Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving! We were up at 5:30am for the Dana Point Turkey Trot. The Turkey Trot is held every year to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. They hold a 10K, 5K, and a 1 mile fun run for the kids. You can see the starting line behind us. It's sprinkling... but, not too bad. There were 4000 runners lined up for the 10K.

Who would have thought that so many people would be up so early to run 6.2 miles in the rain... And rain it did! During the 2 mile leg IT POURED!!! As Chris said... it's not a rain kind of pouring, but a standing in the shower kind of pouring. Can you see the rain in the photo? That's Chris in the florescent green shirt and royal blue shorts.

Another runner near me, commented, "Hey, it's a triathlon! This must be the swimming part of the course!" LOL! The streets were flooded (CA streets are not built to handle that much rain so fast), and everyone was soaked.

We slogged on!
Chris came in at 50:11, 16th out of 72 in his age group.
I came in at 54:24, 28th out of 182 in my age group.

After that we came home and I drew the first hot shower... shhhh... don't tell Chris, I cheated... hehehe! Then I started my Thanksgiving baking.

Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin/Cranberry bread and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

I had to send the kids to the market to pickup supplies. They balked when I tried to send them back the second time, and I had to bribe them with money to stop at Starbucks.

I got all the baking and done, and after lunch we headed to my SIL's sister's house in Manhattan Beach. Here is a picture from their back door... isn't it great living in California? I doesn't even look like it was pouring this morning...

We got in a little volleyball, and others in the family were playing touch football. After the wind picked up, my hubby got out the stunt kite.

We had great food, great company, and a great day.
Hope your day was great too!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Soccer's Over with a Bang!

With our Galaxy season tickets, we got tickets to the MLS finals. I guess Galaxy was expecting to be in the finals... HA! Not even close!

Anyway the game between Columbus, Crew and New York, Red Bull. Since my friend Mary lives in Ohio, I was cheering for Crew. Chris said that since he didn't have a yellow shirt, he was wearing a red shirt and cheering for Red Bull. Cheryl and Jim didn't care who won... they just wanted to see a high scoring game that went into over-time and penalty kicks. I guess they wanted to get their money's worth, but it's not to be... Crew beat the Red Bull 3-1! Yahoo, go Crew!

Speaking of getting your money's worth... We got our picture taken for free! Didn't it come out nice? I have hardly any photos of the entire family. I used it for the blog header too. It's a nice change...

Now the BANG part of the day... Yep, a fender bender leaving the game. The girl tried to do a U-Turn in the middle of a 4-lane street... from the far right lane. Jim was driving in the center lane next to her. She turned in front of the van and Jim hit her broadside right over the rear wheel. Then she tried to take off! Since the game just got out, there were a lot of police around the Home Depot Center. One policeman who saw the whole thing ran out and stopped her as she took off down the street. No one was hurt. Jim said it's a good thing we were in the van instead of the Corolla or the Matrix.

Since we gave the Corolla to Cheryl, the van is now my car. We'll take it in Friday to be fixed, and I'll be car-less for a while (Jim thinks about a week).

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!

It must be Christmas!

It all starts with a red cup! I had my first "red cup" of the season and now I'm ready for the holidays. Planning. Projects. Decorating. Shopping. Trying to remember what radio station plays the 24/7 holiday music.
Nothing like a special treat on my birthday... a hot caramel macchiato or a hot caramel apple cider on a rainy day. I can't believe we are having our first winter storm of the season... wasn't it just 100F last week?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep! Happy Birthday to me, today! Chris has the whole week off. He and Cheryl texted me around noon to wish me a Happy Birthday. There are no big birthday plans (that I know of). Just work today for me, and maybe I'll stop at the gym on the way home. Jim's cooking dinner... YAHOO!

This picture was taken at my mom and dad's house last Sunday where I celebrated my birthday with my folks and my brother's family. It's so nice being around family during the holidays!

New Layout

Time to use my creative outlet to blow off a little stress. Maybe that's why I haven't scrapped much lately... I haven't been stressed enough, hahaha!

This is my newest layout created for the Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook Deals 4U. I'm finally finishing up the photos from Cheryl's Europe trip last year! Maybe I'll get them all done before Chris goes to Europe...

Surf City here we come!

I forgot to mention that Chris and I are signed up for the Huntington Beach Half-Marathon. I went on a 13 mile run today just to see if I could still do it. I did... in 2hrs 6min... that's my fastest time yet!

