My Adventures Began Yesterday

Oh my, re-reading that last post, the foreshadowing, the irony, I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried. So, today is day 95 since my Oct 10th post where I shared my love of soccer and fear of a torn MCL, and stated I would do whatever it took to return to the field. Well, I was correct regarding the MCL, but I also decided to take it a step further and truly test my love of the game. Let me first state that I did play that Friday after my Sunday injury. I made it through the first half. My knee was a little stiff but all felt good. Then about 10 minutes into the second half, I turned my body to start jogging back towards our goal and my knee just…seized up? I froze, whimpered a few times, then attempted to walk towards the bench, only I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg. Zero. Zip. None. A few more whimpers as I stood there staring at the distance I needed to trek before a guy from the other team asked if I was okay. I told him no and that I needed his help. He pu...

Cursed (or blessed?) with a short attention span, I find it surprising that my love for soccer has remained strong for 25 years. I’ve tried Zumba, volleyball, kickboxing, yoga, softball, jazzercise, golf, kickball, and many more, and without fail, after about 3 weeks, I’m bored with the activity (rarely the people). Ready for something new, a different type of excitement. But soccer? Oh, I love soccer. I love indoor. I especially love playing outdoor. It’s amazing. Running for miles up and down the field. Making that perfect pass. Stealing the ball from an opponent. During and after these games, my mind and soul are at peace and filled with such delight. Over the years, it’s become a bit “unlucky” that soccer does not love me. Knotted calves that won’t go away for weeks. Planters fasciitis. Reconstructed ACL. Sprained ankles. Achilles tendinitis. Torn meniscus. Ankles that click when I walk. And now a possible torn MCL. Oh soccer, why do you do this to me? I tell mys...

Booking a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park at the end of March could result in beautiful weather or end in a blizzard. Luckily for us, we arrived 10 days after the blizzard struck, and had beautiful, sunny weather, with lots of snow on the mountains. We stayed in a gorgeous home on the north side of Estes Park and experienced spectacular views. The first full day, we breakfasted at Claire's On the Park, which is in downtown Estes. Then we drove out to Rocky Mountain National Park where I bought the Annual Park Pass as part of my commitment to the Parks. We had a general idea of where we wanted to go so started driving in that direction (essentially, up). The trail/parking lot we were hoping to stop at was completely full, so we kept driving up until we reached Bear Lake. Here, we parked, noticed everyone wearing skis or snow shoes, and questioned the wisdom in attempting a snow hike in hiking books/snow boots (the ladies), and two of us in tennis shoes and jeans ...

Step 1 - Create Printed Invitations to Personally Hand Out to All Your Friends and Family Step 2 – Set the Dress Code 80's Of Course! Step 3 - Create a Fun Photo Booth with Props and a Themed Polaroid Frame Step 4 - Provide a Candy Bar Use Candy Created in the 80’s and Records Cake Stands Airheads, Runts, Bubble Tape Original Flavor, Gummi Worms, Nerds, Skittles, Skor, Twix Peanut Butter, Cow Tales, Chupa Cups Cremosa Step 5 – Provide a Flashback of Games Created in the 80’s Nintendo Entertainment System, Big Piano, Jenga, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Taboo, Game Boy, Sega Genesis Step 6 - Karaoke Because it's Karaoke Step 7 – Guess the Number of Nerds Win a Prize! Prizes: 80’s Movies in DVD Format - Top Gun, Goonies, ET, Ghostbusters Step 8 - Provide Beer and Food duh Biggest hit were the pizza rolls, but also offered spinach dip, 7 layer dip, sloppy joes, and cool ranch Doritos Step 9 - En...

Took a quick 3-day weekend trip to Los Angeles and filled it with tons of touristy happiness. E and I arrived early Friday morning and drove up to Malibu. Attempted to eat at the Malibu Café but we arrived 45 minutes before opening and didn’t feel like waiting. So, we drove back through the hills towards the coast and chose a cute Italian Restaurant. Yeah, I know, poor choice, considering we’re on the coast and fresh seafood is abundant. I did order the Lobster Bisque. It was quite delicious. And the owner and waitress were extremely kind and welcoming. We walked to the beach and admired the Pacific coast for a bit. Took some fun pictures, then stopped at a liquor store to grab E some vodka and sprite. After all, the reason for the LA trip was his birthday. En route to pick up A from the airport, we stopped at Santa Monica Boardwalk and explored. I was saddened by the overcast weather and wearing jeans and a sweatshirt at the beach (even if it was January), but the company w...

A friend asked me to run a marathon with her. In December. 11 months away. Uff-da. That’s a commitment. I’m not sure my body can handle running that many miles and 26.2 miles isn’t something that you can mentally push through to make it to the finish line. Training would be required. Lots of training. Weekly long runs. Daily short runs of 4-10 miles. I’ve run 2 half marathons but I never ran more than 6 miles while training and only did that once each time. Ideally, I’d like to run it under 4 hours, so I would need to maintain a pace of 9 mins and 16 seconds for 26.2 miles. For that, I would need to train and run at least 4 times per week (if not 5). Add in two days of weight lifting, some yoga, a few soccer games, and perhaps this marathon business is possible. There’s also a half marathon on September 10 at Smoky Mountain National Park. That would be a fun way to explore the park. The course is on a slight uphill elevation (200 ft) so that works out in our favor. Beautiful...

The question on everyone’s tongue: what would you do with $697.5 million dollars? That’s the estimated take away after taxes if you win the Powerball Jackpot tonight. Six-hundred-and-ninety-seven MILLION dollars! Let’s say I live for another 60 years, that’s roughly 12 million each year or 1 million per month that I have to spend. This doesn’t include investments or interest or an amazing accountant who will earn me even more money. I love playing the “what if I win the lottery” game. :) I’ve been speaking to my lawyer…okay, well, I haven’t paid him anything, so I guess I’ve been speaking to my friend who is a lawyer by profession, and who has been kind enough to humor me for the last 7 days while we play the what if I win game. “When I win the Powerball tonight…”, he will set up a trust for me and in 30 days claim my winnings under said trust. Then it’s time to sit down and plan. He’ll help me set up a charitable organization and walk me through giving money and gifts to fami...