Thursday, December 9, 2010

Mid-Week Saturday

What a great idea it turned out to be.

Chris and I took Wednesday off to have a medical procedure done and were able to spend the entire day together--almost alone at home after about mid-morning.

We napped, baked cookies, bought gifts on E-bay and other internet sites and generally just chilled recovering from the activity of the morning.

A big thank-you to Patrick for taking such great care of his parents--including getting here before 6:30 AM to drive us to the Medical Center.

In the end, it was like having a Saturday in the middle of the week. I got to spend time with my dog, too.

Mid-week Saturdays break the week into smaller two-day sections and really help make it all palatable. It has been a welcome break amid a hectic season--even though it was a medical related break. Who says all medical stuff is bad.

OK--it usually is bad.

This time it worked out.

A mid-week break amid a season of intense activity. I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas Morning Memories

I had a funny thought yesterday morning as I was making the bed.

The memory of being a boy age 10 or so on Christmas morning flashed through my head.

Standing at the top of the stairs in such excitement and anticipation that I could hardly bear the wait. My brother and sisters there with me--OK, maybe my brother wasn't since he would have been only about 21 months old and I think he got to sleep in the warmer area of the house.

We had attended the candlelight service at church the night before and then dutifully left cookies, milk and an obligatory carrot for the reindeer on a plate beside the Christmas Tree.

I had barely slept. Visions of sugar plums were definitely dancing--but not in my head. They were in my room keeping me up all night. I was awake with exhaustion and high on the drug of excitement.

It was dark outside--I do not even recall the time, but I'm sure it was no later than 6AM because we had been furtively sending messages to each other for a while while hoping to innocuously wake the parents to allow the day to officially begin.

But the excitement and the anticipation of that time was incredible--knowing that in moments Mom and Dad would open the stairwell door and we would be blinded by the "brighter than the sun" movie light us as we ran, fell or otherwise made our way down the stairs and into the room with the tree and the assembled gifts.

Fast forward a few decades and I remember Christmas mornings with my kids--and seeing that same excitement in them. The joy, the excitement and the inappropriate actions of children who just do not know how to deal with these intense emotions.

Our family has grown from our core five, to now eleven. And the sounds of Christmas and the kids and the dogs fills the house with the sweet cacophony of family.

Christmas has changed for us, even with the increase in our family size. We now sleep in late on Christmas morning. We enjoy breakfast and mimosas. We stare at the gift adorned tree while waiting for everyone to arrive in an attempt to recreate those many Christmases past.

I love spending time with Chris on Christmas morning in the quiet of our house surrounded by Makayla, Louis, and Riordin giving her that special gift that I spent at least 15 minutes on the Internet picking out.

But remembering how it used to be--in that time long, long ago and in a place far, far away; warms my memories and makes my heart long for those Christmases past. I know now that they were tough times, but thanks to loving parents I was totally oblivious to how tough they were and the miracle of Christmas was alive in my heart and unencumbered with the myriad details that now are part of making the celebration a success.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Consensus Blending - Fun at the Winery



The Barrel Room and the Consensus Blending

 What great fun. A day at our favorite winery with new friends.

There is an annual event at Keswick Vineyards called Consensus Blending where we get to spend a day sampling a set of wines and then, as a group, by table, developing the best blend possible. You can read last year's account at Consensus.

The event is conducted in the Barrel Room of the winery, where it tends to be a bit cool, as one might expect. But it provides us a day to get back to the winery and sample wines and make our best blend of wine from the wines provided.

But in now the second year of our experience, we have met the greatest people and had an incredible amount of fun. Everyone is a lot of fun to be with and we all share a passion: wine.


Assessing the Blend


As Stephen, the winemaker says, the trick is not to blend a wine that you will like--but it is to blend a wine that someone will want to buy.



This year we had four wines to consider for blending. A Cabernet-sauvignon, a touriga, a syrah, and a chambourcin. We were limited in that the final blend could not contain more than 25 percent of the touriga or the cabernet sauvignon. It could contain 25 percent of each--just not more than 25 percent of either. We could use as much of the chambourcin and the syrah as we felt necessary.

We Realized We Won

The first task was to assess the four wines. That is always the greatest fun because as soon as you taste one varietal I begin to think about what it would need to be a spectacular wine. And this is the chance I get to actually do this in practice.



Additionally, it is critical to assess the palette of the other people at the table. By their comments on the varietals, you can begin to determine whose palette is most like the majority of people and so that person becomes weather vane for the blends. I know that I am not a good person to build a wine to because I like a specific group red wines, but I think I can assess a wine that others will like. It is always good though to have a couple other people to provide confirmation.



Standings Board

Our table was blessed with six people who knew wines and understood that we needed to develop a complete wine--a nice nose, a good finish, a deep rich dark color and a well balanced taste: not too tannin in nature but not a fruit bomb either.

I won't go into all of the details about how we did it--because fundamentally, we were really lucky because we decided on our basic blend after our second blend and then it was just tweaking the blend from there. We eliminated the syrah after the fourth blend because it just didn't add anything that improved the blend. We were quite happy to work with just the chambourcin, touriga, and cabernet sauvignon.


