LEAGUE CHAMPS!!

HERE THEY ARE!! 2006 Chippewa Valley Fastpitch League CHAMPIONS!! Eau Claire Mighty Ducks! WHAT a game! It was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation (5 innings) and remained tied through 7. Our Ducks pulled through in the 8th inning to score 4 more runs and held the opponent to 2. As you can see, it was getting dark and we probably wouldn't have been able to play another inning--no lights at this field. We were ready to call the news team and get the ambulances lined up for the moms on the brink of coronaries! Just to remind everyone, the Ducks were the 7th seed and played against the 1st seed. A shout out to Seymour Teal for a great game and tough competition. Congrats to all the girls on both teams--GREAT season everyone!!!

Mighty Ducks

You are looking at the Eau Claire Mighty Ducks 10U girls softball team that just won the rights to the CHAMPIONSHIP game tomorrow night!! Way to go DUCKS!! These girls are fabulous--such a great group. I couldn't be more proud right now; they're awesome! They've grown so much since the beginning of the season and they work so well together. What a terrific group of girls! They are so strong and proud, but humble. The tournament started on Monday with a win against the 10th seed (the Ducks are the 7th seed). Tuesday it was the 2nd seed that they beat and tonight was the 3rd seed. All that's left are the Ducks and the 1st seed for tomorrow's game. Wish us luck! GO DUCKS!!!

BLACKOUT?

So what's the deal with this? What I'm referring to is sports events being "blacked out" by a television network. At least I think that's who initiates the blackout. We're MN Twins fans here, and they recently played a 3 game serious against the Houston Astros. All of the games were broadcast on ESPN2, BUT, we weren't able to watch them. We pay the cable company oodles of money every month so that we can watch these channels, and then when we click on the channel to tune in, it reads "We're sorry. You do not currently subscribe to this channel. For more information or to subscribe to this channel please call your cable provider." Are you kidding me? We sure DO subscribe and that's what we pay you for! Anyways, it was a bummer that we weren't able to watch Liriano whoop Roger Clemens in one of the games. That Roger Clemens is another story...what a poor poor sport. Imagine being paid millions and telling your boss WHEN you'll work and WHERE you'll work. Apparently this game against the Twins was his first game this season. What has he been doing all this time? A whole lot of nothing, I presume. And he'll only play home games, he won't travel with the team. Hey Roger, there's no "I" in team!

It all worked out in the end, the Twins continue to improve their record and inch ever closer to the top. :) Yeah, right...

Go TWINS!

All the Day's News

Happy Saturday everyone!

Long time, no blog. I'd like to say I've been busy, but I haven't really. Since Caitlin left last Saturday for CA it's been pretty calm around here. Usually by about 3:00 p.m. at work every day I'm running through the list in my mind of things I have to do after work or where Caitlin has to be dropped off or picked up and when; but this last week my list came up empty most days.

Cait left at about 4:00 p.m. on Saturday (after playing 2 games in a softball tournament, it was a long day) to head to the airport. Saturday night Jason and I went to Hayward to see one of his friends who was "home" from the Army. Jonah is supposed to stand up in our wedding, but it doesn't appear as if he's going to make it. He'll be leaving soon to go to Hawaii where he'll be stationed before being deployed. The coolest thing about our visit with him is that he flew a Sessna 4-seater from Superior to Hayward and took Jason up flying with him for a bit. Sunday I met a couple of my friends for lunch before heading back to Eau Claire.

Not much to report for the last week--I just worked every day, went grocery shopping, picked up a couple of things for the wedding...that's about it. I started tanning. :( Not something I like to do, in fact I've gone 3 times before in my life, but I need to get a little tan before the wedding.

Jason was offered a new job this last week, and he took it. Since leaving LSS in March he's been working at Xcel Energy. Sounds good, but it really wasn't. I've never seen him so unhappy so I was thrilled that he was offered a job with a place called Triniteam. It's definitely more up his alley--it's a halfway house for correctional clients. Not a phone center for grumpy energy customers!

Today my friend Sarah (and Matron of Honor) is coming down for a visit and she's going to pick up her dress for the wedding. It's always nice to see my good ol' pals. :)

It's going to be a hot one today...whew! When I woke up this a.m. it was already 85 degrees, and

End of report...have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Check it Out!

