BENJAMIN IN PARADISE

Benjamin at Lynn's Paradise Cafe that is!  You could see that Benjamin was still full of spirits from tasting all the bourbon at Wild Turkey as he did a "look Ma no hands" hanging on a golf lamp on the counter at Lynn's Paradise Cafe.  There are other funky looking lamps around the gift shops but I did not take any photos because it would not be appropriate to show these "adult content" lamps being that this is a family-oriented blog!

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals on advancing to the National League Championship Series.  (Alisa, I was too quick with my prediction when I posted the comment on your blog.  The Cardinals was down 3-6 bottom of the 5th so I thought they would be eliminated.  They came back and beat the Nationals 9-7.)  I also spoke too early when I said to my husband that my NY Yankees will kick his Detroit Tigers' butt in the American League Championship Series.  Well, the Yankess loss the first two games in NY and with Derek Jeter out for season (ankle), I am not sure if there is any hope for the Yankees!

Regular readers probably noticed that I have not mentioned about the NHL lockout (again), all the games cancelled thru October 24th.  I am fine at this point but I am not sure what I would do when football season is over.  I think about it tomorrow!  Talk about football, my beloved Patriots loss to the Seahawks 23-24 in a very upsetting game yesterday, especially Patriots had 13-point lead with eight minutes left in the 4th.  Brady threw two interceptions, a few missed throws and safeties too deep in the play allowing Seahawks to throw and run the ball. 

Last week was the Knights of Columbus 2012 Annual Tootsie Roll Drive.  I helped on Thursday and Friday and both of us helped on Saturday and Sunday as well as after 10:15 Mass.  On Sunday, it was windy in the morning but we had clear blue sky and sunny in the afternoon.  Halloween decoration already is in full swing as I saw a few houses in our neighborhood got "t-ping" (toilet paper on the trees).  I wonder how this sort of prankster got started.  It is a waste of useful resource.  If only I could tell these kids what we had to do without toilet paper in the refugee camp.  We had to walk miles and miles to get to a spot in the wood, do our business and then .............

SUPERBOWL XLVI

Congratulations to my American hometown team the New York Giants for winning the Superbowl Championships. While I am happy for Eli and the Giants, I must admit that I feel real bad for Brady and the Patriots. (Image how much worse the entire Patriots team must feel.) If the Giants lost the game it would not be as bad as the Patriots not winning. Why, because the Giants being the Wild Card and made it to the Superbowl - that was an accomplishment, compared to the Patriots with a winning season, they were expected to win the Superbowl. It hurts deeply when you could not deliver what everyone wanted. 2nd time was not a charm for my beloved Patriots. Hey Qap, you just won a milk shake at Crown Candy, but you have to come to St. Louis to collect it - haa haa! (Above photo was taken at last month Ice Carnival in the Loop.)

HERE WE GO AGAIN - 2ND TIME IS A CHARM - PATRIOTS V. GIANTS

Our activities during the last few weekends were arranged around the NFL playoffs schedule. For football fans, it was the most exciting time of the year. It was full of surprises starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers being eliminated by the Broncos - thanks to Tebow's last minute touchdown. Moving on to the Divisional Round, more surprises with the 49ers defeated the Saints (36-32) and the most shocking was the Giants being the Wild Card sent the Packers (with a winning season 15-1) home with a major victory (37-20). I was nervous watching the Patriots v. Broncos game because I could not decide which team should win since I like both Brady and Tebow. The Giants were the only Wildcard team to move on to the Conference Round, facing the 49ers. The AFC game between Patriots v. Ravens - Brady did not play too well and the Patriots were lucky to win that game. The Ravens missed the field goal, unable to tie the game to send it to overtime. Interestingly, the Giants won the game with a field goal in overtime after the 49ers tied at the end of the 4th.
The XLVI Superbowl will be on Sunday, Feb. 5th in Indianapolis, Indiana. Watching all the activities leading up to the Big Day reminded of the excitement when we attended the XL Superbowl in Detroit. The Steelers won that year and the Seahawks never regained from that defeat. I am a bit nervous since this is the 2nd time my beloved Patriots play against my American hometown team the Giants. Five years ago I made the comment, "May the better team win". Not sure if I should say that again! I might just pay attention to the snacks (mini tacos and chicken wings are my favorite) instead of watching the game!
Hey Qap and Lone Gunman, would you care to place bets? You both could take the Giants against my Patriots. What would be your predictions (winning team and final scores)? How about milk shakes at Crown Candy for the prize?

