16th Birthday . . . Not Mine or I Would be a Prodigy

Gretchen turned 16 a few days back and we had a little part for her. The big party is coming this weekend and I am writing it. Yes, writing it. She wanted to do a murder mystery party but she didn't want to get a kit or anything so she came to her creative writing major big sister and said, "can you help me write this?" and I said "sure" and the next thing I knew I was writing the entire thing. It'll be fun though. I get to play a hobo.

I had to work all day on Gretchen's birthday so the real fun began when I got home because instead of doing sixteen spankings, I decided to do sixteen sneak-tackles. And I got all sixteen of them in, plus a pinch. I hope this brings just as much luck as the spankings would have.

Probably the funniest tackle was when I snuck up on her in the living room, yelled tackle, and proceeded to through both of us over the back of the couch. She screamed and we ended up a pile on the floor. Tackle sixteen was enjoyable because I cornered her in her bedroom and tackled her into her dresser which we slide down and landed on pillows, paper, books, and whatever else Gretchen keeps on her floor. It was a good evening.

There was cake too and Gretchen's big birthday present with a new lacrosse stick and the lacrosse camp that finishes today. She went to the UC campus and stayed overnight, three days and two nights.

A huge bug just flew into the window. It wasn't a cicada but if it had hit me I would have screamed like it was a cicada. Good thing I'm not a window.

But I think Gretchen had a blast on her birthday and I hope the party this weekend goes just as well.

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is Gretchen acting sixteen with no eye fronts. Second is Gretchen getting ready to blow out candles and then eat cake. Third is the result of one of the tackles. And fourth, because of the tackle, Gretchen got confused and thought she was ninety one.

The Soccer Game that Wasn't

It feels like my life has been very sportsy lately. Baseball games and more baseball games and running and the soccer camp and the last almost-sporting-adventure was to a soccer game starring the Cincinnati Kings. Rosemarie mentioned we should go and organized a group of us. I was so excited. It had been a while since I'd gone to a game. The last game I went to was one up on the cape when I was visiting Katie a few summers ago.

But, the night of the game this icky storm blew through Cincinnati. I was of the opinion that we could still go because we were driving to northern Kentucky and the storms weren't there but Rose made the command decision that we shouldn't go. Which I understand. She was driving all of us and didn't want to get there and find out the game was cancelled. Jonathan also didn't like the idea of sitting on metal bleachers in a lightening storm.

So, instead, the lot of us went to the movies and grabbed dessert at Outback. We saw Get Smart, which turned out better than I thought. I expected it to be funny and it was and it was a consistant humor that was easy to enjoy.

After the movie we drove to Outback. On the way there we got caught in a Harley-Davidson party. There were thousands of bikes surrounding the store. At the restuarant I had cheesecake with raspberries. Good times.

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is the fight over the bread which wasn't really a fight and more of a posing because someone (me) had their camera out and ready to take blog pictures with. Second is of Rosemarie laughing. Third of of Jonathan, but check out Liv in the background. It is gold. Fourth is of Liv.

Homerama 2008

So, yesterday, something exciting happened that happens only a few weeks a year (summer weeks) and makes me a very happy girl. That something is Homerama.

Homerama could potentially be something that is only confined to Cincinnati but it is something that is wonderful. Multi-million dollar homes are built and then opened to the public for viewing. They are fully decorated, but if you buy the house you don't keep the decorations. All the furniture and paintings and stuff are auctioned off at a later date.

Some of the homes a simply ridiculous. They have theaters in the basements, pools in the backyards, insane grills, ceilings, and one even had a six car garage. There were ten houses this year. Ten to twelve is an average number.

My favorite room was the two story library/office with a waterfall and spiral staircase. I didn't have a favorite house this year but there were elements in each one that I enjoyed. There was a Cape Cod style home and the paint colors and art work in it was beautiful. The furniture in the India inspired home was very contemporary and I like contemporary furniture. There was one house that was decorated like a European castle and was complete with a full bar in the basement.

Homerama is one of my favorite summer events. When I first saw the opening day in the paper, I was talking about it and trying to coordinate a day with the family for a home viewing adventure. The family enjoyed it too.

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is one of the houses at Homerama. Second is the waterfall in the two story library. Third is a picture of 2008 (for those that forgot). Fourth is a picture of me a Gretchen.

Soccer Camp and Soccer Dreams

So, the latest happening is the soccer camp that Rosemarie proposed and then asked me to assist with. I agreed. We host the free camp once a week, Tuesday evenings, for two hours at a park close to our homes and it welcomes junior high students.

