Day three of pandemic pandemonium and I’m over it. Admittedly, it’s not the virus that scares me. Nope, it’s the thought of dealing with two teenagers in close proximity for eight weeks that has me wrecked. I have no doubt that I’ll continue to display sangfroid as it pertains the virus. I’m less certain that I’ll survive homeschooling my kids.
I’ve taken a few steps to preserve my sanity or at least what’s left of it. So here’s my advice, start day drinking. I’m only kidding, so don’t be mad mom! In crazy times like these, it’s important to keep a semblance of a routine. I still get my coffee and eat my breakfast at the same time.
Working out is a huge part of staying both mentally and physically healthy. Fortunately, I’m back to my workout routine with a few changes. Sadly, the yoga studio is closed, so until this is over I’m practicing at home. Thankfully, there are some awesome YouTube yoga channels. I love Fightmaster Yoga and Yoga With Adrienne.
In addition to my normal workouts (including my runs,) I’ve added an afternoon walk with the dogs and the boys. Today we took them for a 1.5 mile walk/jog. It was a beautiful day and all three pups enjoyed being outside. As a bonus, I got the boys off their phones and TVs for almost 45 minutes.
These are trying times. It’s something most of us have never experienced and that can make it scary. Please be sure you’re checking in on your friends and family to make sure they’re okay. As I have no doubt that loneliness will soon become a byproduct of this pandemic.
In the meantime, social distancing remains the most altruistic and effective way to help our communities weather this storm. Speaking of storms, it feels like we’re waiting on a massive storm to come ashore only there’s no Jim Cantore or cone of uncertainty. My only hope now is that the toilet paper is back in stock by the time hurricane season starts. In the meantime, we’ll be doing our best to survive the pandemic pandemonium.
Here’s a list of our day’s activities:
*reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery
*Watched Schitt’s Creek – a couple of episodes from season 3
Monday madness took on a whole new meaning with the kids off of school for the foreseeable future. They said they should be back in school in two weeks, but honestly I don’t see how that can happen. Unfortunately, this pandemic isn’t going to end on our schedule. Having the kids home all day meant more food, more mess, more complaining and more arguing.
I mean, my routine hasn’t changed much with them out of school. Now I spend 76% of my time trying to get my middle son to complete his FLVS work and chores. My little man has stepped up in a big way and has been helping out around the house
I had planned to spend day one of the pandemic cleaning the house, but I expended all my energy yelling at my child. However, I did manage to dust the wainscoting and piano, so I guess that’s a victory. This morning I was finally able to vacuum and mop all the floors. Truly, the house does look much better.
Sadly, my yoga studio has closed until the pandemic is over. Fortunately, I can still practice yoga with Fightmaster, Yoga with Adrienne and Yogamundo on YouTube. As for my gym workout, my BBG workouts are all designed to be completed at home, which is awesome. I complimented yesterday’s BBG workout with a nice walk with the boys and our dogs. It was nice to get out and enjoy the nice weather.
Lastly, I yesterday was my Grandma’s 90th birthday. It was fun chatting with her about aging and life in general. My grandma has always been a rock for me and my family. Unfortunately, her senior housing is on lockdown due to COVID-19, but I look forward to celebrating her big day at a later date. Please join me in wishing her the happiest of birthdays! Finally, let’s hope that Monday madness doesn’t continue into Tuesday.
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I’m still recovering from my road warrior weekend. In the course of two days, I put almost 400 miles on my car and visited three different rinks. I even got to enjoy a weekday morning commute from Palm Beach to Kendall. Thankfully, it was a holiday week, so traffic was significantly lighter than normal. Needless to say, I left the house at 6:30 am to get there by 8:45, but since there was no traffic we got there at 8:00 am. Of course, with Miami traffic, if I had left ten minutes later I would have been twenty minutes late. Saturday brought four games at two different rinks in central and southern Broward.
Saturday morning kicked off a crazy day of four hockey games at two separate rinks. Fortunately, due to the schedule, I was able to see a at least a period of all four games. It is always hard to divide and conquer with these games. Honestly, I’d rather get to watch all of both of their games than having a weekend off. My Mayor plays with such heart and grit. It is an absolute joy to watch him play with his team. They’re fantastic together… Saturday morning just wasn’t their time.
