7 Kids, 1 cat, Mom, and Dad

Put in the turkey or Why not try some Beaujolais Nouveau first thing in the morning.

Beautiful Wife had a migraine yesterday evening and was still a bit tired this morning so I got up and put the turkey in the oven. I took out the stuff inside (no paper bag of guts just a big ol' neck), rinsed it thoroughly inside and out, patted it dry with paper towels and then put it in the roasting pan with a tent of aluminum foil over it.

Anyway, I had some of Georges Duboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau last night but didn't think about my impressions of it in terms of blogging, I just enjoyed it.

Even thought it is only 8:39am, I thought I'd pour myself a small amount and give my impressions regarding this Year of the Sun. My Good Friend had tried it recently and so I wanted to be sure to blog my thoughts about it too.

It is a light purple in the base of my glass but approaches a beautiful ruby/garnet color toward the edge. When I swirled the glass I noticed that the legs were slow to develop, but when they did they came all at once like too think frosting poured over the edge of a cake.

Beaujolais is know for being fruity and flowery and this one does not disappoint. The nose is expansive and expressive. It makes me think of sweet smelling flowers like violets or roses but then tickles my fancy with a bit of sun-ripened fruit like strawberries and raspberries. I peeked at the tasting notes and it mentioned black currants but that isn't really a fruit that I've had much experience with so I don't really smell it at all. The overall effect is amazing. Every time I swirl and sniff I can almost smell the sun and heat that dominated the growing season in France.

The taste is comforting which seems like a funny word to use with wine. It is slightly tannic, which I like, has a decent amount of alcohol, without being over the top, and it just feels right in my mouth. I would say it is on the light side of medium bodied but maybe flirtatious would be a better word than light.

It promises much, this nouveau coquette, as the flavors swirl around in my mouth but then delivers in a nice smooth finish, a finish on a Beaujolais Nouveau!

I'm glad I still have five bottles to go. This wine is meant to be drunk by the following May after its release in November. I think that based on the alcohol level and the depth to this wine that it may last a bit longer than that. The question is, who would have this in their cellar and not want to drink it while this coquette is still fresh and young?

Clean electronics or Did he mention that it would take three weeks?

The electronics cleaning service came the other day and picked up anything we thought might have been affected by smoke from the fire. I'm especially concerned with the electronics that were in the basement because of how heavy the smoke was in there.

Anyway, the man finished boxing everything up and when I asked him how long it would take (you'll have it back by Friday sir) he informs me that there's another job in front of ours and that will take 3-4 weeks.

That night we went out to Best Buy and bought a new 32-inch flat screen tv. There's no way I can make it through Thanksgiving and then the Christmas season without having a tv. It isn't on as grand a scale as what our Good Friends bought, but it fits inside our armoir and is a big improvement over what we had. Now I just have to find the time to run the speaker wire and get all those hooked up to the home theater/dvd/vcr that I purchased at the same time.

Fire repair progress or I can remember the exact time it stopped smelling so bad.

The acrid smell that burns your eyes, leaves your throat raw, and irritates your nasal passages lingers long after the fire is gone. The contractors were here yesterday and the first thing they did was remove the charred wood and then coat all the wood left with an oil-based sealer. It was amazing how that one seemingly minor thing would have such a major impact on the smell in the house.

They did that, put in new insulation, and nearly finished putting up sheetrock and mudding the wall and ceiling. They'll be back Monday to finish the job and then the electrician can come back and put in switches and outlets.

The cleaning service comes back on Tuesday to do the carpets and upholstery.

Things are going along well now and it is hard to believe that it was such a mess nearly two weeks ago.

Feeling older or I heard that poetry doesn't have to rhyme.

I feel older today
The weight of years is noticeable
The Seasons progress
My life no impediment at all
It is humbling to think that
I am below the notice of leaves

Fire Update or No Thanksgiving at our house this year.

I had to go on a business trip the very next day after the fire. Beautiful Wife and all the princesses and the prince spent the week in various hotels. So far as the kids are concerned, fires are awesome when you get to stay in hotels that have indoor pools.

We got back into our house on Saturday night and I think it was a relief for everyone.

The electrician and the contractor who will repair the basement are supposed to show up today but I've not seen them yet. The person that is cleaning our electronics was supposed to be here between 10-1 on Saturday. He called at 1:47 and had just missed us because we waited until 1:30 and then left. He said that he told us between 12-2. Come on, if you wait until 1:47 to arrive then don't show up at all. I'm getting thoroughly sick and tired of the whole process whereby they show promise to show up during a range of hours. Maybe I'll start telling them to show up at a convenient time for me and if they can't be there then I'll find someone that can.

9:15 and waiting...

Champagne or A wine tasting dinner that dazzled the senses.

We had the latest in our series of wine-tasting dinners and this time it was at the house of the Good Friends that Have a Dog. The selections of sparkling wines and Champagne were excellent, the food was awesome, and the company was without par.

Time flew and the next thing I knew we were driving by the vampire house and on our way back home.

We won't be meeting again until January...*sigh*

Post about wine or changed once the fire broke out.

I was writing an entry about the Linden wine we had at Good Friend's house the other night. Her Dancin' Sis and Hubby gave it to them a while ago and we had it with a chicken parm meal. It was incredibly tasty, refreshing, and went well with the food.

About that time Beautiful Wife said that it smelled like leaves were burning. I went downstairs just as the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors started going off. The gas heater on the wall had caught fire and I could hear the crackling of the flames in the wall while smoke curled out from under the sheetrock.

We called 911 while I sprayed a fire extinguisher under the wall and then went outside and sprayed it until empty into the vent. The firemen said that it definitely slowed the spread.

