Please Donate Today to Help Alfred

I was speaking to some of you this weekend about my friend Allison's foundation that works to help women and children in Uganda. You may already know Allison as The Wine Princess. (Twittering as @TheWinePrincess, too.)

You must agree that she's absolutely adorable. But, before I filled you in, you probably didn't realize that the primary reason she opts to pour private wine tastings for a living and works for herself is to have the freedom to go to Uganda for a couple of months each year and work in support of a very small non-profit she runs, Hesed Ministries.

They do amazing, inspiring things in the villages of Uganda. Alfred (shown above) is the "boots-on-the-ground" missionary for their humanitarian work and he has been ill and running a very high fever (103 F). They've been treating him in the village without success. He really needs to be moved to a facility that can provide more modern medical care...relatively speaking, of course.

He and his wife together are raising almost 20 orphans and sending them to school. He sacrifices for the ministry and when the organization decided they needed to shut down due, in part, to the expense of his salary ($100/month), he said "We are working for the Lord, so we will work with or without pay."

A donation equivalent to his current salary (between $20 - $25 per month) from just 35 of us could raise the rest of the $1500 needed to get him to the better medical facility and will give him a better chance of recovering. In Uganda, you must pay in advance for medical care. He is currently being treated in earnest for malaria, though it's clear from the lack of results that malaria is not what's making him so sick.

Any donation can help, even $5 toward the cause. So far they've raised $625. If you can help with any size gift, please donate today!

You can donate at www.HesedInternational.org using Paypal. All donations made during this period will be earmarked for Alfred's medical care.

You can also track the progress and get updates on Alfred's condition on Facebook.

I'd like to thank the academy

I can't believe it! I won something! And I can attribute it solely to my love of wine, nerdy fascination with viticulture (though I have a black thumb, myself), and my unnatural addiction to Twitter.

The next time somebody mocks me (I'm talking about you Carrie - and YOU Michael) for Tweeting while out and about, I will point to winning VinoVerve's contest as a sign that this is not a completely vapid past time.

I can even explain that the micro-blogging habit leads me to update this blog a couple of times per year. The others remain neglected today, of course, and though I haven't had my NY guy update my "professional" site in years (stupid Dreamweaver) I somehow still get writing assignments and voice work. (hmph!) At least the wine blog now has a recent entry so people know that I'm actually still alive.

And, it's all thanks to Twitter. So there.

Wine Killed My Laptop

I have so much more to share from the fabulous wine-soaked girls' weekend at the shore, but I'm recovering from technical difficulties.

Friday night, during an impromptu dance party, someone (probably me...er...actually, it was most definitely me) knocked a full glass of the lovely Sunfish Syrah right onto the keyboard of my beloved Compaq.I really believed it would survive, figuring I'd sopped up most of the spill immediately.

Alas, I am easily distracted, especially by classic songs from Off the Wall and early 90s gems from Bel Biv Devoe. So, off I went to keep dancing with the girls and my trusty pal died all alone.

This week has been spent recovering data, reinstalling software, and basically running a little orientation for my fancy new HP.
The good news is that the replacement is faster, more powerful, has a Webcam - how modern! - and a much bigger screen.

With glass in hand, I say "Onward!"

Perfect Location for the Girls' Weekend

We're in St. Michael's Maryland for a Bachelorette celebration for our beloved Heather Patterson.

You probably know her...the most adorable little preppy in our circle. Cute, cute, cute! And smart! And...getting married in Florida two weeks from tomorrow. (Sorry guys.)

Wait until you see the pictures of the house! It's the perfect location for the celebration. (Keep your pants on...they're posted below. I wouldn't hold out on you for long.)

I just rolled in as a few of the early arrivals stroll around St. Michael's shopping after a Ladies-Who-Lunch-ish spa outing. Left all my cares behind and arrived to find THIS!!!

Like dutiful gals, we're claiming different adorable bedrooms.
No mystery why I chose this one.

Across the hall we've got the bunk room - which will probably hereafter be known as the awesome room.
Check out this view! And there are kayaks for us. Yippeee!
And...all the best provisions for a girly celebration.
Here is the view behind me when I'm writing (have assignments to finish, of course...so maybe I didn't leave ALL my cares behind). Perhaps I should figure out a way to turn around and enjoy this.

It's about 3:30 pm now. Right now you can use your imagination, but mark my words: in a couple of hours we'll be sitting here, drinking wine and watching the sunset.
More pictures to follow.