2003 Is Done, Let’s Not Speak Of It Again [Administration]

Posted on April 26, 2011 by

Thirty-six posts, ten days of my life, and two years of my sanity, but the 2003 archive is up and in its place. As is clear through many of the posts, that was a truly crazy year–with two trips to Gatlinburg, moving to Plano, a family wedding, a second bar exam, a 1,000 mile, 4-stop Christmas week, many other trips, etc. A-ma-zing.

But that’s all in the past. Here we go into 2004 with both feet. Much of 2004 is already up on the site: Madysen’s first soccer tournament, Layla’s first ballet recital, Emma’s 3rd birthday party, the first day in which all four went to school (preschool for Emma, but still), our nine-day vacation to Walt Disney World, Madysen’s 11th birthday party, another crazy Christmas week, and, among other things, though surely none better, Speed skiing.

Somehow, there is more. Much more. The good news is, I think, that after 2004, we only have 2005 and the first few months of 2006 left to complete the archives since the blog was fired up on April 25, 2006.

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Halfway To The Start [Running]

Posted on April 25, 2011 by

We take this brief respite from the archives to update Holly’s marathon training. She’s less than two months away and has crossed over the 200 mile mark in her training. And as I previously mentioned, last weekend she ran a mock half marathon at White Rock Lake with a bunch of other LLS TNT runners.

You can barely see her in the above picture at the starting line (over the big guy’s right red shoulder), but I’ve have acquired this exclusive photo from just before the turn-around point. I assume she’s attempting to stay in front of the dog.

And lest one think that she bagged it at the turn-around point, she clearly finished the mock race, and she got a cookie medal in support of her achievement.

She was very pleased with her time, and I’m very pleased with her determination. And on the fundraising part of this effort, she’s essentially done through the great generosity of family and friends. Thank you all very much.

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Records, Football, Running, And Crying: A Regular Weekend [OU]

Posted on April 22, 2011 by

A couple years ago, I generally covered family events heavily–too heavily I now see–but last weekend was such an odd collection of stuff that I’m going to quickly cover it here.

Starting with Friday evening where I was at Good Records until 1 a.m. helping set up for the big 11th anniversary/Record Store Day party on Saturday. I still have my regular job in case you were wondering.

Seven hours setting up for a party I didn’t even attend. Because Speed, Layla, Emma, and I headed to Norman Saturday morning (Madysen had a tough day of work and Habitat for Humanity) for the Red/White Spring Game. Big things are expected for the OU football team this fall, and it’s always nice to be on campus on a nice April Saturday.

We had access to a special pregame event but getting inside just 20 minutes after the gates opened and 70 minutes before scrimmage start was too late to hear from Coach Stoops. Oh well, the barbeque was fine and the Stadium Club seats were pretty nice.

Speed made out like a bandit on the day as he is planning on sharing the OU Chuck Taylor’s with Layla (they are too big for her, too small for him–perfect, I guess) along with a pair of brand new Nike running shoes for $20. I clearly didn’t oversee him sufficiently as I’ve since learned that the shoes are women’s, but I haven’t told him. We’ll see how long it takes him to notice and how much longer it takes for him to fess up. On the later, I’ll take the over on an short of forever.

Saturday night I had a brilliant idea of dinner down in Bricktown with Pat and Cousin Megan. It took four hours and much head scratching, but we had a meal at Pearl’s Crabtown. I have marked that off my list of things to maybe do if it’s convenient.

So what was Holly doing with her carefree day at home? Running a practice, semi-official half marathon as part of her Alaska Marathon training. She made it and was actually happy with her time. She took an ice bath that afternoon and a salt bath on Sunday to help recover. Good for her.

Once we were back in Dallas, Layla talked me into taking her and Emma to see Soul Surfer, which I had no idea what going to be a tearjerker and have copious amounts of Dennis Quaid shirtless. Emma remarked more than once, at particularly touching moments: “It looks like you are going to cry.” Heart of gold, that one.

Posted in Emma, Football, Funny, Holly, Layla, Me, Movies, OU, Running, Speed | 1 Comment

Baseball/Dance Deja Vu [Dance]

Posted on April 14, 2011 by

Saturday night in April? Minor league baseball game? Layla dancing on the field? This seems so familiar. Once again, I found myself with Layla and Emma at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco to watch her dance before the game. And they were playing the same Springfield Cardinals team. Isn’t that odd? Aren’t there, like, at least 4 minor league teams in this league (no idea what league or how many teams it is comprised of).

But there are some differences. Because I know have an iPhone 4, I can take decent photos and actual video. Video which is, first, obscured by the Frisco School of Rock disassembling its setup and, second, interrupted nearly twice by Madysen who had I can only assume an emergency since she needed an immediate answer. She wanted to go see a drive-in movie, which actually might qualify as a teenage emergency. (Layla in the back row, fourth from the right.)

