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February 28, 2008

Oops I did it again!

I have no clue why or how but every single time Craig tries to surprise me I end up picking it up immediately!

Tonight we were just sitting there watching Celebrity @pprentice and I just blurted out, "Are we going to Tahoe in April?" I swear to God Craig nearly fell out of the chair! So he said, "What the hell made you ask me that TODAY?" I have no clue. Why?

See, this April 25 is the 10 year anniversary of the day we met in Reno/Tahoe after meeting on the internet. We've gone back one other time but it was more that we ended up flying into Reno so that we could go to a wedding in Chico and that fare was cheaper than flying into Sacramento or San Francisco.

Anyway, it turns out that TODAY he'd booked a trip. For us. April 25. In Tahoe. As a surprise. For me.

I have no idea how it happens but its literally almost every time. Sorry Craig.

Imagine

Sometimes you see or hear something that just makes you feel like someone sucker punched you right in the gut. I TiVo'd Americ@n Idol on Tuesday (because it was yet another night in the ER for me because of a migraine, but that's another story for another time) and didn't watch it until yesterday morning.

This kid was the last to sing and it was so worth the wait. Every week I'm sort of amazed that he's so young and sooooooooooooooo good, but this is just on a whole other level. I bawled through most of it (shocking, right?) because its just one of those songs (you know?) and his take on it is A.mazing!

If you ask me the boys are kicking the girls' asses.. except for maybe the Irish girl. She's awesome, too.

February 25, 2008

He didn't expect to find out in a meeting!

So Craig and a few of his co-workers are in a meeting this morning and their boss blurts out that they'll all now be reporting to Craig since he's the new program manager. WTF? Like two weeks ago they asked him what he'd think of that promotion and he hasn't heard another word about it.

February 23, 2008

C.A.T.A.S.T.R.O.P.H.E.

When I read this on Friday before we left, I should have known this was gonna be bad. (Look under Class 4-A region 1) Here is what it said...
CLASS 4A REGION I

Junell Center, Angelo State University

Crowley (31-4)

Matchup: vs. Plainview (31-3), 5:30 p.m. Friday

Playoff road: d. Wichita Falls, 76-39; d. Joshua, 49-39

Star power: Headed to North Texas next season, the 6-foot-2 Ryan Green is automatic for scoring in double digits. She leads a group that reached the region semifinals last season without a senior starter.

Don’t forget about: Crowley gives opponents a definite inside-outside combination, with Green in the post and Megan Dell’s outside shooting. Dell hit four 3-pointers in the area round against Wichita Falls.

It all started normally. She won the jump.

jump.jpg

And though they were off to a slow start it didn't look toooooooooooooo terribly bad. Yet.

2pts.jpg

By mid-way through the 3rd quarter we only had...wait for it... 8 points. Yes, 8. So the next obvious picture is..... of her crying. I know, not very nice of me.

tears.jpg

Behind her, you'll see the final score. (Not to mention the other team celebrating at midcourt!)

So none of the parents were really sure what the hell was going on. The coach changed things drastically to play this team instead of just doing what we normally do. Don't get me wrong, Plainview is fucking great (they won today so will move on to play for the State Championship next weekend) and it would have been a tough game even if we'd brought our best. They were all seniors (they'll suck next year) and they were just average size girls that were SO aggressive.

I don't like crying after a game, but I could understand it since it was her last highschool game. Ever. When they came out of the lockerroom she found me in the stands and absolutely sobbed in my arms for a good 5 minutes. They people behind us waiting on the Dunbar game to start were a little irritated that I didn't make her stop. Such is life.

The Plainview coach had some nice things to say about Ryan (among others).

So next weekend is the first trackmeet. Moving on!

Oh yeah. The Star-Telegram was wrong. Ryan WASN'T an automatic for double digit scoring. As a matter of fact, she was the team's leading scorer with... 7 points. 7. 7? Yes, 7.

< / basketball season>

February 19, 2008

They Were Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat Close!

We went to catch the Aledo/Dunbar basketball game tonight. Aledo is in our district so we were cheering for them (plus, Ryan's best friend Taylor plays for them) because everyone wants to see Dunbar knocked off. They've won two of the last three state championships and their star player has T.A.L.E.N.T. if you know what I mean. But this girl has the shittiest attitude and the nastiest mouth I've ever heard. Most of the time she only stays on one end of the court as if she can't be bothered to defend on a fast break. But this girl has been able to DUNK since 8th grade.

Aledo had them BEAT until about 3 minutes left in the game. Damnit! So Dunbar ended up with the win and we will have to play them on Saturday to move on IF we win our game on Friday.

We Won!

God, last night's game was a nailbiter! I didn't think we were going to win because it just seems very hard to beat a team 3 times in a row. Plus, this team had started getting pretty scrappy in their last two games and they had built up a head of steam.

