Food, Wine, Friends...a Lovely Evening Out

One of Rich's bigger events every year is the Convention and Visitors Bureau Wine Tasting Extravaganza fundraiser.  The CVB provides him with a wine list, which he then uses to come up with a delicious pairing menu.  Take a look!

Since Rich has to work at the event, I always have to find some friends who will let me tag along.  Crissy and Judi agreed to be my "dates."  We had a great time chatting and decided we'd go in together to bid on the Pen Air Grumman Goose "flightseeing tour."  This is a very cool auction item at several fundraisers around town, but tends to get a bit pricey. We thought we'd pool our money and take a chance.  And we were the high bidders!  Can't wait to go up in the Goose and see our island as never before. Rich is already thinking about the photo ops!

 I am a cheese lover!  Despite all of the other fabulous food items, I have to admit that the cheese table is one of my favorites!

Below, Lori and Debbie enjoying some wine.  (I am not sure what's up with this new Blogger format but it doesn't seem to want to let me type in certain places....annoying!)

 Veggie tarts

And meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Eddie, Paul and Willie make sure the food keeps coming out. I don't think anyone realizes just how many hours Rich and his crew put into an event like this. Great job, guys!

Ali and Alyssa from the CVB are getting ready to give away two round trip Alaska Air tickets. I was sure I was gonna win!  We were out of town for last year's wine tasting,  but for two years prior I was either the winner of the grand prize (not anything this good, though!) or sitting at the table with the winner (my friend Donna won a cruise on a ticket that I picked up for her....oh, I should have handed her the other one, right?!)   So I kept saying that I am always at the "lucky table."  I needed those tickets!!   Alas, it was not to be, but the "lucky table" held true and my friend Crissy won the tickets!  Yay!  If it couldn't be me, I am glad she was the fortunate recipient.  I don't suppose I can talk her into taking me on a trip....

 Tom pouring wine,  and my coworkers Joe and Alexandra

Lori and someone who still thinks it's winter...

Peach/mango cheesecake with little peppercorns--a perfect pairing with the Moscato.  I had two.  :)

Gigi's keeper's box

It's a cliche but it really is the little things that warm a grandparent's heart. Today we received this photo of Aidan in his baseball uniform, looking very serious and fierce. It kinda cracks me up because I think of him as such a sweet kid and here he is trying to be intimidating or something. :) Our boy is growing up! But the best thing about our mail delivery was that he wrote us a note himself. It says,

"Dear Gigi and Grandpa Rich,
Here is a baseball picture I thought you might want. Baseball is so much fun. I wish you could come and watch. I love you and miss you! Aidan xoxo"

When my girls were growing up, they each had what we came to call their "keeper's box." Their boxes held congratulations cards from their births to high school graduation announcements and everything in between. I think they still get them out from time to time and reminisce about the many memories held within. :) Probably the last thing I need to be doing at my age is to accumulate more and more keepsakes that someone else will have to one day sort through and throw away (I hate that thought!) But I love my grandbabies' birth announcements and birthday party invitations and many, many photos, and scribbled artwork and notes written by their moms before they could write for themselves. I really do get severely emotionally attached to these little mementos!

So thanks, Aidan, for the sweet note--you made your Gigi very happy! It will be fun to pull it back out when you are a teenager and remember the days of 9 year old baseball. And I wish we could be there to watch you play! We love you.

And still we wait....

We were so excited to see these little flowers bursting through as the snow receded from our yard a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, this was the view yesterday! We've had more snow, wind, rain and sleet ever since. I am not sure if those flowers are still hanging in there under the latest drift, but I really hope so.

What can we do but keep busy! Last week, Melanie, Tammy and I attended an aromatherapy workshop taught by our friend Sharon, who knows everything there is to know about local plants and their traditional uses and medicinal value, Unangan culture, and (maybe best of all) making fabulous chocolate confections (her sea salt caramels are *to die for*).

Tammy was excited to mix up some sweet smelling bath salts.

