Smell that??

It could be fresh cut grass and leather. All the players have reported and the Cactus League spring training games start a week from tomorrow. My favorite time of year in Arizona. Go DBacks!

We'll be back soon!

We're keeping busy out here in the desert. This time of year always seems to get a little hectic with all the end-of-school festivities but it gives us plenty of blog-worthy material that I'll be getting posted in the near future. (Perhaps as a Mother's Day gift I'll get some uninterrupted time at the computer...hint hint)

In the meantime, another thing that is keeping the Mr & Mrs busy is play-off season. Both the San Jose Sharks and the Phoenix Suns are in their second round of play-off games and the schedule has worked out great since they alternate days. Sunday Sharks, Monday Suns, Tuesday Sharks, Wednesday Suns...you get the idea. It does mean we're probably neglecting other things...hopefully just not the children.

Two months of Saturdays

This summer we were kicking around a soccer ball and realized that Meg was pretty agile with the ball. Following that we decided to sign her up for soccer...but then Emily announced that she wanted to play again (she's played for the past three years). So we took on the challenging endeavor that millions of parents have undertaken before us... two children in organized sports at the same time.

Steve is also the assistant coach for both teams (can you say gluttons for punishment?) So for the past twelve weeks our Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings and afternoons have been all about the black and white ball.

Emily's age group started playing on the bigger field this year. Her favorite positions are either defense or mid-fielder. Megan's favorite part of soccer is running through the tunnel (the parents arm tunnel at the end of the game) and snacks.

As you can imagine, we're looking forward to the last weekend of the fall season coming up and a few open Saturdays for awhile.

The masthead stays...

That's right! The Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl, baby!

Steve and I enjoyed the game first hand. The stadium was amazing. The crowd was often deafening. It was even nerve racking at the end. But they pulled it off and it is a bit surreal.

We owe a large amount of gratitude to our friends the Chungs. They added our two girls to the mix of their three girls for the majority of the day so we could take part in the festivities. I was told that the noise at their house was deafening at times too...and it had nothing to do with the football game.

CONGRATULATIONS CARDS!!

All aboard!

I’m going to make a confession. I am an Arizona Cardinals football fan. I know I haven’t talked about it much and some people outside of AZ might even use the term “bandwagon.” By definition, a bandwagon is “a popular trend that attracts growing support.” Trust me, there is nothing popular about being an Arizona Cardinal fan. And it’s certainly not attractive. On the contrary, being a Cardinal fan can really bring out the ugly in people. Otherwise civilized people will scream profanities and throw tantrums. I’ve seen it…and it is ugly. A more appropriate phrase for what’s happening in Arizona is that the fans are “coming out of the woodwork.”

We moved to Arizona just before the 1997 football season so we haven’t been waiting as long as the Arizona fans that have been cheering for them since they arrived in 1988. Nor as long as, believe it or not, the fans that still linger from when they were in St. Louis. But we’ve been cheering for the consummate underdog for twelve seasons of football. There were times they made it so hard…you wanted to walk away. But just about every off-season brought some new glimmer of hope. There was second-round draft pick, local ASU hero, Jake Plummer. In his second season, Jake carried the Cardiac Cards to that historic moment in team history…when we beat the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card game. Of course that was followed by more seasons of disappointment. The promising first round draft picks that didn’t pan out. Another glimmer when Dennis Green arrived in 2004…bringing along Edgerrin James a couple seasons later. Yet the letdown continued.

Cardinal fans have become so accustomed to disappointment that instead we would hope to not be humiliated on national television. Does anyone remember the Monday Night Football game between the Bears and Cardinals. It is best if you forget.

Yet we’ve remained loyal and ridden the rollercoaster of emotions. And this year it has finally paid off. We are the NFC West Champions. For three weeks we’ve listened to the naysayers. They’ve said that we are the worst team to ever be in the playoffs. We are in the worst league and didn’t deserve to be there. But here we are…one game away from the Super Bowl and this city is covered in Cardinal red. It is the middle of January and we’re still in the game. We haven’t had to settle for which other team to follow through the play-offs. For that I am thrilled for the team and the faithful fans. And if your team is out of the playoffs and you’re debating who to root for…go ahead jump on our bandwagon. We’ve got plenty of room.

The Cowboys are goin' down!

Our good friend, James, visited this past weekend. It's a tradition that he comes into town whenever his beloved Cowboys play the Cardinals (uck...typing beloved and Cowboys together in the same sentence actually made me gag a little). It was great to have him here for a visit and the Cardinal's crushing victory over the Cowgirls made it even better. Meg especially liked doing his hair. Thanks for being such a great sport, Uncle James (that applies to both the football game and the hair)!

There is no crying in baseball

Last night my company sponsored a family night at the Diamondbacks game. I originally asked for two tickets, figuring we'd either get a babysitter for a night out or I'd take Emily out for the night. But then when I remembered that Steve was going to be in Utah visiting his sister, did I cancel? No. Did I decide to get a sitter and go solo? No. I asked for another ticket and took both girls with me. Some people, including my husband, may consider taking a 7 and 3.83 year old to a MLB game by myself crazy insane, but I laugh in the face of insanity....kind of like a crazy person might.

We had a great time. Randy Johnson was pitching....the seats were in the picnic area...we ate lots of delicious baseball fare (hot dogs...right up Meg's alley)...and Jill and Jim were there so that I could leave one when the other had to go to the bathroom (just what the J's wanted when they went the babysitter/night out route...thanks guys!). The only things that might have made it better would have been a win for Randy, if I didn't trip and fall in front of my peers (sheesh...can't take me anywhere) and if Steve could have been there for Megs' first game (not necessarily in that order, Dear).

Here are the girls clowning around in Baxter the Bobcat's den.

Cheering on the U.S. of A.

Leading up to this past weekend there was a lot of discussion about how fewer people watch the Olympics now. I just read something that says the first two nights were up 22% from the Athen's Olympics in 2004. The Desert Doers are part of that total viewership and we're enjoying it as a family. If you aren't part of those statistics and have the time, then I recommend you give it a try. Last night's 4x 100m men's swim relay was just an example of what makes it really good TV.

Smell that?

That is the smell of springtime in the Valley. Fresh cut grass, a new leather mitt, hot dogs and anticipation. We're right in the middle of the spring training season my friends...and for this sports fan, that's a beautiful thing. Every spring I appreciate living in an area that baseball fans come from all over the country to. Here they can watch their favorite teams play at the intimate venues of the Cactus League in arguably the best spring weather in the nation.

And nothing can be better than working for a company that allows me the luxury of heading out to the ballpark on a beautiful spring day, with a group of people I enjoy, for a "team building" outing. Because I think we'd all agree that squishing your toes in the fresh grass, drinking a beer and eating a hot dog with the sun on your back is that much sweeter at 2pm on a workday!