London - The Inside Man premiere

Here we are, day 2 in London. The jetlag is wicked this time. Not being able to sleep on the plan on the way over really made the jet lag horrible this round. 

Today I didn't have anything special on the list. Tonight is The Inside Man premier, the reason I'm in London. That means I have all day to find something to do.

My first stop was to meet up with a colleague whom I've worked with but have never met. She's an Enterprise Customer Success Manager in the UK. We've worked on many projects together and it was a blast to meet her. 

As we sat and drank coffee we discovered we're both photographers and we both scrapbook! It's rare I run into a colleague that scrapbooks. It was a ton of fun to chat with her about scrapping and taking photos around London. She gave me a lot of ideas for shots, but none of them was I able to get to. 

After coffee with D, I headed off to Trafalgar Square. I remember seeing Trafalgar Square in 2007 when I visited London and remember thinking then that it'd be fun to wander around the square. It was very close to where I was staying so off I went. 

According to the Interwebs, the square is named to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar. I had to dig deep to remember what the battle of Trafalgar was about. The battle was during the Napoleonic Wars and was one of the largest British victories off the coast of Cape Trafalgar. 

The square has 4 corners to it and on each corner there's some statue. 3 of them are permanent and the 4th changes on a regular basis. The 4th plinth (that's what they call it) is called Antelope by Samson Kambalu. The bronze statue sculpture is of a preacher who was killed anti-colonialist uprising in Malawi. I am sure there's some type of symbolism here that I'm missing, but that's ok. I did really appreciate the sculpture though.

The middle of the square has a column dedicated to Horatio Nelson, a vice-admiral in the Battle of Trafalgar. Around that column are 4 lions. These were what I really wanted to see. Large cats! 

The four lions at the base of the Nelson column represent the heroism of Lord Nelson. I'm not really sure why I love finding large lion statues, but I do. We find them everywhere too and now I'm starting to think I should make this a "thing". 

Once I was done walking around the square, I decided that I needed food. I hadn't really eaten much the day before and I think the time zone messed up my appetite. I found this little deli down a small road off the square. I glanced at the menu and KNEW I was eating there. They had bacon sandwiches. MMM. Alison introduced me to bacon sandwiches (with brown sauce) in 2007 and I swear I've dreamt about them.

The jet lag was catching up to me and I figured I'd go back to the hotel and take a nap before the premier. I was slowing getting more and more anxious about the premier and I needed to just chill out. 

See, I have this anxiety about attending gatherings where I don't know anyone. I don't feel like I'm good with small talk and these situations always require small talk. You add having to speak to customers to that and you get a serious anxiety attack headed your way. 

The premier is a big deal at KnowBe4. The Inside Man series is a big deal at KB4. This is the 5th season and boy or boy is it getting good. You can see the trailers of the other seasons to get an idea of what the series is about. Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4 and now Season 5. The Twist & Shout team has really outdone themselves for Season 5. 

Now, I was a huge skeptic when I came onboard to KB4. I thought, "Really? A mini series on security training. Give me a break." Turns out, I was wrong. They did such a good job with the writing and you learn and don't even know that you learn things. 

I binged Season 4 right before I left so I was ready to see Season 5. I also wanted to meet some of the actors. I wasn't really sure I'd get a chance to, but since I was hosting a customer I was in the VIP section and I knew the actors would show up there. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

I got to the premier early and wanted to meet a few other colleagues. I also feel like getting to gatherings early puts me in a position of "belonging" there and it's easier to talk to people who are coming to me instead of me coming to them. I know, it's crazy. 

So, I have my customers I'm hosting and we head to the VIP lounge. I chatted with them a bit and was chatting with a few other customer success managers there when suddenly I see the main character Mark heading right towards us. He and another main character, Fiona, stopped right in our group and started chatting. Fiona eventually moved off but Mark hung out with us and chatted for a good 15 minutes. His first comment to me was he was "amazed" that I flew all the way from Seattle. He asked about the time difference, the length of the flight and whether I was on UK time yet. He said he's seen photos of Seattle and thinks it'd be nice to visit. Of course, I told him I'd be happy to show him around. Ahem. 

Mark and Fiona selfie.
I probably should have learned their real names.

The other thing I he said that really made me smile. He said he was really learning a lot about security. When he took this role he had no idea about security and what that means, but after 5 seasons he now knows to not pick up any random USB and put it in his computer. I love that the cast is learning security stuff.

After I chatted with him, I was on the look out for my new favorite character Violet. She's Mark's sister in the series and gets introduced to us in season 3 I think. Anyhow, she's a spitfire and a bit of a rebel and for some reason I love her character. I barged my way into the circle she was in and asked for a quick selfie with her. 

My new favorite character Violet

Then it was off to the theater to watch season 5. I got to sit in the VIP section too and there was popcorn and candy at each seat! 

Season 5 was amazing. It really was done so very well and the storyline is getting more and more interesting. There's a death in Season 5 and I found myself crying over this darn show. 