Mel and I with our concoctions--bath salts, massage oils, and room sprays. Nice! We had a great time and learned a lot. Thanks, Sharon! We had to leave class a little early because we'd made an appointment to stop by the hotel and say hi to Nils Andreassen from the Institute of the North, who was in town helping to facilitate some training. It was for "young leaders" of the Aleutian Islands and we were a little miffed to find out we were, yes, too old. :) Not really miffed but it's kinda sad to think we are not considered YOUNG any more. Anyway, we read that Nils had a degree in peace and development so we wanted to chat a bit. He was gracious and kind enough to meet us for an hour of discussion about all of our favorite topics. No photo, though. :)

The Lions Club holds an annual Easter breakfast and this year added a "cutie cupcake contest." I'd seen cupcakes like this on pinterest and decided to give them a try. The shaved chocolate is supposed to look like a bird's nest but, of course, mine did not turn out nearly as well as the example recipe I saw. It was pretty hard to shave that chocolate and make it actually look like twigs. Rich was enlisted to do the shaving since it was a little rough on my weakling arms and hands. And no, I did not win. :)

This is such a busy little town!We also attended the annual Soup Off fundraiser for USAFV (Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence), which is always lots of fun and supports a very worthwhile local organization. Speaking of winning, Rich took top honors in the Chili category with his Rib Eye Corn Chili. It was delish! And we won several door prizes so we were happy campers.

Then I went to a Saturday class on starting tomatoes in the house. We already have a bunch of basil growing in our aerogarden and have grown cherry tomatoes in it in the past but I thought I'd try to grow some tomatoes in pots. We planted some seeds in containers and also brought home a few little seedlings that were already started. My seeds have sprouted so we will see if I can keep them alive!

Our photo printer bit the dust about a month ago. (And is it a coincidence that we tried some repurposed printer ink around the same time? We didn't realize it when we ordered it, just thought we'd found a bargain. We should have known better but gave it a try, leading to runny ink in the printer and messed up photos. Ugh.) The printer had done well for us for quite a few years and we'd been talking about getting a new one anyway so it was time. It arrived on Friday and we went to a garage sale yesterday where we found a small table that we thought we could use to hold the printer.

Of course it was raining/snowing when we loaded the table into the back of the truck. Rich hauled it up the steps after taking out the drawer to make it easier to carry. We laid the drawer on the living room floor and I went off to the Democratic caucus we were holding at the library. When I returned a couple of hours later, Rich was at work, the drawer was in the kitchen, and there was a HUGE red stain on the carpet, along with three smaller red "drippy" spots. I was so upset! We realized there was some red ink or magic marker on one corner of the drawer and it must have started running when it got wet. I've tried carpet stain remover and every home remedy suggested by my Facebook friends :) managing to get the stain from bright red to muted orange but I don't think it's going away. And it's not in a place where it can be easily camouflaged or covered up--pretty close to the middle of the floor. I even tried cutting the fibers, which did take care of the smaller spots, hurray, but not the big one. I know it's a silly thing but I just can't stand looking at it. I am going to try the steam cleaning guy and if that doesn't work, guess I will be buying an area rug. For now, I moved our little entryway rug into the room to cover it. It looks pretty funny and totally out of place. But it keeps me from obsessing over the glaring orange circle on the floor.

Seriously? It's almost April!

I am trying not to be grumpy about the never-ending snow. It is March 31st, right?! I am so ready for a break in this weather! Meanwhile, happy birthday to my daughter Bonnie, above, with David and Emery. This is from last fall when I was in Texas, but she's now very pregnant with baby #2 whom we are anxious to meet in June! Bonnie's birthday was yesterday and we're sending out much love and many good wishes for a very happy year ahead.

And today is grandson Aidan's 9th birthday--I find it very hard to believe that he could already be 9 years old! He's my first grandchild and set the bar pretty high for being a very sweet and happy baby. Having only three girls in our family, we had no idea what to do with a boy but he did a good job of breaking in his mom, his Gigi and his two aunties. Now he's riding dirt bikes, playing baseball, hanging out with friends, and growing up before our eyes. We love you, Aidan, and can't wait to see you in the summer time!

Happy Spring!

Yes, the calendar says it's now spring but Ajax doesn't quite believe it and neither do I!

Here's the view from our bedroom window a few days ago.

