It’s Friday eve to a weekend full of hockey. My Mayor and the hubby are headed to Georgia for an outdoor tournament. Yes, you read that right. They’ll be playing on an outdoor rink in Georgia. In fact, I’m a little bummed that I won’t be able to see how the organizers pull this off. Meanwhile in Florida, Goalielocks’ (my tendy) team will be playing Saturday. If we happen to lose the first game Saturday, we’ll be playing an additional game on Sunday morning. Here’s hoping we win, so I don’t miss aerial yoga.
In honor of our impending hockey weekend, I’d thought I’d share some links to my favorite hockey related posts:
After this weekend and next, I’ll have some great stories to share. Goalielocks and I are headed to Boston next week for a tournament with his team. It will be our third time to Boston for hockey. Thankfully, I really enjoy the city and the surrounding area. Lastly, I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my Goalielocks.
It was back to a life in the box for me as we headed to Coral Springs for the Mayor’s two games. It’s never dull in the sin bin that is for darn sure. I wasn’t that too busy in the first game, but the second game was different. The first game we got off to a bit of a slow start and ended up losing 5-3. Certainly, it would have been nice to win that one as it would have sealed a state tournament berth.
While the Hubby headed back north to take Goalielocks to his practed, I stayed in Springs with my Mayor. We grabbed a quick bite in between games at McDonald’s for him and Dunkin for me. I needed to ensure I had my pre-game coffee, so I wouldn’t mess up the mojo. I had drunk my morning coffee at home instead of the rink per usual, so naturally that’s probably what messed up the morning game. It’s a good thing us hockey moms aren’t superstitious or anything.
I grabbed my coffee and some oatmeal. It was my first time trying Dunkin’s oatmeal and I have to say it was pretty darn good. Fortunately, both McDonald’s and Dunkin are close to the rink, so we had no trouble getting back to the rink in time. As we waited around for the game to start, we were discussing our path to the state tournament. If we had won in the morning, we would have qualified. Since we lost however, our team’s fate was in the hands of another team. Needless to say, it is always better to be in control of your own destiny.
As the zambonis took to the ice, I headed over to my place in the sin bin. As they finished cleaning the ice, both teams and referees were ready to start the game. I looked around and there was no score keeper to be seen. Both referees tried to reach someone unsuccessfully to find a score keeper. Consequently, yours truly ended up being the scorekeeper.
I have to say, I truly sympathize with the scorekeepers now. There’s a lot going on and the whole thing isn’t setup for a lefty. The refs said I would start the game and not to worry about the penalties and such, but that wasn’t exactly accurate. If you didn’t put the penalties up, you had to do the backwards math yourself. No thank you! Additionally, ladies there’s a reason men don’t like to read instructions. Most of the time the instructions are poorly written or leave out key steps – as was the case with adding penalties to the clock.
Fortunately, I had mostly figured it out (penalties included) by the end of the first period. I am pretty sure, however, that the score sheets are made for people with 20/20 vision and super small and perfect writing. Sadly, I fall into neither of those categories, which made filling out the score sheet quite the adventure. By the third period, we were on run time, which made my life a bit easier. Meanwhile, the Hubby is texting for updates and getting radio silence. There was no way I could text and score keep all at once.
We ended up winning the game 9-1, but we lost one of our players in the process. Late in the first, one of our D-men was checked and flew head first into the boards. Can I tell you how scary that was? From where we were sitting in the box, we could tell he was out cold. Unfortunately, he ended up having to be transported to the hospital with a concussion. It was certainly a very scary situation. Thankfully, his mom just updated all of us and let us know that he’s home and will be okay. Thank goodness!
Post game, we ended up watching another U-12 A game as it would decide our fate. Like I said, it is always better to decide your own fate than to leave it in somebody else’s hands. It was nerve wracking and up to 23.7 seconds left in the 3rd it looked like our season would end early. Only at 23.6 seconds, the Panthers scored a goal and sealed our fate. Our squad is going to SAHOF!!!! I couldn’t be happier for this team. They work so hard and play so hard for each other that it is fun to watch. Even on their worst days, they have each others’ backs. I freaking love these kids and families.
