Jenster's Musings

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hockey Ballet

A neighbor boy of ours is in the 1st grade (I think) and plays hockey. His team got to play between the 2nd and 3rd periods of the Philadelphia Phantoms' game tonight and Katie, Todd and I went to watch. Not only did we get to watch Alex and the rest of his team out on the ice, but we got to see the Phantoms play for $10.00 a ticket! You can't beat that.

Next Sunday Katie and I are going into the city for a girls' day out after church. We'll have a nice lunch at a fine restaurant and then gain some refinement as we watch the Pennsylvania Ballet dance The Nutcracker. As one of the players was doubling over after what looked to be a rather painful crotch shot Katie said, "We don't have to go to the ballet next week. We can see the nutcracker right here." Whose kid is she???

Alex's team was fun to watch. Even at that young of an age their skating skills amaze me. And then the way they're able to maneuver the hockey sticks. Remarkable.

By the end of the game Katie was nearly hoarse from yelling. I love watching her at a hockey or football game. She gets so into it and it's just so much fun.

I hadn't actually planned on blogging tonight but I had to share Katie's comment. Now I'm going to bed so I have the energy to fill in tomorrow at preschool.

Labels: fun, kids, sports

Mused by Jenster :: 9:38 PM :: 16 People musing:

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Whole Lotta Checkin' Goin' On

Before I begin to regale you with our hockey adventures Friday night I have to tell you what happened this morning.

I've mentioned before the Student Arts Leader from church - Ben - is living with us until his wedding in May. His fiance's roommate has been out of town for a while and Katie hates to be alone at night so she oftentimes stays here. When Katie is here she sleeps in Ben's room and Ben sleeps on the futon in the finished side of the basement.

There is a door on the left at the bottom of the basement stairs that leads to the unfinished side of the basement. But if you turn right it brings you into the finished side where we have my keyboard, a desk with a computer, Todd and Taylor's guitars, book case, cabinet - just a bunch of stuff. Then the room dog legs to the right and that's where we have a TV/stereo, two recliners and the futon.

Ben's door was closed when I came down this morning to download the pictures off my camera, pulled up iTunes and started rocking out to a little Barlow Girl. I'm pretty sure I was trying to sing with them, too. Then I hear Ben's voice. I WOKE HIM UP! For some reason I can't figure out I thought Katie hadn't come back from Thanksgiving yet or something, thinking Ben was in the room and no one was down here. I didn't even look at the futon when I came down!

The thought of singing in front of Ben is bad enough because, like I said, he IS the student arts leader. However, I've never professed to be a good singer so whatever. What has me worried, though, is the fact I carry on entire conversations with myself because no one appreciates my wit and intelligence near as much as I do. I wracked my brain trying to remember what I may have said, but I came up blank. Hopefully because I didn't say anything, but more likely because I've already erased the humiliation from all conscious thought.

Okay. On to the hockey game...

Friday night was a beautiful, though cold, night.

Todd accuses me of being late a lot of the time, but the truth is usually show up right on the dot. The problem is that he's usually much too early. The hockey game didn't start until 7:00 and we were at the arena around 5:30. We spent 15 or 20 minutes in the gift shop so he could buy a Flyers hat (even though we were there to see the much less expensive Phantoms). But then the shop temporarily closed and we were forced to stand outside in the bitter cold for another 10 or 15 minutes until they opened the doors. It was kind of cool that we were the first ones through the turnstile, though!

The Wachovia Center is a niiiice arena and had photo opportunities at every turn. Here are a few:

A "hat trick" in hockey is when a player makes three goals in one game. When that happens the crowd goes wild and throws their hat onto the ice. I, for one, am appalled at that custom. Hats are expensive!! Anyway, this case is filled with all the hats they've collected at Flyers games over the years.

Then we have the pretty Christmas tree in the lobby. Had to snap that.

And last in this line is one of the food service places. It's wrong to go to a sporting event and not partake in the delicious arena fare they serve. Seriously. That's part of the fun. It's why I don't care for sports on TV.

That would be Todd living his fantasy of being an NHL hockey player for a few minutes. This was perfect for him as he can't ice skate. And the guitar is Bonnie Raitt's.

This picture kind of cracked me up. Players from both teams were stretching before the game, just chatting with each other. I imagined they were saying things like, "So, how's your sister? I haven't seen her in forever." While Todd figured they were saying things like, "Yeah. I know how your sister is. I just saw her last night."

This was the closest they came to a fight. It's more like a pile up in the goal. Even the broken stick wasn't from something exciting like using it as a club or anything. While there were no actual fights there were a lot of penalties and a ton of checking. One of the players got "two minutes for hooking". Somehow I always thought hooking carried a longer sentence than that.

The final score, as you can see, was 2-1 Hershey. Bummer. And do you know what this guy has in his ice chest? Not a case of beer. Not spare organs. Hockey pucks. They keep them cold when they're not in play. Why?

My last thought about the hockey game is regarding some of the names. Can anyone guess what these names brought to mind?

