Big Hockey Weekend

Then again, every weekend is a big hockey weekend, right?

Hockey may be coming to an end, but it’s not quite over. This past weekend the state tournament started, which is basically a big playoff that determines the state champions. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, because the hockey powers seem discourage this obsession with winning and being a superstar, and then they organize this big tournament that pits all the teams against each other to see who is the best and who will be champion.  

If that’s not enough, they employ a ranking system where teams benefit from driving up the score, because one criteria for advancing is how many goals you score and how few you allow. In an ideal situation, you would score one goal each period and hold the other team to none, but it’s not easy discouraging kids from scoring goals.

Either way, A did not have games this weekend, much to her dismay, but N had his first round. His division is pretty big, they had to trim 17-18 teams down to 8, so they held “playdowns” in four separate locations. We were in Manchester, and his team did well. They won all three games, N scored goals in all three, and I think they came out on top. They even defeated a team that has beaten them all season long, so it was a big weekend.

They played on Saturday and Sunday, so a lot of people got hotel rooms and stayed overnight. Normally we’d jump at the chance, but it would have meant several hundred dollars in expenses, and the ride was only about 1.5 hours long. Not great, but not horrible. It helped that the games were later in the morning.

A was not as enthused about sitting through hours of her brother’s hockey games, so we arranged for her to hang with ES for the day. K&PS were nice enough to host her for the entire day, which worked out nicely because they haven’t seen each other in awhile, and they are always trying to connect. Me, R and N piled into the car and headed to Manchester. Despite the distance, it’s a nice drive, and Manchester is a nice town. The games were fun, R took lots of pics, and then she went to a meeting with a colleague who actually lives in Manchester.

We had 5 hours between games, so GG arranged for us to hang out in a conference room nearby, where they ordered pizza, drinks, and snacks, and they had this big-screen TV where the kids watched the Olympics. I brought my computer and got some work done, and then the kids eventually went outside and had a massive snowball fight.

At some point R returned from her meeting and she, N, and I went into town to check out the local bookstore and just move around. It was also nice to get away from the TV, which really turns your brain to mush. I can’t believe the garbage they put on, or rather, that we watch. A funny thing was that because we separated from the group, we were unaware that we were supposed to get back early, or I guess I forgot, because when we returned, everyone was on the ice and ready to go. We scrambled to get dressed and played the second game, which was the biggie against our rival. We won, and N had a beautiful goal, again.

It was an awesome day of hockey, but the weekend wasn’t over. As I mentioned, several families were spending the night in town, but we opted to drive home to save money. It was snowing on the ride home, and we had to drive through mountains, past Bromley and Stratton, so the driving was slow. We went to ES to pick up A, then home to bed. We had to wake up the next day for another day of hockey, but that’s a story for another time.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Matthew Paulson for the pic. 

Happy Valentine’s Day

I realize this is late, but I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day. Ours turned out nicely, and it was a little last minute, but we pulled it off. We usually don’t make a big deal about days like these, and focus on the rest of our lives, but you can’t really completely ignore it, especially when it is your wedding anniversary, too.

R and I hadn’t talked much about what we were going to do, but as the day approached, the kids and I decided on a few surprises. We had a pretty uneventful Christmas, so that made it nice to do more on V-day. Maybe since Spring is in the air, we’re feeling a bit more optimistic and upbeat.

I dropped the ball on Christmas and didn’t do our regular gift giving routine. It’s not much, but one thing that’s really nice is making collages of the big events the previous year, which of course includes travel. It’s a nice way to reflect on the year and also to preserve the memories. What’s nice about it is the kids have a lot of fun making them, so they get involved, and R loves them. For the record, the kids did a nice job. We also got her flowers and chocolate, and the kids made cards for her, which for the record were amazing, as usual.

The plan for the day was to go to play in the snow, or should I say the kids played in the snow and I shoveled the driveway. It took me about 2 hours just to clear out the cars, there was so much snow. I haven’t even done the path the firewood, yet. Either way, we also had hockey, and then afterward some supper at Boloco. Another reason to love Boloco was they were televising Olympic hockey so we got to actually catch some of the games. We had tickets to the Dartmouth women’s hockey game, but since we had to travel early the next morning, we gave them away and opted to do things closer to home. We also got our favorite cake from Lou’s, the chocolate mousse cake, for after supper.

It was a beautiful night, and the snow was perfect. They groomed the XC ski trails and it was a full moon. The weather was cloudy and snowy all day, but by evening the clouds parted and the skies were beautiful and clear. We put on our gear and had a late night XC family ski, and at one point we turned off our headlamps and skied by moonlight. I was exhausted from a long day of shoveling and hockey, but couldn’t pass up the chance to ski with R and the kids, at night no less. Did I mention it was a gorgeous night?

We had a blast, and came home and watched a family movie, Tootsie. The kids were somewhat ambivalent about it, I think we should have gone with Harry Potter, but it didn’t really matter, because it was getting late, and we had to get to bed.

