Weed, AI, Texting

No, I am not writing about drugs, the movie Artifical Intelligence or Allen Iverson.
Solano found out its playoff opponent on Monday - we are headed back to Weed on Saturday. We played Siskiyous earlier this season and lost, but the girls are pretty fired up about Saturday's game. I am excited because I get to drive up to the game with the team. I will take a lot of pictures and post them sometime next week so everyone can see the fun road trip. If memory serves, the gym there has really good lighting so I am hoping to also get some good photos of the game.
American Idol...it was better last night. I was glad to see that Chikezie stepped it up. What a turnaround from last week! But by far the best was David Archuleta. I wasn't surprised that Paula Abdul cried because that version of "Imagine" by John Lennon was impressive. He sang it flawlessly...I am downloading it on iTunes tonight. My favorite, David Cook, was awesome as well. I am still not voting though.
I have decided that I would prefer not to get text messages anymore. My cell phone is a piece of junk (to use a family-friendly word) and keeps flashing "memory full" on the screen. I have cleared out all the old messages in the sent and inbox, but it still is "screaming" at me in its own little way. Matt texts enough for the both of us anyway. :)
If you need to get a hold of me, just call, I would love to hear your voice!!

Back to work...

Not that I took any time off of work, but what a busy weekend we had. It was very hard to get up this morning (I ate very poorly this weekend and haven't run on the treadmill since Wednesday...YUK!).
Diana developed a cough this weekend so I am hoping I don't get a call from Kindercare today saying she has a fever. Coughs are always worse when she is lying down so I am hoping that she doesn't cough much today while she is running around playing and stuff.
I was so glad that Debbie came down this weekend...what a treat. She was quite the Oscars hostess. She brought prizes for our little Oscars predicition test and of course, she won! That's OK, she has much more time on her hands to get out and see movies. It was good to have her expert opinion on what movies Matt and I should watch once they come out on OnDemand! :)
Matt finds out about the playoffs today (we finished the season undefeated on Friday...it was great!). The phones were ringing off the hook yesterday. Since Matt is the president of the association and thus in charge of the meetings today, he had to field calls from all these coaches about how the system works and how he thinks the bracket is going to be filled out.
I am so proud of the girls, but I am also proud of Matt, the Coach of the Year. I thought this year was his best coaching year. He made great decisions on the sideline and I thought was much more confident in his decision-making abilities. It's been so much fun to watch him grow as a coach these past eight years. It's funny to say that because you never think that someone who has been coaching for half his life has to grow. He's become a truly great coach and I can't wait for the playoffs this weekend.
Go Solano!

Idol, hoops and rain

It's raining here today. I hope it stops because I am supposed to take some pictures of a co-worker's daughter playing soccer this afternoon. I am really looking forward to it because I never get to take pictures of outdoor sports. The clouds would make for some really good lighting, but I can't do the rain because I will have Diana with me.
The University of Tennessee announced this morning that Candace Parker will participate in senior night festivities at the end of the month. As a huge UT fan, I am sad to see her go, but know that great things await her in the future. If she ends up playing for the LA Sparks in the WNBA, there will be plenty of chances to see her play against the Monarchs...that will be a ton of fun!
Once again, American Idol last night was just 'eh.' There were a couple of girls who really came to perform - Asia'h most specifically. But the others were just blah and played it safe. I am still not voting, but hope the right girls stay on for another week.

American Idol...eh

I thought the boys did an OK job last night. Wait, I am calling them boys..they are men (well most of them at least).
My favorites were David Cook, David Archuleta (he's so adorable!) and the dread locks guy that I can't remember his name right now. They were original, creative and comfortable on stage. The other guys sang the exact song they chose that was recorded 40 years ago.
I am learning to side with Randy, Paula and Simon more when they get frustrated with the singers who sing the song exactly as it was recorded. This competition is about being creative and showing you deserve to be a recording artist. Show some spunk for crying out loud!
The excuse, "The song is a 60s song!" is so old. Make it your own! Haven't these contestants watched the show for the past eight years? Don't they hear what the judges preach year after year, contestant after contestant?
I hope the girls do a better job tonight. There are a ton of guys that should be voted off Thursday night but unfortunately only two will go.
I have decided that I am not voting until the Round of 12 starts.

We are the champions!

For the second time in three years, Solano won the BVC title. It's awesome. What would be even more awesome is to win these last two conference games and go undefeated. These girls are so fired up and it would be so fun for them to go undefeated. Playoffs start either on the 29 or March 1.

