Not Ominously Quiet...

I just have not had much to say for the last few weeks! I know how hard that is to believe, but it is true. I was watching House Hunters International, where this beleaguered family of 6 was desperate to buy a vacation home in Fiji so they could have a place to relax. It ranks right up there with the hog farmer from Minnesota and his accountant wife who needed to get away to a vacation home in coastal Ecuador that cost a cool half mil! I’m definitely in the wrong line of work, but I just can’t see myself as a hog farmer! What can I say? How about “buy my kindle books”. It won’t get me a half-mil house in a tropical paradise, but it might help pay the mortgage.

Current events have people talking. The unrest in Egypt is quite disturbing. Hopefully it will not precipitate complete chaos in every country in the Middle East. The shooting of Gabby Giffords and the other victims of that tragic event was equally disturbing to me. The shooter was an obvious mental case, but hopefully that will not prevent the courts from putting him away for life as he is an obvious danger to himself and others. I think it is nice that Gabby’s husband is commanding the shuttle flight. He seems to be handling her rehab and the unwanted publicity with a huge amount of common sense. If I went up in the shuttle, I would want him flying it!

On other fronts, like everyone in the Eastern half of the U.S., I’m ready for spring, but there is so much to do. With a wedding shower in April and the wedding in May, I’m sure the time will go much faster than I would like. Once again, I am faced with a weight loss deadline. It’s either that or accept that I will once again look like Shamu in sequins in the wedding photos. Only time will tell.

The amarone and the blackberry cabernet are cooking in the back room at The Vine. Although I’ll be bottling both vintages in mid-March, the amarone won’t be drinkable until at least October, and I may resist opening the first bottle until Thanksgiving. The blackberry cab will be drinkable at bottling time. I am anxious to see what it tastes like.

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the blog contest. I didn’t win, but it was a fun column to write. I will reproduce the column here in a few days.