Tuesday, March 1, 2016

My Tale of Woe

It's been a rough two weeks, to say the least, and I have to say that while it's been a bit of a sob story, some of it has been self-inflicted, to say the least. Nobody's fault but mine, as the saying goes. Mom has been sick with the flu that has lingered and grown into a bit more, so much so that she's been out of commission for a couple of weeks. That has left me to my own devices, and besides the increased workload, I'm without my best friend and partner in crime. You take for granted the little things like companionship and someone to talk to.

To add to the drama, the kids have been incredibly busy, as well. Both of them have hockey, though A's ended last week, which is a bummer, but they should be proud of what a great season they had. Speaking of last week, it was quite the marathon and by the end I was exhausted. It's playoff hockey time so there's no messing around, and thankfully the kids are back on their feet and healthy. N had his state tournament in the even bigger city and I was reluctant to leave a house of malaise, but to A's credit, she did an amazing job of holding down the fort. The plan was to leave Friday early and spend some of the day up there, but since mom wasn't feeling well, we helped out as long as we could at home, filling the wood box, cleaning up, and making several pots of food that they could re-heat for meals, especially chicken noodle soup. I also took mom out to help her work on a project, even though she felt awful. Talk about dedication. Her plan was to do the final editing from bed, which is a testament to today's technology.

We left for Burlington in the evening, which was later than we'd hoped, but we still had plenty of time and it was more important to get our ducks in order at home. The weekend went well, the kids advanced to the championship, and on Sunday afternoon we headed back home. Kudos to A for keeping house and taking care of her mom, who was still not feeling well so we continued to nurse her along. The following week the business continued, with A heading back to school in the AM, as well as early morning hockey practice. She had a dentist appointment that I had forgotten about but somehow managed to remember just as I was picking her up from school. Talk about cutting it close, we even got to the appointment on time. Someone was looking our for us. They both had afternoon/evening practices, so I had to get them to the rink, and thankfully work at the Inn had not really started up yet.

On Wednesday A had a big game but after school she also had to go to the optometrist to get her new contact lens Rx. We were a little pressed for time but things went in a timely manner and we were able to get home, eat some lunch, and then I took her to the arena to catch the bus to the game. I then went home to check on mom and pick up N for his evening practice, then headed up to Stowe. The timing worked out because after N's practice there was a boy's HS hockey game which his entire team was staying to watch. I arranged for him to hang with the hockey families and drove up north. It just so happened that a major storm rolled in that evening, but more on that later.

I got up to Stowe and managed to get lost looking for the rink, arriving just as the first period had started. It was a tough game, they lost, thus ending their season, but again, they have much to be proud of. I gathered up A and we headed home, getting lost once again on the ride home, which is nearly impossible to do, but of course I managed it. I also lost my cool in the car, upsetting A and making her cry, which made me feel terrible, but more on that later. The reason I was stressed was because I had to get back to the home rink to pick up N, even though we had plenty of time and he was having a blast hanging with his buddies at the game. Even still, I managed to find something to stress over. For all it's worth, the ride home was brutal, the rain was coming down in sheets and at times the visibility was close to zero and the roads were icy. Talk about a total bummer. It's hard enough to drive at night, but add the rain and it's a total drag. Plus, the clock was ticking and it's a long drive. We ended up at the HS game with time to spare, so we watched the end of the game and headed home, exhausted but happy to be home.

On Thursday we were hockey free, but A had editing to do at CATV. I dropped her off after school and went home to make lunch and supper. We also had tickets to see the musical Chicago at the Hop that evening, but with mom still sick, the kids invited their buddy NMP. To make it more interesting, A arranged for us to pick her up in the big city and bring her home, then we were all heading back to the big city for the show. I had to modify the dinner plans and make vegetarian options, which actually worked out fine. We went to the show and got back sort of late, around 11:00PM.

Friday AM N had an orthodontists appointment, so I dropped A off at school, came home to get N and take him down south, then went back to the big city to get A after school. We didn't have anything planned that evening so I actually got to rest after supper, but that weekend is when things really started heating up because I went back to work at the Inn. On Saturday N had a game over in Manchester, which meant a 1.5 hour drive there and back, then a 30 minute break before I headed over to the Inn for work. I got home at about midnight and had to wake up around 6:00AM to take N to a hockey clinic up in Burlington on Sunday. Man, I can't even tell you how tired I am of long drives. It's getting crazy.

On Sunday we spent all morning up in the even bigger city, then back home by lunchtime when, you guessed it, I went back to the Inn for work. I did a 1:30-11:30 shift, and then to bed to get up at 6:00AM to take A to school. It never really ends, does it?

Sunday's marathon was due to my encouraging N to try out for a spring hockey team, so the fault is mine. He has been reluctant to do in the past but I wanted him to at least try. Again, more on this later, but suffice it to say that it was fine and he had fun. Plus, he got to eat Five Guys on the way home, and you have to love that.

I think that's enough of my sob story. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Jadwiga Nycz for the pic.

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