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Brilliant Combinations

When it comes to brilliant combinations, you may not think about designer dressed with sneakers.  Since I’m unable to wear heels or any other shoes except for tennis shoes, I’ve had to pair my BCBG dresses and nice jackets with my kicks.  Now I love my Asics, they’re the best running shoes around.  I just don’t love the dress and kicks look.

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It is reminiscent of when I worked in the insurance industry in Minnesota.  In the winter, I would wear boots or somewhat sensible shoes into the office.  Consequently, when I got to the office, I’d put on my stilettos.  Stilettos on the ice are a sure-fire way to break your back, hip or head.  Fortunately, there’s no ice or snow to contend with here.  Unfortunately, that just makes my shoes look like a grand fashion faux pas.  I have to keep reminding myself it is only temporary.

Last night, I went to spin class, which my tendons tolerated pretty well.  Admittedly, I had to modify my ride to accommodate the injury.  For example, instead of going into 2nd or 3rd, I would stay in the saddle.  I was able to ride in 2nd position for a while, but I had to be judicious about it because too much time or resistance in that position resulted in discomfort.

Tonight I went to yoga.  Let me tell you, yoga in running shoes is pretty darn clunky.  It would have been hard to do a flow class in my kicks.   I found that I couldn’t get into my arm balances as my shoes kept getting caught up in the mat.  Oh well, it is a small price to pay for fully recovered tendons (hopefully soon!)  Fortunately, my instructors at Burn have been amazing in helping me modify moves in the classes to protect my legs.  Rather than do a flow class, Monica led an amazing stretch class.  It was exactly what I needed.

Since I’m headed to Chi-Town on Friday, I’m trying to get some great workouts in before I go.   My new year’s resolution was to start attending the 5:30 am classes at Burn.  Thus far, I’m 0-3.  After tomorrow morning, I intend to be 1-3.  Tomorrow morning is a circuit burn class, which is the same class I attend on Saturdays.  My teacher, Amanda, is freaking phenomenal.  Not only does she make sure we’re all maintaining our forms, she’s quick to provide modifications for those of us nursing injuries.  It makes a huge difference!  I’ll let you know tomorrow night if I was able to get up at 5:00!

Lastly, we’re almost ready for Chicago.  The last of our winter wear should arrive yesterday.  I’m so looking forward to spending some quality time with Goalielocks and the Mayor.   Moreover, I looking forward to seeing my bestie Jenny and hanging out with my fabulous hockey parents.  As we held our poses tonight, I was reflecting on how lucky we are to have so many amazing people in our lives.  We’re truly blessed.   The photos I’ve included on the blog are from three of my favorite hockey trips: Ottawa, Peewee Quebec and Minneapolis.

Tonight’s song performed by Shakira at her Paris concert is a “Nothing Else Matters/Despedida” medley.  As an aside, “Nothing Else Matters” is one of my absolute favorite songs.  I loved watching this clip from her concert and witness the universal nature of a great song.  It is awesome hearing the audience sing along to it.

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Monday, Monday

Monday, Monday it wasn’t all I hoped it would be.. Okay I’m totally exaggerating, but it totally sucked getting up earlier than the past two weeks.  Moreover, not only did it suck for me, but it really sucked waking up the boys.  After all, outside of Sunday morning for the Mayor, they haven’t seen a 6:00 hour wake up call for weeks.  It was everything I expected to be and more – i.e. it was brutal for everyone.

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I’m not a morning person, which is why my 5:30 am fitness class aspirations are such a big commitment.  This morning I hit the snooze at least three times before finally rolling out of my nice, warm bed to wake up the kids.  They fought the wake up, but acquiesced only to fall asleep again the couch.  Consequently, you can imagine the forlorn looks on their faces when I woke them up again.

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Fortunately, both the boys and myself made it to the bus top/work despite the general awfulness that can accompany an early morning especially a Monday morning.  Unfortunately, with the return to normalcy and kids in school, we also enjoyed (not so  much) a return to normal South Florida winter traffic.  I would just like to say F you to the snow bird driving 50 in the left lane.  You’re a dick.

Now that I got that out, boy oh boy do I feel better, work was great.  The team and I had a productive day and no tears were shed.  Put one in the win column for me!  I’m not letting Monday (or an annoying snow bird) get in my way!  After work I headed to spin class.  I promised my podiatrist I’d stay in the saddle.  Nevertheless, I think some promises are meant to be broken.  I didn’t go into 3rd and I had to lower my resistance in 2nd, but I pushed it to my limit. If I felt any pain at all, I went back into the saddle.  I left the studio with wet hair, super sweaty and having burnt 387 calories.  Another notch in the win column for me!

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After spin, I was able to wrap up yet another productive shopping spree on Amazon.  Thanks to Amazon Prime all my goodies, hand warmers included, should arrive before we are northward bound.  #Winning.  As you can see, my Monday wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was pretty fantastic.   Honestly, if that alarm had gone off just a little later, it would have been darn near perfect!

Tonight’s song is in honor of everyone’s least favorite day of the week.  As you reminisce about the Monday that was enjoy The Mama & the Papas “Monday, Monday.”

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Win Some, Tie Some

You win some, tie some.. Oh, wait the phrase is you so Some, you lose some. Whoops! The good news for Goalielocks and his squad is they won their first game and tied the second game. Unequivocally, it would have been nice to grab a second with, but it wasn’t in the cards.

I have to say we’re spoiled in Florida hockey. When you leave a rink in a Florida, you warm up almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, with temperatures in the 40s today that simply isn’t possible.

As I write this, I’m still cold as we ride home in the Bachman party bus. It will take a while to un-thaw, but it’s a small price to pay for spending quality time with the boys and our friends.

Between games we were able to catch lunch at my favorite local restaurant Cafe Murano. It’s a great, reasonably price restaurant that’s relatively close to the rink. I enjoyed an exceptionally delicious bowl of spaghetti Bolognese. The food came out quickly and was amazing. Truly, the did great accommodating our group of 30 people.

We headed back to the second game to freeze are arses off again. Even my Starbucks was quickly cooled as I sat in the box waiting for the puck to drop. Fortunately, I was significantly less busy in the box than the first game. Unfortunately, I was significantly colder during the second game.

Goalielocks had a great game as did his partner in crime. Neither faced a significant number of shots, but both came up with some huge saves when they needed them. Naturally, I was super happy for Goalielocks. I loved seeing his winsome smile as he skated off the rink today.

Now we head home in the party bus, only to venture over to the West Coast for the Mayor’s games. It’s another day on the road and another day at the rink. Of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today’s song performed by the Beatles is “Don’t Let Me Down.”

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My Day

My day was fantastic. Last night I was feeling good post-spin, no leg soreness, fatigue or pain in the proverbial arse.  Unfortunately, I woke up to the post-spin pain in the butt.  It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I expected, but nonetheless it was omnipresent.   Fortunately, my legs still feel pretty good.

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Ordinarily on Thursdays, I run 2.5-3 miles before yoga.  However,  my left leg is still bothering me.  Consequently, on the advice of my massage therapist and prudence, I skipped the run.  Admittedly, if my massage therapist hadn’t suggested I see my doctor about the leg and skip the run, I probably would have been running tonight.

Thankfully, aerial yoga doesn’t put much stress on my leg.   One of my favorite things about yoga is that I can see my progress from week to week.  Each week, I’m gaining both flexibility and strength.   It’s absolutely rewarding to see and feel the progress as the weeks go by.  I totally love it!

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Now I’m back home all comfy and cozy on the couch with an ice pack on my leg binge watching The Office.  This show, much like music in other people’s home, is the sound track to our lives.  We’ve recently transitioned from Family Guy to the Office in anticipation of the Family Guy leaving Netflix in Mid-January.  P.S. Netflix, we’re not happy about this!

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Goalielocks finally got his new pads, but is still begging for a dubia roach colony.  Talk abut things I don’t want in my house and roaches will be at the top of the list.  Nonetheless Goalielocks in persistent request to buy a roach farm.  Now that he’s financially responsible for the lizards’ food, he’s pricing out the cheapest options.  Meanwhile, he doesn’t understand why neither mom nor dad want a roach colony in the house.  Undoubtedly, Goalielocks’ would give Gerry Durrell a run for his money when it comes to collecting animals.

I’m off to ice my leg again and cuddle with my Mayor.  Tonight’s song performed by The Cranberries is “Zombie.”

 

 

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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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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!

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Black Friday

Unlike many Americans, we spent our Black Friday morning at the hockey rink at not the mall.  Quite frankly, I can’t stand the malls down here in season let alone on Black Friday.   Unquestionably, the normal rudeness and ineptitude ramps up a couple of notches when season kicks in.  If there is anywhere someone would get shot over a cheap TV, it would be here.  Needless to say, I’ll be avoiding Best Buy and the mall for the next month.

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I think that’s probably why Cyber Monday is more my thing.  No crazy people or horrible drivers to contend with as I surf the web, what could be better?  Nonetheless, the younger two and I did venture out to Dick’s and PetSmart.  Neither store was incredibly packed and both were well staff to handle all the shoppers. My boys left the stores empty handed much to their chagrin.  To stores was all I could handle, however, so it’s back to shopping online.

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We started out morning at the rink.  If you ask me, a 9:45 am game is way too early for bantams.  I thought the scheduling Gods would be smiling on us by bantam and we’d get later games.  Honestly, I prefer the later games as I am not a morning person.  This morning, Goalielocks was excited and relieved to have been dropped off at the right rink at the right time.

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Their first game was against the Florida Bulldogs, who Goalielocks played for 2 seasons ago.  Our squad went up handily in the first period notching 3 goals and only allowing one sort of shot on their net.   The rest of the game was much more even although we continued to out shoot them 2-1.   Moreover, our goalie came up with some clutch saves down the stretch.  As the final buzzer rang, the boys rushed the Goalie to celebrate their 4-1 victory.  We’ll be heading back to the rink shortly for their second game of the day against the Everblades, which should be a much tighter contest.

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After eating my weight in Thanksgiving goodies yesterday,  I was committed to getting in a run.  Consequently, the Piggie and I headed out for a 3.25 mile run around the neighborhood.  As with my last run, it was a bit laborious and a tough go of it.  Certainly, today’s run wasn’t fast! Hopefully, these runs will start to get a little bit easier and a little faster.

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Today’s song is “Walk on Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars.  I love this song! Who remembers Jared Leto from MY So Called Life?  Leto still acts, but has also found success with his band Thirty Second to Mars.