Friday, June 29, 2007

100% Chance of Rain

One of the big topics of conversation lately around here (on vacation in TX) is the small % chance of rain that we may or may not get. As we were driving in the car yesterday I saw a little drop of rain on the windshield and exclaimed "look, a little drop of rain, yea!". When Kyle heard me say that he said something that went a little like this..."yea, that must be a small % chance of rain because if it were 100% chance of rain it would be a bigger drop like this" (as he shows us with his fingers that the size of the rain drop would be really big). HA!HA! We all just cracked up! ... And then tried to explain to him that the % chance of rain does not refer to the size of the rain drops but how likely it is that it will rain. I don't think he really understood because this morning he was still talking about the size of the rain drops.

Oh, the things that kids think and say...it is great!

Beauty Time Together

As posted by my sis...I had the honors of joining my grandmother and sister on one of their routine nail trips to the salon. They have been going together for a VERY long time.

One thing that was quit interesting to me was when we pulled up I noticed a brand new nail spa that had opened right next door. I thought "how odd, 2 salon's right next door to each other". When I saw that I began to wonder if the new one (which looked to be a pretty high end and fancy salon) would eventually put the other (a quit older and dated salon, by the looks of things) out of business. As I thought about that I began to become a little sad by the fact that the times that they share together at that salon would possibly come to an end. Well, that was on our way in and by the time we were on our way out I had a totally different perspective...if either of the 2 salons were to go under it was definitely NOT going to be that one (the older one). That place was packed the whole time we were there! I tell you, I felt like I was treated like royalty! It was exactly what a spa experience should be...make you feel good on the inside AND pretty on the outside.

I hope I have the opportunity to join them again someday.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Running...

I think I have officially made up my mind and have set a goal for myself that is really going to challenge me.

After a long over due shedding of most of my extra "baby" weight, returning to working out on a (somewhat) regular basis, getting back into playing soccer and taking up hockey I have come to realize that pushing my body physically can be very rewarding and a lot of fun too. So, I have decided that I am going to take up running, too, and actually begin training to be able to someday run a marathon. WOW! Huh?

It may sound crazy but I have had many encounters over the past month or so with people who run all the time and actually travel long distances just to compete (or just have fun) in different types of runs. It is fascinating to listen to them talk about their experiences as a runner.

I have to admit that it is going to be difficult trying to start this in the middle of the summer, and the heat. I am not a member at a gym (I work out at home) and so my only way to get running in (instead of on a tread mill) is the outdoors. I am going to have to do my best to fit time in the early morning or late evening. I am not that much of a morning person so it is going to be really hard to get up too early. I might have to start by getting out in the evenings. Maybe I will try both and see what works best.

If there are any of you that may have some advice on how to get started, or any other "good to know" tips, they would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Some lilke it HOT...some NOT

Their heeerrreeee....the wonderful HOT AZ months. This is the time of year when I REALLY long to live somewhere else.

We have gotten up really early the past couple of days to enjoy the outdoors before it gets too hot to be outside. However, I am still trying to determine, in my mind, just exactly what "too hot" is .

I have one of those nifty temp gauges on my car and at 8:30am this morning it was telling me that it was already 97 degrees outside. WHAT! no way, it couldn't already be closing in on 100 degrees that early in the morning, the day was just getting started! But oh yea, it was confirmed after I saw a temp reading from a digital retail sign that I later passed on my way to the soccer park. It was in deed 97 degrees. Boy was that depressing, as I definitely knew what the afternoon was going to bring...being confined to the indoors, with the AC on high. (I know, I can at least be thankful for the the AC...ok,ok) Still...no fun was to be had in the outdoors today.

We do have plans to visit the community pool sometime soon. I am sure that will be a hit and a nice "cool" place to be for most of the summer days, still yet to come.

Friday, June 8, 2007

NASA's Atlantis STS-117

Crew members on today's launch aboard the Atlantis STS-117 mission.


Successful Launch!

Learning to Blog...

Just playing around with Picasa and
posting pics.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

DUCKS TAKE THE CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DUCKS ARE STANLEY CUP CHAMPS!!!

The Ducks team picture with the Stanley Cup after their win this evening over the Senators.



This is the Captain of the team, Scott Niedermayer, doing the traditional hoisting of the cup after it was presented to him and his team.

It was a great game. I would LOVED to have been there to see The Cup. It has to be one of the most difficult awards to win of any sport, with 82 regular season games and as many as 28 play off games. That's 110 games! Wow...think about it... each NFL team only plays 12 regular season games and just a hand full of playoff games (not sure the exact number). That does not even come close to the games played by an NHL team. Then throw in the physicalness of the game. It has to be the most physical sport there is. I heard a comment from one of the guys who won The Cup last year and he said that it took him almost 1 month to recover after the playoffs and to not "hurt" after waking up in the mornings. Whoooo! Heck, I play hockey (the bad news bears type, HA!) and it takes me a couple of days to recover from only about 1 hour on the ice. I can not imagine going through a play off series of games. I do have to say though, with as much as I love hockey, part of me at times wishes I was a male so that I could at least dream of playing in the NHL someday. haha!

