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Game Day

It’s game day for the Vikings and Lions! As a lifelong Vikings fan, I’m fully prepared for the heartbreak that fandom brings. My son, on the other hand, still has hope that the Vikes won’t disappoint. Unfortunately, the game isn’t until this evening. The hubby and I have been commiserating over the 8:20 pm kickoff. Odds are that neither of us will make it to the second half. At least if the Vikes lose this game, it won’t derail their playoff chances.

The lead-up to game time has been defined by relaxation. We’ve been binge-watching Dexter since this morning. I know, I know we’re super late to that party. It popped up on Netflix and with a new reboot now on, we figured we’d watch the original. It’s really good. Also, we love seeing the sights around Miami. They started filming the series in 2005, which is also the year we moved to South Florida.

While Dexter played in the background, I did bake some sourdough bread. The loaves turned out beautifully. After the loaves came out of the oven, I re-fed the starter. This way it will be ready to make a new batch later today or early tomorrow. It did take longer than normal due to the cooler-than-usual weather. Baking bread can be highly variable due to changes in temperature or humidity. This is why I rely more on visual cues than a timer. More on that later.

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: in training
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: in progress
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): 5 days in and I haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: it’s been two days, but so far so good
  • Travel: working on it
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. Currently reading Armadale by Wilkie Collins – so good.
  • Get out of debt: in progress
  • Financial independence: in progress

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

I think about both equally. This is likely because my youngest is now 18, I spend time looking back at the years spent raising my kids and what the future looks like.

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2025

2025 is here and mercifully it brought a cold front with it.  This morning it was a refreshing 67 degrees when I walked the puppies.  2025 also means that we’ve seen the last of 2024.  While last year brought the spectacular high Jake and Melly’s wedding, it also brought a lot of medical issues and even surgery for the Mayor.  In fact, I ended the year with a virus.  It’s a fitting way to end the year.

As we enter 2025, the Mayor is in a good place.  He does a great job, for the most part, managing his sugar.  He is not, however, great at dealing with highs or lows in the middle of the night.  In fact, he’s downright ornery.  All three of us get alarms for his Dexcom, which means the Hubby and I are up as long as it’s going off.  When we try to intervene or sanity check the Dexcom with his Accu-Chek, he fights us.  Fortunately, this isn’t happening often.  When it does happen, it completely disrupts our sleep.

Since I was fighting off viruses myself the last two weeks, I haven’t been working out.  I haven’t been my usual radiant self over the winter break. Initially, I re-started Kayla Itsine’s High Intensity program after AEP, but had to shelve it for 10 days.  Thankfully, I was able to get back to it today.  Tomorrow, I’ll be back on the spin bike.  Next week, I’ll be back on the treadmill after an extended absence courtesy of a high ankle sprain.

This all brings me to my goals for 2025. Here they are:

  • Run a 5K
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations)
  • Top performer at work
  • Travel
  • Eat to lower inflammation
  • Read daily
  • Get out of debt
  • Financial independence

I’m sure the Starbucks goal will help reach the debt-free financial independence that you are seeking. I will, however, miss my afternoon cinnamon dulce latte. As the year progresses, I’ll be sure to share my progress here. I’ll close out today’s blog by offering a toast to a better 2025.

What are your biggest challenges?

My biggest challenges are managing my autoimmune and my boy’s autoimmune disorder. I find it more difficult to accept the Mayor’s diagnosis’s versus my own. There’s defiantly a strong sense of mom guilt that has come along with his diagnosis. Fortunately, as I noted above, he has done a great job managing his condition mentally and physically. I am so proud of him.

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Headed North

The Mayor and I are headed north to Detroit for, you guessed it, a weekend of hockey. Our flight was delayed about 90 minutes, which was a bit of a nuisance. The upgrade to first class alleviates some annoyance at being late. I’m awaiting a glass of Prosecco, which will eliminate every last glimmer of annoyance. Once we land, we’ll have a nice sixty-minute drive to the hotel, which does suck a bit. Fortunately, we can sleep in as the Mayor has no games until late tomorrow night.

I’m not at all prepared for the cold. I’ve been cold all day and it’s in the low 70s back home. I’m pretty sure the Detroit weather is going to make me feel like hibernating beneath the warmth of the covers in our hotel room. Detroit will, however, be a nice departure from the last seven weeks of AEP (annual enrollment period for the uninitiated.). The last several weeks do AEP were taxing as our shifts stretched to 12 to 14 hours. That’s a long time to be checked in a pleasant when dealing with a demographic that can be extremely difficult.