She originally was just going to help her younger brother, who is trying out for the junior high soccer team in the fall, but decided to extend the opportunity to other junior high soccer players and with the extension, she brought me in.

Both of us have played for near fifteen years and I've refereed for ten years. But experience aside, the first meeting of our camp was one of the hardest things I've done in a while. I think it's because I know how to play. I know what a defensive stance is and I know how to "go hard" and not commit an obvious foul. But to have to teach that to other people is more difficult than I imagined. I tried to channel an old coach of mine, who I absolutely adored, but even that didn't help too much.

I do have to send a shout out of the junior high coach that assisted us because he did know how to translate what we were trying to teach to the kids. Yay coach.

Overall, it wasn't a failure. For our first coaching attempt, I say we did a grand job, but it definitely demonstrated that just because you know something with every muscle (and all my muscle are still yelling at me today) in your body, it doesn't mean you've got the tools to pass it on to others. We are going to continue to try and hopefully, but the summer's end, we will be experts (I love instant gratification).

Have yourselves a great one.

Pictures: #1 is of BBQ Chicken Quesadillas (yay bad spelling) except these ones lack the BBQ sauce and the chicken. All ya'll out there should totally try these, though. Just get quesadilla shells, shreaded cheese (I like sharp cheddar), chicken (a chicken breast or chicken that you can just heat up in a pan), and your favorite BBQ sauce. Cook the chicken, put everything it the quesadilla, five minutes in a 350 degree over, perfection. #2 is of Gretchen making a funny face at the camera. #3 is Gretchen eating the sour cream for the quesadillas. #4 is a Cicada. Yes, they are still here.

Baseball with the Reds

So a few posts ago we discussed baseball by not the Cincinnati Reds. Today, we will discuss baseball by the Cincinnati Reds. Liv, myself, and a few others attended a Reds game two nights ago and in typical Reds fashion, the most rewarding part of the experience was our seats . . . Our dear Cincinnati baseball team didn't even stick to typical Reds playing and do well through the fourth inning. I believe it was inning two where the Reds pitcher had back to back home runs hit off his pitches (because if they were hitting off anything else it would be a little kinky). Granted, first baseman, number 19, Joey Votto did have a home run somewhere early in the game (which made me happy because he's my favorite) but other than that, it was a pretty poor showing.

I am happy I went thought because we, courtesy of Olivia, were sitting five rows from the field right behind first base. We were in foul ball territory. I was fearing for my life most of the game and adrenaline rush from that was enough to make up for the lack of adrenaline the Reds were providing.

Also, last night was a big night. In the world of college, its really nothing, but in the world of me, it is something. I don't know if this has been discussed before but I am an early to bed person. 9, 10, I'm in bed and then I get up early, 7 or 8. That is my schedule. My body works really well on that schedule and I have been able to keep it up through college. Well, last night my schedule was blown out of the water.

Rose, Jake, and I decided to hang out for a bit and we ended up at Jake's apartment watching a movie, Transformers, which we didn't start until after midnight. We watched the whole movie and when I got home and crawled into bed, it was 3am. 3am! Jake and Rosemarie now hold the recorded for the latest Samantha has stayed up. Congratulations!

Have a great one.

Pictures: #1 Our view, un-zoomed from the seats. #2 Our view zoomed from the seats on Joey Votto. #3 me, taken by Olivia. #4 Mr. Redlegs.

June Cicadas

They are crawling up a tree near you, breaking out of their shells, drying their wings, and then flying into your face. Well, they are if you live in southern Ohio.

It is our seventeen year cicada attack (its not really an attack but as I go screaming through the yard as I try not to step on them or have them land on me it sure does sound like a cavewomen battlefield). Gretchen thinks its funny.

They haven't gotten too bad yet. They are singing their song of love and soon, outdoor activity will be accompanied by earmuffs (despite 90 degree weather) just to block out the noise. And soon, every car trip (assuming gas doesn't get any

pricier) will look like an episode of Star Wars when they go to hyperspeed.

I suppose I should specify 'they', cicadas. They are in the title but I've not included the name yet. Cicada. Cicada. I learned there are a few different types of cicadas. We have the ones with orange wings. The ones with green wings are bigger and I believe they are on a fifteen year rotation. Who just learned something by reading my blog? You did!

Wish me luck in the cicada suvival and have a good one.


Pictures: #1 is of a cicada emerging from its shell. The picture is so-so but it was actually kinda cool to see. #2 is of the all the cicada shells on one tree. Usually there are two of three is a small area there were like twenty five on this one tree and I got as many as I could in the picture. #3 is Gretchen with a cicada on a stick. She wasn't eating it or anything, just chasing me with it. #4 is my dad, holding a cicada.