Well it is the day after Christmas and I am home alone. I took the day off work to spend with my girls. At about noon Shayna went shopping with my sister and all her cousins and Madison just left about an hour ago to spend the evening with her dad. It is nice and quiet...
Christmas is a magical time of year that makes you crazy from stress up until the day it actually arrives then it is just so wonderful it is all worth it.
People often talk about the true meaning of Christmas and I think it is a bit different for everyone.
For me it is a time to spend quality time with your family and friends and show them how much you appreciate them. I also got lots of great gifts which I plan to enjoy in the next year.
Here he is on Christmas Morning opening his present from us...a box of organic peanut butter cookies for dogs. Santa also left him a nice jingle bell collar which he loves. In fact, Brent took the collar off - cos it was annoying - and set it on the table and he barked at it until Brent put it back on him.
This year for Christmas Eve we had our friend Kevin and my dad over for dinner. We did our usual Mexican feast. Brent made Al Bondigas (meatball) soup with a cilantro lime pesto and I made chicken enchiladas with green sauce. Costco provided the Tamales. We also had blue corn chips, home-made salsa, and guacamole.
My dad brought a nice bottle of Syrah wine to share that he was given by a millionare that he worked on the house of at Tahoe. He left after dinner to attend another party with his sister and her friends.
After dinner we baked some cookies for Kevin, I mean Santa. Kevin showered us with great gifts and then we then settled down to watch a Christmas Story on our new TV. Madison lost her patience more than once cos we were chatting while she was trying to watch the movie.
After Kevin left, and Shayna got home from her mom's we let the girls open their Christmas eve present, new pajamas and then watched It's a Wonderful Life...
It was a nice evening at home with a good friend and family. It doesn't get any better than that.
My great aunt Linda had everyone in the family that quilts make a block. Then they were all put together to make a quilt. then she put all the names in a hat and drew out the person to win the quilt! And the winner was my cousin Daniel. I was pretty bummed out that I didn't win that quilt!
This one above is my christmas block. My aunt Trish came over and helped me get all the material and a cutter that I could keep!
This block is the one my Aunt Trish made for the quilt.
This one is my cousin Anjeanette's
This one to the right is the one my grandma made. She is my great aunt Linda's sister.
This past weekend we had our first snowfall of the season. We think we got about 4 inches down here in the valley. Our Chili Dog loves the snow he gets so excited when he goes out for the first time and just does circles around the yard. He is a mut so we are not sure what breed he is but he has some sort of snow dog in him by the looks of his tail.
We are hopeful for a white Christmas but not holding our breath.
Last night we had the special treat of attending the 4th grade play at Madison's school.
She had tried out for the role of Lucky the elf which she did not get. She knew her lines but has stage fright. The girl who did get the role was taller than me - she was huge!
Those who did not get acting parts were the chorus on the sides of the stage.
Madison has two best friends and a "boyfriend" that she got to sing with for the play. In the photo above from the left they are: Paige, Alysha, Madison, and Josiah.
Madison and Josiah first met in the 2nd grade. At the beginning of the 4th grade, Josiah asked Madison to be his girlfriend. Madison is not really "allowed" to have a boyfriend and she is especially not allowed to hold hands with a boy or anything of that nature. We had the pleasure of meeting Josiah last night and he seems to be a real sweet kid. He was super scared of us which was adorable.
Madison, Paige, and Alysha have been friends since the 3rd grade.
There is lots of drama surrounding their friendship it is like our very own reality show. Every day someone is not friends but they manage to make up the next day and all is well again. They are both sweet little girls and we like them a lot.
Whilst (new favorite word) I was Christmas shopping last night I came across these things called "bling". They are intended for cell phones or MP3 players but I saw this design and it screamed Aircast! I thought it was a nice way to dress up the cast for the holidays.
Sadly, I have less than 2 weeks to go in the cast and wish I had discovered these gems sooner...
Traditionally, Brent and I would buy one gift from he and I and one from the girls for each adult and kid in the family.
