by Phil Anderson
OK, so it’s been many, MANY months since I last wrote on this blog.  Lots has happened.  There is so much water under the bridge it seem like it may wash the bridge out!  I will be turning the big FIVE-ONE in less than two weeks and I thought it may be a good idea to start tapping the keyboard for this particular blog.

I have some exciting news to share as you may have noticed I have a NEW link under the blogroll to your right!  I have just started Anderson Social Media Solutions which will focus solely on helping businesses connect with their customers through social media like Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  Anderson Social Media Solutions will do everything from set up their profiles on these networks to managing them.  I will even be offering to set up and blog for them if they’d like.  If you know anyone who owns a business and still looks at social media as a daunting undertaking, let them know about Anderson Social Media Solutions.  I haven’t got an affiliate program just yet but that will be something that will be added in the future.

Shelley’s son, Tyler got married in August at Leonesse Cellars in Temecula, California.  If you are interested in reading about some of the experiences surrounding the wedding weekend be sure to check out my wine blog at General Wine Thoughts and put, “The Wedding Weekend” in the search.  Her sister, Jill, was married also, in September, in Canada. We were able to make both weddings, one 1,200 miles South of us and one 850 miles North.  Lots of travel but lots of fun.

Speaking of Shelly, her company, The Intentional Caregiver is going crazy!  So many people have turned to her for guidance as they try and handle the challenges they face being a caregiver.  Her Mobile Organizer has been a huge success as it has helped so many caregivers organize and efficiently manage all of the information that comes with being a caregiver.

OK, now I’m starting to sound like a commercial!

My daughter Lindsay is in her last year of college at Chapman in California.  She spent over three months in Florence, Italy studying.  She grew and matured quite a bit over there, learning about the Italian culture and even took a wine and food pairing class.  I won’t deny I was elated when she made it back safe and sound.  There’s a reason for that…

If you remember, I wrote a piece about 20 months ago about the daughter of a friend of mine that was in jail after being convicted of murder.  Well, about three weeks ago that verdict was reversed and Amanda was home 29 hours later!  I happened to have been visiting Seattle at the time to visit my youngest daughter when this all came down and I have to say it was a VERY exciting time.  I heard the verdict read live on the radio and was overcome with emotion I hadn’t anticipated feeling.  Curt and I have been friends since we played football together in college and I have to say it’s been a very difficult 4 years, to be sure, but I think that’s why the joy was so overwhelming.

I got more comments from that article than any blog post I’d ever written.  There are certainly many opinions regarding this situation, from people that don’t know the whole story to high profile attorneys to even higher profile people like Donald Trump.

Trying to get a hold of Curt before leaving town was difficult to say the least.  After talking to his two youngest daughters for over a half hour in their livingroom I finally got the chance to congratulate him when he walked through the door after running a quick errand (while avoiding the paparazzi).  The way he, and the rest of the family that was involved, handled the situation was absolutely flawless, in my opinion.  I always knew Curt had character but I had no idea just how much.

The interesting thing, during this whole fiasco, of reporters trying to get any and all information regarding Amanda and where she might be, crowding around the house, and just being their media selves, was my urge to document this as it was happening.  You may or may not know this about me (depending on who’s reading this) but I am an avid photographer who has ALWAYS documented things.  Family parties, weddings, funerals, public events, you name it, I like documenting it through photographs, and I wanted to do that this time, as well.  But, that would’ve been wrong and I thought Curt would appreciate me more as a friend than just another picture taker.

So, now we find ourselves in Fall, and with that, football season.  We had the opportunity to make our annual trek to Green Bluff in Spokane to pick up some pumpkins and fresh apple cider and fresh vegetables.  We even were able to stop into Townshend Winery for a tasting!

Our cart as we're loading pumpkins at a fruit farm in Green Bluff.

It feels really good to get this post done as it’s been a long time coming.  Thank you so much for reading it.  If you’d like to connect with me please follow me on Twitter or “Like” All Kinds of Great Music or Drinking Wine on Facebook!

Until next time….