Once the show was over, I just left. I didn't want to hang out and do any more talking or go to any "after" parties. Not that I was invited or there were going to be any after parties. But I was sure if I ran into KB4 people I'd be asked to go and I was really tired. 

Besides I needed to get sleep because I was meeting up with Alison tomorrow and we were going to do the Hop on Hop off bus. And I needed to be awake and alert to enjoy the bus trip. 

Airplanes and Long Trips

Well, I made it. 10 hour flight - is a long flight. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I rose at my normal time and did the normal things; feed the cats, get coffee, start work. I was only working a half day as I needed to get to the airport. The drive to the airport was fast and I got princess parking at the parking lot. The shuttle to pick up was there immediately too. Everything was on schedule and running smoothly. Almost too smoothly, said the pessimistic voice in my head.

Once inside, the ticket counter for Virgin Atlantic was empty. So I waltz on up and gave them my bag. Headed off to go through security. 

SeaTac has this cool new feature where you can schedule your time to go through the queue for security. I did that but was an hour early for my time. The nice lady at the check in let me go through anyhow.

Again, no one in line. It was starting to creep me out. 

Through the scanner thingy and WHOA…pat down time. And this time not just a pat down, but I swear I needed a cigarette after. I was completely checked. All good and I was on my way. Now I had 3 hours to wait. 

I headed out to the S gates, which was a big mistake. They don’t have a Starbucks out there and the food options are sketchy at best. Still I had a Peet’s coffee and found a piece of banana bread to go along with it. 

They finally boarded us and quickly I might add. On board I had an exit seat but I wasn’t expecting it to be the type with metal sides so you can’t life the arm rest. No worries I’ll just wait and see if I can move across the aisle. 

The flight attendant passed by and said we weren’t full so I could move. Now I was in a seat with the bulk head. Lots of leg room and no on in my aisle yet. 

Then another flight attendant stopped by and said people tend to cross through there and it can be very distracting and did I want to move up to another row. So I moved again. Third seat. Still no one in the row with me. 

The doors closed and that was that. On this massive 787-900 I think there was maybe 75 people. It was absolutely empty. It felt kinda luxurious to have a whole row to myself.

Let me just take a moment and rave about Virgin Atlantic. We flew them to Scotland for the first time in 2018. Amazing flight. And amazing flight staff. From the counter agent who went above and beyond to spell Janet’s name right after I had spelled it wrong. To the incredible on board staff who were chipper and happy the entire time. I swear by this airline and sadly don’t get to take them too often. 

Today’s flight was no different. The crew were friendly, helpful and made sure we were all set with water and food. Really a stellar experience. 

The flight itself was uneventful. I didn’t sleep much and so I’m pooped right now but have to stay awake. 

Heathrow is a HUGE airport. I think we walked a half of a mile to get to the passport control. But that was uneventful and my luggage was waiting for me when I got to the other side. Then found a cab and off we went. It took an hour and a half to get to the hotel. Traffic is ridiculous. 

I got settled and put my head down for a wee nap. Turned on an alarm so I wouldn’t over sleep. Then got out and did some walking. 

My hotel (Zedwell Picadilly Circus) is a great location, but to say I was shocked at the room would be putting it mildly. 

It’s called a cocoon and I think you can see why. 

The bed is a double size pushed up against a wall. No closet. No dresser. No TV. No nothing. The space between the bed and the bathroom is about 3 ft. It’s crazy how small it is. And how boring it’s going to be at night without a TV. 

Tonight I went and walked around Picadilly Circus. It’s the theater district and it really is a circus (that’s not why it’s called that BTW). But it’s like Time Square in NY in that it has all sorts of lights everywhere. I’ll have to share photos later since the internet is crap and slow. 

Tomorrow is the big premier. I met with my boss today and am excited to be participating. I’ll be hosting one of our VIP clients at the premier - which was new to me, but it’ll be fun. 

London or Bust

Here we are. The night before I fly off to the city of London! The last three weeks flew by faster then, well, fast. I've kept myself busy doing almost nothing important. I kept all social engagements to a minimum...hahaha I almost got that out without laughing. There haven't been that may social engagements, and that's perfect. 

I'm all packed. Truth be told, I was packed Saturday. This is a quick 5 day trip to a place that is familiar so packing wasn't difficult. I still followed my "packing checklist" though. I mean, that checklist has saved my hide more than once. I update it and add/remove to it after every trip. The last trip to Switzerland, I added constipation pills considering how constipated we both got after eating cheese for days on end in Switzerland. Today, ironically, I added "stop pooping" pills since that's the new fun side effect from Metformin. Regardless of which poo pill I need, the point is, I have them on the check list and I should be fully covered. 

