"Ours is Prettier"

The true, sage words of a four-year old when comparing grandma's tree to the one at his house: "Our's is prettier."

Wow--sometimes when someone gives you an entirely honest assessment without any hint of malice--it is funny!

Ethan was visiting for the day, while the family was preparing to gather later at his house to celebrate more birthdays. He was doing his usual exploration of the grandparents house to determine what had changed and what was the same--when he cam upon the Christmas Tree.

Of course your tree is prettier--it had better be because your Mom and Dad put it together and you helped!

But it was funny, and true, and oh so honest an assessment.

We wouldn't have had it any other way!

And it made us smile at yet one of those long forgotten, but nice to know realities of life as seen through the eyes of a four-year old: "Life at our house is better than anywhere else! And don't you forget it. "

Merry Christmas.

Snow Village(s) 2009

most everyone knows that one of the really exciting things that happens around the house at the start of the holidays is the set up of the Snow Village.

This year, though--the village was deemed to be too big and so we divided it into two different villages.

One is in the family room--the one with the gold back ground and the other is in the dining room. We are enjoying it much more this year because we can see it daily and enjoy it every night.

It brings a bit of Christmas cheer to us as we watch TV or enjoy our meals.

Better yet--it means we have more space and are able to add a few more pieces this year!!

We still do not have a drape for the one in the Dining Room--but I am told that one is in the works.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Dogs--Who owns Whom?

In addition to our energetic one-year old keeshond, Makayla, we have another more sedate dog--a 16-year old Yorkie, Zach. Zach weighs all of 4 lbs and has no teeth, so it is not like he is a threat to anyone, just himself. I used to love naming our animals after historical figures and so his real name is Zachary Taylor.

I have had other animals named after historical figures such as Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun (both were cats). Our daughter has a beagle named Jefferson and I'm not sure whether that is for Thomas Jefferson or Jefferson Davis--both could apply. We also had a cat named Hans Ludwig, after the somewhat crazed leader of Bavaria, Ludwig II, who built a number of impressive mansions and castles in the Bavarian Alps. So the names tend to run the gamut of famous and infamous. I even had a cat named George, for George Washington.

But this morning Zach reminded me that it is he who allows me to live with him and not the other way around. It seems the animals tend to take on the characteristics of their namesakes in some ways.

Zach likes to head out on what I call "walk-abouts" through the neighborhood every so often. While I don't approve of this and usually stand by the door to ensure he comes in as soon as he has accomplished the primary purpose(s) for being outside, this morning, believing that it was too cold for him, I wandered away for a short minute. This was the same as giving Zach a green light to conduct a walk-about !

Well, he was gone for about 15 minutes--a short one today due to the cold, but the funny part was that I went to the door about four times to call Zach and looked for him up the street--but it being dark, I did not see him.

Here's the rub--when he decided to saunter back to the homestead and wanted in--he barked a mournful bark. The expectation was that I would immediately open the door to allow the small traveler access to the house. How do I know this? Makayla barked and Chris advised me that the dawg was home!

So--I ask--who owns whom? I think we're kidding ourselves if we believe that we are the ones in charge!

A Christmas Blond Joke

OK--so everyone knows that I love blond jokes--after all I am one and I speak blond.

So, for your viewing pleasure--the ultimate Christmas season blond joke sent to me by a friend:


It is so true!

If you double click the photo it will go to full screen.

Buying a Car

Wow. I'm sitting in a car dealership with my, I can't believe its true, adult son as he navigates the myriad of paperwork associated with buying a car.

Another threshold crossed. All I'm here for is to see the vehicle and to provide moral support. But it is the Patrick and Tina show.

I'm so proud of them both. Making a reasoned and rational decision.

Oh the car? A Honda Civic SI 2007

Yay

Bob Doan
Elkridge, MD
Sent from My Blackberry

Consensus Blending Party

Really? What, you may ask, is a consensus blending party?

Answer: A whole lot of fun!

Picture this--54 people at 9 tables in the winery with 5 bottles of wine in front of them. The task: using any combination of the five wines--blend the best wine in terms of aroma, taste and finish as determined by those present.

The wines were all 2008 vintage of the vineyard: Cabernet Sauvignon in three very different lots: 1, 2, and 3; Petite Verdot; and Chambourcin.

I was intrigued by three lots of Cabernet Sauvignon--two were aged in American Oak and one in French Oak. Of the two in American Oak--one was very fruity while the other was full of tannins.

Our fellow members at the table all agreed that our blend would focus on probably three of the wines--and we readily agreed that Lot 2 and the Chambourcin would probably be excluded; leaving us to focus on the other three.

We only had two hour to com up with this blend--and please remember science class as we were working with pipettes, and graduated cylinders to pull the wines together.

Well our team did not wine the day--but our wine--which was 55% lot 1, 41% lot 3 and 4% Petite Verdot came in a close second.

This was a two day event with different people showing up for the Sunday version of the event and with the winning wine from the two days being chosen to be blended by the winery and released as the Consensus Blend. The team that beat us, was the two-day winner. So I don't feel too bad.

Most of all it was fun, dealt with wine, and was educational--I learned a lot more about blending wines.

The vineyard wine maker ran the event and he provided a lot of help and commentary as we did the blending.