And here we are in San Francisco!

This is particularly true today. Today my Mom moves out of our childhood home, the place that I grew up in. Yesterday was sad, very sad. I cried all the car journey home. Back to my two bedroom flat in the City Centre. That place has seen all the ups and downs, of us four people, for the last thirty years. I drove home remembering electronics sets, exotic sweeties from Miami, crying on my bed with all that teenage angst, family parties, Christmasses, marble runs in the garden, dens, my Dad’s last moments in that house, telling my Mom I needed to move out. The last thirty years passed before me on that car journey home.

But look what moving out did for me! I moved out in June 2010. I started to get – happier. Eventually I got out of a horrible relationship with a man who treated me like his cat, like I was nothing more than a nuisance around his feet. I went to more meetups, spoke more Spanish and French than ever before, rekindled friendships I’d lost in the intense depression of that house after my Dad died.

“And here we are in San Francisco.” – as we sat in that Irish pub one night at New Year, each couple telling our stories of how we met. Without my twenty-seven years of living there, I would not be where I am now. Good-bye house.

Top 5 NFL Bad Boys

So today’s Daily Prompt is about breaking the rules. I’ve done a lot of minor things, forgot to pay for things in shops, ran a red light, marijuana yoghurt. I think the most, was when I was 15, I once climbed a gate and trespassed on a Spanish football pitch for a bit of a party. The security guard came and we all ran as fast as we could back to the gate, it felt exhilarating!

Here is my Top 5 NFL rule breakers off the pitch ::

5. Name : Ryan Leaf Current Team: In Prison (Retired from Seattle Seahawks) Crimes : Drug abuse, burglary

Imprisoned in 2012 for burglary, theft, and possession of dangerous drugs. Stealing prescription painkillers, cancer whether benign or malignant does thing to you. Still – not cool Mr Ryan Leaf.

4. Name : Plaxico Burress Current Team: Pitsburgh Steelers Crimes : Unlawful carrying of a handgun, dangerous driving, writing off a lease-car

Old Plaxico wins on variety of crimes, injuring a woman by dangerous driving, he was also leased a car in return for a publicity contract for a garage, but basically wrote off the car and didn’t bother to turn for up any publicity events. The most serious though is this handgun business, it was just tucked into his jeans, started sliding down his leg and as he tried to save it, accidentally pulled the trigger and shot himself. The hospital didn’t alert the police as per normal practice for this, and they found out his gun license had expired three days previously to the incident, so, off to prison he went…

3. Name : Michael Vick Current Team: Philadelphia Eagles Crimes : Supply of banned substances, marijuana use, dog fighting (28.08.2013 WordPress can no longer find my photo)

There appears to be a ring in the NFL. Seventy dogs were seized in 2007 at Vick’s home in Virginia. High-stakes gambling, end cruel execution of dogs were reported to have been carried out in the name of sport – needless to say he was sent to prison.

2. Name : Ray Lewis Current Team: Baltimore Ravens Crimes : Murder

Back in 2000, Lewis and some friends started a fight at a party in which two people were stabbed and killed. The suit he was wearing that night was never found, which all points to guilty – but then he basically sold his friends out saying they did it, in exchange for murder charges being dropped against him. Dirty bastard.

1. Name : Rae Carruth Current Team: In Prison (Carolina Panthers) Crimes : Murder, murder, murder

This guy is the worst, in my opinion. In 1999 he hired a hit man to kill his girlfriend and their unborn child. Cherica Adams was shot four times from a parked car by a hitman. She survived and told the police everything, then fell into a coma, and the baby is born by caesarian, with cerebal palsy. Carruth then pays a 3M USD bail out, on the condition of Cherica or the baby dying. So a month later she dies – at this point Carruth, this low life shit of shits, goes on the run! Found in the boot of a car outside some motel, apparently hiding in his car for days. He was charged but spared the death penalty, because he didn’t deal the fated blow himself. All because, apparently, she she refused to abort his baby.

