Fri. & Sat., May 12 & 13, 2023
The past two days have been a delight as I had Laurie by my side for most of it.
It all started on Friday as she joined me on my visit to my Mother.
First though, as has become my custom, we headed to Highland Park for lunch before our visit, but to which hole-in-the-wall food emporium?
If you have been following this blog recently, then you know of my quest to eat at least once in every single one of the wondrous dining spots that this culinary gem of a city has to offer.
Laurie wanted a hamburger over any of my possible Mexican spots, so we were off to . . .
The Goldburger
5623 York Blvd., Huntington Park
On the left is my delicious Goldburger with pastrami and on the right is Laurie's traditional Goldburger. We shared the fries and washed it all down with some sparkling mineral water.
With Laurie's first bite she instantly became a Goldburger Believer of the first order. Truth be told, she had no say in the matter, the Goldburger is simply magical.
On to Pasadena and the Dominoes Tournament . . .
My Mother was high on Ginger Ale
as she again employed her
"Take No Prisoners" approach
It was a brutal third day of play as she again trounced me both in games (18-11) and in points (341-214).
The disastrous last three days of Dominoes saw her beat me like the proverbial drum. Her trio of victorious visits with me brought her total victory margins of 48-31 in games and 866-453 in points.
I need help from a Dominoes guru before we resume play next Wednesday. Does anyone have one that they can recommend?
While we were having fun celebrating an early Mothers Day with my Mom, there was a graduating ceremony going on at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA.
That's our daughter-in-law!
Vanessa was receiving a
Masters Degree in Educational Leadership
This was actually Vanessa's third Masters Degree from CLU!
Her first Masters was in the field of Counseling and Guidance and her second was in Education.
With family in attendance, they were one proud and happy group to be sure, as are we.
After visiting my Mom, Laurie and
I headed to Dodger Stadium thanks
yet again to the graciousness of
Paul and Joanne Sabolic
They were babysitting their new grandson and thus could not attend the game so they let us have their tickets.
THANK YOU!
We came early to 62 year old
"Blue Heaven on Earth"
I was in the Sixth Grade when the
Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox
four games to two
Dodgers' relief pitcher Larry Sherry, who had a hand in all four L.A. victories, was named the World Series MVP in winning two games and getting credited with saves twice.
I loved my "Larry Sherry Pitch Back Screen" that was all the rage the following Spring.
Laurie would normally have
have a Dodger Dog right about
now but was still too full from her
Goldburger Combo at lunch
The view of Dodger Stadium
from Center Field
Laurie by the statue of everyone's
favorite 1960s Dodger, Sandy Koufax
Color Barrier Breaker Jackie Robinson
stealing Home against the Yankees
Again, GRACIAS for these
fantastic seats Paul and Joanne!
Dustin May's first pitch of the game to
the San Diego Padres Fernando Tatis Jr.
The Dodgers-Padres rivalry has really heated up the last few seasons, so the fans were vocal in their displeasure with the Padres in general and with perceived villains Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Manny Machado in particular.
The Dodgers entered the game in First Place in the National League West with a 23-15 record. The Padres were in third place in the NL West with a disappointing 19-19 mark on the season.
DODGERS WIN!
It was a good night as always at Dodger Stadium shared with my young bride.
Because of the hectic time schedule that all families face on any holiday/special day like Sunday's Mothers Day, we met with Michael, Vanessa, Jacob and Mary on Saturday at our house for an early tribute to Laurie and Vanessa.
All Laurie wanted was an In-N-Out burger for lunch. Laurie's wish was our command.
No, not their 100 x 100 burger
consisting of 100 patties and
100 slices of cheese
We ordered regular, single patty cheeseburgers for the kids and the ladies while Michael and I dined on In-N-Out's signature Double-Double cheeseburgers with grilled onions.
Some of us had fries and shakes of all flavors, as well.
I think that Laurie was happy with both her much desired meal and to have all of us with her.
Jacob, Vanessa and Mary
What do the kids have now?
A simple story really. During my many recent visits to Highland Park, I discovered Galco's Soda Pop Stop, active since 1897.
Amongst the many bottled soda pops, beers and wines that they sell, there is also a section with vintage kids toys such as the fascinating Jacob's Ladder that I gave to the kids last week.
Knowing how both Mary and Jacob like music, I opted to buy them each an ancient musical instrument found at Galco's on Friday.
What was that mysterious instrument you ask?
Why a Neato Classics Metal Kazoo, of course. The Neato box's proclamation that "It's a Hum Dinger!" was spot on.
Mary, Michael, Jacob and
their Gigi
There are those pesky
Kazoos yet again!
The kids are both Kazoo prodigies as near as I can tell after just one afternoon, such talent on this difficult instrument!
On to American Football news . . .
Our old friend Diego Renteria
passed this on to me
New football Refs are needed in the Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties area for the upcoming season. It is a difficult and necessary job that the game can not survive with competent people.
IsraBowl XVI
The Ramat HaSharon Hammers
played in the Israeli Semi-Final
Playoff Game Thursday night
Our friend on the Hammers, Elad Ohanna, gladly let me know that the Hammers are heading to IsraBowl XVI after dominating the Jerusalem Lions, 54-12, on Thursday night.
The other Semi-Final winner was the
Tel Aviv Pioneers
They dispatched the Haifa Underdogs/Carmel Dogs by an unknown score to earn a slot in the title contest.
IsraBowl XVI is now set
Ramat HaSharon Hammers (8-1)
vs.
Tel Aviv Pioneers (7-2)
This is a rematch of last year's IsraBowl XV won by the Hammers 18-14, should be a good one again I believe.
It Italy this weekend there were only two games on the schedule.
Make that one game . . .
. . . and the Skorpions are in it on Sunday!
The reason for the paucity of IFL contests is that two of Italy's traditionally top teams, the Parma Panthers and Firenze Guelfi, have games in the Central European Football Game.
The what?
The CEFL has for years brought together the top teams in Europe for a Spring/Summer tournament that always interferes with everyones national league play.
No clubs from the European League of Football, the Continent's toughest circuit, were entered in the CEFL Tournament.
These were the dozen teams in
the 2023 CEFL field:
Belgrade Vukovi, Serbia
Budapest Wolves, Hungary
Calanda Broncos, Switzerland
Firenze Guelfi, Italy
Kuopio Steelers, Finland
Las Rozas Black Demons, Spain
Le Courneuve Flash, France
Osos Rivas, Spain
Parma Panthers, Italy
Schwäbisch Unicorns, Germany
Stockholm Mean Machine, Sweden
Thonon Black Panthers, France
These were the results of the opening round of competitive games a few weeks ago in the single elimination CEFL Tournament:
Belgrade Vukovi 48 - Budapest Wolves 38
Thonon Black Panthers 35 - Calanda Broncos 28
Stockholm Mean Machine 31 - Kuopio Steelers 28
Las Rozas Black Demons 22 - Osos Rivas 13
BYES: Firenze Guelfi, La Courneuve Flash,
Parma Panthers and Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns
Here are the results of Saturday's CEFL Quarter-Finals Tournament games:
Italy's Parma Panther came from
behind to defeat Serbia's Belgrade Vukovi
France's Thonon Black Panthers
got the best of Italy's Firenze Guelfi
edged Sweden's Stockholm Mean Machine
France's La Courneuve Flash outlasted
Spain's Las Rozas Black Demons, 25-14
It was definitely a good pair of days on many levels.
Now if our beloved 3-3 Varese Skorpions can just find a way to beat the 4-2 Ancona Dolphins on Sunday . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment