KateAndDally

Sunday Night, and wine blogging

I'm bummed ... UO and Offering Boy took Kate to the dog park yesterday, which she absolutely LOVED.  UO took, a video and sent it to me, but windows media player doesn't recognize the file extention and can't play it...so I will experiment with youTube and see if I can't get it up loaded there...in any event, Kate had a blast and properly exhausted herself.  Then she had to suffer the horrors of the vacuum cleaner...but that's all UO's fault, since he went out and bought an LG flat-screen tv.

See, a new tv means the old one (36" wide, 3 feet deep, works fine while the drywall is peeling off the bathroom wall, but no resentment or anything, no, not at all) has to go somewhere; also, you don't clean behind something that weights close to 200 lbs, or at least I don't, so there's years' worth of accumulated dust and dead flies behind the old set; so much vacuuming has to be done.  And Kate is afeared mightily of the vacuum, as we discovered.  Dally, made of sterner stuff, would attack it.  Kate tries to hide in the lazy susan in the kitchen.

Anyway, after much stress and effort, the old tv is in Offering Boy's room (we had to turn it end over end to get up the stairs, but I didn't break any nails, how cool is that?) and the new TV is on the old coffee table in front of the couch downstairs.  And yeah, the picture is incredible.  Almost 3D-like at times.

And Kate was EXHAUSTED.  We watched "Ironman" mostly because it was the only DVD we could find; and Kate ended up with her head in my lap even after UO went up to bed, because she utterly dead to the world.  We could have dropped her off the couch and she wouldn't have woken up.  And don't think it wasn't tempting!  BAD dog owners!  Bad, bad!

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So I'm finishing up the Balducci's Montepulciano D'Abruzzo...$9.99, um...well, I like it -- if I was looking to buy a case of wine for casual drinking, and I wasn't especially confident about my wine-discerning abilities, I could go with this one easily... but since I know a little more about what's available and where to find it, I might go back to Sniders and pick up a case of Protocolo...  Anyway, about the wine: mild currenty nose, benefits from oxygen, mild structure, but lots of fruit nonetheless.  It's certainly a perfectly fine $9.99 bottle of wine.  I'm damning with faint praise, but there you are.

Good sipping, friends. 

That was the week that was...

Oy.

Tonight we attended a "Old Time Diner" at Northwood, our kids' daycare (well,it was kids-plural when Offering Boy was of daycare age)...we paid $8/"spagetii diner" with salad and garlic bread; $5/ institutional chicken fingers and soggy fries; and $5/ grilled toast sandwich (no cheese that we could see) and more soggy fries.  All proceeds go to the homeless, and the kids themselves wrote the menus (hence the varied spellings of "spaghetti"), seated the customers, took the orders and figured out the tabs.  Not the most efficient operation, but heartfelt and good practice for their college years.  An adult friend kept bugging The Littlest Offering (before we got there, when she was still a "hostess") by asking for lager and martinis. 

"We don't serve alcohol!"  She huffed.  A definite minus, in my opinion.

As we were preparing to leave, we ran into our friend JB, who revealed that his wife was about to lose her job...so much for DC being recession-proof. 

"Anything you can think of," he said, "she'll take."  Bad times.  Bad, bad times.

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We (the kids and I) are trying to convince UO that it's time for a new puppy.  He is not yet persuaded.  Kate's breeder is awaiting another litter of pups but no word yet on when they are due.  As far as I am concerned, working in Bethesda is perfect for puppy potty-training, so now is the time, before the pod people wise up and relocate my office to Cap. Hill.  Get with the program, Dude!

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At the pod place... well, in January alone we had over 600 people reup with the PAC, for over $125K, and they all had to be thanked; and at least 1/3 of them gave less than $150, so I had to personally fold their thank yous and stuff them into envelopes, hunched over my desk; and dudes, I'm BONE WEARY.  I could go on vacation just about now.  Whiiiiiiiinnnnne, whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnne...

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Long-time readers of this blog know about my brother-in-law, Pineapple Bruce, who has terminal lung cancer.  2008 was a year for illness and death, what with my dad and Dally, and Bruce getting worse...Bruce is closing in on a year since his diagnosis, which is a real milestone, but he is weakening.  My sis-in-law, his wife Laura, says they will fight it as long as Bruce wants to; but he can't find the happy medium of pain-free clear-headedness.  Hospice is now involved, and they're wonderful, no question, but we all know time is winding down.  And it's all so unfair.  Plus the grief counseling for their 5-y.o. daughter has been cancelled by the hospital.  An obscenity, that a five year old should need grief counseling.

