Thanks… I think?

Well, I really wanted this post to be about pretty tables and turkey and gobs of Black Friday deals, but that’s not exactly how it went.

Wednesday morning I woke up and knew something wasn’t right immediately.  I thought maybe I was just tired and got up to go to the bathroom.  About halfway there I knew something was really really wrong.  Most of those details are still fuzzy in my head but they involve me collapsing on the floor and screaming for Finn to bring me the phone.

I managed to call Dave and then crawled into the shower because in my logic, I thought a freezing shower would keep me from passing out.  Thank God Finn was there to get the phone and Dave was home within minutes because if I had been alone the doctor is pretty sure that things would have been very very bad.  I remember about 25% of the paramedics part including realizing I was naked from the shower and needed to get something on because I thought for sure my good friend, would be the one to arrive.  {Thankfully, he wasn’t on duty.}

A lovely day was spent in the ER along with another two in the hospital for good measure.  I have been poked and prodded, my arms are bruised and still burning from some of the stuff they gave me.  The care I received was amazing, one ER nurse in particular, I am told by my doctor, basically saved my life and prevented needing a blood transfusion by asking for additional non-invasive tests that stopped things going from bad to worse.   

When I came home, the first two days,  I slept anywhere from 18-20 hours a day and even walking to the bathroom made me winded.  Now I’m down to a respectable 15 ish hours of sleep a day and lots of resting.  I need a babysitter for at least a week and follow up appointments and tests are scheduled.  Right now, they’re looking for the source of the internal bleeding they think caused the excruciating pain and concentrating on getting my hemoglobin levels increased before doing any other tests.  

They think I should feel back to normal within 3 weeks and most days I seem to feel just a little bit better than the day before.  I’m taking that as a good sign.  So, I know this is totally out of the blue, believe me… it was for me too.  Posting for the next few weeks is going to be light and sporadic at best. 

Wine and Turkey. Turkey and Wine.

I am not a sommelier.  For those of you who did not put on your fancy pants this morning, that is a wine expert.  They are specially trained and can tell you which wines to pair with any meal you might put together.  Except asparagus because not only does it make your pee smell funny, it also apparently doesn’t have a wine pairing.   They can also tell you about things like mouth feel and tannins and notes of cherry and oak.

I just drink it and if I like it, I’ll buy it again.

Here are my “go to” turkey wines along with a French aperitif {fancy pants translation: drink before dinner} that you have to try this Thanksgiving. 

I promise, you will love it.

My first pick for a great wine with turkey is a Cambria Pinot Noir.

 

Pick number two is a heavier red, the Trinchero Chicken Farm Ranch Merlot.

Lastly, for you white wine drinkers, give the Byron Chardonnay a try!

And on to that aperitif… a Kir Royale.  Well technically since I’m not using a true champagne from the Champagne region, it’s a Kir Pétillant, but we’ll just call it a Kir Royale for good measure.  I’d also like to thank the brilliant and lovely Séverine and her family for teaching me the joys of the Kir Royale.  At sixteen and in France for the first time, this was the height of sophistication.  Almost twenty years later it is still one of my favorites.

It also could not be easier to make.

You will need:  a champagne glass, creme de cassis & chilled champagne {or my favorite substitute Domaine Ste Michelle Brut which is about $14 and tastes amazing.}

Pour the champagne into the glass filling most of the way to the top, then very slowly add a bit of creme de cassis until it just turns a pretty pink color.  Voila!  Now you can drink and enjoy.

And stay tuned tomorrow for a sneak peek of our Thanksgiving tables!

Disturbed for the youth of America.

Last night, I watched the AMAs.  {That’s the American Music Awards.}

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone most of the evening, but then… then it happened.

The disturbing event that had me mouth agape on the couch praying that I was hallucinating.

Justin Bieber.

Dude, I get it.  I survived New Kids on the Block in my era, but artist of the year they were not.

Teen sensations and good performers to be sure.

Artist of the year?  REALLY?

What the fuck youth of America?  What.  The.  Fuck.

Conclusions.

I’m a jump to conclusion-er.  It’s a fault.  A big one. 

Some idiot is speeding and cuts me off.  The nerve!  Jackass!  Can you believe they gave this moron a license??

What if that person just got a phone call telling them their child was hurt?  Or their elderly father fell?  Would I react in the same way?

She is SUCH a bitch today, why is she in customer service?

Maybe her pet died.  Or it has been an incredibly awful week.  Would I be kinder?  Gentler?

Sometimes words, just words tear through you with such force when all you need, all you want is just a bit of kindness. 

Don’t get me wrong here, sometimes an idiot is just an idiot. 

But maybe, just maybe taking a moment to think before I come to that conclusion will save me from making someone’s awful day even worse.  I’ve been there, both on the giving and the receiving end, and either way it feels like shit.