Saw this a while back on Miss Karen's blog...didn't have enough content on my own blog to create one, but now I do! Cool, huh?

Week 1: -1.2

Pounds, that is. Yep, I'm back at it. Fourth (and final) time on the Weight Watchers program. The program comes highly recommended by many many many people, including yours truly.

I say "final" time because this is it. I'm here to stay. And I say this here so that everyone can read it. I'm making myself accountable not only to the scale or to the WW leader or participants or my family and friends, but to the potentially millions (yeah, right!) of people who could happen upon my blog.

My first go round was my most successful. I had lost almost 20 lbs. and then I got lazy with my eating habits and fell off the wagon. The 2nd and 3rd times around my head just wasn't in it and I didn't get very far either time.

Now 1.2 lbs. isn't a lot, but it is a loss nonetheless. Had I seen +1.2 it would have been pretty hard to keep on going. Just over a pound could be the difference in the clothes I'm wearing, or water weight or whatever. But if I add another 1.2 loss next week and the week after that and the week after that I'll be on a roll (and losing mine!).

Sure, the upcoming wedding increases my motivation, but more than that is the anticipation of having more children. There is NO WAY that I could add baby weight onto this pile and be healthy. It would just give me that much more to lose, and make me that much more unhealthy. And so I've pledged to be in the "recommended" weight range for my age and height before attempting to have a baby. And at 1.2 lbs. per week, it'll be about 5 years before I'm at that stage. I'm KIDDING!!! Not quite that long... :)

If anyone has been on the Weight Watchers program, or even if you haven't, and you have any good tips or tricks to share, I'd appreciate any advice. Constructive criticism is welcome as well.

Have a nice day!

"Telephone!"

Something kind of funny that Jason and I both noticed over the last week or so...

A couple of times when we've been out of the house, to the grocery store or wherever, we've come back to messages on the answering machine that went something like this:

1. "You have two new messages" Beep. "Hi Caitlin, this Shianne..." Beep. "This is Grandpa, calling for Caitlin..."

2. "You have two new messages" Beep. "Hi. This is Nicole from Caitlin's softball team..." Beep. "Hi. I was wondering if Caitlin could sleep over..."

Hmmm...I see a pattern forming. :)

Whatcha Doin'?

Well the long weekend is finally here! I've been looking forward to this weekend since, oh, probably early January. It's the first long weekend after the Christmas and New Years holidays. And it's the first paid holiday! Yippee!!

They say this is the "official" start of summer. If they're talking about the temperature, they're most definitely correct! It has been sultry here the last couple of days and according to weather.com the heat is going to continue. Some will probably laugh at sultry, but for us in Northern WI it's down right HOT! High 80s the last couple of days and tomorrow is suppose to be in the mid-90s, and then 80s the rest of next week. I don't care for the heat whatsoever.

Another reason that people say it's the start of summer is because this is the first long weekend for people to hook up the campers and boats and head out to the campgrounds and lakes. That is everyone but us! We're not so much the outdoorsy type. We would prefer to take in a ball game at the Metrodome or visit a mall. Or just stay home, like we're doing this weekend.

Today I've been doing laundry all day. I told myself that when Jason went to work at 3 I would clean house. Nope. I've learned that if I'm going to clean house I have to get up, eat breakfast and CLEAN. Sometimes I even skip the breakfast part. I don't like to just clean here and there. I have a system that goes like this: my bedroom, upstairs bath, living room, downstairs bath, and finally, kitchen.I do it all at once...it generally takes about 3 hours--depending on if I mop floors or scrub floors on my hands and knees. I prefer to scrub because I feel like the floor gets cleaner that way. The only thing I don't do in this usually-every-other-week ritual is clean Cait's room. I let her get it good and dirty and then make HER clean it, like she did today. :) Sometimes when she isn't home I go in and clean it like I want it cleaned. This usually ends with a couple of kitchen garbage bags full of "stuff". IMPORTANT stuff, you know. (According to a 9 year old who doesn't ever know it's missing). And so tomorrow is my cleaning day.

