the week in review....

Dog Gone It

Well the latest on our attempt to adopt a Greyhound has come to a halt.  It turns out Corey had some issues with her foot and will have to undergo some surgery so she is out for us.  They are going to pass our information on to another Greyhound Rescue so we will see what happens from there.  The nice thing is the rescue groups really go out of their way to make sure you are getting the right pet for your needs.  They go well above and beyond to have the dogs thoroughly checked out.

We are getting fit with You Fit
Jennifer and I finally decided to start working out and recently joined You Fit.  They have a brand new facility on Fowler Ave where the old Office Depot used to be (which is the Office Depot I used to work at for a few years).  The facility is huge, brand new equipment and very clean and neat.  All of the cardio machines have tv monitors and ipod connections as well as USB connections to save your work out data.  The real beauty of this place is the very low, no contact price.  The monthly fee is $10 per month, $10 down. No initiation fee or contract.  Their hours are from 5 am to midnight.  We considered other 24 hour clubs but though if we were not going to make it between the hours of 5 am and midnight, chances are very slim we would be working out at any other times.  Today we had our first workout and introduction.  If you see me hobbling around the next few days, that will explain it.

Living with a Wrestler

Well the King High Wrestling season has been going quite well.  The wrestlers are showing more and more improvement each week.  The coaches really have these guys progressing.  Currently we have 1 undefeated wrestler and several others with very good records as well.  Joseph went 4-0 last week improving his overall record to 28-4.  He has really been wrestling quite well and are looking forward to County and Districts coming up over the next few weeks.  The weight issues seem to have subsided for now.  He has really been doing quite well maintaining his weight in between matches.

His 4th win and 4th pin of the day

We are in the final stretch for the High School Wrestling season.  There is a huge County tournament this weekend where all High Schools in the county will be there.  I think there are around 27 schools.  It is a double elimination tournament so it will be interesting to see how far our guys go.  The following weekend is District Championship at East Bay High School.  The schools in our District are Armwood, Blake, Durant, East Bay, Hillsborough, King, Plant City and Sickles.  To move on from Districts you need to be in the top 4 in your weight class to move on to Regionals. 

START YOUR ENGINES

I am so excited the racing season is right around the corner.  The granddaddy of them all, Daytona 500 is just weeks away.  You can find the complete NASCAR schedule here SCHEDULE.  Those of you not into NASCAR here is a link for the NASCAR Jargon.  JARGON  

The front stretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Our seats are just before the flag stand.

INDYCAR season is right around the corner as well.  Even though I love NASCAR, I love INDYCAR even more.  The thrill of open wheel racing is just amazing.  Here is the schedule for the 2011 INDYCAR season.  SCHEDULE  We already have our tickets and our RV spot reserved for our 3rd trip to Indy.  This will be my 3rd trip in a row to Indy.  Those of you who are familiar with the whole INDY mystique would laugh at my 3 trips to Indy.  One of the best parts of going to Indy is talking with all of the fans there.  It is not uncommon to run into people in the 70's who have been going to Indy since they were my kids age.  The stories they tell are so interesting and it is a learning experience every time we go.  Looking forward to doing a lot of learning for MANY MANY years to come as I plan on attending this race for as long as I am able to.  Race fans are like no other fans.  They are some of the best people you could ever meet.  Even though you may have some STRONG differences in driver preference, we are all one big racing family.  The INDY 500 is more than just a race.  As a kid I always want to go to the Indy 500.  However, I only thought of it as just the race on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.  After attending for the first time a few years ago, I realized the INDY 500 is MUCH more than just the race.  There is so much more to it than the race.  There is Carb Day where the drivers do the final tune up before the race.  The Indianapolis 500 Parade held the day before the 500 in downtown Indianapolis is the BEST parade I have ever been to in my life.  It is the definition of a down home American Parade.  There are no drunks, flashing boobs, throwing beads or urinating in front yards at this parade.  The parade is compiled of many civic groups, dignitaries, race officials and of course the drivers presented in reverse order of the starting line up.  Usually riding in a convertible or standing in the back of pick up.  The parade is a must see if attending the Indy 500.  There are also numerous opportunities to get autographs of all the drivers.  On Wednesday before the race is Fan Fest.  A lot of interactive games, exhibits and booths.  There are several autograph sessions to get signatures from all of your favorite drivers.  Here you can find some exciting rule changes for the upcoming season.  RULE CHANGES

Trivial or Grey but it was well worth the WEIGHT....