While the girls hung out in the right field pool zone, I watched the game. We left in the 8th inning with the ‘Riders down 5-3, which ended up as the final. We did pause out in left field to watch a half-inning from the home run deck, which reminded me of the same at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field.

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Another Year Of Archives In The “Books” [Administration]

Posted on April 13, 2011 by

It took me longer than did the 2001 archives, but I’ve got the 2002 group done and in their places. More than 30 entries, many of them unnecessary I’m sure. And I grew to detest the flare effect I used, but I’m  not about to change it all now.

But before we move on to 2003, which contained so many trips, adventures, etc. I can hardly believe all of us survived, here are a few quick stories of things that have happened in the last couple weeks that I won’t otherwise get to.

First, a couple Saturdays ago, a group of kids and Emma started a lemonade stand on our front lawn–without consulting Holly or me–at $1 a taste, which is on the high side for yellow water. Because it was successful, lots of neighborhood kids tried to glom on for a share of the cash. And then it devolved further into kids standing in the street defying cars to attempt to pass without stopping, yelling–lots and lots of yelling, and tons of lemonade trash in the yard. So I told them to shut it down, clean up, and split the money. Not hard to guess that everyone disappeared as did the money and trash remained. With a lot of effort, everything got resolved (Emma came home with $5; totally worth it), but my bitterness of others increased a bit higher.

Second, when having dinner on the patio of a local taco joint with Madysen, Speed, and Layla, Madysen informed as to the Blitz/No Blitz rule in Calling Shotgun (i.e., providing or preventing a race to the car to override an initial shotgun claim). Upon finishing our meal, we moved towards the car where Layla called out: “Shotgun. No Ditz!” Actually, there is at least one.

Finally, on Saturday night, Speed went to a Sweet 16/”Gloteen” party for a group of high school girls. Since the theme was neon/glow in the dark, Speed had to get an outfit together. The result:

$8 neon green shorts he bought a hippie house in east Dallas; Layla’s “Dancer” t-shirt, and his black/electric blue/purple Nike jacket he got while in Italy. Talk of coloring his hair he quickly since it was “nearly neon already.” Agreed.

Update: Forgot to mention that I took Speed to the best meal he’s ever had last Thursday night at Hattie’s. He had Low Country shrimp & grits and fried green tomatoes, but he loved, loved, loved my bacon-wrapped, jalapeno stuffed quail with sweet potato mash. And that was just a prelude to the Band of Horses concert at Verizon Theatre where we nearly got into an altercation of a spilled beer.

Second, Most Important Update: Madysen got a real job last week (as opposed to last summer’s pool cashier job) at a local sports and casual wear boutique (she also tutors for nearly 3x the money). With just a couple of shifts under her belt, she’s pretty adept at folding t-shirts and has experienced the glories of handling customers.

Posted in Administration, Disappointing People, Emma, Funny, Layla, Madysen, Speed | Leave a comment

A Quick Note About Disappointing Coaches [Soccer]

Posted on April 11, 2011 by

It’s been a year since Madysen’s high school soccer career ended–as a junior–with a playoff shootout loss. Prior to her decision to discontinue, I had been hoping that he senior campaign would be a fun and memorable assault on a state championship.

But I had no real belief that it would be fun or memorable in the positive sense. See, the program is run by a buffoon. And most dangerous of all, a buffoon would speaks with a European accent, which entices parents to give credence to his buffoonery. (The previous coach was much less menacing, a football coach masquerading as a soccer coach.) Once Madysen informed me of her thinking, which in part rested on his total mismanagement of the program, I could not, with a straight face, even suggest doing otherwise.

So it was no surprise to me to see that the team once again crashed out of the playoffs last week–to the same opponent as last year, whom they beat handily three times in the previous two regular seasons–well before they should have. (Do not get me started on his colossal coaching gaffes in his first playoff appearance.) And of course the coach maintains that the opponent backed the box, it wasn’t their night, they lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team, etc. Anything other than the truth–that he is out of his league.

Someone said: “Maybe next year, gals.” Not with this guy in charge.

It should have gone so much better for Madysen.

Posted in Disappointing People, Madysen, Soccer | Leave a comment

First Win Eva [Tennis]

Posted on April 11, 2011 by

About a month ago, Emma had her first tennis match. Last weekend, she had her first home matches (the facility is 60 feet from our back door; totally awesome) against the team from Royal Oaks Country Club and got her first win.

She played three matches winning the last one 3 games to 2 (losing the other two 5-0 and 2-0, though I’m pretty sure they didn’t get track of the score correctly in the 2-0 match). It was a terribly windy day and since she struggles most serving, it was even more difficult this day.

Following the matches, Emma and her teammates, Joseph and Jack, posed for pictures, some serious, some not so (the top picture is with Coach Alicia).

I tried getting some video on my iPhone, but the distance from our seats and the wind (and my patience) got very little usable video. But here is 65 seconds worth of all three matches. Not much is that compelling.

Posted in Emma, Tennis | Leave a comment