Remembering a Lazy Wednesday at Raley Field - Rivercats 5/2/12

I'm sitting here watching the Sacramento Rivercats play on the telly for only something like the SECOND time this season, so I felt inspired to post some pictures from an early season game.  

It's somewhat of a travesty that the Pacific Coast League-leading Rivercats have only been on the local t.v. twice when the stupid Single A San Jose Gnats are shown all the damn time.  I really don't understand it.  Did you know that Forbes magazine listed the Rivercats as most valuable minor league team? Well, they did.  And they don't get as much play in the local media as they should. The newspaper is idiotic here anyway, but cable should be better.

/rant

So...I used to get off work at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesdays and one hot lazy early summer day I decided to head out to the ballpark to lay on the grass and fry myself at the business person's special.  

Here are some photos!

OH SHIT!  The Rivercats pitcher just took a liner right off his wrist and it doesn't look good.  And instead of showing us the action on the field, the cameraman, who is apparently squeamish, cuts away to a prolonged picture of the Tower Bridge.  And now the 'Cats logo.  Weird.  It's not a streaker people!  

Show us the damn field!!!

Whatevs.  As I said, photos:

 I like birds. Especially when they make the foul pole above me a fowl pole.  Get it?  Ha!

Avalanche du Colorado @ Sharks de San Jose en deux parties

And away we go...

I think I forgot to mention yesterday that this game was my birthday present to 

myself since it was two days before my actual birthday. 

Got an awesome ticket via HF Boards - midway up in the upper deck center ice.  Nice.

The Not So Marvelous Return of Jamie McGinn - Avs @ Sharks 3/26/12

Color me shocked that I'm thiiiiiiiis far behind in my postings.  The blame for my lethargy rests squarely on my mother.  And of course it all started on the day I had a trip planned to San Jose to see the return of Jamie McGinn.

The months-long drama that sapped my energy is fodder for another blog posting; I won't bore you with it today.  Fortunately, the lassitude did not fully set in for a few weeks, so I was able to make the trek to the game after work.

Obviously, much time has passed and I don't fully recall the details.  One thing I know is that it was a bittersweet night for me.  I really HATE HATE HATE the trade that sent Jamie McGinn to the Avs (along with a good prospect, Sgarbossa) in return for T.J. Galiardi and Daniel Winnick.  So of course I wanted Ginner to do very well and hopefully continue the great season he was having.  With the Sharks winning of course.  

Didn't happen...

Because I have a dear, wonderful friend whom I adore, I tried to be by the Avs bench area during warmups.  It was interesting....I had to move once and then I ended up sitting with some really nice guys...one of whom spilled a beer on my feet.  

But hey, that's okay.  He didn't get my camera...or did he?  I'll just blame any sad, blurry photos on beer.  And let you determine what I mean by that.  

Warm-ups baby!

Here's Paul Stastny doing a pregame telly interview. 

And Jumbo, my Jumbo giving a fan a smiley photo opp.

I love it when he does that.

BOOK REVIEW - "Behind the Iron Curtain: Tears in the Perfect Hockey GULAG"

I just finished reading my second free book from Dorrance Publishing.  This book is the actual reason I joined their book review team.  I saw a link to this book on Amazon with the information about the book review team.  However, when I searched for the book on the publishing site after signing up, it was nowhere to be found.  That's how I ended up with the interesting version of Anne Boleyn's life.

Turns out there is another website that is also from Dorrance, but is called RoseDog Books and that is where you can find Mr. Starchenko's book.

I first heard about this book when Ivan Pravilov, the coach of Druzhba-78, was arrested back in January 2012 for "alleged" sexual abuse of two boys on his team.  I put "alleged" because Pravilov took the coward's way out and committed suicide in his jail cell before he could be put to trial.  However, I personally have no doubt as to his guilt after reading this book and also seeing the comments on a website ran by one of the parents who billeted players for Pravilov.  Warning: the site has some very annoying music, but don't let that stop you from visiting.