Madison is now 9 and Shayna is 15 so we decided that they could buy the gifts for their 8 cousins and each other with their own money. We explained to them that the cost of the gift did not matter but we felt it was important for them to learn the art of gift giving.
Last night after work and school respectively we headed to the bank to get their money out of their savings accounts. On the way we discussed how much money to withdraw and Madison said that if she only took out $40 then that would only be $5 each person so she wanted $80 to which Shayna said she wanted $100 just to be safe.
Off we go to the shopping center to Claire's since you can find lots of fun stuff for kids there for not a lot of money. Madison was very good about finding the perfect thing for each person and keeping it within her budget. She took all her purchases up to the counter and got rung up and her total was $94 and some change. She very carefully opened the envelope with all her hard earned money inside and pulled out a crisp $20 and placed it proudly on the counter. The salesgirl looked at me so I had to explain to Madison that she needed to hand over ALL of her money. She got $5 and some change back which she quickly spent on some reindeer slippers at Old Navy for herself.
After all the shopping we had a nice meal at the Taqueria La Salsa and then headed to Starbucks for an after dinner coffee or peppermint hot cocoa. It was a great night, even for me who hates to shop. I was very proud of our girls they did a great job and really seemed to enjoy shopping for others. They were also proud of themselves which is the best gift of all.
My friend Barbara loaned me this Spinervals VHS tape to use on the trainer in the garage whilst I am convalescing.
When she loaned is she said "it is hard". In fact, the box has a difficulty level rating of 9 out of 10. Friday night I decided to try it out and I must admit I was scared...
(Click on picture to make it dance) I just got back from my follow up appointment with the orthopedic doctor and had an x-ray. He says I am healing nicely and no longer have to sleep with the aircast on because my fracture is so stable. He recommended that I start some range of motion exercises. The best part is that he said only 3 weeks to go! I will then be out of the aircast and put in a lace up support that will fit inside my regular shoe. I can then ride my bike and drive a car.
Since I am laid up with the broke-ass-ankle Brent and I decided that we would forgo us exchanging gifts and just decide on one thing that we both want and buy that for ourselves for Christmas. Madison had a Christmas party to attend on Friday night with her soccer team so that allowed us to spend some time shopping for this one thing that we both wanted.
We ended up at the Best Buy drooling over the big flat screen TV's. We love our LG washer and dryer so much we were checking out the LG 42" LCD with built in DVR and HDTV. Turns out that the DVR does not work with our cable company's system so it was basically useless. This made us turn our sights to the LG 42" Plasma HDTV it was about $350 cheaper than the LCD and the picture was just as good if not better quality. They had one in stock so we made the deal and agreed to the 4 year service plan for an additional $250.
Well of course it is not ever that simple with electronics. In order to connect the TV to our Moxi DVR box from Charter and achieve the best possible picture quality we also needed a special HDMI cable that cost $99.00 We want the best possible picture quality after all that is why we are spending so much on the TV in the first place right?
So we are ready to check out and the salesman says there is one last thing we need to consider - the condition of our power to the TV. WHAT? I have a surge protector. That is not good enough - you need a power conditioner to handle the peaks and valleys of the power to the device. How much I say? A mere $249.00 to protect our investment. Actually it has 10 outlets so we can plug the surround system that we can no longer afford since we just bought a mini power plant for our TV. But if something should happen to any of our devices plugged into our power conditioner, it is insured up to $100,000.00! Luckily Brent had received a Best Buy gift card for his birthday worth $15.00 so he handed it to the salesman and said "this should take care of it". We are finally out the door and spent $2,200.00, after the gift card (thanks Sean and Alycia). In all fairness our Best Buy salesman was a straight shooter and wonderful to work with.
Our Moxi box has a remote that you can program to also turn your TV on and off. Well we did not have the instructions or the code for the LG TV so Saturday Brent calls Charter and gets that all handled and then asks the nice man on the phone about subscribing to HDTV. They tell him that our Moxi box is HD ready and they can remotely activate that service and it is only $7.99 per month. We now get HDTV, 10 more channels added to the 500 billion we already get.