I’ll write more on AEP later as my short ribs and Prosecco have arrived. Moreover, I’ll share the saga of chasing down the Mayor’s type 1 diagnosis. He’s doing well, but more on that later.

P.S. I’m typing this on my phone from 35,000 miles up headed north, so please forgive the typos.

Sky Club offerings

Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

My sophomore year speech teacher convinced me to join the speech team and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I think of Mr. Quinlan (Q as we affectionately called him) with a deep sense of gratitude often especially when I’ve been delivering a speech or presentation. Learning how to speak publicly is one of the best life skills you can learn. I’m forever grateful to Q, who encouraged and helped me develop my public speaking abilities.

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Adjusting

We’ve been home a little over a week and are slowly adjusting to our new normal. The first few days were overwhelming as we quickly realized how much we didn’t know. We’re exhausted, we’ve been getting up to check his bliss sugar in the middle of the night. We get notifications on our phones, but we’re both nervous we’d sleep through the notifications.

His first hockey game was an emotional whirlwind for Hubby and me. Meanwhile, for him it was awesome! It felt so good for him to be back on the ice. He officiated a couple of games the Sunday after and that went well. His blood sugar stayed pretty stable during those games. Physically, he has felt pretty good outside of an occasional headache.

Thankfully, he is adjusting well to his normal. The Dexcom helps him keep tabs on his blood sugar. The Mayor does a great job messaging us that he’s taken a glucose tab or his insulin before we get the high or low blood sugar alerts on our phones. He adores the school nurse and has learned a lot from her. She’s also Type 1 diabetic. The school has been incredible in helping him adjust and continue thriving academically.

Meanwhile, at work, I did file for intermittent FMLA so I don’t get into trouble for taking time off for appointments. After all, my boss did send me home early today for taking my required lunch. Talk about an unexpected and unpleasant surprise. I hate how taking the hour lunch you must take negatively impacts your phone stats. Now instead of talking to Boomers all day, I’ll be baking bread and cuddling with the puppies. As I type it, I realize it was a pleasant surprise.

What podcasts are you listening to?

There are quite a few I’d love to listen to, but right now I’m only listening to the Spitting Chiclets podcast.

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We’re Home

We’re home. I can’t tell you how happy we are to finally be home. The staff at the hospital was fantastic, including a great hospitalist, but it’s a miserable place to stay. They did confirm his diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. We will be following up with an endocrinologist to hopefully get him on an insulin pump. Until then, he will have to take insulin four times a day. And of course he’ll need to closely monitor his blood sugar.

We couldn’t go home until we confirmed the pharmacy had everything he needed. This proved to be the most difficult part of today’s journey. Apparently, Walgreens has nothing in stock. Color me unimpressed. While I tried to verify availability of the drugs at CVS, the hubby drove to Publix with the list to see if they had it. Thankfully, they had everything we needed, with the exception of the Dexcom. The Mayor’s care team quickly provided written prescriptions that we could take to Publix. Unlike Walgreens, Publix’s pharmacy was absolutely wonderful.

Fortunately, the diagnosis will not impact his ability to play hockey, which was a huge relief. It will change how we manage his nutrition before, during and after a game or practice. While we were in the hospital, I ordered a bunch of supplies to manage his blood sugar. It may even mean a return to the penalty box for me. Once he gets the continuous glucose monitor, it will be really easy to manage his sugars. Until then, he’ll have to listen to his body and test his blood sugar using the strips. I’ve made an identical kit for hockey.

Jake and Melody drove down to help us through the rest of the week. We didn’t know until yesterday afternoon that he’d be going home for sure. They were ready to relieve Luke and I, so we could get some sleep at home. The sleeping arrangements at the hospital were less than ideal. The Mayor was surprised and thrilled to see them. Melody will be helping the Mayor and I with a few errands today that need to be completed to get him back to school.

What’s something you believe everyone should know.

Learn to follow your guy and be in tune with your body. Being in tune with his body allowed the Mayor to recognize something off before it had gotten to a breaking point.

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Torture

Oh, these playoffs are torture. The Panthers had a chance to lift the cup yesterday at home, but they blew it. What a ridiculous collapse!!!! The Cats came out flat and gave up yet another short-handed goal. Eventually, they found their game, but it was too little too late. I guess the good news is they found their game again. Hopefully, this energy will transfer into game six. I don’t think I (or my heart) handle the emotional stress of going to game seven. Pure torture!

I did end up nervously baking sugar cookies as I watched the game on mute. The puppies were picking up my nervous energy last night. Meanwhile, ESPN’s coverage of the cup has been abysmal (yawn) at best. I wish TNT had the broadcast rights because they do a much better job. They’re also much more evenhanded in how they talk about the teams and players. ESPN’s coverage is an embarrassment to the sport and the league. The boys lucked out and got to watch the game live at Amerant Arena.

