Weekend winery

We had a great weekend!  On Saturday we decided to finally check out La Fuente winery, I’d first heard about it a while back and had wanted to get down there to taste some wine.

The place was even better than expected.   I am a little confused why they call it a ‘winery’ since the wine isn’t made there, it’s made in Chile and imported to this place (and to restaurants and hotels in the area).  Honestly, I don’t care what they call it, we enjoyed the place whatever its called.

It is located in an office park, but once you come inside it’s a little oasis – K said it’s a ‘hidden gem’.   They have a back room set up with tables of all different kinds – we sat at a couch with a coffee table in front of us – very cozy.    We were able to taste 6 different wines (each tastier than the last) and we took our time and enjoyed them – the staff would bring over the next one once we were ready for it. Something new for me – they’d rinse the glass with the new wine, not water, so that there was no chance the wine was watered down.   We met and spoke to the owner (and wine maker) for quite a while during our tasting.  He’s led a very interesting life and is friendly to talk to, he clearly loves his work.   A surprise treat, they also brought over food to munch on -cheese/crackers/grapes, and some enchiladas made by the owner.  

It was a great place to pass an afternoon, and we purchased some wines from them.  It was a great way to stock on some good (and affordable) wine and is much better than my usual approach of picking up whatever bottle i think looks interesting at the grocery store – a hit or miss approach.

They will be moving soon, its worth checking out if you’re ever nearby!
 
Its interesting to me how many wine/beer establishments are in that area – Saint Arnold's used to be in that same complex and we saw where Karbach brewery was, just down the street.

Smokeys year so far

Wow, I haven't blogged in quite a while, I think about it but then quickly forget....will try to get back to it and must remember to write down ideas when i think of them..

You may or may not remember that I'd said that we thought Smokey was working on a project in the yard. I think I've figured out the project!  He would bring in firework remnants (from new years) one piece at a time.  I don't know where he finds them - i don't see any in the yard - but for a while he'd come in with something in his mouth each time we let him out and then set it around the house.   He hasn't in a while so he must've cleaned the yard of the debris.  And we thought he didn't help.....

At least these things he brought in were never alive.....S finds some gross things....

More updates on Smokey...

We are constantly making up nicknames for him, terms of endearment I guess?   One of my favorites is 'lumpy bump' since he's a lazy lump most mornings....turns out its also now a true name for him since we found a large bump on his side on Saturday.    I try not to take risks with my health or his, so we quickly made an appointment for the vet for Monday (MLK holiday).  Kevin and I both went, but thankfully the vet doesn't think its anything too bad and its not effecting his mood/appetite/walking, so we'll just keep an eye on it and have it removed when we get his dental work done next month, they'll already have him sedated for that.    Any chance I can get sedated for my dental appointment?  haha, can I?   Turns out K's previous dogs had similar maladies, i think he said they are fatty cysts...the vet said he's seen as many as 30 to 40 on a dog...poor dog!    and S will likely get more.   We'll keep an eye on him, he is after all middle age in dog years...

2013 -- another year of randomness

So far (we're not even a week in), 2013 is a wet year...considering we're in a drought I'll take it!

I've had several ideas of things to blog about but when I sit down to write I can't think of any of them - I should remember to WRITE THEM DOWN when I think of them.   you're not missing any gems, they were just funny stories..

This weekend is going to be full of football.  K's alma mater plays for the championship today Go Bearkats! and we're going to the Texans' playoff game  Go Texans!!!   If you're having a case of deja vu you're not alone...these 2 games were on the same day last year too.   I was able to attend last year's Texans game only because they were on the same day and his aunt and uncle decided to go to the Sam Houston game instead. I was at the better game last year - first playoff game ever for the Texans (we literally felt the stadium move) and the Bearkats lost.    I hope they can both pull out wins today, must say K is not confident in the Texans' chances (no one in Houston is really)  and yes, I'm probably the only person in Texas who doesn't care about last night's Cotton Bowl game.  I forget how many Aggies I know until a game is on and my facebook explodes into maroon.   I'm happy for them, though still a bit peeved they took UH's coach.

