Roberts Family Adventures

Researching our family history - fascinating finds!

2012-01-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Back in August I wondered momentarily what I would do to keep busy with all of the free time that was suddenly thrust upon me when the girls announced they were giving softball a rest. It didn't take long for me to fill the empty hours! I've been spending many of those weekends and evenings feverishly researching every branch of our family tree.

Recently I found another old photo courtesy of some extended family member also building a tree with common ancestors. On that tree I found a few photos of 3rd, 4th and 5th generation ancestors from me. In the photo below is Bertha Violet (Hughes) Edmunds (my great grand aunt), her mother Sarah Jane (Neel) Hughes (my 2nd great grandmother) and Delileh (Sarah Jane's mother - my 3rd great grandmother). These relationship designations are courtesy of Ancestry.com - they are the experts. I'm not sure who the baby is on Bertha's lap, but her children were born between 1910-1915, so I'm guessing it's one of her children which would make this photo approx. 100 years old. Isn't it amazing how you can see the family resemblance in each of these women from one generation to the next?! They lived in the Indianapolis area during this time.

Technology has changed so many aspects of our lives and not all good. But I am so thankful that it enables me to find information and photographs of long gone ancestors that I could have never known, but who are shared by others through photos and family documents that I can find from the comfort of my home!

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Roberts family wishes you a…

Most Improved Player 2011 COHS Varsity Softball (Kali)

Earned her California Driver’s License on first try! (Kali – Nov 11)

Rode the Giant Dipper rollercoaster for the first time in ~ 20 years! (Margaret)

Road trip to Las Vegas for softball tourney!

Yard sale! Netted the girls $85 each in spending money for the month.

Chattanooga, TN for ASA 16U Nationals (Aug 11)

Hit two homeruns over the fence this summer! First was a Grand Slam! (Melia)

Reno, NV for Rib Cookoff – yummy!

Investigated ancestry to find roots in Germany, England, Ireland, Spain, Mexico!

Scholar Athletes x2 (Kali & Melia – COHS Varsity Softball 2011)

Three different jobs this year! (Duane)

MLK, Jr. Memorial site in Atlanta, GA, CNN tour, Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles.

All-League First Team – Sierra Valley Conference (Melia – 2011)

Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ with friends! Posed with Buster! Go Giants!!!

and..

Happy birthdays – 15 and 16 this year for Melia & Kali!

Another first place conference finish for COHS Wolfpack softball!

Played tourist at Pier 39 and the Wax Museum last summer.

Pup Uno spent his 'vacations' in Aromas with Grandma & Grandpa.

Y’all ever been to Cracker Barrel? It’s easier to find than Starbucks in TN!

Newly discovered uncle found through ancestry research on the Roberts side!

Easter Sunday spent at AT&T Park with 43K+ other crazy Giants fans!

Washington, DC for a 48 hour visit to attend a board meeting (Margaret)

Yawn – countless Netflix movies Margaret fell asleep in that Duane and the girls watched.

Earned academic honors as sophomore and junior (Kali).

Ate a Koolickle in Chattanooga, TN. (It’s a pickle soaked in koolaid.)

Rang in 2011 at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!

2011 was another busy year for us! We hope you enjoyed this creative look back at the past year. Of course it was again mostly filled with softball. The #1 best thing for us this year was stepping back from coaching softball and simply enjoying the experience with our girls. Cheering them on with their high school team was exciting in the spring. Summer ball brought new adventures and new friends. Most notably was the trip to Tennessee to play in the 16U ASA National Tournament with 176 of the other best teams from around the nation.

Professional adventures took me to Keystone, Colorado and Washington, DC this year. I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to get involved with industry groups for the benefit of my job at University of the Pacific. The conferences I attend allow me to learn from my industry peers at the top business schools in the nation and internationally. I count my blessings every day that I get to work in higher education.

I have spent many hours this year researching family ancestry and in early November attended a day of workshops in San Francisco. It was fascinating! The average age of attendees must have be 60+. Perhaps I'll have finished my research by then and can spend my retired days visiting all the places my ancestors lived. The most gratifying find so far - my father-in-law's long lost Uncle Cary Woods. Ronnie hadn't spoke to him in over 40 years and we never even knew he existed. Found randomly through a Google search when trying to gather info on Duane's side. Through that discovery we got photos of Duane's great-grandmother who he also never met and heard some wonderful stories about Ronnie's childhood and summers spent with Ma Evie.

As the days and months march on we are beginning to realize just how soon some big life changes will be upon us. Next summer we look forward to visiting colleges with the girls as they begin to seriously narrow their school choices. College is just around the corner!

Here's to wishing 2012 will be the year that we get to go to MORE Giants games! And to spending more time enjoying life with family and friends!

Love from -

Duane, Margaret, Kali, Melia & Uno

Summer 2011 Softball Escapades

2011-08-08T21:31:00.001-07:00

Just back from an 8-day trip to the Deep South, we may have enjoyed the last softball tournament of our family's life. While we won't ever say never (at least Duane and I won't), the girls are insistent that it's time for them to explore new interests. Here's a look back on our 2011 summer of softball. It's been undeniably the most successful season for the Roberts girls considering they (hugely) helped their team make it to the 16U ASA Fastpitch Softball National Championship tournament.

At the start of pre-game warm ups the team always placed their bats and gloves in this creative configuration. Kali & Melia's bats and gloves are in the center of the lower half of the photo.

The USA Elite - Cherry 16U team was in the championship game in four of seven pre-Nationals tournaments this summer, taking 1st place at the CSA tourney in Elk Grove in July. The 2nd place finish at GSSA Metros on Fathers Day, June 20, 2011 earned the team's berth to Nationals. Melia hit her first out of the park home run, a GRAND SLAM, to clinch the win and send the team to Nationals. She hit another 2-run homer later in the summer in a tournament in Lincoln, CA.

Are you wondering what in the world will the Roberts family do with all the free time we'll

have on our hands now? Duane has suggested that we take up geocaching. Stay tuned.....

USA Elite takes 2nd in as many weeks

2011-06-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

USA Elite 16U faced seven opponents this weeked in our first 18U tournament. The first six games were mostly batting practice for the team as they combined to score 50 runs and allowed 2. Finally in the championship game we faced a worthy opponent in the Pajaro Valley Tremblers - yes, Margaret's home town team. The USA Elite girls did not give up at any point in the game, even rallying in the last inning to score their second run with two outs and time expired. But a 1st place finish wasn't meant to be this weekend. 2nd place is impressive in the team's first attempt at the next level.

Last weekend the team clinched a berth to 16U ASA Nationals in Chattanooga, TN the first week of August by taking 2nd place in the Sacramento ASA Metros. In a bitter battle vs. the California Breeze in the initial championship game, Kali hit an RBI single that tied the game, however the game was lost in the final inning, when former Thunder teammate Maddie Lopes scored the go ahead run as a pinch runner in the top of the 7th.

The loss put us head to head against the Foothill Gold - Stinson team, widely regarded by locals as the team expected to take the tourney. We'd faced them the day before and handed them their first loss of the double elimination tourney. Sac Metros wasn't to be for the Foothill Gold team. USA Elite exploded for 7 runs in a shut out win to capture 2nd place. The highlight of the game was Melia's 4th inning bases loaded Grand Slam Homerun to put us up 5-0. It was Melia's first ever out of the park homerun hit. What a game!

Banner Year for Roberts Girls

2011-05-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Roberts girls had a 'banner year' in academics and softball for 2010-11! As my friend Amber puts its, these are the moments we live for! Seeing all the hard work on and off the field pay off with awards and recognition is such a wonderful thing to share with your children.

Off the field this year, Kali earned her Academic honors letter and Honor Roll certificate. She finished the year maintaining a 4.03 GPA. At the softball awards event she also received a Scholar Athlete certificate for the second year in a row. Melia also earned a Scholar Athlete award on the Varsity team and ended her freshman year with a 3.81 GPA.

On the field the girls had an awesome year on the Varsity softball team. As the only freshman on the team Melia was the lead-off batter for 90% of the season and started every game. Melia was one of the top three hitters in the conference throughout the season, led all batters on her team with a .486 batting average over 24 games, and earned an SVC All Conference First Team honor, along with four of her teammates.

Kali had a great season as the primary starting first baseman this season. She was awarded the Most Improved Player honor by her coaches for turning her offensive game around in a BIG way this year. Kali improved her batting average from a sub-.100 average last year to .356 this season, placing her 13th in BA for the entire conference and 5th on the COHS Wolfpack team. Kali earned SVC All Conference Second Team honors along with two other teammates.

The Wolfpack posted a 12-0 conference record this year, earning their school the first Sierra Valley Conference pennant. Their awesome record put them in the Division IV CIF Sac-Jaoquin playoffs where they went 2-2 to take 3rd place in the D-IV section.

With high school ball finished it's time for the summer travel ball fun to begin! Go USA Elite!

Spring Training 2011 - World Champion SF Giants were everywhere!

2011-03-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

On March 4th Duane and I escaped to Scottsdale, AZ for an adult weekend away with our great friends Amber & Russ Syracuse and Cindy & David Carter. While we all agonized over what we were missing back at home with our children (swimming, softball games & soccer games - probably half a dozen events between us), that did NOT stop us from having a fantastic 3+ FUN AND SUN filled days!

We took in three Cactus League games over our stay. Friday night took us to Glendale (a 90 minute trip from Scottsdale that shouldn't have taken more than 45 minutes!) where we watched our favorite World Champion Giants stick it to the LA Dodgers. We were treated to a great performance by Zito (yes, really!) and long balls hit by Posey and the justifiably hyped rookie Brandon Belt. And as we exited the stadium and made the 10 minute walk back to the car they celebrated our Giants win with a really impressive fireworks show.

Saturday took us to Mesa, AZ and a match between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. The most exciting part of this game was the chance to win a 50/50 raffle worth more than $2400! The Roberts raffle luck did not hold up on this day. Our first sports celebrity sighting occured later that evening as we walked through the very busy Italian Grotto to our table. As we passed by the bar area following the host J.T. Snow passed right in front of me! Close enough to reach out an touch!

On Sunday we had a fantastic afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium cheering on the World Champs! It was nearly 80 degrees (do you remember the last time it was 80 degrees in Northern California? neither do I!!!) and the line up was full of starters! Lincecum on the mound, Posey behind the dish, Huff, the Panda , Cody Ross, the newest Giant - Miguel Tejada and others. Torres made his return to the line up later in the game following nearly a week nursing a pulled muscle. And in the 5th inning Brian Wilson jogged in from the right field bullpen to throw a perfect 10 pitch inning!

Sunday night could have been just another 'last night on vacation' and we could have been eating at the hot spot, The Pink Pony, in downtown Scottsdale. But fate intervened and the 9pm reservation was too late for some of us and so we headed off for a 7:30PM reservation at Frasher's. When we arrived it was apparent that some special event dinner was going on at the restaurant. Turns out the Giants were hosting an event with a few players and young military vets who'd been honored on-field earlier that day at the game.

Since we'd missed an opportunity the night before to get evidence of our encounter with a favorite former Giant, tonight we left nothing to chance. When Buster Posey was within reach I cornered him and asked for picture!

While we've been to Spring Training twice before neither time compared to the fun we had this year! We'll be making it an annual trip! Next year we'll be sure to plan for at least one afternoon by the pool at the Valley Ho!

New Year and New Softball Team for the Roberts girls

2011-01-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

Our first official team event with the USA Elite was this weekend. The girls attended a softball clinic hosted by Sonoma State University's Seawolves Softball team. It was a relaxing day in the sunshine for Duane and I as we got to simply sit back, play a game of Scrabble on the Kindle and watch the girls run through various drills and learn from college players and coaches. We are excited about all of the fun we will have this summer with the families of this USA Elite 16U team and the places near and far the schedule will take us!

2010....a year to remember!

2010-12-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

2010 has been a very busy year for us in the Roberts house! If you are following us on Facebook you know that outside of work and school, we live for softball! This year was an exciting one for us in many ways. Kali played her first year of high school softball making the varsity team as a freshman and earning co-top GPA honors on her team. We continued to coach the 14U Thunder travel team and recruited a young team of 13 years olds to play through the spring until our core of high school players was ready for the summer tournament season. From March-May we were playing or watching softball games 4-5 days out of the week between the high school team and the Thunder team.