I have my plan for the days in London mostly figured out. I'm actually planning very little. I want to mostly "wing" it. Yes, you read that right. I want to try to not be so planned and just go with the flow. I'd really like to see the Tower of London and am focusing on doing that on Saturday possibly. I need to be careful with doing too much to hurt my foot again, but I really don't think I can skip a trip to the Tower. I've seen it before, but have never done the tour and really want to. I left it for Saturday because well, Wednesday is when I get in and I figured I'd be exhausted. Thursday is the premier. While it's at night, I wasn't sure if I could do the tower AND the premier and not hurt my foot. Friday is the hop on hop off with my pal Alison who lives outside London. Which leave Saturday. 

The other reason I've left it rather free is photography. I've been taking the iPhone Photography course and it has me all excited about photography again. And well, I figured walking around Picadilly Circus (which is where my hotel is) that should offer up some great options to practice my new, improved skills. 

Bottom line is I'm excited for this trip. Now I just have to get past the 9 hour plane ride. Ugh. That's the worst part. The flight there and then the flight home. 

When next we meet I'll be in London and will share with you what I decided to do. Stay tuned. 

March Sunday Dinner

March Sunday dinner's theme is "Burger Bar".  The idea being I'll provide the burgers and buns, and everyone else brings what they like to put on their burgers. Have I mentioned I love these themes?

And since we're having burgers, I'm making Mom's Macaroni Salad. I went to put it in my recipe blog and realized I had already put it in there, but sans photos. And then I forgot to take a photo of it when it was done. Some day I'll get a phot of it, but not today. 

Tonight's guests are Graeme/Rose, Kathy/Rowland, Claudia, Janet, Sherrie and I. Small groups are best these days. These are some fun, fun peeps. We laughed all night long. 

The food:

So the theme for this month's dinner was "Burger Bar." I wasn't completely sure what we were going to do with regards to appetizer and desserts being something around burger bar. So we did what we do best, we ignored it. 

I bought some high quality burgers and grilled those bad boys up. American cheese topped each one. I had cheese options, but everyone wanted American. And why not? It's the best. 

Burger toppings were en point too. All the condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup, and BBQ sauce), a gallon of grilled onions, bacon, crispy onions, lettuce/tomato, and pickles. I mean, come on? That makes one righteous burger. 

Our side dishes were, of course Mom's mac salad and Kathy's Calico beans. 

Photo from Noshing
 in the Nolands

Appetizer was from Graeme and Rose which were these little risotto balls of goodness. Risotto with cheese, basil and then covered in panko and deep fried, called Arancini. These things were amaze-balls.  Those two really raise the bar for appetizers. 

Then there was dessert. Janet raised the bar there too. She made this wonderfully, delicious lemon pound cake and then decorated it all up with berries. So gorgeous and, let me tell you, so delicious. 

The best story of the night was Lucy being in love with Graeme. Graeme is allergic to cats and for some reason Lucy just wanted to be on his lap. She was determined. At one point, she just sat down not taking no for an answer. Poor Graeme. We had to have Claudia go get some allergy stuff from her car to save him. I think I'm going to have to buy some to have on hand just for Graeme. I can't control Lucy. It's easier to just feed him pills. 

This was a funny photo. The two nutballs in the background thought we were doing the "funny" photo. Fooled them. I love their spirit though and I love all these people. Every one of them brings something special to my life and I can't imagine what life would be without them. 

Next month our theme is Thai. Not even sure what that will be like. I'd be willing to bet most these folks have never made Thai food before. 

London Baby

My entire life I've lacked the "lucky" gene. I don't win things. I have bad gambling karma. And I generally am the raffle winner who puts in ALL the tickets and wins nothing. It's a good life. It keeps my expectations low and me humble. That all changed on a cold day in Seattle last week. 

I woke to an "urgent" 7am meeting from my boss. I immediately started sweating wondering if today was the day I was fired. Or what mistake I had made to cost the company. Insert any panic stricken thought you can come up with. I had them. This, I know, is a version of PTSD because back in the day the last "urgent" 7am meeting from my boss, I got fired. So I get nervous. 

All the same, I got my coffee and dialed into the Zoom call and waited for him to show up. It was snowing, and the anticipation of potentially losing my job had me in a bad mood. I was already creating stories in my head around what I was going to do. Soon his admin dialed in and her attitude didn't give anything away. She calmly said he was running behind but was on his way. She asked about the weather and we chatting about the difference between our 34F versus her 80F in Tampa. 

Finally, he dialed in. He wasn't on video so I couldn't really gage his expression. Then he starts, "Well Jenn..." I held my breath. My heart was racing. I had worked myself up into quite the panic. He continues, "Well Jenn, you won!" 

Won? Wait, what? 

He said, "You won the free trip to London to see the Inside Man Premier". I was still silent. His admin had to ask if I was still there. Finally, my brain kicked in and I said, "Are you serious? I won? That never happens." 

That's right, I won a free trip to London! 

So here's why a free trip was even available. 

My company, KnowBe4, has a series called The Inside Man. It's a series of 8 minute episodes telling a story that actually teaches you about security and privacy. It's very well done and has quite the following with our customers. There are currently 4 seasons. Season 5 is being released this March and to make a splash they have a movie premier of it. We invite customers and fans to this premier and its a very big deal for many people. 