While the rest of the state watched football last night we watched a baseball movie, Trouble with the Curve.  Cute movie even though I'm not a big baseball fan.  I love Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood plays a grumpy old man like no one else.   Between netflix and redbox we could probably watch a movie every night (don't worry we won't).  I knew the movie premise, but was surprised to see macular degeneration (condition of the eyes) represented and had to think of our close family members (on both sides) who live with it.

side chairs with hidden reclining

We have a much more comfortable space to watch tv and movies now.   As a belated gift to ourselves we got new living room furniture.  Our furniture was falling apart and not comfortable to sit in anymore.   It was long overdue and we took advantage of the time off over the holidays to make it happen.  We are so happy with it.  We'd debated what to get and thought about a sectional and other layouts.  Ultimately we decided on a reclining love seat to replace our recliners - we are actually closer together! - and a sofa that has 2 recliners in it to replace the sofa we had.   Where we'd had the love seat previously we wanted 2 chairs to fit the space better, we also realized 2 people never sat there because it was too small a seat, and you really do need to love the person to sit together in a loveseat.   Looking online we found the perfect solution - side chairs that actually are recliners...It makes a great reading space and is a surprise when you tell someone they can recline.  So yes, that is SIX recliners in the room, we spoiled ourselves.  We were able to make great use of tables and lamps we already had and only bought 1 table.   We had it all delivered right before we went to Galveston.  We joke that my brother-in-law (who Smokey sat) enjoyed it before we did, though we'll enjoy it for many days and years to come.

Sometimes Smokey wakes me up during the night.   It may be that he has to potty thought sometimes I think he gets bored.  He'll whine and wake me up (never K, always me) and I'll let him out, then back in, and back to bed.  Last night he wanted out not once but twice...it'll be a long day for me.    Kevin jokes he's working on a project, too bad its nothing that constructive, but it is funny to think of S having a project he has to get back to.   We joke that he's the only freeloader and needs to get a job.  Kevin and I both work and do chores around the house and even the fish has a chore - eat algae - but not S, though he does entertain us with his antics.  Its a good thing he's cute.

Resolution update

Something I love about blogging is that I can quickly look back at what we were up to last year, assuming that I blogged.    So as we approach the end of the year I find myself wondering how we did on resolutions.....usually a mix of good and bad.  How did we do with the 2012 resolutions? 
           
2012 resolutions

Stick with our budget - we did pretty well, I'll admit I feel more secure being on two incomes again and want to really buckle down and work on saving in 2013.

Travel somewhere neither of us have ever been – we did it!  Neither of us had ever been to Tahoe, in fact K had never been to Nevada so we did great on this one and had a memorable birthday for K while we were on our trip.

find quick, easy, healthy meals to cook and get a good group of 'go to' meals we can rotate to have a good mix of meals  fail, we did try some new recipes but we still struggle with what to make each day.  I need to find a better way to approach looking for new meals to try (NOT when I’m trying to make the grocery list).  Something to keep working on in 2013.

Make fitness a regular part of our day – we’re making improvements, as always something to continue to work on.

2012 has been really good to us, K finished grad school and started in his new career.  I’ve continued to grow in my career and we’ve grown as a couple.  We even welcomed a new member of the family – a fish!   I hope that 2013 has just as many good times waiting for us!



I’m becoming more and more of a believer that I should make a change when I want to and not wait for the beginning of a new year. I like the idea of short and long term goals and hope to make an effort to make both types of goals and accomplish them, but still find myself feeling like I should make New Year’s resolutions- if nothing else that dates sticks in your head as a starting point.  I will use some apps because I like to track my progress and they'll keep me honest, also help make it measurable

2013 Resolutions

1) Make fitness a regular part of our days -- we both need to get back into a routine and I need weights as well as cardio in my routine

 - track my workouts and my food on myfitnesspal in an effort to help me finally lose the weight I’ve been wanting to lose for years --- let me know if you're on this service, I need pals to keep me honest!

