Mixed Nuts

I’m tired. Here’s a quick update.

Since NUFL 1 there was a week of work. I started making my own lunches for some reason which are pretty gross. This won’t last long.

Last weekend was a Mixed Nats qualifier. I played with Gary. We had a lot of fun. We beat two established teams (Honey Badgers and Mucous) and even gave Station 59 (Joy, Hussey, Liz, Chris, Jess, etc,) a decent game. (Tied at 5s, final 17-12). I played pretty well and handled a lot. I tied in the women’s MVP voting and got to split the spoils (a beer) with Mama (Lauren) which is pretty cool. Pretty much everyone on Gary is like a Freshman at Uni and there are also some juniors like Snail's super cool sister Cat. The team is goofy and very positive and it was a lot of fun. Cute Kids.

After the tournament, we went to the beach near St. Kilda. The water was freezing and made my feet numb but Mel Jackson and Chris and Sebbo Barr got all the way in the ocean. Dave did a back flip on the sand despite an ankle too sore to play the second half of the finals against Station 59. I was suspect and biked off to the Gunn Island Hotel where we all watched two footy games and drank Bees Knees beer and ate bar food. It was a good Sunday.

NUFL 2 is coming up. I’m helping to organize “billets” which means a free place to crash with another ultimate player. It’s pretty common here and a uniquely Australian thing. No one makes hotel reservations. They all just couch surf around the country. Slackers!

I got a great card in the mail from my mom. Kelly humor is puntastic. Hippo Birdy Two Ewe. You get the idea. This card couples my mom’s essential criteria (a golden retriever on the front) with a Kelly pun. The golden on the front is standing in a baby pool. The text inside reads, “You’re the one I waded for.” I laughed.

My parents will be here in early October. We’ll be checking out Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road and the Yarra Wine Valley. I am preparing for the impact.

This weekend will involve VOS practice, a party at Joy & Hussey’s house and watching some footy.

Congrats to Ambush for finally getting over on Godiva.
Congrats to Lindy for her first day of Kindergarten.

Thanks to Jesse for passing on this link of the AFL player who is trying out as punter for the eagles: Sav Rocca

Have a great Labor Day you lazy Americans.

If I'm not thinking, I'm drinking 'bout you

Hello. What can I tell you? It was a pretty good week. I am feeling a little sluggish and uninspired, but it's probably time for an update so here we go...

Let’s start with the bad news. Another torn ACL: First was J-Christ, then Brenda then Emma and now Abbey. That’s right, my golden retriever tore her ACL. The injury was sustained while playing fetch with my Mom. She’ll have surgery on Tuesday and then rehab, just like a person. I’m sad about this and a bit worried about her. I remember when this happened to Moose (of TMC fame) and it was a tough deal. Moose got better though, at least most of the way. I’m sure my mother will be keeping a close eye on Abbey.

Deirdre is back from the bike vet and better than ever. I just needed a new peddle hyrdacoil. I got her seat raised a bit and rode her to pick-up.

Pick-up on Saturday was a lot of fun. While there, I found a co-ed team to play with here. The seasons are opposite (rather than concurrent as they are in the US) so most club players play both co-ed and open or women’s. I’ll be playing with “Gary” which is based on a core of one of the open team here in Melbourne, the Heads of State. The boys from heads are pretty nice and a very casual group. I don’t expect us to win many games, but we will win the party. “Gary” is a bit of an inside joke, but I’ll probably expose it here in future posts. Stay tuned.

This weekend involved a fair bit of drinking. Jess and I had 5 long necks of Coopers between us at Hell’s Kitchen on Friday after work. On Saturday Jess, Joy, Hussey and I pubcrawled Fitzroy. We approved of the Provincial and Night Cat, and several other places that can now only be hazily recollected. It’s a good part of town. This morning I had brunch at La Citta and had some bloody marys. It’s a good thing I have to go to work tomorrow, I need the detox.

This week’s strangest event was a corporate team outing to watch the movie Office Space. The whole team was there. We were in a Telstra office, showing the movie on an Accenture laptop on a Telstra projector. We had Pizza. The bit about every day at work being the new worst day of his life still paints a poignant for me. It was a queasy dissonance to watch this anthem of rebellion at work with Lumbergs right there all around me. Maybe that’s what necessitated all the drinking noted above.

I also attended another trivia session this week, this time at the Prince of Wales, with Chris and Liz. I didn’t help much, but I did get a question about Jesse Owens right. We came in next to last, which (strangely) wins a prize.

This week’s mailbag: I have an exciting item in the mailbag this week. Thanks to Peanut for sending me a postcard from Budapest. She is in Hungary visiting her family and resting her planter fasciitis.

Peanut was Lindy’s favorite Ambush player for her sic layouts and long “yellow hair”. Lindy, also of the yellow hair turned 5 this weekend. Time flies.

Best of luck to Ambush at the Boston Invitational this weekend. I think this is the first time in 5 years or so I’ve missed that weekend. It’s strange not to be there.

Fellow bloggers: Do you archive independently from Blogger, in the event that it might go down or eat your blog or something? It is free after all. They don’t exactly have a service level agreement to meet. If so, any tips?

And finally, don't think I forgot about you. Here's a few good pranks to keep you entertained:
Oil and Weather.