I think Gabby has been watching too much American Idol. Today at the day care they got to play "American Idol". Guess who got to play "Simon"? Oh yeah. Gabby was putting the kids down by saying, "You need to sing better". Aw c'mon Gabby...how about a little creativity? "You sound like a dead cat", "That is absolutely the most horrifying screech I have ever heard." or your basic, "That was horendous!"
Well, okay, she doesn't need to be totally like Simon. She's my BABY GIRL! :)
Gabby Nieto
Gabby Nieto is a 12 year old skater from Sugar Land, Texas. This is her dad's way of keeping up with Gabby and her skating.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Monday, January 26, 2004
Monday was an interesting day. I had the opportunity to go read to Gabby's class in school. Ms. Jenkins asked me to read an I accepted. I even got to sit in "her" grandmother's rocking chair to read to the kids. Good think I didn't break it with my big butt. Gabby would have been in trouble for the rest of the year!
I was given two books to choose from: "Too Many Tamales" and "7 Chinese sisters". Now, asking a Hispanic to read about tamales is a little like asking a brudah to read about "Roots". I just laughed and read the book and made sure to ENUNCIATE each and every Spanish word. Ha,ha! The story was about a little girl and her mom cooking tamales on Christmas day. The little girl wanted to wear her mom's diamond ring and when her mom took it off, she slipped it on when her mom left the kitchen. To make a long story short, she "lost" it in the "masa" (dough) and she and her cousins had to eat ALL the tamales to find the ring. They didn't find the ring and it turns out her mom had it and all the kids got sick because they ate so many tamales. They ended up (mother and aunts) making a second batch because EVERYONE knows that the second batch is ALWAYS better than the first one. The End.
The Chinese sisters had the, um, 7 sisters and a dragon who was hungry. They each had different talents and they each had to use their talents to save the day. No, they didn't slay the dragon but fed it noodles. It's G rated. Darn. I COULD have spiced it up a little but Ms. Jenkins was watching to make sure I did a good job. Heh,heh.
I think Gabby really appreciated having me their to read the book. Come to think of it, I had a pretty good time too.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
As an afterthought I brought along Gabby's skating bear. I didn't think we'd get a chance to get it autographed but I've learned - always be prepared and it never hurts to bring it along (don't forget the pen). When we were going through security the lady guard looked in the bag and just kind of whispered, "You know, there is no session for autographs." Yes, I thought so but you never know. Besides, Gabby was already bubbling at getting more autographs and I wasn't about to tell her that the chances were looking slim to none and slim was getting on his horse. (Texan humor).
We bought the tickets months ago and got some "pretty" good tickets on direct center ice. I say they were "pretty" good because while they were center ice, we were up kinda high and directly behind some large people. Gabby was trying to see and kept having to move around to get a good view. We later moved in the second half to a row that was farther up but we had our own seats with no one around it made better viewing.
We met Kim H and her daughters (Emmily and Melissa) at the Toyota Center for the show. We also saw Val and Elena which was very lucky since they were able to get Gabby backstage after the show. Val knew someone and they promised 15 passes to take the kids downstairs. He said they had to take their kids first and "if" they had - and a big "if" - they had a pass left over they would take Gabby. And, they added, it was only for Gabby - no adults. Val said, "We'll have to take her". Heck, yeah, take her and you don't have to bring her back!
The show was EXCELLENT! Oh my goodness we saw quite a show with just extraordinary skating and artistry. We had excellent performances by Scott Hamilton, Jamie Sale & David Pelletier, Todd Eldredge, Alexei Yagudin, John Zimmerman, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Yuka Sato, Kyoko Ina and Ekaterina Gordeeva. The costumes were just beautiful and the music was awesome. The theme was Time and it kind of followed music and culture through time. At least that is what I think it was. The last movement was "Only One Live" by Michael Feinstein that Scott skated in tribute to his father. It was very moving. The one that I liked was "Hands of Time" with Kyoko, Jenni, and Yuka - it was kind of funky and kind of black light neon thing going with 'baskeball sneakers' covers. It sounds weird but it was kinda funky. The Red Scarf (Stelma) that Ekaterina skates to was very, very good. It highlighted her skills as a world class skater and performer.