Another reason to have a puppy.  A small, shallow way to bring some light into the room.

Well. I didn't want to write a depressing entry, but apparently there's more on my mind than I thought.   Let's talk about wine!  In specific, Balducci's house Syrah, a 2005 vintage "vinted and bottled by Billington Wine Studio, Groton, CA".  Well, well... their website reveals the following:

Family-owned Producers, Importers and Marketers of wine from Argentina, Chile, Spain, California, Germany and Alsace.

And, some of their brands include Big Tattoo, Havens and Cousino-Macul.  Hey, I've heard of those! 

So why doesn't the Syrah taste any better?

Balducci's does this "house label" thingie with their wine, $9.99/bottle ... in the summer it was Pinot Grigio (not bad), now it's this Syrah and a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo that I haven't tried yet.  There's nothing bad about this Syrah, but there's nothing especially good either, and when I can spend a buck or so more and buy a much better Chilean or Argentinian red, why buy this?

So: Balducci's House Syrah:  feh.

Giving the Middle Finger to Death...and other dispatches from the Father's Day Weekend 2008

The pod people having generously provided a "travel allowence" to their employees, we are caught up bill-wise, which is always a dangerous proposition for me, since Wikipedia's explanation of the phrase "cash burning a hole in one's pocket" has my picture front and center.  Anyway, Unqualified Offerings and I needed a little fun in our lives, so I went ahead and bought tickets to the Robert Plant - Alison Krause tour Raising Sand, which played at Merriwether Post Pavilion on Friday night.

UO had a good time -- after I convinced him that, yes, we really could afford it and yes, we were going to have to pay $15/hr for a babysitter -- but she's 27!  German!  a professional au pair!  Coming from Bethesda!  Willing to jump in at short notice!  YOU know what those kinds of arguments are like ... Anyway, we both had a great time, the kids loved Nina the German Au Pair, and we were home by midnight.  Just in time to get 8 hours' sleep so we could celebrate...

Laura and Bruce Renewing their Vows!  Also celebrating Jenny's adoption by Bruce, once Laura got done weedwhacking the Human Weasel.  And I got it all on video.  Let's hear it for the Flip!

First up: Laura and Bruce's vows, presided over by Pastor Paul, who married them in January of 1999...And here's Jenny and Skylar making their vows to their parents....And lastly, the presentation of the entire family...

And well, the less said about the Syrah they served, the better....I cried (at the vows, not the wine) and UO did too...

And since I keep promising to publish doggie stuff, here's some video of the doggles from when I first got the Flip (and then promptly let the batts run down...)

Catching Up

Well, it's been a while since we last chatted, and sometime when I wasn't watching (literally) KateAndDally.typepad.com had its 10,000th visitor.  I don't know who you were, but I thank you.  I feel I know you – I probably do, since I can count the folks who read this blog on the fingers of one hand; why you keep coming back 10,000 times I don't know, but I'm grateful.

Offering Boy turned 12 on May 24.  I am stunned and amazed.  He looks more and more like his father every day.  With my hair.  And I wish he'd give it back, my scalp gets cold. His hamster, the estimable Cream, passed away at the end of March.  We said, that's it, no more; but now OB's friend J has acquired two hammies, supposedly males, but no, no, sexing hamsters is very tough and instead of two males, our friends got one of each; and so in the fullness of time we shall accept one of their offspring, assuming Hammie Mom doesn't eat them first.

If one of Hammie Mom's offspring were to pen an acrostic poem, it might go something like this:

M - y guardian

U - sually doesn't cannabalize us

M - arvelous

M - agnificent

Y - ou might sit on us, though - ouch

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Speaking of acrostic poems, The Littlest Offering's class completed a unit on poetry and had a "Poetry, Parents and Pastries" party to celebrate their writings.  TLO recited this “surprise” poem, which Unqualified Offerings knew about, but I did not.

G - reat person

R - emembers his family

A - ll of us loved him

N - never said never

D - ied with a great heart

P - eaceful man

A - always very nice

Come on.  How many 7 year olds do you know could think up the line "died with a great heart"?

I had to go outside the room and cry a bit.

 

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It's storming here now.  It stormed last week and we lost power for 18 hours or so.  Just enough to lose everything in the fridge and freezer...But hey, we have power; AND we don't have a gas leak, for which I'm very grateful...I walked into the house this afternoon and thought, "oh crap."  I thought that yesterday too, but that was tangible, since Dally was suffering from diarrhea (ick).  Today there was only one explanation, and it wasn’t mammal-produced...geez, it never stops...so for a while I mulled calling Wash Gas against ignoring it and maybe dying, all because of some little "inconvenience;" and finally I called.  Turns out our old range is shot to hell Hel-lo, tell me something new), but there was no actual leak.  Thank you, Jesus. 

