Happy Birthday!

Matty turned two last Friday (the 23rd)! She had a fun time at the beach and enjoyed her first taste of doggie ice cream :)

Star Sighting

Last week, I traveled to JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) in Pasadena, CA where I went celebrity stalking at Spagos in Beverly Hills, and to my surprise I actually spotted someone I recognized!



Dana Delaney -- hint hint: maybe you'll recognize her from Desperate Housewives:



Cool :)

Christmas 2007

Matty and I had quite an exciting and busy week around Christmas. Matty's Granny and Uncle Marc came into town and we baked and cooked for days getting ready for Christmas dinner. We made a feast that could feed 10+ folks for the 3 of us -- cookies, pies, turkey, filling, cranberry relish, apple sauce, sweet potato souffle, etc., etc.!!!



And Matty got lots of quality time with her Uncle "M" before the rest of the family came into town.






On Wednesday we went to PA to visit Nana, Aunt Marie, Aunt Jane, Havila, and Emily. We only stayed for a few hours, but it was a lot of fun. Then on Thursday, Granny brought Haley down to our house to spend the weekend, and Ron joined us a few hours later. Every day was stuffed full of fun adventures and lots of good food :) And, of course, Haley got a lot of great presents (like barbies, polly pockets, a sleeping toy puppy ("princess doggie"), books, games, and clothes)!!!



Our first adventure was to my local garden shop to visit their winter village and train depot that they had set up. Haley loved it and wanted to go back for more and more.





We also visited the National Zoo. Haley loved all of the animals...except for the elephant because it trumpeted quite loudly when we were visiting it. She said her favorite animal was the lion.






We had quite the interesting visit with the tigers. One of the tigers was wrestling with a large log and trying to get it out of the water for probably at least 10 minutes. When we walked up to get a closer view, it started to stalk us. He stared us down and was trying to find any way he could to cross the moat and get to us...he even tried to walk on the little 2 inch piece of concrete along the edge of the enclosure...Even the group of people next to us exclaimed "that tiger is trying to get those people!" Here's a pic from the encounter:



Another thing we did was take a tour of the "Lights on the Bay" at Sandy Point State Park, but I don't have any pictures because I was driving! They have a little 1-2 mile loop of light exhibits, from christmas things like santa and trees, to local culture like crabs, to aliens!!! It was quite fun.

But out of all of our adventures, Haley's favorite part of her trip was dinner at Pirate's Cove on the water in Galesville, Md. Dad's sister's and their husbands come to visit and we went to one of my favorite restaurants. We sat right next to the water and had fabulous food. Haley loved it because they had a life-sized replica of a pirate that she couldn't get enough of! Here she is in her pirate get-up (a napkin tied around her head!):







And one final bonus shot...Here's Haley with her banana pudding that we made. We made tons of goodies (and Haley helped with all of them), like french toast and blueberry coffee cake. But the banana pudding was her favorite!

Summer Update

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post, so I thought I'd provide a quick overview of the summer highlights, and hopefully I'll be more proactive in posting in the coming months :)


MATTY'S BIRTHDAY
Matty turned one on May 23rd! Her friend Al brought her a present and made her birthday treats, which she loved!





ATLANTIS, PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS
Lar and I headed to the Bahamas and stayed at the luxury Atlantis resort on my company's dime. It was awesome, except for Lar's foot incident on one of the water slides :(






CHRIS & HEATHER'S WEDDING
Marc's roommates got married in August and held the reception at their friend's beautiful mansion on the water in downtown Wilmington, NC. Mom and I were invited, and M was the best man.





NC VACATION
Matty and I stayed in NC for the week after the wedding and spent most of our time at the beach. It was very relaxing and much fun.






SURGERY :(
Matty knocked her knee cap out of place and had to have surgery to fix it. She had the surgery a month ago, but just got the doctor's OK to start walking for short distances today. She hated the cone collar, but is doing much better now. She only wishes she was allowed to run and play cause she doesn't realize she's still healing! (You can see the scar from the surgery on her back right leg in the bottom picture)







VISITORS
Matty I had several visitors over the past few weeks. Matty's Granny, Uncle Ron, and cousin Haley came to play for the weekend. We went on a boat ride, to my local beach, to a fall festival, and the McDermott's also came to play. Then Matty's Granny came back to visit with her NANA on the way to and from NC for Nana's vacation in Sunset. So fun!!!

The Beach

I finally got the opportunity to take Matty to the beach and she is definitely a girl that takes after her mom’s heart – she LOVED it. I’ve never seen her so happy – running freely, chasing birds, digging holes, eating sand, enjoying the water…what a great experience!!!! We can’t wait to go back!

NC Open Article

For those of you who haven't read the article from the previous post, I'm posting it here now before the link stops working :)

Matalavage surprises with win
By Brian MullStaff Writer brian.mull@starnewsonline.com

Raleigh
Marc Matalavage worried too much about his competitors during a disappointing senior season at UNC-Wilmington. He focused on himself this week in the North Carolina Open and early Thursday afternoon, as he accepted the crystal trophy, his competitors focused on him.

Matalavage drained an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Raleigh Country Club to cap a 4-under 67 and beat a strong field of Carolinas PGA pros. He rallied from three shots down in the final five holes and became the first amateur to claim the N.C. Open in 26 years. Davidson golf coach Tim Straub and reigning CPGA player of the year Kelly Mitchum finished one shot back.

"This is amazing," said Matalavage. "I've played so bad for so long; for it to come together in a week like this, it just feels great."

He shot rounds of 72, 69 and 67 for a 5-under-par 208 total. It vindicated the hard work he's done on his swing with coach Jason Widener and recent sessions with a psychologist that boosted his self-confidence.

"It started sinking in on the back nine," Matalavage said. "Just being in the heat of battle, it felt great."

A professional career seemed far-fetched after Matalavage posted a 75.7 stroke average this season at UNCW. The way he toured the 6,889-yard layout, he might want to reconsider his options.

Matalavage hit 17 greens in regulation Thursday, making five birdies and one bogey on the last course legendary architect Donald Ross designed. He navigated the rolling hills, narrow fairways and undulating greens, triggering his comeback with a 4-iron to 18 feet on No. 14 to set up a birdie. He pulled even with a birdie at 15. Straub, who opened with three birdies in a row, reclaimed the lead with a birdie on 16. But the former Wake Forest All-American hooked his tee shot on 18, opening the door for Matalavage, who hit a wedge from 121 yards within eight feet. Matalavage drained his putt and Straub's slipped by. Mitchum, playing in the group behind, left his 35-foot birdie putt about a foot short.

"It just all came together today," Matalavage said. "The first day, if my short game would have been working, I could have shot 66 and (Wednesday) if I could have hit it better, I might have."

Eagle Point pro Billy Anderson shot 70 to cap his title defense with a fifth-place finish. It ended a hectic week for Anderson, who, in sectional qualifying in Maryland on Monday, fell two shots shy of earning a spot in the U.S. Open.

Brian Mull: 343-2034 brian.mull@starnewsonline.com

CHAMPION!!!!

Marc just captured the win at the North Carolina Open this week. He was tied for 3rd at the start of the final day, and 1 shot down going into the 18th hole which he birdied for the win!!!

WAY TO GO, M!!!!

Read about it at the following links:

http://appserv02.uncw.edu/athletics/sport.asp?Sport=MG

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/NEWS/706080391&SearchID=73283659461828