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Choking

Well, it was a day full of choking.  When I say choking, I don’t mean the kinky 50 Shades stuff, I mean sports teams utterly out performing.  Once could say shitty decision leads to shitty outcomes, but that seems a bit obvious.  As a hardened Vikings fan, I knew tonight would be disappointing.  Consequently, I spent the first half of the game working out.  Fortunately, while they gave up touchdown after touchdown, I burned 632 calories.  (At least there was some winning today!)

 

My kids, however, have not yet accepted what it truly means to be a Minnesota fan.  You know, the team will build up your hope only to choke in dramatic and devastating fashion.  Come to think about it, I probably should have used disappointment or today’s title, however, that would be redundant.  Nevertheless as a consequence of the Vikes’ epic collapse, I have one kid in a full on melt down.  Truly, I think he thought the world was truly ending.  Like many fans, I would have loved for my team to win, but hey reality is reality.  I simply don’t get my hopes up anymore.

Despite their epic loss, I love my Vikings and fellow fans.  How many organizations have a fan base that would raise well over $200,000 for an opponents charity? Not many.  At least the Vikes are honorable, which is more than I can say about many people.  I actually had some tell me today that they have a sliding scale of accountability and were proud of it.  Things to keep to yourself..  If you are in charge of anyone and have a sliding scale of accountability, you should probably quit your job.

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Unfortunately, the highlight of my day was the awesome chili I enjoyed at Culver’s between games.  When the chili was the highlight of the day, you know it was a bad sports day.  Additionally, I started reading Sun Tzu’s TheArt of War, which was quite enjoyable.   If you lead people, in any capacity or environment, you need to read this book on military strategy.  While this book was written with a military audience in mind, its principals are applicable across all industries and all leaders. In fact, I’m pretty sure its the first time in recorded history that a leader referred to a style akin to servant leadership.

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Ultimately, win, lose or draw, I love spending time with my family.  In that regard, today was a total win.  The Vikings’ season may be over, but I still have my Wild and soon the Twinkies will start spring training.  In short, soon the other sports teams from Minnesota can break my heart.   Lastly, if you’re looking for a good book to read on strategy, pick up a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

Tonight’s song performed by Minnesota’s own Soul Asylum is “Runaway Train.  I know, I know it is a bit melancholy, but after the drubbing my Vikes endured it seems apropos.  Of course, it also happens to be a great song and a great video.

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Rest Day

After a 5:00 am wake up call and an early morning arrival this morning, today was a rest day for my boys and I. All three of us slept in late and were slow to get out of bed. I ran and got breakfast around 11:00 also making hair appointments for Goalielocks and I for later in the day.

Apart from a couple of errands after our hair appointments, the only other item on my calendar was yoga tonight. In my mind, I gave myself a loophole to the only “sneakers” rule. Honestly, I just needed to wear some flip flops after wearing boots for the last several days. Moreover, yoga is miserable in sneakers. As you know, yoga isn’t about being miserable.

As for yesterday, We had a good, but odd travel day. First of all, I have to commend both Delta and Hertz for amazing customer service. For example, when the rental return crew saw our luggage in the car, they arranged for someone to drop us off at the terminal. This was a total godsend.

Surprisingly, both check-in and the security check points were pretty quick. We hit a snag, however, when we got to the gate. Unfortunately, security and the check-in desk, had let a passenger group through without noticing their baby didn’t have a reservation. How this traveler didn’t know he needed to have a reservation, so everyone on the plane would accounted for, is beyond me.

Since the baby didn’t have a reservation, they couldn’t let the child on the plane. The gate agents worked feverishly to fix the issue, however it isn’t so simple to add a last minute reservation as the plane is about to push back.

Throughout the entire ordeal the dad stayed stoic as his two older children were by his side. His mother, who was arguing with the gate agents, was sent down to board the plan to prevent further delays and aggravation.

As a result of this issue, the plane leaving to New York wasn’t able to leave the gate until after our flight was supposed to board. Consequently, our flight ended up leaving an hour late. While the New York flight left almost two hours late. Throughout the entirety of the ordeal, Delta’s gate agents remained calm and professional. As for us passengers heading to the ATL, we were just happy we weren’t on the New York flight.