Monday all 3 of us will be home from work or school so it will be nice to hang out together. I'm not sure what we'll do. Maybe a picnic or a movie? We'll have to see.

Have a nice long weekend everybody!

Blogger Traffic

Does anyone know how to increase traffic to my blog? Do I need more interests, etc. in my profile? Do people search those when trying to find blogs to read? These questions are directed at you, Karen, since I believe you are my only loyal reader at this time. :) Or maybe I'm just booooring...but I don't think that's it. I just need to develop a fan base, right? Network network network. It'd be a lot more fun if more people left comments (hint, to those of you who may read but don't comment).

The "W" Word

That would be "wedding". I told myself that when I started this blog it wasn't going to be all about the upcoming event, but tonight I'm feeling the need to share.

First of all, WOW! I never imagined it would be this difficult planning a wedding. I told myself, and everyone who would listen, that this is going to be a simple wedding, not a big fancy to do. And I still believe it is a simple wedding, but every wedding has to have certain elements, be it big or small. So far I've got my dress and had an initial fitting. Bridesmaids dresses arrived on Saturday. The flowers (we're going artificial) have been purchased. The invitations are addressed and waiting for stamps. About 1/2 of the men have been measured for tuxes (c'mon guys!). The rehearsal dinner, church and reception site have been reserved. On Saturday we had our first pre-marital session with Pastor Jeff. The photographer has been reserved. (?) Do you reserve people? :) Our rings are almost purchased...Jason's is still on layaway at the jewelry store. I am burned out and there is still so much to do!

We have to get the ceremony music lined up, put the ceremony and program together, figure out who is doing what and when to help out with the details, get the flower girl basket and ring bearer pillow, get jewelry for the big day, get gifts for our parents and attendants. There are a lot of "gets" above, which mean $$. What an industry to be in--the bridal industry. These people know that us gals NEED these things, and so they price the items like we've all got wads of cash just laying around.

And the big day is exactly 89 days away!! (Thank you to theknot.com for the count down.) I was feeling pretty good about being organized in the first few months, but now that it's only 3 months away the pressure is on! I am feeling completely frazzled. Every time I think about it I don't know where to start now or what to do next. Whew! Does anyone have any good, sound wedding planning advice?

Cap'n Crunch...Berries, or No Berries...That is the Question

So. How about you? Do you like Cap'n Crunch cereal? Do you like Crunch Berries? Or Peanut Butter Crunch (or whatever it is)? I just got home from work and was looking for a snack, and that's what I decided on. A bowl of Crunch Berries. Deeeelish! I like cereal in general, just about any kind of cereal. I don't, however, like any cereal with nuts in it or bran cereals, with the exception of Raisin Bran (two scoops!). As a kid I remember we always had Cheerios, Kix, and Rice Krispies. None of those "sugar" cereals. I also remember that Granny always had Lucky Charms in the cupboard underneath the counter top. I liked to eat breakfast at her house! :) We tend to have a variety of cereals around...anything from Corn Flakes to Fruity Pebbles. As a grown-up doing my own grocery shopping and deciding what kind of cereal to buy for the family, I've found that in general, those "sugar" cereals aren't as horrible as our parents made us to believe. This is backed up by my one or two (or twelve) takes on the Weight Watchers program, where Crunch Berries and Lucky Charms are pretty close in points to Cheerios and Corn Flakes. Not much difference in nutritional values, but some. Anways, that's my rambling for today. Not much of anything, if I do say so myself.

Happy Birthday, Crit!!

HE'S 30 TODAY!!! I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT!! MAKES ME FEEL OLD... :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR CRITTER JOHN JOHNNY CURTIS METCALF, II, JR., HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

I know he probably won't read this, but his wife might, so she can tell him what a wonderful sister I am!

Have a super day, Critter! Love ya!

I'm Back

I've been summoned to return to blogging...

Hot Air Balloons

If you had the chance, would you take a ride in a hot air balloon? If the opportunity presented itself to me, I think I'd have to pass. I'm not afraid of heights, I'm just afraid! I would not feel safe or secure floating around above the ground in a basket hanging from a big balloon--which gets around by the use of FIRE. Uh uh. Not cool.