This was a particularly rewarding year with the Thunder, especially after the tough first season in 2009. Over the course of the year we competed in 18 tournaments, played 93 games and earned a record of 52-40-1. We played in 8 championship games and took top honors in 4 of those events. In two major events we also placed respectably (3rd in a State Championship tournament and 4th in the Regional ASA tournament). To bring this team so far in just our second season was quite a thrill! Looking back at the photos from these events is fun because you can see the sense of accomplishment on each and every girl's face.

A really memorable part of this year was taking the team to the NSA Western Nationals tournament which was hosted in Hillsborough, OR, just outside of Portland. It was a 12 hour road trip from Sacrament0 (we had to slow down for a couple of car sick kids) and 5 days of fun! Well, the losses weren't fun, but we won a couple of games and got to compete against teams from Washington and Oregon states. And the team got to really bond and have an experience they won't forget for a very long time! And the road trip was a bit of a dream come true for me - the open road, driving through parts of CA and OR that are so beautiful and lots of quality family time. If only we could have done it in an RV.....someday!

While Kali completed her first year of high school in 2010, Melia graduated 8th grade and started high school this fall. So now we are the parents of two busy high school kids! And Duane and I both celebrated milestone birthday's this year - 4-0! Keeping track of the girls activities on Facebook keeps us on our toes and so far entering a new age decade hasn't been a big deal. Celebrating this milestone for me was exciting as we rang it in with a few family and friends at a Giants game!

One of the things we miss since moving out of the Bay Area is easy access to the SF Giants! Now we really have to plan ahead to make a game. Duane and I did sneak away in March to Scottsdale to catch a Spring Training game and attend a wedding. And we get to join Duane's Mom's company event every summer and catch a game in August. But being a little further away from our favorite Giants did not diminish our excitement in cheering them on throughout the playoffs and in the World Series. What a year!

On the professional front things are going well for both of us. I am still with University of the Pacific by day, and authoring resumes by night. I was able to attend a conference in Boston this year and make some new professional connections. Volunteering on the conference planning committee for that event earned more volunteer work for 2011 as a c0-chair for next year's conference in Keystone, CO. Duane continues to recruit high tech professionals and executives and in September re-aligned his efforts with the founder of a recruiting firm we worked for 10+ years ago. He's enjoying this collaboration immensely and continues to enjoy working from home.

We're looking forward to a healthy and productive 2011. A few things we expect to do more of this coming year include seeing our family (no softbal on weekends until June!), going to a few more Giants games and being enthusiastic and supportive softball parents since we've "retired" from coaching! Don't worry - the girls have already landed on a new team and whenever we're playing on a softball field near you we'll send you details on the schedule!

Of course our story wouldn't be complete without an update on Uno, our wonder dog! He entertains us daily! He was invited by Camp BowWow to model for a professional photographer this year! But I prefer to keep him looking a little less furry!

We are thankful for all of the blessings we enjoy, especially the wonderful people in our lives - those who we see frequently and those who we keep up with mostly by way of Facebook and yearly holiday greetings! We wish you the very best this holiday season and a Happy 2011!

Love from Duane, Margaret, Kali & Melia

Thunder softball escapades...summer & fall

2010-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Following a miserable Saturday performance in our most recent tourney the first weekend of October, we pulled it together on Sunday to reach the championship game in the Silver Division of our 2nd 16U tourney, taking 2nd place against a very hard hitting team, Paradise Bobcats. More importantly, we did it on our home fields in Elk Grove!

In our last tourney of the summer season we had our best performance all year in the 14U division. We went 6-0 on the weekend, scored 55 runs and gave up only in the Championship game over CenCal. It was a great way close out our summer of fun since a handful of our players would be moving on to high school volleyball for the fall.

Thunder - 14U Champs in the Gold Division of the Les Schwab Tire Classic - Aug 14-15, 2010

Coming off of a frustrating previous tournament the weekend before this Thunder squad made a few teams pay, including our local rivals, the AA Mizuno team! We walked away with first place in the iFA Fastpitch Fever tourney to help us prepare for the ASA Association tourney at which we took 4th place the following weekend, winning a berth to the Regionals. We were unable to accept the spot though because we were heading to Portland, OR for a week-long NSA Western Nationals event.

NSA Western Nationals
Thunder 14U 2010

What a FUN experience! Maddie Lopes (bottom, 2nd from left) won a scholarship raffle. We went 0-3 to begin and then were fighting for our lives. Won games #4 & #5, eliminating two Washington teams from the tournament. In our 4th game on day 2 (6th game of tourney) we simply ran out of gas and couldn't prevail. But it was a fantastic experience and very fun road trip!

Thunder takes 1st in Mom's Are Best iFA Tourney!

2010-05-09T10:47:00.001-07:00

Spring softball has been an interesting experience this year. Early on we were mostly rained out more often than not. This weekend we'd planned to play in an ASA tourney which was to also be a benefit event for cancer but it got cancelled when more than half of the teams dropped out. We can ALWAYS count on Dennis Fong to come through with a tourney and this weekend was no exception. Dennis pulled three teams from the cancelled tourney and joined us up with three other teams for a one day event at Freedom Park.
Our day started a little flat in the first game and we didn't come alive until that last inning at the end of regulation play to show a spark of interest and put up two runs, losing 3-2 to Mizuno (our local rivals). After that game woke us up we rolled through the next three games over Foothill Gold teams to get into the championship game...again vs. Mizuno. Seemed a little like deja vu because one month ago at this same venue in a one day tourney we fought from a loss to Mizuno in pool play to make it into the championship game against this team.
This time Duane, Coach Robert and the girls were determined not to walk away "a bridesmaid", to use Robert's vocabulary. It was a hard fought game (so they tell me because I was in Half Moon Bay celebrating my good friend Victoria's 40th birthday at a surprise dinner her husband organized at the Ritz) and Thunder came up on top!

A few highlights via the text play-by-plays I got from team Mom's Amie & Lisa:
Lisa: 2-2 top of 3
Amie: We are beating their butts
Lisa: 6-5 them top of 6 - DARN!
Amie: We r down by 1
Lisa: Lissy screamed a double 2 score 2 runs. we WON!
Amie: we won!

Duane's highlights:
Melia got in the box in the last inning with one runner on base. She told me that if she got a strike she was going to mash it. The first pitch was a ball. Next pitch came and Melia mashed it up the middle off the pitcher's shin. It richoceted off into left field and one run scored. Next batter came up was Turtle (referred to above by Lisa as Lissy). There were two runners on base. Turtle smashed a double to the fence scoring two runs and we won the game!

Another highlight of this tourney for me was having two of our high school players back in action with us! Carly & Maddie were welcome additions back on the field with the Thunder! More returning over the next few weekends! Stay tuned!

Thunder takes 2nd Place in NSA tourney

2010-04-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

In our third outing of the spring season Thunder fought to the finish and captured 2nd place and an invitation to the 2010 NSA World Series tournament in July! We fielded nine players this past weekend and kept our fingers crossed in every game that we would avoid any injuries. Every girl contributed in this tourney in some way. Our pitchers (Melia & Carly) hurled a combined 29 strikeouts in 30 innings of work and gave up only 11 runs, pitching three shut out games. On offense our girls scored 37 runs and run ruled two teams!

Wolfpack Softball off to a great start in 2010!

2010-04-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Kali has worked hard on her softball game since we came to Elk Grove four years ago. Duane likes to tease about her All-Star try-outs back in San Mateo when she first starting playing and jokes that if those people who didn't select her for an All-Star team then could see her now they wouldn't believe it was the same kid! As a freshman in high school Kali was selected for the Varisty team and is having a GREAT time! She's getting lots of playing time because she's a verastile player who can field hard ground balls on the infield (3rd and 1st base) and speedy in the outfield to track and catch hard hit fly balls. And it doesn't hurt that there are only 11 girls on the Varsity roster - every one gets game time!

As a team the Wolfpack ladies lost only one pre-season game (vs. Pleasant Grove of course!) and in league play they are currently posting a 4-0 record. Kali's making a great impression on her demanding coaches and is sure to have a great season! We actually picked this high school primarily because it would allow Kali to play under the direction of Coach Lynda Bettencourt who was a collegiate player at Cal. We are very happy that we made this choice! Coach B is an amazing lady and great role model on the softball diamond, in the classroom (Kali is in her Health class this term) and as a Christian woman!

Thunder Takes 2nd in First Spring Tourney

2010-04-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

In our first outing of the spring season the Thunder had a great showing at the iFA Easter Explosion on April 3, 2010. We had a couple of fairly easy wins against Napa Valley Express in games one and three. Game two we dropped to Mizuno All-American comprised of many girls we've played with in the EG rec league. Game four was a thrilling win against the Line Drive out of Reno, a late add to the tournament and a hard hitting, fast running team. Melia pitched the complete game which she won in an international tie breaker 6th inning. The final score was 9-6 and Melia struck out five batters. The championship game was a tough loss to Mizuno - we ran out of steam! But all in all the outcome was thrilling - we went home with hardware! Melia had an awesome weekend going 10-14 at the plate with 3 triples, 2 doubles and five singles!

48 Hours in Phoenix

2010-04-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

On a beautiful Saturday (March 20) Duane and I got up before the sun rose and jumped on a Southwest flight to Phoenix, AZ. The purpose of our trip was to attend a wedding (which I'll get to) and that purpose created a great excuse to take in a Spring Training game. So, the planner that I am, I bought these tickets a month in advance and "gave" them to Duane as a token of my love to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary back on Feb 27th.

Considering the unrelenting rain that we've had this winter in Northern California it was such a blessing and a treat to escape to AZ for 48 hours of fun! Though the park doesn't appear full in this photo, the game was a sell out and and a shut out for the G-men! 6-0 vs. Cincinnati Reds! We sat in the general admission lawn section in right center and got a nice dose of the southwestern sunshine for a few hours that afternoon.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed dessert before dinner by attending a pre-wedding party hosted by the grooms parents, Mr. & Mrs. Kaufman. The venue was Sugar Bowl in Old Scottsdale and it was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. YUMMMMMM!

Sunday brought more sunshine and fun catching up with my friend Divya and meeting husband Raj. Divya and I became friends through our professional work a few years ago when she was recruiting college grads for Ferguson. Today she's in recruiting/HR for American Express. The Merchants recommended we meet at "The Farm at South Mountain" and we had a wonderfully yummy brunch sitting outside on this cool working organic farm in the desert!

Sunday afternoon brought us to the purpose of our jaunt - the Kaufman/Laven wedding and it was a blast! Perfect weather - sunny but not hot! Beautiful setting - a castle in the desert! (A bit of an oxymoron, but who's judging?!) Entertaining and lovely reception with exceptional company at our table! The coolest thing?! The photo booth! Felt like we were at an amusement park :)

2009 Year in Review - Happy Holidays!

2009-12-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays family & friends:
2009 has been a typical year for us. To borrow Melia's recent description, "we are busy people"!

Naturally softball dominated our family time this year. It was wonderful to be focused on one team again! Duane gave in to the peer (and wife) pressure to coach a team again this year and we jumped into competitive tournament ball with a 14U team. There were many new experiences on several fronts (coach and player changes were not uncommon) but over the course of the year we saw the team transform into real contenders.

Between March and November we played in nearly 20 tournaments. Most events were in the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto areas but we also traveled to Reno in Spring and Salinas in Fall. The team took a lot of lumps in the Spring/Summer season but improved tremendously in Fall, taking 3rd place in three of our seven events!

Between them Kali & Melia led the team in several offensive categories including hits (Melia) and on-base percentage (Kali). Melia was also the winningest pitcher for the team over the entire year. Quite an accomplishment considering she was one of the two youngest players on the team (12 when we began) this year.

On the school front this has been an interesting year with Kali moving to high school. She is doing exceptionally well in all of her classes. A few weeks spent in summer school repairing her grade in Algebra probably cured her of ever slacking off again. She HATED summer school and reminded me of it every morning when I dropped her off. We're both glad she won't be likely to repeat that experience again.

Melia is also performing well in school but I believe the social aspect of the experience by far is her primary motivator for getting up each and every day. I think it's possible that she sends more text messages before she leaves the house each day than I send in a week.