The first thing we watched on HDTV was the space shuttle launch live - it was incredible. The picture quality is absolutely amazing we were mesmerized. I also got to watch my Chargers spank the Broncos in HD. The picture is so good that we now find ourselves being HD snobs. We can't stand to watch anything that is not in HD it looks so horribly bad like you were using rabbit ears or something archaic like that.
Now all we need is a surround sound system and we will be set for the winter, I already have it picked out we just need to save some more money.
Well, I turned 40 on Monday December 4, 2006. My wonderful wife and friends had a great party for me at our friends Mike and Kathy's house on Saturday. It was great to see some people I haven't seen in a long while and some that I see quite often, some that ride bikes and some that don't... all in the same room and finding enough in common to keep conversation and good times at a high level. I truely enjoyed just moving through the party and jumping into conversations about bikes, movies, music, kids, family, soccer... and so on. The last real party I had to celebrate the day of my birth was when I was 22! So it was long overdue and it made it that much better.
On Sunday I was laying in bed watching the pre game show and talking to Sandie when Jeff called and said, "I just called to make sure you're loading your bike because we changed the time of our ride so you could come." I jumped out of bed, grabbed all of my (dirty-smelly-not-yet-washed) gear and tossed the bike in the Pilot and headed down to Carson Valley for a nice 14 mile trip through the Pinenuts. "Riding the Night Train" used to mean buying a bottle of wine (Night Train) that costs $1.99 and drinking till I couldn't walk. Now it means SINGLETRACK! What a beautiful way to close out my 30's.
After that, Sandie, the girls, Chili and I headed up to Tracy's house for a family party. It was very nice and I truely enjoyed myself. My mom made my fave Lasagne and Tracy made my other fave Dutch Apple Pie! I had to share, but I guess that's okay.
My girls and I all went out to dinner on Monday (my actual birthday) and had a nice quiet evening watching TV.
I hear all of these war stories about people turning 40 and going insane and having midlife whatevers... I am very proud that I made it this far. Turning 30 was tough, but I wasn't in a very good place at the time (and I was 20lbs heavier!). Today I have a hot young wife, two beautiful daughters and the coolest dog on the planet. What more could a guy want? Oh yeah... a new bike. I got some bike money and bike related gifts. The bike I ordered today is a Masi Gran Criterium. Looking forward to riding the road.
It has been a wonderful year with all of the ups and downs and ins and outs that come with being a Ruybalid. I love my family and friends and want to thank you all for being you and special thanks to Mike and Kathy and the kids for letting us invade your home to enjoy a great evening.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
I Can Walk!
Yesterday, like everyday since getting the aircast, I tried to put weight on my broken ankle and for the first time it did not hurt too bad. I then decided to take a step and was able to. Then I walked all the way upstairs. The only pain was the cramping in my calf but that seemed to stop with more use and some stretching.
I am free, free from the shackels of the crutches!
To celebrate Brent and I went Christmas shopping at Costco. I walked through the entire store without the crutches and it felt great. I did have two different people actually step on my aircast but other than that, it was wonderful.
The doctor said this past Tuesday that I would be walking without crutches in 3 weeks, I am ahead of schedule and optimistic about my recovery.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Back in the Saddle Again
My orthopedic cleared me to ride a stationary bike with the aircast on. First I had to collect it from my friend Kristy who herself is recovering from a MTB crash (hers was way more impressive than mine). She hit the trail again this week and doing great I hear. Maybe hit the trail is a poor choice of words...
After a long day at the office and a long 8 days of inactivity and eating out I hit the trainer. It was a challenge to even mount the beast. I left the clipless pedals on the bike so that I could at least clip in on the left. If there were only a way to modify this boot with the SPD's I would be totally set. Maybe I should market something like that.
Anyway, I rode the trainer at a moderate pace for 45 minutes while watching the Food Network. I started to break a sweat near the end so that is good. I just can't get going very fast with this bum leg. It hurt a little bit when I pushed it hard so I backed off.