IT'S A MAD, MAD WORLD (ANY GIVEN SUNDAY)

"If we learned anything from Week 15, it's that anything can happen on any given Sunday or Thursday, or Monday", was the comment that was spoken by almost all the football analysts or the wannabe sport commentators like me. It was a mad, mad world in football last weekend and I will tell you what happened. The Colts (1-13) beat the Titans (7-7); the Eagles (6-8) ran the Jets (8-6) off the field with the final score 45-19 but the biggest surprise of all was the Chiefs (6-8) made history by handing the Packers (13-1) their first lost. Up until Sunday night, the Packers were undefeated, almost perfect season!

On Monday night (December 19th), the Steelers (10-4) lost badly 3-20 against the 49ers (11-3). Big Ben threw two interceptions in the 1st quarter and could not overcome his ankle injury. Of course, my beloved New England Patriots (11-3) won big (41-23) against the Broncos (8-6). I was torn between Brady and Tebow because I liked them both. I would not feel bad if the Broncos won - that would shut up all the anti-Tebow crowds!

On Thursday night (December 22nd), the IN Colts will face the Houston Texans. I don't know why they even bother playing since the Colts (1-13) definitely will miss the playoffs. (This entire season, they only won one game against the Titans). The Texans (10-4) already clinched the AFC South Division, so why take the risk that guys might be hurt. I am happy that the Lions (9-5), much improved this season, still have a chance getting into the playoffs being a Wild Card. Don't even get me started on the St. Louis Rams (2-12)!

(The photos above were taken at the October 30th game when the Rams got a surprise win against the Saints. The half time performance was from a local school band. The kids played well but I don't remember from which school.)

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Good thing nobody depends on me to bring them the latest news of what is happening around the country and around the world. Even when it comes to football and hockey, my favorite sports, I usually write about games or events that already took place a long time ago.The St. Louis Rams made history on August 13th with a win 33-10 over the Indianapolis Colts. It is the Rams' first home game. (Ok, I might be a bit sarcastic here - it was pre-season and Peyton Manning "blended into the crowd on the sideline" allowing the Rams a chance to shine!)

That was a good day of "hard work" for Peyton who just got a $90 millions = 5 years contract. The Colts will pay Peyton $1,125.000 per game, $281,250 per quarter (that is 15 minutes), $18,740 per minute but only $312.50 per second :). If you were a 35 years old Peyton Manning, would you turn out this kind of offer? As of me, I am very happy that the NFL 2011-2012 season started. Life is good and everything seems to make sense again!!!!

LAST MAN STANDING

Here I am again – a few days late and a few thousand dollars short!

February 6th was Super Bowl Sunday and I was one of the 106.5 million viewers (I thought it would be higher than that – how could anyone not watch The Game?) glued to their television sets (had to be HD and no less than 46” screen). According to Fox Sports, SB XLV was the most watched TV event in U.S. history.

Of course, watching the game was just a (small) part of the excitement. It was an excuse for us to go off our diet, again! My husband and I have been going back (again!) to eating breakfast (CP with his delicious oatmeal and toast with no butter for me) a light lunch, and salad for dinner. (I am running out of creative ideas to make the salad more appealing!) On the weekends, we would treat ourselves to a hearty breakfast (cooking breakfast with TOTA) and a nice small portion dinner. We have a long way to go. So far we both reduced only 4% of the total body weight. One day at a time, one salad bowl for a chubby woman!

By now everyone knew that Qaptain Qwerty is a sore loser because he picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the SB. I thought the Steelers would win but I secretly picked the Green Bay Packers to win 24-21 (I predicted the game came down to a field goal). I am sure no one expected Big Ben to throw the interceptions. When the Steelers successfully got the 2-point conversion, I thought they would come back and win the game. I must say that the Packers put on a good show and they deserved to win. Congratulations Aaron Rodgers! Would you now put on your cheese head?