While softball did take up the vast majority of our time, it wasn't the sum total of our year. 2009 marked the transition to a household of two teenage girls (Kali turned 14 on March 30th and Melia turned 13 on June 13th). Of course along with that comes the expected - fights over who gets to use the bathroom, whose mess is in the bathroom, etc. We celebrated Duane's father's 65th birthday with family and friends this year in April and that was cause for the girls to dress in something other than jeans or softball gear. And in early June Kali had her third promotion ceremony in four years when she completed 8th grade. And in October Uno turned two!

Though we did not have the opportunity to plan or take a real family vacation this year, we did enjoy a few fun excursions here and there. When Kali went off to Hume Lake with the youth group from church for a week in July, Duane, Melia and I headed down to Aromas for a few days. While we were visiting Grandma & Grandpa we spent a day at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk where Melia's favorite ride is still the bumper cars! Earlier in July the girls and I went with some friends (moms & girls) to the American Idol 2009 tour concert. It was AWESOME! We also caught a couple of Giants games, including a game in Oakland vs. the A's on June 24th where we celebrated my birthday with our good friends the Carters. And most recently Duane and I enjoyed a fun day of food and wine tasting (well, I didn't taste the wine) with the Carter's and the Syracuse's.

Of course, 2009 wouldn't be memorable if I didn't experience some interesting medical mystery. This year it was shingles. It's truly a wonder that I haven't turned into a hypochrondriac!

Needless to say we have much to be thankful for as we wrap up 2009 - our health, our jobs, our wonderful families and great friends!

Happy holidays to you and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!

Margaret, Duane, Kali & Melia

2009-05-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Our Thunder 14U softball team is off to a great start......now that we have gotten the early obstacles behind us and we are ready for the summer heat, the dirt and having fun on the softball diamond!

We are excited about the potential of this GREAT group of girls and their AWESOME families! This young team will be doing some damage in the weeks and months to come!

So far our dynamic duo of Roberts sisters have already made their marks. Kali has hit two HRs already this season, include a 3-run homer in our tournament in Reno this past weekend. Melia takes the mound every three games and has logged 4 wins so far. Two great showings this weekend included a 8-5 win in our first game on Sat and a 10-4 win in our first game on Sunday. Her performance even earned her a mention in her pitching coach's weekly highlights email:

Ron Engle has posted a new announcement on the Ron Engle "K" Club page.
"K" Club Announcement
Melia Roberts 12 years old of Elk Grove Thunder (14u) vs. Sac Dynasty (14u) on 5/16/2009 had 5 Strike Outs in (5) innings.

Our next tournament is at Manteca's Big League Dreams stadium off of Hwy 120 just east of Hwy 5. If you are going to be close enough to come by and see us play, email me for the game schedule (we get it about 3 days before the tourney).

Our June tournament schedule is:

June 6/7 (Stockton)

June 13/14 (TBD)

June 20/21 (Sacramento)

June 27/28 (Salinas - I hope there is A LOT of family support for the Roberts girls this weekend!)

Stay tuned for more highlights from our upcoming tournaments throughout the season!

Kali turns 14!

2009-03-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was 14 years ago on this day that our precious little baby girl was born.... and today she is a beautiful, smart, outgoing teenager! Boy, time flies!

Kali spent the weekend on a 36 hour whirlwind trip to Disneyland with her 8th grade classmates from Harriet Eddy Middle School. And this afternoon she cheered on her former Thunder teammates who are now on the EG High JV softball team as they made a come from behind effort to win 12-10 vs. Franklin HS. I think she's had a great time turning 14!

Diary of a deranged, wanna-be jurist....

2009-01-23T22:43:00.000-08:00

It was a quiet afternoon in late December 2008 and Duane went out to collect the mail from the box across the street. In this relationship Duane is the mail-getter primarily because he's the one home during the day. And since he usually puts the bills in my pile, I typically don't bother to look at the mail right away. This day, however, was not typical.....

I was seated on a chair in the living room when Duane came in with the mail. I was engrossed in a new book I had received for Christmas the previous week and not too interested in anything going on around me. Duane sifted through the mail, presumably putting the bills in my pile as usual. As he rifled through the junk mail and bills, something caught his attention.

"Marge" he called to me. I looked up to see him waving a long, white envelope. Since I wasn't expecting money from anyone I had a momentary doomsday thought, "what kind of bill could this be?" To Duane I responded, "What is it?" He had a funny gleam in his eye and continued to wave the envelope. "I can't see what that is from here," I explained, "what is it?" Duane smirked at me and replied, "It's a jury summons!"

I think I may have shrieked with excitement but I don't truly remember for sure. I definitely jumped up, forgot about my book, snatched up the envelope and tore it open! I had been waiting for a jury summons for more than 10 years! The last time I received a summons was way back in the mid-90's in San Mateo County and I showed up only to be released by mid-morning with a half-hearted "thanks for your service". And I did nothing!

Yes, it's quite possible that I'm a little bit crazier than the average citizen. But I have a burning desire to serve on a jury! Why? Probably because I read and watch too many crime dramas. Or maybe I just need to see and feel the experience from the inside (the good side, not the bad side). Whatever the case, I've been wanting to get a jury summons for a long time! And on that late, lazy day in December, while we were all enjoying the holiday break, my jury summons arrived by way of the US Postal Service.

I marked the date on my wall calendar with a big happy face and set a reminder in my Blackberry calendar for the date I was required to call in for instructions prior to my scheduled service date. And then I waited for the weeks, days and hours to pass.

My summons required me to be prepared to serve the week of January 20th, a short week due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and Inauguration Day of our new President, Barack Obama. I hoped that my group would not be called on Inauguration Day and I was rewarded. In fact, upon checking in for my status the weekend prior to Jan 20th, I was instructed to call back after 5pm on Wednesday, January 21st. On Wednesday at exactly 5pm I called in and the message instructed my group and three others to report to the Sacramento Superior Court at 8:00AM on Thursday, January 22, 2009.

My excitement was beginning to build. I was just a few short hours away from my big moment! In fact, I was so excited I could barely go to sleep that night. Duane even was asleep before me.....for those of you who know me well, that is a rare occurance!

Thursday morning brought rain to the Sacramento area so the drive into downtown from Elk Grove was slowed by the wet highway and the mob of commuters heading into Sacramento and for parts beyond. I realized that I was glad my commute to work is in the opposite direction. While we were not driving the speed limit, or even close for much of the ride, we were moving steadily and I made reasonable time and arrived before the 8:00am check-in. Good thing too, because I had no idea I would have to make my way through an airport security-like screening process. I even had to take off the wrist brace I have wearing for the past two weeks. (That's another story for another blog.)

Once through the security checkpoint I put myself back together and made my way to the elevators. I was to check in on the second floor in Room 203. I exited the elevator on the second floor, found a directory posted on the wall and made my way to the juror holding tank. If you haven't been to the Sac Courthouse jury holding tank, it's configured a bit unusually, but I digress. I checked in, was given a questionnaire form, instructed to fill it out and hold on to it.

7:59AM: I find a seat and settle in to fill out my form. Send Duane a text msg to let him know I've arrived safe and sound.

8:10AM: I have finished my form and pull out my Blackberry to update my Facebook status for the first time today. My status reads: Margaret is eagerly awaiting jury selection.....hope I'm picked!!!!

8:28AM: The jury holding tank MC informs us that there is an emergency phone number to give out to loved ones, work, child care providers. I text this number to Duane. At this point we have been informed that jury pools will be announced when the court rooms inform the jury holding tank staff of their need for prospective jurors. Then the MC informs us that since they are waiting for court rooms he will give us our first break. We can go to the cafeteria on the 6th floor, go out and smoke, etc. but must be back in the holding tank area by 9:00AM. Off to the cafeteria I go since I forgot to grab my Balance bar on the way out this morning. (Must have been the excitement!)

9:00-ish: I came straight back from the cafeteria, probably before 9:00am and settled back into a comfortable seat. Figured I would get my laptop out and see how much work I could get done before I got called for a jury. Responded to several emails until the next announcement from the MC came around 9:30AM. Two jury pools were called. I was not one of the lucky ones. More work to get done.

10:25AM: Facebook status update: Margaret is still waiting.....not called on third panel....still hoping!!!!

11:00-ish: MC reports that they are awaiting calls from two courtrooms. They will keep us posted.

11:30AM: MC reports that they are still waiting but it is not officially the lunch break. We are to report back at 1:30PM. I call Duane and invite him to come downtown and join me for lunch.

11:47AM: Facebook status update: Margaret has been sent on a lunch break and hope the courts are 'ready' for jurors when we get back. I WANT to do my civic duty!

12:13PM: Duane has picked me up for lunch and we park across the street from the Sac Convention Center and have lunch at La Bou. Chat about my jury duty fascination, his web application, the softball team.... shortly after 1pm we head out.

1:20PM: Duane drops me off back at the courthouse and I report back for my civil duty. I settle back in, this time with the book I brought along for entertainment. I'm having a hard time focusing on the book however. Night at the Museum is playing on the TVs in the jury holding tank and it keeps drawing me in.

2:39PM: Facebook status update: Margaret is still waiting...what's going on in those courtrooms? Too much legal manuvering! Call in the jurors (me) for Pete's sake.

3:30-ish: MC reports that they are still waiting for a call from the courtrooms. The movie now playing is Cheaper by the Dozen. This one is even funnier than Night at the Museum and it's got my full attention. I'm even laughing out loud. Kali & Melia would be horrified and insisting I be quiet if they were here.

4:01PM: Facebook status update: Margaret is 99% sure I'll be passed over for jury assignment...don't they know what they are missing?

4:10PM: MC reports that they will not be calling any more jurors but must wait until the judge calls to say so before they can official release us. Several people in the room groan.

4:14PM: Facebook status update: Margaret is sad... will I have to wait another ten years for a jury summons?

4:18PM: Text msg to Duane: Waiting for my group to be checked out and then I'm on my way home.

I never saw the inside of a courtroom and I was fully prepared to serve! But I did learn a few things during my day in the jury holding tank. Fact #1: When a jury panel is called, the names are called in alphabetical order. (I don't know if those names are randomly selected or if they are called in order of group numbers.) Fact #2: The people who work in the courthouse are jovial people as evidenced by the conversations I heard going up and down the elevator to the cafeteria. It's nice to know that the environment is a pleasant place to work. Fact #3: The airport security type check point isn't nearly as difficult to pass through. They even let me keep my Starbucks! Fact #4: Though I'm certain they still think I'm a bit weird, my family, friends and co-workers were cheering for me all day via email exchanges and Facebook comments.

For now, all I can say is I sure hope I don't have to wait another ten years for my next summons!

Holiday Greetings 2008

2008-12-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays 2008

As I looked back at the many postings of events and excitement in our lives during the course of this year, I realize that our family and friends must think we have become obsesed with softball. Well, perhaps we have....at least we can honestly say that it is a family activity that we all love and can physically do together and most of the time truly enjoy each other in the process.

2008 has been an interesting year for us. As we look back on the year I can truly say we are thankful for our health and happiness. We are weathering the storm of the now officially labelled "recession" as a presently one-income household. Duane's position was one of the first eliminated at the Silicon Valley K/F office back in mid-Sept and he was fortunate to pick up contract executive search projects with the firm until just before Thanksgiving. So for now he's working on his own business idea (hopes to launch in early January!) and keeping his eyes open and ears to the ground for a new opportunity in the Sacramento region.

On just about every other level we are doing great! My work is busy and demanding - that old recession thing again - college grads and MBAs are facing a tough job market to enter for the first time. And alumni call frequently seeking advice on making career transitions or landing on their feet when the career rug is pulled out from under them. I've also been fortunate this year to be the beneficiary of many fantastic referrals of executives in need of resume writing expertise from a few trusted professional colleagues and these projects have been challenging, fun and contribute to an ever expanding network of contacts across a wide range of industries. (If you are reading this, thank you so much to Cyndi, Beth and Penni for your valued referrals!)

Through our softball adventures (yes, back to that again) we have been blessed to see our friendships in Elk Grove grow tremendously. We are more thankful everyday that we took the risk two and half years ago to move here because we've built some cherished friendships through the teams we've been lucky enough to be a part of this year!

As we look forward to 2009 we are embarking on a new and exciting experience in softball - participating as coaches of a travel team. The most exciting thing for me is that Kali & Melia will both be on the same team this year. No more drives between Rocklin and Modesto (almost 200 miles round trip twice in one weekend) or to Yuba City and then El Dorado Hills..... all in the name of cheering for our favorite players, Kali & Melia! But that's what being involved parents is all about, isn't it?!

