7 Kids, 2 grandkids, 1 on-the-way, 2 cats, Mom, and Dad

Drinking wine or It is all about portion control.

I was reading my wine calendar page for the day and it mentions that the typical serving of Port or Sherry is about 2.5 ounces while white or red table wine is 4 to 5 ounces.

It makes me think of my first year as a wine drinker. I had my first Beaujolais Nouveau and then followed that up by buying my first bottle of ice wine. The idea that the grapes were picked and pressed while frozen was just too cool and so I had to try it!

The only thing is that I didn't realize it was meant to be sipped in small amounts and instead poured a regular wine-glass full of it. I really enjoyed it at first, but by the time I got to the end of the glass I wasn't sure if ice wine was for me.

Fortunately, I had it again in the following years and found that a small portion to go along with a nice dessert was perfect.

That reminds me, I have to purchase a bottle for Christmas Eve...another of my wine traditions.

Blog 'n' Brew or Time to try some new beers.

There's a blog 'n' brew scheduled to happen on Wednesday, November 30, at 5:30pm. We'll be meeting at the smoke-free Redhook brewery. Hope to see you all there!

Back at it or What to do when you're off for a week.

I stayed up late and slept late into the morning. I played online poker (doubling my money during the week) and read "The Half-Blood Prince." I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then shoveled snow in the pouring rain. I visited the outlaws, played poker with friends, poker with family, went to the airport, cleaned carpets, petted the cat, and pretty much kept fairly busy while being a total bum at the same time.

The lazy life or When there isn't anyone to tell me what to do.

Beautiful Wife is still in Florida. That means I can say, "I'm going to play poker" or "I'm going to watch something on the TV" and I don't have to wait for another opinion. :)

I played a cash game last night at Youngest Brother-in-Law's house and came out with 50% more than I went in with so it was a good night. Then, I got home and played some online poker for a little bit, read a few chapters out of the Half Blood Prince and then hit the sack.

Middle Daughter decided to join the swim team so I was pressed into service by going to a store with her and a friend to get a bathing suit and goggles. They only really wanted me along to pay for dinner though...and the swimsuit...and the goggles...

That's ok, we listened to Styx, Dan Fogelberg, the soundtrack from Xanadu, and the Carpenters while we were in the car. Funny thing is that these 16-year-old girls know all the words and sing along too. :)

Knock three times or Tell 'em that Bugsy sent you.

I better watch my step regarding where I play poker based recent crackdowns in New York City.

Personally, I think the more they drive it underground, the seedier and more dangerous it will become like what happened during Prohibition.

Slow weekend or What did I do?

I'm having a hard time remembering what I did this weekend.

I did play poker on Saturday night, the monthly tournament at Youngest Brother-in-Law's house. I won last month, and was the first one out this month. In fact the first five people out were the people that typically finish near the top.

What you need at the beginning is luck and I just didn't have it. If I had a pair, someone had two, and if I had two pairs someone had trips. I finally went all-in with a pair of nines after another nine showed on the flop. Someone called just because I knocked him out last month. He had an ace of clubs and every card turned was a club so his flush knocked me out.

Oh well, better luck next time!

Beautiful Wife and Youngest Daughter are in Orlando, FL with BW's Middle Brother and Family. Youngest Daughter drove down with them and BW flew down last night out of Pease. It would have been great if all of us could have gone but work stuff came up and Middle Daughter has difficult classes and didn't want to miss them.

Harry the GOF or Totally worth it!

Princess Middle Daughter and I attended a midnight viewing of Harry Potter last night.

I won't give any spoilers but will tell you that the trailers, as spectacular as they've been, don't hold a candle to the entire movie. The 2.5 hours flew by and we left the theater with the only regret being that we couldn't stay and watch it again.

Of course, it was almost 4am by the time we got home and into bed so today's been a wee bit tiring...but it was worth it.

First try not so good or Still going to get it each year.

I bought four bottles of the 2005 vintage Beaujolais Nouveau made by George Duboeuf yesterday and opened my first one last night.

I was a little bit disappointed in the flavor and I'm hoping I just had a so-so bottle and that the other ones will taste a better.

The Vintage Report indicates that it will taste much better than what I had so I'm looking forward to the next bottle that I open.

One of the things that put me off, a slight smell of vinegar, is actually one of the characteristics of a wine produced using carbonic maceration.

Stayed tuned for details on bottle number 2!

See that big sign? or Yes, that applies to you.

When you walk into the poker room at Foxwoods you are greeted by a sign that informs you that cell phone use is prohibited.

A woman sat down at the table I was playing at and as she fished out her phone to turn it off it started to ring. She answered it and had to be told twice, once by the dealer and then finally by one of the pit bosses, to hang up or leave the table and room.

It wasn't even an emergency type call, "Ok, start by giving him two breaths and then do 10 chest compressions." It was more of a "I think it went well, don't you think it went well...Jane said she thought it went well too."

I just don't get it...I really don't...

Online tourney or Only a few thousand to go.

I entered a free tourney last night. The ultimate prize is a brand-new Ferrari. The tourney started with 3500 people and only 200 people moved on to the next round.

I'm moving on to the next round. There is another tourney on Saturday with all the winners from the other ones. The top 100 from that enter a final tournament to win the Ferrari.

I just like playing because it is free, and it is great practice. Winning the car would be cool...

Took the day off or Gawked and gambled.

Youngest Brother-in-Law and I went to Foxwoods Casino, in Connecticut, to watch part of the World Poker Tour (WPT) finals. It was fun seeing some people that I've only seen on TV walking around the casino and playing cards only a few feet away.

It would be like being able to walk around on stage while your favorite rock band plays.

