Yay Vino!!!

I love wine.  Lerve it.  Luff it.  M-m-m-m-m-m......

It may have something to do with the French blood that flows in me, thanks to my Mom.  For me, drinking wine has always been synonymous with laughter and female bonding. When I was young, I remember watching my Mom and her sisters visit in our livingroom while drinking wine.  There were six of them and they were a vivacious group free spirited French gals.  My grandmother (their Mom) definitely laid the groundwork for that dynamic.

I'm currently working with some folks on a project where I live to establish whether or not this region is conducive to growing grapes for winemaking.  I'm really excited about the project and the potential for it happening where I live.  I've met some great people and through those connections was invited to be a judge in a wine competition in a community close to where I live this weekend.  Free wine drinking, you say?  Count me in!  It's the first time I was able to drink wine before noon and not feel guilty about it although having to only taste and spit out the wine felt a bit like a crime against the universe.

Being a wine tasting judge was a riot.  Seriously!  I may have actually coined a few new wine-tasting terms such as 'floaty bits' and 'yummy'.  The wine was all home made and some of it was very good.  Afterwards there was a potluck dinner and about 60 people from the village came out for it.  There was something really magical about it.... the palpable sense of community in the room was incredible and I felt truly honoured to be there. 

There was a band playing made up of local people and it really added to the sense of community spirit.  My girlfriend Cindy told me earlier in the week that her husband was going to part of the entertainment that evening.  I told her that when she used the term 'entertainment' I was picturing Murray in assless chaps, however he actually wore jeans and was the drummer in the band. 

I've been a bit of a hermit lately; cocooning in my home and loving it.... but last night reminded me how important it is to connect with people and the value of living in a small community.  Tonight I look forward to sipping a glass of red that I'm actually allowed to swallow!

Fridge Magnets

Ok y'all.
I just have to share something funny with you.

I briefly mentioned in an earlier post that I had a suitor who didn't like my fridge magnets so I politely sent him packing.  Seriously.  It sounds like a small thing but my fridge magnets really represent a big part of my sense of humour.  Appropriate?  Not so much but neither am I.

Mybarb and I were yapping on the phone the other night and she was updating my pathetic "don't-have-television" ass on what was happening on The Bachelor.  Apparently it's down to 4 women and one of them withdrew from the show because she didn't want to give up her job for this man.  I expressed indignation that she wouldn't quit her job for a man who showed such potential to which Barb replied "This from the woman who won't even take her fucking fridge magnets down!"

Touche, my good friend.

Now while I understand what she's getting at with this cheeky comment, I just have to say that humour is so very important to me and I'll defend that position with my last breath!  (Ok, somewhat dramatic but you get what I'm saying....).  I think you need to see my fridge magnets, dear internet, in order to fully understand what I'm trying to explain here.  People either clearly think they're funny.... or really, really don't.  So, for your entertainment and viewing pleasure, I present 'Susan's quasi-obscene fridge magnets'. 

I'm guessing that you've figured out by now that I love all things 'retro'.  If I won the lottery I think I'd buy the Brady Bunch house.  I'm not kidding.  I have a couple of other gems (non-magnet variety) that are absolutely hilarious and have a total retro, kitschy feel to them.  I'll do another post soon telling you all about that. 

 Please; if you happen to see a fridge magnet with the same theme as those shown above, send it to me!!!  There just might be a jar of homemade antipasto in it for you.....

See, Dear Readers?

Well?  Did y'all notice? (My American friend is no doubt laughing at the increase in my "y'all" usuage).  Check out the new math....

Increased Comments + No Spam = Tons O' Bloggin'

I may even break a record in February for the most blogs/month on Suzeville.  And February is a really short month!!!  Can you tell I'm a little bit bored?  I have ramble-itis.  If I do say so myself, it's kinda cute when I do it.  All the girls from work are collectively rolling their eyes in this moment because they are SICK TO DEATH of me saying that phrase.

