Made in Jersey

And if it doesn’t, I’m gonna be pissed.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Thanks!

This holiday season, I’m going to try hard to keep things simple.  I’m usually running from morning til night from December 1st to December 24th, and every year I say, “I’m not doing this next year.  Next year, I’m going to leave myself time to relax.”  Well here we are four weeks before Christmas and I only have three presents.  It’s not looking good for me at the moment.  So I’ve decided since Christmas is right around the corner, it’s gift cards for everyone.  I can head right over to CVS and be done three-quarters of my shopping in 10 minutes.  For what’s left, Keith and I will head out on a Saturday afternoon, we’ll stop and have lunch and a couple of drinks (definitely a couple of drinks) then we’ll head over to the mall and finish the rest.  When we get home, the lights out front won’t be working, the cat will have knocked over the tree and I will realize that we forgot two people and never bought wrapping paper and tape. 

Vinny’s first game back off suspension ended up being the biggest varsity game of the year.  Shawnee v. Cherokee.    

The team worked hard getting their friends to come to the game.   I saw a girl walk by with Vinny’s number (92) written on her face, and another girl wearing his “away” jersey.  I don’t know what that’s all about, but, I didn’t bother taking pictures of them… “Hi, I’m Vinny’s mommy, can I take your picture?”  He would have killed me.

This is the Shawnee crowd, and it’s all students.  The parents wouldn’t go near the stands, they stayed against the glass.  Before the game, I was standing at the bottom of the bleachers watching the Cherokee fans come through the door.  Their jaws were dropping when they saw the stands, it was a riot.

Vinny was psyched and played a decent game for having missed a month…..

This was my favorite shot of the game.  I usually get one of these every weekend and they crack me up.  The shots come out so much better with that huge crowd in the background.  I wish it were like that for every game.  The game ended up in a tie and went to a shoot-out.  We lost.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a self potrait, and I’m getting tired of looking at the same old profile pic on facebook and flickr.    The background is my funky new Lane recliner that I love so much. 

Vinny may be done suspension in time for Monday night’s varsity game.  In the meantime, he’s been making alot of noise in the stands. 

Vinny went to a Halloween party last Saturday and came home with his ear pierced.  Call me square, but I think a phone call to his parents would have been a good idea before he let a tenth grader put a hole in his ear. 

A lot of his friends have both ears pierced, so, of course, he wanted me to take him to the mall to get his other ear done.  I said no.   Thank god he didn’t do it at the Halloween party,  he must have sensed big trouble.  After a few days, however, he seems to have changed his mind about having both ears pierced, I think it’s because Keith started calling him “Victoria”.

I walked passed the bathroom the other day and saw Bob sitting on the floor looking up towards the open window.   I felt sorry for him.  He used to be able to get into that window with ease, but I don’t think he trusts his old bones anymore.  He’s aging, and I’m sure he can’t balance himself good enough to land on that tiny ledge.  So I picked him up and put him there.  I think he was grateful, he stayed for quite a while.

Well, that would be my top hockey shot of the weekend.  This is the JV team on Sunday night.  #6 was tripped by the kid right behind him.  I had the camera on high-speed continuous shoot trying to capture #6 attempting to score, when he was tripped up and flew into the air.  I just kept the shutter button down, half of me hoping he wouldn’t get hurt, and the other half  hoping I’d get the shot.   

And, yes, we have another suspension.  The Varsity Assistant Coach, a/k/a, my husband. 

He’s not one for getting thrown out of hockey games, but during Monday night’s game there was a lot of roughing going on and not many calls being made.   Towards the end of the game one of our players was knocked down to the ice and kicked in the head.  It’s not like the ref didn’t see it, he was standing right in front of them, but he let it go with no penalty.  That was the last straw for Keith.  He had a few choice words for the ref and he was tossed and suspended one game. 

Here’s  Dave “The Hammer” Schultz Vinny serving his game 2 suspension.   He’s chomping at the bit, but he’s got three weeks to go.

This is my neighbor’s Volkswagen Bug.  I was taking some pictures of it yesterday, while wandering around the yard with my camera.

As I was taking the pictures, I started thinking about the time my brother, Jeff, tied a wooden sled to the back of his Volkswagen Bug and whipped me around the snow-covered farm that he rented with a few friends.  I was somewhere between 6 and 8 years old and, of course, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, until he took the first turn.  He took it so fast, that I went flying off the sled and into the bushes that lined the edge of the farm.  He kept driving.  

He eventually realized I wasn’t on the sled anymore and came looking for me.  There I was, lying in the bushes.  He looked at me with concern (for just a second), and then cracked up laughing.