Thanks to all of you who helped in cheering the Ducks on to victory and keeping The Cup on US soil.

Congratulations Ducks, 2007 Stanley Cup Champs!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Monday, June 4, 2007

Atlantis STS - 117, scheduled for launch this Friday

During our time in Orlando we headed out to tour NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This was an awesome time to go as they were (still are) in the process of preparing for the next shuttle launch. I have to say that this was probably my most favorite part of our whole trip (next to seeing the ocean). We went on a bus tour (being that civilians can not get past a certain point of the secured area on their own) of the entire grounds and facilities. We got to see the launch pad (with the shuttle Atlantis already on the pad being prepped for launch), the pay load clean room facility, the vehicle assembly building and much more. All I can say is WOW.



Here is a picture of the boys with the launch pad in the background.





Here is a picture of a closer look at the launch pad. If you look closely you can see an orange colored tip towards the top middle of the structure. That is the tip of the external fuel tank and the shuttle is attached to it.

This shuttle launch is one to remember for our family as one of the crew members is a former school mate and long time friend of Shaun's. He is Danny Olivas. You can see and learn more about him here http://floridatoday.com/legacy/multimedia/interactivegraphics/space/sts117crew/sts117astronauts.html . Danny and Shaun went to grade school, Jr. high, high school and college together. They graduated from Burges High and attended UTEP together in El Paso.

Anyways, the shuttle is scheduled for a 7:38 pm (eastern) launch time this Friday, the 8th of June. I hope to be able to watch it. I am not sure what that day will bring yet or what we will be doing.




Soccer champs proof...

Ok, here it is...A picture of the T-Shirt that we got for winning and coming in 1st place for the spring soccer season.

Go Ducks Go

It's the "Quest for the Cup", baby!

YEE-HA!!! The Ducks won tonight in game 4 of the cup final series against the Ottawa Senators. That puts them in the lead with 3 wins to 1 over the Sens. Game 5, scheduled for Wednesday, will be played in Anaheim. If they can bring home the win then they will bring home The Cup! Oh Man, I would LOVE to be at that game! Buutt... since I can't, I will be glued to the TV anxiously watching. If anyone is interested, you can catch the game on NBC at 8pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific). Help me cheer on the Ducks and keep the Cup on US soil. Yea!

Go Ducks Go!!

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Soccer champs

Kind of old news here but still thought that it was worthy of a post...

The week before we took our vacation I played in my last soccer game of the season...

It was down to the wire and we were fighting for 1st place in our division. We were seated number 2 going up against the number 1 team. We all knew they were really good and it was going to take some of our best effort to beat them that night. Just as we thought, it was indeed a tough game. So tough that it ended in a nail biting shot out finish. First they scored, then we scored, they scored again, then us, and then....yes they missed. We could not believe it. All we had to do was score the next one and then we would be one up on them for the 1st time ever. But...we could not do it....however, in the end, thanks to our awesome goalie, we finally pulled it off when he stopped the last shot from the other team. We finally did it. We WON!

Now ...I know that winning isn't everything, but it sure is a great feeling...specially when you are playing in the "old fart" league. HA! It sure makes you feel good.

BTW...when you play in the "old fart" league you no longer get the nice little trophies to show off but rather the "...been there, done that, got the t-shirt" award. (yea, we got the t-shirts with "Champions" on it) pretty cool!

School is out, time for some summer fun!

Well, now that school is out and we have already taken our big vacation....what next?

As usual, we will most likely be visiting family in TX sometime this summer. Other than that it is time to find things to keep the kidos busy and not get too bored the next eight weeks...or so. (School out here starts back on July 30th, so the summer will not be too long)

Both of the boys are still playing hockey. Their season ends right before the start of school, thank goodness (it is too hot out here in AZ for any other sport during the summer). In addition to hockey, Tyler will be taking a week long Jr. Golf camp and Kyle will be taking a week long soccer camp.

To fill in the gaps there is always the local swimming complex. It is a very nice facility and is almost like a mini water park with large slides, a lazy river, interactive water features, and even a water vortex (aka the toilet bowl, ha!).

Oh yea...we may even get to the other Disney park (Disneyland in CA), too, before the summer is over. I am trying to talk my sister into coming to visit and if she does I told her that we would take her (and her hubby) to see Mickey (HA!). Disneyland is a very easy trip for us from our house and it is always a lot of fun.

Oh yea and then there is always just chilln' at home.

I'm still here...

I know... I know...you are probably wondering...did she fall off the edge of the earth or something...
Well, I guess you could say that we went to the eastern edge of the US....but no, I did not fall off! HA!

Actually we took a nice family vacation to Florida. We stayed in Orlando and of course went to The World (Disney, that is), NASA's Kennedy Space Center (that was the best!) and Busch Gardens. Yea, we had a great time. We even found some time to relax a little at the resort that we stayed in. And WOW! the resort we stayed in was wonderful! Some friends of ours let us use a week of their time share. It was so great that I think we are going to have to look at buying into our own time share now.

Anyways...we took lots of pictures and had a lot of good fun. I will do my best to post some of the pics soon and share some of our vacation experiences.