Just hanging around waiting for my airman to call
The best part of the game was when Jake called from BMT. We had to fight to get the Hubby’s attention since he was actively coaching a hockey game when he called. Fortunately, he was able to run over, speak briefly to him before heading back to lead the bench. Unfortunately, he’s still dealing with a cold. I asked him if he’d gone to the infirmary, but he hasn’t gone since he didn’t want to miss a moment. He did get a little choked up telling me that he was homesick and missed the family, but he freaking loves the Air Force. I shared some mom wisdom. We discussed how normal homesickness was and how important it is to learning how to manage his Air Force experience. While he has experienced some homesickness, I want to be clear that he is absolutely loving it!
As I was speaking, I was doing the most hockey mom thing ever. Grabbing my other hockey player, Goalielocks and running to the car so we could get to his game in time. Thankfully, Jake understands the madness of his life. He continues to kick ass on his PT assessments in spite of his cold. I’m so proud of how hard he worked before going to BMT. This preparation set him up to be a successful trainee.
I asked him how he likes his MTIs (drill instructors), his response may surprise you. In a nutshell, he loves them and says that they are awesome. Of course, it helps that his flight is the top PT flight in WOT4. He said that they are helpful, hold them accountable and are invested in their success. On Christmas, the Air Force took great care of them with a Prime Rib dinner with dessert for everyone.
He spent a lot of time speaking about the guys in his FLT and how important they are to him. I’m so glad that his wingman J will most likely be his roomie at tech school. One of his dorm mates also played hockey growing up. Jake was a forward and this AB is a goalie, so they’re trying to orchestrate some type of hockey game in the dorm. At the end of the call, I was so emotional. We miss him so much, but he continues to thrive and is clearly in the right place.
While he is loving his BMT experience, he will continue to face bouts of homesickness. This is where you can help. Every letter counts. On my call, he mentioned receiving a card from a Senior Airman and was a bit star struck that someone of that rank would write him. He asked me if there was a program out there for SrA to support the BMTs. I answered no that card came from a friend of your mom’s. He responded, “wow, that’s awesome. Please tell him thank you.” BG thank you, your card meant everything to him.
By the time I made it to the rink, this road warrior was emotionally drained. I miss him so much and worry about him but had to flip back into hockey mom mode. Plus, Goalielocks and I may or may not have forgotten his stick, which absolutely added to my emotional stress. I’m pretty sure I walked into the rink looking like a zombie. Thank god for my hubby because he came to the rescue with a new stick. And thank god there was a Dunkin’ close by and coffee does cure a lot. When Goalielocks is in net, I am such a wreck. The first game we were going to play was going to be a tough one. I had myself convinced that it would be a blowout, so when it wasn’t I was relieved and happy. Truly, my goalie played great and the game was entertaining and close.
For some reason, the scheduling gods of Florida hockey think it’s a great idea for U16 teams to play games almost back to back. There’s no consideration of the physical stress and the physiology of an adult body playing a tough physical game back to back. Think about it, when is the last time you saw a NHL team play a double header let alone a game back to back. I bet you can’t remember because I can’t either. Needless, we had little chance in the matter. In the fifteen minutes I had between Goalielocks getting undressed and his second game’s call time, I took him and his bestie Leo to Publix. The only thing they could really eat was fruit or protein bar because they didn’t have enough time to eat anything substantive. Ridiculous.
By the time game three of the day started, my emotions have recovered from the fraying of the early afternoon. I was now annoyed with the nonsense that is Florida hockey. Our third game of the day, a midget game, was an absolute shit show through the first two periods. Goalielocks’ team was missing a player due to a skate issue and penalties kept us short handed. Honestly, it was horrible. The great thing about hockey, however, is that there are three periods of play. After a wacky call on my goalie, a tripping call, from moving across his crease to follow the puck and the opponent falling, our team sprang into action. Number 18 was back on the ice with working blades and went to work quickly. In the span of a period, we went from losing a game 2-0 to winning the game 3-2. Never give up!
