The Big Finish!

Well, Christmas is past, I will post about that soon, and I finally FINISHED THE PROJECT FROM HELL!


It is a good feeling to be done with the tile job. Wanted to do that since we moved in 14 years ago (stupid me)! Yesterday I put the finishing touch on by sealing the grout in both bathrooms. Then today, I put all the construction mess away (tools, supplies, garbage, etc.) and re-hung the bathroom door. When I was done, I took a few minutes to reflect on my success.

Tub on left, vanity on right

Nice warm place for your feet while sitting!

The heated floor is wonderful. I am really glad Kim would not let me talk her out of it (although I worked hard at it). The thermostat cycles the floor through warming periods designed to have the floor at a nice warm 82 degrees during the mornings, and at night before bed. Power requirements are low compared to a floor heater. About 1/100th of a typical 1500 watt model. It is really great to walk in on the warm floor barefoot or in socks. Its like a walk on the beach in summer.

The first foot!

Tomorrow we start phase two of Kim's foot surgery saga. An early start leaving the house by 5:30 AM. She will be out of surgery by about 8:30. So, it is back on the couch for her. I hope she can accept the fact that she needs to sit still for a couple of weeks. Last time she sat still, but went crazy and made herself more miserable instead of accepting her plight. We'll see.

It is Xmas break and I am really enjoying having some time to spend with Lucy. Today we actually got outside and shot free throws! It was sunny, and warm with no wind (a rare event for the winter here in the valley). She was awesome shooting about 70% after warming up. We both enjoyed it!

Mom spent the afternoon teaching our Austrian exchange student, Luise, how to tack up and ride a horse. Even Hobo seemed to enjoy the attention. Finally, just as the sun was sinking below the western hills, I adjusted the valves, and changed the oil on dear old "Stalin" the 1965 VW Bug. Running like a top!!

So, it has been a great day, and we will see what the 'morrow brings!

That's All!

Tigers Take the Jamboree!

Well just a quick post to let you know that the girls were victorious at Burney, sweeping away the competition to  win the tournament. As you remember from my last post, the Tigers squeaked out a first game win over the Fall River Bulldogs. They turned out to be the toughest competition the girls faced. That was Lucy's best game of the bunch. She was fourth in scoring, and second in rebounds. For the remaining games she didn't play as much as the Coach got his reserves on the court. Here is a summary of the last two games I wrote for the local paper:

Left to Right: Bailey Holt, Lucy, Emma Briggs, Coach Matt,
 Marissa Wehrman, Anna Roach, Hannah Melzer, Lindsay Compton
Ellie Kibble, Ida Pruitt, Camry Housel 

On Friday evening, the Tigers played the Burney Raiders and won handily 52 – 24 extending the lead continuously throughout the game. The Lady Cat’s defense was stifling, keeping the Raiders solidly in check. Emma Briggs once again led the Tiger attack with 19 points, Ellie Kibble and Camry Housel lit up the scoreboard for 8 points each, while Lindsay Compton tallied 5. Housel pulled down 9 rebounds to lead the Tigers under the boards. Lucy and Marissa Wehrman grabbed 5 ‘bounds each, with Briggs and Ida Pruitt tallying 4 apiece.

The final game was held Saturday morning against an outmatched Big Valley squad. Portola won easily 59 – 21 to take home the trophy. Once again the Tiger’s defense was superb, holding the Cardinals to just one field goal in the first half. Scoring for the Tigers were Briggs with 20, Holt for 11, Housel for 9, and Ida Pruitt with 6. Briggs grabbed 9 rebounds while Wilbanks and Kibble had 5 each, and Marissa Wehrman tallied 4.

Emma Briggs was voted Most Valuable Player on the All-Tournament team. She played superbly with a total of 61 points and 20 rebounds. Other Tigers selected as All-Tournament were Lindsay Compton (9 points and 16 rebounds), Ellie Kibble (20 points and 10 rebounds, and (you guessed it) Lucy Wilbanks (13 points and 18 rebounds). 

I am very proud of my little "skeletron"! I know her big sisters are very proud too! She has worked extremely hard for every bit of this, and I am so happy she is being rewarded for it. My most fervent hope is that she continues to do well, and stays healthy for the rest of the season.

Merry Christmas All!

Thats All!

Tigers Win the Opener!

2000 Burney Champs!

Well, here I sit in the Green Gables Hotel in Burney. It is my fifth, and last, Burney Jamboree Basketball Tournament (Burney Tourney). The first one was in December of 2000. Emily came up here as a freshman JV player, and her Team won the tournament. They were ecstatic.It is bittersweet to be here with Lu. She was only 7 when Em left us. So Small, and innocent. God it hurt!

Emmy

This is my and Lucy's last high school basketball tournament. It has been such fun! Lu has had a very successful basketball career. But before I get too emotional, here's what happened last night against the Fall River Bull Dogs. By the way, the Dogs defeated our girls in the Burney tournament last year.

Lucy and her good friend Bailey Holt did the preliminaries with the the referees at mid court. Lu was selected as one of the captains after the leadership she showed in resolving some early team issues. She and Bailey have been tossing the coin since the Tiger Classic (which I didn't post about due to issues discussed in my last post)

Captains Lucy and Bailey

Portola started out slowly. It looked like they were in a trance for the first quarter, and Fall River looked sharp. Only some good defense kept them in the game as they finished the first quarter down by 13 to 3! The girls finally woke up, outscoring Fall River 29 to 12 in the second quarter. Senior guard Bailey Holt got the Tigers untracked with a looping 3 point bucket, and two field goals; while Sophomore Emma Briggs tore up the key with 12 second stanza points. The Lady Tigers took a 7 point lead to the locker room. Lucy was vicious on the boards pulling down 7 first half rebounds, and tallying three points.

The scoring evened out in the third period, but Fall River's outside shooting started to chip away at the Tiger's lead in the final frame. It took our girls a while to decide to defend against the outside shots. Luckily they were all within the 3-point line, but the Bull Dogs kept snapping at the Tigers heels. A series of crucial turnovers by Portola helped Fall River to pull within 3 points with about 1:30 remaining. The Tigers tightened their defense, but it wasn't enough to prevent a short range jumper that narrowed the lead to one point with 28 seconds left to play. After a timeout, Portola brought the ball in and managed to get it in the hands of their hottest free throw shooter, Emma Briggs, with 8 seconds left. Briggs drained the first toss for the last of her game high 22 points to make the lead an even 2. Her second shot bounced off the rim but Lucy outfought the dogs and pulled down the rebound. Lu held onto the ball under pressure, and with 2 seconds to go, bounced it out to point guard Lindsay Compton who was promptly fouled. Compton missed the charity toss, but it was too late for Fall River, as the Tigers sent them back to the kennel as time ran out on the inbound pass.

Leading the scoring for the Lady Tigers was Emma Briggs with 22 points, followed by Ellie Kibble with 10, Bailey Holt with 9, and Lucy with 7. Compton pulled down 9 rebounds, with Lucy grabbing 8, and Briggs snatching 7.

It was a good start for the girls. They play their second game against the hometown Burney Raiders tonight at 6:00. This is Dad, signing off for now.

That's All

Movin' Too Fast

I have been tardy on my posting lately but for good reason. 'Tis the season! Basketball, Rotary, bathroom tile, Christmas parties, work out at the gym, shopping, medical appointments. I have been sucked into the whirlwind! Not much down time. Wanted to get something posted, but no time for pictures! This is quite a different pace than I experienced last August after leaving the hospital.

However, it is pretty normal. Sometimes (often) we go through pretty long periods like this where it seems that a respite is just over the hill. "If I can just get through next week, things will be calmer....." Then, something new comes onto the calendar, or something happens that was unexpected (but should have been), or it has been on the calendar so long we forgot about it.

Bottom line is that I really don't do well with this kind of schedule. I don't have a lot of control over the calendar, and so my reaction is to get more determined to complete all the tasks that are piled up around me. On Tuesday I managed to get some work done (quite a bit) on the master bath tile job. We have been without a toilet there for nearly a month. I had to get started (remove toilet) and have not been able to devote enough time to make good progress because of other obligations. The good news is I worked until midnight laying tile over the floor heating mat. Got that finished, and only have about 1/4th remaining. Of course, I will still have to install grout, baseboard, toilet, and then seal the grout in both bathrooms!

Today (Thursday) we leave for the Burney basketball tournament. We finish up there late Saturday, then come home and head to the Barkley family Xmas dinner at Tahoe on Sunday. We will spend the night there, and have lunch with Frank and Lucille Monday, then head to Reno for a pre-surgery Dr's appointment for Kim, and be home probably late that evening. Anyone have time for Christmas?

So, if I can just get through this weekend.......NOT!

That's All!

Last trip to Biggs

Well, here I sit in the Gridley Starbucks, sipping a caramel brulee frappachino, and building a video of Lucy's last b'ball tournament in Biggs. Tiny little Biggs is about 6 miles north of Gridley. They host an invitational tournament that Lucy has participated in the last three years. Lots of good memories. The Portola girls always do well here. In addition, for the tournament her sophomore year, Lu won an All Tournament trophy here. It has always been a nice time, with lots of extra curricular shopping and movie viewing in Chico.

I remember coming here for Emily's freshman year in b'ball. Still remember the surprise when all of a sudden she blossomed into a good player. She had been on teams since 3rd grade. Always worked hard, but never particularly excelled or showed any promise. Then all of a sudden, at the first game of the Biggs tournament, she "got coordinated" as Kenny Smith, one of the other Dads told me. She had a wonderful season, and was selected the Teams MVP at the end of the season. Bitter sweet memories.

Mel McGlaughlin poses at his home with the team

The Biggs gym is named after a local man in his eighties named Mel McGlaughlin. He is a local high school sports legend as a player and coach. He started the girls b'ball tourney years ago. He is usually at all the games, and does a free throw exhibition. Last year he made 19 out of 20. Last summer he had some heart problems and had by-pass surgery and a pacemaker implanted. It was a tough summer for him needless to say (I can identify)! He has only been out of the hospital a week or so, and he wasn't at the game. The girls missed him and decided to visit him at his house. He was so pleased, and enjoyed the visit tremendously. He made it to the gym for most of the girls second game.

Lucy has been the epitome of the hard working player. She has busted her but for every improvement she has made, and really has become quite an accomplished player. Her court sense and defense are excellent, and with a little more work, her offense could improve dramatically.

After her long and successful Volleyball season, she (and most of her team mates) have had almost no time to practice, or get conditioned. Yet they played well so far. Their athleticism has pulled them through.

They won their first two games fairly handily. I have made a short video (below) mostly featuring Lucy for your viewing enjoyment. She is number 24 with a long straight pony tail against Pierce, then with the messy bun against Tule Lake. 

The championship game is against Biggs in about three hours. Biggs has an aggressive, talented and well coached team. They whipped us twice last year so maybe we will catch them napping. Regardless, it has been a wonderful weekend for Dad (and Mom too)!

That's All!