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After a long week at work, is there anywhere better to be on a Saturday night than suburban Tampa? Thankfully, the drive is not too long and does not entail driving on a scary two lane road. Can you sense the sarcasm? Nonetheless, us crazy hockey parents journeyed westward early this morning for two games in Tampa.
The drive from the Palm Beaches to Wesley Chapel took a little over four hours this morning. We were fortunate to hit pretty good traffic and minimal weather. As luck would have it, the monsoon came during my shift. I was driving John’s (my brother from another mother) Volvo when he got some much deserved and needed sleep. I only had to wake him up once to see if the windshield wipers could wipe a little faster. They could not, but alas we survived.
Neither game nearly as well as we had hoped, but that’s okay. Winning feels awesome and lord knows I hate to lose. However, we learn more from losing and our failures than we can ever learn from winning. The tenacity, the team work, the grit, the perseverance we learn from our losses it is what equips us to ultimately win big. The choice is clear. Either we choose to self-destruct due in the failure, or we choose to lick our wounds and get back on the proverbial ice and kick ass. Which one will you choose?
Undoubtedly, the major benefit of travel hockey (for me) is the time I get to spend with my family and extended family. The outcome, while not completely irrelevant, does not outweigh the enjoyment I get from the quality time I get with my kids. As the Mastercard commercial says, this time with my family is priceless.
Thankfully, we opted to stay overnight. If we had headed home post-game, we would not have gotten home til after 1:00 am in the morning. As horrible as the drive is during the day, the drive at night is a million times worse. Goalielocks and I enjoyed a fantastic steak with some of our hockey family after the game. I even got some birthday ice cream and a saddle ride for our dear friend Dam Hart, which was hilarious.
I took some photos from the penalty box this evening of the team and Goalielocks during warm ups. They’re quite the crew. Most of these boys are now in high school and we started this journey in early elementary. I cannot even fathom where time has go. In addition to the photos of team, I thought you’d enjoy these video reenactments of me while Goalielocks between the pipes.
My favorite picture from today is the one I took of Goalielocks doing a full split at center ice. As a yogi, I’ve been working on my flexibility for years. Since I teach Zumba and am a runner, my legs and hips are super tight. There’s just not a lot of flexibility there at all. In contrast, Goalielocks is nimble like Gumby. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit jealous. I’ll leave it to you. Who do it better? Goalielocks or this hockey awesome mom?
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