Busy Weekend

Saturday, we took the kids to see the new Pixar movie, Cars, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. (My daughter and I saw Princess Diaries 2 there a few years ago and loved it - we've wanted to go back ever since.) What a great movie! The kids had a fantastic time - definitely a fun day.

On Sunday, we left the kids home with my parents and drove over to Santa Barbara for 2 days to participate in a golf tournament fundraiser for Cure Autism Now. It was put on by Athletes Against Autism. We stayed at the beautiful Bacara Resort. There was a wonderful dinner/program Sunday night and my husband golfed at Sandpiper with Curt Warner this morning while I enjoyed a (heavenly!) Citrus Avacado Body Scrub/Massage at the spa.

In attendance was:

Olie Kolzig/Washington Capitals
Byron Dafoe/former Atlanta Thrasher
Scott Mellanby/former Atlanta Thrasher
Ryan Nece/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Billy Volek/Tennesee Titans
Travis Hall/Atlanta Falcons
Stu Barnes/Dallas Stars
Brent Johnson/Washington Capitals
Jeb Terry/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bill Krueger/former MLB pitcher
Fox NW broadcaster
Curt Warner/former Seattle Seahawk
Jim Gott/former Los Angeles Dodger
Ron Cey/former Los Angeles Dodger
Greg Swindell/former Arizona Diamondback
Darwin Cook/former New Jersey Net, LA Legend of Basketball
Randy Smith/former Buffalo Brave, Legend of Basketball
M. Campy Russell/former Cleveland Cavalier, Legend of Basketball
Fred Brown/former Seattle Supersonic, Legend of Basketball
John Egan/former Houston Rockets coach, Legend of Basketball
Don Ford/former Los Angeles Laker, LA Legend of Basketball
LaMar Green/former Phoenix Sun, Legend of Basketball
Marques Johnson/former Milwaukee Buck, UCLA star, LA Legend of Basketball
Ed Ratleff/former Houston Rocket, LA Legend of Basketball
Robert Smith/Legend of Basketball
Don Felder/former guitarist, The Eagles
Marc Blucas/actor
Jason Olive/actor
AVP volleyball player
Bruce Greenwood/actor

It was the inaugural event - we hope to be involved next year at the 2nd annual!

Birthday Trip

It's hard to believe that my "babies" are now 6 and 7 years old. I can remember every minute of the days each of them were born - like they were just last week.

For their birthdays, they decided that they wanted to celebrate with Mickey at Disneyland. Again. (We were just there over Spring Break in April.) We agreed and invited my parents and sister to go along with us. What a great weekend! We went down mid-day on Friday the 16th and had their birthday dinner at The Rainforest Cafe before spending Saturday and Disneyland and Sunday at California Adventure Park. The weather was great and everyone had an excellent time. The kids loved the "birthday fuss" the park employees made over them!

Progress!

I'm getting there - slowly but surely. I feel really good about everything and have learned a lot about my body and what helps/hinders my weight loss efforts. I'm currently weighing about 3 pounds more than I did the day I married my husband (11 years ago) - less than I have in 8 years! I'm not 100% certain I'll meet my goal weight by August 18 like I'd hoped to but I do feel confident that I'll get there eventually.

INXS

In the late 1980's, I was a huge INXS fan. Last Summer, when the Rock Star: INXS show debuted, I was all over it. I loved Michael Hutchence, of course, but missed the bands' music and was excited that they were looking to start performing/recording again with someone new at the helm. From the very first episode, I knew who I thought was going to give them the best chance at succeeding with their "comeback". My husband and I watched religiously all Summer long and were thrilled on September 20, 2005 when J.D. Fortune was chosen to be the bands' new lead singer.

Last night, we drove up to the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California - a 90-minute drive - but the show they put on was well worth the trip! Scott Stapp (former lead singer of Creed) opened for them and was good - we had dinner and caught his last 3 songs. The INXS show was incredible - exciting, full of energy, sexy... They did a lot of classic INXS stuff but played some songs from their new album Switch as well. The set-list was as follows:

• Suicide Blonde
  
• Devil's Party
  
• Mystify Me
  
• Hot Girls
  
• By My Side
  
• Afterglow
  
• Taste it
  
• Original Sin
  
• Hungry
  
• Never Let You Go
  
• What You Need
  
• Kick
  
• Devil Inside
  
• Pretty Vegas
  
• Spoken Word (Encore)
  
• New Sensation (Encore)
  
• Amazing Grace (Encore)
  
• Never Tear Us Apart (Encore)
  
• Don't Change (Encore)
  

They look and sound incredible. What a night - I wish it didn't have to end! I'm so thrilled that they are back. They just make me so... happy.

Al-Zarqawi Dead

We awoke to big news this morning. I, personally, will not mourn for Al-Zarqawi. He was an animal - sub-human - and I can't help but feel that the world will be a better place without him in it. Back in the Spring of 2004, I managed to come across the actual videotaped footage of Nick Berg's be-heading (which CIA leaks have said was pulled off by Al-Zarqawi personally). It was the most horrendous, hideous, savage thing I've ever seen.