GO Noles... Trojans... Catfish!!!

"We Ain't NEVER Scared!!!"

- FSU's pre-game soundtrack

So, we had another awesome weekend... I would say, my weekend started Wednesday night. The Catfish won again and now they're 3-0!!! I am so proud of my husband, who is always leading their team in stats!!!

Thursday night, we had a late dinner since Kevin watched their Junior Varsity team's game. Good thing he decided to leave during half time otherwise we would've had a really really late dinner, so he met Rob and I at Smokey Bones. Minutes later, my in-laws joined us... It was a really good dinner and my father-in-law kept joking around and was really making us all laugh!

On Friday, I left work a few minutes early to get ready for the road. My parents, Rob and I drove to Valdosta, GA for Kevin's big game against Valdosta High... For those of you who are thinking... "Why do they keep playing teams out of state???" Well, Lincoln's such a big football powerhouse in the state of Florida that top-ranked teams in different states want to "play" them and have a strong schedule for the pre-season National high school rankings! At one point, in the Spring, when the Lincoln coaches were deciding on this season's schedule, one of the top-5 teams in California wanted to play them, but Lincoln already had a full schedule... So, they would have to wait a year or two to play each other... That is why Lincoln played Daphne High, who was ranked #2 in Alabama, a couple of weeks ago!!! So, anyways, the Trojans beat Valdosta (which is one of the best teams in the state of Georgia!)... It was an intense game since they are both equally skilled and fast, but obviously the better team won!!! The thing is, it was Valdosta's Homecoming and the Trojans spoiled their party-mode!!! For the record, Lincoln beat Valdosta 4 times in the last 5 meets ('02, '03, '05 and '06)... So, to the Wildcats, next time you choose your Homecoming game opponent, make sure you play Leon High or something!!!

The best part of this whole thing was that it was my parents' first football game!!! Can you believe that?!?!?! Kevin's been playing since Middle school and now he's a junior in high school... They've been to a couple of his basketball games, but they've never been to any of his football games! I guess they thought it'd be boring... My mom was really excited and she was such a good cheerleader!!! We almost lost our voices!!! My dad, on the other hand... Can we just say that I've never seen him sooo PROUD in his whole life!!! I mean, gosh... he wasn't even this proud when I would get awards year after year in school, or when I graduated Magna cum Laude or when Kathryn and I got full scholarships to FSU!!! I guess it's different when your last child... your "baby" has all these accomplishments!!! After Lincoln won, we all rushed to the field, where my dad shook hands with the coaches, and he had a huge smile on his face!!! So, this week is Lincoln's homecoming... and as Trojan alumni, it is our duty (Rob and I) to preserve our school spirit... The next game is on Thursday night against Rutherford (Panama City)!!! I guarantee you, we will be there in green and gold with my mom and dad!!!

Moving on to our other school... Saturday's game between FSU and Rice was pretty lame!!! Okay, the best part was that traffic was smooth and it only took us a few minutes to get out of our parking spot instead of the usual 45 mins. to an hour!!! But seriously, I've NEVER seen Doak Campbell so bare!!! I mean, there were about 45,000 fans, I think (about half of the usual attendace!!!)... So, our offense finally did great!!! But I mean, c'mon, this is Rice we're talking about!!! So what if we beat them 55-7??? They shouldn't have even scored in the first place!!! But it was alright... Tailgate was good, as usual... Mom made some turkey and ham sandwiches and I made some quiches and Honey BBQ Buffalo wings!

This weekend is our "break"... FSU doesn't have a game until next Thursday vs. NC State in North Carolina! We're not driving there this time... We actually have a dilemma. Kevin's football game vs. Leon High is that night (I can't miss this one because Leon is Lincoln's #1 rival eventhough we beat them every year!!!)... Also, Rob has a ball game at 9 PM on the same night!!! Three freakin' games at the same time... Aaahhh!!! So, I don't know what to do!!!

Speaking of Lincoln's Homecoming week... I took Kevin shopping yesterday for his Homecoming dance outfit! This will be his first dance ever, so the boy is clueless! He thought he was going to rent a tux, but I told him that's for prom... Really, nobody wears tuxes at Lincoln's Homecoming dance... Trust me!!! So, we got him some slacks (since his suit doesn't fit him anymore!) I mean the guy keeps growing every year!!! And then came the shirt... We CANNOT find one that fits him!!! They were all too tight! So, I'm off to get him a button-down shirt and a tie after work.

