Just an update from the weekend activities. Pretty good results I felt like as the Madman indoor men's team took 3rd out of 11 AA/A teams at the most recent Oregon event. In the process we knocked out the premier Oregon-based squad in KBCC whom had not lost in such an early round in the last 5-6 years!! Not to shabby way to start the weekend. We proceeded from there to lose in a very close 3-game semifinal to the next best Oregon team in my opinion as we fell in the third game 13-15. Great play from all of our guys who stepped up a ton to put on quite a show in my mind. The middles (Alan an Tony) made a world of difference once again controlling the net and opening up the offense for all of our hitters. The only bummer was a fairly significant jamming of my thumb during the early action of the day. Some pretty good swelling and color there which has been significantly decreased in the last few days with my icing and other therapy. We will see how quick I am able to heal. Looks like a break in my role of goalie at least for the time being. In addition I was able to tape up real tight and play on Sunday night in our big grudge match versus the sand players in the Bellevue indoor league. Web swept them out with a 4-0 match as they imploded into self-arguing and one guy leaving the court to leave the rest to play with 5!! Classic ego v-ball action I tell you, gotta love those bech guys!! That places us in 1st for the league with a 2-game buffer. Not too shabby. My month-ending move continues apace as I look to start the physical part on Thursday when I plan to move the majority of my stuff to the new location. I all hoping that the 4-5 items on Craig's List will also be pared down this week to prevent us having to find a way to store any of them. Looks like I have leads on at least 2 of the items for this week which would be a major victory in my mind. More to come as the move, more indoor soccer, and hopefully some bro-time happens this week!!

No pictures this round but lots to update on the sports and life front. First the sports. Great fun as usual as my coed 6's team continue to roll over the last few weeks with 2 3-0 sweeps of the upper half of our division, clinching us the top slot in the impending playoffs that start in 2 weeks. The men's 6's also had a sweep in our one match since last I posted and we now stand at 16-4, just 2 games out of first (The Seattle beach boys) and have set up for the big showdown this Sunday as we take on the Beach Guys for the bragging rights in the league, should be a good one. The soccer has been fun as well as we have gone 1-1 since last I posted but our one loss was on a night when we have no subs and played shorthanded for much of the match, oh well....We get another shot at the guys who beat us in just a few weeks, should also be a good one I would predict. In addition to all of this I have been able to pull off a very successful men's indoor tournament here in Seattle, one of the bigger ones we have had in the last 2 years if I am not mistaken!! Felt really good to try and rejuvenate the local scene and have such a great response from all who attended. To boot my squad (Team Madman/ www.madmanvolleyball.com) played our best to date, finishing in second place and taking the only game off of the eventual winners Island Style. What a way to round out the day. As busy as the sports scene has been the other stuff has been just as busy as I now have a 4-month extension from my current job to look for a new one in the Seattle area. I also plan to move in with my girlfriend Janelle at the end of the month, we are both really excited. This of course has led to some crazy weeks combined with packing, selling items on Craig's list (never knew this would be such a headache!!), packing, getting parking permit, making trips to Goodwill with donations, etc... It will be great to finish this stuff up. It has also be a very good cleansing experience emotionally and physically for me to start fresh in this chapter of my life. On top of all of this my brother announced his engagement to long-time girlfriend Amy whom I adore!! I am really excited for them and to have Amy as a formal part of the Weaver Crew here in the near future. Off this weekend as I play another v-ball event in the Portland area and look forward to finishing up all of the moving details. Happy days to come!!