The Winners
Chris & Shannon Andrews
Barbara & Bob Gitschier, Chris & Bob Doan,
and the winemaker
Stephen Barnard
Something I have learned over the past two years--one percent makes a big difference. I never thought it would be like that, but looking at the standings board, the top two wines are very similar and tasted very different. The scores are along the side and our wine was wine J. The two on the bottom were both 100 percent chambourcin and the winemaker added them into the judging as control wines.

And so last year our wine came in second place. This year, I really wanted to win. I don't know why, but I just felt we had a good wine last year and I knew I had learned so much more about wine this past year. And our table did win. It was a great team effort in which everyone participated.

What do the winners get? Our wine will be bottled and sold by the winery as the 2009 Consensus Blend.

And I will buy a few cases of it because I know it is good.









Monday, December 6, 2010

Monday Musings - December 6, 2010

1. Christmas shopping is an experience in controlled anarchy.

2. Are gift cards really gifts? Or are they just a cop-out because people really don't want to be bothered taking the time to shop for a meaningful, heartfelt gift?

3. Big football games bring communities together--too bad one team has to lose because the excitement leading up to the game is something to be savored. OK--so the Ravens lost to the Steelers, ugh!

4. Meeting new people, drinking wine, blending wine at the winery. Having the wine we blended with two other couples selected as the best was really cool and to have it be the three-day winner, even cooler. We are going to buy a couple cases when it is released next year.

5. Holiday weekends are busier than weekdays during the season.

6. During the Holiday Season, travel and frustration are synonyms.

7. The roads between Baltimore and Charlottesville are fairly empty on Sunday mornings. I guess everyone is sleeping off the night before or preparing to go to church.

8. Tina is a Craigslist warrior--she found a person selling off their Snow Village collection as really reasonable prices and we were able to get many great pieces for less than one new in the box piece. Oh, yeah, they were all in the box too, just not "new."

9. We have been watching Nicole's dogs over the weekend, and I have learned what a canine vacuum cleaner is. Jefferson, the beagle can suck down a bowl of food in the blink of an eye.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Playing Not to Lose

Ever watch a football team go into the prevent defense with 2 minutes left in the game clinging to a narrow lead--and lose?

All the time, right?

That is why it was so satisfying when the Ravens ran out the clock on Sunday and did not provide the Buccaneers the opportunity to test their offense against the Raven's prevent defense.

But even more--I am beginning to realize that in these situations something occurs in the mind. The team or player goes form being offensive and looking to score to being defensive and trying not to lose.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am playing some of the worst racquetball of my life right now. To say that I am frustrated by my play and some of the dumb things I do over and over again would be an understatement.

Understanding that racquetball games are to 15 points (unless it is a tiebreaker which is only to 11), I am struggling to figure out why I can be down in a game one day 4-14 and comeback to win 15-14; while on another day I can be ahead 10-4 and lose 12-15.

I am doing something, changing something, thinking differently, and playing differently. I only wish I knew what it was.

I think though (especially after blowing a lead Thursday morning) it has to do with a subtle shift in focus from playing to win to playing not to lose. I go defensive and I become so focused on not blowing the lead that I forget to focus on winning the point. And, like the NFL teams I have watched so many times, I blow the lead and lose.

At least that what I think is happening.

I have to be careful not to handle everything in my life using the playing not to lose thought process--or things will get really bad.

But on the other hand--I play racquetball for fitness and fun--so is it really all that bad? The sane side of me says, no. The competitor in me says yes--it really sucks.

Hey--today is a new day and who knows what fun I'm going to have in life today.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Christmas Shopping

People who know me, understand how much I love to go shopping during the Christmas season.

There is nothing better in the world than waiting for what seems like hours to get into the parking lot and then dueling like knights of old encased in armor on their steeds for a parking spot. And an especially fun game is stalking the other shoppers as the make their way to their cars burdened with all of the items they just purchased. Just remember--extra points are awarded for nudging their knees with your bumper but not causing them to fall down.

Once my car is parked, I love playing dodge the distracted drivers as I make my way to the store doors by acting like a combat soldier under fire. You never know where the mini Cooper with your name in its bumper is going to come from.

Of course--once in the store the free for all mentality just adds to the ambiance of the season. Truly the slower and weaker shoppers are at a disadvantage. The battles occurring at the sale bins are truly epic. To the victor goes the sale items.

Long lines at the registers after fighting through the throngs of shoppers to exfiltrate my desired purchases provide a much needed opportunity to catch up on my email on my iPhone. I mean, it is not like I have anywhere else I'd rather be, right?

At the register, the weary eyes of the totally burned out cashier barely acknowledge my existence as he calls out my total amount due, which rivals the national debt. "Thank goodness for American Express," Chris said as she smiled at me indicating that I was paying for this trip to Toys R Us.

And then back out into the darkness of the over loaded parking lot to secure safe passage to the car. Again risking life and limb by dodging distracted, confused, and frankly upset drivers who, like me a few hours ago, could not find suitable parking for their too large SUV.

Safely back home with the gifts parked, I realize that this was only step one. Next--wrapping, then transporting and opening and clean up. but that is still a few days away.