Since I don’t have any photos of the game (I am glad I was not one of the people who could not get into the seats that they paid good money for) and I did not want to use the same cheesy photos from the SB XL in 2006, so I thought this ice sculpture would go nicely with the theme, “Last man standing” or “Last penguin melting”. There could only be one winner and the Packers were the Champions.
OK, what about a few thousand dollars short? I got a new vehicle, a 2010 Mazda6. The dealership offered a good deal to make room for the 2011 models. I made a 15% down payment and financed the balance. After paying taxes, with only a few dollars left in the bank account, I have no choice but eating salad since we could only afford a bag of lettuce and maybe some baby carrots!

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

Saturday, January 22nd – The last few weeks I started looking for another vehicle to replace my 8+ years old (100,000+ miles) Mazda 626. Previously, when I turned 30, I purchased a light blue 2-door Escort, then another Escort – Green color this time when I was 35 and owned the 626 in 2002. Since I will be turning 50 next month, it is time for me to get another new car. I selected three different models, did extensive comparisons and am very close to make my decision. One of the important factors is that the vehicle must have a high percentage of being produced (also parts) from assembly plants in the U.S. I am not in a hurry to get a new car during these winter months (don't care for snow, salt and mud) and the 626 is still running good. My husband keeps a good schedule of maintenance on our cars. The dealerships need to sell more than I need to buy.It started to snow around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon. I thought it was nice that we already attended 5:30 p.m. Mass yesterday and we could stay inside all day. Though I am not against going to Mass on Saturday evening, I prefer attending the traditional Sunday Mass.Sunday was another exciting day filled with NFL playoffs games. The Packers sent the Bears “packing” with a 21-14 victory in NFC Championship Game. I was torn between wanting the NY Jets to win because deep-down I am a NYer (well, I have always thought the Jets were more New Jersey than New York team!) but I resented that the Jets kicked my Patriots’ butts. I also thought the Steelers already won the Super Bowl in 2006 (we were there) and again in 2009, so perhaps I should cheer for the Jets. The Steelers won 24-19 over the Jets in the AFC Championship Game.

Hey Lone Gunman, how about a friendly wager for the Super Bowl? What would be your pick, Steelers or Packers?

COOL STUFF

Saturday, January 15th – We went to the 6th Annual Ice Carnival in the Delmar Loop. It was our first time because I did not know about this Carnival. I only knew about the Ice Sculptures Festival in St. Charles. That goes to show that there is always something new around town (and we have been living here since 1995). Do you have Ice Carnival/Festival in your town?

(I thought of my nephew JL when I saw the above ice sculpture of the dragon since JL was born in the year of the Dragon.)
It was a lot of fun taking photos of the ice sculptures in front of different businesses. There were 5K and 10K Frozen Buns Runs starting at Blueberry Hill. I will post more photos of the ice sculptures and also an Ice Carving demos. We visited a few shops to get free chocolate coins (some lucky people also got real dollar coins) frozen in ice cubes, given away to get potential customers into the stores.

According to the Loop's official website, www.visittheloop.com, "A century ago at this location, streetcars from downtown “looped around” to return to the city, which gave the area its name. That movement and momentum continue today, as The Loop expands into the City of St. Louis with the exciting new growth and development that have made it a destination."Sunday, January 16th – Tom Brady threw his first interception in 12 games and was sacked five times in one of the worst performances of the season in a stunning 21-28 loss to the New York Jets. New England Patriots, the team with NFL’s best record, made so many inexcusable errors in the Sunday AFC Divisional Playoff Game. Brady’s 2-yard touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion provided a temporary gleam hope at half-time. The Patriots fell apart on both defense (allowing the Jets’ runs down the field) and offense with Branch and Welker dropped many of Brady’s long passes. (Even my grandmother could catch the ball and ran to the end zone!) After the game, as tears were falling down my face and onto the keyboard, I opened a comment that read, “Let’s go Jets!!! Jets, Jets, hurray!”. Who else would send me such kind and loving (NOT) comment but Qaptain Qwerty. I promise not to respond to such “trash talk” and will wait patiently for Friday, April 8th to come around – haa haa!