During the break, we also got to see Jimmy - who is joining the service - after his shoulder heals. He wants to join the special forces as a Medic. Cool. We can call Jimmy - "Doc" - "Doc Jimmy" - "Jimmy Doc". Nice ring to it. Marky Mark was there along with Tammy. I also saw Julie and some of the other coaches and moms and kids from the skating club. I REALLY have to get better about faces and names. Taylor's mom was there. Ugh. I'm really bad. Sorry.
After the show we took off! I sent Sally over to section 107 to find Val and Elena. I met up with Kim. Kim had the bus number for our way back to the parking garage. Bus? Oh yeah... more on that later. Anyway, Kim found me and we walked over to Section 107. Kim asked why we were going to 107 and I told her that there was "a chance" that Gabby was going backstage. The kids heard that and turned it into "we are going backstage" and started squealing. Ha,ha! Kim settled them down. I told them the story that MAYBE (did I mentioned MAYBE) Val was taking Gabby backstage if, and I mean "IF", he had a pass leftover because he was only supposed to be taking his students and he only had 15 passes. Well, that of course turned into "We're meeting Alexi!!!" Rrrrrright. Well, we got to 107 and no Gabby and no Sally. Uh-oh. I thought FOR SURE that Sally and Gabby had missed section 107 and had continued walking. I asked a security guard and of course he didn't know anything about anything. I thought I would wait and see because I spotted an elevator that could be used to go backstage. Aha! Well, I waited for about 20 minutes and Sally comes walking down the hall - without Gabby. Ooo...*maybe* Gabby got in. Woo-hoo! Sure enough, Sally had spotted Val and followed him to the meeting area. It turns out that some of the kids were out "loitering" when they should have been with Val. So, it turns out that they had a few passes left over and one of those went to Gabby. Yea! Gabby came back just beaming! She got to meet the skaters and had a good time. Val said that Ekaterina took a shine to Gabby and spent some good time talking to her. Of course, Gabby would't say what Ekaterina told her. Hmm... probably the ol' be good, love your parents, clean your room, be nice to the cat, and respect your coach....nah. I would be so lucky. Gabby did manage to get more autographs on her bear! She added Ekaterina (of course), Elena and Anton, Todd Sand, and one we can't make out...maybe Alexei. It wasn't Scott. Gabby can't wait to tell Miss Dorothy about her adventure.
Okay, back to the bus thingy.
We had a good idea to take the train downtown but the darn thing stops running at 9:40pm. Well, our show was not going to be over until at least 10pm so we needed to take a bus transfer. When I originally called Metro - *sigh* Metro - DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED - they told me that I would have to walk 3 blocks here and take bus so-and-so to such-and-such, stand on one leg and tell the driver to drop me off at this-that-or-other and THEN change to bus such and such and blah-blah-blah. Ugh. They could use some better customer service.
Kim called and got the bus information that would take us right to where we wanted to go - sorta, pretty close. At any rate, it was one bus to have to remember - Number 8 that we picked up on Fannin between Clay and Bell. It was actually the "Main Street bus" thingy - The official title is "8 - North Main/South Main". Since we had ridden the train down, we got a free bus transfer it was pretty simple. Of course, we were all rookies on riding the bus and I'm not sure what the bus driver thought as he pulled up and all these screaming kids were standing there waving. We were travelling as a group and everyone was having fun so I felt pretty safe. I mean, they would have to get through all the kids and adults before getting to me. :) All I had for "defense" was a plastic umbrella and a cell phone. Yeah, mess with me, and I'll whack you with my umbrella and take your picture. Ooo, I'm scary...
So, the "plan" was to take the train from the medical parking lot near the museum (the overflow lot). It was a short one block walk to the platform. Getting the tickets was easy - slide in the credit card and we all got to travel for 4.50. The train ride was smooth and I elected to go into Main Street Square so that Gabby and Sally could take in the water fountains that shoot water over the train tracks. It was nice to see the city dressed up. HOPEFULLY, they keep it up after the superbowl and don't let the winos back in. The train stop to get off is Bell for the Toyota Center. Why they didn't name it, "Get off here for the Toyota Center", I'll never know. There should be a sign and a nice LIGHTED corridor from the station to the arena, but noooooo... it's kinda a street with torn up sidwalks and birds squalking - not very welcoming. Sally kinda complained about the 5 blocks but they went quickly. On the way back, we were all excited and the walk was really nice. There were security guards posted every so often. HOPEFULLY, they will still be around later. The bus ride to the museum was pretty smooth, EXCEPT for the kids getting on the bus and then being asked to get off again. You know, you just can't run on to the bus. You have to pay or show your bus pass. Oh. Um, okay. So we all had to get off and then stand in line while our train passes scanned. I won't even mention that some of the passes were mangled from being in the back pockets of active kids and teenagers. We all made it and it was pretty uneventful. We got dropped off right in front of the Wyndam Warwick.... in a flower bed. Why the bus stop is in the middle of a flower bed I'll never know. A quick two blocks and we were in our garage. Bada-bing.
The last thing I heard as the kids are walking was one of the kids asked Gabby who her coach was. She said "Miss Dorothy"! And they said, "Gee, Gabby, you're spoiled!". "I know!", Gabby giggled. Yes, she is. Brat. :)
Monday, January 19, 2004
Just catching up everyone. Not too much over the weekend happened. Thankfully it was a 3 day weekend - Martin Luther King and Gabby was out of school. Of course we maxed it out all weekend and Gabby Goo didn't go to bed everynight until like 1am! We were all up - Joel, Gabby, and me - playing XBox Halo and blasting each other. It was brillant! Gabby is really good at taking me out with a rocket launcher. What I didn't realize is that my character (Jiggy Fly - nice huh?) was wearing a red suit. So...Gabby would just look on her screen for a big, fat red dot and BLAM! Did she bother to clue me how she was able to see me? No! I would run around, poke my head out and next time I know my "body" is blown to smitherings. She had a field day. I changed it to white and then it wasn't so easy. Ha,ha! But then we switched to a desert area and there I was running around in white looking like a big dot. Blam! again...
Today we had lunch with Dorothy, Marky Mark, Kim and her daughters at Camille's. It was very tasty and it was great to get out of the house. Gabby and Dorothy went on to have a great lesson. I saw Gabby land some pretty cool jumps. I didn't know what they were but they looked cool. I met some gentleman in the stands - didn't catch his name - and his daughter was just starting out skating. I felt like the ol' pro telling him about where to get her skates and stuff.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Yea! Gabby's first day - that is with Dorothy picking her up - went without a hitch. I went to the school with Gabby's clothes and kinda followed her out the door and just to make sure that she went to the correct spot and lined up and all that. I got there early and parked on the side street. When we were out there waiting for the cars, I noticed that the cars were queued up where I was parked. I called Dorothy to make sure she was good (of course she was)...she said, that people were having to go AROUND some PERSON who had parked and was causing people to go around. That would be me. Ha, ha!!
Monday, January 12, 2004
Did anyone get a chance to watch the ice skating Nationals? Wow! What a "comeback" by Michelle. I didn't think she had it in her but there she was. Perfect 6.0! She has 35 - count them - 35! perfect scores in her career. The closest is something like 7 for Scott Hamilton. Sasha will have to wait a little bit longer to claim the crown. I know she will but Michelle is such a warrior. I think that she will be going to the Olympics again. Hopefully, she will get a Gold this time.
Anyway, I thought I would take a minute and thank everyone who supports Gabby in her skating - Team Nieto (or Team Gabby).
Gabby is supported by:
Mom - travel to the rink, clothes, etc and her #1 fan. She keeps Gabby on schedule and makes sure that she pays attention to her homework and is respectful of everyone at the rink.
Brother Joel - Gabby has learned from Joel how to be scrappy - is that a term? Joel has taught Gabby how to look at things differently and how to keep a positive attitude. They play and they scrap and they roll around on the floor. I know that if anyone ever picked on Gabby that Gabby could hold her own. They often miss one another and can't way to get together. He is at most competitions and supports her as best as a brother can. He is always ready with a snicker or a joke or a laught - at usually my expense.