2009 is also the year in which both girls officially are teenagers - OMG! (For the non-texters, that's "oh my gosh".) And Kali will enter high school. I'm sure I'll be coloring my hair to hide the overwhelming gray this coming year. Duane's more concerned about the year she starts driving and that's still a bit down the road.

We truly wish each and every one of our family and friends all the best during this 2008 holiday season! May 2009 bring you blessings and joy!

Love,

Duane, Margaret, Kali & Melia

(Uno, Jennifer & Michelle too!)

p.s. For a look back on some of the highlights of the year, spend a little more time browsing through the blog for photos and stories from 2008.

Thunder team takes 2nd in Halloween Tourney

2008-11-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end of the fall ball tourney season the Thunder team headed to Modesto for a Halloween-themed tourney. Day one (Sat, Oct 25th) was not a great showing for the Thunder. The team dropped all three games to the opposing teams. Sunday, however, was an exciting day of softball.

Honestly I wasn't sure I'd make it to see the first game so I desparately hoped they would win it just in case I was late arriving. Early in the day my Dad and I drove up to Rocklin to see the first game of the day for the Rockstarz and it was a nailbiter and exciting and they won....but it did go a little longer than expected. So, we jumped in the car and took off for Modesto, arriving nearly an hour into the expected game one.

Turned out there were earlier delays that pushed their game start back and when we arrived the game hadn't even begun. We were treated to an exciting win - Kali smashed a triple in that game. And that followed with a win in game two to put the Thunder into the division championship game for the tourney. The girls played their hearts out and took second place, losing to the Hollister Heat. At least Grandpa had a caravan to follow back home most of the way from Modesto!

Rockstarz TAKE IT ALL!

2008-11-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

The 2008 Winterball season came to an exciting close the weekend of Oct 25/26 in Rocklin, CA. A season ending tournament was held to finish the season. The Rockstarz rolled through five teams to become the undisputed champs of the fall season. Melia led her team (3-0) on the mound to exciting wins and was quite productive with the bat too. She knocked in game winning runs with a spectacular double in game number three to move her team along toward the championship game. In the final game the Rockstarz outdid our Elk Grove friendly rivals, the Shockwave. It was a fitting end to an exciting season. Overall the team went 10-1-1 in regular season and had opened the season tourney with a second place finish in early Sept.

With rec ball behind us we are now gearing up to launch a new 14U EGGSL Thunder travel team with a core group of the Rockstarz/All-Star/Bratz teams we have been playing with throughout 2008.

2008-10-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Thunder team took 4th place (but 2nd in the Silver division) in a Yuba City tournament in early October. Kali was a little miffed to learn that the team which took first place in the Silver division was a 12U team preparing for an upcoming tournament by playing up. Hence, she could not find her smile for this picture. However, most teams leave these tournments with nothing to show for their efforts except tired eyes and the receipts from filling up their gas tanks, so leaving with a medal is not a bad proposition.

Feliz Cumpleanos Uno!

2008-10-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Our 'baby boy', UNO, turned one last week and was treated to a birthday bath and haircut! We're hoping that he sheds a bit less for a couple of weeks at least!

EG Thunder Wins First Winterball Tourney of Season

2008-09-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

With four new players added to the team this winter season and one player out for the season with an injury, we weren't sure what to expect in the first tournament for the Elk Grove 14U/15U Thunder team. But much to our pleasant surprise, the team went 4-0 on Sept 20-21 to win the "Autumn Ambush" tournament at Freedom Fields in Sacramento.

Kali hit two stingers back up the middle and was on base on walks to score runs several times in these four games. This was a great start to the season for Kali and we're all happy to see the investment in her hitting lessons paying off in a very short time! On defense Kali is playing 3rd base and some time at 2nd base so far this season. If you can't tell, she's the one hold the plaque in the middle of the photo.

Ace Pitcher - Melia's leading the Rockstarz this winter

2008-09-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

Melia continues to improve her pitching skills and add new pitches to her arsenal! The team is undefeated in regular season play and went 4-1 in the opening tournament to take 2nd out of 22 teams a few weeks ago. Melia was the losing pitcher in the championship game but otherwise is undeafeted in winter ball to date. She typically pitches one game per week.

Her pitching is now under the direction of a new coach, Ron Engle, who she sees weekly in Lodi. We're hoping that she can follow in the footsteps of many of this former students who have gone on to land softball scholarships all over the nation! That is, of course, if she continues to love the game and keeps her grades up!

'08 3G Family Vacation

2008-09-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

What's 3G? Three generation! I wanted to take a road trip this summer and thought it would be great to invite Grandma & Grandpa along since they are both retired. We could rent a BIG RV, bring the D.O.G. (that's my nickname for Uno) and have fun on a leisurely week long vacation.

Duane was not thrilled with the idea, the girls couldn't imagine 6 people and a dog sleeping in the same vehicle and my Mom quickly put the kibosh on the idea because she thought I wanted my Dad to drive. So, I had to come up with an alternative plan. My proposal - fly to a city of our choice and take the Amtrak train back from there to Sacramento over the course of a week. This proposal was accepted by all (Dad by default since he just goes where he's told to go as long as he can be sure that Simon, the bull, will be cared for in his absence).

On July 12th we all flew to Seattle to begin our 3G vacation. Uno was left behind at Camp BowWow for the week. Our first two and half days in Seattle were fun - the weather was fantastic (mid-80's) and we were able to see the city via the free bus system in the downtown area and on foot. This was much to Kali's chagrin - "I do not like the bus!"

We had an amazing Sunday brunch while visiting with my former Grad. Asst. Melissa Sato (who now lives there and works at Microsoft) and her boyfriend. Kali and Melia ate countless pounds of mussels at this seafood brunch at Ivar's on the waterfront. I think they even got the kid's brunch price but surely ate more than I did!

Before we left Seattle on Monday afternoon I was able to sneak in a business meeting and check in on one of our MBA interns who was spending the summer at PwC working with the consulting group. Sean Davis' desk assignment for the day of my visit had the most unbelievable view of the Space Needle!

We hopped on Amtrak later that afternoon bound for Portland, OR and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon riding along, enjoying the scenery and playing cards. Much to Kali's delight we rented an SUV when we arrived in Portland (after taking the metro rail out to the airport to pick up our rental - haha - we might get her to appreciate public transportation yet).

Our Portland stay was three days and mostly fun! We took a drive out through the Columbia River Gorge to the Hood River Valley one day. We visited a lavender farm and got a great view of Mt. Hood and from that vantage point were able to capture pictures with the snow-capped mountain in the distance. We also stopped at a few local farms and bought fresh fruit and other goodies.

We spent one day exploring the International Rose Test Garden at Washington Park and touring the Portland Zoo. And one evening we stopped at a softball complex across the highway from our hotel and watched a couple of innings of a women's league game. That was an interesting experience - ask one of us about it sometime!

After three days we hopped back on Amtrak (after returning the rental car at the airport and making our way back to Amtrak via public transportation again!) and headed to Eugene. Since our train was delayed leaving Portland we didn't arrive in Eugene until mid-evening. Walked several blocks to our B&B Inn, unloaded our bags and ventured back out to find a place to eat. Eugene is a quiet little town when the college students are away for the summer. Our final day of vacationing was spent wandering around Eugene doing a little shopping and eating.

We reboarded Amtrak in the early evening on Friday for the final leg of our trip. This part of the train ride was the least fun. To start with we did not have assigned seats and the train did not originate at this stop, so we spent the first couple hours of the ride in the parlor car (I think that's what they called it). Nice for the view but we couldn't spend the entire ride here. Finally, after reminding the conductor that we still didn't have our assigned seats, they found six seats together for us in the last car where we would be sharing the car with a large group of boy scouts who were boarding the train at a stop high in the mountains as we crossed the border between OR and CA. We settled in for the night and tried to get some sleep as the train rattled and swayed through the mountains. At 5:45am we pulled into Sacramento, bleary eyed and glad to be almost home.

All-Star Softball Summer Fun

2008-09-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

The first six weeks of our summer was a new chapter in the softball experience for us. Since the girls began playing softball back in San Mateo they have both wanted to play All-Stars. The first season in San Mateo Kali did try out but wasn't selected. After that we always had vacations and other activities planned well in advance and could not commit to the grueling All-Star schedule. Last summer both girls laid down the law - do not plan any vacations until we know the All-Star schedule because we want to play. Of course, in the meantime Kali moved on to tournament ball and would no longer be eligible for All-Stars, but Melia was on a mission!

So, with the goal of becoming an All-Star Melia led her team to a 13-1 season and 1st place in the league for the 12U division. As the star pitcher she went 9-1 overall and was backed up by two other great pitchers on the team, Emily & Carly. The rest of the team also contributed with great defense and hitting and five of the players all made the All-Star team. Joined by five girls from our friendly rival team (from last year's Winterball league), the Crushers, and five other players from various teams, fifteen girls from Elk Grove's 12U division set out under the direction of Coach Paul (with Duane and me, Emily's Dad Jason and Jessica's Dad Russ supporting) to take on the regions competing All-Star teams.

The highlight of the All-Star experience was the 8 inning game that Melia pitched against the Cordova team. She went the entire game (the 8th inning being an extra) to win our first game of the NorCal All-Star Tournament on July 5, 2008. The Elk Grove All-Stars handed Cordova their first loss of the tournament in a 6-4 win. Melia was cool as a cucumber while the Cordova coach nearly exploded out of his skin at being handed an 0-1 start to the tournament.

The northern California wildfires made the entire tournament season (practices and games) much harder than normal in the typical 100 degree plus heat of June/July in the Sacramento Valley. One prep tournament was postponed until after the 4th of July holiday weekend and ultimately we did miss that tournament due to our family vacation plans (yes, I did plan a vacation after all).

To begin every game the team gathers for a moment of silent meditation while they think of the word "chicken wing". (It's a 12-13 year old thing, don't try to figure it out.)

EG Thunder takes 2nd in searing Modesto heat

2008-05-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Beating the 100+ temps this past blistering May weekend, the EG Thunder 14U team placed for the second time this season, taking 2nd place honors in a tournament at Rainbow Fields. Kali was ROBBED of a sure double (maybe triple) in the championship qualifier game. A lot of balls hung in the hot air this weekend, helped by the warm breeze blowing in toward home plate all weekend. The Thunder girls had to claw and fight for every hit and run they got this weekend. Fortunately we recently re-acquired two returning players to the team who had been finishing up their JV season as freshmen at local high schools. These two players add depth to the roster and in one case it was none too soon because our regular catcher is out with a broken finger (not from softball) and Amanda A. has a rocket for an arm, can block the plate like I've never seen in a 14 year old and rips the ball . The rest of this season will be HOT and the team is really starting to get momentum.

Bratz w/Batz take 2nd place in tourney

2008-05-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

The Bratz w/Batz are currently undefeated (8-0) in the Elk Grove Girls Softball 12-U division. In the league's Sizzlin' Slam tournament we took 2nd Place, losing to the Crushers in the championship game. Melia recently had her best game of the season vs. the Crushers in regular season play. She pitched a complete 5 inning game, gave up a couple of hits, walked a couple of batters, and struck out ELEVEN batters in an amazing game by the entire team. We won the game 5-3!

EG Thunder Wins April Tournament

2008-05-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the winning tourney team photo!

PLAY BALL!

2008-04-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Softball is consuming our lives now (except when UNO the dog is playing that role). The girls are on two different teams and usually that's OK - Kali's team travels for tournaments and plays weekends. Melia's team plays a couple of week nights each week. Some weeks we have practice or games every day of the week because on Thursday nights Duane plays on a men's team too!

Kali's team has been playing in tournaments since March 1st. Three so far this season and they won the last tourney in Sacramento. And because the team had lost a player, Melia suited up and was an emergency back up. She did play a couple of innings in right field when the primary catcher was injured on a play at the plate and had to sit out on defense on day one. And on day two she was included in the batting order during the first game and was walked a couple of times and scored some runs. Her contributions earned her a championship medal along with the rest of the players.

