Surf's Up: January 2009

Raptors Rolling

The Toronto Raptors had won 2 games in a row and 4 of 5 before running into the hole left by Jose Calderon and Jermaine O'Neal. They then lost 7 straight before recovering to win the last 3 including tonight's win in New Jersey against the Nets.

It was a close and hardgaught game, as you can see. Toronto was down 27-21 after 1 quarter, but then outscored the Nets 29-27 in the 2nd and 34-23 in the 3rd before hanging on to win 107-106!

Jose has made 83 consecutive free throws, 2nd most all time. He had 17 points and 11 assists tonight while going 3 of 5 from 3 point range.

Despite the win, Toronto still sits 2 games out of the final play-off spot with 35 games to go. I hope they can climb at least as high as the #7 seed, the last 2 years they have qualified for the play-offs as the #3 and #6 seed.

Jose said he would trade in his free throw mark for the play-offs.

Bargnani and Bosh have been key in the success of the Raptors, but Jose Calderon, their Spanish point guard, is their leader and team MVP. He leads the NBA in Assist to Turnover Ration at 4.26.

And of course, I've bee watching the Australian Open tonight a little bit too, as Dementieva lost the 1st set to Serena W. 6-3 and is now up 1-0 on Serena in the 2nd set after holding serve after 5 deuces. I'll finally be back to teaching tomorrow thankfully!! Toronto hosts the Milwaukee Bucks Friday in Ontario before hosting Orlando on Sunday, traveling to Cleveland Tuesday, hosting the Lakers on Wednesday and then heading to New Orleans to play the Hornets Friday... that is 4 of the best teams in the NBA. On Saturday night, February 7, they will be in Memphis playing the Grizzlies and I may be going with Jay H. Good times, for $5 a seat, it might be worth the 4+ hour drive.

Snow Day # 6 and Counting...

Ice hitting the deck.

Beautiful weather.

My Tuesday night consisted of making 2 1/2 cups of waffles, baked potatoes in olive oil, rosemarry, thyme and salt, and peanut butter muffins.

What a good spread. Randy Bishop has watched over 4 hours of tennis in the last 2 days.

Don't you wish you were here to enjoy this Carrie?!

The back deck with ice pellets underneath the snow.

The back deck.

An empty bird feeder.

Good times during another snow day.

Me in the snow in the early stages.

My footsteps by the field with a thin layer of ice.

A view from the field facing the house.

Looking through the fence next to the softball field.

The waterlogged softball field.

Snow and ice on the field.

The snowy, untracked driveway... I stayed home all day.

A little snow and mainly ice early. When I woke up there was no snow yet, just sleet and rain.

My tracks on the driveway. I was surprised the snow didn't melt on the road, driveway or tennis court for awhile.

A pretty sky.

Good times in the cold.

I recorded 6 hours 30 minutes; the entire Presidential Inaugeration off the tivo for Aaron M. I deserve a prize for enduring all of it, although some of it was exciting.

Goldfinches at the feeder.

Notice the bird tracks on the back deck.

William's truck driving by... one of the kids was peeling out in it tonight and last Monday during the snow day.

My footsteps in the snow to the front deck.

Good Food & Good Times

Tofu lasagna and garlic bread for Sabbath lunch, good stuff! I just ate the last piece of lasagna tonight, thanks Carrie, it was good... too bad you weren't here to enjoy it with me.

Carrie ready to dig in.

A backflip I caught during the Winter X Games. It was a blast to watch from Aspen, Colorado, too bad we couldn't see them live at Copper again like 3 years ago.

A sweet view of Buttermilk Mountain. Copper here we come!

Carrie bird watching.

Still waiting.

Andy Roddick was still running and bouncing around like it was a cool 70 degrees in the on court temperature of 61 C, 142 F. Who has a guess why they didn't close the roof at the Australian Open? Roddick beat Djokovic 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 as Djokovic could not finish (Roddick would have finished him off anyway).

Jelena Dokic came so close to a stunning upset of the world's #3 player, Dinara Safina, but came up short by the count of 4-6, 6-4, and 4-6. She has a great story and was the last Australian in the Aussie Open.

I was hopeful for the upset. I have watched multiple hours of the tournament and it has been great stuff. Andy Roddick vs. Roger Federer at 2:30 a.m. Central this morning should be awesome.

Settlers with Carrie.

Watching the X Games ready to hit the slopes!!

MLK Day Snow Day #4 and Counting...

A snowy driveway where you can see Carrie's tracks... Highland actually cancelled school today because of bad weather, and Ozark has been out the past 2 days... what is going on with the resolve on Adventist boarding academies staying in school... not to mention public schools?!

The snow falling.

My footsteps leading toward the front door. We had Monday off already with it being MLK Day, so the snow didn't make us miss our 5th day because of inclement weather. We already had taken 4 since the end of Thanksgiving break. More on snow days on a later post.