Soccer Update

We are still undefeated!! No goals scored by yours truly, but I have had some shots...nothing to write home about except one of them did hit the goal post. Disappointing that one didn't go in. For a real run down of the games, you can talk with ADB...my faithful spectator from the sidelines. He's great at describing my shot that hit the post...he adds the comments that were made from the bench. No pictures yet, but maybe one day I'll have ADB snap a shot.

Little Black Sweater

Well, I have some sad news to report. My little black sweater will be entering sweater forever land. I don't know about you, but my little black sweater is a must for my wardrobe. You know the ever reliable piece of clothing. It goes with everything for all of the seasons. Don't leave home without if kind of clothing (very much so for me since I'm cold all the time). I was in a grocery store one time and of course freezing in there so I pulled out my handy black sweater from my bag and put it on. My friend was like where did you get that from? I said from my bag (still don't carry a purse, just my rugged mountain bag with heavy duty bottom - which I have a funny story about and am thankful for the durable waterproof bottom - I'll have to tell that story at a later date). Anyway, she thought it was so handy and so called it my little purse sweater. She was making fun of course as do most people who find out I carry a sweater everywhere I go, but it has been a life saver for me and it goes with everything...

The sad news is I found a hole in the elbow the other day. It already had holes in both cuffs, but I was able to cover those up without too many people noticing... a hole in the elbow is a bit more noticable. I didn't realize it until the other day when I felt a little breeze come across my elbow. In shock, I felt the elbow and found the disappointing hole. How did this happen? That really isn't that hard of a question since I wear it pretty much everyday.

So, on the hunt I go for the perfect black sweater. I'll be in mourning for a bit, and have to find a substitute for the time being, but never fear...the purse sweater will be back and it will be black!!

First Game

We won!! Yeah! Our record is 3-0. I missed the first 2 games because of two reasons, 1. I signed up late and didn't know the first game happened until it was already over 2. I didn't get my picture in on time. Didn't really know that was a major thing until they told me I couldn't play. Anyway, all that to say, I'm in and playing. What excitement and fun!

I was a bit nervous when I stepped into my cleats I hadn't worn in quite a while. Good thing they still fit. I played the whole game (you have to have 4 girls on the field at all times - and we only had 4 girls there). I was hoping for a sub at several points in the game.

A few things I noticed:
1. I'm not as fast as I used to be. Am I getting older?

2. It takes a bit for the men to pass a newcomer the ball. Not that I'm blaming them (they don't know me or my skills), but passing is a key element in soccer. I'm sure they didn't want to pass the ball to me and then me end of losing it, but there is always that risk in soccer.

3. Running several times a week for a half hour is not good conditioning for playing a soccer game. I am so sore!! The night after I played, I awoke at 2:30am and was wide awake. I mean not a bit of tiredness in me. Since my body was in pain, I decided to stretch and drink some gatorade. I'm sure there were electrolytes that weren't replenished. This is when I'm thankful for a dog. I didn't want to wake up ADB, so I went to the living room and of course Bailey comes in too. What a great companion!! So, there I am stretching and drinking Gatorade with my puppy at my side. I did eventually head back to bed. ADB didn't even know I had left when I asked him in the morning. Guess I was super quiet.

4. I need some new shinguards. My old ones are pretty nasty, but they will do for a few more games.

5. I need to add some elements to my workout so I'm not so sore next week. My husband's office mate and some other people run some sprints in the morning at a track. I'm going to try to join them next week.

I'll keep you posted on how we are doing! I'm hoping that next week I won't be so sore. It's been a while since my muscles have cried out like this.

Back in the Saddle or should I say cleats!

After almost a decade (well maybe it hasn't been that long) of having my cleats rest in a box in Virginia, they have made the trip to Memphis. That's right...I am now a member of a coed soccer team here in Memphis. A little scary to be on a coed team (men can be a bit intense at times on the field, but then again I've met some women that can be intense as well). I am pretty excited to be playing competitive soccer again. It's pretty intense...not one of those maybe I'll wear shin guard leagues, you definitely want to have those guards in place with socks pulled up.

A friend of mine was a member of a team last year and asked me if I wanted to join this year. It was almost a no brainer question...I did have to think a little bit about it being coed. After searching my house up and down looking for my cleats (which I could have sworn were here in Memphis), I made the call to my Mom to see if they were in my room at home. I guess I really thought I would never put on those cleats again which would explain why I didn't pack them and bring them to Memphis. Oh, but my competitive spirit just isn't dead yet.

I'll keep you posted on how the team is doing and how I'm fairing out there on the pitch (as they say in soccer).

Where does the time go???

I can't believe it is August 18th. What happened to the days. As I think back, I can't really remember what went on in July. I do remember it was hot and I mean hot. I was even sweating and as most of you know I don't really get hot in fact I spend most of my time being cold. But let's not dwell on what I can't remember and move on to what happened at the end of July, beginning of August!

The last weekend in July, ADB's Dad and his wife came to visit. It was really hot when they were here and so we didn't really venture out that much. I mean over 100 degrees. We did venture out one day to the zoo. Memphis does have a pretty good zoo. It is known for it's pandas, which I wasn't really impressed with since they just sat hunched over eating bamboo. They looked lethargic, but I might be too if I was kept in zoo. Anyway, did I mention it was hot. Well it was and so here we are walking around the zoo sweating. Maybe not the smartest idea we have ever had, but it was fun. Here are some of my highlights at the zoo.