Anyway, we’ve been home for almost 3 hours and my toes are still frozen. Once that cold gets in your bones, it sure does not want to leave. I’ll be making myself some nice chamomile tea to try and warm myself up. Tonight’s song performed by PitBull, JLo and Claudia Leitte is “We Are One.” The Mayor and I listened to this song as we drove back to the rink and it is the perfect song for him and his team. Plus the hockey dads will like the samba dancers.
Well, it was a day full of choking. When I say choking, I don’t mean the kinky 50 Shades stuff, I mean sports teams utterly out performing. Once could say shitty decision leads to shitty outcomes, but that seems a bit obvious. As a hardened Vikings fan, I knew tonight would be disappointing. Consequently, I spent the first half of the game working out. Fortunately, while they gave up touchdown after touchdown, I burned 632 calories. (At least there was some winning today!)
My kids, however, have not yet accepted what it truly means to be a Minnesota fan. You know, the team will build up your hope only to choke in dramatic and devastating fashion. Come to think about it, I probably should have used disappointment or today’s title, however, that would be redundant. Nevertheless as a consequence of the Vikes’ epic collapse, I have one kid in a full on melt down. Truly, I think he thought the world was truly ending. Like many fans, I would have loved for my team to win, but hey reality is reality. I simply don’t get my hopes up anymore.
Despite their epic loss, I love my Vikings and fellow fans. How many organizations have a fan base that would raise well over $200,000 for an opponents charity? Not many. At least the Vikes are honorable, which is more than I can say about many people. I actually had some tell me today that they have a sliding scale of accountability and were proud of it. Things to keep to yourself.. If you are in charge of anyone and have a sliding scale of accountability, you should probably quit your job.
Unfortunately, the highlight of my day was the awesome chili I enjoyed at Culver’s between games. When the chili was the highlight of the day, you know it was a bad sports day. Additionally, I started reading Sun Tzu’s TheArt of War, which was quite enjoyable. If you lead people, in any capacity or environment, you need to read this book on military strategy. While this book was written with a military audience in mind, its principals are applicable across all industries and all leaders. In fact, I’m pretty sure its the first time in recorded history that a leader referred to a style akin to servant leadership.
Ultimately, win, lose or draw, I love spending time with my family. In that regard, today was a total win. The Vikings’ season may be over, but I still have my Wild and soon the Twinkies will start spring training. In short, soon the other sports teams from Minnesota can break my heart. Lastly, if you’re looking for a good book to read on strategy, pick up a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.
Tonight’s song performed by Minnesota’s own Soul Asylum is “Runaway Train. I know, I know it is a bit melancholy, but after the drubbing my Vikes endured it seems apropos. Of course, it also happens to be a great song and a great video.
Disappointment is such a heavy word as it coveys all the feelings that come along with it. The pit in your stomach, the sadness, that gnawing feeling that you should have listened to your gut, etc. I don’t like being being disappointed, but it is a part of life. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this feeling. Moreover, nobody likes to be disappointed by their leadership. This is something I take very seriously in my role.
I’ve lead teams at major corporations for the last eleven years. When you talk about leadership, two important tenets are equality and fairness. If you hold your people to different standards, you will falter as a leader. Actually, you will fail as a leader. Nobody will have respect for you and ultimately your results will reflect the inequity and unfair practices. For me policies and procedures are agnostic to performance or tenure. While this is common sense it isn’t always widely practiced.
While these tenets apply to leadership in a corporate environment, they also apply to schools, sports organizations, organizations like the boy scouts. A lack of equity or fairness in leadership is much more insidious when it impacts our kids. While life is certainly unfair, it emboldens bad behavior. Unfortunately, due to poor leadership, some kids or players think that they are above the rules. As a result, they are woefully disrespectful to everyone. This isn’t a recipe for success.
Ultimately, these types of leaders create an environment that lacks accountability and respect. They may enjoy short term success, but ultimately the culture will lead them to failure. This type of leadership creates an unsustainable environment. In addition, people that are treated unfairly learn to be honorable in the face of dishonor. Moreover, they learn resilience. Ultimately, they move on to new organizations.
As I said above, life isn’t fair, but that’s not what this post is about. This post is about leading a team or an organization honorably, which creates a high producing environment. I witnessed a lack of leadership this evening that was disappointing. Truly, it was the same story last weekend. However, change is always on the horizon. Don’t be the type of leader that creates misanthropic kids or employees or an atmosphere rife with disrespect.
