To-Do List For My Long Weekend

I have a 4-day weekend coming up.  Woohoo! 

Here's my to-do list.  Afterwards, I will post on how well I did.

1. Grocery shop with reusable bags instead of getting plastic ones
2. Collect branches for a craft I'm working on
3. Start a cork project
4. Make invitations for Garret's birthday
5. Take pictures for Garret's birthday party scavenger hunt
6. Buy boots for Kalen
7. Make flag for information picket
8. Bring a load of yard crap to the compost

Wish me luck!

Beer and Cheese Tasting

We got some tickets for a beer and cheese tasting event at a local micro brew along with the local co-op.  It sounded interesting.  Usually it would be a wine and cheese event but they were free tickets given to us by a friend, we like beer, and we like cheese so what the heck...

The menu:

1. Belgian Wit and Donnay Dairy Organic Chevre (goat cheese)
2. Saison and Brie Couronne
3. Acer Rubrum (brown ale) and Old Amsterdam (Gouda)
4. Summit IPA and Carr Valley Applewood Smoked Cheddar
5. IPA and Roquefort

My Favorite Beer:  Belgian Wit, Saison, and Acer Rubrum
My Favorite Cheese:  Gouda, Smoked Cheddar, and Roquefort

I have to say the Roquefort is such an odd mix.  It smells like a cow patty or as my husband said, "It smells like back home."  But strangely enough I liked the strong taste.  I do like blue cheese but this stuff is over the top.

The brewery we went to is in an old building that used to be a car garage, many times over.  I feel a special connection to it because my grandpa worked there as a mechanic.  My grama worked at the candy shop up the street.  They met in that neighborhood.  She would walk by the garage while he was on his breaks.  Kind of romantic, I think.  The brewery that is there now incorporates some of that history.  Everything is recycled and reused.  Bar stools are made of wood and old pipe.  The bar has old tin roofing along the outside of it.  The booths were going to be thrown away by another local business and were reupholstered with old army blankets.  The list goes on and on.  Super cool place.

There is Someone...

I'm catching up on my blog reading.  Here's a quote from Nienie (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/) that made me feel good.

There is someone you can forgive.
There is someone you can thank.
There is someone you can serve and lift.
You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel.
With this knowledge, life is beautiful no matter the pain, loneliness,
confusion, heartbreak, and sadness in the world.
How blessed I am and feel each day.

Junk in the Trunk

I'm reading the book, "Eat Pray Love".  I didn't realize it was based on the author's own experience.  So far, I'm in love with it.  I relate to her struggle in some ways and I'm inspired by her decision to make this journey she writes about in order to heal herself.  I know it sounds corny but I've really been struggling lately and I feel like I was meant to read this book right now.

I have a lot of junk in my trunk (and I don't mean my ass here) that I need to sort through.  I need to be a better me and I need to get proactive about it.

Some of my favorites so far in this book...

"Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure.  Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.  Americans spend billions to keep themselves amused with everything from porn to theme parks to wars, but that's not exactly the same thing as quiet enjoyment.   Americans work harder and longer and more stressful hours than anyone in the world today."

"Americans don't really know how to do nothing."

"The Bhagavad Gita - that ancient Indian Yogic text - says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection."    (I absolutely LOVE this one, by the way)