This year, my boss came up with the idea to send one of the Courseware team's employees. So in our last large team meeting he announced that everyone who has been nominated as Teammate of the Month will be added to a drawing for a free trip to London to attend The Inside Man premier. 

I remember at the time of this announcement thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool?" Followed quickly by, "No need to worry since you don't have that type of luck." 

Turns out I do! 

The company is paying for my air and 2 nights in a hotel (along with food for those days). And since I figured I was all the way over in London, I might as well stay over the weekend. 

This is a quick turn for me and travel. Once I learned I was going, I immediately went into planner mode. And then I freaked out because my bone spur is still not heeled and I got to wondering how I'd walk around London. For a millisecond I thought I might decline the trip. Then I realized, I can do what I can and that'll be enough.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go buy a lotto ticket while my luck is on the positive side.

End of February...already!

I say almost every week how crazy fast time is passing by. It's like I blink and another month swooshes by. 

This last week was a busy one for me. I don't leave the house often, and when I have to more than a couple of times in a week I feel like I need a full day to decompress. I thank COVID for this new Jenn. I used to love going out and these days I just like being at home. And yet, I want to go out, it's just so exhausting sometimes. 

On Tuesday I got my hair done did. This coloring of the gray hairs gets expensive, but I'm not yet ready to stop. Mom grayed nicely and I'm sure I will too, but I'm not ready. The last time I got my hair done, my stylist wanted to "try something new". I'm normally ok with that because I trust her. This new thing was the same thing I had been doing, just in a different way. It...took...4... hours...! No one needs to be at a salon for that long. 

This time it was a simple base color to get rid of the grays fighting their way to the sunlight. I was only there for 2 hours and that was perfect. 

On Wednesday was dinner club. I took zero photos! Weird I know. It was Sherrie's pick this time. She picked Tipsy Cow in Woodinville. I've been there before and have enjoyed their burgers. 

I've been trying to cut down my carb intake so going to a burger bar is not exactly the best place to go when trying to eat lower carb. I pulled out my tricks from when I was really serious on eating low carb and it worked! I looked at the menu before I went. Choose what I wanted and had a plan to eat it without the bun. And I did it! I really wasn't sure my willpower would stand. I had fries though. And that's okay. 

I've decided in this adventure of eating better that carbs need to be a part of my life. The all or nothing isn't working. If I take them all out then all I want is carbs. So there has to be a balance. I need to learn to live with them in my life in balance to all the healthy stuff. AND I need to give myself some grace for making good choices and bad choices. Being ok with the bad choices is the hardest. In the past I'd fall off the wagon and and that would be it. Diet over. 

We had a great time as usual. Laughing and eating is what our family does best. 

Thursday was another foot doctor visit. It's been two weeks and I followed his instructions - mostly. I was ready to get a scolding from him, and I kinda did. Turns out the boot he gave me to wear at night I haven't been able to wear through the night. It cause my foot to ache beyond belief so I take it off. I usually keep it on for about 2 hours then it comes off. He really wants me to get used to it for the entire night. If I can't then it'll take longer than to heal. The ultimate fix is surgery and I really don't want to do that. 

Two more weeks with stretching and wearing the boot. Cross your fingers it works. 

Friday, Janet and I went wine tasting. I got the passports this year for us and we are trying out best to make sure they get used. This time we went to the Woodin Creek area of Woodinville. We tasted at Rocky Pond, Truth Teller and Ancestry. All had great wines. I came home with 4 more bottles. 

So March is around the corner. It'll be gone in a flash no doubt. We're waiting for snow again tonight and I cannot wait until Spring. I'm very much over winter and the snow. 

Week in Review

A big thing in the scrapbook world is weekly scrapping of what happened that week. That's a lot of scrapping to me and, frankly, my life isn't that interesting to have enough photos to scrap weekly. It's called Project Life and it was a big hit and still is. 

I like to do it a bit different and each week I just journal about what happened that week. Some weeks I can fill a page or two. Some weeks I've got nothing. What's helpful, to me, is that when I do go and scrap some important stories, I can go back to that journal and see what and when. 

This blog is like a journal and I'm trying hard to keep it updated and write every now and then. It's fun to me and I think all three of my readers enjoy it. I hope. 

So what's happening? 

Last week was a birthday week in our family. 

Melanie on the left, me on the right - 1972

Starting with my older sister. She's 4 years older than me and we weren't really close growing up. She lived with the real dad for most of my informative years. We just didn't bond like sisters do. For much of my life I wasn't really fond of her and her me. I felt she treated my mother poorly and I just couldn't accept that behavior and thus like her. I "loved" her because she was my sister, but I didn't like her all the time. 

When mom died our relationship took a turn for the worse. We both grieved and we both took it out on each other. Then we stopped talking. Then something happened and my sister started reaching out. A couple of times a year. Then more. And slowly we started chatting on the phone more. It's been nice. She seems different. Happy almost. And while we'll never be BFFs, I think mom would be happy with the progress we made. So on Feb 14th I wished her a Happy Birthday. 

