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Almost Christmas

It’s almost Christmas and I’m nowhere near ready. I think, like most other parents, I find December to be completely overwhelming. The only kid I’ve finished shopping for is Jake. However, I had to finish shopping for him early due to potential shipping delays. As for everyone else, I still have a lot shopping to do. I also have quite a bit of baking to finish.

Tomorrow I see my endo, which I’m excited for. I’m back to being hyperthyroid, which is no good. I’d like to be sure that I still have the all clear to workout. Unfortunately, hyperthyroidism can come with some nasty and dangerous cardiac issues, which is super lame. Nevertheless, I’m hoping I don’t have to wait for my thyroid levels get back to normal before I can workout again.

This is an expected bump in the road. Our bodies are always changing, so the Synthroid has to be adjusted accordingly. Nonetheless, I have so much to do that I don’t need anything else to worry about. I recently saw a meme that speaks to how most moms feel this time of the year… There’s so much for us to do that it can be overwhelming. Especially as we as it’s almost Christmas.

Yesterday Goalielocks had games because the league never returned out coach’s call. We had two kids out sick with COVID exposure, but since we’re not the Makos we played with a short bench. I keep reminding myself that we only have a short time left in this infuriating league. Honestly, I’ve never seen a league that applies the rules so disproportionately.

Moreover, this is the first league we’ve been apart of where the rules that are adopted are punitive or the kids and not the adults. For example, the league penalizes thr kids instead of punishing coaches or organizations. (and Like the Makos U18AA head coach coming into my kid’s locker room to recruit players before our game.) A player has to play single A because the percentage of returning players is too low on the AA team. How about instead of penalizing the kids, you penalize the known offenders?

Anyway, Goalielocks and his goalie mate had great games. We ended up winning the first game 4-2. Goalielocks had the best game I’ve seen him play in awhile. Although to be fair, I’ve missed a lot of his games this season. His goalie partner was equally impressive in the second game. They’re such a great tandem. They really enjoy each other’s company and support each other. It was a great Sunday for our Tendies!

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Milestone

Another milestone moment as we picked out Goalielocks’ senior pictures this evening. I can’t believe we have two kids that are now technically adults. I say, technically because of you know, you know. The whole process took an hour or two. It was long and stressful. Thankfully, his pictures turned out well, which made it difficult to pick.

In the end, we ended up with the platinum elite package or whatever the hell they call it. Senior year and high school graduation is definitely a milestone, but boy oh boy do they bilk the money out of you. All year everyone is coming at you asking for cash. Honestly, is it okay that senior pictures are now the same price as a cheap used car? Is the cap and gown really worth the price they charge? Anyway, I can’t wait to get the pictures that I’m going to pay for by selling my kidney. I’m only sort of kidding here.

Tonight we’re just chilling at the house. The Mayor was supposed to have games tomorrow, but the Makos weren’t fit to play. Naturally, the same league that wouldn’t allow Goalielocks’ team reschedule due to a lack of bodies, gladly allowed the Makos to reschedule. Our league has different rules depending on which organization you play for or are affiliated with. It’s an absolute joke. In just a few years, we’ll be done with this god forsaken league. I look forward to blowing up some of these folks in a book about our Florida hockey experience.

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Scary Moment

It was a scary moment Sunday when the Mayor took a skate blade to the thigh. The Mayor played in the annual Thanksgiving tournament last weekend. Unfortunately, the schedule was such that I had to watch every game from home while I worked. Thankfully, the Ice Den has Livebarn now, so I could watch the game. Additionally, my hubby was keeping me updated via text.

While watching Sunday’s semi-final against the Fury, the Hubby texted me that he was taking the Mayor to get stitches. This was definitely a scary moment for me as I had no idea how or where he was hurt. Unfortunately, he was kicked in the thigh with a skate. The resulting wound looked like a stab wound and was 3 cm long.

The medic at the rink tended to him once they realized the severity of his injury on the bench. Unsurprisingly, he was trying to convince the medic that he should be able to go out and finish the game. Mind you he still finished his shift after taking a skate to the thigh. Once the report was filed, my hubby took him to get stitches.

