got a taste of the earthquakes, version 2004, last night-- and i'm excited! the regular starters all looked strong and healthy, and the irregular starters really showed their stuff! jamil walker appears to have gained the confidence that he didn't quite have at the end of last season, as he wove his way effortlessly through defenders, and beat them with speed to the corners. arturo alvarez is a completely different player! he is finally coming into his own, and he's got amazing speed on the wings that we desperately need (especially with the departure of workhorse manny lagos). all the boys in blue (and orange, to include pat) seem to have concentrated on their passing skills and ballwork in the offseason, because they had amazing control. they ran circles around LD Alajuelense, whose only saving grace was the miracle work of their goalkeeper... because our boys were pounding him all game! i'm excited! the season starts april 3, and the first home game is april 10. yay!

one sad note, though-- chad is leaving april 9 for a job in madison, wisconsin. it was fun to have him around, and it was fun to have that connection within the quakes organization. guess i'll have to work my connections some other way, now ;)

it's raining again in the city... i knew the summer weather wouldn't last. it is only march, of course, but we were getting spoiled with the 80-degree sunshine. i like the rain though, so i'm kind of glad the weather is still acting like it's march. i just hope it lets up by saturday so i can play soccer (shin splints willing).

been spending a lot of time with one group of kat's friends, since celine's cousin from australia is in town. i hang out with kat and judy on a fairly regular basis, but the rest of them are sporadic (usually). i have to say, though... having spent a little more time with seth and genine, i gotta tell you, they're really cool, fun people. i like 'em. they get the csilla seal of approval :D (seth is kat's coworker at loral, genine is his wife.)

is it friday yet?