There's an article here about the game.

Ryan had an ok game offensively- except for another EXCELLENT 3pt shot at the buzzer!! Another one of the assistant coaches from UNT came and sat with us, so that helped me stay a little calm. Not much, but a little!
There are 16 teams left in the State of Texas. 16?!?!?!? If we win Friday, there'll be 8, and a win on Saturday whittles it down to 4. Then we'd head to Austin on Feb 28 & 29 for the final two games. So for now, we leave for gawd-awful San Angelo Friday morning (the girls leave Thursday).

I hate San Angelo! It's dirty, and boring. But like I told Ryan, the next game they lose is the last game they play. She'll be moving on to track (she's suddenly questioning track) and then college basketball and track but for the rest of them its over. Its pretty sad...

February 18, 2008

From The Ft. Worth Star Telegram

Found here
This story really highlights two of our players. Neither of them have had a single look from colleges. They've both had a fantastic year and hopefully this will wake SOMEone up!

Girls Basketball: Crowley 76, Wichita Falls 39
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Crowley girls put on a shooting clinic
By CARLOS MENDEZcmendez@star-telegram.com
DECATUR – Some teams cut down the nets after a playoff win. The Crowley girls might have wanted the rims.

The Eagles put in 30 of 48 shots, including 11 of 15 3-pointers, in a 76-39 victory against Wichita Falls on Friday night in a Class 4A area-round playoff game.

Megan Dell hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, all off passes from Ashley Stamp, who added three more 3s of her own to finish with 19 points and seven assists.

“I guess we were just on tonight,” Dell said.

You think?

Stamp laughed.

“We just came out confident. We just knew we were going to do good,” she said. “We knew we were going to stay positive when we missed shots or when we made a turnover.”

Which wasn’t often, in either area.

The Eagles (30-4), who advance to a Region I quarterfinal against Joshua at 7 Monday in Burleson, made 14 of their first 19 shots, were 17-for-26 at the half and had only three turnovers in leading 44-15 at halftime.

Now they return to the site of the game where Dell opened the season by making nine of 10 3-pointers.

“These girls hadn’t played since a week ago Tuesday,” said Crowley coach Alan Neff, whose team returned every starter from last season’s fourth-round team. “They were champing at the bit to get out here. I just hope we didn’t use everything up tonight.”

Wichita Falls (26-8) put in the first bucket of the game, but Crowley delivered one knockout punch after another from there. Dell hit a 3 to start the scoring for Crowley, and then put in three more before the quarter was out.

Dell’s fourth 3-pointer, with 55 seconds left in the quarter, gave Crowley a 23-11 lead, and it came on Stamp’s sixth assist of the quarter. She had the assist on six of the Eagles’ nine shots in the period, and two were her own.

“Our point guard was really on,” Dell said.

The 3-pointers are part of the Crowley attack. But Stamp said the Eagles don’t necessarily look for them early.

“We just execute the plays like they’re supposed to be run, and if the 3 is open, we shoot it,” she said.

Younger sister Chelsea Stamp hit two 3-pointers. Julie Graham and reserve Mandy Burson each had one. Dell was the only one who missed, going 4-for-8.

“We have some set plays against a zone to get the 3-point shot,” Neff said. “A big part of our offense is the 3-point shot. But we’ve also got Ryan Green and Tayla Vaughn and Jennie Thomas inside, and that helps, too.”

February 16, 2008

Area Champs

Last night we beat Wichita Falls for the Area Championship. The Star Telegram broke the scoring down for our team like this: Chelsea Stamp 6, Mandy Burson 7, Megan Dell 15, Ashley Stamp 19, Kamiah Moss 4, Julie Graham 3, Ryan Green 11, Tayla Vaughn 3, Jennie Thomas 4, Jessica Thomas 4. Meaning LITERALLY every girl on our team scored!

We thought Ryan only had 9pts but 11 sounds good, too. She didn't have a great game offensively. They kept her surrounded so that left two of our guards wide open to launch 3's and boy did they!!! It was perfect and we were all so proud of our girls!!

Tomorrow's the Daytona 500. I'm pulling for the usual suspect (Jr). I just really hope I feel well enough to eat the chili I'm making. I still feel pretty crappy but slightly better today than yesterday.

February 14, 2008

My Funny Painful Valentine

Craig left the house at 5am today to fly to North Carolina for anouther round of meetings regarding a CV$ out there that they're having a tough time getting through the planning committee. I feel so bad for him because he's put in SO many hours and only getting between 2-4 hours the last four nights or so. Hopefully he's getting some good sleep tonight because he's gotta get up at the ass-crack of dawn again tomorrow morning so that he's in town early enough for us to make the trek to BFE Decatur for the 2nd round of basketball playoffs.