While it was a scary moment for all of us, it could have been much worse. The skate blade narrowly missed his femoral artery, which makes me shudder to think about. If the artery had been cut, the injury would have been catastrophic. Needless to say, we’re investing in compression gear to protect against the skate blades. In the end, he got five stitches and can’t skate for a week.

The referees did not call penalty on the headshot or the kick to the thigh despite USA Hockey’s commitment to player safety. The Livebarn video of the incident wasn’t great due to where it happened on the rink. Our manager requested the security video from the rink, but the director told her that was impossible. Again, so much for a commitment to player safety. Thank God there’s no delayed offsides or icing on PK’s anymore. USA Hockey is out of touch and useless.

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Big Weekend

It was a big weekend for us with Goalielocks turning 18 yesterday. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. Honestly, it feels like I was just 18. Now my second child is an adult and I’m at a loss for where time has gone. Does one blink and their kids suddenly become adults? I’m barely an adult myself.

Before we celebrated his birthday, the Hubby and I spent night down at the Hard Rock having fun and watching Metallica. We had an amazing evening with our besties John and Hanh. We love them so much. They’re not just our friends, but our family. Anyway, Metallica has long been a bucket list concert for me, so this was a special evening. Unsurprisingly, they lived up the the hype. They are absolutely incredible live. The setlist was great. I loved that they played Sad But True, Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman. I will be seeing them live again.


We also got to spend the night in the Guitar Hotel, which was also awesome. The bed was incredibly comfortable. Obviously, we didn’t spend too much time there, but it was a nice space. Before heading down to the concert, we definitely took a picture of the room number. This way we wouldn’t forget it in event we over did the free drinks in the casino. For a concert, Hard Rock Live is a great venue. There are several restaurants and bars in close proximity, which makes celebrating before and after concerts quite easy.

We celebrated Goalielocks birthday today. The Hubby grilled some ribs and potatoes and onions. We got him a cookie cake. Meanwhile, I made a rustic French tart because it’s yummy. We couldn’t celebrate yesterday because the Mayor’s hockey games and Homecoming. Last night was the first and last Homecoming for Goalielocks. Hard to believe he’s 18 and a senior in high school. I’m still waiting on pictures from the event, but hopefully I’ll have some to share with you all soon. It’s been a great big weekend. Hopefully, our week is just a great. Oh wait a second, Goalielocks just sent me some pictures!

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Crazy

It’s crazy to me that after a letter from our state hockey league addressing poor parent and coach behavior that people still don’t get it. Last weekend there was a squirt A game (I mean u10a) on the West Coast in which a parent opened the door to argue a call. Let that sink in for a second. It wasn’t even a rec game where you’d expect that kind of uneducated and uncouth behavior from a parent.

To be fair, it was a squirt a travel game filled with future NHL stars. Obviously there was a lot of skin in the game. So much that this dad felt the need to open the door to tell the ref there were too many men on the ice. Spoiler alert the right number of players were on the ice for both teams. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my years as a hockey parent, but a parent opening the door to the ice sheet during a game takes the cake.

Naturally, this set off a lively conversation on the youth hockey forum. People, the majority in fact could not believe parent could behave this poorly at a game. Unsurprisingly, the guy did have a few defenders okay two defenders. Their argument, by the way, was that he’s a good dad and was just concerned about the ref’s missing a call. After all their kids work so hard and should lose on the account of a bad call. Again this was u10a game in southwest Florida and there was no missed call.

Eventually the moderators had to shut the comments off because these two jokers were getting ridiculous. They couldn’t understand how we could judge someone as a bad person/dad for their actions at the game. There is a Grand Canyon size gulf between disagreeing with someone’s actions and judging them as a bad person. My dude made a poor decision and needs to be held accountable, but he probably is a good guy. Anyway, you can’t fix crazy.

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Wonderful Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend and am ready for the work week. After a productive day at work Saturday, Goalielocks and I headed to the Luke Combs concert with my bro, sister-in-law, Richard and Suelen. To be honest, I’ve never been a country music fan. However, Goalielocks and I would listen to Combs every time we drove to Miami for hockey his U16AA season. Luke Combs’ music brings up so many great memories of that season and of spending time with him.

