New lacrosse photos

Eric played JV against a Tucson team Saturday (at home) but they Wildcats just couldn’t keep up. Here’s a link to some photos I took.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dezertprincess/sets/72157604308914095/

In case you were wondering, the visiting team had the same color jerseys as Mesquite. That would explain why some of our kids look so “ghetto”.

Chillin’, working, playing and crazy hat day

 It’s been a while since I posted an “AZ Update” for friends & family so thought I’d give it a shot this morning. Terry’s parents have been here for about three weeks now, with one more to go. They’ve been enjoying the sun and making the most of their days by reading (Sue) and crosswords/sudoku (Ray). They’ve also been walking daily which is wonderful exercise for them, and something they couldn’t easily do in Rochester this time of year where their high temps are lower than our low temps!

Sue soaks up a little sun!

Ray, pen in hand, is primed and ready for the next crossword or sudoku that comes his way.

Our wireless setup gives Terry the option to work poolside on nice days like this.

Today at Justin’s school it is “Crazy Hat Day”.

Terry took the day off to golf with some friends, then later Ray will join them for a spring training game in Tempe. After that, Eric has a lacrosse game in the faraway land of North Scottsdale which means we won’t be home til the late hours. Fortunately we can sleep in tomorrow – yay! Tomorrow night we’re getting together with some good friends at a restaurant to celebrate our friend Matt’s 50th birthday. After what promises to be a busy beginning to the weekend, we’re looking forward to just ‘laxing out at home on Sunday.

Eric’s been playing a lot of lacrosse in both the JV and Varsity games so that has kept us quite busy. Except for the first two, all the games have been at night and since my camera doesn’t take good night shots from the sidelines, I haven’t had any new photos to post.

A few weeks ago I had a garage sale and made a whopping $500 which I promptly used to purchase a new sofa and coffee table for our family room, delivered yesterday. We also got a new dinette to replace the air hockey table in our dining room, which we are transforming into somewhat of an Irish Pub theme (and no, not just for St. Patrick’s Day).

Well I think that’s about it for this catch-up post. Everyone stay warm!

Family update

Lots has been going on in our household lately – here’s the news in an nutshell:

• On Saturday there was another Varisty LAX game, but they lost and Eric did not play. I did bring an unwelcome souvenir home – a nasty sunburn on my collarbone and nowhere else. I’m a freak.
• On Saturday night Terry & I went out with the ‘hood for Barb’s birthday to Ah-So Teppan Yaki restaurant. It was tons of fun, though we discovered the key ingredient that gets the chefs through the show is… alcohol!
• Sunday was the first day without football in ages, and Terry seemed lost trying to find something to watch on TV. He ended up going to the driving range with Justin while I spent the day prepping for an interview. Eric went to the Renaissance Festival with his girlfriend’s family.
• Today (Tuesday) I had my interview, which went well. I got along famously with the group of ladies which is obviously good news. I know I can do the job and think I was able to prove that to them. I can tell I’d be a good fit for the team. Now I just have to cross the fingers and hope I get “the call” – but I also recognize that anything can happen at this point as I’ve seen so many times before.
• Tonight – as I write, actually – Terry is being inducted into the Knights of Columbus. I am so proud of him! Not only is it wonderful to see him contributing to the church, it’s also great for the kids to see him getting involved. Plus, I think it will be good for him to have an activity outside of work.

Upcoming events:

• Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Eric’s 16th birthday! We’re going to have a quiet family dinner at home for starters with more to come later.
• Thursday I’m going to an idustry networking luncheon which I’m really excited about. I left last month’s event with four job leads!
• Also on Thursday is Eric’s first JV LAX game and since he’s a starter he should get a lot of playing time. I guess I’ll get to see how well my new camera takes night shots.
• Of course Thursday is also Valentine’s day. Terry and I will celebrate as we usually do – a quiet, romantic steak & champagne dinner at home. Who needs to fight the crowds and pay upwards of a hundred bucks for a night out?
• Sunday is the ETA for Terry’s parents, Ray & Sue, to arrive. We don’t have any big excursions planned like last year, but it should be fun having them stay with us.
• On Tuesday of next week we’re going to go out to celebrate Eric’s and Grammy Sue’s birthdays (hers is Sunday the 18th). I think we’re going to Organ Stop Pizza, home of the Mighty Wurlitzer, one of the world’s largest operating organs.

Mesquite Wildcats Lacrosse

The 2008 season has finally begun and what a great way to start! Game 1 of the Varsity team was held in Oro Valley (Tucson) today and the Wildcats stomped the Canyon del Oro High School team 17-0, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 record. Eric is on the Junior Varsity team, but JV players are allowed to play all of their own games, plus 5 additional Varsity games. Coach decided to reward some of his hardworking JV players by allowing them playing time in today match, including our very favorite Wildcat.

View the photos I took of Eric here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dezertprincess/sets/72157603839336094/

View all the photos I took today (including the group shots and his teammates) here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dezertprincess/collections/72157603839203992/

Like any doting mother, I’ll be updating both sets throughout the season so you can check back every so often for new shots. Also, if you are a techie like me you can subscribe using RSS with the following URL: http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=72157603839336094&nsid=22513019@N04&lang=en-us

If you don’t know what an RSS Reader is, you don’t know what you’re missing! Learn about it on Wikipedia. I love Google Reader because it’s easy to add and remove new feeds/blogs. You can subscribe to my blog and as soon as I post something, you’re notified! Google is my home page and since I’ve personalized it with “widgets” every time I open my browser I’m shown the titles of the newest posts from all the blogs I subscribe to including my sisters and my mom.

