Thanksgiving 2010

This year we had Keeper's family come out to visit us. Corbin and Gayle arrived Tuesday night and we spent a few days catching up and relaxing. Keeper had a clinic shift Wednesday afternoon and I had to go to school on Wednesday morning, so our guests just relaxed most of the day (although Keeper took them hiking in the morning). We later met up with some relocated New Yorkers that Corbin knew at the market/wine bar/coffee shop where they hold the central Phoenix farmer's market. It was a cute little space (I had never been to the indoor part-- only the outdoor farmer's market) and we tried 2 flights of all Arizona wines. We eventually found one worth buying a bottle of :)


Thursday we had a gourmet feast at our house. We had roasted red pepper & tomato soup, caramelized onion and apple fritters, beer-brined roast turkey, sweet potatoes & granny smith apples topped with bourban-glazed pecans, sourdough & sausage stuffing, and pumpkin ravioli. Everything was delicious. We had to head out to watch the Jets game on TV since Keeper and I don't get the NFL network but luckily a few places are walkable from our house. After the game, we came home for dessert: apple butter pumpkin pie and cranberry-swirl cheesecake.

Friday was spent mostly relaxing. We met up with our friends for brunch at Scramble and then took Corbin and Gayle to the Japenese Friendship Garden in downton Phoenix. Props to Keeper (and the Yelp reviews he read) for finding this place. It was very beautiful and hidden in the middle of a downtown park. Friday night we enjoyed the gourmet leftovers and watched Elf to get us in the Christmas spirit. Saturday was a hike in the desert, a lunch of leftovers, and then Keeper dropped his family off at the airport.

NC XC 2010

Here's to the end of another great cross country season...

There were many ups & downs but overall, I love those kids and have so much fun (and work so hard!) coaching and running with them. We spend so much time together, I really do feel like they are my "children". I definitely had a better girls' team this year. We had more talent (and more girls overall), however the struggle this year was getting everyone in the same competitive mode. My number 3 runner suffered a stress fracture early in the season and ended up only racing once with us which was a huge disappointment. My 2 seniors stepped it big time and had great seasons. My underclassmen, although great girls, were a little disappointing in the commitment area. We had girls playing club soccer during cross country season and so a few Saturdays were missed and I could tell they were tired by the end of the season. My freshmen just need to toughen up a little bit and I am sure they will develop into great, great runners. It is bittersweet to me, being only my second cross country season as a coach and it is my last at North Canyon. I think if I had another few seasons with them, we could be really really good. I am excited for our end-of-season banquet coming up this week!!