Of course, I didn’t leave that rink to almost the next day because my Goalie decided to be the turtle in the race to undress post game as opposed to the hare. While I waited for what felt like a century, my husband sent good news from the Ice Den: the Mayor’s game had been delayed. Alas, I may still be able to catch some of his game. Goalielocks did his best to foil these efforts by lallygagging in the locker room. Thankfully, this road warrior may or may not have channeled Michael Schumacher as I drove up I-75 to Ice Den. Victory was mine and I made it to the Mayor’s game by the end of the second period.
The Mayor’s second game of the day, and our family’s fourth of the day, was a much better effort than his team’s effort that morning. What I love about his team and especially his line is how they work together to make things happen. It is clear when watching these boys that they’re playing for each other and not themselves. What could be bad about that? In the end, the Mayor’s team came away with a 7-2 victory and a healthy appetite. Fortunately, there’s a great pizza place down the road where we ended up with some folks from his team. Great food, great people and the greatest sport in the world, what could be bad? In the end, we got home close to 11:00 pm another twelve hour plus day as a road warrior.
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It was a three games, two rinks and one tired mama kind of Sunday. Our day started with a relatively early U16 game against Panthers Red at 10:15. Concurrently, I was at Glacier in Pompano for the Mayor’s 11:30 schedule. Of course, you have to be there an hour earlier, so you’re leaving the house a lot earlier than you’d think to get to a 11:30 am game. This is not aided by the fact that I must have my pre-game Dunkin’, so I built-in additional time for that pit stop.
Goalielocks had a great first game earning a shut out! I don’t have many details on the game other than we won, TK had a hat trick and Goalielocks had shutout. Oh the hardships of the divide and conquer life. While Goalielocks and his team were marching to victory, the Mayor’s team was off to a somewhat shaky started giving up a goal on the first shift. Fortunately, they recovered and both goalies closed the door. The Mayor ended up scoring the third goal off the goalie’s back. As a goalie mom, I’m not sure how I feel about that, but as the mom of a forward I was quite pleased. Their team ended up with a decisive 4-1 victory.
It wouldn’t be February, however, if you weren’t stalking the pointstreak page for all the results in your kids’ divisions. Goalielocks’ team entered the day in a must win situation. We all were texting all of our contacts to figure out how the games on the West Coast had gone to see our team’s situation shifted. It didn’t. This made tonight’s game a playoff game. Whatever team won the 4:15 pm game would qualify for states. As a goalie mom with a hyperactive thyroid and a propensity to freak out, this isn’t the game I was looking for tonight. Thank god for beta blockers.
Our squad came out firing on all cylinders. They were playing physical, moving the puck and it paid off midway through the first period with a nice goal by MG. There were plenty of penalties throughout the first and second period with the game calming down somewhat in the third period. With almost a minute left in the second period, the Hawks put in a shorty on a 2-1 breakaway. There went my heart rate marching right back up to obscene levels.
Goalielocks’ teammate put in a beautiful goal on a breakaway early in the third. Ah, yes sweet respite, my heart rate backed off some. With less than 3 minutes left, the other team pulled the goalie. There went the heart rate. We ended up getting another penalty, so the last two minutes were played 6 on four. Oh sweet mother of god, it was the longest one hundred and twenty seconds of my life. Nonetheless, our squad stood strong til the end. It was a demanding game and it took a lot to get here. We’ve had so many injuries, serious injuries that necessitated surgery, that plagued us early and midway through the season. In the end, their hard work and persistence paid off. Congratulations Panthers U16 Gold!
I filmed the end of the game on Facebook live and kept filming after the handshake line. It was pretty cool to see how the kids interacted after such a hard-fought game: makes you proud to know them. In the end, we finally made it home just before or after 7:00 pm. I’m really not even sure. Today was a wonderful blur of hockey and rinks. Thankfully, I was able to get most of the household chores and all of the laundry done yesterday. Lastly, I head back to my endocrinologist tomorrow and am hoping for some good news, so please keep me in your prayers.
After nearly nine hours aboard a Boeing 787-900, we made it safely to Stockholm. The 789 was quite comfortable and I actually managed to get some sleep! Yay! If I had to guess, our bartender Laura’s heavy pour at the airport helped this mission. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough, so I’m totally exhausted now and its only 10:00 PM in Stockholm and 5:00 pm back home. Once we got through customs and got our luggage, which was quite quick, we grabbed a snack and drink (coffee please) at 7-11 before hopping on the express train into the sitting.