When we boarded our flight in ATL, they invited the Mayor into the cockpit. He got to sit in the captain’s chair, play with the yoke and wear the hat. As he sat in the cockpit, he and the pilots discussed the controls and flying. The captain told him the first officer would be flying and to let him know how he did after we landed. They had offered the Mayor the opportunity to switch spots with the captain, but it’s probably better they didn’t since the Mayor fell asleep before takeoff.

Our flights were fast, smooth with great Wi-Fi throughout. The weirdness for me continued once we landed in FLL. After we grabbed or bags, I headed to the restroom before we drove home. While most people shut the stall doors when they use them, the janitor at FLL found this to be unnecessary. I have seen things I can now I see. I get that the airport was empty, so maybe she thought she could leave it open. However, she didn’t even close it after myself and another travelled walked into the restroom. People are crazy in Florida! But hey no icy or snowy roads here, so I’m good!

Yoga was fabulous at Burn tonight! I’m super excited that the Hubby setup my yoga silk while I was in Chicago. The boys have all tried it out and think it’s amazing. It’s a great place just to “hangout and chill.” Well, I’m off to finish unpacking and get more laundry put away.

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Homeward Bound

After a wonderful weekend in Chicago, we’re homeward bound. We got a very early start to our day with a 5:00 wake up call. The Mayor’s game was out in West Dundee and after several inches of snow, we needed to leave even earlier. Consequently, we hit the road at 5:30 hoping that would provide adequate time to get there by 6:10.

Unfortunately, it did’t. Admittedly, I got spoiled when living in Minny as they truly do a great job clearing the roads quickly. Illinois could use a lesson or two from Minny on clearing the roads. While the storm had started in the early evening hours on Sunday nights, the interstate was still a mess when we hit the road this morning.

Not for nothing, winter driving is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to move out of Minny. I absolutely abhor driving in the snowy and icy conditions. Clearly, I don’t have the nerves nor the stomach for it. Nonetheless, I survived driving through the snow and ice.

Back to hockey, both boys were playing in the semis this morning. The Mayor’s team lost a heart breaker of a game, but they played with so much heart. Unfortunately, due to the timing of their games and the road conditions, I missed Goalielocks’ game.

I didn’t think in a million years I could have made it there for more than a period. However, the game was a complete train wreck with numerous stoppages. In fact, even though I would have made it to the rink an hour after it started, I still would have caught half a game. The crazy part is these games are only supposed to take an hour…. This one took considerably longer.

As much as I hate driving in the snow, it was absolutely beautiful this morning. After their games, the kids headed outside to play in the snow with their teammates. They had an absolute blast. Fortunately, the weather was absolutely perfect for playing outside with temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

Once they finished playing outside, we packed up the room so we could grab lunch with our friends. It was no surprise that Goalielocks wanted to head back to Giordano’s. In fact, I was totally on board too since eating the deep dish pizza would likely keep us full for the rest of the day.

While our teams didn’t make the finals and the hockey didn’t go as we hoped, I’m leaving Chicago with a heart full of love and gratitude. I’m extremely thankful to be able to share these experiences with the kids and with my dear friend Jen. Seeing Jen and her family absolutely made my weekend. There’s nothing better than a dear friend, who loves you no matter where you are in life. A friend that sticks by your side through thick and thin. Moreover, even though you may not talk everyday you know they’re in your corner. Love you to the moon and back my sister from another mister!!!!

We’re presently cruising around 36,000 feet heading south to Atlanta before heading to Florida. The Mayor is enjoying a movie, while Goalielocks has been watching highlights from yesterday’s Vikings game. There’s no studying happening, so hopefully that means they did their work already. Meanwhile, I’m here blogging away on my iPhone.

I’ll close out tonight’s blog with how much we enjoyed our time in Chicago. The people, the service, the food was all incredible. From the moment we got to the rental car counter at Hertz until we pushed back tonight, we were met with nothing but kindness from the people of Chicago. The only nasty people we came across were crazy hockey mom and grandmas from other states. We, of course, were on our best behavior. Seriously, Chicago and its people were amazing to us this weekend!

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Skol Vikings!!!

Skol Vikings!!! Holy cannoli Batman that was a nail biter of a game between my Vikes and the Saints today. Jen and I were biting our nails as we followed the live updates on the Score. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a time delay on the app. So we were a bit behind.

Fortunately, text messages from my hubby, the family group text and Chuckles and Roman kept us updated timely. Honestly, when C&R texted holy cow, what a catch, touchdown, I thought they were messing with me. (It’s not hard to do.) I was in disbelief until my hubby and the family group text confirmed the good news.