Write about your first crush

It was so long ago, so I don’t remember their names.

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Big Night

It’s a big night! The Cats kick off the Eastern Conference Finals against the Rangers. It should be a banger of a series. I can’t wait to see how these two teams match up. Truly, it should be a really exciting series. Meanwhile, on the other coast, the Timberwolves kick off their first Western Conference Final series since 2004. Coincidentally, 2004 was the last time I went to a Wolves game. I still can’t believe they came back and won game 7.

The only problem with this big night is the Panthers’ game starts at 8:00 pm and the Wolves game at 8:30. Do they not realize I need to be in bed by 9:30? Are they seriously trying to disrupt my bedtime routine? It will be midway through the second period when my Apple Watch will start judging me for not being in bed. For once I’ll be headed to bed long after the stars start twinkling. Honestly, though an earlier start time for these games would be great.

Do you have any collections?

I have several collections. I still have my baseball and hockey card collections that started in my youth. My favorite collection is my collection of books. My hubby has already built me two bookshelves. Unsurprisingly, he will probably need to build me another one soon as my book collection continues to grow.

Speaking of bangers, you’ll want to turn up the volume for this one.

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Update to the Update

Well, here’s our update to the update on the Mayor’s finger. It continues to heal, albeit slowly like a snail. He is finally out of a splint much to his relief. Unfortunately, his finger looked pretty angry and red this morning, so they’re concerned it may be infected. Consequently, the Mayor is starting a course of antibiotics today. Hopefully, those will take care of the infection.

The bigger issue in our update is that he hasn’t been diligently working the joint. It is quite painful for him to move it, but he’s got to start working on it. As the PA was moving it this morning, you could see he was in a lot of pain. This is problematic because it will cause a permanently stiff joint in that finger. As a result, he’ll need a lot of OT to get the top joint of the finger moving again.

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

I think I’ll answer this with memes from each of the shows. We have a few favorite shows in this house. The Office was the background to our lives for most of the 2010s. It then became Family Guy or for me, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. My morning routine always includes my Dunkin’ coffee and the Great British Bakeoff. Additionally, when I run on the treadmill I watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David makes me laugh and helps me get through my runs.

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Superstitious

Am I, a hockey player and hockey mom, superstitious? Hells yeah. We hockey folks are extremely superstitious. It’s a crucial part of the experience. For example, one simply does not mention the word shutout until the horn has sound. Inevitably, if those words are mentioned before the game has ended, the other team will score. Do not be the guy that kills the shutout. Also, if the team is on a winning streak and you’ve worn a particular coat to the rink, don’t think you’re changing your coat now. You simply cannot mess with the mojo.

Hockey players have their own set of superstitions like taping their sticks a certain way, dressing in a certain order, wearing a particular undershirt, and playing a particular song in the locker room and for warmups. And then there are goalies, they’re so special. Watch a goalie at any level and you’ll see their superstitious ritual. Mine used to stand up hit the right post, the left post, and then the right post before moving into position. Marc Andre Fleury talks to his goalposts every time they give him a hand.

As for us parents, once we ensure we have the winning outfit/jacket on, we’re ready to head for the rink. Once there the routine is often the same, for me, it was to go grab a coffee from the nearest Dunkin’ or Starbucks. Naturally, this would lead to several pregame bathroom trips to ensure the bladder was empty before being trapped in the penalty box for the game. Other parents will sit in the same spot. Some parents, however, will move if the game isn’t going well. Goalie parents will migrate every period as will the forward dads. It’s crucial to the team’s success that every parent sit or stand at their winning spot.

Are you superstitious?

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Night Out

The hubby and I had a night out celebrating our friend’s 11th birthday at the Panthers game. It was a lot of fun to see all our hockey peeps again. Unfortunately, it’s been way too long since we saw them last. I rarely go out anymore, let alone on a school night, so this was a big deal for me. Hey, I even put on regular clothes and makeup. I overachieved yesterday, which I guess is appropriate given the day only comes around once every four years.

The game was a ton of fun. First of all, our friends had a suite for the birthday celebration, which makes for a great game experience. Secondly, the food was pretty darn good. I know I don’t get out much, so I’m probably not the most reliable food critic, but the sliders were amazing. Thirdly, it was an awesome game that the Panthers won in a shootout. Finally, and most, importantly we spent the evening with great people and great conversation. It truly was the perfect night out.

Do you believe in fate/destiny?

Maybe. It’s an interesting question to start the month of March. I do believe in fate, but also that our decisions impact that fate.