All in all, I felt good about it. I am doing the best that I can. I did not have much pain last night so I know I did not over do it or anything but I did start to get a soar throat which only got worse overnight. I decided to stay home today and try to sleep it off. It is rather pathetic when you can't even carry your hot green tea to bed with you because you are in crutches. I am convinced that my diet of late, lack of exercise, lack of sunshine and fresh air, and stress has contributed to this 100%.
Just finished my tea and am heading off to bed...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Have you hugged your Orthopedic Physician today?
It has been exactly 7 days since my MTB accident and I finally got to see the orthopedic doctor today. I went in prepared for the worst case scenario but came out with the best.
The official diagnosis is a transverse fracture of the right lateral malleolus or as my friend John likes to call it...broke ass ankle.
The first thing they did was remove the Chinese torture device the urgent care calls a splint. It was a hard piece of plaster that basically ended right in the middle of my foot. When they took it off they said "they did not even put any padding in there did they?" Um no, no they did not.
When they took off the splint I got my first look at my foot since the accident. Holy crap, there is something to be said about the mind body connection. I swear my leg hurts more now that I have seen the bruising. It looks like it should hurt so it just does. It could also be that he did some manipulation of the ankle during the exam.
The other surprising thing was the atrophy after only 7 days of non-use. It may be hard to tell in this photo, looking at it the injured leg is on the left look at the difference on the inside of the legs. It is really evident in person. I am going to look like a peg legged retard by the time my leg is healed.
The doctor reviewed my films and said that it is a simple injury and should heal with no complications. In fact he said if he were to have a crash like I did, this is the outcome he would hope for his own ankle. The ligaments on my ankle held on so tight that the ankle fractured rather than them tearing away from the bone. That means faster healing and most importantly no surgery!
I am happy to report that he put me in an Aircast walking splint. This means that I can remove it to shower! The first thing I did when I came home was to wash and shave my right leg. He said I can walk as the pain permits. I tried a couple of times and pain does NOT yet permit. I can stand on it with a little weight but that is about it so far. I can ride my bike in 6 weeks but not run just yet he says I should wait longer for that. I go back in 2 weeks for more x-rays and follow up. I still can not drive, it is too bulky and not safe. I am cleared to ride my bike on a trainer with the boot on and can do the Bowflex. The only possible complication is what is called a non-union which would require "intervention". That is so not going to happen.
If all goes as planned, my return to mountain biking will be on January 9th...the bike gods have smiled upon me!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
con‧va‧les‧cence
Dictonary.com defines convalescence as: 1. the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness. or 2. the period during which one is convalescing.
I define convalescence as insanity. Mind you before my accident, I could not even spell convalescence so I guess I have in fact learned something from all this. Did I mention the dream I had last night? I was running through a soccer field with no cast but it hurt to take every step and that I was in a bikini top. What is that about? Do I feel unattractive with this lump of plaster on my right leg? I actually had a dilema this morning, do I bother to shave the left if I can't get to the right? In the end, I had to shave the left because although I have been known to hug a tree in my day - I draw the line with bushy legs or arm pits.
I have not had any Vicodin since Thursday morning at 5:30 AM. I am exactly 5 days into my recovery and have not yet seen an orthopedic doctor. I am guessing I will be laid up for at least 8 weeks but will not know for sure until I get in for follow up.
I went from being on physical overload unable to walk because my legs were too soar from soccer practice to being laid up flat on my back with my foot in the air. This morning I made coffee again, and did some dishes. I told Brent that my left butt cheek is going to be bigger than the other from standing on that leg and hopping around everywhere. I am going to try and cook dinner tonight, that should be entertaining.
Me trying to do anything reminds me of a Justin Timberlake song from the Shark Tale Movie Soundtrack "Good Foot".
The weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow, I can take comfort in that. Although I may need to make some modifications to my crutches so I don't kill myself or god forbid break my good leg. Maybe for the next 8 weeks or so it will rain and be so windy that I would not want to ride my bike anyway.
I just can't stand to do nothing, most of all I can't stand not doing the things that I love and that is going to cause me to go insane over the period during which I am convalescing.
