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An Update To The Update

So here’s an update to the update on Goalielocks. We were in the ER in Southern New Hampshire medical center for several hours this afternoon. Based on his symptom and mechanism of injury, they ordered a CT scan. Unfortunately, the CT scan showed what they believed to be a small bleed on the brain.

As he spoke the words, my heart sunk. Brain bleeds are never good. The hospital is pretty small and wasn’t well suited to treat Goalielock’s injury. For example, if he needed surgery to alleviate pressure in the brain, they couldn’t do it. The ER doc felt it was likely non-surgical and an observation approach is likely the approach they’d take.

Consequently, he was transported via ambulance from Southern New Hampshire Medical Center to Massachusetts General in Downtown Boston. In order for this to happen, our incredible hockey family sprung into action: helping me pack the car, driving me to the hospital and bringing me the rental car tomorrow.

Our ride took about 45 minutes and he was triaged into the acute care part of their giant and impressive ER. Goalielocks was quick to notice his doctors were all Harvard affiliated. I’m pretty sure he was impressed. Nonetheless, we were there for several hours.

While he was in Mass General, his case was reviewed by his ER doctor, the attending ER doctor, neurosurgeon, neuro-radiologist, radiologist, pediatric neurosurgeon and the chief of neurology. In the end, they felt the hospital in Nashua misread the scan. There was no brain bleed present. None of their specialists saw bleeding on the brain!!! Thank God!

Our ER doctor was spot on, the emergency department in Nashua was right to send his case to them. They’re much better suited to accurately diagnosis these types of injures. Nonetheless, we’re both hungry and exhausted. Neither of us have eaten since 9:00 this morning. I didn’t feel right eating while Goalielocks waited to be cleared by the neurosurgeon. The good news is we have pizza on the way and a late check out. Undoubtedly, we’ll be sleeping in tomorrow.

Lastly, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes yesterday and today. They mean a lot and prayer certainly works! Special thank you to our hockey family for helping us out today. We love you to the moon and back!

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Quick Update

Quick update!  We’re in the ER here in New Hampshire after Goalielocks started experiencing nosebleeds last evening and this morning. While it is more likely related to the dry weather, it isn’t worth taking the risk. It certainly isn’t how we had hoped to spend the afternoon.

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Hazards Of Hockey

Oh the hazards of hockey. For us hockey parents we’re acutely aware of these hazards, but for the uninitiated it can be a bit scary. There are, of course, several different types of hazards ranging from financial to physical. It definitely takes a little bit of courage and craziness to be a hockey parent.

Unfortunately, today we were again reminded of the hazards of hockey. Late in the third period, Goalielocks was plowed into by one of their players. I’ve seen a lot of collisions in the crease, but this one was especially nasty. I knew immediately his game was over and probably his tournament.

Both boys were having trouble sitting up, so Coach P was supporting Goalielocks, while the ref supported the other player. From my vantage point, I could tell both players were completely out of it. Consequently, the coaches helped both players off the ice to the bench.

Once on the bench, they decided to send Goalielocks off as he was dizzy. When he got off the ice, he was out of it. Even though he was out of it, he was disappointed his game was over. Fortunately, he passed the baseline concussion tests. His pupils looked good, he knew where he was, where he’s from and the day of the week, so I was encouraged.

Post-game the coach at Merrimack College gave the boys a tour of their facilities. Our boys, Goalielocks included, really enjoyed the tour. Meanwhile, the parents appreciated how the coach explained the academic requirements for a division one athlete. Hopefully, this will motivate our boys to focus on their studies.

As we left the rink, I had planned to take a wait and see approach to the head injury. However, after our trip to Chic Fil-A, I knew I’d have to get him checked out. He placed his order, I paid and then ran to the restroom while they made our food. When I got back to the counter, he asked me if I had ordered the drink. He had completely forgotten that he ordered himself a Dr. Pepper.

Consequently, we ended up in an urgent care center. Goalielocks was reticent to go as he didn’t want to be told he couldn’t play. In the end, it was, as I thought, a minor concussion. He’ll be out for at least a week, but we’ll need to follow up with his pediatrician once back in Florida. He’s pretty bummed as he played well this morning and was looking forward to his next game.

Nonetheless, it could have been much worse given the severity of the collision. So tonight instead of heading to the rink, we’re chilling in the room enjoying our room service.

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New England Weekend

We left balmy, beautiful South Florida for a New England weekend full of hockey. After yesterday’s events this is the perfect distraction for our boys. Fortunately, we had several of Goalielocks’ teammates on our flight into Boston.

I seem to remember the flight being shorter, but it seemed quite long. Consequently, I made good use of my time by watching Bad Moms 2 and Loving Vincent. Bad Moms 2 wasn’t nearly as good as the first one, but it was still funny.

On the other hand, Loving Vincent was absolutely masterful. It tells the story of the aftermath of Van Gogh’s life and death via the characters in his paintings through the paintings. Not only does it tell the story brilliantly, but it does so by animating his paintings in glorious fashion. I was completely transfixed on the film and can’t recommend it ugly enough.

