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Split Saturday

It was a split Saturday for our crew, as I stayed home w/ the Mayor and his squad while the Hubby traveled with Goalielocks’ to Clearwater for his games.  Fortunately, hubby was able to watch most of the Mayor’s  morning game before hitting the road.  The drive to Clearwater is tedious, long and boring.  In the winter, it’s much better as any rain on state road 60 makes for a hellacious drive.

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The Mayor’s team won decisively this morning with a 9-0 final score.  He played well and contributed a goal.  I really enjoy watching the Mayor play as he’s always grinding.   Moreover, his team works hard together and it shows.  Since I got to the game late, I got to watch the game w/ Hubby.   Although I enjoyed watching the game with Hubby, I did miss the good music at stoppages.

I had hoped to go to aerial yoga in between games, but by the time I could register that class had already been cancelled.  Insert sad face here….  Instead of yoga, I ended up going to Massage Envy for an assisted stretch session.   While my upper body is quite flexible, my legs especially my hamstrings, IT band, and quads are exceptionally tight.  I had hoped to run today, but the hip pain has been vexing.  Nevertheless, I took a rest day today after a good run (2.5 miles) last night.

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Since I’ve never did an assisted stretch session before, I opted for the 30 minute session in case I didn’t like it.  I should have booked the hour because it was amazeballs.  My therapist Teodora was outstanding and instantly recognized the tightness in my leg muscles.  I’ll be getting an assisted stretch at least once a week.  This should help my hip and knee pain on the left side.

After a productive afternoon of watching the Mayor play Assasin’s Creed, laundry and baking, the Mayor and I headed back to the rink.  His team’s second game was going to be a tough contest.  This team, Panther’s Gold, beat our squad (literally and figuratively) 9-0 last Sunday.  Ouch!  Today’s contest was much closer.

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Our squad came out strong.  We didn’t let the embarrassment or sting of last week’s defeat define our play.  While the Panther’s went up early, our squad responded with goal early in the second period.  Fortunately, the Mayor’s team never gave up even when they were down.  I was so proud of them.  In fact, at one point during the game we were tied at 2-2.  We actually should have had another goal when our forward was tripped into the net with the puck, but the ref disagreed with our assessment.

We went into the third period with a tight contest.  In the beginning of the third, the Panther’s opened up the game by scoring two goals.  While our team could have given up, they didn’t.  We ended up putting another one in making for a 4-3 game with 30 seconds left on the clock.  Unfortunately, we came close to tying the game, but simply couldn’t bury the puck.   Nonetheless, I’d chalk that game up as a victory for our squad.  Tonight they showed they could compete with the number one team in their division.

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We headed home post game and The Mayor was begging to go to Sushi Yama, but I wanted him to shower first.  Fortunately, when we were home in between the game and dinner, we were able to see Santa as he came through the neighborhood on the firetruck.  Admittedly, I was a bit worried that the Mayor wasn’t going to be interested in it, but he ran outside with me to wave.

Our dinner date at Sushi Yama was fabulous!   The Mayor caught the waitresses eye and we got VIP service for our dinner.  Consequently, our waters were never empty and our food came out fast and fabulous.  My dinner companion was simply the best.  It doesn’t get better than spending some one on one with one of my kids.  We had a great conversation about his team and the games today.  I love how much he respects and adores his teammates.  Meanwhile in Tampa, Goalielocks met up with his BFF Scrub for dinner.

Now we’re binge watching Family Guy before it leaves NetFlix in March. (Why Netflix? Why?)  I may bake the Christmas cookies tonight since the dough I made Wednesday is already gone.  That’s right the dough is gone and not one cookie has been baked.  Yep., living with boys is a tough gig.  You have to be quick or they’ll eat everything!  While it’s not the most exciting Saturday night you could imagine, to me its the perfect Saturday night.

Tonight’s song performed by Andre Rieu is Silent Night.  P.S.A.  You want to know what’s not silent, pissed off hockey moms!

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What a Week

What a week!  Our Angel Tree events were an absolutely success!  I cannot get over how amazing it is to witness these precious children receiving their gifts.  Moreover, I beyond excited to grow our partnership with ARC through various volunteer opportunities.  Admittedly, I was proud of the team’s efforts and how they pulled together the drive, but I think we’re all exhausted.

