Dancing with the Stars

Alas...Paulina was voted off. Sad, but true. I must admit that she was the least skilled at dancing and really, her make-up made her look like she was OLD! Sorry, Paulina..not really looking very supermodelish! Luckily, I got all the scoop from Kristie's blog (www.notquitewhatihadplanned.blogspot.com) so I know that Heather Mills' leg will not fly off. Whew! I can now watch in peace!

Vacations

Okay, here you see this beautiful vacations spot filled with sunshine, warm beaches, and palm trees. This is NOT what I am looking forward to experiencing. My family and I are leaving in two days to go to Sunriver, a resort about 3.5 hours away from Portland. One would think that we are in (almost) April...it should be getting warm and sunny. Clearly since Sunriver is in the high desert, it is not going to be white sand beaches, warm water, and palm trees, but I was hoping for sun and warm days.

I talked with my parents today and they told me that we may be looking forward to something that looks more like this. So, we may get snow and the weather may be freezing. I HATE THE COLD!!! I am not naive...I live in Oregon, but I thought that I had put away my cold weather clothes for the time being...I gues I had better start looking at what the weather may be in Boston.....

Ahhh...spring may be sprung!

Transformation

Today I had the second work day for my SELP class. This class is part of the curriculum for living through Landmark Education. This education has been powerful in my life. I cannot begin to describe the level at which it has changed my perspective. I have completed my relationship with my mother and I have begun to realize that my inability to complete that relationship (all these years) has frozen me from completing many other things in my life. That has been a powerful realization for me.

I am taking a stand for those in my life that can benefit from this education..

One step at a time!

More lacrosse

Yes folks, we had a game tonight and (by the grace of God and whatever Karma was with us!) we won! The other team came and only had nine players. The coach and I talked and decided that we would also play with only nine.

So, here we are, with a load of subs, and them with only 9 players. You would think that we would dominate, right? Um...no! We are losing at half time (what is going on? Have I told them that we have a ton of subs? Why can't we pass and catch the ball?).

I swear we play to the level of the team. We should have been dominating and we couldn't get it together. We would shoot directly at the goalie, not at the open space...it was annoying!

So to make a long story short, with only 4 minutes to go in the game, we woke up and scored 5 goals...Yeah! (*smile*)

So, we are in second in our division and second in the while league. GO figure. Imagine what we could do if we actually played well. I shudder to think!

Migranes SUCK!!

I swear, I hate migranes. This is a two day-er. I feel like I am going to puke. Ok, I kind of wish I could puke, maybe it would make it better. I don't know! I really feel like my head is going to explode. I almost wish that I could put a vice on my head to counteract the pressure. MAKE IT STOP!!!

I would love to write about how great I hope the girls do tomorrow against Beaverton, but mostly I feel nauseus cuz my head is KILLING ME!

I'll try again tomorrow!

Javad

Today was one of those days when life was "almost normal." Javad was (almost, sort of) just like any other five year old. I went and met a friend for coffee and came home to take over care of Javad from David. I packed Javad up and we went to run errands. We went to Costco (where he sat in the cart, looking around like the big man he is), dropped Stesha off to get a ride out to Newberg, went to Fred Meyer, then to my parents. Javad was so cute, riding in the back seat, smiling out the window. I guess the big clue that he isn't the average five year old boy would have been the ventilator attached to the back of the passenger seat which he was wearing the whole car ride. Aaahhh. That sounds sadly normal to me! Two years ago, he would not been able to handle that long of a day in the car, so we really have moved very far down the road.

I look forward to the next years and seeing where we might go.

Happy one day, bummer the next!

Well, the high from winning yesterday against Grant with a score of 11-4 was met with a crushing loss against West Linn today with a score of 12-6.

We move forward...Next week, round two!

Technology is taking over

Okay, ironic that I wrote about technology and then the computer ate my blog!

So, back to the blog...when did computers take over and we became second rate? Last night we had MAJOR computer drama. I won't go into again, since I had the long blog before and now it is cyberspace.

All I have to say is "Byte Me!"

And Lacrosse Begins...

Well, tomorrow is our first game. We play Heritage High School. We actually played in the Jamboree this last saturday, but it was an ugly day overall. It really looked as if we have not practiced anything for the last few weeks. It was both frustrating and eye opening. Today we practiced dodging (getting away from a defender when you have the ball), fast feet, and ground balls. Tomorrow's game is a practice game, but Thursday is for real...

Let the games begin!

The getaway

Here is a picture of the Columbia Gorge Hotel, the place where David and I had our little getaway. I am sure that many who read this were giggling under their breath, imagining some tryst. In actuality what occurs was rather humerous. We arrived at about 7pm (after I had been at the lacrosse JV Jamboree) and made arrangements to have dinner at 8pm. (Which is pretty late, but we decided to check in and get ready.) At 8 we ambled downstairs to get ready for dinner. We got chocolate martini's and then got seated. We both had the pear salad as a starter, then David got the Filet Mignon while I got the swordfish. It was great, but I was so tired by the end of the meal, I was falling asleep at the table!

