Dodge Spirit R/T
Dodge Spirit R/T
Sold this beast around five years ago. Although it was fun to drive while we had it, it just wasn’t a practical family car. Sure was fast though! Real fast. The only reason I bring up the old R/T is that we happen to see it up in the city, coming home from Barb’s 3-Day walk. First rain of the season and it was raining like a mother. Went to turn on the wipers and one of our windshield wipers was broken. Just hanging and scraping against the windshield. Not good. The hard rain coupled with the splash from other cars AND huge drops coming from the trees in the park made visibility less than perfect. I had to drive without the wipers until I could get under some shelter or find an auto parts store. I was taking side streets to avoid to much splash onto the windshield. We are up by Lincoln and 19th Avenue near the park when Kelly says, “LOOK DAD ! YOUR CAR!” Sure enough. It was.
The car looked great! Still had the exact same factory paint Job and everything. What a trip. I knew the guy that I sold it to lived in the city. He took BART down when he bought the car. Its just strange to see it after 5 years and just by coincidence , considering we just happen to turn down that particular street because of all the rain.
Just so you know, we made it all the way down 19th Ave and into Daly City without wipers. It got TOO dangerous when we started to get onto the freeway. I knew I had to do something. Stopped at a Gas Station in Daly City. They didn’t have any replacement wipers. Rather than try to find a auto parts store on a Sunday evening, I just used some of Barb’s MoleSkin to secure the blade to the wiper. I felt like McGyver out there in the pouring rain using MoleSkin to get us home safely. Wipers worked like a charm the rest of the way home! I’m a genius!
Kelly and I went to our first ever Fremont city council meeting this week. As part of the curriculum of her High School Government class, Kelly was required to attend a meeting. I’ve always liked watching the meetings on local TV. Watched so much that I’ve come to know the council members and Mayor. Frequent speakers like Linda Sousev are also familiar. Kate even played soccer with Councilman Dutra’s daughter, so I figured going to a meeting would be cool. We settled in our seats before a full council, including the Mayor. Only about 15 people in the audience. The meeting agenda usually begins with Oral communications, a chance for citizens to address the council on any issue they please. People usually plug, praise or complain. Speakers have 3 minutes to speak to the council directly, and the people of Fremont over the local cable access channel. They have the same GREEN-YELLOW-RED Light system that was used in the recent presidential debate. This night a Lady from some arts council invited the council and the citizens to some art show, some guy complained about how long it was taking for the city to replace a common fence on his property. One poor guy came up and spoke about how he was being harassed by Fremont police about a double murder that occurred 20 years ago up on Mill Creek Road.
He was basically saying that then police chief ( and now council member and mayoral candidate ) Wasserman did nothing to stop the harassment which basically had gone on for 20 years and messed up this guys life. Wasserman sat up there with a polite smile the whole time while this guy ranted on about how his life is ruined because he was the one to discover the bodies. He mentioned that when a Police safety officer became a suspect, other police officers started rumors that he was the killer. He went on past his time limit so the Mayor told him to stop talking. Felt sorry for him. I was feeling some what uncomfortable because it was obvious that this guy was not stable. Kelly and I were looking at each other because we knew that this was not stuff of normal City council meetings. We talked about it afterwards as well.
Had the end of season awards banquet for the American High School water polo team tonight. A bitter sweet night. The end to Kelly’s high school water polo career. We had a great dinner of lasagna, bread, salad and dessert followed by the awards. The retiring seniors were givin their water polo caps as a remembrance. A nice touch. The other girls on the team also gave the captains/seniors flowers. That made Kelly cry. Kelly was also voted MVP for the Varsity girls team for the second consecutive year. This was also special since it was a vote from her team mates. Kate too was recognized with a bouquet of flowers for keeping score and teaching others how to keep score. All in all a great year. We really enjoyed going to and watching all the games.
Mentioned in a previous post that Kate went to the American High School homecoming dance a few weeks ago. Her and best bud, Nicole, with dates, went bowling after the dance. They actually planned wearing the red soccer sox for the photo op. Thats thinking!!