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In the holiday season being able to help others even if it is in meager amounts is a gift.  It’s funny how as we get older Christmas morphs from a holiday about receiving gifts to a holiday about giving gifts.  They’re is truly more joy in giving than receiving. However, I do think its important to give ourselves gifts from time to time.

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For example, the last time I received a raise, I wanted to buy a nice pair of red bottomed shoes.  I think you know the shoes I’m talking about, but instead I bought a membership to the local fitness studio.  First, it was significantly cheaper than the red-bottomed shoes.  Secondly, there’s nothing better than little yoga or barre to get oneself re-centered.  I don’t do many things for myself – I drink my DD and I go to the gym, the rest is for my boys (all four of them.)  Seriously, I haven’t had pedicure since SAHOF (state hockey tournament), which happened in March.

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Of course, the hockey mom life entails acceptance of the fact all of your money, and I do mean all, goes to hockey  My boys, again all four, would have it no other way and truthfully nor would I.  Tonight my boys headed to practice as the Piggie and I headed out for a run. As I embarked on my run, one phrase kept running through my head “I’ll remember this.” There’s no need for a backstory here only the reminder that words can cut like a knife.

Tonight’s song performed by Michael Buble is “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

 

 

 

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Wintry Weekend

Our wintry weekend was cool, quick and quite jolly thanks to our hockey family.  Last night, we headed over to Finland’s house for Goalielocks’ team party.  As expected, the party did not disappoint.  All of us had a marvelous and jolly time from start to finish.  Heck, we would have stayed later if the Mayor wasn’t obsessed with getting enough rest for his games today.

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The food was exquisite and unending.  We brought chili cheese dip and a baked brie.  Unfortunately, the hubby worked late, so we were about an hour late.  As I was getting dressed, our dog Maya stole the bake brie out of its pan and devoured it quickly.  Fortunately, she didn’t break my brie pan and it wasn’t cooked yet, so she didn’t burn herself.  As I waited for the Hubby, I headed up to Publix to buy another wheel of brie.

We brought beer, ciroc and LaCRoix as beverages to accompany our food selections. As always, Peach Ciroc mixed with Peach Pear LaCroix was a solid beverage choice.  This drink, which is both low calorie and low carb was truly magnificent.  The best part, however, was the lack of hangover this morning.  I’ll have to buy another bottle before our next party!

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Like I said, we could have stayed at the party all night.  These people are our family and time flies when you’re hanging out with them.  Unfortunately, the Mayor had games this morning, so we had to be somewhat responsible with our night.  I love that my Mayor is so diligent about getting enough sleep before he plays!

This morning’s game was pretty good.  We ended up winning 2-0, but could have easily been much 6-0.  Their goalie was on fire that game!  Unfortunately, as well as the morning game went, the evening game was disastrous.  The sin bin was busy including a visit from the Mayor.  Of course, as he entered the box, he plead his innocence.  Truth be told, the Mayor had the hit of the game.  Unfortunately, there’s no checking at peewee. Doh!

As we left the rink, Air Force One was taxiing off to take off from PBI.   We drove down Southern until we found a spot just North of the road to watch the jet take off.  My kid’s are aviation fanatics, so this a takeoff we simply couldn’t miss.  No sooner had we pulled over when Air Force One started barreling down the runway.  While Hubby and the Mayor videotaped it, I face-timed Goalielocks so he could watch it live.  When I tell you they’re into aviation, I cannot emphasize enough how much they love it.

Air Force One took of into the sunset.  It was a beautiful, resplendent sunset as the world’s most advanced jumbo jet climbed into the sky.  The Mayor was beyond thrilled to have watched the big, beautiful bird leave PBI.  Now we’re home trying to unthaw as we cook fajitas!  The air temperatures are only in the 50s here in South Florida, which by are standards is quite cold.  Consequently, unthawing from a day at the rink is a bit harder tonight!

Finally, I wanted to again share the link for a family that is in dire need of our support during an imaginably difficult time.  If you are able to, please consider helping this family.  Here is the link: Youcaring

Tonight’s song is “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” as performed by Michael Buble.

 

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Winter’s Arrival

As I left the gym this morning, it became clear that the morning’s storms were our prelude to winter’s arrival.  When I left my house this morning, the temperature was 78 and it was humid.  No sooner had I parked my car when the cold rain started.  I made my quickly from the parking lot to the gym trying to avoid the rain.  I was moderately successful in this endeavor.

