Thanksgiving Weekend

Our long weekend started with Turkey Bowl. Mark didn't play because he was leaving for hunting the next day and didn't want to risk being sore, but I played. And, like another football playing Mansfield I was the center for all but a few downs. Turns out I'm better at tackling people than scoring TD's! It was two-hand touch with "soft" tackles and having snow made the take-downs a little softer. I had a ton of fun and can't wait for Santa Bowl the day after Christmas!

Nolan about to tackle Josh and me on the ground behind them. I think I slipped trying to get to Josh.

The whole gang...thank you Mark for taking photos!!

After Turkey Bowl we headed to the parents for Thanksgiving dinner with all of the local family. Lot's of good food, wine and fun!

Mark was up at 2 something in the morning Friday to get ready to leave for hunting and since I was awake anyway I decided to go wait in line at Target for the 4 am opening, to only end up getting $32 worth of stuff. Totally not worth standing in line for! I was home by 6 and went back to bed before spending the day/night with Michelle and the girls. We had decided that while the boys were hunting we would decorate her house for Christmas and have a slumber party. Love Hot Butter Rum, watching some great college football, and hangin with the girls.

Saturday I spent most of the day grocery shopping and running errands. I kind of forgot how much longer everything takes this time of year, and had a wicked headache by the time I got home. I spent the rest of the day chillen on the couch watching football and movies. Actually I did manage to get all the laundry done and the house cleaned even though my head hurt. I was motivated though because I wanted to be able to do nothing but watch football on Sunday. Usually I'm trying to clean up and fold cloths etc during commercials, but there are no commercials with the Red Zone and I really wanted to be lazy for a whole day.

Josh, Meka and Peanut came over to watch the Hawks game and flip over to the Red Zone now and then to catch the Vick action.

Mark is now home safe and we are waiting for the Sunday night game to start. :-)

We Have Snow

It started snowing Sunday night...and did not stop until Monday night. Mark and made it to work Monday, my office sent us home early, so we headed up to snuggle up, drink champagne, eat meatballs, and watch MNF. I was so glad the power didn't go out!!!

We again made it in Tuesday, but were sent home early before the afternoon freeze set in. The roads were slick today, but not too bad.

I actually really like the snow and I know that even if I don't think driving in it is smart Mark has the truck and we can pretty much get wherever we need to.

No more snow today, just cold, REALLY, REALLY COLD!!! Keeping the heat turned up and staying inside.

Good Football Weekend

It was a good weekend in general but made so much better when my teams win! ND pulled out a win and the Steelers rocked the Raiders!

Mark and Bob took Grace hunting Saturday so I spent the day cleaning up the house, making guacamole, and getting the crock pot meal for Sunday ready so I could just turn it on Sunday morning, and of course watching football! I headed over to Bob and Michelle's so Michelle and I could watch the ND game together and I made tacos for us all once the boys got back. BTW tacos are so much better with homemade guacamole!!!

ND has had so many injuries this year that I sort of gave up hope that they would have many wins, but they have pulled together as a team and looked pretty good. The only game that didn't go how we wanted was the Mississippi State game, but they put up a good fight against Arkansas and lost in OT.

Sunday we watched the Steelers vs Raiders at Nolan and Michelle's house. Thankfully they are pretty mellow people for being Raiders fans and took the loss pretty well. So many interesting calls in that game...I will leave it at that.

Looks like I have two FFB wins this week as well!

Thursday Night Football

I love it that I can watch football Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday! Well, I could always watch college ball on Thursday, but now I can pick between college or NFL depending on who is playing. Tonight I want to watch both, so will be flipping back and forth. Really I want to watch the Bears as Knox is one of my fantasy WR, but I have enough friends that are UW fans that I feel compelled to pay attention to that game as well.

I can't wait to go home, put on my pj's and chill on the couch watching football. Dinner is already done (gotta love the crock pot!) so aside from a few dishes I can totally relax tonight!!!

I love Thursday nights!

No Power

I love a good storm! It is the perfect excuse to put flannel pj’s on, drink tea or better yet hot spiced wine, and curl up on the couch with a good book/movie/or sporting event. But last night was CRAZY!

To start with I was not happy that the power flicked on and off during MNF! Not that there was any doubt as to the outcome of the game after the first 6 minutes, but don’t mess with MNF!

Given that the power was flickering on and off I should have known to get the candles out before the power went out for good, but I didn’t. And, do we have a single flashlight in the house? Um no, ok yes one little one, but really for as much as we camp you would think we would have a few in the house. I seriously could have used a camping lantern last night, but at least with EVERY candle it the house lit we have ambiance and competing smells of cinnamon, sugar cookies, and apple pie with a little basil cucumber thrown in…all a bit sickening after a while!

