Texas Lou

I hate saying goodbye.  I always get so sad when I have to leave my family to go back to Virginia and spending lots of time alone in the airport and on the airplane doesn’t make it any better.

The only thing that keeps me from losing it completely is knowing that I’m headed home to the people I love in Virginia and thinking about getting to see Ben and our kittens.  It also helps to know when I’ll be back in Texas to have that to look forward to.

I returned home safely from Texas after a very nice long weekend with friends and family.   Despite a large number of deer midnight-grazing along I-64 on my ride home from the airport and already desperately missing my family, I made it home in one piece, both mentally and physically!

I can’t wait for the month of November to pass by so I get to see everyone again in the lone star state for my little brother’s college graduation in Austin.  And this time I get to bring Ben with me so the airport waiting and plane traveling won’t be so lonely!

Top Ten Things from This Weekend’s Trip To Texas

1. The look on my dad’s face when I surprised him by showing up for his 60th birthday party
2. Spending Friday evening drinking wine and enjoying the company of all of my siblings – Carrie, Mikey, Farris, Christian, and Bradley
3. Eating great long-overdue Mexican food with the fam
4. Getting Starbucks and kolaches with mom for breakfast Saturday morning
5. Playing Farmville with mom
6. Watching the Longhorns play while helping mom cook for a friend’s wedding
7. Having time to catch up on some good TV
8. Getting to drink St. Arnold’s Oktoberfest and Christmas Ale
9. Also having the time to start reading a really good book (so far)
10. Just being home

And it’s only Saturday morning so there’s plenty more fun to be had!

On Sunday, I’m walking in the 2009 Charlottesville Area Heart Walk!

I’d love it if you could support me by going to this website and donating money.

If you can’t donate money, I totally understand.  You can also support me by getting out there and walking.  I walk with coworkers 3 to 5 days a week during my lunch break.  It may not seem like much, but adding activities like these into your daily schedule can make you feel better both physically and mentally, improve your overall health, and add years to your life.

Start moving!

I recently filled up my 4 GB memory card on my digital camera and had to empty all of my pictures onto my hard drive.  I came across a picture from December 24th, 2008 taken on my 26th birthday.  Thinking about this night, I came to the realization that my birthday is my favorite day of the year.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m neither full of myself, nor do I enjoy torturing myself with an annual celebration that reminds me that I’m one year older and still haven’t accomplished my goals.  Although this day is always nice because I get lots of attention, the real reason it is my favorite day of the year is because it is the one day of the year when I know I will get to be with my family. 

Since my parents divorced when I was 12 years old, the days that the 5 of us got to spend together as a family, broken and disfunctional as we may be, have been few and far between.  Since I moved to Virginia in 2005, my time in Texas with my family is limited so the whole family gets together for my birthday every year to have dinner on Christmas Eve. 

Although it is just one night a year, it is the one night where I get to pretend that my parents are still together and we are all still a big, happy family.  I’ve often thought about the fact that I will never know how it feels to have my parents together, married, and happy as an adult, and this is the closest that I get. 

Every year at dinner, we take a family picture, and these pictures have become some of my most cherished.  I really think we are all truly happy at the moment these pictures were taken.

December 24, 2006 @ The Taste of Texas

December 24, 2007 @ The Melting Pot

December 24, 2008 @ Perry’s Steakhouse 

Last weekend was quite eventful!  I experienced these awesome firsts:

• Attended my first music festival
• Played cornhole for the first time
• Tasted my first moonshine – apple pie and nectarine
• Enjoyed my first lavendar meade
• Attended my first tea party (really a tea party-themed birthday party for my friend’s daughter)

It was an awesome weekend and I was ecstatic to add these firsts to my list of lifetime experiences!

So I actually got to try the Blue Mountain Brewery Oktoberfest (mentioned in the previous post) before the weekend was over at a new (two years old but new to me) restaurant/pub/beer store Ben and I discovered 2 minutes from home.  Beer Run is the name and beer is definitely their game. 

