Today I spent my Friday afternoon bowling at a team building event for one of our business partners. On the heels of yesterday’s BBQ for our team, bowling and building relationships with our business partners was awesome. Truly, I spent a good part of my week building relationships and on employee engagement. Is there anything better?
Unequivocally, one of the things I love about my job is the people I work with. Some are on my team, but many work across the organization in the departments we work with daily. Silos are the greatest danger to any organization. Make it your mission to remove silos from our place of employment. Make it your mission to make positive relationships with the people that support your department, but may work outside of it.
That’s all I have for career/work advice tonight. Let’s talk about the bowling. I’m awful. Truly I don’t have enough fingers on my hand to count the gutter balls I threw today. Consequently, during our second game I switched to bowling from my left hand. The first ball I threw left handed resulted in (gulp) a gutter ball. I promptly followed it up with a right handed spare. Thereafter, I alternated between the hands in resulted in a score that was double my second game.
In fact, in game two I even led for a moment. Albeit a brief moment. For that brief moment between the 2nd and 3rd frame of game 2, I was in the lead. Since this never happens, I simply had to take a picture of my amazing accomplishment. Unfortunately, I followed it up with some more gutter balls before netting another spare and two strikes. You can only imagine the awesomeness of my post-strike strut.
My AD and I had joined the white team. There were five teams and we rocked it. As sure as I was that I would torpedo the team, we killed it. We had a blast! It was such a great opportunity to meet new people, connect with those we know and build positive relationships. While I will never become a professional bowler (cue the small violin here,) I look forward to my next bowling trip my colleagues. Special thanks to our friends TE and NM for the invite.
Tonight’s song “Smooth” by Santana ft. Rob Thomas.
One of PanCan’s most powerful slogans is demand better. Demand better for patients and for survival. Pancreatic Cancer is now the 3rd leading cause of cancer related deaths in the U.S. By 2020, pancreatic cancer is forecasted to be the 2nd leading cause of cancer related deaths surpassing breast cancer. Meanwhile the 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has increased from 7% to 8%. While the increase is welcome, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is still way too low.
The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer to anyone’s friend or family member is horrifying. What I respected so much about Debbie is that she lived her life fully not allowing the disease to define her. I’m grateful to have had her in my life and for the example she set. Additionally, she was the epitome of grace under pressure. In the midst of her treatment, she was committed to making the future brighter for all pancreatic cancer patients. Our commitment to the cure steadfast driven by her absence, which is felt profoundly by all of us. I promised her that I would never give up the fight that I would always wage hope as her proxy.
Tonight I’d like to take you you back to the beginning of our story with John and Debbie as I continue my posts of gratitude. When we met John and Debbie, we were still playing rec league hockey up at skate zone in addition to travel. I know exactly what you’re thinking and you’re right. We were absolutely crazy back then. TK had just started skating and was an impressive player out of the gate. The hubby knew instantly that he needed to make the jump from rec to travel.
It wasn’t until our first year of peewee, however, that TK and Goalielock’s ended up on a team together. We had incredible group of kids, parents and coaches. To date, that season remains as one of my favorite and most memorable seasons. Debbie was our manager and as always was on top of everything. She did an incredible job! She organized our out of state tournament to Boston, which ended up being a magical albeit blizzard filled weekend.
For us, Boston almost didn’t happen. The year before Goalielocks’ peewee A season, we started our own business. It was a huge, scary leap for the hubby and I. The November of our peewee A season, hubby took a tennis ball to the eye in a freak accident that left him out of work for weeks. Can you imagine the stress? We had no employees, as finding qualified help in S. Florida is like finding a needle in a haystack, and the business was starting to gain momentum. Honestly, I was ready to put him in a bubble.
No sooner had he gone back to work when he had a run in with a SUV and an unscrupulous driver in our neighborhood. I’ll never forget when he called me from work to tell me he had broken his arm and he was driving to the doctor. He’s absolutely crazy and did in fact drive himself, with a major break to his dominant arm, to the urgent care. At the time, Jake was a sophomore in high school and not yet able to drive while the younger two were still in elementary. To complicate things further each of the boys was playing travel hockey at the time with scattered practice times all week long.
I met hubby at the urgent care where they had tried to convince him to take an ambulance to the hospital. There was no way my hubby was going to pay $500 for an ambulance ride 1.5 miles down the road to the hospital! I picked him and got him into the ER right away. Fortunately, the Bethesda West ER was incredible and took care of him immediately.
