Today’s Featured Cause:
Restoration Ministries – Restoration Ministries reaches out to the local community by going beyond the four walls of the church. Ministries such as:homeless (shelterless) feeding, grocery distribution, school, Preschool, etc.

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After work today, I swung by the apartment to pick up Ryan and some Christmas goodies to exchange/return.

I figured a random Tuesday night at the stores would be less busy than this upcoming weekend, so we rounded up a bag of stuff to take back before dinner.

We were both lucky this year and don’t have too many things to return… most were simply exchanges for proper sizes (and the occasional return of a duplicate gift).

Normally when we go shopping Ryan will browse for about three minutes before he’s bored. Then he’ll follow me around until I’m done (Oh the pressure!). Ryan says he likes to go “buying” not “shopping.”

Do you prefer to go buying or shopping?

Ryan goes to a store with one particular thing in mind. I, on the other hand, love the shopping experience and could browse around certain stores (like Target or T.J. Maxx – they have everything!) for hours.

This does not sound like a good time to Ryan… unless we’re in one specific store: Sports Authority.

Sports Authority

This is the only place where Ryan and I can go and split up to do our shopping and I will typically be the first one done. I’ve been known to  sit in one of those tailgating chairs at the front of the store waiting for him to finish examining the tennis rackets, soccer balls or the gym shoes that just came in.

Sports Authority was on our hit list this evening since I received running tights (which I wore on our bike ride on Sunday) from both my family and Ryan for Christmas.

Ryan’s First Squash

Ryan’s first attempt at spaghetti squash was a success! He did everything perfectly and we had a delicious fast and easy dinner.

My Bowl

We topped our spaghetti squash with portobello mushrooms, sliced yellow squash, marinara, Italian sausage and Parmesan cheese. Deeeelish!

Sliced Squash

Close Up

All Stirred Up

 After dinner we shared a big mug of hot chocolate.

Sweet, Creamy, Good

Ryan’s mom gave us both a bag of this tasty hot cocoa and we’ve been enjoying it every night since Christmas!

Hot Chocolate with Mini Marshmallows

Hot chocolate is definitely my favorite beverage in the whole wide world.  (Do milkshakes count as a beverage because a creamy milkshake might give hot cocoa a run for its money…)

What’s your favorite beverage?

Tonight Ryan and I are watching Food Inc. Should be an interesting night!

Today was the 3rd annual C.C. Sabathia Toys 4 tots drive in Vallejo, CA. C.C. was wonderful, not only signing all 12 of the photos that we brought with us, but also gave 1 Official Major League Baseball to each of the first 100 people in line to donate toys. C.C. really did a great thing for a downtrodden community. Vallejo, California has been officially bankrupt for a year now. Although the moral of the community has likely been at a low point for quite a while now, C.C. always comes back to his hometown and donates his time and money to give back to the city where he was raised. C.C. not only signed nearly 400 autographs (aproximately 200 fans showed up for the signing), but he showed up at the Toyota dealership at 10am this morning, and personally took 15 kids to the local Sports Authority, and treated those 15 wonderful kids to a $200.00 shopping spree per child. Not only did the kids have a wonderful time shopping for goodies, they were able to hang out with their hometown hero. Now that’s a Merry Christmas!

Every single year we attend the Toys 4 Tots autograph signings in the San Francisco bay area. We have been donating toys for probably 10 years now, often in exchange for an autograph. C.C. and Vallejo Toyota really know how to handle the goal of obtaining as many toys for the kids as possible. Although their policy was one autograph per person in the line, they were more than willing to accept more toys for additional autographs. In my humble opinion, thats the purpose of the toy drive is to raise as many toys as possible. After going through line once, and offering the initial gift, C.C. told many of the fans that wanted additional signatures to get back in line, and he would take care of them. Thats truely shows me that C.C. is willing to give back to the community. At some of the other Toys 4 Tots events over the last few years, it really seems that the purpose of the drive is to gain good public relations in the media, but not to raise the maximum number of toys. Just earlier this month, we attended a Oakland Raiders Toys 4 tots event in Hayward, CA. The event featured Hall of Famer Willie Brown, Richard Seymour, and Chris Johnson. Both Chris Johnson and Willie Brown were both gracious about signing any item. After Richard Seymour signed New England Patriots items for the first few fans in line, he imposed a “No Patriots items allowed” rule for the remaining fans in line. Why would it matter which item is being signed, as long as the toys are being donated to the cause? Richard even told me that I should buy a Raiders item from the team store (where the signing was being held). Is this a fundraiser for toys, or a fundraiser for the Oakland Raiders? We were in line with a family that donated over 20 toys to the toy drive, and requested that Richard Seymour sign 6 items, and they told this man that his family would have to get back in line, and that it was strictly one autograph per person, even if you donate multiple toys. I personally witnessed multiple families leaving the signing with some of the toys in hand, because the Raiders didn’t want to sign multiple autographs. Why not sign as many autographs as toys donated? Isn’t that the point of the toy drive? I understand that this decision was made by the Raiders, but the Toys 4 tots foundation was the one turning down opportunities to raise additional toys. Very surprising, considering that I saw on the local news, just that morning, that the Toys 4 Tots donations were down this year, from previous years. A real shame, when people were willing to donate.

