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?

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!

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 :)

ANOTHER WEEK HAS GONE BY!

Another week has gone by, soon the first month, January, of the year will also be "gone". Where did the time go? What have I done the last few weeks? Not much, just the same old routines, 8+ hours at the circus, watching hockey games on ESPN and Versus or spending time in cyberspace in the evenings, then football (NFL playoffs) and taking care of errands on the weekends and dreaming of winning the lottery so I never had to put up with all the clowns, the donkeys, and the bulls at the circus ever again!
This is not a good week for the Red Wings and it does not look like it will get better. For the first time, I don't look forward to NHL post-season match-ups. What happened TOTA, we thought you were hockey fanatic? My ailing beloved Detroit Red Wings, is what happened. It was painful to watch the team struggles, even against lousy team like the Coyotes. It was not the first time that the Wings had a 2-point leads going into the third period, unable to maintain the leads, only to either loss in overtime or shootout. The last five games, the Wings had blown the chance of victory despite of having third-period leads. This time last year the Wings maintained a comfortable top spot, currently they are chasing other teams just to get into the last playoffs spot. It is killing my hockey spirits knowing that the Wings might not even make it into the playoffs this year. Well, I will try not to think about the Wings right now, I will think about it after the Superbowl. On a positive note, I have been pretty good at picking the winning teams for the NFL playoffs the last few weeks. (Another reason why I am depressed - my beloved New England Patriots, defeated by the Baltimore Ravens, could not get into the playoffs either.) I could have pocketed a few dollars if the guys would agree to place their bets. They all said that when it comes to football and hockey, they would have not any chance of winning against me! (The photo below represents what I love, America/American flag/National Anthem and hockey/Detroit Red Wings.)
I was looking for photos of bicycle rides as a way to provide moral-distance-support to Qaptain Qwerty and found these photos taken last December of the new I-64 Grand Opening. According to MoDOT, more than 2,500 people (we were among these brave souls) participated in the ceremony by walking, running, bicycling, dancing and some doing aerobic on exercise mats in the middle of the freeway. Last year, we also attended the first half opening and it was a lot of fun to be able to walk (it was the only time) on the freeway. I also like to watch the American flag, up high on the ladders, waving in the wind against the blue sky, courtesy of the fire department.

WHAT'S HAPPENING LATELY, TOTA?

What happened? Only mid-January and I already broke one of my New Year Resolutions. Well, I actually did not have any resolutions, I just thought I would try to set a record with 365 posts in 2010. Then I remember that blogging should be fun and not setting meaningless target or turning it into some kind of competition such as which blog gets the most followers (I would never get anywhere in this category), being the most interesting blog (Fuhgeddaboutit), or to be selected by Blogs of Note (I think this is more a curse than blessings). So what has kept me so busy that I have not blogged since Wed. January 13th? The whole week went by so fast starting with attending City Council meeting on Monday, January 11th when I shared my American story of coming to America 30 years ago. I received a nice applause from the people in the audience. On Wednesday, January 13th, I did not get home until almost 9:30 p.m. from a business meeting, after already putting in a full day at the office.

On Thursday the 14th, I did not feel like blogging after dinner. Friday the 15th, I decided to watch a Jackie Chan movie with my husband. Recently, CMP discovered the joy of borrowing DVDs, instead of books, from the library. Then came the weekend, there was nothing more important than NFL Playoffs beginning on Saturday. Sadly, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals did not make it against the Saints. I was happy that the Colts eliminated the Ravens 20-3, no surprise there!
Sunday, we went to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge for Eagle Days. I took the photo below using my new Canon camera with the maxium zoom, 50 yards from the bridge.
We had a great time but I did not want to miss the Cowboys v. Vikings game at 1pm. I was also able to catch the Red Wings/Blackhawks game - it was an exciting game that went into overtime with Datsyuk and Bertuzzi scored two beautiful goals but the Wings lost in the 2nd shootout. I was pleasantly surprised when the NY Jets beat the Chargers 17-14.

The whole week went by so fast and a good, exhausting weekend with so many football/hockey games to watch. I sure hope my adoring fans will forgive me for not blogging often since the NFL playoffs continue this weekend, the Superbowl on Sunday, February 7th and pretty soon the NHL playoffs will begin. Life is good :)