Much like my initial impressions of Norway, Sweden reminds me a lot of Minnesota. Speaking of Norway, we flew over Fjord Norway on our approach into Stockholm’s Arlanda airport. The region looked absolutely beautiful from 40,000 ft with the mountains covered in snow. As for the train, we arrived at central station in a brisk 20 minutes. Fortunately, our hotel is mere half of block from the station.
Our hotel is adorable. We have four bed and a beautiful patio overlooking Stockholm. It’s the perfect place to store our beverages and stinky shoes. The view is pretty fabulous as well. Once we got situated in the hotel room, we got ready to head out and about to find dinner.
We started our exodus looking for a meatball place, but found the maps and google searches aren’t too successful here unless we’re on wi-fi. We walked for several blocks in the brisk evening air until we happened upon a place called Polpette – combination of Italian and Swedish cuisine. The restaurant was beautiful inside with friendly waitresses and hostesses.
Our dinner started with drinks, my bro and I enjoyed a lingonberry margarita, while B enjoyed a glass of wine and Jake stuck with water. We started our dinner with an appetizer order of sourdough cheese bread and fresh caprese. They were amazing. Unfortunately, we ate them so fast we didn’t even stop to take a picture.
For the main course, I enjoyed a flank steak on a bed of gratinized mashed potatoes. Jake had Swedish meatballs, Brandi has pasta Bolognese and Jon had fettucine with steak. Our main courses were beautiful and delicious. My meal came with the bonus of an asparagus spear wrapped in bacon- yum. Honestly, the food absolutely hit the spot. We enjoyed our meal and the hospitality of the staff at Polpette. If you’re ever in downtown Stockholm, I recommend you pay them a visit.
Post dinner we headed back towards the hotel in hopes of finding pastries, but alas all the cafes were already closed for the night. Since we couldn’t find pastries, we headed to the Ice Bar in Stockholm. I’ve been to the Ice Hotel in Quebec City, but this was my first time at a year round ice bar.
We suited up and headed into the ice. Much like the Ice Hotel in Quebec, the Ice Bar had several elaborate ice carvings. This bar is done in a Viking theme, which makes for an impressive experience. It should come as no surprise that we spent tons of time hanging out on the Viking ship and throne while enjoying our drinks. Our bartender was fantastic and gave us a list of places to try before leaving Stockholm After several rounds of drinks, we headed back to the hotel for a night-cap and to get ready for tomorrow.
Wow, it feels like forever since I’ve actually had the time to post on back to back days. We had a busy day of hockey and hockey related activities. The morning started with the Mayor’s team fundraising at a Publix in Coconut Creek. Thanks to the store’s generous patrons, his squad raised over $800. Fortunately, he and the hubby were back in time to leave right way for Goalielock’s games.
Goalielock’s and his squad split the day dropping the first contest to the Hawks, but winning their second against the Toros. I had a blast in the box with Tonya and DB during the first game. Reunited and it felt so good! Unfortunately, during he warmups for game two Goalielock’s left leg slid out on him and he pulled his groin. Long story short, I walked out to hit the restroom pre-game and when I came back he was on the bench in a different jersey. It only took me almost the entire first period to figure it out. Needless to say, Goalielocks has been on solid regimen of ice for 20 and heat for 20 since he got home.
I’ve gotta give a shout to fellow hockey mom D. Green for the amazing ribbon she gave me. I freaking love it. It makes me wonder how the crafty gene skipped me entirely. Truly, I have not one crafty bone in my body. When I try to be crafty, it ends up looking like something you’d see on Netflix’s Nailed It. (love that show!) Nonetheless, since I don’t possess that skillset at all, I’m in awe of those who do it so well.
Between Goalielock’s game, the Mayor had a four hour clinic. We sent Goalielock’s to John’s house with the team, while we drove to Palm Beach to drop him off. After dropping him off, we headed over to meet the team for some grub. As for my Mayor, he’s completely exhausted after the craziness of his day. It’s not often that he puts himself to bed this early! Speaking of which, it’s time for me to head off to practice my Swedish, read a bit and head to bed.
