Goon

Interference. #18 Green.

That's me! A penalty in my first game of the season. I have only gotten one other penalty in my whole hockey career. (Shush out there! Three years does make a career.) That penalty wasn't even me. I didn't do it, officer, wasn't me :)

This one was most certainly was though. And I didn't really even feel that bad.

For the first game of the season, I felt really good. I won a good majority of my face-offs, I had numerous shots on goal, my legs felt good. No goals, no points, but the potential might be there....

(Gets up in the face of anonymous internet reader)... What? You don't think so? Wanna make something of it? Huh? Huh? Come on... (Throws stick and gloves on the ice) Let's go....

(Whistle blows) Roughing. #18 Green.

That's me. Goon.

Catching my breath

It was all I could do this morning to drag my sorry butt out of bed. While I stood in the shower, I thought "whew, last day this week - tomorrow I can sleep in". I drank an extra cup of coffee to get me going.

I'm out of energy. Usually Fall is the time of year where I recharge and relax. This year, it doesn't seem to be that way. The combination of W.'s operation and subsequent recovery, the new house and all the stress that comes with that, and pure freaking insanity at work, the recharge hasn't come yet. I think in part it's that I didn't get the usual breaks over the summer.

Only one horse show, no vacations. It makes it really hard. The only time I took off work, was spent in the hospital with W. I'm so glad I could be there with him, but relaxing and rejuvenating, it wasn't. I haven't been to the gym in a month. I've been riding 4 times in that month. Thank god hockey has started and I'll get in some scheduled exercise.

It doesn't look like that rest is coming for a while yet. We (and here I mean, I) are in the throes of getting this house business all together. It's calling lawyers, real estate agents, insurance companies, mortgage brokers. It's shopping for furniture (fun right? ha!) which is stress in itself. Green or Brown? Matching set, or different patterns? Bedroom set, or just bed and night tables. It's just keeping our apartment tidy and the dishes done. I'm doing this all on top of trying to keep it together in a really stressful and busy time of year at work.

Rainy Days

It's raining today. It's one of those grey, bleary, cool, windy days that makes me feel like curling up inside with a book and a fleecy blanket in a chair by the window. I like to watch the rain. I like the smell and I like the gloomyness. Sometimes, when it's sunny here for weeks or months on end, I wish that it would cloud over and rain. And when it finally does, I'm so disappointed when it ends. I find myself hoping that it goes on and on. There's something about rain that makes me feel happy.

Now I'm not saying that I don't enjoy a good blue sky, sunny, warm day as much as anyone else. It's just that once in a while, a good rain is what we all need.

One tired pony

I almost called in tired today. I had so intended to go to bed at a decent time last night, but as usual, it was after 11:30 pm when I finally climbed into bed, and after midnight when I finally put my book down. The rest of the night went a little something like this:

12:31 am - I'm cold. Pull the blankets up a little more

1:36 am - Still cold, still awake. Glare at W and the cat who are both sound asleep

2:15 am - Status check - Awake. Look at the clock and groan. Only 4 more hours until the alarm goes off. At least it's still dark out.

3:09 am - The cat is playing in the bathroom.

3:59 am - Stuff my head under the pillow and swear not to look at the clock anymore.

4:16 am - Oops. Looked at it again

4:20 am - And again.

4:32 am - For goodness sakes! Stop looking at the clock!!

5:something am - ZZZzzzzzz... Finally!

5:55 am - W gets up for medicine. GRRRRRRRR. Think about smothering someone with my pillow. Consider self as good option. Might get some sleep that way.

6:35 am - Dammit - there's the alarm. Hit snooze. Fall asleep immedidately.

6:44 am - What's that! Oh, alarm again. Snooze. Back to sleep.

6:53 am - Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Trying to get some sleep here.

7:02 am - Hey alarm clock? Trying to get some sleep here. Stop waking me up.

7:11 am - PANIC!!!!! Supposed to be at work in 20 minutes!!!!!

Hello Coffee... you are my new bestest friend.

Charmed... not so much

I can't wrap my mind around things, focus, concentrate. I'm feeling scattered. I need a vacation. A week on a sunny beach. A week with blue sky and bluer water and something cold and slushy in hand.

Ahhh, just the thought makes my shoulders relax and my mind clear, just a little, for just a moment. But it's there.

The fun is not for us this year. The world is swirling with all the trips and shows and excitement, and we can't be part of any of it. We've had our share in the past but it just feels like we're due. Can't it just be our turn again?

Where did all that luck go... I could use some about now.

Caution: Sucky Week Ahead

So it's finally here. The week where W. goes into the hospital to have part of his lung removed. It's still kind of surreal - almost so that I find it hard to really believe that it's happening.