My football playoffs life must go on in anticipation of the match-up between the Packers v. the Bears in the NFC Championship game next Sunday at 3:00 p.m. follow by the AFC Championship game between the Jets v. the Steelers at 6:30 p.m. Hey Qaptain Qwerty, any prediction for the Superbowl? How about a friendly wager for a nice dinner at the Landing?

WILD, WILD CARD GAMES

(These photos were taken at the Rams v. 49ers game on Sunday, December 26, 2010.)

Saturday, January 8th – I got up around 9:00 a.m. and proceeded to make breakfast since it was too cold to go anywhere and we needed to save money from eating out. (OK, Qaptain Qwerty and regular readers, please get up, stop rolling on the floor laughing about the statement that I made breakfast. Why, just last week I finally learned to boil eggs without burning any. Ok, you are probably questioning how anyone could burn a boiled egg. Well, let’s just say it involved my beloved Detroit Red Wings and overtime, then shootout!)

I spent the morning re-arranged my home office and helping my husband putting away all the Christmas decorations. I was able to watch the 1st half of the Saints v. Seahawks game before leaving the house. I signed up to volunteer with a program that sponsor monthly dance, at a local parish, for adults with mental disabilities. The dance party, music by a DJ, is organized to provide a safe and enjoyable environment. Most of these adults live in group homes or with their families. So the dance is their only outlet of entertainment while meeting others who have similar disabilities.

It was my first time so I arrived around 6:00 p.m. and was assigned to set up tables and chairs, getting the soda and snacks ready and then helping at the refreshment table. There were about 150+ guests with various degrees of difficulties. I had to learn to listen to what they say and help with simple task such as open the soda can. I got home around 8:30 p.m. to catch the Colts v. the Jets game.

Sunday, January 9th – After Mass, we visited Barb and spent the afternoon with her. Barb’s husband, Bob, passed away in October. I watched part of the Ravens v. Chiefs game since Barb (and Bob) also enjoyed football. We had an enjoyable time with Barb and thought it would help ease her loneliness and adjusting to the new situation of being a widow.

It was a disappointing weekend with three of the teams I cheered for did not advance to the Division. The Colts (10-6) got eliminated 16-17 by the New York Jets (11-5) while the Seahawks (7-9) ran over the Saints (11-5) 41-36. Matt Cassel and the Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) got beaten up badly 7-30 by the Ravens (12-4). The only bright spot was Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (10-6) eliminated the Eagles (10-6) 21-16 – it was a nail-biting game!

Next weekend, the Division match-up should be exciting (no predictions from me) – life is good!

AFTER CHRISTMAS

On Sunday, December 26th, the day after Christmas, instead of being at the mall trying to find all the bargains, we were at the Rams v. the 49ers game. We went to 8:30 a.m. Mass but had to stay until 10:15 a.m. Mass to help with selling scripts. It was my husband's turn as part of his service with the Council (Knights of Columbus).

We got to the game just in time for the National Anthem. Parking spaces were at premium because everyone was willing to pay extra to park at the lots closest to the stadium since it was freezing and the wind chill was unbearable.

It was a good game. The Rams won 25-17. It was also Fans Appreciation Day but we did not win any prizes. Nice items such as autographed jerseys, $200 gift cards, 32" and 46" TV with sound bar were given away by random drawings of seats. The iPad was a hot item and there were at least three iPads were given away like it was cotton candy!

That is #8 Sam Bradford, the rookie quarterback who has been the talk of the town. Rams' fans started to attend the games with their heads held high and once again began to have hopes for a playoffs spot.

TUESDAY TWO -- MISSOURI ROUTE 66

It was another sort-of relaxing weekend. The only activity we had planned was a luncheon meeting with the Missouri Route 66 Association. The event took place on Saturday at Bob’s Gasoline Alley in Cuba, Missouri. We went the Alley before but only looking in from the outside. This time we were able to see all the displays of Bob’s large petroleum related items, old gas pumps, pedal cars, cookie jars, die cast cars, antique clocks, neon clocks, and more.