The one sound I really didn’t want to hear…the transformer blowing up! We know that means we may be without power for a few days the way things go in Lakewood. (Last time it blew we were out for 3 days I think).

Then the bombardment on the house really started...branches crashing into the roof, windows and deck. It literally sounded like we were under attack. Mark and I looked at each other a few times thinking this was the branch that would knock a hole in the roof. The yard (and pretty much all of Lakewood for that matter) looks like a war zone! It is going to take a while to clean it all up, but thankfully we survived with not trees coming down on the house and no significant damage…just a few little things to clean up/fix.

Oh to be a kid again when a storm meant the power going out and having the entire dark house to play hide and go seek in!

Wine of the Month

Mark and I joined the Sunset wine club and received our first two bottles of wine for the month. What I love about this wine club is that they send a recipe to go with each bottle, and being that I LOVE to cook I was so excited to get wine and new recipes to try!

Both bottles of wine were amazingly good! The first one we tried was the red we were sent:
Soquel Vineyards
04 Pyramid Meritage
One of the most flavorful wines I have ever had. It was earthy and strong with really bold flavor.

The recipe that goes with the Meritage was a South American Flank Steak and it was great!! The wine and the steak were PERFECT together! (I will share the recipe in a later post).

The second bottle was a Chardonnay. Normally I don't like Chardonnay, so I kind of put off opening this bottle and giving it a try, but once we opened it was gone in no time. We both loved it.
Kearney 07 Monterey County Chardonnay
It had a strong butter taste and was so smooth it felt like silk on my tongue. I was not really all that interested in the recipe that went with it so we had the wine alone without food.

I can't wait to see what wine we get next!

Never Say Never

One of my personal philosophies in life is not use terms like Never or Always. Very few things in life are absolute and life throws stuff at you that sometimes results in decisions or actions that you never thought you would make or do.

One of the few things I still say I will never do is become a runner. I HATE running!

Well I may have to eat those words. Michelle and I have signed up for a 5K race in January. Now I know that one little 5K does not a runner make, but still running a 5K, or any race for that matter, is something I never ever thought I would do or have wanted to do until now.

So, why am I doing it? Well it is a fundraiser for the scholarship fund in Tina Griswold's name, she is one of the fallen Lakewood officers. The race is taking place in Ft. Steilacoom park, which is pretty much my back-yard. And, Tina responded to one of our calls when a driver crashed through our fence. She was nice, helpful and followed up with us to make sure we received the info/support we needed to get our fence fixed. Maybe most important of all is that Michelle is supportive and doing the race with me. It will make a huge difference having someone to train with and run the race with.

Combine that with the fact that my 6 and 8 year old nieces have completed 5K's and I could not think of a reason, other than the fact that I hate to run, not to do it. Michelle and I will start training on Saturday mornings so that we can be prepared and actually try to enjoy our run on the 29th. My #1 concern is shin splints. I can run for 2 minutes or 2 hours and get shin splints every time, but I am determined to do this and hope that with the running involved in playing dodgeball/kickball/and softball (even though I didn't play I ran my but off the last few practices helping the team practice fielding) my body will respond a bit better to running than it has in the past.

It is kind of fun to have a goal to work towards. I'm really going to focus on my workouts so that my cardio and strength are where they need to be and am looking forward to knowing Michelle and I have a weekly date to spend time together doing something healthy and supporting our community at the same time.

Weekend Fun

Mark's official birthday was yesterday, so we decided to celebrate on Saturday with a few close friends. Mark decided he wanted foot massages, sushi, and drinks at a new bar downtown. Joey and Katie were the only two that were brave enough to join us for the foot massages which turned out to be a good thing because it was sketchy! We walked in stayed for maybe 10 minutes and left with none of our feet having been massaged. So the 4 of us headed to Two Koi for drinks until our table was ready and the rest of our party joined us.

Yummy rolls and sushi!

Mark, Katie, Joey at the bar.

Not sure what he is expecting to pop out of the box, but Michelle looks really excited about it!

After dinner we headed to Blues and Brews where Amy and Ivan joined us. We didn't stay long, and while everyone else left Amy, Ivan, Mark and I headed to The Office, our usual post-dodgeball hang out, for some beer and shuffleboard. Mark and I dominated!

Thank goodness we gained an extra hour because I was at Bob and Michelle's at 9am Sunday morning to spend the day with Grace and Kiera while they went to the Hawks game. Mark found a free Day of the Dead festival at the Tacoma Art Museum so we decided to pack up the girls and check it out.

Grace, very patiently, waited in line for a hour to get her Day of the Dead face painting. She loved it. Every window or mirror that she could see her reflection in she would stop and look and make different faces...it was so cute!