I'm somewhat of mixed emotions on this whole process. Obviously I'm worried out of my mind about the whole cancer/surgery/hospital part of it. That part of me is sympathetic and concerned and worried. But this other crazy part of me is almost resentful. Isn't he supposed to be the strong one, the healthy one?

I hate the whole business and I can't wait for it to be over so we can go back to our normal lives. I'm not good with being the care-taker, the nurturer. It goes against all my instincts and it makes me uncomfortable. It's really hard for me to deal with this.

If this was a real fire, you'd be dead by now!

So we're sitting there after work, drinking a lovely, cold glass of wine (oh, how I love you wine....) when all of a sudden the fire alarm goes off. So we sit there for a minute, have another sip or two and look at each other. I ponder outloud, "I wonder if that's our fire alarm from the heat or if it's the building alarm?". Off the couch we get, W. checks the fire alarm, while I check the hallway (quick note: I did remember to touch the door to see if it was hot before I opened it - points for me!!! Yay!). Sure enough, it was the building alarm.

We jump into action, "Where's the cat?" I yell as I'm digging through the junk drawer looking for his (small dog size) harness. W. runs into the bedroom where the cat is hiding under the bed. First sign of strange noise, he immediately runs under the bed. I try and grab him from one side and he slithers away from me. W. tries from the other, succeeds for a minute, but the cat slithers out of his grip too and runs for the living room.

"Shut the door so he can't get back in there!", as I dash to the living room. The cat's hiding behind the chair. Then he makes the mad dash behind the couch. Finally I get him cornered behind the entertainment stand. I'm a little stressed by now and my hands are shaking, so I'm having a bit of trouble getting the harness done up, the fur keeps getting stuck and I can't get it done up.

"If this was a real fire, you'd be dead by now!" W. yells from the other side of the TV. Thanks, that's really lowering my stress level.

Finally, I get the harness on the cat and we head out the door. "Grab my purse and the keys". Why we need keys to get back into the building which may burn down, I don't know. Not to mention the fact that we didn't even lock the door.

We get into the hallway, and the cat freaks out from the louder noise. He's so scared that he has a little accident as we're walking down the stairs. Poor guy :(

Finally we get outside and onto the grass across from the building. We sit down and the cat lays there and moans his sad, pitiful little moans. Then the firetrucks pull up. And the fun starts anew. He leaps around a bit, tries to get off his harness and we end up at the bottom of the hill sitting on our neighbours back porch. The cat finally made himself comfy under my legs and we sat there waiting for the firemen to give the all clear.

By this point we figured that it wasn't anything real serious, as half the firemen stayed in the trucks and only a couple went inside. We sat there thinking of all the things inside that maybe we should have grabbed, like the wedding pictures and a few other things.

Then suddenly I remember my wine! "What if the firemen drink my wine????"

Once we got the all clear and got the cat back in the house, that was the first thing I checked. And no, the firemen didn't drink my wine. Thank goodness.

OMG Sucktastical blogging ahead!

Hey y'all.... here's a mix-mash ramble of a blog for the entertainment of no-one! Just me! I'm writing here to entertain myself and wooooo-baby is it ever fun!

Let talk about the Protron-Neutron-Electron dance! Do the Neutron dance. Anyone remember that song? Is it really a song? Who knows, somewhere from in the back of my brain which holds waaaay too much useless trivia bounced out this song yesterday. From there we took it just a few steps farther than necessary and made up some dances. Yep, two 30 year old grown adults doing the Proton-Neutron-Electron dances, which mostly consist of arm waving and wierd facial expressions.

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That was exciting. Wanna talk about the cat now? Come on, you know you want to! What's a good blog without some cat talk. The cat in question, we'll call him Mr. B. is a big fat black monster of a cat. He's a chicken walking around in fur though. Such a scaredy cat, but anyways. I guess that's all I have to say about the cat now. Again, super-sucktastical.

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What??? You're still here??? A sucker for punishment you are. I used to be a good writer and I used to be funny, but now.... well, this what you get. Obviously I need more practice, so I'm making it my goal, no, my MISSION, to make this website a little more fun, a little more fantastical and a little more current.

Shall we see how I do?

Goodbye Little Buddy

Tucker: January 1995 - July 25, 2006


We're going to miss you Tucker-Bob (Robert, Little Dude, Mr. T)....It's hard to believe you're gone.
I Love You

You know what those are?

So my husband and I are out for a walk last night (once a week or so I manage to get him away from the TV and into the fresh air) and he mentions that maybe he should go see the eye doctor. We get talking about this and agree that probably both of us need to go to the eye doctor. I, myself, have an irrational fear of the eye doctor that rivals my hatred of going to the dentist, but that's a whole 'nother story there....

Anyways, we're talking about our parents and how they all wear reading glasses and probably we will too one of these days and he says "Sometimes, I see spots in my eyes. Especially at night when I'm working".

