March Madness

Last weekend was Skye's basketball team's last game. We made it into the playoffs, granted there were only 4 teams, so we all made it into the playoffs. Then we made it into the championship and came very close to winning(lost by three points) Ironically or not so ironically we ended up losing to the team who after the first game of the season acquired our best player. But most importantly our team played really hard and had a lot of fun. They laughed and joked throughout the season and it was almost always impossible to know if they won or lost by their expressions. We really were the Bad News Bears of the league. They were a handful to coach but so much fun.




One of the only times I was able to get them to sit still the entire season. And check out the very appropriate name that I tried unsuccessfully to dissuaded them from choosing.




The team in action.




The end of the season pizza/pool party.




Let the celebration and pizza making begin.




A moment of serenity captured. However, if you look closely you'll note the flat of unplanted herbs. The never ending job of home owning/gardening.




Fun in the pool




If it's too hot in the kitchen, move it outdoors.




Everyone getting in on the action.




And reaping the rewards.




A well deserved glass of wine after a wonderful party and a great season. Way to go team. Thanks for the memories and a thanks to all the photos to Theresa.

Home schooling is fun

It's funny people are sometimes concerned that Skye will not have enough socialization or learning opportunities with being home schooled. It's the opposite. There are way too many things to do. Figuring out what will be best or most fun is the issue. This week Skye studied the Chumash Indians with an intensive, yet very fun and cool all day learning field trip with amazing Rob Remedi.



This was me day dreaming while waiting for Skye.




Her comes the tribe.




Check out our very green and accurate structure. It's dome shape does better with earthquakes.

And the next day, in preparation for the upcoming Super Duper Art Show we hit the Getty, which is so cool and amazing.




Wow




The colors were amazing




Nija and Skye amongst the tulips




That's LA on a hazy day, still pretty wonderful



Attitude coming at you.

The Haynes/Carr-Danniells weekend and The Great Urban Race

Quick note: You can click on the highlighted words and they'll take you to various links. Oh and I love responses, too

This was a full immersion Haynes/Carr-Danniells weekend, starting with Theresa Haynes taking her kids, River and Micah and Skye to the play High School Musical and then whisking Skye and Micah over to Girl Scouts where I picked them up before dropping them back off at the Haynes household with a baby sitter so that Cindy and I along with Theresa could carpool over to the Roxy to see husband, Kip Haynes play with his band, Beautiful Criminal. (It may seem redundant but I’m trying to keep all the names and the way they relate to one another straight)

After hooking up with more friends and checking out the cool show we collected Kip and Theresa’s brother, Tim and headed to Canter’s for some late night noshing. The following morning Cindy got the girls to their YWCA basketball which they lost just barely (Newly acquired assistant coach Rebecca stood in for me) while Theresa and I headed off to race in The Great Urban Race and Kip got stationed to be our support crew. Originally Kip was my running mate. We took second in the last Great Urban Race, but his ankle was acting up so Theresa agreed to step in for him. Bravo Theresa. Also thanks and shout out to Theresa’s parents who also helped hugely with questions and clues.

The Great Urban Race is an urban adventure. Teams of two solve clues and complete challenges while navigating city streets, using public transit. The clues are ridiculously obscure so you really need someone by a phone and computer to help out.

I knew that racing with Theresa was going to be different than with Kip when initially one of the main questions was what our matching outfits would be. “Black t-shirts, I guess” was my response. Fortunately Theresa won out(really no fight, she was Ok with whatever) but I did end up getting some cool Plaid shorts which Cindy really liked,( I liked them too, ok.)

This time the race was a bit more complex involving both the Metro Rail and the bus system. Last time Kip and I ran we managed to run the entire race and never take any Mass transit, but we never left Santa Monica. This time we went from Hollywood to downtown up into Echo Park and Silver Lake and then back to Hollywood.

The race started off a little bumpy for us. We went to FAX the clue sheets at a place near the start that I had actually went to the day to make sure it wouldn’t be a problem and sure enough day of the race it wasn’t working . So we ended up racing the other direction to an alternative FAX. After making sure Kip received the FAX we jumped onto the Metro Rail and headed downtown on a hunch and now we were cut off from communications because well we were underground on the Metro (funny how on 24 their cell phones work just about everywhere including underground bunkers like their head quarters, hmmm?) So when we came up we found out that we had overshot the first destination and we were back in the Metro again.

At this first clue one of us (me) had to do a handstand. Which I did, problem is I just kept going and practically flipped over.






OOOPS!!!!



There we go. Like I said we were off to a rough start.