We also spent some hours playing poker. I played limit holdem and he played no-limit. I lost a little money but broke even since he payed for the gas and dinner with is winnings. I don't think I'll play limit any more. Nobody really ever folds so it comes down to who is lucky rather than skilled.

While we were watching the tournament the Absolute Poker girls started walking around and handing out invitations to their suite for food, drinks, and hospitality. We talked, at length, about what kind of hospitality they offered but decided to not go up and see for ourselves. Suffice to say that these girls had gravity-defying boobs and asses, and were scantily clad to boot. I should have taken pictures but somehow missed the boat.

My bro-in-law did take a picture of me and Steve Dannenmann. He came in second this year in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event and won $4.25 million dollars! He and a buddy each put in half of the $10,000 it cost to get a seat at the tournament with the promise to split any money that he won. Everyone in this house likes the guy and he's been fun to watch on TV as the tournament has unfolded.

When you look out your window or Petting zoo is open!

Youngest Daughter yelled up from her lair in the basement, "There's a deer in the back yard!" I looked outside and sure enough, there wasn't just one deer there was two!

I took some pictures but since I was going through the glass and screen they didn't come out all that snazzy. Still, those deer grazed in our backyard for around 30 minutes, in daylight, and only about 30-50 feet from our home.

This is Princess Fizban enjoying a nap on my desk. Youngest Daughter draped this blankie over her and Fizban didn't seem to mind at all.

Good old days or Another trip to the North Country.

My great-uncle died on Wednesday and they had his wake yesterday and the funeral is today. I went up to Berlin with Son and Middle Daughter yesterday and attended one of the wake times. I met a few relatives that I haven't seen in a couple of years, or never, and then we left after a total time there of about 24 minutes.

The relative that I'd never met is my uncle's nephew on his side of the family. He's about my mother's age and lives about 20 minutes from my house. Small world strikes again.

After the wake we went to the Dairy Bar. It burned down a few years ago and they rebuilt it...better than it was before. I like the new layout and the fact that they lowered the windows so you can see the river and the beautiful scenery along it.

It started to get cloudy and dark as we headed home. When we walked outside it was spitting snow and by the time we got to Pinkham Notch it was snowing very hard. It wasn't accumulating but the road was getting slick so we took our time. By the time we got south of Conway it had turned over to all rain but that still made it a long trip home.

It was nice to go up there again and to visit the Dairy Bar. We drove by my deceased aunt's house that we visited so often when the kids were small. We drove up Cates Hill, one of her favorite drives, and did a lot of remember when stuff.

There's not much reason to go up there any more but we still have a lot of good memories from the times that we did.

What I did or Didn't have a list.

You Who had a list but I sort of just winged it this weekend.

I went through my dresser and closet to weed out some clothes that I no longer wear. I bought some pants and shirts recently and decided to donate what I don't need to Goodwill.

Visited my mother's house and had a homemade spaghetti dinner.

Had a brunch at our house for children and their significant others just for the heck of it. Beautiful Wife did all the cooking. I made the coffee and did the last minute shopping.

We went to the outlaws so that the princesses could help Grandma bake the parts for gingerbread houses. They'll be put together in a few weeks with suitable drama over the amount of candy and which one looks better.

Played some poker with the outlaws. I went heads-up against my Skinny Brother-in-Law again and beat him, again. This time the pot was worth $40 because it was only $5 each to buy into the game.

I also played poker online a few times over the weekend when the women in the household wanted to watch the Cinderella Story or Peter Pan, AGAIN.

False alarm or I'll be watching now.

The fish and game department wrote me back and said it was likely dog or coyote poop in my woods. Bear poop would have had acorns and stuff like that since that's what they are eating right now.

I finished up cleaning my garage and can now fit two cars in it! Woohoo! Now I'm cleaning out my dresser and closet since I have new clothes and no need for the old.

I'm finding that I wear my reading glasses more frequently now and even use them while working on the computer. I can see without them, but it is much clearer with them so I'm making this concession toward old age.

I know they do or Do they in my woods?

I was out back today taking a walk through the woods behind our home when I came across this 'pile' near the base of a big pine tree. Most neighborhood dogs are kept in their yards except when out walking with their owner. Even if they were out walking there is no easy way to our woods except through our yard or through the horse farm beyond our woods.

Anyway, this pile is three-four inches across and I'm wondering if it is from a bear. Bear has been seen in this neighborhood before so this wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. I sent this picture to the NH Fish & Game Department too for their evaluation.

Lucky Middle Daughter or When I was in school...

...I had to walk to school and it was uphill, both ways. There was so much snow on the ground that we had to wrap our bare feet in barbed wire for traction.

Above all, my parents had the following credo: You may do anything you'd like for a school activity as long as it doesn't cost us anything, require us to drive you anywhere, you do all the work, but we can take credit for your abilities if you do it well.

That being said...Middle Daughter is going to France for nine days this Spring and I'm totally envious!

Here's the itinerary:

Day 1-2 Fly to France
Day 3 Discover Paris: Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, and Les Invalides. Admire Notre Dame from the inside out and visit the Louvre.
Day 4 Versailles-Montmartre
Day 5 TGV-Avignon-Nimes See Pont St. Benezet, Pont du Gard, Maison Carree and the Tour Magne.
Day 6 Provence, visit the medieval fortress of Les Baux
Day 7 Aix-en-Provence En route to Nice, visit the flowing fountains, Painter's Provence, and a walking tour of Vieux Nice.
Day 8 Monaco-Eze. Visit the palace of Prince Rainier, Casino de Monte Carlo, Cathedrale de Monaco, and the village of Eze. Make your own perfume.
Day 9 Return to the United States

The only thing that appears to be missing is a long afternoon, or two, sitting at a cafe sipping wine, eating cheese, and watching the world go by.