Futsal
The term FUTSAL is the international term used for the game. It is derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word for "soccer", FUTbol or FUTebol, and the French or Spanish word for "indoor", SALon or SALa.
About a month or so ago Brent and I were at the AYSO board appreciation dinner. We were dining with Madison's spring competitive coach John. He was talking to Brent about this new indoor soccer team he started for men called Futsal asking him to join, etc. He then turned to me and said "hey, you should start a women's team". Before I could speak, he started to call over other women and asked them to join my team.
THAT my friends, is how Brent and I got involved in what we like to call "old man soccer" when referring to Brent's team. The rules of the game are very similar to outdoor soccer with a few exceptions. The game is played indoors on a basketball court 5 vs. 5 players (including the keeper) and the ball is smaller (about the equivelent of an outdoor size 4) and much harder.
The men's team is made up of coaches and parents from AYSO as is the women's team. The men are the Patriots and I named the women's team the Patriettes. We have been having a great time learning the game and making new friends. Not to mention, it is incredible exercise. The weekend before last, I ended up playing 2 hours per day! I had my women's practice at noon then went to watch Madison's basketball practice and then went to watch the men's practice at 2:00 and they needed another body so I scrimmaged with them. Then the next day the women had practice for an hour and then scrimmaged for the second hour.
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) so when I over do it, my body tends to let me know. I guess mountain bike riding every day at lunch and the soccer was a bit much for my old ass. The exciting part is that it never shows itself in the same way each time. This time, my left knee swelled up as if it had been injured. Brent noticed it and told my coach to bench me. I was less than pleased with him for doing this. When my coach asked why I was favoring my left leg I said that I was fine. He allowed me to do the practice but said he would decide later about the game. Lets just say he made the right decision...Incidently we won the scrimmage by one point - not because I played mind you but I like to think that.
What a beautiful game I am really going to miss it...but I will be back
Friday, November 24, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving
Madison goes to visit her dad on Tuesday nights, she came home with these flowers, a card, and this angel bear. She was so proud of herself - she is a great helper to me.
I think so far the worst day by far has been the day after the accident (Wednesday). I woke up in such unbelievable pain that I was trying everything - even Lamaze breathing. Not sure why I was trying that since it did not work in child birth and I swear this hurt worse than that with nothing to show for after the pain. Madison came and got into bed with me for a few minutes before school and I just held her as tight as I could.
I spent most of that day in a drug induced coma - and was happy to be there. The pain killers they gave me were 500 mg vicodin and did not work at all. Luckily I found some that were 750 mg in our cabinet so I took those rather than taking 2 of the 500 mg which would have been 1000 mg. I would have been drooling with that much!
Thanksgiving was my biggest challenge of my convalescence thus far. I love to cook, and I am a control freak. If I am not cooking, I am telling someone else how to cook - that is just the way it is. Yesterday, I had the same morning pain incident but slightly less painful. I took a pain pill at 5:30 that morning which by the way was the last one I have taken. I wanted to drink some wine with my Thanksgiving dinner last night so I decided to rough it. I finally woke up at 11:30 am and called Brent on the intercom and asked him what he was doing. He said he was cooking, here is how that conversation went - me: “what are you doing?” Brent: “cooking” me: {heavy sigh} Brent: “you are mad that I am cooking?” me: “no!” {Lying}{Silence} Brent: “do you need anything?” me: “a bath”. So he brought me up a trash bag for my leg and then said he would be right back. I was bathed and ready to get out before he came back. I can’t even tell you how unbelievably hard it is to be dependent on other people for your most basic needs and therefore operate on their time. I am incredibly lucky to have Brent and the girls, they have been wonderful – I just don’t do helpless very well.
Today is Friday, Family day. It is the day that we decorate our tree and the house for Christmas and then this evening we will get dressed up and go to the Nutcracker. Maybe we will go out to dinner. Today I was not awakened by pain and I got up before anyone and made a pot of coffee. That seems like no big deal but the water for the coffee is across the room from the coffee pot so it was a challenge but I did it so I feel good. I have also arranged for a ride to work on Monday so I am feeling a bit more in control again. I had planned on going shopping today but that was before the fall...those special electronic carts may be fun but...I still have no patience for people or shopping injured or not!
Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Oh My Aching Ankle
Yesterday on my usual lunchtime mountain bike ride I crashed and welll you can read the whole sad story here...
Shayna Turns 15! On November 10th Shayna officially turned 15 years old. Since she has visitation with her mother on most weekends we always have her birthday party on the Thursday before Veteran's day.
This year she had 3 friends come over after school and they all dressed up like princesses. We had pizza and took them to see the movie Flushed Away in Minden.
That meant we got an extra long car ride (20 minutes or so) with some giggling and very loud teenage girls.
After the movie we went to Cold Stone Creamery and had ice cream and opened gifts.
Only 6 more months and she will be getting her learners permit and driving!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Veterans Day Ride Today I had the privilege of riding with Kathy and Mike up Lakeview to the turning point for either Ash Canyon or Hobart reservoir. We had intended going all the way to Hobart and then down Ash Canyon but it was getting cold and Mike had an appointment to get to (oh, and I was tired, did I mention that?). Brent had to work today; he was missed on the ride that is for sure.
This ride is an intense climb for a good 2 ½ hours. If I read this trail map description for Hobart to Snow Valley Peak correctly, we climbed 2450 feet! Or it could have been 1740, I am not sure I am sure that it was a heck of a climb. I had a protein shake for breakfast, some Hammer endurance drink they made for me to sip on during the ride, and then Kathy gave me some large white pills which she said were electrolytes – I trust her completely. We ran into the forest service worker tracking an animal she called a Mountain Beaver, she had some fancy equipment that looked a lot like what you see those people looking for ghosts use with the long rod that spins around. We never did spot this so called beaver or any wild life for that matter and that is a good thing.
We also met a guy named Foley who lives in Lakeview. Evidently he saw us ride past his house and got geared up and followed us. He was a nice guy, so I hear; Kathy rode up with him for a bit on the hills while Mike pushed me (literally) from behind so I did not die on the trail. I had never had a push before; it was quite handy in that situation. He thanked us for inspiring him to get out and ride today. He also had heard it was my first time on this ride and was impressed with my positive attitude.
Remember how I said the climb was 2 ½ hours? We turned around at the crossroad and headed back the way we came to a single track that drops in at Timberline. It took us 9 minutes to get back down the hill that took so long to climb. The downhill was super fun and fast. The single track was very cool too. Upon our arrival back at the William’s place Kathy made us some lattes and we visited for a bit. There is nothing like a hot latte after a hard ride on a cold day. (That is Mike on the right, he was our photographer today so this is the only shot of him that we got) I had a great time the only thing that could have made it better was if Brent was able to join us. I am so grateful for such good friends. They have helped me so much with their tips and support as I learn to be a better rider.
I am a lucky girl!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Red Finned Step-child
In a previous post I wrote about how I got my co-worker Jared a fish cos he had been missing work and seemed a little down. As I wrote before, he went and got a 3 gallon aquarium for the betta cos the vase I gave it to him in was not good enough.
Then he started introducing other fish to the tank. The betta (who if you remember was the first) did not like the new tank mates. He allegedly started nibbling on the tails of these new friends and allegedly killed one of them. Then the second new friend had some tail missing (you can see in the pic, he is the guppy with the spotted tail). Jared added a few more friends and eventually the betta started flaring at them, who could blame him he did not ask to be put in this situation.
So, we decided to remove him from the aquarium and place him back in his original container. I am pretty sure he is on death row; Jared has moved on, replaced him. I have a feeling he never really liked the betta to begin with although he did appreciate the gesture. One day he will "accidentally" knock over the vase and step on him and it will be done. Sad really, he is just doing what he was born to do...he is a Siamese fighting fish after all.
I am glad that I rekindled an interest of his and he is getting so much joy out of it even if it means an innocent betta has to die in the process.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
my best puppy!
