Mt. Shasta Skiing - February 26, 2007

As it was time for our yearly Mt. Shasta ski trip, Dan and I drove up to our Dad's house in Cottonwood (South of Redding) on February 25th so we could hang out prior to skiing the next day. The weather was predicted to be pretty bad with cold temperatures, low visibility and lots of snow expected to fall. We decided to take our chances and drive to Mt. Shasta Ski Park on the 26th to see if we could brave the weather and get some runs in.

Dan, Dad, Tisha and I arrived on the slopes at 9:45am and sure enough, it was cold (low 30s), the visibility could have been better and it was snowing. However, the fact that it had been snowing for quite a while meant that there was tons of fresh powder to ski on. So, we bundled up and hit the slopes. Even though it snowed most of the day, it was just a light dusting, so it wasn't that annoying. The visibility was only a problem high on the mountain, so we stayed off of the top chair lift most of the day. The real payoff for braving the elements was awesome snow conditions as we had a fresh layer of powder each time we skiied down the mountain. All told, we made 20 runs in just over 5 hours and on several of them, we had the run just to ourselves - another benefit of questionable weather.

We had a total blast and were ready to do it again the next day (at least Dan and I were ready, not the old fogies :-) We got up on the 27th and started driving to the ski park, but as we got closer, it started snowing really hard and the visibility was getting less and less. We decided to turn around since the weather had really taken a turn for the worse and we didn't think it would have been a good day to be on the slopes. Instead, we spent the day hanging out at Dad's house, playing games and watching it hail and snow outside - I think we made the right decision. All in all, it was a fun trip and time well spent.

Oh, did I mention that the only one to take a fall on the hill was Dad? He did a very similar move to what Dan did last year - he fell while he was standing still. Who said skiing was the hard part :-) Until next time...

Week 22

I know that we don’t update the blog as often as some of you would like to see. However, please see this as a good sign that our pregnancy is “uneventful”. That does not mean that it is not exciting though! I have been feeling the baby move regularly now for about 2 and a half weeks. I can see it move too, although no one else can see it move. I must have the best angle! I'm hoping soon that Dave will not only be able to see it, but also feel it. I know he's anxiously awaiting that as well.

At this point, we’re counting down to the day when we get to go for the official sonogram that might tell us what the sex of the baby is. In case you were wondering, yes we definitely would like to know ahead of the birth, if the baby is so inclined to give us a view. We likely have about 4 weeks from now before we go for the sonogram. We’ll let you know the date of the sonogram once the doctor gives us the “prescription” to head over to the hospital for the appointment. That way, you can all wonder in unison about what the news will be on that day. And then of course, we’ll let you all know what the sex of the baby is! So keep checking the blog.
For the latest growth of Mommy, here’s an updated picture for you taken on Sunday, February 25th.

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SJ Stealth vs. Calgary Roughnecks - 2/3/07

While attending the Stealth game last week, we were told that all tickets to this game were $10, regardless of where you sat. Since we were going to the Sharks game earlier in the day, we figured we would make a day of it and attend the Stealth game as well. We went to the box office during halftime and Dan, Kelley and I got front row seats for $10 each.

When we got to the arena and made our way to the glass, I was excited to be that close to the action - then the game started... It became apparent early on why they were "giving away" tickets to the game. The Stealth are a really bad team and were outscored 5-0 in the first quarter while taking 7 penalties. The Stealth scored the first goal of the second period, but Calgary kept pouring it on and ended up outscoring the stealth in the quarter 4-3 to give them an overall lead of 9-3.

Halftime seemed to be a welcome break as the Stealh came out in the third quarter to outscore Calgary 4-2 to close the overall gap 11-7. However, it seemed to be too little, too late as Calgary and San Jose each scored 4 goals in the fourth quarter to make the final score 15-11 in favor of Calgary.

Overall, it was a very sloppy game and there were 33 penalties called (17 for Calgary and 16 for San Jose) which made it not a fun game to watch since there were so many stoppages, there weren't many exciting rallies. The most entertaining part of the game was the guy sitting behind us who kept razzing Tracey Kelusky who was just a random player he chose to pick on ("You suck Kelusky" and "You smell bad Kelusky" and "You're hurting your team Kelusky"). Then, when Kelusky was right in front of us waiting for the faceoff, Dan yelled, "Don't you wish your boyfriend was hot like me." Kelusky turned, looked at Dan and smiled. He didn't care because he knew what the score was and so did we...

