The Thanksgiving Song

"The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler

Hey all! Happy Thanksgiving. I know I know, the day has already passed, but, I know I'm still thankful for everything I was thankful for on the 26th!

After finishing a marathon week at work (too many ML ferments calling my name to watch them right now...like naughty children!), I happily lit off for Napa for some R and R. First, a quick story. So, we all know I'm in school, right? I'm doing two programs concurently, one in enology and one in viticulture. As you can imagine, this means two classes at once. I finished a big marathon when classes in both programs in late October (everything was due 31 October). Before I went to DC, I logged on a wrote down all of my upcoming due dates. We were in a short course for viticulture...Nematodes of Grapevines...which I knew close to little about. From what I wrote down on the 6th, my final paper was due on November 28th. I put it in my blackberry....all good, all ready. So, I sit down last weekend with the intent of getting ahead for the week because I was going to be able to put in 0 time during the week...only to discover....that my nematode final paper was due the 23rd. This was a 4 pm PST on the 22nd. AWESOME. But no worries kids, I rocked it. I was just up rockin' later than I wanted for the 0530 start monday morning! Reading comprehension is key. I'm a fool.

So, Napa for the holiday was GREAT. I arrived to a house full of dogs...big and small...white and dark...they were amazing! Here are some of them relaxing on the couch...Life at Wheeler Pet Sitting is really tough!


Looks tough, right? Anyway, we cooked and played Euchre (and drank...)the night before, and then awoke the next morning and continued cooking mania. My cousins, Mat and Jennifer, who live in Oakland and are from Missouri arrived later that morning, heritage turkey in hand. I don't have a photo of the special heritage turkey, but I can tell you it had very small breasts! LOL! No, really, it had much more rich dark meat and very limited breast meat...ahhh consumer driven animal selection.

Mat and Jennifer brought 3 friends from Oakland and we all had a very nice time! Good wine, good friends, good food...good times! We ate dinner on my aunt's collection of our family's china. A few generations ago on my Mom's side, our family owned a china mill in England called Hammersley and my Aunt Deb has made herself quite a collection over the years. Most of the women in our family possess pieces that they have accumulated over the years. Before the days of eBay, my mom and I used to go to antique shows and look for it...I clearly remember flipping over cups and saucers and reading the stamps...hoping it was Hammersley. It's our family heritage...in pretty painted cups!

Here's the table all decked out (all photos are Aunt Deb and Uncle Ed's! Thanks guys):



Dinner was fantastic, check out our spread:


A feast!!! Sweet potatoes, mashed white potatoes, turkey, apricot-grand marinier stuffing (complete with giblets), Gramma North's fruit salad, fresh baked rolls, homemade cranberry sauce, spinach salad, roasted veggies....I could go on and on!!

Unfortunately, I pulled a totally ROOKIE gastric bypass patient mistake and was able to eat about zippo of my meal (don't worry, I had left overs). So, our number one food rule is no drinking while eating. #2 is...protein first. If you have a plate full of food, you're supposed to eat your protein, then veggies, then if you have space left, carbs. Well, I'm an idiot and a carbohead. So, there were these amazing little rolls, homemade and warm and amazing, that we made in mini-muffin tins for dinner. So, I figured, I want that roll, so I'm eating it first, end of story. So, I buttered it, and ate it. Well, as you can imagine, once you wet carbohydrates like bread, they expand! (I will have to explain my now VERY complicated relationship with sandwiches at another time!) I ate that whole roll and BANGO, full pouch...sick Catrina...no more thanksgiving food or drink for ~1 hour. It's not the end of the world, but it does show me that I'm a moron!

Later in the evening, because I was hungry as hell, I got to eat some turkey and some roasted veggies. My cousins are professional veggie people, and Mat roasted these veggies...carrots, beets, other roots...they were amazing!!!! I took quite a few home with me.

Here is a photo for me to leave you with!


That's all she wrote about Thanksgiving! More soon! Sorry this is probably riddled with typos!

A bientot!!

Say Hey (I Love You)

"Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti and Spearhead

The above is a happy-go-lucky tune I discovered at the beginning of harvest that I often bump in my ipod when I'm outside checking tanks at the winery. It matches my mood...most of the time.

I wouldn't have blogged this evening but I am just so damn excited because the YANKEES ARE GOING TO TO WORLD SERIES!!! The game didn't end until 9 pm my time, which is late in New York, but I'm all wound up because of it. :-) And I spent the night making chili...high protein, high fiber, yum yum!

