end of town where the office is. On the other hand, with all the locations we serve, I'm not expected to actually go to the office everyday...whew! I probably would have inquired about part time just avoid that drive on a daily basis.

In doggie news, Tucker had his next round of shots. I thought they were his last round, but apparently not. His last set is in three weeks and in about 45 days, he'll be losing his doggie malehoodness. I'm sure that will be so much fun. I scheduled that for a Monday so I could put him in the Doggie Day Spa...I mean Daycare for convalescing during the week. Of course that won't work so well on Wednesday. Maybe I'll call in sick. Do they give doggie sick days?

Well, my life was rather mundane before, but with occasional sparks. Now it's downright boring. I work and I take care of a puppy...and I blog occasionally. What's up with my life...sheesh, I'm feeling old.

Tuesday's Time Waster - JOBs

2008-09-02T21:38:00.003-06:00

So I had my interview today. And, as I suspected, my group interview was in fact viewed as mediocre. I don't present well in group interviews. "Hotseatitis", I think. My family moved some 14 times when I was a kid. I had to get pretty good at making friends, which I did on a one to one basis, but I was not so hot as the new kid in class. We also moved all over the country, so I didn't really sync up with conversational pacing (the psych speak for poor verbal social skills due to different speeds of communicating which vary from region to region in the US - think NYC versus "the south"), although I did very well with this in Omaha. Probably because the neighbor boy liked me and was very popular. It didn't hurt that we only had two classrooms of 5th graders.

Anyway, the big big boss is from Ohio and appreciated that I went to The Ohio State University. She also explained that in this school district (and I think in most jobs these days) people focus on how well you interact on a personal basis and less on how well you interact on a professional basis. I do very well on a professional level. Not so much on a personal basis. She said she's pretty much the same. Of course, I don't think we're quite THAT much alike on a personal basis, because I have a reason I don't discuss personal stuff at work. Despite the law, people still discriminate basis on sexual orientation. So while I will chat in general about my family, I do not discuss my day to day life. Add that to my general awkwardness in the syncing up on a social level and you get...well...me.

Oh well, at least my work speaks for itself and I've now been put on through to being recommended for hire (in a salaried position). If only I could have skipped the group interview...just one example of why having a JOB kinda sucks, that and having to actually work 40 plus hours a week (hence the time wasting...heh). There are some redeeming aspects of some JOBs. For example, if you have a passion for what you do, if you can land a position that is semi-autonomous, and if there's a pay scale that actually has raises that are predictable (so you're not at the mercy of kissing someone's ass to get a raise). As always...tune in sometime soon for another JOB update...

Make My Monday - Happy Birthday/Labor Day

2008-09-01T11:00:00.006-06:00

As some of you know by now, it was my birthday on Saturday. For the record, I'm still between 40 and 50 years old...heh. Tucker was my primary gift to myself, but I also went to that HRC concert on Tuesday with a date for my birthday. It's a good thing that I did this as Saturday evening was a partial bust of a night. I did take advantage of the empty pool and hot day to go swimming in the morning and I went up to my land with Tucker to sit and contemplate nature. Here's Tucker on my land:

...wondering why I'm interrupting him from all the new smells to take a picture. But hey, I tell him, it's a command performance...heh.

So today is Labor Day...does that mean I should labor on something? Actually, you can see, I updated the blog page a bit and reorganized some things. Hope you like it!

Thought for Thursday - My Formal Interview is Set

2008-08-28T17:50:00.002-06:00

My JOB formal second interview is set for Tuesday with the BIG big boss at the main administrative offices south of the Denver metro area. This means I'll be doing alot of driving. Poor Tucker, he'll be in the doggie spa...I mean daycare. I need to schedule his next round of shots, so I think those will have to be next Thursday unless I can have an appointment first thing Tuesday morning. I'm calling tomorrow morning to find out. If they can and they will take him in the day boarding next door I may schedule him for then. Otherwise it may have to be Thursday or Friday or the following Monday.

Tucker will be 15 weeks this Sunday and the boarding places don't usually take dogs under 16 weeks unless they have an isolation area like the one I usually use. That's because most dogs aren't finished with all their shots until then. We'll have to see whether the vet's kennel will allow him to board a week early if he gets his shots that day.

