Super Blog

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, I don't care who is playing. All I want is a game good that ends at a decent time. Tiffany and I did a trip to Sams on Friday afternoon, we got some goodies, David will drop by later as we watch the game in HD, one of the great technological advances of our time. On the menu is wings, meatballs and Tiff's favorite....mozzarella sticks. Maybe I'll have a drink or two.

We had another busy week......here were some highlights:

Monday: It was warm, 50 degrees. Besides work and school, Gabe had Show Choir practice from 5-8. From 6-8 was the Garfield School Skate party at the rink in Eldridge. We all skated a ton, Tiff and I didn't fall, but Abbi and Elli fell a few times. Pictures? Well sure.......

Abbi, Amber, Miranda, Claire, and Abby

Marissa, Lauren, Elli, Carly and Claire

On Tuesday we were planning on attending the big game, Central hosting Bettendorf. Tiffany was planning on working the booster club table selling merchandise. But....old man weather hit town with blizzard like conditions, schools let out everywhere in the area at noon, canceling all evening events, including Abbi's basketball practice. After Monday's 50 degree day, Tuesday the temp dropped below zero. Of course the bad weather wouldn't keep Gabe down, a visit to the mall was a must! Being at home allowed us to watch American Idol though, one of our favorites!

On Wednesday Tiffany normally has Girl Scouts, she switches meetings for both troops every other week. But a fifth Wednesday in January left an open date, so no meeting was planned. Thanks to all who purchased Cookies.....the girls sold 416 boxes between them.....or should I say....'Thanks-A-Lots'!

Thursday Elli had basketball practice and Gabe had a soccer game at the Sports Dome, I had a late work meeting at Old Chicago (free drinky!), it started snowing bad, we got like 4 inches.

Friday Abbi stayed home from school, she was coughing and running a temperature. Gabe had Show Choir practice after school, I worked for Mediacom, Moline at Rock Island.

Saturday Gabe had to be at school at 6:15am to board a bus to Mount Pleasant (less than 2 hours) for a Show Choir competition. Tiffany picked him up about 2am from school, he's alittle moody today. Abbi didn't play in her basketball game, she got me up a couple times with her coughing, so I didn't get much sleep. I took Elli to Marshall Gym as Central and Bettendorf played their make up game from Tuesday, the gym was packed, Central won 51-40, it wasn't very close, the Blue Devils now have a 2 game conference lead over Bettendorf with a couple weeks left, back to back MAC titles in reach! We sat with the Grahams, who live a few houses down the street, Elli got to play with Carly.

Here's a good photo Tiffany took a couple of weeks ago. Elli is shooting, you can see the ball faintly. And yes....she made the shot!

Video.... you ask? OK, here is some clips from Abbi playing basketball 2 weeks ago.

Blue Vibrations

Question: Can the boy really sing and dance?

Answer: The video speaks for itself.

So here it is.......what you've been asking for. Recorded last night (Thursday) at Central's Kahler Auditiorium for the 2008 CHS Variety Show, I present to you...........the Blue Vibes.

This is a 2 minute segment from their normal 20 minute routine. I think Gabe is pretty well recognizable on the film. The song "Vehicle" was a hit in the early 1970's for the Chicago based group Ides of March. It was written by the same guy who later went on to fame by writing and singing Survivor's classic...."Eye Of The Tiger". Enjoy.

Basketball Saturday

Another busy January week has come and gone, my oh my.

Gabe is in Greta, Nebraska right now (Saturday) with the Central show choir group, they left Friday at noon, stayed in a hotel and got up at 6am today for the competition. I spoke with him a couple hours ago, he said he and his roommates got about a half hour of sleep. The 'Blue Vibes' performed at 11am and Gabe said they did fantastic. The Blue Vibes don't get judged, Central's varsity team is competing this afternoon, the buses leave when the big kids are done, early if there is no callback for the finals, later if they make the finals. We were told to expect the buses to pull in at 5am, Sunday morning. Luckily we don't have to pick him up, a friends mom is doing that in exchange for a warm bed for Gabe's friend next weekend.

In case you are wondering......show choir is like a mini musical. The kids have a 20 minute routine that includes 5 or 6 songs, dance moves and costume changes. You laugh, you cry, you want to sing! Last Saturday the season kicked off with a dinner theater at the Col Ballroom, both groups performed to about 350 people, family and friends. Gabe was front and center for much of the show. It was a riot. The next 8 weeks they will play in various places like Des Moines, Mount Pleasant, Davenport, Peoria and Mundelein, IL, where we will spend that weekend with my Cousins Rich and Germaine at their home!

It's minus something degrees outside, the weatherman said not to go outside, but we braved the weather for 2 basketball games. I took the camera to Elli's game, got some highlights below, next week we'll take it to Abbi's game.

Pete On Live Network TV!!!!

Last night (Friday) we didn't have a scheduled Mediacom basketball game to broadcast, so I was invited to co-host WQAD channel 8's highlight show during the 10:00 news called Hoops Central. I showed up at 9pm, saw some clips of games, took some notes of the highlights and then at 10:15 we went live, me and their sports guy, Matt Randazzo ('97 Alleman grad). We did 15 minutes, which seemed like 2 minutes. All went well, I was a little nervous but got thru it. I didn't know anybody there besides Matt, but the crew seemed geniunely impressed by my skill. They are doing 8 or so Friday shows, this month and next. They have a list of 'celebrity' guest hosts, old coaches and such. Here's the link, they have broken it up in two segments, the date was 1-18-08. Some notes before you watch: The dork with the photo that says 'Hi Pete' is a guy I work with who was calling a game on the radio. We also made several refences to Duncan Reid, former Rock Island coach and a friend of mine, he was guest hosting last week, the clips from his appearance are there on the link as well. Duncan was, well, rather loud and obxinous, so we made fun of him a lot.

http://wqad.com/Global/category.asp?C=117777&nav=menu132_4_1

And yes.....If you noticed......and you have to look close......I've made a change with my hair. While getting a trim on Tuesday, my barber had my hair wet and slicked back. It didn't look bad. So, I wash, brush back and apply some gel, thus revealing I have a forehead. Reviews have been favorable.

Surprise Surprise Surprise

The day after Christmas we were treated to quite a Holiday surprise. David and Ally summoned Abbi and Elli over to grandma's house, we heard a lot of yelling and screaming (the good kind) echoing through the cubby hole. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Much to my amazement sitting in the kitchen looking like they just got off a 15 hour train ride was uncle Josh and aunt Anne along with niece Hadley! In on the secret of the trip was Ally, David and Jamie, so that's the reason why Ally was dead set on finishing their guest bedroom before Christmas!

The crew from Denver stayed for a week, ate good food, took in some good sights, saw some long lost friends and gave a chance for the kids to play with each other. Here is Riley, Elli, Abbi and Hadley enjoying a bag of Doritos on New Years Eve.

Here's a scene of some Holiday joy, Elli with Hadley and Riley dancing up a storm. Riley was pretty content doing circles in the corner.