Phone Photos from Phoenix

The sun peeked over the mountains as started out on my run this morning - it was a nice cool 80, or so, degrees at 6:15am. Beautiful conditions for a morning run.

My run lead me from the hotel up the road, passed by the shopping center, car dealership (the not so exciting part of the run) and then through some deserty areas where I spotted this:

The Prickly Pear Cactus seems to be a vivid purple in the early morning sunlight. It really stood out in the background of the brownish sand.

Next was this:

Some kind of yellow-orange flowering plant. The vivid orange really caught my eyes.

I ran to the ice rink that Matthew & his team are playing at and then back to the hotel. A nice 9 mile run in the morning light and a good way to start the morning.

Matthew's team is doing well...won both of their games yesterday.

We are getting ready to leave the hotel for game #3...Go Sharks!

It is easy enough to be pleasant,

When life flows by like a song.

But the person worthwhile is one who will smile,

When everything else goes wrong.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Take care...until the next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

And off I go again...

Yahoo...got my bootie out of the beddie this morning and on the bike. It has been awhile since I have managed to get myself up and going so early. And I definitely need to get in a good sweat, for it is going to be another travel day for me! Back to Phoenix this evening with Matthew, this time. It is his hockey teams weekend to play in the Phoenix SuperSeries99. Definitely looking forward to it - no team manager responsibilities = rest & relaxing :)

After returning home on Sunday, I had to find little pockets of time between work and driving down to the hockey rink to get little tasks done around the house, before leaving again. I did manage to get all the laundry complete and the house stocked up with Robert & DH's foods for this weekend (last week I made sure all of Matthew & DH's faves were in the pantry and the refrigerator). However, I wasn't able to find much time to get any X's made on Family Sampler...yet, ample time on the plane and throughout the weekend will be possible.

Take care my blogging friends. Until next time, remember...

Life, Love, Laugh and Stitch often

Lisa

Short week at home - a look back at the weekend

I am back home from Phoenix where Robert's team had a fair showing at the SuperSeries96 tournament. They won 1 - lost 3 - tied 1. However, I am very proud of the team and of Robert. Even with a short bench (aka small team; they only had 13 players playing over the weekend out of 15...a full team is 20) these boys battled hard all weekend - playing 2 games a day...and the games consisted of (3) three 18 minute periods. That makes for a long game, where you get a lot of ice time and short breaks on the bench to catch your breath.

While in Phoenix, my role not only included all the team manager functions that I normally do but I also got to drive one of the van...which happened to be the equipment van...aka the Stink Mobile.

The Equipment Van - hockey bags loaded from the front to the rear.
OPEN WINDOWS!

No one would ride with me :(  It wasn't as bad as it sounds, the car didn't smell too bad; however, the extra room we reserved at the hotel for the boys to store their hockey bags over night and between games...well, that room definitely took on the wonderful, ripe odor of a locker room. I just hope that I don't get assigned that room when I travel back to Phoenix this coming weekend when it is Matthew's team's turn to play in their SuperSeries.

So, have you ever come across one of these:

Well, if you are one of those people who collect those little hotel bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel - you would have been out of luck at this hotel. They had these little dispensers on the shower wall. I actually liked it, for I definitely had enough shampoo and conditioner...those little bottles don't seem to have enough. This was also a good thing for the boys' rooms (there were 3-4 boys in each room) for I am sure that many of them rely on hotel shampoo and one of those little bottles definitely would not have been enough for them all to share.

While travelling last weekend, I got in some stitching time...and if you made it all the way to the end of this post you will be rewarded with a status photo of Family Sampler:

Starting in the upper right hand corner, I got a good portion of the Pea Pod vine started. While I am already getting sick of Pea Green...I do think that I will continue with this border until it is completely done. I want to make sure that it matches up when I come to the end. I think that if I worked on the little flowers that are on this vine...and it didn't match up in the end...I would be more upset and stressed. So, here is to Pea Pod...my new color friend for the next few weeks :)

Hope your week has started out well...until next time,

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

No more 420! and Christmas arrives!

Last night I was at the rink (not surprised, huh?), for Robert had practice...and was able to finally sit down until I finished the DMC#420 border around Family Sampler:

Now it looks like Crescent Colours Pea Pod,  CC Clay Pot, CC Wild Berries and DMC #3012 will be my next friends as I continue to work on the border outside the DMC #420 row. At least there are several colors to work with if I get bored and it is a pattern that has a floral look. I think that I will probably break down the Q-Snaps that I had the fabric on so that I can make it into a smaller frame. I will be leaving for Arizona on Thursday, the first hockey tournament trip of the year, so smaller frame will allow me to continue working on Family Sampler while I travel.