THE GORILLA:
He was so funny. Just sat there saying this is my territory. This beast looked so strong. He has some serious muscles. The zoo keeper was out and about at the gorilla area and we found out that he had beaten one of the female gorillas (there are two of them) and so they separated them until he can be civilized around them. If I was that female, I don't think I would want to see the male gorilla again.

THE POLAR BEARS:

They were my favorite. Polar bears are really big. Their paws are huge. They have this pool they swim in where we can see underneath as they swim. For such a huge animal, they sure do swim fluidly. Their front paws do all the work, while the back paws just tuck under the body. I might have to try this the next time I'm in the water although I don't think it will work the same. I think I could have sat watched them swim all day.


ADB's Dad left on Monday. On Thursday, we flew to Virginia to see my family. My sister from Colorado was there as well. We had a fun time with my two nephews. They are pretty active and so you have to be ready for them. I think our favorite time with them was giving them rides in the wheelbarrow. ADB would grab one handle and I would take the other and then we would race down the lawn. Good exercise. I don't have photos yet, but I will hopefully post some soon.

We came back on Sunday and then on Monday headed out for a staff retreat. When we came back on Wednesday we were beat!

The hardest thing about our travels was leaving Bailey. He is such a sweet dog. He was so good while we were gone. Our neighbor watched him. I think I can brag about our dog because ABD and I have had no part in training him to be such a good dog. He came to us already trained. He waits at the door until you tell him he can come in and every night when we go to bed, he gets in his bed in the other room without us telling him. I could go on, but I won't. I thought I would post another picture. I hope to get an action shot of his favorite past time...fetching the stick. He loves it and would do it all day long.


Last but not least. I'm so excited about the Olympics, but wished I lived in California or at least that time zone so I could watch it all. We have stayed up so late yelling at the TV for people to swim faster, work harder, get to balls, not fall in gymnastics, etc. It's fun. Every time the theme song goes on, I sing along. GO USA!!

First Fruit

Wow! It's been a bit since I've posted anything on my blog. We've had a bit of trouble reconnecting our internet here at the house, but hopefully we have it all set now. Since my last post, we have officially moved into our house. It was slow moving there for a bit. We would move a little each day and then you just have to decide tonight is the night we are sleeping in the house. That meant making the last push cleaning out the refrigerator, cleaning the current house we were in and cleaning the bathroom of the house we were moving into and doing all the last minute things. It was a late night, but we are in!!!

I thought you all would enjoy some before and after pictures. Here is the before and after of the family room and kitchen:


Before and after of the kitchen:


This summer I've decided to try my hand at growing tomatoes. Growing up, we had a garden and it was great to have fresh vegetables. Before I planted a garden, I thought I would try growing tomatoes in buckets to see how they would do. So, I planted my three little plants, watered them, talked to them and behold...fruit.



I planted 2 cherry tomatoes and then one big tomato plant. The cherry tomatoes have been the first to be ripe. I was really excited when the first tomato was ready to be picked. I wanted an extra day just to be sure that it was ripe and ready. The next morning I went out to pick the tomato. I was getting ready for this big celebration. The first fruit. I thought it was a big deal. Well, I went down to the plants and couldn't find the ripe one. What happened?? I immediately thought ADB was playing a joke on me. He thinks I'm a little obsessed with the tomatoes anyway and so he would do this as a joke. So, I ran in to find the culprit. I was a little upset at this point. After accusing him of stealing all the joy out the first tomato by picking it, he simply said he didn't do it. What?? Well then who did?? I went back out to see if it had fallen on the ground or if I just simply missed it. Well, I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked Bailey if he took the tomato, but that wasn't much consolation as dogs don't talk. But Bailey is really a good dog and doesn't even go near the tomatoes so I knew it wasn't him. It may have been a squirrel or chipmunk. I seriously considered putting up cameras to monitor the tomatoes. I mean I don't want it to happen again and I want to catch the culprit. They must pay!! Needless to say, no cameras were put up and I just had to come to grips with the fact that I wasn't going to know who did it. Here is a picture of the first tomato before it was stolen.
I have had other tomatoes ripen and they haven't been stolen. So, it still is mystery what happened to that little guy.

Here are the big tomatoes on the vine. They are coming along quite well.

I'll keep you posted if I figure anything out with the little tomato.

Bailey

On Sunday, we got a dog!! He is a black lab as you can see from the photos. He is somewhere around 7 years old. We got him from a friend of ours who bought Bailey for his brother, but after a series (several series and seven years later) of events he has now come to live with us! Yeah!!

Bailey is a great dog. He is pretty low key and obedient. Not a high maintenance dog at all. We can leave him at home inside and not worry that things are going to be torn to shreds when we come back. He sits and stays. Pretty impressive. Down is a foreign word to him. When you throw the ball, he will sit and stay when you throw it and wait for you to say get it before he moves. We're going on tour soon.

Here's a little story and then we'll get to the pictures. On Monday morning, I thought I would go for a run with Bailey. Kind of see where he is endurance wise. Well, he did great for the first half mile. I thought this is going to be great. A new running partner. Then, he kind of slowed down for the rest of that mile. Mile 2 came and I could tell that Bailey was not going to run anymore, so I thought we will just speed walk for the rest. The next two miles were a little difficult. I was coercing Bailey to keep up. Needless to say, I don't think Bailey will be the new running partner. We need to do some training first...



Not a super great picture. But he is cute!


He always does this cross the leg thing when he lays down. Not sure why, but we think it is funny. He is so black...at night when we let him outside, we can't even see him. We just listen for the jingle of his collar.