Recap of last night’s events… I got home from work around 5pm last night and felt incredibly nauseous!  Not cool at all.   I took some medication and laid down for a few minutes and then I felt just fine.  Not quite sure what caused it…but I was very glad that it promptly went away so that Mom and I could get over to the restaurant.  While I was lying there…I kept thinking that if I couldn’t go, how in the world I was going to convince my Mom to go without me and not give away the fact that Tori (Mom’s best friend) was already there waiting for us…good thing that I didn’t have to. So…around 6pm, as we were putting on our coats and heading out the door, the phone rang. I’m thinking, “it must be Tori”…but then Mom answers.  Tori asked her what she was doing and Mom, (not knowing that Tori was where we would be in a few moments) told her that we were on our way out the door to go out for dinner.  So Tori tells her to call her when we get home (nice one…haha). We leave and get over to the restaurant in about 5 minutes (it’s close).  We walk in and Mom walks up to the hostess, who is talking on the phone, and waits to talk to her about getting a table.  In the meantime, I’m scouting the place to see if I can see Tori anywhere…and then I spot her and she waves.  I took Mom by the arm and said, “come on Mom, there’s no need to wait on her (the hostess)”.  My Mom of course is saying, “what are you talking about? you can’t just seat yourself here…Maria, you need to wait for the hostess”.  To which I replied as we are walking to the table where Tori is seated with her back to us, “Mom…no need to wait, we have a table right here”.  Then I smiled at her and walked past Tori and turned to my Mom, “say hi to Tori Mom”.  The look of complete shock on my Mom’s face was priceless!!  Of course Tori and I caught a bit of flack from Mom for setting her up, but she was very happy that we did. The waitress came over and asked her if she was surprised, and my Mom told her yes.  The waitress then says, “That was pretty cool of your daughter to set up for you huh?”, smiled and walked off to get our drinks.  My Mom turned to me and said, “yes it was, thank you”. We had a lovely dinner and some wonderful drinks.  The evening went fabulously…just as I had hoped.  We arrived at home around 9pm and Jason had the children all fed, in bed and the dishes done.  Thank you honey for watching them and taking care of everything for me!!! You are the greatest! Well…back to work for me now. Happy Hump Day!! ~Maria

A little bit of hockey talk… Sorry…but I MUST brag a bit about my Colorado Avalanche team!  I mean, they have won 7 straight games in a row now and haven’t lost a game in the past 9…(they tied for 2 of those).  They have now taken the no. 2 place in our division…which ranks them only 6 points under Vancouver to take the division title.  (I’m not proud or anything…haha) I personally think that they should just start calling all of the Avalanche match ups “The Peter Forsberg Show”…because that’s what it’s been!!  He has had a hand in almost every goal scored since Joe Sakic (the Captain) was injured with a broken foot on January 2oth.  Peter has 62 overall points so far this season, which ranks him no. 8 for the NHL overall…he is in the top 3 for assists…and he’s gotten 2 hat tricks this season as well.  Not bad eh? Okay…I know that I’m totally biased when it comes to Forsberg…but I know a damn good hockey player when I see one…and I’ve been watching him for many years now and my opinion hasn’t wavered one bit.  He IS one of the best players in the world!  Totally a for sure Hall of Famer!! I don’t talk about this too often on here…but they did beat the Red Wings in back-to-back games…1-0 and then 5-3.  So, as far as I can see it…I think they finally got their redemption for losing so badly to the Wings last year in the Playoffs & earlier in January.  Patrick Roy (goaltender for the Avs) has been unbelievable…and goaltending like the incredible goalie that he is.  It’s been nice to see him living up to his potential because earlier in the season…well, he was sucking pretty bad…I mean, I was beginning to wonder why he didn’t retire…now that’s bad. Well…I’m done with my hockey talk for now!!  Thank you for sharing your Valentine’s plans with me and reminiscing about childhood…that was cool. Not too much going on with us lately…just trying to deal with the day-to-day things.  I did, however, dislocate my thumb on my right hand and I think may have sprained it as well.  I’m a klutz!!  I don’t even really know how I did it…but then again, I’m also the girl who broke her foot in high school just by walking.  Don’t ask! Anyway, we don’t have any MAJOR plans for Valentine’s Day that I know of…unless Jason is planning a surprise of sorts(???)…(which, knowing him is possible)…but as far as I know we are just going to go out for dinner and such and enjoy some time to ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of the house full of children.  That alone will be nice. I’m taking my Mom out for dinner tonight…but what she doesn’t know is that I’ve arranged for her best friend from Arizona (who’s in town right now) to meet us over at the restaurant.  She will be surprised!!  I’m looking forward to it! Other than that…it’s pretty much been work, work, work for me.  I’ll spare you the details on that one. But speaking of that…I should get back to it.  It’s taken me long enough to type this with my hand all messed up…so, back to work I go! I hope that your week is going well! ~Maria P.S. ~ The song that is playing on my site is for my Valentine.

