It's been well over a month since I wrote, please forgive me. Momma always said if I didn't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all, and it seems that lately I've only been seeing the negative side of life.

The economy is top of mind. If the dumb media would just shut up then it would improve! News reports are constantly talking about how bad it is and how it will get worse before it gets better. Heck Ya! Now everyone is going to stop spending and save for the day they loose their job ... just fueling the problem. Too bad we're not the Soviets, because if the Obama administration could sensor the press then the economy would improve, but since we have freedom of speech the idiot press will continue to be the biggest part of the problem.

Life is busy, both at work and at home. I like being busy but there is a point when I'm too busy I get cranky ... I think I'm hitting that point. Riley is overbooked in her activities with most of her time going to volleyball or the spring musical. She likes both and I'd like her to stay involved in both, though together they take up a lot of time. Add to the mix: scouts, guitar lessons, and youth group and something starts to suffer from neglect. Luckily she doesn't have a big speaking role in the musical so she doesn't have to spend additional time outside rehearsal learning lines. I'm very proud of her and her level of maturity at this age, but its stressing me out! But don't worry about me, we have 2 weekends in a row without a tournament ... whatever shall I do with a free Saturday?

I gained 12 lbs when I took some time (3 1/2 months) off from exercising last fall. I've been trying to get back in shape for 2 months now, and its a slower process than usual. I'm running about 15 miles a week and biking 6-10 miles. I've lost 2 lbs, but my real diet starts tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get over this hurdle soon and working out will become enjoyable for me again.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer. I promise this to be my only negative post for 2009!

Motivating news

Usually the current news bores me ... seems like the stories are the same old ones recycled from last year. If it's not lackluster then it's depressing; other child abuse case, another murder on the streets, another teenage hooligan was arrested. Maybe it's age that fuels my cynicism.

However this week was different. A commercial jet doesn't crash everyday, and never can I remember a large plane wreck that didn't have any casualities. I have to say that I have been encouraged hearing about the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River.

Watching news reports and recaps of Thursday's event amazes me at how 155 people on the plane had to work together beyond selflessness to get everyone out safely. With today's economy sinking and all the political conflict in the middle east this sends a message of hope to most.

Could it be that this event happened simply because the country needed an inspiring story to lift our spirits?

My 2009 Resolution

This is going to be a difficult one to tackle. I am going to reclaim the status of pack-leader of our house.

Seven years ago come April 1st (yes, can you believe it, April fools day) we adopted Buster. His name was Chuckie (should have been a clue) and he was a 3 1/2 yrs old miniature pinscher. Within the first week he had bit me several times and also a few neighbors who ventured into our yard. Within a month I established that I was the alpha but was still having a hard time controlling him so I got a remote-controlled shock collar. This little device did wonders, and by his 4th birthday he was a pretty obedient dog but still troubled by anxiety.

Fast forward 6 years and I guess I haven't been a very good pack-leader because I think he feels he needs to step up to the job. He is very territorial in our house and feels he needs to protect everything important to him, including me and Riley.
Maybe I've been watching too much Cesar Milan, but that guy is amazing with dogs. I've learned signs of Buster showing dominance that I previously thought were harmless affectionate gestures.

In conclusion, by the end of 2009 I'd like to have better control over my dog and to do this I'm going to adhere to Cesar's rules of giving Buster: Exercise before Discipline, and Discipline before Affection.

1. Exercise: I've started putting him on the treadmill but I think it just makes him more anxious. I'm pledging to take him on a bike ride of the temp is 20-85 degrees. I usually take him running outside with me outside but he wants to go faster than I can go. Last weekend we went for a 3 mile ride and he loved it averaging almost 8 mph! I think with a little conditioning he can go 12 mph.
2. Discipline: this will be more difficult and I have to get Riley to cooperate. I figure if he is physically worn out he will be more obedient.
3. Affection: this is the easy one!

Congrats to tournament champions SANDSHARKS! Riley's first tournament of the year was this past weekend and they won it all. Though Topeka is only 75 miles away the team decided to go early and have some fun in the local Holidome. The kids swam and played while the parents hung out and played some cards.

There are two 12-yr old teams in Riley's club this year with 16 girls in total. The "12-1" team which is similar to varsity and the "12-2" is the junior varisty. Riley is the only girl from last year to play on the 12-1 team. Four girls from last year's team play on 12-2 and another 4 went to different clubs. Last year's team had a lot of attitude and drama involved and Riley had a very difficult time dealing with and overcoming this.