Check out some of the photos from the C.C. Sabathia & Oakland Raiders Toys 4 Tots autograph signing sessions.

Check out my website for New York Yankees, C.C. Sabathia, and Oakland Raiders autographed treasures at:

http://www.southwestconnection-memorabilia.com/

Scrooge

No it didn’t. Stop the lie now because it’s selfish and potentially, incredibly harmful to all the smart, talented people with autism and Asperger’s who are positive contributing members of society. Stop blaming your hacking ways — and other criminal pursuits — on Asperger Syndrome. That’s my message to the the most infamous computer hackers of the moment. Viachelav Berkovich earlier this year was sentence to 55 months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar computer fraud scheme and cited Asperger Syndrome. Gary McKinnon, the admitted Pentagon hacker, played the Asperger’s card in his defense. Now comes the mastermind behind one of  the biggest cases of credit card fraud in U.S. history:  Albert Gonzalez. He  is accused of hacking into consumer accounts at TJ Maxx, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Sports Authority and stealing the numbers to millions of credit and debit card accounts. Gonzalez, who was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, is blaming Asperger’s although it’s unclear if he even has a diagnosis. His sentencing has now been delayed. Honestly, I can’t say whether any of these guys are on the spectrum or not. But when you break the law, when you understand right from wrong and choose the latter, when you are of average and higher-than-average intelligence as are people with Asperger Syndrome — you ought to take responsibility for your actions. Don’t blame Asperger Syndrome, blame yourselves.

Apparently Governor Corzine spent so much time campaigning for Hillary, hob-nobbing with Obama and running for re-election he neglected to make a few appointments. I say that’s a good thing! I don’t think he is qualified to make any appointments.

Remember the scandal over Corzine’s appointment of Jeanne Fox to to BPU?

It seems that now he’s trying to see how many patronage jobs he can appoint at the last minute for left wing liberals friends.

Corzine was defeated in the November election. Now he’s still in office until the new governor is sworn in on January. So how much of a minefield can Corzine leave for the Governor-elect?

Christie, Corzine picking a fight over picks

Gov. Jon Corzine and Gov.-elect Chris Christie, though publicly committed to a “smooth” transition of power, are locked in a behind-the-scenes battle over nominations to posts ranging from judgeships to coveted spots at state authorities.

In the waning days of his term, Corzine intends to nominate dozens of people to paid and unpaid posts and has privately notified Christie and key legislative leaders. That process began 10 days ago when the governor Ð without warning to the Christie team Ð submitted the name of his chief of staff, Ed McBride, for a judgeship in South Jersey.

His chief of staff? Appointed to a judgeship? If that seems unprincipled, you have to remember, This is New Jersey. “What’s a judge? A Lawyer who knows a politician!”

“Jon Corzine has had four years to make these appointments but now, to put up BPU or the Sports Authority or Port Authority, to me, is just bad form on the way out the door,” Kean said.

Since the election, Christie and Corzine have disagreed over emergency funding for food pantries and soup kitchens, had disputes over state bonding and education funding, and waged a heated public disagreement over Corzine’s nomination of Middlesex County Democratic chairman Joe Spicuzzo to the Sports Authority. Despite Christie’s criticism, the Senate confirmed Spicuzzo Thursday.

The nominations, however, loom as the most serious issue separating Corzine and Christie. To resolve it, top aides to both men have been negotiating for two weeks and will meet again tomorrow. Time is running out: Key appointments require confirmation by the Senate, which isn’t slated to return until after the holidays and concludes its two-year session at noon Jan. 12.

The State Senate is filled with left wing liberal Democrats, I would expect them to confirm a ham sandwich if Corzine appointed one.