As for the future, I'll probably be using day boarding a few times a week for the next few months until he's really good at bladder control. Like on Wednesdays when I have to be at a team meeting so early I can't take him to the spa...heh...because they're not open before 7am near me. In the meantime, I hope to continue to have the autonomy I've had in the past, even if I'm on a salary. Of course, I'll be clocking in a lot more time for my pay. I can do this for a school year...really I can!

Wednesday's Whine - Whew...I'm Tired!

2008-08-27T16:36:00.007-06:00

You may have noticed that I didn't post a time waster on Tuesday. That's because I had NO time to waste on Tuesday. After racing to work 3 days in a row last week and then doing it again this week, I should be tired. I know Tucker is! However, in addition to all the driving and actually working more than a few hours a day, I attended a fun "political" event last night with a new friend and date, here in Denver that was hosted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and local GLBT organizations called Rock to Win (see pictures here). Here's the poster:

Margaret Cho (not listed on the poster) was a last minute addition to the line up at the Filmore Auditorium and handled some of the introductions as well as sharing some heartfelt commentary about HRC and the push for equality (particularly for gay marriage) by the GLBT community. Margaret totally included herself in these comments as being part of the GLBT community, if anyone has had any doubts about that. She also invited all of us out to California to get married as she's now a Deputy Marriage Commissioner (I think that's what she said her title is). Additionally, Babes Around Denver (BAD) had their very own DJ Trina J spinning tunes and MCing before, between and after sets and speeches.

Of the entertainers, Thelma Houston was up first and belted out a medley of R&B tunes along with a couple of her own songs. Then we got to watch on the BIG screen as Hillary Clinton made her awesome speech to the Democratic National Convention crowd. After that Rufus Wainwright came out to entertain us all with over 30 minutes of his musical talent. The guys in the crowd were quite excited to see him and of course the made it hard for us shorter ladies to see him, but I got a good angle on it all. Between sets there were HRC videos on the big screen as well.

Following some comments from the head of HRC, Joe Solmonese. Cyndi Lauper and her band came out to rock the house for over 45 minutes. I've never seen her in person, but she put on a great show and also implored us many times to get out the vote. She also had her son come out on stage for her last number (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) to dance with the band. He did the typical tween ham stuff as he did some break dancing and was quite cute about it all.

Somewhere in the mix, before the final act, Joe Solmonese spoke again along with Colorado's own openly gay Congressional District 2 Democratic candidate Jarod Polis (I was a delegate for him) as well as the GLBT laison from the Obama campaign. This all led up to the tremendous 60 minute set from Melissa Etheridge. She totally brought the house up and down with a set list she described as "a little intense" since it was all of her more political and gay activist type songs. After the show I overheard one the guys telling another guy how awesome she was. Of course two of her songs are about gay men who have died (Mark Bingham on Flight 93 and Matthew Shepard from a beating). In both cases, when Melissa introduced the songs with her traditional commentary, she became quite emotional. In fact, at one point she stopped singing directly into her microphone. Though still singing, it was obvious she was choked up.

So, including dinner at Hamburger Mary's with my date and the HRC concert as well as driving to and fro, I was out for over 7 hours (and finally in bed after 1am only to be up again at 6am). Poor Tucker was stuck at home in the bathroom...I mean his bedroom...all evening watching Animal Planet. I'm so proud of him though, because he actually used the pee pad for it's intended use instead of shreading it to pieces! Good dog! I had a great time at the concert (and with my date too)!

Make My Monday - My JOB Status Could Change Soon

2008-08-25T20:14:00.004-06:00

I know...it's been less than a week since the last post regarding my never ending JOB story (even though I promised it would be awhile). However, I have been told that my boss and my boss's boss decided to send my application through for a formal second interview with the big big boss. That means I'm closer to a full time position. I'd seriously be happy with the part time independent contract I have now, if I could predict how many hours a week I'd be working and if I knew that the teachers weren't thinking that I'm not doing my job (I tend to think that might have something to do with the delay in getting the interview with the big big boss). Anyway, that's my status for now. The interview probably won't happen for a couple weeks or so. Until then we'll return to our usual Make My Monday posts next week...heh.

