brrrrrrr + a close one...

You know it's really cold when your puppy pulls a blanket over himself! Brrrrrr..... Boy was it cold today! The pups woke me at 4:53 a.m. to go outside to potty. I left the basement door open for about 20 minutes while I had a snack and changed into running clothes. When I went back down to the basement for my 4-mile run on the treadmill, I thought I would turn into an icecicle. I closed the door and went back upstairs for a sweatshirt. After my run, I returned upstairs to find Kyra under the down comforter and cuddling with Riley. I keep the blanket that Kurt gave me for Christmas at the foot of the bed, and Riley had pulled it up and covered his belly with it. Now that's a chilly-dog! It was 16 degrees outside!

The regular season of basketball is over and tonight was part 1 of the play-offs. Teams ranked #2 and #3 played tonight (Dynomite and Jaguars) at 6:15 p.m. Kyra is spending tonight with Joe so it was his responsibility to get her to the game. One of Kyra's teammates parents sent out an e-mail yesterday saying that the mom had to work and that he had a meeting that came up for the afternoon and he was looking for someone to pick up his daughter at their home and take her to the game in case his meeting didn't end soon enough. He didn't want her to be late for the play-off game. So, of course, I quickly responded that I would be happy to take Caroline to the game if he was running late. He called at 5 saying it would be iffy, depending on traffic, so I said not to worry that I would pick Caroline up on my way home from work and take her to the gym. Caroline and I were the first ones to arrive at 5:52; the game started at 6:15 p.m. The playoffs are at a different gym than where they have been playing. At 6:10, all the other girls had arrived except Kyra. So I called Joe to make sure he knew to go to Camp Creek instead of Mountain Park. He said he knew and that his wife was bringing Kyra to the game; he left work late but was on his way. I told the coach she was on her way. The game started and we had no substitutes without Kyra there. I was keeping the score book, but also keeping a close eye on the door anxiously awaiting Kyra's arrival. This is a very important game! I'd hate for her team to lose in the playoffs because she wasn't there. I was fuming! At 44 seconds left in the first quarter, Kyra, her step mother and half-sister came waltzing in the door. She was relaxed at first but within a second had this crazed look on her face when she realized the game was in play. I motioned her over to come to the team side of the courts and told her to quickly get out of her sweats because the 2nd quarter would be starting soon and she would need to jump in the game at that point. She was as mad as I was that she was late; although she had no idea she was late until she walked in the door. It was a close game. This was the first game that the referree called shots as 3-pointers. Prior games they've all been scored as 2-points, regardless of where the ball was thrown from. Caroline threw a long shot at the end of a quarter and it went through the hoop as the timer buzzed. When the score keeper only put 2 points on the board, the ref came over and said it was a 3-pointer. Yay! So, miss competitive Kyra, who is known for her long shots, couldn't be out-done. The next quarter she threw a long shot and was credited for 3 points as well. As I mentioned, it was a very close game. If the refs hadn't called those 3-pointers, we would have lost. The final score was 21 to 20, with a Team Dynomite win! That takes us to the championship game on Saturday against the winner of the #1 vs #4 team game that was played after Kyra's game. The winner of Saturday's game will receive championship trophies.

And did I mention, my thumb still hurts?