Hellweek - Welcome to the Nightmare

Well hello there.  I've not been here for quite awhile...except for my book review.  Life's been pretty...ummmm...interesting over the last few months.  I'm going to try to catch up with my musings on here because it's somewhat therapeutic.  But I have a lot to catch up on.

First traumatic episode first:

PLEASE PEOPLE! TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS!! 

For fuck's sake, please do me a solid and just fucking make sure you are 100% committed to taking care of a pet before you get one and abandon it.  How about this:

Book Review - Anna Boleyn and The King's Great Secret

I love to read.  I mean I REALLY love to read.  I read constantly...sometimes 2-3 books at a time. So imagine my delight when I learned there was a way I could get FREE books from a publisher as long as I agreed to talk about them. 

I heard about it while reading a book review on Amazon and followed a link to this page . I couldn't sign up fast enough, believe me. 

For my first book I chose "Anna Boleyn and The King's Great Secret" by Julia L.A. Kelly. Mainly because I am a Tudor-phile. I've read many books - both fictional and biographical - regarding Henry VIII and his many wives and mistresses.  

NBA: Jazz @ Kings 2/28/12 ~~ Matchmaker, Matchmaker...

...make me a match!

Find me a find!

Catch me a catch!

I know you're asking what the hell this song has to do with the Kings game... Sit back, sonny, because I'm about to enlighten you.

Patrick Marleau is a Screamer. Who knew? Capitals at Sharks 1/7/12

"Dan made a great play to see me and Patty just gave a little scream so I knew where he was." Thornton said.  "Patty just talking made that all happen."

All Adrienne wanted for Christmas was tickets to this game...and after the aborted Tampa Bay game, I made sure it happened. I ended up buying tickets off of Craig's List, which always makes me super nervous.  Consequently, I paid more than I would have liked and the seats were the highest we have ever sat in the Tank.  But it's all good.  We were there and got to see a stellar effort from the Sharks. 

And of course some fun in warmups...

Day 4 of the Quick Road Trip of Epic-Nous 3/25/11

Our last day in L.A.  So very sad!  Our little mini vacay was a little too mini!  But we wanted to cram a lot into our last day so we got up bright and early to organize, grab a smoothie, and head over to Kings pracky.

Needless to say, practice was an extremely light-hearted and fun affair since the Kings had beat the Sharks the previous night.

Here is Handzus' gloriously curly hair. He doesn't have it this year...in more ways than one...

Day 3 of the "Quick Road Trip of Epic-nous" 3/24/11

So a funny thing happened on the way to the forum...  Not really, but I'm having an Alzheimer-y moment of my own and can't remember exactly what happened a year ago.  Sad...very, very sad.  

Usually I rely on my photos to help along my memories when I blog belatedly. Today, that is adding to the confusion.  Reason being that I only have hockey photos edited and saved for "day 3" of our vacay last year.  But...but...but... We HAD to do more than that on day 3.  I really thought we went to Disneyland all three days (having a 3-day pass and all).  But surely, knowing myself, I would have had some photos...

...Oooohhhhhh.  ::lightbulb:: I realize what happened.  Some of the pictures that I credited as being on our first day at Disneyland were actually on the second day.  Now I'm trying to decide if I want to go back and edit or if I want to just leave it as is...hmmmm....this kinda sucks.  And because I'm sick and feeling fairly terrible, I'm having trouble filtering my thoughts which is why you get to hear my whole process.  lol  Sorry. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, decision made.  I see what I did and I'm not going to undo it. lol  Not really that important....the memories are still there; it doesn't really matter that I combined the first two days. Everything that I posted happened, just a bit out of sequence in a few spots.

We'll just devote this post to the hockey portion of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And on with the story:  After spending the morning and early afternoon at Disneyland, we headed  back to the hotel to get ready for the Sharks vs. L.A. Kings. We had bought tickets online as well as a parking pass.  I've been to Staples before, but only for X-Games.  And that hasn't been for a few years unfortunately.  So of course that equaled to us getting lost trying to find the parking lot we were assigned.