Fortunately, thanks to a heart pounding circuit burn class, I wouldn’t be cold for long.  My heart was soon pumping and the cold rain had given way to sweat.  Amanda’s Circuit Burn class kicked my butt this morning.  Post-class I started getting cold as you could feel the temperature had dropped and I was wet with sweat.  My yoga teacher turned up the heat in the yoga room, which helped immensely.

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Afterwards, I headed to my car in the light, cold rain.  The temperature had fallen immensely, which is not something that happens often in Florida.  When I was growing up in Minnesota, it wasn’t unusual to have a wild swing in the temperature (think 15-60 degrees) in short order.  However, in South Florida, it is quite unusual.  I plopped into my car, exhausted from class, turned on the heat noticing the temperature had dropped from 78 to 63.  Full disclosure, a South Floridians definition of cold is much different than most other people’s.  I would also say that being wet from two hours of hard workouts didn’t help keep me warm either.

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Nevertheless, I headed to get coffee and get on with the rest of my day.  Both the Hubby and Jake are working today, so its just me, Goalielocks’ and the Mayor at home.  Consequently, we decided to take our girls (Maya and Athena) to go and see Santa Claus.  Maya, our older dog, is a bit socially awkward when it comes dealing with new dogs, which makes me nervous taking her out.   Athena loves everyone and everything and is very social with people and dogs alike.

Maya, our socially awkward beauty, definitely gave Santa a run for him money.  She didn’t want to sit and face the camera.  Athena would sit nicely for a bit and then a new dog would come in distracting her from the mission at hand.  Thankfully, both dogs and both children behaved beautifully at the store.  There were no meltdowns or accidents on our excursion to PetCo.

On the way back home, I stopped at the Starbucks for a latte, hot chocolate and a couple of puppacinos for the dogs.  This was our dogs first time enjoying a puppacino and enjoy they did.  They made short work of the cups of cream.  We’ll definitely be treating them to those again.  Now its time to get ready for Goalielocks’ team party!

Finally, I wanted to again share the link for a family that is in dire need of our support during an imaginably difficult time.  If you are able to, please consider helping this family.  Here is the link: Youcaring

Tonight’s song is “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin.  Thanks TW for the inspiration!

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Hockey Mom Holiday Goals

I’ve been thinking about the holidays for a couple of weeks now and thought it might be time to make a list of my hockey mom holiday goals.   Hockey moms, given our crazy schedule, take a little bit of a different approach to the holidays.  As much as I’d love to go crazy decorating the house, I have neither the time nor the money.  After all, Goalielocks already needs a new set of leg pads.

Here’s my list:

  1. Put the Christmas tree up before Christmas and take it down before Valentine’s Day.   So we’ll definitely get the tree up by Christmas, but Valentine’s Day feels a bit aspirational given our January/February schedule.  The oddsmakers have the odds at 25:1 for tree removal before Valentine’s Day.  Coincidentally, the Mayor will be taking bets….                                                                           images (34)
  2. Try not to gain the holiday 10 on top of the hockey 5.  This one will be tough with holiday parties, hockey games, cookies and drinks galore.  But, hey at least I have goals.                                 e4bef8c4247a68cf899b9d503ba10787
  3. I will try to bake Christmas cookies before Christmas and hide them so we have cookies through Christmas.   At least, I’ll have some awesome cookies from BG to tide me over until I can bake mine! 10._SugarCookie
  4. Spend less money on things and more on experiences.  There isn’t a gift in the world that can compare to the fun we had as a family in Norway.  Truly our Norway trip was the best gift we ever gave ourselves and our kids.  I’d go back any day to see that beautiful place and the beautiful patina on its statues and metal work.  Of course for the cost of Goalielocks’ leg pads, I could buy a ticket to Oslo… (I’m only kidding Goalielocks.)IMG_0274
  5. My goal is to stay in the gym, on the running path and on my mat throughout the holidays, so I can stay sane.  Yes dear hubby, this one’s for you.  This should also help with goal number 2.
  6. This year my goal is to create a Christmas card on Shutterfly and order it in time for Christmas.  However, there is a slight chance here that your Christmas card may be delivered with your Valentine’s day card.  Christmas cards
  7. My last goal for this holiday season is to enjoy the time I have with my family and friends.  These are the people that make my world go round and I couldn’t imagine life without them.

Tonight’s song in keeping with the holiday theme is “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.

