Game one

I'm not sure I will actually post about games two and three, but game one was a great experience and I just want to jot it down.

I'm at an out of town tournament playing with a whole bunch of ladies that are a lot more experienced than me, but at the same time they are having to "play down" because we are in a novice division. Last nights game reminded me why I love this group; they're patient, encouraging and set each other up for success. And they have fun and enjoy doing it.

So this group has a pretty solid defense set-up so I am playing wing. My Honey was giving me some pointers before the game - play like you're 10 points ahead and you want to keep it that way, your job is to be there for the rebound or to take it all the way and hit it in. That kind of stuff.

Well it worked! I was there for several rebounds (nothing made it in) I took it to the net (nothing made it in) and I caught quite a few passes, and even had successful passes to my teammates that were assists in goals! So my personal stats were pretty impressive- two assists and the other team voted me MVP.

Even without the MVP it was a great game! So looking forward to the next two. AND I even get a cheering section :) some of my west side family and maybe some friends will be at the games today. I'm looking forward to seeing them!

The bittersweet? My friend and coach T is at a different tournament this weekend so she is missing it all. I did send her a text about how her little girl is getting all grown up.

Spring Break

This past week the kids have been on Spring Break. They got two extra days off due to conferences. I'm actually glad it worked out that way since the extra days were my days off from work too. My sister-in-law from Portland and her family were in town so I got to spend more time with them than usual, including a little girls-night-sleep-over with the cousins at my house that inclcuded pizza, dressing up, makeup, fingernail polish and sleeping on the floor. Total chaos! But a really fun time for everyone.

 

 During Spring Break-proper, I had to work so I signed Hannah up for a Y program she still enjoys and Bubba did a row and paddle camp. If I were a 4th-8th grader I would have LOVED the row camp, in fact, they should do an adult version! The kids met at the park Monday through Thursday from 9-noon, learned about rowing canoes, kayaks and paddle boards and on the final day they canoed down the Columbia from Confluence park to the boat launch a few miles away. What a totally great time! Bubba had a blast. They also learned CPR and got to explore the conservation areas at the park. Two thumbs up! The Y program is still just right for Hannah, group games, swimming and some arts and crafts. They have both been wore out all week.



Tomorrow we leave for Everett for my final hockey tournament. It's the only out of towner I was able to do this year, the other one I signed up for didn't get enough participants. I took on the responsibility of booking hotels, I sure hope I did it right .... Every email I've sent out since then has had an error in it about something or other so I am hoping everything works out. We have a totally cushy schedule, first game Friday night at 7:30, Saturday games at 12:30 and 6:30. IF we make a championship game it would be at noonish on Sunday so we don't get home too late either! The kids are looking forward to a hotel "WITH A POOL!!" and Cabela's.

Fresh

I was super irritated last week after work so I went storming up the hillside to relieve my irritation, cussing and swearing about how So-n-So is a stupid such-n-such. About how I'm not doing my job wrong but they sure make me feel like I am. About how nothing works right, how it's not my fault. Blah-blah-blah. On and on. Woe is me. Then I turned a corner and I started to realize that I ought to consider some other things like maybe So-n-So might have been having a bad day (or week, or month, or year). I didn't do my job exactly right (I skipped a few steps, we still would have arrived at the same end). There will never be a day in my job where everything works right. Sometimes it is my fault. Then I started down the hill and I noticed all the things I missed while I was charging angrily up the hill. The eeentsy teensy white flowers sprinkled in the new green grasses, these pretty purpley-pinkish beauties.

Madness blinds us. Exercise opens our eyes, and hearts and minds to other possibilities. To the beauty around us.

On my walk today I found this gem: a brand new something or other just barely busting through the newly dampened ground. (We woke to new snow today ...WTF? First day of Spring, my ass!) But its hopeful, no? If these little buggers can make it through a winter and poke out this Spring so can we. It's a fresh, new year. Fresh new start. Push through, unfurl your leaves, reach up to the sunshine. Grow. Live.

But there was this too, a bright blue sky. Ahhh, beautiful.

And this. This is my new favorite view.

I took a right at the Y in the road and ended up here. Soon the hills will look like they are actually covered in a green velvet. I can't wait. Then I know summer is just around the corner!

Finished

For the past year I've worked on this sweater for Hannah. I've ripped it out at least eight times. I finally signed up for a class "how to knit your first sweater" and finished this bad boy.

I don't know who is happier. Me, Hannah or the people at work who have put up with me this past year.

Up next a picture of her in it and then maybe a matching purse!

Rainbow updates

My girl and my work crew have done wonderfully with the whole "rainbow/color of the week" thing.

My girl and I created a FB group where we posted stuff, at work I used an existing bulletin board covered in a dollar-store plastic table cloth to cultivate creativity. Along with an email, something on our in-house system, plus a note in each persons box in addition to signage. Just a few reminders!

Green wrap up

From my Rainbow Girls green week:

RED!

My people came through and there were some fun things posted :)
Blue is coming up ....

What's on my mind?

