The struggle is real. By the time we get to Thursday. I’m fresh out energy, both mentally and physically. Life as a hockey parent can be freaking exhausting. Through the week, we run from the morning drop off at the bus stop, to work (pit stop at Dunkin), get the kids, head to the rink, teach Zumba, conquer homework, try to get in a workout and coerce the kids to shower before bed. Rinse repeat day in and day out.
By the time we get to Friday, sleep deprivation is hitting its peak and our energy is hitting its low. The exhaustion is all encompassing, yet we press on. We derive our inspiration from our kids, while our energy comes courtesy of perpetual coffee. We should likely have stock in Dunkin’ and Starbucks. Any hockey mom that’s been around for more than a season knows exactly where to find her favorite coffee near every rink.
Notice how I say we because I’m fairly certain that I’m not alone in my craziness. It’s not just me… Seriously…. Ask any hockey mom or day and they’ll tell you. As I left work today, I let out a smile as I realized this weekend’s games were home! Winner, winner chicken dinner! The realization that I don’t have to drive to Tampa this weekend was almost transcendent. Of course at this time of day on a Thursday, I’m looking for any win.
I headed home feeling a bit uneasy about life and my path. Its easy to feel that way when exhaustion fits in. Thank god for my beautiful, energetic and incredible Zumba girls. These ladies rock my world (not that way you pervert) and always bring a smile to my face. There’s nothing like a great workout to clear your head and remind you how great life truly is. Thank you endorphins!
Closing out my Thursday with a rocking Zumba class is the best way to launch myself into productive and happy Friday. Not every moment in our life is picture perfect. Moreover, there will be times in our lives where our progress doesn’t align with where we envisioned ourselves. That’s okay. So maybe you’re not where you want to be professionally or personally, who cares. Ultimately the control over where you land is with you and only you.
We were playing a team they should have handled with relative ease, but in hockey (as with any other sport) you can’t take your opponent for-granted.
Throughout the entirety of the game, I had quite a bit of company. It was clear the ref’s were intent on maintaining control of the game. As a result, both boxes were packed throughout the 2nd with coincidental penalties. While it jacks up the rhythm of the game, at least it wasn’t one sided officiating.
We went into the 3rd period and the contest was farther closer than it needed to be. Consequently, my heart was racing, my stomach was in knots. My resting heart rate is normally around 68-70. While Goalielocks is in net, it varies from 90-120 depending on the game situation. According to my Fitbit, I get at least 2 hours of fat burning out of one of his games without having to lift my finger. Its great to be a goalie mom, isn’t it?
My dear friend Sharyn, seeing my angst, was kind enough to get Chris Kunitz to take a picture with me. At this point, we had 6 minutes left in the 3rd and I was officially dying. I popped out of the box to pose with the kind and very accommodating Stanley Cup winner, which knocked at least 60 seconds off the clock for me.
Unfortunately, the boys seemed intent on causing some heart palpitations and I once again had a full box. This time there was just over two minutes left and there were no coincidentals. Cheese and rice, it was a long two minutes! My heart was beating out of my chest as Goalielocks and his boys faced a 6 on 3. They stood strong.
Goalielocks ended up drawing a penalty after his buddy from the Bulldogs took a chop at his arm. Thankfully, this critical penalty ended the 6 and 4 and they were forced to put their goalie back on the ice. The squad weathered the storm and soon (although it felt like forever) the final buzzer sounded. As expected, the boys from both teams scuffled a bit after the buzzer. Consequently, the refs sent both teams off separately. Happily, this goalie mom survived and even her picture with an NHL star.
Post game we headed to Twin Peaks, which was clearly a mistake. Their hiring practices definitely do not emphasize critical thinking, time management or anything other than looks. While the food is decently price and pretty tasty, no team lunch should ever take 2.5 hours. Fortunately, our groups of parents is awesome. After all these years, we continue to enjoy each other’s company. Nevertheless, it was a bit tough to stomach that serving our group could be that complicated.
