Firefighter Charity Auction

The local IAFF auctioned off dates with a total of 15 single and hot, hot, hot firefighters to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This one brought in the highest bid at $750. How can one deny supporting such a good cause after all? :)

My New Florida Digs

In a strange near full circle moment I am living in Shelley's old place. I love it especially the private patio and hammock in the screen room! The boys LOVE the screen room for sure... it's the closest they get to being outside. :)

Moving To Florida

Wow, it's been forever since I posted! Busy summer between working, playing sports, studying for the CPA exam, and preparing for the big move. Here are a couple pics of the packing up... no pics of the actual arrival since it was 12:30 AM on 9/1/09 when we arrived and we were looking pretty cranky and tired. :)

Thanks bunches to everyone who helped me make this HUGE life changing event a success!

Lemieux and the mess of boxes.

Adam, me, Brian, Sean, and a jam packed U-Haul!

Volunteer Day

Steve, me, Tyler, Abby, and Patrick

A group of us from work volunteered on 6/5/09 for the annual United Way's Day of Action. Our group was assigned landscaping and general yard cleanup at the Catholic Services building and boy did it need it! CS does not have outdoor maintenance in their small budget so they rely on volunteers to help and we rose to the occasion! It was a beautiful day for it - 75ish, low humidity, and sunny. We had a lot of fun and accomplished all of our tasks in four short hours. The CS employees were impressed and very appreciative of our work. Great job everyone!

I liked planting the flowers.

That's the only thing I miss about home ownership.

Time to Snuggle, Mom

Lemieux climbs up on my printer when he wants me to stop working and start paying more attention to him. Awwww!

Yep, That's My Boy

Here is Gretzky watching a Stanley Cup finals game between the Pens and Wings. He's a chip off the ole block. :)

What I Did On Vacation

Took Shelley's Harley for a spin.

Partied at Shelley's with old and new friends. This is my new friend, Jordan.



Took a swim because I was hot from dancing. Yes, I am wearing my regular clothes. What do you expect after countless jello shots? lol







Played Scrabble, ate cuban food, and listened to live music with Shelley, Vikki, and friends.

DDN Video About GCRG

http://www.daytondailynews.com/photos-video/videos/?bcpid=8883557001&bclid=1459331347&bctid=21823048001

It's Over!

Tax season is over and I am enjoying the start of my long weekend. I have only fun things planned for the next four days - watch some movies, snuggle with my neglected furry children, take walks in the sunshine, and play some roller derby. I should feel human again by Monday morning. :)

21 days and counting...

... till I have a life again. I wish tomorrow was April 16! Oooooo.... then my next bout would only be three days away as well. Hmmm.... actually April is going to be a great month between seeing Paul Thorn at Canal Street Tavern on April 3, Shelley visiting again April 3-6, tax season ending April 15, my next roller derby bout on April 19, and then heading to Florida on April 29. OK, all is well in my head again. :)

GCRG vs B&BG 3/15/09

Thanks to sister Shelley for shooting the vid and posting to YouTube. The second clip is my favorite because I am playing blocker rather than jammer. I am wearing the purple helmet cover. I made it my goal to hit their jammer on every lap. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op7fhduAEtU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZixJH2AaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPPiU7HW-Gk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suiDq6kKaio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XXs1Zjp_oA

A Trip To the Penalty Box. Oops!

Photo taken by Earl Sod. Thanks for sharing it! :)

Quick Post...

... from a tired girl. What a day! Roller derby in the morning followed by partying at Bar Louie with the girls followed by a tennis match with the boys. Then, I was offered a Harley ride by a very cute 20something (Hi Brian!) and of course accepted! That plus all day fun with family and friends. Life is good! Thanks to EVERYONE who came out to watch my bout today. I definitely had the largest fan club there, but wow what a turnout overall. Kudos and special thanks to Shelley for traveling and braving the Ohio cold weather just to see her little sister in her first roller derby bout. Unfortunately, GCRG lost but it sure was fun and yet another experience for my history book. :)

Shelley took lots of cool pix and shot some video which will be posted when she gets back to Florida so check back soon!

March 15 Bout Details

Who: GCRG vs BNBG
What: Kickass roller derby!
Where: Skateworld of Kettering on E. David Road
When: Sunday, March 15, 2009
Why: Because I can!
How: Get your lazy booty in the car and drive over!

- Doors open at 10:30 a.m. Game will be approx. 11a-1p
- GCRG merchandise for sale

April 19 Bout

Looks like the Ohio Rollergirls from Columbus are coming to D-town to play us on April 19 at our rink, Skateworld of Kettering. Of the 20 GCRG girls that were chosen for the April - June season, only 14 can be put on the roster for this bout. I found out today that I am on the roster of 14 so YAY me! :)

Here are pics of my practice/scrimmage jersey for those who have asked about it. We have white ones with black print also. Our bouting jerseys are purple (yes, purple) with white stripes on the sleeves.

Team Name Change

Apparently there were many girls who didn't like the team name chosen so we decided to vote again using the top two names... Roughhouse Rubies and Pistol Whips. Suffice it to say that my new post-game statement will be... "Damn, we really pistol whipped those derby wenches!"