IT'S FRIDAY ON THE 13TH DAY OF NOVEMBER

I don't have an opinion about Friday the 13th or whether it is good or bad luck to do something on the 13th. In general, I am not a supertitious person. I don't walk under the ladder because I don't want something from the top of the ladder, such as a bucket of yellow paint like in the above sculpture by J. Seward Johnson, to fall on me. I don't believe that if you open an umbrella inside your house or indoor, it would be bad luck, I just don't want to break a nail opening an umbrella! I don't care to run into a black cat only because I am not a cat person and a black cat is not something pretty to look at. One time I pulled the number 13 waiting in line at the post office and then the shipping cost was $6.66 - both the postal clerk and I laughed about such coincidence and nothing bad happened to me that day, week, or month. So believe what you want to believe.
Here is what I found from Wikipedia "Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of good or bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year. Any month's 13th day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday. In 2009 this applies to the months of February, March, and November. The next year to have three Friday the 13th dates will be 2012."
This is kind of interesting since there has been so much talk about the year of 2012 that this will be the end of the world. I would not want to know whether this is true because hopefully by 2012, I should accomplish my lifetime goals of seeing all the NHL Original Six home games (I would not mind seeing a Canadian team, either Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup before the earth or the ice rinks crashing down) and perhaps going to a Superbowl game again to see my beloved New England Patriots win another championship. So if 2012 is the end of the world, so be it!
"The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia,[1][2] a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (φοβία) (meaning fear). The term triskaidekaphobia derives from the Greek words "tris", meaning 'three', "kai", meaning 'and', and "deka", meaning 'ten'. the whole word means three and ten. The word was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.[3]" these words of wisdom according to Wikipedia.

I did not take any photos of cats, so I post the above sculpture "Ricardo Cat" by Niki de Saint Phalle, a French artist. It is on display at Laumeier Sculpture Park.
Below is a photo of my shadow on a giant red ball in front of a store. I remember when I was a kid in Viet Nam, we were told by the adults that we should not play with our shadows like making gestures or making shadow animals with our fingers because we would have nightmares such as being chased by ghosts or monsters pulling us down into the abyss!

AUGUST PROGRESS REPORT - A DAY LATE

I am a day late with my August Progress Report on my goals to be clutter free and simple living. That is the story of my life, "A day late and a dollar short".

Last Saturday I made my weekly trip to drop off items at a local Charity Thirft Shop. As I handed the item to the lady, I said, "This is a brand new dress. I bought it but never worn". She responded, "That is what happened to Compulsive Shoppers", as she took the lilac dress that I purchased 20 years ago while shopping for my wedding dress. Why did I keep the lilac dress all these years? It was one of those "I wear it when I lose 50 lbs" clothing items. I smiled, did not say anything else, went back to my car and drove away thinking, "Me, a compulsive shopper?" I hate shopping, especially for clothes. Ask my Mother and she would tell you way back when we were in Viet Nam, how much trouble I gave her every time she tried to buy me clothes or forced me to wear girly dresses.

The last time I went to a shopping mall was over six months ago and it was because a bookstore just opened a new location inside the mall. I bought a few clothing items now and then but could not stand wasting time wondering from store to store looking for bargains or the latest fashion.

I am proud to report that I have more room in the dressers, in the walk-in closet, no more trying to shove stuff into tight shelving units, and there is also so much space in the closet in the guest room. I am putting aside winter jackets and coats for the annual winter coats drive at our church. Next I plan to give away blankets and quilts. I also need to take a serious look at stuff in the dinning room. Two people do not need more than 2 sets of dishes.

Compulsive shopper? I am not but making compulsive purchase, yes I have been guilty many times. Last year when the St. Louis Blues offered 10-game plan and fans could pick any games, not pre-selected package, in less than 15 minutes, I spent $2,000 for 2 club seats that included 3 Red Wings games, one game each of the Bruins, the Rangers, the Penguins, the Canadiens, the Devils, the Flyers and the Canucks. The only thing I could say about this "sinful" spending is that all eight teams made the playoffs and of course, the Stanley Cup re-match between the Wings and the Pens. Another compulsive purchase was made at the 2006 Superbowl, in addition to the tickets, we spend a few hundred dollars just on hats and shirts.

Looking back I don't feel bad that we did not go on any vacation this year. We had our time in the sun, like the Mediterranean Cruise and extra time in Rome last year. I guess there is no need to cry me a river because we had fun just from driving along Route 66 this summer and on weekends looking for public sculptures in our community. Time is tough and we just have to find way to have fun while keep going.

WHAT WE KNOW FOR SURE

Then Jesus said, "I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24
You probably wonder and ask the question, "TOTA, what is it with your fascination with cemeteries?" The answer is because the above St. Paul Cemetery is right next to a building of Commerce Bank. The bottom photo shows a drive-thru ATM which gives you an idea where the bank is in proximity to the cemetery with the headstones visible to the right. I did not want to take photo of the front of the building as someone might be suspicious of my intention that I was staging a robbery. The bank parking lot is to the right after the stop sign in the photo below. St. Paul Cemetery, seen on the right side of the photo, is adjacent to the bank parking lot.

