Screwed up!

My wife is a terrific cook. I am lucky to be married to one such as she. However, sometimes she does certain things that make me scratch my head.

A case in point: Recently, she was preparing a dish which recipe called for a cup of white wine. When this is the case, we usually use something that is good to drink and would compliment the meal. In this instance, the wine happened to be a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Now typically, wine bottles are sealed with a cork and covered with a foil sleeve which must be removed before you pull the cork out. A quick turn of a standard foil cutter is the fastest way to do this. No problem.

So, my wife proceeds to use the foil cutter on the wine she'd chosen for dinner. The thing is, most New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs now come with screw caps instead of corks. Imagine her surprise when she removed the "foil" and saw...an open bottle of wine! Yes, she had sliced through the cap, rendering it useless for re-sealing the bottle. Here's the result:

Needless to say, we finished the bottle with dinner.

Books and such

Ally’s starting to read books on her own. Not really read so much as look at the pictures and make up dialogue as she goes. Yesterday, it was Guess How Much I Love You, wherein she was asking the Nutbrown Hare père and fils if they were hopping or stretching. She does the same with her dolls and stuffed animals.

It’s good to see that she likes books and has the imagination to make her own story from the pictures. Sometimes at night, she’ll bring up book after book and ask Lauren or I to read to her. When I put her to bed, she asks for a specific book she knows is up in her bedroom. Lately, it’s been “First Bible Stories”, an illustrated board book that condenses some of the more well known Old Testament stories into an easy to digest form that she probably still has a hard time grasping. It’s difficult to explain to a two-year-old exactly who the Philistines were. But she did point out the lions playing nice with Daniel.

The weather this week has been beautiful. Sometimes when I look at the difference in cost of living, I entertain thoughts of moving back to Texas. But with temps now in the low to mid 80s, low humidity and fall right around the corner, that’s enough to put the kibosh on any notions of re-relocating back to the muggy swamp that is Houston. Otherwise, Texas is a great place to live and raise a family. There’s a lot that I miss about it, but not the heat. And the fire ants.

Go Nationals!

Ally is going to her first baseball game next month, so we thought it important that she be suitably attired:


Believe it or not, many 'Nats fans won't wear the cap with the "W" on it, opting for the alternate "DC" logo instead. That's Washington for you.

Toddlers Without Borders

We made the big move tonight. This afternoon, I took the side panel off of Ally's crib, which is now officially a toddler bed. We tried to keep things as routine as possible. I put her to bed, read to her, turned on the Michael Card CD, kissed her goodnight and prayed that she wouldn't fall out of bed at 2:18 in the morning. Lauren is worried that she'll get up and wander around, but I think she'll sleep through the night. Until she falls, that is. And screams bloody murder.

I probably shouldn't worry. She did fine on the small inflatable mattress we took on vacation, which she remained contained in for the most part. Afternoon naps, when she's not quite so sleepy, should be an adventure.

Enjoyed some Barboursville Pinot Grigio (2004) with chinese food tonight. Lauren had this when we stopped there on the way back from Myrtle. It's not my favorite white varietal, but I liked this one. Very dry, but not as dry as a Sauvignon Blanc (which I usually prefer) that paired fairly well with the spicy orange chicken. It's One of their more inexpensive wines, so it's a good value. Grade: B+

Back from Vacation

Our family spent last week in Myrtle Beach, SC for a little rest and relaxation. That meant plenty of time on the beach, which Ally loved, a visit to House of Blues for their Sunday Gospel Brunch, Brookgreen Gardens for children's storytime and Greg Norman's Australian Grille for a 10th anniversary dinner. The trip down was hampered by beach traffic on I-95 south of DC, and dubious MSN Map directions, so we decided to take a diversion through Charlottesville and visit Barboursville Vineyards on the way back, which provided a nice break. It's obviosly no longer a secret that Barboursville is one of the best wineries in Virginia, as the tasting room was pretty crowded. We picked up a few bottles to take back and headed out around 5:30, made it home by 8:00.

So, that explains the previous week's non-output. For the three weeks before that, I have no excuse. I'll try to be more active in the near future.