Kate Flaherty delivered a MVP performance in goal last night, in the rain and under the lights on Sycamore field in Danville. In what is becoming routine, FC Extreme under-19 girls again took the field with only 9 players against a full squad from Danville. In a strange turn of events, the first half of the 6:00 o’clock game was played on an artificial turf field without lights, then switched to a turf field under the lights to finish off the match. Kate had several outstanding saves as Danville played to a 1-1 tie. Bringing the Extreme record to an impressive 4-2-1. I say Danville played to a 1-1 tie because, even down two players, our girls dominated the match, scored first, and only allowed one goal (a lucky one too!) towards the end of the second half. 
In the first half the Danville girls were pressuring to score. One girl in particular had a strong leg who was able to shoot from way outside. She tried this early against Kate. Trying to put the ball over Kate’s head and into the goal. Kate jumped as high as she could, got full extension, and tipped the ball. Just enough to have it hit the cross bar, and out of play. Maybe the best save I’ve ever seen Kate do. WOW!!! That save could be on ESPN’s “Plays of the Week”. At this point the girls from Danville knew that this was not going to be a walk in the park, even though they were playing “two up”. Before the first half ended we scored a goal and sent the message that Fremont is here to play. And play we did.
Our team continues to amaze me. Week after week, we show up with only 9 players. We face full squads (11 players plus substitutes) of very good teams from power house soccer cities like Danville, San Ramon and Newark. Anyone in their right mind would think that we wouldn’t have a chance. Me included! I’m sure many opposing coaches think the same thing before the game starts. But our girls play smart soccer. The on-field communication , smart passing and teamwork make other teams look rather ordinary. Plus, we play hard. I knew if I were the coach of other teams we play I’d be saying ” come on, we have two more players on the field, we should be kicking butt”. But it is the Extreme that ends up kicking butt.
Last night however, it was the goalie that kicked butt. The rain was falling the field and ball became more and more slick. A goalkeepers nightmare. Several times Kate had to deflect the ball then “cover up” to prevent a score. Early in the second half while covering up on another outstanding save a Danville girl stepped on Kate’s left hand. Kate said later that it felt like the girl was wearing metal spikes. Kate played on despite the obvious pain and continued her aggressive play in the goal. When playing with only 9 players and no substitutes, fatigue becomes a factor. as the second half wore on it was obvious that our girls were getting tired. That’s when Kate stepped up and played some of her best soccer ever. Danville continued to pressure and attempted many more shots on goal. Kate was “like wall”. Not letting anything by her.
On the late “lucky”goal that Danville scored, it was not a “gimme” by any means. In the mud and slop that was in front of the goal, our fullback got out of position and let a Danville girl make a powershot from close in. Kate made a great save on the rocket kick and deflected the ball. Unfortunately the deflection went to another Danville girl who put it in the corner just past the outstretched arms of a diving Kate. The Game ended a 1-1 tie but it felt like a win to us. Danville was happy to salvage a tie and not face the total embarrassment of having lost to a team with only 9 players. Fremont’s 4-2-1 record puts them close to the top of the standing the the U-19 girls division. We play Newark today at 2pm. BRING IT ON!!!!
One thing that Barb and I were talking about in regards to the 3-day walk is that its hard for people to grasp the emotion of the day(s) if they were not there to experience it. As I was saying in the previous post, when we saw Barb for the first time at the top of the hill, our emotions got the best of us. Our eyes were welling up as Barb came into view. Kate in particular was struck by the moment. Even after Barb continued walking, Kate was in the back seat of the car, holding her “HERO” sign out the window, and crying. Overcome with emotion of the moment. It wasn’t a sad moment by any means. It was a beautiful moment, 10 years in the making. Other walkers coming by would touch Kate’s arm or offer words of comfort. it was a special moment for the entire family. one that we will never forget. We are all still on an emotional high from the experience.