2) Instead of the vague 'save money', we will set up automatic savings to pull money into savings each month, as an easy start we'll use the money we had been allocating to the car payment since we'll have it PAID OFF next month!  
 - I also plan to set up our finances through an online system to be able to track it more consistently.  I already track with Excel, but want to see what tools these online (free) programs have


3) meal planning - find a different time during the week to look at meal possibilities and:

-          Try one new main dish each month

-          Try a new vegetable (or way to fix it) each month - if we succeed that'd be 12 new ways/dishes

-  find a better way to track meals we like...right now its all paper and excel  

4) Read more, watch less TV - I almost reached the 20 book goal this year (on goodreads), so I’ll use that same goal for 2013 - find me on goodreads!   I picked up a bunch of books on hold at the library today, cannot wait to get into them....I need to stagger them as there is no way I will read 5 books by the time they are due, but I put in a bunch of requests at the same time, if you haven't used your hold system at the library I highly recommend it!
  - K also plans to start his reading plan with the books he already has.

5) Organize one area of the house each month.  We are staying put in this house and so I want to make the best use of the space we have.   I've already started this one over the holiday, and will continue in small chunks - that is how I work best.   I already love the small changes made - a storage unit we had upstairs has been rearranged and is being put to better use in our bedroom closet.

The to do list will get much longer, but for now I have a few items on it:

- call our cable company to reduce our bill – called in Dec but they mentioned a better deal starting in January and gave me a $15 discount per month to hold me over
 - select and start to use an online financial system
- organize (may mean toss and start over) our tupperware collection

 HAPPY 2013!!!

Segways

We’ve have a great break.  We both had the whole week off and just took it easy and spent a lot of time together.  As part of our break we took a quick trip to Galveston.  The primary reason for the trip was to do a Segway tour we’d purchased a while back.    K had mentioned he wanted to ride them (neither of us had) and so when living social had a deal it was an easy decision to buy them.

We drove down in the morning and had time to do a little shopping before the tour.   We had a pretty large group (12 people) and it was intimidating at first – we watched a video that kept showing how easy it would be to tumble off and hit your head, and we’d signed a waiver that we knew the risks and saw the prices we’d have to pay if we damaged them.  After that we each had to get on, with everyone watching, and learn to ride it.  It was strange at first, but you really do get the hang of it after a few minutes -  it’s all about how you lean your weight (after you accept that this thing really can hold you up with 2 wheels) .   After we practiced in the parking lot we all got the hang of it and we were off!   The weather was cold and very windy, so we didn’t go on the seawall as the tour said we would, but instead we went through the neighborhood, which was better I think – we were able to see a lot of houses and scenery and we had no worries about driving off the edge!    Although it was called a tour it was really mostly just the experience of riding the Segways, just what we wanted!   We really did zip along on them.   I am glad we did a short tour as my feet and lower legs were hurting by the end of it, and we should’ve worn gloves.  I also should've thought to zip up my jacket BEFORE getting on, once I was on I couldn't figure a way to stay on and zip it, so unzipped I rode.  We’ll do it again, and I think we’d be ready for a true tour that many cities offer.

That afternoon we were able to meet up with a childhood friend of K’s that he hadn’t seen in about 20 years.  They’d reconnected on facebook and he and his wife came down to meet us.  It was a great afternoon with them and we hope to meet up with them again soon. 

We spent the night at the Hotel Galvez and before heading back home the next day we went to Seawolf Park, surprisingly it was my idea and not my historian’s idea to go there.  We were able to tour a WW II submarine and destroyer.    The submarine especially gave me a greater appreciation for those who served on them, they truly are tight spaces.

As a bonus, I get to play a lot with my new camera - I'm still learning how to use it and what the various settings do.