Getting back to lacrosse news, the next Varsity game is in a week on February 9th (though I don’t know whether Eric will have the opportunity to play again) and the first JV game is on Valentine’s Day, Thursday, February 14th. Both games are at home (yay! No more driving to Tucson!).

Here’s the link to the team website where you can see scores, photos, roster and game schedule: http://www.jvwildcatlax.com/

GO WILDCATS!

Post-birthday, running, lacrosse, Super Bowl Sunday, Phoenix weather report

I hate doing blog “updates” – they seem so droll. I did this – and I did that. Anyway, I haven’t done one in a while so here’s what’s up in our household…

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes! Once you get to be my age, you don’t really like birthdays but it sure beats the alternative. Mine was really nice – I went to see 27 Dresses with my friend Kathy, then got a pedicure. Our family went out to dinner at Rigatony’s which was fabulous. Tomorrow night we’re going out dancing with our neighbors & friends to celebrate. As for the present report – I got a pretty bracelet and some pecans from my sister Allison and some mad money from my mom (which I’ve used toward some camera accessories). Terry and the kids gave me one of those newfangled digital photo frames which I absolutely love. I set it up on the end table in the living room but hopefully soon I will have a desk to place it on.

Last weekend Terry and I ran in the “Run for the Islands 5K” and did pretty well. I beat my time from my last race, but they haven’t posted the actual time yet. I came in at about 35 minutes and Terry and our friend Todd were about a half a minute behind me. I think the reason they were lagging might have something to do with the beers they had the night before maybe? We were just happy we made it to the finish line. I think our next race will be the Pat Tillman Run, which I’ll write about in a future post (it deserves its own).

Eric has his first lacrosse game on Saturday – in Tucson! We’re not looking forward to that drive, but he’s playing on the Varsity team so that’s a good experience for him, considering he’s a freshman! It’s about time he has a game though – he’s been practicing for over three months!

Justin is psyched for the Super Bowl. He’s hoping the Giants will win. The rest of our household is cheering for them as well, but mostly because we just don’t want to see the Patriots get more rings. We decided just to have a low-key family party like last year, when we had tacos and root beer floats, which the kids loved of course. The city is in a frenzy – they are predicting over 600,000 people converging on the valley this weekend! Fortunately the event is on the other side of the city from us, but the FBR Open golf tournament (being held on the same day, as always) is in Scottsdale which is contributing to the crowds.

It’s been freezing here – well, maybe not freezing but it’s been cold! I’ve been wearing sweaters and sweatshirts, and it doesn’t even warm up mid-day with the sun. But I suppose I have no right to complain considering all the horrid weather the Midwest and Northeast are getting. Must be all those Patriots and Giants fans, bringing their frigid climates with them!

Working like a dog – and dog tired, too.

Thank you loyal fans, for showing an interest in me, and mentioning that you miss my blogging. It’s nice to know I’m not just typing away into some big black hole that nobody reads. Though truly, a real writer doesn’t write for the reader, but rather herself. I’d like to think of myself as this type of real writer, but I have yet to obtain the check to prove it.

Only a few days off of a 10-day trip to Convention in Montréal and now preparing for a local meeting next week. The meeting is actually an “easy” one, as meetings go, but the delegates consist of all the highest ranking owners and executives from countries all over the world. They do work hard and expect much from me, but they are also fun to work with and on Wednesday evening will drink like fish and dance like there’s no tomorrow. I still have visions from Rome of our Swiss CEO twirling me around on the dance floor so fast all I could see was the room spinning – not unlike what you will see in a movie. I’m just thankful that my dress wasn’t the type to hike up enough to expose my underwear to the audience. One of my Australian counterparts was not so lucky.

But enough about me…

The kids have been busy and Terry has been great at picking up the slack while I’ve been gone. I know it’s hard for him, having to drive them around, be at games, practices, guitar lessons, etc. And of course without my gourmet cooking it probably really sucks for him. OK, so even if I was a gourmet I’m lucky if I cook a decent family dinner once or twice a week nowadays!

Hey, how’d I get back to me?

So Eric had his last football game a few weeks ago, then pretty much immediately started lacrosse. He’s playing on the Varsity team. “Not bad for a freshman” you might think, but in reality, they don’t have a JV team because there aren’t enough kids. Anyhow he is a mid-fielder and seems to enjoy it. He’d better considering Terry spent beau coup bucks on new equipment for him. At least Justin will inherit it in a few years.

Speaking of Justin, he’s been playing football and loving it as usual. His team, the Tigers, won their first game last weekend, but he didn’t even play (sore ankle)! Their record is something like 1-5 now, and some of the kids were baffled because Justin is considered one of the team’s “stars”. As an observer, I would contribute the win to them finally understanding the concept of blocking. Hopefully this weekend they will block for him as he is running back and the team’s season high scorer.

Terry’s been doing much better at work lately since his new boss took over. They seem to get along great. It’s been a long time since he’s had a supervisor who shows the least bit of competence so I think he’s actually enjoying his job for a change. Something else our long-distance readers may not realize – Terry has lost quite a bit of weight. He’s been working out and eating better and dropped a few pounds and a few sizes. If you have a chance to see us at Thanksgiving then you will surely notice. I’ve lost a couple too, but have a bit to go before I can get back into my skinny jeans.

Well there’s more work to do for this meeting, though blogging was a nice diversion for me. Til next time – hopefully not as long!