One day more and AEP is over! I’m so ready for it to be done because I’m exhausted. It’s been a very successful AEP for me, but it has been grueling physically and emotionally. My voice is all but gone and my throat is quite sore. Meanwhile, my shoulders are a bit looser, but they’re still a disaster. Nonetheless, I tried to get up regularly today and stretch my neck and shoulders.
I’m looking forward to life getting back to normal starting Wednesday. I may even have a social life again. Okay, that was a bit far fetched. However, I would argue that living at the rink is a sort of social life. Thursday Goalielocks has his senior pictures, but afterwards I’m going to start my holiday baking.
While waiting for my calls to come in, I was perusing social media. I will never understand some people. Who the fuck are you that you are entitled to anything? Do people honestly feel that they should be hired without following the normal process? And why lash out at people that are trying to help you. And just fyi your life experiences no matter how poor will never legitimize your poor behavior. I shall now step off my soap box because one more day and AEP is over.
It’s been a wonderful Wednesday for our family. This week has been quite stressful after a routine physical uncovered a potential cardiac issue for Goalielocks. As you can imagine, this took us by surprise and created a lot of anxiety in our house. The doctor told us no hockey until the cardiologist cleared him.
After several anxious days, the Hubby took Goalielocks to the cardiologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Originally, I had intended to go, but I was concerned that my anxiety would make him more anxious. Anxiety isn’t known to be helpful with cardiac issues. I did, however, make a list of questions to ask the doctor. His cardiologist had me call in, so he could address my concerns. Obviously, he is used to nervous mothers.
Thankfully, after another EKG, an echocardiogram, and physical exam, the doctor cleared Goalielocks for all activities. Goalielocks will wear be wearing a holter monitor for the next week, which will give the doctor an idea of how often the irregular heart beats are happening. We will be taking it on vacation with us and he’ll wear it on our hike. I’ll also be taking him in for bloodwork to check his electrolytes and thyroid. We are so happy its nothing lethal and he’s going to be okay. More importantly, he can resume his normal activities.
Our wonderful Wednesday got even better this evening. This evening Jake called to give us some good news. The Board selected him for BTZ, which is an incredible honor. We are so incredibly proud of all he has accomplished over these past two years. I cant wait to see him Friday!
*I ran 1.5 miles and walked a mile on the treadmill while watching Curb.
*Three days until I’ll have all my boys in one place!
*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. Fortunately, it still looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida. Although we still have two systems in the Atlantic Peter followed by Rose.
*Tonight I made myself a Lean Cuisine since everybody else was out of the house. I enjoyed it with a nice bottle of sparkling water.
*The word of the day is lithography. One of my favorite examples of lithography is Moulin Rouge by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
*I took my puppies including sweetAnakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Fortunately, we had no run-ins with the toads, lizards or grasshoppers today.
The day is finally here that special day we have all longed for. The end of 2020. To be certain, 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, but that’s not to say there weren’t some bright spots. It’s become too easy to focus on all the negative 2020 has brought, mostly because it’s omnipresent, but 2020 has also brought us some blessings. First of all, we got a chance to slow down the pace of life. The pandemic brought a hard stop to the incredible business of our lives. Since our kids started travel hockey a decade ago, every weekday and weekend has been incredibly busy. It was nice, for once, to not have anywhere to go. Obviously, the novelty of nothing to do wore off really quickly.
Unquestionably, 2020’s greatest blessing was watching our son graduate from BMT. Having a kid far from home with no way to contact them was a test of strength for us. His graduation couldn’t come fast enough for the hubby and me. When we caught our first glimpse of him during the Airmen’s Run, we could tell he had changed. The way he carried himself was completely different. In fact, I would say we dropped off a boy at the recruiter’s office in December to be reunited with a man at BMT graduation. Truly, the change was that dramatic. More importantly, it was obvious that he was where he belonged.
His class was one of the last classes to have public graduation ceremonies before the pandemic shut them down. In fact, our first clue at how severe this pandemic would become while on base for his graduation. We just happened to be on base when the Americans evacuated from Wuhan arrived on JBSA Lackland and the base hotel. It was surreal seeing the CDC folks there in their contagion suits. I shudder to think of how I would have felt if we had been denied the opportunity to see him graduate from Bootcamp. Undoubtedly, his BMT graduation will forever be one of my best and proudest memories.
Of course, he left BMT for tech school and his transition continued. Now he’s at this FDS and in his first “real” job. I have no idea what he does, but I’m sure it’s pretty spectacular. Nevertheless, 2020 gave us the gift of watching our child launch from unsure teenager to mature and gainfully employed adult. That’s pretty awesome! There will be no “Failure to Launch” parodies inspired by this kid. Now our oldest has started his career in a growing field, which will always be in demand, and continues to develop in his role in the service. Moreover, he’s taking advantage of the resources provided to continue his education and broaden his skill set. I’d say we’re pretty proud of him, but that would be a gross understatement of how we feel about his accomplishments.
2020 also brought us our newest addition to the family, Anakin. It’s been almost a year since we’ve added him to the family. Athena and Maya love him dearly and he loves them. Amazingly, all three dogs get along very well. He and Athena have the best time playing together, while Maya basks in the joys of being left alone. Albeit, Maya does like to join in on the play from time to time. She does, however, enjoy the fact that Athena no longer harasses her to play all day every day. All three dogs are happy to have Jake home for the holidays. They also enjoy our new normal of work from home and virtual school.
Anyway, the day is finally here. We’ve waited since March for this dreaded dumpster fire of a year to be over. While I sift out the negativity that 2020 brought, over and over and over again, I count the blessings that the year brought. I reflect in gratitude at how much good came out of a year that was so very bad. Here’s to 2021 a year full of love, gratitude, health, and opportunity!
Here’s a list of our day’s activities:
*I read The Red and The Black, Stendhal by Fyodor Dosytoevsky
*It’s day 4 of BBG 3.0 week 8, which means it is cardio day. However, I still have to complete the arm workout.
*I’m so excited!!!! He’s here!
*Our NYE’s plans have completely blown up as our youngest was exposed to the virus. He won’t be playing in that 3v3 tournament after all. Bummer!
*I will, hopefully, finish my baking again. We’re doing a brunch 2.0 for Jake.
*Today I ran two miles and walked a quarter of a mile. I’ve started running with Anakin outside since the weather has been nice. He’s much faster than me, so it’s been quite the adventure.
*Today’s word of the day is turn. I cannot wait for the year to turn as I watch the countdown in understated elegance (aka my pajamas.)
*I love the footprints the puppies leave on the patio when coming back in every morning. I’m a bit sick of them tracking in the mud on the freshly vacuumed white tiles. It has been so humid here in the mornings that they’re getting a bit muddy in the backyard.
*I took my puppies including sweetAnakin for a walk. Today Anakin is wearing his Christmas bow tie. He looks mighty dapper if I say so myself. Naturally, I bought all three dogs Christmas outfits. I can’t wait to share the pictures with you. You’ll love them.
Today’s song of the day is How Great Thou Art performed by Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill:
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“All I ever wanted, all I needed was you…” Yep, my happiness can easily be summed up with the lyrics from a Depeche Mode song. Now all I want for Christmas is all three of my kids under the same roof. Our airman made it home safe and sound for Christmas earlier in the week. Hence the lack of communication here. Obviously, I’ve been spending my time with him these past few days. However, I’m working today and he’s out on a lunch date with his beautiful girlfriend, so here I am.
The reunion between Jake and our puppies was absolutely priceless. After all this time, they remembered him like he left yesterday. There was a lot of excitement on their part. In fact, Athena, who is not a cuddler at all, spent Sunday morning cuddling with him on the couch. A dog’s love is wholesome, complete, and unconditional. It was a beautiful thing to witness. Initially, we let out just Maya and Athena, so they could reunite with Jake without interference from Anakin. Eventually, Anakin joined the party and welcomed Jake home with lots of kisses to his ears.
We headed to church with Jake to surprise Mel, who was signing that morning. It was a fabulous service. Afterwards we headed to brunch with Mel and her family. Goaleilocks had to work, so he and Papa Nerd stayed home. As for the rest of the time, I’ve really made no plans. Whatever my boy wants to do that’s what we’ll do. Lord knows he has plenty of structure in the service. In the mornings, he’s been hitting the clubhouse gym, which pales in comparison to his gym on base, with the Mayor. I went with them Tuesday, so I could complete my leg day workout. My workout schedule is all sorts of off this week. Nevertheless, the clubhouse gym provided a much needed opportunity to amp up my workout.
I’ve been baking for our Christmas brunch all week. Initially, I had some pretty ambitious plans, but I have decided to keep it simple this year. Mostly because it took three attempts to get the mint cookies completed since the dough goes quite fast. Yesterday, I baked another batch of mint cookies, the joulutorts (Finnish star cookies,) and mint bars. I’m going to start my caramel rolls this morning, so everything is ready to rock and roll tomorrow morning. I’ll also get the pulla baked today. Both take significant time to make, but most of it is not active time. There’s a lot of waiting involved for both breads. Late this evening, I’ll knock out the Krumakes if I’m up to it. Those could be easily made tomorrow morning before guests arrive. We will be filling them with whipped cream, cloudberry jam, lingonberry jam and blueberry jam.
Speaking of cookies, my dear friend Brian dropped off his famous Christmas cookies Tuesday afternoon. It was such a gift to see him. Naturally, we really enjoyed the cookies. In fact, they didn’t see Tuesday night. Moreover, my airman and him were able to speak about their experiences in the Air Force. It was nice to be a party to the conversation. As we celebrate Christmas Eve tonight and Christmas tomorrow, my heart will be full. Rest assured we will savor every moment we have with all three of our boys during the holiday season. While our hearts our full of gratitude, we hold in our heart the servicemen and women that aren’t able to be with their families this holiday season. Lastly, we send them and their families our love, gratitude and prayers.
Here’s a list of our day’s activities:
*I read The Red and The Black, Stendhal by Fyodor Dosytoevsky
*It’s day 4 of BBG 3.0 week 7, which means it is cardio day. However, I still have to complete the arm workout.
*I’m so excited!!!! He’s here!
*We’re headed to church with Mel and her family for Christmas Eve. Afterwards, we’re heading to my brother’s for some appetizers and games.
*I will, hopefully, finish my baking.
*I am enjoying the MN Christmas blizzard from afar. Our temps are a bit warm today as we head back into the 80s.
*I actually know that today is Friday and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s here and I’m pretty damn excited about it!
*Today I ran two miles and walked a quarter of a mile. I’ve started running with Anakin outside since the weather has been nice. He’s much faster than me, so it’s been quite the adventure. Fortunately, he hasn’t killed me trying to pursue a lizard or mouse.
*Today’s word of the day is rejoice, which is pretty fitting for my current emotional state.
*I love the footprints the puppies leave on the patio when coming back in every morning. I’m a bit sick of them tracking in the mud on the freshly vacuumed white tiles. It has been so humid here in the mornings that they’re getting a bit muddy in the backyard.
*I took my puppies including sweetAnakin for a walk. Today Anakin is wearing his Christmas bow tie. He looks mighty dapper if I say so myself. Naturally, I bought all three dogs Christmas outfits. I can’t wait to share the pictures with you. You’ll love them.
Today’s song of the day is Carol of the Bells performed by Lindsey Sterling;
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Thanksgiving 2020 style is wildly different for most of us thanks to COVID. It also makes our first Thanksgiving with Jake away from home. Last Thanksgiving was wonderful with my whole family in town, so he could have a great send off to BMT. Speaking of which, we are coming up on his one year anniversary. I can’t believe how fast time has gone.
This year has been tough, but there is still so much to be thankful for. First, 2020 was a year of awesome accomplishments for Jake. From graduating BMT and tech school, to earning his SEC+ certification and shipping off to his first duty station. To say he had a banner year would be an understatement. We couldn’t be more proud of the man and airmen he has become.
While our boys continue virtual school, they’re doing while and have managed to stay healthy. Hockey, thankfully, is in full swing. Too often we underestimate the importance that our kids sports and other extracurricular activities are for their development. Now with Covid, these activities are there only lifeline to the outside world. Kids need socialize.
As for Luke and I, we keep trucking on. After a rough fall that saw us replace two failing vehicles, we’re ready for the winter. I should also say we know have an additional driver, Goalielocks, which has helped a lot. I started a new role back in insurance, which I’m loving. Albeit, it keeps me extremely busy. Especially during the long hours of AEP.
To all our friends and family and to all our military families near and wide, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. To military families like ours, who have an empty chair this Thanksgiving, we send our love and gratitude. May God keep our family members that serve safe and sound. To our military folks servicing near and far, thank you for your service!! Today we hold you up in prayer and gratitude.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life and the blogosphere! I spent my Mother’s Day relaxing at home with our boys and puppies. Hubby made me a wonderful breakfast of crepes, an omelette and some bacon. It was sinfully delicious! The crepes were spectacular with cloud berry jam, whipped cream and fresh berries. On the second crepe, I had blueberry jam that we bought in Norway on it and it was delicious. I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do when we’re finally out of Norwegian cloudberry and blueberry jelly. I guess we’ll just have to go back and buy more!
We spent Saturday night at the amphitheater in West Palm for the Alan Jackson show. To be clear, I’ve never been a country music fan. In fact, I wasn’t originally planning to go with Goalielocks and the Hubby to the concert. At least, not until I got the guilt trip from Goalielocks, who reminded me that I had no problem going to the Foo Fighters with Jake. I, of course, reminded him that I love the Foo Fighters…. Nonetheless, I accompanied them to the concert last night.
Fortunately, the weather held out. I purchased seats under the roof of the amphitheater just in case the meteorologists happened to be right. They weren’t, but the assigned seats were nice. We had a great view of the show and weren’t fighting the crowds on the lawns. As for the show itself, both LeeAnn Womack and Alan Jackson didn’t disappoint. I’ve heard many of the Alan Jackson songs enough to know the words. Moreover, they bring back fond memories of my mother-in-law, who enjoyed his music.
While I don’t enjoy their music, I would have had to be deaf to not hear how talented they are. LeeAnn Womack has some lungs! Surprisingly, that’s not even the Tito’s lemonade talking. They were legit. I’m not converting to country, but enjoyed spending the evening with two of my guys.
We faced time my mom and grandma today to wish them a very, happy Mother’s Day. It would have been nice to be up in Minnesota with all of them. After a late night last night, we decided not to do to brunch on the water. This decision was reinforced by the weather outside, which brought us heavy rains all day. Apparently, there’s a low pressure system of the southwest coast of Florida that may develop into a tropical system. Oh joy!
Grandma Sandy’s Graduation Pciture
It’s time to head off to bed and recharge the batteries before starting another crazy week. To all the mother’s out there, I hope you had a wonderful day. To the beautiful mother’s in our lives, who have felt the excruciating pain of losing a child, today we send you our love and strength. Lastly, for those whose mother’s have passed, today we send love your way.
It’s hump day and it’s been 1 day since the Lorbach’s have been in the ER. It almost feels like a new record after our recent run of ER visits. After all, in two weeks we’ve been to two urgent cares and three ERs. We told Goalielocks that he’s tapped out on ER visits for the year after last night. I wish the doctor visits were over, but to ensure Goalielocks’ continued we’ll be seeing a concussion expert at Children’s Hospital, his primary care doctor and a chiropractor. We’ve been so focused on the head injury that I want to make sure we rule out any injury to his neck or cervical spine that may be causing the headaches.
The fact is concussions and their ramifications are quite scary. If he were to go back to hockey too early and get hurt, it could sideline him for another 6 months, sideline him forever from contact sports or worse. He, of course, is fourteen and love his sport, so he’s anxious to get back. Fortunately, the ER doctors have been quite explicit with him about the dangers of returning too early. In the meantime, we’re treating the headaches with ibuprofen, Tylenol, rest and essential oils. (Thanks for the recommendation DA.)
Meanwhile, I’m physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting. The ER visits, worrying about a potential brain bleed (twice), being in the ER away from home, worrying about the concussion and his recovery and anticipating the medical bills has taken quite the toll. At last last night, I had the hubby with me, so I wasn’t alone in the experience or stress of it all. Importantly, the clear CT scan erased any worries about the presence of brain bleed. The CT scan provided peace of mind that was needed after the mix up in New Hampshire and Boston
Today was a much better day for Goalielocks as the ibuprofen has been very effective in controlling his headaches. Today is also my SIL’s 40th birthday. Happy birthday M! As the Mayor said in the car tonight, “There’s no way M’s 40. She doesn’t look a day over 37. ” It was super sweet. My boys love their aunt and wish we could be with her (and their cousins of course) to celebrate her birthday.
First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone that reached out to check on us today. We truly appreciated your well wishes, concern and support. The past several weeks, this procedure has been top of mind. It has been completely dominant in our thinking. Well at least my thinking.
While we were hoping that the procedure would be completed today, we have complete confidence in the advice of our doctors. Since he was healing from a cold, he was at a heightened risk for bronchial spa sms or pneumonia, which are both very serious complications.In fact, we’re quite happy with how they approached Goalielocks’ case this morning. Truly, his well being was top of of mind. Consequently, we will now wait for another three to four weeks before the procedure can be done.
Tonight gratitude is the dominant thought. I’m grateful for the doctor’s wisdom and professionalism. Additionally, I’m grateful that my son is finally on the mend from his cold. Lastly, I’m grateful for the amazing support we have received from friends and families across the globe. Please know that your well wishes, support and concern were beyond appreciated.
Tonight’s song performed by John Lennon is “Beautiful Boy.”
Cue the exhaustion folks, it’s Sunday night after a major holiday and hockey tournament. Undoubtedly, I am exhausted beyond belief along with all of my fellow hockey parents. I’m positive I’m not the only one regretting not taking tomorrow off to recover. It’s month end, which means I cannot afford to miss a minute let a lone a day. So I’ll be back to work tomorrow at 8:00 am with bells on.
Our Thanksgiving holiday was marvelous. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Jon and Brandi with family and friends that have become family. After a great dinner, we played some Right Left Center and another game with a box. Jake had a great night and walked away with some moula after winning two rounds of the game. After playing games, we watched Star Wars “The Force Awakens.” I know I’m late to the party here, but I enjoyed the movie. Although, it is sad to watch knowing we lost Carrie Fisher way too soon.
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I wrote about our early hockey games on the blog earlier and today was no exception. We were back to the rink by 9:00 am and didn’t leave until after 4:00 pm. It was a fun weekend at the rink with our hockey family. These tournaments are exhausting, but are much like a family reunion. Its a great opportunity to catch up with former teammates, their families and other friends we’ve made throughout the years.
Yesterdays games were awesome, but I still had quite a few visitors yesterday in the Sin Bin with a lot less (thank goodness) today. At U-14 body checking is legal and these hits are incredibly loud and percussive. I’m pretty sure they build the boards to amplify the noise of the hits and increase the hockey moms collective anxiety.
Our boys finally clicked this weekend, after a couple of painful months, which was awesome to see. These kids have so much potential there aren’t enough superlatives in the English word to adequately describe it. Nevertheless, I am beyond proud of each of them for their efforts. As the team went into the championship game, they were definitely the underdog. In the end, we lost a nail biter to a strong Russian team in sudden death OT.
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Of course the bitter reality of leaving the rink at 4:00 pm on a Sunday, is that I still had to grocery shop, finish the laundry and finish all my other errands upon leaving the rink. I’m pretty sure I heard a collective ugh as us parents left the rink to head home and on to our errands and chores.
Tonight’s song is for my Goalielocks. Enjoy “May We All” by Florida Georgia Line.
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is a day to reflect upon our blessings, eat 5 million calories, watch football and live with gratitude. I started my morning at the gym with a little Xtend Barre followed by weights. Of course, I strategically timed my work out before Thanksgiving dinner, so I won’t feel to awful about all of the things I’m about to eat.
As I baked the cheesecake last night, I started watching a new show that is wonderful. My colleague recommended The Durrells of Corfu as it reminded her of my kids.. This ITV produced show takes place in the mid 1930s in Britain and Corfu, Greece. It follows the story of a widow and her four children (3 boys and 1 girl), who move to Greece after getting fed up with life in England. As an aside, the show runs on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater in the States.
I quickly realized why this show reminded my co-worker of my kids. The show’s writers based it on the books written by the youngest Durrell. The youngest son Jerry, much like my kids, caught and brought home every animal he caught. Of course, the mom losing her cool on her kids that weren’t listening to her or helping around the house resonated with me as well. The scenery, the characters and the plot are quite interesting. My kids and I will definitely continue to watch this show.
Today we’ll be heading to my brother’s for a relaxing Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. It’s a far cry from the large gatherings we were accustomed to as kids, but its a nice change of pace. I remember watching movies at my grandma’s with the family on the holidays. One year we watched Star Wars Emperor Strikes Back and another year we watched Gremlins. Speaking of gremlins, I’m pretty sure if I don’t get enough sleep tonight, I may turn into one tomorrow morning.
To all my friends and family, I am forever grateful that you are in my life. If there’s anything I’ve learned in 2017, its that life is precious and not promised. Let’s be thankful today for the beautiful people that have helped shape our lives. Let’s be grateful for the opportunity to rise and grind another day. Lastly, today we remember those that are no longer with us. While they may no longer be with us physically, they’ll always be with us in our hearts.
Today’s song is the Beatle’s masterpiece “A Day In The Life.” This song penned by Lennon and McCartney is one of my favorites and is both haunting and beautiful. Moreover, this song features one of the most famous ending chords. Interestingly, when Paul McCartney played A Hard Days Night in Miami he and his band ended on this chord. (I hadn’t picked up on it, but my music expert Jake certainly did.)