Ward Spaid (Grandpa)

Feb 16th was my Grandpa Spaid's birthday. I loved Grandpa Spaid. He was a kind, gentle man who had the patience of a saint. He died suddenly in 1984 of a aneurism. I remember thinking at that time that I'd miss him and I'd miss getting to know him as I got older. He would have been fun to sit and talk to as an adult. He was born in 1905 and I wish I had the chance to ask him questions and hear about his life. He was Mom's Dad. 

I have some fun memories of Grandpa Spaid that filter to the surface around his birthday. The first, and my favorite, was when we lived in Albuquerque, NM. Grandma and Grandpa lived with us for some time. My sister had a bike that had one of those banana seats on it. Grandpa would put me on the back of the seat and we'd right around the cul de sac we lived on. He'd ride in circles for what felt like hours to entertain me. 

The second was when my sister and I would get shipped off to their house in Azusa, CA for the summer. He was a tinker-er. He'd spend hours in the garage doing what, I don't know. I'd want to be with him and he'd set me at his work bench with some type of wire, and a small hammer. He'd give me a length of this weird wire and tell me it needs to be pounded flat. My grandma later told me he threw out a lot of wire keeping me busy for no reason. 

Ahhh memories. I miss him. 

Dad and I in Madrid Spain - 1986

The last birthday/anniversary is that of my dad and I. He officially adopted me in 1983 and we celebrated that day as my new "birthday." Every year he'd call and every year he'd get me a small gift. It was our special day. When we lived closer to each other we'd go to lunch and just have a day of him and I. 

I could spend pages of memories with dad. He taught me so much and I'm so very grateful that he came into our lives. He wasn't really sure what to do with a teenage girl when he adopted me, but he figured it out. His patience was legendary and his advice always solid - whether I followed it or not. 

He taught me to cook. He taught me to love food. He taught me to enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and especially those of different ethnicities. 

He taught me to love travel. To always be curious about other cultures and above all, respect those cultures and their beliefs. I think this was one of the biggest things I appreciate from him. Learning to love other cultures and travel to see them. 

I miss him too. 

So ... that was the week in birthdays. 

Other things currently going on is me eating better. I went on Metformin a couple of weeks ago to help bring down my A1Cs. I don't have the labs yet, but I'm sure that number is in the diabetic range. 

Metformin has some wicked side effects when you start taking it. I started with 500mg and slowly growing to 2000 mg. But the first week..oh lord. It causes some, um, gastro issues. Let's just say I bought myself some Cottenelle, it's softer. 

Come to find out it also has two lesser know side effects that only impact a small swatch of people. Rapid heart rate and blurred vision. Yay. I had two days of serious rapid heart beat. So much I thought I might be having a heart attack. And no, I didn't go to the hospital. I'm a dope. 

Thankfully those two side effects are gone and now I'm only left with the gastro issues. Which I can deal with just fine. 

I'm up to 1000 mg and it really seems to help with cravings and appetite. I'm not "snacking" as much as I usually do. I've lowered my carb intake to about 75-85 grams a day. My doctor would prefer it be closer to 55, but come on? That's insane. I want to learn to eat and live my life WITH Carbs. I've done pretty good and am down 4.5 lbs in two weeks. That's something. 

And with that, that's really all I've got to update you on. Bored yet? Me neither! If you're still with me, thanks for reading. 

10 YO

 

The little beasties are 10 years old today! Ten!! That happened so fast. 

I can vividly remember when I got them. Pookie had just passed. My niece at the time was fostering mama kitties and had three little kittens of the latest litter left. Two were still available. 

She called and asked if I wanted them. I said no. I wasn't ready. Pookie had only been gone for a week. It didn't seem right. 

Then she sent me photos. Straight to the heart! Those two little pink noses and they looked so adorable and so lovable. 

I still said no. 

Then about a day later I relented and said I'd take them. Only she had just taken them to the pet store to be sold. I made her go back and get them. $85 later I had two kittens. 

Cammie and the kittens, at the time, were in Cle Elum. This meant I needed to drive over and get them. So a week later, off I went to go pick up these two bundles of joy. Paula and Patrick is what she named them. I KNEW I'd be renaming them. 

We got all the way home. I introduced them to the small walk in closet that would be their home for a couple of days. I introduced them to the litter box. And I introduced them to several friends. 

Now here we are, ten years later. 

Two peas in a pod

10YO senior cat vet visit

Snuggle buddies

10 year olds

They're pretty spoiled cats - as cats (or any pets) should be. They have me trained. They annoy the bejesus out of me. And they bring me such joy. I guess I'll keep them.

Wine Tasting 2023 has begun

Several years ago, circa 2018 I think, Janet and I bought the Woodinville Winery Passport. The passport has about 50 wineries who are participating in the "tasting" passport. It's a great idea to get people into your tasting room. 2018 happened to be the year I had a goal of tasting 50 different wineries for my 50th birthday year. And I did it! 

