Hockey and… goats?

Goats and hockey fans don’t often share a news story. Actually, goats don’t get a lot of media coverage connected with any sport. Except butting. Is that a sport? Goats definitely do okay with the butting, and depending on who the recipient of the butt is, it could feasibly end up in the news. But I digress….

During the Stanley Cup playoffs, the goat-hockey connection has been big – in BC, anyway. Hockey fans here bought 684 goats for villages in Kenya. Why? It’s “what Canada is all about:… loving hockey and taking care of your neighbour”. Cool. God keep our land glorious and free and creative enough to make hockey and goats seem like logical things to put together for the good of others.

Check out the news story HERE for details.

Peace….

Mondayness: the good, the bad, and the hockey

The good: Despite my DH being out of town, I had a great Mother’s Day yesterday. DD called from her home in a land far, far away and we had a great chat; Son3 made me super-sweet cards and stuff; Son1 treated me to dinner out; and then Son2 and I watched a movie together (HP and the Goblet of Fire – no matter how many times I see that, I will always cry when Cedric dies. ::sniffle, sniffle:: ). Anyway, they all made me feel very special. I’m a lucky mom!

The bad: I may have a sinus infection. Nothing is helping.

• A run in the cool, coastal air didn’t help (but my face throbbed in time to my footfalls, which was kinda cool in a really painful way).
• The steam from a hot shower didn’t help.
• Extra-strength sinus meds didn’t help.
• Acupressure didn’t help.

Ick. I’m out of ideas. Wait! Tea. Maybe hot tea will help. Couldn’t hurt… brb.

I’m back. Chai tea, work your magic!

Now where was I? The goodness and badness that is this Monday….

The good: I made my first vlog today!

The bad: It’s so awful I’m not going to show it to anyone. Except maybe my mom, cuz she’ll love me anyway.

A little more bad: Son3 is home sick from school. Again.

And some good: If he’s not going anywhere, neither am I. Just gonna have to spend the day at home writing.

Finally, if the writing doesn’t click today, I can watch, like, six hours of hockey later. The Pens game, the Canucks game. Oh, and maybe I can find a replay of the World Championship gold medal game (which unfortunately turned out to be the silver medal game for the Canadians, but I’d still like to see it). So overall, not bad for a Monday.

Peace….

Canada’s priorities…

I love that the CBC delays its newscasts when there’s a hockey game on. (Now if only my team would win!)

Saturday night’s all right

Hockey – yay! And my team’s up by two three four at the moment. Finally, Saturday night feels right again. (Even with the all-new HNIC anthem.)

It’s a big year for the Canadiens — their 100th season! A 25th Stanley Cup would be fitting for their centennial season, don’t you think?

Homecoming

Do you know how much of a sap I am? I cried watching this on TV last night:

Dilemna, disappointment, disgust, delusion, and disbelief

These are the things on my mind today:

1. Dilemna. Only one Canadian team remains in the NHL playoffs. But they’re so not my team. Sigh. Now I have the big debate about who to cheer for. Do I go for the “Canadian team”, which for all I know could have more European and/or American players than Canadian players, or do I go for the under-dog, which is always pretty fun, emotional, and often ultimately depressing (but when your under-dog team wins, it is so sweet) . I can’t not watch the playoffs, so I definitely need to pick a team to back.
2. Disappointment. As all my fellow Gilmore Girls fans must know by now, the show is ending in a couple weeks. Another sigh. And maybe a sniffle. I’ll be okay, just so long as Rory doesn’t marry Logan. And Lorelai and Christopher shouldn’t end up together (again). The relationship between Rory and Lorelai has always of course been central, so I hope the finale has some really great moments between the two of them.
3. Disgust. A judge thinks his pants are worth $65 million. Must be some niiiice pants. This better get turfed out of court mighty fast.
4. Delusion. My daughter managed to convince me that it would be, um, fun to enter an off-road triathlon with her and my hubby as a relay team. Time to get training! I’m the “running” member and, I fear, the weak link. But I’ve got three months to whip myself into shape. No problem.
5. Disbelief. I picked up four pizzas for the six teenage boys that I knew would be at my house when I got home from work today. They were gone in about 7 minutes (the pizzas, not the guys). How do they do that? That’s like 1500 calories per person. In 7 minutes. I would explode if I ate like that.