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On Saturday we go to watch Laura and Bruce renew their vows.  The horrible chemo seems to have arrested the cancer, but it hasn't carted it off to jail yet.  However, Aunt Laura, Samurai Wife and Mom, used the situation to bludgeon the Human Weasel into agreeing to give up parental rights to #1 Niece Jen so that Pineapple Bruce could adopt her.  Everything has been signed, so Laura made good her promise to Jen and officially changed her name. Now she, Bruce, Jen and Sky are all one family with one name.  Please God, let them remain so for many years.

Things that Sound Better Than They Are...

So I'm sitting here at the Holiday Inn Express on the border of Sycamore/DeKalb, IL, having driven like a bat out of hell since 8 a.m. this morning to get here at a reasonable (non-dark) hour, eating triscuits and cheese and drinking Mondavi Fume Blanc, and is quite fine.  The wine is fine; the sitting alone, family-less in a Holiday Inn in a strange town (where your father is slowly dying) isn't as great as it might sound.  Travel Moms are supposed to go a little nuts when they get out of the house -- room service, bubble baths, champagne...I'm here to tell you that's nonsense.  Well, the room service and champagne is nonsense, for the most part.

My father had a major stroke last week, exactly a week ago, as a matter of fact.  It was a big bleed, and at the time it wasn't stopping, so the neurosurgeon recommended Hospice, which officially took my father's case on Tuesday.  I haven't seen him yet but my step-sister says he did a little better today, stayed awake longer and was more alert. 

HOWEVER.  There's always a "however" in this story..my poor stepmother, betrayed by a dog, fell and broke two bones in her hand, and possibly messed up her hip.  <Insert comment about rain and pouring here. >

I am going to take my wine and take a bath.   Goodnight, friends. 

If It's Tuesday, it Must be Wine

So my favorite wine writers (subscription required; sorry) suggested checking out South African Chenin Blancs recently, saying that particular noble grape had suffered badly at the hands of American vintnersn who opted for sweet and icky rather than layered and, their word: "focused."  As in focus on the flavors of green apple and fig across the entire palate, with a crisp mineral finish.  Sounded mouth-watering, so I searched out such a South African Chenin Blanc at one of my old reliables and came up with Herding Cats Chenin Blanc/Charnonnay, by Underdog Wine Merchants.  "Cats" promises more than it can deliver,and was strictly an OK wine...But today I searched out something better and found a 2006 Moreson Chenin Blanc from the Franschoek Valley ; lo and behold, the Moreson is indeed as advertised, notes of pear; juicy green apple and fig bursting on the tongue, giving way to a salivating mineral-y finish.  At least it's making me salivate.  Serve with spicy Indian and Malay food.  Don't have much Malay food around here as best I know...but let me tell you, it's great with Haagen-Daas Milk Chocolate Ice Cream and peanut butter roll-ups.

Wine and Burgers

Here I sit, burgers grilling, doggusses barking at birds and squirrels, 53 minutes remaining on the laptop battery... I am sipping a 2005 Clos LaChance viognier, very lightly chilled, medium straw in color; a tad sweeter than I'd like, notes of honeysuckle; more honeysuckle in the mouth, minerals on the mid-palate, not as many layers as, say, the McManis I wrote about the other day; and, at $25 more than I usually pay (and definitely overpriced) but it's a pleasant wine fora pleasant night and while I can find fault with it, I can't dislike it.  Amiable all around.

The Littlest Offering plays next door in Neighbor Q's yard with her great friend, The Littlest P.  I am to yell when the burgers are done.  I suppose I will.

UO got his official review today and was told (and I am paraphrasing here) that on communications he "meets expectations" but apparently doesn't exceed them because he uses too many multi-syllable words.  Allllllrighty then.  Dickheads are a fact of life.  And, as he stoically points out, they gave him a nifty new title and an extra $15K in salary, so he really can't complain.  But I can!

Had the dubious distinction of being interviewed for the assn news sheet, the ______ Inquirer.  Full of pod people gossip!  The pod people want to know!  One of the questions was, "is there anything quirky or interesting/off-beat about you that people should know?"  HAR.  As if I'd say!  And no, I didn't admit to the blog.  I'm sure they'd find it pretty inconsequential...but why take the chance?