Notice I was polite and said ‘ham.’ Gee, these people int the paper are so restrained…

“The incoming governor and outgoing governor are going to have to work together to come to a compromise,” said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen. “What the Corzine administration is trying to do is, they’re trying to be reasonable here.

Wouldn’t that would be the first time they’re trying to be reasonable in 4 years?

Christie and Corzine at odds over lame duck appointments

“To try to rush appointments through that will impact the policy-making ability of the incoming administration smacks of inappropriateness,” Kean (R-Union) said. “These are people who are going to impact policy in the upcoming four years. That is a role that is best left to the incoming governor.”

Kean said he is specifically disturbed about Corzine’s plans to nominate or renew members of the Board of Public Utilities, the Sports and Exposition Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — key government agencies with large budgets or regulatory authority.

“Jon Corzine has had four years to make these appointments but now, to put up BPU or the Sports Authority or Port Authority, to me, is just bad form on the way out the door,” Kean said.

“Smacks of inappropriateness.”    “Is just bad form.”   So polite and respectful!

Complicating the situation, Sarlo and Kean said, is a massive backlog in nominations that was already built up in Corzine’s office before the governor lost his re-election bid.

Political and legal authorities say Corzine’s delays have led to more than 35 vacancies on the Superior Court bench — nearly 10 percent of the entire corps of trial-level judges. Among the 65 appointments at issue between Corzine and Christie are five Superior Court judges whose terms will expire by May if they are not granted tenure.

“Unfortunately, these seats should have been filled,” Sarlo said.

I say leave the appointments for the new Governor.

http://wp.me/pFZU8-2o

Then there is the Brazen attempt to force the “Marriage” Movement to be legislated during the lame duck’s session. We should change the state motto to “The Soprano State.” It appears that Governor Corzine isn’t the only one trying to mine the harbor for the Governor-elect. Frickin’ shameless.

“Smacks of inappropriateness.”    “Is just bad form.”

Today’s Featured Cause:
Ygnacio Valley Christian School – We are here to serve the Christian family. We view our school as an extension of the home and seek to provide a program that will serve the family educationally while upholding it spiritually.

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Today’s Featured Cause:
Scottsdale Sweet Adelines – Members of Sweet Adelines International, women promoting 4-part a capella Barbershop Harmony (Singing and Performing).

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Have you ever been in the sporting goods store and thought, “I need a Wii?”, but you were in the wrong store?  Well that might change soon with the upcoming announcement by Sports Authority that they will begin selling Nintendo’s Wii console in their stores across the country. 

“This is about getting the nation fit,” Sports Authority President David Campisi told Kotaku. “This could be really, really game changing.”

The announcement is expected to come Thursday at their store in Torrance, California.  Present to help make the announcement will be fitness expert and video game star Jillian Michaels.  Also on that day they will have 100 Wii Fit Boards set up in an attempt to host the world’s biggest Wii Fit workout session. 

“In our fitness departments we carry a lot of equipment,” Campisi said. “There are many, many ways to get fit and exercise, this is just one additional opportunity.”

Source: Kotaku

Today’s Featured Cause:
Winchester Orchestra – We are the only fully professional orchestra in the “top of Virginia” region.The Winchester Orchestra was founded by Maestro Andrew Gekoskie in June of 2008. The Winchester Orchestra is committed to changing lives through music’s extraordinary power to communicate, and thus inspire, uplift, educate and entertain. We are dedicated to challenging classical performance boundaries by offering fresh interpretations of the standard orchestral repertoire as well as the discovery of new and unusual works. Through live performances that are evocative, dramatic, and passionate we seek to develop new audiences of all ages for classical music.

The Winchester Orchestra is a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization.

The Winchester Orchestra is committed to:
Increasing the awareness of, and support for, music written for orchestra
Developing new audiences for classical music
Producing regional performances and outreach programs, especially at schools, universities, churches, and other appropriate venues in order to serve more constituents and communities
Touring throughout the United States and in other countries throughout the world
Recording significant orchestral repertoire.

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For the record, I am not a Yankees fan. In fact, I’d be willing to go there and say I’m a Yankee hater. I’m an Orioles fan (as painful as it is to admit that)–and without Jeffrey Maier, Jeter’s nothing… but that’s my opinion as an O’s fan with a grudge.

Regardless of my fandom, Sports Authority nailed one of the key components of a good email: Timing.

