Philip Carter Winery

 You may not know this, but Virginia has some really world class wineries.  There 206 wineries in Virginia, basically running in a line along the edge of the Shenandoah Mountains.  Seventy-one of them are within about a one hour drive from our home.  Because of the seasons we experience here, Virginia produces a wine much more in the style of European wines that the very fruity wines that you get from California, where they have a much more consistent temperature and rainfall.

Baby Grapes

It's difficult to produce wine here.  They started growing grapes here 400 years ago.  Thomas Jefferson and George Washington both had vineyards and never produced a single bottle.  You have to survive the winter, the potential for an early spring followed by a sudden frost (which is what happened this year), pests, animals, and then harvesting all the fruit before it freezes again.
 
This weekend, we drove out to Hume, VA to visit Philip Carter Winery.  We got a Travelzoo voucher for a guided tour of the winery, a tasting of seven wines, picnic with cheese, meat and chocolate, souvenir glasses and a 10% discount on whatever wine we purchased.  We bought a bottle of Viognier, a grape that I had never heard of until I moved here.  Last year, the viognier was named Virginia's official state grape.  Viognier grapes make a dryish white wine and Philip Carter's wine has flavors of lemongrass, citrus and tropical fruits.  Their Viognier is aged in stainless steel, which I much prefer over oak-y wines, like chardonnays.  This bottle is going to be great with Maryland blue crab latter this summer.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

This shows how close the park is to the runway

Or a lot of planes.  Jim put me in charge of planning "something outdoors" for us to do this weekend.  I immediately thought that a picnic would be great, and I could cross something off of my 101 goals list.

Gravelly Point is a park on the George Washington Parkway, right along the Virginia side the Potomac, across from D.C.  However, it's main claim to fame is that it is located a few 100 feet from the north end of runway 1/19 at National Airport.  It is one of the best places in America for plane spotting and it has been on my list of cool, free things to do for a very long time.

We packed up a lunch of hummus and crackers, asparagus, mozzarella and tomato salad, turkey, cranberry, spinach and brie wraps and oatmeal-raspberry bars and headed on down.  It was a cloudy day, but no rain, and the park was full, but were able to find a place to park on the grass lot.   

Once we staked out a place, we ate lunch and then spent some time trying to catch good pictures of planes that are moving very fast with my little point-and-shoot camera.  After many, many tries and many bad shots, I figured out that using the setting for sports worked best and we got these pictures.

Don't Ignore...

It's easy to do. No one really wants to talk about it. Not health care professionals, not the government, certainly not insurance companies, not the media, not even the friends and family members of the people who struggle with infertility. Hell, we don't even want to talk about it and it's our problem.

Infertility is disease of the reproductive system which affects 7.3 million people in the United States.  That is 1 out of 8 couples.  Chances are, you know someone who is struggling with infertility and just don't know it.  And it's not just women.  Approximately one-third of infertility is attributed to the female partner, one-third attributed to the male partner and one-third is caused by a combination of problems in both partners or, is unexplained.

And yet, with all these people suffering from a recognized medical condition, only fifteen states require that health insurance provide some level of treatment for infertility.  With healthcare reform legislation passing Congress does not want to talk about insurance coverage. Plus, in the current legislative climate cost is the driving factor and any federally mandated insurance coverage for anything would be very, very difficult to pass.  Lastly, when Congress was not under such a fiscal crisis in past years, the insurance mandate bill garnered less than 25 co-sponsors and never had any traction.   In other words, the bill did not get much support even under much better circumstances.

Therefore, the infertility community is supporting The Family Act of 2011, S 965/HR 3522, which is a bill in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives that would create a tax credit for the out-of-pocket costs incurred for the medical treatment of infertility.  This bill is modeled after the adoption tax credit.  For many years families have been created with the help of the Adoption Tax Credit, and we hope this new tax credit will achieve the same level of success for those trying to cover the costs of medical treatments.  If you would like to contact your Senators or Representatives to show your support for this bill, you can click the links.    

Last year, I wrote this post, and I really hoped that I would have a happy story to tell you this year, but I don't.  Yet.  But I will tell you what I have learned about myself over the last two years.  I've learned that I can give myself injections in my stomach.  I've learned that hormonal medication makes me a raving lunatic.  I've learned that my husband loves me even when I'm a raving lunatic.  I've learned that friends that live in your computer can be your best friends.  I've learned that fun socks make frequent probings of your lady bits more tolerable.  I've learned that sometimes you need a good cry and then you pick yourself up and carry on. I've learned that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. 