That person, you know? The one who drives me a little bit batty? It's because I'm just like her. Only less annoying, I hope. But I know I'm not.

That hockey thing, you know the one thing I talked about ALL. THE. TIME. last year? What happened to that? I'm still playing, in fact we scrimmaged this morning. It was good. I think I was loquacious about it last year trying to figure it out, work through it. It seems easier this year, I'm not trying to remember all the stuff I wrote about last year, a lot of it is coming naturally. That's a good thing, right? But the scrimmage needs to be talked about, if only so I remember what my job was supposed to be.

We played "drop-in" style so you never know what position you're gonna play until someone comes off the ice. Several times I found myself playing positions I don't know well. No, that's not it, I was going in to a position that I don't play often (forward or center) so I had to remember what I am supposed to do. Its kind of disheartening. BUT, I did it the best I could, and it got easier each time. (I still hate center, too much responsibility.) I'm trying to get rid of the puck too quickly and without thinking, though, when someone starts toward me. Man up! Evade! You're fast, you can get around them and go! go! go! DON'T THROW THE PUCK AWAY! It never works out ...

We have a local tournament next weekend. It sounds like I'm playing in the novice division, which suits me just fine. Do I want to be on an upper team? Ever? Good question. I don't know. The following weekend I had signed up for a tournament in Idaho. Sounds like its a no go. Too bad, I was looking forward to an out of town tourney. Hopefully the one in April will be a go.

My girl and I just wrapped up our RED week. And I started this color project at work too. I'm a little nervous about it, but ... Well, its just six weeks.

Up the road

Hannah has some kind of flu so she was home sick from school yesterday which means I didn't get out for a walk. Fortunately, I managed to get out for one this morning. Many thanks to My Honey. The above picture is just some ice. In real life it had rainbows shimmering through it. The camera couldn't capture it tho.

This fence post is at about the third mile up the road. Yeah, that means I did six miles today. It took me just under two hours, it was muddy, a little snowy and UP HILL! Its nice to get back out, get moving. After being holed up with Hannah yesterday, it was just what I needed.

Rainbow

The next several weeks will bring a rainbow pallet of pictures. A project I was working on for work morphed into Mustard wanting to do a project of our own so we started Rainbow Girls. In essence the project is to see the colors in life, there are also pieces about mental and physical well being too.

The past week was yellow. So we photographed yellow things in everyday life. This collage is things I photographed on Thursday. The pancakes are a tortoise and a hare (use your imagination and flip them sideways) because Hannah is in a play on Saturday. Maybe. She is a sickie today, so we shall see.

In keeping with our project, I've been more outdoors-active. Dorika and I went up to Mission Ridge and hiked a few miles of the Devils Gulch pipeline-thing. It was soooo quiet. I saw some animal prints, bunnies mabye? and that was about it. Too cold for the birds and squirrels and all that. But not too warm up there that the ground is all sloshy and muddy like up on the hillside. I made a small goal of 100 miles before our April shift change. I am tired of failing my walking goals. I didn't make either of the ones from last year. Life gets in the way, I guess.

Today start a RED week. Stay tuned for RED pictures!

Favorite Vacation Pics

Miami

I love the palm trees

Cozumel

Very colorful at the port

Cozumel

The resort where we did a COOKING excursion!

Cozumel

My dessert plate. I did ALL that

Honduras

I may or may not have taken a rock or seashell of this beach

This was our favorite port!

Shipboard

Our favorite Cocktress at our favorite bar, Alchemy

Yes, she is pouring four drinks at one time!

They were all good, I fell in love with Manhattans!

THE COOLEST

I found the coolest menu planning thang.
It was super cool because this week's menu calls for mangoes which I just happened to buy when shopping the other day! Oh yeah, I signed up. I am hoping it will help me get my grocery budget under control ...

I worked out again

Home from our sunny and rainy and wonderful vacation, and out for a walk with the dog. She sure is glad to get out. Here she is after a 4 mile hike. Looks like she is just getting started, doesn't it?

It felt good to get out, I am so glad I live here. I really do like it, but I will admit 85* was wonderful, even in a "tropical storm". -- That's my description of the rain showers we encountered on our trip.

I work out

RunKeeper tells me its been since December 18 that I walked a significant distance (2 or more miles). Looser. My blog tells me I just DON'T FEEL LIKE IT. Regardless, I decided to get out there today (27* ) and walk the dog. Let me re-phrase that. I have decided if I actually get off work at 1:00 I WILL walk the dog. The end. Why the hell not? Okay, confession, I didn't walk her last week. But I had shit to do! We are leaving town Friday and I needed to get some stuff done in preparation for our trip, a late twentieth anniversary cruise. Yes, Imma gonna leave this 27* weather for 85* weather. Go ahead, be jealous!!

It was kind of weird to walk the hills that are normally all dirt and sand and they were all snow and ice. Needless to say, we didn't get as far as usual!

