what a difference a day (or two) makes….

 The top photo is Tom, at the end of our first afternoon of snow-shoeing.  Nice, huh?
Well, two days later, Tom took a spill while snow-boarding.  It was probably best that I was not there to see it.
By the time I got the phone calls and messages (I didn't have great phone service off x-country skiing in the woods), Tom was already done with his ER visit, all pumped full of decent drugs.  He was "fine."
I came home, and by then -- Joanna had picked up Tom from the ER, and he was munching on a sandwich.  We discussed that he would likely need surgery; he didn't really go for that…
So I called an ortho colleague, and sent him a text of Tom's X-ray.  Within a few minutes, he had Tom booked on the O.R. schedule at Tom's earliest convenience… which will be tomorrow afternoon.  Within a few hours, our various friends had convinced Tom that surgery was really the most reasonable option.
So tomorrow we'll be "hanging out" in the hospital.  Tom's favorite place.
If there's one good thing about all of this: Tom is now a believer in helmets.  Fortunately, he was wearing his when he crashed.  His head is fine.  (Well, as fine as it ever is!)

winter fun in Steamboat

 Tom and I were lucky enough to be able to join our friends Mark & Joanna, and their friend, Doug, for a Steamboat getaway.  Mark had actually "earned" the use of a condo by rescuing a child from an asthma-related fiasco last summer.  But that's a different story.
We drove up on Monday (which, much to my surprise, only took ~3 hrs +20 min), and within an hour, headed out with Mark & Joanna on our snowshoes.  We found a fantastic trail that meandered along the Yampa river.  It was so incredibly pleasant!  I could have walked there all day.
Tuesday, Joanna and Tom and I went snowshoeing.  It was another wonderful day, but because there were a lot of clouds, the photos were not spectacular.
Wednesday, I went x-country skiing (that's the photo on top) by myself.  It was an amazing day: gorgeous, and very hard work.  I was beat by the end of the day, but not so beat as Tom...

The most over-the-top wine dinner, ever!!!

Tom and I went with our friends, Mark & Joanna, to the Applejack Fete du Bordeaux wine tasting dinner in downtown Denver last week.  Wow.  Talk about over the top!
So first, a disclaimer.  I'm not going to put up the pictures -- just the descriptions.  Because I didn't bring the SLR.  And, as it turns out, particularly in a dimly lit room, photos from a cell phone are NOT the same as "real" photos.  Now that we've gotten that out of the way…
The evening began with appetizers and champagne.  The servers seemed puzzled that we refused more than one glass of champagne.  But since we had 14 more wines coming, we thought it was wise….
The first course was a King Crab Salad, served with a 2012 Blanc de Lynch-Bages that we both liked.  This was a Sauvignon Blanc blended with Semillon and Muscadelle.  Notice the one white wine glass on the right.
The next course was a Warm Duck & Pistachio Pate en Croute Mache.  As if this wasn't wonderful enough on its own, it was paired with the first 6 Bordeaux offerings.  You might be able to make out the stickers on the bottoms of the glasses in the photo; they went from right to left.
After that, we really, really enjoyed the Colorado Rack of Lamb Provencale.  This was served with wines #7-9.  In this grouping were my two favorites: the 2000 Chateau Langoa-Barton and the 2005 Chateau Montrose.
After this, they had to bring more wine glasses -- because what is in the photo is only the first 10 glasses.  I'm not kidding.
The next round of glasses/Bordeaux #10-12 were served with an assortment of cheeses, nuts & jams.  This grouping had Tom's "hands-down" favorite: the 1998 Chateau Montrose.  Typically, I like the older wines better, too.  So maybe by this point my palate was simply shot?  Who knows.
But, wait!  We weren't done!  The last course was a chocolate-and-vanilla layered "Genoise"… somewhat of a mousse consistency.  This was served with a 2003 Chateau Suduiraut, a very nice sauternes.  I had no idea that sauternes are also semillon/muscadelle/sauvignon blanc blends -- but the ones that are "infected by the noble rot" (Botrytis cinerea).  Interesting.
Fortunately, the event was held in a hotel… where Tom and I spent the night.  No driving for 12 hours after that one...