What an amazing day. What an amazing weekend. What an amazing woman! Barb completed the breast cancer 3-day, 60 mile walk Sunday under cloudy, windy and rainy skies at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. I have more respect for Barb than I ever did. I knew that she would be able to do it, but it’s one thing to say you will walk 60 miles, its another to actually do it. What an awesome accomplishment for her. Kate, Kelly and I are so proud. We know that it was going to be hard on her. She came home both Friday and Saturday night walking like an old lady. Limping, hurting, and very very tired, and understandabley so! We did what we could do to assist by rubbing her feet, massaging her aching muscles, getting her ice packs and Motrin, and feeding her. But she is the one that talked the talk AND walked the walk. All 60 miles. YOU GO BARBIE!!!!! 
of the 3-day, 60 mile event. Needless to say, after two long days and 40 long miles, Barb was both physically and emotionally spent. Not only did she have sore feet, she had sore everything! Plus an upset stomach, headache and a mild case of exhaustion. I think she was “hitting the wall”. She told me on the drive up that “today, its all mental”. The weather forecast called for rain all day and it was already wet when I dropped them off and said goodbye.
I drove back home, got the girls, and headed back up towards the city. We knew that Barb would need us today more than ever. We left her encouraging voicemails on her cell phone that she could check when she took a break. We made some signs that we could hold up and root her on to the finish, we even burned a CD with songs of inspiration: Theme from Survivor, “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor, “Gonna take that Mountain” by Reba, “On the road again” by Willie Nelson, to name a few. We got into Daly City and found the back of the pack. The route was clearly marked with arrows so we knew where to go. We just had to find Barb. She had called us already and told us that her and Lisa had separated and they were both walking alone. After 40+ miles, its “all mental” and Barb wanted to walk a faster pace than Lisa was going. As we were passing people, we were playing the music FULL BLAST with windows and sunroof wide open.
People seemed to love the Survivor theme because they started clapping, smiling and giving us the “thumbs up” as we drove slowly by. We also made a flag out of a Survivor buff that we had and flew that out the top of the sunroof. We were a multi-media cheering machine!! We saw Lisa first as we cruised the long, spread out line of walkers. We jokingly asked her if she needed a ride. She wanted to, but said no. She told us that Barb was about a mile ahead of her. We continued along, playing our music, honking the horn, hanging our signs out the window. We spotted Barb in a group of walkers heading up a hill. We yelled and screamed until she heard us and gave us the high sign. We drove past her and parked at the top of the hill to wait for her and cheer her on. We were playing our music and holding the signs for everyone that came by. 1600+ people were walking so we had a lot of people come by. When we finally saw Barb coming to the top of the hill, it was almost too much for all of us. Our emotions got the best of us. We held our signs high for her to see. 
“OUR HERO” and “SUPERMOM”. We could see her pointing and telling her fellow walkers, “that is my family!” We were overcome with emotion. We hugged her, we all cried, we told her how proud we were and how much we loved her. What a great feeling!!!!!!!! An Awesome experience. She kept on walking after that. We were still hanging out cheering the other walkers on and waited for Lisa.
I have to tell you, these walkers were so grateful that we were there. They ALL thanked us. Told us they loved our music, gave us little thank you notes. Kate even got a “CANCER SUCKS” button from one of the walkers. I tell ya, it took us a good 45 minutes to get over that emotional high of seeing Barb come over that hill.
She was happy to see us but didn’t want to stop too long. She was focused on finishing. She still had about 5 more miles left. From there we drove the rest of the route, cheering walkers all the way, and found a great parking place right at the entrance to Sharon Meadow where the closing ceremonies were to be held. I think it was the last parking place in all of Golden Gate Park. We were blessed!! Our plan was to wait for Barb and then walk the last 200 yards with her as a family.
We set up camp and waited again for Barb. We planned what song to play for her as she came around the bend. Reba of course. We saw many walkers that recognized us from earlier, They thanked us, we thanked and congratulated them. When Barb finally came into view, we hooted and hollered!!!. She really was our HERO and SUPERMOM. She led the way as we all walked into the closing ceremonies together. 
There were now many many people cheering her on. It gave me goose bumps. As she went under the arch, marking the end of the walk, she ran through a throng of well-wishers all HIGH-FIVING her. Just like the football players do before a game. There must’ve been 300 people in the “receiving line” that welcomed her to the finish. What an exhileratiing experience!!
