Nutcracker 2013

This year JoJo was old enough for her first ballet.  Julia had never been so I took all 3 girls down to the Orpheum Theater for the Nutcracker.  Bobbins found a good groupon but was mistaken on the time, so we missed the first twenty minutes.  We sat up in the balcony (there was no assigned seating) for the first half, then down on the main level for the second act.  I ended up seeing a guy from work whose son was one of the Chinese dancers.  JoJo seemed to have a great time, and Julia enjoyed it too.  MM has a hard time being patient that long.

 

Tough Loss Redux

I didn't really expect us to beat Stanford the second go-around in the Pac-12 championship in Tempe, although I secretly hoped we would.  Going to the Rose Bowl would've been a dream.  And it'll stay that way, at least for another year.  I thought it'd be a closer game and we'd be more in it; instead, we were almost out by the middle of the 2nd quarter.  We had some chances in the 3rd quarter to make it interesting but couldn't get any plays.  Being without #1 RB Marion Grice hurt, then losing his replacement (and the one guy on offense who really came out to play) DJ Foster really hurt.  Credit really goes to the Stanford offense, especially QB Kevin Hogan, who executed flawlessly in the 1st half and made big plays in 1 on 1 match-ups.  Their RB Gaffney got the game's MVP but it should've been Hogan in my book.

Off to San Diego to play Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl.  Coach and I plan on going to the game.  Sure hope it's a better result than the last two (a heartbreaking loss to Kansas State in 2003 and a blowout by Texas in 2007).  Should be a pretty high-scoring game.  I hope our defense exacts some revenge on T Tech for their slow-start and shellacking they took last night.

This Guy's Seen a Lot

Comboni priest says time in L.A. prepared him for strife-ridden Egypt

 "I appreciate the civil rights tradition in the states. You can be who you want to be as long as you respect others," he told Catholic News Service in his residence in a building attached to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, which St. Daniel Comboni founded in 1880.

"The other thing I learned is ... a sort of entrepreneurial approach. You can make something out of the nothing. If you work hard you will get somewhere," said Father Esti, who holds degrees from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and Claremont Graduate University in California. ...

"In spite of the fact that the Western world sees this area in retrograde, there is a kind of sanity," he said, adding that, unlike some of areas of the U.S. where he'd lived, most Egyptians "don't have guns and, generally speaking, are not on drugs."

"In the states, life is too fast, so even if you have a lot, you cannot enjoy it. Here life is slower, and you can enjoy the little you have," he said.

FULL ARTICLE 

Cinderella Party

One of my buddies from work has twin girls and they turned 3 recently.  They graciously invited us over for a Princess Party featuring a hired Cinderella to celebrate.  There was delicious catered Qdoba food and an awesome spread of cakes, cupcakes, and treats to feast on.  Our girls loved Cinderella, who was quite talented in singing, dancing, face painting, balloon making, and patience with young kids.

 

 

 

Bye Jenny

The ladies of Bobbins' moms' group recently got together to bid farewell to original member Jenny M., who is moving back to Wisconsin.  Plenty of alcohol (except for the few preggos/nursers) and tasty, highfalutin food.  Best of luck to Jenny and family in the WI.

No Pity for the Kitty 2013

Was really hoping for a Sun Devil victory in the 87th Territorial Cup on Saturday night.  Yes, an ASU victory meant the home field for the Pac-12 championship and would be a huge momentum builder going into that tough match-up against Stanford, whom we lost to badly earlier in the season.  But for me, I really wanted to beat UofA at home after very tough losses against them the last two times (in 2009 and 2011).  I look forward to this game every season.  Not only is it one of the better rivalry games out there, it's always unpredictable.  And I LOVE beating the Stink of A.  The 1996 game was my second best college memory.

This year the Devils lived up to billing, whipping the Mildcats handily.  North Nogales St. head coach Rich Rod called it right: embarrassing.  The Mildcats didn't help themselves, turning the ball over three times, inc. a devastating pick 6 by QB B.J. Denker in the 3rd Q just as UofA was mounting a little comeback.  I had been hoping to just survive the quarter, where our offense has been particularly anemic the last few games.  That pick 6 was a back-breaker.  All we had to do was hold Ka'deem Carey, which we did for the most part (he still easily got his 100 yds), in particular twice in the first half on 4th down.

I wore my No Pity shirt my sister got me two years ago (last year watching on TV from OK) and am now 2-0.  I admit, it was hard to really appreciate the win until the 4th Q; you can never rest easy until the game's over or pretty much over in a contest like this.  It's pretty crazy we're now playing for a chance at the Rose Bowl, and at home at that.  I honestly didn't think we'd be at this point.  The team's playing confident and are undefeated at home.  I'm not saying we'll beat Stanford, but it's going to be quite a game and will be close.  I will be very happy with the Holiday Bowl too.  Either way, I'm going to the game with Coach.  Was great he was able to be out here for the game Sat. night.  Felt bad Featha had to leave early to tend to his sick wife.

Coach, Featha, and I watched the end of the crazy Iron Bowl, with Auburn returning a failed field goal 100 yards to win it.  I got back from the Nutcracker with the girls just in time to catch the end of the Ohio St.-Michigan game.  As soon as Mich. decided to go for two, I knew we'd win it.  Great football day all the way around.

Marriage Encounter at the FRC

Occasionally we go to other parishes to hand out info on marriage encounter and encourage couples to go on a weekend.  A couple weeks ago we went to the Franciscan Renewal Center, also known as The Casa.  This was my first time to the place.  It is a little unorthodox in its liturgy, and the small chapel was jam packed as there were a few baptisms being done, but overall it wasn't as bad I imagined.  They do the Eucharist with a different bread, which I've never had before, so very embarrassingly, it fell off my tongue on the floor when I received it.  It took a looong 4 seconds to find it, but I did, and consumed it.