Melia is playing regularaly on the Bratz with Batz rec ball team. She's our 'ace' pitcher and has been taking pitching lessons for a couple of months now. She's got a great fastball, a change up, a curve that is coming along and has recently started learning the drop ball. Compared to last summer when she just started to earnestly practice pitching and took a handful of lessons, she's really come a long way. In fact, she threw hard enough in her last game to knock a former teammate out of the game with a pitch that hit the girl in the knee cap. That experience threw Melia for quite a loop - she didn't know quite how to react to it - she felt really bad about hitting her friend. But she's recovered (and we hope that Bailey has too!). So far the team is 3-0, plus one game unfinished and Melia has more than 10 strikeouts.

Check back for updates on the season in a few weeks! We'll be playing through May with Melia's team and through 4th of July weekend with Kali's traveling team.

HOLIDAY GREETINGS 2007

2007-12-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

from the Roberts Family!

2007 was a year for settling into our new life in Elk Grove, CA! As I reflect back on the year a Girl Scout song chorus runs through my head.... "make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the others gold"..... When you move to a new place that is more than a town or two away from your old home you know your family will make the longer drive to visit but there's no guarantee your friends will do the same. We're very fortunate to have a few friends who have made the drive this year and made lots of new friends here as well. This just serves to remind us that it's the people in our lives, not the things, that make it such 'a wonderful life'!

Our settling into Elk Grove this year mostly consisted of our spring and winter softball adventures! Being new to the league Duane and I were a little nervous about coaching when we didn't really know any of the girls or families. But we didn't let that stop us and we were met with enthusiastic families who were selected on our team (the spring 12 and under draft was a very interesting process - we actually got to pick our team and select girls we'd evaluated in a try-out day). We had a season of about half wins and half loses - and were in the top two scoring teams - watch out, the Stingers will steal any base you don't protect!

From that team of great girls and families we brought five (including our two) along to join with another coach in the Fall to form the Crushers. The winter league (as it's called) was a lot of fun for Duane, Kali, Melia and me because we played double-headers on Sunday afternoons and the season started and finished with a tournament on either end. Each week in between we either played on our local home field or traveled to other cities in the Sacramento area to play on the opponents home fields. That was FUN! So much in fact that after the end of the season we learned that the Elk Grove league's traveling 14U tournament team was evaluating potential new players. Kali tried out one very cool evening in mid-December and was offered a spot on the 2008 team roster! The Roberts family will be on the road every weekend this spring and summer rooting on the Thunder! During the week Melia will have two games to play in the league's rec program. Needless to say, we'll be busy!

Back to those great new friends we've made - softball has really helped connect us with a few great families. Duane even plays men's softball in the spring and summer with one of the Dad's from our team.

Our summer was again another busy one - I call it the "P" tour summer. We began with a long weekend getaway to Phoenix where we visited with friends and enjoyed the hot Arizona sun! Two weeks later in mid-June we headed out to Philly - I was going for a conference and brought Duane and the girls along to see that city for their first time - there's lot of US history there - and we finished our trip with a weekend stay with the Harris' who moved to a Philly suburb in 2006. We followed that trip two weeks later with our official family vacation to Disneyland (joined by our friends from San Mateo, Cynthia, Allison & Roger) - truly our most fun trip to the magical kingdom with the girls yet. We all had a BLAST! We spent 4th of July in the park and watched the amazing Disneyland Independence Day fireworks.

Following our three days at Disneyland and California adventure we parted ways with our friends and headed out to discover a little piece of family history. We found our way to the Los Angeles Police Historical Society which is housed in a retired police station in LA near Pasadena. Here we saw bits and pieces of the history of the first women in the LA police dept which included Mrs. Elizabeth Feeley, my great-great grandmother on my mother's father's side. I've been trying to get to this place for years so this was a neat experience for me!

Our southern california trip culminated in a 3 day cruise which was a mini-family reunion for Duane's father's side - well, one arm of them. It basically was all of Ronnie's siblings and their families. Twenty-nine of us in all on a ship bound for Ensenda, Mexico and back. Melia and I found the Bingo game each day, Kali enjoyed the freedom of hanging out with 12+ crowd and made a couple of friends. The oddest discovery for us was the fact that the swimming pool contained salt water - weird! All in all, we were all much more comfortable when our feet were on solid ground, especially me - I swayed for a few days after we got home. I think I'll insist any future family reunion trips be on land.

Our activity-ladened summer continued with me spending 10 days in Portland (work-related training seminars) and the girls heading out to UC Davis for a week of Science/Tech camp. While we were all away Duane was left to his own devices - and bought new french doors! He's dangerous on his own!

Melia went back to school upon her return from science camp and was glad to be back with her friends. Kali, with a month still of summer vacation, went off for what is likely her last time at Girl Scout camp where she spent a week in the foothills above Sonora riding horses.

The new school year brought with it some adjustments to be made as well. For the first time since the girls began school Kali & Melia are in different schools and on different schedules. Melia is in her final year of elementary school - she's in the 6th grade, on the honor roll and a member of the school choir (finally an outlet for her vocal passions!). Melia is also a member of the school valet team - these kids arrive early a few days a week and help to greet cars as children are dropped off at the curbside for the start of the school day. True to her fashionista form, Melia refuses to wear the royal blue valet cap for fear it will mess up her hair. Guess I can't totally blame her.

Kali entered middle school (7th grade) with ease. She's got funny stories to share almost daily about her teachers or the immature behavior of the boys in her social science and math classes. Let's pray she continues to view boys as immature for a few more years! Kali is enjoying an expanding perimeter of her area to roam - a couple of days a week after school she and a couple of friends walk around the block from school to Jamba Juice before heading home. So far this has given me a handful of additional gray hairs (paranoid Mom syndrome) - can't imagine what I'm in for when she has a drivers license.

This year also has brought two big changes in our pet combiniation. We came to Elk Grove with three cats last year - Michelle & Jennifer (now 9 year old siblings) and Cupcake. In late summer we lost Cupcake to a drive-over (she got hit by a car). That was a VERY traumatic experience! But it gave cause for the girls to begin again in earnest their lobbying for a new pet - a puppy! We finally gave in to their incessant begging and began the research to determine what kind of dog to acquire. After lots of internet research, a day at a dog show, and talking with trainers, we settled on a breed - the American Eskimo - and decided on the mini size (up to ~20 lbs.) Duane found a breed in Kansas who would have a litter ready for adoption in mid-Dec and we took the plunge!

On Dec 18th Duane and I went up to the Sac airport and picked up Uno! He's a bundle of white fur and lots of energy. And of course we are the ones getting up in the middle of the night to take him out for a potty break - hope he starts sleeping through the night before too long!

And finally, as we wrapped up the year, we were host to a number of our immediate family for Christmas dinner this year. With my mom up in Alaska to finally spend a Christmas with my brother Dave, we took on the task of hosting Christmas dinner. To borrow my sister Debbie's assessment, "it was a six fork dinner!" (If you watch the blog for Duane's restaurant reviews, you'll know what she's talking about.)

We've been blessed with a healthy and happy 2007 and hope you and yours have been equally blessed! Wishing you a wonderful 2008!

Margaret, Duane, Kali & Melia

Winter 2007 - Crushers softball team

2007-11-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Winter ball was a new experience for us this year! It was a lot of fun - mostly. The best part - travelling around to local cities and towns to play games and tournaments at the start and end of the season. The hardest part - not knowing from week to week if Kali was going to stay on the team. The teenage years are shaping up to be interesting times for the Roberts family. :-)

Thanksgiving at G'ma and G'pa's!

2007-11-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving fun on the family farm!

Noah, Katie, Aaron, Kali & Melia pose at the request of their Moms for a few photos. This is the next generation of the family - what are we in for?!

Leatherby's - 5 Forker

2007-11-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt this is the best ice cream parlor I've been to.

The food, ahhh who cares. After the waiter/waitress brings your sundae to your table, you won't remember the food anyway. The sundaes are huge and dripping over the rim with toppings. The ice cream and toppings are made on site. You won't find any Safeway or Raley's branded topping in this place.

If you want to get food, stick to the basics (hamburger, french fries). Margaret had a salad that wasn't anything to write home about (so I won't), I had a chicken sandwich that was ok, I think. The girls had burgers. The service - they have wait staff, they don't get in the way, they bring you huge amounts of ice cream. What more do you want? If you don't like them, get it to go.

This place is all about the ice cream so let's get back to the main attraction - creamy, rich, well balanced (not too sweet). I highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for something other than the frozen yogurt, diet friendly dessert we in California are being brain-washed into thinking is what we need. If the food was better, this would be an easy 6 forker.

Duane

Better Late than never...end of summer post

2007-11-20T16:43:00.000-08:00

I know we are going into December but I've been busy...

Here's a quick run down of what you've missed --

We went to Phoenix, Philly, Disneyland and on a 3 day family cruise out of Los Angeles.

It was our first time in Philly. It was good to catch up with Shannon and Jeremy. They live in the burbs and have a very nice, huge place. On the flip side you have downtown Philly. The girls and I did quite a bit of site seeing, shopping and of course eating. The cheese steak was excellent by the way. Downtown is not the cleanest place to be. As a matter of fact, there were some streets that smelled like they haven't been cleaned since the Declaration of Independence was signed, and we'll leave it at that.

The cruise was our first and was part of the Robinson family reunion. It was good to see everybody and we had a good time until Melia got sick in the middle of the night. I could go on and describe this but suffice to say that the person who took care of our cabin was not happy to receive my 2:30 am call for help.

I had quite a bit of time alone when Margaret went to Oregon and Kali and Melia went to Science camp at UC Davis. I used the time to clean out and rearrange a junky closet, play video games and buy French doors. Before and after pictures you've seen at the top of this entry.

What else do we have -- Kali and Melia went to Girl Scout Camp and Kali also went to a horse riding camp. Whew, I think that was more than enough for a couple of months! If summer were any longer I think we'd be broke.

That's the quick, cliff notes version of the Roberts Summer Vacation 07. Be sure to catch my next post in June when I do the Winter update...

Duane

Summer Jaunts - Our Family Vacation

2007-08-08T13:41:00.001-07:00

Kali, Melia & Allie on Main St, Disneyland

Duane & Roger brave an immobile tea cup

Roger, Cynthia, Duane & Me on our fitst day into the park

This rather non-descript building is a retired LA Police Station which houses the LA Police Historical Society Museum. This place is significant because it holds memorabilia including at least one photo and documents which memorialize Mrs. Elizabeth Feeley, #3 Police Matron of Los Angeles, who was my great-great-great grandmother. She served the LA police force from 1905 until 1927.

Monarch of the Seas - our home for three nights and three days in early July

We had more fun off the ship in Ensenada - a 'cooking' class at a local restaurant - we learned to make salsa, guacamole and tamales. And of course we enjoyed eating it all up too.

The girls did not expect the pool to be filled with salt water!

Paragary's - Fantistico

2007-07-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Not quite the best but near the top is how I would describe it.

As you'd expect from a 5 forker, the service was great. The greeters attentive, our reservation honored quickly, nice table. BUT, something wasn't quite right. Maybe it was a little cramped. Maybe the food wasn't spectacular; there was something that led us all to say...this is a 5 and not a 6.

I had an excellent Sea Bass with a couscous "type" side dish. Grilled veggies rounded out my meal. Margaret had a very tasty chicken dish and the girls the usual - Kali clams in a butter, garlic sauce and Melia mussels. We ordered a side of VERY good mashed potatoes and veggies for the girls.

Desert - crème brulée, chocolate cake, apricot turnover - we all good but again not spectacular.

I think the ultimate ding was the place just wasn't cool or hip. It's a good spot to take someone from out of town; a safe bet but it won't dazzle. In the end it's a solid, if not boring place to go.

(Maybe that's why this post is less witty or inspired.)

Before & After - Melia's first car is in her mouth!

2007-06-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Twenty six months ago we began a journey - just two months before turning nine Melia got braces. Now I don't know what they cost in the 80's when I had them (twice!) but I'm sure it wasn't nearly what they cost today. Quite frankly Melia has gotten an investment that is worth an inexpensive or gently used car in her mouth!

All of the trips back and forth to San Mateo (and a few more to go yet for periodic check ins) have been worth this!

...these are a few of my favorite things....

2007-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

No, not girls in white dresses, but boys in white uniforms (with black and orange letters)..... GIANTS!!!!!!! And definitely my idea of one of the best ways to spend my birthday! Dead center field, blue sky and sunshine and a Giants spanking of the Yanks - 9-2! Could have done without the two girls behind us for a few innings hollering for their hometown boys (Jeter et al) and the beer she splashed on my ankle (ditz!).... but all in all it was fun in the SF sun.