Boucher
Picard
Gauthier
Peltier

Besides that they're all French they reminded me of either movies or books. Know which ones??

Labels: family, food, fun, sports

Mused by Jenster :: 1:24 PM :: 18 People musing:

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Monday, September 10, 2007

My Behind is Getting Bigger

Meaning I’m getting more and more behind.

On my posts. Though after the last couple of weeks I’m probably getting more and more behind on me. But that’s another subject for another day.

I desperately need to finish my Rhode Island post. It would make a great novel. You know, love, wedding, coffee shop and dramatic ending. Could be the next great American short story. (how’s that for a teaser???)

I never did go back to bed Friday. I fell asleep in the chair a little after 10:00 and Todd called and woke me up a little before 11:00. Good thing, too, because I had to wake up for my interview.

Taylor’s girlfriend won the regional homerun derby for her division a month or so ago and yesterday she got to participate in the Eastern Pennsylvania Homerun Derby at Citizens Bank Field where the Phillie’s play. Her parents were able to get a good deal on tickets for the Phillies’ game later in the day so we bought four. We were there at 8:30 to watch the derby and then played around for a while before the game started. It was a great game, too!

Kristen was the first in her division to bat and she missed placing by one point. She probably would have placed if she hadn’t batted first because they were still adjusting the pitching machine and it threw her off. Still she did wonderful and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Check this out. A 15-year-old boy jacked the baseball out of the park. FIFTEEN! If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is!

Yesterday was also Todd’s birthday. When Kristen’s mom found out she asked if he would be okay spending the entire day at the ballpark on his birthday. Psssh, yaaaah. It’s his most favorite place to be. It’s his Paradise, his Mecca, his Disneyland.

Not only were we at the ballpark all day, but it was hot and humid. By the time we got home last night we were all whooped. On the answering machine was a message saying I had gotten the job and they’d like me to show up this morning at 8:30.

So guess what I’m doing. I’m a teacher’s assistant to ten 2-year-olds. I’ve decided this is going to be better than joining a gym. I had quite a work out in the 2 ½ hours the kids were there. Then I went grocery shopping, came home, baked a four-layer chocolate cake and cooked a big dinner. Well, not so big a dinner. It just seemed big because I’ve gotten very lax about cooking dinner. Now we’re getting ready to watch Wild Hogs.

In response to comments on the previous blog:

* I’m sorry for those of you who now have the song which shall remain nameless stuck in your head.

* I was on Lunesta for about two years and went off it a few months ago. I sleep fine when it’s not hot and another week or two and it should start cooling off.

* I’ve never heard of a toonie before, but I like the way it sounds.

* I’m happy to know others share the book obsession with me. Hello. I’m Jenster and I’m a bookaholic.

* I hope the Farmer’s Almanac is spot on!

* I seriously didn’t think there was a female over the age of 25 who hadn’t seen Steel Magnolias. Are you over 25, Swishy??

* May nobody who reads this blog ever get an infected “them”.

* I was entering the last book in my book log and realized I read TWO books in August. Go me.

* If I had made the kids a big breakfast for no apparent reason they would be traumatized.

* It’s September. There’s no way for me to make up my chances for Mother of the Year. I have no reason to even try. And really it’s much more fun to embarrass, annoy and freak out the kids anyway.

* Todd and several other people aren’t on my sidebar. I haven’t been very good about updating my blog and I apologize because I have a bunch of great blogs to add. So I will make that a goal – for the week? Or maybe the month. Definitely by the end of the year!

* I’ve also been pretty bad about visiting my blog buddies and replying to my emails the last week or so. I apologize and hope to figure out some sort of system for getting all my computer playing in on a regular basis.

Just like Paul Harvey, I’ll get to the rest of the story in the next day or two. Promise!!

Labels: birthdays, blog, domestic failure, exercise, family, fun, job, random, reading, sports, weather

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Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Just Some Stuff

The Bragging Corner

Katie's school choir concert was Tuesday night. If you will recall, she had one of the seven solos. Two of the solos were boys and Katie was the only female alto solo.

Other than one of the boys who struggled with his solo (but he exuded confidence so he gets props for that) all the kids did a fantastic job. I was amazed at their talent and the ease they sang their parts with.

I won't go so far as to say Katie was better than the other soloists - because she was the only alto she was different. But I was truly stunned when she started singing. I hear her around the house, in the shower, etc. But I don't ever hear her like that. She has such a rich, powerful voice with a natural vibrato. Even the parents around us (who had no idea she was ours) gasped in amazement. I think even Simon Cowell would have been impressed! LOL

She sang in the variety show last year and did a great job. But the growth and improvement over the previous twelve months has been tremendous. I'm excited to see where she's going to go with this talent.

Anniversary Celebration

As I said in THIS post, Todd came home from work early to help me celebrate. I was upstairs when he came home and as I walked down the stairs I saw these on the entryway table. Ten red and two pink roses. Aren't they lovely?

