Bonus: Hockey

After the blinds are thrown open this morning in proper east coast fashion, and the best shower I've had all week:

1. Real NHL players: Resting on a bench at Gilmour Academy Ice Complex, I look out a small window onto the USA Hockey High School Nationals.
2. Murray: 'What, me? Stress? About who is going to put the banner up? And sign the scoresheet?' Joy!
3. Free chips and salsa and Nationals photos on the walls: all that is right with Cleveland on a hockey night out on the town.

What is excellent about this city? The metro. The museums. The shopping. The food. The people. And, of course, the hockey.

Cleveland, Ohio

The highlight was High School Nationals (see Bonus below). Nothing can beat that. Here are the others:

1. A really nice guy from Utah at the airport gave me his mini-van to use up the next two days (he is a business owner in Murray, in case you happen to know him).
2. I walked through a colourful, confetti-covered park, where the guard at the rock-n-roll hall of fame let me in the building to warm up and check it out, even though it was reserved for the Pearl Jam induction.
3. Full of chinese food from our P.F. Chang's dinner, I, for the second time in under three months, was saved by Max, letting me wear his hockey jacket (I have a habit of being woefully unprepared for the weather).

You gotta' respect a city that plays good music.

Nationals

USA, somewhere over the

1. Nationals: I got a lift to the airport from Angela and saved $20 on an Uber.
2. The idea to pack a lunch paid off with fresh roasted turkey sandwiches, so I was able to eat something healthy before boarding the plane in Chicago.
3. The flight was completely full, so I settled in to sleep on my own seat.
 

Some people dream of meeting their favorite hockey players

I'm raising both of mine

1. whatever it is that stirs your soul, listen to that.
2. everything else is just noise
3. we leave for nationals tomorrow morning 

To the world...

We Are Just A Team

TO EACH OTHER WE ARE FAMILY

Snips

1. A colleague offered me a sympathetic ear.
2. Lunch with Charmaine, listening to her stories of life and travel on cruises. La-La Land sounds like a must-see.
3. DM from a sweet-teen son - my sister visiting Magnolia Market. Thanks, Instagram!

Snap from Max up on the slopes 

The Cup

A day with the cup

 1. My son worked ‘at the rink’. We had a nice, long skating clinic!
2. Mini shooting class with Coach Macker at the barn in Park City.
3. Inspired (as always) by Max: the ‘detention of missing classes’ is necessary for graduation progress.

Today is the perfect day to be happy

1. Brunch reception: A three-and-a-half-month-delayed birthday brunch in the company of good women. It was so delicious, the thought of licking clean the yogurt bowl actually crossed my mind.

2. Guest reception: An off-hours siesta in a quiet redecorated bed room.  Just as I was closing my eyes in sweet darkness, a text came in with a different idea. I'd call it a dream-like sequence, except it happened to be from a friend of mine, she said, ‘you are strong and courageous and good and kind. You are so good at showing love to others...’




3. Email reception: I opened an email from a coach who wants Markus to attend a spring training camp. Coach Macker is teaching this one so maybe he will go. It's a pretty good price for 12 sessions all at Steiner. So maybe.

Brilliant

Sweetness

1. Hip! Maxi did my dishes for me tonight (gracias).
2. Hip! My niece is playing the part of Belle in Beauty and the Beast - brilliant.
3. Hooray! Well, thank goodness I do not have to work tomorrow.

Happy National Puppy Day

Feeling

on edge

1. Leftover cherry pie and vanilla ice cream for breakfast.
2. Max helped me out big-time by making a phone call to his friend about their senior trip.
3. Chuckling my way through hilarious labor-delivery session featuring the dearest baby, The Guardian Angel of Laughter.

These were my silver linings today.

Wheels

I read about a balance wheel. It goes something like this:

1-3 = suffering
4-6 = surviving
7-10 = thriving

• work: financial & career {i just found out I only have to work one weekend a month now that iCentra implementation is over AND I received a hug and a raise $$$$ from my boss.}
• intellectual stimulation: good reads {if you haven't read The Art of Hearing Heartbeats you are missing out.}
• creativity & play: Jax & Grey taught me how to draw again :)
• spirituality & sense of purpose: visiting teacher who came over on the very night I needed a hug. being a visiting teacher to someone who could use the same. 
• rest & sleep: well that's a little harder when Jax was up from 2:30-4 am crying with an ear infection. but at least the /motrin/ kicked in after a little while. and then there's the night shifts but i'm getting used to those. that and a little red bull. 
• good nutrition & exercise: thanks to iCentra going live my work has been feeding me two meals a day at each of my 4-5 {12-1/2} shifts a week. walking the floor for those hours gets my steps in. and walking Skip for loooong walks through the park helps too. 
• relationships: family, friends, & community...my boys and sisters and friends and hockey community I love so much.

Oh, and happy first day of spring!

Sun Valley: Blogged

I've completed blogging Jax and Grey, Mar. 17-20. Scroll down to check it out. Next week:  the cool Cleveland trip for Nationals.

Selfie Love

How could I forget?
My time in the twin world enriched my vocabulary, if only a little.

MOANA. You hear it everywhere, particularly the song lyrics. It means ‘the ocean’, but can also be mentioned casually, such as between friends, like ‘hey, moana!’ It seems to be quite versatile.

I enjoyed watching it tonight, especially the part where Moana's grandmother says... "You may hear a voice inside...and if the voice starts to whisper...to follow the farthest star...Moana, that voice inside is...who you are." But above all, I will dedicate its use to my nephews, my little buddies.