To celebrate Father's Day and his birthday (today, June 25th) I got a pair of tickets for my Dad too. He brought my brother-in-law Mike along for Mike's first EVER major league baseball game. I think he had fun too.

The Clemens vs. Bonds duel was anti-climactic. Roger walked Barry on 5 pitches. Since we'd been treated to a pretty rare Barry Bonds steal earlier in the game the fact that he wasn't terribly productive at the plate (no HRs) was OK.

Sending the Yanks packing with two losses in the series was a great birthday gift - thanks boys! :-)

For those of you readers who are wondering, I'm still closer to 35 than 40! Ha!

Grey SF Day in June

2007-06-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Summer for the Roberts girls in 2007 is a cornucopia of activities - some planned vacations and trips and others opportunitistic. Like our visit last Wednesday, June 20, to Golden Gate park. Since my colleagues and I on the MBA team at the Eberhardt School of Business planned to make a day trip there to map out our upcoming orientation scavenger hunt for our incoming students, I decided that Duane could use a break from the girls hanging around at home all day (sleeping, watching TV or playing games online), so with me they came.

We met up with my team at the office and headed to the BART station. Once off BART in downtown SF, we jumped onto the N-Judah Muni (our first time on a Muni train ever!) and in a short time we were a block from the park. Kali spent much of the rides there and back with her nose in a book. Melia often queried our arrival time and 'what's next?' - the normal Q&A from Melia.

Outside of the newly redesigned de Young Museum sat a pair of stone sphynxes. They appear rather intimidating but that didn't frighten either of the girls as you can see.

Visiting the Harris family in PA

2007-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

My recent trip to Philly for a conference was a great opportunity to drag Duane and the girls along to a new city they had not yet explored. So on Melia's birthday, June 13th, we hopped on a red-eye from Sacramento thru Atlanta (at 3am!) to Philadelphia, PA. This was my second trip to this historic place but I was eager for the three of them to see some of the important sites, including the Liberty Bell and the site where the US Constitution was signed by the founding fathers of our country.

The trip was also a GREAT opportunity for us to visit Shannon, Jeremy, Connor and one-month old Declan Harris in their new Furlong, PA home. They moved from San Mateo in March 2006 so that Jeremy could pursue a nanotech start up job in that area. Shannon and I had become great friends in their short time in San Mateo and I was excited to catch up with her again. We all enjoyed our visit - Kali protected the cats, Cleo and Tigger, from Connor's attempts at over-eager attention. Melia played games with Connor (she is very patient with little kids) and enjoyed holding Declan for a few minutes. Duane LOVED Jeremy's home brewed beer. (Jeremy is a chemist, so the beer is a natural extension of his expertise.)

Our visit extended overnight to Father's Day and, coincidentally, Shannon & Jeremy's 7th wedding anniversary. (Thanks for letting us crash your dad's day and your anniversary!) We had a 1/2 day to spend with them before we had to head back to the airport. Shannon suggested we visit a small town on the Delaware River, New Hope, PA. It was great! OLD tiver village from the colonial days - very colorful bunch of visitors (a harley davidson gathering at one spot, lots of families and others enjoying the warm weather). We even walked across a bridge over to Lambertville, NJ.

Though the red-eye flight, time difference and short turn around of the trip made it a little challenging to be fully alert and energetic at all times, we had fun, saw many interesting things (ground hogs!) and people (woman with full facial hair... transition to one sex or another? Duane and the girls saw Lou Ferigno (sp?? the hulk!) in the hotel restaurant). Next time we hope we can spend more time visiting historic sites and the Harris family.

Kali & Mrs. Plath on Promotion Day

2007-06-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

Promotion Redux

2007-06-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Who says you can't have two graduations in two years?! Melia wasn't too pleased that her sister was getting two graduations but sometimes things don't always go her way. Our move to Elk Grove meant another year of elementary school for Kali and another promotion/graduation event. And thank goodness, since Grandma missed the one last year at North Shoreview in San Mateo.

Kali had a great year academically, made many new friends and was selected by her teacher, Mrs. Plath, for an awesome honor - the Donner Ace Award. That was a real honor, since Mrs. Plath met Kali for the first time the second week of school (we missed the first week due to a girl scout camp conflict and not knowing that the girls would be starting school in July when we moved) and Kali had virtually no track record at this school. We are VERY proud of Kali's accomplishments this year in preparation for middle school.

Look out Eddy M.S., here comes Kali Roberts!

Superbowl - the Bears Lost

2007-04-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I am a Bears fan. I feel I must comment on the Superbowl. Who cares. This picture about sums up how they played.

At the least the party at Kevin and Vicks was a good time.

Now back to the regularly scheduled Roberts Family updates.

Duane

55 Degrees -- Tres Chic

2007-04-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Located in Sacramento's power corridor (my term don't anybody steal that) just down the street from the Capital, this is a top establishment all the way. This is one of the spots that Sac's elite come to enjoy a drink, play and schmooze. Now I'm not saying that we are part of that elite crowd but if they eat this good all the time, where do I sign up...

Service, impeccable -- water glass never less than half full.
Food exquisite. I'll get into that in a sec.
Host and waitress - on top of their games.

Margaret and I both started with a beet salad with goat cheese. Classy, small in size, but very tasty. The girls had their usual - mussels. Kali had Thai flavored mussels served in a Japanese style sushi boat; the kind that traditionally would sushi and a main course. Melia had the beer flavored mussels in a steel serving tray. In a word they were VERY GOOD!! I know that's two but one word would not due them justice. The girls each ate about 20 or so mussels and were very happy with their dinner choices.

My salmon was served with mashed potatoes and a light Thai coconut sauce, or something similar. I almost licked the plate but my darling wife was giving me the eagle eye in between bites of her perfectly prepared steak. 55 Degrees features petite fritters (french fries for the less civilized who may read this) that put McDonald's to shame. The happy clown dude at the yellow and red establishment would serve a whole lot more than a billion if he featured these bad boys on his dollar menu...

All in all we experience and excellent meal, great service that was not over the top and a great atmosphere at a place that I'd love to go back to... as soon as my commissions kick in.

Duane

Kabul Kabob - a nice little find...

2007-04-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I've been active on the blog but now it's time to get back to the dinner table. I was honestly surprised by this spot.

I called to make reservations --

Hello, do you have room for 4 tonight at 7 pm? Silence...

I'd like to make reservations if you do. More silence.

I know someone was there because he said hello and announced the name of the restaurant when he answered the phone.

Yes, we have room. We'll see you tonight. Click; ominous start.

The food was much better than the introduction.

The space was about as big as my closet with the doors taken off. I have a big closet but when you have more than 4 people in there you know it's a packed party. The decor, hmmm, let's just say it was a little better than the tables we have in our backyard.

The food made up for not only the lackluster reservation process, but also the holly hobby decor, tables and chairs.

The ground beef kabobs were perfectly seasoned. Not too salty but enough to know it was there. The steak and chick kabobs were also good. The chicken was a little too done but not chewy.

The lamb curry and "spicy" beef (Melia's dish) were excellent. We ordered all of our food mild instead of spicy and it was perfect.

At the end of the night I got the impression that our waiter, host, chef, dishwasher extraordinaire, would best be served to take a couple of etiquette lessons, or swallow a couple of happy pills. Even though he only spoke 3 words to us all night, "Here' s your check" it did not take away from the fact that this was actually a pretty good place. In the end the service was "fine" and I'll definitely be back.

Duane

Softball Fever!

2007-04-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Following a rocky start to the season we have logged our first win - blow out really - 20-6 vs. the Bluebirds. Our team is sponsored by Uncle Mike's restaurant here in Elk Grove. My cousin Brian is in the photo with team representing "Mike's Diner".

Giants FanFest - big smiles from Grandma & Grandpa

2007-01-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Jan 20th we met up with my Mom & Dad at AT&T Park for the Giant's FanFest event. As long as we've been Giants fans we have never attended this pre-season event. We now know that is because it's a total ZOO but it was fun nonetheless. We got to take a tour through the team Clubhouse and came out of the bowels of the stadium through the dug out. Duane and the girls and I had been down on the field during batting practice last season and been in the dug out then but Mom & Dad had never been in this area. Mom was quite excited and insisted on a photo. We did see a few Giants organization folks, including owner Peter McGowan in the Clubhouse with his grandkids. They were, of course, behind the ropes on a private tour. Several of the players and coaches were also at the event signing autographs but we decided to skip those long lines. Kali did enjoy her first Giants Dog of the season and Melia settled for a pretzel since the burgers weren't being served at this event. We're looking forward to a great season with lots of new Giants blood and one fan fav - the return of Rich Aurilia!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas...Oh Timber!!!

2007-01-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

I feel compelled to tell the real story of our first Elk Grove Christmas.

You know the one about our 10 foot, biggest we've ever had, Christmas tree falling over, crashing to the floor and sending pieces of broken ornaments all over the place.

The one about how we spent the next half an hour vacuuming, cleaning, wiping, and eyeing the floor for little shards of "I'll stick in your foot until you cry" glass.

The one about how we had to totally redecorate and recreate our masterpiece once again. Yes, the holiday cheer did take an unfortunate, momentary vacation.

We did eventually get said tree erected again but only after convincing Mamma Claus (read Margaret) that it was possible to get the poor tree properly secured in the stand with the help of a well placed and hidden can of flat red paint. (For color comparison see the picture of our red wall).

Ah, who cares. As you can tell from the pictures we had a great time visiting family, loved ones and friends. But, just for a little fun, let's take an informal poll. How many say we should go with a fake, non-falling, tree next year? None? Ok Margaret, you still lose...

Oh, the picture is not of our tree but I thought it helped emphasize the point...

Duane

Roxy Restaurant & Bar -- Perfect

2007-01-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

You knew it was going to eventually happen. It was only a matter of time. I would walk into a restaurant and discover the best that Sac town had to offer.

Margaret told me she had been to a spot that reminded her of some of the cooler/hip San Fran restaurants we'd been too. I didn't believe her. She was right, I was wrong...Wait did I really admit that??!

Roxy is excellent. The service, decor and mood is perfect. It's nice but not high brow. The presentation is great but not outlandish. We went for a late lunch and had calamari and onion rings as an appetizer. The only complaint here was it was more rings than calamari but both were great. (As were the tartar and cocktail sauces.)

I also had the pureed squash soup and it was fabulous. The girls, Margaret and I all loved our meals. The price was right; definitely on the reasonable side of expensive. I was looking for a Riesling that they didn't have and our waiter (Aaron) suggested an excellent alternative. His service was attentive but not in the way. The maitre de was cleaning finger prints off of the windows throughout the restaurant. Now she could of been bored but that's the kind of dedication a 6 forker pays!!

If all Sac restaurants were like this, I'd gain another 50 pounds. Maybe I should be happy I haven't found em yet.

Christmas Day 2006

2006-12-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Aromas with Katie, Aaron & Noah

Hanging with Julian @ Papa's house

Kickin' it with Bria at Papa's

Christmas 2006 was filled with many cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and, of course, lots of gifts. There are plenty of gadgets and new clothes to keep the girls entertained and warm for a few months at least.

Meet our gardener - Mr. Long

2006-11-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

5 foot 2 inches tall. Weight 75 pounds. Speaks in broken sentences. Can do that cigarette hanging out of the mouth trick while he talks, mows the lawns and drives his truck. Nicest guy...
--------------
We have a busy weekend planned so I thought it made sense to have our gardener come Friday instead of the weekend. I call the number on his card and ask for him.

"Long not here... he dead... died in car crash" Excuse me!
"Long not here... he dead already. We're you a customer?"

Yes and I'm sorry to hear that. Click. She hangs up on me.

I'm shocked, embarrassed and sad. Margaret starts searching online for an obituary. 30 seconds later the phone rings.

"Were you a customer" Yes we were.
"When do you want him to come?" Excuse me?!?! I thought he was dead.
"We got into argument. I'm mad at him so I just said that" Why don't you have him call me?

Mr Long calls and in a sheepish, broken English, way explains that she was mad.
"That's my woman, that's my woman"

He shows up and does his usual masterful job on our lawn. I tried to get a picture of him to post on the blog but, after spending 10 minutes chasing him around the house like the CIA trying to get a shot (my kids cracking up the whole time), my camera has a technology melt down. I'm sure the Elk Grove PD would have wanted the picture just in case something happens to him...