Sports Standings:
Coed 6's v-ball: 15-3 (First Seed for Playoffs)
Indoor Soccer: 3-0-1 (Tied for first)
Men's Indoor 6's v-ball: 16-4 (Second place by 2 games, big match for first this weekend)
Indoor Men's V-ball USAV: 2nd place finish in Feb. 18th Tournament

Another week has gone by and fun all the way around. I had a bye for my men's 6's team on Sunday so no news there but my coed 6's team won a hard fought battle versus our archrival in the league for the last several years Badd Fung Shui 3-0. That puts us in the top slot for the league at this point with our 9-3 record after 4 matches. We play again tonight versus a team we went 2-1 against the first time around seeking to improve our outcome from that night, we will see. I also had another chance to play goalie for the indoor soccer team I have joined. We won again with a 10-4 game versus last years champion of this division, not a bad way to start out a league 2-0. Once again I gave up a few goals I would like to have back but that is certainly the way it works in indoor it seems. The team we played had a VERY good goalie, I am not ashamed to say he was much more talented then me and yet the style makes it very hard to keep out scores with as much pressure as we had all night. Oh well, we will see if we can keep things rolling with our team in the next few weeks, we have some good match-ups on the horizon with some of the stronger teams in the league. I have added here a few more choice images from my awesome trip to Akron to visit the nieces. That is in fact me wearing the fine horse-head costume as we played dress-up and helping the little ones add to the impressive hairdo of the snowman we managed with what little snow they had. It was not very deep but man did it stick....perfect for snowball/snowman manufacturing!! I am still glowing from my trip to see the girls and am excited for the opportunity to see them in a few months as most of the Weaver Clan intends to descend upon my parents house in Denver for a few days of what I am sure will be some crazy fun. I am also starting to organize a men's indoor tournament for Feb. 18th. I have been disappointed in the region and their efforts for the men these days, the community itself is somewhat to blame as well. In any case I think being a little more pro-active might stimulate some play for all of us still wanting to get in some indoor play for the season. Should be interesting to see where things end up with this attempt. Until next time!!

Sports Standings:
Indoor Soccer: 2-0 (Second Place, only by numbers of games played)
Coed 6's: 9-3 (First Place)
Men's Indoor 6's V-ball: 12-4 (Tied for 2nd Place)

I am returned from a fantastic trip to see my 2 adorable nieces in Akron ,OH. I was able to visit this past weekend to help out my sister Michelle and husband John as they get continue classes to prepare for an international adoption. That's right.....a new niece or nephew appears to be on the horizon, this time straight from Thailand, more to come!!! I am excited by their willingness to help out in the greater scheme of things in the world and open their home to others, I know they will improve the life if a child with their loving lifestyles and passion for quality parenting. On that note I would point out that my sister has proven to be a phenomenal mother, I know she has doubts sometimes, but she has raised to gorgeous and well-adjusted little girls who I have no doubt will continue to flourish in her care. The trip was filled with many highlights as they weekend seemed to just fly by for all of us. We ate, danced, sang, read quite a few stories, and played in the snow as we made a snowman with one of the best hairdos I have seen in quite some time. I was even able to share with Sara one of my favorite childhood stories "Where the wild things are" on my last night in Ohio, it was wonderful to see her sharing my excitement about the childhood classic. Let the wild rumpus begin!! And rumpus we did. The girls showed us all of their new dance moves as they have continued to enjoy starting their own dance classes in recent months. No surprise there will all of the history and love of dance that Michelle has. It was quite a sight as the twisted away to their favorite music, Lori chasing after Sara around the room asking for her to be a dance partner, one of the cuter sights I have seen in a while. They are becoming good friends as they grow up together and improve their sharing and playing skills as their interests grow, so much fun to be a witness to. I know it has been a real joy for my mother to have such precious grandchildren to visit. she has glowed in their affection and takes the role of grandmother very seriously, she had a wonderful model in her own mother who was such a wonderful supporter my siblings and myself. After all of the dust has settled I am looking forward already to this summer when the plan is to meet at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Denver with my sister, the nieces, my brother, Amy and Janelle if we can swing it for a big family gathering for all of us. I know it would be special if we can all make the effort. I sure do love those little girls and look forward to more cross-country adventures in the near future. So long for now.