Here is what written about Bob Mullen's collection "60+ pumps, once dispensing brands of gasoline such as Hudson, Skelly, Texaco Diesel Chief, Gilmore and Signal, line the barnyard fence. The oldest is a Mobilgas Special pump from 1904.The real surprise, however, is what is inside each of his two barns. Displayed along with more signs and pumps are collections of hundreds of neon clocks, thousands of antique advertising thermometer signs and over a hundred antique ice chests. Mullen also has more than 5,000 miniature Die Cast metal cars and trucks. Each is a replica of a model from the 1940s and ‘50s when Route 66 was most heavily traveled. As Mullen’s collections grew, he decided the entire accumulation was large enough to be given a name of its own. About six years ago, after seeing a sign that read “Gasoline Alley,” he began to refer to his acquisitions as “Bob’s Gasoline Alley.”

Since we already attended 4:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday evening, I stayed in the house all day Sunday. I got up at 9:30 a.m. the same time when my husband got back from his golf game. After breakfast, it was time to get ready for Vikings at the Bears game and later watching the Rams losing again to the 49ers. I decided to take a nap so I could stay up late watching Patriots at Steelers game. After last Sunday embarrassing performance (disappointing and painful for fan like me) when the Patriots were beat up by Cleveland Brown (14-34), I was on edge watching the game this week. My faith in Brady was restored, the Patriots won 39-26, sending Big Ben into the lockers crying!

Next week, it will be a treat when the Colts meet the Patriots on Brady’s home turf. Another interesting game is Green Bay Packers visiting Brett Favre in Minnesota. I sure hope the St. Louis Rams get a win out of the Falcons. A weekend with many good match-up football games – life is good

I GOT GRAVITY!

A few weeks ago, we got a new phone, Gravity T (right). We decided to stay with T-Mobile instead of getting the iPhone. With the old phone (left), we used the service to make and receive phone calls, nothing more. Now we are able to get email, surf the internet and send text messages. (I don’t care much for texting, so don’t expect much activity there.) I enjoy the new phone tremendously now that I am able to check NHL, NFL scores and complete schedule to make sure I don’t miss any games. I have to learn how to make the text bigger so I could read without reading glasses. (I do miss Steve Yzerman on the screen of my old phone.)

I still have to learn the touch screen navigation, how to slide the finger at the right pace so the lists of menu items or the phone lists don’t fly around too fast for me to see. My husband wanted to set up Bluetooth in his Mustang but like all men, he hates to read instructions!

As with all smart phones, mine has a camera. I learned how to take photos with the phone but I still prefer the regular camera. My husband prefers to use his iPod for music. We don’t understand games or all the fancy apps, so for now, this is all the gravity we need to keep our feet on the ground!

HAPPY (NFL) DAYS ARE ALMOST (NHL) HERE!

(Don't these sea lions from St. Louis Zoo look refreshing?)

We had a big storm on Friday evening. From my home office, I could hear the strong wind and the heavy rain pounding on the windows. This week we had kind of nice weather, starting with Monday in the mid 80s and gentle breeze as a bonus. The temperature went up above 90 but not as humid and unbearable.

Then I heard the siren for tornado warning. I quickly shut off the computer, ran as quick as I could to the basement. The warning lasted about 20 minutes. We listened to the radio and went back upstairs after the broadcaster announced that the tornado warning in our area had been cancelled. The rain continued to come down. It looked like a stream with the water rushing across the driveway.

Happy Days are almost here - NHL pre-season will start late September. My beloved Detroit Red Wings will be on the road playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins on September 22nd. Home opening games will be against the Chicago Blackhawks on September 24th. I am looking forward to see my “guys” when the Wings come into town on December 23rd, January 20th and March 12th. I am working on seeing all the Original Six home games by the end of 2011.
Happy Days are here and I am so happy. The NFL season started last week and my New England Patriots won both games against the New Orleans Saints (27-24) and the Atlanta Falcons (28-10). Mind you, these are pre-season games but winning is always better than losing. The Patriots will start the regular season on Sunday, September 12th against the Cincinnati Bengals. (Photo below is from the Superbowl XL in 2006).