In addition to the little "Happy Dance" steps I took last night, I had a exciting piece of mail in the good ol' mailbox yesterday...

The Just CrossStitch Ornament Edition arrived yesterday. Yahoo! This really got my feet a-tappin'! I only took a brief moment to skim through it yesterday, for the calling from the couch to take a nap, before I had to leave for the hockey rink, was too loud to ignore :) Nevertheless, I did spot of few ornaments that I would love to take a needle to! I might try to wait until I am travelling to read through the magazine, it would be perfect airplane reading.

Yes, I am getting organized for the first hockey travel. Like I mentioned, this Thursday I will be leaving with Robert for Arizona. He and his team has their first SuperSeries weekend where they will play 3 other teams...we will be back home Sunday evening. Then I will leave again, the following Thursday with Matthew and will be heading again to Arizona...why they couldn't schedule both age groups to play is beyond me. But at least it is to someplace warm.

Well, until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

Monday...again...already?

Yikes, it was just Wednesday, the day of my last post when I was going to finish the Family Sampler DMC #420 border. Oh, well...that didn't happen because DH was kind enough to take Robert down to practice and I got to stay home where I got an opportunity to do a little spin on my bike and nap the rest of the evening until he got home :)

The rest of the weekend, starting with Friday because that is my day off from my job, seems to be a blur filled with a nice long run of 14.8 miles on Friday morning, working up at Store #2 on Saturday, and a long Sunday. Sunday started out with a 4:15am wake up call that I had to meet (lately my 4:15am exercise "wake up" alarms get shut off) because Matthew had to get up & eat breakfast before DH took him to his 6:30am hockey practice. Once they left, I plopped on the couch and watched the 9/11 Memorial services until 7:15am, when I left for Store #1 to help our employee make 13 arrangements for the driver to get out the door by 11am. Once the store's kitchen was cleaned up, I said "good-bye" to our employee who was scheduled to close the store that evening and drove down to the hockey rink for Robert's game (yes, while I was working in the store, DH had come home with Matthew from his practice and then got Robert, who had an afternoon game down at the rink). After the game, I made a quick run to the grocery store before coming home and grilling some burgers and hot links for the kids...DH and I snacked ourselves silly and didn't have much room for dinner. Crazy weekend, huh?

However, among all the running around and craziness, I do have time for R&R...time to hang out with my boys and the dog...

Matthew and Bruno

Let me tell you a little story about Bruno. Above you see Matthew and Bruno in our little backyard, enjoying a nice petting session in the grass. However, Bruno, until recently, was not allowed to run freely in our backyard. We have a little indoor-outdoor on the side of our house where Bruno "lived". This has been the set up since we moved to California 8 years ago...when Bruno was in his "teenage" years and loved to chew and destroy everything: trees, walls, fences, flowers, lawn chairs, etc. However, due to some young kids across the street who loved to come over and knock on his gate (more of a pounding, along with some ear piercing screaming), Bruno was feeling vulnerable and started jumping over the gate that separated him from the backyard. Long-story-short...after several weeks of his jumping over the game, while trying to set up ways to stop him, we finally gave up and opened the gate for him to have roaming rights to the backyard. He still finds comfort and shelter in his indoor/outdoor area, but we always know when the kids are outside playing for he is curled up on the patio near the backyard door.

I don't think that they or their babysitters did anything to harm Bruno, I just think that the high pitched kid yelling as well as their little motorized cars finally got the best of him and he needed to get away...far away from them. So now, in the back yard he finds comfort when they are out. And we are all enjoying the ability to go out in the back yard and sit & pet him.

Well, it is that time when I need to sign off and get the day started. Hope all is well with you! Until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

It is Wednesday...and...

Blessed is the person who can enjoy the small things,

the common beauties, the little day-by-day events;

sunshine on the fields, birds on the bough,

breakfast, dinner, supper,

the daily paper on the porch, a friend passing by.

So many people who go afield for enjoyment leave it behind them at home.

~ David Grayson

Little things are infinitely more important. ~Arthur C. Doyle

It is the middle of the week - equal distance between last weekend and the one coming up. I feel a little discombobulated (spelling?) for the busy weekend and the Labor Day holiday on Monday kind of messed me up...and it doesn't help that Robert had a late night hockey practice last night, so we didn't get home until 11pm. But I did find time yesterday, while sitting on the bleachers in the chilly rink, to stitch more of the golden-brown border around Family Sampler. I am getting closer to getting this part of the border finished...thank goodness, I am getting tired of DMC #420 :) Maybe I will get an opportunity tonight, when I am back down at the rink.

