More Productive Weekend

I actually had a more productive weekend this last weekend.  I got more decorating done including just a tad of the ornament organizing I need to do.  Mind you, I said a tad.  I still have so much I should be doing.  I only have one present left to buy.  About the only thing I haven’t done yet is wrap presents.  I’ve got a lot of wrapping to do, so I need to start on that soon.  Probably tomorrow night during the Survivor finale.  Got to do something to keep my entertained during those three hours.

Heck, I even cut my hair on Saturday and rewatched Return of the Jedi to be ready for Thursday night.  Yes, that’s right, I’m going to see the new Star Wars moving on Thursday night.  Getting very excited for it, too!

Other news?  Not much.  Crazy busy at work.  About to start reading books for 2016 (have three book reviews due that first week).  And other than that, not much new to report.

Word Association for December 10th

Let's do this week's word association.

1. Mistake :: Will be Made
2. Lights :: Christmas
3. Holiday :: Cheer
4. Hi :: Hello
5. Giving :: Gifts
6. Bottle :: Baby
7. Understand :: the Problem
8. Red :: Green
9. Bracing :: Cold
10. Stop! :: Go!

The Weekend was Quite. Too Quiet

I had big plans for the weekend.  I was going to finish decorating and get my Christmas shopping done.  Meanwhile, I was also going to get a couple of movie watched and make great progress in my book.

Yeah, right.

Instead, I spent most of my Saturday wasting time on my computer.  Only in the late afternoon did I start to get anything done.  I did the majority of my Christmas shopping, and I do feel wonderful about that.  I still have a few things to pick up later, but I know what I’m getting, so it isn’t that big a deal.

I also got one of the movies watched, but only one.

No decorating, and just a little bit of reading on Sunday.

Of course, my usual Sunday activities happened of church, ultimate and Once Upon a Time with friends.  Can’t give that up.

It’s set me behind on where I want to be with my decorating, so I need to decide just how much more of that I am going to do.  But it is such a relief to have so much of my Christmas shopping done.

Then will come the fun or wrapping presents.

Wonderful Trip Home for Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful time at home for Thanksgiving.

The first couple of nights, I spent with my brother and his family, which meant that I got to spend all day with my niece and nephew.  They are so cute!! (I figured I’d get that out of the way early.  You knew it was coming).  That was where everyone gathered for Thanksgiving itself, and we had a great day with family and a family friend.  I got to talk, and we played some games as well, including one I’d brought up for us to play.

I also got to visit with a friend of mine from childhood.  We’d connected on Facebook but hadn’t seen each other face to face in years.  I got to meet his wife and just generally catch up.

Other than that, it was just spending time with family, which was wonderful.  We watched Muppet Christmas Carol one night, and we played more games.

I was sad to leave Monday, but I did get to see my friend Donald and his parents on my drive home, which was nice as well.

Word Association for November 24th

Looks like I'm just going to get some word association in this week, but that's okay because I had a lazy quiet weekend.  And tomorrow, I'm heading up to visit my family!!!

And without further ado, word association time.

1. Plenty of :: Space
2. Peanut :: Snoopy and Charlie Brown
3. Gulp :: Swallow
4. Framed! :: for Murder
5. Caged :: Bird
6. Chilly :: Ice Cold
7. Instrument :: Piano
8. Officer :: Police
9. Solution :: Mystery
10. Dolphin :: Swim

Full Circle at Glendale Centre

I’ve now been going to Glendale Centre Theatre for 10 years.  I first ventured down there at the end of 2005 after hearing great things about it for a couple of years.  That first play I saw was Arsenic and Old Lace.  And last weekend, I got to see that play again.

Of course, with a different cast and a different director, the play wasn’t completely the same.  That’s one thing I love about live theater.  But the play was still fabulous.  It has so many witty lines and just absurd situations that you can’t help but love it.  And yes, it is better than the movie, which I watched after the first time I saw the play.  Much, much better.

The first couple of plays I went to see I went without Angelique, but once we discovered how much we both loved that theater, we’ve been going together ever since.  That means she hadn’t seen this play the first time, and I was thrilled to get to introduce her to it.  She enjoyed it as much as I did, which made me feel good.

I only wound up seeing one play in 2006, and it’s one of their plays next spring.  I can’t wait to see it again and enjoy some plays I haven’t seen there before as well.  Obviously, I may have gone full circle, but I’m not planning to stop going any time soon.

Word Association for November 17th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Polish :: Sausage
2. Reshare :: Facebook
3. Quality :: Control
4. Ordeal :: Horrible
5. Raindrop :: Keep Falling on My Head
6. Cute! :: Baby
7. Soil :: Dirt
8. Ice cream :: Delicious!
9. Suffering :: Pain
10. Pressure :: Point

Wipeout Run and Lunch

Last weekend, I did my final obstacle run of 2015 – the Wipeout Run.  This used to be known as the Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge, but they teamed up with the show and rebranded themselves.

As a run, I found it disappointing.  We wove back and forth in a parking lot.  I’d be shocked if we really ran a mile.  The ROC races were definitely closer to 3 miles long.

However, the obstacles were fun.  Yes, they had the big balls, although they were really more like small/medium balls and in a bounce house.  Still, that was enough for me, especially considering I couldn’t land a jump to any of them.  There were a couple of giant slides and a balance across a beam while dodging big balls spinning around obstacle.  That one was tons of fun.  No mud at this one, but water in a few obstacles.

Afterward, I got together with Joy and Christopher, who lived in the area for a late lunch.  We hung out at the restaurant and talked for a couple of hours, and it was a blast.

Plus I got to listen to half of a book on tape that day, which is always fun.

Sadly, I stopped at Downtown Disney trying to find a calendar.  I spent almost two hours looking around for it, but when I finally found the right person to ask, they were sold out of it.  I would have liked that time for other things.  Oh well.  That was the only bad part of an overall fun day.

New Roommate

I have two roommates again!

My new roommate moved in a week ago.  He’s a friend of my current roommate who is looking for a place for just a couple of months, although there is a possibility that he could stick around longer, we’ll just have to see.

The ironic thing is that I have two roommates with lots of stuff right now.  Usually, my roommates are young enough that they have clothes and a few books.  These guys don’t, so between their stuff and all the junk I have, we are out of room in the condo.  I need to weed out junk, but I sure don’t want to do that.  It sounds suspiciously like work!

Small Halloween Party

Saturday being Halloween, I went to my friends Josh and Beth’s annual Halloween party.  Of course, since they decided to have it at the last minute, the turnout was very small.  As in, it was just the three of us.

Of course, since I hadn’t seen them for several months, it was good to have a chance to sit and catch up.  We talked for quite a bit, ate dinner, and then played a couple of games.  Yes, it would have been fun with more people, but, selfishly, I’m kind of glad it was so small.  It was relaxing and fun.

We played Sequence for a while, and then they introduced me to a new game called Bubble Talk.  The idea is kind of like Apples to Apples, only this time, you have a picture on the table and seven captions for it in your hand.  It was so funny I was laughing so hard I was crying at one point.  Definitely getting a copy for myself!

Word Association for November 4th

Time for some more word association.