Come Check It Out!

Roughhouse Rubies It Is

Thanks to everyone.... uh... I mean.... thanks to Shelley for voting. :)

I actually liked Pistol Whips the best because a whip is a derby "move" so that team name had a play on words too. RHR was my second choice though. Honestly, I don't care what we're called as long as I don't have to wear a pink t-shirt and get my ass kicked by a Canadian. :)

Time To Vote!

Today, Calculating Beetch (that's me!), was officially added to the roster of 20 players for the Apr - Jun 2009 bouting session. Yay! The bouting season is divided into two sessions btw - the second session runs Jul - Sept 2009. Our first scrimmage is March 15 and our first official bout is April 19. No specific details on locations, times, etc. yet - I will post those as soon as I know.

So, now that we have a roster we need a team name! FYI, the Gem City Rollergirls is a league and anyone who pays their monthly dues is a league member. The bouting team is chosen by our coach, Harry Brawls, (bah ha ha!) based on abilities displayed during practice, dedication to the league, and the desire to kick some derby girl ass. After the roster of 20 is known, the girls select a team name which sets them apart from the league's general population. A completely different roster can be chosen for the second session... being on the first session roster does not guarantee that I will make the second one so I will have to work hard to keep some other chickie from taking my spot! Who knew derby was so complicated? lol Anyway, the more creative girls (this does not include me) have been brainstorming on our GCRG forum and have narrowed our team name down to these three choices:

(1) Molotov Bombshells
(2) Roughhouse Rubies
(3) Pistol Whips

I think I know which one I will be choosing. I am just curious what everyone else thinks so please let me know which one you like. :)

It's Official!

I passed the final tryouts tonight so I have now achieved skater level status with the Gem City Rollergirls! This means that I will be added to the roster of 20 skaters who can compete in the bouts that will begin in April. Yayyyy!!!! It has been a grueling 8 weeks of practices and tryouts, especially with my work schedule, so I am pretty damn proud of myself! Check here or your email for updates on scheduled scrimmages and bouts.

Oh, and I chose "Calculating Bitch" for my skater name. The geek accountant/comic in me could not resist. LOL However, since it's a family-friendly league I have to use Beetch instead which is Ok with me. My number will be "10-Key". This is a calculator in accountant speak for those who don't know. :)

CAN-AM Broomball Tournament

The Dayton men's and women's broomball teams traveled to Syracuse, NY to play in the 25th annual CAN-AM Broomball Tournament from January 9-11, 2009. I have been playing broomball for 2-3 years in recreation leagues... it is not a big sport in Dayton so no one really takes it that seriously. So, we went to Syracuse thinking it would be similar to our league play. Little did we know that the Canadians take broomball VERY seriously! Us girls showed up all smiles in our pink t-shirts and mismatched equipment, but the Canadian girls showed up looking very serious along with perfectly matched uniforms (hockey jerseys NOT t-shirts), premium equipment, and coaches! They looked very well fed also. :)

I am in the back row on the far left.

The only one not smiling.

I didn't like getting my ass kicked all day long. LOL

We were guaranteed three games on Saturday... good thing so we could at least get our money's worth. The Canadians were well-practiced and well-coached and schooled us!! We lost 4-0, 5-0, and 2-0 and obviously did not advance to Sunday's finals. The men lost every game as well, but they at least scored a goal. I don't think we even had a shot on goal. Oh well! It was fun, something cool for the blog, and yet another interesting life experience so I don't look back and ask "what if?" when I am old and gray(er).

My good friend, Phil "Block Cheese" Cheesebrough is the goalie

for the men's team. He made some amazing saves during the

tourney. Those shooters were relentless!

Roller Derby Update

I passed the first round of skater evals tonight which means I am now considered a Recruit (rather than a Newbie) and just one step away from being a full-fledged Gem City Rollergirl. Yayyyy! I am very tired and sore from the major amount of skating and hitting tonight, but I scored 100% on the evals and was complimented on how hard I hit so it was worth the effort! Not too bad considering I am the oldest chickie on the track. Anyway, this new development means that I MUST pick a name this month because I have to register it right after I pass the second round of skater evals in early February. I guess I better get my brain in gear.

Florida Vacation

I had a great vacation!!! I soooooo needed one to recover from a crazy-busy 2008 plus a break from the cold weather and dreary grey skies in Dayton is always wonderful. A dose of time with my fun sister along with the beautiful Florida weather was just the right combo. We went to the theatre, threw out beads in the Outback Bowl Parade, lazed on the beach, partied at Skipper's Smokehouse on NYE, played Scrabble and Boggle, visited a greyhound farm, cruised around in the Miata, and did lots of chit chatting. Shelley's blog has better descriptions of the major events since she is the creative talent in the family. My talent is performing basic arithmetic and separating the numbers into columns. hehe Anywho, I am refreshed, relaxed, and ready to kick some ass in 2009!


Me, Shelley, and Liz on NYE at Skipper's. The party had a retro theme and featured bands playing songs from 1968. Awesome sing-along tuneage! In keeping with the theme, I put a few braids in my hair, Shelley donned a retro hat, and Liz wore tye dye.