Like Riding a Bike

Damian and I both forgot about potholes. 

In Maryland, there is either not enough snow or not enough snowplows (equally likely possibilities) to make potholes a real problem. They are more the exception than the rule. 

Not so in the Midwest. The midwinter appearance of potholes is something that we had both completely wiped from our memories. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, it all came back to us in a axle-breaking rush. 

I don't know about D, but I have since rediscovered a driving skill unique to drivers in cold winter climates: pothole avoidance. It's the ability to anticipate and swerve to miss every pothole on a road without leaving your lane and sideswiping the Prius next to you. 

Turns out, I've still got it.

Valentine's Day, or Just Another Drunken Thursday

D and I have never been big with the Valentines. We acknowledge it, but that's about it. There is no "gazing into each others eyes" *cough*amalah*cough* and rarely are there hearts and flowers. (There were some beautiful flowers last year, but I think that might have been a first.)

So, this year, our 11th Valentine's Day together, we decided to keep with tradition. The second Thursday of the month (be it Valentine's Day or not) means only one thing to us. zOMG! THERE ARE TWO BOTTLES OF WINE IN DARIEN WITH OUR NAMES ON THEM!

We spent the evening with Tim and Maggie at Wine Styles tasting their six "sexiest" wines, chosen mostly for the kitsch of their names (see: Fourplay, a blend of four grapes). D picked up some sushi from the Japanese steakhouse next door and I brought some chocolate covered strawberries from Graham's as my Valentine gift for D. (D's gift for me? Assorted truffles from Graham's.)

Kitsch aside, I think that this was the best tasting ever. Normally, there are 2-3 wines from each tasting that we like enough to buy. Last night, we walked away with 7 bottles of wine (including our two club wines). Yikes! 

First, was a wine we already knew we loved: Zonin's Primo Amore Juliet. We had already decided that this would be our go-to summer white. It's sweet and crisp and a little fizzy and a lot cheap! Anyone who comes to our pool this summer can expect to be offered a glass of this deliciousness.

But! We also got to try, for the first time, Juliet's partner Romeo. Romeo smells like the rose on the label and has all of Juliet's good qualities: a little bit of effervescence, a little bit of sweetness. I'm looking forward to trying this again to figure out where they differ. If I had to say from memory, I would say Juliet has pear notes and Romeo has berries. (Maybe I should read those PDFs I just linked to. They would probably tell me.)

Another wine we had never tried was Syrahtica. Get it: Syrah+tica like Ero+tica? Clever. And in the spirit of clever suggestiveness, check out the label. Now stand on your head. AHH! NAKED LADY! Sort of. Anyway, if you can get beyond the name and the label, this is a really good wine. At the front, it tastes like any other Syrah--fruity, big, a little chewy. Then, it sort of surprises you with a really smooth, spicy, dark finish.

Our last purchase was two bottles of Trentadue Chocolate Amore (one for us and one for my port-loving brother). It's an interesting merlot-based port-styled wine that tastes like raspberries and chocolate (a combination that one of us--the one who isn't me--can't resist).

The good news is that we reached 1000 points on our club membership and got $50 to spend in the store! The bad news is, that means that we've spent $1000 on wine in the last 7 months. Mom, stop worrying. I swear this is not that hard to do when we are trying to keep the Young family flush with vino. Most of that grand was spent on the case for Labor Day, the case for Thanksgiving, and the case for Christmas. 

So that was our Valentine's. (I'm leaving out the part where we went home, watched a movie, and I fell asleep on the couch, making it truly just like any other Thursday.)

Alpine Valley

Last weekend I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went to Wisconsin to meet a coworker at Alpine Valley. Alpine Valley is a ski "resort" just over the border from Illinois. It doesn't have the longest runs in the world, but it did have a decent number of them and the conditions were great. Here are a couple of pictures from the slopes.

The Terrain Park

Yes, I actually hit these jumps and landed them. My legs still have a little left thank god.

View from the top

Another view from the top

The kid in the red and black on the left is Frank Jr, and the red white and blue in the center is Frank Sr.

While it wasn't the biggest place, it wound up being a nice day of skiing. The slopes had almost zero ice, the terrain park was in great shape and it was warm and sunny. That is Midwest skiing at it's best!

Maggie loves her some snow

She really does love the snow. Not a fan of ice though. But let her outside in some fresh powder and she couldn't be happier.

See how content she is?

In fact, she loves the snow so much that she hates it when we shovel. Less snow to walk in. If you don't believe me, just check the video below to see how much she hates the snow shovel.

Of course, she isn't the brightest dog. And no matter how tough she thinks she is, a metal tipped shovel will always win in the end. We didn't realize she was hurt until we went inside and saw she was leaving puddles of blood on the floor. She never yelped or limped or anything. Just stood there bleeding. We didn't really want to go to the vet and explain how this happened, so we just doctored it up ourselves. Within a couple of days, the wound was fine. But she still smolders with hate every time we shovel the driveway.

Kind of pathetic looking don't you think?

The 11th Commandment

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's snowblower.


(Actually, the very nice man in the picture above using the snowblower across the street let us borrow it when he was done. Might have been because we stopped after tossing every shovelful of snow to look longingly at him. I'm baking him some cookies today because ... SNOW DAY!!)

End of the Yellow

And also the smeary peach. But mostly the yellow.

Our house is very, very yellow. The siding is yellow and most of the main floor is the same, pale yellow with some green undertones. It's not the worst color, but there's just so damn much of it. The walls and ceilings in the entryway, dining room, living room, hallway, bathroom, and our bedroom are the same yellow. The previous owners loved this yellow so much that they painted the trim and doors and EVERYTHING THAT WOULD STAND STILL in that yellow.

We will triumph over the yellow and have started the long process. For some reason, winter makes me want to paint stuff. Which is good since it means that I can't open windows to vent the fumes.

This is the dining room before:

And this is our dining room now (try to picture it with this dining room table):


One of the rooms on the main floor that wasn't yellow was the kitchen. It was sort of smeary peach. I suspect it was originally the same yellow, but they ragged (or something -- I'm not up on my faux techniques) an orangey color over it. I decided the effect was similar to mixing ketchup, mayo, and mustard and smearing it on the wall. Not that I've done this.

Before:




And after:




It's the same green, but looks very different against the white cupboards in the kitchen than it does in the dining room. I think it will look even more different once that mahogany table is in there in a couple of weeks.

This weekend? The bathroom!