GOAL!!!

AAAHHHH...Spring is in the air, the birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and soccer season is beginning!!!

Like many parents I am living vicariously through my daughter enrolling her in many activities I was unable to be a part of. So far we have tried martial arts, ice skating, and now soccer. I can happily say, I think we finally found something she really truly enjoys and it's soccer!!!

Riley had her first soccer practice last week and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Her coach is great, his name is Dan and I believe he's a police officer (when he's not coaching these crazy kids, that is)...there's supposed to be 6 kids on her team but only 4 showed up. Nonetheless, these kids had a BLAST!!

They started off learning the basics, did some warm ups and eventually played a little 2 on 2. I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun this was...I cannot even begin to describe how excited we BOTH are for her first game.


Here the kids are with Coach Dan getting ready to warm up...Say Cheese!!!


"Stretch just like this..."


"Perfect! Now we got the hang of this..."


Now we're getting some action!


Weave in and out...just like that!

BTW...Riley would love to have as many people as possible show up at her games this season, which are every Saturday (except during spring break) until mid May. If you wanna come let me know and we would love to have you there!

P.S. Guess who's Team Mom?? I couldn't resist!!!

It's For A Good Cause...

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word
"Fire fighters?"

Well, for me, several things come to mind:

heroes

fire

dangerous

fire truck

hose

fire hydrant

dalmatian

HOT!!! (in more ways than one)

But what you might not think of is...AUCTION!!!

On February 16, 2007, me and two of my bestest friends (both named Amanda oddly enough) went to the 2nd Annual Fire Fighter Auction to benefit a local private non-profit children's mental health organization. Being the social workers we ALL are, we couldn't resist...after all... IT'S FOR A GOOD CAUSE!!!

The auction started off with a great little "Manu" describing each man on the auction block and the description of the date that came with each "auction item." They even have the men mingle with the women BEFORE hand in order to ascertain which item from the "Manu" would feed your appetite...if you know what I mean...

Here are a few pictures from the evenings antics...


Here are me and Amanda C. starting off the night...watch out good times cause here we come!

Here's Amanda P. joining us at Old Chicago for a few pre-party drinks...


Amanda C. looking lovely as ever!

Here are me and Amanda C. with our HOT bidding paddles...

I'm sad to say the pictures I took of the fireman did not turn out due to bad lighting, but trust me when I say the goods at this auction were DEFINITELY worth the money...

Speaking of money, although we have paddles, we did not walk away with any fire fighters...however, I'm sure the organization walked away with a hefty amount. By the time the night was done, the fire fighters were going for $600, $700, even $800!!! It was a HUGE success.

Rest assured, we did NOT walk away empty handed...Amanda P. walked away with some interesting prizes herself...



She walked away winning not one, but TWO auction items
(yes there were prizes other than men)...

she won $50 off a tandem skydiving package and a special lunch package!

If I'm still here next year I can say without a doubt I will be back!! Hopefully next time with more money and hopefully next time I won't walk away empty handed...I did learn some tricks of the trade as far as how to get the firefighter you want...if you're interested, look for me next year around February...