Ok I did a bit of research on this, mainly Wikipedia, and this blog here : Bleacher Report. And oh my god there are so many bad boys in the NFL!  Also worthy of note are :

• Travis Henry – Drug trafficking. Katherine: What about – Travis Henry? Daniel: He used to play for the Broncos Katherincita. That is different. What did he do I can’t remember? – Cocaine, actually, Daniel, cocaine…
• Bill Romanowski – Head-butting, punching. Not only off pitch too, he ripped off the Raiders’ Marcus Williams’ helmet in 2003, and punched him so hard it crushed his eye. They were on the same team! Roid Rage or not, this guy is a first class knob.
• Shawne Merriman – Domestic Violence. In 2009 he was charged for choking and imprisoning his former girlfriend at his own home.
• Albert Haynesworth – Fighting. Another one to throw his fists around too easily.
• Donté Stallworth – Manslaughter. Apparently drunk driving, speeding, flashed his lights to warn him (which in this country means, go and thank you), and ploughed into him anyway. He killed a construction worker on his way home. Oh dear Donté Stallworth.

A Thank You to The Broncos Fans (The Ravens are Bastards)

So, Pat Bowlen, owner of the Broncos has certainly got his head screwed on. I actually found this letter at ieric82‘s blog. Look at this, the owner is saying thank you to the grass-roots supporters. Now this lovely big Thank  You might be touching a raw nerve with me for other reasons Pat Bowlen, but I think it’s just what we need more of this this world – appreciation to those who support a cause or a team or a project – on a individual level.

Being on holiday

Following Sunday’s Daily Prompt, I kind of did walk into my flat for the first time on Saturday – and I’d say that someone very house-proud lived there. It was tidy, smelt clean, and hardly looked lived in. I get really freakishly nervous about leaving it tidy when I go on holiday. I just hate the idea of coming back to a mess, I cleaned everything – except the spare room. I left that – because I can just close the door.

But it’s funny how being away for a long time can leave you with a different perception of where you live. For example, I was at my Mom’s house for a week, then in San Francisco for a week, then in Mexico for a week. You forget little things, like whether we left the light on or whether I did put the timer switch on – did I do the washing up, or did my Mom make herself a coffee while she was checking the flat for us? I couldn’t remember where I’d put stuff, because I’d put in different places than usual because it was going to be empty for three weeks, where are my front door keys? My car key? The external hard drives? Because let’s face it, you’re not exactly going to walk into the room knowing nothing about the people that live there unless you are a robber…

The table is spotless, that’s not normal, usually it’s covered in post, magazines, our phones and anything else we can’t be bothered to put in it’s proper place when we’ve finished with it. Then there’s nothing in the fridge except margarine, jam and a few onions – classic sign of an uninhabited house. So we popped to Marks for our usual Sunday Night Game snacks – pre-prepared sandwiches and crisps. Daniel smothers his with Valentina salsa from Mexico, bleugh!

But hey, I proper love being on holiday!

Cardinals at 49ers – Top 5 moments

5.  The walk. We parked quite far away, so had to walk through the crowds and soak up the atmosphere. By the time we arrived we proper smelt of barbecue smoke, and didn’t buy a hundred t-shirts. Wish I’d bought a flag on the way though… Anyway, in 2014 the 49ers are moving to a new stadium even further outside the city, we saw the building site a few days later in the way to the outlet at Milpitas, at the moment though they play at Candlestick Park ::

4. We get the tickets, exciting times! No different to any other tickets, they scan them and check your bag and you’re golden. Make sure you have cash, and your ID with you though, because I (at nearly 30) got ID’d for buying two Coors Lights, at $18.00 (£11.00). Another tip – get in early, the queues for the shop and the bar were enormous.

3. Play starts. And goes on for hours. Seriously. Three hours. The photo below is the touchdown celebration in the 2nd quarter. Again, I’m sure my Mexican got fed up with all the questions, and it’s a lot more difficult to keep an eye on what’s happening without the TV drawing the lines on for you. You need to keep a careful eye on the men with the bright orange markers, or as I call them – the Lollipop Men.

2. The teddybears come out! Daniel’s dad bought us girls a teddy each, cue distraction! At least it was sunny 🙂

 

1. The score. They won, the 49ers won. I know I was only a fan for a day, but I was genuinely pleased that they won. A fantastic day out, and I managed to stay awake for it. They actually won 27-13, after the Broncos won against the Kansas City Chiefs, putting both the 49ers and the Broncos top of their divisions, and through to the play-offs. We then went to the Olive Garden to watch the Dallas Cowboys game, who lost and out of theplay-offs unfortunately, but it was a brilliant day all round.

Caridnals at 49ers – A Sneak Peek

Well I’m currently in Mexico, getting ready to go out, but here’s a sneak peek at what I did in San Francisco!!