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Monday Night Mayhem

It was Monday night Mayhem when I received an urgent call from my Hubby as I drove to the rink for his and Jake’s game.   Unfortunately, their team’s goalie wasn’t going to to miss tonight’s game.  They wanted Goalielocks to suit up and play for them in the championship.  Never mind the fact that Goalielocks at 14 isn’t old enough for adult league.  But from a maturity stand point I’m not sure most beer league players are old enough to play in adult league, so Goalielocks would likely fit in perfectly.

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He was not to keen on the idea of being pummeled with pucks from beer leagurers living out their childhood fantasies of playing in the NHL.  However, the Hubby and Uncle Jon convinced him that nobody on the ice could shoot as fast or hard as anyone on his current team.  It took some convincing, but he eventually acquiesced as we drove back to grab his gear.

They held the game for us and our gear.  Consequently, Goalielocks quickly got dressed and took to the ice.  For Goalielocks, the game was a much slower pace than what he’s use to, but he was busy from start to finish.  He played phenomenally.  I’m pretty sure he’s the only goalie in beer league that can do the split.  This nice little trick caught the other team by surprise a couple of times.

Unfortunately, they pulled him with 5 minutes left in the 2nd when an adult goalie replacement was available.  Apparently, you have to be an adult (chronologically speaking) to play adult league.  While they’ve made exceptions for goalies before (in a pinch), it’s better from a liability standpoint to have an adult goalie in net.   He came off the ice smiling, but was still bummed he didn’t get to play the whole game.

Goalielocks walked into the locker room to get undressed and with a smile said, “they owe me a lot.”  And he would be right, he was kept very busy in net tonight.  Fortunately, he gave their team an opportunity to win.  In the end, he watched the third period from the stands with the rest of us fan.  Unfortunately, the goods guys lost 3-1.

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While he didn’t play the whole game, I could see that he enjoyed the opportunity to play with his family.  Likewise, judging from their reaction, they enjoyed the chance to have him in their net.  Of course the best part of the night, for my boys, was the free pizza, wings and beer post game.

Sometimes all compasses, all roads, and all maps lead us back to the same place.  For my family, our compass apparently only points us in the direction of the rink.  Moreover, forget the compass for a second, when I got leave to work or my house, my iPhone tells me how long it will take to get to the rink.  Such is life as a hockey mom and I wouldn’t change it for the world!

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P.S. Goalielocks also gets bonus points for making his mom dinner.  He made me awesome scrambled eggs and waffles!  The waffles were amazing!  Finally, the scrambled eggs were divine.

Tonight’s song is Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) performed by Celine Dion.  I love this song.

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Blissful Moments

As crazy as our Saturday was, Sunday was divinely low key and full of blissful moments.  I spent the better part of my morning cuddling on the couch with my Mayor, which is hands down one of my favorite things. My hubby, who had run out to Home Depot was kind enough to return home with my coffee. Yay!

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I worked  on the living room getting it ready for the Christmas tree.  I’m happy to report that we’ll hit our goal of getting our Christmas tree up before Christmas.  It’s the small victories in life.  Now that it’s up, we’ll have to actually decorate it before the holiday.  Meanwhile, Goalielocks and the Mayor cleaned their animals cages and did their chores. Additionally, I finally got the photos of Maya and Athena from Petco!

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Sadly, we missed the Jingle Bell Jog in Delray this year.  Our hockey schedule made it impossible for us to make the race.  This race is one of my favorite 5ks in South Florida. Its fun to see all of the runners dressed as Santa Claus.  Morever, the course is a beautiful run up A1A along the ocean.  The view is absolutely incredible.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the mimosas and beer available post-race as it is a definite plus.  Unfortunately,  we’ll have to wait until next year’s event.

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Since we didn’t make it to the Jingle Bell jog, Goalielocks and I took the girls for a nice run this afternoon.  We logged 2.5 miles today and it was a good run.  As a fyi, I classify it as a good run when I don’t want to puke the entire run.  Nonetheless, nothing beats the bliss of the post run high or running with my boys.  I love that its another activity we can share together.  Much like hockey, they’re much better runners than me, but that’s okay.  Its just another way in which they amaze me.

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I’m thankful that I went in for the assisted stretch appointment yesterday.  My legs, including my left hip, were much looser than they were Saturday.  Additionally, my legs felt great on the run.  Where I was experiencing muscle pain or muscle cramps in my legs, I experienced none of that today.  After our run, I helped Goalielocks stretch his legs and then stretch mine.  I’ll be ready to run again tomorrow!

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Tonight I’m going to back up some of our mint cookies for Christmas.  After making the dough for the second time, I’m hoping to actually have some cookies to show for the dough I made.  If I delay baking these cookies, odds are they’ll never be made.  I’ll post some pictures for tomorrow’s blog if my boys don’t eat them!

Enjoy tonight’s song performed by Pentatonix is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”  I love this song!

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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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Magical Moments

Our morning was filled with magical moments as we joined Santa to deliver gifts to the beautiful kids at ARC Broward.  This is my second year leading the initiative with my incredible partner in crime MK.  Consequently, it was also my second time attending the gift delivery.  Last year,  the event blew my away.  When I left last year’s event my heart was full after watching these kids and their parents relish their moment with Santa and their gifts.  I couldn’t wait to go back!

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This year ARC Broward’s preschool is under new leadership, so we’ve been working with new people.  Can I just tell you how amazing these people are?  They do an incredible job educating, advocating and creating futures for people with disabilities.  When we first arrived,  Shawn ushered us into a room where ARC’s Culinary program had catered in breakfast.  Their culinary program provides post high school education via a certificate to adults with disabilities.  The food was absolutely amazing!

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As we finished our amazing breakfast, ARC’s high school class came into the room to visit us.  They performed a couple of songs and posed for pictures with all of us and Santa.  It was magical.  These high schoolers had incredible energy and were filled with joy. ARC’s commitment to these teens and young adults is to give them the skillset to find a job they want in the community.  Indeed, it’s all about creating opportunities for these students to excel.

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Afterwards we headed over to the preschool to start handing out the gifts. I struggle to words that adequately describe how beautiful and amazing it is to watch these kids receive their gifts and see Santa.  While some were afraid to sit on Santa’s lap, many were excited beyond belief.  They bounded with joy to get their presents and see Santa.  Their innocence, excitement, happiness and gratitude were overwhelming. It’s hard to watch without getting misty.

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I was so excited to buy for my angels after having met them both last year.  These two girls are incredibly sweet and full of energy.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to give one of my angels her gift today.   Moreover, I was able to meet her mom (who’s incredible) and chat with her for a bit.  Many times we donate to charities or toy drives and don’t have the luxury of getting to witness the child receiving the gift. I can tell you that there is nothing better than watching a child receive that gift.

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It’s no wonder that we left today’s event with a full heart and complete joy.  There’s something beyond gratifying in making someone’s world a little better.  As we go on our journey around the sun, it is easy for us to get stuck in the rat race.  We don’t have to be stuck!  We can live our legend, even if we’re punching the clock at a 9 to 5.  Sure we’re not crossing the Sahara looking for an alechemist, but we can find ways to fee our soul.  For me, it’s paying it forward via Angel Tree or raising funds an awareness for pancreatic cancer research.  It doesn’t have to be grandiose to be magical.  It would be a small, purple pony that you give to a little sister who didn’t think she’d be getting a gift.  Sometimes it’s all about the small things.

Tonight’s song performed by U2 is “Christmas.”

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Riches of Inheritance

Oh the riches of inheritance! I know that many people get caught up in will, estates and tax planning, but the real gems of inheritance aren’t always subject to estate taxes.  As a matter of fact, one of our most prized inherited items is in the featured photo.  My hubby received my mother-in-law’s Suomi hockey jersey bearing the number 24 and her maiden name Ketola shortly after her passing. I’ve had the honor of wearing it to games and during parent kid games.  It gives me great pride and a feeling of connection when any of us wear it.

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As a child, my favorite Christmas memories were making cookies with my mom, brothers and grandma.  My mom always made molasses cookies with us, which is a recipe passed down from her dad’s family.  Now that I have kids of my own, we make these treasured molasses Christmas every year.  Truthfully, I think the kids prefer to bake them with Grandma Dawn, but I’ll gladly take second place to my mom.

Sometimes it’s not a treasured item or recipe that we inherit, sometime’s it’s pride in one’s heritage.  Both of my grandfather’s families immigrated to the United States from Norway.  Additionally, My grandfathers were  very proud of their Norwegian heritage.  This pride is definitely my brothers and I inherited from my mom, my dad and my grandparents.  Consequently, our trip as a family to  Norway where we saw our family farms and land was of monumental importance to all of us.  It was a true connection to our heritage, our ancestors and to each other as a family.

My mother-in-law was 100% Finnish whose parents immigrated to the US from Finland.  She was, as evidenced by the Suomi jersey, extremely proud of her Finnish heritage.  My boys are very proud of their Finnish and Norwegian heritage.  We’ve already been to Norway to see my family’s origin.  Our plan is to explore Finland to see where my MIL’s family came from.  Incidentally,  if my kid’s spend a year studying abroad in Norway or Finland, I wouldn’t be surprised.

We’ve been given a lot of inherited gifts.   It might be tokens and reminders of those who’ve passed, pride in our heritage, character traits, or even family recipes.  Lastly, inheritance isn’t all about money, but rather the intangible gifts passed down from generation to generation.

Tonight’s song is Celine Dion’s amazing rendition of “O Holy Night.”

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Breakfast With Santa

Today was our annual Breakfast with Santa at work.  I know what you may be thinking.  We’re far too old to be eating with Santa, but you’d be wrong!  Importantly, our annual breakfast is the culmination of our Angel Tree drive. In fact, this year we adopted 363 angels for Christmas!

Our Angels come courtesy of ARC Broward, which is an incredible organization that provides people with disabilities and other life challenges the opportunity to fulfill their potential.  Raising children in modern times is incredibly expensive.  Unfortunately, for parents of special needs children, the costs can be exponentially higher, which is where we come in.

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This event started over seven years ago when my CRO and his wife adopted their daughter’s classroom having seen the need first hand.  Thankfully, my CRO shared this opportunity with our military team and we took up the challenge.  Excitedly, this is my second year leading the event with my partner in crime MK.  By comparison to years past, our team is bigger, more diverse and incredible this year.  We made a concerted effort to expand the team outside of our unit, so it would encompass representation from units across the company.

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First, we started off our morning staging the gifts downstairs.  As a result, our employees could get their pictures taken in front of the gifts with Santa.  The sight was beyond impressive with gifts for over 300 people including 20 bikes staged in reception! What struck me as I looked at the gifts, was the amazing generosity of my colleagues.  In that moment, I felt truly blessed and proud.  Blessed and proud to be a part of an organization where community involvement and philanthropy are prized and encouraged.

Importantly, current employee engagement theory has shown that engaged employees happier and more productive.  Since I had the pleasure of taking the pictures with Santa, I got to witness our employees reaction to the event first hand. Without fail, our collective generosity blew away my colleagues.  Time and after time, people made comments about how awesome it is to work with such great people and at a great place.  Undoubtedly, for me, witnessing both their pride and their joy was a profoundly rewarding experience.  As a result, I have no doubt that today’s event was an employee engagement win!

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Afterwards, I headed back up to meetings.  Meanwhile, the team loaded the gifts up for delivery.  I simply cannot wait to go hand out the gifts later this week.  Last year, it was such an amazing, life affirming experience.  Unquestionably, the joy on the children’s face coupled with the gratitude of the teachers and parents is indescribable.  Meanwhile I’m filled with the joy and gratitude for today’s experience.

Tonight’s song performed by  music legends David Bowie and Bing Crosby   is “Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.” 

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A Sartorial Emergency

This morning’s cooler than normal temps, led to a sartorial emergency as I struggled to find my black leggings.  After all, how could I rock a great flannel shirt dress without leggings in these temps?  Admittedly, getting out of bed this morning was tough since it was so cold.  For a moment, it brought me back to when we lived in Minny and would have to get out of bed in the sub zero weather.  I can’t tell you how happy I am to not have to deal with those temperatures on the regular anymore.

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Fortunately, after a hurried and hurricane like search, I found my coveted black leggings.  As a Minnesotan, even though I’ve been in Florida 12 years now, I can’t bring myself to wear a jacket when temps are in the 50s.  Years ago, although not too many, when I was a kid we’d wear shorts as soon as the temperature hit the 40s and 50s again.  Truly, there would be no jacket in sight (sorry mom.)  Now, it’s bitter cold.  Honestly, a jacket would have wrecked the elegance of the outfit anyway. download (10)

In a twist of irony, now that the mercury has dropped into the 50s, the stores here have turned on the heat.  Consequently, you no longer need a sweater or jacket to shop at Target.  Rather, you’re better off shopping in a tank top and shorts.  It was downright balmy in Target tonight.  Unfortunately, the forced air heat does nothing for the skin, but I can’t complain too much since we only have like 5 cold days every year.

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Tomorrow we will be back in the low 70s (at least for the day), so dressing won’t be so complicated.  It’s always a sartorial emergency finding an outfit right for both the  indoor and outdoor climates.  Excitingly, we’re having our Breakfast with Santa tomorrow where we thank all of our colleagues that participated in our annual Angel Tree Toy drive.   This event is by far one of my favorite events of the year.  Unquestionably, every year I am blown away by the generosity of my co-workers. They’re truly amazing people.  Lastly, I had hope to share the pictures of Santa with you, but for some reason PetCo doesn’t like my email address.  Hopefully, I can get them before the end of the week!

Tonight’s song is “Happy Xmas (War if Over)” performed by John Lennon.

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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!