Wine and Chocolate

Sadie Swims at Chimney Beach/ Tahoe

2009-09-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

This is Sadie taking a swim in Lake Tahoe. The original idea was to let her get her feet wet and see what she did because he kept pulling toward the water. So my daughter was going to see what she would do in the water. She kept the leash on her to be sure she didn't get away from her.

Sadie loved the water. She would go out far enough to start paddling. Sometimes to a rock and then turn around and paddle back to shore. She would walk out of the water and shake it all of of course. Then she was ready to do it again. After a few of these runs she'd get cold and decide to sit in the sun for a while before doing it again.

Sadie is a Pug/Westie.

IceCapades

2009-01-30T00:03:00.001-08:00

Our city just put in an open air skating rink this winter. It is downtown in the heart of the city tucked between the old casinos. The cub scouts decided to take a whack at skating last Sunday and I was down there to snap a few shots of their bravery. As you can see this was definitely a team effort as they clung to each other trying to get around the rink. I assure you all the falls on the ice were also a team effort and quite amusing as they tumbled like dominos. They were all good sports and had a fantastic time. There were no injuries and a good time was had by all. Some actually really got the hang of it before they were through and were skating quite well around the oval. For the most part the clinging seemed to be more fun than necessity. It is always impressive how easy going children are about learning things and falling or making mistakes doesn't phase them like it does adults. Adults should take more queues from children than they do. It would relieve a lot of their stress.

Monsters in My Yard

2008-11-13T01:59:00.000-08:00

They were hiding behind the tombstones and scaring the trick or treaters as they headed for the front door. There was a ghoul sitting on the porch; a gruesome looking creature; it its lap was a bowl full of treats. There was even one on the roof that enjoyed tossing body parts off at unsuspecting pedestrians below. Parents stood on the sidewalk laughing and applauding. No one was too frightened, there were plenty of screams but no tears. For the price of some fake blood, scars and makeup everyone had a great time. All the rest was improvised by what they could find around the house or pieces they picked up here and there at Walmart, etc. They encouraged a number of friends to join in and everyone had an outstanding time. The creativity and imagination that went into it is what enhanced their fun. I was priveleged to go out and take photos for a while. The rest of the time I was inside with my windows open and I could hear them having fun. It was a good Halloween.

Stolen Quesadillas

2008-10-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

The other day my daughter was upstairs talking to me and the two dogs came up and jumped on my bed. They were settled in and getting comfortable when my daughter went downstairs to get her snack she had made for herself. Suddenly I hear her yelling for Rockie, whose ears perk up but he is decidedly not going to respond. I knew he was in trouble. He knew he was in trouble. Only I didn't know what for.

Apparently my daughter had made herself a quesadilla in the microwave and left it to cool on the counter. Rockie was able to reach where it was and helped himself to her snack. What's even more amusing was the little bit of tortilla he had on this face to ensure he was blamed.

Yesterday we had a repeat occurrance. I couldn't do anything but laugh this time. If my daughter didn't learn her lesson then how was Rockie to resist? This time he didn't leave any evidence either. He's a big dog and it couldn't have been anyone else. The other dog, Penni, couldn't reach the counter. Penni, however, jumped on my bed the other day and sent beads flying everywhere. (I was working on a necklace and had the bead containers open and on the bed.) I'm still finding them in places.

A New Wardrobe

2008-09-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

So I came across this great way to get a new wardrobe. First of all, I bought a new wastebasket and a new hamper. I put the new wastebasket in my bathroom area and the new hamper in my bedroom. The problem is that the wastebasket is only a few feet from where my hamper used to be. So I keep inadvertently throwing dirty clothes into the wastebasket.

Sure enough, the bag is going to get wrapped up and some of my clothes are going to get thrown away. Looking on the positive side, this will be a great excuse for buying new clothes. The only real catch is that I don't have a boyfriend or sugar daddy to buy the clothes for me; so I have to do it myself. Then I just wind up kicking myself for being stupid and throwing them away in the first place.

However, this concept might work for someone in a different situation than I. I hope someone gets to benefit from this silly mistake / strategy. In the meantime, I'm just doing the wastebasket dive to retrieve what I've accidentally dumped.

The Keeping of Stuff

2008-07-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy cleaning stuff out and making room for additional family to move into our home. So we've been going through a lot of collections of "stuff". Some of it belonging to individuals and some of it belonging to all of us and some of it we aren't even quite sure who it ever belonged to or maybe why we ever kept it.

