2020

Archive for the year 2020

Thanksgiving Day Zumba

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Ching under Zumba.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Zumba class outside of my own classes. My free time is mostly spent playing pickleball these days. I had a rare opportunity to attend Zumba on Thanksgiving Day. I decided to go to South YMCA where Melissa, Todd, and Brynden were hosting the Zumba party.

It was great to see everyone. I hadn’t seen these guys in forever and I’d almost forgotten how much fun it is to take someone else’s class.

We did a “family” picture at the end and also a fun shoe pic before we all went our separate ways. I miss these guys so much. It was great to see them.

The Zumba dance party was the perfect way to start Thanksgiving Day. Besides starting the day with Zumba, there wasn’t much that was normal about this Thanksgiving. Usually we have grandma at our house for lunch and then we play ten rounds of Phase 10. With COVID and everything, she couldn’t come over. Instead Brian made food and brought it to her.

We didn’t make traditional Thanksgiving Day food either because Brian and I aren’t really turkey fans (I prefer ham). We just had some salmon and packed some up for grandma. So basically Thanksgiving Day wasn’t different than any other day. It was nice to have the break from work and we used the opportunity to get our Christmas decorations out, which is nice because we didn’t even decorate last year.

We also had time to go out Rolling Hills to play pickleball with Bruce, Ben, Jeremy, Amy, and Cathy. It was a great group and a beautiful day for pickleball. That pretty much sums up our Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Until next time. GNG.

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Saturday Morning Pickleball Group

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Ching under Hobbies.

KaSanda Gehrke was in town last weekend and was nice enough to play with us. We had three courts for the first time ever.

Normally, we only have eight players on two courts on Saturday mornings. The winners of each court then play against each other, while the losers play against each other with the teams splitting at each rotation. Last weekend we finally got to have a “real” Queen of Courts with twelve players on three courts. Partners still split with each rotation but winners move up and losers move down.

Of course, KaSandra was at top court the entire time and we all just took turns playing with her as we moved up to the winner court. She was super nice and it was a lot of fun. Can’t wait until her next visit.

That same morning, Janelle gave me these awesome pickleball earrings. She told me it was a “belated” birthday present but Brian said it was because she hit his balls during the clinic with Lauren. I told Brian in that case, she needs to hit him again because I want the matching necklace. LOL.

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Pickleball Clinic at Chicken N Pickle

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.

Brian attended his first pickleball clinic at Chicken N Pickle last week. The clinic was taught by the beautiful and talented Lauren Stratman who plays for Team Electrum with Patrick Smith and others.

Since I am a huge fan, Brian took my dud Electrum paddle that I don’t play with and got it autographed. Now I really cannot play with it because I don’t want to mess up the signature.

I would have attended the clinic myself but I had a meeting until 5:30 PM that night. I also committed to playing with Bruce at Rolling Hills Country Club and I’d been wanting to check out their new pickleball courts. The courts are beautiful but super hard to find. I actually got lost trying to get there. The courts are tucked behind an apartment complex and super hard to find if you’ve never been there and completely impossible to find at night. Thankfully, Bruce came out to the street to get me. Here are some pictures from that night.

The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful night for playing.

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New League Session is Here

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Ching under Hobbies, Things to Do.

The new league session at Chicken N Pickle starts this week. You know what that means. Another round of fun league photos! Anyway, here are my favorites from last session…

Me and my partner from last session, Brooke Ayala.

We have so many matching outfits, we didn’t have enough time to wear all of them.

We did have a little fun on tournament night.

Last session was a five-week Halloween league. Thus, lots of orange outfits. Between me and Brooke are Kimberly Howe and Jen Reifschneider, aka Chef Jen. Below, it’s Kim, Jen, Brooke, me and then Jenny Cole and Karen Fox.

Me and Brooke with Jody Vinson and Amy Jaramillo between us, and a bonus Chandi Bongers photobomb.

We all like the purple leopard print Target tanks so much that we all got it. Below are Lesli Toubassi, Tiffany Lesperance, Karen, me and Jenny.

Me and my mixed doubles partner from last session, Tom Pham, with our nemesis — Han You and Karen Fox. In keeping with the Halloween theme, their official team name was Not Today Freddy Krueger.