I know I am not supposed to complain about the weather but I am really OVER winter this year! I looked out the window today and it was snowing again. I am sure it's the harshest winter since I've lived here and Rich agrees it's one of the worst in his 18+ years on the island. And it hasn't hurt that I've usually managed to be off somewhere during at least part of the coldest/dreariest times in the past, so my perspective is probably skewed. I am having to tough it out this year and it's making me a little moody! I know it's not the biggest thing in the world to be whining about, so I will leave it at that and hope for a sunny, warmish day soon.

I came across this inspiring video the other day and LOVED it. What a different world we would have if we adopted a giftivistic attitude. Check it out by clicking here.

March Marches In

We've been having lots more snow, wind, a little rain, and cold temps. I am about ready for a tropical vacation. Texas in June will count. :) The other morning, I looked out the living room window and two huge eagles sat on the rail, staring in at the cats and me. Of course, the cats were very interested but it's a good thing they were inside, I think. Before I could get the camera, one of the birds flew away, but this one stayed for the longest time, sitting very still as the snow fell around him.

Happy 5th birthday to our sweet, funny, lively granddaughter, Ally! It is hard to believe she's turned 5 and will be a Kindergarten girl in the fall. When I'm in Abilene, she always wants to swim, shop, sing and play and we have so much fun doing it all. I didn't get to talk with her today because she was at day care while I was home and then I was at work when she got home, but hopefully tomorrow we will get to chat. Her mom said she was sick today so that could not be much fun for her birthday! Hopefully she will be much better by tomorrow. Happy birthday, Ally! We love you and miss you lots!

Catch Up Time

It's been a little crazy around here again! I've been busy getting ready for the annual Channel 8 fundraising auction, which was a blast, as usual. The photo above is a view of our behind the scenes TV set. We had a great time and raised some money for our station, so all is grand. The hotel, along with Rich and F&B Manager Lisa, offered a wine and food pairing again this year, a private 7 course dinner for 8 people, and it was the high seller at the auction for $1300! Very nice!

Below, my friend Judi makes beautiful quilts for the fundraising efforts of all the local nonprofits (that's also her "manly hibernation quilt" hanging behind the couch on the auction set). In addition to that, she makes "comfort quilts" for people going through times of stress, whether it's a illness, a death in the family, or any number of other reasons someone might need some extra TLC. She sent a sweet quilt to Emery when she was recovering from her treatment. So the local museum decided that Judi should be honored with her own exhibit and many of her quilts were gathered up for the display. The opening was held the other night and we had a lovely time browsing and chatting.

Judi


Tammy admiring a quilt


Next up was bunco night at my house last night. My awesome husband spent his whole day off making food for us. Here's his Latin Cobb Salad, which was a huge hit, especially the grilled shrimp.


Andrea and Juliette

We also had a citrus/fennel/herb salad, and many other delicious items not shown here. Everyone loves bunco at my house but, alas, I don't think it's necessarily because of me. LOL

Sonia
Debbie and Sharon

Erin, Pipa, me, Melanie, and Tammy

Tonya and Lori

As Melanie commented, we look pretty happy and healthy for four months into a six month winter! We're supposed to do the Polar Bear Run *Walk* today but it's drizzly and rainy and chilly so I am probably going to wimp out. I know, I should be more motivated, but I have so much I need to do that I will gladly skip this one!

My ESL/GED class has turned into mostly a GED class and my students are great--I really enjoy them and don't (too much) mind the early hours. I really did not anticipate how many hours it would take outside of class to prepare and stay organized, though! They are all at different places and we can work on some things together, but I also feel like everyone needs some individual attention, which is hard to come by.

I'm plodding along in swimming; I missed last week because of the auction and showed up yesterday to be reminded that next week is our last class. How can that be? I still don't know what I am doing! Well, I am better than I was, but I could probably use several more months of lessons! :)

I was doing great on my 750 words a day till I got home late from the auction (yes, I am blaming the auction for any of my failures) and the internet was down. OH NO. I had signed up for the February challenge, which means I am now on the WALL OF SHAME for pledging to write every day and then failing to do so. It's all in fun, but I had a 53 day streak going and hated to lose it. SO I am taking a little break and thought I might start back on March 1, but that didn't happen.

What's going on in your little corner of the world?