Tonight’s song performed by Offspring is “The Kids Aren’t Alright.” Offspring’s debut CD was also one of the first CDs I bought. Moreover, this is one of my favorite songs from the late 90’s. It is also one of my kids’ favorite songs. The Mayor had two hockey games at home today. I was able to play the music today, so I chose a 90’s theme in honor of Delores O’Riordan. What’s your favorite song from the 90’s?
The realities of mom life aren’t nearly as glamorous as Gloria from Modern Family would have you believe. In fact, they can be quite the opposite of glamorous unless you include cleaning up vomit in your definition of glamorous. I know I don’t! In the 18.5 years of motherhood, I’ve learned the key to motherhood is the learning to be agile in your planning and expectations.
While I would love to have nice things and perfectly clean house, I’ve found with three boys in the house it is darn near impossible. When the boys were younger, we removed all of the toys and furniture from our upstairs loft. At the time, and still to this day, my boys use the space as their mini hockey rink. Yeah, it’s crazy. Yeah, there’s damage to the walls and floor. I mean, who doesn’t love when the kids take permanent markers to their new wood floors? But you know what, my boys have had a blast spending their days/nights playing mini-hockey. Moreover, it is much better than video games. As a mother, you quickly learn which battles to fight and which ones to let go.
I always have high ambitions for my weekends. I’m going to go to the gym, run all my errands, hang our with friends, organize my closet, etc. The reality is again I have to be agile in my expectations and planning. My plan may be a bit grandiose given my hockey mom schedule. While the reality of what I’m able to accomplish, in my own mind, is quite paltry compared to my ambitions. I guess when my kids reach 18, I’ll have time for all of those grandiose plans.
Moreover, this weekend in Chicago I had hoped to see downtown and eat relatively well. I can’t say that ate completely poorly, but Giordano’s -while amazing- is not anti-fat ass compliant. Fortunately, we only ate there two out of the four days. As for the sight seeing, our hockey schedule simply didn’t allow for it. I had planned to do this Monday before heading to the airport, but this plan was derailed by both boys’ teams making the semi-finals. It wouldn’t have been nice to see downtown, but truth be told I’d rather be watching my boys at the hockey rink.
While we were in Chi-town, the hubby installed the yoga silk. Initially, I had envisioned that I’d be the only one using it while the rest of my family made fun of me for it. Oh how I was wrong. Surprisingly, my younger two boys (in particular) love doing inversions in the silk, swinging on the silk and laying back in the silk relaxing. I’m not mad that they love it, but I’m definitely going to need to buy another silk for the house. I had hoped that the boys would use it post-hockey practice to help decompress their backs while opening their chest and shoulders. Thankfully, they’re doing this, but I think they want to live in it.
Meanwhile it was back to work for me with a sinus headaches courtesy of the cold weather and flights. Fortunately, I only came back to 1,000 emails. That made for a fun morning. Truly, it was nice to be back at work and back into our regular routines. My body was clearly still on CST as I woke up way later than I had hoped.
We’re back to a daily song and tonight’s song performed by The Cranberries is “Dream.” I was devastated to read that we had lost yet another amazing musician, Dolores O’Riordan, from my formative years. One of the first albums I bought was The Cranberries album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?. It was also an album that both my dad and I were really into. For me, it was one of the first times my dad’s and my musical tastes aligned on music. Of course, now it is a much different story with a lot of my musical preferences heavily influenced by my dad.
Skol Vikings!!! Holy cannoli Batman that was a nail biter of a game between my Vikes and the Saints today. Jen and I were biting our nails as we followed the live updates on the Score. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a time delay on the app. So we were a bit behind.
Fortunately, text messages from my hubby, the family group text and Chuckles and Roman kept us updated timely. Honestly, when C&R texted holy cow, what a catch, touchdown, I thought they were messing with me. (It’s not hard to do.) I was in disbelief until my hubby and the family group text confirmed the good news.