"OK, TOTA, so the bank is right next to a cemetery. What is so special to write about?" you again asked. Before we had direct deposits, I usually went to the bank at least once a month to deposit our paychecks. I often wondered about all the money a person had in his bank account while living whether it would make any difference when he died. It is ironic that a bank where living people try to save every dime and nickel, try to plan for their retirement, try to plan for the next vacation or accumulate material possessions to increase their social status, right next to it is the cemetery where death as the final resting place, where no matter how much money you have, lived in a mansion or a simple home, possessed how many sports cars and private jets, you could not take any of these items with you once you crossed the line or reached the end of living.

So here is my humble point of view, there are two things in life we all could be sure of, paying taxes and death. Therefore, my adoring fans and faithful followers, remember today is April 15th. Be sure to file your income tax and don't try to hide anything because the IRS will always find out and you will be in trouble. After paying your taxes like a good citizen is supposed to, try to save a few dollars for rainy days. But remember to enjoy your life and once in a while, spend money on things that would make you and your family happy (like Stanley Cup or Superbowl tickets) or bring everyone together for a nice dinner. You don't want to regret not living your life to the fullest because you never know when the next turn might be to the left into St. Paul Cemetery instead of to the right to make a deposit at Commerce Bank.

A WINGS WILD WEEKEND

What a great weekend we had or should I say a Wings Wild Weekend! On Saturday, March 14th my beloved Red Wings were in town, again. The puck dropped at 1:00 p.m. at Scottrade Center but we had to make sure to be there during warm up as I "had" to take more photos of all my favorite Wings. Breakfast was simple egg and cheese sandwiches as we did not have much time to get to downtown St. Louis. We were told that many streets would be closed due to the St. Patrick's Day Parade along Market Street. It usually took us about half an hour, but because of the parade, all the parking lots were full, plus streets closing, it took an hour and 15 minutes to finally got inside the arena. The sunny warm day was perfect for the parade.

The Blues temporarily had a 1-0 lead after the first period. Then we were both hungry, between the egg and cheese sandwich and a formal dinner later, we decided to get an order of chicken strips to share. Less than 5 minutes into the 2nd period, Datsyuk tied the game at 4:40 with a snap shot, Kopecky added another goal ten seconds later and Lebda added the 3rd goal at 5:26. Guess where we were when all these goals were scored, we were eating chicken by the concession stand! Just like when we were walking around, not being at our seats and the Seahawks finally scored at the Superbowl XL. Nothing against Big Ben and the Steelers, we just wanted to give the Underdog Seahawks extra support.

After the game ended at around 4:00 p.m. we went home to change as we did not want to start a fight wearing our Red Wings jerseys to the dinner. It was a well-attended dinner with approximately 400 people. We met many movers and shakers, legislators and strong supporters of the Party. The dinner started at 6:30 p.m. with official program and keynote speaker began at 8:00 p.m. There was a silent auction but no Red Wings items to purchase!

Sunday, March 15th was the second day of the Wings Wild Weekend. After 10:15 a.m. Mass, we spent about 45 minutes at St. Patrick's Festival organized by our parish. The festival has been well-attended and a good fund-raising event for many charity programs. We usually purchased raffle tickets for chances from one of the theme baskets. This year we put most of our tickets into the buckets for Wii, Iphone and DVD player. After the festival, we went to St. John's Mercy Hospital to visit two parishioners that were admitted earlier in the week. My husband and I are part of a group of people who are assigned once a month to visit parishioners that were admitted into various local hospitals.

After the visit, we had an hour before the Blues v. Wild game at 5:00 p.m. We decided to drive around Forest Park as it was a sunny pleasant day.

The Blues played rather well against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday game. After being crushed by the Red Wings on Saturday, the Blues won 5-3 against the Wild. All fans received a coupon for a free blizzard, not taco, whenever the Blues scored 5 or more goals. By the time we got home at 8:45 p.m. from the 2nd hockey game, we were so exhausted from a Wings Wild Weekend.

A PAIN IN THE NECK

Have you ever tried to watch a hockey game with a stiff neck? On Thursday, January 29th, I woke up feeling a bit tender in the area behind my left ear. By the afternoon my neck started to hurt when I turned my head. It was not painful, just annoying as I had to remember to turn slowly and with the whole body, not just my little head. My husband said that I probably pulled a muscle or needed a new pillow. The next day, Friday, I was really a "stiff-necked" :)

Well, no little pain in the neck was going to keep me from going to the Blues v. Flyers game on Saturday, January 31st. The Blues played really well and won a shutout 4-0 over the Flyers. There were fights in all three periods. At one point there were seven players from both teams combined got penalties for hooking, slashing, interference, boarding, so crowded that there were not enough seats in the penalty box. Watching any sport events with a stiff neck is difficult, talk about a fast game like hockey required special skills. I lived up to my reputation as a hockey junkie, holding my neck with my left hand, coordinated head and body and synchronized my movements as the players skated up and down, from side to side, passing the puck. I was able to follow the speed of the game and knew exactly where the puck was from one end of the ice to the other.