Let me just say .... Riley's team this year is wonderful. They are all very supportive of each other and if one person is down the others do their best to bring them up. Over the winter school break Riley spent a lot of time with two of the new girls and I think she is considering them her best friends now. The team has a lot of talent but I think what helps them the most is that they are friends off the court.

The first part of a vball tournament is pool play. This is where the teams are broken into pools of 5 teams and they play round robin (all teams play the other 4 in their pool). After pool play, the three teams with the best records move onto a single elimination tournament. There were two pools (10 teams) in this tournament and this is a picture after Sandsharks 12-1 won their pool.

Since they received a bye in the first round of tournament play, they only had to win 2 matches (best 2 of 3 games) to win the whole thing. The first match was against a mediocre team with amazing paience that they beat 2-0 in pool play, but one game was a very close 27-25. A 3rd game was needed in the tournament match but they won 15-9 and moved onto the finals!

The final match was against a team that won most of the Topeka tournaments last year and finished the 11's season ranked #2. In pool play they split each winning a game 25-19 and they barely nudge them out of winning the pool. The girls were focused but tired. They won the first game and lost the 2nd requiring a 3rd game. The 3rd and final game was neck-and-neck all the way but the Sharks pulled it off and won 17-15!!

Another good thing about these youth tournaments is that there are no referees. Each team is responsible for reffing other games (with a little bit of coaches help at this age). This ensures the girls know the complete rules and teaches them that refs are only human and make mistakes. Riley has wanted to top ref forever and she finally got the chance.

And one more picture to share. Are these the cutest little 5-yr olds that you ever saw???? Thomas and Isabella are younger siblings of the team.

Keeping in touch

As we head into 2009, I look back over the years at how far technology has come in terms of communication. 25 or so years ago when I was in high school we were one of the few households that had more than one phone line ... and that's only because I was spoiled and didn't want to share a line with my family so I bought my own. I didn't know anyone with an answering machine. Residential voice mail was unheard, and you couldn't tell who was calling unless you picked up the phone and recognized the voice on the other end. Now most people, even children, have mobile phones and sometimes two or three. Simply amazing. Everyone is accessible whether they like it or not.

I activated my Facebook account a few weeks ago and I'm finding old friends from high school. Some I never thought I'd hear from again, and some I'd forgot even existed. After only a few weeks, I have linked to 70 "friends" of which about half are relatives. What a great way to keep in touch! And also learn more about people.

I've adopted a pet dog on Facebook. Her name is Frances and I log in every day to feed her, play with her, make sure her needs are met, and take her to competitions. I also pet other's dogs to earn points so that I can train Frances. I think I'm getting addicted to my little virtual pet ... she is very cute. I'm sure one day soon I'll realize that I have other more important responsibilities in life, but for now I'm enjoying Frances.

White Christmas

The weatherman said we have snow on Christmas day about every 5 or 6 years in Missouri. I can only remember once in my life that we've had a white Christmas ... and this will be my 40th Christmas living in Missouri.

I'm the first to admit that with each passing year I become less and less interested in the Christmas season. I try not to be grinchie, but come on, we've commercialized it beyond belief. Did you know that Americans spend $450 billion during the season? Did you also know that it would take only $10 billion to make sure everyone in the world had a clean water supply ... and that lack of clean water kills more people everyday than anything else in the world? If we Americans would save $1 of every $45 we spend on Christmas we could make this world a better place to live. Consumerism does not equal happiness.

I received a Christmas letter today from a co-worker. I like getting Christmas letters especially from people I don't see often. This letter really touched me. Instead of reviewing everything her family did this year, she spoke of how she saw Jesus this year, where He touched her life, and how she responded to Him. The letter was humorous, yet inspiring. She said she saw Him several times on their 2,370 mile motorcycle journey through the Rocky Mountains ... in the beauty created, but also He was with her on the icey passes.

Thanks to Riley for bearing with me as I didn't want to pull all of the decorations out of the closet and fight with the 9-ft tree. We (really, just she) created a cute little corner in the living room to decorate. I actually really like it ... simple, yet seasonal. She also strung lights around our front window and set them up on a timer. I am very thankful for her, not only putting up with grouchy mom, but being independent while she made our house more of a home.

So with the snow on the ground and many houses all decorated in lights and 10-foot blow-up Santa's dancing in the wind, I am finally in the Christmas mood. It took until Christmas Eve, but I got here, just in time to head off to church service in about an hour to worship the Prince of Peace and celebrate the life and salvation He gave us.

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends. Peace to all throughout the world.