Unfortunately, once we landed in Boston the hard work started for me. There’s a lot of freaking traffic from Boston all the way to New Hampshire! Whiskey tango foxtrot! We spent an hour and a half driving from the airport to the hotel. We’re entirely and completely exhausted!

Before settling in for the night we enjoyed a great dinner at the Pig’s Tail. We split poutine and eggplant with our friends. For the main course, we enjoyed flat iron steak and pizza. Now we’re off the bed as we are beyond tired.

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Friday Eve

It’s Friday eve to a weekend full of hockey.  My Mayor and the hubby are headed to Georgia for an outdoor tournament.  Yes, you read that right.  They’ll be playing on an outdoor rink in Georgia.  In fact, I’m a little bummed that I won’t be able to see how the organizers pull this off.  Meanwhile in Florida, Goalielocks’ (my tendy) team will be playing Saturday.  If we happen to lose the first game Saturday, we’ll be playing an additional game on Sunday morning.  Here’s hoping we win, so I don’t miss aerial yoga.

 

In honor of our impending hockey weekend, I’d thought I’d share some links to my favorite hockey related posts:

  1. Love They Tendy
  2. Skol Vikings!!!
  3. My Favorite Night
  4. Hockey Culture
  5. Split Saturday
  6. Hockey Mom Wisdom
  7. Hockey Season is in Full Swing
  8. Saturday Night in Tampa
  9. Split Saturday
  10. Wheels up
  11. Wheels Up Pt. 2
  12. Wheels Up Pt. 3
  13. The Trouble With Travel

After this weekend and next, I’ll have some great stories to share.  Goalielocks and I are headed to Boston next week for a tournament with his team.  It will be our third time to Boston for hockey.  Thankfully, I really enjoy the city and the surrounding area.  Lastly, I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my Goalielocks.

Tonight’s song performed by the B-52s is “Roam.”

 

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Life In The Box

It was back to a life in the box for me as we headed to Coral Springs for the Mayor’s two games.  It’s never dull in the sin bin that is for darn sure.  I wasn’t that too busy in the first game, but the second game was different.  The first game we got off to a bit of a slow start and ended up losing 5-3.  Certainly, it would have been nice to win that one as it would have sealed a state tournament berth.

While the Hubby headed back north to take Goalielocks to his practed, I stayed in Springs with my Mayor.  We grabbed a quick bite in between games at McDonald’s for him and Dunkin for me.  I needed to ensure I had my pre-game coffee, so I wouldn’t mess up the mojo.  I had drunk my morning coffee at home instead of the rink per usual, so naturally that’s probably what messed up the morning game.  It’s a good thing us hockey moms aren’t superstitious or anything.

I grabbed my coffee and some oatmeal.  It was my first time trying Dunkin’s oatmeal and I have to say it was pretty darn good.  Fortunately, both McDonald’s and Dunkin are close to the rink, so we had no trouble getting back to the rink in time. As we waited around for the game to start, we were discussing our path to the state tournament. If we had won in the morning, we would have qualified.  Since we lost however, our team’s fate was in the hands of another team.  Needless to say, it is always better to be in control of your own destiny.

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As the zambonis took to the ice, I headed over to my place in the sin bin.  As they finished cleaning the ice, both teams and referees were ready to start the game.  I looked around and there was no score keeper to be seen.  Both referees tried to reach someone unsuccessfully to find a score keeper.  Consequently, yours truly ended up being the scorekeeper.

I have to say, I truly sympathize with the scorekeepers now. There’s a lot going on and the whole thing isn’t setup for a lefty.  The refs said I would start the game and not to worry about the penalties and such, but that wasn’t exactly accurate.  If you didn’t put the penalties up, you had to do the backwards math yourself.  No thank you!  Additionally, ladies there’s a reason men don’t like to read instructions.  Most of the time the instructions are poorly written or leave out key steps – as was the case with adding penalties to the clock.

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Fortunately, I had mostly figured it out (penalties included) by the end of the first period.  I am pretty sure, however, that the score sheets are made for people with 20/20 vision and super small and perfect writing.  Sadly, I fall into neither of those categories, which made filling out the score sheet quite the adventure.  By the third period, we were on run time, which made my life a bit easier.  Meanwhile, the Hubby is texting for updates and getting radio silence.   There was no way I could text and score keep all at once.

We ended up winning the game 9-1, but we lost one of our players in the process.  Late in the first, one of our D-men was checked and flew head first into the boards.  Can I tell you how scary that was?  From where we were sitting in the box, we could tell he was out cold.   Unfortunately, he ended up having to be transported to the hospital with a concussion.  It was certainly a very scary situation.  Thankfully, his mom just updated all of us and let us know that he’s home and will be okay.  Thank goodness!

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Post game, we ended up watching another U-12 A game as it would decide our fate.  Like I said, it is always better to decide your own fate than to leave it in somebody else’s hands.  It was nerve wracking and up to 23.7 seconds left in the 3rd it looked like our season would end early.  Only at 23.6 seconds, the Panthers scored a goal and sealed our fate.  Our squad is going to SAHOF!!!!  I couldn’t be happier for this team.  They work so hard and play so hard for each other that it is fun to watch.  Even on their worst days, they have each others’ backs.  I freaking love these kids and families.

Anyway, we’ve been home for almost 3 hours and my toes are still frozen.  Once that cold gets in your bones, it sure does not want to leave.  I’ll be making myself some nice chamomile tea to try and warm myself up.  Tonight’s song performed by PitBull, JLo and Claudia Leitte is “We Are One.”  The Mayor and I listened to this song as we drove back to the rink and it is the perfect song for him and his team.  Plus the hockey dads will like the samba dancers.

 

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31 Days

Wow, just like that we are 31 days into 2018.  It seems like just yesterday we were ringing in the New Year.  The days and weeks have passed as if they were on an unending conveyor belt.  Now here we are peering into February, girl scout cookies in hand, battling to keep hold of our new year’s resolutions.  Oh, we are fighting the good fight, but those damn Thin Mints are so amazing!  Nevertheless, we fight on!

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My resolution to hit the gym early has hit a snag with the sinus infection and illness in the house.  There are so many people around us that have the flu, so we’re doing everything we can to avoid it.  Unfortunately, this means foregoing the morning workout for additional sleep.  Once I kick this sinus infection, you can bet that I’ll be back.

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As I drove home tonight, my mind was a conveyor belt of thoughts.  I know, I know a blonde thinking.  You’re probably imaging steam coming out of my ears and  you’d be right. I played sports growing up in multiple organizations as did my brothers.  I can’t say that our sports careers were perfect or picturesque, but I would say that the leagues and organizations we were part of actually followed the rules.

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In contrast, my kids experience is wildly different.  In fact, once they’ve aged out, I’ll write a book about it.  Of course, I’ll have to label it carefully as non-fiction because people won’t believe the stories and anecdotes I have to share.  Here’s my biggest frustration.  If you have rules as a league, why aren’t they enforced.  More to the point, why are they selectively enforced?

I can’t for the life of me understand how our league works here.  Truly, it is diametrically opposed to what I grew up with.  Moreover, when we’re back in Minny and we speak to Goalielocks’ coaches or are friends whose kids play hockey, they look at us sideways.  They can’t believe the stories we’ve shared.  It’s the same sport, but wow what a difference.

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I guess it goes back to the sliding scale of accountability, which drives me bat shit crazy.  If you have rules, you should equally enforce them across organizations, teams, and players.  If you sit one player for being late, you should sit them all.  Its no different than how you would/should operate in a corporate environment – everyone is subject to the same rules regardless of who they are or how they perform.  I know, I know, common sense or at least I thought.

Anyway, this aggravating conveyor belt of thoughts is driving me to Samoas, so I’m going to cut my losses and go hang around for a bit in my silk.  Tonight’s song performed by CNCO ft. Little Mix is “Reggaeton Lento.”

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My Sexy New Accessories

I think the title says it all, but my sexy new accessories finally came into the podiatrist office today.   Oh yeah, that’s right those sexy mo-fo orthotics came in.  They cut a mean silhouette – Louboutin has nothing on these. Now I’m taking my look to a new sartorial high, or low since I’m still in flats, with these sexy inserts.   That is of course if your definition is  comfortable arches and less tendon pain.  It sure is for me!  Honestly, I really miss wearing my heels and I miss running.  I’d also like to be in less pain, but I’d be happy to be in heels.

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Truly, it is exciting as it the first step towards a return to normalcy.   I dream of the day that I can go back to wearing stylish heels with my dresses and not my Asics.  Moreover, I dream about getting back to training for all the races I want to run this year.  The longer it takes to heal; the harder it will to fit in all my races.  After all is said and done, I want to hit my running goals in 2018, but with healthy legs, ankles and feet.

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I know you’ll be surprise, but this weekend we’ll be back at the rink.  We only have one game this weekend, which is about all I can stomach.  Sunday Goalielocks and his team are headed to the beach to do workout.  Meanwhile tomorrow night I’m going to an art gallery opening in Wilton Manors.  I cannot wait to see the gallery and my colleagues art, which will be on display.  Myself and several of my colleagues are headed there to show our support, so it will be a fun night.

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In other news, the flu has taken hold here in Florida.  It has become so prevalent that the boys’ school sent home a letter today.  In the letter, they asked us to keep kids home that are showing any symptoms that could be flu related.   This comes on the heels of the passing of a 12 year old boy in Palm Beach County due to the flu.  It is unbelievably sad.  In fact, this flu season has claimed over 37 healthy children.  Its devastating.  Fortunately,our pediatrician gave my boys flu vaccine earlier this fall.  The vaccine will offer them some protection even if the strain isn’t a complete match.

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Well, I’m heading to be early, so I can try to get some rest before heading to the gym and hockey tomorrow morning.  The sinus infection has been the pits this week  and has kept me out of my classes at the gym.  I’m looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow.

Tonight’s song performed by the late, great Janis Joplin is “Piece Of My Heart.”   This video it veritable gold.  First of all, Janis’ performance was amazing.  Second of all, the audience members dancing on stage are comic gold.  I hope you enjoy the video.  Janis would have been 75 on January 19th, which is crazy.

 

 

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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.