It took us several turns around the building to find it and it was several blocks away which was not what we were hoping for with the intermittent showers.  But find it we did and we hustled our asses through the busy streets to try to make it for warm-ups.  

Saw a lot of Sharks fans - a welcome sight since you never know how you're going to be received in an away arena. We made it inside and found our seats.  

Day 2 of the "Quick Road Trip of Epic-nous" 3/23/11

After a rough night's sleep because of the coldness of our accomodations, we woke up pretty (well, 8:30ish) early since we had a pretty full day planned. 


First on the agenda:  King's Practice!  By design, our hotel was right around the corner from the Toyota Center where the Kings practice and have pre-game skates.  According to Stan, it's also the home of the Lakers!  A thrill of excitement ran though me at the news! Unfortunately, we were to discover that the Lakers are a whole 'nother breed of animal and their practices are super-secret and closed to the public.  Darn. 


The Kings facility is really, really nice.  BUT!  It's not really conducive to taking good pictures with a crappy camera.  The weird angle from the bleachers combined with the rails and glass made it really difficult to get good photos.

So not many to post for the first day.  Don't worry, there'll be plenty of hockey photos forthcoming.  haha 


After pracky was over, we hightailed it straight to Disneyland.  The day was a little bit gray.  However, this being Southern California, it wasn't really cold so we weren't too worried about it. 

Day 1 of the "Quick Road Trip of Epic-nous" 3/22/11

So...quick note:  I typed this on 3/27/11 and never published it.  I guess because I didn't have photos for the rest of the trip finished and wanted to post them all together.  lol  


Finally found/edited the pics, came to post and saw this so here ya go.  Easiest post ever!


Finally the time has come!  
A much, much needed vacation for me and my "kid", Adrienne. 

She has not really taken a vacation since she started working full-time, which was approximately 6 1/2 years ago.  Rarely misses work or school. So very unlike me at her age.  Good for her! 

We'd been planning this for several months which is the only way that we could make this work.  Leading up to the trip was actually very stressful!  I had to interview home health agencies to stay with my mom; it's really nervewracking to think of leaving your elder, cats, and house in the care of a stranger!  Plus the weather has been such shit that I was so worried about the drive.

But after much stress, the day finally arrived.

Adie & I both had school/work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. so we were planning on rushing to get ready and leave when the caregiver arrived between 5:30 and 6 p.m.  Of course, I was still printing tickets and needed to pack when she arrived at 6:00.  lol  But we finally got out the door about 6:40.

The drive was great!  We were both awake and enjoying each other's company, music blaring to equal our excitement for the coming few days.  We made great time and switched drivers at 10: 25 pm. after 264 miles.  We hit the Grapevine around 11:45ish...don't remember exactly.  There was actual snow on the ground!  This is the first time in all my years that I've ever seen snow on the Grapevine.  I knew it had been snowing a few days previously and my greatest fear was that it would snow while we were driving it...so this was the most epic of both worlds.  lol  Obviously, I did not take this photo of the snowy Grapevine since there is daylight, but it serves to illustrate my purpose.

We got to Marriot Courtyard El Segundo at about 1:30 a.m. after a crazy detour because the 405 was closed for construction.  Stan the night clerk was awesome.  We had a somewhat rocky start...  Stan checked us in and gave us our keycards and directions to our room.  We pulled the car around and unloaded our luggage. 

1/1/12 Cheers to a New Year & Another Chance to Get it Right!

(~~Oprah Winfrey)

Just like that, 2011 came to an end.  By far, the fastest year of my life. I know, they say the older you get the faster it goes...and it's damn true!  Definitely a year of ups, downs, and changes.  Some good and some bad...some yet to be determined.