It’s been crazy around these parts hence the several month hiatus from the blog. While the kids went north this summer, the hubby and I worked. Oh and I tore my posterior tibial tendon, which has been so much fun. Needless to say I didn’t do much this summer but work and elevate my leg. Now I’m bootless, scooterless and ready to write!
I did take on a new, super girl like identity as the summer ended: Scooter Girl. You know like Avril Lavigne’s skater boi just older, with a boot and a lot less coordination. I spent eight weeks in a boot and on my glorious scooter. Whoever invented the scooter, also known by its significantly less sexy name as a knee walker, is my hero. I can’t imagine having to spent eight weeks in a boot and on crutches – I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. The scooter was a complete lifesaver. It helped, of course, that my scooter was pimped out with a basket, a cup holder (how else would I carry my coffee), a memory foam padded knee pad cover and a bell (thank you KB.)
While I was on the scooter, I noticed that people were much nicer and helpful. Even the snowbirds near me were sweet – amazing. It was, however, a little demoralizing when a woman in her 80s told me she had been in the same boat and that I’d be okay. She was so sweet. Seriously, the snowbirds were sweet and if you lived in S. Florida you’d understand how amazing that really is. It also sucked having to put on a cast bag to go outside or take a shower. Having a cast during rainy season isn’t awesome.
The scooter also got us VIP entrance and upgrades at a couple of concert. I definitely was not looking forward to being on the law at an amphitheater with my scooter. However, nothing was going to stop me from seeing the Imagine Dragons or Lindsey Stirling and Evanescence. I think maybe that’s the lesson in all of this. No matter what life throws at you, don’t stop living. P.S. The Imagine Dragons with shirtless Dan is a must see show!
Thankfully, I’m off the scooter as the craziness of hockey season is in full swing. I did have a scooter buddy at the beginning of the season, but I’m happy to report we’re both off our scooters! It was a challenge to fit my scooter and their gear in the car. Not too mention it’s tough to navigate the rink and find a comfortable viewing place for the games. I’ll admit that the bell prevented several potential collisions as I glided down the ramps at Ice Den. Fortunately, the breaks on the scooter were quite effective.
Perhaps the hardest part of the boot life is the inability to really exercise. For eight weeks I was relegated to water workouts only. We don’t have a pool at home, so I was at the mercy of traffic and the weather. It’s been tough to be outside my normal workout habits. It’s also tough to be passed in the pool by a geriatric swimmer, but I digress. I’m still not cleared to run or do Zumba, but spent sometime on my TRX this past week. It felt amazing.
What progress looks like
What progress looks like
At any rate, it feels good to back at the blog and bootless!
P.S.A.
While I won’t be able to run this year’s Purple Stride, I am still captain of Team Deb Force Five and am taking on an expanded role at the event. Please join the Fight by joining Team Deb Force Five as a participant, donor or virtual strider! Together we can help PanCan double survival rates by 2020. Here’s the link: Join Team Deb Force Five
Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as you had hoped. Ours started early, but thankfully not too early. The Mayor woke us up shortly before 8:00, which is a lot later than it used to be. Back in the day, the boys would wake us up well before 7:00 am. My friends and family know how little I enjoy waking up early, so the super early Christmas wake up calls were tough!
Unquestionably, Christmas is much more meaningful as a parent. Its not that I don’t like getting gifts; its just that giving them is so much better. In our house, opening gifts happens like a hurricane as the boys tear open their gifts. This year their Christmas lists were markedly smaller than previous years. Although they did include some interesting items like: a teacup pig, a puppy, a tegu, a bearded dragon, and a MacBook. Unfortunately, there was no teacup pig or puppy under the tree this year.
After they opened their gifts, the Hubby and I got to work preparing for brunch. He made his famous Cholesterol Bake (totally worth every calorie,) while I finished my caramel rolls and started the bacon. Additionally, we had to get our drink bar ready. We had plenty of OJ and champagne/asti for mimosas. Moreover, this year we added a coffee bar, so my bro brought cold brew coffee and we paired it with Bailey’s and/or Ciroc French Vanilla vodka. To the uninitiated, the coffee (we used Stok) with Bailey’s and vodka is smooth and absolutely sublime.