Truly it was a game that entertained the masses while giving Minnesota fans a heart attack. I was commiserating the Vikings impending doom with my hubby via text and Jen as watched Goalielocks’ game. When she said, “maybe there’ll be a miracle.” I replied as any hardened Vikings fan would, “miracles don’t happen to us.” Only this time it did thanks to our Keenum led offense and Diggs’ amazing catch.
Aside from the Vike’s amazing win tonight, my boys had four games at two rinks across town. Consequently, I’m utterly exhausted and not looking forward to a 5:00 am wake up and an early morning drive through the snow. Goalielocks’ Team was 2-0 on the day, but I’ll write more about that in a forthcoming post on instant karma.
Meanwhile, the Mayor’s team went 1-1 on the day. The Mayor notched two goals today scoring one in each of the games. In fact, he scored the only goal for his team in the morning game. Both boys’ teams have moved onto the semis bright and early tomorrow. I’ll likely miss the start of Goalielocks’ game.
Lastly, the boys are really loving the Chicago area. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be able to make it downtown tomorrow due to games. However, today I introduced Goalielocks to deep dish pizza. After their morning game, we went with friends to Giordano’s. Goalielocks and I shared a pepperoni deep dish pizza that was to die for. In his words, “it was the best pizza he had ever eaten!” Moreover, he wants to go back for more tomorrow.
Of course, the plus side is the pizza really fills you up. You really don’t need to eat too much the rest of the day after having that. Even after we got back to the hotel after Goalielocks’s game, I was still full.
I should also mention that it has started to snow here in Chicago, which makes awesome driving – said nobody ever!!! My boys though are loving the weather. In contrast, I’m praying for an early end to the snow and for the roads to be clear tomorrow morning when we leave. I’m off to bed as we have a very early wake up call tomorrow morning.
It was game day in Chicago for the Mayor and Goalielocks. Moreover, it was a cold game day in Chicago. It was so cold, in fact, that I got to break out my Dale of Norway sweater. Thank god for that sweater as it kept me completely comfortable all day long. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great photo (my eyes are closed per usual), but you can clearly see the sweater. Also, I totally forgot how I hate static cling. It simply isn’t something we have to contend with in Florida.
The day started out with a nice win for Goalielocks and his squad. Additionally, it was a great start to the day for me as I quickly found a Dunkin’ Donuts in close vicinity to the rink. #winning
Fortunately, all of our games today were at the same rink. In fact, I lucked out as The Mayor’s game was right after Goalielocks’ game. Best of all, I was able to watch the first two games with my bestie from highschool and her kids. We had such a great time, I forgot to take a pic of us! Ugh!
At the beginning of the Mayor’s game, we had some yummy pizza up in the rink’s restaurant/bar. It was super good. Fortunately, the puck luck bounced our way as the opponents inadvertently buried a pass in their net. 1-0 good guys!
Ultimately, the Mayor’s team won in a much more physical than expected game. In fact, it was so chippy that the refs didn’t allow the teams to shake hands for fear an altercation would break out.
Tonight’s game was a complete s@&t show. The first period was pretty good until the train derailed with a bad goal. Let me clear by bad goal, I mean a goal that didn’t actually cross the goal line. It hit the front crossbar went up before landing next to Goalielock’s butt.
Unfortunately, that errant goal derailed the game for our boys. After that moment, the refs grew increasingly belligerent and intolerable. It was clear they had a chip on their shoulders after being questioned on the goal. Honestly, it was the worst officiated game I have ever seen.
Our boys literally spent have their game in the box. While some of the calls were legit, most were outright ridiculous. For example, one of our guys would get boarded and we’d get the penalty. Meanwhile, the other team spent 90% of their time on the power play. In fact, outside of the errant goals all of their goals were scored while on the power play. Take the errant goal and power plays out of the picture and you have a much different game.
Post-game the boys, the parents and coaches were extremely upset. To give to an idea of how bad it truly was, consider that parents/coaches of our rivals from Florida felt compelled to speak with the tournament organizers about how bad it was. Another parent that witnessed the game, from another team, was also compelled to speak to the tournament staff about the officiating.
Life isn’t fair, I get that, but it is a long freaking way to travel to get bent over by the refs! Now it’s time for bed, we have a mere 4 games at two different rinks tomorrow. We will be exhausted by the time Monday rolls around. P.S. nobody needs to tell my podiatrist about kicking the boards…..
