Match Results

Revolution V. Fire: 0 to 0

If Chicago didn't have home field advantage next week, I think I would feel better about the outcome. However, I'll take a clean slate over going in with a deficit any day. (In home and away playoff games, it's the team with higher combined score of both games that wins the right to go on.)

As predicted, Blanco was true to form last night. He even earned himself a yellow card for dissent toward the ref. At one point he fell to the ground writhing in pain with his hand on his butt. My mom asked what happened and I said I could only assume he'd hurt his elbow because when it comes to injuries Blanco doesn't seem to know his ass from elbow. For the record he did actually take a knee to the butt, but in the replay it did not look anywhere near as serious as he was making it out to be. I think it's sort of like crying wolf, one of these days he's really going to get injured and no one is going to believe him. I wonder how his teammates feel about him...

In a related note; congratulations to Real Salt Lake for making the MLS playoffs for the first time! Their new stadium is in the home town of one of my blog readers.

Soccer Playoffs

Please cheer on the Revvies tonight!!!

Tonight the Revvies take on the Chicago Fire in the first of two, home and away, playoff matches. The Revs will be playing without four of their starters tonight; two are out due to injury, two are out due to suspensions for being red carded last week. Team captain, Steve "Ra-Ra" Ralston had his leg broken in a match in Kansas City a few weeks ago. This past Saturday, Kansas City was in town and Khano Smith decided to blantantly and unnecessrily tackle the player that broke Ralston's leg. This earned him one of the two red cards. The other red card was questionable having to do with a tackle and the whole last man debate. Anyway, the Revvies will go into tonight as the underdogs, not only with players being out, but also because they lost to Chicago three times this season.

I am not a fan of Chicago's playing style, their team captain Blanco definitely has talent but is one of the biggest fakers in the league. I call him Wah-wah because he's always whining about something or overdramatizing the benign. Case in point, the last time Chicago was at Gillette Stadium Blanco got harmlessly hit in the back of the head with a loose arm when he and a Revvie went to head the ball. Blanco fell to the ground clutching his nose. Enough said.

Sending spirit fingers to Matt Reis (so he can make saves like in the second picture) and to all the Revvies!


















Game time is 8PM on ESPN2, if anybody is actually interested in watching. If you're not into watching the game, how about a moment of spirit fingers at 8PM just to give the Revvies some good luck? Please?

The Great Pumpkins

Pumpkins have been carved and displayed.















Last Friday I left work at 3:00 to meet a kind soul who graciously offered to help me pick up 75 pumpkins for a town carving party on Saturday. Some people brought their own pumpkins so, although I have not counted, I think there were over 80 all together. This is the third year the auxiliary has sponsored this event and opened it up for town participation. For the 5-7 years prior to that the auxiliary members carved the pumpkins - only about 25 in those days - and anonymously put them on the town green for display. However with age comes wisdom and we finally became wise enough to recruit other town folk for help with this project. The cost of opening it up to the town was the anonymity of displaying the pumpkins. The gain of opening it up is a lot less carving for us!

We also smartened up a few years ago and purchased strands of the larger clear bulb Christmas lights which we layout along the rock wall on the town green. The pumpkins are then cut open from the bottom and set on the lights. Beats the days of going down each night to light candles, as we leave them on display for approximately a week leading up to Halloween.

I could not figure out how to put a slide show in my blog entry so a link to my Flickr account will have to do. Click here to see the pumpkins!

My Generation

Growing up at the right time.

I was thinking the other day that my growing up years were probably the best of both worlds. We had more available to us than my parents' generation did, but we didn't have as much available to us as the generations that have come after mine.

When I was a kid my world was safe. I could freely commute on foot back and forth to the neighbor's house, sometimes after dark, without my parents or I feel concerned for my safety. When the weather was good, us kids in the neighborhood amused ourselves by playing outdoor games. Usually whatever was in season; soccer, baseball, football, pickle. Heck we even used our imaginations and made up games when nothing else seemed appealing.