1. Habitually :: Late
2. Generational :: Divide
3. Proudly :: Accomplishment
4. Determined :: to Succeed
5. Consoled :: Sad
6. Hosted :: Show
7. Creepy :: Ally
8. Yelled :: Warning
9. Inept :: Killer
10. Success story :: Changed Life

Neverseen Launch Party

Friday night, I went to a book launch party.  Even better?  The book didn’t officially come out until today, so I was able to buy it early.  (You’d think with all the pre-release books I get these days it wouldn’t be a thrill, but it still is.)

The book is Neverseen, the latest in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series for middle grade readers by Shannon Messenger.  Unfortunately, the signing was a ways away, and with traffic, especially on a Friday night, it took me a long time to get there.  So long, in fact, that I missed Shannon answering questions from the audience.  But I got there for the actual signing.

And oh the line!  I was actually there for three hours waiting to get my book signed.  During that time, I finished the novella I was reading and wandered around the store some.  Then I stood in line.

Mind you, I’m not really complaining.  It is wonderful to see so many kids exciting about reading.  I mean, this was a hardcover, and all the kids had copies.  And Shannon was taking the time to talk to fans and not just signing books, which is great for keeping them engaged in reading the books.  Plus Shannon is a truly wonderful person, and I’m thrilled to see her reaching this level of success.  I’ve been reading the series from the beginning, and I’m thrilled to see it doing so well, too.

Still, it made for a long night, although I was able to get home a lot faster because the traffic had died down by the time I left.  It was a great day all the way around.  Plus I’ve passed the half-way point of the book already (which is saying something for a 700 page book) and am fast closing in on the final quarter.  Goal is to finish it by Wednesday, and things are heating up, so I am sure that will happen.

A First Trip to Dave and Buster’s

When my brother and sister-in-law were living in Dallas, they loved to go to Dave and Buster’s on date nights.  I had never been to one, but I finally had a chance to fix that back on the 17^th.  (Yes, I’m still back that far behind.)

After the mud run, I met up with my friends Chris and Charles.  Hadn’t seen them in a while, especially Charles.  Anyway, we headed out to Dave and Buster’s.  If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a restaurant and arcade.  Most of the games give you tickets (electronically on your card) that you can then redeem for prizes.

Actually, Chris and Charles hadn’t eaten there before.  They were planning to eat elsewhere, but I suggested we eat there.  The food was good, but our service was lousy.  Everyone else seemed to be getting good service but us.

The games were fun.  There were lots of skeeball and those types of games.  There are also some fun video games that, yes, can give you tickets.  I have no clue how much each game cost since you swipe your card and pay with credits, but I didn’t spend through all the credits I’d bought.  I started getting into it the longer we were there.

Okay, so the company helped, but I had a good time.  Unfortunately, the restaurant is a ways from me, so I don’t know when or if I will go back and use the rest of my credits and redeem my tickets, but you never know.

Oh, and yes, I did make sure my brother and sister-in-law knew where I was so they'd be properly jealous.

Word Association for October 29th

Let's get this week's word association done.

1. your point :: Is????
2. scarf :: Cold
3. termite :: Building
4. willing :: Able
5. silk :: Blouse
6. center :: of the Universe
7. flash :: Barry Allen
8. warehouse :: Shipping
9. costume :: Halloween
10. candy corn? :: Okay, but not that great

Gladiator Rock n Run Rose Bowl 2015

I am going to catch up this week.  Really I am.  (Of course, I held off last week so I’d have stuff to post this week.

Anyway, back on the 17th, I took on the Gladiator Rock n Run for the second time this year.  This time was at the Rose Bowl.  Sadly, they only had the 5K course this time, not the 10K option that I’ve done in the past.  Still, it was fun to be back since I skipped it last year for that stupid Slime Run.

I did this with one of my friends from ultimate Frisbee, Nate.  This was his first mud run, and we both had fun.  There was the usual variety of obstacles, a little light on the mud since this is mainly around the Rose Bowl on the streets of Pasadena.  But there was enough to give him a feel for getting muddy, and he’s talking about doing one with me again in the future.

The thing that killed me on this was the stairs.  We start by running into the stadium and going up the down the stairs three times.  I was fine doing that.  I could tell my legs were shaky later, but I felt great all day on Saturday.  Sunday, I woke up and my legs were killing me.  I played ultimate that afternoon hoping to loosen them up, but it didn’t help.  It was late Tuesday afternoon before they started to feel significantly better.  Just in time for a run Tuesday night, in fact.

Before next year, I must start doing stairs as a workout.  I climb the stairs at work and at home, but never that many at once, which was my problem.

Word Association for October 21st

It's been a couple of weeks.  Let's do some word association today.

1. Frustration :: Disappointment
2. Ordered :: Food
3. Imagination :: Creative
4. Horizon :: God
5. Flu :: Vaccine
6. System :: Breakdown
7. Bombastic :: Trump
8. Windows :: Computer
9. Pumping :: Iron
10. Scorched :: Earth

I've been listening to a song from Downhere's first CD, which includes this in the chorus.

"Because I'll never hold a picture of the

Whole horizon in my view

Because I'll never rip the night in two

It makes me wonder who am I

Who am I

Who am I

And great are You."

And that's who I got from Horizon to God.

Walking and Playing

Yes, I still need to catch up on my blog.  I’m still almost two weeks behind.  (That’s what happens when you just post once a week.)

So, on the 10^th, I had two events with some time home between them.  I started the morning with the Walk for Life in town.  This annual event raises money for the local crisis pregnancy center.  It was just a two mile walk, twice around the block where we started.  It wasn’t an exciting route, but I walked with some people from my church, and that was fun.  I raise some money via my co-workers.

After some time at home, I headed out that might.  Met my friend Ann for dinner and then Angelique joined us for Guys and Dolls at Glendale Centre Theatre.  I’d never seen this musical before, and I really enjoyed it.  I’m not sure that I agree with the messages of the film, but I still had a lot of fun.  The music was wonderful and there were lots of laughs.

As you can see, it was an eventful day.

Squeezing In a New Couch

I’m falling behind again, aren’t I?  Let’s see if I can catch up.

For example, the first weekend of October, my new couch arrived.  I’d ordered it the beginning of September, and I was told it would take 6-8 weeks, but it arrived in 4.

The reason it was going to take so long?  I was going for the upgraded foam, which was firmer.  I was thinking of the couch lasting longer that way, but the result is a couch that is a little too firmer than I wanted.  I’m kind of regretting that, but I’m sure it will be better – eventually.  Meanwhile, my back is getting a little better very slowly.  My old couch was so far gone it was killing my back.

But when it was delivered that Saturday, it made for an interesting day since I had plans in the morning (Hallmark Ornament Debut), lunch with a friend, and then dinner and a play at Glendale Centre Theatre that night.  Fortunately, they delivered the couch first thing in the morning, so I was able to get on with my day without any complications.

And I had a good rest of that day.  It was nice to catch up with my friend over lunch, and the play was a lot of fun that night.  It was Guys and Dolls, which I’d never seen before.  I’m not sure I agreed with the morals, especially at the end, but it sure was a lot of fun, and they did an amazing job with it as always.

Another Premier Party

We are in full TV season mode again.  My last two returning shows premier this week, in fact.  But that meant that last weekend my friend Christy had her annual premier party for Once Upon a Time.  We once again dressed up in costumes and got together for dinner and then watching the premier.

Christy is the only one I know well out of the group; the rest are all people I only see once a year at these events.  But I’m getting to know several of them better over the years, and I really look forward to this party each year.

Yes, I went as Dr. Hopper again.  Boring, I know.  The costumes were so great this year with most everyone else going for a fairytale version of a character.  It was a blast.  The food was good.

And the premier?  I’m not doing full recaps this year, but I am loving this season so far.  The second episode was strong as well.  If only the same could be said for Castle.  (Please, don’t get me started on the stupid way they’ve taken the show this year.  The writers have definitely decided to kill it.  I will be shocked if it gets picked up for another season because I suspect that fans will stop watching in droves after last week.)

Word Association for September 30th

Quickly, let's do this week's word association.

1. Well :: Water
2. Validation :: Okay
3. Robert :: O'Malley (Don't ask me why)
4. Host :: Ghost (Haunted Mansion)
5. Stage :: Play
6. Bulky :: Package
7. Exclamation! :: Excited
8. Fluffy :: Bunny
9. Left :: Right
10. Inspire :: Quote

Word Association for September 23rd

What do you say we do some word association this week?

1. Resist :: the Devil
2. Procrastinate :: Later
3. Stimulate :: the Senses
4. Secretary :: Boss
5. Buffering :: Internet
6. Overcast :: Clouds
7. Grinder :: Coffee
8. Amateur :: Detective
9. Flaw :: in the Plan
10. Aloof :: Stuck up

Survivor Mud Run 2015

Wow, I’ve pretty much abandoned this place for almost two weeks now, haven’t I?  I guess that means it’s time to add a blog post.

Honestly, not much has happened in the last couple of weeks that was new or exciting.  This last Saturday was the exception as I did my September mud run.  Yep, the Survivor Mud Run was back in the area.

And I use the term area loosely.  It’s about an hour and 45 minutes one way to where this particular mud run is.  But I guess that’s almost as long as some of the other mud runs I do.  It just seems longer since its further east than those.  And the traffic coming home!  It was over two hours back and with the heat and no AC in my car, that wasn’t pleasant.

The race itself was great as always.  They didn’t seem to have as many non-mud obstacles this year as they have in the past.  But I’m not really complaining because there was lots of mud, which I love.  There was so thin and some fairly thick stuff as well, which was great.  Then there is the rubber slide into the lake near the end, which is always fun.

I almost had a friend sign up to do it with me, but then he changed his mind and signed up for a different one.  I would have enjoyed introducing him to mud runs with this one and his company.  Plus the AC since he was going to drive.  But I’ll just introduce him to mud runs next month instead.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

You’ll notice I haven’t been posting about much outside of ultimate Frisbee recently.  That’s because, outside of ultimate Frisbee, not much has been going on.  But hey, this was a 3 days weekend, so I went out and had some fun this last weekend.

It started Saturday when I headed down to Downtown Disney to meet friends for brunch.  Unfortunately, two of the regulars couldn’t make it, but the rest of us had fun.  It’s always a case of good friends and good food.  Heck, they even had their Caramel French Toast as part of the buffet.  Guess what I went back for seconds on.

As if I didn’t stuff myself enough at that, as soon as it was over, I met up with another friend for lunch.  Yes, I was as uncomfortable as you might expect when it was all over.  I’d met him on a Disney message board, and we text each other every so often.  He was in town for the half marathon over the weekend, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up.  It was lots of fun chatting with him in person.

After a little shopping (mainly window shopping since I only bought one ornament), I started driving north.  But I stopped and bought a new couch on the way home.  Unfortunately, it is supposed to take 6-8 weeks to get it to me.  But it should be nice when it arrives.

Sunday was the usual (church and ultimate).  And then Monday I played more ultimate in the morning followed by lunch with some of my ultimate friends.  I hadn’t planned to play on Monday, but it was a lot of fun, and I’m so glad I went.

I really didn’t need more time at home to get down what I wanted to get done either, which was nice.  Oh, there’s always more I could have done, but the essentials happened.  Not that I wouldn’t have been happy with an extra day or two.  It honestly didn’t feel like I got an extra day off when I headed back into work today.

Word Association for September 3rd

Let's get this week's word association done, shall we?

1. Hell :: Punishment
2. Time :: Eternity
3. Birth :: Death
4. Dock :: Ship
5. Column :: Excel
6. Distance :: Traveled
7. Text :: Phone
8. Pop up :: Ad
9. Fear :: Jump
10. Alert :: Danger

Word Association for August 28th

Must be time for some word association.

1. Sniffle :: Allergies
2. Live :: Concert
3. Finally! :: Finished
4. Honor :: Military
5. New :: Different
6. Cumbersome :: Awkward
7. Thumbs :: Fingers
8. Facebook :: Like
9. Cheat :: Taxes
10. Decisive :: Action

Krusher Wet n Wild 5K

Saturday, I did my August mud run.  I’d only heard of the Krusher mud run a few months ago, but I signed up because it filled the important hole in my mud run schedule.  I had none for August, after all!

The mud run wasn’t that far from me – at least as the crow flies.  It was at Lake Piru, which is a little ways off the freeway on a smaller road, so it still took me about an hour one way to get there.  Still, not as bad as some I do every year which are easily twice that.

Based on the title, I wasn’t sure if there would be mud or not.  And they kept me in suspense until almost the very end.  But when we got to the mud – wow!  It was thick and deep.  Some of the thickest and deepest I’ve experienced at any mud run.  I loved it!

The rest of the run was good, too.  There were a couple of different obstacles like climbing up tubes.  Unfortunately, I skipped their version of a water slide since the way to climb up to it involved climbing up tires.  I’m sure I could have done it if I needed to, but it was high and my fear of heights was making me uncomfortable.

I’ve only ever been out to this lake one other time, so I don’t know for sure, but I feel like the lake is way, way down from where it would normally be.  Part of that is based on the fact that we started and ended at a boat ramp and was nowhere near the later.  I also think that much of the course would be under water in a normal year.  I could be wrong on that, but that’s my best guess.

Word Association for August 20th

Quick, time for some word association.

1. Failure :: To Launch
2. Extinguish :: Fire
3. Probability :: It Will Happen
4. Lurid :: Details
5. Hope :: Floats
6. Supposedly :: Not a Problem
7. Putrid :: Rank
8. Remarkable :: Achievement
9. Bunny :: Easter
10. Expectations :: Meant

Summer League Tournament 2015

This last weekend, we had the hottest weather of the summer so far.  It was triple digits both days.  Naturally, that meant it was time for the summer league tournament this year.  (Seriously, I think it is always on the hottest weekend of the year.)

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting much from my team.  Oh, I knew we’d all go out there and play hard, but look at our record.  We were the bottom seed going into the tournament.  That’s never a good sign.  Plus we were playing the team we’d lost to 4-15 twice.

So imagine my surprise when we started out going 3-0 on them.  However, they quickly turn that around, and we were trailing them the entire rest of the game.  Still, it was a much closer game than I was expecting.  I think it was 8-10 at the end.  (I don’t remember the final score, which was capped as we ran out of time.)

Unfortunately, they were doing work on part of the field (and hadn’t bothered to tell us before that day).  It meant we were down space and couldn’t play all the games we were supposed to play.  Our consolation game turned into a very short free for all of sorts, but it was fun.  It just wasn’t worth staying around to play.

I almost went home.  I’d hardly been home in the last week and was thinking about all the things I could have been doing instead of sitting in the heat.  But I stayed and watching the finals of both Men’s and Co-ed.  Plus I was reading and I finished my book.  I went to the party afterward pretty much long enough to grab some dinner and then I drove home.

I did go out to play pick up ultimate the next day.  After all, I’d hardly played the day before.  We had a small turnout because of the heat, but it was a very fun early evening.

The Final Game (of Regular Season 2015)

We had our last regular season game on Tuesday night.  We actually played this team our first week this season, and we lost to them 4-15.  That was back when we had few ladies - in fact I think they were savage.  So with as many ladies and men, we should have been a new team, right?

Right?

Sadly, we lost to them 4-15 again.  It’s like we had no idea who to play or play with each other at least.  We had multiple people cutting to the same spot at the same time.  We were missing basic catches and throws.  It wasn’t pretty.

The worst part?  They are the team we’ll be facing first in the tournament tomorrow.

At least I didn’t leave the field feeling like a complete failure.  I did get the disc once and successfully passed it on.  I did get scored on a couple of times, however.  Once, the guy took off running and I couldn’t keep up.  The other, I stuck with the guy through multiple cuts until he finally managed to break free.  I felt bad, but there are only so many times you can successfully predict cuts to stop someone from scoring.

Party Friday

We had a second Summer League game this last week, and it was for Party Friday.  In the past, about half the teams in the league have played on this day, but this time, every team was playing.  Plus there was free pizza after the game.  What’s not to love?

I had a complication getting there – the battery in my car was dead when I went to leave work.  By the time I got that taken care of (thanks AAA) and home, I barely had enough time to change and eat dinner.  As it was, I arrived late, and it was 3-3 when I found our game.

Sadly, it went further downhill from there, and we lost 6-15.  Obviously, I shouldn’t have bothered to show up, right?

Actually, we can’t really blame me completely.  Yes, I got scored on a time or two, but I actually didn’t play that many points.  I guess my presence is just enough to make that big a difference in the score.

Of course, it didn’t help moral to see two of our players go down due to injury.  After a year of not playing on this particular field, it sadly isn’t much better than it ever was.  I was hoping they had truly fixed it and maybe fixed the gopher problem, but I guess that wasn’t to be.

On the other hand, it was one of my teammate's birthday, and we celebrated with a delicious cake afterwards.  That was very fun.

Book Events

It’s been a while since I went to book events, but I’ve been to a couple this week.

Sunday, I went to South Pasadena for the monthly Sisters in Crime meeting.  The talk was on the Stratemeyer Syndicate, aka the company responsible for creating and hiring the ghost riders to write the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and many other series characters.  (No, not my favorite, Trixie.)  I knew a lot of the stuff that was said, but it was still fun.  And I managed to work it in between church and pick up ultimate Frisbee, too.

Then last night, I headed out to a book signing.  I’d already read both books thanks to my deal reading and reviewing stuff for Berkley Prime Crime, but it was so much fun to hear the authors talking.  I went to a signing for Daryl Wood Gerber’s very first book (written as Avery Aames), but I don’t know that I’d ever heard Diane Vallere talk.  There were only five of us in the audience, but we had a grand time listening to the two of them talk.  In fact, I left later than I had intended, which was a bad thing since I had to polish up my review of Diane’s new book to be published this morning on my review blog.

I’ve stopped going to events like this since the stores I used to go to have closed down, and I’ve really missed it.  Hopefully, I can find a few more and start going again.  Of course, I say that knowing I’ve got another one planned for next week.

We Got a Second Win*

We had another ultimate Frisbee game last night.  You’ll notice that asterisk up there again.  Yep, it was a win.  And we made it to 15 this time.  But the final score?  Well….

See, there’s the things.  Between the two teams, no one was keeping a close track of the score.  I know when I got there late, it was 3-0.  They started to make some points as well, and it was 8-5 at half.

It was the second half where the score completely got away from us.  At one point, I thought the sidelines had agreed it was 11-9 us.  But a few points later, they were claiming it has been 10-10 and, since we’d just scored, it was 11-10.  While the sidelines was talking about it, we scored again, and then the captains met to really talk about it.

While they were talking, the sprinklers came on, so we moved the field.  It was finally decided that we’d settle the score at 14-11, which felt closer to what it was to me.  And we got the final score, meaning, if our score was at all accurate, we won.  Or, if others on our team were right about the score, we won 16-11.  At this point, who knows, right?

I didn’t play much last night.  Maybe there’s a connection there?  With the low number of subs we had, I probably should have played more.  But darn it, everyone out there is so much better than I am, I don’t want to risk being the weak link.

We’ve got another game this Friday.  Hopefully, we can get one decisive win in one way or the other.  And I think I might actually keep close track of the score, too.

Better Game, Same Result

Tuesday night was another Ultimate Frisbee Summer League game.  We lost.  But I felt better about it.

There are two teams that are undefeated in the league, and we were playing one of them.  You knew how the game was going to go, right?  Actually, we were up at half time 8-5.  That actually surprised me because I was noticing lots of turns and drops on our part.  Obviously, I wasn’t paying enough attention.

But the second half started out with them going on a five point run before we started to score again.  We were down 13-10 at one point, but we got three more in a row to tie it at 13’s before we lost.

And I felt like I played better.  Of course, it helped that I got to guard Chuck, someone I know I can keep up with.  He still got the disc (and I didn’t on offense), but he also never scored.  I would have really liked it if I hadn’t had a stomach ache for the second week in a row going into my game.  Oh well.  Hopefully, next week I’ll be feeling 100% when I show up.

Word Association for July 30th

Quick!  Let's do this week's word association.

1. Creaking :: Step
2. Sipping :: Drink
3. Honeymoon :: Happy
4. Clang :: Pots
5. Delight :: Smile
6. Blade :: Cut
7. Key :: Lock
8. Landing :: Strip
9. Insufficient :: Funds
10. Slam :: Door

Wonderful Day Saturday

Saturday turned out to be a wonderful day.

It started with the Irvine Lake edition of the Gladiator Rock n Run.  This was a new location for the run, but a location I’m quite familiar with this I do the Irvine Lake Mud run every year or so.  And it was very weird starting and even parking in a different location plus seeing the place I’m used to stopping completely empty.

I met up with a couple of groups of people from the website Meetup.  I’d actually run the race at a different location with one of them last year.  All told, there were six of us who ran together.  Not bad since I thought I’d be running by myself.

And that really added a lot to my day.  It’s always fun to run these races with someone.  Since I wasn’t trying to meet up with anyone afterwards (until much later), I was able to relax and have a great time.  I was thankful for that since there were huge backups for two of the obstacles.  The first was a slide and the second was the balance beam.  Both were worth the wait, but I’d bet they added at least an hour to our time.  After all, it usually doesn’t take me two hours to finish a 5K mud run.

Not that I would trade any of my time on the course.  I was having fun.

Once we all got cleaned up, we went out to a late lunch.  We went to a pizza place where I’d eaten a couple of years before after a run there.  The service was slow, but the food was good.

Now’s the part where I had some time to kill.  I was meeting my friend Brian for the play version of Disney’s Tarzan that night.  I’d actually thought I’d have hours to kill, so I brought a couple of books plus some other stuff to work on.  By the time we were done with lunch, it was 4:30.

I did make a stop at Downtown Disney.  I was looking for pins and ornaments (which I bought), but I just happened to see a 12 pack of Disneyland posters for sale as well.  I love those posters but have never bought any because of how expensive each one is.  The price on this was cheap enough that I couldn’t pass it up.  They are currently hanging in my hallway.  I need to get some frames, but I am so happy with them.  Honestly, I’m hoping they release some more 12 packs like this.

Brian was able to meet me for the play sooner than planned, so we had a nice chance to catch up before it started.  The play itself was put on by a local theater company, which means we didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for the Broadway quality show.  The acting, sets, costumes…everything was top notch.  I wish the theater were closer so I could go see more of their shows.

I left home at 8:30 that morning and got home around midnight.  I didn’t get much of the stuff done I thought I would in the afternoon, which was a bit disappointing, but I wouldn’t have traded anything that happened that day for time to read.

Frustration

I was pretty frustrated last night by my performance at summer league.  It was a night that just proves how slow I really still am.  I was doing my best, but I couldn’t keep up with anyone at all.  Of course, I’d almost turned around and went home.  I wasn’t feeling super well when I left home or when I got there.  Fortunately, that turned right around and I was able to play.  We only had a couple of subs each for guys and gals, so I couldn’t hide out and just play a couple of points.

We went on a run early on, and were up 6-2 at one point.  But they came back to take half at 7-8.  We finished the game at 11-15, which was better than the previous time we played them when the score was 8-15, so that is something.

And we had two women subs which I think is some kind of record for us.

I’m at the point right now where I’m wondering what I’m really contributing to any team playing ultimate Frisbee.  It’s the point in time where I start thinking about just playing pickup for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, I don’t have an autumn league, so I just have pickup for the next few months which I enjoy and do better at because we are more relaxed.  That leads me into a false sense of adequacy, so the round can start all over again.  And yes, it is fortunate because most of the time, I do enjoy ultimate.  It would just be nice if we would win more than one game all summer.

Word Association for July 22nd

Time for this week's word association.

1. Scroll :: Tablet
2. Mature :: Older
3. Breakfast?  :: Delicious
4. Wrist :: Guard
5. ___ is better ___ :: Obey is better than Sacrifice
6. Better half :: Wife
7. Note :: Musical
8. Worrying :: Pointless
9. Band :: High School
10. Insipid :: Horrible

Rain + Ultimate = My Weekend

Stop the presses – we got rain in Southern California in July.  And not just a little amount, but between Saturday and Sunday, we got over an inch.  I don’t follow weather too closely, but apparently, we had the remnants of a tropical storm hit us this weekend.  All I know, it was warm and the rain was much needed.

But here’s the thing – I had plans this weekend.  Ultimate Frisbee plans.  And I didn’t let a little rain stop them.

Saturday was the final home game for the LA Aviators, the local professional ultimate Frisbee team.  It was the third game I made this season, and I’m thrilled to say we won!  (Okay, so I wasn’t on the field, but you know what I mean.)  It was a pretty decisive win, too, with a 5 point lead at the end.  Considering the other two games I attended we lost, it was nice to be there for a win.

I went with my friend Luke, whose girlfriend wound up helping film the game.  And it was raining for part of the first half.  That didn’t stop the players and didn’t seem to stop the crowds much.  My pants were still damp when I got home, but it wasn’t that bad.

The rain let up overnight, but they were predicting we’d have more rain on Sunday – right about time for my ultimate Frisbee pickup game to start.  We’d already had low numbers the last couple of weeks, and I was afraid that would bleed over into this week as well.  It didn’t.  We actually had full teams with a sub each for a while.

We’d been playing about an hour and a half when the rain started.  And we aren’t talking about a little rain, but rain coming down hard.  One person left at that point, and a couple others left about 20 minutes later to go do some work, but the rest of us kept playing.

It was absolutely wonderful!  We were all out there having fun, and the rain didn’t seem to be affecting our throws and catches too much.  Yes, it messed a few things up, but for the most part, we were able to connect with the disc.  And it was so much fun!!!!  We were all drenched by the time we left, but it was well worth it.  Plus, with how warm it was out and how warm the rain was, it felt glorious.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

It’s been cloudy today, but no rain – at least so far.  Low chance of rain today overall, so it probably won’t happen, but if it did, I’d take it.

Much Better Game

It’s amazing how much difference a new night can make.  I showed up last night to find that ultimate players were the only people on the field.  Yeah!  The sprinklers didn’t come on.  The lights stayed on (although we ended early).  It was a great night for ultimate.

Unfortunately, we didn’t win.  The final score was 11-15.  We were only behind by one at half, but we got impatient and antsy during the second half.  Still, it was a great game with great spirit on both sides.  I mentioned it was fun, right?

Personally, I was at 50% for the night.  I got the disc twice.  Once I was too quick and threw it away.  The other time I hold on to it and waited for the second person to get opened and threw it to them successfully.  I don’t remember getting scored on either, which was a nice change from last week.

Rough Night

I had high hopes for my ultimate Frisbee game Friday night.  We were coming off a win from our last game, but that was two weeks ago, and the team we were playing had the exact same record as us, 1-4.  However, it was not to be.

We had low numbers of women, and the other team had high numbers of women, so they made our women play almost savage.  And we had issues with the softball game going on.  They made us move our field, so it was on a much shorter field.  We played well for a while, and we even ahead in the first half, but then we just stopped trying and fell behind.

I got scored on a couple of times by the guy I was trying to guard.  He’d run very deep, then back under, then back deep again.  I knew it was coming, but I’d still get scored on.  And boy, I could not get my energy and speed up.  You know that speed I was talking about last time?  Gone.

We didn’t have issues with the lights or the sprinklers this time, but boy those softball players were jerks.  We all celebrated when a fight broke out in their game.  That’s exactly the kind of people they were.  Not that it speaks super well of us.

Word Association for July 8th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Forgive and :: Forget
2. Midnight :: Ride of Paul Revere
3. Overcast :: Cloudy
4. Church :: Worship
5. Banner :: Headline
6. Hybrid :: Vehicle
7. Immoral :: Sin
8. Sugar :: Delicious
9. 1800 :: 1900
10. Futuristic :: Car

Car in there twice.  Interesting.

My First Business Trip

I know, I know, I didn’t update at all last week.  That’s because I was out of state for part of it and recovering for the rest.

Last Sunday, I flew to Atlanta, Georgia, on business.  I was visiting several clinics to help with inventory, and I didn’t come back until Wednesday.  I was working most of that time, too, since I was visiting 5 clinics there.  But it was great to meet the center managers I work with on a regular basis face to face.  Plus I got to meet some other people who have just been names to be before.  Oh, we talk on the phone or e-mail, but this is the first time we’ve met face to face.

Tuesday night, I was able to meet up with some Trixie friends for dinner.  Marnie, Susan, and Deanna were a delight to hang out with for an evening.  But I knew they would be – Trixie friends are the bestest!

And I was able to snag a couple of hours out at Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta.  It was beautiful out there, and I wish I’d had more time to fully explore it.  The carving in the side of the mountain was especially impressive, and it makes me really want to go visit Mount Rushmore.

I got home late Wednesday night, but I only had to go to the office on Thursday since we were off on the 3^rd for the holiday.  Not a bad work week, especially since it was something different.

We Got a Win!*

My ultimate Frisbee team finally got a win last night, although not quite in the way I wanted.

I arrived late, and the score was 2-2.  And then we started to get a nice lead going.  It was 6-3 before I knew it.  I went in for a point, and it was the longest point of the night.  So many turns it wasn’t funny.  But we finally got the score.  The other team score two more before we took it to half 8-5.

They came back swinging at half time, and it was 9-7 before too much time passed.

Now, here’s where the fields and how we are being treated came into play.  We’ve been fighting sprinklers the last couple of weeks, and the sprinklers had come on part of our field early in the second half.  But the rule is that if both teams agree, we can keep playing, but we have to stop if part of the lights go out.

Well, during the next point, part of the lights went out.  Some people kept going, and the other team did score, but it didn’t count.  Since we were ahead, we got the win 9-7 instead of going to 15 like normal.

The worst part of this is that we were supposed to have the fields until 10:30 last night, but the lights went out at 10:12.  They are really treating us like dirt at the park this year, and it’s bugging everyone.  Hopefully, they actually do fix our normal field and we can be back there soon.

Personally, I only got the disc once, but I was able to pass it on no problem.  The best part is that all my running seems to be giving me speed finally.  I’m keeping up with or close to my guy all the time now instead of trying to catch up.  I’m not quite sure what has changed or if it is just a fluke, but I hope it will last.

Word Association for June 25th

Got an ultimate game tonight, but let's sneak in today's word association before that, shall we?

1. Purpose :: Driven Life
2. Service :: Project
3. Dill :: Pickle
4. Pompous :: Jerk
5. Currently :: Single
6. Water :: Swim
7. Origins :: Beginning
8. Cycle :: Exercise
9. License :: to Drive
10. Believe :: Christianity

Last Saturday

I know I covered this week’s ultimate Frisbee game, but do to that, I skipped over last Saturday.

I’ve switched cable companies!  After years with AT&T U-Verse, I’m not back with Time Warner.  They were offering a better deal.  Cost wise, it’s only slightly better, but it will still save me $200 over the course of the year.  However, the internet is better, and I’m getting a few channels I really have been wanting.  Also, the DVR is holds more shows, although that last one may not be a good thing.  So far, I’m happy with it.

Then, that night, I went down to see The King & I at Glendale Centre Theatre with Angelique and Ann.  We met up for dinner beforehand and caught up, then we went to the show.  It was great.  I’d seen the movie years ago, but I appreciate the story so much more now.  It was a very fun evening.

Word Association for June 18th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Windy :: Fall
2. Left out :: Alone
3. Hot dog :: Ketchup
4. Pop :: Goes the Weasel
5. Hunger :: Food
6. Square :: Circle
7. Unhinge :: Crazy
8. *!#$ :: Bad.  Very Bad
9. Toenail :: Clippings
10. Irritation :: Annoyed

Summer League Game 4

I’ve got to blog about last night’s game while it is still fresh in my mind.  No, that’s not because we won, although we came close.  Very, very close.

We started out behind like always, letting them take the first half 2-8.  We even gave them the first point of the second half, so it was 2-9.

I went in that next point, and my defender stepped on my foot really hard.  It was an accident, but I had to step off the field and our captain took my place.  That must have been what we needed because we went on a five point run to make it 7-9.  Seriously, one caused the other, right?  It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

We let them get another few points, but we went on another run to make it tied at 13’s.  Our previous best score was 8, and we’d never tied that high up.  Sadly, they got the final two points and won.

Oh, and did I mention the sprinklers came on for the last half a dozen points?  It was only on about a third of the field, but still.  Plus the lights stayed on later than they should have so we actually finished the game.  If they’d gone off at 10, we would have tied.

Personally, I had my ups and downs.  They were poaching off my on D, so I got to be opened quite a bit.  Sadly, I was overthrown quite a few times.  There’s nothing you can do when the disc sails right over your head.  On the other hand, I caught it a few times as well and mostly passed it on successfully.  I did miss one throw.

But the moment I’m proudest of?  I successfully threw a score!  One of the times I caught it, I had a wide opened shot to two of our women in the end zone, and I successfully threw it down the field to her, missing her defender.  I was sure someone from the other team would intercept it, but no, we scored.  I was grinning so big when that happened.

Summer League Game 3

Last Tuesday night was our third summer league game.  Sadly, we didn’t continue our improvement trajectory.  Again, we ended at 8-15.

We actually had numbers.  Subs for both the men and the women.  It was wonderful!  We started the game with 7 players, in fact.

However, we also started off by letting the other team score several points.  We called a time out, and the decided to switch up our offensive strategy.  That worked for us yet again, and we started to flow down and score.  It wasn’t enough to win, but it is certainly more fun when you are scoring something.

And I actually had a couple of successful catches and throws during the game, too.  So far this season, when I’d thrown it, it had been defended by the other team, but not Tuesday night.  I was beginning to feel great about my playing and then we got to the last point.

The person with the disc threw it to me, and I stopped running toward them to catch it.  It’s something I do quite often without thinking.  I didn’t think anyway was behind me, but turns out, someone was and he got the D, then turned around and caught the winning score.  That was a bummer, but at least it wasn’t the only time they’d thrown it to me during the game.

We’ve got our fourth game tonight, so hopefully we can build from the beginning and get a win.

Camp Pendleton Mud Run – 2015

So, after my game last Friday night, I headed south.  As in I had what I needed in the car.  I drove two hours south and made it to Oceanside right about midnight.  Found a room in a hotel and crashed for the night.  Unfortunately, I didn’t fall asleep quite as quickly as I had hoped, but I did eventually get a few hours of sleep.

And then I was up and at them for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run!

This now makes the sixth year in a row that I’ve done the mud run.  And, despite the added pressure of the distance and therefore finding a place to stay, it remains one of my favorites.  I enjoy running around the base.  We run through some beautiful areas.  I like the added obstacles from the first few years (although they could do away with the tire flip).  Everyone is out there having fun.  It’s just generally a great day.

This year was no exception.  I was on my own with no one to meet up with afterwards, so I enjoyed a more leisurely pace.  I still finished about 15 minutes slower than my best time (when I’d been running longer distances), so I wasn’t upset with my time.  Especially considering how much ultimate I’d played the night before.  I looked around the festival a little afterwards, but I didn’t spend too long at it.

I was hungry, and I wanted to head down to a diner I’d visited last year in Oceanside.  The Pit Stop diner has a wonderful chicken nugget wrap.  Yum!  Definitely didn’t need the fries that came with it.  Absolutely delicious.

I made my way home after that, stopping at Downtown Disney for a little pin shopping, and then headed to the Aviator’s game.  Sadly, they lost.  So both of the professional ultimate Frisbee team games I’ve been to, my team has lost.  I did figure out that one of the guys on the team was on my summer league team a couple of years back.  Really nice guy, too.

Going to the game meant I made it home late, but it was a great day.

Word Association for June 10th

I really should be in bed, but I'm going to slip in a little word association first.

1. Shack :: Woods
2. Cute :: Baby
3. Factor :: Fear
4. Beach :: Fun
5. Toddler :: Fast
6. Cups :: Drinking
7. Leaning :: on the Everlasting Arms
8. Thailand :: Hot
9. Beanie :: Babies
10. Schools :: Learning

Summer League Game 2

I know, only one week into June, and we have played two games.  We’ll get to play two games again before the league is over.

Friday games are usually hard to get people to show up for, and I almost didn’t go myself.  After all, I had the Camp Pendleton Mud Run the next day.  Turns out, it was a very good thing I went.

Being co-ed, we are supposed to play 4 men and 3 women.  Well, only two women who could play showed up.  Yeah.  One of our injured women went out and played for a while, but eventually, the captains decided to bend the rules so she wouldn’t have to play and we went 5-2.

Which brings us to me.  We only had 6 guys show up.  Which meant I was the only sub.  So I stuck it out and stayed for the entire game.  I played more than I really wanted to, but so be it.  It was killing me, too, because normally on a night like that, I would have been playing as many points as I could.

We started out going down 0-5.  This was when our injured woman stepped on to the field, and she made a huge difference.  We started scoring!  Before the night was over, we made it 8-15, so when we were playing with a full team on the field, they only scored 2 unanswered points on us.

They also had a much larger team than we did, which might have hurt us in the long run.  But it was a fun game, and we all played hard.  I only got opened once, and then turned it when I tried to pass it on, again.  I don’t remember getting scored on or really getting beat anywhere, which is a nice step up for me.  I’m sure it will come.  The season is still young.

Our next game is tomorrow.  Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going and actually win a game.

Summer League Begins

First week or June, and that means it is time for Summer League to start, right?  I’m in the co-ed league this year, and our first game was Tuesday night.  Unfortunately, it could have gone better.

I got there just as the game was about to start, and we were down a woman, only having two instead of the 3 minimum.  But it didn’t look like it would be an issue for us.  We started out by getting several points and before I knew it, it was 3-1.

Unfortunately, the other team finally began to get things figured out on their end, and at half, it was 4-8.  And they then scored seven in a row to finish the game at 4-15.

Of course, when the score is that bad, I don’t feel badly about playing.  It’s not like it is close and everyone out there is making mistakes.  I only really had a chance to get the disc once, and the person I threw it to didn’t get it.  I thought they’d get to the disc in time, but her defender was able to get to it first.  Oh well.

We played together fairly well.  We just couldn’t quite execute.  Everyone seems nice, so I think we’ll have a good season.  I just hope we win a few games along the way.

Word Association for June 4th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Summer colds :: Miserable
2. One direction :: Forward
3. Hormones :: Raging
4. Noteworthy :: Important
5. Ice cube :: Cold
6. Shaved :: Head
7. Spray :: Bottle
8. Portable :: CD Player
9. County :: Fair
10. Meeting :: Boring

Great Trip Home

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a great trip home this last weekend.  My niece was performing in her first ballet recital on Saturday, and I was thinking about going up to visit anyway, so I timed it appropriately.  I couldn’t connect with my friends Donald and Heather on the way up, but that worked out well since I was able to go over and spend some one on one time with my brother and his family that night before heading to Mom and Dad’s for the night.

And then Saturday was the big performance.  She was so cute, and she had a blast doing it.  Yes, it was what I expected from first year ballet students who are 5 and 6, but that doesn’t matter.  She loved it.

After that, we went over to my brother’s for a BBQ lunch.  Family drifted off at various times, but my parents and I stayed until after the kids were in bed and played games.

Sunday, my brother and his family actually left for a vacation, so I spent the day with Mom and Dad.  We played games and headed up to a local man made mini-lake.  I ran around it while Mom and Dad walked.  It was a nice, relaxing day.

Monday, on the way home, I was able to connect with Donald and Heather for lunch, so I go to see them, too, which was wonderful.  Their young daughter is so cute!  It makes conversations a little since they get interrupted, but that’s the stage of life they are in, and I’ll take any visit I can get.

Water Heater Fun

I had some extra fun last week.  My hot water heater decided to go out on me.  And I had just replaced it back in 2011.

It all started when I came home from work Tuesday night and found the water was gushing out of the overflow valve.  I bought a new one, and my roommate put it in the next night (we’d turned off the water to the heater in between).  But that didn’t fix it, as I found when it was still leaking Thursday morning.

Now this is the point where Donald gets involved.  He’s a great friend who also happens to be a plumber (just not in town).  I told him about my troubles, and he tried to suggest some fixes for me.  Sadly, they kept not working, and they took time to try.  In fact, I took a half day off work to try to get things figured out before finally giving up and trying to find a plumber.

Fortunately, I got hooked up with a guy from my church who is a plumber.  He was able to replace it (and my neighbor’s) for me on Saturday.  And since my roommate was home during the time, I was still able to go out of town as planned.  That was the worst part of the entire thing – I was very afraid I was going to have to cancel my trip at one point.  But I didn’t have to do that.  And my boss was very understanding about life getting in the way of work even when I had two days off scheduled.  I was able to get what I needed to get done finished while I was in on Thursday, so it all worked out.  But boy was it stressful.

Nice, Quiet Weekend

I hardly did much of anything over the long weekend, and it was wonderful.  Saturday was a complete rest day.  Sunday was church, ultimate Frisbee, and hanging out with some friends that night – my normal Sunday activities.  Monday, I wound up playing ultimate again in the morning and then headed back to the condo to relax again.

Got lots of TV on DVD watching done and plenty of reading done as well.  I additionally worked on my new pet project, copying oldish reviews from my blog to Amazon.  I got quite a few posted, too, so I’m making headway in that project.

But really, it was nice to just relax.  I wasn’t out of bed before 9 Saturday or Monday.  And boy did I need the down time.  Even though I didn’t sleep super well last night, I am still feeling so much better today.  Here’s hoping for a bit more sleep this week.  And with little TV on this week, that shouldn’t be a huge issue.

Cozy Author Dinner

I’ve discovered one of my co-workers at my new job loves cozy mysteries as much as I do, so we talk books whenever we run into each other.  She was the first one to mention a cozy mystery author dinner one of the libraries in town was having last Saturday night.  Sue Ann Jaffarian was one of the authors, so I was immediately interested.  I thought about saving the money, but I decided to go, and I had a blast.

I spent most of the evening with Heide, a friend who is also friends with Sue Ann.  They had set up tables in the library itself and brought in a catered dinner that was delicious.  I went back for seconds, which I definitely did not need.  But it was so good!  It was fun talking with the others at our table, although they were fairly new to all the authors.

After dinner was the panel discussion.  It was Sue Ann, Diane Vallere, and two other authors I don’t read.  One I hadn’t heard of except from the co-worker who first told me about the dinner.  Sadly, that co-worker couldn’t make the event.  Anyway, they all talked about their various series.  The questions were fairly usual, but the panel was lively and fun with interesting answers.  I really enjoyed it.

All around, it was a very fun evening, and I was very glad I went.

Word Association for May 21st

Let's slip in this week's word association.

1. Waste :: Garbage
2. Excess :: Drowning
3. Play :: Theater
4. Heartbreak :: Break up
5. Purchase :: Price
6. Fear :: Heart Pounding
7. Ages 2+ :: Toy
8. Conform :: Boring
9. Reduced :: Sentence
10. Change :: Cash

Hot an Dirty Mud Run

I’m still on track for doing a mud run a month between March and October.  I still really need to find out for August.  The only one I know about is the one that takes place on the same day as the Summer League tournament this year, and I’m not missing that for a mud run.

Anyway, Saturday, I did the Hot an Dirty Mud Run just up the road from me with a friend from ultimate Frisbee and church.  It still seems to be more of a local event, but the crowds do seem to get bigger each time I do it.  They definitely need to work on signage since my friend got routed to do part of it twice as if he were on the 10K and I got lost at one point.  But we both finished and got very, very muddy.  Seriously, I wasn’t trying that hard, and I was filthy at the end.  That’s the sign of a good mud run in my book.

They do seem to like their crawling items very low down to the ground.  Seriously, I was getting claustrophobic in the tube, and I barely made it out of the mud pit it was so low to the ground.  But I did it!

Weather has been cool for May all month, and Saturday was no exception.  A cold wind started to blow as I was heading back to my car.  Fortunately, I was almost done, so I was able to get in my car and drive home.  If it had been blowing earlier, I would have been miserable because it was strong and cold.

Graduation Weekend

Last Friday night, I did something I haven’t done for a couple of years – I went to graduation at Master’s College.  I went because my roommate was graduating, but it turned out I had some other friends graduating as well.  I think I caught up with all of them but my roommate afterward, too.

But the party really happened on Saturday.  My roommate’s parents took a bunch of people out to lunch, which was nice.  And I got to meet some of his family and friends.

Then that night, I had dinner with my friends Konrad and Carol and a bunch of their friends.  They were part of the game nights I was part of almost a decade ago (yikes!), before they moved to Colorado.  It was wonderful to catch up with them and some other friends.  Carol was in town because she had graduated Friday night as well with a graduate degree.

It was nice to be part of things beyond just attending the ceremony this year.  And I’ll be back next year since my other roommate will graduate then.

Word Association for May 13th

What do you say we get some word association done?

1. Relief :: Safe
2. Flutter :: Heart
3. Match :: Couple
4. Viewed :: Movie
5. Soul :: God
6. Recognize :: Long Lost Friend
7. Ambitious :: Plan
8. Dancing :: with the Stars
9. Paths :: Hiking
10. Joke :: Laugh

Beach League Tournament

My beach league team went into the tournament with a 5-5 record, which apparently placed us in second place.  I really don’t know the standings.  Unfortunately, we didn’t do that well during the actual tournament.

We start out with a close win when we let our first opponents come back from a wide margin at half time.  We then lost our next two games.  I think that left us in last place.  It’s where my beach league teams always wind up (all three years), but at least we got some wins this year.  Lots of wins, in fact.

However, the worst part for me came during the second game when I lost my temper with someone and stormed away from the game for a while.  I calmed down pretty quickly, but then I was just embarrassed about how I’d behaved.  I had to stick around since my ride was playing, but that made me go and apologize, which was a good thing.

And I was glad my friend was planning to drive that day since I’d found a leak in my car the day before.  I dropped my car off at my mechanics and they fixed a leaking hose while I was playing ultimate, so everything worked out car wise.

Word Association for May 7th

I missed it last week, but here's this week's word association.

1. Button :: Hole
2. Mindset :: World View
3. Tart :: Pucker
4. Very unique :: Original
5. Hologram :: Technology
6. Comedy :: Laugh
7. Smartly :: Dressed
8. Posted! :: Review
9. Surge :: Electrical
10. Introduction :: Nice to Meet You

Parent's Visit

I was doing so well.  I was on track to catch up on my life last week.  And then I stopped.

Which is worse than you might realize because that last post was really a To Be Continued and you didn’t even realize it.  Or at least a to be expanded on.

See, that last weekend of April, my parents were in town visiting.  Normally, I would have skipped my beach league game, but they decided to come down and watch us play.  They got there late – about the time the wind really picked up.  Yep, their first time watching me play ultimate Frisbee and they pick a day where it is so windy we can’t really play.  We were going to spend more time around Santa Monica after the game was over, but it didn’t happen.  We were so sick of the wind we ate lunch in the car and left.

However, instead of just heading straight home, we drove up the 1 along the coast.  I’d actually never taken the drive, and it was fun and pretty.

Sunday, after church, we checked out a temporary museum in Santa Clarita.  Passages is a museum focusing on the Bible, and it was actually quite expansive.  We spent all afternoon there.  What was really fun was running into a friend of mine who is working there that I hadn’t seen in a while.

Both evenings, we spent time at their trailer playing games, which we always enjoy.

The wind Saturday in Santa Monica was very disappointing, but overall, it was a very fun visit.

Beach League Week 5

Because of the LA Times Festival of Books, I missed out on the fourth week of beach league, but it sounds like we barely lost one and won the other.  We kept our 50% record going strong this last Saturday.

The first game was a loss that ended at 7-13.  We played well, but not as well as we might have.

However, we came out strong that last game.  Unfortunately, we didn’t keep that going all the way and wound up barely winning the game at 15-14.  But a win is a win, right?

Unfortunately, that game wasn’t nearly as fun as it could have been since the wind picked up.  There had been a light wind all day, but it got progressively worse as the day went on until it was strong and constant for the last half of that game.  As it when you threw the disc, it was more luck than skill when a teammate caught it.  That wasn’t fun at all.  Points were long with tons of turn overs.  But at least we pulled the win out in the end.

On a personal note, I did score one of our points that last game, and got the D on another.  Both of those made me very happy.

Playing Around

Yes, I’m slightly backed up on posts here.  We need to finish talking about April 18^th and 19^th.

You see, I wasn’t content to just go to the LA Times Festival of Books both days.  I also went to plays both nights.

Saturday night, I went to see Dear Ruth at Glendale Centre Theatre.  It’s a romantic comedy set during World War II, and it was fun.  I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, but there were some wonderfully funny lines and situations along the way.  This was a last minute thing, but it worked best with my schedule and worked for my friend Angelique as well.

Sunday night, I went with my friend Brian to see Newsies at the Pantageous Theater.  I’ve become a fan of the movie, and was looking forward to seeing the play based on it.  They certainly made some changes from the movie, but I liked it.  It made me want to watch the movie again, which I haven’t gotten a chance to do – yet.  But I will soon, I hope.

LA Times Festival of Books 2015

This last weekend was the LA Times Festival of Books for the year.  It was a nice sunny weekend, a little hot on Saturday, but it was beginning to cool off Sunday afternoon.

Unfortunately, this year, I went by myself.  Angelique couldn’t make it, which was a bummer.  But I still had a good time.  Plus I got to meet up with a fellow book blogger before everything started on Saturday.  We had fun chatting about our shared interest in books and blogging about them.

The rest of the weekend was spent wandering back and forth between the two favorite areas, the kid’s area and the mystery area.  I spent time talking to various authors and got some signatures.  I actually went to two of the panels that were on the middle grade/young adult stage and enjoyed both of them enough to buy the books by the various authors.

Normally, the crowds seem bigger on Saturday, but this year, it was the exact opposite.  Attendance was light on Saturday but there were a lot more people on Sunday.  I guess any big names they had were there on Sunday.  Personally, I had fun both days.