I did have a lot of stress to work off. I got my lay-off notice yesterday. Not just me, but all the engineering contractors were laid-off. We have 4 more weeks of work, and that will be it. Mike is 7 months away from retirement, so he's not too worried. Sandy told me that it's hard to find a job this time of year... he should know, he's been contracting for over 30 years. So, I will be out hunting for a new job after New Years.

Monday's fun at Izzie's

Izzie (formerly Jane) is such a talented stamper. She makes the most beautiful cards and has the best give-aways. Go check out Monday Fun at Izzie's blog for a chance to win! All you have to do is leave a comment!

Layout to Share

I actually did a layout! It's been a while... This one is for the sketch challenge at Scrapbook Deals 4U (my new hangout). The photos are from Cheryl's trip to Europe (last year). I'm trying to finish this album before next Spring, LOL!

Weekly Sports Report - the last for Fall

Fall sports are officially over!

Cheryl won her soccer game Monday against Irvine Valley College, 2-1! This is a make-up game from last week's rain out.

Cheryl strained her hip-flexor on Monday, and was unable to play on Tuesday against Cypress College. They lost 1-4. Cheryl felt really bad. She said the loss was her fault. When she plays, the team starts their attack from defense... even I noticed it. Without Cheryl in the defensive line, the defense constantly clears the ball to the forwards instead of passing through the mid-field. Plus she thought that two of the goals were caused by the girls, who were playing her position.

Cheryl was back in the line-up on Friday. They defeated Golden West College 3-2! Cheryl scored the first goal from a PK. She didn't really want to take it, but the team set the ball up on the penalty spot and waited for her. She finally had to run up from defense to take the kick, and scored! Saddleback finished their season in 6th place (out of 9).

The fires here are terrible! Chris's XC team headed for Mt. Sac for CIF preliminaries. They were ranked 4th in their race (but only by 4 points). They felt that they could make top 3 and move on to the CIF finals. Well, the bus left school on time, but since the freeway was closed (because of the fires) the team missed their race. They were allowed to run with the next race, but only had 20 minutes to warm up. Sadly, they came in 7th... no CIF finals this year. After the race they got back on the bus for a 3 hour long ride home.

Recipe to Share

I hosted Bunco Friday night, and here was my menu:
Appetizer: grapes, artichoke/spinach dip, crackers, chocolate
Main course: green salad, taco soup, olive bread, garlic bread
Dessert: oatmeal raisin cookies, peanut butter brownies, pumpkin bread

The ladies were asking for the taco soup recipe, so here it is! I originally got this recipe from my friend, Beth.


Taco Soup
(do not drain any of the canned items)

1 lb. of ground beef (or turkey)
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion chopped (I use a bit less!)
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 sm. can of sliced black olives
1 sm. can of diced chili's
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of ranch dressing mix
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
grated ched. cheese
tortilla chips

Brown the ground beef, and onion... place the tomatoes, beans, corn (including all juices) and seasonings in crock pot... cook 4 + hours on low... serve topped with grated cheese, and tortillas...

Weekly Sports Report

Capo boys XC is going to CIF!!! That's the first time they've been to CIF in 11yrs! The coach is so happy that instead of practice today, he's treating the team to ice cream, LOL! (I wonder if the coach gets paid more if the team makes CIF?) Anyway, the Varsity team did really well, but the sophomore team came in 5th out of 6 teams... The top 3 sophomore runners run varsity, the next top 3 sophomores (the fastest 3 on the sophomore team) were/are all injured. The #1 runner hurt himself at practice this week and is out for 3-6 months. Chris is the #2 runner and this is his second race back after injury (he came in 4th yesterday). The #3 runner is also back after injury for his second race (he came in 6th yesterday). Chris is happy with how he did, and that's what's important. The entire team rides the bus to CIF, but only the Varsity will be running. Chris's XC season is over.

Chris's soccer team won their game last weekend, but missed making playoffs by one point. So, Chris's soccer season is also over.

Cheryl's game was rained out last Tuesday. It is postponed until next Monday... that means she has a game Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Because of their dismal season, the team did not make Regionals. So, Cheryl's soccer season will be over after next week.

Halloween photos to share

Here are Chris and my dad at Cheryl's soccer game. Cheryl's team lost again... 1-2.

Here are Chris and Cheryl dressed for Halloween...