New Year's Day fell on  a Sunday this year which is my usual day off, but I didn't want the day to be just like any other normal day off, so I made plans to head to beautiful San Jose.  My purpose was threefold.  1) To meet a not-often-seen friend for lunch.  2) To pick up our tickets to the upcoming Sharks/Capitals game.  And 3) to get my lazy butt out of the house!

The Sharks were holding practice at Sharks Ice, so I made sure my plans revolved around that.  If I'm going to drive 2 1/2 hours each way to San Jose, I might as well see some damn hockey players! When I got there, the players were already on the ice, although I thought I was actually going to be early.

I climbed up onto the bleachers.  Not too gracefully I might add. Embarrassing. I didn't fall or anything, but I definitely didn't put my best side forward.  haha  But (no pun intended) I HOPE it wasn't the reason Jumbo was staring at me. I tried to take this photo on the down low, so it's not in the greatest focus.

 I must say, this pracky contained a lot of awesome.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and interject where I feel inspired. Here, Handzus and Ginner spend some time discussing.

12/21/11 Lightning @ Sharks ~~4 out of 5 Dentists Surveyed Recommend Playing Hockey

I don't know who said that, but I'm sure it's damn true!  And if you ever doubt that hockey players are tough, just imagine getting your wisdom teeth removed and turning around and playing hockey the next day.

Wisdom teeth...  If you're smart, don't take 'em out.  That's my thought after my daughter had two of hers removed on Tuesday, December 20th.  The plans took shape innocuously enough. Her teeth had begun to bother her and the dentist recommended having the top two removed.  Things went downhill from there...

Time Machine! En français ... la troisième partie! Plus "et plus". 8/26/11

Have you ever stayed in a hostel?  I have and it's weird and fun all at the same time.  My daughter would vehemently disagree.

It all started some 15 years ago in New Zealand.  The love of my life (as much as I hate to admit it) was working in Wellington and I took my daughter and his two sons over for a two-week visit.  During the two weeks, we took a mini vacation within a vacation and stayed at the Skotel. I've been enamored of venturing to hostels ever since. In the hostel world, infrequently is frequent enough.

Anyhoo, there are a couple of hostels here in NorCal that are situated in old lighthouses.  I've stayed at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in the past (awesome) and wanted to check out it's sister hostel a bit further up the coast near Half Moon Bay. So I left the comfy beach and drove north on Hwy 1.

I was pretty hungry at this point so I stopped at the Safeway to pick up some cheese, cold cuts, and crackers and headed over to the Half Moon Bay jetty to see if there were any surfers about.  

Time Machine! Part Deux! This is the "And More" Part. 8/26/11

Interesting day today...but I don't really want to talk about the bad parts.  The good parts were time spent with my daughter and about an hour spent with my mom.  One of the staff played the piano and we sang along (kinda) to some old songs.  Watching my mom truly engage with the music, tap her feet and clap her hands was a lot of fun.

So to disengage my mind from worrying about things I have no power over, I'm going to post some pictures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the Sharks Captain's skate was over, I wanted to head to the DeBrito Chocolate Factory to buy some apples to take home  You may remember me mentioning their delicious caramel apples in a previous post about the State Fair but they are well worth talking about again!

It was a bit longer drive from San Jose to Hollister than I expected. Missing a turn off and having to backtrack once didn't help.  But it was a gorgeous day and I love to drive so what the hell.  Ever wonder where your lettuce comes from?  Beautiful fields of green and red lettuce were growing side by side.

I was a little surprised when I found the address... It was not a Willy Wonka adventure like I had envisioned.  It was not even a typical storefront or factory like I had expected.  To be honest, it looked like a junkyard...  There was a dirt yard with broken down vehicles and farm equipment set on a farm.  The building was hand-painted corrugated metal.

Time Machine!! 8-26-11 Sharks 'n more! Part 1

I finally recovered some photos that were "lost" during the infamous computer meltdown of several months ago.