So there you go. Maybe tomorrow I’ll think about more intelligent things. Or not.

Life lessons from hockey fans (and other thoughts)

I just read Pete Hautman’s Godless, a YA novel about belief and unbelief, about religion and the power of ideas. The main character, Jason Bock, creates his own religion (Chutengodianism, which sees the local water tower as god) but then finds it extremely hard to control. It was an excellent story — thought-provoking and quirky, with a great “voice”. I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but overall, a great read — recommended!

Next up, I have Jerry Spinelli’s Star Girl and Alice Hoffman’s Indigo, but I want to get some writing done on my WIP (work in progress) before I read those. I haven’t written much lately because I keep having to go to that dang day job of mine. Oh, it’s a good job, but it sucks up my writing time. If only I didn’t have to pay bills. Actually, I could just choose not to pay them, stay home from work, and write away. Hmm, how long would it be before things fell apart and nasty men from collection agencies pounded on my door and then chased me down dark allies like Chinese operatives closing in on Jack Bauer in 24? (Was that not totally predictable that the computer chip or whatever ended up exactly where it wasn’t supposed to?) Anyway, guess I’ll keep the day job, but it’s slowing me down, I tell ya.

I tried to write during the hockey game last night. I’ve resorted to cheering for Vancouver, and I’m actually more enthusiastic than I just sounded. Just that they’re my third choice, but my first two choices didn’t make the playoffs. Anyway, as the second overtime period began, I closed the lap top (meaning I gave up) and focused on the game. When Vancouver won (yay!) the camera crew managed to find a few Canuck fans in the sea of Anaheim fans. They were very happy fans, to say the least. Wearing their jerseys and whoopin’ and hollerin’. It’s kinda cool that they didn’t hide their loyalties. I think if I was a fan in the opponent’s arena, I’d be a little more discreet (meaning I’d be a big chicken) about cheering for my team. Then again, maybe the fans in Anaheim are a bit more tame than some of the hard-core Canadian fans I’ve seen who are just a tad, um, zealous. I don’t know. But hats off to those Vancouver fans who didn’t hesitate to be themselves. I wonder if they’re like that in life generally, not just hockey. That’d be cool if they are. I guess it’d be pretty cool if people were always themselves instead of hiding or pretending or whatever. Risky stuff, but I think it’d be good.

My dog is staring at me, trying to send telepathic messages – feed me, feed me… can’t you see that I’m starving here? - so I will go and feed the poor deprived animal.

‘Til later…

Death and taxes (and hockey)

Yesterday was stormy, and the sea was all churned up – wild, white-capped, and beautiful. This morning the air was calm and cool, the sun was shining, and the tide was out – perfect conditions for a walk on the beach! The ocean had flung so much onto the beach in yesterday’s weather. I suppose in truth the shore was scattered with all manner of dead marine critters, which, when you look at it that way, could suck the enjoyment out of puttering along through the debris. I still loved it, though. (When do I ever not love the beach?) The smells, the sights, the sounds… magnificent.

I’m heading out shortly to take the kids to the library, and then I will force myself to spread papers all over the table and DO MY TAXES. I meant to do them sooner. Really, I did. There was just always something better to do (like, um, walk on the beach, for example, or write a novel, or watch hockey). Today, though, I will actually do the dreaded paperwork.

I will not watch the playoffs until my taxes are done.

I will not watch the playoffs until my taxes are done.

I will not watch the playoffs until my taxes are done.

Hope y’all enjoy the weekend.

Writing through the playoffs

There’s nothing but hockey on TV for the next two months. Normally, playoff time is a wonderful time, and I waste an extraordinary amount of time watching the great Canadian game (against mostly US teams *grin*). The problem is that my team, the usually magnificent Montreal Canadiens, did not make the playoffs. Please pause for a moment of silence…. Thank you.

Maybe next year….

I could cheer for the local team – and I suppose I will – but it’s just not the same. So what’s a girl to do every night while hockey fans everywhere are glued to the tube ignoring all domestic responsibilities? Um, write maybe? Send my whole clan down to the basement to cheer for their teams (we have several rivalries going within the family) and hide myself away with my laptop and WRITE. Yay! I can get a lot done before the Stanley Cup is awarded. A lot. If I limit myself to catching the highlights on TSN every night, my WIP will be done in record time. But not watch hockey? Hmmm, it’s gonna be tough.