All in all, we had a nice Valentine’s Day, despite my cynicism about such holidays. It just goes to show you, it’s not what you do, but who you do it with.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Cake Creations by Shelly for the pic.

Free Magazines

I found a way to save money on magazines while not only reading them, but reading more of them - the library. I knew this all along, but never really took full advantage of it. Our local library tends to turn over some of favorites pretty regularly, including the New Yorker and the Atlantic, and I find them all the time in the recycling bin. Plus, you can check out the issue that came out previous to the current issue, so you read the stuff a week late, but that’s not a problem, especially with a magazine like the New Yorker or the Atlantic. Even news magazines like Time are fine a week late, I have no problem with it.

This has been working out beautifully because I come home with an armful of them and have tons or reading material. Most of them, with the exception of the New Yorker and Atlantic, I can read in a couple of hours, then take them back. We save money and there’s less waste. I love when that happens.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Patricia Meyer for the pic.

Snowball Effect

We had a pretty impressive snowstorm last week, and it sort of disrupted our plans, but not completely. We must have received a foot of snow, which is great when you consider that it’s been a pretty disappointing winter so far. We had some snow early on, and then nothing. On a bright note, we’ve saved a ton of money on snowplowing costs, so we can save up for that tractor we’ve always dreamed about... yeah, right.

The forecast called for a big storm mid-week, and sure enough, the snow came. It was really cool because it snowed all day and night. School was cancelled but not hockey. N had practice in the evening, and the right after I had a game, so the kids were forced to stay and watch, which I’m sure bored them to death. We got home later than I expected, and they were tired and hungry, but fortunately R stayed home and prepared supper, so we had a hot meal and warm fire waiting for us.

One negative consequence of the storm was that a limited number of people showed up for practice, including my friend who said he’d bring me some ski passes. I was looking forward to this because the conditions are really nice, and we’d love to hit the slopes. Oh well, these things happen. If I’m really lucky, he will remember the next time I see him. If not, then that’s just how it was meant to be. Bummer, right?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sami AlBanna for the pic.

Close to the Finish

If you can believe this, we are in our final weekend of hockey, at least for the regular season. Unbelievable. The kids have a few games this weekend, and then next week we begin the state tournament, which is a bit of a marathon, but sort of marks the end of hockey.

We all view this with a bit of mixed emotions. On the one hand, it signals that winter is exiting and spring is on the way, which is nice. On the other hand, it means hockey is over, which is a bummer, but it’s good to get away and get some perspective, especially when you’re surrounded by rabid parents who want their kids to play in the NHL.

The last few weeks get really crazy because there is so much going on, so it ain’t over yet.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to jayneandd for the pic.

Realized What I Was Doing Wrong

In my quest to kick-start my glorious freelance writing career, I have been looking into freelance copywriting opportunities through different avenues. One of them is Flexjobs, which is some sort of matching service that has gotten mixed reviews. I paid $14 and joined for a months.

I was hooked into a few jobs that I thought I was fairly qualified for and got rejected, when I realized that I was doing it all wrong. The site is fairly involved, and I guess there are introductory courses on how to get started, all of which I seemed to have ignored. As a consequence, my profile wasn’t complete, and though I can’t say for sure why I didn’t get certain jobs, it probably didn’t help that I didn’t have all my information on file.

Part of the reason I was motivated to do so was there are definitely jobs out there that look interesting and are realistic possibilities. I’m sort of excited about the prospects, but it’s way too soon to express optimism. Stay tuned for more.

In the meantime, I’m getting lots of experience in hunting for jobs. I’m not always sure what to make of it all, but it’s a learning experience, and that’s always a good thing. It keeps the brain running.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Javier Castellano for the pic.

Tiki Torch and Busy Saturday

Last week we had quite a day on Saturday, culminating in the Tiki Torch Trek, which is a family favorite. Both A and N had consecutive hockey games, which I helped coach and R took pics of. Then we stayed for the older kids game so R could take more pics. After that, we headed over to the big city to watch the movie premier of the Lego Movie at Dartmouth. I had packed a lunch and we ate in the car on the ride over.

We got to Hanover early, so we hung out at the library for about an hour. During this time I jetted over to Sterns to get veggies and then Price Chopper for other essentials, then stopped at Stateline to get my skates sharpened. Of course, I forgot to pick up my skates and had to go back, but that’s another story. Back in the big city, we took the kids to the movie and then R and I went to grab a bite to eat at Boloco, but since I forgot my skates, I went back to Stateline while R at her salad and we met up at the bookstore.

We relaxed for a bit then picked up the kids, only to jet back in time for the Tiki Torch Trek. The weather was good, but not great. We were planning on feasting at the party, but we got there a little late and the food was running out. I managed to scarf down a couple of roast beef wraps and a bowl of clam chowder, but I wanted more! The sweets were running low, as well, and we donated several baked items, none of which we got to eat.

Oh well, we took one for the good of the community, and that’s fine by me. The Trek was fun, we saw several of our hockey and neighbor friends, so it was really nice. Then we got home and went straight to be so we could be ready for the next day of hockey. What else is new?

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to s.v.ceceline for the pic.