Hockey is the Coolest Game Around

Sunday, Feb. 28, we watched the USA Hockey team take it to Canada -- all the way into overtime. Non-hockey fans don't realize what a big deal that was. USA Hockey fans only wish Sid the Kid had held out just a few more minutes. Had this been a tournament with different scoring systems, the US may have won that Gold Medal. In typical tournament play, a win gives you a point, a loss gets you nothing, but a win in overtime gets you two points and a loss in overtime gets you one. Given that math, the fact that we beat Canada once (they are still stinging from that) and then tied it to go into Overtime says to me it was really a draw. Way to go USA!

Of course, the reality is that all the players in the Olympic Gold Medal game were NHL players who spend most of their time here in the U.S. Sydney Crosby who scored the winning goal for Canada plays for Pittsburgh, Brendan Morrow plays here in Dallas, I could go on and on.

Hockey may be Canada's game, but for those of us who love it, we're sure glad it's big here in the U.S. too.

Sunday, just minutes -- literally -- after the US won the silver medal, my son and his team stepped onto the ice to go for their own win. It was Senior Recognition Night, so we parents got a minute in the spotlight too. This pic is our oldest son, Tanner with his proud parents. He's been playing hockey since he was old enough to pick up a stick -- banging real pucks against the baseboards in my kitchen, sliding around on his stocking feet on the hard wood floors, telling anyone who ventured in during his "games" to "get off the ice!"

We were on vacation in San Diego once and went to a minor league game. Sitting in the front row, we listened to a four year old Tanner bragging to another little boy that he had a rink in his house. That kitchen was his rink, and he was serious about it. We got him on the ice at the University rink near our home in Boulder when he was five, and we waited anxiously for the call from Boulder Valley Hockey to tell us they had a place available for him on a Squirt (or is it Pee Wee) league. In the meantime, while we waited, he played roller hockey and had a ball.

A lot of time has passed. Lots of roller, lots of ice. Flash forward 14 years, and he's still playing hockey as often as he can. He'll leave for college in the fall and play hockey there. The biggest difference: I won't get to watch every game. He's planning to go more than 1000 miles away to Colorado -- his home state. He's been wanting to get back there for years, and now he has his chance.

Standing on the ice the other night, it started to hit me. My days as a hockey mom, getting up at 3:30 a.m. to make sure I am showered and awake enough to drive him to practice, are about to end. I won't be spending 12-15 hours a week either in the car on the way to/from hockey or in the stands, bundled in a blanket, at a hockey game.

I'm going to miss hockey. I'm going to miss my fellow hockey moms and dads, some whom I've known for years. I'm going to miss the other kids. I'm even going to miss the alarm going off at 3:30 a.m. Most of all, I'm going to miss my son. A lot. It's really starting to hit me.

Maybe he really wants to go to community college and stay at home for a year...or two...when he gets home today, or on the way to hockey tonight, I think I'll ask him.

Most Snow in the History of Texas

Yes, this is a big deal. On Feb. 11 we woke up to a light dusting of snow at our house an hour south and east of Dallas, Texas. We were amazed. This rarely happens here. What fun! An hour later it started to snow. And it snowed for the better part of 20 hours. Some of it was rainy snow. Some of it was huge snowflakes. At times, it was truly snow SHOWERS. Needless to say, work and school were all cancelled around here. Dallas got more than a foot, we got far less, about four inches, I'd say. Most of the neighborhood kids have never seen snow like this in their lifetimes, and every one of them is outside, sledding, snowballing, making snowmen. It's quite a phenomenon.

My friend in Iowa says, "Big deal, we've had 50 inches this year." My relatives in DC are snowed in and have been for weeks. My friend's son is stranded in DC on his sixth grade field trip. We get this once every dozen years? It must be, because I've never seen snow like this here, and I've lived here for 10 years.

Now that I've seen it, photographed it (from my backyard, above), and seen my kids and everyone else's enjoy it, I'm ready for some sunshine. Tomorrow it will be in the 50s, let's hope by 60s by next week, then come the 70s and tennis weather, and then it will get hot. That's okay. I can deal with hot. I'm not so good with cold, and this snow, just seeing it from my office windows, makes me cold.

Thanks Mother Nature for the reminder of how beautiful the snow can be. Now let's get back to Texas weather. Tennis anyone?

The best photographer -- ever.

Yesterday I had occasion to stop by and see my favorite photographer, Jamye Perelli. She was in her studio editing, while her assistant tried to get her work done as a construction project (the installation of a huge light) went on overhead. It was very obvious that this lady is busy!

I stayed just a few moments. We discussed some writing I had done for her and some photography she will do for me. I left glad I'd stopped by. Some people just brighten your day and their creativity and passion fuels your own. That's the way I feel about Jamye, her husband Dino, and their entrepreneurial spirit and sense of fun.

Thanks for the inspiration, Jamye.

You can read about Jamye on her blog. Get there by checking this out...I don't know how I missed this, but I'm glad I found it now!
Tannerhttp://jamyeperelli.com/blog/tanners-senior-portraits/

You Can Change Behaviors with Fun

Where has this month gone?

If you're like me, it took you a while to get back in the swing after the holidays.

If you're like me, once you got in the swing, you started spinning,and it's been a whirlwind ever since.

The horrible earthquake damage in Haiti. I don't know about you, but I am paralyzed about what I can do to help. Do I have ten bucks added to my phone bill by texting a certain number? Do I give to the Red Cross? Do I adopt a baby or offer a family refuge in my home? For days I have been worried about what I should do.

Now somehow it's already Jan. 21. In Texas, it's 72 degrees outside and the sun is shining. It feels like winter is gone. Last night there was a tornado about 20 miles from my house. Tornados in January? That's just odd.

It's January 21. Pretty soon it will be spring break and graduation. Isn't my FAFSA paperwork due next week? Don't I have to do my taxes first? I've never done them before August, or at least April. Do I really have to do them now? Housing contracts from college will be here soon...is he sure that's where he wants to go?

Yes, in my world there is spinning and whirlwind activities, and time racing by and tornados just down the road. I'm thinking this is going to be one heck of a year. It surely has to be better than last year, right? If not, at least it's moving fast. So far, work is crazy, people are excited, and I'm having fun. So why don't I feel in control? I like my clients, they seem to like me, I've got more than ever, so it must be good, right?

But WHAT am I really doing every day?

Yep...I have to figure out what I can do about the situation in Haiti, or at least find out if the people who lost their homes a few miles down the road have some clothes to wear. But first I have to call that guy, and write that thing, and follow up on that other...I need to clear my desk of the lingering December work and get my invoices that aren't out, out! I owe this thing to that guy, and that thing to this guy...and new business is rolling in...

Yep, things are moving fast. This month has flown by. The holidays are definitely behind us.

Happy Holidays from American Airlines

Happy Holidays from American Airlines

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Elf Wanted

I just glanced at my calendar to see we're just two and a half weeks away from Christmas. Based on the amount of preparation I have done up to now, I'd say Christmas is going to be very low key around here.

My dear husband got the Christmas spirit the day after Thanksgiving. Here it was in the 70s and a gorgeous day. Traditionally it is a great day to put up your lights. I was exhausted from a day of cooking and entertaining that had evolved into a night of entertaining, so I haphazardly participated, not quite ready for Christmas.

Mark got out the lights and proceeded to determine what worked and what didn't. We lost one of our two large evergreens out front this year, so we had a few extra lights from that tree, which I had enjoyed decorating with large balls and ornaments. (I sort of wonder if I killed it doing that. The balls were all made in China.)

Anyway, Mark took a strand of those big, old fashioned lights and strung them along the front of our porch. He did this while I was checking email or something, and when I came out, I wasn't thrilled. But, trying hard to have some Christmas spirit, I didn't say anything, then.
Instead, I suggested that we head to town to see if we could find a new "show piece" for our outdoor lighting display. I wanted a large "PEACE" sign, the words, not the symbol, that could present my goal for this holiday to the neighborhood. Mark reluctantly agreed, reminding me that it was Black Friday and WalMart would be a zoo. I convinced him that would be half the fun and off we went.

Either WalMart decided no one wanted holiday decorations this year or they were all sold out, because the shelves there were void of my giant "PEACE" sign and anything else that might have been considered as a "Show Piece." We bought some toilet paper and left.

We headed to Lowes to see what we could find there. They had all sorts of those big blow-up things, even a Santa golfer with a bunch of elves who spun around to swing at the ball. It was pretty cool, but just wasn't what I had in mind. There were no lighted Peace signs, and only a handful of other things that I felt might work as a "back-up" plan. None thrilled me. So we left Lowes empty handed and returned home.

So for the last week, as the weather has turned cold and the rain has come in buckets, our house has had just one sorry strand of lights (silly old fashioned lights) on it. I haven't even bothered to turn them on. A few neighbors have somehow managed to get their lights up, and some displays are very nice. But participation this year seems down. I hope it's due to the weather and not to the economy. I guess time will tell.

Inside, my house has fared a little better, but not much. Mark pulled down a dozen or so boxes marked "Christmas," and I have made a few feeble efforts to decorate, but I'm not thrilled with the results just yet, and the boxes I want seem to be missing.

We also had a sad mishap this weekend when I headed to the attic to find my missing boxes. I was looking for my ceramic lighted Christmas tree and all the pieces of my Nativity Set. The tree was a gift from Mark's mom when we first got married. We have had it more than 20 years. I love it. It stays on the entire holiday season and has beautiful lights. I've seen other ceramic trees like this at craft fairs and such, but ours has always been the prettiest to me.

Mark followed me up to the attic where I found a box that I peeked into that seemed to contain my Christmas pillows. It wasn't very heavy, and not very big. I certainly didn't think it contained our favorite ceramic tree when I handed it to Mark and said, "This is pillows, just toss it down." Mark tossed the box down the steps to a resulting smattering of broken ceramic and lights. He looked down the ladder, and sure enough, our ceramic tree had been tucked lovingly in between two Christmas pillows, and it now lay in a million pieces.

I took the blame, but Mark felt the guilt. I tried to be non-chalant, but he was less so. He went downstairs to clean up the mess while I kept looking for my Nativity scene and tried not to be bummed out about our favorite tree, although the incident definitely put a damper on my decorating plans and enthusiasm for the task. It took Mark totally out of the game, so I got bored quick too and quit.

So at this point, that's the status. The fireplace mantle has been cleared and our stockings are hung. A couple wreathes have been hung outside on either side of the front door and a few more are scattered around the porch. I poured through the women's mags over the weekend and got all sorts of ideas. But nothing is done. Not yet. My inspiration is here, but my action plan is not.

So I'm looking for an elf. I'm praying for an elf. I want someone to inspire me and get me going on the decorating part of Christmas. To me, it's the best part. I always love my home when it's decorated for Christmas inside and out. I love getting up in the morning and plugging in the tree so that our home is festive at breakfast and throughout the day. I love turning on the outdoor lights at dark. We just aren't there yet, and time is fleeting.

And don't even ask me about shopping. I haven't done a thing other than ask people "What do you want for Christmas" and get "I dunno" as the answer. It's all good though. The holidays are not about the material things but the celebration. But that doesn't change the fact that a Christmas elf who could light a fire under me this year would be a handy thing to have.