Still Life by Megan

Nanna sent this picture of Megan's artwork to me today. One may ask how did Nanna get a picture of Megan's artwork? Well apparently, Megan's mom is totally clueless to the fact that her art teacher selected Megan's most recent piece on still life done in chalk, to be displayed in the Lathrop library. The librarian is a friend of Nanna's who took the photo and emailed it to her and now Megan's mom is clued in.

Thought I would share as it is very wonderful....a quote from the email, "It really 'pops' and adds so much to our decorum."

Roving Reporters Hit Apple Ridge Again

Our roving reporters are at it again, this time returning to Yakima to watch Heather participate in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday, October 24th. Friday night, Poppop and Jean were invited to attend the banquet with Heather and her friend Becca.

Poppop, Jean and Heather at the Banquet. Heather you look so nice! (We are so used to seeing you in running T-Shirts....looks like someone else got to it before you.)

Heather first time around looking great..........

A proud grampa noticing that Heather was ahead of his boss' daughter running for NNU #25. Go Heather!!!

Heather 3rd time by........

Coming in for the finish.......

From what we hear, Heather woke up late, ate breakfast one hour before the race, and then promptly proceeded to get a cramp during the race. She finished 44th in a time 24:44 (6K.) Oh well, let this be a lesson to be sure to get up in plenty of time before a race!

Heather and Becca with the Mascot.......hmmm, funny how the mascot changes teams/colors; being both a Nanook and a Malemute which I guess morphs into a Golden Retriever/Border Collie mix!

A group photo - and what a group!

Thanks again to Poppop and Jean for the great photos, cheering on the team, and for the apples which are greatly appreciated (and are so juicy!)

U2 and Coyotes in Phoenix

Well usually when I travel for meetings, a few of us in the evenings go to some great restaurants and have fine food and wine. But this meeting was very different! I had learned a few months ago that U2 would be playing but it seemed no one was interested. Well, I was wrong, and six of us found ourselves at the University of Phoenix stadium for the U2 concert after one heck of a long tedious drive that took over 2 hours sometimes with us not moving at all. The traffic was unbearable but we did make it time as the Black Eyed Peas were just starting. Here is Fergie on the big screen, you can see the stage below.







I didn't bring my cell phone into the concert but borrowed one of my peers cell, and tried to call both girls during the Black Eyed Peas, but of course they were too busy for Mom and missed their chance at hearing Black Eyed Peas live. All of us with teenagers actually knew quite a few of the songs and boy can Fergie "shake it"...boom, boom, boom. During the Black Eyed Peas, we were trying to figure out the stage which we thought was some kind of spider. During the break, we still couldn't quite figure it out but when U2 started, the whole theme was around a space ship. Here's a picture of the stage during the break.....Bono as well as other band members would move out onto the outer ring. At one point, he brought up three sisters and at another time, a young girl. Boy were we envious.......

Here's "The Edge".......always wearing a stocking cap like someone else I know and love very much.

Here's Bono....

During the playing of "Vertigo", the screen dropped down as shown below and the video was spinning around, I was definitely feeling the vertigo affect.

So I didn't really know if this work, now that I know it did...wish I done one of my favorite songs as U2 played them all! It was a great show!

U2 played about three encores and throughout there was some "politicalness" to the message but it was very neutral about peace, helping others and what Americans do for the rest of the world. It was just great that's all I can say.

Then on Thursday night, several of us went to see the Phoenix Coyotes play Detroit Red Wings NHL game. Traffic wasn't so bad this time as we left much earlier....we were at least moving at a very slow crawl.

I was told that Osgood is one of the best goalies in the League.

A meeting of sorts.... :)

Riley and Christopher, I tried to get some video for you........

The game was actually quite exciting though I jumped every time the players hit the boards, the noise was so loud. Coyotes won in Overtime, 3 to 2.

The Phoenix meeting was one of the best ever! Well, at least after hours.....