By the time I came along, woman's rights were pretty well established so I didn't ever have to live in a largely unequal world (one reason why I won't ever get the full impact of the movie Mona Lisa Smile). And I also came into a time where prejudice toward minorities was no longer common place. We didn't have a lot, but we had enough and although at the time it seemed like the worst thing, we were also taught a good work ethic and respect for self and others.

It seems that now, more and more, kids are completely over stimulated between school, sports, extracurricular activities, computers, video games and television. Which therefore leaves less time for learning self worth and other valuable character building lessons. Perhaps it is the thinking that people always want their kids to have more than they had but when does more become too much? And what is the cost for more? Loss of imagination, loss of being a family, loss of enjoying childhood?

I just wonder when kids have time to be kids.

(Disclaimer - The writer of this piece works for a crisis intervention program and has seen the up close ill effects of children having "more". This writer is also aware that there are parents out there who go against what is becoming a societal norm and are able to find a happy medium which gives their kids a solid foundation and to them I say KUDOS!)

Random Question

What's your favorite Tom Hanks movie?

A few years ago a local radio station was having listeners call in and answer this question. For some reason I was thinking of it last night so thought I would pose the same question here.

No contest, my answer is Apollo 13. I saw it twice in theaters and it led me down the road to becoming an Apollo space program history buff.




















So, what's your answer?

Victory Junction

Back to crocheting for a cause.





















While I was in North Carolina I made a stop at the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Since it is their off season there wasn't much to see besides the gift shop but I'm glad I went. For a few years now, during my spare time in the winter, I have been crocheting afghans and mailing them to Victory Junction. It's a camp for kids with different types of illnesses. For the week the kids are at camp, all the other kids there have the same or a very similar illness so that they are just one of the kids instead of being the odd man out. All of the kids' medical expenses are taken care of by the camp for the week they are there. Among other things, every kid gets to take home an afghan, hence my crocheting for a cause. I am a bit apprehensive about large charity organizations because I feel like I just don't know where my money is going. With Victory Junction, I not only whole heartedly support the cause, I also like that you can contribute in other ways than just financially. After my trip, I'm very seriously considering volunteering at the camp for a week next summer. I think it would be an amazing and humbling experience.

Sweet Carolin-a

Back from a few days away.

Opportunity knocked and for once I was able to answer and took a fairly last minute trip to North Carolina this week. I've been through the Carolina's many times during car rides to Florida, but I hadn't ever visited just to go. I'm not so much into Nascar anymore, but it's been a part of my life for so long I was interested to see some of the race shops and put some perspective on where the cars that arrive at the track each week come from. I have to say the race shops weren't quite what I expected, but still interesting. Overall my opinion of North Carolina is this, anywhere that warm biscuits and sweet tea are commonplace at meal is good with me! What can I say, for some unknown reason I'm a southern girl at heart?!?

I made a stop at the Richard Petty museum, well, because it was there. I'm not a big Richard Petty fan but I've been a fan of the sport long enough to appreciate the contributions he has made.














He's got my vote for president, after all, he's already The King!

I'll try to post more pictures but they're mostly race related so maybe not all that interesting to the non-race fan.

Good People

Remembering good people do still exist.

The grinders have been sold, the quilt has been raffled and another Harvest Fair has drawn to a close. Today we have sore backs, tired legs and exhausted brains but go on with the knowledge that we don't have to do it again for a whole year.

In addition to having a profitable year selling grinders, the auxiliary also held a 50/50 raffle. Because there's no up front cost for this type of raffle, you make what you make and with the economy what is, it's worth a $1 to try to win some extra cash. We ended up taking in over $400 in the raffle so the winner got a little over $200. I drew the winning the ticket (because I'm the president!) and called the woman who won. I left a message saying she had won and how much and asked her to call back with an address to send a check to since she didn't live locally. Before I left the firehouse last night the woman returned my call. She said she was a vendor and had had a booth at the Harvest Fair for years. She said she'd made a lot of money coming to the fair over the years and then said she wanted us to keep the money. I literally had a check in hand to mail to her so I told her this and asked if she was sure. Yes, she was sure. In this day and age, I find this truly kind and generous because who couldn't use an extra $200. With all the headaches leading up to this weekend and the backaches from the weekend, in the end it was the kind gesture of one good person that made it all worthwhile.

