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Good News

We got good news today after Goalielocks’ appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. The doctor noted his shoulder is quite unstable. Moreover, he didn’t think Goalielocks tore anything. At this point, the doctor stated he does not need surgery to fix the shoulder. Thank god! He will be in a sling for the next four to six weeks and will see the doctor again in two weeks. His left shoulder appears to have a labrum tear, which isn’t good news. Nevertheless, the doctor felt both shoulders could be treated with physical therapy with no need for surgery at this time.

It was weird to be so far away while he saw the doctor. Goalielocks has always been interested in medicine and did clinicals during high school. Consequently, I knew he’d be fine interfacing with the doctor without his parents present. In fact, I’m confident that he did a better job articulating his injury than I’ve ever been able to do. He opted not to take ibuprofen or Tylenol for pain, so he could better understand which movements caused the most pain. This way he could give very detailed information to the doctor.

I guess it’s easy to forget that while pain sucks, it does provide vital information to our brains. Speaking of pain, my left knee does not like the spin bike so much. In fact, I find it quite rebellious when I hit the pinnacle of hills. Fortunately, the discomfort in my knee tends to go away once the ride and walking cooldown are over. I’m going to try my knee brace tomorrow and see if that helps. I plan to start running next week, so I’m curious to see how the knee likes the treadmill.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Spin Class through JRNY app
  • Book: The Seven Husbands Of Eleanor Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Blog: done
  • Word of the day: flammiferous which means producing or bright with flame. You’ll thank me the next time you play Scrabble.
  • Today’s song: Feeling Good performed by Michael Buble
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Eventful Evening

Our sleepy Valentine’s Day ended up being an eventful evening when Goalielocks called home injured. I had been texting him and calling him about an Uber eats charge that showed up on my credit card on Super Bowl Sunday. He finally called back when he was leaving volleyball with a dislocated right shoulder. Unfortunately, he was thinking he’d need to go the ER, however, his dad and I were able to convince him the ER wasn’t a great idea.

Consequently, I got up and started looking for in network urgent cares near his apartment. Thankfully, there were two in his area. Better yet, there was one that was still open! Here the urgent cares close at 8:00 pm, which I think is ridiculous. Fortunately, he was able to make an appointment at the urgent care for last evening. I chuckled as he texted and called as he filled out the forms. As a mom, I’ve filled out countless forms for schools, hospitals and clinics. Motherhood is a sea of forms that need to be filled out. Honestly, It was nice to no be the person filling it out.

The doctor took an X-ray as as expected nothing was broken. His shoulder was dislocated with a suspected labrum tear. The doctor put him in a sling and gave him a referral for an orthopedic doctor. I had fallen asleep before he left his appointment, but went to bed comfortable in the knowledge he can competently take care of himself in this situation. Sure enough he sent me a photo of himself in a sling once he got back to his apartment.

So our uneventful Valentine’s became quite an eventful evening, so much for the romance. Goalielocks will be seeing an orthopedic doctor tomorrow for his right shoulder. Although, he probably should have the doctor look at both shoulders as he has a preexisting left shoulder injury. In addition his old injury, the Mayor had dislocated his shoulder two weeks ago as well. Consequently, I had gotten a referral for a shoulder expert here in Palm Beach County. Needless to say, they’ll both be seeing the expert sooner rather than later.

The accountability tracker is back now that I’m better and settled back into my routine!

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Spin Class through JRNY alp
  • Book: The Seven Husbands Of Eleanor Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Blog: done
  • Word of the day: Mohawk. My boys always wanted a Mohawk or a mullet. I always said no. Now that their older, the choice is fully theirs to make.
  • Today’s song: Tennesee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton
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Happy Valentine’s Day

Wishing everyone in the blogosphere a very happy Valentine’s Day! I hope everyone feels lots of love, gets some flowers, and eats some good chocolate. As of yet, the extent of my Valentine’s Day gifts was the Dunkin’ coffee Uber Eats dropped off this morning. I have no complaints, however, as I simply can’t function without my coffee.

Tonight I’m going to take a spin class before dinner. I had planned to take one during lunch but put the kibosh due to an unfortunately timed meeting. For dinner, we’ll have the last of this week’s Blue Apron meals. Yesterday I made a Calabrian shrimp orzo that was out of this world. Truly, it was super tasty and did not a lot of calories. It’s definitely a meal I’ll order again.

My system at work is operating in the dregs of the IT realm, which is to say it’s barely operating at all. Yet again I’ve spent the day facing tech issues. Clearly, it wasn’t how I anticipated celebrating Valentine’s. Hopefully, IT can get it together, so tomorrow our systems will be running smoothly. That right there would be a Valentine’s Day gift to celebrate. Anyway, from me to you, Happy Valentine’s day!

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Super Bowl Sunday

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and for once we don’t have any hockey games today. It’s a miracle! Consequently, we spent the day relaxing at home with the dogs. I finally got a chance to put our spin bike to use and it properly kicked my ass. It did, however, feel good to work out again. I haven’t worked out since being diagnosed with shingles several weeks ago. Let’s hope I’m able to continue working out.

Before hockey, we’d likely spend Super Bowl Sunday at the beach with our toes in the sand. Since we started hockey, we rarely make it to the beach anymore. Unfortunately, there was no beach this morning either. A cold front came through last night and brought with it a howling wind. I love the beach, but it’s never fun to get sandblasted the wind-blown sand. Nevertheless, it would still be beautiful.

As we roll into the afternoon and towards the start of the Super Bowl, I’d like to preemptively extend my condolences to the losing team and their fan base. Let’s hope this year’s Super Bowl is entertaining with great commercials. There have been way too many boring super bowls over the last several years. Lastly, I hope Rihanna’s halftime show is incredible. I like her music, so I’m excited to see what songs made the setlist.

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End of an Era

Today marked the end of an era. It was the Mayor’s last league game as a Hawk. In fact, it may have been his last league game as a youth hockey player. We don’t know yet if he’ll play juniors next year or U18aa. Nonetheless, it is crazy to think my youngest son, who was a four-year mite, is about to age out of U16. Truly, it was a bit of a spiritual experience.

As always for a home game, I was the DJ for today’s game. For some reason, the kids play their best when I play heavy metal. Strangely enough heavy metal isn’t their personal music preference. Either way, the heavier the music, the better they play, so cue the Five-Fingered Death Punch and Rammstein. If the players had their way, there would be more rap in the rotation. Unfortunately for them, or maybe fortunately for the rest of us, there are very few current rap songs with clean versions.

Our first year with Coach David, the boys selected John Denver’s Country Roads for their victory song. I say victory song chiefly because everyone knows John Denver is for winners. Three years later, I played it as their victory song. They held off Clearwater White to get a big win today. The last time we played the team, they killed us. Today’s victory was bittersweet as it marked the end of an era. Feeling nostalgic, I again played John Denver’s Country Roads for their victory song. It’s hard to believe this chapter of his life and ours is coming to a close.

And now here’s your weekly recap in photos and memes, you’re welcome.

While the Chinese ballon was shut down last Saturday, the memes continue to be top-notched. I love this one calling out folks that were concerned about the balloon but have no problem giving the Chinese government their info on TikTok.

The Mayor’s high school season came to an unceremonious end Monday night with a playoff loss. Curiously, the league offered the team a place in the state tournament round-robin stage with no ability to move on to the playoffs. Say what?!? No thanks, we’ll pass.

Tuesday night was the SOTU at 9:00 pm EST. Do they not realize that some of us have to get up for work Wednesday morning? My ass was in bed by the time the speech popped off. I did however enjoy the Cruella De Ville/MGT memes that I saw Wednesday. Since I didn’t watch the speech, my one takeaway is that MGT channeled her inner Cruella De Ville when getting dressed. And if there is a news source you can trust, it’s memes on social media.

The Mayor discovered the workout clothes Jake left behind at Christmas and decided they were now his. Jake, being the awesome big brother he is, was happy to let The Mayor have them.

Anakin snuck out and went duck hunting in the lake behind our house. Fortunately, there were no gators in the lake when he decided to go for a swim. Moreover, no ducks were hurt during his hunting adventure.

Goalielocks came home last night for a visit. It was so nice to see him. All of us, including the puppies, we’re happy to have him home.

And as noted above, the Mayor’s team’s regular season came to an end today. The end of an era. In tribute to the boys and their end-of-season victory, today’s video is Country Roads.

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Top of the Mountain

I’m approaching the top of the mountain, the proverbial mountain that is a week, as my Friday workday is now half over. I long for the beautiful vistas of a Saturday and Sunday off that I’ll see at the peak of the mountain. For now, I’ll ignore the despicably low valley that is a forthcoming Monday morning. I’m ready to ride our my Friday afternoon.\

I’m optimistic about the weekend, but I’m a pessimist when it comes to my hubby’s work situation. Seven weeks have now gone by without a paycheck. What in the actual fuck is that lunacy? His boss shouldn’t treat my hubby this way. If you know him, you know there are few people better at their craft than him. He’s a total professional. Honestly, I don’t know how some people sleep at night.

Last night Anakin gave the hubby and me quite the scare. We had Arrow and Athena on the leashes to take them out for their 6:00 pm walk when the three dogs huddled at the door. Like a star NFL running back, Anakin found a hole in our coverage and got loose. His first instinct was to hunt at the hibiscus by the garage. He quickly moved on to the hibiscus up front. We tried to grab him numerous times, but he ran out of reach.

As he ran to the stop sign, my heart stopped. I was so afraid a car was going to hit this dog. We rushed to put Athena and Arrow back inside, so we could concentrate on catching Ani. Meanwhile, he sprinted at full speed into our backyard. We were a bit worried as Anakin is afraid of strangers and reacts accordingly. As a result, I had hoped he would have stopped at the passion fruit vine to hunt, but he wasn’t there and my heart dropped. We couldn’t see Anakin anywhere.

My hubby and I split up, I stayed in the backyard and headed toward the lake while the hubby headed up front to look for him. When I heard a splash as I lamented the notion of losing my sweet Anakin. Heartbroken at the thought of losing my dog, I turned towards the splash and that’s when I saw him. He had jumped into the lake and was swimming after the ducks trying to catch them. For a split second, I was worried I’d have to go in after him, but he came right to me when he was called.

Anakin loves his AFLAC duck

At this point, Anakin has the biggest smile on his face. He had enjoyed his little adventure swimming in the lake chasing ducks. Fortunately, neither the hubby nor I had to jump in to get him out. Moreover, no ducks or dogs were hurt during Anakin’s wild adventure. We think his older sister Maya would have been proud of his duck-hunting adventure. As for now, he’s locked up while the other dogs are taken out less he tries to break free again. His adventure concluded with a nice shower to wash the lake smell off of him.

Clearly, Thursday night was the top of the mountain for Anakin, but for the rest of us Friday night beckons. We have no plans tonight, which is fabulous. The Mayor’s regular season for his travel team will come to an end tomorrow afternoon. It’s been a difficult year, but I feel like he’s grown as a player and learned a lot. Too often folks get hung up on the Ws instead of focusing on how the players developed on and off the ice over the season. The hubby and I are really proud of how hard he has worked.

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Blue Spruce

Chugga chugga blue spruce was Goalielocks’ rally cry every time he saw a blue spruce during our first trip to Utah. Blue spruces had somehow become his favorite tree, so naturally, he felt the need to call our attention to every tree he spotted in the Wasatch mountains. Consequently, when I saw spruce was the word of the day it brought back great memories.

It’s funny how a word can usher in a tide of memories. Our first trip to Utah was so much. We were a motley crew hiking the Wasatch Front for the first time and making a few mistakes. I’ll never forget hiking the wrong trail in triple-digit heat with minimal shade and a big altitude gain. I tapped out before the summit. Obviously, we learned our lesson the hard way. Thou shall start with an easy hike when first hiking at over 5,000 feet above sea level in the summer heat.

After that first brutal, yet beautiful, hike each trek got successively easier. To be clear, there weren’t any really easy hikes outside of Donut Falls. The Donut Falls hike would have been a perfect first hike. Every hike was an adventure that trip and it led to a love of hiking. I found myself being at home on the dusty trails of the Wasatch mountains. I loved being immersed in the national forest deep in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

It’s funny how memories work, but I’ll take it. The word prompt spruce took me back to the Utah trips with my boys, Melly, and my folks. That first trip, in particular, will always be special to me. It was our first adventure in the mountains and the greater Salt Lake Area. It’s the trip where my boys and I discovered our love of hiking, lavender lemonade, and Goalielock’s love of blue spruce. I am hopeful the boys and I will get at least one more trip out West before Jake moves again.

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Pernicious

Pernicious is the word of the day and as I write this I’m fighting through pernicious boredom at work. I’ve been plenty busy with folks that hang up on me today, yet I find myself mighty bored. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve rediscovered the end of the internet. There’s nothing new or interesting to see as everything has been recycled.

Jen Barber is always good for IT advice and a good laugh

Speaking of pernicious, my hubby’s volunteer status has definitely had a negative impact on my mental health. I thought we were making some headway yesterday, but I may have postulated incorrectly. I started writing in a separate journal to help cope with the stress. The strategy has worked wonderfully. After all, not all my thoughts are suitable for public consumption. If you’re looking for a journal app, I’d highly recommend One Journal. It is a free app with a premium subscription available.

It’s been nice having him home this past week. I’ve had several things on my to-do list that have been waiting for. Unfortunately due to shingles and an autoimmune flare, I haven’t been able to tackle any of them. Fortunately, he’s picked up the slack and has been knocking out several items on the to-do list. We have so much stuff upstairs that we simply don’t need anymore. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better over the weekend, so I can help clean out the upstairs.

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Season is Over

Well, the high school season is over. They lost a heartbreaker last night to the storm. For whatever reason, the boys couldn’t get it together last night. They were all sorts of off. It was a game they could have and should have won, but that’s life. I guess there are states and the all-star game left, but I’m not sure if the team or the Mayor will be playing in either. Either way, it appears the season is over.

I’ve made my opinion well-known on the subject, but it would have been nice to see the boys move forward. More than anything, high school hockey has provided a place to just play hockey for the fun of it. Travel hockey requires a lot of commitment and discipline (at least it should,) so high school provides balance to their hockey experience. I guess there is a spring season, so the North County Stars will live to play another day. I just don’t have any information on when or where the spring season starts.

Work continues to go well. This month is going so much better than the previous eight months. I’m hopeful that it will continue. The calls today have been pretty good less on strange ones. As I write this, I’m in between calls. I have found that writing a blog during the day helps me sleep better. If I write in the evening, my mind can’t shut off to go to bed. Honestly, it’s the worse feeling in the world when your body is dead tired, but your mind is ready to party.

As for my hubby’s volunteer situation, it still exists and it still sucks. It’s been a little frustrating trying to get information like using a snickersee in a gunfight. Nevertheless, his boss finally gave him a call. At least now we know where we stand and what’s going on. Hopefully, we will have a resolution and we can put this very stressful chapter behind us.

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Sandler Sunday

In continuing my r&r reason, it’s Sandler Sunday in our house. We started the morning with The Waterboy and are now continuing with Happy Gilmore. In between, I’ve walked Arrow like 100 times trying to get him to go to the bathroom outside. He gets a bit distracted by all the stuff he sees on the walk. In fact, he really loves birds. I think he’d like nothing more than to catch one. He’s also a fan of squirrels and lizards like his older brother Anakin.

In between movies and walks through the rain, I made some chocolate chocolate chip cookies. The best part of these cookies is undoubtedly the dough. While the cookies are yummy, they’re not as amazing as the dough. My family has a discriminating palate, so I like to use high-quality butter and cocoa powder. It makes for a much richer cookie. Afterward, I started some bread to go with tonight’s dinner. Hopefully, I’ll manage the time so the bread comes out of the oven right as dinner is ready.

I’ve also managed to get the floors vacuumed and some laundry is done. Yesterday afternoon, I was able to finish our taxes. All in all, I have had a very productive restful weekend. The remainder of my Sandler Sunday will be spent finishing laundry, cuddling with the puppies, watching movies, and baking bread.

Today’s song featuring a saxophone is Old Time Rock & Roll by Bob Seger.