It was a beautiful day so we opened the sun roof and drove about 15 minutes away to a quaint little mountain town with a casual restaurant that I've wanted to eat at since moving here. Moccia's Train Stop.

It's nothing fancy, just a diner in an old train station. But the food is delicious and it's a fun place to go.

After lunch we drove around and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and beautiful countryside, finally coming back home to relax with our current reads. It was about as perfect a day as it could be. Can't wait to see what we'll do next year!

Exciting Softball

In complete contrast to the previous Saturday's softball game (THIS post) this past Saturday's game was exciting. It was a neck and neck race to the end. Great hitting, good pitching and fielding, the way a softball game is supposed to be.

EXCEPT, I was extremely upset with the first base coach at the end of the game. Here's the deal. It was the bottom of the sixth, a runner on third, two outs and we needed two runs to tie. Katie was at bat. Talk about pressure! She smacked the ball and ran like a jackrabbit to first while the other runner came in for another home run.

I will admit I'm not a baseball/softball expert. Not even close. But I do know enough that if you're at the bottom of the last inning with two outs and two more runs needed to win the game, you should be a little conservative. Instead the first base coach sent her to second while the ball was still in play. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She was thrown out at second and that was the end of the game.

I'm not saying her team would have won had she stayed on first base. That's not even the point. The point is the possibility was taken away by someone who should have known better. And the worst part was that Katie started crying when she got out at second because she felt like she lost the game.

Other than that it was a fantastic game and a lot of fun to watch. The girls are improving by leaps and bounds with each game they play. Hopefully tonight's game will be just as good!

Change in Plans

In case you haven't noticed, I've taken the ticker for our Hawaiian vacation off of my blog. Todd and I made the decision the other night to postpone the trip until next summer. My vasculitis is still spreading and not showing any signs of letting up. I have an appointment with a specialist. IN AUGUST! Our fear was that I would still be too uncomfortable to enjoy the vacation so we cancelled the plane tickets and the hotel reservations.

As sad as I should be, there are definite pluses to this decision:

1. My friend, Cigi, who lives in Honolulu will be gone for most of the time we would have been there this summer. Her daughter is graduating from college in Washington State and I only would have gotten to see her the day before we left. So this way I'll get to spend a little more time with her next year as she has no children graduating at that time.

2. The high school youth group is attending a national conference (Christ In Youth) during the time we were to be gone. This way Taylor will be able to go and we can plan around it next year. Of course, every time someone would ask him if he was going to CIY he'd say, "Let's see. It seems like there's something going on at the same time. What was it? Oh yeah! I'm going to be in Paradise that week!"

3. Todd is probably going to go to CIY as a chaperon. Which means Katie and I get a girls' week, including an overnight trip to New York City. Or maybe we'll decide to go somewhere else. Who knows? Whatever, it will be nice to spend some time with just her.

4. I have at the very least another 52 weeks to fit into a smaller swimsuit! No bikini for me, though. I don't want to make the other women there jealous, you know.

The kids took the news extremely well. They both understood why we made the decision we did and said it was no big deal. They'll just enjoy it next year. WHEW!

Last And Maybe Least

I apologize for the length of this post. This is what I get for slacking in my duties as a blogger. Can't promise it won't happen again, though.

Labels: anniversaries, blog, family, kids, medical, random, sports, weight management

Mused by Jenster :: 1:44 PM :: 8 People musing:

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

HAPPY MAY DAY!!!

SOMEBODY PLEASE SHOOT ME

Katie had a softball game on Saturday. Oh. My. Gosh. It was the longest two-and-a-half hours of my life that I'll never get back. This was an away game with another league that has different rules. For example, they don't have a run rule or a time rule. Which meant that we sat there and watched girl after girl walk around the bases. One hour after the game started we were only into the second inning. And if that wasn't bad enough, Katie pulled a muscle in the first inning and spent the rest of the game in the dugout. Todd said watching the t-ballers laying in the dirt and picking daisies on the other field was infinitely more entertaining. I'm thinking watching grass grow would be infinitely more entertaining. Actually, I think I did see grass grow.

To make matters worse, I woke up early Saturday morning with a wicked flare up of the vasculitis. I'd thought it was going away but apparently not. So I was miserable during the endless game and couldn't wait to get home for the anti-itch medication that knocks me out. In hindsight I wish I'd taken the medication before the game.

TAYLOR'S BIRTHDAY

Yesterday was Taylor's 15th birthday. We celebrated by going to the Cheesecake Factory last night. Such a bounty of yumminess. Each of us ended up bringing home a good portion of our dinner and a slice of cheesecake. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight!

We may still have some years left before we can call him a man, but he's certainly not a little boy anymore. There's a huge part of me that misses that little boy. But at the same time I'm thoroughly enjoying the person he's becoming. Most of the time, anyway. He is still a teenager, after all.

APRIL READING

Somehow I managed to read three long novels during the month of April. Some of the best books I've read in quite some time. They are all from the Mark of the Lion trilogy by Francine Rivers. If you're into inspirational historical fiction at all these are a must read. In order they are: