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.