Without missing a beat, I say "You know what those are? Those are dead people."

And here is why he is my very favorite. Rather than rolling his eyes at me because I'm spouting nonsense yet again, he says "Who told you that?", like it wasn't me making up something totally absurd and ridiculous - someone else must have told me that. Because I never make up random craziness... Not me, never. Hee....

What's that? Busy... Oh yes

Apparently I suck at this posting business, but the busy, it reigns! It's one thing after another these days. Get up, go to work, go to the gym, back to work some more. Then there's the making dinner and the walking and the cleaning and the laundry and the riding and the hockey. The hockey is like an addiction these days. If it's not the NHL (Woo Oilers!) it's the Memorial cup and whatever else in between we can find. A constant non-stop hockey fest! But after tomorrow that should slow down and oooh, then the riding ramps back up for the weekend! A whole weekend of lessons and horses and wine. YAY!

100 Things about Ponies

It's the 100 Things post!!!!!!! Ok, so I'm not very original.... I'm new at this - let me be a lame-o copy cat, just for a little while, please?

1. Horses. LOVE THEM.
2. I have one. He's beautiful and black.
3. I have a cat.
4. He's beautiful and black too.
5. He weighs almost 20 lbs.
6. And he's the definition of scaredy-cat
7. I wish I had more.
8. But my husband is allergic
9. That won't stop me from always having at least one cat
10. I have no kids
11. But I love my pets like they are my kids.
12. A couple years ago one of my horses died tragically
13. I grieved for him like he was human
14. I'm still not over it.
15. I cry for him almost daily
16. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a person I love
17. The thought of that scares me so much it keeps me awake at night
18. I have insomnia
19. I rarely sleep more than 6 hours in a night.
20. It takes me hours to fall asleep most nights
21. I've been married for 2 years
22. My husband and I dated for 4 years before we got engaged
23. We lived together for 2 months before we got married
23. It was his idea to get married
24. Honestly, the thought never occurred to me before he asked
25. I think saying yes was a good thing
26. My wedding was one of the best days of my life.
27. It was perfect
28. My husband works graveyard shifts
29. This means I sleep alone 5 nights out of 7
30. I'm kind of ok with that
31. I read at least 5 books a week
32. I feel panicked when I don't have a book to read
33. I love to travel
34. I've been to quite a few different places
35. England
36. Scotland
37. Wales
38. Ottawa
37. Los Angeles
38. San Diego
39. San Francisco
40. Cancun, Mexico
41. Oklahoma City
42. I've had lay-overs in at least 15 different airports in North America
43. By next Tuesday I'll have added 2 more to the list
44. I have to have the window seat or I get claustrophobic
45. Hockey is my favorite sport
46. I have season tickets to my hometown team
47. I don't cheer for any of the NHL teams based in my home province
48. I started playing hockey when I was 28 years old
49. I think I'm pretty good considering my late start
50. My coach agrees - my husband is starting to
51. I LOVE playing hockey
52. I hate going to the gym
53. But I spend every lunch hour there
54. I still am not in as good of shape as I would like to be
55. Even though I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in
56. I'm scared of spiders
57. I'm PHOBIC about snakes
58. I`ve been to Las Vegas too
59. I won $150.00
60. I`m dying for a holiday
61. Doesn`t look like I`m going to get one for a while
62. I`m the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family
63. This means I got to do everything first.
64. Except get married
65. I let one of my cousins do that first
66. I never wear a watch
67. This means that i`m not often on time
68. I don`t really worry about that too much when it`s my own fault
69. It bugs me when someone else makes me late though
70. I don`t like being rushed
71. I like to think that I`m a pretty relaxed person
72. I suspect that`s not very true
73. I like things to go my way
74. I will argue with you until you agree with me
75. Even if I might be wrong
76. I think I have kind of a photographic memory
77. I can read something once and remember it for a long time
78. I`m good at guessing too
79. This makes me pretty good at playing along with Jeopardy
80. I loooooove reality tv
81. I never used to be much of a tv watcher
82. Now I have a number of shows that I can`t miss
83. That`s why I had to learn how to make the VCR work
84. For the sake of having something to call him on here, I`m going to name my husband W.
85. His name does not start with a W.
86. We have a new house!!!!
87. I love it love it love it
88. I do not feel like an adult at all
89. Drinking wine is good
90. Once in a while I wonder if I drink too much wine
91. I don`t
92. I`m very shy
93. I feel like an idiot just about every time I open my mouth
94. I don`t make friends very easily
95. I`m trying though
96. I hate talking on the phone
97. I am a crazy person when it comes to Christmas
98. There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing a Christmas Tree
99. I get annoyed very easily
100. I wish I was a writer.

Just checking.....

Hi! Welcome to my first ever post. Just checking to see if this works and how things look.