Frosting Emergency

My dad called yesterday morning (while I was at yoga class, thank you very much!) and asked that I call him back as soon as possible because he had a "frosting emergency." Several hours later, my husband gave me the message, and we laughed for a minute about what it could possibly be - honestly, who has a frosting emergency?

Turns out what my dad had actually said was that he had an "ice-ing" emergency. Ice, as in I-C-E, as in: when one has a muscle injury, when should you ice it and when should you apply heat? Well, by the time we got done laughing about the message I had received, I learned that my sister was able to help him and so the situation was taken care of.

And we ALL agreed that, gee, we could really go for a piece of cake! With frosting, naturally. :)

Concannon Vineyard 2007 Merlot

Concannon Vineyard 2007 Merlot is a delicious wine - lots of berry and cherry, bright but smooth at the same time. Not quite substantial enough to stand up to pairing it with dark chocolate (which is always a test of the very best reds, I think!!!), but nevertheless very nice on its own and it makes me think it would be good with a hearty French bread and probably brie, as well. Yum - now I'm hungry! In any case, I'll give it rating of 4 glasses. My husband was sick this week so while he enjoyed the small glass he sampled, I'm afraid any rating he'd give it would be informed by the decongestants, so I won't add his rating here. We'll certainly buy another bottle soon, though, so he can give his opinion. I know, it's hard work, but somebody has to do it...

An afternoon of shopping

What a lovely afternoon spent shopping with a dear friend! We didn't do anything fancy - Kohl's and Target and the Ben Franklin (for snake food, i.e., frozen mice!) but it was very relaxing. Plus, we ate lunch at a local Mexican joint that is quite wonderful. How can you go wrong with that combo: great friend, great food, and some new clothes and jewelry for both of us. That's MY kind of spa day!

Two days with Mamma & Pop-Pop

Aaaaah. Have just returned from two (all-too-short) days with my younger son (who is 2 1/2) and my parents, better known around here as Mamma & Pop-Pop. Not luxurious by any means, but relaxing and enjoyable nonetheless. I even got the opportunity to watch the recent "Masterpiece Theatre" version of Jane Austen's "Persuasion," which is a lovely film if you like that sort of thing. And my dad and I really do like that sort of thing! (I was also able to fit in a visit to Sephora with my sister - wonderful and indulgent and badly needed!!!!)

I was also able to fit in a basic but satisfying hour of yoga. I was careful to work in lots of chest openers and backbends because everybody around here has been sick with various respiratory stuff lately (one of the reasons I haven't posted in a few days).

As I said, "Aaaaah." Lovely to have a couple of days with the family, oh, and of course, to have this entire week OFF from work!!!!! Yahoo.

Aaaaah.

Sun Salutations

I have realized that one of the (many!) weaknesses in my yoga practice is my lack of incorporating Sun Salutations. Surprisingly, there's a lot of discussion about Sun Salutations and how they do/do not fit into an Iyengar-style Yoga practice, but not many comprehensible descriptions of what comprises said Sun Salutation. I found a couple of videos, but still, they were meant to be demonstrations of a principle or style rather than a guide on which poses to sequence.

So I shall continue seeking, perhaps look for printed reference material instead, and perhaps write about it here when I find a decent answer.

Two Vines Columbia Crest

Three weeks of 2 kids trading 1 cold bug back and forth equals 1 grumpy mommy!

So for today's post, I will stop being grumpy for a few minutes and talk about a delicious wine, actually all of them we've tried so far, from the Two Vines Columbia Crest line (click on title of post above to go to their website). To the best of my recollection, we've had the merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and chardonnay, and each from two different years. We have enjoyed them immensely! Pepperwood Grove is still our favorite, but this one is close.

My hubby and I both give these a rating of somewhere between 4 glasses and whole bottle!

(I promise I will talk about some wines we've had that are duds, too, but for tonight that's just too depressing...now I'm off to go wipe another runny nose. Sigh.)

Bleary Mondays

Honestly, by the time the end of the day rolls around on Monday, I'm so tired I can barely concentrate hard enough to drive home... perhaps I could work a few energizing standing backbends into my end of the day routine at work?

Anyhow, by the time I get home with the kids, I'm pretty much on autopilot until I get to leave for my 7 pm yoga class. Don't have dinner planned out for tonight? Well, then we're having grilled cheese. Somebody's throwing a tantrum? Oh goody, somebody gets a timeout! (One of these days I'd love it if somebody would put ME in timeout!) What's that pile of clean laundry doing on the bed and will someone please remind me how to fold laundry because I'm pretty sure I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW TO DO ANY OF THIS ON A MONDAY.

Aaaah. Mondays. I don't hate them, I just can't seem to get past how hard the transition back to the work week seems to be EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

Book Store Humor

This one's for my friend Cinda (OK, for all the bookworms in my life, but especially Cinda):

"If you are looking for a book and you just can't find it anywhere in the book store, you are obviously in the..."

Cheers!

Less-than-good decision

Last night we took our 2 boys to dinner after work and school and visiting Daddy's new workplace and dropping the car off at the shop AND after the 2-year-old was just recovering from a bad cold/fever that lasted 2 solid days. (Any parent reading this can see any number of warning signs here that we were, admittedly, idiotic to ignore...)

Anyhow, it could have been much worse - for example, nobody vomited or wiped boogers on a hapless waitress or flung their refried beans at the chandeliers or exhibited symptoms of wild demonic possession - but we ended up taking turns holding said 2-year-old while he alternately cried and napped and whined about his runny nose. I fully admit this was our fault for dragging him to the restaurant when we clearly knew better! And I will give our 7-year-old credit for being an angel, even when he asked to taste the HOT SAUCE and instantly regretted it.

Nonetheless, no matter how desperate we are for a night out in the future, I will recommend seriously against taking tired post-sick kids to an honest-to-goodness restaurant. Lesson learned! Until the next time, I'm sure, when we'll undoubtedly make such a dumb decision again!

Pepperwood Grove

Our current favorite wine is Pepperwood Grove, either the merlot or cabernet sauvignon. We have had both the 2006 and 2008, and they are delicious! On this one, my hubby and I agree. We give this a "whole bottle" rating.

Rebecca Lerner in March

Rebecca Lerner will be in Cleveland for a weekend-long yoga retreat in March. Will be held at the Yoga Loft in the Village (click on the title of this post or click here to go to Vicky Elwell's website and check out the "events" page for more details). I can't wait!

Day #2

Day number two of working from home to take care of kids. Yesterday was a snow day; today the little one is sick with a bad cold. So I'm going a wee bit stir crazy. Nonetheless, I'm managing to get a LOT of work done remotely... it's amazing how much I can get done without the office distractions. Even a sick child isn't as distracting as the office. Now that's funny!

Stressful times like these call for either wine or yoga: so I'm looking forward to a glass of wine tonight with my friend Lori!

Yoga Sutras

My copy of B.K.S. Iyengar's "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" arrived in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to delve into it!

Perhaps while I'm drinking a glass of wine? :)

An unconventional approach...

So, I know that many, many practitioners of yoga believe you should not eat any meat and should not consume any alcohol.

Me? I consider yoga and wine to be great hobbies! And I eat meat!

Controversial? Maybe, and often...

Unconventional? Actually, yes, and I wouldn't have it any other way.