Anyway, it has been harvest pretty much since I got back from New York. In September, I spent two weekends in a row in Washington State doing the required "camps" for my certificate programs. They were lots of fun! I have been kind of dragging my feet waiting for the pictures to appear...but to no avail. I learned a lot about viticulture in the viticulture weekend. The enology weekend was....a nice review. I do enology-type work fairly, um, regularly, so, it was mostly a .....review. My classmates were excellent. I was surprised at how different the enology class was when compared to the viticulture class. There were more women in the viticulture class, which I was somewhat surprised by. I got a harsh reminder in the wine industry of often an old boys club when I left for my first weekend, so it was refreshing to see the abundance of XX chromosomes in the viticulture certificate program.

The harvest at Wente has been different then any harvest I have experienced. It was a slow start...with a trickle just enough to keep us marginally busy, but easily distracted. The sugars were slow to rise in the vineyard samples that I saw come across my bench. Then suddenly, the chardonnay was ready and BAM! It has been mania ever since. Six days a week crazy crazy. Don't get me wrong, that is exactly how I like it, but, it does a girl in!

In other news, I love 100 lbs! 108, now, actually. That's like...an entire person. It is a strange place that I'm in right now, I can honestly say, I feel like I'm the same size as I was when I went into surgery....maybe larger. My rational brain knows that that is not the case, but every time I look into the mirror I see...fat. What a strange reversal in the way that I think. I can't figure it out, but I don't have too much time to dwell on it either. My clothes certainly fit "better"....if better is defined by ridiculously large. My jeans are especially annoying because I spend the entire day hiking them up! Oh well. I think my hair is done falling out....it had been falling out since June and ceased last week. I'm still freezing cold though. Interesting new life I'm leading.

I'm DC bound fairly soon for a little weekend away (208 $ plane ticket...non-stop). I am excited to be the heck out of California for a few days. I went to Napa to spend the night with Deb and Ed last weekend, and a few dogs, and it was incredibly therapeutic! I enjoyed being away and with people I love so much. I got back to Livermore and was actually disappointed when I returned home.

Quick update. Sorry there are no pics, but I'm having a hard time finding some that looks like I've lost 100 lbs. That's probably because I'm having trouble seeing it myself. I will find something suitable hopefully. Be patient!

Til next time.

Cheers
Catrina

Long Time Coming

Song: Long Time Coming, Lil Wayne

Hello All. I know it's 2009, half way through!, but for some reason I've been bitten by the blogging bug again. Unexplained...totally! I've been exercising, working, laying in bed...and blog entry ideas have been popping into my head. I kind of still hold the view that blogging is a bit narcissist, but, for those whom I know that are not on facebook, they have no means of knowing what I am up to. So, pictures, stories, the occasional rambling...we'll see how this goes.

You know I hate catch up entries, so this is going to be a quick brief so every one is on the same page in the life of me. Okay, so, I came to California one November day in 2007 with very clear objectives:

1) To get experience in the wine industry (in progress)
2) To go to school for a professional certificate program in both enology and viticulture (check, I will be finished at Washington State University by Christmas 2010)
3) To have gastric bypass (completed, May 7, 2009)

So, I had been pretty tight lipped about the whole gastric bypass thing, mostly because I didn't want to jinx it. I will leave it at it was a years worth of doctor visits and further shame and embarrassment that is now coming to a close. Why did I do it? Simple. My health. Quality of life. It is that simple. My lifestyle has completely changed since May 7th and I couldn't be happier, truly. I have a bit of a complicated relationship with food, as I am suddenly completely disinterested in consuming it, but, I am feeling great. Food has never been my friend, never will be. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I don't love good food...especially when shared with good friends!! So, you may occasionally get the ramblings of someone with a re-routed digestive system, but hopefully my weight isn't the most interesting thing about me. ;-)

School. School is tough! It is mostly online work, but I have to appear in Washington State 6 times (3 times for each program) before the close of the program. I am learning a heap, but it is expensive in both time and money. But worth it, I hope.

Otherwise, still working at Wente. I've been there 1.5 years!!! I love them though, they are my California family. My heart still feels the love when I think about all of the love I received after surgery. You Wente folks are awesome! :-D

Okay, so, the dreaded catch up entry is over. On to bigger and better things.

Cheers