Are We Hoda and Kathie Lee, or, Isn't it 5:00 in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean?

First came the tasting, and then came the choice. Cool and I were out to lunch last Friday---I know, two times now!!---and we ordered wine. It was 1:00 in the afternoon, and we ordered wine. That was a first for me. It was all Cool's doing, of course. It occurred to me, with our glasses sitting in front of us, that we had become Hoda and Kathie Lee. They have a 10 A.M. TV show on NBC, and they sit there looking all cute (thanks to plastic surgery I suspect--Hoda is 50, Kathie Lee is 61), glasses of wine in hand. Wine at 10 A.M.? Scandalous! Wine at 1 P.M.? Well, as I said to Cool, "It's 5:00 out in the Atlantic Ocean," and that made it seem acceptable.

Wine in the early afternoon, beer at Oktoberfest............are the BVGs in need of an intervention?

I'm just saying...

Our First Annual BVG Oktoberfest

Last night, at a rare Monday night BVG gathering, we celebrated our first annual BVG Oktoberfest at my house. I boiled brats in beer along with onions and garlic. The best German potato salad was made and brought by j, and Cool wowed us with her fried apples, which were made even yummier by her addition of raisins which had been soaked in some special kind of whiskey.

I was the beer virgin. The whole idea of the night was to get me from "I don't like beer!" to being willing to try several kinds with an open mind. The Coors was used for boiling the brats. We drank the good stuff. I liked Pyramid Oktoberfest the best. I would not describe myself as a true fan of beer, but I can honestly say that I found it to be "not bad." I just had to finish my night off with a glass of "Midnight" which is wine. And it was almost Midnight by the clock.

One observation: I had never seen the BVGs so mellow, to tired out, and I'm afraid it was the beer. Also, we met on a Monday instead of a Wednesday. So many yawns!!! I mentioned that our next gathering, Bring a Friend Night, is just a few weeks away, and we can't all be that drowsy and laid back when we have guests with us.

Guess we better have a coffee tasting...........

Grandkids Say the Darndest Things: Y Not a Ynocerous?

Elletu's five-year-old granddaughter was staying overnight at Grandma's over the weekend along with her older sister. They have a tradition of playing a little game where they think of an animal and give clues to its identity. It was Leah's turn, and she had narrowed it down to an animal with a trunk, and the name of the animal started with 'Y.' Elletu thought and thought, and finally she had to give up because she just couldn't come up with an animal that fit this criteria. Leah's answer to her Grandma was, "It's a Ynocerous!"

Out of the mouths of five-year-olds...

Barktoberfest, a page for our only BVGD: The 'Other Zoe' Story

Yes, this blog is everything BVG....and more! We have also featured the BVGOs (Bethel Valley Girls' Offspring), the BVGOOs (Bethel Valley Girls' Offsprings' Offspring) and even our one and only BVGOOO (Bethel Valley Girls' Offsprings' Offspring's Offspring). A little known fact is that we have one BVGD (Bethel Valley Girls' Dog). Her name is Zoe (but not Zoe McLellan), and Elletu is her Pet Parent. (No, that is not Zoe in the picture above. Elletu will give me a picture of her Zoe when she can figure out how to affix cucumber slices over her eyes.)

It might be too late to throw it together this year, but next year we will plan a Barktoberfest for Zoe. The poster above will give us some ideas for activities for the celebration. I have some questions about the Kissing Booth. I suppose the idea is that Zoe will be in there? Instead of brats we'll be serving hot dogs. Elletu can bring Zoe in her costume, and since she's the only BVGD, she will surely win the Doggy Costume Contest. 

Note to Zoe: Check back next September for details.

Tavern on the Green

                                                Tavern on the Green  *  New York City

We took this picture of New York City's famed Tavern on the Green on a cold December walk we enjoyed through Central Park. I am now three days away from hosting the first ever BVG Oktoberfest, which will feature our first Beer Tasting. Since my house backs up to a golf course and is carpeted in dark green, Monday night it will be transformed from the usual Trankwility Woods to--what else?--Tavern on the Green!

                                                   Tavern on the Green  *   Port Orchard

Franziskaner, Schneider-Weiss, Ayinger Celebrator & Erdinger

It might sound like the name of a German law firm, but actually that is the list of suggested Bavarian beers for the upcoming BVG Oktoberfest celebration. These have been recommended by my older son, whose own experience with beer did not begin until he was studying in Germany. He is not a Bud Light kind of a guy. I haven't the slightest idea what my BVG Sisters are planning to bring to the beer tasting set for Monday night, October 27. This is their opportunity to convince me to quit saying I hate beer. For my part, I will boil the brats in beer (gluten free for j), and instead of just sticking my tongue in to foam, I promise a few swallows of a few beer samples. It is, after all, Oktoberfest.