They had the largest assortment of beer I’ve seen in Charlottesville.  I was in beer heaven!  Their food was also delicious!  Ben and I enjoyed a pint of the Blue Mountain Brewery Oktoberfest with our dinner and bought a 4 pack of the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale to take home with us.  I have to admit, I could have gone bankrupt (and gained 50 pounds) in that place had Ben not dragged me away.  Luckily, it is close by and we will definitely be going back again.

If you’re in the area and you enjoy beer, I highly recommend stopping by.  Check out their website for more info.

Yesterday I attended the Crozet Music Festival with some friends from work.  We went to support a group of guys from VGT who have a band called Coal River.  These guys were AWESOME!  They sang some really good cover songs as well as some of their own unique tunes.  If you’ve got some free time and feel like hearing some great local music, check out their MySpace page.

In addition to listening to some great bands, there were several local wineries and breweries there.  Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery (mentioned in an earlier post) was there and had a newly bottled wine called Lavender Metheglin.

From Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery’s website:

Metheglin is derived from the Welsh word “meddyglyn” which means healing drink.  In ancient times, healing spices were added to mead resulting in a  drink with healing powers.  Lavender, believed to promote good health, is also soothing and relaxing and is associated with romance and seduction.  Possessing a beautiful golden color and a bouquet of fresh lavender flowers, this slightly sweet mead can be enjoyed heated or paired with desserts such as blackberry cobbler.

This wine was amazing and hopefully it really does have healing powers since I’ve been fighting a cold.  I loved it so much that I bought 3 bottles of it.

In addition, I sampled wines from Well Hung Vineyard (love the name and their label) and Flying Fox Vineyard which had some really good wines (and really cute labels).  I’m going to have to make it out to Flying Fox’s tasting room to try their 2006 Petit Verdot which won a Gold Medal in the 2009 Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition.  It tied for first place with Barboursville Vineyards ‘ Octagon 2005 and Jefferson Vineyards‘ 2006 Meritage (according to the owner) and I loved both of these wines.

Local breweries in attendance included Starr Hill, Blue Mountain Brewery (was really sad I missed out on their Humpback Oktoberfest but will have to make a trip out to Nelson County to try it and their up-and-coming Chocolate Pumpkin Porter), and Devils Backbone Brewing Company (I had the Gold Leaf Lager which was delicious).

In the end, it was an awesome night with lots of friends, good music, good food, and great wine and beer (despite my cold).  I will definitely be attending again next year and you should too!

Just call me Leslie the Cold Magnet!  I’ve caught another one, and no Josh, I am NOT a hypochondriac!

I made myself some homemade chicken noodle soup and a hot toddy last night in order to rest up for the weekend’s activities.

It was really good!  So with cold season upon us, if you find yourself without Nyquil and needing a good night’s rest, try this recipe:

• 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 shots of 151 rum
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of honey

It definitely did the trick for me!

Every now and then something brings up a random and long-forgotten childhood memory.  Since these seem to become fewer and farther between as I get older, I thought this blog might be a good place to document them so I can come back and relive them whenever I want.

When I was in preschool, we made green eggs and ham.  Me being a picky eater, although you’d never know it by looking at me now, didn’t like eggs or ham, and especially not when they were dyed green.  So instead, I got to draw my own green eggs and ham on a paper plate with crayons!  What a brilliant idea!  Gotta give props to those preschool teachers!

I’d like to thank my cousin Janette for the childhood memories idea.  A few years ago when I was in college, she and I were sitting outside enjoying a few beers when she brought up some funny stories from our childhood that I had completely forgotten.  She suggested that we write them all down in a book so we wouldn’t forget them.  Thanks Tweety…this isn’t quite a book, but I figure it’ll do!

And just for shits and giggles, here’s a childhood picture of me to go along with the childhood memory!  Thanks for the big green foo foo dress mom!

Ben took this awesome picture of the cats with his phone.

Revolver Ocelot was in mid-yawn, but he looks like he’s doing the “Wuzzzzzzzzzz Up” from Scary Movie.