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Climbing

So I did a thing today, I tried climbing for the first time. Admittedly, I was quite nervous as I don’t like heights. Moreover, I don’t have a lot of upper body strength and I sprained my finger a couple of weeks ago. Nevertheless, I gave it a go. It was difficult, but I enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed it until I looked down. As someone who doesn’t like heights, I probably shouldn’t have looked down.

I climbed a couple of walls before hanging up the harness and heading for coffee. Meanwhile, Goalielocks and his teammates continued to climb. The climbing gym was pretty busy, which worked in of our favor as we could take a break from climbing without guilt. After all, who likes a wall hog?!? Nobody! Outside of the height, which I hate, the shoes were the absolute worst. They must run super small because my toes were smushed.

After climbing, we enjoyed a great team dinner in the party room upstairs. The team didn’t have the greatest season from a record standpoint, but they definitely had fun together. Goalielocks and his Goalie partner had the best time. His partner Brody is his absolute favorite. As luck would have it, both were ar Universal last night for Grad Bash. Grad Bash is pretty awesome. They shutdown the parks in Orlando for the high school seniors. It’s a great rite of passage for students here in Florida.

Goalielocks didn’t get home until 6:30 this morning, so I’m sure he’ll have a pretty low key day tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Mayor is at a friend’s house for a birthday party through tomorrow. Goalielocks left to go play some basketball with friends, so I’m watching the Panthers game with the puppies while my hubby snoozes.

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Made It

We made it to Friday! Yay! Yesterday was fabulous as I had anticipated. Jake looked and sounded great, which always puts this mama’s mind at ease. I can’t wait until he’s able to come back home for a visit. Meanwhile, I’m already planning my next trip to visit him out West. I love spending time in Utah. Honestly, I’ve come to love hiking the mountains more than I thought I’d ever would. Nonetheless, there’s something peaceful about a beautiful mountain trail.

This weekend we have Goalielocks’ team party at a climbing gym. I’ve never tried my hand at rock climbing, but I’m going to give it a go tomorrow. The closest I’ve got is when we rappelled down to the waterfall on the Farmington Creek trail in Utah. That experience, by the way, was both exhilarating and terrifying. It was well worth the terror. It’s definitely one of my favorite trails out West.

As for the rest of the weekend, I’ll be taking the two youngest to get fitted for prom. Both boys are going albeit it to different proms. One goes Friday night and the other will be going Saturday. I am looking forward to the fabulous pictures that will come out of both evenings. Like their older brother, I’m positive they’ll look absolutely dapper in their tuxedos. The nice thing about both proms is that dinner is served at the dance, so no need to plan a fancy dinner out.

Work so far has been a snooze. So well I made it, I still have to survive the slowness of an off season Friday. Thankfully, I don’t have to work any weekends anymore. I look forward to enjoying the entirety of my weekend. After all I have an incredible busy social calendar of morning to do, but play with my puppies. It’s a rough life, I know, but I’ll try to survive.

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Big Day

It’s a big day. Thursday. Yep, Thursday has supplanted Friday as my favorite day of the week. Why you ask? Well, every Thursday I get to see and talk to my ride or die (aka my oldest.). Thank god for FaceTime, which gives me the ability to see his smiling face no matter where in this world he’s hiding. Seeing his smiling face every Thursday gives me immeasurable comfort.

Yet this Thursday isn’t like every other Thursday. Not only do I have the best call of the week about to happen, but the Goohees take on Minnesota State in the Frozen Four tonight. Two Hobey Baker finalists and their teams will be fighting for a spot in the national championship game. Through out the season and the playoffs, these two teams have been incredibly fun to watch. I can’t wait for tonight’s game.

Of course, before I get to watch any game, I’ll be meeting with the Broward/Palm Beach PanCan affiliate. Our marquis event, Purplestride will be popping off April 30th. Our affiliate is absolutely killing it this Purplestride season. I love our team and the impact we’re making in our community. Debbie would be proud.

This morning at work had been super sleepy. Consequently, I’ve got a lot accomplished for Purplestride. I started my morning music off with Metallica, but am now watching Foo Fighters’ last show before Taylor Hawkins passing. It’s an awesome show, but absolutely gut wrenching knowing Hawkins passed away two days later. Jake and I saw the Foo Fighters last time they were in town and the show was absolutely epic. The amphitheater was filled to the brim. You literally couldn’t walk anywhere. They’re definitely a band I’d pay top dollar to see again. And now back to my big day!

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Whoops

Whoops, so apparently when you want to publish a post, you have to push publish. Good to know right. I mean, Mondays are tough and the elevator isn’t alway going to the top floor by the end of the day. Needless to say, I ended up publishing my “Monday, Monday” post on Tuesday morning. Whoops! Obviously, I was a little too tired and a little too preoccupied Monday night.

