Thursday This, That and Those ZAG-inflicted Near Cardiac Arrests!

The Twelfth Man in Seattle has been known to cause earthquakes.  It's been documented on seis-monitors. 

Well, I think easily more than 12 men AND women throughout the ZAG Nation probably sent EKG needles off the charts last night. 

After the game, where Sam Dower redeemed himself (after causing a 4-point play with a foul) with a clutch 3-pointer in the last 2 seconds, my phone rang.

"Sorry, I can't talk.  I'm recovering from a near heart attack," I told my friend Monty.  

I have a feeling that after the buzzer sounded and ZAGS fans checked their pulse and found out they truly did live through that squeaker, hundreds of phones rang and lots of "WHEW's" were exchanged. 

I don't know if I can live through another, but I have a feeling the ZAGS will keep their fans' hearts fluttering for most upcoming games. 

They won.  Thank God.  And, they're now 19-3.  

Now that I know my heart is still working, I can go back to blowing my nose for a couple of days until the next ZAGS game with San Francisco.

In other news, as a proud mother, I want to share a Facebook post by my daughter Annie. We all know how lucky she feels to have the job she has, and yesterday, she took stock on her seventh anniversary at Groundspeak, Inc., home of the geocaching.com website. 

It's truly gratifying and refreshing to see such job satisfaction, especially when it's one of your own:  

from Annie:  As of today, I've worked at Geocaching.com for 7 years! I still have to pinch myself when I think about the fact that I work here. Still loving it! Because of or inspired by my job/geocaching I have....

-Had countless "thumbs up" moments
-Climbed Mt. Rainier
-Jumped into a car with people I've never met to go caching
-Joined a softball team (Go Slackeys!)
-Completed the ET Highway
-Added some fun new stamps to my passport
-Found the highest cache in Ireland
-Gone for a hike with a nearly complete stranger to find a T5 cache
-Competed at the Wild Canyon Games three times
-Made a zillion new friends all over the world
-Ridden a camel in Morocco
-Climbed up a tank named "Battling Annie" for a photo op
-Learned how to hook up a keg
-Attended the Kansas State Fair
-Added "hamster voice over work" to my resume
-Biked around Lisbon in the middle of the night with nearly 200 other geocachers
-Improved my product photography skills
-Learned a little German
-Written a regular column for a Portuguese geocaching magazine
-Had the privilege to work with an amazing group of people

I feel truly lucky. Can't wait to see what the next 7 years holds!

As a retiree and parent, I have to say that Annie, Willie and Debbie all inspire me as they work through their careers and continue to make a positive difference wherever they happen to be. Their professional activities continue get my jets going,  so to speak. 

Well, we had a nice deposit of snow yesterday, so some winter photos were in order.  It looks like the ground cover will hang around for a while. I'm just hoping we don't have to deal with more ice to go with it. 

I went "splat" on a hidden slick spot yesterday while walking down the road, shooting pictures.  

Fortunately, like trees falling in the forest, nobody was there so nobody heard or saw the impact.

So, I just got up and kept on walking and taking pictures---with a little more care. I also peeled apples, and that made some horses mighty happy.   Enjoy.