While I finished cooking the 85 lbs of bacon and rolls, the boys played show and tell with their menagerie. They were more than happy to share their animals with our guests. After showing off Lil’ B (our little beardie,) Goalielocks and the Mayor brought down their two chameleons. Surprisingly, Goalielocks was able to get the normally shy chameleons to eat in front of company. Of course it’s a bit of a show when the chameleons eat.
Fortunately, all of the food turned out awesome. Surprisingly, we didn’t end up in a food coma after eating copious amounts of caramel rolls, cholesterol bake and bacon. Once brunch was done, the boys headed outside to play football. Unlike Minnesota, which was -5 this morning, we were balmy in the 70s this morning. For paintball we were in the low 80s, but without too much humidity.
This year we went to paintball a little later with a 1:00 pm start time. Unlike years past, the paintball place was completely crowded with groups of uninitiated paint ballers. We’ve done this for several years on Christmas not to mention the numerous birthday parties the boys have attended. Nonetheless, I have zero patients for morons who shoot randomly when not on the field or take their masks off on the field. Darwin would have been proud!
Straightaway, after getting our guns, we headed to the far fields away from the crowds. We had the far fields to ourselves for over an hour before a couple of the inexperienced and not so bright groups came on over. Despite the ineptitude of the people around us, we managed to have a good time.
Our group was pretty small, so we stuck to the smaller fields. We split up the teams a number of different ways to make interesting throughout the day. The adults took it to the kids several times, but don’t worry they got us back. Both the Mayor and Goalielocks have their own guns, which are far more powerful than the rental guns. Both took me out several times from afar. I didn’t even have a chance since my gun couldn’t shoot that far.
In one round, Jake, Brandi and I played against my brother and my two younger kids. My brother came running across the field, thinking there was cover (there wasn’t) and all three of us shot him simultaneously. Whoops! Thank goodness my brother is a good sport!
Between rounds, we Face-timed my parents from Paintball and was able to speak to everyone there, which was awesome. I definitely miss seeing my family and extended family this time of year. I have many cherished memories that I have from holidays spent with my grandparents and extended family. My hope for my boys is they cherish the traditions we’ve started that put a premium on time spent together having fun.
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Post-paintball we headed home and ordered some friend rice and chicken teriyaki. Tonight we’re going to watch a movie on NetFlix and relax. Unfortunately, tomorrow is Tuesday and not a holiday meaning most of us will be back at work. Can you hear the collective boo? I’ll leave you tonight with my favorite Christmas song. This song performed by Mariah Carey is “All I Want For Christmas is You.”
Today was definitely a super Saturday as I spent it at the rink with the Mayor and his team. Fortunately, we were local playing two games down in Coral Springs. Moreover, the scheduler did a great job as his games were perfectly scheduled. Consequently, I was able to pick up the race packets for the Purple Stride event after the team lunch.
The Mayor came out on fire this morning in game 1 against the Panthers scoring a beautiful goal on his first shift. He ended the first period with a goal and an assist. His team has come together nicely and really plays for each other. In the second period, his line-mate BK came to visit me in the Sin Bin. The ref sent him to the box for for interference after he took down the kid that had just leveled the Mayor. He came into the box and said “there’s no way I was gonna let him get away with hitting the Mayor.” Honestly, when a kid comes to the box for defending their teammate, I’m never mad. Sticking up for your teammate is what good teammates do.
That penalty was in the second period, but BK would be back to visit me in the 3rd. The Mayor took the puck on our blue line and started heading towards the offensive zone when a linebacker of a player boarded him in the neutral zone. The player really should have been called for a 2 and 10, but whatever….
Fortunately, the Mayor wasn’t hurt. He skated hard down to the offensive zone, where the same kid had just checked his line-mate BK into the boards. The Mayor laid this kid out. I gotta be honest, I was proud of him for sticking up for himself and his teammate. The hit was a real beauty and would have been perfectly legal if they were bantams. While the Mayor may be small in stature, he is large in personality, strength and presence on the ice. Undoubtedly, the player he laid out will remember him.