We went upstairs to find chocolate covered strawberries and rose petals on the bed. It was lovely, but truth be told, I was exhausted! David and I laid down at 10:00 pm and fell into a blissful sleep until late this morning. I slept great and so did he. For 18 hours we had no responsibilities except to eat and sleep!

This morning (at 10:30) we went downstairs to get ready for the "Traditional Farm Breakfast" which took us an hour and a half to eat. David had the trout and I gave him my salmon. It was a carb filled breakfast, but was really yummy! We checked out at noon, came home, and back into our real life! Kids, issues, and the daily grind!

Fortunately, I slept some more today! Now to go to sleep now!

Goodnight!

It's a smackdown!

Okay, lest you get confused, I am really not the WWE type of girl, but rather one who had a little smackdown today. I know that I have talked to you about lacrosse and the trials and tribulations of it. It's almost like the good, the bad, and the ugly. So here they are:

The Good: Practice is going well, many of the girls are committed to improving their skills, my assistant coach, Cassie, rocks! Overall, there is not a lot of girl drama and I don't feel like I am battling whatever boy is walking by the field. So, that's the good. Now for

The Bad: Okay, the bad is that some are still not cradling well, we are still not really ready to play on Saturday (and our first game on Tuesday!), I don't know where the goalie equipment is.


The Ugly: Some of the players have come feeling like they are entitled to be on the JV 1 team, others have been "trash talking" the skills training, some are constantly late or not showing up at all on a regular basis. Since this is true, some players have been placed on a conditional basis.

So today, I revealed the teams and who was on conditionally. I then told them that they should talk to me individually as to why they were on conditionally and what they could do to receive a permanent place on the team.

I felt a little vindicated because of the negative attitudes that some have been displaying!

Yes, folks, we had a bit of a smackdown today!

A getaway...

This weekend David and I are celebrating. It is nothing special other than our first night away together in five years. It has become a bit of a joke at our house...the dogs and Javad often sleep in the bed and David moves to the couch where he has more room. So, this mini-vacation, we are leaving the dogs and kids at home and going to spend some quality time together.

I have made a reservation at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. I went there for breakfast once in high school. The breakfasts are amazing! They're about 7 courses. I guess dieting is out for this weekend. Mostly, I hope that for one night away, we can have a good time. Sometimes being alone without all the things that push us from our lives is license to argue. I am taking a stand...for us.

Over the last few years we have had very little time together. We need to make time for each other. This was a bold move. It will be a spendy one (okay, since I didn't make the reservation until today, I guess that was my fault.) but I believe totally worth it!

I am lugging my polar bear body to go and spend some quality time with my husband. Hmmm...now what will we talk about?

Let the Sunshine in!

I am one of those people that you might hear about. The ones that crawl into themselves in the winter, pressing their bodies up to the window to feel the warmth of the winter sun. The ones that turn into a sullen and painful person without the light of the sun.

I often wonder why I feel this way. I am tired, cranky, and generally feel "heavy" during the winter months. Today was a vision of what is coming...warm (almost 70) and sunny. It felt great to stand outside where the weather was beautiful, but still had the crispness of the winter. I love the feel of the winter air, but not the coldnes of it!

I have turned into something of a polar bear. I have the extra weight for warmth on my body. I am not happy with it. Sometime ago I had hoped for a fitter body, one that would magically appear. I realize that in order to have the body that I strive to have, I might actually have to do something to get it.

I have made a decision. I am getting in shape. Time to shed the winter off of me and move into spring. My friend, Cathlin, and I are getting ready to train. We need to train so that we can begin training for the Portland Marathon. We also plan on doing the Three Day Walk for Breast Cancer. It is time, time to make a difference, time to take a stand.

I need to get off it. That way I can get on it!

Time to move! Time to catch the sun!

Ambidextrous

So, I grew up knowing that I was able to do things with both hands. When I was in college, I took a golf class and pretty much sucked. I spent about two-thirds of the class making very large divots in the hills of George Fox College, and muttering under my breath about how bad I was. The professor asked me whether I had ever did things left handed. I explained that I did do some things left handed and that my mother did as well. I was handed a left handed club and viola, I could hit the ball. Okay, don't get me wrong, I am no golfer, but at least I could HIT the ball! So that event occurred many years ago. Who knew that the big Ambidextrous word would come back to bite me in the butt?

This last week when at practice my assistant coach, Cassie, has been laughing at me because I can't cradle for crap. For thos of you who know nothing about lacrosse, for girls, cradling is how one keeps the ball in the net. The centrifugal force of cradling (a kind of rocking motion) keeps the ball in the net as you run down the field. Although the others on the field try to check the ball out of your net, cradling is essential to lacrosse.

So, anyway, on friday I was working with the girls on ground balls (scooping the ball off the ground with your net) and one of my players asked if I was left-handed. I said, "no, why?" She said, "You just did that ground ball left-handed." Things that make you go "Hmmm." In my brain, I am thinking, "Wait a minute. If I am taking the ground balls left handed, maybe I should try cradling left handed." Viola...I guess I can cradle now!

Who knew?