The End of the Road

And so ends a very successful Sophomore Year of running for Alex. Today was the State Qualifier meet. They needed a miracle to get to continue to States. The miracle didn't happen. They all did a great job though. Their relay team placed 3rd in their division. You have to come in 1st or beat a qualifying time in order to continue on to States.

Alex had a great race. He's starting to feel better and is getting that confidence back. But I think it's time to rest now. The funny thing, today we received an email from the Cross Country coach. There's a meeting Monday and "unofficial" practice begins July 9th... the fun never ends!

Alex had his Track Banquet on Tuesday. This was the best I could do for a picture. He's not much into posing. I just had to get proof that he was wearing a tie.

Here are the place settings for the tables. Along with the programs I designed. I love that the Banquet hall used orange napkins and blue tablecloths. I hope we have it here again next year. The Banquet was a great success! I need to remember to bring business cards next time I do the programs though. Lots of people had nice things to say about them, maybe next year I can drum up some extra freelance work!

Cookouts and a Track Update

Last night we went up to Fulton for an impromptu cookout at Gary & Paula's temporary home. It was a beautiful evening. 

And this is what we all pulled together. It was pretty darn good for "impromptu"!

Alex and Rich watched a track meet on tv.

While Paula and I filled the wine sculpture with empty bottles... that we may or may not have emptied ourselves... 

Their temporary neighbor (also from a burn-out family awaiting their new home to be built) got in on the wine sculpture with her box of wine.

I'm sure it's not as "fancy" as many wine sculptures, but it worked for us!

Laura and Kelly had lots of friends to play with and were going to be camping out in the yard.

One of the kids "accidentally" kicked Kelly's ball into the river. It was a pretty traumatic event for her...

But thankfully Rich came to the rescue with his Kayak and saved the day!

After dinner, Alex wanted to see the Fulton HS track. So we headed over there. I'm not sure when it was built, but Eric said this sure wasn't around when he went to school there!

It was a very nice facility. Even if Alex thinks the track is lopsided.

And speaking of track, the Class AA sectionals was last week. Alex is beginning to feel better. He ran better than he has been running, but still not at his best. He gave a good showing in the open 800 meter. Not quite good enough to get to the State Qualifying meet, but I know he'll be there next year. He will however get to to the Qualifying meet for the 4x800 relay. The team made the cut-off time so his season was extended another week. The meet is Thursday the 31st.

Also next week is the annual Track Banquet. I managed to get myself on the Banquet Committee. I'm designing the programs and I also made these fun pictures for all the seniors. It's been keeping me extra busy, but it's been fun. I have a feeling now that they know I can do this, I'll have a new "job" for the next couple of years...

Eddy Meet

We headed over to Schenectady today for the "Eddy Meet". Another big invitational for NY state. Not quite as big as last week, but big nonetheless. Alex was scheduled to run 2 events, but again scratched himself from one race (the 800 meter) and concentrated on the 4x800 relay. They had a great chance of placing in the top 6. So he wanted to be fresh for that. His chances of placing in the 800 weren't as great since he hasn't been feeling his best.

And they indeed placed in the top 6. They got 5th to be exact. This was Alex's first trip to a podium. All the kids were pretty excited about it.

I think the Liverpool 4x800 relay has a great future. There are 2 sophomores, 1 freshman and 1 senior on the team. With another freshman as an alternate. I think the next two years will be great for them!



Here they're posing with their medals and their proud coach.

Speaking of a proud coach, I just have to mention these guys. They won (notice the giant trophies!) 3 events today! 2 of the events were relays. One of those relays qualified them for an all expense paid trip to the New Balance National Outdoor Meet in North Carolina next month. That's pretty cool! Unfortunately, 3 of these guys are seniors. They will be very missed!

The New Building

Today we went out to the building site of the future home of WCNY. You are looking at the main entrance. The steel beam building is the future studio. The building to the left will be our offices. There will be enclosed walkways between the 2 buildings.

This is the backside of the building, with the studios to the left, the offices to the right.

This is the inside of the office area. My desk will be sort of near where that orange thing is. It's going to be a big open area, with an industrial feel.

And this is a view of the new studio from the inside. The site foreman was giving us a tour. And yes, that is Eric in the cute yellow hard hat!

PT

Alex started physical therapy today. They hooked him up to this electro therapy machine. It sent little electric pulses to his hip. The therapist also realigned him. It looked like one hip was higher than the other. Alex said he felt taller when he was done.

We're still not 100% sure what's wrong with him. He had x-rays and has been examined by a doctor. The doctor thinks it's just a muscle strain. The radiologist said his muscles/bones were having a hard time regenerating themselves because he's working so hard and he's still growing. He was given the all-clear to continue running for now. He still has some pain and hasn't done any hard workouts this week. He plans on running Saturday at a meet. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that he has a good day!

Mother's Day 2012

Today we had a lovely Mother's Day lunch. We had a delicious lunch catered from Limp Lizard. And it was so very good... 

 Sheila with 2 of her boys.

Gary lit the candles on the Mother's Day Cake.

 The kids blew out the candles for their moms.

Paula took the candles off the cake.

 Laura and Kelly helped Grandma Sheila open her cards, as they ate their Flavor Ice.

Paula and her sweet girls.

We also celebrated Eric's birthday today! (Don't worry, we'll still have another celebration on Thursday!) Sheila made this adorable and very delicious cake.

Laura put lots of candles on the cake. Heh.

And of course, you can't have a birthday without a blow fish picture! Happy Birthday Eric! And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. I was sorry my mom couldn't make it this year. But hope she had a wonderful day! (Aside from the whole almost chopping of her finger thing...)

Road Trip

Alex had the opportunity to run in the Loucks Games in White Plains, NY this weekend. It was a huge honor to even get to go. Which is what made it so hard for him, since he's not doing so well physically. He was scheduled to run the 800 meter on Friday, and then the 1600 meter on Saturday. He had a rough race on Friday. He's running in a lot of pain. I wasn't able to make it down for the Friday event, but left work a little early Friday and drove down to White Plains to catch the Saturday race. (I also tried to visit with my brother in Rye, but well, that wasn't meant to be. It was very strange being so close and not be able to visit...)

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. This was the only picture I got of Alex. He was sporting a new Loucks Games t-shirt. I'm pretty sure his entire wardrobe consists of t-shirts from various meets he's been in.

Here's a list of the guys that got to go to the meet. This was at the t-shirt tent. You could have bought a t-shirt with this on it if you wanted. There were over 2,900 athletes at the event. And over 300 schools. It was big.

Sadly, however. Alex chose not to run the 1600 meter on Saturday. He was just in too much pain. The picture above is of his teammate Zavon, running the 1600. He placed 2nd overall in that event. (He won the 800 meter the day before.) Alex will be heading to the doctor his week as soon as I can get him an appointment. We're hoping it's nothing really serious, but it might be a season ending injury at this point. There are 2 more meets until State Qualifying. I'm secretly hoping that the doctor won't let him run again this season... it worries me too much to see him run like this!

This is the hotel I stayed in. The Courtyard in Tarrytown, which is right next to White Plains. Alex stayed with the team at the Crowne Plaza in White Plains. Which, if my memory is correct, is the same hotel we stayed in 15 years ago for my brother's wedding...

Painting Fools

Eric took advantage of the great weather this weekend and painted the deck. It was such a necessary job. With living under so many trees, that poor deck really needs a lot of upkeep. We've ignored it for a couple of years. It was time.

He did a great job. The deck looks fabulous. His back on the other hand, is a little sore...

With Eric busy on the deck, I was busy painting and decorating the bedrooms upstairs. This is our new "Guest" room. (aka as Laura & Kelly's room...) I'm not sure what to put on the walls yet. But doesn't it look cozy? That back wall used to be orange... there's not a hint of it left.

This little guy made himself at home. He matched the new comforter perfectly.

Alex's room also got a face lift. Or should I say his new room. We played musical bedrooms upstairs. This room used to be bright pink. It took a couple of coats of primer/paint to cover it up. He's digging the minimalist look right now. Apparently he wants to move away from the "SU" theme, but he just doesn't know what he wants to move to. So it's just going to stay white for awhile. And hopefully stay clean too. A mom can dream, right??

He did want to keep his wall of accomplishments though... So, we are now ready for a very busy week ahead and a fun Mother's Day Weekend next weekend. The house is officially clean and ready for guests!

Fresh Veggies

This was my haul at the farmer's market this morning. All of this was only $9. We got 3 tomatoes, 2 big zucchini, 2 green peppers, 1 yellow pepper, 8 jalapeno peppers, 2 yellow squash, 1 bunch green onions and a head of romaine lettuce. Alex and I had fabulous salads for lunch today!

Also this week, there was another track meet. Liverpool vs. Baldwinsville. There was a big match up between the 4x800 relay teams. Liverpool won. It was apparently epic. But I missed Alex's leg of the relay by about 3 minutes. So I'll just have to take his word for it. (He also happened to run a personal best of 2:00 flat.) Later on in the meet, he ran the open 800 meter. During the race you could tell he was struggling. He should have easily won the event. After the race he was on the sidelines favoring his left hip. That was 4 days ago. He seems "ok" now, we're hoping it's nothing serious. We're just getting to the important meets of the season, it would be a shame to get hurt now! Keeping our fingers crossed he stays healthy for 4 more weeks, then he can take some much needed time off. He's been running with barely a day off since last July.