Friday night was a fun filled night of trivia at the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club with family and friends.  The end result was, we didn't come in last but we also learned we need to do a lot of brushing up on our trivia.  While we were at the club playing the trivia game, Joseph was home trying to keep his mind off of wanting to eat.  Several of his friends decided to show up to help keep his mind off of wanting to eat.  They hung out and played darts and ping pong.  It really ended up working out well as they had a great time.

Saturday morning, while Joseph was on his way to the wrestling tournament, the rest of us made our way to Dog Lovers in Carrollwood to see what just might be our newest addition to our family.  Greyt was there showing their Greyhounds they have up for adoption.  We have been in the process of possibly adopting a Greyhound from Greyt Greyhound Rescue.  Adopting a Greyhound is actually a lengthly process.  It begins by going online and filling out a form.  Then, after the form is reviewed, they set up a Home Visit.  At the visit they discuss everything about adopting Greyhounds and what to expect.  They also want to find out about our needs and what type of dog we are wanting.  Today we went to meet Corey, a 2 year old female.  She was so sweet and cute.  The next step would be for them to bring Corey to our house and see how she interacts with our Goldendoodle, Jasmine.  One question we asked today was how difficult was it to change the name as we really do need another "J" name.  They told us that it wouldn't be difficult at all.  If we end up adopting her, she will most likely be "Jesse".  Jesse and Jasmine are both female Disney Characters beginning with the letter "J".  Anyone interested in adopting a retired Racing Greyhound, you can visit Greyhound Rescue.     

Saturday morning came and Joseph was exactly on weight when he woke up.  After arriving at Hillsborough High School for weigh ins, they were informed Hillsborough High School had a match the night before, that being said, everyone at the tournament gets and extra pound allowance.  Needless to say, our kids were not too happy to find this out after they all planned on making the original weight.  Anyway, turns out Joseph was 1.2 lbs under weight so he was very happy.  Attending the tournament were Leto, Hillsborough, Armwood, Bloomingdale and Chamberlain.  Joseph's record going into todays tournament was 19-4.  One of his 4 losses was to Chamberlain where he lost by 2 pts just before Christmas break.  Today, Joseph went 5-0 with 4 of the wins coming by the way of pin.  He improved his record to 24-4 and beat the kid from Chamberlain who beat him earlier in the season.  Joseph dominated the match and actually had the guy stuck but the ref didn't call it. He won the match 8-2.  His last match of the day was against Hillsborough where he pinned the kid in 17 seconds.  The Tribune was at the match and interviewed a few of our wrestlers and coaches.  We currently have another kid on our team, Jacob Wasserman (103 lbs.), who is undefeated with a 28-0 record.  He was 5-0 today as well along with our 112 lb. kid too.  The great part about our wrestling team this year is most of our team is made up of Sophomores.  Not only are our wrestlers young, but our coaches are young as well.  Our head coach is in his first year as a head coach and our assistant is in his first year of coaching.  They have built upon the foundation our coach from last year started and the kids have been improving every week.  Also, just a point of clarification, Wrestling is NOT a game, it is a sport.  You don't "play" wrestling, and when one school competes against another, you don't "play" them, you wrestle them.

On our drive home Joseph and I were talking and I asked him how he felt now and was it worth working towards making weight after going 5-0 today in the tournament.  He obviously replied yes.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse, here we come.  See you tomorrow.

A week in the House of J's

Well, this week has about come to an end as I am writing my second blog ever.  I think I might just get the hang of this thing.  I guess we will see how it goes.

We were looking to getting back to somewhat of a normal week now the Holidays are over but this week was not quite normal.  In High School it was finals week for the first semester so that made the week a little different.  Kind of sucks having the kids take finals after returning from Christmas break.

The college football season came to an end this week.  In my opinion, the bowl season seemed to last forever.  The BCS game was played on January 10th.  It seems each year it gets later and later.  I remember the days of the games building up to "The Big Game".  That has all changed now thanks to the almighty dollar.  Don't get me wrong, having the extra bowl games is great for the student athletes involved and the universities but it just seems it has gotten just a little bit out of hand.  This year there were 70 teams participating in 35 bowl games.  Another thing that drives me crazy, and it isn't just in football, are these sideline reporters.  Personally, the sideline reports are just ridiculous.  They ask some of the dumbest questions and make some of the most idiotic comments during the games.  During the BCS game, the one reporter asked the head coach "What makes your team different this year from the team that played last year in the Rose Bowl"?  The coach responded, "I don't know, that was so long ago and I am concentrating on tonight's game".  Another stellar questions asked by this reporter was "What aspect of your team is the strongest", the coach replied "I'd like to think that all aspects of our game are strong since we are playing in this game tonight".  Everywhere you look, there is a sideline reporter at some sporting event, and in most cases it is someone who has no clue what the heck they are talking about.  If they find it completely necessary to have sideline reporters, do us a favor and get someone who actually knows the sport they are reporting on.  Get an Ex NFL player, or MLB or someone who has on the field experience depending on the sport being covered.