Afterwards, we headed to Lefty’s for lunch with the team. My brother met us for lunch, so the Mayor was totally stoked. Originally, I hadn’t planned on staying at lunch because I had to pick up the packets. My bro was able to take the Mayor back to the rink, so I could go to Boca to get the packets. Meanwhile, the Mayor was super excited to spend some time with his uncle.
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Both J&B and then Rich were able to join us for the second game, which was a much tighter contest. It was a fun game to watch and the kids worked hard together. They enjoyed watching him play. The Mayor use his new stick even if it was a little tall for him. He was just a little excited about it. At the end of the day, I love watching the Mayor’s squad play. They create an atmospheric experience at their games. Undeniably, there is nothing better than watching these kids come together and start playing for each other.
Now it’s off to sort shirts and put together the packets for tomorrow’s race. Undoubtedly, I’m nervous for the race since my training has been non-existent and I hate sucking. If you haven’t donated to the team or still want to join (it’s not too late), you can donate at this link or register at tomorrow’s event.
Today was all about Kenny and Ringo. No, not Kenny Rogers and Ringo Starr. Rather, our new veiled chameleons Kenny and Ringo. Since we’re off hockey this weekend, the boys were able to spend the money they earned over the summer. Both Goalielocks and Mayor had been vacillating over what to buy for quite some time and I’ve been try to steer them away from video games or electronics. Unquestionably, we were not in need of a new animal, but I’d rather get them a new pet versus a new electronic device.
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 25: Musician Ringo Starr arrives at “Ringo Star: In Conversation” to discuss his book PHOTOGRAPH on September 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
We headed to Petco for what should have been a 15 minuthe trip. My boy’s indecision quickly derailed what should have been a quick trip. Instead of merely picking up a pair of crested geckos, our trip turned into indecision hour. At one point, Goalielocks even tried to try and enlighten me as to why the sand boa would be the perfect pet. I hate snakes, so I was not going to buy him one. Once he accepted that a snake wasn’t in his future, he and the Mayor vacillated between the chameleon and another bearded dragon. My vote was for the chameleons and that they name them Boy George and Karma.
After about an hour or deliberation, they ultimately decided on the chameleon since we already have a bearded dragon. Goalielocks decided against the crested geckos as their genders were unknown due to their age. In order to make sure we got everything the chameleons needed, Goalielocks made good use of his phone to do some quick research. Sadly, the boys did’t like my suggested names of Boy George and Karma. Instead, they opted to name them Kenny and Ringo.
We excitedly headed home with our new creatures, their home and all the accouterments that came with them. It took the three of us about 25-30 minutes to put together the cage. Amazingly, nobdoy was harmed in the building of the cage. After all was said and done, I was pretty proud that I was able to put together the cage with Ikea-like directions. With the cage built and ready for its new inhabitants, we set it up on the Mayor’s dresser. He’s totally stoked to have new roommates. After helping the boys build the cage, I left the rest of the setup to them, while I made muffins and dinner. My boys are super excited to bring home their new pets.
Aside from our new pets, our Sunday was pretty low key. The Mayor has been nursing a serious cold and wasn’t sounding fantastic. I woke up to go to pilates only to go back to bed as my sinus headache throbbed. Kids are definitely the gift that keep on giving. If I’m being honest, sharing is not always caring and I was really hoping the Mayor wouldn’t share his cold with me. I certainly don’t have time to get sick. I’m hoping both the Mayor and I are feeling better tomorrow. If the sinus pain doesn’t abate for either of us, we’ll have to make a trip to the doctor.
While I’m wallowing in the pain of a sinus headache and likely sinus infection, the Mayor’s handling his cold much better. As I wrote my blog, I began to hear the sound of the tennis ball hitting the front door. You hockey moms know what this means. They’re practicing their shot in the house. Good times! The good news ts that they were using a tennis ball and not a puck. Moreover, Goalielocks was shooting on the Mayor who was wearing Goalielocks’ gear. As Goalielocks shot on the Mayor, they were recording with the GoPro. This, of course, means they got some great action shots and some choice soundbites from mom and dad yelling at them to stop.