After two flights and a pit stop at MacDonald’s in Detroit, we finally made it to Chicago! This was my first time back in O’Hare since middle school. I remember the terminal walkways looked much bigger and much newer back then. Now it’s not so big and fancy compared to some of the newly remodeled airports.
Admittedly, I don’t eat MacDonald’s often. If I’m eating MacDonald’s, it’s either a desperation play or vodka made me do it. Today it was a desperation play as we didn’t have too much time between flights.
What a freaking mistake that was! I’m still feeling it! I ordered the artisan grilled chicken sandwich because calorie wise it was semi reasonable and it looked more gratifying than a single cheese burger. Wrong!
I was so hungry having totally forgotten to eat breakfast as we rushed to the airport. Despite this crazy level of hungry bordering on hangry, I couldn’t finish the sandwich. It was truly the one of the most vile things I have ever eaten.
Honestly, I would have been better off eating the soles of my shoes because they would have been less rubbery. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure they stole the rubber chicken from Carrot Top’s prop box and made into my sandwich. If I were him, I’d be mad that his prop was sacrificed for a subpar imitation chicken sandwich.
Now here we are in the Marriott seven hours later and my stomach is still angry with that sandwich. This is why I’m not going to be eating at Macdonald’s again sober. My sandwich today evoked memories of the horrific school lunches they served in elementary.
Meanwhile, my boys feel that the current Chicago weather is nice and comfortable. It’s been a battle since we landed to get them to put on jackets, pants, gloves, etc. “It’s not cold mom.” Yeah, my arse it isn’t cold. I’m looking forward to rehashing this argument tomorrow as we leave for the rink bright and early.
Tomorrow will be a busy day with three games and two team functions. Fortunately, the games are all at the same arena tomorrow. Sunday on the other hand will be a complete disaster. It should be an interesting day as I attempt to make all games in different arenas across town! I’m heading to bed hoping that the nausea caused by that blasted rubber chicken sandwich will be gone tomorrow. Over and out from Chicago!
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.
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.
Last week it was back to reality for us adults, but this week it is back to school for the kids in Palm Beach County. It feels like they’ve been off from school forever even though its only been a couple of weeks. With the kids heading back to school, life will truly feel like its back to normal. Well, back to normal or a couple of days until we head to Chicago for a tournament.
As a kid, the harbinger that school was near was always the Minnesota State Fair. If you’re looking for great fried food on a stick of all varieties, this is the place for you. One of our last trips to the fair, we enjoyed a fried candy bar on a stick. Albeit it may have had at least a million calories, it was worth every one of them. Other great eats include the Sweet Martha’s Cookies, cheese curds, funnel cake and Fresh French Fries. They too are worth every calories.
In contrast, for our kids, a return to the rink is the forerunner to school’s imminent return. In fact, it serves as the signal both in August and in January. Nonetheless, it doesn’t make it easier for the kids to get back into their school routines. Who wants to get up early and go to bed earlier? None of the children in my house that’s who.
Speaking of hockey, the Mayor and Hubby headed over to Estero (west coast) for two games today. Since we all went yesterday, I stayed home to finish the grocery shopping and wrap up preparations for our forthcoming Chicago trip. Over the years, we’ve amassed quite of bit of winter wear, however, these pesky kids keep growing. Now I’m trying to figure out what I need to buy for each. Thankfully, Amazon Prime will have them here by Wednesday!
I cannot wait to go to Chicago! We used to go there several times a year when we were still living in Minneapolis. The Hubby’s grandfather used to live in Oaklawn while my Aunt and Uncle lived in Northbrook. Moreover, my bestie from high school now lives in suburban Chicago, which means I get to see her and her family this weekend. Did I mention I can’t wait?
As for the Mayor’s games today… Unfortunately, the highlight of their day was lunch at Twin Peaks which says it all. There’s no doubt my Mayor had to be tired as he had a pretty quick turn around from our Orlando trip. While we got home at 10:45 pm last night, he had to leave again for the west coast at 6:45 am. You’ll be shocked to know he fell asleep on the couch a good fifty minutes ago.
Tonight’s song performed by Dropkick Murphy’s is one of the Mayor’s favorite hockey songs. The song of the evening is “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.”