From there, after hugs all around, Barb went and got her Pink shirt. All breast cancer survivors wore special pink shirts. All other walkers got blue shirts. After a break, we too got in the ever growing receiving line to high-five the walkers home. People were laughing, crying, in awe that they finished. It was touching. We waited in the receiving line until Lisa came through. Her and Barb hugged. That was touching too!!! They had completed an incredible journey together. 
Since Barb finished 390 out of 1671, We waited another hour or so for everyone else to finish and for the closing ceremonies to begin. We lined up inmass to wait for the walkers by the stage set up for the event. First to come were the San Jose Police bike patrol.
They had escorted and protected the walkers all 60 miles. There were 25+ men and women in uniform on mountain bikes. They lined the entrance to the stage. Then came the support staff. Anyone and everyone who helped with the walk. People who cooked, worked at the camps, directed traffic, dispensed motrin, gave massages, all of them. They too lined the way. Then the ceremony began. 1600 walkers. Walking together one last time, five across. Into the front of the stage to the cheers of everyone.
Once they were in front of the stage, then pink shirts, the Breast Cancer Survivors, all 168 of them walked together into the middle of the throng. 
This was the grand finally. Cancer survivors, the ones who fought their own personal battle with cancer, chose to fight again, for others. 
They were honored, and appropriatly so. The final touching moment was the raising a blank, colorless flag, in remembrace of those who have died from breast cancer. A few speakers thanked everyone as the rain started to really come down. An end to an incredible weekend and journey. Check out the pictures here
Its day one of Barb’s 3-day, 60 mile walk. Dropped her and Lisa off at 6am this morning at Bay Meadows. Opening ceremony at 6:30 and on the road by 7:00. The local paper did a nice article on Barb and the walk. She showed up on the front page of the local section! 
What is it going to take to get the American High Varsity girls into the win column? Last night, under the lights at American, Kelly had a career game, scoring 4 goals and had two outstanding blocked shots in another loss to the Logan Colts. Final score, 15-5. Once again, the girls started strong and held their own early against an always tough Logan squad. But the lack of fresh substitutes, defensive toughness and no other offense leaves the girls winless. Kelly is stepping up and playing all around outstanding water polo in hopes that others will follow her lead. With the exception of a couple of other good players, they are left with an average team that continues to get outplayed by others in the MVAL. 
It is frustrating for her because she really wants to win a game this year and feels that the team is not playing up to its expectations. When you are playing on a losing team, its the little things in life that make you show up to play. Kelly’s goal this year, barring a win, is to be the leading scorer on the team. So far she is. Last nights goal was to record a hat trick. 
She made a “bet” with Mr Gygax (Mr. Gygax is Kelly’s favorite teacher and swim coach. He also runs the clock at water polo games. A great guy) that if she scored 3 goals he would wear Kelly’s cowboy hat the rest of the game. That gave us something to root for. After each of her goals she would look to the sideline and Mr Gygax letting him know that she was keeping track. After her 3rd goal Mr. Gygax lived up to his word and wore the hat the rest of the game. It the little things in life that make games like this enjoyable! Check out some other pictures from the game here.
Fremont Extreme traveled to the artificial turf and high priced homes of Danville today to take on the Mustangs in Under-19 girls play. The Danville Mustangs scored early for a 1-0 lead on a corner kick and figured it was going to be an easy day since the Extreme showed up with only 8 players!! Down three girls, one goal, and playing in hostile territory, it did not look good for the girls from Fremont. The Mustangs were then stunned by two quick goals that put the Extreme into the lead which they never relinquished. The final score of 7-2 brings the Extreme record up to 3-1-1 and a top the standings in the class IV division. Superb play by Goalkeeper Kate Flaherty kept the Mustangs in check for the rest of the game as the Fremont girls continued to score. Kelly Flaherty contributed to the scoring with a couple of assists and the teams final goal of the match. Its amazing how well these girls can play being down 3 players. The teamwork and on field communication brings the Extreme to a level of play seldom seen in class IV action. We wonder how they would do if they had a full squad with fresh substitutes like other teams. Team Extreme has a bye next weekend then travels on both Saturday and Sunday the following weekend to Newark and Pleasanton. BRING IT ON!! 