Learning about Wine...

This week was the start of my wine class at Saint Paul College. The winery enrolled me in a 9 credit course that is really 5 classes in one! Class is held from 5-10 pm, once a week through Mid-December. We sample wines, learn about their origin, regions/soil, varietals, flavor and color dynamics, strategies for pairing with food, and wine marketing. I LOVE this class; never though I'd earn credit for drinking wine all night long! Once complete, I will have earned a wine certificate similar to a sommelier, and will most certainly be a huge asset for Trade River Winery. If you are interested in learning about wine tasting yourself, Trade River Winery is offering a one night class covering the basics. See details below:

Enjoy a lovely evening where you will sample wines and discuss the characteristics of different grape varietals, learn the proper way to see, smell and taste wine, understand glassware styles and serving and storing temperatures - we'll take the mystery out of wine as we discuss the basics of food and wine pairing.

Instructor: Nicki Peterson, Certified Wine Professional
Class size is limited - sign up today!

Price: $20
Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Trade River Winery
Street: 21115 Deer Lane
City/Town: Grantsburg, WI
Phone: 7153274193
Email: info@traderiverwinery.com

Alaska Boys

Sitka Alaska ~ one of my husband's favorite places to go. This year our brother-in-law, Bill, joined in the fun. They caught halibut and salmon (mostly King). Looks to me like they had a great time. I have no complaints either, as I have a freezer stuffed with fish. Between that and the chicken we certainly won't be needing to buy meat anytime soon!

Stormclouds over Rice Lake

I snapped this pic of thunderheads building over Rice Lake the other night...Wanda, did you get rained on?

The time has come...

The time has come to harvest chickens, and honestly I am kind of sad. I never thought I'd get attached to silly chickens! We've had them seven weeks as of yesterday. Todd drove them to a friends house last night to be 'dealt with' this morning. I asked if I could save one or two, so he let me give our pretty, buff-colored odd ball (center of photo) to my friend Tammy. She already has egg laying chickens and a few roosters, so 'buff' went to her place...all because of her color. She looked sad last night when all her chicken friends went bye-bye, so I explained to her how lucky she is. This morning Todd loaded her up in a box and put her in my trunk (never thought my car would see the likes of a chicken) and I drove her to Tammy's house. When we put her in the pen with her new friends she looked confused. Can chickens looked confused? Maybe it was just me personifying my feather ball on yellow sticks. Afterwards, Tammy and I went for a walk. I peeked at her before I drove home; she looked happy. She should be...she's not on chef Todd's dinner menu this evening!

Princess Sarah

This picture is from the Lucky Days parade, taken a few weeks ago. It symbolizes our family summer...a summer full of parades nearly every weekend! It's been busy to say the least, but oh so fun! Sarah was crowned Luck's First Princess last February and has been loving every minute of it ever since. Todd and I have driven the float in only one parade to date but have a few more on the calendar including my alma mater, Anoka! It's a really fun parade, which is held around Halloween with a HUGE Halloween theme! After all, Anoka is the Halloween capitol of the world ya know. I wonder if I can get Todd into costume? Ha!

Brewhouse Triathlon

Rainbows before raceday signal great things to come...













Triathlons are like a two part play: the training and the race.

Act I is the training. It is long and mostly uneventful but is the most important part...it's the character building portion. You know, the one where you squeeze in excercise at all sorts of weird times and places in the day, training sessions that make you question if you need to see a psychologist, and the exlploration of weird gelatinous goo that supposedly gives you super human strength at preciously the right moment. It's the one with pinnacle workout feats that define who you are as an athlete; the "breakthrough" workouts that convince you that no matter what God hands you on race day, you'll make it to the the finish line.

Act II is the race itself. It's the finale with all the glitz and pizzaz...the 'big ending' at that finish line where you feel like a rock star and people should ask you for your autograph because you've managed to accomplish something most people wouldn't attempt if their life depended on it.

Well, my life didn't depend on it, but I still managed to finish the 19th annual Brewhouse Tri sprint course despite my lack of training focus on 'charachter building' and two bike malfunctions later. Nonetheless, this time was special...my niece Jackie joined me in her first tri ever, and placed very well kicking her Aunt Paula's butt! We are both excited to do it again next year, and already have plans to compete in the Lifetime Fitness Tri in July and 20th annual Brewhouse Tri August 1st! Think I will start focusing on the first act now...maybe even charachter build enough to attempt the olympic course despite my friends advice to go see a shrink. Hey, this isn't Ironman people!