This subject comes up because every now and again we see a hot air balloon drifting by. I have seen 2 different ones so far, right overhead in our neighborhood. One is dark oranges and yellows with silhouettes of what makes me think of a safari. There is a giraffe and an elephant. Another is just very brightly colored stripes of blues, purples, pinks, reds and yellows. And it seems that the days we see them are always the same--not a cloud in the bright blue sky. I'm always in awe as I watch them. They look so beautiful and peaceful floating along. Almost magical. Just the other day, a week or so ago, Cait and I saw the striped one as we were driving home. Luckily I didn't crash the car. I just wanted to sit and watch it as it drifted by. And I always feel slightly jealous of the people that are in the basket. What an awesome experience! Could there be a better bird's eye view from anywhere else? Neat. Just plain neat.

Nice People

I was at Sam's Club today with Caitlin checking some prices on some things. Caitlin was standing in line at one of the sampler stations waiting for a mini taco and from behind me I hear "I like your blouse". I didn't really think much of it, but then I looked in front of me and there was Caitlin in a t-shirt, a man, and the sampler lady in a white shirt and white apron, and no one else in the near vicinity. And then I figured that whoever said that must be talking to me! So, I turned around and sure enough there was an older woman smiling and she said "It's really pretty". I smiled and said thank you. What really struck me about this is that it's not too often that a stranger pays you a compliment these days. Or says "thank you" when you hold the door for them, or just a simple "hello" or even a smile when you pass by. I almost didn't know how to react to this nice woman telling me that I had a pretty blouse on. Yikes! Maybe it was because my blouse really isn't that pretty? :) It's pink and black and white diagonal stripes. Nothing special. Anways, today's lesson is: When you pass a stranger on the street, pay them a compliment or give them a smile, it might make their day. "Hello, Friend."

Oh NO!

I think Cait is sideways! Anyways, isn't she cute? This was at a MN Twins game last year. I just figured out how to get these pics on here and all I have down in the basement with me are old picture CDs. I'm having too much fun to go up and dig out the more recent ones, but I will soon!

Heeerrrre's Caitlin!

This is a picture of Jason and I at one of our favorite places in the whole wide world--Lake Superior in Duluth, MN. It's old...I think it's from October of 2004.

Oops...

I was trying to use a new template, or background or whatever it is, and none of them looked good with all of the colorful posts. So then I scanned all the way down and realized that this one really doesn't look too pretty either. I thought in the beginning a little variety would be nice, changing colors of text, you know, but it's bad. It's not pretty, it's pukey. Yikes!

Bike Rides

Last night we went for a bike ride. I honestly don't remember the last time I went on a "bike ride". I used to bike a lot when I was younger. I biked all over the place. To town, to work, to friends' houses. After I moved to Eau Claire (9 years ago...wow!) I got rid of my bike. I think I may have had it for a couple years after I was here because I remember having one of those pull behind carts for Cait. Anyways, it's been a long time. Jason bought me a new bike for Christmas this year. I've been wanting one, but up until the past year or so we didn't really have anywhere to store it since we lived in a puny apartment, but now we have the room and now I have a bike! I rode it once before--on one of the first really nice spring-like days before spring was actually here I took it up to the gas station to put air in the tires. I walked it there though, and rode back the whole 4 blocks so that doesn't really count. Last night we rode for some time. I'm not sure how far it was, but we were gone 45 mins. to and hour. And our neighborhood is ideal for riding bikes. There are nice sidewalks on most of the streets and we're near a bike trail, so it was great. Although I'm not sure its proper to ride bike on the sidewalks, is it? Well we did it anyways. As we were riding we passed many many other people. Some walking or running. Some biking and some rollerblading. Some couples, some families, some kids. It was a gorgeous evening too. Perfect. And it was quite peaceful. Other than the fact that I had to stop and walk every now and then (my bike seat is a little too small for my BIG seat, so a tad uncomfortable after a while) it was a lot of fun and I'm anxious to get out there again. Caitlin was thrilled that we went on a bike ride together, and that made me feel good. Even though it's exercise, it doesn't feel like it, so all the better!