Never Assume Anything

I have been doing this Mommy thing for a while now - 2 1/2 years. And I think I am pretty good at it. But everyday is a learning experience because there's something new that Diana does everyday. It's all fun and exciting.
Last night, we went out to dinner to my favorite Italian restaurant across the street. It's the perfect little family restaurant with great New York ambiance! Whenever we order pizza, I insist we get it from there because it's New York style and just awesome! We rarely order dinner from there and we don't usually go and sit down. Honestly, whenever we order pizza, Matt buys it so I have no idea how much it costs.
When Diana and I got there, a 15-year-old maitre'd (who may have been the manager because he was dressed in a nice shirt and pants) brought us to our table. He gave us our menus and walked away. He never said one word to us, not even a "Happy Valentine's Day."
When I saw him walk away, I just assumed he was going to get a high-chair for Diana. No such luck. I turned around to see where he was and I couldn't find him. The high-chairs were right behind me so I grabbed one and set it up. Thanks, kid.
As I glanced at the menu to order something for Diana, I noticed that the kid's menu only included pasta (four different varieties of spaghetti with a different sauce). I looked at the price and was floored-$6.95! It didn't include a drink or desert or fruit or a veggie. Just six little ravioli rounds. Are you kidding? I tried to find something on the menu, maybe a small personal pizza that was cheaper but the cheapest pizza was $19.99.
I ordered her the cheese ravioli and sulked. Luckily, she inhaled it. I also ordered her a milk. Did I need to mention to the waitress that a kid's size milk would suffice?
She brought back a red, paper Coke cup that was 16 oz.
"Um,do you have something smaller than this for kids?" I asked.
"No, that's the smallest cup we have," she replied. She sounded surprised that I asked. "I didn't put milk in it all the way though."
Gee, thanks.
I explained to Diana that the big cup was all she was getting and she was going to have to make do. Of course, she was fine.
As I looked around the restaurant I noticed that every single table was filled with families and more than half had a 2-year-old with them.
I have learned a lot because Diana and I go out to eat together quite a bit. There are staples that I guess I need to bring because I shouldn't assume that every kids meal is going to come with a small cup, some veggies and/or fruit and a sensible meal.
Therefore, I vow to always come prepared from now on with: a sippy cup (they make these take and toss ones with Princesses on them. I will make sure to stock up), some fruit (Luckily, we have a stash of those Dole fruit cups in the cubboard), a small fork and spoon (even though Diana does fine with a big one), wipes (Diana goes through paper napkins like diapers) and a desert item suitable for a toddler (a Gerber cookie).These are things that I brought when she was a little kid and nothing they had in the restaurant was good enough for a baby. Now she can pretty much take what they give her at restaurants that cater more to families so I just never thought about having to bring stuff like this.
This will make the dining out experience so much more enjoyable.

Three more to go

Happy Valentine's Day!!
Last night's sophomore night was great! Matt and the assistant coaches did a great job of honoring the five sophomores who were playing their final home game at Solano. There are photos from the celebration on my photo web site. And there will be more added later.
Shockingly enough...The Falcons won. So, that means, with a win on Friday over Mendocino, we clinch our second conference title in three years. Hopefully we can close out the season with three wins and have some momentum going into the playoffs. It's been a great conference season and the girls are really fired up to keep the win streak going.

Monday, Monday

What a beautiful sun shiny weekend!
Once we got done with the filming on Friday around 5 p.m., Diana, V and I went out to dinner. I couldn't imagine going home and standing on my feet for another 30-45 minutes to make dinner...I had been on my feet all day in heels, running around the building and I just couldn't stand any longer.
I even tried to walk on the treadmill after Diana went to bed and my knees started to swell. I had to stop.
So, I watched TV and waited for the phone call from Matt telling about the game. They won 106-55. Ouch. They have no mercy!
On Saturday I did some shopping at the mall with a friend of mine. I got a ton of new clothes (and all of them were on sale) which I needed desperately.
Sunday was the best though. We all went to the driving range and hit balls. I hit pretty good, considering that I hadn't hit balls in forever. Diana enjoyed being Mommy and Daddy's caddy more than she wanted to hit balls. We brought her clubs and she tried to hit the ball a couple times, but when she missed, she picked the ball up and chucked it out into the open. It was funny...even she laughed at herself.
She was very helpful on the putting green while Matt and I putted. Once the ball stopped rolling toward the hole, she would pick it up and throw it back to us. This saved Matt and I more time and allowed us to practice putting. Unfortunately, more people started coming over to the putting green and Diana wasn't able to be the caddy. But she did a great job and had so much fun. When we got home we played in the backyard for about an hour. I am sure that breathing fresh air was a wonderful thing for her.

I have to give a big shout out to Matt because he bought me these fantastic pair of Carlos Santana shoes that I have been wanting for quite a while. They are my Valentine's gift.
Back to work and school today though and the day is moving along. Two more big games this week, including sophomore night on Wednesday.
Go Falcons!

Whoa!

Last night was one of the most unbelieveable games I have ever witnessed-both as a player and a coach's wife.
We beat Napa Valley 101-42. The girls played so well. Everything went right, it seemed. The crowd was stunned, but excited at the same time. Solano started the game on a 23-0 run in which Napa called four timeouts. The girls were so excited everytime the coach called a timeout. They lept off the bench and celebrated with the girls coming out of the game. It was great energy and I was so proud of them.
Matt also got his 150th win at Solano and though he said it wasn't a big deal, the girls did a great job of presenting him with a plaque in front of a large crowd.
I just hope the girls and coaches can keep up this same intensity for five more games. It seems that they are ready to make this final push and win the league title with an undefeated record.

Busy week

This week is going to be a busy one for the Borchert family.
Not only do we have two more big games this week (Napa on Wednesday) but Angela has a busy week culminating with a production company coming to corporate this Friday to film some employees. Copart was named one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area and they are basically coming all day Friday to film. It's going to be pretty fun. So, I am helping prepare for that all week. We have to meet with the people that are going to be on camera (different employees here and at our Martinez yard) to go over what they should say. It's all buzz words so we give them the questions and answers prior to the filming.
I love being busy at work, especially when it's for something like this that I have never done. It's interesting to be a part of a filming session like this. I have no idea what to expect.
Anyway, the big game on Wednesday should be a good one. It's our next to last home game and against a team that was talking all kinds of trash before the season. They have three league losses now. :)
Oh and Megan turns 12 this weekend! As Diana would say "Oh boy-yah!