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Snippet of My Saturday

Here’s a little snippet of my Saturday so far.  We started our morning off at the rink bright and early, which is always fun.  My stomach was not loving the antibiotics, so that was fun.  I hate that nauseous feeling, however, my sinuses and head are feeling much better this today.  Moreover, since the antibiotics are doing there job and I’ll just have to deal with the nausea.

I had quite a few visitors to the box, which made for an interesting third period.  In the end, the boys came up with the W in a solid team effort.  The beautiful thing about youth hockey/youth sports is that life lessons abound.  Things aren’t always as they seem.  Someday I’ll  expand on this is in much greater detail.  Nonetheless, one of the reasons we love hockey is that it teaches lessons that will last them ages.

Post-hockey the Mayor headed to paint ball birthday party.  Thankfully, my friend AL (funny right) is keeping an eye on the Mayor so I can keep out of the sun.  Apparently the antibiotics make my skin more sensitive to the sun, which is amazing because I’m already inclined to burn.  It looks like they’re having a great time from the pics she just sent me.  If I was feeling better, I definitely would have been out on those fields playing paintball with my boy.

As we move towards the evening hours, we’ll be headed back to the rink for another game.  Unfortunately, we’ll be down a man as we lost a guy to a broken clavicle this morning.  Please keep him and his recovery in your thoughts and prayers.  We’re definitely sending our well wishes his way.   I hope you enjoy your Saturday, I’ll probably check in after Goalielocks’ second game.

Today’s song is “One” by Metallica.

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Cue the Exhaustion

Cue the exhaustion folks, it’s Sunday night after a major holiday and hockey tournament.  Undoubtedly, I am exhausted beyond belief along with all of my fellow hockey parents.  I’m positive I’m not the only one regretting not taking tomorrow off to recover.  It’s month end, which means I cannot afford to miss a minute let a lone a day.  So I’ll be back to work tomorrow at 8:00 am with bells on.

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Our Thanksgiving holiday was marvelous.  We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Jon and Brandi with family and friends that have become family.   After a great dinner, we played some Right Left Center and another game with a box.   Jake had a great night and walked away with some moula after winning two rounds of the game.  After playing games, we watched Star Wars “The Force Awakens.”  I know I’m late to the party here, but I enjoyed the movie.  Although, it is sad to watch knowing we lost Carrie Fisher way too soon.

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I wrote about our early hockey games on the blog earlier and today was no exception.  We were back to the rink by 9:00 am and didn’t leave until after 4:00 pm.  It was a fun weekend at the rink with our hockey family.  These tournaments are exhausting, but are much like a family reunion.   Its a great opportunity to catch up with former teammates, their families and other friends we’ve made throughout the years.

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Yesterdays games were awesome, but I still had quite a few visitors yesterday in the Sin Bin with a lot less (thank goodness) today.   At U-14  body checking is legal and these hits are incredibly loud and percussive.  I’m pretty sure they build the boards to amplify the noise of the hits and increase the hockey moms collective anxiety.

Our boys finally clicked this weekend, after a couple of painful months, which was awesome to see.  These kids have so much potential there aren’t enough superlatives in the English word to adequately describe it.  Nevertheless, I am beyond proud of each of them for their efforts.  As the team went into the championship game, they were definitely the underdog. In the end, we lost a nail biter to a strong Russian team in sudden death OT.

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Of course the bitter reality of leaving the rink at 4:00 pm on a Sunday, is that I still had to grocery shop, finish the laundry and finish all my other errands upon leaving the rink.   I’m pretty sure I heard a collective ugh as us parents left the rink to head home and on to our errands and chores.

Tonight’s song is for my Goalielocks.  Enjoy “May We All” by Florida Georgia Line.

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Hustle Like an Underdog

 “Attitude of a champion, hustle like an underdog.”  I saw the Daily Prompt and couldn’t believe my luck with today’s word.   This pretty much sums up this morning’s game  the Clarington Toros.  Goalielocks team came out with hustle like an underdog, but the heart of a champion.  The team’s first period was absolutely brilliant as they worked together scoring five goals.

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The squad was beset by a number of penalties in the 2nd and 3rd, which kept me quite busy.  We didn’t net nearly the number of shots as we had in the 1st period, but the boys still played well.  B2 was solid between the pipes while his defense did a great job protecting him.

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We didn’t expect to win this game against the hearty Canadian squad.  Today the team played with heart, hustle and for each other and the results speak for themselves.  Post game we headed home for lunch – more leftovers – and I got in another 3 mile run.  Today’s run was markedly better than yesterday’s, but I’m still slower than molasses in January in Minnesota.