Hubby was in incredible pain and was having trouble recollecting what happened. There was no way I was comfortable leaving him in the ER. As this craziness was transpiring, our boys were still at school and After the Bell. Thank God for the John and Debbie! They had become neighbors when they moved into the Canyons a few months previously. John and Debbie were our knights in shining armor. They picked up the kids, fed them and even helped with homework. Honestly, I cannot tell you what we would have done without them that day.
While we were in the ER, it was determined that hubby would have to be admitted to the hospital. Moreover, he was scheduled to have major surgery on his arm the following morning. Hubby was getting some new hardware! When I went to pick the boys up from John and Debbie’s house, I was a hot mess. They were so kind. I left their house to bring the boys up to see the hubby in the hospital.
Fortunately, Hubby’s surgery went well. His blood pressure was quite low due to the morphine, so he wasn’t able to get out during the day. Once again John and Debbie came to the rescue taking care of our boys. Through the afternoon and early evening, his blood pressure stabilized and his pain became manageable. The doctor wrote the discharge orders with the caveat that he could urinate post surgery. Oh boy, the struggle was real. They brought him something he could use bedside, but he was having none of that.
He was finally able to go, so I started to help him un-tether the cords, unplug the IV and take off the blood pressure cuff. This created a problem as we were at a hospital that serves a largely geriatric population and therefore uses bed alarms. Long story short, as soon as I took up the blood pressure cuff, we set off a code blue. As I walked towards the door to see what all the commotion was, I quickly realized that we were the commotion and they, meaning all the doctors and nurses on duty, were coming for us as they responded to the code blue. I greeted them at the door to tell them he was simply trying to pee. The nurses laughed and apologized for forgetting to turn off the bed alarm. Thankfully, he was able to pee and he was discharged from the hospital.H
It was weeks before the hubby could drive again and my mom wasn’t able to come down until a week later. In the interim, John and Debbie were instrumental in helping us function as a normal family. They helped us with school and hockey. We couldn’t have done it without them and are forever grateful to them. While we were always at ready to return the favor, it was always a favor you didn’t want to return.
You never want your friends find themselves in a health emergency. I never in a million years thought that in less than six weeks, they’d need us just as we had needed them. I’ll never forget March 4th, 2015. I had caravanned up to Orlando for our employee roadshow where I was one of the presenters. This was my first time presenting to the group, so naturally I was petrified.
No sooner had we finished presenting, when I received a call from my hubby who was hysterical. I was petrified. Quickly, I walked out of the meeting room into the long windowed hallway that ran the length of the building. I thought something horrible happened to the kids while I was in Orlando, so I was terrified. Once he was able to collect himself, he told me that Debbie had been diagnosed with stage iv cancer. My heart stopped as I collapsed back against the wall falling to my knees as I began to cry.
At this time, they only knew that it was stage iv cancer and they needed our help. We were going to be there for them in anyway they needed nothing more had to be said. The “Meatloaf rule” went into full effect that day. Today I’m grateful for the beauty of friends that become family. For the type for friends that our always there at life’s lowest moments as well as life’s highest. By the way, John even helped the hubby regain strength with some intense weight exercises.
In sixteen days, we’ll be running the Broward Palm Beach Purple Stride event in Debbie’s honor. Please help us wage hope by joining us or donating to Team Deb Force Five.
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Cicero. I drove to the rink to watch my youngest play to hockey games today with a heart full of gratitude. First of all, the game was at home – a total godsend. Secondly, there’s nothing better than watching your kid play the game they love. No matter how we hockey parents feel, we’re still gonna show up at the rink to watch our kids. It didn’t hurt, of course, that they won both games. Excitedly, the Mayor had the game wining goal in the 2nd game.
Yesterday, during the torrential rains of Tropical Storm Philippe, Goalielocks and I went to Dick’s and PetSmart. While driving to the store, we started talking about the current state of youth sports. For instance, when I was growing up most kids played multiple sports. In contrast, today’s kids are specializing in one sport by age 12. Moreover, the cost to play for today’s kids has become astronomical. In order to stay competitive, many kids play on tournament teams, attend clinics, take private lessons and go to camps. This, however, comes with an extremely colossal price tag that puts youth sports out of reach for many. This was mind blowing to Goalielocks. As we drove home last night, I think Goalielocks understood how lucky he’s been having played travel hockey since 2011.
My heart is full with gratitude for the boys’ opportunity to play hockey. Our boys have been playing travel hockey since 2011. In the year since, we’ve had incredible experiences with their teams. Moreover, the boys had the fantastic opportunity to travel with their teams to Boston, Minnesota, Ottawa, Washington D.C., and Quebec. This season we will be travelling to Chicago, Atlanta and Boston. Needless to say my boys’ are extremely excited for these trips.
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There are many things that fill my heart with gratitude, but none more than the incredible people in my life. From my parents and in-laws, to my brothers, my hockey family, my friends and my work squad, I am lucky to be surrounded by incredible people that make my heart sing.
Is it my or when you see the phrase lose yourself do you start singing Eminem’s driving anthem. The song is just as current today as when it was released 15 years ago. I wrote last night about trademark, which goes hand in hand with our identity. In Eminem’s song he talks about losing yourself in a music and giving it all you got. In life, we must give it all we got – we owe ourselves that-, but we can’t lose ourselves in the craziness.
Life’s circumstances can make it hard to stay true to ourselves, but we have to persevere through the challenges. If you’re like me, life has thrown you more than a couple of curve balls. In fact, if your 2017 has been like mine, I’m sure your wondering why the hell the curve balls won’t stop!?!?! Am I right? I think we’ve all been gifted more lemons this year than available vodka resulting in an unfavorable lemon to lemon drop ratio. It’s a sad state of affairs when that happens and it needs to change. 2018 do you hear me?
As we march towards 2018, 2017 has shaken many of us to our core – myself included. Grief, stress and disappointment are not the most fun combination in the world. Yes, I know captain obvious here… Grief, as I’ve found, can surprise you and completely envelop you if you let it. It creeps up when you least expect it amplifying other negative emotions.
Consequently, I was writing my blog last night when it dawned on me. I’ve drifted away from who I am as a person. I had to started to give in to the bulls%#t allowing others to define how I feel about myself and the world. Fuck that shit (sorry mom!) It was a liberating experiencing last night and left me feeling empowered. Truly, sometimes knowing is half the balance. When I realized that I had started to let the trials of life and people in it impact my trademark and my identity, I knew exactly how it fix it. You gotta love those Eureka moments!
Undoubtedly, writing is cathartic for the soul. While this blog started as a means of coping with grief after losing Debbie in March, I’ve learned a lot more about myself than I had ever anticipated. Meanwhile, here we are seven months later and I sill cannot bring myself to write about the experience of losing her. Unquestionably, it is a gradual journey and someday I’ll be able to share those experiences here. Nonetheless, here is what I do know. Life is too short to wallow in the weeds letting life or others impact our positive outlook. At the end of the day, we own our mindset as much as we own our identity. Don’t let anyone take that away from you ever no matter how tired you may be. Only you can protect your identity (and prevent forest fires.)
Here’s to you thirsty Thursday! We spent our thirsty Thursday at the rink for Goalielock’s 8:30 pm game that started at 9:00 pm. Thankfully, the rink has a liquor license and plenty of beer and wine. I know what you’re thinking. And you’re right its borderline sacrilegious to drink beer or wine on national vodka day. I, however, have an alibi. Since I had to drive myself to the rink post-Zumba, I couldn’t be drinking vodka all game and driving. There will be plenty of time for vodka during the tournament this weekend.
I have to say that a late game is far better, in my estimation, than the 6:00 am games of mites, squirts and apparently peewee. First, nobody looks at you with the stink eye when you drink at an 8:00 pm game. This is not the case for an early morning game. Although if we’re honest with ourselves, is it ever too early for mimosas? I don’t think so. Plus a mimosa is a fashionable way to accessorize any hockey mom outfit.
There’s an upshot to switching up my drink of choice tonight and that’s the fact that beer is a great re-hydration beverage. Amazingly, beer has the optimal mix of carbohydrates and electrolytes that re-hydrate the body more effectively than water. However, there’s a caveat here and its a big one. The benefits, however, are erased when you drink more than two.
Ciroc makes a new french vanilla vodka that I’m dying to try in my coffee with a little Bailey’s Irish cream. It may be the perfect compliment to my morning coffee. Plus it takes the edge off of U-14AA hockey, which is a definite plus. Tonight one of our kids got rocked badly at the end of the second period. I love my hockey fast and fierce, but there’s no need for head contact or knee on knee hits. Fortunately, our player is going to be okay. He did, however, make us pretty nervous for several minutes. I’m pretty sure there will some Doug Glatt style hockey next time we play that team.
It’s freaking Friyay! I swear I could hear the hallelujah chorus emanating from every car as I made my way home on Florida’s turnpike this evening. Oh yes, the sweet release to the weekend. The short, but sweet break from the reality of adulting. Fortunately, our hockey games are local this weekend, which makes our lives significantly easier.
By this time of the week, I’m exhausted and ready for bed by 6:30 pm and today is no exception. I took full advantage of national coffee day today enjoying more than my usual serving of glorious Dunkin’ coffee. Yet, here I am ready to sleep by 7:30 pm.. Oh how things have changed….
I’d though I share with you some of my witty observations from the week in the form of memes and gifs.
We had a real code red situation this evening after picking up the kids from the bus stop. The Mayor is at a sleepover tonight and had packed a bag this morning for said sleep over. Unquestionably, you can imagine his horror when he returned home this evening to find said bag missing. Clearly, while at work and the eye doctor, I had misplaced his bag. Obviously, as a working, hockey mom I have nothing better to do than hide his sleep over bag. Makes total sense, right ?
Certainly between shenanigans at home and work, I may eye roll myself through a portal into another dimension. Emphatically, as I think about this further, this may be the cause of my eye issues… See, writing is good for you and aids in self-discovery and self-diagnosis. Nonetheless, I’m slightly worried about eye rolling myself into another dimension with no portal back home.
Right up there with my eye rolls, is the WTF’s coming fast and furious these days. I’m amazed by how adult women treat public bathrooms. (PSA -this is a little gross.) As if a pad will actually flush down the toilet, since the high efficiency toilet cannot handle other feminine products? Seriously, ladies whiskey tango foxtrot? Apparently, common sense does not exist in the ladies’ rooms across America. Aside from the ladies’ room and raising three boys, my work week ensured that the WTFs continued to come at light speed. As Buzz Lightyear would say, to infinity and beyond…
If you want to see people move fast in an office building, myself included, just let them know there’s free food. This week at work, our engagement team held a health fair for our employees. Our engagement team did a phenomenal job putting the event together. One of the vendors, a local cafe, was providing a plate of their food. If I had to guess, 99% of those that attended went through that line twice. Nevertheless, while that may run counter to the point of a health fair, the food was that good. I don’t think anyone felt guilty about their multiple plates.
The madness continues with Day 2 and 3 of the Labor Day tournament. Thankfully, the schedule gods were kind and I got to see both kids’ games yesterday.
Both the Mayor and Goalielock’s teams played the Ice Bandits from Atlanta. The mayor’s game was earlier in the day. For the majority of the game, it was a close contest. Unfortunately, the Ice Bandits opened up on the 3rd and we lost.
The Mayor worked hard and was more than ready for the team lunch at Sam Sneed’s post game. It’s never easy to feed a team of hockey players and all their families. Yesterday’s lunch took quite awhile, but the food was quite good and the Mayor enjoyed the time with his team.
Goalielock’s and his squad were up next facing the same organization. He’s played with most of these kids since mites and now they’re huge. They look like giants and men. Now longer do they look like the sweet little first and second graders they were when this crazy journey first started.
Their game was pretty good. These boys are coming together quite nicely and will be fun to watch this season. They came away with a strong 4-1 win.
Of course the best part of tournament weekends, is hanging with the crew and barbecuing back at the hotel. The rain put a slight damper on the festivities in that it wrecked most our hair and diluted our drinks. Aside from the rain, the night was pitch perfect. This morning on the other hand was a bit rough.
Our second night in Bergen, our goal was to have dinner as a group. This is no easy feat as there was nineteen of us including six children. My sister-in –law found a great restaurant that happened to be brewery, happened to be on the water and happened to be able to accommodate our large group.
As we enjoyed a post-hike beer with my brothers and their families, my sister-in-law Brandi managed to get all nineteen of our orders. Before we left the brewery, Brandi had already placed our dinner orders for that evening. While this was at the directive of the restaurant, it was a genius time saving move for all involved.
Me with my mom, my grandma, my aunt Kandy and cousin JessicaMe with my mom, my grandma, my aunt Kandy, cousin Jessica and niece Priya
After chilling in the AirBnB and freshening up, we headed back to the Brewery for dinner. For the first time in almost two weeks, I was wearing a dress albeit without heels. We headed back to the brewery, this time all freshened up, to meet our family.
No sooner had we gotten to the table, Goalielocks and the Mayor headed over to the shuffleboard tables to meet their cousins. The tables were a gift from god! We were able to enjoy our drinks in relative peace as we waited for our food and discussed the trip.
As soon as the food came, the Mayor devoured his king crab and caviar. I struggled with my mussels. Goalielocks ate the steak we were supposed to share and left me with the mussels. The pear cider, which was completely addicting, was the perfect complement to my dinner.
We decided to take some group photos since we were all together, my family, my brothers’ families, my parents, my grandma, my aunt and uncle and my cousin Jessica and family. Thankfully we chose the one day I got dressed up and did my hair. After over a week of casual dress in yoga pants, tanks, hoodies and not doing my hair, it felt great to be dressed up and not so casual.
The resulting photos were absolutely sublime and ones that I will cherish forever. It was a very special trip for my family to Norway and the cities’ from which are family emigrated from. It, however, was even more special since we could share it with our extended family.
