All Tennis......

Each year the City of Indian Wells hosts the biggest tennis tournament after the Masters. I usually go to at least one day, and have actually played a tournament here myself! Of course not in the big stadium......but still! This year I drove up by myself. Couldn't find a single person who could go with me. Ah well....Here are some of the MANY pics I took while there..

One of my favorite players, Andy Roddick

The Best player EVER...Roger Federer

World #1 Rafa

Mardy Fish during doubles

Roddick's racquet after blowing a shot..

Coin toss for serve....Roddick and Fish, Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram

Shot inside the stadium...beautiful facility!

Shot from inside the stadium of the snow-capped mountains


It was awesome as usual! Weather was perfect, and I was surrounded by people who love the sport as much as I do. I'm sad that Fed didn't win, but Rafa is turning into a great champion. Was absolutely thrilled that Roddick and Fish won the doubles title! It went down to a 10 point tie-break, must win by 2, and the final score was 14-12. Maybe this is the year I make it to the US Open???

A girl can dream......

Harbinger of Spring...

I know Spring is here when the ducks return to my pool. 6:30 this morning this lady duck was quacking her fool head off. No male duck as of yet...he probably didn't ask for directions and is still wandering. Love the way that Suki appears to have a Mini Me..her and Cookie's color patterns and stance are identical!

Ran a tennis tournament is Vista yesterday, and am happy to say everything ran quite smoothly. The weather was perfect, the facility was beautiful, and a good time was had by all. My feet and legs are very sore.....Up and down, back and forth all day long. I left my house at 9 am and didn't get back until 9:30 pm. Okay, so there was a little break for Famous Dave's BBQ with my daughter in there....

The mattress....WOW. It is amazingly comfortable! I'm getting some real solid sleep now. I should have replaced my waterbed years ago. There is one thing though...when I first placed it in the frame, the mattress was level with the frame. 3 days later, it is a good 3 inches above the frame. Surely it's done expanding??? Thank goodness it's stopped hissing....

Mattresses 1, Kashew 1

In my infinite wisdom I decided it was time to grow up and get a real mattress. I LOVE my waterbed....love it love it love it. My back has decreed it to be a useless bag of water. Being the backbone of well....me, it won. I ordered a new mattress from Overstock.com. Got me one of those tempurpedic memory mattresses. I did the research, tested a few in the stores, and decided this would work for me. So Tuesday around 1 in the morning I went online and ordered. 9 am THIS morning it shows up on my doorstep. WOW.....I doubt it has even hit my bank account yet! So I begin the gruesome task of draining my bed. Many hours later I about kill myself tugging the now empty but still incredibly heavy mattress out of the frame. I managed to get it on the floor (which is where it will stay until I eat enough spinach to move it...I hate spinach) Round one goes to that damned mattress.

Next I drag the new mattress into my room. It's had all of the air sucked out of it so they can roll it and ship it. Cal King length, all packed into a circumference of a bowling ball. Hmmmmmm....I cut the cardboard shipping package away. The mattress is tightly packed in heavy black plastic. I start cutting this, and halfway through I start to hear a hissing sound. Realizing that air is reaching said mattress and it WANTS out, I start cutting frantically and find yet another plastic wrap around it! Mattress is gaining momentum...I planned on letting it expand into my waterbed frame to ensure a good fit. HA! This thing has a life of it's own now and can feel freedom. I've abandoned scissors and am ripping at the plastic. With a huge hiss, the mattress breaks free and instantly expands to it's full glory. I'm underneath it still wrestling with plastic wrap. I manage to get it into the frame, where it settles in with a final sigh. Holy cow......what happened to the "It takes a few hours to reach it's full size" notice that it came with?? It's even got this nice picture of a guy calmly unrolling it. I was mugged by mine! As I managed to get it where it's supposed to be, I'M taking that round. The war will be won when I get the 200 pound waterbed mattress out. Til then I can crawl over it...I think

Lazy Day

It's raining in San Diego..imagine that! Didn't feel like doing much of anything, so I made an executive decision to climb back into bed and read a book. I wasn't the only one who thought this was a stellar idea. Here's the view from.....well, me!


Taken with a cell phone camera, I think it came out pretty well. As you can see I wasn't going to get much reading done, so I took another just to bug Suki

Not only did I have 85 Lb Suki on my chest, but 35 lb Cookie Monster on my stomach


At least I was warm!

My friends called me last minute last night to go see a movie. I had about 20 minutes to get there, and didn't ask much about what we were seeing. BIG mistake
We saw The Reader. Absolutely no joy to be had in this. Can't say I enjoyed it. As I was waiting outside the bathroom for my friends after the movie, a woman asked if I just came from seeing the Reader. When I confirmed, she said, "Was that just totally depressing or what!" A couple of other people joined in, all agreeing that is was dark and depressing. Wish I would have missed it

On that note, I see a couple of hairy critters that want my attention. I abuse them so badly, those poor creatures. I just hope *I* get the blankets tonight

Couple of pics

Life is pretty hectic in La Casa de Las Locas. One daughter closed escrow on her first house!! Other daughter is freezing her non-existent butt off in Flagstaff and struggling with physics. Parents are due in tomorrow from a 35 day cruise of Hawaii and the Pacific islands. Me? I'm trying to work my way back in tennis.Foot feels okay while playing, but I'm tentative and have to ice heavily afterwards.Meh..

A couple of pics I've gathered...this tree is across the street from my parent's house. They started to chop it down, then stopped. What's left is kinda macabre..

Next up is the view from my front window the other night

And an entry just wouldn't be complete without a couple of doggy pics.....first is a Monster in the dark..

..followed by an upside Down Suki doing her centerfold impersonation


One of these days I'll actually write something meaningful!

Yikes....

One of my daughters has been trying to buy a house. She's been in negotiations since May. She finally gets as far as opening escrow, and the family living there refuses to leave. Rather difficult to conduct a home inspection when they are still IN there. I'm skipping tons of detail on this, but FINALLY they move out. Home inspection occurs, and the news isn't pretty. There's termites (enough to warrant a tenting) damage to the roof, and they took the oven out! Escrow is set to close in two days. Now comes the delicate dance....can they get the seller to cover the cost of repairs and a new oven?? If they refuse, do you go ahead with the deal and eat the costs? Yes, the house is worth it, but for a first house do you really want to stretch yourself??

And the weird aspect...full disclosure shows that someone died in the house. Carpets were replaced directly after.

Yikes..what to do???

And now I'm off to attempt my first league match since the injury. Wish me luck!

Gran Torino and stuff.....

I feel like I'm finally stepping back into my life. I've been in seclusion and hibernating since the injury. I didn't feel good, so I just stayed home and got through it. Didn't feel the need to inflict my grumpy self on anyone.So today I finally met a few friends for a movie. We saw Gran Torino, and I must say it's the best movie I've seen in a long time. For me it actually lived up to the hype. I had the whole plot and storyline figured within the first 5 minutes (I'm annoying like that) but it was so well crafted! I actually want to go see it again. So go see it, and tell me what you think!

Not much else happening. Parents are on their way to the Pacific Islands. They're on a 35 day cruise. Yes, I'm jealous! But I'm not so sure I'd want to be on a ship for that long.

I'm fairly unhappy with my foot.....I'm feeling that achilles. Looks like I'm not hitting the courts just quite yet. Grrrrr

Today is a rather special day. It's my gorgeous Suki's birthday! She's 6 years old, and she's been with me for 4 of those years (we don't talk about the first 2 spent being shuffled to and from pounds...I took her off death row) She's a constant delight and a wonderful companion. Here's one of my favorite pics of her with her tongue stuck out. Happy Birthday, my Suki Baby!!

Another post???

Well, I finally did it. I got out there on a tennis court again! I haven't been able to play since the injury on August 25th. Not that I was counting days or anything (it happened at 7:13 pm) It felt.....weird. My timing was way off, balance was nowhere to be found. Had an old pair of tennis shoes on which didn't feel great. I was tentative and hesitated way too much, almost afraid to step on the foot. New season starts this coming week...yikes.

SO

I despise whining in all of it's forms, even more so when it's coming from me! So here's the flip side.

It was a gorgeous sunny California day that people in the snow dream about. I still have all my power, lost none of my spinning skills. I hit a few aces, and broke someone's racquet with a serve. Okay, so MAYbe the fact that she dropped her racquet trying to return said serve had something to do with it, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it! I got to spend the morning with good friends, and I have a new pair of shoes. I have all week to get ready for tournament play. Life is, indeed, GOOD

On another note, I checked out the new journalspace, and hated it on sight. I'm lacking the patience to get around there. Think I'll stay right here.

No Monster or Suki pics today. Got to load stuff on this new computer. Did I mention that my cell phone, computer,and plumbing all went south in the same day?? Lots and lots of nasty words flying around the casa that day.....

Off to go soak my feet!

So here I am.......

I feel like a fraud writing here. I neglected my JS journal for so long, and now that it's gone I write?? Oh it always seems to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone..

Life has been weird. No tennis playing STILL. Injured my foot in August, and am still going through physical therapy. I have every intention of getting on a court this month! I feel almost afraid..what if I injure it again right away, and lose another 6 months? I've been slowly going insane being on this short leash, can't imagine doing more time. I can function now, my foot just gets a bit sore when I push it. Problem is normal for ME includes playing tennis 4-5 times a week, and right now my shoelaces are tied. Patience, patience...definitely not my strong point

One daughter has been home for Christmas break (yes, I said Christmas, not winter break!) It's been wonderful having her back. Rough getting her home, as she got pretty sick after finals. She was supposed to drive home with a friend, but couldn't drive as sick as she was. Add in the weather..she goes to school in Flagstaff, and snow was imminent. I ended up driving up there (on 3 hours sleep) with my parents, turning around and driving straight home. 15 hour driving day for me...oh boy! We did beat the snow though. Now she needs to get back, and Lady Luck is having a great time with us. We thought we had it all planned out...HA! We have a 2 day window of good weather before snow hits Flagstaff again. She's all set to leave this Wednesday. Last night she went out to dinner with her Dad and his girlfriend. My daughter got a fortune cookie with no fortune in it, and the girlfriend insisted that she get another cookie. Daughter takes one bite, and her back molar breaks in two. We rush to our dentist this morning, only to find that she needs a root canal and the guy who does them is out until Thursday. They refer us to a new guy, and he manages to squeeze us in. She's now got a temporary crown, and won't have time to get the permanent until May. Moral of the story? If you're missing a fortune, take that as a warning to NOT eat the cookie!

Other daughter has been trying to buy a house. In this market, you'd think that would be easy. She finally opened escrow on a house that they put an offer for in June. With ANY amount of luck, it should close by the end of the month. Keeping my fingers crossed for her!

My parents just left on a 30 day cruise of Hawaii and the South Pacific. With that, one daughter returning to school and the other buying her own house I'm suddenly facing a very empty nest. And no tennis to keep me occupied! I may be writing here more than anyone would like...

Now to try a pic......does it work the same? If so, you'll see the Cookie monster showing her teeth
*EDIT* HAHAHAHA.....only see a Monster butt! Trying again..