Ahem. 

Then 2019 we did some tastings, but nothing as serious as 2018. 

This year I decided I was buying Janet and I this passport again. It really helps to get us out and do something, and wine. I mean, come on. 

There are several on the list that we've tasted before and remember. And several we weren't sure if we've tasted (not promising at all), and some we've never tasted. The thing about hitting any tasting room multiple times, is every year is different. Their wines change. The grapes change. One wine you may hate one year, then the next you taste it and buy several bottles. 

We started our 2023 adventure yesterday. We know by experience we should only do 3 wineries in one outting. After three your taste buds are really wined out. AND you probably shouldn't drink any more so you can drive. 

The wineries on the list, though, all have different hours, different locations, and some require reservations. The Woodineville Winery group have created an app for this Passport thing. And while that's great, they don't allow you to sort the wineries by location or available times. So...me being me, I put it all in a spreadsheet. You're shocked aren't you?

Janet and I have our next tasting dates already on the calendar and now simply have to choose where to go. But before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about yesterday's tastings. 

We started at Zerba Cellars. I didn't recall it, but we had tasted at Zerba before in 2014. I didn't have a very good experience there at that time. And, to be fair, my wine knowledge was lacking at that time. Still, this visit was fantastic. The two ladies working the tasting room were warm and welcoming. They knew a lot about the wines and spent enough time explaining to us. What makes Zerba special is it's called "rock" wine. The vines grow in a very rocky area, and prefer that. The rocks make the vines really work at it and the result is a bolder taste. I bought three bottles there and would certainly go back and taste them again. 

The next one was 425 Cellars. This was a new one for us. The woman working it was also fantastic. We were the only ones in the room at the time so she spent time chatting us up. She didn't have a lot of knowledge about the red wines because she was a white wine drinker. That was ok with me she knew enough. Their wines were so fantastic. Every one we tasted I fell in love with. Even the white wine we tasted (it was a Pinot Grigio). Their wines were so good that I joined their wine club and bought 3 bottles. Janet bought a rose from them too. I'd highly recommend this winery tasting room. In fact, I'll meet you there. 

After 425, we took a break and had lunch at Vivi Pizzeria. Their pizza is thin crust and so amazingly delicious. Janet and I split a wedge salad and a pizza. It was just what we needed to finish out tasting day. 

The last winery we tasted at was Patterson. We know Patterson very well. We've tasted there several times. This time, though, we just didn't think their wines were that great. It could be that the first two wineries were so great that Patterson was just lackluster.

I managed to come home with 7 bottles of wine. 6 I bought and 1 Janet bought. She likes to buy wine and send it home with me because here is where we'll usually be drinking it. She also likes to let me buy the wine because she knows she'll be likely with me when we drink it. Smart. 

I am happy that we're tasting wines again. I missed it last year. It also gets me out of house - which is where I like to stay too much. I can't wait to taste some of the new ones on the list. Stay tuned for those stories. 

3,153,600 Minutes

Here we are.  I can’t believe it’s been six years. I think about mom every single day; multiple times a day. The number of times that I still want to pick up the phone and call her is outrageously large. I miss her.

 I’ve been extraordinarily bitchy the last week, and it wasn’t until yesterday, that it dawned on me why. The week before mom died, we spent in the hospital sitting with her. Some praying for her. Most of us just talking to her or being with her. And all of us feeling the enormity of what life was going to be like without her. How could we cope? How could we go on? I think, subconsciously, my mind was remembering this week 6 years ago and that was putting me in a horrible mood. 

I can still remember exactly what was going on when I got the call. I had ordered pizza for dinner. I was still working and finishing up some report I was working on. My phone rang. I glanced at it and say it was Jeannette Wraspir. I ignored it. Then my phone rang again and it was Jeannette again. I knew something was up then. 

She very gently told me what happened. The words that stick out even today - "no brain activity". I wasn't sure what it meant but I knew I had to get on the next plane to Tucson. 

 5 days later, at 5:30 in the morning, the hotel phone rang. The doctor called to tell me that she had passed in her sleep in the night. We all had decided to go home the night before and we'd get a good night sleep and come see her in the morning. Us three girls stood at the foot of her bed telling her we were going home and we'd see her in the morning. I said to her that if she was ready to go, we were ready for her to be at peace. 

I hung up the phone from the doctor and sat on the bed wondering how I was going to get through the day without her. Then how is it going to get through the week. Then month. Then year. How was I going to get through all of the “first". The first Mother’s Day, the first birthday, the first Thanksgiving, the first Christmas all of it. I just didn’t know how I was going to survive. And yet here I am six years later having survived the time without mom. And maybe a stronger person because of it.  

Time has made it easier. Most of the time. But there are still days that grief reaches deep into my soul and pulls out whatever is left there.