It's rather curious the aversion to disposing of "stuff" we can develop. I've met people that could not part with a daily newspaper or magazine or even junk mail. I've seen their house with stacks of "stuff" taking over living space. Even I am somewhat guilty of keeping too much stuff around. I allow too much of a collection of papers, notes and mail to accumulate before I go through it and rid myself of it. I'm not sure why.

Why does a person hang onto junk mail? Some sort of "I might do something with this" thought before you are ready to part with it.

I have a collection of return address labels that I would never use up in my lifetime. Yet I can't throw away the next envelope that arrives with more of them in it. What about those refrigerator magnets? We have to keep those! Oh and calendars. I always have way more of them than anyone needs.

So I am in the midst of a bit of an experiment on how much "stuff" I can rid all of us of without any regrets. Of course things like photos and important records we won't dispose of but what do we really need to keep? What will we ever really do with it but move it from one garage or closet to another the rest of our lives?

Ice Cream Man

2008-05-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

We have the strangest ice cream man that drives around our neighborhood every evening. Yes, just like when I was a kid; he drives around in a panel truck very slowly and plays music very loudly trying to lure kids to buy ice cream from him.

He doesn't sell much ice cream. While there are kids outdoors playing at that time; there just aren't many interested in buying ice cream. I've only seen maybe a handful every stop him in our entire subdivision.

First of all, he looks like Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame. He's got the long hair and the sort of spaced out look. Then he plays some of the strangest music or muzack; is that what they call elevator music when the lyrics are taken out. I'm fairly well versed in music and would normally at least recognize a genre; but all of his music leaves me stumped. Seems like he would want to play something the children might respond to that they are familiar with.

He goes up and down the neighborhood streets repeatedly, very slowly, with this strange music playing. I think he goes up and down our street three or four times. By the fourth pass you just want to tell him to give it up.

I wonder if he makes money in any of the neighborhoods. I wonder how many he hits every day. I wonder where that music came from. I'm thinking way too much about this ice cream man, aren't I ??

Adrift

2008-04-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

I went up to the lake this weekend to spend some quiet time reading and writing. I drove my own car while my friend drove the RV up ahead of time. I drove into the RV park and drove around the different rows trying to find the right RV. I even found one that was just like it; but it wasn't it. I couldn't find it anywhere. So I drove over to the more distant side of the RV park. I went around several areas and saw the RV nowhere.

I suppose I haven't mentioned that my cell phone was off. The deadline for the phone and my hold date for my bank deposit didn't fall together right. I also have failed to mention there are still little drifts of snow in the shady spots between the trees in the campground. I didn't think much of it. I crunched over a couple of them without any issue.

Of course, you see it coming. I crunched halfway into one and that was all the farther I went. Even with 4wd my little Escape would go no further.

I know about trying to rock back and forth; but it didn't move. I got out and looked in my car for something that might help me dig it out. The best I found was a flip flop that helped me shovel away the snow from the back wheels. I was hoping that would give me enough traction to pull the car out backwards. It didn't. I scraped up 50 cents and went and called my friend; the pay phone wanted 75 cents. The campground office was closed. I went back to the car, tried again to shovel away more snow, rock back and forth out of the spot; scrounged up 75 cents and walked back to the pay phone. Sure enough, it wanted a dollar.

I went back to the car, empty a soda cup and used it to shovel away snow from the front wheels thinking maybe the back wheels being completely clear and the front wheels partially clear would be enough to get the darn thing out of the snow drift. It wasn't. So I gathered up about $1.30 in change and went back to the pay phone and finally got a hold of my friend and got about four words out of my mouth when we got disconnected. By then I had figured out we were at different camp grounds which obviously wasn't a good thing.

Even a call to the operator got me no sympathy. So back to the car for more attempts on freeing my car from this ridiculous last of the season snow drift. By this time I have dug away behind both rear tires and the better part of behind of both front tires. The best I could surmise is that it was the snow up in the wheel wells of the front tires that was keeping the car from moving. Otherwise, I really wasn't sure what the problem was. I was cold and wet and had pretty much exhausted my physical ability. I did attempt turning the wheels while trying to go forward and reverse in hopes that would loosen up the front wheels, but still they got no traction.

I finally went to the payphone one more time and made a collect call to my friend. Which for those of you that have not done so lately, cost $9. Yes, that was no typo, that was nine dollars!

