Star Struck at Indian Wells

This free collage made with Smilebox

We are back from our get-away!

WOW!

It really WAS just what the doctor ordered, and I feel much happier now!

If you are a tennis fan, you will probably enjoy the above collage.

These are some of the tennis "stars" we got to see up close and personal,

taken with our little camera!

If you are NOT a tennis fan, you can just skip the collage

and maybe just enjoy the photos below.

We were in Indian Wells (or Palm Springs) California.

BEAUTIFUL and HOT!

(kind of like Federer...did I just type that?)

We got to watch the first week of the BNP Paribas Open.

And I admit, I was starstruck.  Seeing all those tennis greats was just so amazing.

We went with our awesome friends who also happen to be our neighbors
(we are so lucky).

Me, Trev, Justin & Joanna getting ready to watch Dulko & Pennetta play doubles.

On the practice court behind us is Maria Sharapova.

And yes, she is loud.  We could hear her scream from a few courts down.

Oh.  My.  Heart.  Be.  Still...

This was my first glimpse of my fave, Roger Federer.

Just hanging out on the practice courts.

Waiting for me to wave.

And faint.

He's just as heavenly in person.

And wait till you see his legs...

And sitting right behind us in Stadium One were his darling twin girls.

Kind of fun to just look up, and Oh...There they are!

And then Gwen Stefani walked out.  She is beautiful.

She & her hubby are good friends with the Federers.

Just a little tidbit for ya.

Hot & sweaty, but enjoying every single minute.

We survived the heat with lemon ices.

Thank heavens for those!

Hi John! 

John Isner was right there on the practice courts.

All  6 feet 9 inches of him.

Trev waiting to get John's autograph.

Sam Querry is sitting to the left of him.

Trev is the best dad...He carried that ball everywhere and waited here and there

to get it signed for our Skoogles.

She was thrilled!!!

Jo & me.

I think we were watching Roanic here.

And...here they are.

I like his legs.

What can I say?

Sigh.

Not the most flattering picture of me, but I believe it captures my

immature giddiness in seeing Roger play.

Trev and Julia Georges, a fairly new up-and-coming German tennis player.

She was fun to watch, great mover.

Me with Vania King!

Enjoying watching the Bryan Brothers play

Here is Novak Djokovic on the practice court.

He was a hoot.

He ended up winning the Open for Men's Singles.

And here is Caroline Wozniacki on the practice court.

She is so strong and smiley.  What a great combo!

Love her!

She ended up winning the Open for Women's Singles...YES!

Such a relaxing enjoyable time.

We might bring the kids next year!

And the fun doesn't end here,

another amazing vacation is again right around the corner!!

For the whole family this time.

I'll keep ya posted!

Paint chips, arm pain & Roger the great.

Isn't it funny how at times your most well laid plans can take a back seat

because life steps in and just kind of takes over?

I have been wanting to paint some walls in our home for some time now.

So I started the tedious process of paint chip collecting.

Do you know how many different shades of blue there are?  

Or even worse, yellow?

However, it didn't take me long to find the perfect aqua for my office!

It is called Vintage Map, and as soon as I rolled it on, I was in love.

It's the perfect brightness, and just the right mix of green & blue I was looking for.

Okay, that one was easy, and yes it's such a huge sample square because I couldn't stop rolling the paint on!

It will be a lovely accent wall!

So on to the yellow for the kitchen/dining & family room area.

I am looking for a cheerful sunny yellow.

So with colors like squish-squash, popcorn kernal, golden honey, 

corn chip, humble gold, and honeysuckle beige, I just knew I would find the right one.

 

But I am finding that yellows are HARD.

Too much green, too much beige, too gold, too fluorescent.  Ack!

SO I am still on the hunt for the perfect yellow.

If you know of any good ones, LET ME KNOW!

I am steering away from the beige like yellow I currently have.

I need it a bit more cheerful, & more of a statement!

The bedroom will be done as well, but I am SO stuck on that one.

I have no pictures to show you, and not much progress with the paint chips.

I think I want blue, but the shade eludes me.  Not too dark, not too pale.

Why is it so hard to pick the perfect color?  :)

Anyway, I figured  I could go ahead and get an estimate for someone to come paint.

Trevor HATES HATES to paint.