Like when I bit Theresa's finger at the next clue that required us to have a photo of one team member feeding a slice of pizza to the other.




Good thing she got her hand out of the way and has a good sense of humor




Looking a little sweaty




A bit more relaxed or had we collapsed in exhaustion at this point




Near the end back in the Metro




Almost done




These are our pathetic caricature's. A mandatory stop that took forever because of the long line of racer's waiting to be drawn. I saw him make a lot of cool drawings, but literally two racers before us and he realized he needed to speed up and scale it down a bit. Hey at least I got a skated board.

I don't know exactly what place we came in, they haven't posted the results yet, but we had a great time. Thanks again to Theresa and congratulations on finishing your first race.

Post race celebration up at the house and good byes and good nights were said but no the Haynes/Carr-Danniells immersion weekend was not quite over.

Skye and Cindy and Micah and Theresa still had a few hours of selling Girl Scout cookies at our troops booth.

WOW!!! What a combined family weekend.

We'll see you guys tomorrow at the park.

Marathon Madness

Hurray I finished. It took almost 5 hours to complete the 26.2 miles, and believe me you feel that .2, but finish it I did.

Preface
I was training this year and had actually built up a nice base and then BAM!! I got the flu, like a month ago and I can still feel it lingering in my chest, and then BAM!!, I sprain my toe in Jui jitsu, a minor sprain but I sprained my toe before I got sick and its still swollen. I know they're kind of excuses, but I was seriously considering not racing, for fear of causing permanent damage in my foot or going into relapse, yuck. Plus having only ran four times in the last month, I really had no idea how this race was going to go.

The Marathon to the Marathon
The last time I ran the LA Marathon, in 2005 it was a loop course, you show up and park, the race starts and ends in the same place. This year and apparently last year as well, they've made it point to point. It started at Universal Studios and ended downtown. So I ended up parking downtown and taking the Red Line(it was free for runners). Of course with all the street closings finding parking and then the Metro entrance was a pain especially at 6 in the morning. And by the way, yesterday it was overcast and perfect running weather all day. Today on my way in the sun was already blinding on my way in. Anyway, getting to the race location and the bathroom with one bottleneck after another was ridiculous, to the point where I didn't even realize the race had started I ended up so far back. Luckily with the new technology, you have a computer chip or something like that, that starts your time when you actually cross the starting line. It took me around 8 minutes just to get to the start.

The Race-Very briefly
A marathon is a trip. Of course you have to be in some kind of shape to finish it, but it really is a psychological trip as well. The first mile is all about avoiding crashing in to walkers, kids, groups. It is so frustrating and since it was down hill, dangerous. My first mile took I think 13 minutes. Mile 2 a little better, but not much. After that I was pretty much averaging 10's until mile 16 or 17.


That's me at Mile 9, still feeling pretty good. Picture by Awesome Friend Kip, who with family in tow came out to cheer me on. Big shout out to Kip, Theresa, Micah, and River. It gave me a needed boost.

Miles 15 to 19 really sucked cause you realize you're just barely half through it and you hurt like hell and you're in this industrial kind of area, with not a lot of crowd support.

Miles 20 to 23 I was feeling like this might be my best time yet, in spite of the set backs.

Miles 23 to end. I hit the wall. It was mostly uphill. My right hip started acting up. Every step felt like a knife jab, again that question of "Am I really hurting myself?" And then the left toe, the already sprained one started killing. So it was an incredibly awkward and silly looking run/shuffle/limp/walk.




Who am I? Where am I? Oh hi Skye, beautiful daughter.



Let me out of this cruelest of bottlenecks.


Yeah it's over. Can't wait till next year

Super Duper Thursday and Beyond

For the last couple of weeks we've been trying to come up with Skye's presentation for the monthly home school show and tell, which is a Science Fair this month. We've been studying Organic Classification, you remember kingdoms(there's 6 now not just plant and animal) , species, phylums and the like, but it's not really a good science fair, show-stopper, kind of subject. So after visiting the Science museum for inspiration and scouring the internet for ideas we narrowed it down to hurricanes and tornadoes and then further down to hurricanes. Mind you this was based greatly on a simple yet cool presentation that I found on the internet, "Tornado in a bottle" that while it does indeed look like a tornado and the vortex of a hurricane in fact the principles are hugely different. However at this point we were committed and were going to do a presentation on hurricanes.

The Super Duper is also a pot luck and of course I always feel like I have to make something, really its an excuse to cook something up and share. I'm beginning to be a pot luck addict which is a good thing because after the Super Duper, in the early evening is an Set Decorator Society meeting which since the writer's strike has taken to the pot-luck format. So two pot lucks, a Science Fair and what ended up being a really good SDSA meeting in the eve.





But not before we got a little visit from this adorable little guy. He hung out for a long time for a hummingbird, hope he's all right. Photo by Skye.

Cooking, practicing a hurricane presentation and then prepping tow additional "fig-trees". Oh yeah and then running down to flower market to adorn "fig-trees". And then driving, driving, driving.




Skye's presentation board. I have a video of her presentation but until I can figure out how to trim it down, well let's just say it goes on a bit.




Skye trying to see a hole in her hand. Neat optical illusion.




There were lots of great and fun presentations. It really keeps the kids attentions. And the interactions and Q and A's are fascinating to watch.




Liquid nitrogen is way cool, literally and figuratively . I had never seen it explained and demonstrated before. Definitely a crowd favorite.





Ok this is a picture of the original "fig tree" from New Year's Eve. Just imagine 3 of them instead of one and around 90 Prosciutto wrapped figs instead of 30. And then imagine me in the back of my Explorer around the corner from the prop house where the meeting was happening attaching these little guys to their hooks. Pretty funny. What Skye is coming away with from all this only time will tell.

This weekend slows down a bit with a friend's son's band Slinky playing at the Knitting factory, Skye's basketball team's playoff game (I'm coach), a couple of birthday parties and then 26.2 mile of fun with the LA Marathon on Sunday.

Skye Journeys; My Stumblings

Last Saturday was a classic example of my good intentions and love for lots of experiences colliding with a one step forward two step back dance I feel I've been doing for a couple months or weeks or years, yeah feeling like a clumsy juggler these days.

Skye's moving up quickly in Taekwondo. She had a belt test in the morning. There's a lot kids doing Taekwondo. So while the upper belts were sparring, I stepped out grab a bottle of water. Upon my return, and I was only gone for like ten minutes, Skye was sitting down after finishing her form. They had slipped in the White Belts testing in between the Black belts sparing and Green belts and Blue belts sparring. So after waiting and watching all these other kids warm up and kick and yelp I miss Skye's kicking and yelping. Meanwhile the clock is ticking and I realize we will be late for our turn manning her girl scout's booth in the annual Tasting Bee(several troops get together and make traditional international foods and then go around and sample one another's fare) . Not to mention I had volunteered to give another girl a ride to the Tasting Bee, oh and I had forgotten my cell phone to inform anyone of my predicament.

Oh this Belt Ceremony is dragging on, hand out the belts and certificates and let me get out of here. Enough with the speeches. Actually it was really nice but the clock was ticking.






Skye warming up. She's still very flexible.



Skye accepting her certificate and belt. A very happy and proud kid. Way to go kiddo. At least I was there for that.




Skye helping out at her Troop's Russian themed booth.




Girl scouts have been a lot more involved and time consuming than I imagined, but well worth the effort.

After racing back to get my phone I was off to coach the Evel Kninevals, (Skye's basketball team, not my idea for the name, in fact I strongly resisted it which is probably why the girls were so adamant about it.) It as an amazingly close game decided in the last minute. We lost by a close 3 points. The play offs start next week.

Speaking of basketball. The Lakers are on the rise. 10 wins in a row. Go Lakers!!!! Kobe MVP




This was an assume spontaneous moment at one of the home school. This was not staged, in fact us parents were all involved in various discussions and conversations a good 50 yards away. I was too lazy to run over and get a picture so I handed off my camera to fellow home school parent/good friend/photo-journalist Theresa. Notice the nice composition and that the subjects are actually in center of the photo.

Surprise Cindy

Cindy’s birthday came and went a couple weeks back when I was at my lowest with the flu that hit me. I felt horrible that I could barely acknowledge her birthday much less get her a gift or dinner or anything. I managed to find the card that I had bought the week before and scribbled something in a delirious state.

So as I approached full recovery, I hatched the idea of throwing Cindy a surprise party with this three day weekend coming up. I still wasn’t my normal self but I sent out e-vites and suddenly I realized I had to pull this thing off. So I shopped for snacks and such, determined to keep it simple. I hid all the goodies except the things that needed refrigeration in the garage in old boxes and trash bags. Then I did my best to hide and or distribute things in the fridge to not raise suspicions. Skye and I ordered a cake to pick up on day of the party. How I’d do that I hadn’t figured out. Cindy was curious as to if we would do anything or see anybody over the weekend. I played off that I still needed some recovery time, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything.