I hope the current salmonella outbreak did not cause too much problems for your family. As mentioned in previous post that I have been getting eggs from a local nursery. The cost for a dozen eggs is almost twice compared to the price at the store. But it is worth it and it was nice that this week when I walked thru the door, "the farmer’s daughter" greeted me with a smile and said that she had a dozen fresh eggs ready for me.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

I thought these photos, fireworks (above) taken at a St. Louis Rams game and a bottle of champaign with the word "WOW" on a building on Washington Street in downtown St. Louis, would be appropriate for this post as we all extend our CONGRATULATIONS to the New Orleans Saints on winning the Superbowl XLIV. I did not win the office pool. Even though I, like many others, thought the Colts would win, I was happy for the Saints. I predicted the scores would be Colts 24 Saints 21. I would have been half right if Manning did not throw that interception in the 4th quarter. When the Saints Marching In, the Party begin!

WHO'S DAT?

I am so looking forward to a relaxing, yet exciting Superbowl Sunday. This week was another hectic week with work related functions on Tuesday evening and again Wednesday night which did not adjourn until 10:15 p.m. I was so tired that on Thursday evening I skipped the delicious salad dinner and went straight to bed. The snow started late afternoon on Friday but covered less than an inch on the ground. It was rather warm and sunny yesterday morning while I drove around taking care of a few errands. We also attended 4:00 p.m. Mass and today we plan to stay inside all day and just be comfortable. (I realize that we are really senior citizens when we started using the word "comfortable" a lot when deciding whether to go out or stay in and which activities we should be doing.)
One of the features I like most was when all the Quarterbacks of previous Superbowl championship teams were honored before the game started. I am not sure if every Quarterbacks were present or someone just holding the banners with their names. (On my "foolish" wish list I dreamed that I would hold the banner while standing next to Tom Brady. But I might be overwhelmed and fainted, let go of the pole and hit my beloved quarterback in the head!) My favorite is, of course, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots but my husband disagrees because his choice is Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals and former St. Louis Rams.

We were not invited to any Superbowl party. We prefer to be in our home, comfortable sofa, watching the game on our HD lcd television, eating, drinking, be merry in our pajamas! Enjoy your party everyone. I will be back after the game to let you know whether I won the office pool (Payouts - $100 end of 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter; $200 end of GAME.)

These photos were from Superbowl XL capturing images of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebration. I already put $5 bet in the office pool. Someone said that if you make prediction of which team would win the Superbowl XLIV, it would be the Colts if you vote with your head (for an obvious reason that Peyton Manning and the Colts are a better team) or voting with your heart and praying that the Saints would win because the City of New Orleans needs the championship to make up for all the terrible things have happened. It just occurs to me that this game should be called the game of "Peyton v. Payton" - Peyton Manning (Colts quarterback) v. Sean Payton (Saints coach).

THE DAY BEFORE THE GAME (OR THE WHO AT THE GAME)

Here we are again, the day before the Big Game, Superbowl XLIV. These photos of the Rolling Stones performance at halftime at Superbowl XL on February 5, 2006 always bring back wonderful memories. It was one of the moments that I considered I have "enjoyed life to the fullest". (Or one of the items I crossed off on my Bucket List.) I pretended to ask my husband if he knew who will perform at halftime this year. When CP said he did not know and then he asked "who?". I responded, "WHO". Then CP realized that it was a trick question because "The Who" that is who will perform at halftime :)

I was never a big fan of the Rolling Stones, just enjoy listening to a few of the hit songs such as (I Can't get No) Satisfaction, You Can't Always Get What You Want, and Start Me Up. I just did my wifely duty and went along with my husband to the concert when the Stones came to St. Louis on January 27, 2006. These tickets were purchased in December 2005 or earlier. Then in early January, during a conversation with a business acquaintance, I mentioned that my husband family lived in Detroit area and if we could find tickets, we would like to go to the Superbowl XL. We would drive to Detroit, 8 hours from St. Louis, and staying with family. As it turned out, a neighbor of this business acquaintance was an NFL referee and he was able to get tickets at cost. We had to provide our names, home address, phone number and took an oath that we would attend the Big Game and not trying to sell the tickets for 3x or more of the actual face value. (Out of curiosity, I checked a few websites and found that these tickets were selling at $1,500+ each.)

My husband and I share an inside joke that Mick Jagger accused us of stalking him when he saw us again at the Superbowl. We made up the story about Keith Richards said to us, "Did we just see you guys in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago?" then he asked us to get on stage but we were too shy :)