Tonight, the Catfish has another game at 6:30... Hope they keep the winning-streak going! Then, it's hanging out time with the boys afterwards and maybe dinner with them later tonight!

To-Do List

I usually have tons of post-its all over my computer screen at work and some of them are to-do lists. Today, I decided to save a post-it note or two...

Today (Thursday):
* Get coffee creamer on the way home from work
* Stop by ATM to get cash
* Meet Kevin at 8 PM for dinner at Smokey Bones

Friday:
* Debug half of Report Distribution Title pages at work
* Start on the other half
* Leave Tallahassee at 6 PM for Kevin's football game in Valdosta, GA
* Will probably be back from Valdosta at midnight

Saturday:
* Make coffee and breakfast
* Make quiches for tailgate party in the morning
* Pick up Kevin at 1:30 PM
* Meet mom, dad and the rest of the gang for tailgate party (FSU vs. Rice)
* Head to Doak Campbell stadium at 3 in time for 3:30 kickoff
* Party Sat. night after the game (win or lose!!!)

Sunday:
* Make coffee and breakfast
* Do the laundry
* Meet Kevin at the mall to pick out his Homecoming dance outfit
* Do some grocery shopping
* Dinner with mom, dad and Spencer or with my parents and siblings (haven't decided yet)

Monday:
* Rob's ball game after work at 6:30 PM (Spring Sax)
* Hang out with the boys after the game for beer and dinner

Tuesday:
* Meeting with CAATs group at 9:30 AM (at work)
* Start scrapbooking rehearsal and rehearsal dinner pics after work
* Meet Kat at Gold's gym (7:30 ?)

Wednesday:
* Meeting with IT section 232 at 10 AM (at work)
* Give speech at the New Auditor Training class at work
* Demo on IT Applications
* Meet Kat at Gold's gym after work
* Make dinner

Thursday:
* Ice cream party at work (NOTE: Remember toppings!!!)
* Kevin's football game (Homecoming: Lincoln vs. Rutherford) at 7:30 PM, Gene Cox Stadium
* Concession stand dinner :-)

Friday:
* FSU recruiters Welcome breakfast at 7 AM (Meet Russ at the Civic Center)
* FSU Career Fair (8 AM - 4 PM)
* Date night with Rob

Saturday and Sunday:
*** No plans yet!

* NOTE to ROB: Hey Babe, if I forgot to add something... Let me know!!! Love ya!

#9... No More!!!

What is going on? Bobby Bowden? Jeff Bowden? Drew Weatherford? (Not that I'm blaming you guys... just wondering!!!) What now?

I am so disappointed and deeply upset at this weekend's game against Clemson. What a great way to start your week, eh?

Wherever I go today, whatever I do... this is the talk of the town. Well, it has been for the past 5 years, but it really IS in everybody's mind today. My co-workers, who are mostly FSU alumni, are with me... we're stunned, dazed and confused!!!

We can blame the coaches all we want... We can blame the players... But all is said and done!!! What more can we do? What about US, who had stuck with our school's football program through the years... who had watched every home game and even drove (or flew) hundreds of miles to support our team on away games... who had shown financial support as season-ticket holders... who had given thousands of dollars (some even millions) on yearly contributions as Seminole Boosters??? Is THIS what we deserve?!?!?

After our loss, we--Rob and I, Rob's parents and our friends--lingered for a few more hours at our tailgate site, surrounded by thousands of other Seminole Boosters... sitting in our FSU folding chairs, a bottle of beer or a glass of wine in our hands, we had lost "THAT" drive... Nobody could understand what had just happened! The men, who were watching TV, didn't even care much that Notre Dame and LSU lost. They were just patiently waiting for Sports Center to show hilights from the game... that this would just confirm what a horrible game we just had!!! Until, one of the women spoke up... "Well, should we come and watch next weekend's game against Rice?" Then came... "Hmmm... I don't know. I think I'd rather do some gardening"... "We might just stay home and save the embarassment!" ... "Going to the beach never sounded more appealing!!!"... "I think I'm donating my tickets!"

Rob and I just looked at each other... This HAD NEVER been an option. We've never even considered this. We ALWAYS go to home games... It would break our hearts to miss one. But it has come to this??? Well, let's put it this way... Say you own a business, you know you've failed when your customers are dwindling down and you're starting to see less and less profit... Well, a lot of Boosters are suggesting the same thing... Unless you analyze what's going on and that you drastically change what is causing it, those customers would NEVER return.