Thought for Thursday - The Wine from Wednesday is NOT from California

2008-08-21T20:00:00.004-06:00

Yep...I was so tired yesterday, that I misread the label. This new white wine I'm trying right now is from the state of Washington. So, there you have it, I'm actually trying a wine made in the U.S. that isn't from California. Anyway, this wine is Columbia Crest's Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White Wine, 2006. I found it tart and crisp initially with nice fruit flavors of grapes and pears. On the finish it was more buttery, especially as it warmed up. As I mentioned yesterday, this White Wine is a blend of grapes as you can see from what Columbia Crest says about their own wine:

A fruit-forward white wine made predominantly of Washington state Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Showcases floral aromas with apple, pear and melon flavors. Serve with: Chicken, Fish and Asian-Inspired Dishes.

Of course I had this wine with four Taco Bell tacos yesterday (urp). And this evening, I had it with my own version of a chicken fajita wrap with a side of seedless watermelon. Yummy. Enjoy!

Wednesday's Whine - Too Tired to Blog about Wine

2008-08-20T21:57:00.003-06:00

I've been getting up at 5:30am to get ready for work, walk and feed Tucker, and then drop him off at the doggy spa...I mean daycare. So after racing across town for 3 days on this new schedule, I thought I deserved a nice glass of a new wine and then I had one with dinner. Then I went to pick up Tucker, walk and feed him and then race off to the monthly Homeowners Association meeting. And I'm too tired to look up all the cool info on the wine I had with dinner. So, I'll have it up tomorrow. For now, here are some hints:

Since schools are back in session and the weather here is cooling down, I thought I should extend summer a tad with a white wine.

It's from California.

And, it's a tasty blend.

Check back tomorrow to find out what wine I had with my four Taco Bell tacos for a buck!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Sitting in Traffic

2008-08-19T22:33:00.002-06:00

It takes me about 50 minutes to drive about 27 miles from the doggy spa...I mean daycare...to my "job" on the south end of the Denver metro area. And that's if the traffic is good (is that an oxymoron?). There are two of us that live on the north or northwest side of town. I'm pretty sure I drive the furthest. The good news is that several of the highest population learning centers that we service are in the north end of town. If my "job" actually hires me on a regular contract AND they hire a second psychologist, I'll get the north half and won't have to sit in traffic as often. I'm beginning to remember all the OTHER reasons I prefer to be an independent contractor. One good reason is being able to avoid commuting at the same time as everyone else. Yikes!

Make My Monday - Free Lunch & Puppy Biscuits

2008-08-18T20:44:00.003-06:00

Had a day of "team building" today. But hey, lunch was provided! Tucker had another love filled day at the doggie spa...I mean daycare. I got off work about an hour earlier than expected, so I had some ALONE time! I went grocery shopping, I caught up on all my favorite blogs, and had dinner without having to guard my food! Then I went to get Tucker.

Tucker's a tad upset with me. His trainer and I introduced a gentle leader leash since he strains so hard against his regular collar and leash that he ends up starting to choke and cough. Tucker doesn't like the new leash at all. How do I know this? Well besides all his efforts to take it off, he peed twice on my carpet last evening and this evening he pooped on the carpet remnant by the sliding glass door to the balcony. Can you say, passive aggressive? On the other hand, he's actually catching on to how to walk on leash without tugging now. Tucker also learned to go down the stairs on his own yesterday and up the stairs today! We celebrated with his new puppy biscuits!

Thought for Thursday - Financial Hints

2008-08-14T21:26:00.002-06:00

I've been working with clients in the financial business for almost 17 years now. And the BIGGEST key to financial freedom is: Do NOT spend money you don't have on things you do NOT need. That means if you can not pay cash for something, then you don't need it. Now I know you all with THINK that something you don't really need IS something you need, but it isn't.

So the second key to financial freedom is: Do NOT confuse wants with needs. Needs are food and shelter as well as those things that are directly responsible for getting food and shelter. Wants are everything else. Taking the bus or driving a low end car gets you to your job, which pays you money to buy food and shelter and therefore are part of needs. Buying a BMW is a WANT. If you have to finance a BMW then don't buy it. If you have to finance a low end car, then it's time to take the bus or carpool.

The third key to financial freedom is: Save 10% or more of your income every time you get paid. If you can not save because you're paying off credit cards, then get a second job...or a third. Suze Orman would agree. But if you don't like her...then just remember that Weyrd said so!

Wednesday's Wine - Black Box Wines - Central Coast Shiraz

2008-08-13T20:23:00.013-06:00

As promised today I'm reviewing a dreaded BOX wine. But first a disclaimer. Old school box wines are bad. They were bad when they first came on the market years ago and they're still not very good today. I wouldn't even bother trying them. You know the ones, even when the producer puts the wine in an actual bottle, it's bad. Just don't go there.

