Out of Office

The last of my brain dump to the project manager replacing me is done and by Monday, all of my logins for my company (other than email) will be disabled until December. It didn't feel any different walking out of the client site today compared to any other day. We were working pretty much up until the moment I left, so there was no time to think about it. When I come back, there will be a good, solid job waiting for me.... How can anyone complain about that these days? Oh, and did I mention I'm going to Italy with their permission?
Last Italian lesson today too. Learned some very important curse words just in case I come across them in my travels. No one wants to be cursed at and have no idea what's happening. My teacher tells me that when I come back, I will have a much better grasp on the language. I certainly hope that is true. And if it is, I have every intention of keeping it up when I return.
Lastly, my friends and I had a little pow wow tonight with an Italian theme. And you may have guessed, that means a lot of Italian wine. So many good bottles. One, in particular, I should mention. About two years ago, two of my girlfriends and I went to California for a wedding and for wine country. While I was there, I tasted the most delightful Pinot Noir. It retailed at around $60 for the bottle, and that was quite an investment at my wine infantile stage. I decided to grab it but save it for an important trip. I was going to India. To an ashram. As cliche as this is now, I was quite intrigued by the whole Eat Pray Love thing. The thought of going to an ashram sounded amazing, and it still does. I still look forward to the day when I can go over there with my cousin and her family and experience India and the religion. But now, today, this trip is Italy. I opened the bottle well in advance of when I knew we would be drinking it to give it a few hours of breathing time. It had been sitting in a wine fridge at 55 degrees for quite some time and being an '06, it should be ready to drink. I put on my "cooking" iPod playlist and decanted a glass for myself of this wine I had been saving for my "big adventure".
Let me say, I love Pinot Noir. I still remember the first time I tasted it when my cousin I was staying with in Boston took me to a restaurant in Back Bay. I was going into my senior year at college at the time and she asked me "Do you like wine?" Wine?!?! Are you kidding me? I'm in college, Bud Light is a delicacy for my kind. I explained how the only "wine" I had was something called Boones Farm. I didn't think it was a real wine, but it was the closest I had come. Unless you count Andre champagne. I had had that too. No, no, she explained. Let's have you try a Pinot. The first sip was all I needed. And yes, I can admit, I strayed from my trusty Pinot over the years. The sparkling syrah, the malbec, the temprenillo. I was tempted, but I have always come back to my true love of Pinot. Tonight I air-rated my first glass of my "you did it!" bottle of wine. None of my friends had arrived yet, so it was just me, my wine, and my crazy French music. I took the first sniff. Inhale. Ahhhh.... Wait. That can't be right... Clear head. Take two. Inhale again. .... Uh oh. Anyone that drinks wine knows that as soon as you smell a wine, you have a good indication of whether you're going to like it or not. In this case, my "Bon voyage" bottle was not wishing me a happy trip. The first sip confirmed my suspicions and that was that. The rest of the glass went down the drain, my only hope was that it would open up in the next day and become "good".
While that bottle did signify something special to me and I was disappointed in the showing, there's no way I could ever remember that over the amazingness of my friends. My core family is back in Philly and over the past 5 years I have come to rely on a close few in Austin. They are my family here and I will miss them dearly in Italy. They keep my laughing, keep me honest and are ready to share a margarita anytime you're having A Day. You can age an amazing bottle for years and anticipate it's grand appearance, but without people to share it with, it doesn't really matter. So I spent $60 on a lousy Pinot. I got to spend several hours with some of the best people I know and that's a trade I'll take any day.