Truly it was a game that entertained the masses while giving Minnesota fans a heart attack. I was commiserating the Vikings impending doom with my hubby via text and Jen as watched Goalielocks’ game. When she said, “maybe there’ll be a miracle.” I replied as any hardened Vikings fan would, “miracles don’t happen to us.” Only this time it did thanks to our Keenum led offense and Diggs’ amazing catch.

Aside from the Vike’s amazing win tonight, my boys had four games at two rinks across town. Consequently, I’m utterly exhausted and not looking forward to a 5:00 am wake up and an early morning drive through the snow. Goalielocks’ Team was 2-0 on the day, but I’ll write more about that in a forthcoming post on instant karma.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s team went 1-1 on the day. The Mayor notched two goals today scoring one in each of the games. In fact, he scored the only goal for his team in the morning game. Both boys’ teams have moved onto the semis bright and early tomorrow. I’ll likely miss the start of Goalielocks’ game.

Lastly, the boys are really loving the Chicago area. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be able to make it downtown tomorrow due to games. However, today I introduced Goalielocks to deep dish pizza. After their morning game, we went with friends to Giordano’s. Goalielocks and I shared a pepperoni deep dish pizza that was to die for. In his words, “it was the best pizza he had ever eaten!” Moreover, he wants to go back for more tomorrow.

Of course, the plus side is the pizza really fills you up. You really don’t need to eat too much the rest of the day after having that. Even after we got back to the hotel after Goalielocks’s game, I was still full.

I should also mention that it has started to snow here in Chicago, which makes awesome driving – said nobody ever!!! My boys though are loving the weather. In contrast, I’m praying for an early end to the snow and for the roads to be clear tomorrow morning when we leave. I’m off to bed as we have a very early wake up call tomorrow morning.

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Game Day in Chicago

It was game day in Chicago for the Mayor and Goalielocks. Moreover, it was a cold game day in Chicago. It was so cold, in fact, that I got to break out my Dale of Norway sweater. Thank god for that sweater as it kept me completely comfortable all day long. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great photo (my eyes are closed per usual), but you can clearly see the sweater. Also, I totally forgot how I hate static cling. It simply isn’t something we have to contend with in Florida.

The day started out with a nice win for Goalielocks and his squad. Additionally, it was a great start to the day for me as I quickly found a Dunkin’ Donuts in close vicinity to the rink. #winning

Fortunately, all of our games today were at the same rink. In fact, I lucked out as The Mayor’s game was right after Goalielocks’ game. Best of all, I was able to watch the first two games with my bestie from highschool and her kids. We had such a great time, I forgot to take a pic of us! Ugh!

At the beginning of the Mayor’s game, we had some yummy pizza up in the rink’s restaurant/bar. It was super good. Fortunately, the puck luck bounced our way as the opponents inadvertently buried a pass in their net. 1-0 good guys!

Ultimately, the Mayor’s team won in a much more physical than expected game. In fact, it was so chippy that the refs didn’t allow the teams to shake hands for fear an altercation would break out.

Tonight’s game was a complete s@&t show. The first period was pretty good until the train derailed with a bad goal. Let me clear by bad goal, I mean a goal that didn’t actually cross the goal line. It hit the front crossbar went up before landing next to Goalielock’s butt.

Unfortunately, that errant goal derailed the game for our boys. After that moment, the refs grew increasingly belligerent and intolerable. It was clear they had a chip on their shoulders after being questioned on the goal. Honestly, it was the worst officiated game I have ever seen.

Our boys literally spent have their game in the box. While some of the calls were legit, most were outright ridiculous. For example, one of our guys would get boarded and we’d get the penalty. Meanwhile, the other team spent 90% of their time on the power play. In fact, outside of the errant goals all of their goals were scored while on the power play. Take the errant goal and power plays out of the picture and you have a much different game.

Post-game the boys, the parents and coaches were extremely upset. To give to an idea of how bad it truly was, consider that parents/coaches of our rivals from Florida felt compelled to speak with the tournament organizers about how bad it was. Another parent that witnessed the game, from another team, was also compelled to speak to the tournament staff about the officiating.

Life isn’t fair, I get that, but it is a long freaking way to travel to get bent over by the refs! Now it’s time for bed, we have a mere 4 games at two different rinks tomorrow. We will be exhausted by the time Monday rolls around. P.S. nobody needs to tell my podiatrist about kicking the boards…..