Checking in for a few minutes...

Happy Columbus Day weekend all! The annual Harvest Fair is in full swing in our town this weekend. And the weather is good which means sales are good, but it also means we are BUSY! I've managed to leave town for a few hours but only to go into work for a little while and then off to buy more supplies for the fair. I'm stationed on the town green with the FD and auxiliary selling grinders. My mom is stationed at the top of the hill organizing the quilt guilds annual raffle and display. Jak has seemed a bit out of sorts the last few days but I've come to the conclusion that with the stress level at a high this weekend it could just be a reaction to that. I'll wait till things get back to normal before I become overly concerned. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend in their corner of the world!

Be Here Now

Remembering to be in the moment.

There is a poster in the locker room at the Y for a mindfulness group that meets once a week entitled, "Be Here Now." Whenever I see the poster it reminds me of a book I have called "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and a guest blog entry I wrote for my cousin Alina's blog about six months ago.

I am a worrier by nature so when I am able to pull myself into the now, I remember that I can only deal with what is. I cannot deal with what has happened or what may happen and usually in the moment, none of the things I'm worrying about are happening and probably won't ever happen. Tuesday night I swapped my car for Big Mo due to some problem with the right rear wheel of my car. Last night I swapped Big Mo for New Mo due to a problem with Big Mo's left front wheel. (I think I might have attracted the Mo's into my life with that blog entry!)

Let me tell you, last night I was a pity party, table for 1. "Why do cars hate me?" "Why does everything break when I drive it?" "I'm a good kid, why does this happen to me?" I love my dad, he's goodhearted however he's not exactly a glass is half full kind of guy. So I was quite surprised when it was he, who snapped me back into the moment. He said, "don't get upset about it, you have to deal with what happens, things break so you fix them and go on." It was an unexpected reminder that you really can only deal with what is.

2nd Wednesday

It's five dollar spaghetti dinner night!

September through June, on the second Wednesday of the month I meet my dad and usually his girlfriend too for a spaghetti dinner. It's at a Masonic Lodge about thirty minutes from home and let me say it's worth every penny of that five dollars. You get salad, bread, spaghetti with fabulous sauce, a soft drink, dessert and coffee if you wish. Now all that alone would be worth $5 in this day and age, especially when it's a fundraiser, but it's really all about the sauce. It's a very hearty meat sauce, that I've even referred to as chili without beans and this being my sophomore year of attending the dinners I've learned not to be bashful about asking for a little extra...well, actually I just say "load it up with sauce!" Going to the dinner is also something that I do with my dad regularly, which admittedly I haven't always been very good about, and sometimes I even flip the bill for all three of us!

Taking Care

I had to start wearing socks.

Although I gave up on the sandals and flip flops a few weeks ago, I have still been wear my ballet flats without socks. As I sat huddled over my space heater yesterday I realized it was time to accept, head to toe, that the cooler weather has arrived.














Without going into great detail, I've been battling a UTI for a few days now. If you've ever had one, you're reading this nodding your head knowingly and sympathetically. If you haven't ever had one, try to keep it that way. My post on Saturday about being cold I think was a combination of cooler temps and the beginning of the UTI. I try to avoid antibiotics if possible so I've been hitting the cranberry extract pretty hard and am starting to feel better. Of course with feeling better comes the mental battle of wanting to do everything I usually do and reminding myself it's okay to take it easy for a few days. After considering that I have to work until 8PM tonight, I made the difficult decision to leave my gym bag at home today. Ultimately, I can't expect others to take care of themselves properly if I'm not willing to do so for myself.