Yes, I meant to put two hates in there in all caps.

So he said I could find someone to do it.

He hates it when I do it and he watches me

and feels guilty, and then ends up having to help me.

(He also gets carpel tunnel when he paints, so there is a legit excuse as well).

After the first outrageous estimate, I decided I could do it myself.

But then my body decided I probably should hire someone after all.

During the final match of my last tennis tournament,

my arm rebelled against me.

It decided it could not hold a racket any more, let alone take the impact of a ball hitting it.

I'm happy to say we won the match, but I knew I would need to see a doctor as I walked off the court.

I just started physical therapy.

I really like it, but am definitely sore afterward.

They tell me it should take about 4-6 weeks, so I am hopeful.

Especially since USTA team tournaments start at the end of April.

I'm crossing my fingers!!!

Because yes, I do plan on playing.

I know it sounds silly, but the whole elbow thing really stressed me out.

You know what else stresses me out?

When my kids are stressed out!

Do you remember being a teenager and having to go through all the crap?

Boy crap, friend crap, body image crap, self-esteem crap?  ETC...

I don't love using that word so much, but it really is the right word for it, right?

When your teen suffers you suffer.

Yes, she looks happy here.

And that is because she IS happy here.

After many talks, and late nights, we are seeing more of this happy.

Thank goodness, because she sure is beautiful when she is happy.

Inside AND out.

And so the house painting is at a stand-still and the arm aches.

At least my girl IS smiling more.

I do feel a bit emotionally & physically exhausted though.

I can't help but think about our upcoming trip.

Just what the doctor ordered, and it's right around the corner.

Here is a hint.

It's all about THIS...

And if I could just SEE Roger play, I just KNOW

much of that stress will melt away, and I can be a completely happy girl once again.

For me Rog?  Please?

Thanks buddy.

See ya there!

Her Dad.

Something keeps happening to my children.

They keep growing up.

My firstborn is now almost 16 years old.

She is an amazing girl.

She is also a Daddy's Girl.

I noticed this when she was very young, and at first was a little hurt by it.

But when my second born came along 15 months later

I quickly forgave her, because I kind of needed her to be a Daddy's Girl.

It is clear that she is still smitten.

Her Dad is the cat's meow.

And from my perspective, it's almost like he has this magic power with her.

Yes, magic...good magic.

I like this magic power, because he is able to teach her so many things.

I'm talking life lessons.
I can tell her something and she kind of looks at me like she will think about it.

Her Dad tells her the same thing, and it is clear what she should do.

I am not hurt.

I am thankful.

He decided it's about time she learned to ride a bike.

She agreed.

It didn't take her long.

Killed it a few times at first, but...

Then she's off.

She's showing him that she can do it.

Growing up in a world like this, 

I am more than happy that she has her Dad.

Yes, I am very happy.

Pandas & Poetry.

I am rethinking my to-do lists.

Especially after seeing this one that my 7-year old made...

(Click on it to see larger image)

Pandas & poetry...I think that's what's been missing.

Good Noise.

We like good noise at our house.

Sorry these tiny videos are not great quality.

I used our underwater camera, and didn't know how to take longer shots.

Oh well, hope you enjoy these little morsels anyway!

Rock on!

Cake date.

We had a girls only cake date!

My friend Wendi is a fabulous cake decorator.

We spent a fun filled night last week learning & laughing.

My mom joined us to make some memories.

Here are the cakes before we turned them 

into beauties.

What 7 year old girl doesn't want a purple cake?

Skoogs rolling out the sweet pink fondant.

She's smoothing out those edges.

Grandpma A & Googles working hard on

those fondant flowers!

What a creative bunch of girls!

And what a fun project to share together!

Three finished cakes...

three happy girls.

Thanks so much Wendi!!!!

Motherhood.

I've decided that being a mom is...complicated.

It can be so confusing at times.

Other times it is perfection and bliss.

Motherhood throws you all kinds of curves.

It is not for the weak.

And still...

I love it.

I adore it.

I wouldn't trade it.

It makes me the happiest.

Winning the battle...in my head.

The week before a tennis tournament, there are a few things that I do differently.

I eat better. 

 I stay active, fitting in a few extra practice games.

  I try to go to bed at a decent hour.

