Wow! I can't believe it has been over nine months since I've posted something. It feels like just yesterday that my son was born and my life was turned completely upside-down. What was once wine and food turned into diapers and distractions.

Despite these changes, life has been good. I haven't been drinking quite as much wine, but when I do, I REALLY enjoy it. Golf also still has a big place in my life. I wish I could say that all of the hours of practice, dedication, and love for the game were paying off. As anyone else who plays golf will probably tell you, the game can be rewarding at times, and brutally abusing at times. In any case, it is always nice to spend time out of the house, enjoying fresh air, and occasionally making a birdie or two. :)

After asking if I've been keeping up with the blog, a lot of folks ask me if I am still getting samples of wine in the mail. While not as much as I once did, I do still get shipments from time to time. Although I can't promise that I will post updates as often as I used to, I'll make sure to start sharing my thoughts on wine and life more often than I did over the last nine months.

There's so much I could say about the last nine months, I don't think I could even begin to sum it up in just one post. What I will say is this, I wouldn't change a second of it.

Did I miss anything while I was busy being a Dad?

Cheers!

... no words can describe this experience!

I can't wait to pick a few bottles from this year's vintage to hold for Liam's 21st birthday. Any suggestions?

Life is like a good bottle of wine, you never know what a little time will bring. It's funny when I think back on all of the events that came together in perfect disarray to form where I would stand today. I thank chance, fate, and friends for bringing me to the present and look forward to whatever I should call my future state. To everyone who has been a part of my journey, I hope you'll be there for my next start. In the meantime, you'll always be in my heart.

It's crazy to think about...

Exactly four years ago, I froze my ass off at the top of the Rock waiting for my future wife to say the word, "YES!" Now I wait, four years later, to welcome my son home. I can't imagine what I'll be waiting for next...

Growing up we all were told the same thing...

"Learn your math because you're going to need it in life."

Sure, being able to figure out the tip at your favorite restaurant, measure and extrapolate ingredients for your favorite recipe, or even figure out how much your bro owes you after your favorite team wins is useful... but how many people need Calculus to get through the day to day grind?

Unless you're a rocket scientist or similar ubergeek, you probably don't employ math on a daily basis. That doesn't mean that these principals aren't affecting your life. You just don't know it.

Slave to a long daily commute, I spend a lot of time in my car allowing my mind to wander off of the road. Today, as I watched the trees race by, I realized something interesting about change....

Change, otherwise known as "delta", is feared like Freddy Kruger as he creeps up on a teen couple caught making out in the cold, dark woods. We fear getting older, fatter, slower, faster, dumber, smarter. We take safeguards to prevent change's effects and protect ourselves from what we know is coming down the road. We are slaves to delta.

Ever notice how 70 miles per hour feels like you're standing still when you're set to cruise control? Ever notice how it feels like you're not even moving once an airplane reaches cruising altitude? You're still moving... changing... flying through space and time, yet it feels as though you are standing still.

Delta has gotten a bad wrap. We hardly even notice change. The earth moves every day, we got slowly older, and time passes. The reason why it passes undetected? These changes move as steady as a car set to cruise control. There's no acceleration. There's no change in the speed at which change is occurring. That's what Calculus is all about: measuring the speed at which things change. See, your teachers WERE right. Math DOES play a part in your every day life!

.... I pushed the pedal down, disengaged the cruise control, and accelerated home. Some things are worth risking the unknown, running into the wind, and seeing what's going to happen. Acceleration, not change, is what life's all about.

Cheers!

OK, so here we are. 26 weeks have passed since the creation of what will hopefully be a happy and healthy baby named Liam Michael. Wine consumption is at an all time low. Beer consumption is considerably average. Baby planning is at an all time high. Despite the fact that his room is as ready for a tenant as a section 8 crack house, we are steadily working towards our goal of giving him a warm welcome. I think I've got everything under control except for the fact that I have absolutely no idea what to do once he gets here.