For many of us, this is our 6th year at this tournament. I was looking back at pictures from our first trip to this tournament in 2011. Our boys were so small and so sweet. Conversely, they’re no so big albeit they’re still mostly sweet. The relationships my boys and I have formed over the last 6 years of travel hockey have been absolutely priceless. There is no amount of money you could spend to replace the experience or our hockey family. In the most critical and difficult times of our lives, they’ve been there for us and we’ve been there for them. I couldn’t imagine life without our wonderfully crazy, wild and fun hockey family.
Oh it was a wild Saturday night here for our household. I even got a tattoo before heading to the gastropub Saturday night to watch the Mayweather-McGregor fight. Okay, never mind that the tattoo is temporary and I got it from an 8 year old. It’s still pretty awesome.
As we waited for the Kennedy’s sitters to show up, a.k.a. Jake and the Mayor, my BFF gave me a tattoo and tried on my shoes. My BFF threw on her sisters fashion forward back pack and struck a pose. She’s cute as a button. The sitters got there and us amazing adults headed to the pub to watch the fight.
Our reservations said 5:00 pm on Eventbrite, but the fine print said seating could begin at 8:00 pm, but no later than 9:30 pm. What? We got there at 8:00 pm obviously not having read the fine print. Fortunately, not having a table didn’t preclude us from enjoying an adult beverage. We were not seated until 9:30, but instead of a high top table with no chairs they gave us a nice booth. #winning
Batch Gastropub is the latest edition to Delray Marketplace and was having a big bash for the fight. The place was crowded, but as soon as we were seated it didn’t matter. Our server was amazing. The food and drinks were on point. I will never complain when my next round arrives right before I finish my drink. For dinner, I had a chicken sandwich with Brussels sprouts, while Luke enjoyed the chicken and waffles. Since I’m keeping my carb intake low and last night’s carbs were reserved for vodka, I opted for Brussels sprouts instead of fries. In addition, I ate the sandwich off of the bread, but ate no bread. Its all about priorities and last night Tito’s beat out the bread.
As for the fight, I was impressed with McGregor. I don’t know much about boxing or fighting only that it is one of the toughest sports in the world. While I’m not a Mayweather fan, I also acknowledge he’s the best boxer in the world. McGregor lasting ten rounds around the world’s best having never been in the ring before? It was pretty damn impressive. Both Mayweather and McGregor are amazing athletes and it showed last night. I’d be curious to see what would happen if it were the MMA ring and not the boxing ring, but I doubt that will happen.
I was glad that neither fighter felt compelled to pay homage to Tyson by biting someone’s ear off. The Holyfield-Tyson fight is the last boxing match I had watched until last night. At the end of the night, our group of friends had a great time enjoying each other’s company and the fight. Lastly, the best part of the fight? Unequivocally, the memes leading up to and following the fight. I leave with you with a few of my favorites.
When I started running over two years ago, I didn’t know that I would love it so much. Nor did I know that my running partners would be so important in maintaining my training or that they’d bring me so much happiness.
Most days my running partners are Jake and our dogs Maya and Athena. The beautiful thing about running with these three is they keep a brisk pace. Jake is particularly fast ,so running with him means I have to push myself. The puppies like to be first, so which ever dog is in back is racing to catch up to their sister.
This can be a bit problematic when Jake and his puppy pull away from us. Usually it’s Maya and I holding up the rear. Jake’s got his mile below 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I almost threw myself a party for breaking the 8 minute mile barrier.
Maya trying to keep pace with Jake means we’re pushing race pace almost every run. Since Jake is so fast, Athena is usually super tired after two miles. We’ll switch the puppies and walk them for awhile, so they can catch their breath and cool down a little bit.
By the time we start running again, the puppies’ energy is back and they’re ready to roll. Some runs, Goalielocks or the Mayor will come with us. For those runs, we usually cap our distance at three miles. The best part of running with the puppies is how happy they are when we run.
While in Norway, Jake and I mixed it up a bit by hiking on the mountain trails. It wasn’t a rigorous as our runs, but some parts of the trail were quite steep and took a lot of concentration to master. The views were incredible and so was the weather. No horrible heat indexes to contend with.
The unfortunate part of summer in Florida, is heat indexes in the triple digits. As much as I love to run with my kids and my dogs, the summer heat makes it dangerous for the dogs. Until the heat abates, I’ll be hitting the treadmill and missing my running partners. When I run on the treadmill, there’s no sweet puppy looking back at me smiling as she enjoy the run. Nor is there Jake, who motivates me to run faster and further every time we run.