Back on the Soapbox

The statistic you don't often see.

In a CBS News poll released last week, "only 15% of Americans approve of how Congress is handling its job." 15%?!?! Are you kidding me? How many of us would still have a job if our bosses only approved of our work 15%?? We'd all be skidded in a heartbeat. And yet, here we are essentially Congress' bosses, because we give them their jobs with our votes, and we let them get away with poor work by not voting them out. Something to consider when the elections roll around, "in the entire House of Representatives, only 57 out of the 435 total seats are considered competitive in November."

(For perspective, polls show even George W. Bush has a higher job approval rating at 22%.)

If politicians thought there was a chance they could get voted out, they might actually start doing their jobs. But wait a minute, maybe I'm looking at this all wrong. Maybe this is the direction I should be headed in career wise. Cushy job, don't have to do good work, from what I understand the retirement is great, hmmm...I think I could be on to something here. Although as they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But this is America!

(The text in quotation marks was taken from a story that ran on the show CBS News Sunday Morning about Congress compromising on a bailout plan. The article can be accessed here.)

Autumn Has Arrived

October 4th and I'm already cold.

It happened this week, when I wasn't looking (and definitely wasn't ready), fall arrived. Today it was about 60 degrees here and plenty warm enough in the sun, but when a cloud rolled by it got chilly quick. I don't like fall for one reason, it leads us into winter. I'm cold all the time, sometimes even in the summer, so I'm not fond of winter. Even though spring can be cool too, it leads us into warmer temperatures, so I am more understanding.

For obvious reasons we have been more conservative about turning on the heat this year. It has only come on once so far on a cool September morning. As I sit here typing this, I am wearing jeans, a short sleeved t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt over that, a hoodie with the hood up over that, socks and sneakers. I think it could be a long winter.

Meet the Mo's

Sometimes one Big Mo isn't enough.

Big Mo and New Mo









New Mo and Big Mo










These are my dad's cars. Big Mo has been in the family for about 5 years now. On occasion I drive Big Mo when I need loaner wheels. I have had my own red coupe for 3 years now and people still don't recognize me; however when I roll through town in Big Mo everybody waves. Some even know him by name. New Mo joined the fleet about a year ago. You can tell a little from the pictures that New Mo is the fancier, better kept version and is usually garaged at my dad's girlfriend's house. I have not even ever sat in, never mind driven, New Mo - mostly because I haven't had reason to, but recently I told my dad it was out of loyalty to Big Mo.

The name Big Mo actually comes from Pimp Mobile, as I first called him. But I didn't have the heart to call it that in front of my dad so I shortened it to Big Mo. And then, well, New Mo just sort of happened because New Big Mo is too long.

For a while Big Mo didn't have a radio so I made up some songs to sing while driving:
Mo, Mo, Mo your boat gently down the street...
or
I'm back in the Big Mo again...

Misremembering

For the record, I stand corrected.

In my blog about finding a direction in life I referenced something that my 6th grade teacher wrote at the end of the year. I had to stop at my dad's yesterday so I found my old journal and realized the quote I used was, at best, paraphrasing what she actually said. What she wrote follows...

Dear Hope,

I know this hasn't been the greatest year for you. You are a very bright girl and have a great future ahead of you. I think sometimes you let yourself get "snowed under" all the work a student has to do; but the potential is certainly there and it would please me immensely if someday in the future I knew you were happy with what you're doing and where you are in life.

School seems like a waste sometimes, but in later years, believe-it-or-not, you'll look back with fondness at most of it.

You have been a pleasure to have in my room. I'll remember how helpful and cooperative you were when I first came to 106 - when *Mrs. Morin had to leave suddenly - and I'll always have a fond spot in my heart for you.

Work hard and relax a little - life can be fun and rewarding.

Don't forget to come and see me at Smith Ave. in the future.

Good luck,
Mrs. Caldes

*Mrs. Morin was my teacher for the first part of the year, she was pregnant and left abruptly due to complications with the pregnancy.