The plus side is that I'm sitting here typing at home. The smell of smoke is in the air and I'm waiting for Service Master to come and start by working on the water damage. Beautiful Wife and children will stay the night in the hotel. I'll stay here to be sure that nothing else happens.

I just had a beautiful turkey dinner delivered by the neighbors that we were supposed to meet for our progressive dinner.

I'm feeling kind of out of it now...probably inhaled too much carbon monoxide while I was playing hero.

Everyone is ok and the house is ok too. I'm thankful.

Trip to NJ or Ever had a wine from Croatia?

This wine was on the menu as a special at an Italian restaurant where we had dinner. It was $8.00 per glass or $30.00 for the bottle. What I thought was unusual was that they had a line under the listing that said the wine could be purchased at a wine shop across the street.

I went into the shop before driving back North and bought the 8 bottles they had left in stock for $13.59 each since I rounded up to a case with four Bordeauxs which got me a 20% discount.

When I tried this wine it reminded me a lot of a Zinfandel. Turns out that the grape, plavac mali, is a cross between the zin and another grape from that region in Croatia.

I had the wine with a chicken dish that had a fairly dark sauce and it paired fantastically. I find that zin wines are pretty good at being paired with a wide variety of foods.

The score was 2-1 or I think we felt the pressure more than them.

Youngest Daughter's soccer game ended in a tie. They then played an overtime period of 5 minutes which ended scoreless too. The next step was PKs (penalty kicks for all you non soccer people reading this). Each team got to send their 5 best against the goalie, one at a time. Both teams scored a total of three times so we were still tied. Then they started sudden death. The first kick they take and make but we make the next one too. They missed their next try but the soccer player for our team scored!

The league officials said they'd never seen anything like it for a U12 girls championship.

Who sings this or Daddy better go for variety.

I like listening to oldies. To me, oldies are anything prior to the start of the 80s. I like music more recent than that but still tend to stick to the stations that play what I like.

I will quiz my kids, while riding in the car, by asking them if they know who the song is by that I'm playing. It becomes a game/competition because I tell them I'll change the station if they can tell me the name of the song or who sings it.

Anyway, Youngest Daughter was in the car yesterday and everytime I asked her who was singing a song she said The Mamas & the Papas or The Beatles.

I stopped into a church..When I was younger...
I passed along the way...so much younger than today
Oh I got down on my knees...never needed anybody's help in any way
And I began to pray...but now these days are gone

What you say or What you don't say since people read your blog.

Many people don't know about my blog. If I mentioned I had a blog they might offer me an advil, tums, or ask if I have a temperature. I can pretty much post what I want with the security of knowing I can vent without actually hurting their feelings.

One thing I've noticed when talking to other bloggers is how the conversation will turn to what they can't post because certain people read their blog. I think I'm pretty safe unless Beautiful Wife gives this URL to her family.

State Champs or I think I can finally feel my fingers and toes.

Youngest Daughter's soccer team won the state championship for their division and age group on Saturday. It was a cold and windy day even though the sun shown brightly the entire time. Those poor little girls with their stick legs had to play with just shorts. At least they were allowed to wear a long-sleeved shirt under their soccer jersey. Talk about an incentive to keep running.

We had all the in-laws and out-laws over after the game. There seemed to be way more people here than appeared on the sideline of the game. Funny how free pizza, beer, wine and snacks does that...

A got a wine cellar or They say it's my birthday!

We were going to celebrate Beautiful Wife's and Son's birthdays this weekend with her family. Instead, it was a surprise party for me because they never celebrated my birthday back in February. I had my blood pressure scare that weekend and then life moved on.

Beautiful wife didn't forget and also got me something I've wanted for a while now, a wine cellar! It is an upright model with smokey glass in the front. It holds about 30 bottles and has a light that you can turn on inside. All of the bottles of wine that I have that should be stored at a lower temp now reside in my new cellar.

That still leaves me with about 20 other bottles that didn't fit and need to be opened in the near future. I hope to get some more wine tasting/drinking down now that winter is approaching. There's something cozy about having a glass of wine in the evening when it is dark and the wind is howling outside. We have a fireplace now so that makes it even cooler!

Final Score 1-0 or We went to a soccer game and a brawl almost broke out!

Youngest Daughter's team played in the divisional playoffs this weekend. They made it to the finals and they faced Raymond. The beat them in the regular season when both teams had been undefeated up to that point. Raymond beat them at the Harvest Cup Tournament. This match was for all the marbles. Raymond came to the field sure that they were going to win, but somebody forget to tell our girls.

Raymond plays rough and as they fell behind by the single goal it got worse. At one point one of their players deliberately ran into the goalie well after the play was over. It was so obvious that the ref gave the girl a yellow card (warning). I've never, ever, seen a yellow card at their age level of play. They really aren't even all that common at the high school level so that tells you how blatent the hit was by that girl.

The same girl lined up and tripped another of our goals and our coach told her that it "wasn't right" when she went out on the field to help our player who'd hit the grand pretty hard. After the game that girl's father ran across the field to our coaches and swore at them, gave them the finger, and tried to pick a fight.

On our side of the field the parents were giving us the finger as we cheered our girls win.

Oldest Daughter tells me that they are the same way at the high school level (she manages our high school boys varsity soccer team). She says they play dirty to start and then it goes downhill from there if they start to lose.

I've heard parents scream at their little girls about the tiniest of mistakes on the field. Give me a break! It isn't like scholarships or pro contracts rested on who wins the Division II championship for U12 girls.

The poor behavior of the kids, coaches, and parents made this victory very sweet.