Phillies in Town

Baseball season is back in full swing and that means a few Phillies games I can see against the Giants! Well, I was fortunate enough to go see them on Friday night (with the otter's work) and then on Saturday with the otter as a very wonderful birthday present!! I just finished watching the Phillies lose the series, but they won on Friday night!! It was such a great game!! Cole Hamels was on the mound, so I was optimistic going in. Not sure if i posted this site before, but it's pretty funny (based on Chuck Norris facts: http://mysite.verizon.net/heyjude421/chf/chf.html ). Saturday we had Jamie Moyer going against Lincicum (the young Giant Phenom), so the results were not so good.

See below for some pictures. Friday we were sitting on the 3rd base side and Saturday we were on the 1st base side.

Former Cardinal So Taguchi trying to stay warm in the outfield

Former Giant Pedro Feliz and the Phillies infield

Ryan Howard at Saturday's game. You can tell the score was already 5-1 in the 2nd inning.

Chase Utley I believe preparing for a ball in the infield

The Happy Piggy and Otter (this was Friday night!)

GO FLYERS!!! They're playing the Penguins in the Atlantic Conference Finals right now. Pens won game one and they literally just took the lead in this game. The Flyers kind of squeaked into the playoffs, so I believe they can come from behind! Was disappointed last weekend when the Sharks were eliminated. How fun would it have been to go see the Flyers in the Stanley Cup in San Jose!

Happy Easter!

Just when you think i was never going to post again I'm back!!
Just wanted to post some Easter pics for those who care to see. I cooked a ham dinner for the otter and I and we even dyed eggs. It was fun since it's been forever since I did that! I thought the ham turned out dry, but the otter really like it!

Our Easter eggs - the good looking ones were done by the otter! As much as i try, i really lack artistic ability!















The otter and his makeshift Easter basket! Yeah, we did hide the eggs for each other!















The Happy Easter couple















The low carb Atkins friendly Easter spread















Cheers!















A good picture of the otter enjoying the dinner! What's that expression - the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?















And just for fun, my latest obsession is complete!! The puzzle was a Christmas present from my wonderful parents and this past week I was nothing but a puzzling piggy until it was complete! It was very fun but challenging! And yes i know i'm missing a piece, so i really hope that turns up!

Thanksgiving

Okay after having my arm twisted - here are the first pictures of the real piggy and otter posted on my blog! Happy Thanksgiving! we stayed here and I cooked my first turkey - it was fun and i may have gone overboard, but the otter says i did a great job and why would a man lie, right?! HA HA!! and i spent most of the day with a headache, so pardon the slobby piggy!

Otter doing excellent carving job:

close up of turkey:

full spread:

let's eat!

Piggy and Otter!!

Cheers:

MLB Playoffs 07

Woo hoo!! Both my teams actually made the playoffs!! The year was 1993 - I was still in high school in PA, and a very different person, Red Sox were still haunted by the Curse of the Bambino - that is the last time the Phillies made the playoffs! They also went to the World Series that year, (and lost to the Blue Jays). Now it's 13 years later and they're back in!! The past 2 years they have missed the playoffs by as little as 1 game - this year it took them all 162 games, but they shocked a lot of people and made it!! My excitement may have died down a little because they are now in the hole 0-2 against the Rockies. But this year's Phillies seem to be the kind of team to make things interesting. And I'm trying to ignore the Sports Illustrated I received this week with Jimmy Rollins on the cover, (a hypothetical jinx believed by some, although I did let out a gasp when I saw it). Just looked at the stats - he is batting .250 with 4 RBI and a HR in the 2 games so far. . . Rowand is only batting .125 - he got hot and helped them make the playoffs. Come on Phils you can do it!!!

the Red Sox are up 2-0 over the Angels. it was a long game last night - but i caught the last few hours (innings), and they are looking good!!! And also i have to gloat that the Indians are beating up on the Yankees. I'm not trying to jinx anything - i know things can change (hope they do with the Phils), but it's looking good in the AL!!

And thanks to my friends S&S for sending me the Red Sox pig in the picture above! He's a genuine fan from Fenway park!

Even Longer Time. . .

Okay, it's been a long time since I posted. I've been trying to take advantage of summer fun in and out of the area.

In short what has happened since last post:

I went to Bolinas beach and got probably the wort sun burn of my life!! it was almost worth it, because it was a fun day relaxing at the beach. And Bolinas itself is an odd quirky town. They do not like out of towners, so the town folk do not provide any new water meters and they take the road signs down to keep people out. don't believe me? check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/realestate/09nati.html?ex=1188532800&en=75e3f0e1e29e746f&ei=5070

The otter and I had a very successful (and overdue) housewarming poker party here.