Score: L 15-11
1st Quarter
Calgary - Scott Ranger (powerplay) (Tracey Kelusky, Shawn Cable) 2:44
Calgary - Tracey Kelusky (powerplay) (Kaleb Toth, Scott Ranger) 3:36
Calgary - Tracey Kelusky (powerplay) (Kaleb Toth, Kyle Goundrey) 10:55
Calgary - Kaleb Toth (Devan Wray, New Player) 12:03
Calgary - Kaleb Toth (shorthanded) (Andrew McBride) 12:59
2nd Quarter
San Jose - Luke Wiles (unassisted) 1:04
Calgary - Tracey Kelusky (Kyle Goundrey, Lewis Ratcliff) 2:05
Calgary - Kaleb Toth (unassisted) 3:00
San Jose - Kyle Sorensen (Darren Halls) 3:45
Calgary - Scott Ranger (powerplay) (Lewis Ratcliff, Kaleb Toth) 5:08
Calgary - Kyle Goundrey (Kerry Susheski, Shawn Cable) 8:29
San Jose - Gary Rosyski (powerplay) (Colin Doyle, Cam Sedgwick) 14:19
3rd Quarter
San Jose - Luke Wiles (Gary Rosyski, Cam Sedgwick) 2:19
Calgary - Lewis Ratcliff (Kaleb Toth, Kerry Susheski) 8:12
San Jose - Ian Hawksbee (Aaron Bold) 9:48
San Jose - Colin Doyle (powerplay) (Gary Rosyski, Luke Wiles) 11:16
San Jose - Jeff Zywicki (powerplay) (Colin Doyle, Gary Rosyski) 13:05
Calgary - Jeff Moleski (shorthanded) (unassisted) 13:37
4th Quarter
Calgary - Devan Wray (shorthanded) (unassisted) 1:45
Calgary - Lewis Ratcliff (unassisted) 2:45
Calgary - Kaleb Toth (Kyle Goundrey, Lewis Ratcliff) 4:20
San Jose - Jeff Zywicki (extra attacker) (Luke Wiles, Gary Rosyski) 7:15
Calgary - Lewis Ratcliff (Kyle Goundrey) 8:19
San Jose - Jeff Zywicki (powerplay) (Cam Sedgwick, Colin Doyle) 8:54
San Jose - Kyle Sorensen (shorthanded) (Aaron Bold) 12:32
San Jose - Callum Crawford (unassisted) 14:54

San Jose SOG: 47
Calgary SOG: 46
Winning Goalie: Andrew Leyshon
Losing Goalie: Aaron Bold

Tickets: Section 106 Row 1

SJ Sharks vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 2/3/07

This was a "family 4 pack" game which meant you had to buy tickets in increments of 4 and they included a hot dog, soda and bag of chips at a discounted price. I went to the game with Dan, Kelley and Andrew. This was Andrew's first Sharks game and Dan wanted to take him to a day game since he didn't know if Andrew would be able to stay awake for a night game (he proved that he could when we took him to the Stealth game last weekend).

The game started on the wrong foot as the Sharks were called for a penalty just 38 seconds in. However, they made the most of a bad situation when Marcel Goc scored a shorthanded goal (assisted by the goalie, Toskala) to put the Sharks up 1-0. Seven minutes later, the Blackhawks tied it up when Tuomo Ruutu slipped one past Toskala. The score remained tied until just over 1 minute left in the first period when Curtis Brown scored a goal for the Sharks that was again assisted by Toskala which made him the first sharks goaltender to register 2 assists in one game.

The second period featured alternating goals 3 1/2 minutes apart as Martin Havlat scored for Chicago to tie it up and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks to put them up for good. The third period was uneventful as the Sharks only registered 6 shots, although one of them went in for Milan Michalek to make the final score 4-2. Other than the third period, the Sharks dominated the game and ended up out-shooting Chicago 31-22. The biggest disappointment was the fact that the Sharks couldn't score on the power play, going 0 for 6 and it looks like they won't be leading the NHL in that category if they keep it up.

Overall, the game itself wasn't as entertaining as watching Andrew's reaction. He pretty much knew what was going on since he has watched hockey on TV, so he was able to follow the puck and cheer when the Sharks scored. His favorite part of the game, however, was when the Sharks went on the power play and he was able to do the chomp - and with 6 power plays, we did a lot of chomping (The "chomp" is a gesture made by extending the arms in front of the body and, with fingers bent, moving the arms up and down to imitate the jaws of a shark). Hey, that's fun for a 4 year old :-)

Score: W 4-2
1st Period
SJ - Marcel Goc(SH) (Patrick Rissmiller, Vesa Toskala)
Blackhawks - Tuomo Ruutu (Patrick Sharp, James Wisniewski)
SJ - Curtis Brown (Scott Hannan, Vesa Toskala)
2nd Period
Blackhawks - Martin Havlat (Tuomo Ruutu, Bryan Smolinski)
SJ - Patrick Marleau (Ryane Clowe, Joe Thornton)
3rd Period
SJ - Milan Michalek (Jonathan Cheechoo)

SJ SOG: 31
Red Wings SOG: 22
Winning Goalie: Vesa Toskala
Losing Goalie: Nikolai Khabibulin

Tickets: Section 227 Row 6