wine tasting!

my friend genevieve had a GREAT idea yesterday -- to take a trip to Bogle and Peirano. Bogle has been a family favorite around here (it's good and very affordable) and she recently turned me on to Peirano. our first stop was Bogle and it was really fun. nothing new, but the grounds were very nice. they had a huge picnic area with a redwood full of kids. all the boys had so much climbing the tree that the tree was literally the babysitter! i had no idea that Bogle also made a sparkling wine, so we picked a bottle up to remind us of the fun day we were having.

we got a little lost on 99 going to Peirano, but BOY was it worth it. we got there at 4:50 and they close at 5. luckily, gen's smile got us in because they were having a fantastic sale to make some room in their stockroom. the shiraz, blush, and... something else were all $24 a case. and believe it or not, we love the shiraz. their other wines were also on sale for $72 a case (normally all their wine is around $15 per bottle). the Red Shorts Red, cab, and The Other are all excellent. they have The Other red and The Other white -- both are pretty good. we tried all their wines and weren't really disappointed with any of them.

between gen, her parents, and us, i think they were pretty happy they let us in at 4:50! we all left with a backseat full of cases! if you get a chance, head out and try their wine. it's a free tasting. you can also pick them up at nugget, but you'll pay a lot more.

what i learned in wine class : )

I'm writing down my tasting notes from wine class this month. That way, when I'm out, I'll know what to pick up and what to avoid! I loved this class because I was able to taste great wine without committing to them (in case they were awful). With George teaching the class, I knew they'd all be great, but who wants to buy an $85 bottle on a chance? I missed the first week because Gray was in the hospital. Guess I'll have to do some HOMEwork.

(These were all CA wines)

Tolosa 07 Chardonnay - NO
Tolosa 05 Chardonnay - Pretty good
MUMM 07 Still wine (who knew Mumm made still wine?) - YES $26
Cuvaison? 08 Chardonnay - NO
Morhgan 07 - YES $40
Beringer 05 - Yes $48

Barbera 07 S. Harvey Amador - NO
Sanford (St. Rita) 06 Pinot Noir - Pretty good $34
Rosenblum (lodi) 05 Syrah - Good
Stags Leap 06 Petit Syrah (Napa) - Yes! $40
Frank Family 07 Zin (Napa) - Good $34
Nickel & Nickel 04 Merlot (Napa) - Great! $55

Caymus 07 Cab (Napa) - Outstanding! $73
Simi 06 Cab (Healdsburg) - NO
Hess 06 Cab (Napa) - Just OK $61
Etude 05 Cab (Napa) - Beautiful! $85
Used Automobile Parts 04 "Meritage" ha ha - Good but not Great $50
Silver Stag 03 (Napa) - Good $75

photo class

Local photographer Ryan Bates had a workshop Sunday that was great. Taught us soccer moms how to use those big expensive cameras the right way. He showed us how to get out of the auto mode so we can really get the shots we want! Hopefully he'll do more of these in the future.

On a side note, his pictures are out of this world. He has a great eye and the photos in his shop are quite impressive. So, if you're looking for a great photographer, he's your guy.

Recommended Reading

My friend Kathy lent me a book called Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys, and it is a pretty great book to read if you have boys or want to understand boys. 


It's not just a self-help kind of book, but rather it takes movie and book scenarios and explains how they give insight to boys' minds and why they operate the way they do. From there, as professionals and fathers themselves, the authors give advice on how relate to boys.


Many of the stories the co-authors tell have actually happened in our house - it's like reading a book based on my own life! Anyway, if you have boys, give it a shot.

Fingers crossed!

Looks like the house is going through! It's off Bitters Rd and Blanco in San Antonio. 

Here are some pictures...

3/3/10

gray and i slept in his little adjustable bed last night (jason was on the pull out chair) in the pediatric oncology wing of Sutter hospital. most of the kids here are being treated with chemo and the kindergardener sharing gray's room has been in this room for three weeks.

i can't imagine what these parents are feeling - going through this every day and night. it was so inconvenient being here just one night (the smells, the thick air, the tiny space you have to occupy, the food, the little sink you have to brush your teeth in, the pee you have to catch in a jug, the hourly temperature-taking, etc). i realize i have NOTHING to complain about because most of the kids here have been living this way daily. the sad part is that there was a shortage of beds when we got here, meaning all the beds in this area were occupied with kids battling cancer.

this morning, gray woke up at 6am, like usual, and was a total ball of fire, like usual. they took his labs at 6:30 and hopefully we'll hear good news and be able to go home. he headed to the play room with his "wolverine" hand, so i think he's feeling just fine.

my heart goes out to all of the families here who will not be going home today or any time soon. i was crazy concerned about gray yesterday and couldn't even organize my thoughts (and probably still can't). i'm not sure this makes sense, but, man... no one should have to go through cancer. surely not kids.

interesting side note: jason and i are supposed to be catching a flight at 5pm to san antonio to look for a place to live! ha! we'll just have to see. probably not in the cards.

ITP

soooo.... grayson has a ton of bruises from head to toe. i thought it was just (boys being boys) battle scars from wrestling. he acts completely fine and no one would have guessed that anything was wrong with him. maybe out of paranoia that people thought i was beating him, i decided to take him in to the doctor today to make sure everything was on the up and up.

after some blood work, the doc determined that his platelet count was dangerously low (15K when 150K is the norm) and had us go immediately to the hospital in SAC. he is there overnight getting IVIG -- platelets through IV -- and they will retest his blood tomorrow. hopefully he will be able to come home in the morning!

we're pretty sure we've ruled out anything more serious, such as leukemia, and we will have to continue to check his blood for the next 3-6 months.

THANK YOU all who called, texted, brought food, offered to bring food, came to the hospital, prayed for us, facebooked, offered to watch jake and wyatt... etc. you are all amazing and i am thankful to have you in our lives.