Now, that said, there are some good wines that are being put in boxes today because the packaging technology actually allows the wine to stay fresh, even after you "open" it. No need for special gas to spray in the bottle. No need to buy expensive re-corking kits. It's just a good way to package wine, especially your everyday table wines. My folks drank Ernest and Julio Gallo jug wines when I grew up as their everyday table wine. My mom bought a case every month: two Hearty Burgundy's, one Chablis and one Rose. And yes, they drank wine with dinner every evening. And no, they didn't get drunk (even though they also had a cocktail...it was the 60's & 70's mainly...don't y'all watch Mad Men or Swingtown!?!). It was usually one wine glass and maybe a spot more depending on the meal. My mom was a bit of gourmet cook (I say was because she claims that she doesn't like to cook anymore). So wine with dinner was a given. They also appreciated a good bottle of wine for special occasions and when dining out.

So here's the Black Box Shiraz. It's a good option for an everyday table wine, or to take on a camping trip of more than a couple nights (or with a big group). It holds the equivalent of 4 bottles of wine. Because the wine is in an airtight bag, you can "pour" a glass of wine without air ever touching the remaining wine. Black Box has several wines including this Shiraz. They're priced in the $20.00 to $25.00 range which is around $5.00 to $6.25 per "bottle".

The Shiraz is comparable to other under $10.00 wines, including the Rosemont Shiraz that I reviewed two weeks ago. It's slightly softer on the palate, but has good Shiraz flavor (mostly a nice low keyed berry taste). After several glasses, I've found this wine to be mellow, but full bodied, with little to no alcohol burn on the finish.

Here's what Black Box said about their wine:

Shiraz, or Syrah as it's often called in the U.S., is the classic red grape of France's northern Rhone Valley. Our 2006 Shiraz is from California's famed Central Coast wine growing region. We chose this region because it allows us to offer our customers the highest quality wine at the best possible value.

Shiraz is a wine known for its spicy, full bodied character. Our Shiraz "displays aromas of fresh blackberry, cherry and floral notes with hints of pepper and wood spice. A lush texture, with subtle tannins and notes of vanilla and toasted oak, lead to a soft and supple finish."

Enjoy!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Workshops & Contract Negotiations

2008-08-12T20:59:00.002-06:00

I finally have a signed contract with the school district, but for now it's still an independent contract. The coordinator's boss definitely gives me the impression it's the coordinator's problem. I figure I'll be on this independent deal for a month to 45 days and then she'll figure out that A. No one is gonna apply and B. I know my shit. In the meantime, I attended a workshop on RTI (Response To Intervention) which is a data collection and analysis system to promote proactive early interventions for kids with academic, social-emotional or behavioral issues. I've had training on this several times, but every district has their own take and vocabulary. So I spent 4 hours getting up to speed on this. The big boss was thinking she wants to pay me less money per hour for this type of time, but now that she's pushing the coordinator to go ahead and hire me sooner than later, I think this idea will be dropped. I doubt I would have to attend these sessions in the future anyway, if they keep me on hourly, because it would be mostly a waste of my time and their resources. Even today could have been condenced into about 2 hours or so if they asked me...but of course they didn't...heh. So lucky for you all, I won't have much more to say on this topic for awhile!

Make My Monday - 1st Puppy Grooming Appointment

2008-08-11T17:14:00.003-06:00

Mr. Tucker went to the vet this morning and the groomer's this afternoon. The vet decided he needed to have another course of antibiotics because he still has something. Yay. More pills for a longer time. Oh well. Other than sleeping more, he's still pretty much running around and trying to chew things!

The groomer improved things greatly! He got washed and his face, paws and butt trimmed! Here's a picture of his new look. Sorry it's a tad dark, it's been kind of overcast the past week or so and my Treo 700 (Smart phone that does too many things) does not have flash. I think his ears look funny with less hair...

Thought for Thursday - New Bosses

2008-08-07T21:24:00.002-06:00

Well, I went back to the same job I had last year, but with the new bosses and still on an independent contract. And now I'm confused again about the "team" they're "forming". Last year we had 3 local part time psychologists who did assessments for both cognitive and social emotional areas as needed for students in special education, along with the occasional behavioral/treat assessments. Mostly we were reviewing previous assessments and updating files. I think combined we clocked in at maybe one full time position. I averaged about half time.