Coach Dorothy - Gabby would not be where she is now if not for the love and attention that she gets from Dorothy. She makes skating fun and learning so easy for Gabby. She is the MOST ORGANIZED person I know! You are NUMBER ONE!!!
Ms. Margaret - as I mentioned earlier, Michelle may have Vera Wang, but we have Ms. Margaret and Dorothy. The dresses that she comes up with are always so beautiful. Ms. Margaret has also spent many an afternoon chasing Gabby around on the ice on Sundays. Ms. Margaret has tought her about inside/outside edges and how to shoot the duck. Ms. Margaret always, always has a good word or good advice on ice skating.
Mr. John - John knows EVERYTHING about ice skates and hockey. He sharpens Gabby's skates and makes sure that they are sharp and true. He makes sure that Gabby always gets the right boot and right blades. He provides a very solid foundation from which Gabby skates. Go Skate Texas!
Grandma and Grandpa Nieto - the other parts of the support team that make it to the rink whenever they can. They also provide Gabby with lots of love, time, advice, and monetary help for her dresses. She is there number one granddaughter. Okay, Gabby is there ONLY granddaughter but they love her just the same.
Aunt Norma, Aunt Adela, and Aunt Glo - the CHEERING aunts and the ones who have taught Gabby everything she knows about shopping and looking GOOD on the ice. Yes, THEY are the ones that make the most noise when Gabby is on the ice.
Tommy, Bobby and Carmen - Uh-oh. Now, there is trouble. They keep Gabby grounded and cheer her on both on and off the ice. You can't put anything over on these folks.
Ms. Betty Humphrey - Ms. Betty has been in the newspaper business for longer than I can remember and just a wonderful family friend. She has worked in the newspaper business with my brother and my father. She is a wonderful, wonderful lady and Gabby just loves to visit her. Ms. Betty writes articles in the Herald Coaster on Gabby. Thanks!
There are more people on our team that help when they can. They provide consejos (words of wisdom) and prayers. Thank you!
Things are moving right along with Gabby's skating. Her schedule will change to Monday and Wednesday for ice skating and Tuesday for off-ice conditioning with Ms. Katherine.
For a quick recap:
Monday - Dorothy picks up Gabby at Lakeview.
Tuesday - Off-ice conditioning with Ms. Katherine.
Wednesday - Dorothy picks up Gabby.
Thursday - Homework
Friday - Homework.
Saturday - Off.
Sunday - public ice skating. (sometimes) Gabby still needs time to decompress and be a kid and beat dad at XBox.
Friday, January 09, 2004
The first cut at skating competition schedule and "things to do" has come out (thanks Dorothy).
January 16 - Aerodrome Sugar Land - Exhibition 6:45-7:45pm. The older girls will hold clinics on competition at the higher levels. It should be interesting to get their perspective on things.
January 23 - Toyota Center - Smucker's Stars on Ice. I bought these tickets MONTHS ago and they are supposed to be really good and close to the ice. I have to remember to take Gabby's autograph bear and see if we can add to the collection. I have to remember for Gabby to put her name on it too... I think it starts at 7pm.
February 15 - Gabby's first USFSA skating test. It's pre-preliminary. (huh?) It's just spirals and edges so she should ace it pretty easily. This is with the judges and everything on the ice. She needs to pass it to get into the competitions coming up.
March 19-21 - Skate Houston - this is the first competition of the year for Gabby. It will be in Sugar Land so hopefully we will get a lot of family support. She will be in three events: compulsory, free skate, and a new one: spins. Gabby can spin pretty darn well... she gets going like a top and look out.
June 3-6 - Skate Austin - woo-hoo. Our first out of town skating in Austin. Ice Chapparel I believe it's called. It's on US36 and Pfullerville road. North of Austin. Last year we went (Joel, Gabby, Sally and I). We went swimming at Barton Springs (cold) and did the Bat thing. It was fun! Brrr... just thinking of the water makes me shiver.
*** sometime in June. There is some thought about putting some sort of skating show - tribute to Rock and Roll - or something in Sugar Land. The coaches want to do a Winter show (Nutcracker) and a summer show. Gabby wants to skate it and do some sort of number.
