Always do your homework.

It's a good rule for life, I think.

The Hubs has been taking a wine course. He asked if I wanted to take it with him, but actually I prefer to spend my Saturday mornings drinking lattes, writing, then getting a pedicure as a reward, so I passed. Apparently, he prefers to kickstart his weekend with 8 glasses of wine before noon. To each his own. To make it up to him, I've promised to be an excellent study buddy. Even if I have to drink wine every night of the week with him, to help him. That's the kind of study buddy I am.

Because if I learned anything in school, it was to always do your homework. You'll never pass the pop (or wine) quiz if you don't. Especially in university when like 3% of what you need to know on the final exam is taught in the two-hours-a-week lecture, while the rest comes from doing your homework when everyone else is at the pub, playing cards, on youtube (I totally added that in for the sake of readers who are born in the 90s) or hooking up. The friend who forwent the trip to the liquor store (or at least, saved you a cooler) to help you memorize The Communist Manifesto was the friend for life.

So nearly every night the Hubs and I drink wine. It's homework, I tell you. Not pleasurable at all. No way. Usually the Hubs picks the wine he's studying this week, then we analyze it together. I nod a lot and wait until the point that we get to taste it. But along the way I've learned some key words, which I feel would be quite useful if you're trying to impress a date or get a job in a restaurant. I'm not attempting to get either, so I'll share them with you. As an extra tip, it helps to nod when you're identifying these aspects of the wine. Nodding is proven to make you appear smarter, though I can't promise they'll help you pass your poli-sci pop quiz.

Anyway, here are your keywords:

"Good nose."
"Big tannins."
"High acidity."
"Long finish."
"Round."
"Approachable."
"Very drinkable." - That's my favourite. What's not to like about a very drinkable wine? Especially after a hard...one day of writing.

Oh I know, it's only Monday, but how is the Hubs supposed to pass the course if he doesn't study the wines he's learning about? And how can I be a supportive study buddy if I don't drink along?

And...wine is full of fruit... so it's sort of like spending the night at a spin class.

And now, it's back to writing for me, while the Hubs is mastering some classic RHCP on RockBand.

Two homework sessions in one night! Now that's dedication.