Raindrops in Portland

Yesterday, Megan raced in rainy wet Portland, Oregon. This is the first year that Lathrop Cross Country has offered team members the opportunity to participate in the Concordia/Puma Classic; a huge Northwest high school cross country race. Several 5k races were held; Junior Varisty, Varisty Invitational and Varisty Elite. Megan participated in the Varisty Invitational and according to the on-location reporting crew, she looked strong (and wet) throughout the race coming in 5th overall in a time of 19:42.2!!! It's so great having grandparents living close (to Alaska standards) and willing to drive to watch Megan and Heather. Thanks to Daddy and Jean, I have these pictures to share.........

Coming in for the finish.....the race was 3 laps with a finish on the track. It's so unusual to see so many umbrellas at a race.

On-location support/reporting crew with smiles, signs, state flag, and cheering dog to boot. Apparently, when people around Candy would really start to cheer, she would also cheer with one "arrrrrrrrrrrrfff" not really a bark but a true cheer.

While talking to me on the phone, Poppop pointing to the mud. Apparently it was a warm rain as these finishers don't look too concerned about getting warm-ups on.

What a wonderful picture.......

If interested in overall results of all the races, try this link......

http://www.dyestatnw.com/?pg=reg7-2009-Cross-Country-OR-091017-ConcordiaPuma-XC-Classic#wt

And here's the link to the article in today's Fairbanks Daily News Miner..........even though the article is more about the West Valley girls and they were in the elite race, Megan was still the 2nd fastest girl from the Fairbanks.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/oct/18/interior-runners-make-strong-showing-race-portland/

Thanks again Poppop and Jean for making the trip!

The Big Easy

Last week I attended meetings in New Orleans and oh my what an experience. I can say, "been there, somewhat did it, and don't need to go back." Let me explain. I enjoyed the food so I did that of course; however, I could do without the smells and feeling of dirtiness as well as that kind of night life. I literally held my nose and/or breath going down Bourbon Street, it didn't seem to matter if was during the day when everything was closed/boarded up or in the evening when the night life forms were out and about. The sewer drains and garbage cans were the worst to pass by! (imagine smells ranging from vomit to detergent.) Some places were rebuilt and opened though others were boarded up and deteriorated. Our hotel the Roosevelt, has been opened just three months since Hurricane Katrina after a multi-million renovation while two other very tall buildings to either side were vacant; one totally gutted and the other had every window broken and was in general dispair. So enough of that...on to the food!


I have to say the food was an experience. Besides eating raw oysters every night as an appetizer, the group I hung out with challenged ourselves to try something new for every dinner. I tried Gumbo, Etouffee, Jambalaya and BBQ Shrimp. Don't be fooled by the "BBQ" it's nothing like you would imagine. The shrimp were served in big bowls drenched in a very rich sauce/broth...I think it's some sort of Roux?

One of the first nights, we went to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Here's what I found out about Beignet's on the internet. The word beignet (pronounced bey-YAY) comes from the early Celtic word bigne meaning "to raise." It is also French for "fritter." Beignets, a New Orleans specialty, are fried, raised pieces of yeast dough, usually about 2 inches in diameter or 2 inches square. After being fried, they are sprinkled with sugar or coated with various icings. It is like a sweet doughnut, but the beignet is square shaped and without a hole. Beignets are the forerunners of the raised doughnut. When you hear people in New Orleans say, "Goin' fo' coffee an' doughnuts," they mean coffee and beignets. In 1986, beignets became the Louisiana State Doughnut.

The French colonists of the 18th century brought the recipe and custom of making beignets to New Orleans. Some historians believe that the Ursuline Nuns of France, who came to Louisiana in 1727, brought this simple pastry to New Orleans, but this is not based on any facts. According to the 1902 Picayune Creole Cook Book, published by "The Picayune," a leading New Orleans newspaper: Beignets were most often enjoyed with café au lait. In New Orleans, café au lait is strong dark roast coffee and chicory, served with equal part hot milk. In the early history of Louisiana, chicory was added to coffee to stretch dwindling supplies. It was found that, in addition to stretching supplies, the chicory also created a smoother, richer brew. The addition of hot milk to strong coffee and chicory created one of the oldest and greatest coffee traditions in the world.