Maybe this will work and finally open the Coaches' eyes (the Offensive coaches, for that matter)!!! But Rob and I still haven't decided what to do this weekend... If, for some reason, not a single one of our tailgate buddies will attend, then we might just join Rob's parents at the beach house!!! We'll see...

We're Hiring!!!

I had been appointed, at work, to recruit for our open position... I work for the Florida Auditor General's Office (that's our building above), which is located right next to the Florida Capitol. Basically, we have about 500 employees (90% are CPAs--most of them work in Tallahassee, and some are scattered all over Florida... we have an office in every major Florida city), and then we have the IT section (which is only located in Tallahassee), which is where I work... I started working for the AG, literally, 2 days after graduating from FSU. My mother-in-law, Jana, was the Deputy Auditor General for several years before she retired in 2004.

For the past year and a half, I've been developing applications used by Auditors, mostly with Statewide audits. The office had been using mainframe programming, which is truly ancient (we are hoping to get rid of it by 2010), and so I have been helping with the migration to the new servers (i.e. MS SQL 2005), have been coding the old programs to be ADA compatible, and been translating old applications from ASP to ASP.NET. Because of this, I've also learned Accounting.

On Sept. 29th (Friday), FSU will be having their Fall Seminoles Future (Career Fair), which will be held in the Civic Center for Seniors graduating in December. I will be in the Auditor General booth taking applications and resumes. Also, on Oct. 4th (Wednesday), I will be at the University of West Florida in Pensacola for their Career Fair as well... Please stop by if you are in need of an entry-level position and if you meet the qualifications below...

We are currently looking for a developer or programmer with the following qualifications:
* A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Management Information Systems or Information Science.
* Knowledge in Microsoft SQL, Query Analyzer, Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, ASP, and ASP.NET
* HTML, XML (Other programming languages--i.e. C, C++, C#, Java--a PLUS)
* Excel, MS Access, and ACL version 8
* Windows Operating Systems, particularly Windows XP
* Microsoft Office Suite
* Excellent written skills (for documentations) and verbal skills (for presentations)
* And must be a US citizen or a permanent resident

Working for the AG has been a pleasure... My co-workers are great!!! We have free health, dental and life insurance, unbeatable 401K/retirement plans, Florida pre-paid college program for our children, and a lot more... Click on this link for more info on benefits: http://www.state.fl.us/audgen/pages/empbenefits.htm

So, if you'd like to apply for this position, come see me at the said career fairs or you can download the application form here: http://www.state.fl.us/audgen/pages/pdf_files/empapplication.pdf
and send it to:

The Florida Auditor General
Claude Denson Pepper Building
Room G-74 111 W. Madison St,
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1450

What a weekend!!!

We started off the weekend with a lot of fun... Friday night, we went to the first Downtown Getdown of the season. My mom and dad were supposed to go to the grand re-opening of Beau Rivage in Biloxi on Friday morning, but they've decided to stay home instead. So, Rob and I convinced them to go to the Downtown Getdown with us. They had a ton of activities set up... There were portable rock-wall climbing, rock bands, yummy food stands, basketball booths, bars, and of course a bunch of Seminole fans decked out in Garnet and Gold in a jam-packed Adams street! My mom and I danced all night to some classic beats courtesy of the Acme Rhythm and Blues Band, while my dad and Rob had a one-on-one beer time... Some of the Marching Chiefs were there, as well as the Seminole Cheerleaders. We also saw a bunch of our friends, who stopped by to chat and share a drink or two... We stayed there until almost midnight, when my dad had the munchies. So, we stopped by Pizza Hut on our way home... That was really a lot of fun, so we decided to go again to this coming Friday's Downtown Getdown (with a beach theme), but this time we're bringing more friends with us!

Then, Saturday was the first home game of the season against Troy. I didn't bring my camera because I thought it might rain, so these pictures (to the left and below) are courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat.

The tailgate party was great as usual... Rob and I really missed the food and the company!!! As we were pulling up in our designated parking spot (which by the way was in the stadium VIP parking because Rob's parents are boosters and we hold season tickets), we got really excited at the sight and sound of "tailgating"!!!