Now, they've hired a social worker who will do at least some of the social emotional evaluations. BUT, they've also hired a behavioral specialist. We're part of the "team" for a charter school that has multiple learning centers, but kids who have a lot of behavioral issues aren't appropriate for this program, therefore a behavioral specialist seems like a waste of resources. This specialist, combined with the social worker, also means there's no need to hire TWO psychologists like they are supposedly planning. Even though "our" coordinator is dragging her feet on officially hiring me because she wants to "match" the "two" psychologists they hire by "skill sets". I feel like, she's lukewarm about me and just doesn't want to make a commitment to hiring me unless she has no other option.

Conversely, "our" coordinator's boss seems to want to hire me and get things over with, but she also doesn't want to "undermine" the coordinator's position at this point. So, she's set up a temporary contract and hopes that this tactic with force the issue without direct intervention on her part. In the meantime, I benefit from slightly more pay than a regular salary and for now the hours are flexible. I figure with the contract cap I can work 3 days a week until the end of September unless the work load suddenly explodes. Then they either have to renew the independent contract or get over themselves and offer me a real salaried position. Of course, I might not want it by then, except I like the job itself...heh.

Wednesday's Whine - Driving Mr. Tucker

2008-08-06T21:11:00.004-06:00

Well today was over 120 miles on the Subaru to visit 4 different clients...with poor Tucker in his crate in the back seat. Fortunately, he got to meet new people and get out to stretch his legs. Unfortunately, with a puppy I haven't had much wine in the past week. I will say I am trying a...wait for it...box wine. Yep...after a few more glasses of it, I'll have a review for you. Check back here next week!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Visiting Blogs

2008-08-05T11:31:00.002-06:00

Although I have a really busy rest of the week, I took a few minutes out to catch up on blog reading. This invariably leads to comment reading. Which then leads to reading the commenters' own blogs. Today I discovered Yankeegirl's blog Taking Steps. And while reading back through her old posts I found a lovely new time waster fit for the psychologist that I am. Here are my results:

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (42%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (62%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Let me know how which brain you are.

Make My Monday - 1st Puppy Class

2008-08-04T11:07:00.003-06:00

Sunday afternoon, I took Tucker to his first of 8 puppy classes. He did a terrific job with the two commands that we learned: "Watch me" and "Sit". We practiced a bit last evening and this morning. He still remembers them. Of course, he gets a treat for remembering. Eventually, we're suppose to ween off regular treats into just verbal praise and pats. We'll see how that goes. By the way, in class with us are a gal, her girlfriend and their kids (and their very smart dog). She came up to me afterwards and said, "Hi Weyrd, I'm H..., remember me?" I knew the gals were together, but it didn't occur to me that I knew either one of them. Turns out I did know H... as we used to socialize a bit at a nightclub in town about 20 years ago. Haven't seen her since. Now we'll probably catch up over the next 8 weeks of Sunday afternoon classes.

Tucker's potty training is going pretty well. Since Wednesday he's only had three small accidents. One was in the bathroom on the tile when Weyrd was taking too long getting ready to leave. The other two were near the door. Tucker tends to balk at doors and apparently if he has to wee...he promptly piddles right there on the carpet. He's none too thrilled with going out my front door or with going up and down my outside steps since you can see between the steps to the floor below us. However, Tucker will go IN my front door now. He will also go down most solid steps if they aren't too steep and up a few solid steps.

I've taken Tucker off leash part of the time inside now, as long as he recently pottied outside (Tucker still thinks the doggie litter box is a bed and the doggie litter is a toy...this is different stuff from cat litter, btw). He likes to race around the outer part of my living room and between the furniture as fast as he can. Sometimes with a toy in his mouth. Tucker will also throw a toy around or up in the air and then pounce on it. The other thing he likes to do is roll around on the floor growling and acting like a ferocious huge dog. I'll attempt to capture some video at some point. In the meantime, Tucker is also learning the cue of "Uhn uhn" which if given more than once or twice results in a removal of attention or a time out. Hopefully, he figure out that chewing on furniture stuff isn't so fun afterall... Now it's time to go check out Doggie Day Camp.

Thoughts for Thursday - This is Tucker and other news

2008-07-31T09:04:00.005-06:00

Everyone has been asking to see a picture of Tucker and here he is! As you can see, he probably needs to go to the groomer's. I'm not sure he's ever been, so we might do that tomorrow or sometime next week. Right now we're working on potty training, sleeping through the night without whining and what he's allowed to chew.