I could have recovered them sooner, I suppose, since my wonderful friend Erik saved the laptop from a certain death quite a while back now.  But while it's life was saved, it's identity was not and since then our lovely Comcast provider refuses to recognize it's IP address and therefore deny it internet access.

So it was just more trouble than it was worth to really solve the problem or at least figure out a way around it.  But then it occurred to me that I had about 80 photos on there...all edited and ready to go...

Truthfully that's the hardest part of keeping up with this photo-centric blog.  With my archaic equipment the whole process of saving, editing, and posting is pretty time-consuming. Some day I'll be able to channel money into more modern equipment that makes it easier, but that time is in the definitely not TOO distant future.

But when I recall the happy day of peace and rest that these pictures represent, I felt compelled to actually use my blonde brain and get the job done.  You're welcome.

The day was August 26, 2011. I had originally asked my boss for Friday through Sunday off because I wanted to road trip up to Washington state to surprise my oldest brother for his birthday.  I worked on Thursday (my normal day off) and then was supposed to leave that evening to make the 14 hour drive.  However, reality (and the price of gas jumping) intervened and the budget wouldn't allow for that long of a trip or that much time off.

Deciding that I deserved at least a bit of my solitary road trip, I told my boss that I at least had to take Friday off and headed west to San Jose. It was wonderfully hot and sunny in the valley, but approaching the 680 junction showed me that I was probably in for a foggy day...at least in some parts of my route.

 Interestingly, I remember that the fog paralleled 680 pretty much all the way to San Jose.  So it was temptingly close and made for some beautiful vistas without taking away my sunshiney day.  Perfect!

I arrived at Shark's Ice just in time for Captain Skate.  I was excited and hopeful because the Sharks had recently acquired Brent Burns (who is supposed to take us to the promised land - no pressure) and this was my first opportunity to see him.  IF he was even there!  You just never know who's going to show up to Captain's Ice...especially in the early stages.

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle! Blackhawks at Sharks 11/21/11

Here's the thing...when we had to put my mom in a memory care facility back in May, I really thought I'd be able to regain a life of leisure.  Well, not leisure but I thought I'd at least have the energy to update my blog more frequently.  So far it's not working out that way.

Not be ask for sympathy or anything, but in some ways it's harder.  It's nice to be able to do things, such as go to Sharks games, without hiring a 'sitter and worrying the entire time.  But at the first home we placed her in, I felt I had to go there almost every day to check on her and interact with her.  We moved her to a different facility in August.  Read bigger, more staff, more activities...overall a much better fit for my mom's needs.  So now I don't feel guilty for not going more than 2 or 3 days a week because I know they are taking good care of her.  But the trade off is that it's further away and traffic is horrific at the times I am able to go.

Bottom line...I'm tired.  And between being tired, working full-time, visiting mom, holiday bustle, my daughter, and a very scant social life...well, I obviously haven't updated this.  And also I'm having trouble remembering details so be prepared for a lot of pictures.

Thanksgiving.  I love it.  I love everything about Autumn from the beautiful colors as California changes for the season to staying up all night prepping Thanksgiving dinner after getting home from the Sharks Blackhawks game at 1 a.m.  This year, traffic was a little bit lighter so that was a plus and we didn't feel as stressed getting down to the South Bay. Soon we were settled in by the glass at the Shark Tank.

Anyone who talks hockey with me knows the Blackhawks are my second favorite team.  Have been for a long time, even through the many years when I was a casual hockey fan and didn't really follow that much.  So seeing the Blackhawks as much as possible each year is a real treat for me.  Unfortunately, this might be our one and only chance this season.

Warmups are a case of me not knowing where to shoot. I want to watch the Sharks! But there are the 'Hawks! Oh dear, there's Jumbo and Patty...must get a photo (even though I'm aware I have a bazillion that look pretty much the same).  But, but there's Toews and, of course, Sharpie! So here's a jumble of photos that is pretty much my state of mind during warmups.