Thursday, January 24, 2008

Changing palate, vegetables, and life

Some notes on wine:

I bought another bottle of Black Chook today, actually two bottles. I had this wine first several months ago when I was doing a sampling of Shiraz. I remember liking it as a fruity, new world wine with some nice complexity. Interestingly, this time my first impression was, "man, is this stuff sweet and fruity" and not in a completely enjoyable way. My second and subsequent drinks the fruit mellowed, and a bit of the complexity I remembered came back.

BTW, for those of you out there that just drink wine, try swishing! I've been doing that more and more - Amanda hates doing it - but it really ups the enjoyment factor for me.

Anyway, I think it was a moment when I realized my palate changes. Wines that were enjoyable and I preferred even 3, 4, or 5 months ago aren't as exciting. Which is why, I think, drinking and exploring wine is so fun... it is constantly changing.

Another note - Amanda and I have been trying to increase our fruit and veggie intake a lot. We've been doing more stir-fry veggies at night. The last two meals I've had the Black Chook Shiraz, a pretty full-bodied wine, and a very decent Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon that was pretty full. Both of those wines went GREAT with stir-fry veggies.

A quick life update - I haven't gotten Christmas cards out to some of my good friends... wow, I'm lame. Maybe by July. We are starting sushi family nights so those should be fun. I've made a few sightseeing and $100 burger flights but nothing notable. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be going to skis this year. I'd love to, but am not motivated enough to get a spot on the lake and switch over for just a month or so. The end of March we're heading to Europe so I'd have to switch back before then. And finally, both our girls are now 5!

More later. Sit back, have a glass of wine and enjoy a conversation with the one you love!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Cold and fast

Well, not really fast, but when it is colder I run faster. Since the new year I've been reasserting my training regimen. Of course, after taking a few months basically off from any running, I am quite a bit slower. But, the two fastest runs I've had have been when it's been 6 and 0 degrees. Today it was zero or below and I ran 4.5 miles averaging under 9:30 miles... for right now, that's great for me!

Also, we had a friend over who mentioned they visited the blog to catch up on our family. Unfortunately, I haven't done a good job at updating it. Maybe that'll change... hopefully the beginning of 2008 will have some fun things to write about!

Happy New Year!