Potty training is actually going very well. Sunday evening and Monday he had a few issues with peeing and pooping on the carpet or bathroom floor. Fortunately, Weyrd got some good suggestions and Tucker had no indoor incidents on Tuesday or Wednesday!

Tucker is also learning to sleep through the night without whining. Sunday night he whined all night and Weyrd got very little sleep. Having a new puppy and not sleeping much the first night, in combination with Weyrd's new multivitamins led to a few days of feeling queasy and wondering if a puppy was a good idea (this leads to loss of appetite and weight loss on Weyrd's part which isn't so bad). However, the multivitamins have been discontinued (yesterday) and Tucker hardly made a peep last night, so Weyrd is feeling much better about puppy ownership today.

By the way, things that work are using the dog crate (it's cozy and ultimately calming) and wearing an old t-shirt and then putting it in the crate with him. We're now working on leaving him in the crate for a few hours during the day to build up to 9 hours or so by day. I'll probably get a kennel at some point in the next week. A neighbor has two dogs that are a bit bigger than Tucker and they are very good with being in their kennels while she's at work. She says dogs sleep alot more than people think (until they own one) and with a kennel there's room to get up and move around and play with small toys. With a portable kennel, I can put him in the living room where he can look outside and also watch Animal Planet (another friend does that with her dogs).

Chewing is another issue. The vet's dog trainer said to keep him on his leash during times outside of the crate so I can control where he goes and what he does. Unfortunately he likes to chew the leash, so I may get a lightweight chain for that purpose. He's also more comfortable with me, so he thinks I might be a giant chew toy...um...No Tucker! Right now he has a nubby ball, a rope with two knots, a chicken liver flavored rubber bone and for the crate he has a buddy to lay on that has a tail for chewing. He also has two towels (one in the living room and one in the crate) and my old t-shirt. So that's the news about Tucker for now.

In other news, I finally got a reasonable explanation regarding the job situation. The gal in charge of the whole department is dealing with several new people and attempting to NOT tell them how to do their jobs. First she has a new HR director (and last year the district got a new Finance Officer) so they didn't know what to do regarding paying me hourly and had to meet and draw up proposals. Now all of this would be moot, if the gal she hired to be our department coordinator would just hire me on a regular salary contract. That's the gal who is working on "forming a team" and she feels uncomfortable pulling the trigger until she has a pool of applicants to match up together by areas of expertise. Unfortunately for her, no one is applying for the other position, so the gal I've been talking with said at some point she thinks they'll convert me from hourly to salary but she wants her new coordinator to come to that conclusion on her own (so as to empower her).

And actually as I have mentioned before, I prefer the hourly independent contractor pay (a 1099 contract), if the pay is the same as what I got last year. Because, the annual amount for full time is slightly more pay than I would get with the value of salary and benefits combined. The only issue with being on an hourly contract is that it's less certain long term and I'm not sure what they would do regarding raises if they kept me on a 1099. If they decide to keep me on a 1099 contract, I will set up an additional retirement plan for the self-employed to sock away more money than I can with just my Roth IRA. That's the news for now. When I have a signed contract of some sort, I'll provide an update!

Wednesday's Wine - Rosemont Shiraz, 2005 Diamond Label

2008-07-30T12:02:00.003-06:00

So while I was in Texas, I visited with my mom and tried 3 different white wines (and a sparkling white wine that was served at a "Champagne" Brunch on the last day of my visit there). While at my brother's house, I picked up a bottle of Rosemont Shiraz, 2005 from Rosemont Estate's Diamond Label. In Texas, groceries stores have wine departments and the local H.E.B. (or Heeeeb as I call it) has quite a collection of low cost tasty wines. This one was on sale for $9.50. It took me 4 dinners to drink this wine (I was nephew sitting, ya know). So I had it with pizza, mac-n-cheese, burrito's, and turkey hamburgers.

Based in South Eastern Australia, I used to consider Rosemont the standard bearer for Shiraz. In fact, the first bottle I had a few years ago seemed awesome and I finally understood what the phrase "big fruit" meant. Several Shiraz's later and years later, this Shiraz was good, but not the experience I remembered. The bottle is different too, so it's possible that this Shiraz is not from the same vines as the first one. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. I found it smooth at first with a nice fruit flavor that was slightly berry like. On the finish there was a slight burn of alcohol. I found it to be bold, but without the "big fruit" sensation of berries popping in my mouth that I recalled from my first bottle of Rosemont Shiraz.