You know you're greek when ...

I found this list and couldn't refuse. I've italized the lines that are especially applicable to me, or someone in my family.

1. You have at least one relative who wore a black dress every day for an entire year after a funeral... or their entire life!
2. You spent your entire childhood thinking what you ate for lunch was pronounced "sangwich."
3. You've experienced the phenomena of 150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard during a family cookout.
4. You were surprised to discover the FDA recommends you eat three meals day, not seven.
5. You thought killing the lamb each year and having feta, tzatziki and olives on your dinner table was absolutely normal.
6. You grew up thinking no fruit or vegetable had a fixed price and that the price of everything was negotiable through haggling.
7. You were as tall as yiayia by the age of seven.
8. You thought nylons were supposed to be worn rolled to the ankles.
9. Mamas main hobby is cleaning.
10. You were surprised to find out that wine was actually sold in stores.
11. You never knew what to expect when you opened the margarine, after all you thought washing out and reusing margarine containers was normal.
12. You thought Orthodoxy was the only religion in the world.
13. You thought every meal had to be eaten with a hunk of bread in your left hand.
14. Yiayia never threw anything away, you thought seeing washed plastic bags hanging on the clothes line was normal.
15. You learned to play tavli before you went to school.
16. You have at least one relative who came over on the boat.
17. You have relatives who aren't really your relatives.
18. You drank wine before you were a teenager.
19. You grew up in a house with a yard that didn't have one patch of dirt that didn't have a flower or a vegetable growing out of it.
20. You thought that talking loud was normal.
21. You thought everyone got pinched on the cheeks and money stuffed in their pockets by their relatives.
22. There was an icon in every room of the house, including the bathroom.
23. You wear or at least own a gold chunky bracelet.
24. Olive oil is like a drug - you can't survive without it.
25. Your cheeks receive their weekly work out every time you visit an aunt.
26. Your last name ends with: opoulos, os, as, or is
27. When leaving a house, you stand at the front door for a half hour more and talk
28. No air conditioning is on at the house or you'll get sick... "regma"
29. You were forced to go to Greek school when you were little
30. You use plastic grocery bags as garbage bags
31. Your parents have never realized phone connections have gotten better in the last 20 years and still continue to scream on the phone when calling Greece
32. You expect at least 600 people at your wedding
33. Your 15 year old brother/sister can out drink ANY American guy
34. Your only vacation is back to the homeland
35. You tell your parents you're seeing someone and they start sending out wedding invitations.
36. You're home an hour late and you're already listed as a missing person.
37. You're Dad has those old Greek tapes in the car, and plays them on family drives. Especially in the vicinity of attractive members of the opposite sex.
38. You break a leg, and yiayia thinks your life is over.
39. You tell your parents you're having a party. They buy out the whole supermarket.
40. It doesn't matter if people can't hear what you're talking about - you talk so much with your hands that people know what you're going on about anyway.
41. You go to a wedding, and are introduced to cousins that you never knew existed.
42. You tell mama you're not hungry and she thinks you have an eating disorder.
43. You can distinguish between kefalotiri and kefalograviera
44. You're an adult and are forced to be with your family at 12 midnight on New Year's Eve
45. Your yiayia / mama / thia has a miracle cure for everything.
46. Your mother or father still feels the need to tell you, "katse kala" in public
47. You have been hit at some point with a pandofla
48. You can dance kalamatiano, tsamiko, zembekiko without music
49. You go to church picnics pretending you're there for reasons other than to check up / gossip about other Greeks
50. You or a family member has been photographed with a donkey
51. You are familiar with the phrase, "Sto leo yia to kalo sou"
52. You have one or more of those porcelain figurines in your house or you have broken one of those porcelain figurines and mama still hasn't forgiven you for it
53. Your parents make up the name of a street / store / TV show because they couldn't remember it or they couldn't pronounce it
54. You still get scared when you hear the name "Baboola"
55. Upon meeting another Greek you try to find out what village they're from
56. You or a family member wears their Sunday best to go grocery shopping
57. You go to a wedding or a baptism and complain about the food, but are the first one to ask for a "to go" plate
58. You know someone who always feels the need to point out how much something they bought costs
59. You have a bottle of OUZO in your house right now
60. You have been threatened to be eaten by the Kako/ baboola / yero / pontiki when you were little
61. Add aki to the end of any American word, and it becomes Greek
62. Someone in your family owns any type of restaurant
63. Your family inheritance includes olive trees and xorafyia
64. Your entire house is a needlepoint warehouse...