I carry around a positive, almost kick-butt attitude.

I powwow with my partner about strategy.

I make sure my favorite tennis skirts are washed and ready to go.  :)

I was thinking about this yesterday as I finished off a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream,

wallowing in thoughts of self-doubt,

and trying to make myself leave the pity party I had thrown.

It was a pretty lame party, I'm the only one that came.

It was a fun tournament!

My partner was one of my favorite girls!

We kicked some butt more than once.

And then we headed into the match that eventually led me toward the Rocky Road.

It started with our usual giddy, let's go attitude.

After the warm up I was well aware that this would be a tough one.

One girl had power.  The other, good hands.

In tennis, good hands is a term for being able to handle the ball well, power or no power.

And that little seed of self-doubt just settled itself right into my brain.

We held our own and were up in the first set 5-2.  One more game, and the set was ours.

Only it's not a good thing to think like that.

Don't let up, there is no guarantee you have the next game.  Keep fighting.

The set ended 5-7.  They got it.

Wait...What?

Okay, no problem.  Put that set behind you and get it in the second.

Only, by this time I had made a few stupid mistakes.

AND lost my serve.

Meaning this...my serve is one of my weapons, or maybe I should say WAS.

I couldn't find it.

Excuse me, but could we take a break while I go looking for my serve?

It was here a little while ago, but it just took off without telling me.

I kind of really need that back.

But of course, there was no break to go looking.

And so with my missing serve and some stupid mistakes,

and the seed of self-doubt that had somehow turned into a tree,

we proceeded into the second set.

We fought.  We made some amazing points.

But for me, it was different.

Someone else was on the court with us now.

Actually, it was a group of them, and...they were in my head.

And they wouldn't shut up!

They were so loud, and they kept talking over each other.

Saying stuff like this:

Is your toss right?

Why aren't you moving your feet?

Why are you hanging back?

Cover your partner!

Don't take your eyes off that ball!

Are all those people really watching you?  You better impress them!

Make a solid volley!

Why did you just feed them a high one?

Do you know how annoying this is?

It's called nerves.

It's called panic.

It's called over thinking.

It's called...dangerous.

And it is a real and annoying part of the game of tennis.

The match ended with a final score of 5-7, 6-7.

A close match.

But it didn't feel close.

For some reason, to me, it felt like a landslide loss.

And I think that is because of the battle in my brain.

Because of what was in my head while on the court.

I lost the mental battle, and it showed in my game.

As I said, the pity party is over.

The Rocky Road was good, don't get me wrong.

But all it did was leave me

feeling fat and defeated.

Here is what I will take from this match:

1. Treat every week like a pre-tournament week...good food, good sleep, good attitude, etc.

2.  Put in some extra time to get my serve back.

3.  Mental toughness is just as important or more so than physical strength.

4.  Know how to shut off those stupid voices when they start chattering.

5. Know my weaknesses and keep them in check.

6.  Play to win!!  Don't play to keep from losing!!  There IS a difference.

7.  Keep playing.  Keep it fun.  Ugly tennis can still be fun tennis.

8.  Don't go for the Rocky Road after a loss.  You'll regret it later.

9.  And lastly, don't invite anyone to your pity party...

just move on, and get ready for the next battle, I mean match.

A bit about us.

Did you know...

 ...that I absolutely adore aprons?

And that baking sugar cookies with my cuties is a favorite tradition?

 ...that these two share a birthday the day after Christmas?

And that this was the 1st year she ever had breakfast in bed?

 ...that this one is the lead singer & guitar player in a garage band?

 And that he recently wrote his first song?

...that we have the best neighbors in the world?

Thank you for Christmas breakfast Joanna.

Our taste buds will never be the same.

...that this one frequently asks me for a little brother?

...please?

No can do sweetie poo.

...that one of my nicknames for this man is "Mr. Phone"?

And that the blondie on the right wants to be a fashion designer?

...that even though this child can be a puzzle to me, 

I am constantly intrigued & amazed by her?

...that I hate being cold?

Warm hats, mittens, hot cocoa, fireplaces...ALL friends.

...that I wouldn't trade this guy for anything?

He is still the sweet in my lemonade.

...and that I am going to try to be a better blogger in 2011?

Happy New Year!

From, a happy girl.