Superbowl XLIII was on Sunday, February 1st. On Saturday, January 24th, I went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken on Main Street to get the hot wings for lunch. While waiting for the order, I saw the above machine with all 32 NFL toy helmets. It costs 50 cents for each toy. I put two quarters in the slot, turned the knob (thinking in my little head whichever team/helmet comes out will win the Superbowl), a helmet fell down, I picked it up and it was the Steelers (photo below)! I quietly put the helmet in my pocket and did not tell anyone, not even my husband. After the Steelers won the game, I told CP about the machine, showed him the toy helmet and we both thought I should have placed some bets. We also thought it would have been a good but cruel joke if I got a toy helmet of the Detroit Lions for the same question/prediction of which team would win the Superbowl Championship!

BACKYARD BIRD NEST

We had two days of snow and freezing cold winter weather this past week. I took a vacation day on Tuesday as there was nothing so important that I had to risk going to work when the snow mixed with sleet made driving a bit unsafe. It was a long day on Wednesday from the time I got into the office at 7:15 a.m., then on to a training seminar at 9:30 a.m., back to the office at 12:15 p.m., attended a Board of Directors meeting from 6:00 p.m. that lasted until 10:30 p.m. and finally got home and into bed at 11:15 p.m.
The weekend was so much more exciting with a hockey game on Saturday when the Philadelphia Flyers visited St. Louis Blues and the Superbowl on Sunday. I already had a bet with the boys in the office which team would win and the final scores. As in the past, my predictions had not been accurate. Instead of talking about the Superbowl, (as both teams had kindly asked me not to jinx them) I decided to post these photos of the bird nest in my backyard. I often wonder what makes a bird decided to build a nest on such small tree (top photo). It was a pleasant surprise when I saw the nest exposed on the bare tree. I took photos of the snow covered nest to reflect the seasons.

IT'S ALL GONE TO THE BIRDS!

The phone rang, it was Kurt Warner (quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals). Kurt said, "Mrs. P, please cheer for the Philadelphia Eagles. We heard about the other teams that suffered defeats because you jinxed them with your cheering." It hurts to be known as a jinx in the sports world! Of course, my predictions stink too since I make a friendly wager with the boys at work that the Titans and the Giants will be in the Superbowl. So much for my sports analysis.

Last weekend, I picked the Tennessee Titans and they lost to Baltimore Ravens 10-13. I wanted the New York Giants to win (my hometown team and I like Eli Manning), Philadephia embarassed the Giants 23-11. I thought Carolina Panthers would have a better chance, I was glad Kurt Warner and the Cardinals won 33-13. Big Ben and the Steelers proved they were strong with a win 35-24 over San Diego Chargers. As the Ravens, the Cardinals, the Eagles and the Steelers advanced, the Conference Championships all gone to the birds!

I don't have anything in the house with Ravens. I only have cardinals and eagles as my husband has a pretty good collection of eagles. CP made the above cardinal at a stained glass class and the eagle below is an ornament from our trip in Alaska.

I look forward to watching the games but I will not make any predictions and at Mr. Warner's request, I will cheer (jinx) for the Eagles instead!

IN MEMORIAL-LUC BOURDON

A few weeks ago, Luc Bourdon, a defenseman with the Vancouver Canucks, was killed in a motorcycle crash. He was only 21 years old. These photos were taken when I attended the game last Thanksgiving. The photo above caught a glimpse of Bourdon (#28) as he was skating away during practice. At the time I focused more on the Sedin twin brothers, Henrik #33 and Daniel #22. Of course, everyone paid more attention to the team captain, Markus Naslund #19. After we heard the sad news, I blurted out that his passing such untimely as it was during the Stanley Cup Final. My husband teased me and said that he promised to make sure to arrange so that his death would not be interfering with NHL playoffs schedule or during the Superbowl.

When my Dad passed away in 2001, he was only 67 years old. After extended their condolences, many people commented that Dad died at such young age. I guess because we are expected to live to be at least 80 or older. One time when my Mom and I talked bitterly why Dad being such a good person had suffered from cancer and did not get to enjoy a good life after all the years working and taking care of our family and that death should take his young brother who was a terrible husband, a womanizer, drinking, gambling, mistreated his children and family. Then Mom mentioned a Vietnamese expression, "Troi Keu Ai Nay Da" No one could avoid death if their names are called. She further commented, "Look at Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., they were so good looking and they died so young." We shared a good laugh when I said, "Do you think only ugly people would die?"

Rest In Peace, Luc. I am sure there is hockey in heaven.