Here is my neice with Cheryl. She's dressed as a cowgirl. Maybe she thinks Cheryl is a horse. LOL!

Weekly Sports Report

It's been a while since I've had sports photos to share. Chris ran his first race in 3 weeks. He didn't expect to do very well. He hasn't been practicing since he hurt his foot. He finished 7th in the school (a nonscoring position) at 19:57. One of the other boys passed Chris's PR. That dropped Chris down to #3 runner. He's not disappointed... He's just happy that he's running again! There is one more race next Thurs.


Cheryl is a star defender. She still thinks defense is boring, but she's doing very well. I've noticed that her style is changing, because the photos that I'm getting of her are so different this season than what I was taking before. Maybe this is her taking on a more aggressively defensive style. Her team lost on Tuesday against Fullerton, but they had to play without their starting center midfielder (she was red carded last game). Well, another midfielder was red carded in the game against Fullerton.... The season is getting rough!

Weekly Sports Report

The Capo Varsity XC did really well at Mt. Sac.! They came in 2nd place, only missing 1st by 4 points! The Sophmores did terribly. The top 3 runners were all not running (Chris being #2). I heard that there were 60+ calls made to 911 during the Varsity and Frosh races. So, they cut down the length of the course from 3 miles to 2 miles... they still had kids dropping from heat exhaustion, so they ended up cancelling the last race.

We don't know how Chris's soccer team did, because he missed the game.

Cheryl's team played in the "Toilet Bowl" this week. That means the winner of the game comes in 2nd to the last place, and the loser gets the honor of being in last. Well, they won! Saddleback is in 2nd to the last place! LOL! Cheryl spent the entire game working in the Saddleback defense. Saddleback beat Santa Ana 1-0. Unfortunately, one of the starting center mid-fielders was red carded and can't play in the game today against Fullerton. Cheryl scored against Fullerton last time they played. Maybe she can do it again today!

Galaxy played in a "Toilet Bowl" of their own. If Galaxy had won, they would have beat Dallas they would have moved ahead of them in the standings. As it was, Galaxy and Dallas tied 2-2. This left Galaxy in last place in MLS West.

I took Chris to his weekly checkup for his foot. The doctor said that she's 90% sure (because of the way it's healing) that he had a compression fracture. We opted to not have it x-rayed right after he hurt his foot, because the treatment for a sprain and a compression fracture were the same. Chris is planning to run this week in the Cluster meet Thursday afternoon. All the sophmore runners will be back from injury! I'm not sure how well they'll do since they haven't practiced for weeks.

Book Reviews

I've really got the reading bug! I have lots and lots of books checked out from the library. I hope I can finish them all before they're due. Here is a new series called Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare that Chris and I started reading. Chris said it reminded him of Harry Potter, and he finished both these books (close to 1000 pages) in 5 days. It is definitely for an older group than Harry Potter, and I don't see much resemblence to the Harry Potter series (except that kids are the heros of the book, as they are in most kids books). There are demons, vampires, werewolves, and shadow hunters... great for the lovers of the fantasy genre.



More books that I have finished in the last couple months...

Kids books:

Oy, Joy by Lucy Frank	The Game by Diana Wynne Jones	The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale	Peeps by Scott Westerfeld	By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley	The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Teen books:
These are still kids books, but may not be appropriate for young kids.

The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman by Louise Plummer

Marked by PC Cast

Betrayed by PC Cast

...And continuing with my vampire romance obession...

Crimson City by Liz Maverick	Vamps and the City by Kerrelyn Sparks	Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole	Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole

Weekly Sports Report

I never quite got around to "Sports Report - Part 2" or even a regular sports report for last week.

Not too much went on. Cheryl's college team had 3 away games and lost all three. Her home game Tuesday was pretty exciting. (I missed the game because I was at work). Cheryl's team was down 0-2 at half time. Cheryl was moved back to defense... BTW, we call that defending a loss, which we don't see as a good idea... At the beginning of the second half, the other team scored and it was 0-3. THEN Cheryl's team came back scoring 2 goals and almost a third. The final score was a 2-3 loss. Cheryl assisted one of the goals (from defense)! She chipped the ball over the other team to the feet of the center midfielder, who turned, shot and scored! So, two kicks and the ball went 3/4 of the way down the field and into the net!!!

Now, Chris... Poor Chris... He's still out with a bum foot. He missed two soccer games and one XC meet. He'll probably miss the meet and soccer game this weekend too. His foot is getting better. He can walk on it without it hurting now, and has been running no more than 20 minutes on the grass. He has another doctor appointment this afternoon.

