Oy.

So today will be my first day back at work since last Thursday. It's been weird having so much time off, but also nice. I was able to take care of necessary things and pack some visits in.

I hung out with Camille on Saturday and we went to Crockett Park in the afternoon, which was great. We hung out in the forest and enjoyed the quiet and solitude that nature provides. It was odd that there weren't more people there, but maybe that was because it was around 5pm. We wanted to rent a paddle boat, but Camille had the pup with her so we couldn't since no pets are allowed on the water. Camel (yes, this is my nickname for her) also introduced me to this sweet music called dubstep. Apparently, in order to be classified as such, the bass has to be at least 140 decibles. You can imagine crazy that would sound at a concert. We watched a live video of it on YouTube and you could see everything vibrating, haha. It's very trippy, obviously bass-heavy music with a lot of ambient sounds. I really enjoy it! It makes me want to re-install my subs and amp into the car.

I also enjoyed a couple drunk dials from my wonderful boyfriend on Saturday night, since he was out of town at a wedding. It's amazing how quickly I begin to miss him when we're apart, even if it's only for a day or two. Is that pathetic? I don't think so. I think that's real love, baby. The nice part is, we're not obsessed with each other. Throughout all the crazy, intense and amazing emotions that have been our relationship thus far, we've still remained our own separate people, independent and confident. Being in love is really fun!

Speaking of cars, allow me to digress for a moment. Gertrude (the Buick I currently own) had to get a major procedure done this weekend. It wasn't so much the procedure as much as the price that was major. A bit of history: my brake light had been on for about a month now, but nothing bad was happening with the car, so I thought maybe it was just an electrical thing where the light came on randomly. Well, the other day while driving on route 5o, in mid-acceleration, my engine shut off. So, I pulled over into the nearest left turn lane, which was luckily red at the moment, and turned my car back on. Everything seemed normal, but that event was frightening enough for me to decide to take it into the shop. Since I'm a AAA member (which is awesome, I recommend it to anyone), I got free towing and an incredible deal on a rental car. It turned out that the ABS sensor, including the entire hub assembly (these are Jason's words, I have no idea what much of it means) had to be replaced. The price of the ABS sensor alone, since they had to buy it from the dealership, was $374. After labor and diagnositcs, my total bill, including tax, came out to $684. OUCH.

I would have had the car back by now, but when we went to pick it up on Sunday we discovered that the driver's side door handle had come loose and the locking mechanism was no longer working. Super! Luckily, I think they're repairing it for free. Unfortunately this does mean that Jason has to drop me off at work tonight and pick me up in the morning, and I've been stranded here at his place all day. That part doesn't really bother me, though. I plan on going on his roommate's exercise bike here soon.

Getting back on track, let's talk about Sunday: I went to a winery with Stevo's mom, Charlene, who is totally awesome. We always have fun together. We decided to go to a winery called Bluemont, which sits on a beautiful summit at 951 feet above sea level. The wine selection surprised us: They had two true whites (your typical vidal blanc and viognier), one red (a 90% merlot and 10% cab blend), and three sweeter wines. The three sweet wines, one of which I was actually impressed with and bought, included a peach (this is the one I purchased), a blackberry, and a strawberry. I have to admit that though I was skeptical of these particular wines prior to tasting them (as most of you know, I'm a very "red" person), I was overall impressed with each one.
The peach tasted more like a dry white with a background peach flavor. It was only 1.5% residual sugar, which gave it that slight hint of sweet with the peach notes. The reason I bought it was because it's a wine that is easily enjoyed on a really hot day, especially if you have some fruit to chop up and munch on.
The strawberry wine was next up with 4.5% residual sugar and a very nice strawberry palate. Again, I was surprised to admit my enjoyment of this one. Charlene and I agreed that this wine would be terrific with some angel food cake. I joked that I might actually be able to handle an entire half a glass.
The blackberry wine was the last tasting, coming in at 5% residual sugar but with a great tartness at the finish. I really liked this one because of that aspect. I could have dealt with less sugar, but what do you expect from a wine made out of a sugary fruit (I guess that assumption pretty much applies to all of them)? I could have this for dessert with nothing else. The tartness on the back of the palate is really quite enjoyable and very unique.

To give this winery some credit, it is only three years old and for what it's already offering, I could definitely see it going somewhere. The other nice thing about it is the lovely people who work there who all know LOTS about wine and have a lot to say about the way they harvest it. The other cool aspect of this place is that the berries they use in the last three wines I spoke of are grown by them on other parts of their property. As the driveway traces up the mountain towards the winery, you can spot some of the peach trees on the side of the hill.

What else? Ah yes, my lack of exercise in the last week. Ugh. Jason and I are planning a bike ride at night for this Thursday. That will mark probably 1.5 weeks since I've been on my bike, probably more like two. I can't let that happen again. I went to yoga last week, but it doesn't look like I'll be going again until next week, considering that the rest of this week and weekend until next Wed. are taken up. I did take some pictures yesterday, which was good. I need to replace the battery, though. Every time I charge it, no matter for how long, it always only charges to half life. Hmmm.

Future plans: see Camel for a little bit on Thursday afternoon, come back into town and go for a bike ride, work day shift on Friday, dinner/movie with Jay, Jake, Nicki that night, and then Saturday morning Jay and I leave for Richmond for wedding number 1. Wedding number two will be taking place on Monday (odd), but we'll be leaving for that on Sunday morning so we can have a mini beach vacay. Woo!

Meh

I feel like I've lost the motivation to write as much as I used to. I guess I just have more going on between my friends, family, work, Jason, etc.?

Anyway, nothing much outside the norm has been going on. I'm still riding bikes, doing yoga, reading, and hanging out with peeps. Jason is still amazing.

I'm going to be switching back to mostly days at about mid-September. I'm getting a little weary of having night schedule taking up most of my following day, since I have to spend about 2/3 of it sleeping. It's nice to work day shift and sleep on everyone else's normal schedule! But, since I love the people I work with and nights are more pay, I can do it for another two months. I can do anything for two months. It's not so bad. :)

I still need to get my fourth tattoo! maybe I'll get a wild hair up my ass one day during the five straight days I'm off between this Thurs and next Tuesday and finally get it done. I'll go to my buddy Mike in Warrenton. I know he'll do a great job, since he's been at this since '81 and has done two of my three current tats.