So it turned out he was on his way to the campground I was at anyway because the other one he'd gone to was still under 2 ft. of snow. So when he got there and got in my car he immediately got a little bit of traction. I'm not being rude, but I think the extra weight must have made the difference. He worked it and worked it and it didn't come easily; but he finally got it out.

We went and found ourselves a camp site on the drier side of the campground. The rest of the weekend was uneventful other than the last night when the water froze up. But that was a minor issue.

So who else but me can find the last car capturing snow drift of the season.

Happy Birthday Rockie

2008-04-13T16:50:00.000-07:00

We aren't throwing a big doggie party or anything like that. Just another day as far as we all know. But my puppy is 1 people year old now. He's such a sweetheart. He still doesn't realize he's too big to be a lap dog. He will find a way to sit in your lap. He has some rather amusing quirks; like being afraid of the vacuum or steam cleaners. The other night it was my daughter flipping the pages of her textbook that really bothered him. He has also learned how to do the pathetic look when he wants something; like laying his face down on the edge of the bed. We can't help but laugh.

On another note, I just went to pick up a friend from dropping the RV off at the storage unit. He had a Robin Williams in "RV" moment. I knew when I pulled up from the stench that something wasn't right. I guess he inadvertently dumped the sewage tank on the concrete under the RV's parking spot. To make matters worse, he got some of it on him. I am supposed to let him get in my car and give him a ride across town. First I opened all windows, including the sunroof. Then I gave him some wipes in the hopes he could get the majority of it off of him. We made it to his house, and I could still smell it after he left; but sometimes I think bad smells get stuck in your nose or something. Anyway, I'm making bets he gets a phone call from the storage place. There is no way that is going to go unnoticed. I'm sure the storage people have a hose to wash it off; but I don't think they are going to be too happy with him. Sometimes I swear that RV movie was made after him. Did I mention he ripped the awning off on this trip? He got a new one already.

I hope everyone will visit FamilyLifePharmacy.com. This is my new business venture. It is a fairly thorough drug store; including pet meds.

Saved By Winter

2008-04-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well all the fretting about the swim suit looking decent were not needed. It was still too cold and windy for beach time. I did get the suit on once, but was so cold on the beach I never took off the cover up. So I have a couple months to get a few pounds off. It actually even snowed at home again while we were away.

There must have been a wind storm or something too. We come home to find our trash cans on our front sidewalk. We left them on the side of the house and I can't imagine why someone would put them on the front sidewalk. Unless of course they blew somewhere and they picked them up. Still, I'm not sure what the front sidewalk placement was supposed to mean. So whoever tried to send us a message failed miserably - because I sure didn't get it.

Spring break got us in the mood for summer; but it sure didn't act like summer. It was nice in the valley where the boys live, but did we stay there? Noooooo. We had to go to the beach where it was freezing our hineys!

So each year we learn something new. It used to be we could stay at my son's but because he has roommates its now an inconvenience because he puts us up in his room with him; etc. I just hate to infringe on them that way. So hopefully some of my financial woes will be resolved by next year and we can find a nice, cheap motel close by with a pool and of course internet access! We can hang out in the valley where its warmer that time of year!

The kids are convinced they saw a shark in the ocean. It might have been; but my guess is that it was more likely a dolphin. Either way, its been fun for them to tell their story. I figured it didn't do any harm for them to believe they saw a shark; and I wasn't there so what do I know.

The kids all got to go to the San Diego Zoo as well. They had a lot of fun. I didn't go because I couldn't do that much walking and I refused to succumb to a wheelchair and looking at butts all day. Besides, who was going to push my chair up all those hills? I'm sure they don't rent the motorized variety. So I hung out with the dogs at the campsite.

If I'm ever reduced to that I will get a motorized one. I so hate being dependent on others and I don't want to be left when the tiger gets out and they all run away.

Enough of me for now.

Spring's Nightmare - Swim Suit Shopping

2008-03-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

Is there anything quite as painful as going shopping for the new swim suit every spring? I've had abscessed teeth pulled; chipped out piece by piece that were less painful than putting on that swim suit and looking in the mirror.

The girls and I went shopping the last couple of spring breaks in Los Angeles at the beach shops. The biggest challenge for them is finding out they've gotten bigger in the bosom each year. With what people are paying these days for that luxury, I don't consider that necessarily a negative for them.