I don't think I'll be yelling too much tomorrow night because I can barely open my mouth right now. I had that wisdom tooth taken out today and it HURTS! To top it off, I'm still not feeling great since having severe nausea on Monday and Tuesday, but thankfully I've still got plenty of the zofran to help.

My new bed is being delivered on Tuesday and I'm really excited! We've been so lucky with our bedroom furniture. We originally just had a dresser and two nightstands (that were Craig and his ex-wife's) but for some reason Craig gave one of the nightstands away right before we moved in together, so that left just the dresser and one nightstand. We decided to make our "office" furniture match because when we bought this house it was a VERY tall order to fill this bedroom with furniture because it's EXTREMELY large. (We have a king size bed, two dressers, two nightstands, a HUGE desk, a little 3 drawer cabinet thing that the printer sits on, a lateral file, cedar chest, a bookcase AND a big 32' tv in here. And we've still got plenty of room! (all the office furniture is the same brand and style- purchased together) So I've been looking for a headboard-footboard for our bed that would somehow match all of this and until now I hadn't found one. Then about three weeks ago I found it! I'm really excited to put it in here!

P80000962a.jpg

And now, I'm going to bed. Night-night!

February 13, 2008

My "Dear God" Letter

Dear God,

I don't often ask for things. Oh sure, there's the ocassional item that I might need or want (alright, my last post wasn't really asking for help, I just said that I needed help. Big difference!!! Oh yeah, and jewelry doesn't count!!!!) but I don't ask for the big things very often. And this isn't really a big thing. It's almost nothing... for the most part.

So, I know I'm going all Mary K. Blige on you, but I'd really like to ask that my daily dose of drama be administered through my tv ONLY, please. I'm serious.

Mmmkay? Thank you.

p.s. Thank you for sending Michael Johns (from Australia) to American Idol. His voice is yummy!!

P.S. I feel much better today. Good job!!

February 12, 2008

I'm Dying

Good God, I need help. I'm sicker than a dog and my head is killing me!

It all started yesterday morning about 9am. I ate breakfast, which I almost never do, around 6:15am. By 9am my stomach was hurting so bad I thought I was going to die. I tried sleeping it off but if anything it got worse.

By the time Craig got home I was seriously miserable. I didn't think I was running a fever but he said I was burning up, so I went ahead and called the doctor. I asked him to call in Zofran because it works SO much better than phenergan for me. They give it to chemo patients so it REALLY works and it doesn't have the sedative effect that phenergan has.

It worked and stopped the nausea but I just took the last one this morning (he only calld in 4) and I'm already feeling queezy again.

My head is killing me. My body aches. I'm miserable. Seriously. Even chocolate doesn't sound good. Do you know how bad it is for me to say THAT? I'm going back to bed.

February 9, 2008

How Awesome Is My Husband?

I picked up my niece yesterday morning after my dentist appointment and ended up spending the day with Craig. Shopping, shopping, oh yeah... and shopping. He didn't say a word when we dropped $295 at Costco. Isn't he awesome?!?!?!

Then, DeMarcus flew in yesterday so we spent the evening just hanging out. The baby was soooooooo good. Laughing, playing, EATING... it was just a perfect evening. Craig went to bed before me (about 11pm) and I ended up falling asleep about 1am.

This morning I had to get up early to take Woody to the vet but I woke up about an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I just laid there with my eyes closed and at some point I realized Craig wasn't in bed so I just assumed he'd already left to go play golf. Then he came in and kissed me goodbye so I figured that maybe I'd just dreamed that he wasn't in bed. Anyway, I got up to say goodbye to DeMarcus and Craig then told me that he'd been up with the baby since about 3am. WHAT??????????

I was a bit horrified that I hadn't heard her cry, but then Craig said he'd gotten up to go to the bathroom and heard her moving around so when he checked on her it woke her up. Okay, that's better.

So then it was time to get her dressed so that I could manage to get her and Woody out the door by 8. I normally take both dogs to the vet even if only one of them has an appointment but there was just no way to do that today so I felt a little guilty for leaving Jade at home. $150 later we're all home and I'm ready for a nap!

Since the first week of December we've spent $1400 on the dogs. Jade's ACL repair surgery was $900 of that, so I can't complain. We've still got to get teeth cleaned on both dogs. They sedate them when they do that so they'll got ahead and do Woody's xrays on his back and neck to see how much worse the narrowing of his spine is getting.

So now, I'm going to change this stinky diaper and we're taking a brief nap!!!

February 7, 2008

Another Promotion?

On the way to the UNT (they beat undefeated Western Kentucky!!) game last night Craig told me that his boss and his bosses boss told him that he will probably be promoted to program director in the next 3 months.

This is HUGE. He just got a massive raise in October and another good raise in December so this was totally unexpected. I can't think about it or it won't come true.

