The week in Florida went fast and relatively pain free. It was exhausting, but thankfully it was not painful as some of the previous experiences down at the Forum. I had made some resolutions before I travelled, and I am happy to report that I broke all of them. (Hee hee!) I know, I should feel guilty, but I don't.
Yesterday, we just made in time into Boston. We took off on time (or 10 mins early). The flight had mostly my company folks, from the President to the event planner and collegues. The fun tid-bit is that the captain, as he rattled off his welcome to the flight to boston speech, he added the fact that the flight carried most of the company, and the lead planner Tara. He went on to mention that the company was here in Orlando for a week organizing the forum for 7000 people and are headed back just before the snow starts. This speech brought on cheers with the company, a general applause and whoo-hoo's. We got into boston just before noon.

I barely made it home, said hello to kitties (who were happy to see me and appeared to be in 'where-have-u-been' meows), dashed to Trader Joes and got provisions, and it started to snow hard.

I forsee tones of shovelling..... but I am so happy to be home! the kitties and the holiday tree!

It is the evening before my trip down to Florida for the forum. Like I said before, I am dispassionately optimistic about the whole venture. I rather be home (or office) coding. There is so much to be done that it isn't funny. The endless house projects are piling up too. They (these projects) peek around the corner where they are propped and make this long face. :( Poor projects, need prioritization pronto!

Perhaps, when I return, I must make a flipchart, add projects to the list and start tackling them. One of the items on that list is ...... have fun, live life!.... It some how never gets on the priority list and it sucks! No one should have to put "having fun and living life" on some list. It should be there, it should be always there on the top of the list. But, if putting it on a list is the only way, then so be it. It is going up on the list and (may I add) top of the list.

Argh... I must pack for Florida..... Somehow packing faster, may make the trip there and back go faster.... (duh!).

I don't know who..... but somebody said = "Plans are only good intentions unless they degenerate immediately into hard work"

So, we have a free flu shot meeting in our office today. You sign off declaring that you are 'legally fit' to get a shot and then go to this meeting and get a shot.

I am ambivalent of getting one. I downloaded the form, set the calender with reminders to get the shot a week ago and then procrastinated about getting the shot. I am not scared or paranoid about getting shots. I grew up surrounded by doctors and hospitals and getting shots was no big deal. I am perfectly okay to get shot, I am just not perfectly okay to this particular shot. Why! The only reason being, that last time I got this shot, it was dreadful! I was sick for a week after the shot. With a day to go down to the forum, I was not about take a risk of falling sick. Another weird thing was that the whole year following the shot, I fell ill more often and just felt more vulnerable. So, after getting the free shot, there is a distinct possibility that I would be sicker all next twelve months or so. Getting sick would make me miserable and that alone is not worth the free shot.

So, after a long debate with myself...... the verdict is in! Flu shot is out!

It is that time of year again! It is time for the company's mass travel down to Orlando, Florida for our national forum. Last year I dreaded it and the year before I hated it. Now, I am dispassionately optimistic about it. Is that even possible, dunno! But that is exactly how I feel about the whole thing. By far we have the largest number of attendees signed up for this.

This year, I have made some serious resolutions for the forum, and it is going to take all my efforts and energy to see them through. It is these resolutions that are making it more interesting than not..... so we will have to wait to see how these really pan out. What are these resolutions? Some wise person mentioned that if I say them out loud or if I make them public, I am more likely to follow them through. So, here goes....

1. This is going to be an alcohol-free forum..... yeah! I can just see that lasting for the first 12 hours.
2. I am going to eat wisely.... Last year, I managed to put on 5lbs in 7 days! A simple matter of eating disastrously. This year.... it is going to be different.
3. Record at least 10 miles on the treadmill..... more will be great.... but this is at least numbers in 7 days. This makes the average of 1.428 miles per day. Hmm, I think this is doable.

.....that is it......

I think three resolutions are enough and just correct for me to proceed to break them....:)

For a while now, I have been going for Wednesday evening (sometimes on Saturdays too) wine tasting at Bermans Liquor store, Lexington. If you are in the neighborhood and like to taste some incredibly great wines or beer swing by and you will not be disappointed! Joel Berman, and his staff are extremely professional, friendly and really know their alcohol. I personally like wines more than beer. The store has an fantastic collection of beers from Britain, Belgium, and other remote small microbreweries. I also subscribe to their newsletter, which is sent by Joel Berman, and has fantastically detailed information on different wines, their tasting schedule for the month.

I thought, I must start writing up a bit more regularly about what we tasted and what I liked or didn't. So, here is to my first Wine Tasting Series (WTS).

2005 Domaine Long Depaquit Chablis
Producer: Albert Bichot: Domaine Long Depaquit (Chablis, Burgundy, France)
Grape/Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Notes: Rich dry wines, citrus and mineral fruits along with lime and white blossoms (flowers). Good body, quite lively and fresh.

2001 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo "Chronicon" Azienda Agricola Zaccagnini
Producer: Zaccagnini family, Abruzzi, Italy.
Grape/Varietal: Montepulciano
Notes: I have grown to like the wines made from the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo's. This wine is ruby red, smooth, velvetty, medium bodied. This will go quite well with poultry with herb recipes.

We (a bunch of us) celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday.

First day of vacation and it is snowing! It is not a sad feeling, but one that makes my heart sing! I love it! It is the first snow of the season, and feeling is just inexplicably euphoric. Of course, with the snow, pretty much all that was planned is out the window and it being changed to enjoy the first of the flaky white-stuff.