To Sleep, To Dream

As I write this it is 8:50 on a Monday morning - I've been up since seven; got the kids dressed, prepared breakfast, made lunches, and sent them out the door to catch the bus. It is 8:50 in the morning - my husband is still asleep...

Now I do have to say that since he has been out of work, he has been pretty fair about getting up on alternate mornings, or on mornings when I have a meeting, to get them off to school. Not that it helps me, as I usually get up too - once I'm awake, I'm awake - and they are incredibly noisy in the morning! But, even after he gets them off to school, he lies back down on the couch and sleeps for another hour or so...

Why is he so sleep deprived? Because he stays up and watches Sports Center until 1:00 in the morning!!!!

Frankly, I don't get it...as soon as the boys come downstairs in the morning they turn on ESPN and in the evening they catch up on the day with ESPN. Then, of course, whenever there is a game - weekend football, weeknight hockey - it is on our television.

He has seen virtually every game available to watch or caught up on the pre and post game shows, and yet, he still needs to watch Sports Center at midnight!!!

The only answer, the only way he will stop this madness?! HE NEEDS TO GET A JOB!!! Pray for me people...

By the way - it's now 9:10 and my husband is still asleep!

He Shoots...He Scores!

As one season ends, so another begins. No - the boys are done for a few months...
It's the big boy I'm talking about - John has started his hockey season.

Now, I do need to brag a little...my husband will be 51 years old in January! MORE than half the guys on his team are old enough to be his son. Yet, he is still able to play.

There are three factors that enable him to continue...

1. He is Canadian and hockey is in our DNA
2. He is a goalie
3. Americans stink at hockey

How do we know they stink? Because they need a 51 year old goalie! In Canada, John would have been playing in a "Senior" division ten years ago. Here - they don't have enough players to make up a regular division, let alone intermediate or senior.
Besides, the best players in John's league are --Canadian!

Being a goalie means John doesn't have to play "out", as they say. What it really means is that you don't have to skate. What he does have to do, however, is get up and down faster than a toilet seat in a busy bathroom (sorry - I had to use that saying from my Mother...but in Canada we call it a washroom!)

The by-product of all this activity comes home with him after every game - the smelly equipment. In order to make it less smelly (is that possible?!) he hangs it in our garage, far, far away from the door into the house.

Bottom line; I am really proud that he is still playing and he says he had a great game..."stood on his head" as they say in hockeyland! They only lost 9 to 6...:)))

The In-Laws Are Coming!

About six weeks ago, we received a very unexpected phone call from John's oldest brother. He and his wife were coming to visit, and bringing John's parents with them!

You have to understand why this was a huge shock to both of us...we moved to this area from California four years ago. With the move, we placed ourselves within a five hour DRIVE of both our families in Canada. Since that time, only two of John's seven siblings have visited us, and his parents have only been here twice - the last time 3 and a half years ago!

What would prompt this sudden desire to cross the border? Sidney Crosby.

For those of you not familiar with hockey - Sidney Crosby is the biggest export from
Canada since Wayne Gretzky. Tonight his team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, are playing the Toronto Maple Leafs - and the Canadians will see it live!

Now it all makes sense - Canadians and hockey. The one thing enticing enough to bring John's family over the border...Not all the Canadians will be attending however; at $90 per ticket and a sell-out the day they went on sale, only John, his brother and his Dad can go.

I will stay home and catch up on eight months of family news (the last time we were together) - seven siblings, nineteen grandchildren and a great-grandchild on the way. That last bit of news came to us last weekend from the expectant grandmother; John's oldest sister. She had actually called to tell us her other son was getting married and I made a joke about the news being a new baby - she said "oh that too". That news was already a month old in the family circle...

There's another bonus to this visit, at least for Cameron. When my parents visit, Cameron loses his bedroom to Grandma and Grandpa. However, John's family have chosen the Holiday Inn as their home away from home for the next three days and it has an indoor swimming pool...good for the boys... great for Mum! :)

BTW - The Maple Leafs won 5-2...Very happy Canadians...