Looking down at the main floor of the museum from the 3rd floor.

There were a ton of arts and craft and Day of the Dead displays. I was surprised at how in to the art Grace was, even the regular art exhibits at the museum held her interest. And, Kiera has to be the easiest baby/toddler every. She is so content to be held and snuggle and just look around and take it all in. We had so much fun spending the day with them!

No Home Town Loyalty!

Anyone who knows me knows I love sports and also knows I’m not much of home town fan. Given the fact that I have lived in W WA from day one I get asked all the time how I can forsake the home town teams.

Before I go any further remember I have been watching sports since I was a little girl and formed my likes and dislikes when I was young so some of my reasoning may seem a bit silly but when I was 7ish it made perfect sense to me!

Yes I have lived in W WA my entire life but I grew up in SW WA and the “local” TV stations were Portland based. I never saw Seattle based TV programming until I was 20 and moved to Tacoma. Because of that I grew up watching Oregon teams. The Portland Trail Blazers were the only pro team in any sport that got regular play in my house. I didn’t even really know the Sonics existed back then and now that they are gone I’m glad I still have my Blazers! I have also been known to be a Celtics fan because I liked the parquet floor and a Spurs fan because they have had individual players that I liked. And I went through the bandwagon Jordan/Bulls fan stage like everyone else, but ultimately it still comes back to the Blazers being my favorite NBA team.

I actually prefer college basketball to the NBA and have been a Duke fan since I was a freshman in HS. The first time I saw a Duke game I was shocked to see a short white guy playing point and he was really good! Blame it on Bobby Hurley. Over the years I have come to admire the attitude of the team and have a lot of respect for coach K and how he runs the program. Even though Duke is my team I will watch almost any college basketball game for the simple fact that I take my March Madness brackets VERY serious and I like to do my homework. Sometimes I like the Zags and the Huskies, but never pick them to go far in the tourney and am not loyal to them.

The whole Oregon thing does not work for the NFL as there in no NFL team in Oregon, so why not be a Hawks fan? Well when you grow up with a family member who played for the Steelers and won 2 SB’s with them no other football team stands a chance! I did go through a teenage rebellion stage where I thought it was fun to piss my Dad off by being a Raiders fan. Deep down I have always been a Steelers fan though. I love their style of hard hitting, play in the mud, grind it out and fight for every single yard style of football. That is not to say that I don’t appreciate and even enjoy watching teams like the Colts. Peyton’s ability to run a complex offense and pull off intricately designed plays is fun to watch! I can appreciate a faster, cleaner (translation indoors/fake grass) finesse type of game. What I don’t appreciate is a team that never seems to be able to pull out the win when it counts and the fact that I’m still hearing about how unfair the SB was. For that reason alone I will never be a Hawks fan.

As for college football I don’t remember the Ducks or Beavers being all that great as a kid, nor do I remember hearing much about the Huskies, Cougars, or the Pac 10 in general. What I do remember is Notre Dame being on TV every Saturday. Three things I loved about ND: 1 - they play the style of football I love. 2 – they don’t have their names on their jerseys which made me feel like it was more about the team than individual stars. 3 – they were non-conference so only teams that knew they could beat them would play them…they never have an easy schedule. Combine those 3 things with the fact that they were/are on TV EVERY SATURDAY and how could I not like them?!

Over the years not much has changed…ND football is still ND football and I love it! With all other college teams I’m totally a bandwagon fan. I watch if they are winning or are exciting, but as soon as they have a bad season I move on. This year I have been influenced by a few blogs/co-workers/friends and have given the Pac 10 a bit more consideration. I’m pretty excited about the Ducks and have been paying attention to the big matchups, but ND is really the only college team I can be considered a true fan of.

As for soccer, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis I’m pretty indifferent. I don’t have any favorites in any of these sports and as long as the game/match is a good one I don’t really care who is playing. I will say I could easily add soccer to my sports viewing obsession as I love the strategy and it is a lot of fun to watch in HD on our big screen.

My disclaimer to all of this is I love sports in general and especially when it comes to football I would rather watch a team I can’t stand than not watch football at all. Also, I have never turned down free tickets and am going to a Hawks game next month as a football fan, NOT as a Hawks fan. :)

Flag Football Anyone

James Harrison has been fined $20,000 for a late hit to Drew Brees.

While I respect that fact that the NFL is trying to make the game safer by avoiding helmet to helmet hits I do not agree with this fine in the least.

It is not the NFL's place to attach monetary fines for penalties during the game unless there is helmet to helmet hitting or an extreme case of unnecessary roughness, or fighting...basically has to be pretty blatant in order to be fined.

