Well starts season two for the ultimate Rockets team.  I think most of us are psyched for tomorrow’s game!  We managed to get some better looking jerseys for this season.  Take a peak at them.  They were a pretty good buy, even though they were knock offs.  The number even appears on the shorts.  I will be sure to take some team pictures with all of us sporting the neat-o outfits.

Yesterday, was a very disappointing Halloween.  Zelda and I sported our Princess Leia outfits (pictures will also be forthcoming there).  We didn’t get all that many trick-or-treaters this year.  Have things changed since I was a kid?  Most of the treat-erswere not dressed up in cool outfits and they were just expecting candy.  What happened to being appreciative?  The bad night made Zelda and I rethink our plans to wear costumes next year.

Wish the Rockets soccer team success tomorrow!

What a great night!  The Breast Cancer Bunco was very successful for Nina and Melissa.  I think we raised an additional $500 for them!  I got to use some of my new Pampered Chef pieces and make some old party food favorites.  This even also gave me an excuse to put my Halloween decorations out early.  I’m sure Todd was also happy that I cleaned the house top to bottom.  Zelda was very well behaved with 20 some odd other people in the house.  She pulled some of her antics like “I will just go ahead and sit in front of you and put my paw on your lap” scheme, which turned out to be pretty profitable for her.  She was a good girl though, and everyone kept commenting on what a beautiful dog was.  A comment to make her mommy so proud!

I head out on a business trip this week to the northeast, so hopefully Little Z will miss her mommy.  She is excited, however, because her Pop-Pop will be visiting next weekend!  It’s so hard to believe it’s almost October.  I need to finalize our halloween costumes, so Zelda and I can be a pair again.

Well thanks again to everyone for supporting a great fundraising event and helping Melissa and Nina finish their goals!  To a great cause: Breast Cancer Research!

So based on the last Bunco being not only a hit, but also a success for the raiser, I decided a few weeks ago to help Nina in her final quest to raise $2.2k for her Susan G. Komen 3 Day Cancer Walk.  I’m throwing a fundraising Bunco event this weekend that should be fun!  We have queried a bunch of businesses in the west valley and already gotten a bunch of donations.  Hopefully, we get a bunch of people coming and that it’s a success!  This has also given me an excuse to get my Halloween decorations out early!  Bunco!

Zelda is excited, because Pop-Pop comes to visit in another 2 weeks.  She is excited to see him and get tummy rubs and more trips to the dog park.

Well another birthday has come and gone.  They happen so quickly now adays.  Todd and I decided to have a video game/board game party.  How fun was that!  It makes me recall how much I loved board games when I was a kid!  They are especially fun when you are playing Scattergories or Taboo with a large group.

It was an enjoyable day!  I got lots of great stuff from people.  I was very proud of Zelda; she acted well behaved and cute all night long.  She is still a little tired from the late night yesterday and has already decided to return to bed to have a rest.

Is there such a thing as a birthday resolution?  Similar to a New Year’s Resolution?  I have been bad lately with push-ups and want to get back onto the bandwagon, so I can regain the competitive atmosphere Todd and I had going for our Push-Up Challenge.

Thanks for a great birthday everyone!

On another note, I played Bunco on Friday night to help with my friend Nina’s fundraising for her Breast Cancer Walk.  That was great as well!  It was neat, because there were prizes for everyone.  Nina and I spoke about perhaps having our Bunco night!  That will be a blast!

On a side note, Todd commented that he wants to vacation all of the time, and I always come up with excuses that things are going on at work, etc. His vacations, however, mainly consist of staying at home, which I DO NOT SEE as  a good way to use my time off from work.

He better be ready to tour all of the states where we have family members living!!

Well Todd is not “allowing” us to go to Lehigh/Lafayette this year, but at least I will get to see a lot of my brother’s friends from Lehigh at an upcoming wedding.  The wedding sounds like it will be a very extravagant weekend!  Doug Hyrb is getting married in Pittsburgh with a 450 person reception, which my brother is the best-man.  JoeMc and PattiMc will also be in attendance at the wedding, so it will be a reunion with the family.  Poor little Zelda will be the only absent member.

We have all been kidding my brother about something a little more humorous.  My brother was my “man” of honor at my wedding, he has been a groomsman a few times, now he will be the best man, but next summer for all of the crown and glory he will be the “master of ceremony” and will be conducting the Noone/Stowe wedding at Music Fest.   I guess after that, he will just need to get married, so that he can fulfill every wedding duty possible.

Todd and I are also gearing up my birthday, which is in a couple of weeks.  We’re going to be having a video game/board game party, which should be fun.  Zelda cannot wait to participate in all of the action.

I need to pick up the pace again with my push-ups.  I have been slacking off in the last week!

Very surprising event today!  I have received a sneak peek of what Todd will look like when he goes bald.  Baldness does tend to run in Todd’s family, so I guess it is inevitable.  So about six months ago, with Todd being sick of going to “Fantastic Sam’s” and “Great Clips” he decided to buy himself his own hair clipper.  As a side job, I have become his hair cutter.  Lucky me!  Todd usually tends to begin the cut with the buzzer and then I finish off the back, edges, and do around the ears.  I think Todd learned a very important lesson tonight:  always putter the safety guard on before beginning the cut.  I was busy in the backyard picking up Zelda’s ‘goodies’ and when I got over to the chair, I noticed that the hair on the ground was surprisingly more than normal.  I looked up and saw a bald Todd.  I asked him what he was doing and he ran into the house.  I heard laughter.  On the plus side, Todd does not have a mis-shaped head.  Hopefully, the hair will grown enough for the wedding we are attending in 3 weeks.

A picture of his baldness, will be forthcoming.

So a few months ago, I quickly watched the Heroes series to get prepared for the upcoming season in September. I also watched and became totally engrossed in Grey’s Anatomy. McDreamy! Most recently, I began watching 24. That’s a great show as well! I cannot imagine having to wait weeks in between to see all 24 episodes, though. At least watching them one after another makes the story go faster and you are actually in moment of the events. Perhaps with all of the weeks in between, it leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat each week. Based on all of these new shows that I have added to my repertoire, I will be tivo-ing non-stop in the fall!

On another note, the Olympics began yesterday. I have loved the Olympics since I can remember when. When I was a kid, I would watch the women’s gymnastics and would “try” to reproduce the floor routines in my family room. I have always held the Olympians with very high regard, because they have worked for so long and become so fabulous at all of these different sports. I am looking forward to watching the large variety of athletic events over the next two weeks. My favorites will still remain the same - Soccer, Track and Field, Gymnastics and Swimming. Here’s to the USA having a successful and Gold Medal filled Beijing Olympics. Going back to my original “24″ subject, what ever happened to the 24 hour Olympic channels they had when we were kids?

Well I have been following the push-up challenge pretty well! I have noticed more ‘toned’ arms lately. I can’t believe I have already gotten up to be able to do 122 push-ups! Pretty unbelievable. I have been pretty competitive with Todd, to see how we are doing in comparison. I believe I am the current front runner by a number of push-ups. I am excited to see how I will look for the upcoming wedding in Pittsburgh, which a number of Lehigh alumni are attending.

Speaking of Lehigh…My brother is still speculating, based on news from other Lehigh folks, that Lehigh/Lafayette will have limited seating this year, because they will be selling to Lafayette season’s ticket holders first. That would really take away from the most played rivalry in college history.

Todd and I recently started the 90 push-up challenge, where you are supposed to ramp-up your upper body strength by partaking in a 6 week push-up program. Every other day Todd and I complete 5 increase sets of push-ups with various time in between sets. The end goal is to be able complete 100 push-ups in a row. I have also made it into a mini competition with Todd about who can complete more during the ‘max out’ portion of the day.  At least we’re both going to gain some more upper body strength! If anyone else is interested in completing the push-up challenge - here’s the link:

http://hundredpushups.com/

Todd and I also both received a flyer in the mail for the upcoming 7v7 Litchfield Park Soccer League. I will need to rally another triumphant team together for this season. Any ideas for team names?