Rob's parents ride in their friends' RV everytime we have a home game... So, we had to walk over to the RV parking lot to tailgate...
These are some typical tailgate pics :-) Here, you can see the fans having fun with their Flippy Cup tournaments, which they even have an official referee sitting in the middle... haha!

And then came the game against Troy... Well, I'm speechless!!! The Seminoles won in an unimpressive way, so we'll just see how it goes this weekend against Clemson, whose head coach is Bobby Bowden's son!!! It is one of the biggest games for us this season and always a pleasure to watch as a father goes against his son!

This was one of the highlights of the game... a blocked kick, costing the Trojans a field goal :-)


And here to the right is FSU's biggest game player of the season (so far)... Geno Hayes of Greenville, FL (Madison County), where Rob's cousin Jimmy lives! He has played very well and consistently with both Miami and Troy games!!! He is only a sophomore and yet he has shown great skills... This man is going to make it BIG!!!

So, the game ended pretty early, since kickoff was at 6 pm, and also due to some rule changes in the NCAA... It has something to do with the clock setting and stuff, which makes football games shorter by at least 20 minutes. Well, so far, this has worked to our advantage! So, Go NOLES!!!

On Sunday, Rob and I went to two birthday parties... We went to Rob's cousin, Emily Montford's house at noon for their son, Jake's 3rd birthday!!! I can't believe he's 3 already! I can still remember going to Emily's baby shower like it was yesterday... And now, here's Jake--who looks like Rob when he was a baby!!! There were several pictures of Rob when he was little that looked exactly like Jake, with both their blond hair, blue eyes and all!!! He loves everything John Deere, like his toy in the background and he constantly outsmarts his dad! Like this one time, (FYI, Jake's very hyper) he was playing with his toys and banging on them and what not, so his dad goes "Jake, if you keep playing with your toys like that, we're going to give them to other children who'll take good care of them!"... and Jakes says "But dad, why would you want to give broken toys to other children???"... haha!!! That just made my day!!!... Aahh... that kid is so stinkin' cute and he dresses all preppy and stuff.. such a chick magnet... He is going to be a heart-breaker some day!!!

On Sunday night, we went to Pam and Bill Brewster's house for Savannah's first birthday!!! She is such a darling!!! Here's the only picture I have of her, from my bridal shower... she's sitting on her grandma Pam's lap and being such a good little angel that she is!!! I just love kissing those cheeks... so adorable!!!

Monday, I had to miss work for my citizenship interview... What better day to do it than on the fifth anniversary of 9/11!!! Rob and I drove to Jacksonville... This time, we took my new car, since he's been complaining about all the miles we've put on his BMW during our Miami trip and my car's finally reached 1200 miles (so it's officially been "broken in"), so we can now drive it on the interstate... whoopee!!!

So, I went in for my interview... the lady who interviewed me said that was the shortest interview she's ever done!!! I explained to her that I should have applied for citizenship 4 years ago, but I didn't have the time to do it because of school and wedding plans... so, there I was! I was so proud of myself since it's been a while (in high school) that I took US History and I didn't even study for the interview... well, thanks to AP US History in 11th and AP American Government in 12th grade!!! So, now I just have to wait for a few weeks to get my appointment letter to take my Oath... It looks like, we're going back to Jacksonville in a month or so...

After the interview, Rob and I went to the Landing, ate lunch and did some shopping... Monday night, Rob's team (the Catfish) had another game... Some of his friends' girlfriends, fiancees and wives were there, so we had a little cheering squad going on... I think that our enthusiasm helped them win 12-10!!! So, that's 2-0 for the Catfish so far... and the same goes for our Seminoles!!!

The Catfish

Rob's been playing baseball since he could barely even walk. A couple of years ago, he played on his last baseball league and since then he's been playing on the city softball league... (ha! You can tell he's getting older!!!)

When we got married, my cousin Fr. James officiated... He did a really great sermon and since he's known Rob for years, he felt very comfortable with it... One of the things he said was: "Kerstin loves to dance and Rob loves to play sports... he's very athletic... so, that's a good combination... you guys will have athletic kids who love to dance!!!"... That was funny, but he was so right.

Well, Rob plays basketball in the winter, in the city league with his co-workers representing their company... In the spring and early summer, he gets together with his buddies--most of whom have been friends with him since childhood through Little League baseball--and play city league softball... Well, last Spring, they formed a new team called the "Catfish". That's their logo above!