 

I was thinking on my walk: I'm in much different shape today than I was in November. Walking keeps my thighs a little slimmer and my cardio up, which I TOTALLY noticed on the ice last Friday morning. What I would loosely describe as "workouts" lately have been yoga and some hockey -- not as much as I would like, but some. Hopefully, once we are back from vacation and I am used to my new work schedule, I can resume hockey twice a week, yoga and walks a couple times a week. Hell, I better get back to hockey a couple times a week, I am signed up for three tournaments in February & March!

Anyway, it was a nice walk, very quiet, no birds for the dog to chase and a tad bit slickery. Next time I take those gripper things for my boots!

I may have ended up with a pretty picture for next years' calendar :)

Oh, and what does it mean when a persons name comes up at work, you see her at yoga, then hockey, then she gets in a car crash all within the same week? It's kind of freaking me out in a "Maybe I cursed her" kind of way. But not really, it was a non-injury crash, so just weird coincidence?

Rules Schmules

I just read this and laughed!
Guess where I fall? ...

Kids

Oh, how having kids makes you look back, and forward, and ask yourself so many questions.

Hannah has a friend that pulls the "I don't want to be your friend anymore" business on a pretty regular basis and it makes me so sad because she really adores this friend. And it takes me back to grade school (and beyond) and makes me look at myself and wonder if I was ever that mean. I don't think I was, I kept my words to myself until adulthood, but I probably ACTED that way from time to time (especially if there was a boy involved). So I have a hard time guiding Hannah. What I really want to tell her is not to put so much of her heart into this relationship since it keeps getting broken, but she is as stubborn as I am, and I don't want her to have to learn to open her heart back up later in life like I have had to. So we talk and we cry and I don't know the answers. I try to teach her to use her words (it hurts my feelings when you say you don't want to be my friend) and to be kind (thats okay, I still like you) but will it work? Or will she become a doormat? I doubt that! But I don't want her to go the other way either and join in.

And Bubba. He's eleven now and it's weird. He wants so much, but doesn't want to do the work for it. He needs so much, but should be growing out of that phase, right? He wants to be independent, but falls apart when he can't do something by himself. He is one great big contradiction! AND IT'S EXHAUSTING!!!! We've spent more time in tears and yelling in the past few days than I care to record. Suffice it to say, there has been kid-drama every day for at least ten days... I'm tired out by it and tired of it.

So looking forward to vacation, which may actually be causing the problem. My Honey and I are leaving next week for 10 days to go where it's warm and the kids are not invited. I think, in their own ways they are stressed out which comes out in tears and bad behavior because they don't know how to say they're stressed out and worried about us being gone. I guess we need to come up with some kind of "what to do when you miss mom and dad" thing... Facebook? A journal? Make a photo album for them to look at? A video? Sure sounds like I'm creating a lot of work for myself....

Twenty seven

Degrees that is. But I got this neato new down jacket I HAD to wear so I took the dog out for a walk. Whatever works, right?

Ohhh 2013

Dear 2013,
I'm not sure what you have in store for me, or what I have in store for you, but I think we are going to like each other.

I plan to keep on taking pictures, playing hockey and working. Working? Why would I mention working? IDK, it just slipped out of my fingers. I also want to get back on track walking the dog, but its 20* lately and I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE IT.  I would also like to cook more, turns out I kind of like it (?!), and explore some other creative outlets.... not sure what, but I'm looking.

I also picked up Gretchen Rubin's book THE HAPPINESS PROJECT. Funny story, I then set it on the kitchen counter, face down, left the dog unattended for a few hours and returned to my HAPPINESS book pasted to the counter top by spilled milk (thanks to a combination of Dog and Kids), needless to say I was not happy. I might have yelled and screamed like a two-year-old. However, the whole book is not ruined, just the cover. So I am still reading it and I like it. I might try to cultivate happiness this year. Or rather, identify what makes me happy. I think I spend too much time thinking about what would make me happy and not paying attention to what does make me happy. Make sense? So, instead of a gratitude journal, I am going to keep a happiness journal, I am actually going to write a few things that make me happy each day.

What else? That's it.
Thanks be that the Mayans were wrong.
Happiness to you all,
Rainey

Sparkles

One of my hockey coaches also figure skates. Last night was her figure skate club Christmas production. It was fantastic. It was very cool to be a part of watching the kids perform, supporting one of my friends, introducing Hannah to what ice skating can be and also taking my Auntie to something she really enjoyed!

It did make me think tho, and realize all the things I missed out on by not knowing, or caring, what my family and friends were involved in and supporting them in the past 30 years. Piano recitals, football, wrestling, musicals, plays, tennis, baseball, all of it. These thoughts have been bobbling around for awhile, I'm not sure where they all lead, I guess to an awareness that its not all about ME.

How appropriate since my word for 2013 is "ego"...

One day at a time

Currently, I'm trying to take on just one day at a time. I can get so caught up in the holiday BS, I just want to take a break from it this year. Pause. See what's around me.

So far? Sickness ( nothing major, stomach flu piggy-backed very nicely by a major sore throat. Only one of us so far....). Some overtime hours, crappy, grey weather and feeling generally unhealthy. Nothing that won't work out, but ....