I love Christmas shopping.

Please sir, can I have some more?

Weird News

I read the following on a page in the Presidential Prayer Team website:

IN THE NEWS: A sedative commonly used to euthanize animals may be used on death row inmates in Oklahoma to substitute one of the three drugs in the state’s lethal injection formula. U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot rejected a motion by death row inmates who argued that the use of a drug called pentobarbital amounted to a “cruel and unusual punishment.” Friot said the drug did not pose a substantial risk of serious harm. There has been a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, a key component in the three-drug cocktail that causes unconsciousness. The decision could have a ripple effect across other states.


OK--I thought lethal injection was supposed to cause death? So wouldn't it seem that the drugs used to deprive a person of life should be dangerous?

That's the idea, right?

I'm confused.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Christmas Tree Number 2

Not an elegant name at all--but we remember the commercials where number 2 tries harder?

This year our second tree--the one adorning the family room in the basement--is our retro tree. It is a blast from the past and recalls the colored lights of our childhood trees.
Christmas Three Number 2: The Retro Version

Our children have only been treated to trees with white lights--but when Chris and I were children, in the time before mini-lights, trees were decorated with colored lights--and the lights were big. We did not recreate the big bulb trees, but we decided to have a colored light tree to compliment the white light tree on the main level of the house.

Patrick already commented--"there won't be any presents under that tree" as he was retrieving Chewie from a playdate last evening. He remains very loyal to the white light tree style.

That's OK--variety is a good thing.

Chris and I enjoyed sipping wine and decorating this tree last evening listening to Christmas music playing in the background. We had tried the colored lighted tree some years ago, and I was able, with assistance form a cool new Christmas light tool I bought, to get the strands all working and so at least we didn't have a great expense buying lights.

The house is nearly decorated. Only a few more objects to display--specifically the Snow Village Here Comes Santa annual pieces, and then we will be fully Christmified. Well, I think there may be some reindeer on their way to grace our front lawn--but who knows?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Family, Ministry, and Surrogates

Balancing life is hard.

There are many voices crying to be heard--and it is easy to lose the ones that need to be heard in the din.

What is most confusing for me, though, is when we lose sight of our primary focus and transfer that to others.

And so--here's the situation.

Family is first. Rule one.

We can argue about this, but we are born into families which are the core unit (created by God) of life.

People move through families--from child to teen to young adult to mid-life, to senior (the ones with wisdom). Families change with time and begin to include increasing numbers of generations. And generations replace generations as time goes on--those who change residence from the planet are replaced by those remain behind waiting.

At each step along the way--the person contributes or receives from the family. By the time one is a senior--they are contributing to the 2nd and 3rd generation behind them (grandchildren and great-grandchildren). These generations are the future and require the wisdom and maturity of the most experienced members of the family.

Sadly, I see situations where the senior members are eschewing the younger generations to focus upon surrogates more closely aligned with their age. This is a travesty and deprives the young generations of necessary interaction with the learned ones of the family. This is a false ministry.

Our primary ministry and focus must always be to the family and to the younger/youngest generations.

When we allow other factors to interfere--we are truly missing the boat. All through the Bible families and generations are mentioned in both good and bad examples.

Psalm 22:30-31 makes an interesting observation: A whole generation will serve him; they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord. They will come and tell about his saving deeds; they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished- NET Bible

The job of one generation is to teach succeeding generations.

Our primary ministry is to succeeding generations. When we deny our youth the access to the more senior members of the family--the transfer of knowledge and wisdom and relationships is stunted.

We become dysfunctional families and we lose sight of the primary ministry given to us and perhaps the most important ministry to which we are entrusted. Train up our youth.

Proverbs 4:1-5 (NET Bible)

Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
and pay attention so that you may gain discernment.
Because I give you good instruction,
do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son to my father,
a tender only child before my mother,
he taught me, and he said to me:
“Let your heart lay hold of my words;
keep my commands so that you will live.
Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding;
do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December Rain

The rain is falling again.

Not that I'm complaining because at this time of year it could be the snow flakes of another blizzard.

So let the rain come--although I have already had to lower the pool level once since I closed it.

Rain in December falls in other ways, too.

The feeling of being too busy and being too wanted.

Yesterday in the mail we received invitations to two Christmas open houses. Both on the same day--a day in which we were already committed to another function. Fortunately one is early--so we will be able to attend prior to going to the function to which we were already committed--but it made me feel sad that we were going to have to pass on the open house sponsored by one of our neighbors--again.

When it rains--it pours, but this time it is good things.

Opportunities to be with family, friends and neighbors.

It is sad that we cannot do it all--but on the other hand--we get to enjoy a lot and we are blessed.

On a side note--for those who were following the current saga of my truck and the Maryland emissions inspection (which was due in May but extended until December 3rd), it passed yesterday without needing the repair waiver. And just as good--the service engine soon light had not been illuminated in over two weeks. I almost miss it--not really!

And the December rain--which thankfully is not snow, is continuing to fall outside the window promising another raw, pre-winter day.

But hearts are warm and we are surrounded by family and friends.

Let the rain fall--the flowers will be brighter in the springtime.
My Zimbio
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