Even Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance got in on the matching shirt action. Also, they were the competitive mixed doubles league champs this past session.

I’m so excited for this next round. I got uniforms for me and my new partner Anna.

Also, Brian is playing in his first pickleball league ever and we got shirts made for him and his partner, Kenny Underkofler too. Check ’em out!

Anyway, no matching shirts for me and my mixed partner this session, Steve Vetter, because he is a party pooper. We played our first two matches last night and won both matches in two straight sets. First match was against Laura and Simon (Pickled Kiwis) and second match was against Matt Mayfield and Sarah Berry. I guess as long as we do well and have fun, it doesn’t matter that we don’t have fun matching league uniforms.

Will keep you posted and let you know how all of our leagues turn out at the end of the session. Until then, GNG.

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Birthday 2020

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.

No major birthday plans this year because we’re not really traveling but I did take the day off work on Friday for my birthday. Started the day with a pickleball lesson from my sensei Chris Heck who I haven’t seen in forever.

It was the perfect opportunity to wear our matching shirts that I got made for us.

Chris is such a good sport.

After my lesson, Brian and I had a nice leisurely lunch at Genova in Newton. We were originally going to the Belmont but they aren’t open for lunch. Well, before that we were going to have lunch at the art museum but my friend Teresa wasn’t going to be there so we decided to go elsewhere so Genova was actually third on the list. Another idea we ended up scrapping was our trip to Botanica which I wasn’t really too bummed about because we’re going next month for Illuminations. We just had too much to do and not enough time to do everything and lunch took longer than expected, specially since it was a bit of a trek to Newton.

We would have had more time but I didn’t want to give up my Friday night pickleball. On Fridays I try to hit the 5 PM open play at Nahola before our normal 7 PM mixed doubles games. I always look forward to Friday nights because it’s the one night a week these days that I can get four hours of uninterrupted play.

I brought cupcakes and caramel apples for everyone. I would have brought cake because I love cake but I didn’t want to have to mess with bringing plates and plastic forks. Anyway, Donnie and Tiffany brought birthday shots — 99 Bananas — in tampon flasks. I thought the flask was clever but the shot was disgusting. It tasted like a shot of rubbing alcohol which should be no surprise given that the liquor is 99 proof.

Tiffany and Donnie made me a really cool “Pickleball Addict” wood sign. Brian and I put it on the fireplace mantle under the TV in the hearth area.

Debbie gave me a very eco-friendly stainless steel straw set and a fun slap watch. She is so thoughtful.

On Saturday Karen and I had the Halloween Smash tournament at Chicken N Pickle. Brian dropped me off at her house so the two of us could get ready and ride to CNP together but before that she made Dutch baby pancakes for the three of us because (a) they are delicious and (b) Brian had never had it before.

Karen surprised me with matching birthday shirts.

She also made us these awesome Dorothy costumes. She even painted our shoes red! Our costumes turned out fabulous. Karen is so crafty!

Here’s the finished product with Molly as Toto.

Sammi came dressed as Patrick Smith.

The cake was another surprise.

Beside the cake, there were other treats there too.

Here are a few more pictures from Saturday.

The Jens gave me birthday flowers. How sweet is that?

The tournament had a great turnout and some really awesome costumes.

Here are the finalists.

Karen and I didn’t win the costume contest or the pickleball tournament but we got pretty close. And, we had a ton of fun.

After the tournament, Brian, Karen, and I had a late lunch at Carrabba’s — my favorite place to celebrate.

And then all that sugar put Brian into a coma.

Here’s a better pic.

But before his nap he helped me hang my other present from Karen.

The next day Karen and I wore our birthday shirts to Brunch & Bingo open play at CNP. I could really take or leave the open play part but I am absolutely hooked on Bingo. It is currently my favorite thing to do on Sundays.

Here’s what I had for breakfast on Sunday.

I couldn’t decide between the chicken and waffles and the biscuits and gravy and so as a compromise I got the biscuits and gravy and added chicken. Add a bunch of mimosas (only $5 during Brunch & Bingo) and I was in a coma.

I didn’t nap with Brian on Saturday afternoon but I did join him for a nap on Sunday. He insisted that the two of us would fit together in the couch. I had my doubts but he proved me wrong.