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Chicago Bound

We are Chicago bound, via DTW, for a weekend of hockey. For the first time, the Mayor and Goalielocks are playing at the same out of state tournament. Well, at least this month….

Our flight left out of Chicago on an older formerly Northwest 757-200. Consequently, the bird evokes memories of flying on Northwest out of Minneapolis. For several years, Northwest was really the only game in town for us Minnesotans. While Delta now has most of the airport, there are several other options for flying in and out of MSP. Fortunately, they have a number of low costs carriers flying into MSP, which has somewhat helped lower the cost of flying into Minneapolis.

We just flew over the Appalachian mountains minutes ago and are rapidly approaching Ohio. In less than an hour, we should be wheels down in DTW where will catch our connecting flight to Chicago! Unfortunately, we’ll be pulling into gate 66 and will have to head to gate 6. Should be a fun dash!

I packed several snacks for the flight including almonds, gourmet marshmallows, little bites and Twizzlers. At this point, I’m fairly certain the only items left will be the almonds! This is in spite of the fact we all just enjoyed some yummy Biscoff cookies. As an aside, the cinnamon churro marshmallows are ridiculously delicious!

I’ll post a song of the day in a later post as this bird’s WiFi is not super strong!

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Win Some, Tie Some

You win some, tie some.. Oh, wait the phrase is you so Some, you lose some. Whoops! The good news for Goalielocks and his squad is they won their first game and tied the second game. Unequivocally, it would have been nice to grab a second with, but it wasn’t in the cards.

I have to say we’re spoiled in Florida hockey. When you leave a rink in a Florida, you warm up almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, with temperatures in the 40s today that simply isn’t possible.

As I write this, I’m still cold as we ride home in the Bachman party bus. It will take a while to un-thaw, but it’s a small price to pay for spending quality time with the boys and our friends.

Between games we were able to catch lunch at my favorite local restaurant Cafe Murano. It’s a great, reasonably price restaurant that’s relatively close to the rink. I enjoyed an exceptionally delicious bowl of spaghetti Bolognese. The food came out quickly and was amazing. Truly, the did great accommodating our group of 30 people.

We headed back to the second game to freeze are arses off again. Even my Starbucks was quickly cooled as I sat in the box waiting for the puck to drop. Fortunately, I was significantly less busy in the box than the first game. Unfortunately, I was significantly colder during the second game.

Goalielocks had a great game as did his partner in crime. Neither faced a significant number of shots, but both came up with some huge saves when they needed them. Naturally, I was super happy for Goalielocks. I loved seeing his winsome smile as he skated off the rink today.

Now we head home in the party bus, only to venture over to the West Coast for the Mayor’s games. It’s another day on the road and another day at the rink. Of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today’s song performed by the Beatles is “Don’t Let Me Down.”

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Almost there

We’re almost there.. Almost to the end of the year and the grand beginning of a new one. I started my day at Burn with circuit burn and aerial yoga. My leg tolerated both reasonably well with only the mountain climbers causing discomfort. Fortunately, I was able to modify the move to accommodate the injury.

Meanwhile, the Mayor was one an adventurous sleepover on a sail boat in Fort Lauderdale. I have to say I had many amazing sleepovers in my day, but never one a sailboat. Clearly, he’s having a great day based on the photos our friends have sent.

The Mayor and his teammate E have spent their day fishing in the marina. Fortunately, they’ve had a pretty productive day and have caught some nice fish. In fact, the Mayor even caught a nice sized Crevalle Jack!

Now the sun is starting to set and we’re making our way down to the marina. Unfortunately, it’s a bit colder than we’re used to, so we’ve got our hoodies, jackets and some blankets to keep us warm. I’m rocking my new BCBG linen pants with my not so sexy flats (thank you tendinitis.)

As we drive south, Goalielocks is playing the music. He loves his country, but he also loves Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” which is an awesome song. It definitely brings me back to my school days and the old East Coast West Coast feud. Admittedly, the song is laced with profanities and violence, but at least it’s not insipid like “Gucci Gang.”

Tonight’s song performed by Tupac is “California Love.”

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Winter Solstice

It’s the winter solstice today, well at least it was at 11:28 am this morning.  The shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere is also the harbinger of longer days to come.  Unequivocally, I hated the short days of a Minnesota winter.  There’s nothing more depressing than a sunset at 4:30 pm.