The night/early morning, like 2 or 3 am, before the party I got up and sort of laid out the platters and bowls and forks and stuff for the party, took some pics and then re-hid everything. I prepared one simple dish that still needed to be cooked, but I’d figure out how to get that done latter. I really didn’t have a plan yet. I went on-line and bought tickets for a movie for the time the guests would be arriving and getting ready to surprise Cindy upon our return. Then I made a little outline with the pictures of where everything was and how everything could be set up. At some point during the day I told Cindy I just had to get out for some “alone” time. It didn’t seem to be too odd of a request. Off I went to get the cake. Upon return I bumped into Cindy as I came into the house through the garage, luckily I left the cake in the car just in case such a chance meeting occurred. I’d sneak it in latter, which I was able to do. We were all in the car ready to leave when I “realized I had left my phone in the house” I went back inside while Cindy and Skye waited in the car. I then retrieved the envelope with the photos and instructions, left it out, unlocked side doors and back doors and headed out hoping that this would work out. I didn’t specify anyone to be in charge and didn’t know who was going to show up when. That was part of the fun of it. Half-way through the movie and the guests would hopefully be arriving and setting up. I had sent out an e-mail to the guests that morning but had no idea if anyone checked it. It was out of my hands now.

After the movie, I received a voicemail that indeed, super responsible good friend Linda was there had found envelope and was moving ahead. What a relief. I called shortly before we got home but couldn’t say anything or even risk Cindy hearing me on the phone, so I hung up after a couple rings. Hopefully that would be enough. When we got home Cindy commented that someone must be throwing a party because of all the cars. Skye had been very discreet the days and hours leading up but she was starting to let it slip. I rang the doorbell and then realized I didn’t have my keys. As I waited for Cindy to get the door open, I wondered what would happen next. Who would be there? Where would they lay in wait?

It worked!!

For a moment Cindy thought it was a home-invasion but then she saw it was people she knew, she was still confused since her birthday had been a couple of weeks before. The guests had done a wonderful job being hosts and the party was in full swing within minutes.

Special thanks to Linda



Yummy yummy cake.




The following morning....a Barbie massacre and a bunch of popped water ballons????????

Happy Valentine's

January ends

Just a quick post

My marathon training or should I say overtraining has come to a pause. I had worked up to a long run of 16 miles and was out running trails for 2-3 hour stints, but it was taking a couple of days to recover. And I'm still doing jui jitsu and working out semi-regularly. Well like I said I guess I overdid it and hurt my foot and am now pathetically limping around. Hopefully I will be in decent shape to run in Snowshoe the Bear, snowshoe 10k I signed up for next weekend.

Skye's basketball team is doing really well. Last week we were short players and still were able to win despite only having 4 girls to there 5 out on the court. We're now 3 wins 0 loses and still have not come up with a name.

The home school Super-Duper show and tell was postponed due to rain which gave us an additional week to study Skye's historical personality, Cleopatra. I was very proud of her presentation. She remembered a lot of the facts and was quite poised.

Cindy continues on with Eagle. I continue to spend too much time on the internet and marvel at its enormity.

January's Activities

After recovering from the holidays and the last big push on the backyard project, I have finally begun to get into the swing of things. This post will feel kind of hodge-podgy and non-sequential, which is how I'm feeling as well. Skye started basketball and I started coaching her team. We had one practice before the game and I pretty much just let them loose to check out their various skill levels. My one goal for that first practice was to learn all their names and for them to get to know each other. I think I did pretty well on that. Game day I was ready for us to get beat and then tell the girls with a little practice we'd do better next time. Well the girls did great and we won by a lot. We did so well that the following Monday practice they took our best girl and shifted her to the team we had beaten, to even things out. So we'll see how we do this week. I feel confident.




Skye is one of the youngest and smallest on the team, unfortunately she's got her back to us in this photo.




After the rains, the skies cleared and the nearby mountains we covered with snow, barely even looks like Los Angeles.

I've been going consistently to Jui jitsu, not getting beat up so bad these days, having fun and keeping in shape. Will try to get photos someday. Also running regularly, cause I'm doing the LA Marathon this year.




Skye went on a really cool and informative hike led by Rob Remedi, organized through Skye's Girl Scout troop, another one of this year's semi-new activities.




A beautiful sunset captured by Skye outside of Cindy's job site over at Playa Vista.

There are the park days, checked out a friend's band, Beautiful Criminal at the Roxy, a lot of fun and then you know the usual, gotta run and get beat up at jui jitsu, drop Skye at Girl Scouts, run for an hour or so and then party at friends house. Looking forward to yummy jambalaya.