.My brother’s cabin in Flam came with its own boat and a prime location on the fjord. It truly doesn’t get much better than the view from their living room or kitchen table of their cabin. Our boys and their cousins love life on the water, so they were intent on the dads taking them out on the boat. We were ready for our adventure on the fjord.
The first journey on the boat, my entire family and my brother’s family hopped in eager for our adventure on the Fjord. It had been raining that day, but the rain had abated as we boarded the boat. No sooner had we pushed out to sea, when the winds began whipping and the rain restarted.
Unfortunately, it was clear the boat’s engine hadn’t been used in sometime. As my brother struggled to get the engine started, hubby rowed us back towards the cabin. The wind whips down the mountains into the valley on to the fjord with a lot of velocity, so we were quickly moving towards the very large cruise ship Costa Magica. Luke was rowing as hard as he could, but the wind was that fierce.
The engine did not want to start, so we were getting worried. If we didn’t get the engine started quickly, we would hit the Costa Magica or end up in the cold waters of the Aurlandsfjord. The very idea of going into the not so shallow (the fjord is 3,900 ft deep) and very cold waters of the fjord made it a little nerve wracking. As we worried, waited and hopped for the engine to start, the engine finally started.
My brother and hubby switched places. After several more tense minutes, the engine finally started. We headed safely away from the Costa Magica and out on the Fjord. The rain and wind abated as the engine finally started. The irony was not lost on the two men that had been rowing through the wind.
Hubby drove us out towards Aurland, but not too far from shore. We were able to see the goats and the Viking burial grounds. We got a close of up of a beautiful waterfall that falls several thousand feet, goes under E16 and into the Fjord. Despite the hairy start to our trip, our evening on the boat in Flam turned out magical and memory filled. Undoubtedly, I was quite relieved when we were back on solid ground.
We started our morning of 9,000 steps with a ride up to Mt. Floyen on the funicular. Once up the mountain, we hiked around the lake and through the forest. The views of the city, nearby islands and the North Sea were incredible. Thankfully, they had some coffee and cold water in the gift shop for a post hike refreshment.
Post Mt. Floyen, we got on a bus and headed to Mt. Ulricken. We headed up the gondola to see Bergen from the city’s highest peak. Once at the top, we hiked up to the mountain’s peak. The mountain top was home to a farm and several small lakes. The hike was exhausting, but well worth the hard work.
The hardest of part of travelling out of state for hockey tournaments is trying to fit all of the luggage and all of the players into the trunk. It’s a bit of a game as you fight with the hockey bags, maneuver the suitcase and ultimately decided you can live with the sticks in the passenger compartment. Success comes with a true sense of accomplishment once you finally get it all to fit. Once we got the luggage jigsaw puzzle figured out in the trunk, we headed to my parent’s house in the Northern suburbs. The ride home was filled with the boys laughter and excited energy. They were excited to finally make it to our destination, and we were too, but we were exhausted and they were wired.
Michelle vs. the Trunk
Can she do it? Will she do it?
Victory is in hand!
Once at my mom’s house, Michelle and Andrew got acclimated and felt at home – like most people do at my parents- in short order. My mom was ready for us with plenty of fresh cookies to go around. My dad, two weeks post hip surgery, was surprisingly agile and mobile compared to what I had expected. My parents and my niece and nephew were thrilled to see us and our friends. Thankfully my parents were able to help us convince the boys they should take a nap before we headed to the Wild game. They fought taking a nap, but were soon asleep.
After a nice, lengthy nap we got ready and headed down to St. Paul to see the Minnesota Wild take on the Chicago Blackhawks in game 4 of round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a must win game for the Wild, so the Mayor and I were hoping our squad would show up. While I’ve been to several Wild games in Minnesota and Michelle had been to several Chicago home games, our boys had only been to Florida Panthers games. This was going to be a completely different experience for them.
We got to the game with plenty to spare having hit much less traffic than I had anticipated. Since we had the kids, we couldn’t really pre-game at McGovern’s or Tom Reid’s so we headed into the Excel Energy Center after buying some nice souvenirs. The kids were quick to notice that unlike at the Panther’s games, a lot of the crowd starting to file in was already drunk. Fortunately, neither the Mayor nor Andrew were shy about sharing their observations with others. They were a magnet for trouble and for the second night in a row, Michelle and I were convinced we were going to get shot or beat up on account of their mouths.
The pre-game started and their mouths were agape. The game experience in the Excel Energy Center is second to none as is the energy in the crowd. Having only been to Panthers games previously, the boys’ mouths were agape. They had never seen a building alive with that much energy. For them, the experience was incredible and one they still talk about to this day. As the festivities continued, the fans continued to file in and the boys continued to comment on how they were so drunk they had already spilled beer down the front of their pants.
Unfortunately for the Wild, the most dynamic part of their game was the pre-game and the introductions. They were flat the entirety of the game. The few chances they did have, they did their best to make Crawford look like a god of goal tending. While the Wild’s play was lackluster, the entertainment from the crowd around us was not. A couple comprised of a Wild and a Rangers fan, got into a huge fight and at the behest of the surrounding crowd and his other friends, he ditched her. There was drunk goal to the right of us that managed to fall down two rows barely spilling her beer and not hurting herself.
Perhaps the best moment of the game, was when Andrew started talking smack to the two fans sitting behind him and the Mayor. They were both drinking and one was spitting some chew. Andrew felt compelled to tell him that he was going to call his mother and let her know that her son is a drunk that chews. Thank god they had a sense of humor and thought that the boys were hilarious.
By the skin of our teeth, Michelle and I survived another adventurous night with our crazy boys. The Wild lost and the Blackhawks went on to become Stanley Cup champions that year. Two years later, the Mayor still talks about how incredible it was to be in the Excel Energy Center that night and be a part of the experience. Making new memories and sharing great experiences with my boys, their friends, and my friends is one of the best parts of having our kids participate in a travel sport.
Part 1 and part 2 of the story can be found below:
We all have an Achilles heel that can trip us up as we pursue our fitness and health goals. Sometimes, it is only a minor slip up that causes our healthy habits to start to taper off. If you’re like me, a cheat meal can easily converts into a cheat week.
So how do we stay the course without driving ourselves nutty?
Allow yourself latitude to miss a workout or eat a treat. It’s okay to not be perfect.
Don’t cut out whole food groups completely. Ditching carbs is certainly effective, but not practical long term.
Don’t give up everything you like. I can give up almost everything, but don’t make me give up or change my coffee!
Have a battle buddy. Together you can keep each other on track and disciplined.
Sign up for a race or event, so you have a milestone to work towards.
Practice yoga, it will reduce stress (and stress hormones) and help you avoid injury by keeping you flexible.
These are just a few tips you can use to taper off your unhealthy habits and convert them into healthy habits and on your way to a healthier lifestyle.
Uniform, jersey, sweater it has many names. It is symbolic of the high level of commitment it took to attain it and symbolic of the club which is represents. There are a number of great quotes involving uniforms about what it means to be an athlete.
Brooks’ quote is legendary and I think most of us remember it from the movie Miracle or from the Lake Placid games. The philosophy of playing harder for your team than for yourself is a key component of hockey culture. It is also a critical component of what made his 1980 team so special. In 1980, the team was comprised of college players mostly from University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!) and Boston University. Just as they do today, my Gophers and Boston University enjoy a healthy rivalry on the ice. In order to get his players to put their egos and these college rivalries aside, he needed to unite them around a common goal and that was playing for the name on the front of their jersey Team USA. Brooks was a genius.
Clemente’s quote speaks to the pride that athletes feel when they put on the sweater. At the professional athlete, I cannot imagine how amazing it must feel. Major League Baseball is the pinnacle of baseball and to make it to that pinnacle after years of hard work must feel otherworldly. The pride he, and his family, must have felt the first time he put on that MLB jersey are something he will probably never forget. I remember the first time my sons’ put on their travel hockey jerseys. The smiles on their face went from ear to ear. You could see the pride the felt in their achievements and they carried their heads a little bit higher.
Lastly, I’ll leave you with my favorite quote on a uniform and it comes from my favorite brassy gal Mae West, who as always said it best and wasn’t wrong.