Kabob House - What?

2006-11-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

Now wait a minute here. This place was rated as one of the best in the Sacramento area? They even have the gold album looking plate thing on the wall to prove it. Somebody made a mistake...

The hummus was, dare I say, excellent. The pita bread was warm and freshly made. I think the awards committee stopped here. The lamb kabob was a bit dry although tasty. The ground sirloin kabob was better but...

The decor was picnic tables and chairs that were a step above fold out chairs. Let me repeat that, picnic tables and almost fold out like chairs. Location - auto row; AUTO ROW!! The service was semi ok.

It could just be me but if something is rated the best in a category, my expectations are high. This really, really didn't live up to the hype. I probably won't be back.

Green Wings & a Pacifier - Halloween 2006

2006-11-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end of almost two years of orthodotic work and several thousand dollars invested in the beautification of Melia's teeth, Duane's reaction to the pacifier Kali was sporting as part of her 'baby' costume was, "I'm not spending another $X dollars on braces!"

Given the crisp autumn air on Halloween night, Kali's choice of costume was a wise one. Melia, in all of her lime green glory, was quite cold.... but definitely the coolest girl in the neighborhood with her bone straight black wig!

At one point Duane and the girls were part of a mass of more than a dozen kids making their way from house to house in our new neighborhood.

The cute little carved pumpkin is 100% Kali's work. She carved two pumpkins this year all on her own.

Thai Basil

2006-10-31T16:58:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a little something out of the ordinary, Thai Basil may just be the spot.

The decor leaves a little to be desired. Of course they have the religious icons that every Thai place has. I wonder if that's required by law? There are a couple of pictures but it's obvious they aren't re-investing the money they are making into sprucing up the joint.

The bad--
The peanut sauce leaves a little, ok a lot, to be desired.
Thai iced tea was ok. (Not freshly brewed)
The lemon sauce was too sweet on the lemon grass chicken.

The good--
Everything else.
I had the Thai Scampi and wanted more. Chicken fried rice would put most Chinese restaurants to shame. The chicken satay was juicy and not dried. Fried springrolls, yup they were good. (Is there anything that is fried that is bad?)

The service was ok; seemed to hover around us trying to make a good impression. Maybe he knows about this blog...

Kali and I ate like royalty. Melia dealt with it. Margaret was curiously absent...

Mikuni Japanese is so good...

2006-10-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

I've found it! That's right, this is the one! Mikuni is so good, that I've signed up for their frequent eaters card. What does this mean? As my waist line expands, I get discounts on more sushi!!

Seriously though - this is the real deal. I don't know if they really eat Sushi in Japan or if that's just good ole' American marketing but, if they do, it must taste like this. I had the Puff Daddy; tempura fried shrimp stuffed with crab, avocado and lobster; best shrimp I've ever had. My other favorite is #99 with lobster. This is a roll that comes with crab (notice a pattern here), eel and avocado.

The girls have had the tempura and chicken teriyaki. Margaret...We're working on her but I think she's had the same.

Because I'm part of the "club" (see above), I get emails about other events that they are putting on -- Sushi bus; all you can eat Sushi prepared by the onboard chef while the bus travels the Sac Valley; Classes on how to make sushi; A deal with Shari's Berries.... I could go on and on but there's no need. The only reason it's not getting 6 forks is the place is LOUD. The service is good. The food is excellent. The decor is modern. I don't know if it gets much better than this...

Let's Go To The Hop

2006-10-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm a child of the 70's. I remembe Michael Jackson singing ABC when he was about 9/10 years old. I remember Atari and Pong. I remember break dancing in the 80's, but that's another story. What I've never experienced was a Sock Hop. I chaperoned the girls to their first school dance; yes a Sock Hop. I've never seen so many poodle skirts, slicked back hair, rolled up jeans and white socks in my life. The girls' teachers were into it. The DJ was into it. The girls were into it. I was reading email on my Treo; I wasn't into it. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what I thought about it. They had a good time with their friends and danced the night away. Well, almost, the dance ended at 7:30 because the next night was a school night. I wonder how long they will appreciate me sitting in a chair watching for predators, I mean boys, while they are at a dance. Maybe that's the next step in my role as daddy -- just call me the Sock Hop guardian...

Melia's take on the Ciara concert

2006-09-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

When i went to the Ciara concert it was so fun and loud.
I was screaming and i could not scream the next day.

Getting to know our surroundings

2006-09-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

The past several weeks we've had a few opportunities to explore our surroundings.

....It began one Sunday afternoon in August. Duane and the girls were captive in the car and I decided we'd go for a drive - I was in the drivers seat! I'd read in Sunset magazine about a little town called Freeport just south of Sacramento on Hwy 160 along the river. It looked to me like it was only a few miles away from us in Elk Grove if you drew a straight line across Hwy 5. Boy, was I right. We drove north on 5 one exit from Elk Grove to Pocket Road and followed the signs to Freeport. Less than three miles and we were in the little town.

I pulled over into the first restaurant/cafe I saw. It was at the Moon River Inn. We parked, walked inside and through an open room into a bar area. Honestly it looked a little 'rough' - biker rough to be exact. So we asked if outside seating was OK. The VERY nice bartender said "of course, I'll bring you some menus" and out we went. The outdoor seating was well used - several tables under canopies, beer flags all around, a small stage - ready for live music.

The bartender/waitress took our order and went off to get drinks. As we waited a couple drove up in an old El Camino - candy apple red - with some large musical instrument of some sort filling the back of the bed. A rickety man came from the car and walked our way and said to a man who may have been the establishment manager "I need some muscle" while looking Duane's way. This was the start of quite a dispute between the man, I'll call him "Rickety" and the bar personnel. Apparently he was under the impression that the Sunday afternoon live music was an open mic jam session and he was there to get his groove on. I truly don't think he could have taken on a flea but he did have a big mouth and what turned out to be a big organ in the back of his El Camino.

Our food was great and the 'entertainment' was lively to say the least. Duane and the girls aren't so sure I should choose the next cafe we venture out to however.

We left the Moon River Inn and continued along Hwy 160, passing Clarksburg and a couple of other 'don't blink or you'll miss them' towns. We also came upon a nice little winery with picnic areas called Bogle Vineyards. www.boglewinery.com They had MANY award-winning wines displayed in the wine tasting room and there were quite a few people there considering that it's virtually hidden on Rd 144 (number, no name!) in Clarksburg.

....Over Labor Day weekend Duane's parents visited and we spent Sunday checking out several Lodi wineries. Our first stop was actually a vineyard in Acampo, a few miles south of us on Hwy 99. Peirano Estate Vineyards (http://www.peirano.com/) also has a beautiful garden picnic area where we will definitely visit with a larger group in the future. The non-wine drinker (me) even found a sweet white that was pretty tasty.

We also hit a place in Lockeford that had several tasting rooms of local wineries (http://www.vinopiazza.com/) that included one with lots of dinosaur relics and other geological fascinations. But the most fantasic part of the place for Kali, Melia and I were the 6 week old kittens. The children of the owners were supposed to be watching them but one little kitten got out and someone from one of the other tasting rooms brought the little stray back. It was a little hard to tear away from those cute little kitties.

....On Monday, Sept 4th (Labor Day) the four of us headed for the California State Fair. This was the first time we'd been there as a family. Before this it had been the county fair in San Mateo for many years. This was the last day of the fair and we'd planned our visit on this day because of the musical show that was scheduled for that evening. Ciara, a very popular R&B pop star was playing on the fair stage. Since she is Melia's FAVORITE artist currently we thought this would be a great first concert experience. We couldn't have been more right!

For starters we got to the fair around 2pm and headed straight for the concert stage to find out the procedures for getting in later. Since the concerts are free we expected there would be some rule about when and where the lines form. We were able to get a wrist band that would guarantee us a seat later and could go out and enjoy the fair until it was 'line up time' 2 hours before the concert.

For the next few hours we checked out exhibits, even saw the San Mateo County exhibit, walked around the stinky animal pens, played some carnival games and watched turkey races. Around 530pm we headed back to the concert stage to get in line to get into the seated area for the 730pm concert.

Here are Kali & Melia's impressions of the their first official concert.

Kali: "At the Ciara concert we had to wait in a loooong line. When we got seated we had to wait another two hours. But it was worth it. We had a great time."

Melia: "I had fun at the Ciara concert, it was really cool."

I have to say that their comments are a little understated. After waiting two hours (thankfully sitting in chairs) once the concert began there was no sitting down for the next hour or more. In fact, Melia stood on the back of the chair in front of us with me holding her up by the waste so she wouldn't fall, while I was standing on the seat of my chair. And since I was holding on to her I couldn't plug my ears when she screamed at the most obscene volume and pitch I've ever heard. I think this experience was a highlight of her 10th year for sure. Brought back memories of my first concert - Rick Springfield at the Santa Cruz County Fair sometime in the early 80's. My very cool big brother Dave volunteered to take me and that definitely endeared him to me for a long time!

.....Finally, our most recent excursion. Today the girls and I headed up to historic Folsom for the 39th Annual Antique Faire. What a fun hour we had - well, I did. Found a cute set of small Chinese dishes (white painted with a scene in blue). Saw a few vintage iron planters and garden carts that I would have liked to pick up too but I'm not quite ready to decorate outside yet. I'm contemplating some landscape changes before I add any more accessories.

And while we went off for a couple of hours Duane was able to watch football without any interuptions or distractions. I'm sure we were all happy about that!

.....Our ongoing search for a new church continues. Two tried so far and we're not sold yet. I'm sure it will take a while. It took us MANY years to even look for a church in San Mateo and when we finally made that leap we were very lucky to find the one that fit us best on the first try, though it did take a little while Duane to warm up to Central Peninsula Church. http://www.cpcfc.org/ Now we are looking for a new church home that is very similar to CPC and it will take some time - it's a hard mold to match. So, if you are a prayerful friend, keep us in your prayers that we'll find a new church home that fits us very soon.

And, as always, if you are ever in our new neck of the woods, holler and stop by - if only because you need to use the restroom and say a quick hello!

Casa Gomez

2006-08-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have to be totally honest- Anytime I walk up to a restaurant in a strip mall, the warning bells start to sound. Casa Gomez (House of Gomez for those of us that didn't take Spanish) proved to be a very nice surprise.

The good: The food had great flavor. The chips and salsa were excellent; guacamole was only ok. I had the Cancun steak and shrimp and I personally could not have done it any better. If this rating were based on the shrimp alone, we'd have our first 6 fork rating.

The bad: The service was ok. I think it was probably the son or nephew. There were 6/7 tables so he didn't have an issue serving us. I kept looking for his white napkin and bow tie but didn't find it...

The ugly: If you've seen the old tv show Mel's diner, then you have a good sense of what this place looked like. The plaster was falling. Booths were small and had that old pleather look. The entire place was about the size of our garage; ok maybe a little bigger but you know what I mean.

Margaret and the girls had a good dinner as well. If only the decor were nicer. If only the place wasn't so small. If only the waiter spent less time preparing his fantasy football draft roster. If only I continued playing baseball instead of switching to basketball... oh wait a minute, wrong blog.

3 forks it is.

Until next review... Duane

School Has Started

2006-08-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you were aware but Margaret and I were concerned that Kali and Melia were going to lose their spots in the local elementary school. They were at a summer girl scouts camp the first week of school and, as the school secretary told us, "California law is they are not enrolled if they don't show up the first day of school. You run the risk of losing your, yada, yada, yada..."

Well, all's well that ends well.

Melia--My new school is fun. I've made a lot of new friends. We get to chose what to eat for lunch and the food is good. My teachers name is Mrs. Filan and she is very nice to me. We do math and science and we play games and do P.E. We play kick ball and capture the flag. The games are different every time. That is what my new school is like.

Kali--My first week of school was fun. We did lots of stuff we wouldn't do at our other school. Lunch was also better. I'm not saying I don't like our other school, but I like both.

(Yes they did write these paragraphs under duress. I can be an ogre...Duane)

Don Sammy's Taqueria

2006-07-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Don, Don, Don. I had such high hopes for my first entry into the local burrito scene. Having spent considerable time in the Mission district, I know a good burrito when I see one and this ain't it.