For me, however, its a totally different story. First there is the fact that my top is traditionally a minimum of 3 sizes larger than my bottom. Second is that the length between my bosom and the bottom is far shorter than anyone that wears either of those sizes is meant to be. Third, of course is that the mid section is far wider than any of the swim suits were intended to fit.

Don't get me wrong, they do make suits that wide. Take the one piece ones for starters, I can fold over 4-8 inches of excess fabric in the mid section length wise. The 2 piece sets with the longer tops, the top covers the bottom and reaches at least mid thigh. If I wear a short top then the bottoms reach up to the bosom which makes me look even shorter.

Oh and all those 'slimming' suits; still are designed for someone a minimum of 6 inches taller than I am. This part I don't fully understand since my height is considered 'average'.

This season was worse than most because I've been ill and very sedentary for seven months. I'm out of shape and unusually overweight. Shopping for any kind of clothing is downright discouraging at this point.

However, I bravely took the girls to look for some less expensive suits before our spring break in L.A. because finances just didn't allow for our usual shopping spree in Manhattan Beach. We went through the usual routine. The twins were surprised to learn how much they had grown all over. The 17 yo was surprised to learn how much bigger her bosom is. One twin is the only one that isn't overly critical of her adorable, cute figure. The other two need encouragement to enjoy what they have while they have it because some day they will regret that they didn't appreciate it. There is absolutely no reason for them to be critical whatsoever. They have virtually perfect shapes.

As for me, I found a suit I thought was sort of cute and adequately covered. I did NOT try it on. I'll do that tomorrow while everyone is gone to school and I can exclaim in horror in private. I also made a point of the suit having the same color in it as my best cover-up so that I have no issues with hiding the scary truth when necessary. I wouldn't have even bought a new suit if it wasn't for the fact that I've gained so much winter hibernation weight that none of what I have will fit. Hopefully, tomorrow this one will.

Crossing my fingers and dropping off to sleep without touching the Girl Scout cookies tonight.

Another Dog Tail

2008-03-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

I had to save Rockie this morning from the big scary thing under his crate. He's an 11 month old Boxer; which means his "crate" is one of those wire pens with the plastic tray in the bottom. We put cushions and blankets in for a nice soft bed; but of course both Rockie and my little pit mix, Penni; de-stuff their cushions. I have Penni to blame for teaching Rockie that trick.

The plastic tray had been thrown out on the deck for a week or so. My daughter's solution to cleaning it. I finally made her go clean it and put it back in his crate/cage. Well she did. Only she failed to get everything that was in there out from under the plastic tray.

Every morning the kids let the dogs out and then put them in their crates and feed them. This is because Rockie is still on puppy food while Penni is on "lite" food. So feeding them in their crates keeps them from eating each other's food.

So about an hour after the kids all left this morning I am stumbling down the stairs with only one eye open to see what the frantic barking and all the noise is. I find Rockie trying to dig to China in his crate; and barking fiercely at the back corner of it.

I rub the sand out of my eyes and let him out of his cage so I can see what is going on in there. I find that the girls had put the tray in their over the top of one of the feed bowls. Rockie didn't know what was under that tray but he was not having it. I suppose me crawling in there and fixing the whole situation was a sight the dogs won't near appreciate. At least no one else was around.

So I saved Rockie from the big scary thing under his crate.

My daughter has some 'splainin' to do when she gets home.

Dog Ate My Postage Stamps

2008-02-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

If nothing else that should get you to wondering. What does that mean? It means, yes, the dog ate my postage stamps. If you don't already know I have a 10 month old Boxer puppy named Rockie. He is very sweet and very affectionate. He doesn't quite realize he's about 50 lbs. already. He seems to think he's still a little pup that can sit on your lap or lie entirely on top of you at night.

Heck when he stretches out I think he's as long as I am tall. He has some very amusing quirks. He is also like having a toddler around the house. A big one!! He 'eats' or at least chews on, tears up, or throws around anything he can get his hands on. He wears me out just trying to keep after him. If I'm upstairs, he goes downstairs and gets into things.

Now as big as he is, getting into things includes he can reach all the counter tops, the stove, the coffee tables, the bathroom counters, desks, etc. It is very challenging to put things out of his reach. He has twice turned on the stove - once causing a small fire. He managed to ignite the paper towel that was over the brownies sitting on the stove. The brownies were history too because the burner he turned on was underneath them.