I’ve never seen the BB&T Center (or whatever it’s now called) so full. It was filled to the brim. Consequently, it took us over thirty minutes to actually get into the stadium for the show. We’ve been there a lot for hockey games and have never waited more than five minutes to get into the arena. Fortunately, our seats were club level so the lines for the bar and the bathroom were not bad. The lines on the 100 level, however, were absolutely ridiculous. I did get to see some of my favorite people from Kaplan, which was epic.

Many artists sound way better on their records, but not Luke Combs. To be clear, he sounds amazing on his records. It’s just he sounds even better in person. His voice is absolutely incredible and so was the crowd. The arena had an amazing energy that I wish we could bottle and preserve for the Panthers games. At any rate, if you have an opportunity to see Luke Combs, even if you’re not into country music, you should see him. After all, according to Goalielocks Comb is baseball cap or bass fishing cap country not cowboy boots and cowboy hat country.

I spent Sunday baking and organizing. I baked a French apple tart and made some chocolate avocado mousse. Both turned out really well. Additonally, I cooked pasta with lamb sauce, but I wasn’t thrilled with how it turned out. Don’t get me wrong, it was good just not as good as the last time I made it. Nevertheless, we had an awesome dinner before heading outside for Halloween.

It was a beautiful evening, so we rolled the cooler over to Carrie and Mark’s for drinks and trick or treating. Unfortunately, the trick or treaters were sparse and we have entirely too much candy leftover. Clearly, I don’t need lots of candy in the house on top of the tart and mousse. Even though there were few trick or treaters, we had a great time hanging out with our neighbors.

It was a wonderful weekend. In fact, I even took Anakin on a run for the first time since last spring. Goalielocks and his girlfriend carved pumpkins and then took some great picture at the farmers market near us. They turned out great. Meanwhile, the Mayor had a wonderful weekend with his boys.

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No Surprise

No surprise here, but Coach Q resigned his role as head coach of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers are off to their best start in years and could be a serious contender for the cup. Fortunately, for all that is wrong with the Panthers, the team made the right decision on Coach Q. To keep him behind the bench would have been a mistake of disastrous proportions. The Panthers, along with the league, would have lost all credibility.

I, like many hockey fans, are still reeling from what happened in Chicago. How many other cases has hockey covered up over the years? How many other recommendation letters have they written for monsters allowing to continue their predation on vulnerable athletes. To be clear, this isn’t just a hockey problem. It’s a sports problem from the lowest level of the game to the highest level of the game.

For years USA Hockey has required participating coaches, managers, officials and hockey directors to complete Safesport training. Moreover, USA hockey built a reporting system by which Safesport violations could be reported without fear of reprisal. Or at least that’s what they say. But here’s the deal. When you report a Safesport violation, USA Hockey assigns it back to the USA Hockey affiliate for investigation and disposition.

The setup is problematic for many reasons. Perhaps the biggest problem is the close relationships between those on the affiliate board making it impossible for impartiality and discretion. If you report a SafeSport violation report, your identity is supposed to remain anonymous. Unfortunately, the victim’s identity too often becomes public inowledge or worse they’re persecuted for reporting a violation.

This is a problem that we have to solve. The days off sweeping Safesport violations and sexual abuse under the wrong have got to be over. We can no longer tolerate winning at all costs, including ignoring serious allegations like Beach’s. Kyle Beach has bravely stepped forward to tell his story. However, there are probably thousands of athletes that continue to suffer in silence. Until something changes, it can come as no surprise that the abuse of athletes will continue. I love hockey and my Florida Panthers, but I want to watch them play with a clean conscious.

As for work, I had a long but productive week. Nonetheless, I am ready to go to bed early and catch up on some rest. The morning workouts continue to go well, but its tough to get out of bed. Tomorrow Goalielocks and I are heading to see Luke Combs in concert. Its going to be epic.

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Buzz Kill

Growing up in Minnesota, there was no bigger buzz kill on Halloween than your mother making you wear a jacket over your cool costume. The vast majority of Halloweens growing up were bitter cold and filled with snow. In fact the last Halloween I was allowed to trick-or-treat, my night out and candy haul were cut short by a historic blizzard. We made it less than two blocks before having to call it a night.

My kids, particularly the younger two, will never understand the pain of having to layer below and on top of your costumer. Admittedly, Halloween in Florida is much more enjoyable. Our neighborhood does it well with several houses having bars for the adults and great candy for the kids. Honestly, I missed all the Halloween fun that Covid cancelled last year.