Here's what Rosemont Estates said about their Diamond Label Shiraz:

Richly textured with well defined, ripe blackberry fruit flavours, soft generous tannins on the mid-palate and a long rich finish. Try with lamb, pasta, antipasto, osso bucco.

Enjoy!

Tuesday's Time Waster - Housebreaking a Puppy

2008-07-29T08:52:00.004-06:00

Make My Monday was to be about my puppy adoption. However, I spent the day monitoring my puppy for potty break signs. We were not completely successful in avoiding the "pee and poop on the carpet" situation, but I managed to get him to poop on the pee pad the last poop of the day. And this morning he peed and pooped outside...yay! I adopted my Bichon/Maltese mix puppy on Sunday afternoon and am still deciding on a name (I'll show the list at the end). He's very cute and quite affectionate. He does whine when I put him in the bathroom to hopefully use the pee pad. He also spent most of Sunday night whining from the crate, so Monday I was very very tired and not up to squeezing in a blog post between potty breaks. He still whined last night, but not as much, so I got a bit more sleep. No wonder it's best to have two parents when raising babies. Of course, I don't care what the genders are of the parents, but two has got to be better than one...lol.

Anyway, he mostly plays for a little while and then sleeps for awhile. Then we go for a walk to hopefully pee and poop outside. He ate pretty good yesterday morning, but seemed uninterested this morning. I hope he's not catching on to my own lack of appetite, that would not be good. He does stay pretty hydrated and now goes to the water dish on his own. I'm hoping to get him potty trained before I have to work regular hours again later in August. I have a rather large bathroom given the size of my condo, so that will be his play area when I'm away from home. I'm going to start leaving for an hour or two at a time so he can get used to being alone for part of the day. I put a radio in the bathroom for company. I also plan to go for dog training lessons with him when the next class starts, so hopefully I will be able to litter box train him. Once he's completely potty trained I'll experiment with letting him have access to the rest of the condo (well probably not my bedroom or the utility room).

So here are the names I'm considering:

Tucker (it goes well with my last name and he kinda looks like a Tucker)
Buck (short for Buckeye, since I'm an Ohio State grad and a couple friends like it)
Toro (he was born in May and is a Taurus)

These were the other names I considered but not really fitting him:

Spike (cause one of the guys at the office thought it would be funny to name a fluff ball that)
Ziggy (short for Sigmund, as in Freud, since I'm a psychologist and Freud was also Taurus)
Rashi (saw this name mentioned in some stuff on alternate astrology stuff)
Heath (as in Ledger who was Taurus as is The Joker...go figure)
Malty (he's half Maltese)
Morty (saw the name Mort mentioned in relation to bulls...the Taurus sign)
Jack (cause it sounded short and sweet...but actually pretty common for dogs)

At this point, I'm probably going to go with Tucker. Since I have to schedule a well puppy check for this week, I think I'll have to pick a name pretty quick...like today. In the meantime, he's been napping for over an hour so I think it's time for a walk and potty break. Of course, he's going in the bathroom while I change out of my jammies (6am walk with a jacket on did not require changing). I'll have a picture up as soon as I deal with everything else.

UPDATE: Turned out the vet had a cancellation, so I took Tucker in for his first exam. He possibly may have a minor bacteria, so he sent us home with an antibiotic. He also sent us home with a heartworm medication which is taken once a month during mosquito season (May through October). I also chatted with the dog trainer they have on site and he gave me some potty training suggestions. One being that I should get him trained on just one way to use the potty...box or outside. Given that I live in a condo and don't have a patio that would be safe for a dog this size, I ended up buying a doggie litter box. The other suggestion was to keep him in the crate for 20 mintues and then on a leash for 20 minutes. That seems like a pretty frequent change and he's able to handle the crate longer after the intial whining, so I may go an hour on leash and an 30 minutes in the crate. We'll see how that goes and I'll call the trainer back to see when he's doing classes also.

Saturday Surf - Melanie Susuras Band CD Release Party Tonight

2008-07-26T11:05:00.005-06:00

Here's where I'll be tonight:

If you're in the Denver area you can get discounted tickets HERE. Click on the Melanie Susuras Band link on the right of this page, in the "Links I Like" section, to hear some of her great music. Hope to see you at the show!