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In a few minutes, we’ll drive back to the rink in a few for the second game of the day.  If the boys play like they did this morning, particularly in the first period, the sky is the limit for this crew.  Lastly, I’m hopeful that I have significantly less visitors tonight than I did this morning.

Today’s song “Feel Invincible” by Skillet.

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Black Friday

Unlike many Americans, we spent our Black Friday morning at the hockey rink at not the mall.  Quite frankly, I can’t stand the malls down here in season let alone on Black Friday.   Unquestionably, the normal rudeness and ineptitude ramps up a couple of notches when season kicks in.  If there is anywhere someone would get shot over a cheap TV, it would be here.  Needless to say, I’ll be avoiding Best Buy and the mall for the next month.

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I think that’s probably why Cyber Monday is more my thing.  No crazy people or horrible drivers to contend with as I surf the web, what could be better?  Nonetheless, the younger two and I did venture out to Dick’s and PetSmart.  Neither store was incredibly packed and both were well staff to handle all the shoppers. My boys left the stores empty handed much to their chagrin.  To stores was all I could handle, however, so it’s back to shopping online.

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We started out morning at the rink.  If you ask me, a 9:45 am game is way too early for bantams.  I thought the scheduling Gods would be smiling on us by bantam and we’d get later games.  Honestly, I prefer the later games as I am not a morning person.  This morning, Goalielocks was excited and relieved to have been dropped off at the right rink at the right time.

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Their first game was against the Florida Bulldogs, who Goalielocks played for 2 seasons ago.  Our squad went up handily in the first period notching 3 goals and only allowing one sort of shot on their net.   The rest of the game was much more even although we continued to out shoot them 2-1.   Moreover, our goalie came up with some clutch saves down the stretch.  As the final buzzer rang, the boys rushed the Goalie to celebrate their 4-1 victory.  We’ll be heading back to the rink shortly for their second game of the day against the Everblades, which should be a much tighter contest.

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After eating my weight in Thanksgiving goodies yesterday,  I was committed to getting in a run.  Consequently, the Piggie and I headed out for a 3.25 mile run around the neighborhood.  As with my last run, it was a bit laborious and a tough go of it.  Certainly, today’s run wasn’t fast! Hopefully, these runs will start to get a little bit easier and a little faster.

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Today’s song is “Walk on Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars.  I love this song! Who remembers Jared Leto from MY So Called Life?  Leto still acts, but has also found success with his band Thirty Second to Mars. 

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Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Happy Thanksgiving eve to the blogosphere.  I spent my night running, at Barre and baking a cheesecake for tomorrow’s festivities.  This of course after I enjoyed a very slow, but productive day at work.   Fortunately, I don’t have to cook tomorrow only bring my cheesecake and an appetizer.

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After my disappointing at last Sunday’s race, I was eager to hit the pavement and log some additional miles.  Sadly, much like last’s Sunday’s race the miles were slow and laborious.   Nonetheless, I logged a little over two miles with the Piggie before heading to pilates for the evening.   I am hoping that my run Friday goes a bit easier than tonight’s run.   The boys are an I are planning to run the Jingle Bell Jog for the 3rd year in a row.   Hopefully, by then my pace has improved and the miles aren’t nearly as laborious as they were tonight.

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Post-run, I headed back home to hang with the boys before they headed to the Panther’s game. While I headed to the pilates studio, Goalielocks and the Mayor headed to the Florida Panther’s game with Uncle Jon.  They were so excited to go that the Mayor had his chores down by 9:00 am.  In fact, he even sent me pictures to prove that he had done it.  When I got home from work last night, none of their daily chores had been done.  Like a tyrant, I told them if they didn’t their chores today, there would be no hockey game tonight.  This proved to be a great motivator for them.

As they enjoyed the free food at the Corona Club at BB&T, I was working my tail off at Burn.  Tonight, my instructor Adam, showed no mercy as we took to the TRX for the first half of class.  TRX is a great way to get strong and get fit without a lot of equipment.  Undoubtedly, I will feel this class tomorrow.   Fortunately, I’m heading back for more punishment tomorrow before our Thanksgiving dinner.

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Tonight’s song is “Dreams” by the Cranberries.  I loved this song from the moment it hit the airways.  I would have bought the CD if my dad hadn’t beat me to it!