Bruce Reyes-Chow

Always choose the turkey

This evening I had to make a choice.  Go and see someone from our church who's band was playing at a local club.  I totally wanted to go support them* and hang out with the "youngsters" but there were other forces keeping me home.  At least one of the parental units has been gone every night for the past 10 nights, so I thought it would be good for our kids to see that their parents still know eachother.

Plus . . . there was a turkey to eat. 

And you know what they say, "Always choose the turkey."

After all, Thanksgiving on February 29th only comes every four years.

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Iced coffee and soup, nice

TodaY has been a day of recovery.  Every few years I get these freaking "please shoot me now" migraines.  Last night from about 9:00-midnight, I thought I was going to die.  Not only did my head feel like it was exploding with every pulse of my veins, but stomach was also in knots a la my pancreatitis episode.  Our family, with good reason, gets a little jittery when I have stomach pains, so I don't usually let on until it hurts.

Hmmmmmmmm . . ..

I wonder if it could have been that all I had to eat for the entire day was four iced coffee's - not decaf - a bowl of soup and a frozen yogurt? 

Nice.

Today, much better.  A little headache hangover, tender stomach, tired, but better.  Breakfast, followed by lunch all accompanied by decaf tea.

Yes, decaf tea, AKA brown grassy tasting water.

Not nice.

A discerning wine connoisseur I am not

[h/t: Ooh Shiny]

As many of you know, due to some health issues, I am not supposed to drink.  But . . . when I was drinkin', I enjoyed a glass of red wine at the end of the day.  Good for the heart and soul I say.  I never really got to the point that I KNEW wine.  I had my favorite Trader Joe's Faire, YellowTail Wines, loved V. Sattui's  Madiera and knew that Turley truly was a party for the palette.

Still, I never developed any kind of true skill when thinking about wine.  As long as it doesn't taste like vinegar, fill'er up!  I admit, I was a sucker for a creative name, good label, curvy bottle and decent price. So imagine my disappointment when I saw this and realized that I can't sample the wares over at Woop Woop Wines.  My hands raise the roof just thinking about it.  Oh well . . .

Also for those that actually want to keep up with actually wine folks, click on over the blogs  wineministry and/or my wine education.

hypertriglyceridemia and why my family sucks

The day has arrived.  While my family is off the charts cute, we don't handle the fat and carbs so well.  As some of you remember, it came close to being "my time" about 3.5 years ago when I was in the hospital with a severe case of pancreatitis.  Pretty scary time for everyone - well not for me because I was fully checked in to 'Morphine Hotel"  - but the word on the street was that it was not fun.   In any case, they never figured out what caused it, but they were very suspicious that it was a high triglyceride count.  It has always been high, but after my latest physical and blood work . . . wowzaa and double wowzaa. 

The Results - And don't bother asking about numbers as a small English village does not have enough fingers to count that high - Cholesterol high  . . . Triglycerides REALLY high.   

Looks like my family's food lovin' adobo eatin' ways have caught up with me.  Part genetics, part too much good SF food, part not enough exercise and a whole bunch of getting freakin' old!  Again, I love my family, but the whole passing on high blood pressure, a bad heart and a love for the yummy taste of LARD, RICE and SWEETNESS is not funny!   For this, I shake my fist at the Reyes and Chow genes!

My doc says that because of the whole genetic thing, odds are that I will eventually be on meds for a myriad of heart/blood related ailments, but I can decide if I want to start taking them now or when I am 60.   She has given me three months - and significant progress towards losing 20-30 pounds - to prove that she should hold off on making me purchase my own personal pill organizer.  So after a few more tests to make sure I won't keel over tomorrow, it is better eating and more exercising - going for the JSL look - for me. Oh joy.

In all seriousness, this is a pretty worrisome and will rely on some on my friends to rip the chicken wings out of my hands without pause.  I do not want to make another round through the pancreatitis experience - sounds like a bad doctor amusement park, right next to the "Bypass Coaster" - not just because I am particularly attached to my pancreas, but because this was quite the ordeal for the whole family.

So, while there is no immediate crisis and on the grand scale of situations in need of prayer this is pretty low, I am not above coveting any extra words you could raise up the God asking for those behalf pesky triglycerides to be zapped from the earth.

My doctor did have one bright spot, "You're not diabetic."  A doctor and a comedian ;-) 

Yeah, I'm a foodie

Yeah baby, a little Shiraz and a Turkey Pot Pie! 
Classy AND a cheap date ;-) 
True foodies are probably gagging right now, but do I at least get credit that it is all from TJ's?

Now THAT is Hot Chocolate

Okay, NOW I am jealous about not being with the rest of the family in France.  Sure, there is that tower thingy, the casa de humpback and the fromage oh the fromage.  But man, this is too much.  Leave it to the French to make the serving of Hot Chocolate so, how do they say . . . oo la la.