Cozumel

This is the last cruise related post, I promise. Our final port of call was Cozumel and we went snorkeling. I had gone before, but this was Jim's first time.

After our introduction to snorkeling on land, we all got into the water. Please pardon my no-glasses squint into the sun. That is not our boat in the background, ours was behind it, but it's pretty close. We went with a group of about 10 people and we were probably the youngest of the crowd and the strongest swimmers. It's a good thing, too, because the current was a little strong where we were. Also, I am the world's most awkward person getting into the water, but I do alright once I'm in.

Because of the currents, we swam up the shore so that we did all the hard work first and then just drifted back to where we got in. We did a good job of staying up with the guide, but several members of our group had trouble and needed a kick board and a rest. We both had waterproof cameras to take pictures of fish, but they didn't come out very well. Here are a few that are alright.

Belize

On our cruise, we had two ports of call. The first was in Belize City, Belize, however 'port' is a bit of a misnomer.

The continental shelf around Belize is very shallow. So shallow that the cruise ships cannot actually dock there. They have to drop anchor 5 miles off shore and use tender boats to get passengers to shore.

While in Belize, we took a tour up the Old Belize River. On the boat ride, we saw crocodiles, spider monkeys, iguanas, bats and many birds. Once we got up river, we stopped at a little cafe that I am sure only exists to feed lunch to tourists. We ate chicken that was must have been cooked all day long because it just fell apart, red beans and rice, and salad. I added some local hot sauce to my rice and it was fabulous. I liked the hot sauce so much I brought some home.

After lunch, we went to Altun Ha to see some Mayan ruins. Altun Ha is culturally significant for the Temple of Masonry Altar, which rises over 60ft above the plaza. Thought to be the main religious center of the civilization, the temple houses the famous head of Kinich Ahau: a 10lb (5kg) piece of jade carved into the head of the Mayan sun god.

This temple is also depicted on the national beer, Belikin, which we drank before heading back out to our ship.

I Owe Y'all Some Updates

I have been a bad blogger. I know it. I say I'm going to do better and then I get home from work and crash on the sofa like a turnip. That said, since I seem to be motivated today, I'm going to do a whole bunch of blogging. Consider yourself warned.

Thirty-One Spring Outlet Sale starts tomorrow!

It's time for a Thirty-One outlet sale. Get ready to be reunited with some of your favorite discontinued prints and products from past catalogs at deeply discounted prices.

Just click on the Thirty-One logo to the right and you'll go right to my website. Look around and try out some products at great price. The sale runs from Wednesday through Friday, April 20th or until products run out.

I'm happy to answer any questions about the products, the company and the business opportunity!

LIberty of the Seas

Jim and I just got back from our first cruise and I think we are in love. Neither one of us wanted to get off the boat. We sailed on Royal Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale and went to Belize and Cozumel (details to come in posts later this week). Right now, I want to talk about the boat. The Liberty of the Seas is one of the largest ships in Royal Caribbean's line and there is something to do for everyone.

We boarded at about noon on Saturday and because the staterooms would not be ready until about 1:00, we headed up to the Windjammer Cafe, the casual buffet, for some lunch. When we were finished eating, we went down to deck 7 to see our stateroom. We had an interior room, which was fine, but next time (yes, I'm already thinking about next time) I really want an exterior with a balcony.

From there, we went straight to the pool since the luggage hadn't been delivered yet. We spent most of our pool time in the Solarium pool, since it was adults only. At 4:00, there was a mandatory muster drill to give important information in case of emergency and then we were off. Jim and I went back to our room for a nap, since we had gotten up so early to get to the airport. When we woke up, our luggage was there and we went exploring the ship.

I'll start at the top and work my way down. Deck 13 is the sports deck, with the FlowRider, rockwall and mini-golf. We played mini golf one night at 11:00 in 45 mph winds. It was hilarious watching me try to putt and hold my dress down at the same time.

Deck 12 has the arcade, teen night clubs and kids activities, a jogging track and a Johnny Rocket's restaurant. Deck 11 is the Windjammer, the specialty restaurants, all the pools and the gym, which we never set foot in.

Decks 10 - 6 are staterooms. We were on Deck 7, which is also where the library is located. Deck 5 is the Royal Promenade, which is shopping, bars and places to eat. It's also where they have the Dreamworks parades and some of the evening parties, and The Sphinx nightclub. The casino and several bars are on Deck 4. The Platinum theater, ice rink and On Air (karaoke) bar are on Deck 3. Also, the main dining room is a three level room on Decks 3, 4 and 5. Finally, Deck 2 is the Screening Room movie theater.