LA Galaxy played horribly and lost their chance for the MLS Playoffs. So, we are now Chivas USA fans! LOL! Cheryl met about half of the starting line-up for Chivas, and she pointed out that the players on Chivas are a lot nicer than the players on Galaxy. There is one more Galaxy home game this weekend, but win/lose/draw they are out of the playoffs. GO CHIVAS!

Weekly Sports Report - Part 1

The XC Cluster Meet was yesterday. Chris was expected to come in as the #2 runner. When I saw him about half way through the race, he was running in the #2 spot. Unfortunately, he hurt his foot after that, and managed to limp his way in as #5. He said that he doesn't know what happened... it just started to hurt and got worse and worse. He could barely walk when he got home, and it was swollen. We iced it last night and this morning. He's still limping, but he said that it doesn't hurt as bad.

Cheryl had a by on Tuesday. Her next soccer game is at HOME on Friday at 3pm. But, she has a very bad cold, so may not play.

Stay tuned for Weekly Sports Report, Part 2...

Still on my way to Woodsfield

I've run over 1000 miles this year, and am over half way to Woodsfield, Ohio! My current progress puts me in Kansas. Hmmm... that means I'll be there in another 9 months, not by Christmas, like I wanted to. Oh well, I hear that spring is nice in Woodsfield...

Weekend Sports Report

Cheryl played on Tuesday, by the time I finished work and drove down there, the game was already in the 2nd half and Cheryl was out. Now that she plays striker, she doesn't play the whole game anymore. She's the starting striker, so I didn't get to see her play at all. Sounds like not too much happened (offensively anyway). They lost 0-5.

Her Friday game was much better. They tied 1-1. Cheryl was in and out. She has to have her quad wrapped for the game. She said the wrapping fell off just before the game started; she had to have it re-wrapped; the re-wrapping was so tight, her foot fell asleep; and had to have it wrapped again. I also missed this game because the Cross Country team was taking team photos that afternoon.... no pictures of Cheryl this week.

There were no races this week. Chris played his soccer game on Sunday, and he actually started! He assisted a goal off a corner kick, and took three shots on goal (two over and one wide). His team won 7-1! I was so excited watching the game that I forgot to take photos (I even had my camera).

So, no sports photos this week. But here's a layout of the Disneyland Half-Marathon that I did this week for a challenge at Scrapbook Deals for You.

Weekly Sports Report

Chris ran the Dana Hills Cross Country Invitational this weekend. Since the varsity runners were gone to a National meet in Oregon, he started in the front row, and finished with a NEW PR of 17:53! He came in 54th overall (so just missed getting a medal by 4 places), and came in 2nd for his school just behind the 1st place runner. He said that he and the first place runner passed each other a couple of times during the race, but the first place runner has never lost to Chris and was determined not to this time also!

That evening Chris played a game with his soccer team, and played great! He played first half as a defender and 2nd half as a mid-fielder. Towards the end of the game, he was still running the entire length of the field while everyone else was pooped... that XC training really pays off!


Cheryl seems to have cemented her new spot as a starting striker. They defeated Santa Ana in an away game 1-0 on Tuesday, and on Friday they lost to Fullerton at home 1-2. She scored her team's only goal that game (by running up on a through ball and shooting just inside the 18yd line)... her first goal of the college season.

We ended up going out for ice cream twice this weekend... on Friday night to celebrate Cheryl's first goal, and on Saturday night to celebrate Chris's new PR!

Weekly Sports Report

Chris didn't play his soccer game, because he had the Woodbridge Invitational meet in the evening. He was hoping to post a new PR. Unfortunately, he didn't have a very good race. First off there was a pile-up accidentally caused by Chris. He stepped on the heel of the runner in front of him and caused about six runners to fall. He managed to jump over and around them, but lost his focus. He ended up with a cramp in his side and finished around 19:10.

In Cheryl's game against #2 state ranked Santiago Canyon, she started as outside defender. At half time, trailing 0-3, they moved both Cheryl and the other outside defender to the midfield to add more force to the offense. It didn't work... the team ended up losing 0-8.

Cheryl's second game of the week was in Riverside. This time the coach moved her to the starting forward line. The team lost 1-5. Cheryl almost scored that goal. She was ready to shoot the ball when a player from her own player stole the ball from her and shot it.