My puppy is the best puppy in the whole wide world! he is my best friend,I love him! He loves to play soccer and so do I. My mom and I went to OLD NAVY and bought him a cool toy. his name is Chili dog. 'cause when we first got him he had a collar with chili pepers on it. My mom made it up. 'cause she is wierd! But we all laughed and named him Chili dog. It was a cool name for him,and he liked it so much. Now he is safe and sond at my house with a fire so he can sleep good.
I love him!!!
My Best Mother
This is my mommie . We were at my triathelon last year on August 6th, 2005 she is the best mother you could ever ask for, she always made cookies after dinner YUMMMMY!!! I love her so much. she takes care of me 'cause she is the bomb! I am greatfull that she is my mom. I am greatfull that I am her daughter!!! ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) !!!!!!!!! I love you so much
I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!
MY ALLSTARS TOURNAMENT!!!
BY MADISON
This year I was picked for Allstars!!! It was the bomb, I loved it so much!!! I got to play with my whole patriots team! It was 13 girls isn't that a lot of girls? But we made friends, it wasn't that hard. Because they were all really nice. We had a tournament this weekend on Nov. 4th-5th, 2006. My team won the second game on Saturday the first day of our tournament, We lost the first game, It sucked real bad because the team that we were playing were bad sports. 'cause when they won they rubbed it in our faces! But we were good sports about it, It was okay we did not cry at all!!! IT WAS AWESOME !!!
Kit Carson Shootout All-Star Tournament
This weekend was the All-Star Tournament for AYSO fall soccer. This was Madison's first year making the team and they practiced very hard! Our team was called the Star Strikers. The first game was at 9:00 AM on Saturday and it was foggy and cold. The girls we barely awake for the first half but picked up a bit in the second half. The final score was 1-2, we lost to the Truckee Tornados. The second game of the day was at 3:30 and the girls were ready to play. We won against the Mammoth Flames 3-0. The final result for our flight was we got second place. Sunday's game was again at 9:00 AM and again, our girls were still sleeping. We ended up losing the game against the Truckee Lightning 0-1. In the end, we were 4th overall. All in all it was a fun weekend and a good experience for Madison and the other girls on the team. We are looking forward to the spring season to watch our girls develop into the amazing players that we know they will be.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
My New Pot Rack
I have been wanting a pot rack in my kitchen for a very long time. In fact, I think it was a year ago that I bought the nice pans with lids that stay on when hung for the pot rack I did not yet have. Brent is a welder so he wanted to make us one, we just never have the time. So, last Sunday after we bought our washer and dryer we stopped in to Bed Bath & Beyond and picked up a pot rack. I love the way it transforms our kitchen. We also freed up a cupboard to store more food. Now all we need is the granite countertops, new stove, new dishwasher, over the stove microwave, and paint. Oh, and a crap load of money to pay for it all.
Our New Toys
This is our new washer and dryer that was delivered on Thursday. They are the LG Tromm Steam Washer and Dryer. We had been shopping (and saving) for a new set for about a month since our washer was broken, or on its last leg. Last Sunday I went onto Home Depot.com and found this set but in Wild Cherry color so we went to the store to get that set.
Once we got there they sold us the set in the picture, cos it had more RPM's on the spin cycle (1300 plus) and an LCD screen. I have washed all our laundry already this week and I love my new machines! The washer is super quiet and completely idiot proof. The best part is that it uses way less water and energy to do the wash. The dryer also has a sensor to stop drying when the clothes are dry.
I am a gadget whore!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween
Halloween is our favorite time of the year. This year Madison (9) did not want to get a costume or go trick-or-treating! She wanted to stay home and pass out candy. Shayna finally talked her into putting on a Tinkerbell costume that Aunt Trish made for Shayna last year. The top did not fit her so she wore the skirt and shoes with a Tinkerbell t-shirt. Shayna also did her hair and make up for her.
Shayna (14) was a cat, and unlike her sister she wanted to go out trick-or-treating but settled for passing out candy and watching a movie on the Disney Channel with us.