I was going to post last night too after my Monday mishap, but the Panthers game was far too engaging. I can’t believe they overcame a 5-1 deficit to beat the Maple Leafs in OT. These cats are incredible! And can we talk about Huberdeau for a second, he had another career night. This guy has flown under the radar for too long. It’s about time he gets recognized for the incredible hockey player he is and has always been. Meanwhile, the Wild shit the bed in a 6-2 loss Nashville. Hopefully, that’s just a blip.

I finished my two week Metabolic reset that’s a integral part of the Calibrate program. The challenge was actually quite manageable despite my worries to the contrary. Excitingly, my BMI is almost back to regulation and I’m starting to look and feel like myself again. It hasn’t been fun walking around like an inflated version of myself. After all, who wants to look like a puffer fish version of themselves? The answer, of course is nobody.

Work is incredibly slow today, which sucks. Although to be fair, it’s giving me the ability to finish my blog earlier in the day. This will make the second half of my day much easier. I’m back to my BBG program after a two week injury break. After shedding some weight, the running is getting easier. It wasn’t a cakewalk yesterday, but it went much better than anticipated. Working out has become my mooring buoy during this difficult season.

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Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday…. What a song and what a day. As my boss adroitly reminded us all in our noon meeting, we were now the farthest possible from a new Monday morning. Ah, it’s the little things in life. Work was still a bit slow, but I managed to be pretty productive. I’m going to call today a big win. There are some changes coming, which was expected given the state of the business and the lack of seasonal employees.

Happily, I was finally able to work out for the first time since I jacked up my finger and foot. It felt great, but I’m sure I’ll feel this leg day tomorrow. Moreover, it will be interesting to see how my run goes tomorrow since I haven’t run in a few weeks. There’s always a bit of a falloff when you take some time off running. Hopefully, the fall off isn’t too far.

On a brighter note, (see what I did there?) my sunburn is still red, but not quite as painful today. Fortunately, we have plenty of after sun care lotion. Obviously, I’ll be absolutely coated with sunscreen when I’m in Turks later this month. Did I mention I can’t wait for Momcation? The last few month have been an absolute shitstorm of a hell scape. I’d write about it here, but you might get confused and think I started writing fiction. Anyway, a few days with good friends in paradise will serve me well. And now this Monday, Monday is about to come to an end.

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Morning at Urgent Care

So I spent my morning at urgent care after I got hurt taking the dogs out. Anakin ran hard for the banana grove and tore the leash out of my hand. Both leashes went flying, so I ran quickly to collect them before the dogs realized they were free. Meanwhile, the pain from my finger made me absolutely nauseous. As I brought the dogs in, I caught a glimpse of my poor, injured finger.

I quickly took the leashes off once the dogs weee safely inside before heading to the bathroom to lose my cookies. Obviously, it was a completely miserable span of ten minutes. My hubby was kind enough to call the urgent care to check on the wait times. My boss gave me the green light to do whatever i neeeded. Consequently, I was able to see the doctor before starting my day.

By the time we got to the urgent care, the wait had grown from fifteen minutes to forty five minutes. Due to the extended wait gome, we went back home to wait it out. Fortunately, I was able to get some work done. As luck would have it, I was able to take one call that resulted in a great sale. Once I finished the call, we headed back to the urgent care. Our timing was perfect, they were ready for me as soon as we got back.


Thankfully, I don’t think I broke it. There was an area of concern that the doctor wasn’t sure about, so he was waiting to hear back from radiology. Consequently, we’re treating it as a severe sprain unless the radiologist says differently. Nevertheless, I had to skip my workout today, which is a total bummer. Despite my morning at urgent care, my day ended up being really productive.

The mayor is up in Buffalo and had two games today. They won their first game 8-1 and he had two goals. The second game ended in a 1-1 time, which isn’t a bad result. After all, this is the first time a lot of these kids are playing together. Tonight they’re out to dinner and I’m sure enjoying all that Buffalo has to offer. He has two more games tomorrow, which we’ll be watching from afar. I love watching him play!!

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The Season is Over

The season is over after the boys lost a hard fought semi final game to the Makos Sunday morning. It’s hard to put into words how hard each of them played during that game. Obviously, it would have been nice to win, but I’m so proud of their efforts. I’m also proud that our coaches didn’t resort to petty shenanigans in an effort to gain an advantage.

Now I’m sure you’re intrigued by that last sentence, so let me elaborate. The league requires that all players, including goalies, have stop patches on the back of their jerseys. Unfortunately, one of our player’s stop patches fell off during an earlier game in the tournament. The opposing coach approached the referee several times asking him to penalize our team for a missing patch.

When the referee basically told the coach to pound sand and take it up with the league, he sent his team manager up to the league director’s office to plead their case to the director. I mean, can you imagine anything so ridiculous?!! Who is that freaking petty? Literally, the other coach was trying to get the league to suspend our coach over a patch that had clearly just fallen off.