Sample:

Shori/Margaret/Tana/Darcy:  "Susan, did you forget to submit your stats this month?"
Susan:  "Why yes.  Yes, I did.  But it's cute when I do it."

You get the gist. :)  Cute, no?

.... and another thing....

Let me make myself perfectly clear, people.  I do not have another packrat.  Ted and I did not catch a whiff o' packrat smell when we came in the house yesterday and I certainly did not just hear packratty noises in the ceiling a moment ago.  Just wanted to share that with y'all.

Ok?  Are we clear on that?  Just checking.
*sigh*

Sauce du la Sauce a la Bang Bang

So my Beloved Seeso and her hubby just moved into a new house and needed the couch back that I was borrowing from them.  The nerve.

I put out a plea on Facebook:
"Does anyone have a sofa they want to sell? My sister has the nerve to want hers back. Sheesh. :)"

Here were the responses:
Kevin Dereniwsky: What happened to the nice one I gave you?
(Yeah.... 7 years ago!!)

Claudette Tower Dowler: You better find something soon, or I'll be sleeping with you and Barb at our weekend to the Sharngri-la... and I like to sleep in the nude :)
(The Blind Bay Bitches are coming for a weekend here at Shangri-la in March.  Batten down the hatches.)

And then?  I heard angels singing.....

Ron Scott: We are selling our couch and love seat that you love so much. If you're still interested 250.00 for the pair.
(Ron and I worked as paramedics together.  Yay Ron!!)

So, all I had to do was pick them up at Ron's place.  Easy, right?  Yeah.... right.  I asked my friend Ted to help me.  He has a truck and just LOVES it when I ask him to take care of the 'blue jobs' at my house.  Ted is also known as: Saucy-sauce, Saucey Bang-Bang, Ticka-ticka or Teddy.  You know that person who you can call on pretty much anytime you need something, no matter what?  Help moving, leaky faucet, $50 bucks, bail money at 2:00am (haven't needed that yet....), Ted is one of those guys who is always there.

Teddy is pretty much the male version of me and is like a brother.  We laugh our heads off.  We can talk about almost anything and usually do on a fairly regular basis over a bottle of wine.  He's been such a good friend to me and I feel pretty lucky to know him.  He's a free spirit and insists on living life on his own terms no matter what anyone thinks.  I admire that in him.

The moving of the couches ended up being far more complicated than I could have ever imagined.  Ted dug in and worked hard until the job was done for the paltry pay of a shared bottle of red and some Hawaiian pizza.  Thanks, Teddy.  You da bomb!

(Teddy on the deck last summer giving me his infamous model pose.)

Grrrr....

Sorry folks.

You know how on certain websites you have to type in a combination of letters and numbers in order to proceed and how they often look like arabic and you get all sorts of frustrated because that-fucking-3-looks-like-an-E-and-how-am-I-supposed-to-know-what-it-says??!!!

That process is to block spam and I've been getting all kinds of spam submitted in the form of comments on da blog.  It pisses me off.  No, I don't need to know how to make my penis larger, thank you very much.  I don't actually have a penis and if I did, I certainly wouldn't want to learn about making it bigger on here.  Sheesh.

The worst part?  I get SO excited when someone leaves a comment on a post that I've written.  I know that makes me shallow and juvenille, but I don't care.  So... when I receive the notification email telling me that someone has left a comment on a post that I've done I get all bouncy and excited only to find out that it's some asshole that is asking me if I want to learn a secret on how to please my partner in bed.  Yeah.  I don't have a current sexual partner, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

So I apologize, dear readers.  You will have to endure the arabic gauntlet to now leave me a comment.  Please don't let that deter you, because as most of you know, I'm a rather exuberant gal who enjoys getting all bouncy and excited.  I really do love your comments so please continue to leave them.  No, actually.  Leave more!!!  Your comments inspire me to be more prolific. Yeah.  That's it.  So to my Blind Bay Bitches (who complain loudly that I don't post often enough....), I'll start posting more often once y'all start leaving me comments!!!  So there. :)