Random Thoughts for a Monday Morning

1. It's gonna be another scorcher here in North Carolina. We've had record heat (and humidity, at least that's what it seems to me) for days now. It wasn't all that long ago that I was griping about it being cold. What happened to Spring? Please don't tell me we're in for three months of this! I keep hearing people (either locals or those that have lived here long enough to consider themselves such) say, "This is very unusual for this time of the year!" My Father told me he's lived in Florida now for 10 years, and, every year, some "local" says the same thing about Florida weather. Obviously, then, every year is "unusual", which, in essence means, every year is the same, right? In any event, I do recall in 2005 it was this nasty because that was when we had a lot of out of town guests here for our wedding celebration. It was pretty damn hot and humid then, too.

2. We went to a wine club member event at Chatham Hill Winery Friday evening (this winery was at the Wine Festival in Clemmons but we didn't taste/buy any wine then since the winery is about 20 minutes away from our house). We were pleasantly surprised to find that a) we each received two free glasses of wine b) there was a buffet dinner (and a good one), not just the cheese and crackers that we expected c) they were doing a barrel tasting of a very nice Cabernet Franc (some debate between the winery workers as to whether or not it'll actually be bottled) and d) we met some interesting folks who sat down at the table with us and talked about wine, beer and traveling (three of our favorite things) all evening long.

3. Brother Jon came by Saturday to borrow Mr. B's table saw. No babies as of yet; Shannon is keeping 'em in (for now!) Jon brought us a new Highland brew to try (as he says, "It's hard to go wrong with a NC beer!); this one was no exception.

4. Saturday night we went to a Bulls game. One season it seemed that every game we went to, they won. Unfortunately, the opposite appears to be true this season. At least it was nice and warm; maybe a bit too much so. That Bud Select went down nicely. The African Childrens Choir sang The National Anthem. It was quite beautiful.

5. Yesterday was "chore" day in preparation for our upcoming visit from Mr. and Mrs. Senior B. Also, we are in the process of moving all items out of the furniture in our living room and dining room so they will be easier to move. This has not been a lot of fun but since we are getting a new floor, I won't complain too loudly.

6. We watched "There Will Be Blood" last night (NetFlix). It was a somewhat odd movie, but, worth watching due to Daniel Day-Lewis's Oscar winning performance. Next up on my "watch" list (while on the elliptical machine) is another round of "The Dog Whisperer".

7. It's HOT.

8. It's now 7:40 am and I REALLY should go work out before it's gets much hotter and I elect to bag it because it's too hot.

9. I finally hit a 40% win rate on my Hearts (card) game. I still think the bloody thing, cheats, though. I'm sure I'll start getting trounced now.

10.We had a great dinner last night (albeit sort of late since it was so HOT); grilled garlic-lime pork chops with black bean and tomato quinoa salad (the dressing for the salad was lime juice based as well). Also, Mr. B ate almost an entire bag of sauteed spinach (I had "some"). We washed it all down with a bottle of Rock of Ages Shiraz. Nice and peppery and smooth. Yum yum!

11. Have I mentioned I need to get on the elliptical machine?

Mrs. B