Ya know…it seems to me lately that many of us have been reflecting upon the era of our childhoods.  Apparently you all grew up at the same time as I did.

No…seriously, I’ve heard, and have read, many people sharing their memories of days gone by during a time when kids still left the house right after eating breakfast with their family and wouldn’t be seen again until dinner time because they were out playing…somewhere.  A time when we used to have water fights that would wind up in the house and parents wouldn’t yell at us for getting things wet…but would grab a bucket and join in.

It’s strange to me, especially now that I’m a Mom, that these things have just dissipated over the years.  My children would rather play games on the computer or watch television instead of going out and exploring things unknown to them.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a small farm town and we had plenty of land that was free for us to explore. Maybe it was just the way things were back then.  Maybe I’m just getting old???  Nah…that can’t be it.  Maybe it’s just that society has really changed THAT much?

I don’t know…but I DO know that I would give anything to be able to spend a day just OUT…just to have that FREEDOM again.  You know?  To be able to say, “see ya later” and then go wherever it is that your imagination wants to take you.  THAT would be cool.

I don’t think that it would just mean to be a kid again…no, I really don’t want to visit that…but to have the freedom that I once had to do what I want to do without having to do what is always expected of me.  THAT would be pretty cool for just one day.

Okay…I guess that this is my blog on reminiscing eh?

So…what do you miss being able to do that you once did? or something that you’d like to do that you haven’t had a chance to do as of yet?

Have a great weekend!!!

~Maria

Side note:  I’ve posted a new item on the front page of my site…underneath my pics.  It’s a button with ASA on it…click and take a look.

Mmmmm….this looks GOOOOD!!!

Sorry…it’s VERY cold here right now.  When I got up this morning it was -1° with a wind chill of -21°. BRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

(I DO live in Colorado right?? or did I move back home and not know it?)  

Well…we finally got some of that perverbial white stuff (snow)…but, we need a lot more of it!!  This whole drought thing is not cool at all.

Our reservoirs are currently only at 45% of what they should be for this time of the year.  We need some moisture and soon or we will be rationing water by this summer.

Well…enough on the weather update.

The kids are getting better…finally! (YAY!!)

Thank you for well wishes and thoughts and prayers…it is much so appreciated.

I’m sorry that I haven’t been around much lately…but life has gotten in the way of my play time lately.  (I hate it when that happens)  I’ve been SOOOOOOO BUSY at work this week you just have NO idea!!!  I’ve had to rewrite some of the job specification plans for some of our projects and I was already behind on my filing…mainly because every time I attempt to get some of it done, someone has something else that I need to do that is more pressing.  I need an ASSISTANT!!!!!!!  

Okay…I’m done whining and complaining now…but that is the  reason as to why I’ve been slacking here and haven’t visited sites much lately.

Although…I would like to know what you have planned for Valentine’s Day with your sweeties!!!  So…will you share???  Anyone going AWAY for the occasion??

I don’t think that we’ll be going anywhere more than a restaurant and a movie…if that.  It’s difficult to go out when you don’t have people readily available to watch the kids.  Ya know?

Anyway…share with me would ya??

OH…and I hope that you had a wonderful week…and enjoy your weekend!!!

~Maria

I didn’t ever think that a tragedy like this would ocur twice in my lifetime.  I remember the day that the Challenger exploded in midair…and I will never forget what I felt watching that on live television.

I can’t even imagine what was going through the minds of these brave and talented individuals as they endured what they did before meeting their demise.

I do know that they should be remembered as people who went to a place that so few travel in order to collect data in an attempt to inevitably make our lives here on earth better.

 

 

 

 

The Columbia crew just moments before the launch on January 16, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Commander – Rick D. Husband

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ilan Ramon (Colonel, Israel Air Force), payload specialist representing the Israel Space Agency (ISA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astronaut Pilot – William C. McCool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Specialist – David M. Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Specialist – Kalpana Chawla

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payload Commander – Michael P. Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission Specialist – Laurel B. Clark

 

 

 

 

 

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts-107/sts-107-19.html

STS-107 MCC Status Report #19
Saturday, February 1, 2003 – 7:00 p.m. CST
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

The Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts were lost today when the vehicle broke up over north central Texas during its reentry from orbit.

Communications were lost with Columbia and its crew at around 8:00 a.m. CST, while the shuttle was traveling about 18 times the speed of sound at an altitude of 207,000 feet. Columbia was 16 minutes from landing at the Kennedy Space Center when flight controllers at Mission Control lost contact with the vehicle. Columbia was returning from a 16-day scientific research mission, its 28th flight, which launched on January 16.

Aboard Columbia were Commander Rick Husband, completing his second flight, Pilot William McCool, wrapping up his first mission, Mission Specialists Dave Brown, also completing his first mission, Kalpana Chawla, on her second flight, Laurel Clark, a first-time space traveler, Payload Commander Mike Anderson, ending his second flight, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space Agency, on his first flight.

 

Truly a great loss and sad time for us all.

~Maria