Well, hope your Wednesday is going well! Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

 

And so starts a new week (althought it is already Tuesday)

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

~Mary Jean Irion

Back to reality...back to routine...and feeling grateful. The 4 day holiday weekend was nice, but busy as normal around this part of the woods. Both boys had a lot of hockey to deal with Saturday and Sunday.
 
Saturday my car got a good workout driving the boys to and from the rink all day - I think that I put on close to 250 miles and only saw 1 period of the last game of the evening. It has been a long time since I took on the role of the shuttle service (I take one kid down to the rink for a game and pick up the other after his game, driving him home so that he could have a warm meal and a good rest in his room before having to drive him back down to the rink for his next game...only to pick up the other kid after his game, driving him home so that he could have a warm meal and a good rest in his room before, etc.) DH made all the games in between driving back and forth from the stores. It was crazy, but it worked out just fine. Sunday was a little easier - not so much driving back and forth - and I was able to catch all 3 games played that day. There was even time for all of us to nap that day.
 
Labor Day Monday - Robert's games were all played (his team won all 4) so he was able to sleep in as well as work on his homework. Matthew still had a hockey practice Monday afternoon, which DH took him to while Robert and I drove down to his hockey coach's house for a team party. It was a nice way to end the long, crazy weekend.
 
Suffice it to say, with all the hockey activities and driving, I didn't get a chance to sit and stitch like I had wanted to - so Family Sampler stayed in it's bag on the table. Any down time I did get over the weekend was used by flopping on the couch and staring at the tv until my eyes shut for an occasional power nap.
 
So on to the "normal" day - work for me and DH, school for the boys and hockey for both in the evening - carpool for Matthew and I will follow later with Robert.
 
Thank you for visiting today. I hope that your Tuesday is off to a good start. Until next time, remember...
 

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Stitching for me and Skating with a NHL Coach

Finally, a photo to show you my status of Family Sampler...but I do have to apologize for a couple of things:
(1) I was too lazy to take it out of the Q-Snaps
(2) No batteries for real camera, so snap is from camera phone.

Since the last status photo, the brown border is the new part. Between hockey last night and an early morning ortho, this is what I have been able to accomplish. Since the boys are off of school today and have no hockey tonight...and because I am getting my workout in this morning...I plan to make time to sit on my a$$ and get in a little stitching!!!

Like I mentioned, last night consisted of hockey practice but just for Robert. It was a pretty cool evening for Robert and his team. One of the new members on his team this year is the older son of the NHL San Jose Sharks' Coach. So, when Robert's coach decided to have a chalktalk before ice practice, the NHL coach invited the team to do the chalktalk and video review in the (practice) locker room of the NHL Sharks. Robert said that it was really cool, because the player's names were on the lockers and a couple of them already containted the equiptment of the players (like Brent Burns, who was traded to the San Jose Sharks from the Minnesota Wild, who has been one of his favorite teams since we moved from there). The NHL coach informed the players that they were welcomed in the locker room, but they just needed to respect all the equiptment of the players.

After chalk talk and videos, the team got ready for practice...which NHL Coach McLellan joined them and their coaches for the practice...


Coach Todd McLellan of the San Jose Sharks on
the ice with the San Jose Jr. Sharks 15UAAA Hockey Team



Coach McLellan outlining the next drill on the hockey wipeoff board

It was really cool to have a NHL Coach on the ice working with the boys, but when Robert got in the car last night he said that it caused some mixed thoughts, for Coach McLellan is the father of one of his teammates, Coach McLellan join in some of the team conditioning runs along with some of the other parents (me included) - so like he is just another parent - just another dad...but at the same time he is a coach of a NHL team. Strange but cool.

Well, that is about it from here for a Friday. I hope that your day is going well!
Until next time, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa

3-2-1...and it is the holiday weekend!

Just got home from work and have about 45 minutes until the boys are home. And even though there is a trip to San Jose for hockey practice tonight...and a Labor Day hockey tournament all weekend...tomorrow the boys have a day off from school & hockey and I off from work. There are a few things that we need to accomplish tomorrow, like Robert's ortho appointment and a trip to the running shoe shop for him, too. Nevertheless, the priority for tomorrow will be R&R especially for the boys who, between school and hockey, are a little exhausted. And I am looking forward to working in some stitching!!!

Yesterday Robert finally got his letterman jacket that we ordered back in July. He was very excited to put it on and glow in the patches he earned last spring as a freshman varsity track partipant.

However, he didn't keep it on too long as our temps have been in the low 90s...not quite the right temp for heavy letterman jacket :)

Well...time to prepare for the boys to accend on the house. Hope your Thursday afternoon is going well.

Until next time...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa