Vegas: Oct 7, 2016

More Vegas!! Not the typical gambling and debauchery type of day. We had to do some serious work for the morning in cleaning out Carlos' place. It was a very long day...up til 3 am the night before and up again at 9 am.

I vlogged our activities and sped it up to make it not so tedious. I tried inserting music at the right times. For whatever reason, the video software is limited in choices so sometimes I use the youtube audio library but I can't seem to put in more than one track into my video. So now I notice that the fountain scene has no music. Ugh. So sorry.

Well, please enjoy the video and I will keep working on it....




I will be venturing on a personal adventure so stay tuned for that. i hope to earn some extra $ and we shall see how it goes. 

NHL Awards

Something serious happened over the last 10 years that has taken a hold of me....most of you already know this and it's LA Kings hockey and pretty much any NHL hockey. Sure it started innocently enough with me trying to be a good wife and get some tickets for H.
 A simple 3 game pack. I didn't know any better but I bought them on the side where the Kings shoot once. Well, we upgraded to a 10 game pack on the other side of the rink, then started up closer and closer to the glass while adding up the games. Half season then heck lets go for the full season. 

I admit that I didn't fully get hockey till about 6 years ago. The Kings were not a very good team but they drafted some young, exciting players so it was nice to watch them mature as players. Then the Kings made the playoffs! And lost in the 1st round, repeat that same thing the following year. By then, I was fully hooked so here we are.

My friend Kat and I had planned to take the kids to Indio in June. We go almost every summer and it's fine. Hot, desert & we go mostly for a change of scenery. This year I thought, well maybe we should try Vegas. Kat has a timeshare there we can use, lets try that. Oh look, we can tweak our dates to coincide with the NHL Awards. I'm sooo sneaky. 

So we headed down to the Wynn with the kids, I gave them some $ and sent them off for about 3 hours while we hung out at the red carpet to get a glimpse of hockey players. It helped that the Kings won the Stanley Cup (again) too.

We met some nice fellow women hockey fans and had a great time. :) The kids endured the heat okay and managed to spend their money on LEGOs.

I won't bore you with lots of pics from the awards so here they are....

That Time of Year again

I ramble enough about hockey on this blog and finally playoffs begin on Tuesday.

I'm not on the cutting edge of anything so I discover a knitted Stanley Cup pattern on Ravelry almost a year after the Kings won the Stanley Cup. Hmmm, I rummaged in my massive yarn closet and found some aran weight gray wool that I recycled from a wool sweater I got at a thrift shop. Yep, lots of 100% wool (man sweater XL) for only $8. Woot!

Anyway, the pattern was straightforward and simple plus I was on a mission to finish it. I managed this in a few hours before the last regular season home game, knit on it while in the car to the game and after the game blocked it to this shape. Much better with blocking because it was sort of blobby and curled up. The bowl at the top turned out nicely with a plastic acorn shaping that. The middle portion has a toilet roll tube with some polyfill for extra support and the bottom is shaped over a upside down candle (enclosed in metal holder).
Ha, I got that candle for our  wedding almost 16 years ago and now I get to use it. :)

I have to pat myself on the back for this item because I love it (almost as much as my light the lamp goal light). :) And I really really love that goal light.

I'll post better pics of this later since the above was taken while still damp and blocking. It measures about 7 inches tall and 3 inches wide. If the Kings make it to the finals this year I'm bringing this with me to the games. I can easily stuff this into my bag and it weighs nothing at all.

More playoff knits later....

Because It's The Cup

The shortened regular hockey season ends tomorrow and playoffs begin. That familiar gnawing in my stomach is coming back. I do have to say that the lockout didn't affect the season all that much. It just heightened the knowledge that each win/loss could be a major factor.

The Kings are in so they just have to play like last year and see how far they can get. The other teams are just as hungry so it won't be easy at all.






Here is an interesting comparison of why hockey players are tough with baseball examples.

Just the other night, one of the Kings players Jeff Carter had a couple teeth knocked out and didn't miss a shift. That's toughness. :)

northern lights

Interesting and music by NIN. Pretty cool.

Okay, if that's not your thing, here's an oldie but goodie.