 Living with a wrestler.  For those of you who have not been around wrestling it is a whole new world.  Wrestling, in my opinion, is the toughest sport out there.  Not only is it tough physically, but mentally as well.  On top of getting stronger, building stamina, learning new moves wrestlers have to be conscious of their weight as well.  Most wrestlers work very hard to maintain their weight while at the same time trying to get stronger and better.  This year has been somewhat easier for our wrestler with the introduction of the Herbalife Shakes.  These have helped him maintain his weight so far.  However, the urge to splurge in between matches sometimes wins out.  That being said, extra pounds are put on and then they are faced with having to work to get them off again.  As I am typing this, our wrestler is out running to burn some calories but also to make room to eat and drink tomorrow.  Most people not involved in wrestling do not quite understand this whole process.  There are some cases out there where wrestlers are cutting a large amount of weight but we do not subscribe to that practice.  However, most of Joseph's issues with "cutting" weight are due to the fact he tends to splurge in between matches.  Wrestling requires a great amount of discipline throughout the season to overcome constantly thinking about wanting to "Pig Out".  Needless to say, when Joseph happens to over do it in between matches, he tends to be a little on the grumpy side in the days leading up to the match.  Wrestlers really get in tune with their body during the season and learn how much they "float" at night. They can tell you how much they drop at night, during the day and at practice.  For those of you who have never been to a wrestling match, you should do yourself a favor and go check it out.  It is the most intense and exciting sport out there.

Looking forward to a "Magical Weekend" this coming weekend.  We are going to be spending Jennifer's birthday weekend at Land of the Mouse.  According to touringplans.com, this weekend is going to be a pretty good weekend to attend according to the crowd calendars.  Anyone who frequently visits any of the Disney Theme Parks, I would strongly suggest checking out www.touringplans.com  This site is great for showing what the anticipated crowds will be.  They have come up with a crowd calendar based on statistical data gathered over the years.  On top of the crowd calendar, they even have an app for your smart phone where you can get the wait times for all the attractions a the parks.  The wait times are updated by subscribers who are actually at the park and inputting the wait times.  When a subscriber either enters a line or walks by and notices the wait time, they update it on their smart phone which updates the app.  It is fun to do and comes in very handy when visiting the parks.

That is about all I have for tonight.  Everyone have a safe weekend.

Joey

Living in the House of J's

Blogging Virgin

Well, this is going to be my first crack at blogging.  Not sure what to expect or what to do but I am sure I can figure something out.  I guess I will just have learn as I go.

Last weekend we went with some friends of ours to Hillsborough River State Park camping with a group of friends.  Spent a lot of time sitting around the campfire, socializing with friends and enjoying the beauty of the park.  On Saturday, Joseph, Jarrett, Julia, our dog Jasmine and a few friends went on a hike around the nature trails at the park.  The one trail was over 3 miles.  Watching Julia's little legs go made me think that it was probably like a 6 mile hike for her little legs.  It was a lot of fun though.  There isn't anything much like getting out in nature with your family while camping.  Even though some may laugh at my interpretation of camping.  To me, since I did not grow up doing any camping or anything, camping in an RV is camping to me.  That is my version or "roughing it".  LOL  Once nice thing about sitting around the fire with people chatting is you get to learn a lot about other people.  One person was very much into computers and technology and somehow we got on the subject of music and itunes and such.  He suggested taking all music cd's and importing them into itunes.  The timing of this information was perfect because I had just gotten rid of my entertainment center which held my hundreds of cd's.  I had them in a huge container packed away in a closet.  Not realizing the cd's took up very little hard drive space on the computer, I now had a project ahead of me.  So Sunday I started importing all my cd's to my computers.  What a great idea that was.  Now I do not have to go and dig into my container to find a particular cd.  Now they are just a "click" away.