Another Lengthy Period

I just don't have the time for this that I originally intended. Life just gets in the way sometimes. Let's see, where to begin? I recently started another batch of wine. It was a gallon-size batch of White Niagara, from Welches frozen concentrate. So, I've got quite a few batches going right now, including Apple, Orange Mead, Port, White Zinfandel, and the White Niagara. Yum. Hopefully, this coming week, I'll bottle the White Zin, and will be drinking it soon thereafter.

Our daughter has started piano lessons again. We finally found someone who was within the affordable range, and she's really excited. I don't think she's too happy about practicing though, but overall, I think she likes to play.

My wife had her Tastefully Simple party a couple of nights ago. She had a really good turnout, in fact, her sales rep said this will likely be her highest-sales party to date. Yeah. Although, I wasn't very happy about having to do all of the extra housework by myself, but I got over it.

We went to a ballet last night at the Rose Theatre here in Omaha. We have season tickets to the children's theatre productions, which includes 2 ballet performances throughout the year. The show was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I was a little unsure of what to expect since I've never been to a ballet before. And, I'm not familiar with the story at all. But, it really wasn't that bad. The program had a few paragraphs of the Sleepy Hollow story in general, so I was able to follow along pretty well. I'll admit, I was enchanted by the story, and trying to figure out what the expressions being conveyed by the dancers. Really, it wasn't that bad, and at least I got to do something that I've never done before.

I'm scheduled to attend a "Get Motivated" seminar this coming week. Nearly 3/4 of the staff in my office are going, so it should be an interesting day. Actually, it's a cleverly disguised scheme for an all-day long informercial, to get you to buy more of their products and seminars. But, mixed in, there are motivational speakers, including Zig Zigler, George from the Apprentice, and Rudy Guiliani. There are a few other personalities, including Tom Osborne, Jerry Lewis, and Suze Orman too. So, if I can stand to sit through the high pressure sales pitches, it should be a fun day.

No other news to report. Oh yeah, I am going elk hunting in a few weeks with my father in law. We're going to Colorado for a week. Well, I should say, I'm going along to be a companion, but am not hunting myself. I'm just going for moral support, and to help haul out the game if Ron gets anything. I'm a little nervous about the whole ordeal, but it will be a good time to get away and relax for awhile, away from society, albeit only for a few days.

The holidays are quickly approaching. Ugh. I'm not really a holiday-oriented person, and actually could do without the hassle. Ha. But, for our daughter, I intend to put a good show.

What Have I Done?

Well, it's been about a week and a half since I've posted last. Nothing new really to report. I did a lot of yard work today, and pulled out all of the flowers from the flower beds. It was enough to fill up two garbage cans. Speaking of garbage cans, I did clean out our main household can last week. Wow, that was a nasty job. It smelled really bad, and overall, was one of the grossest things I've done. Yuck. But, at least it smells a lot better now.

I filtered my White Zinfandel tonight. I'd like to get this bottled in the next week or two. I withdrew about one bottle, for tasting, and to see how it has improved. It was really, really good. It needs to be sweetened just a bit, but I'm really impressed with this wine. So, because I had to retop the carboy to within a couple inches of the bung, I headed to Walmart to buy another bottle. I asked my wife if she needed anything, and she said that she needed a new jar of vaseline. I laughed, and asked her how it would look if I purchased a bottle of wine and a jar of vaseline, at 1030 PM at night. She laughed too. So, to spice things up, I indeed bought my bottle of wine, a jar of vaseline, a box of condoms, a can of whipped cream, and a bottle of chocolate sauce. Needless to say, I got a LOT of strange looks, and in fact, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to visit that Walmart again. Sigh. In retrospect, it was hillarious.

My wife is having another hen party next weekend. She's have a Tastfully Simple party, tied in with her monthly scrapbook gathering. Ugh. I hate that. I don't mind so much if it's my weekend to work, but I'm working the midnight shift that night, and would just rather not deal with it. Why do women feel a constant need to have these stupid parties? I just don't get it.

We went to our local pumpkin patch this past weekend. Wow, was that an absolute disaster. Our daughter went last year with my wife's sisters, and had a really fun time. This year, we got free tickets. I've heard this place is a zoo, and I wasn't disappointed. We got there about 6 PM Saturday evening. There were thousands of people there. It was warm and dry, so the dust being kicked up was unbelievable. In other words, too many people, and I definitely don't like crowds. Actually, I despise crowds. We toured the grounds, walked through haunted house, ventured into the pumpkin mine, and played a round glow in the dark miniature golf. I had an absolute horrid time, but our daughter said she had a really great time. LOL. It's crazy the things we do for our kids.

First Batch of Wine Bottled

This past week, I bottled my first batch of homemade wine. It's a Blackberry Cabernet that was produced from a wine kit. The wine kit is basically a box of ingredients to work with, but everything else is up to you, i.e. you control the fermentation, the temperatures, any additional additives that you might want to include, and also the aging. I started this wine back in August of this year, and it's now ready to drink. It's actually pretty good. Perhaps a little sweet, but overall, it's really good for my first wine. Not bad. The bottles look great, I applied a color label (that I printed with my inkjet printer), and am really excited. I do have another batch of wine ready to bottle and label (my White Zinfandel), but I need to get another set of filter pads first before I bottle it. Hopefully, I'll have that batch complete next week.

Peppers Coming Out of My Ears

Well, I made a new batch of salsa a couple of days ago. I used fresh peppers that a friend gave me (instead of store-bought peppers), and wow, it's the hottest salsa I've ever had. I think fresh peppers are much hotter than peppers you get from the store. Yikes! Daniel gave me a bag of Jalepenos, Chilis, and Habaneros. For the salsa, I used 10 large tomatoes, 5 Jalepenos, 4 Habs, about a dozen Chili peppers, a couple of Aneheim peppers, and a standard bell pepper. My wife think's it is almost uneatable, and I have to admit, it will blow smoke through your nose and almost melts the canning ring, it's that strong.

After making the salsa, I still had a full bag of peppers left (Daniel has a very large garden) and decided to dry the remaining peppers to use for seasoning this winter. So, after slicing and dicing, I now have a tray of Jalepenos, a tray of Chilis, and 2 trays of Habaneros. Wow, the colors are so cool and really beautiful, it's amazing how these little beasties can literally melt your teeth.