Speaking of buzz kill, there’s nothing worse than someone who is unwilling to compromise at all. I’m fortunate that I’m no longer faced with this bull headedness at work. I wish I could say the same thing for the rest of my life. Even my dog is stubborn! Anyway, stubbornness without a willingness to compromise does nobody any favors and can destroy relationships. Fortunately, I can coax Athena into a compromise with a nice treat.

This week’s been long, so has this month for that matter. I love working from home, but it can be quite isolating. Not to be a total buzz kill, because my job is amazing and so is my life, but it can get pretty lonely. I know what you’re thinking. My loneliness is killing me (if you didn’t sing Britney Spears right then, we can’t be friends.). Anyway, I’m looking forward to the Luke Combs concert this weekend and getting out of the house. It will be nice to not be all myself.

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Writer’s Block

The hardest thing about writing a blog is overcoming writer’s block. I had a working title and topic, but I’m not sure Google and SEO gods like words like fuckery. To be honest, the use is of the word is completely appropriate when discussing Facebook’s sheer and utter incompetence.

Since our oldest joined the service, I’ve had friend requests from countless fake accounts spoofing military leaders. I’ve reported each one and Facebook in all it’s awesomeness has done nothing. Rather they knowingly allow the spoof accounts to pray on service members and their families. Meanwhile the real accounts have been verified by the same entity that refuses to shut down the obviously fake accounts. Great job Facebook.

I shared the post from the hockey parent dumb ass on my blog last night. Unsurprisingly, his account is also fake. Apparently, this keyboard hero, who makes fun of officials for being afraid to take the ice, is afraid to make these comments from his real account. What a loser. Naturally, Facebook or the moderators of the forum should shutdown this fake troll account. Yet neither have decided to act on this despite the fact the troll acknowledged he setup a fake account. Anyway, Facebook has jumped the shark Reddit is significantly more interesting.

Anyway, the writer’s block has cleared. My two mile run was arduous this morning. I don’t know why it’s not getting any easier, but it’s super frustrating. Tomorrow morning I will be doing the BBG arms and ab workout. I’m planning to do yoga in the evening to help my muscles recover. I need to get back into the rhythm of practicing yoga daily. By the end of AEP, my yoga schedule will be back on track.

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Bed Time

Is it bed time yet? Because I gotta be honest it sure feels like it. Since starting the new schedule, I find myself feeling ready for bed just after 8:00 pm. I may be turning into my mother. To be fair, I have moved my alarm up more than an hour and am now working out early in the morning. Also, I don’t think working every day of the week is helpful. At first I thought it might be Monday, only to realize it was already Tuesday. Naturally, I realized shortly thereafter that it’s actually Wednesday.

The early workouts are working great. They’re keeping me on task and keeping me accountable to my goals. I realized how much I missed the strength workouts these past couple of months. Obviously, I’m ecstatic to be back on track. Moreover, the energy boost it gives me afterward carries me through my day. I would typically run a mile on my strength days, but am easing back into the routine. Otherwise, I’d probably hurt myself.

Good news on the health front. The Hubby’s fingers are healing nicely and surgery will not be needed. The surgeon also clarified some concerns we had about the medications he was prescribed. His work comp doctor at MD Now prescribed another antibiotic on top of the one the ER prescribed. According to the surgeon, he only needs to take the antibiotic prescribed in the ER. Needless, to say we do not recommend using MD Now.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s shoulder is healing nicely. He’s been going to our friend’s for ultrasound therapy and stretches. His pain has decreased immensely. Fortunately, his injury should be resolved by the end of the weekend. Honestly, the kid’s been annoying the hell out of the Hubby and I. Coach, he’s been relentless. If you don’t know the Mayor, his version of relentless is asking every second of every day until we give up. It’s been a week.

We’re following medical advice and not letting him practice, so he’s pissed. Twenty years from now, he’ll appreciate that we made him take time to let his injury properly heal. Meanwhile, he’ll have to settle for watching hockey on the television. By the way, I am trying Sling this month. Sling is not impressing me. The quality is not fabulous. It’s super choppy and repetitive. We’ll be switching back to Hulu next month. I’m also looking for a streaming option that has Bally Sports, so if you know one please share. Anyway, it’s now my bed time. Good night!