The 25th Hour ~karenjcardoza.com~

Getting ready for tonight’s game vs. the 49ers later and wrapping up a busy bye week. Life has been all about school, working out,  and family stuff. Last week, Jake and I met up with Zip, Coach and Web and attended a viewing of The Hall at Patriot Place. It was an awesome visit to the Pats new interactive Hall of Fame.

I finally got the tailgate posted from the Miami game but wasn’t able to podcast this week. I’m hoping to get back into a regular schedule soon however, since we’re heading to San Diego for the second leg of the Pats west coast jaunt, I may not have time before we go.  Too bad I won’t be able to podcast during the long travel day. I will however, get to catch up on some reading and figure I can read at least 2 books during the trip.

Yesterday was the perfect fall day. I got up early, took the girls for a nice long walk and had clothes on the line early to soak up the sunshine and breeze.  I spent the rest of the day doing a super cleaning and putting up my fall decorations. I love the look of fall decor and the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the season.

Right now, I’m just finishing my “Sunday Soup” which not only cleans out my crisper but will provide us with hot lunches this week. I’m also making some eggplant parmesean which I’ll end up freezing for a couple of meals. I really hate to waste food (who doesn’t?…duh) but throwing out organic produce by letting it rot is simply not acceptable. I’ve got a couple of mangoes in there as well that I’ll find something to do with this afternoon too.  Heck, while I’m in the cooking mode, I may even make some freezer meals for later use. It’s a perfect day for it with the cool temps and rain.

Today’s a Boston girl’s sports dream… Pats on at 4:15 then the Red Sox chance to sweep Tampa Bay for the ALDS right after. Since the Dodgers swept and the Sox are a game away, the wheels are already spinning (not that we want to get ahead of ourselves but..) as the thought of a Manny & Torrey vs. Sox World Series is starting to take shape!

For now, I’m getting  back to cooking and soon will be gearing up for the Pats vs. 49ers ready to rebound from the Miami shocker two weeks ago.

Go Pats!!

It’s been an INCREDIBLY busy week and I’m feeling like I’m behind the 8 ball. I’ve yet to produce any content since last Sunday’s home game at Gillette (a game I’d like to forget but a tailgate worth remembering.)  My life has been all about school and meetings this week. Between new RI  IEPs, Alternate Assessment, parent nights, Teacher Support Team and staff meetings, football and dabbling in social media is far from being on the radar.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get somewhat caught up this weekend since it is the bye week and I have an extra 7 days before the next game. I must admit though, during regular (especially home game) weeks, the demands of my job may make it difficult to keep up. I know there are people that look forward to the Tailgate Reports and Podcasts but I can’t make any promises right now.

One of the appointments that I had this week was an invitation to the new Hall at Patriot Place. It was an awesome night and I definitely need to go back when I have more time to actually look at everything and watch all of the multimedia presentations.  It’s a hands on interactive place and is unique and unbelievable.

Part of the issue is that I’m also back to my early morning gym routine and in order to head there before school at 5:00 AM, I really do need to adjust my bed time back to a decent hour so I’m not going to be pulling any late nights at the computer.

I do love my Pats.. but real life is more important.

Although I’ve turned the corner after the Jets game and our sweet 19-10 Cassel-Debut win and am now thinking of the upcoming weekend, I have been talking lots of Pats football all week. Yesterday afternoon, I did an interview with The Producer of Pigskin Pundits and this afternoon I posted my  own current podcast.

I’ve had a super busy week and have needed to take my bike back and forth to school every day because we’re down a car which is in the shop.  I’ve also added going to the gym at 5:00 AM to my repertoire so I think my body is telling me that I need to get more sleep. It’s pretty early, but I’m going to listen and hit the hay as I can barely keep my eyes open.

Good night, kids… and … Go Pats!!

It’s a rainy Sunday morning here in RI (following a nice Saturday night by the firepit) but word out of Jersey is that it’s just muggy at the Meadowlands. Big Al and I are headed up to Zip’s Patriot Shrine in  NH to take in the game with fellow Razor’s Edgers this afternoon. It should be interesting and I’m very excited for this game. With Cassel at the helm, there’s a new sense of urgency in that there are a lot of unknowns today. Gone is that complacency of much of Patriot Nation wondering just how much of a blowout each week will be.  We are a team of 53 and while the QB is different I’m sure that they have prepared well  for the new challenge and are ready to take on Lord Favre and Co.

Chief’s post-game Podcast and Tailgate Report are posted  (finally) so Enjoy!  I’m hoping to get on a more regular schedule from this week out and will try to stick with it.  Fall is traditionally my busiest time of the year so I need to plan and budget my time wisely.

For now, we’re heading out to dinner with my Mom then making the trek North to cheer our boys to Victory!

Go Pats!!!

Yesterday was the Patriots season opener and our tailgate worries were for naught as it went off without a hitch. (More on that later this week…) I’m totally swamped tonight so the update to the website and tailgate report will have to wait, but here’s the flickr set of pics that I just uploaded.

Of course, everyone who has access to any type of media already knows that Tom Brady was injured yesterday and is done for the season. Yes… losing Brady to injury is every Pats fan’s worst nightmare.  It’s a devastating blow and things will certainly be different this year without our star quarterback but we ARE a team of 53 with an awesome coaching staff and I for one have not given up the faith.

Updates will be coming throughout the week.

Go Pats!!

Calm before the storm & tailgate prep.Very muggy awaiting Hanna and getting ready for tomorrow’s Patriots tailgate.

Camp! 

Today’s report. Today’s podcast.

Last night…

I was totally stressed out looking at my huge To Do list with little time to pull it all off. At the beginning of the week, I tackled our spare room in the basement and worked for 12 hours decluttering and cleaning. I knew I still had training camp ahead of me all week and also need to go to school to set up my classroom.

In the meantime my son decided that he wanted to paint his room,  so in addition to helping him, my house was a disaster during the remodel and it drove me nuts. I had camp all week, which also meant website updates, training camp reports and nightly podcasting. Last night, I was getting worked up trying to come up with a plan to do it all.

Today…

I got up early this morning, headed out to Target with Jake to get new bedding and curtains and helped him finish off that room. When I got to camp today, they said that they added another practice (Friday, 8/15 from 12-2)  I definitely can’t make that one as I already have 3 appointments scheduled for Friday.  So, since tomorrow is my only day that I can make it to school, I’m not going to tomorrow’s, 2:30 session either. (Since my perfect streak will be broken anyway on Friday, it’s almost easier to not go tomorrow now too and do the right thing by getting in that room.)

Tonight…

I came home, wrote my final training camp report, spent a few hours getting my house back in order, balanced my checkbook, did my online banking,  and recorded my final training camp podcast. Knowing that they’re in the bag (and that I have no more to do)  has lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. And, if I can set up most of my room before I head out for vacation, I’ll have no worries about that next week either and can truly relax.

“Tomorrow”

My daughter already asked about painting her room but that baby will have to wait until Labor Day weekend. I’ve still got tons to do before I leave but at least the “major” things will be behind me.