Pittsburgh PA

Pittsburgh is a lot closer to OH than I thought. I knew it was close, but I drove here today with a couple of guys from work and it only took four hours, including a pit stop in Cambridge OH.

Up here for work and it is pretty nice area. We came out of the office building around 7:30p and the sky was lit kind of cool from the setting sun. Anyway, if you are ever passing through OH an don't mind driving through West Virginia for a few minutes to get to PA, you can visit Washington (PA) or Pittsburgh real easy.

:) It was a cool trip, especially because the OSU Buckeyes came back from a 3-7 deficit to beat UW Huskies 27-7 (or at least that is when we stopped keeping track).

Michigan did pretty good too against Notre Dame, but we won't talk about them (38-0).

Ramadhan Kareem

Well Ramadhan is here again.

Hopefully it is going well for all. I had my first experience taking a certification exam yesterday after getting not much sleep Tuesday and Wednesday and then having fasted all morning before the 12p test. It was rough, but proved that the fast helps keep focus and you can do more things if you put your spirit into it.

I can now say that I am a Sun Certified Java Programmer and I will use the weaknesses reported to me in results to better myself this Ramadhan and hopefully following this month try for the assignment towards becoming a Certified Java Developer which is the next step up.

Anyway, the point is the fast is here and wish all peace on their journeys to the Eid.

Salaam

AAU National Championships 2007

Naddiyah and the 10 and under Dayton Lady Hoopstars team finished 7th in the nation at this years National Championships for girls AAU Basketball. The trip was extremely fun as the games are held in Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando FL.

It was worth seeing the determination Nadi showed in the second to last game her team played as she drove the full length of the court fully intending to score. She must have gone through all five defenders or at least that is how it appeared to the spectators. One defender for sure will remember her presence, as the last move was very strong and decisively a facial. As her coached said it was a WNBA caliber move. This basket was the winning shot to put the team into 7th place as the subsequent game they lost to the 5th placed ISSA Elite out of Indiana.

It was amazing seeing 59 teams with 10+ girls each, all playing basketball at a very high level while still being adorable kids and enjoying the atmosphere.

Guess I have to keep saving money because it is a cool family experience that we will probably have to keep doing as long as Naddiyah still loves the game.

Peace