Thanks to Scott for pinch hitting for us tonight!

So my friend and co-worker Jean and her husband Brian came up with this idea to try a wine a day for 365 days and blog about it. She has been bugging (Jean note here – gently asking, not bugging!) me for about 200+ days to guest blog….I guess one can get tired of a wine a day every day…nah, not Brian and Jean.

So while they were out in Waco tonight for ANOTHER Catholic school gala, I decided to surprise them and give them the night off!

Today was one of those days that you looked at on the calendar and thought, Whoa Nelly! It is a classic Saturday at my house! I have five children twelve and under. The weekend started with a 14 twelve-years-olds at our house for an Avengers party. It was great and I was so happy to see my oldest son cling to his childhood just a bit longer.

Saturday started off with first communion practice for my 9-year old. She is so excited about it next weekend. Then I took two of the kids with me to the ordination of 11 men to be Deacons. What an awesome moment in time to see these Holy men take their vow of obedience and pledge to serve this diocese. Our Bishop remarked on our Holy Father, Pope Francis and his words about service. “Let us never forget that authentic power is service,” he said. “Only those who serve with love are able to protect.”

My wife, Kathryn, met me in the parking lot and we exchanged kids. My second son, John Paul, changed into his baseball clothes in the car and we were off to this game. He went 2-2, 2 singles, scored twice, and 1 2/3 inning of middle relief. He was very happy. Meanwhile, Kathryn, headed off to our daughter’s soccer game that started about an hour later. They ended up in a tie 2-2. Mom said she played great…but she always says that!

We all ended up at home about 4:30 and we all looked at each other and said, “Wanna order pizza?” I ran off to grab the pizza and found this nice little 2011 Cabernet from McManis Family Vineyards at HEB for $9.99. It looked like the perfect compliment for a family pizza night.

Immediately upon opening and the first pour I was impressed the color. Can’t you just tell from the color if the wine is going to be good? It just looked rich and the color was dark maroon (then again, everything is maroon to this Aggie!) Did I mention the Aggies played in the Maroon and White spring football game today? Only 140 days until college football…..but I digress….

I immediately experienced smoke and pepper on the nose. I did sense a hint of berry but not as much as the wine maker said. It had a nice finish and lingered on the palate a good amount of time. All in all, it was a great pairing with pizza and for under $10 a bottle; I could definitely classify this as a deck wine according to the Bondy standards.

Thanks Jean and Brian for letting me crash your party for a few minutes. Y’all have a blessed week and visit www.teamwhitaker.org for more details about this crazy life we lead.

Scott – we are very thankful for the help tonight – one more gala on the docket tomorrow night and our string of four are finished for at least a little bit!  If you get a chance, check out the site above that Scott mentioned – the Whitaker clan is a super neat family and we are blessed to know them!

Enjoy the remaining minutes of this Saturday night and as always – remember to enjoy responsibly and recycle whenever possible!