Hat Trick

Hockey is such a fickle sport. You never know whats going to happen. The game can be awful with sloppy play and general yuckiness. Your team plays practically the entire first period (20 minutes) before getting their first shot on goal (horrible). Then the second period starts and your team is doing better, skating and scoring chances improve. Bam, your team scores on a weird touch of the puck and then you're thinking, oh please hang on and don't let the other team score!! By the 3rd period, the score is still 1-0 but something exciting happens. The 1st scorer Jeff Carter scores again! 19 seconds later, Carter scores again! A natural hat trick.

We were not at the game this night, I had given our tickets to our niece and her husband so they got to experience something very cool. :) On free hat night too...

It was quite funny because soon after the hat trick, my niece texts me asking what was going on? It was her first hockey game and she had no clue what was going on. In addition, my SIL texted me asking why people are throwing hats. She doesn't think of using Google so I was being a smartass and texted back that throwing babies & beer is frowned upon! ;)

So in conclusion, never turn away or leave a hockey game because great things can happen even when it looks hopeless.







Never LEAVE a hockey game in progress!!!! This night we gave our tickets away (there's a trend I need to stop. lol) and the couple left!!! We didn't know this until the next day when Hector was talking to the guy saying what a great win the Kings had & the guy didn't know about the comeback!!

Improvement

Joshua has been in a beginner hockey program near our home and they go through drills to improve skating and puck handling. He typically protests when its time to go but he settles in nicely and does what he is supposed to do.

He is also in a special needs  program that is great but they are more relaxed and Josh just usually does his own thing along with all the other kids. It really depends on how many volunteers they have to help and have organized fun drills. That's why I put Josh in a hockey program so he could learn and improve. The special needs program is in Pasadena so it can be a real torture with the drive but I really like their program.

Every July, Pasadena hosts a hockey tournament and they schedule a few games for the special needs kids to play against another special needs program from Panorama City. It's fun and it gives the kids something different to do. The kids from the other team are much older and bigger but no one seems to notice since they are there to play.

I really noticed an improvement in Joshua's play this year. He taps his stick on the ice when he is open for a pass and he is focused on the game. The game ended in a tie 5-5 and then everyone got to take 2 turns in the shootout. Overall, it was a fun game and Josh scored a goal so he was happy.


Josh at warm-ups...



After the first shift, Josh was moved over to the opposing team since some of their players were running late. I don't think he minded and played well for them.



I noticed in several of my photos, Josh tends to play left wing. I guess 10 years of watching hockey will do that to a person.





There were several times where he really battled for the puck .



And get it for a while...



Skating down the left side again but using the back of his blade....



Finally, the handshake line... You can see how much bigger the white team is against our kids and their goalie is massive. He is on the far right and Josh is right in front of him. I'm amazed that Josh and the team were able to score against him. ;)

Game 4

Well, it was fun going to game 4 even though we didn't win. :( I got to ride the green/blue line Metro to downtown LA which turned out pretty well. Hector drove to LA after work and he met me at the station. He wore his usual bright yellow sweatshirt in the 80* weather so he's super easy to spot in the sea of black. Good thing I took public transportation too since some of the parking lots were charging up to $100...crazy, right?

LA Live was packed with people, hockey fans etc and what I mean by etc is the funky people that attend E3. So amongst hockey jerseys, I spotted the lone Link from the Legend of Zelda. She was by far the best Link we've seen and I guess from that statement you can tell we've see several before. She even had a well made shield and sword. Silly me didn't even ask her if she would pose for me. Oh well. 

I won't bore you with the game details but it was exciting and fun. Would have been better if the Kings won...Pictures later.

The one above is sponsered by Toyota and against a green screen that I chose and set up this morning. Too bad the kids wern't with us or we could have our Christmas card!! :)

spring break

My computer is still MIA and it appears it needs a new hard drive which will be its third in 3 years. I think it needs some kind of immunosuppressants so the next hard drive won't be corrupted (again).

Meanwhile, I'm using Josh's computer to do my usual computerly things, like check hockey story lines etc and look at ravelry. Important stuff. :)

We had a nice spring break and it was just nice to get away from it all if it only was for a few days. The weather didn't cooperate in remembering that it is spring and instead gave us winter conditions with lots of snow and chilly temperatures which is good for the mountain but for us, shorter days snowboarding.

It snowed every day when we arrived and stopped when we left. Friday was an off day for us and look how much snow accumulated on our truck. Hector spent an hour digging the car out so that was his activity for the day.

It was nice to come back home to SoCal and pack all the snow clothes away although Mammoth is open until Memorial Day weekend so we still have some time to think about it. :)

But there are other things going on right now and that is NHL playoff hockey. For the 3rd year in a row, the LA Kings are in the playoffs and they're looking to get past the 1st round. We are pitted against the #1 seed in the West Canucks and tonight will be game 4.

Kat and I went to game 3 and it was thrilling. We won 1-0 and that was awesome. Hector and I watched the first games at Mammoth and there was lots of cheering going on. the Kings need one more win to head to the next round. :)

I took this picture during warm-ups and there were lots of Canucks fans hoping for a win. I remember a lot more Canucks fans at the playoffs a couple of years ago, but this year there were more LA fans. That's encouraging to see. GO KINGS GO!!

Hockey Kid

Finally have our schedule where I can bring Joshua back to hockey practice. They did some drills and then a scrimmage the full length of the ice.





The following pictures are in sequence during the scrimmage.



Josh is trying to move the puck to the other end of the rink. #14 in red is skating in fast towards Josh and will check shoulders, sending Josh falling down. Of course, I didn't get that picture but the coach yelled out, "No hits!"



Josh ended over by the boards, having dropped his stick while the others are still fighting over the puck. He can't pick it up yet since they are practically right on top of it.




The play moves on so Joshua is safe to retrieve his stick. :) He did end up scoring a goal for his team.


Taking a shot on goal...

Kerfuffle

Flash mob hockey crowd surprises 2 rec hockey teams which made their night memorable!

Weekend Antics

First I have a video I shot on my phone because I was lame and forgot my camera. Josh is at his special needs ice hockey program skating and working on his stick handling. He loves to skate and seems to enjoy the program, especially the hot chocolate afterwards.



I started another hat and a cowl so those are my newest works in progress. On Sunday we went out to dinner and I got a text from a friend asking if our power was out. Huh? Through Facebook, I found out from neighbors that yes, our power was out and it was still out when we got back home.

The kids were happy to play in the dark with their flashlights while I dug out some candles and Hector busied himself with the generator (just in case). By this time the power is out for a couple of hours and we have no idea when it will come back on. Hector got the generator running (very very loud) and hooked up the fridge and a light. I made a fire in our wood stove and made ice cream sundaes for the kids. It was cute to have them sit by the fire eating their desserts even though we had a light on in the playroom. :)He went off to get more supplies like gasoline, batteries etc but while he was out, the power came back on at 9:15pm. Phew! I was relieved since I was not looking forward to sleeping (or trying to) while that generator was running.

All is back to normal, the kids are off today so we'll try for an outing with Sherri and her kids to see if we can spot some whales. Stay tuned...

I Love this Sport

This video pretty much sums up all the parts of NHL hockey...

New Years Eve

We actually went out! Well, we went to a hockey game then out afterwards for some food and drinks but it's been forever since we've done that! :)

Here's a nice pic of Hector and me posing out on our porch when we accidently got locked out! Not to worry, luckily a friend with a spare key was nearby and rescued us so we could go on our merry way.





okay, back to the important stuff, hockey! :) The Canucks were in town and they're a tough, high scoring team but The Kings answered the call to play and boy, it was a great game.

The Canucks scored on their first shot but after that, the Kings shut them down and Quick was awesome plus add in some scoring > 2 goals makes it fun and exicting.











It was even better to have that win and head out afterwards for some drinks with Julie and her friends. Really nice ladies and we had fun talking about all sorts of things.
A nice pleasant New Years eve that wasn't super crowded or rowdy. :)


All these pics were taken with my new little point & shoot camera H got me for Christmas. I still love my DSLR so much but there are times when I do not want to carry that beast around. Plus, Staples Center balks when I bring my long lens into the games so the little Fuji works pretty well.

Hockey and Hats

As Christmas approaches swiftly, I start knitting hats to 'pad' the Christmas gift pile. Over the course of this year, I still knit mostly socks which almost always start off as mine but for whatever reason, sometimes the socks don't fit me...too big, too small or not my taste so I throw them into the gift pile.

It works and I've a good selection going but since the women/girls benefit for the most part, I feel bad and knit a couple of hats. Okay, if you follow my most recent completed hats, they were for women/girls. I knit a hat for Josh too although that doesn't count. There is another hat I finished a long time ago (frisky reindeer hat) that I will give to Alex. That isn't much on the guys' side of the family. I will say this that some of the guys in the family are pretty darn picky. One teen won't wear hats because it will mess up his hair. Okay, he's off the list. Another male only wants a black plain hat which will kill me with boredom and blindness. Okay, I did buy some black wool but here it is, December 21, and no hat. So he loses out again this year. I knit a nephew a striped hat several years ago and he's moving to Sacramento area at the end of the year so I could knit him a hat and mail it to him.

I guess I'm saying, I'm done knitting hats. :)

Saying that, I did finish this Lucky 7 Hat and who knows who will grab it. I will find out if my nephew from above will want it since he is a black hat kind of guy too. I just managed to squeak out his striped hat with black and muted shades of Noro.

Tyler models Lucky 7.

So that leads to hockey...such a traumatic month ( I sorta kid). My team (LA Kings) starts losing, not scoring and then their head coach gets fired. Another one is hired and today he takes over. Kat and I head over to watch their first practice together. I will pause and ask...is there any other professional sport that have practices open to the public? It's great.  :)

New head coach Darryl Sutter

Trio

The players looked upbeat and eager. Tomorrow will be the beginning, we play the Ducks our cross town rivals.







Hector and I will be there cheering on the Kings!!

Round Up

I'm doing better keeping up with my 365 Project but my regular blog is being neglected so here is some of what I've been up to.

My mom had the crazy idea of eating chestnuts but didn't realize how to cook/roast them. Since she never uses her oven nor wants to, she gave them to me to make & give some to her. I had to look up how to roast them and there are several ways, some of which doesn't require an oven but I tried the oven method.



They came out okay although if my mom springs the idea again next winter, I'll try the boil first then broil method that I read the street vendors use to get their chestnuts perfect.

Kat and I went to the Kings game last night and short story, the LA Kings lost 4-2. :(
The fans were frustrated and not happy with the Kings play but still managed to entertain and have a good time. 

Before (with beer)

After (beer)

Bailey

Bud Man

Wild celebrate their win

Another game Saturday and our family of four will be going so that should be fun!!

Hit on Drew Doughty

Since my last post was a video, I'm gonna try linking the kids' Drew Doughty experience during Hockeyfest 2011.

Tyler's video.


Joshua's video.

 Warning: Just in case, don't eat or drink in front of the computer while watching Joshua's video. :)

Hockeyfest 2011

Woohoo, hockey is almost here!! Hockeyfest is the event that the LA Kings present to kickstart the season with introductions to the players, coaches etc with fun events like a funzone for kids/adults, family skate on Staples Center ice and autograph sessions.

My kids are not huge hockey fans but they still had fun. Josh got to ice skate, both kids made fun videos with Drew Doughty and players card. There were several Q & A sessions with players, former and current but the best one was the kids press conference asking questions to 4 players. Very entertaining.

This event just gets us amped up for the season and training camp begins this Saturday!! :)

Hector in the penalty box. Two minutes for poking.

Tyler showing his support.

Go Kings!

Riding the wild snowboard.

Ice skating.

Sunday

Another hockey game for Joshua on Sunday. This time is was against a regular/typical house team of 8-9 year olds. It was seriously mismatched since these kids have been playing hockey for a few years and could skate really well/fast. At first, we had only 5 kids on our team but some boys from the other team volunteered to play with us to make it more even.

I overheard the other coach telling the players to give us room and basically take it easy on us. The boys were super nice and did what they were told. Our team won 11-4. :) Afterward, they took a group photo and handed out medals to everyone. Joshua also got a trophy so he was very happy.

We are done for the summer and I heard that the program will start again the end of August. We'll decide what to do then since it is a long drive back and forth to Pasadena but Josh has lots of fun.

This was a foggy game.

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Profile.

He shoots and scores!!

My hockey guy.

Traditional hockey pose.