Instead of taking classes, learning how to breathe, or even scouring the internet for information on how to be a good parent, yesterday I decided to crack into some wine. I still have a lot of bottles hanging around that I never got around to tasting. One of which was a bottle of V-Twin Zinfandel.

I am a sucker for cool labels but I always have low hopes for the juice they disguise. I don't know if it's because I haven't been drinking as much lately, or the mere fact that I just needed a drink but this wine actually hit the spot. I slugged back several glasses of this juice while enjoying some of my mother-in-law's kick ass pork roast. Neither may have answered my questions about parenting, but they both helped comfort me into forgetting about all of those worries for the time being.

What more could you ask for? ... well, besides a good nanny! :)

Cheers!

Like a boat's bloated cry of its horn blaring through the clouds of dense fog filling a dark harbor, the coming of labor day always signals sort sort of change for me. It signaled the beginning of a new school year, the end of summer, and all too often, the start of a new chapter. When I got married, it brought on even more significance. I can't forget to overlook this holiday as it is also the anniversary of my wife's birth.

With the new mini-whore on the way, I haven't been drinking nearly as much wine as I did this time last year. But when I do crack open a bottle, I've been finding myself gravitating towards Chardonnay. Not only are Chards a refreshing treat on a hot summer day (usually after golfing for hours) but they are also my wife's least favorite white wine. What better opportunity to purge my Chardonnay supply than while I am drinking for two! :)

This weekend may not include much wine, but it will include lots of sun as we celebrate my wife's birthday at the beach. Who says you need to drink to have a good time? Okay, maybe it doesn't hurt, but I have a feeling that massive quantities of alcohol won't be necessary. The chance to spend some quality time with my wife and mother-to-be is sure to be all that I need.

Happy Birthday Sheila and happy Labor Day to all of my wino friends!

Cheers!

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It happens more often than I'd like to admit...

I always thought people would think I was crazy or even just plain weird for even mentioning it. Maybe I'm not alone... Do you ever catch yourself watching an event play out and know that you've seen it happen before? Like watching a summer re-run, you know the plot, you've seen the climax, and you already know how it's going to end. Well, this is what happens to me. Call it deja-vu, psychic powers, or just pure coincidence... I don't care because I'm convinced that there are just some things in life that you just KNOW. If only it worked on picking lottery numbers... maybe one day!

The second we found out that my wife was pregnant, I just knew that we were having a boy. I would tell everyone we met from that moment forward that we were having a boy. They would ask how I knew and I'd just explain that there are some things you just know. Well, four weeks ago, we went in for a sono and guess what... they told us it was a girl! I was in shock. Not because I was wrong, and definitely not because I wouldn't want to have a girl... but more so just because I was convinced that it was a boy. It just didn't feel right thinking it was a girl.

Today I got some reassuring news. We just went back for another sono and learned more than we thought we ever would peering through the cloudy black and white blur of a sonogram. Apparently I was right all along... it IS a boy!

Just goes to show you, life is FULL of surprises!

Cheers!

It's the theme that prevails through our lives...

As children, we can't wait to become older. As adults, we can't wait to retire. As elderly, we can't wait to have grandchildren. What are you waiting for? Chances are you too are hoping time will pass you by.

Why do we do this to ourselves? What's so wrong with this moment that it makes us want to fast forward to the next?

Aging a bottle of wine may take patience and self control but aging as a human being happens weather you like it or not. Patience and self control only help through the journey. While the results of the second, hours, and days gone by may be rewarding, it's still important to live for the moment.

Steal a moment of time for yourself. Stand still as the second-hand moves and the sands of time steadily fall. Feel the air rush into your lungs, the sun tickle your skin, and the fresh summer grass cut your nostrils. After all, the present is a gift and it's a great day to be alive. Drink up, enjoy every sip, and have no regrets.

Cheers!


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