(hoping hoping hoping hoping hoping!)

February 5, 2008

I Survived!!!

Good LORD, tonight was tough. To make matters worse (in a good way I suppose) the head coach from UNT as well as their point guard, Yari Escalera, came to cheer Ryan on. My entire family was there!!

Just before the game started a gentleman walked up and asked if I was Ryan's mom. I said I was, so he told me that he was so impressed with her because his daughter, who's in 6th grade, pulled Ryan aside and asked how she got her scholarship. Ryan told her about all the stuff she does during the summer to get recruited. He told me that Ryan had just made a huge impression on his daughter and he really appreciated it. I was floored!!!

Ryan scored 15 of the teams 31 points and actually made her 2nd 3 pointer for the year. That's 100% on 3's for her. (I can't believe she's only shot TWO during a game in her life!!!)

Before the game, the senior parents (two other girls parents and us) were invited into the locker room to give the girls a hug and tell them how proud we are of all of them. It was really emotional, and even the dads got a little choked up.

After the game, the boys escorted the girls to midcourt and the announcer told the crowd all of their accomplishments. Here is a copy of exactly what they said about Ryan (minus her words to us, of course. More on that in a sec)

Senior Recognition and Parent Introductions
Wearing jersey #30 and playing post for the varsity Lady Eagles is Ryan Green. Meeting Ryan at midcourt are her parents, Craig and Kristi Rush.
Ryan has played basketball for Crowley High School for 4 years, plus 2 years at HF Stevens.
School activities and awards include:
Varsity volleyball- All District 05-06 and 06-07
Varsity Track- 2004-05, 05-06, 06-07, (District champ in High jump 05-06, 4th place at State Track Meet)
Varsity Basketball 2004-05, 05-06, 06-07, 07-08- All District as freshman, sophomore and junior years. All Region Team 06-07)
McDonald’s All American Nominee 2008
American Sign Language Club 2006, 07 and 08
Ryan will be attending The University of North Texas on a basketball scholarship in the fall and has been invited to join their track team as well.
Ryan,
Words cannot express how proud we are of you! You play with such joy and your excitement is inspiring! Your accomplishments on and off the court impress us daily. Know that we stand behind you 100% in whatever you do.
We love you,
Mom and Craig

Then they read what Ryan had written. She started it off with "Mom and Dad." That's when I teared up. She told me that when she was writing it she just couldn't bring herself to write "Craig." She said, "He IS my dad!" OMG. She said Craig squeezed her hand really hard when they read it. It was just a really sweet moment.

Then, the athletic director came out and announced that Ryan and Tim Meadows had both been nominated for McDonald's All American.

The only bad moment of the night was when I got home and realized one of my brand new earrings from Craig was missing. I was heartbroken! I went back to the school and looked everywhere. I eventually told one of the cheerleaders about it and then left. About an hour afterwards there was a knock at my front door and there was that cheerleader with my earring! I offered her a $50 reward but she wouldn't take it.

Then Kyra started crying. I thought something was really wrong but it turns out she's just emotional about it only being a few months til Ryan is off to college. Hell, I thought she'd be throwing a party!!!!

I'll have pictures on Friday I think. When I do get them they'll be on here!

How to survive...

Tonight is going to be rough. I'll probably bawl my eyes out. It's Senior Night for the girls basketball team. (the boys are next week) It is the last time Ryan will ever play on her home court. They've won district and have made the playoffs but those are always done on neutral territory. It was equally horrible when Austin played his last football and baseball games. This little town is also where I went to school, so there are just alot of memories here.

The ceremony will be held after the girls game- right before the boys play. There are 3 senior girls and 6 senior boys so two of the boys will walk each girl to center court where the parents will be waiting. Two of the boys are twins and they've chosen to walk with Ryan.

God... I'm already crying!!! What a mess.

February 2, 2008

My Obsession(s)

In no particular order

1) My family
2) My dogs
3) Lotion (based mostly on scent- whatever suits my mood)
4) Dental floss
5) My niece
6) Court tv (forensic files especially)
7) Books (they give me comfort- if I was rich I'd own a library)
8) chocolate (the size of my ass is directly proportionate)
9) shopping (this really should have been much higher on my list. The chocolate, too)
10) Perfume (And this is the one thing I won't bargain shop for. The only ones I wear are Armani Code, Lancome Hypnose, Sung and Mackie)
11) angels (I collect them)
12) wikipedia (I have no clue why. Boredom, perhaps?)
13) The LittIe Mermaid (long story)
14) music
15) jewelry (but I'm picky)
16) CNN, Perez Hilton and TMZ (sad, huh?)
17) The number 3 (this number has alot of significance in my life)
Update:
18) nasal spray (for Jamie)

I could go on and on.