Author: melisajohnson

Dinner at the Governors House

A group of us purchased a dinner with at the governor’s house at a live auction.  All the proceeds went to help the victims of the Nepal earthquake.

The evening started out with bubbles on the patio watching the sunset.  They brought out some amazing appetizers.  Some were so pretty we didn’t want to eat them!

After appetizers we sat down for dinner.  It consisted of 5 courses each from an amazing chef on the island.  The first course was from Chef Keith Griffin.  It was a rare seared yellow fin tuna with roasted potatoes, haricots, tapenade, greens and a soft poached quail egg.  The paired it with a really nice Schloss Johanisberger Riesling.

The second course was prepared by Chef Shetty Vidyadhara and paired with a Comtes Lafon Sancerre.  The course consisted of a seared diver scallop with a callaloo puree, tomato chutney and a mandarin drizzle…  amazing.

Chef Sandy Tuason prepared the third course- a local snapper with ditalini, tomato, presto broth and herb salad.  This was paired with a Ramio’s from 2007.  While I loved the food, I didn’t understand the pairing and I think it would have been better paired with a different wine.

The main course was prepared by Frederic Morineau and consisted of a Niman Ranch Lamb with a comfit, belly and roasted rack, goat cheese mash, eggplant caviar, cumin and honey glazed local carrot.  Probably not my favorite course, but very nice.  The wine however was a bit much with this as well- a Montes Purple Angel from 2012.

Finally came dessert!  It was created by chef Melissa Logan.  It was beautiful!  A maracaibo chocolate pave with a hazelnut dulce sponge, passion fruit curd, praline ice cream and micro flowers.  A work of art!

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Gratitude

Both Richard and I feel as though we have had another rough week at work and sometimes it is hard to not get down on your life.  It is easy to get overwhelmed, complain about work, who did what to us, what is wrong with so many other and so on…. etc.  
What people fail to realize is how lucky we all really are.  We have a roof over our head, food on our table, family that loves us.  That is more than 85% of the world has and yet people still complain about their life.  
I think people need to spend less time complaining about their life and others; spend more time enjoying and being thankful for the life you have.  Don’t complain about your family members, be thankful they are alive and you have the ability to speak with them.   Many people have lost their family members and would give anything to be able to speak to them one last time.  
If you think about it… if you were to die tomorrow would it be worth it spending all that time complaining?  Wouldn’t you rather focus on the good in your life?  
I think when people start to complain they should instantly have to write down 3 items they are grateful for.  It is hard to complain and grateful at the same time.  
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How lucky we are

Both Richard and I had a long rough week, or in our minds it was a rough week.  As you know I work with the crisis center on island, the center is fairly full at the moment with mothers and 10 kids between the ages of 1-10.  They are all living in a place the size of our condo, sleeping 6 to a room in bunk beds.  As well school starting up in a few weeks the center is getting lots of calls from past clients needing help to provide school supplies for their children.
It got me thinking I remember just how important it was when I was a kid to go back to school in brand name jeans and you had to have the best of everything.  How unaware just how lucky I was to have such a wonderful and supportive family, to never go without. Here we have 20 kids in the outreach program that would just like to pencils and paper to take to school on their first day. 
So, we went out school shopping, which is interest not ever having a kid and having no clue what to get for them!  I ended up with about 10 pack packs full of crayons, markers, notebooks, pencils, erasers and all sorts of other stuff.  Of course I couldn’t show up with put cookies, so I had to make a stop to pick them up as well.
I arrived at the center and it was busy with kids happily playing while their mothers we working to get them ready for church. The most beautiful little girl ran out in her best Sunday dress and as she carefully picked out a cookie with pink frosting she gave me a big hug and kiss being careful not to get her pretty dress dirty.  
I also had the pleasure of meeting a past client that was there to receive assistance as her daughter was very sick and she needed help booking a ticket take her back home. 
So as you think how rough your life is, how awful your life is… Be grateful for all that you have.  These poor women and children have been abused by someone who was supposed to love and take care of them and they made the brave decision to walk away with nothing but their children and clothes on their back to try and find a better life for them and their children.
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Yabbey

Yabbey had a rough day yesterday- she had to have 5 teeth pulled so she was at the vet all day and came home with stitches in her mouth.  Then she wouldn’t take her medicine, so she had to back to the vet today to get a shot.

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New Home

Unfortunatly our new lodger had to find a different place to stay for a few days.  Mainly because of this kitty!

Everything was fine in the house, until she got spooked and ran from him…  after that she became a play toy for Turbo!

He went to a home about a mile from here until he goes to his forever home on Wednesday.

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New Lodger

Well today was a surprise when I got home…  We have a new friend to stay for a few days before his new ‘parents’ get back.  The cats are of mixed opinions so far but he seems quiet, friendly and very well trained/well mannered.  I guess I’ll be doing a lot of walking in the mornings, lunchtimes and evenings over the next week…

Avery was concerned….
While Yabbey was less interested and kept her distance….
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