The brats are safely in the refrigerator, waiting to be boiled and grilled. I'll be careful, because...
       I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO SERVE SPOILED BRATS!

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Oktoberfest. I guess we are a little late. It's all over in Munich, home of the original Oktoberfest, after the first weekend of October. Maybe we're late to the game, but we'll bring our game----a fun night awaits us!

Oktoberfest is the world's largest funfair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16-day festival running from late September to the first weekend in October with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often simply called Wiesn, after the colloquial name of the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese) themselves. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the original Munich event.
The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place during the 16 days up to, and including, the first Sunday in October. In 1994, the schedule was modified in response to German reunification so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival would go on until October 3 (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1. In 2010, the festival lasted until the first Monday in October, to mark the anniversary of the event. The festival is held in an area named the Theresienwiese (field, or meadow, of Therese), often called Wiesn for short, located near Munich's center. Large quantities of Oktoberfest Beer are consumed, with almost 7 million litres served during the 16 day festival in 2007. Visitors may also enjoy a mixture of attractions, such as amusement rides, sidestalls and games, as well as a wide variety of traditional food such as Hendl (roast chicken), Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezen (pretzel), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a spiced cheese-butter spread) and Weisswurst (a white sausage).

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So Franziskaner, Schneirder-Weiss, Ayinger Celebrator & Erdinger is NOT a law firm. Here's my favorite law firm, as witnessed in Smithfield, VA. Who wouldn't feel confident having this man for your lawyer?

Namesake

I have enjoyed the process of my children picking out names for my grandchildren. When I was pregnant with my own children, I don't recall asking my parents what names they would like me to choose. It was strictly up to my husband and me, and I have remembered that each time baby names have been bantered about between my son and his wife and my daughter and her husband. For the most part I have been happy with their choices. It's not as if I had to try to accept any name I couldn't stand, such as Lloyd, Floyd, Horace, Winnie, Hazel or Imogene, the latter of which I hear is wildly popular this year.

Naming your children is such a personal thing. You either choose a name to honor someone in your life, or you choose a name you look forward to using day in and day out for the rest of your life because you like the sound of it. Or it could be a combination of the two.

I have never regretted the names my husband and I picked for our three children. Our older son's name goes back in my husband's family several generations, including his middle name which is my husband's name. Our younger son was name after a blond haired little two-year-old boy I saw running across the grass at Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon. We were on a camping trip at Fort Canby State Park near Long Beach, WA. I was seven months pregnant at the time, and we hadn't been able to agree on a boy's name. When this little boy's mom called his name, he turned around to look at her, and he looked so much like our older son at that age, it took my breath away (but then everything did at that point, because I was suffering with severe asthma during that pregnancy). I knew then that this was the right name for our baby if he turned out to be a boy.

My daughter was named after a friend I met on a music mission trip with Lutheran Youth Encounter during the summer of 1967. A group of 21 college-age young people, who were selected by audition, trained together for a month on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. At the end of the month the director divided us into three equal teams of seven members each. There were three girls and four guys on our team, and we traveled together in a station wagon for two months, going all through the Midwest and then up into Canada and down into Upstate New York. We put on music programs in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Des Moines, Madison, Milwaukee and Toronto, and we were counselors at Bible camps, sang on radio programs, in prisons, at nursing homes, worked with youth groups, etc. It was a life-changing experience for me to say the least. Saying goodbye at the end of the summer was so hard. That's why there was no question in my mind about flying to Ames, Iowa two summers later for the wedding of my friend and former team member, Angela Asp. Laurie Blomquist, the other girl on our team, flew in from North Dakota, and we stayed together at Angela's parents' house. It was such a beautiful wedding in the church where Angie's father was the pastor. Angie and her three sisters sang a cappella for the ceremony---they were amazing.

As busy as Angie was, she took the time to be with me and Laurie. I lost track of Angie Asp. I don't even remember her married name. I determined clear back then that if I ever had a daughter, I would name her Angela, because Angie was the most beautiful girl, inside and out. Here are some old pictures of Angie (long blond hair), Laurie and me at her house the night before the wedding. Then I will add my daughter's senior picture. Is it my imagination? I kind of think the two Angelas look alike! Angie will never know I honored her by naming my daughter after her. I really doubt she named her daughter Firstelle.


(Angie is on the right, Laurie is on the left, and I, Firstelle, am in the middle in the top photo.)