Weekend in the big "A"

Since Matt's done all of the blogging up to this point, I thought I'd take over the keyboard for this one. Since I hadn't seen my parents since September due to them cruising the Greek Isles and vacationing across Europe in October, I thought I'd take a few days off of work for a visit in Arlington with Matt and Lexi to join us on Friday. Riley and I flew up on Wednesday and enjoyed some time with Gigi and Deks. Mom and I attempted to do some old school (aka pre-baby days) leisurely shopping at North Park with Riley - but my sweet angel decided to join the terrible 2's a few months early and wanted nothing to do with strolling around the mall for a few hours while mommy shopped. She was only happy when we occasionally let her out of the stroller to run around. Note to self - I guess all my Christmas shopping will be done online this year! But all in all Riley enjoyed her visit and loved to explore Gigi's house and play. We had the whole family over Saturday night for an early birthday celebration and Riley and Hannah were thick as thieves and had a great time chasing each other and sitting next to each other reading and eating cake. And we also got great news that Rob and Erin are for sure having a boy (the last ultrasound wasn't conclusive) and we are excited about having another nephew in the mix!

I still managed to keep up with my marathon training despite being solo. I typically train with my two friends who live across the street and really needed them on the long run on Saturday. Somehow I managed with the help of my hip hop tunes on the nano. I did take a stroll down memory lane and ran up to my old elementary school, Pope. While I remember my school being a long ways away from the house and just knew it was atleast five miles - sadly it was only 2 short ones. My elementary school clan and I are still a tight group of sisters and it is fun to remember all the good times. It was funny to see the playground and all of the upgraded, safer equipment - not the tin slide that could give you a 3rd degree burn on a hot Texas day - or the monkey bars - we all remember what happened to Jason Cunningham :-). Then Meredith, I ran by your mom's house and just knew if I knocked on the door the smell of hot breakfast would greet me! And as it has been on the last couple of my long runs, Matt and Riley were there waiting to cheer me on at the end. Riley in her cute footy PJ's squealing "mommy!" with a big grin on her face running towards me - kind of like a Chariots of Fire moment :-) Just the motivation I needed to keep putting one tired foot in front of the other!
Matt told me not to ramble - and it looks like I'm headed in that direction - so I guess I will sign off until the next time I take over the keyboard! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Point Guard anyone??

You know, over the last couple seasons, I've defended Rafer Alston as the Rocket's point guard. I've always thought with T-Mac and Yao, we didn't need the rest of the team to be great shooters...just decent shooters. And I feel like Rafer has given us that. He's not going to score a lot, but he can give you some assists and maybe 2 or 3 from behind the arc. However, after watching him last night against Memphis, then tonight against LA, I don't know what to think anymore. I mean, his shots don't really seem to be even close right now...and it's painful to watch. With the new offense, it seems like he's getting more looks, but he is struggling terribly right now. Mike James has been streaky at best, and Stevie has yet to get off the bench. It's going to be trouble if these guys don't start knocking them down. Aaron Brooks may get a chance sooner than expected.

The other bad part about tonight's 3-point loss to LA, was T-Mac hurting his elbow. He left the game, then left for the hospital! I guess we'll hear how bad the damage is in the morning...

Dancing Machine

One thing about Riley, she loves to dance. Here's a couple samples...

Good Times

Considering I've been out of town the last few weekends and we have the holidays coming up, I was really looking forward to hanging out at home this weekend. It's funny how the older I get, the more I enjoy the lazy weekend around the house.

So on Friday, I was able to cut out of work early and get a round of golf in with Brad and Zack. I don't think it was our best round by any means, but the beer was cold and it was absolutely perfect golf weather. For whatever reason, I couldn't get off the tee box all day...really felt uncomfortable with the driver. Luckily my irons and short game were good enough to salvage a 40-46. We met the wives and kids at the grill afterwards for dinner & drinks.

On Saturday, we went over to the soccer fields and caught Blake's last game of the season. He was once again a man among boys and the Green Machine rolled to another victory. Later that night, Leigh and I went out with Brad and Dana and grabbed some sushi...excellent sushi. Afterwards, we walked over to wine bar and had a few glasses of vino. Despite Brad and I's best efforts, "Fun Sponge I and II" joined the party around 10pm claiming it was getting late. What is the deal with that??? Regardless, it was good night for sure!

Sunday was pretty lazy...church, lunch, and a little football of course. I have a pretty busy week ahead but planning to take off Thanksgiving week...so I'm looking forward to that. Until later....

Change Happens

Unfortunately for us, our neighbors of the last few years and very close friends, the Zettlers (Brad, Dana, Blake, & Brayden), found out that they will be relocating to Chicago soon. Brad works for a pharmaceutical company based out of Chicago, and to continue progression in the company, he has to take a 2 yr assignment from the home office. While we are very happy for Brad and the opportunity he has, it's a pretty bitter sweet time for us. We've known they would be making this move at some point, but I don't think it makes it any easier now that it's actually happening. Leigh and I were commenting how lucky we have felt to have friends like them AND to have them as our neighbors. We think the world of them and even asked that they be Riley's Godparents. They will be missed in a big way. It's too bad when really good things come to an end.

Halloween Recap

Halloween '07 was another success. Riley was a year older and I think Leigh had more fun this year dressing her up. A lot of the neighbor's boys were going in Star Wars costumes, so we thought about making Riley Princess Leia, but couldn't get the costume delivered in time. Instead, we went with a cat costume...one of her favorite animals. I don't think Riley could have cared less, but you gotta do it, right? Instead of handing out candy from each of our houses, all the neighbors met out in one driveway and hung out for a few hours, handed out candy, and had some drinks. Seemed like a good time enjoyed by all!

Time to Blog

Well, it seems like blogs are the new big thing on the web these days. I've seen personal blogs, professional blogs, and even blogs for fantasy football. I'm still curious where the word "blog" came from, but whatever. Leigh was interested in starting a blog for her marathon training with Dana and Adria, so I was doing a little research for her...we'll see if they actually get one up :-) I was suprised how easy it was to start a blog, so I decided what the hell, I'll give it a try.

I'm pretty sure my blog will be pretty random, but my intent is to use it as a way for our family and friends to keep up with what's going on with the Dunn's on a regular basis. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pics of Riley up here...that's what our family is most interested in anyway...right?? Luckily Leigh does a good job with the camera...around 1300 pics during Riley's first year!!!

If you know me, you know I love my sports teams, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of takes on what's happening in the sports world. Another passion of mine is exercise and nutrition, so I'll be posting on those topics occasionally as well. I'm also hoping Leigh will spread some of her wise knowledge on this blog as well. Anyway, more to come soon, including some pics....