I went to visit my friend (the Badger), in Denver, CO area. (btw - does anyone else think it's strange I call my boyfriend the otter? ) What a great trip and cool town. Even despite the bloody nose and constant dehydration feeling!! First, it was great to be in real summer weather again. (i should not have to use my heat in August!!), and i even saw some really cool lighting one night. I was able to see some really cool places- Red Rocks, 16th street and the downtown area. went to a Rockies-Cubs game. i think we sat in the literal nose bleed section, but it was still fun. The Rockies ended up winning 15-2 and had the chance to see a grand slam after wondering if there was going to be anymore scoring! Saw the Science museum and the zoo from the outside - it got too late to actually go in. It was all in all a great vacation. It was great to get caught up and the Badger is from PA, so it was nice to talk to someone who knows what an Eat N Park and Perkins are!! And it was a mental vacation for me as well since it was great to get out of California and it can be really good for the mind and soul to get a different perspective at times.

I like interesting "art", so here's a giant bear peering into a city building in downtown Denver:

Took the Otter to the Haight Asbury district this past weekend. He had never been and I wanted to go to the Amoeba records since I had not been music shopping in awhile. (Another thing that came out of my Denver trip. The badger has a good appreciation for music - he's one of the few people that can get away with controlling the radio station in my car - just ask Midwest Thunder how particular I can be!!!)

Steagle game was on Sunday night. Steelers won. could have been so much closer, if it wouldn't be for a few turnovers. The game was in Pittsburgh and it made me miss Pittsburgh. If you're a Steeler fan and have 20 minutes to spare, this is a great video about Steeler Nation and the city itself. Thanks to Leasa for passing it on: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1527321414

Trying to go camping for a night this long weekend and maybe a dinner date with the Otter in the city. Will try and keep you posted!!

It's Been a Long Time. . .

If you're a Zepplin fan, you know where that that subject is headed. i can't sing very well, so I'll spare you. It kind of sucks not working at a job where they let me read and surf all day!! It's taking me so much longer to get through books and i have not been good at keeping up with my blog!! :) But at the same time, it's nice to know my career is headed somewhere. Not sure where yet, but i feel I'm slowly getting back to the path I once knew.

I came home from running some errands earlier, and who is on tv, but my Phillies (playing the Mets)!! However, they were losing 6-3 and ended the game in even worse shape. Tomorrow I get to see which boys of mine are coming to San Fran for the All Star game. And see if they can keep the Home Run Derby champ back in Philly for the 3rd year in a row. Not going to the All Star game, (or getting a boat to sit in the water for that matter), but, I did go see the Phillies last month against the Giants! Can you believe they actually won?!! It was the first time i ever saw the Phillies win!! EVER!! It only took took going to see them since I was about 10!!! Maybe going to an Eagles game did break the jinx! It's old news now, but i had to say something, and include a picture for the heck of it!















A few weeks ago i spent a nice Sunday in Golden Gate Park getting sun burned and watching a free show of Everclear and Smashmouth. Everyone loved Smashmouth, but me. They were not terrible, but I did not like their stage show, and thought Everclear rocked!! check it out, the lead singer looks just how i remember:















Check back for updates!! It's summer in San Fran - should have lots going on. . .

SO Bay Area. . .

I'm still here!! Well, it's been a little while to say the least. In all fairness, I did try and log in a few times, but the site was being SO painfully slow, so I did other things and got distracted. Plus, didn't think much was happening for awhile!

I have a job since my last post!! I'm working for a non-profit currently in Menlo Park (they are moving by August). It's a permanent position doing what I wanted to do, plus a little of the accounting piece which is real cool! Currently, I really like the job and the people are so friendly and there are so many little perks. I just found out today that I can take a PAID day off to volunteer!! Hence the "SO Bay area" title! :) Plus, they have all these recycling bins in the office and are so environmental friendly in all their procedures. It's nice! The commute isn't great because of where they are and where I am, I have to drive a lot of surface streets. It was interesting at first because I go through Palo Alto and Stanford, but sometimes sitting in traffic on University Avenue is no fun when you're tired and the sun is beating in your face just out of reach of the visors! BUT, the Otter and I are moving and the place is off the same freeway as work, so it will be much easier to get to. And it's one of my favorite freeways if I had to pick one. It's rather scenic and one of the least crowded. And wikipedia agrees about the scenic part: "Interstate 280, or at least the segment between Cupertino and Daly City, has been called the "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" and there is a sign stating this in Daly City." Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_280_(California)

I have done so much from my last post, I thought I would slowly update you! In summary, got addicted to hockey and went to a Sharks game, went to the Chinese New Year Parade (had to since it is the year of the Pig and San Fran has one of the largest), saw lots of Poker Celebs when I went to see the Otter in the WPT event at the Bay 101 casino (if you're impatient on that one, his blog has it covered pretty well). Stay tuned!