Reading Between the Lines

In my mind, if a new wine aerator arrives on your doorstep just minutes before lunch prep begins, clearly it is a sign that God wants you to have a wine break with lunch. So that's what I'm doing. After all, it is Lent, and I wouldn't want to be disobedient. And who knew a glass of aerated wine would go so nicely with carrots & turkey slices, anyway?

In other news: Thank God I didn't give wine up for lent. Because then this would be a terribly tempting and ultimately disappointing afternoon.

Destination: Mini Break

In less than 12 hours, Dan & I will be well on our way to a somewhat impromptu weekend away, sans children. That's right, we're hitting the road and headed for the darling winery-ville town of Paso Robles. Or, as I like to call it, "Romantic Mini-Break Extravaganza, 2011". This is a weekend that will be all about us, with no purpose other than to reconnect, enjoy using uninterrupted, complete sentences, and to have absolutely zero clean up responsibilities. The last time this happened was well before we even had children, so needless to say it's long overdue. The main focus, FOR ONCE!, will be each other. And wine tasting. And eating really great food that I have neither slaved over nor have to clean up after. 


When you get this sort of weekend trip once every 6 years or so, it's difficult to know how to plan accordingly. I mean, there are so many directions we could take! Do we just sit in the hotel all day, basking in our alone time, and order trays and trays of room service? Do we plan for the optimum amount of fun by allotting every minute we're away to something fabulous?  Do we just go with the flow? A combination of all the above? I have a feeling that the various Paso Robles wineries will be a fabulous starting point, and from there, we'll just fly by the seat of our pants. You know, sort of like the way we did things when it was just us two.


I'm sure there will be moments of temporary gloom when I'll think about the kids back at home with my (wonderful!) parents, and wonder what they're up to. This weekend, there will be no children calling out in the middle of the night, or awake and hungry at 6:30 AM. On a Saturday.


OH, THE SLEEPING IN THAT WILL BE DONE. This much I know.

T Minus 3 Days

Image via Wikipedia

The family's first camping trip (EVER) begins in 3 days. Here's how I'm handling the nervous anticipation and tackling my camping fears: basically, I'm expecting to hate it.

I realize to some, this might sound like a terrible attitude problem that needs some adjustments, but in my mind, all I'm doing is placing zero expectations on the experience. That way, it can only exceed my presumptions and pleasantly surprise me if things should happen to go well. It's my own version of "expect the worst, hope for the best". So you see, it's not that I have a bad attitude; I just have a disappointment-proof outlook. And for the record, I've noticed that the more wine we plan on bringing, somehow the trip becomes even more disappointment-proof.

Alright, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, bring on your bugs and dirt and smokey hair campfires and meals from cans! Let's do this thing!

Update

Image via Wikipedia

Today is day seven of my no sugar/no alcohol Lenten commitment, and I am happy to report I am going strong. Full disclosure: I may have accidentally had a one inch bite of some leftover brownie but it felt like a rock in my belly and I immediately regretted it and swore off brownies forever. Aside from that, I've been hardcore. I was expecting detox tremors and the cold sweats, but in reality, I've just learned to function without it. For example, unsweetened applesauce is a lovely substitute for jam on my morning flax-seed toaster waffles. And who needs wine when there's water? They're practically the same thing, right? And I'm sure Dan will catch on soon, but I've learned that when he's drinking wine in the evening, if I cuddle up close and kiss him more often than usual, it's almost like I'm having a glass of wine, too. It's like getting a contact high, but with wine.

I have a feeling there will be an unprecedented number of kisses from here til Easter. See? WIN-WIN!