It's a soft night here in Silver Spring, MD.  Sweet sipping, friends!

What a Surprise

2004 McManis Viognier ... notes of apricot and honey, true; also tastes of gooseberry, olive and mineral; also true about the long finish.  I've got to stop drinking this wine if I'm going to be coherent tomorrow.  By the way, I hear that the 2006 is better...

I picked the McManis up in the deli next to my local CVS.  The deli serves the same demographic as my wonderful Sniders, so it's not surprising it stocks decent wine, if slightly more expensive.    This is possibly the best viognier I've had this year...Max on the yums!

At the Funeral

I'm sitting with The Littlest Offering trying to compose a reasonable entry about the funeral but I'm failing.  Let's leave it at this:

The preacher was a bible-thumping Baptist with a big nose and a racist wife.  It was great to see family but under rotten circumstances.  My prayer for my cousin is that she is at peace and none of the crap that followed her in her life matter any more...and that her kids, especially her youngest son, turn out well in the world.

intersting Wine (alleged) tip:  My cousin Brenda, sister of the deceased, lives in Germany.  The family had bought a case of Riesling to make her feel at home; but Bren says that the Chermans keep the best and export the rest.  For what it's worth.  I need to trek down to Calvert Woodley and ask if that's true.

I am drinking a wonderful Spanish red, a 2006 Borsao.  It's a mix of Garnacha (75%) and Tempranillo (25%) grapes; it's fruity, layered with blackberries and tobacco and BABY, is it smooth!  It's also priced under $15, so go buy a case!  Serious YUM! 

Thank You, Jesus...

...the soft days have returned.  I walked out of the office today to find sunshine (a first in many days, let me tell you) and balmy breezes.  The interior of the car was downright hot.  I whizzed off home with the windows down just to enjoy the wind (ok, exhaust) on my face.

The doggusses were winsome upon my return.  Kate managed not to pee herself this time, and obligingly climbed into Offering Boy's lap to have her picture made, as you can see.      

Uncle Bruce Update:   He had his first chemo treatment yesterday and bragged to UO that he got two bags more chemicals than anyone else in the room.  Boys and their (chemo) toys.  He also slept through most of the treatment and amazed UO with his chipperness afterwards, outside working the grill like a master.  Some of you may have read about Bruce here, here or over on UO's blog (I hear that gets a few hits a day)...for any of you who took time out to send good thoughts our way, we thank you.

On an unhappier note, I have to go to a funeral in Danville, VA tomorrow.  My cousin Barb lost her battle with breast cancer and so tomorrow we honor her memory.  As we should.  I just wish it wasn't 4.5 hours away.  My family --- we used to see each other at weddings, now we see other at funerals.  Barb's mother is my father's sole remaining sister; the two of them are all that remains of the six original Gallaghers (well, original to our family twig; in County Donegal in Eire where my grandfather Red John Gallagher was from, our name is the equivalent of "Smith".)  My father is Barb's godfather.  I have to go.  This morning when I called my aunt to get the address of the funeral home, my cousin Brenda answered the phone -- she lives in Germany and we see each other about once a decade; and I'm looking forward to seeing her.  At her sister's funeral.  Circumstances bite.

Coming down the stairs this evening, Offering Boy grabbed me by my tee-shirt front.

OB:     You ate all the pizza!

Me:     I didnt' -- I didn't have any of it!

OB:     Pretend you're Daddy!

Oh, that guy.

The Littlest Offering waxed wistful, hoping that I'd take her to Danville with me.  Not a chance.  Not because it's a funeral (actually, a memorial service) but I'm starting really early and I'm looking forward to the ride, which winds through some of the loveliest parts of Virginia; but after the last five days, I'm looking forward to the silence also. 

Tonight I'm drinking a Spanish white from D.O. Rueda called Las Brisas.  It has the imprint of Jorge Ordonez, and Wine Weekly informs that this is a sign of a good Spanish wine.  I had no idea, and will look for the imprint in the future.  Tonight I'm tasting lots of lemon, grass and minerals, but  I had a salad with onions, hummus and balsamic dressing for lunch today and it's overwhelming all the sweetstuffs in the world...and at the moment, Las Brisas is hitting the (sot) spot, I can tell you.  (Throwing that in there for UO....xoxoxoxo) 

The doggusses are taking turns gnoshing on a long-forgotten-and-just-retrieved bone.  A lovely cool breeze is blowing and I have exactly 45 minutes left on the laptop battery.  Sweet drinking, friends, and good night.