Down and Out!

Well I've been quiet for a week or so and this is why. I got a cold and then sneezed so much and so hard I threw my back out. Yes I know, I worked in the physical therapy dept for years and I should know how to treat myself. But really, when it's you it's different. So I ran to see the Chiropractor ASAP. He's awesome and his "voodoo" always helps. He helped! I went to Adrian and watched a hockey game the first night, saw him again Friday am. Worked 6 1/2 hrs Friday, just couldn't make 8. Saw him again Saturday am, worked 7 hrs and then a hockey game. My big problem is sitting. I'm much better if I'm up and walking. I worked a hockey game again Sunday. Saw Dr. again Monday and worked 5 hrs. It's just sitting that kills. So heres the problem: I have to ride 5 hours on Friday to Chicago for a game and then to Danville on Saturday for another one. Oh and I'm riding a bus! Ouch! We"ll see how I do. I'm better and praying it's gone by Friday.

Today I made home made Mac-n-cheese with tuna and peas for dinner. It smells so good. I can't wait to have dinner at work tonight. Rob will be happy he doesn't have to eat pizza out of the concession standt.

I'm hoping to get up and moving so I can finish a few projects and have something fun to post in the next couple days. Later!

Water front property??

Well who knew. Rob did but usually we open the drain and it doesn't get this bad. In the winter we like to plug the storm drain and let the yard flood. Then when "Mother Nature" freezes everything the kids end up with an awesome skating rink. It happened last year about the same time. But it wasn't quite as bad. This is what happens when it turns 60 out and you've had tons of snow, oh and then it rains for a whole day.

We live near Hines Drive. It's part of our county parks system and is used as a natural flood plain. The road is frequently shut down due to flooding but this is a bit crazy.



There is a small river just to the left of the pic. Normally you can barely see it for the road above. But today, I just had to take a pic of the flood. The weather is suppose to change too and freeze. Perfect timing. The kids are off school next week and a frozen yard will keep them out of my hair and very happy. Guess I need to get his outside skates sharpened. When this freezes over the kids will have almost a 1/2 acre of rink. They just love to skate thru the trees and over the volleyball court.



Well I'm off to be crafty. Got started on my "woodland Creatures" ATC's last night and I can't wait to finish them.

The Road part 2.

Well the game in Danville was a bust. They were having a Breast Cancer fundraiser and wore Pink jerseys and socks along with pink hockey tape. Way cool. Us...we didn't play so well. We spent way too much time in the box and just couldn't put the puck in the net. We had one player who spent 17 minutes in the box, got a game suspension and a $125 fine. What a night he had. NOT!!

Sunday morning we were up early and off to Fairview (aka St. Louis). It would be really really nice to not get lost. Well lost might be stretching it, we took the long way. For some reason Mapquest took us north to go south. We probably lost 45 minutes. We really could have used it. We arrived at the rink to discover the game was at 12:15, warmups at 11:45. It was 11:10. Opps!



We played with enthusiasm and zip in our step for most of the game. Then for some reason late in the 3rd we stopped playing and just stood around watching the other team. Guess what happened?? They scored of course and scored again and again. Yep we lost our 3rd game. So aggravating. We should have taken 6 points this weekend and ended up with 0. Load em up and lets go home.



A quick stop for food and gas and we were off. It's a long ride home but I checked with streets and trips so we had the RIGHT directions and we made good time. Not sure why we spent 40 minutes looking for a McDonald's but we did. James like to take the scenic route and time didn't seem to matter. Oh well. We made it home about 1:30 am. not too bad. I was in bed by 2:10.

Thought I'd share a couple more pics from the trip here:



Notice the look on my face. I'm thinking "What the hell are they doing?? That is not what we said to do! Shit!! Now who am I going to send out to play defense?"

It was a crazy weekend and now we have to win the next few to maybe get a home game in the first round of playoffs. We'll see.

I'm home today with a sick kid. So I updated and did a card. I'll post it next week as it's for the Card Challenge DT.

Life on the Road!

Just in case your wondering what it's like to travel with 20 hockey players, I'll give you a glimpse into that world. We left yesterday for Chicago, game 1 of a 3 game road stint. Boys were good, we watched 2 movies and stopped for lunch in Michigan City. We made good time and actually made it to the hotel with 2 hrs to spare. We played a game and then back to the hotel for pizza. Yes we ordered 12 pizzas to feed 19 boys and 4 adults.

Bed checks were at 12:30 am and lights out was at 2am. I actually threatened them about leaving their rooms after bed checks. You see we have a couple boys who are 19 and feel they don't have to follow the rules, well and unfortunately they are the ones who's girlfriends follow us on road trips. But on this trip everyone was good on Friday night and there were no consequences to be had. Thanks god. I needed everyone to play on Saturday but would have sat anyone who broke the rules. Terry, our fearless leader, didn't have much trust in the boys and kept watch till about 1:30am. Oh too funny when I peaked out into the hallway. He was sitting on a chair reading the paper. I think he had too many Bacardi and diets.



Breakfast is always entertaining. To see who stumbles out of their rooms and makes an appearance, who will break the hotels waffle maker or spill their juice. It happens regularly.

Well and then there's always the bus driver. Why is it they are always named James?? And how is it we always manage to get a little turned around? Today was no exception. We followed map quest's route and some how ended up on a two lane road in the middle of Illinois. Not too bad till we hit a road closed sign with no posted detour. Thank god James is road savvy and got us back on track. He is an entertaining older gentleman with a good sense of humor.

Lunch time couldn't have arrived sooner. We entered beautiful downtown Danville about 2:00 and had arranged lunch at "The Deluxe Restaurant". We have never been here before and when I asked about the place was informed this. "The whole leagues been eating here." Well OK then. In we went. This was the sign outside. Hummmmm.



I had a lot of small town charm with old wide plank flooring and faded wallpaper. It got us all wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. But the waitress was charming and the spaghetti was hot and yummy. The only complaint was not enough bread sticks. I can live with that. Best of all the bill only came to $138. Not bad to feed a family of 23.

So here I sit in a questionable Comfort Inn about 10 minutes from the rink. I think it will be OK The bed is comfortable and the place smells clean. I can only hope we play as well as last night but come out with a win.

I'll try and update again tomorrow with some more tidbits about life with the boys. And maybe a few good pictures to help you get the whole picture.

Another Kaiti LO.

Well I'm a bad Aunt and Kaiti is going to be mad at me. I didn't get her entry posted in time. Sorry Kaiti!! But I wanted to share it any way. It's great. She used Bazzil paper and her title is cut with the Cricut.

The new challenge is posted and I'll get her to do it ASAP and we'll enter it. The new prize is a good one. Be sure to visit Kids Can Scrap