Taxes and Orchids

HA, We are done with our taxes! They are in the electronic mail. Yes, its early, but we like to get it over with as soon as we get all the paperwork. (If not, some of those envelopes marked-important tax document - may get lost in my crazy house.) While I did this, Patrick snuck off the annual orchid show and picked up some more flowers. I have no idea where he plans to put these, but it won't be on the side table or the carpet. (He has already ruined spots with leaking plants.)

Josef's

After the show, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Josefs. The food was not good and very expensive. Notice the 80s style presentation. The food was bland and disappointing :( The sides were very strange and I got the same things with my fish that Patrick got with his steak. Pickled beets, spaghetti squash and grilled sea bass smothered in tomatoes and olives? The chef needs an update! Blech - 2 stars, hotel style food.

Argentina

On Saturday night, we went to see the symphony. The show was Argentine Tango music. One of Patrick's favorite ballroom dances is the Tango, but he is terrible at it. We tried to learn this dance, but it takes a lot of skill. I liked some of the music, but the overall feeling is very disjointed. Not my thing. During parts of the concert, dancers would come out and perform. Great costumes and cool lifts - that will be us some day. We tried to get the lady next to us to take our picture, but she messed up twice, so Patrick took a picture of just me.

Sick

I have been sick all week, but I was so busy at work that I couldn't stay home. There is cold going around that starts with a sore throat and only gets worse.

On Friday night, we went to my shul and heard a woman talk about the history of African-Americans in Sonoma County. Things started out pretty good (a large part of Santa Rosa was bought by a black business man and he designated the land as a haven for freed slaves), but the current outlook is grim. She urges us to vote for the candidate who really care about what happens to underprivileged Americans. Not sure who she meant. We certainly can't tell from the last few debates we have seen on TV; all we know for sure is that none of the candidates like each other.

The rest of the weekend has been spent sleeping. Patrick bought a new snow jacket and he is wishing that I was feeling better so we could go to Tahoe.

Last Weekend

We went to a play called Moonlight and Magnolias at The Rep. There were four actors and they were very good. The plot was about the script writing for Gone with the Wind; it was funny! Patrick spent the rest of his weekend planting his new roses and I was is a cooking mode. Here we are at the show.


This is a sculpture we passed on the way to the theater. I think it looks like a green strawberry, but Patrick insists it is an apple. Look at the shape, what do y'all think?

Vineyard update: OK, so the weather rainy and cold, at least for us. Check out the picture, we don't get this very often, I think the last time was 05'. This vineyard is maybe 1200 feet and it maybe lasted for a day or so.

Oh, I have a book to recommend, it is the second book in a series (book 2 was just released). It is called "The Dark River" the first book is called "The Traveler". I'd say it is a modern sci-fi, a kin to Fahrenheit 451, about surveillance and control, Big Brother sort of stuff.

Vanessa has a whole bunch of post pictures related to my birthday. We have been trying more and more of the local restaurants, as when I lived in Napa we had scoped out a whole bunch of darn good ones. Vanessa can go into more detail, but we found one which was really good, Saffron and another one that was not so good, Vineyards Inn. You all will have to ask her to learn more about the food, that's her thing. OK all Later