The Yankees won the World Series Wednesday night. Within two hours of the end of the game, I received this:

Some quick remarks on this before I leave you:

• Preheader is perfect for the message. On target with the subject line, which was “New York Yankees are 2009 World Champions – Get Your Gear at Sports Authority.”
• The subject line is a bit long in my opinion, but certainly is timely, given that they became champions a mere hour or so beforehand.
• One solid message to convey. No real confusion. Particularly “above the fold.”
• I would have preferred the “Shop Now” be bigger and the “Click here to find a store near you” be a bit smaller.
• Actually kind of like the Facebook logo with “Become a fan” in the top right corner. Though the header may be a bit big in general.

I wonder if they had a version ready to go for the Phillies? I wonder if it’s like the shirts for the losing team at the Super Bowl? Do they send that message template to some less fortunate email marketer to use?

I kid. But in seriousness, though I hate the Yankees, I think this email message is pretty solid.

Yankee AJ Burnett sporting his Phiten necklace. (picture credit AP Photo)

When I watch baseball games, I can’t help but spend most of the time commenting on the players’  outer appearance: facial hair, hairstyle, accessories, etc.  annoying those that are more interested in their pitches, hits, and catches. Tied around the necks of several MLB-ers are silvery rope-like necklaces that I declared “heinous” as soon I spotted them.

I thought it was all for show, but after researching what I found to be called “Phiten Titanium Necklaces,” I discovered that they supposedly help avoid fatigue and sore muscles, regulating the flow of energy throughout the body. By using the body’s energy efficiently, athletes will be able to recover more quickly from strenuous exercise.

While there is no scientific proof that this is true, Yankees’ stars like A.J. Burnett, Nick Swisher, and Joba Chamberlain don’t hit the field without them. Strangely enough, those are my three least favorite players on the team. Claims have been made that wearing a Phiten feels like having vapor rub on the skin, possibly because of the negative ions in titanium.

Want to look like an MLB player? Phiten necklaces range from $12-$35, but products with a higher concentration of titanium can be over $100. Head to Sports Authority, Foot Locker, GNC, or Champs to pick up your own, with locations all over the city.

-Caitlin

Today’s Featured Cause:
Northgate High School Girl’s Basketball Program – Help support Northgate Girl’s Basketball. Home of the Broncos.

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One of our latest pages is of Arizona Mills shopping mall.

Click here for our details about Arizona Mills shopping center.

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First, let me say, I wasn’t going to write this blog until Tuesday, but for the sake of my girlfriend’s sanity and the future of our relationship, I needed to get out my snide comments and sarcastic witticisms before I do any more irreversible damage. Let’s just say she was not amused when I called her a “borderline midget” even though she is 5’2” and a whole one-third of a foot away from being a legal dwarf. I was clearly joking. Why she puts up with me, I have no clue. Let’s move on.

Brett Favre – According to ESPN, Brett Favre can do no wrong. He helps old ladies cross the street, adopts lost kittens from the pound, and if they had to venture a guess for who would find the cure for cancer, I’m pretty sure they would pick Brett Favre. Who cares if he’s only a mediocre NFL quarterback anymore? I mean, the man was just in a Super Bowl in 1997. Wait, that was 12 years ago, already? Somebody go get John Madden’s inhaler.

And then, of course, they would go on to force meaningless Brett Favre stories down our throats for the next week, making sure to get all their top analysts to line up and kiss Favre’s butt for 30 second clips. I can just picture Merrill Hoge, Ron Jaworski, Chris Mortenson and Trent Dilfer all sitting together in the make-up room, competing to see who has can squeeze the most superlatives into a 300-word speech. I set the over/under at 20, bet my life savings on the over, and then put my future children’s college education money on Jaws. It’s a stone cold lock.

Eli Manning – Continuing with overpaid, underperforming quarterbacks, I pose a simple question: where would Eli Manning be without his last name? A store manager at Sports Authority? The UFL? if he was lucky, a back-up quarterback in the NFL? Seriously, the dude was good college, but I never watched him and thought, “Man, this guy sure has what it takes to be a legit NFL quarterback.”

And then to force a trade so he could be in a major market? If that doesn’t scream douchebag, I don’t know what does. Anyone with an IQ over 75 could tell he would crumple under the pressure in New York. And I know there are some of you out there that will say, “how can he be overrated, he won a Super Bowl MVP.” It’s not that simple. First of all, he didn’t even play that well. 19 for 34 and a QB rating of 87.3 hardly screams MVP. Second, the pass that won him the award was complete luck and never should have left his hand. How he wasn’t sacked is beyond me. And if you re-did that jump ball match-up of Rodney Harrison and 18^th-string wide receiver David Tyree 5 million times, do you see Tyree ever winning again? I don’t.