Six years ago today the loss of mom crushed me. I never imagined I would ever be strong and steady again. Losing her crush me in a way I never imagined it would and yet it made me stronger in a way I never imagined it could.

Grief has no timeline. There isn’t a single day that suddenly the sun will come up and I’ll feel 100% healed. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, it’s like a roller coaster where you may not be able to see the twist and turns around the corner but you can be damn sure they’re there waiting to toss you around. f

I'll get past today. I'll survive the grief of today. Tomorrow I might even smile a little thinking of something Mom would have loved or some inside joke we had. I'll survive. She would want me to, in fact, expect it from me. 

I miss her. 

I have a ridiculous amount of...

I saw this on Facebook tonight and I thought of a funny Mom and Dad story. 

It was a hot July day in Tucson. Dad had just passed away and I was down helping Mom. I didn't know what I'd be helping her with, but I knew just being there would be help enough. 

We had finished dinner. A HUGE rib eye steak, baked potato and a salad (she made the meal in Dad's memory), when Mom hopped up from her chair and started frantically walking around the house. She was opening drawers, cabinets and moving things on shelves. I could not figure out what she was doing. She was clearly looking for something, and she was focused in finding it. 

A good 15 minutes goes buy and she comes back into the living room. She plops down on the sofa by me and dumps a box full of something onto the coffee table. 

"Look at this! Just look at this," she said. 

I looked down and there was AT LEAST 30 nail clippers in all shapes and sizes. 

I, of course, was very confused. When I looked back up at Mom to ask why, and what, and why again, I saw tears in her eyes. Then she said, "You dad could never find his nail clippers. He always bought another pair when he was out. He had them everywhere. Everywhere." I still wasn't sure where she was going with this, then we proceeded to talk all night about how if Dad could have one thing, why not have 10 of them. It was a joke in our family with Dad that when he'd go to the store to buy something on sale, he'd be so many of whatever it was. He'd say it was on sale so stock up. 

Fast forward 4 years I'm dazed and stunned cleaning out Mom's house. She died of a stroke and I flew to Tucson the month after to clean out her house. 

I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing. I was sorta floating through the house moving things to and from, but not really doing anything. I was still a bit in shock that Mom was gone. I was sitting at her desk and noticed a drawer that had a couple of scissors in it. I jumped up and started rushing through the house picking up scissors EVERYWHERE. I brought them all into the kitchen and dumped them on the table. There were 24 pair of scissors! Who needs that many scissors? 

The family there helping me thought I was losing it, but I started laughing. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I told them the story of Mom after dad died, and here I was after mom died doing the same thing, but with scissors! 

Ironically enough, she also had about 20 nail clippers too. They may have been dad's for all I know. 

For me? What do I have a ridiculous amount of? Pens. I'm a pen whore. I have at least 25 here by my sofa. I have at least 50 upstairs in the scrapbook room. I have a dozen in my office. I have 5-10 in my night stand. I have 4 in my purse. I tell you, they are everywhere in this house. 

What about you?

January Sunday Dinner - Family Favorite theme

Last night was the first of the 2023 themed Sunday dinners. It was a smashing success, as all of them were in 2022. 

Let me back up. In December of 2021 I decided to spice things up with Sunday dinner. I had my December Sunday dinner guests put their suggested themes in bowl and then each guest got to pick one out of the bowl and those ended up being our 2022 themes.

I had so much fun with the themes last year, and everyone played along splendidly, that I decided to do it again this year. The rule this year was we couldn't use any themes from 2022. My "plan" is a theme can return after a year. Otherwise, we'll run out of themes quickly. 

There are a couple on this list that will get tricky for some guests. Many haven't cooked Peruvian food or German food much. Myself included. But in true Jenn insanity, I've already started researching. 

Sunday we kicked off 2023 with Family favorites. The idea here was you'd bring a long standing family favorite, or a recently one. It didn't matter. It just had to be a family recipe that every one enjoys. We had a small group this month so I opted to make my Famous ribs. These really are the bomb. In fact, during dinner, Rowland leaned over and said to me, "Your dad would be proud of these ribs." Makes me tear up just thinking about it. 

Doesn't that look lovely?

I made three racks of ribs. We had enough for everyone to have leftovers. 

Also included in the family favorite menu:

Onion dip from Mark and Vanessa

This dip has shown up at every friend gathering we had in the 90's. Then it became Mark's signature dip for their Ground Hog's day party. It's a dip I associate to him whenever I see it or make it. And it was yummy. 

Janet's Mom's potato salad

This recipe has shown up many times at Wraspir family gatherings. You can't make this in small amounts so we all got leftovers. 

Kathy's Famous Corn Bread

Kathy has a special touch with corn bread. We've had it for years. It always turns out moist and delicious. She says the trick is this small loaf pan so each one is an individual serving. The pan makes great little corn bread loaf and it's delicious. Funny story. Janet wanted Kathy's corn bread recipe one time so she called and asked if she'd share it with her. To which Kathy replied, "Yes. It's a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix." We laughed and laughed at how we thought it was a "family recipe" only to find out it's from a box. 