While the Makos manager was up there pleading the case, I ran off the bench to get a stop patch and tape. Once back on the bench, we affixed the stop patch as best we could to the back of his jersey. The league didn’t suspend or remove our coach from the game, so obviously they were less than impressed with their pettiness. Fortunately, karma was served rather quickly as the Makos lost their first game of the weekend in the championship game. You just can’t put that kind of energy into the universe and not expect any repercussions.

At any rate, outside of the kids’ first game Friday night. They had a good weekend. In fact, Saturday they beat the Flames for the first time this season. The boys lost to the Wolves, but it took four periods for them to beat the Hawks. My Mayor had a great weekend and I couldn’t be prouder. He always grinds and plays his hardest every shift. This weekend he blocked a ton of shots and had the bruises to prove it. Now that the season is over, it’s fun to look back and see how far he and his teammates have come since August.

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Birthday

Today’s my birthday and the start of another trip around the sun. I’m blown away and grateful for all the love my friends and family have shown me today. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of my day was waking up to an early morning happy birthday text from Jake. It only got better when he surprised me with a FaceTime call as soon as I finished work. Honestly, I was so surprised and happy that he was able to call. His schedule is insane, so his call was everything. Also, he looked great and sounded great, which always puts this mama at ease.

The rest of my birthday has been low key, which is perfect. Who doesn’t love a little peace amongst the chaos. After I got off the phone with Jake, I went for a nice run. I say nice because I didn’t throw up. Although I was mighty close to losing my cookies at the end. The Hubby and Mayor spoiled me with a great dinner that really sizzled. Goalielocks had an early game today, so he missed dinner. Once the Mayor gets back from hockey practice, we’ll break out the ice cream and cake.

I took some pictures at Goalielocks’ volleyball game last night. It was quite the adjustment from shooting hockey . The field of view is much bigger on all scales. Unfortunately, this resulted in some great shots of the OHS ceiling and sometimes the volleyball. As the game progressed, I moved up the bleachers, which gave me a wider field of view. Fortunately, I was able to get some decent action pictures of the team, which you can enjoy below.

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Volleyball

Well, I finally got to see Goalielocks play volleyball. Good news, they won. Bad news, I know nothing about the sport. I’m going to have to learn a whole new vernacular. In fact, I though the game was over when they scored 15, but it’s actually 25. Goalielocks and his crew played the Olympic Heights Lions. Tonight was the first time I’ve been at the school since Jake graduated five years ago.

Goalielocks is a setter and played two games tonight. He had some great serves and some great play. Well, at least I think he did. To be fair, the serves were good because they got his team points. It was fun to watch him with his team. He definitely is enjoying the varsity volleyball experience. Their team definitely has a lot of spirit and plays with a lot of gusto. You can hear them from a mile away.

Tonight is the last night of my forty first year or as I like to say twenty seven plus fourteen. It’s always a blessing to be given another trip around the sun. I won’t lie and say that forty one has been fun or even a decent year because it hasn’t. Quite frankly year forty one was a complete abortion of a year. If it were an Uber driver, I’d give it one star. Fortunately, every day is a new opportunity to live one’s best life. Here’s to a brilliant forty second trip around the sun and a big fuck you to the forty first trip!

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Productive Sunday

I had a very productive Sunday, which is awesome as we’ll be traveling next weekend. My morning started with the kitchen and fixing the Roomba. Every Sunday I try to clean out the sink and run some cleaner through the garbage disposal. This has been working out great. Meanwhile, My poor Roomba had another run in with Athena’s poop. Thankfully, the diet food she is on makes it super dry and easy to clean up.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I moved my focus outside. We’ve had Brazilian pepper trees, which are invasive to Florida, start taking over our front garden. Fortunately, my new pruning set from Amazon came in this week. Consequently, I put my new pruning saw to good use and took down all of the trees. I also trimmed the fronds from my neighbors yard that were poking through the fence. Lastly, I trimmed back the passion fruit wine and was super excited to see that it’s blooming! I can’t wait to try our passion fruits.

I stated my afternoon off with a good run. Fortunately, it went pretty well today. Afterwards, the Mayor and I drove up to PetSmart to see the dogs they had up for adoption. Spoiler alert, they had none. At any rate, it was good opportunity for the Mayor to practice driving. We stopped at Publix to pick up a few things. The Mayor bought himself some sushi for lunch. I, meanwhile, bought a bunch of yummy goodies for a charcuterie board.

The hubby and I grazed on the charcuterie board for lunch. Usually, we only have a charcuterie at a special occasion or restaurant. Last week I bought a venison tenderloin to try since the Calibrate program allows Wild game, but not a lot of red beef. I sautéed it before roasting the tenderloins over onions. For the gravy, I used a Norwegian recipe that included red currant preserves and Aquavit. It was a good wholesome meal, but I’m not sure who I feel about a sweet gravy. The venison, along with the mashed potatoes my hubby made, turned into perfectly. I’ll definitely be making it again. I’ll cap this productive Sunday with a nice hot shower.