The original Cafe du Monde coffee stand was established in the New Orleans French Market in 1862 and still operates today. The cafe is considered a New Orleans landmark that’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In fact, it is traditional to there for dark coasted coffee with chicory and beignets when visiting the city. At Café du Monde, there is only one food item you can order - beignets. The store is called a coffee stand, but it’s very large, with dozens of tables outside under the trademark green-and-white striped canopy, and more inside. On every table are plates of rapidly disappearing beignets. Café du Monde serves beignets in orders of three, and since that’s the only food item on the menu, you don't have to say what it is you’re ordering. You simply say, “I’ll have an order and a café au lait.” Expect a wait in line if you arrive during peak hours (even longer if you want a table).

And here we are eating beignets at Cafe du Monde...........the powdered sugar was piled on so thick, we had it everywhere!

Have you ever been one of those that seems to notice things that no one else notices or cares to notice? I have a thing for LED cross walk signs......why is the background black with a white shaped man, how come it isn't a white background with a black shaped man? Also, who decides how many seconds you have to cross the road? I have been to cities crossing the same road at different intersections where the amount of seconds to cross the road starts at say 30 seconds at one cross walk and 25 at another? and then I have seen the seconds start at odd intervals such as 17 seconds! So at the cross walk closest to our hotel, I found the upside down white man. Interestingly it only showed for maybe 10 seconds if that and then it would black out for a while before giving the red hand. No one else seemed to notice until I showed them. It took me many many tries to get a photo which also involved getting in the middle of the road and having my friends watch for cars.

Here we are at the Red Fish Grill enjoying great food.

Being served the famous double chocolate bread pudding.

A closer look at the double chocolate bread pudding.

Night time on Bourbon street. Sorry my pictures aren't the best. Really enjoyed the band on the left hand side of the photo below.

Venturing farther up Bourbon Street.

An end to an evening in New Orleans.....do you see him?

Megan Goes to State

Yesterday, the State Cross Country Running championships were held in Palmer. It was a great day weather wise for racing, cool (40's) and calm. Unfortunately, Megan had to wait all morning as her race was the last of four. My good camera isn't fixed yet, so none of my pictures were really in focus. Here's Megan in a pack of girls, I think on lap 1.

Megan on her last lap (photo -Bert Boyer.)

Megan finished 7th in a time of 19:15.4, a personal best. She looked strong and great throughout the race. We are so proud of you!!!

For the 4A Girls, Lathrop and Service tied for the academic award...both teams averaged a 3.83 GPA. This was the first time, two schools had tied for the highest GPA average.

Megan receiving her medal and hug from Mom. (Photos above and below - Bert Boyer.)

And It Snowed

Today was the Region 6 - Cross Country Running High School race and we all woke up to snow! So much for raking leaves this weekend, perhaps this snow will melt while I am away this coming week.

Four races were held today, with Megan's race being the last. Definately a "spike" day. During the 2nd lap, the leader had pulled away by about 15 seconds in front of Megan's pack of four. This group of girls ran tight like this for most of the race.

It was a tough race and Megan looked great finishing third overall. Due to the muddy, snowy conditions and the fact that this course was one of the more difficult courses, no PR for Megan today. After the race, some sisterly love.........

I think Heather and Christopher have a lot in common when it comes to having their pictures taken! I have no idea what Heather was doing but Megan's coaches, Kevin and Liz look on somewhat concerned.

The top 10 girls going right to left. Yeah Megan!

The Lathrop snowman looking out over the stadium. It's on to State next weekend in Palmer.