July 29-31 - Skate Tulsa - Yes! Oklahoma. First out of state competition. Do I hear ROAD TRIP!!!?? Hmm... I don't drive anywhere that it takes longer than 3 hours - although this last trip to Colorado I drove for about 6 hours. I am thinking of flying and try to roll it into a vacation. I bet we can get some cheap flights. On the other hand, driving there is probably half the fun. Probably. Maybe. Kinda. Oy.
September 3-6 - Houston Invitational - Sugar Land. Ah. Back in Sugar Land where I only have to drive, 4 blocks to the rink. This is Labor Day weekend and it's a biggie competition. If I remember from last year, this is part of a series. Last year gabby managed to pull out a Silver and a Gold against some tough cometition from out of state. Yea! She had lots of fun which is what counts.
That's about it for the schedule anyway. We have already picked out the fabrics and the design for the competition dress and the practice dress. Gabby and the rest of Dorothy's kids will have similar practice dresses with different colors. The competition dress that Dorothy and Margaret have designed will be a flowing style. Michelle Kwan has Vera Wang and we have something even better! Dorothy and Margaret. Miss Margaret always sews in a little crystal heart on Dorothy's dresses. Maybe she will come up with something like that for Gabby
Speaking of...Dorothy, John, and Margaret are off to Toronto for a Trade Show. You guys be careful up there --- it's cold!
We have been watching "The Nationals" - Officially I think they are called the State Farm National Skating Competition in Atlanta. "The Nationals" for short. The top of these will go on to represent the US in "The Worlds". Ah. The Worlds is the competition that is held on those years that it is not an Winter Olympic year. The US sends it's "world" team, etc. Last year The Worlds were held in Atlanta I think. I have a fleece jacket from there. Anyway, we were watching it last night and Sasha did a GREAT short program. Michelle did not do so well - she looked a little shaky. Sasha has a new coach. Her old coach is sick or something. She seems to like her new coach a lot and her program showed it. She looked calm and did not do any "mental" mistakes. She said she likes her new coach because she skates right along side her during practice instead of yelling from the sides. Timoty Goebel - I don't know what's wrong with that boy - he fell all over the place. I think it's a mental thing as Dick Button was saying. Gee - look at me... I'm becoming a regular ice skating critic. Dorothy has already yelled at me for coaching from the side lines (ha,ha,ha). Hmm...get yelled at by Dorothy or get yelled at by the Aerodrome ice monitor for sneaking Gabby on the ice a few minutes early (heh,heh). Story of my life.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Alrighty! Welcome to the new year! We all had an opportunity to go skiing in Durango Colorado. The snow was very, very heavy. We arrived in the night and it was snowing pretty heavily. It sure is weird driving in the snow and the dark. It wasn't bad on low beam but if you put on the high beams it looked like driving through a tunnel. It was a catch 22 because if you drove with low beams you couldn't see the edge of the road very well, and if you flipped the high beams you got a lot of snow in your face to distract you. We made it safely though. We had a 4-wheel drive van and it was great.
The first day I realized that my goggles were not going to be any good. The snow was very heavy, and the sponge liner around the top of my eyes was just gone. I guess after 10 years it just disolves. Anyway, we had to go to Walmart to buy some but they didn't have any that I could wear with glasses. We then rented skiis at Ski Barn on Main street and I picked up some goggles there. They are blue and Joel called them purple with pink. I don't think so but there were not many choices. They worked and they kept the snow out of my eyes.