Donny boy, you get 2 out of 6 forks cuz I'm in a good mood.

Typical service from a family owned burrito eatery...but I wasn't expecting Ritz Carlton like attention so I won't ding em' for that.

I will however show no mercy for unseasoned meat, bland whole pinto beans and salsa, and "ok" rice. Maybe I'm spoiled, maybe I'm a snob (which I don't doubt) but I'm missing my choice of tortillas --spinach or tomato, beans --black, pinto, whole or refried, and fruit drinks.

Don has a way to go to fill that once a week heartburn that a fine burrito eatery will always leave you with...

California Fats - Review

2006-07-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Dubbed as an Asian Steakhouse and Grill, Fats was a good introduction to Old Town Sac for the Roberts family.

It comes in with a very respectable 4 out of 6 forks.

Very nice decor; waterfalls and fake palm tress, give this a pretty modern but not too hip feel. It's located in Old Sac so I'm sure most everybody there was a tourist. (Just didn't get the sense this was were the locals would go for a good steak.) The menu was excellent with lots of variety. I'm sure there aren't too many places that have as many different spices and food combinations.

My dinner, a Thai skirt steak was ok. The steamed veggies were excellent and did not have the unnecessary butter that often accompanies veggies. The chicken stir fry and ginger steak medallions were great.

All in all the service was ok as our waitress was not too in our face but was "there" just enough. The water dude kept my glass full which in the high temps is always a good thing. I thought it was a little pricey but that's probably due to it's location. (Think Pier 39)

The main question, would I go back-- you betcha...

Before and After.... the house has a Roberts flair

2006-07-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

When we took possession of the house on July 1 it was a clean slate to put our own touches on. Here's a view of the family room when we arrived.

Now with laminate floor throughout the downstairs common areas and some bold color on the walls, this house is our home! Of course, the Plasma TV on the wall was a huge improvement.

The laminate floor adds an incredible warmth to the whole feel of the place and it feels a lot bigger too! Look at this kitchen transformation!

With the interior now complete we can turn our attention to the yard. First order of business will be mowing and adjusting our sprinklers. This summer heat wave has been brutal on the front lawn.

Today's peak temp was somewhere in the 105-106 degree range. That's down from the 110-112 that we experienced for most of the past week. A trip down to San Mateo and So. SF on Sunday was a welcome break from the heat.

Duane Makes an Appearance

2006-07-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is my first appearance on the family site. I've basically been hiding in the house trying to beat the heat. It was pretty warm today 105, or something like that, and I didn't want to add to the heat by typing too fast. When it's 105 you try not to do anything other than breathe anyway.

My contribution to the blog will be an important one; not that what's already been added is not interesting or informative but this will be "different". I will be responsible for the Sacramento and Elk Grove restaurant review. You all know that we enjoy a good meal. I want to be sure that if you we go out to dinner when you visit us, we won't send you home with food poisoning...

It's simple-- Each eatery will be ranked on a 6 fork system. Watch this space and get your napkins ready.

Pretty in Pink & Yellow

2006-07-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Melia can now sleep in the luxury and lavishness fit for a princess.....
At her request her bedroom was painted PINK and she's long been wanting a mosquito net to hang over her bed. Now she has her wish!

And Kali enjoys a hawaiian print theme in a sea of yellow!

That's probably the easiest surf board she'll ever keep both feet on and standing at the same time. :-)

Both girls are enjoying decorating to put their personal touch on their space!

Moving In...... it's Grenfell, NOT Greenfell!

2006-07-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes your eyes play tricks on you and then at other times you start with bad info and don't even know it. When we first looked at the real estate listing for our new home on the Internet and decide that we would go with our agent to view this house, we thought we were going to see a house on "Greenfell" Ct based on the information on the MLS listing. So, as we continued along on our quest to find and select a home to buy we associated this house with "Greenfell" Ct.

And throughout the buying process and calling to schedule services (utilities, phones, etc.) several times I came across a misspelling of the street name as Grenfell. And each time I patiently corrected whomever and said that it's "Greenfell". Well, was I shocked to learn that I was the wrong one.... gasp!

So, everytime we had driven onto this court in the past two months or so (granted it was not that many times but enough to have seen the street name on the sign....) we did not notice there was only one "e", not two. Until two days ago! As we turned the corner onto the block I looked at the sign and noticed it - GRENFELL CT. Yikes! Are we in the wrong house? Of course not but we have been giving out the wrong street name..... fortunately if you search Mapquest or Google maps our correct location will appear, however, not necessarily on Yahoo Maps.

Wrong spelling of the street name aside, we're getting settled. A couple of delays we aren't thrilled with - downstairs floors and DirecTV a week later than expected - a tiny problem with the master toilet leaking after being reset improperly by the tile guys (who did a nice job otherwise) - but we're finally getting accustomed to the new place.

Melia's 10th Birthday Celebration

2006-07-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Melia's 10th birthday did NOT go un-celebrated by her family during all of the end of school and moving chaos. Here's proof!

Too bad I can't (or don't know how to) add a video clip, if one had been taken, of the pinata experience - that would have been a riot for you to watch! Melia's Aunt Lori got her a very cool pink purse pinata filled with candy for all the kids to have fun with during the celebration at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

The pinata apparently wasn't rated to hold a TON of candy and be smacked around by 10, 11 and 12 year olds. The purse handle let go of the rest of the purse and it came crashing to the ground after only a few hits by Melia - no one else got a turn. A couple of people (who will remain nameless Duane and Glenn) suggested that next time Lori might want to get her pinata at a Mexican market instead of Target. haaaaa, haaaaa!

SOLD!

2006-06-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

On June 15, 2006 our house was officially "sold" and on Saturday, June 17th this sign appeared on our front lawn, replacing the "sale pending" sign that had hung there for more than a month.

Today is Sunday, June 18th - Father's Day. We spent most of the day 'at the races' at Bay Meadows, enjoying brunch and watching the horses and jockeys run around the track.

We've returned home to finishing the packing! What fun.... NOT! So far the girls have only quarrelled about six times in the last hour. Things are quiet for the moment as I take a short break to mentally plan the next packing project. Just hope it's all done by a civilized hour and we can get a decent night's rest before the moving company shows up at our door around 8am.

Two weeks from today we'll have been in our new house for a little more than 24 hours.... watch for news of the 'move in' blog around the 4th of July!

Graduation and Turning 10!

2006-06-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

On June 14th Kali 'graduated' from 5th grade, finishing her years of elementary school at North Shoreview Montessori school. She has really excelled in Montessori education and each year grew more and more intellectually. Kali is very ready for 6th grade and we are sure she will make an easy and successful transition to a traditional school.

In Elk Grove she will remain in elementary school for one more year - lucky for Melia!

After the graduation ceremonies at school we went to lunch at Max's in Burligame. Along to celebrate were Duane's Mom (Nanna to the girls), Grandpa (my Dad), Grandma Henrietta (my grandmother and the girls great-grandmother) and Auntie Debbie (my big sis), and of course, Duane (taking photo) and me.

The day before (June 13th) Melia also celebrated a personal milestone - turning 10! That was quite a celebration too - Malibu after school with her friends (that was a noisy 2+ hours for me) and dinner at home with Nanna, Poppi, Uncle Kevin, Tia Vicki, Marcellus and Syra.

I am truly all partied out..... but we'll celebrate Melia's birthday one more time in Aromas next Tuesday with Grandma (she'll be back from Europe with Uncle Dave on Monday), Grandpa, Auntie Debbie & Katie, and Uncle Glenn, Aunt Lori and cousins Aaron & Noah. Then we begin the musical beds while we are 'in between' homes for about 10 days. The girls will stay in Aromas while Duane and I bounce from house to house and then land at a Residence Inn for the week before we move into the new house.

So, so long for now as the blogging will take a back seat to packing and moving and orchestrating all the things that need to be scheduled and purchased for the new home. We'll be back with updates in a few weeks!

Count Down: One Week til Move Out!

2006-06-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

In only seven days the moving company will arrive early in the AM to start packing and loading our belongs and haul them away to store until July 1st. Already the house is beginning to feel and sound a little hollow with the dining room set gone as well as a large armoire that held table linens and serving dishes. The girls bunk bed frame left the premises about 10 days ago but the mattresses remained. Duane initially wondered why I hadn't sold those too. I reminded him that Melia has barfed on the mattress more than once (reason enough not too subject someone else's kid to that mattress) and I didn't think he was interested in giving up his bed either - that reason hit home.

Packed boxes of 'stuff' we don't use daily (or probably monthly for that matter) are now filling up the garage. Of course we had to hold a garage sale and take two additional loads of stuff to the Goodwill to clear out enough space for the boxes. One of the best things about moving is that you can very easily decide not to take things you really don't want or use anymore and there is a lot less guilt about being wasteful. Duane apparently will have absolutely no problem with that - he's already decided that rather than pack anything at all, he'll just start from scratch in Elk Grove. We'll see how that plays out. :-)

But if all that wasn't enough to keep us busy and up late every night this week we also have Melia's 10th birthday and Kali's 5th grade graduation to celebrate tomorrow and Wednesday. The girls are really excited about these milestone events in their lives and we are looking forward to them as well. Perhaps by September of this year our lives will settle back down a bit and we will not feel like little hamsters on a wheel.

Check back in a few days for pictures of Melia's birthday and Kali's graduation!

Here's the new house!

2006-05-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Found our new home

2006-05-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

We've sold our home and purchased our new home in Elk Grove, CA. We will become new residents there as of July 1st!

Of course now the work of packing and planning really begins. Last Saturday (5/20) Duane and I were able to go to a couple of floor stores in Elk Grove and begin selecting new flooring. It will be a lot of fun to see our own touches applied to a relatively new home. It's only six years old.

Check out our blog again soon for more updates on the progress of packing! :-)

2006-05-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Here's the Wildcats softball team!

Kali is in the back row, 2nd from right, with a big smile.

Melia is middle front, arms crossed - guess she's the tough kid!

My first blog.....

2006-05-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

When I learn how to actually get pictures posted this will surely be a much more interesting page. In the meantime I've created this blog to chronicle the move our family will be making as we leave the Bay Area life and home we've made since 1992 and become a Sacramento area family.

A little over a year ago we discussed the prospects of moving and decided then that we weren't quite ready to make that change. As Kali got closer to the middle school transition and we assessed our family and career needs, the prospect of moving became more clear to us earlier this year. So, on April 13th, 2006 we placed our house on the market. Of course that was after much work to 'clean up' the place. Last summer we had begun a makeover of the living and dining rooms, hallway and had the bathroom professionally painted. Then we had some lighting and electrical work done to enhance the living room and mounted the plasma TV over the fireplace. With all that in place we felt the house would be attractive to buyers.

The good news is that we were right! It's been very attractive to potential buyers. We currently have two offers, one in contract and we are awaiting their final sign off on the deal as we speak. We are eager for that to move along because we have also found a home in Elk Grove, CA that we very much want to buy. This waiting game is killing me!

Why Elk Grove, you ask? Compared to my current 80 mile commute each way to work now, it will be a mere 30 miles each way. Given that I am averaging 2.5 days per week to Stockton, the gas prices are putting a major dent in my budget. The other reasons are, in order of importance: family is there (my mom's brother & family, my cousins!), schools are very highly rated, middle school doesn't start until 7th grade (Kali gets to be a kid for one more year), house prices are dropping and the diversity of people in that city is very balanced. They've also got a softball league for girls and I did find at least one Jazzercise class to attend.

And of course your next question is: what about Duane's job? He's just transfered to the Korn Ferry executive search practice from the Futurestep (technical recruiting) division. He will still focus on technology searches but at a higher level and will have an opportunity to move to the partner level within a couple of years. And they are happy to have him telecommute most of the time. He may need to travel a bit with this new job but at least now that will be somewhat minimal. And in the long run his earning potential is greatly increased! Yippee!

So, as our lives in San Mateo wind down after nearly 14 years living in this community, we are finishing up our first season as softball coaches for the girls team (7-11 reg season), ending our involvement in Girl Scouts and enjoying our final weeks at North Shoreview Montessori School. Kali will graduate from 5th grade on June 14th and Melia turns 10 the day before. Then we begin to pack it all up for a big move..... pending this close of escrow!

Stay tuned for more of our family adventures... it's bound to be a busy summer!