They didn't do well last season... but like Rob always says, "The game is not as important as the camaraderie!" It's true, in the dugout, they may yell at each other at times... spit on the ground... swing bats angrily against the fence... but in the end--great game or otherwise--they high-five each other, pound fists, do the bird, smack their bellies together while jumping in the air (especially when they win), give "bachelor" hugs, and all the other elaborate hand-shaking that guys made up... (hey, whatever happened to kissing each other on the cheek like European guys do?!?!)

Well, Wednesday night was the Catfish season opener. This time, they are more optimistic. They have gotten rid of the "bad apples" and they whipped their opponent 25-8!!!

Now, my calendar's starting to look like my old wedding planner. I've got Rob's softball games on Mondays, sometimes Wednesdays and Thursdays... I've got Kevin's football games on Friday nights and sometimes Thursday nights... and I've got tailgating parties and FSU games on Saturdays!!! All this, while trying to squeeze in my girls' night-outs, date nights with Rob, dinners with the in-laws and hanging out time with my parents and siblings! I'm loving my life and life is grand... I would not trade it for anything!!!

Rob's next game is Monday... hope the Catfish do as well or even better :-)... But for tonight, we're having our very first downtown get-down party of the season... It's the city-wide pre-game party for the Seminoles' first home game tomorrow!!!

FSU vs. Miami '06.... 13-10!!!

The trip to Miami was so much fun... We left Tallahassee around 7 am on Saturday, Sept. 2nd., stopped at Port St. Lucie for lunch and got to Miami at 2:30 pm... It only took us about 6 hours from Tallahassee to Miami since Rob was driving 100 mph on the FL Turnpike... We didn't have a radar so we were following this guy on a Benz who had one and at one point, Rob was going 120-130 mph!


We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Miami, next to Miami International Airport... Here you can see a picture of the indoor garden from our hotel room floor...




... and here's another one...

When we got there, we took a nap and got ready for the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale... We tried to gamble but all they had were poker tournaments and a ton of slot machines... and to get on the poker tournament, you had to sign up for it which had a 3-hour waiting period... So, we decided to go to the Park Sports Bar to have dinner and watch the Notre Dame game instead...



Here's JB and Rob at the Park while waiting for our table.



Me and JBizzle at the Park...



Watching the Notre Dame game at the Park...



The next day, we went to South Beach... We took turns posing in front of Gianni Versace's mansion... at the exact spot where he was shot!



Here's Jimmy and Rob's re-enactment...



Hanging out at Fridays in South Beach



South Beach posers!!! It rained a lot and this is one of the rare moments when the rain stopped...



Strolling along Ocean Drive...



On 8th and Ocean... MTV's reality TV show on South Beach models :-)



Cocktail hour before FSU's pre-game party



JB's starting to love Amaretto Sour!!!



Me... trying to outdo JB....




But I couldn't outdo my husband!!!



That night, we went to the FSU pre-game party at Firkin and Friar Pub.



The guys... having fun...



Firkin and Friar has several rooms and at least 3 huge bars... We were on the second floor... and all the rooms were packed with Seminole fans!!! We were hanging out with David Castillo, who was FSU's center the last few seasons...



But Jimmy and my brother were hanging out with the famous FSU cowgirls!!!



The next day (game day), the guys worked out to get "pumped up"...



They went swimming, while I relaxed by the pool...




I took pictures while they goofed around in the pool... trying to choreograph some synchronized-swimming routine... ha!



Oh... and they were trying to pose like GQ models too!!!




After swimming, we hung out at the hotel game room... Rob dominated in pool...



And here's JB trying to catch up!!!



We had Pina Coladas before getting "Garnet and Goldenized" for the big game!!!



... and here's our first tailgate party of the season at the Orange Bowl...




They had a bunch of yummy food...



The boys at the FSU Alumni Tailgate Party!!!




The tent quickly filled up (especially when it started pouring!!!)



And finally... it was game time... we made it early enough to watch the players warm up...




Here's JB's version of the "hand chop"...



The ESPN tent was right below us... By the way... Lee Corso, you were WRONG!!!



We didn't do well on the offense, but... man, do we have the BEST defense in the country or what!?!?!?



Jimmy and Rob : "Whoohoo... GO NOLES!!!"



The Seminoles storming the field after defeating Miami!!!!



So, we ended up winning... 13-10... It was such an awesome trip... Can't wait for our next game this weekend against Troy here in Tallahassee... see ya there, Seminoles!!!