My other dog, Penni has taught him all kinds of nice habits. All her BAD habits that is. Penni is very well trained and behaves, she doesn't get in the trash, she doesn't get into things within her reach. She does, however steal shoes and bring them up to my room. If anyone in our house is ever searching for a shoe they know to go to my room. She also pulls the stuffing out of all dog toys and her 'pillow' for her crate. So guess what Rockie has done? Yup, he de-stuffed the pillows in his crate and we've been picking up pillow stuffing throughout the house for a month at least.

I can thank my son's Boxer, Dozer (sadly R.I.P. on 2/13/08) for teaching both dogs to get up on the hot tub even without the steps there; when they were here for Christmas. That enables them to stare into the kitchen window at me and paw the glass when they want back in.

So last night Rockie managed to somehow get a hold of an entire roll of stamps. I suppose the glue tasted good to him or something. But suffice it to say I only found a portion of how many there were. So I'm assuming his poop is going postage paid for the next few days. It's not like there weren't other less valuable things for him to get into. Of course I'd already picked up the cup-o-noodles container he shredded. I'd already closed my daughter's bedroom door so the new Victoria Secrets underwear she got wouldn't go missing. (You don't even want to know what he does with those.) I took away the the drink straw he was chewing up.

Today I thought I was smart and put up a blockade at the top of the stairs so he couldn't go downstairs and get into trouble. He gets in the trash and it gets everywhere. So I put two tall laundry baskets at the top of the stairs blocking the path. Who was I kidding? He managed to somehow scoot one away and clear himself a path. So I'm chasing him around because if I let him be somewhere that I can't see or hear him for more than a couple minutes; there will be some sort of calamity to deal with.

If you pick up something large like a blanket or beach towel he thinks you want to play and he will come up behind you and grab the end of it and start tugging. You have to really be aware if you are going up the stairs so he doesn't pull you back down them.

But postage stamps??? Why? What even prompted him to taste them? They couldn't have had a smell to them, could they? I don't even want to think of the monetary value he chewed up. I'm still debating on whether to go ahead and use some of the toothmarked ones I salvaged or not. Hey, I swear, my dog really did eat it!!!

The really frustrating thing is that he's so cute when he does these things. It's really hard to discipline him. Of course, I'm the mother of five and I've long since learned how to keep from laughing; most of the time. I have to say though, this great big puppy can break through even my defenses. He keeps me laughing; and busy, most of the time.

Thank heaven for crate training or I'd never get a break!!

The Trials of Being a Teen Parent

2008-02-27T18:30:00.000-08:00

As my profile indicates, I have 3 teenage daughters still at home. Furthermore, as the mother of five; that means I have successfully survived two already. My two sons are into the 'manhood' phase and have successfully left the teenage years behind. Well, one has 2 months to go; but he's pretty much there.

Now I keep reading more and more articles about how the brain of a teenager is not fully developed. Certain parts grow and mature faster than others. So some real choice areas are not because of stupidity or lack of attention. Their brain has actually physiologically not finished developing in that area. So now we can't blame them for their lack of judgment, etc.

I've read that things like 'judgement' and 'moodiness' fall within the slower developing areas of the brain. An article I read today said combativeness could be affected by it also.

I'm fully willing to accept this. I have even pointed out the scientific evidence to my girls in hopes they might just trust MY judgement without too much battle if they knew this. It does help with self-esteem that they know. They have told me "now I don't feel so stupid or irresponsible, I really can't help it."

So here is my question. Where does the part of the brain that tells them to throw their trash away instead of leaving it all over counters and tables and such? Why is it they can throw their own trash away at school but not at home? Why is it they can go over to their friend's )boyfriend's) house and scrub floors and refrigerators but they can't throw away an empty shampoo bottle from the shower? If they are too sick or tired to clean up why aren't they too sick or tired to make a mess? Why can't they get it through their head that if they'd just throw things away when they ate them; they wouldn't have to clean a mess up later?

As you can surmise; I went downstairs this morning; groggy and looking for breakfast; when what to my sleepy eyes should I find??? Dining table, coffee table, all the kitchen counters, and even the stairway rail; full of trash items. {time out - I had to retrieve a Cup-of-Noodles container from the dog}

What part of their brain controls these things???

Oh and one more thing before I quit ranting. The best part is the battles all through the teenage years trying to get them to pick up, clean up, not make the mess in the first place, etc... and then what do they do?

They move out on their own and become neat freaks!!!!!