The girls got pretty creative with their pumpkins.
Shayna did a "Pumpkin Pie" Since she is in Geometry she thinks that is funny. Must be a math thing...
Madison did "Bob" the pumpkin. Neither one used a pattern, they did it old school. I baked up the seeds and we snacked on them.
The girls also decorated cookies this year, they were very meticulous about it too. Everything is always a competition between the girls. When Shayna got home and saw how good Madison did on her cookies she knew she had to step up her game a bit.
Next year it is Disneyland for Halloween, we can't wait!
Nevada Day
Every other year we go to Disneyland on the Nevada Day weekend. This was one of the years were were at home so we decided to go to the parade. Madison and I had never been but Brent was born and raised in Reno so he has been to many a parade. This photo was taken on our way to the parade in our neighborhood.
This year our nephew Brennan was in the parade as a member of the Color Guard for his high school. He is on the far left of this photo. Doesn't he look handsome, we are very proud of him.
Madison had a great time at the parade, she especially liked that people gave her candy and balloons. She and her cousin Anjeanette sat in the street o keep warm since that was where the sunsine was. We had to rush her to soccer practice afterwards so she was certainly pooped that night.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Kings Canyon - 10/22/2006
A couple of Sunday's ago Sandie and I took our Chili Dog for a MTB ride up Kings Canyon. It is a long gradual climb from Carson City to Spooner Summit with beautiful views especially in the fall with all at the leaves changing color. The hardest part of the ride is climbing without much of a warm up. You are about a mile and a half into the climb before your body realizes it can do this.
The last time we did this ride was shortly after we met in 2000. We did a "shuttle" ride where we left one car in Carson and drove up to the summit. After the ride we arrived at the bottom and realized the keys for the car in Carson were in the car at Spooner Summit. We had to ride from the base of the trail to my house in Carson to get my other car at which point Sandie swore I was trying to kill her. In her defense it was her first MTB ride ever. This time however, she did the 9 mile climb with no complaints and probably could have kept going if we did not have the dog to worry about.
Chili Dog was a trooper as usual, even after we almost killed him earlier this summer on the Flume Trail. That was 27 miles, which is too much even for our bad ass dog. After that ride we decided that 15 miles is probably his limit. This ride was slightly over that at just over 18 but he was in much better physical shape this time around. He loved to drink the fresh water from the streams which seemed to give him magical bursts of energy. When I would stop to take pictures or give him a drink from my bottle, he would get impatient because his mamma kept going without him out of sight. So he would run between us keeping an eye on both of us making sure we stayed together. It must be the Shepherd in him.
You can find great trail maps and descriptions at Great Basin Bicycles Here is what they say about this ride:
Kings Canyon Climb (Blue Trail) 19 Miles - 3000 Feet of Climbing (Intermediate)
From Reno, take Hwy 395 south to Carson City. Once in Carson City, take a right on Winnie Ln. Follow Winnie Ln. to Mountain St. take a left then follow to King Street. Take a right on King Street and follow the road until it turns to dirt. Park at the end of the pavement, and start your ride here. Follow the dirt road for 2.6 miles where your will have completed the worst part of the climb. This section is loose, rocky, and steep, but once completed, the rest of the ride is beautiful. Once at the top of the climb, you will see a road coming in on your left. This road takes you downhill into private property and will dump you out ½ way up Highway 50. Continue strait heading west. The rest of the ride is very strait forward. There are no other road intersections into this jeep road. So, all you have to do is ride to the top. Follow this jeep road up and down for 6.9 miles (9.5 miles from the start) where it will drop you out on the top of Highway 50 Spooner Summit. Now just turn around and ride back down to the car. Be careful on the last 2.6 miles. This ride should take the intermediate rider 2 – 2.5 hours to complete.
Well it is the day after Christmas and I am home alone. I took the day off work to spend with my girls. At about noon Shayna went shopping with my sister and all her cousins and Madison just left about an hour ago to spend the evening with her dad. It is nice and quiet...
