Red, Red Wine

Am I really a grown up? Now Mom, Boyfriend, Nae, before you start in with the 100 other reasons I'm probably not really a grown up yet, here is the reason I'm asking this question today: because I can't get in to wine. Growing up, this was always what I saw adults drinking. Sure they might have a margarita or a GnT every now and again or Dad might have a beer if it better matched what we were having for dinner, but 9 times out of 10 at dinner or at parties, the grown ups were drinking a nice bottle of wine.

So now that I'm 25, I figure this wine drinking thing should've kicked in for me by now, but I really don't like it and I'm not sure that I ever will. That bums me out because I know Boyfriend would love to share a bottle with me at night during dinner or as we sit out around the fire, but he doesn't buy any because he knows he'll be the only one drinking it. It also bums me out because it's not a shared experience/love I have with my parents. It'd be nice to enjoy a bottle together when I'm home and be able to join in on their critiques of their wine choice each night.

The reasons I don't like wine are that a good drink to me is something that is either sweet (like tea, juice, diet soda, and even milk to some extent) or neutral (like water) and wine is either heavy, spicy or dry tasting. Also, I like my drinks super cold with like 5 ice cubes in my glass or hot and white wines never seem cold enough and the room temperature that red wine is served at makes me want to gag.

I know they say wine is an acquired taste but it's just so gross to acquire. Cigarettes are gross at first, too, but you acquire that taste...should I go out and start trying to make myself take up smoking, too? I'm sure if I chose to start eating deodorant I could acquire a taste for it, but who would want to? I just can't imagine people having their first glass of wine and being like "This stuff is awesome!" (at least about the taste and not about the buzz they are getting from it).

And can people really "detect a slight hint of honey" or "rose" or "chocolate" or "coffee" or "raspberry" or "etc, etc" in the wine or is that just b.s. and something people say when drinking wine to sound snobby and like they know what they are talking about?

I know it's not the end of the world that I don't like wine and I, obviously, have plenty of other shared experiences/things I enjoy doing with Boyfriend and my parents, but it would be nice to be let in on the secret about why everyone else seems to think wine is so awesome.

I am the Fire Starter

Last night we went over to Croc's parent's property for a big bonfire. I never realized how far back their land stretches. When we arrived, Croc and the Teacher loaded us in to an open topped trailer and pulled us behind their quad down to the back of the property where the bonfire was. It was huge! There was a10 foot tree that was still standing in the ground, but was dead as termites had built a huge nest inside that we could see, and that was the centerpiece of the bonfire. All around it were other huge chunks of wood that were alight, too. Beside Croc and the Teacher, it was all of Croc's family-his parents (who are super nice and super funny people) and his brother and sister (who are great as well) and their boyfriends and girlfriends, and then the Soccer Player and the Hairdresser.

Croc and Boyfriend were little fire bugs. Boyfriend had brought over some old fireworks and firecrackers he had lying around in his closet and he and Croc lit them off and shot them at Croc's brother. Croc surprised his brother and chased him so far across the backyard and even hit him with one shot from the firework! The other amusing thing the boys got their hands on last night was a cattle prod. The Soccer Player jolted Boyfriend twice with it and Croc's brother snuck up on him and gave him the biggest shock with it in retaliation for the fireworks. Boyfriend luckily had layers on so he said it didn't hurt super bad but Croc got prodded on his arm and it burnt him! The Teacher had a big night and had to head to bed early with Croc's help. After she went to bed Croc brought out the "goon sack" which is the bladder inside a box of wine. This boxed wine was port and we all took sips off the pouch. It was pretty white trash but was a lot of fun and even Croc's Mom had a few gulps off of it (but only after she had seen me do it)! Then as we were getting ready to leave, all the quads were being used up at the house so Croc had us hop in to his 4 wheel drive and gave us a tour of the back part of the property. We slammed through little trees and it was just like off roading. His brother came up on a quad with his girlfriend on his back and two friends in the open trailer and they ran in to the back of the car we were in. Then Croc put his foot to the floor and we were doing burn outs and racing through the backyard and seemed like we would crash in to one of the old dirt bike jumps or old dead cars they had back there, but we made it safe and sound to the house. It was just like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland and I was squealing and screaming and laughing the whole time!