Chronic Pain and the Brain

2008-02-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

I just read the article about the brain studies and how sufferers of chronic pain have different brain activity than 'normal' people. The study indicates that this changed brain activity may affect cognitive functions; including sleep disorders, memory impairments, and depression.

What bothers me with this article is the constant opinion of the medical profession to fail to accept that which they cannot see on an X-ray or in a blood test. What about all those patients with chronic pain that have been telling them these things for many years? The only part of that taken into consideration was probably the person initiating the test to start with.

It is so frustrating to have invisible conditions. While it is a wonderful thing, the medical advances that have allowed the diagnosis of so many things through various devices. The problem is the number of things medicine hasn't yet been able to find. Both society and the medical field in general seems to forget that.

You have to search through a lot of toads before you find the few doctors that will not give you 'that look' when you complain about a mysterious pain they can't see on your Xray. You know the look; the one with one eyebrow slightly raised and the audible inhale before they say, "Well, the Xray came back negative."

The first doctor that doesn't say that to you is the keeper, regardless of any other lacking bedside manners. You'll give them a run just because you didn't get that look. You'll even give them a run if they follow that comment with "but we can try something to see if it helps."

Ultimately, that's all you want; is something that helps. You'll even take something that half-ass helps and be happy about it. You don't care what they call it; as long as someone does something to try and help you.

Yes, this study is a milestone. They have finally found one of their tests that will show something when a person is suffering from pain. Of course, it has nothing to do with the cause of the pain; or how to get rid of it.

The wondrous accomplishment of this study is the equivalency of a lie detector test. It 'might' be able to verify what you've been telling the doctors all along. I say might, because it surely is as infallible as the lie detector test.

Aren't we all thrilled that they may have found a way to prove we are not lying?

Psychiatry

2008-02-23T23:44:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my life I have submitted myself to the world of Psychiatry. Professional counseling has always been a taboo for me. It was due to working so many years in an environment that frowned on any perceived mental weakness. So I struggled on my own and tried to help myself.

The interesting developments of trying to help yourself can actually make you worse. I over analyzed and overly criticized myself. Something I have recently learned that is not healthy. My biggest problem doesn't have a fancy name; I'm basically too hard on myself. That is the root of my anxiety and depression. That is the root of my sadness and disappointment. I'm just too hard on myself.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? It's not though. I can recognized the self-incrimination rather quickly now. However, stopping it isn't as easy as it sounds. It is a battle that I have only begun and as badly as I want to change; its really much more difficult that it seems like it should be.

It is amazing how easily you can make yourself feel guilty for something. GUILT. If only there was a way to banish the way it eats at you constantly. So you find things to feel guilty about because if that knot in your stomach starts to go away you somehow feel like you need to put it back there. I can feel guilty for not feeling guilty about something. What the heck is that all about?

It's a natural poison. Children feel guilty for their parents' troubles. What is with this natural propensity to punish oneself? Why is it so hard to turn it off?

Uncle Sam's Paper Trail

2008-02-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

I stayed up late last night working on paperwork that needed filled out and returned to the SSD; and I also did my taxes. Not that I haven't already filled out a mountain of paperwork for SSD. Someone, somewhere keeps asking me for more of the same information. It's not even new questions. It's the same information over and over again. What is perturbing is that despite all my contributions of data; I still sit here months later with no income or support.

I also keep thinking about the people that have to sort, read, and file all that paper. Somewhere there is this huge file with my name on it.

As for the IRS, I only owed them a small amount. I really shouldn't complain but when you wind up owing money its always so discouraging. I've always thought they should take out enough during the year so there is always a refund. Then people wouldn't be so discouraged and hateful toward the IRS. If it always meant you got a refund then people would be excited to get their taxes done.

Wine and Chocolate

2008-02-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

What in the world do I mean by Wine and Chocolate? Well, have you ever tried the two together? They are an amazing fit. I prefer a very dry red wine like Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon. I do not like Merlot which seems to be the house wine of choice for so many bars these days. I actually do not indulge in the two together very often. But they each are a couple of my favorite things to indulge in. Chocolate is of course, a life source and I eat some almost daily. Wine on the other hand is less frequent; mostly because I take medications daily and don't like to mix the two.

For the most part this blog will be a recap of my experiences, thoughts and feelings. I won't bore you with anymore details about myself at this point. It will all come out as we go. I hope a lot of you enjoy.