Here in Florida, the sunset was around 5:30 pm tonight and was gorgeous.   If it weren’t for the horribly short days, you would hardly know it is winter here. Piggie and I were out on our run enjoying the beautiful weather.  As we pushed to mile 3, Piggie recoiled with fright into my left knee.   My left leg is a veritable disaster with hip flexors and a IT band so tight if it snapped, it would poke your eye out.  What was the monster that frightened her so?  Perhaps another animal or a loud car?  Oh no, my Piggie was afraid of the orange cone.  If I wasn’t so out of breath, I would have ended up on the ground in a laughing fit.

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As you’ve probably gathered from reading my recent blog posts, things have been a bit stressful in our household.  It’s not always amazing to own your own business, but that’s the price you pay for autonomy.  In addition, we had a health scare with one of our boys, so we ended up at a specialists office this afternoon. Fortunately, his bladder and kidney looked good on the ultrasounds.  This gave him quick relief as he was worried they’d find something in his organs.

Nevertheless, he will have to undergo an outpatient surgery in early 2018.  This should be quite simple and result in minimal downtime.  However, if anything is discovered during the procedure it could result in a more protracted and complicated recovery.  Here’s hoping for an uneventful procedure and a miraculous (quick and uncomplicated) recovery.

Speaking of miracles, I’ll need to start and finish my Christmas shopping (food included) in the span of 72 hours.  Unfortunately, this means online shopping isn’t going to work.  Well, unless I want to spend $250 for Saturday shipping, which I don’t as that’s ridiculous.  Wish me luck as I hit the stores with the snow birds and all the glorious people South Florida has to offer.

Tonight’s song, performed by one of our hockey sister’s Julia and her classmate, is “The Prayer.”

 

 

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Monday Night Mayhem

It was Monday night Mayhem when I received an urgent call from my Hubby as I drove to the rink for his and Jake’s game.   Unfortunately, their team’s goalie wasn’t going to to miss tonight’s game.  They wanted Goalielocks to suit up and play for them in the championship.  Never mind the fact that Goalielocks at 14 isn’t old enough for adult league.  But from a maturity stand point I’m not sure most beer league players are old enough to play in adult league, so Goalielocks would likely fit in perfectly.

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He was not to keen on the idea of being pummeled with pucks from beer leagurers living out their childhood fantasies of playing in the NHL.  However, the Hubby and Uncle Jon convinced him that nobody on the ice could shoot as fast or hard as anyone on his current team.  It took some convincing, but he eventually acquiesced as we drove back to grab his gear.

They held the game for us and our gear.  Consequently, Goalielocks quickly got dressed and took to the ice.  For Goalielocks, the game was a much slower pace than what he’s use to, but he was busy from start to finish.  He played phenomenally.  I’m pretty sure he’s the only goalie in beer league that can do the split.  This nice little trick caught the other team by surprise a couple of times.

Unfortunately, they pulled him with 5 minutes left in the 2nd when an adult goalie replacement was available.  Apparently, you have to be an adult (chronologically speaking) to play adult league.  While they’ve made exceptions for goalies before (in a pinch), it’s better from a liability standpoint to have an adult goalie in net.   He came off the ice smiling, but was still bummed he didn’t get to play the whole game.

Goalielocks walked into the locker room to get undressed and with a smile said, “they owe me a lot.”  And he would be right, he was kept very busy in net tonight.  Fortunately, he gave their team an opportunity to win.  In the end, he watched the third period from the stands with the rest of us fan.  Unfortunately, the goods guys lost 3-1.

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While he didn’t play the whole game, I could see that he enjoyed the opportunity to play with his family.  Likewise, judging from their reaction, they enjoyed the chance to have him in their net.  Of course the best part of the night, for my boys, was the free pizza, wings and beer post game.

Sometimes all compasses, all roads, and all maps lead us back to the same place.  For my family, our compass apparently only points us in the direction of the rink.  Moreover, forget the compass for a second, when I got leave to work or my house, my iPhone tells me how long it will take to get to the rink.  Such is life as a hockey mom and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

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P.S. Goalielocks also gets bonus points for making his mom dinner.  He made me awesome scrambled eggs and waffles!  The waffles were amazing!  Finally, the scrambled eggs were divine.

Tonight’s song is Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) performed by Celine Dion.  I love this song.