Sherrie's Kick Ass Salad

Sherrie made this amazing salad many years ago and it's has to be my favorite salad of all time. I don't know what exactly it is about this salad, but everything balances perfectly. And it's brought all together by this amazing poppy seed dressing. 

Sex in a Pan

When is sex in a pan not a family favorite? 

The ribs were so tender that when cutting them they fell off the bone. So I have a pile of rib meat instead of actual bones. See, the rib rule in this house is ... I get the butts. You know? The ends of the rack... mmmm. My favorite.

Sherrie, Rowland, Kathy, Vanessa, Janet, Mark and my big noggin right up front.

All in all it was a family favorite fun night. Lots of chatter. Lots of laughter. Lots of napkins. And lots of dishes (not really). 

Looking forward to month's dinner when we travel to West Seattle for The Pantry Goat to host Viva Italia. 

Friends who you forget are friends

We all have them. Friends that we forget about, then you reconnect and it's like "Oh yah, we were friends."

I've got a ton of these types of friends. In almost all cases, we were good, close friends in our twenties. Most of them got married and started having kids, and slowly the relationships fell off. They had new lives. I still had my fabulous single life. 

I missed most of these friends and I would, occasionally, make an effort to plan a dinner or a get together with them. This almost always failed because they were "busy" with kid stuff. After three cancellations or three attempts to connect, I would stop. Then I'd just forget about them. Not on purpose, but because they aren't part of my "regular" life. 

Then suddenly, one day, one of them reaches out. Suddenly you remember, "Oh ya, we were friends." 

I'm not hurt, usually, that they go dormant. I don't take it personally, well, at least these days I don't. I used to and had to do a lot of internal work to realize, it isn't me...it IS them. 

Today I was contacted by a friend I haven't connected with in a very long time. He's not one of those that got married and moved on, but rather our life circumstances moved us in different directions. He reached out last week and asked if we could hop on a call. Literally scheduling a call with me because, "he knows I'm busy." 

My first reaction was, "eww...a phone call." Then my second reaction was how great it would be to chat with him and get caught up. Neither of us could remember how long it had been, we speculated that it had been early 2022. 

What's great about these types of connections is, regardless of how much time passes, you pick up where you left off and have a great conversation. 

We chatted for an hour about life, sudden life changes, new years plans/resolutions, intent on making our lives better, and being kind to ourselves when we fail. It was a really good conversation and I'm so very glad we had it. 

Thing is, it doesn't make me want to reach out to any other missing friends. You'd think it would, but it doesn't. I realized long ago that I just wasn't as important to some of these folks for them to even make the slightest effort. And that's ok. 

What's my point? It's okay to forget friends. It's ok to reconnect. And it's ok to not reconnect. Don't put all that pressure on yourself to feel "obligated" just because it seems like the social norm. Do it. Don't do it.  

2022 Favorite Books and other goals

 Happy New Year! When the clock rang midnight, a new ready goal is begun. This year, like the last several, I'm sticking to my 50 books read in a year. And as with each year, I'm going to try to not wait until the last couple of months and find myself having to read 10+ books to hit my goal. 

So, like any good project manager, I've broken my goal into quarters. To keep on track I have to read 12.5 books a quarter. That's doable. 

My second reading goal is to visit the local library. I mean, I have a library card. It is only a mile away and browsing books often means I find new authors to read. In addition, getting at least the book club books at the library saves me $$, which is also a goal. 

I have no goals around WHAT I read. I am doing Book Bingo again though. It never really drives what I read, it's more a happy coincidence when I read a book that is also on the Bingo board. 

2022 had many good books for me. And some horrible books. I read all the book club books - none of them I disliking so much I couldn't finish it. 

Here are my Top 10 favorites for 2022. Bold are the top 3 favorites.

1. Dear Edward - Ann Napolitano - An interesting story line about survival and how you learn to deal with trauma.
2. Everything We Keep - Kerry Lonsdale - I liked the mystery in this book. I thought I knew what happened, but I was wrong. 
3. I Found You - Lisa Jewell - Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors. She did not disappoint with this book. I read this one quickly.
4. In an Instant - Suzanne Redfearn - This one leaves you with a question of "what would you do?"
5. Magic Hour - Kristin Hannah - I loved the characters in this book and how they all struggle to know and feel love. It's a book about survival and how much inner strength we each can have.
6. The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline - This one had a twist in the middle of the book I did not see coming. I thought I knew which character this book was about, and I was way wrong. 
7. The Girl from Ballymor - Kathleen McGurl - This book stuck with me for some reason. I felt like the characters and I became friends.
8. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid - Such a good book with a nice little twist I did not see coming.
9. Verity - Colleen Hoover - By the end of this one, I was blown away with more questions than answers. A nice twist that some could see coming, but not the twist you think. 
10. We all Want Impossible Thinks - Catherine Newman - This one made me cry like nobody's business.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to reading.