Iacaruso Vino

So while we were in Utah Tom made and bottled his own wine.  He used varied concentrates from California grapes, some of our own grapes, and some other fruit from the fruit trees in our yard like peaches & pears.
He sold all the equipment before we came to Alabama but we did bring all the bottled wine with us.  Our friend Kim Blackett designed the label which he took from a photo of Tom's grandparents and a shot of the mountain behind our home in Farmington from a summer of dangerous wildfires.  Iacaruso is Tom's mother's maiden name.  The back label reads like this:

Vinted at home by descendants of Nicholas and Maria Iacaruso


Nicolas Iacaruso set sail for America in 1923 searching for new opportunities.  Maria Annette Cozzo immigrated four years earlier.  They met in New Jersey and began their family.  This wine is a tribute to the adventurous heritage of our ancestors.  Raise your glass and do as Grandpop would always do, salute (to your health/alla tua salute) your friend and family while remembering with gratitude your ancestry.
          Remember, you are their legacy!


Warning: Made in the laundry room by amateurs


Fermented September 29, 2009
Bottled August 1, 2009
12% Alcohol-maybe


As each of his classmates have had babies this year Tom has printed a special label with the baby's name, birth date and weight & length to give them as gifts.  I believe this is the final bottle.

International Officers Culture Day

 This is something we have looked forward to since we got here as it has the reputation as being a highlight of the Air Command and Staff College experience.  It is basically a hangar full of wonderful food, drink, costume and information about all the different countries whose officer's are represented at Maxwell AFB this school year.  We were completely stuffed after making it a quarter of the way around the hangar but that still didn't stop us from sampling more.  As I have mentioned before, it has been such an opportunity to meet all these incredibly interesting people from around the world.  And now to sample the goodies they prepared so lovingly for this full day of fun was awesome!

Tom with Mauricio, Olga & Nicholas (Colombia)

Tom with Abdul and two of his sons (Saudi Arabia)

Centerpoint Half Marathon

 Tom ran the half marathon and I ran the 5K for Centerpoint Church.
 It's a fundraiser for their missions.  Our friend Erin was running
as well and she and Tom ran most the half marathon
together.  He finished a bit ahead of her at 2:00:09 and my time was
39:03.  I'm not getting any faster which could be remedied
if I could actually run the full 3.2 miles without having to walk part of it.

 This is Tom's boot camp class that he's been working out with for a few months.  He's stopped because he's training for a half marathon that's coming up in May that requires different workouts.  SO, I'm going to go try the boot camp through April (we start Monday) which means a one hour workout from 5-6 AM on M/W/F mornings.  I lost my personal trainer on base so hoping this will help with strength training and up my overall fitness so I can actually run the full 5K.

Erin & Tom....the awesome half marathoners and Teri, the semi-awesome 5K-er.

Tom Gets the Clear to Run

Tom was finally given the okay for running after his eye surgery so he opted to do a 10K run with Dave sponsored by the local Methodist church which was a fundraiser for missions.  It was pouring rain so I was the cheering section!  

Dave took first place in his category so he got this cool trophy.  Just so you know, runners don't really want trophies.  They much prefer the stunning medallion they can hang on their door.  Hence, Tom was glad he only placed in his category.  Now that he's cleared for exercise he's training to do a half triathlon in May.  Yep....crazy.

Tom's Face

No, I can't really explain it, but whenever Tom has a significant time away from Coast Guard responsibilities (hence, having to be clean shaven) he feels compelled to go the facial hair route.  And as you can see, it has to evolve into varying degrees.  I have a theory that it goes back to his acting days when he got to be many different characters.  This is just his way of dabbling.  And yes, some of the changes are subtle. Fortunately, some of these looks only lasted a few minutes.

Hemingway fisherman look

If I had to choose a favorite I'd vote for the Van Dyke look.

70's porn star

Just flat out creepy

Y'all Come Back Sometime, Ya Hear?!

We had some options for Jeff & Karen's last day in Alabama which included a 3 hour drive to Talladega for a raceway tour then a 2 hour drive to Birmingham, or to spend the day in Birmingham seeing a list of places I had accumulated, but when it came right down to it, I think I had run them ragged (yeah, I really didn't document EVERYTHING we did so you've seen just most of the big stuff...not all the side trips)  they opted to have a relaxing morning in Prattville before the 75 minute drive to Birmingham and the long flight home.  They had even taken to calling me DiAnne (my mom) as no one can fit quite as much sight-seeing into a day as she can.  So yes, I have learned from the master how to squeeze every last second out of a vacation but really, how many times will they visit Alabama in their lifetime?  So other than a few little architectural gems as we cruised downtown Birmingham I got nothin' for you in the way of photos.  But we had an awesome few days with family and yes, this kind of fun awaits you too if you come to visit... but time is running out!  We're only scheduled to be here until mid-June!

Jeff and Karen's Excellent Adventure in AL continues.....

Monday begins with a trip to the Rosa Parks Museum and a few sites downtown. 

Fortunately Tom is on the morning class schedule this term and is able to join us for the Hyundai plant tour.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  Hyundai plant tour?  Really?  But I'm telling you, this thing is the hardest ticket in town to get!  Only 35 reservations a day and I had to whine to weasel our way in as they were booked like 6 weeks in advance!  Plus, Jeff sells cars for a living!  Why wouldn't he be interested in this place, right?  Write off a few things as education on this trip, impress the boss....you get where I'm going with this.

Did I mention Tom has been growing a beard?

 No photos inside the factory but it was all very interesting and amazing how technology has changed the face of auto making.  Was hoping we would each be given a Hyundai Elantra as a lovely parting gift, but no such luck.

 Had a late lunch though I don't remember where, then we dropped the guys off at the apartment and Karen and I headed to downtown Prattville to do a some retailing in the little shops.  Though she was drawn to the baby sections (they're expecting their first grandchild in June!) we both walked away with new Spring purses that were 50% off!  Yep, gotta love those clearance sales.  Mostly just some browsing but that's my favorite kind of shopping.  Got a message that the guys had walked over to the Bass Pro Shop so we headed that way and found them enjoying the leisure area.  If you haven't been to one of these, they're like Cabella's, full of outdoor gear, clothing, wildlife (stuffed), firearms, boats and a restaurant with menu items like venison and buffalo.  Yeah, kind of a "guy's" place.

And since we didn't make it to Talladega, in front of this mural they could at least pretend that we did!