At about 10:30 we FINALLY got to mountain - we had to drive very slow because it was snowing and icy. The drive usually takes about 30 minutes but it took us over an hour. We got there late so we had to park in the "overflow" parking lot. Parking lot? It was a field with TONS of snow on it. We were directed to it and they were still clearing it when we got there. We then had to carry our ski boots, poles, and skis about a mile to the first lift. IT WAS HARD!!! I was so out of breath with the altitude! Gabby couldn't carry her skiis so I had to carry hers. We all had to take a break and sit in the snow. It was a blizzard and it was kind of miserable but we made it. We found out that the top of the lifts were closed because the trails were snowed over. Which was okay because we were going to stay in the lower hills - the Columbine - it's called. This saved us a bunch of money because the normal lift prices are $59 and we only had to pay $25. We still had lots of fun and the lines were short since not many people were taking lessons. Rookies. We skiid the 'Graduate' lift and it was good enough. It was a green and had some good turns and a few hops. In addition, the heavy powder from the snowfall made it a lot of fun. It's real easy to get stuck in powder. You have to be going at a pretty good speed to plow through it. When you ski through the powder its like passing through a cloud. When you fall into powder, it's soft and it's like sinking in a bunch of cotton. It's hard to get up because your body just sinks. The weird part is that you have to keep your poles strapped or you'll lose them in the snow very easily. if your skiis pop off you have to remember where they are or you'll spend an hour looking for them. Joel fell in the snow and lost his pole...he had to spend some time digging for it but finally found it.
The second day of skiing went a LOT easier. We were a little smarter and took off earlier since we already had our rentals. We got to park in Parking Lot 1 which allowed us to put on our ski boots and walk across the road to the columbine area. We literally walked about 50 feet and then put on our skiis and skiied down to the first lift. Sally bought our tickets there and we were set. We left early that day and all we had to do was ski almost to the parking lot. Leaving early was a good decision (about 30 minutes before the lifts closed). We were able to go down the mountain without too much traffic and before it got dark. We made it back to the hotel in record time.
The hotel. Almost forgot. We stayed at the Best Western (21382 US Hwy 160 West, Durango, CO . . 247-3251) which was nothing fancy but comfortable enough. We paid $60 a night. The beds sure felt good after skiing and the heater worked REALLY well. We had one TV and it had cable so the kids were happy. The bathroom didn't have a heater which was a problem since it got really cold in there after a shower. It had a blow dryer and ice machine down the hall. We had contintental breakfasts every morning delivered to our room by *me*. yes, I had to get up and go to the lobby and load up on donuts, kolaches, orange juice, and cereal. It was a good way to get a snack before heading up the mountain. Once we got to the mountain, we would get some croussants at the little deli that was there. It was decent price for what we got. We didn't eat lunch there or anything. We lived on power bars and water and worked up an appetite. This allowed us to maximize our time on the mountain and then eat dinner later when we had more time. The best dinner we had was Kentucky Fried Chicken and fixings in our room the first day. We were SO tired from the skiing and the long drive home that we just drove through and got a bucket of chicken. It was great since we all got out of our ski clothes, got comfortable, and ate chicken in the room while vegging in front of the TV. There was enough chicken left over for Joel to eat it for dinner the next day. He was pretty tired and he didn't feel like going out for dinner.
The second day, Sally, Gabby, and I still had a lot of energy so we to the hotel's hot tub. The hot tub was OUTSIDE across the SNOW. We put on our swimsuits and our snow boots and our ski coats. We looked funny but who cares. We walked across the snow and took off our boots and jumped in the hot water. It was GREAT!!!! We sat outside and let the jets do their thing while we looked at the stars in the night sky. Gabby practiced swimming back and forth. When we were done (about 20 minutes), we put our snow boots back on and walked back to the room. Joel was still passed out so we went out to dinner at Tequila's. It wasn't bad. We had Pina Coladas and decided it was too cold to go shopping.
The drive back to Albuqurque took us back through Pagoosa Springs. We had come up 550 which is about 3.5 hours. 550 is a short direct route but BORING. On the way back, our plane took off late so we took the scenic route. It was very nice but it added about another hour to the trip. I think i would take 550 back again if I was in a hurry. The road winds through canyons and mountain passes and all kinds of stuff. It's really, really, scenic. There was straightaways where I could really floor it and go about 90 mph since nobody was around. Sally was looking for an outlet mall - Coach and Nautical...but it had closed down since last year. Drat. Too bad.
We look forward to skiing next year. I think i would like to go back to Utah if at all possible. New Mexico is nice but it's a long drive from the airport to the mountains. Who wants to do that? Besides, there is not a whole lot to do at night at these places.