Stars

 Mountains, somewhere over the

Grey

1. My apple music kept me company from SLC to SV to see my jolly nephews. She showed me his bottle of antibiotics: ‘this one has an ear infection.’ Two year olds!
2. One sister drove to the airport and my other sister invited me over for a home-cooked meal.
3. Darlin made my bed for me, fresh! See what a sweet sister she is?

She's a giver

1. A giver of love
2. Of good vibes 
3. And strength 

and she's on her way to the Bahamas with her husband, Jan. I love that she asked me to babysit while they're away, at least the first four days. 

Bonus: Friends

Laurie made my day and I in turn made my patient's. She is the busiest woman in the world who is my friend. She knew I was having a rough week and that I was at work; she helped me more than she'll ever know. Today she brought me flowers. My face lit up! She might not feel like it, but our five minutes were like an injection of medicine. How could she know that the day hated me so much and didn't want to get up or go to work. How I've been. How talking to someone else, even for a minute, makes all the difference. Nothing I was busy doing at work seemed as hard. Five minutes.

Bonus

Heart

This week I found myself reading a book called ‘A Well Tempered Heart’. I don’t know many people who have read this book; I picked it up at the library (I read the first book by this author). It has officially entered my consciousness.

Perhaps I'll re-position my outlook to include seasons, collections, hearts and directions. If it's not too frivolous.

Quotes

Heard and loved today:

1. ‘Kaleb pulled out his phone last night at the game and asked if I'd seen the GoFund Me page for Nationals. His grandmother donated $1000.00. It's unbelievable!’
2. ‘Come over here hot pants.’
3. ‘Way to win the game for your birthday, Preslee!"

Match with:
a. softball 
b. television 
c. coach

Stop

Wait a minute

1. Text message from my friend Olivia. Maddie's last dance tomorrow. 
2. I took my car in for the air-bag recall. Again. 
3. Alumni? Natty's? Champions. Fun game at County. 

It's not your business that I love you; it's mine.

1. My mom wrote some nice things about going to lunch.
2. Gordon left taking his guns and tools (I have to lighten my outlook and hope that he finds where to call home).
3. Two tickets to the Minnesota tournament and I'm going to Sun Valley this next weekend.

When you discover that all happiness is inside you - the wanting and needing are over.

1. Two good friends listen to me crying and blubbering my sorrows.
2.Preslee has a softball game. We all go to the new Urban Outfitters. We return home to team-cook dinner.
3. My first-ever Friday night to bed early. Daylight savings starts tomorrow.

Some Memories

I have to remind myself to wait until The Day After...

After posting:
a) I was offered some delicious pizza - mmm!
b) I saved a pin with a great quote attached. I love it so much, I might post it somewhere else on my blog as well:

‘some memories never

leave your bones. like

salt in the sea: they become

part of you.

- and you carry them’ - p a p e r  w i n g s 

Oomph

3. Morgen told me about his three good things tonight.
2. Sometimes he has a really good day. Thanks to his friends that actually like him wanting to go to the concert with him tomorrow and Saturday. And the fact that his spring break is next week, so he can sleep and get that extra *oomph* to gear up for tax accounting.
1. He also told me: He was nominated for an officer in his Beta Alpha Psi, but that he turned them down since he needs to keep his job. Opportunity knocks...I hope that I can offer to help him enough so that he can accept this one.

8

1. I love that face.
2. I left the house on the first attempt today (yesterday it took three attempts).
3. Couch potato self infliction: Fixer Upper!

Balance

Today was the most ordinary of days.

1. The first meal (‘hard boiled egg and orange juice’).
2. Back to the lunch room for a second meal.
3. A small bag of carrots and dip.

These were extraordinary, I assure you – and they were very good, indeed!

I came home from work to find this (i) someone watching a movie for psychology class, (ii) someone reading a sweet book for management and (iii) someone composing a song for band class. Next time I have a crazy day at work like I did today, I'll round out my time in accordance with Skip's system. It's all about balance.

Shock

1. My dignity intact, shock and awe among the details: lined up since 9pm, young  men and their elbows fight over the puck on a sheet of ice. I, nurse, though grateful for the win, vow to never want to see a boys back broken again. Terrible game!
2. I had a lovely conversation with an old friend.
3. I made progress in cleaning up my stacks of consent forms for Nationals.

#11 Troast

Willies

1. Hope: I believe the manager of the rink and I came to a better understanding of each other after an extended conversation. 
2. Darlings: It's not every day that I get to see photos of my young nephews who turned two today. What ugly woogly, silly willies of joy!
3. Tough: To help pass the time at my fifth twelve-hour shift of the week I watched a difficult movie. This worked (it usually does). It even included:                                                              one of the nurses, Margie, that still works with me. 

The Day

1. Started the day at work early. 
2. Kept the day going strong with iCentra. 
3. Ended the day late!

Care

1. Taking
2. care
3. of business.

Bucky's Day Off

3. Max reunited with the snowboarding friends for their half day off from school (because Jr's were taking the ACT).
2. Sometimes a guy just needs to take the rest of the day off on Tuesday since it was only half day.
1. I woke up after my night shift today to a creepy but charming feeling that I had no idea where I was or who needed to be where. 

Sister Act

Aria's Play

1. 7am - woke up (slept in, that is).
2. 7pm - Met up with my sister.
3. 7:30pm - Enjoyed watching her daughter Aria @ Monday night's performance of Sister Act.  Not to mention the beautiful costumes designed by Monet (see November 8 post).

Further, I picked up Markus, from his practice at Steiner before the State Championships this weekend, Jeff called to talk about Nationals later this month, and a perfect stranger smiled at me at work yesterday (no idea why, maybe she reads my blog?). 

Oh, yes, and happy first day of March!