So let’s recap. He’s good in college, get’s drafted #1 overall because of the hope he will turn out to be half of what his brother is, sucks for four years, rides the best defensive line in the history of the NFL to a magical playoff run, receives the good fortune of the luckiest play in Super Bowl history, has his first decent season in his contract year but loses Plax and then instantly turns in four straight sub-200 yard games, dupes the Giants into one of the biggest (and worst) contracts in NFL history, and now will rely on Domenik Hixon and Hakeem Nicks as his top receivers this year. I am not bitter at all.

Steroids – The only thing I care less about than Brett Favre. The only players I would care about if they tested positive would be Jeter and Pujols, but until then, I’d rather watch highlights of the WNBA pre-season.

Boston fans – I used to like them, I really did. All the history, Fenway Park, Ted Williams, Larry Bird, Bill Russell. There was just something likeable about them. Maybe it was being able to empathize with a team who had encountered so much epically bad luck, or maybe it was how passionate Bostonians were about their sports no matter what happened year in and year out. But then 2004 hit and all hell broke loose. The curse was over, and Boston’s collective sports personality went from cynical to cocky after a routine Ruben Sierra ground out to Pokey Reese. There wasn’t even a need to play the Cardinals after that. The ensuing 4-game sweep was inevitable.

The one time lovable losers quickly forgot their storied past and took on a whole new identity, more annoying than those Guido, work out three hours a day, wear shirts one size too small, collar popping Mets fans from New Jersey. You could say the success got to their heads. The Patriots become the best team in the NFL, the Red Sox break the curse, and the Celtics are given the Big Three in an act of collusion between ESPN and David Stern. Hell, even the Bruins are a playoff team, Matt Ryan leads Boston College to a spectacular year, and Boston University has one of the greatest comebacks in the history of college hockey. The altogether success was mind-boggling.

But this is where it get’s annoying. That isn’t enough for them. Now they have to win every year. I came in contact with this first-hand this past year in the dorms at Oregon where I met Alon. We were talking baseball, one by one going through the Red Sox roster: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Bay, Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Beckett, (Mo) Lester, Wakefield, the bullpen, etc. ESPN, SI, everybody has them pegged as a playoff team and a legitimate World Series candidate, yet Alon complains to me, knowing I am an A’s fan, “I don’t really like our team this year. We need a better second lefty out of the pen.” Wow.

The San Francisco Giants – It’s already 1:30 and I have to wake up in 6 hours. Unless I want to go to work tomorrow with bags under my eyes bigger than the size of Greg Anderson’s prison cell, I am going to save this for an entirely new post. Goodnight.

Jess and I finally went and got my birthday present at The Sports Authority last night. We got a pair of Diamondback Mountain bikes. Mine’s a 26″ men’s model, and hers is a pink Lustre 1 (whatever that means). The salesman was a real douche, and I regret him getting a commission on our purchase, since the only thing he ’sold’ us was the kickstands that weren’t on the f’in bikes (that’s a lowclass move if you ask me). We had to wait around for like 30 minutes, while homeboy smoked a bowl in the backroom whilst pretending to attach our kickstands. Then we could only fit one bike in the PT cruiser, and my bike didn’t have enough air in the tires to ride home, so I had to make two trips.

Now we’ve got these bikes and it looks like the weather is going to be shitty for the rest of the week. Thanks a lot, Karma.

Jess and I were debating over purchasing helmets. I want her to wear one in case she ever has a seizure while riding. Her response was, ‘If you’re going to make me wear a helmet, it had bettah be pink.

Today’s Featured Cause:
Gospel Vision Foundation – We are a non-denominational
evangelical organization who`s goal is to
continue the Great Commission given by Jesus
Christ to GO and spread the Good News
to the lost souls around the world.

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For the past two weeks, Houston has hosted the Parade of homes. It highlighted selected residential neighborhood around the Houston area.
Two of Shenandoah’s newest neighborhoods were featured. Woodridge Homes, a Custom Builder featured their Model plan the 2993 sq. ft. One and a half story home that received rave reviews on their Master Bath and Kitchen layout and an overall rating of 5 out of 5.
“It was a great success for the community” New Home consultant said.
Tremont Homes showcased their model in Tuscany Woods was also entered,.
Shenandoah is located 35 miles north of Houston and boasts a variety of hotels, three hospitals,retail shopping including Portofino and Sam Moon Center, the new CISD stadium and natatorium more than 39 restaurants. over one million square feet of retail shopping.