I watched the game and while it was a late hit on Brees it did not look like a helmet to helmet hit or an unnecessarily hard hit, just late. And, believe me I have seen enough re-plays as all anyone can talk about is how Harrison has struck again and no matter how many times I see the late hit I don't see anything that warrants a fine.

Players are not fined for holding, roughing the kicker, blocks in the back, intentional grounding etc. and unless the NFL is going to start fining every player who gets flagged during a game no matter the nature of the penalty then they should not be fining Harrison in this instance.

I know this sounds like a Steelers fan defending a Steelers player, but really my #1 concern is the direction the NFL is going and the potential changes that will bring to the game. Pretty soon they will be wearing flags and there will not be any tackling at all.

I realized the other day one of the reasons I have enjoyed college football so much this year, there is very little talk about how dangerous the game is or fines to players or helmet to helmet hits. I'm sick of it and just want to watch some good football games.

Adoption Update

I have not posted much about the adoption in a while. Mostly because there is not much to tell. The only “action” we have had as of late is updating some of the home study paperwork that is only good for a year.

It is hard to believe we have been waiting for a year already. The last year has had its share of adoption related ups and downs for sure, most of which you all have gone through with us. I actually don’t post much about how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking because honestly it is hard sometimes. I get asked 2 to 3 times a day from various people what is going on with the adoption and honestly I just get tired of talking about it.

I am a pretty self aware person and I am constantly analyzing how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking about things varying in importance from how I’m doing in fantasy football to my marriage and everything in between. The adoption process has given me ample opportunity to analyze what I’m thinking and feeling.

When the process first started I was so excited, ready to jump through any and all hoops and convinced we would find the perfect situation within months. Every email we would get regarding a potential baby would make me start thinking this is the one, this will be the baby for us. A year later and 4 or 5 “close calls” later and I don’t get all that excited anymore. We still get those emails, but I just don’t get worked up about it. I’m at the point that until a birth mom says “You are the couple” I just can’t allow myself to get that excited. I would rather be sort of flat line about it than have the highs of excitement and lows of disappointment. Emotional self preservation I guess.

I have also found that some of my coping techniques may be working too well. My adoption party line has been that Mark and I are taking advantage of what child-free time we have left and enjoying how easy things are right now. Well that has worked so well that the thought of our easy life changing has started to freak me out a little bit. Please nobody worry, I’m not changing my mind or backing out and I’m still so excited to be a mom at some point, but I will be honest and say that I’m a little freaked out!

It’s almost like we have too much time to think about it and prepare. Too much time to think about the good things: first smiles/words/teeth/steps and the stressful things: lack of sleep/dirty diapers/spit up. I know the rewards will far, far outweigh any stress I just wish I could turn my brain off and stop thinking about it sometimes.

Football

I am pretty excited about FFB this week! I won in two leagues and tied in the other one. Best week I have had in all three leagues all season!

In my Battle of the Sexas League I won again and have worked my up to 6th. If I can keep winning and break the top 4 I still have a chance at playoffs. With a few key people losing and me continuing to win it could happen...maybe. :) I am now 4-4.

Work league I tied in this week. I hate ties, but it is better than nothing. I am 2-5-1

Jock and Jill Straps - I finally won! I am now 1-7. I can't believe I am that bad in my main league, but it is what it is.

As for real football I don't even know what to say about the Steelers. They looked terrible. We have one major issue...we don't have a deep threat, go to receiver. Not yet anyway. There are a few guys who can turn into that, but they are not there yet, or maybe Ben's timing with them is not there yet? I don't know what was missing but they had better figure it out quick if they want to make it into the playoffs!

Halloween Bash 2010

Bob and Michelle always go all out for Halloween! The house is completely decorated inside and out! It is always fun and festive! We had a great time and were thankful they let us spend the night in the trailer so we could enjoy ourselves and not worry about driving. Was a good thing too because I discovered that I LOVE Plum Vodka. No I didn't get sick, but I did enjoy myself!

Group shot back row: Mark, Alex, Bob Ben, Kev, Vanilla Ice :), Josh, Tina

front row: Larissa, me, Kaleena, Michelle. Funny thing we were supposed to be acting out our costume so I thought I would pretend to elbow Bob in the balls, only I really did elbow him. SORRY!

Katie, Grace, Alli, Abi

Michelle and Bob...they looked great together as Greek Gods!


Having fun with the decorations. I LOVE my Roller Derby outfit!

Mark the Samurai Warrior

Mark and I...no we didn't coordinate, but we had a lot of fun!

Quote of the night..."You have to wiggle it a little and then pull it out." Those involved will remain anonymous however I will say this had nothing to do with what it sounds like it may have had to do with.