Wine is Bottled Poetry

Remember on Christmas morning when Michael and I woke up to no power in half our house (including the heat)?

When I got home from work–feeling pretty good for a Monday–my mood quickly changed. First, the garage door wouldn’t open. “Huh. I guess I need a new battery.” I go inside and turn on the kitchen light, try to open the garage door from the inside–no power. Weird. Check the stove and microwave. They work but were reset. I guessed another power outage. Didn’t think much of it then I opened the fridge. The fridge was off. And had been all day.

The $300+ in groceries we’d bought over the weekend had been going bad in a fridge that had no power. Thanks, PGE, for giving us a heads up! I called PGE. A computerized voice said:  “Your wait time is approximately 16 minutes.” UGH. Michael got home and we started to make dinner because the stove and oven did work. We were prepping the steaks while the sweet potatoes baked in the oven.

Long story short, a guy came out from PGE, put a little do-dad in so we’d have power…except now there was NO power to the stove/oven/dryer. He didn’t seem to be too concerned about the hassle it was causing us either.

We couldn’t prepare any food in our house so we left. Michael suggested Hopworks. I was in no mood to argue. We ordered BEER. They had a special beer that we’d never tried: Ace of Spades. A 9.75% IPA. It was intimidating at first but I had a sip of Michael’s, loved it, and ordered my own.

It was a dark and rich amber, with a smooth after taste. It reminded us of Fred. (I wondered if Marie had ever had Fred.) For dinner I ordered the soup/salad combo. The soup of the day was a creamy red pepper bisque.

It was both creamy and spicy. I liked it a lot. But once I saw it I wished it was tomato soup. 😉

I got the small Pear and Walnut salad and added the tri-tip steak to it. It was perfect. The creamy vinaigrette went perfectly with the julienne pears, blue cheese and candied walnuts (what’s better than CANDY on a salad?!).

It took me awhile to finish my one beer. It was strong and I’m a lightweight.

“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” – Frank Sinatra

I haven’t always been a light weight. I wasn’t a big drinker but when I was obese it took a LOT to get me drunk. I didn’t realize it at the time. I’m trying to remember how much I’d have to drink to get a buzz but it was more than necessary, honestly.

My drinks of choice were also very high in calories:

White Russian (YUM!) – 360 calories

Cosmopolitan (Thanks SATC) – 215 calories

Strawberry Daiquiri (with whipped cream of course) – 250 calories

When I started to lose weight I stopped drinking all alcohol. It was a learning process for me to figure out WHICH calories were worth it to me. The liquid calories just weren’t. For two years I didn’t drink any alcohol and didn’t miss it. Once I reached goal weight and started incorporating things back into my diet (like pizza and ice cream on occasion) I started occasionally drinking alcohol again.

I grew to love wine. I love the taste of wine, I love wine tasting excursions, I love pairing certain kinds of blends with food. In my opinion there’s nothing better than a good steak and a nice, bold glass of red wine.

I also grew to appreciate beer. I was never been a beer drinker before I met Michael. I disliked most of them, I thought beer was Bud Light (gross). It’s a hard thing to dislike beer in Portland–home of breweries and beer snobs!

Michael enlightened me to good beer at the Brewfest. I was converted! I still prefer wine to beer, but I’ve grown to appreciate it.

Now? I am a total lightweight. 100 pounds lighter I can barely drink 2 glasses of wine without getting drunk. Half a glass of a strong Cabernet and I’ve got a good buzz. It was a shocker when I first started drinking again. I thought my tolerance level was the same as it was when I was 250 pounds. I was soooo wrong.

That first time I drank way too much I passed out, woke up with a horrible hangover and felt awful. I realized then and there that this was one more thing that changed with my weight loss. I hadn’t expected it but I quickly changed my habits to slowly sipping one drink as I figured out how my body had changed.

QUESTION: Did you notice a difference in your tolerance level when you lost weight? Are you a lightweight now?