Potter

Can you believe it...Michael actually BEAT me to finishing Harry Potter!

(I finished the book the first day back while we were at goalie camp.)

Of course, he was able to read in the back of the truck (while we were on holidays) for seven hours at a time...me, I was too busy checking out all the lighthouses enroute (this one is Cape Ray, Newfoundland)


History of the lighthouse (double click on the picture for a larger print reading)...you know that there is ALWAYS a history with each lighthouse! It still amazes me that families lived solitary lives to protect those on the water. Some lighthouse keepers were paid very well (Cape Spear, for example); others were not. Tomorrow, I'll post the Cape Spear info.

As requested...Henry on holidays...

I know...I know...hardly recognizable!


Funny, that you should mention the lack of Henry and guinea pig photos...look what I found:

newfie land

Michael, Bailey and Jenny on a rock, on "The Rock"


I even managed to find a mini golf course with a light house!


Bailey on "the Rock"

Adapting...

THE BODY (AND MIND) IS A RESILIENT PIECE OF WORK THAT IS CAPABLE OF ADAPTING TO A MYRIAD OF CIRCUMSTANCES. WHEN WE WERE AWAY ON HOLIDAYS, WE WENT TO BIG FALLS, NEWFOUNDLAND TO WITNESS THE SALMON RUN. OVER TIME, THESE FISH HAVE ADAPTED AND EVEN CHANGED THEIR BODIES TO BECOME LONGER IN ORDER TO SURVIVE THEIR JUMPING UP THESE FALLS TO MAKE IT OUT TO THE OCEAN.

A TRULY AMAZING FEAT TO WITNESS.

ANOTHER TRULY AMAZING FEAT TO WITNESS WAS MY ADAPTATION TO THE COLD THIS WEEK INSIDE THE ARENA (NOT THAT MY BODY CHANGED OR ANYTHING…SOMEHOW LOSING A FEW POUNDS DOESN’T SEEM TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ADAPTING TO THE COLD) THE HUMID EX OUTSIDE IS IN THE TROPICAL RANGE OF 35 DEGREES. FASHION THEREFORE DICTATES SHOWING AS MUCH SKIN AS LEGALLY POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, MERE STEPS AWAY THROUGH THE SLIDING GLASS DOORS EXISTS SUBZERO TEMPERATURES FOR THOSE CRAZY PEOPLE CALLED GOALIES (AND EVEN CRAZIER PEOPLE CALLED ‘MOTHERS’ WHO INSIST ON SITTING IN THE COLD PART TO SUPPORT THEIR PROGRESS)

IN PAST YEARS, THE ROUTINE HAS BEEN TWO HOURS IN THIS CLIMATE IN THE MORNING, A WARM UP BREAK FOR AN HOUR LUNCH AND THEN ANOTHER TWO HOURS FREEZING IN THE AFTERNOON. MY BODY ADAPTED TO THIS QUITE WELL WITH A WELL-PLACED BLANKET AND FLEECE PULL-OVER.

THIS YEAR AT GOALIE CAMP HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT FOR ME. JENNY GOES ON THE ICE FROM 9 – 11 AND 1 -3. MICHAEL IS ON THE ICE FROM 11 – 1 AND 3 – 5. COUNT THE HOURS PEOPLE THAT I AM SITTING IN THE ICE-BOX! TUESDAY WAS EXCEPTIONALLY LONG WITH ANOTHER GOALIE CLINIC IN THE MIX (9 A.M. TO 9 P.M.)

VANITY, IS OF COURSE EVERYTHING AND PEOPLE LOOK QUITE FOOLISH COMING OUT OF THE ARENA IN JEANS, SHOES, AND JACKETS AND IMMEDIATELY MELTING TO A PUDDLE BEFORE THEY GET TO THEIR CARS. I, OPT FOR A SLIGHTLY LESSER ‘LOOK’ BY COMING OUT OF THE ARENA QUITE PURPLE BUT STILL RETAINING THE ‘SUMMER LOOK’ OF BEING IN FLIP-FLOPS, SHORTS AND T-SHIRT, CARRYING MY SWEATER AND BLANKET FASHIONABLY OVER MY ARM. OF COURSE, I WON’T WEAR MY NAVY BLUE SHORTS AGAIN, AS THEY BLEND IN TOO WELL WITH MY MAUVE LEGS AT THE END OF THE DAY! I AM LEARNING TO TAN WELL AND WEAR BRIGHT RED TOE NAIL POLISH TO HIDE THIS CRAZINESS OF BEING A YEAR-ROUND HOCKEY MOTHER.

ALL IN ALL, I THINK THAT I HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THIS GOALIE CAMP VERY WELL.

HOW DID MICHAEL AND JENNY DO, YOU ASK? POOR BABIES, IT WAS GRUELING FOR THEM…THEY TOLD ME EVERY NIGHT ALL ABOUT THEIR ACHES AND PAINS AND PAINFULLY SHOWED US THEIR BLISTERS AS THEY LIMPED AROUND THE HOUSE.

FUNNY, NOT ONCE DID THEY ASK ME HOW I WAS COPING WITH THE EARLY MORNING RISING AND DRIVING, AND THE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES IN THE ARENA. I AM PROUD OF MY BODY AND ITS' RESISTANCE TO SUCCUMB TO FROST BITE. (MY TOES ONLY TINGLE NOW INSTEAD OF GOING NUMB!) I THINK IN A FEW MONTHS I'LL BE READY TO ADAPT TO HEAT, SAND, AND SUN (PREFERABLY IN A TROPICAL SOUTHERN LOCATION BELOW THE EQUATOR...OF COURSE, I'LL BE GOING BY MYSELF BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE WILL BE IN A TOURNAMENT, OR PLAYOFFS, OR...ADAPTING TO MY SUDDEN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL DEPARTURE)

LIFE IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE, LOOKING AT THE FUNNY SIDE OF THINGS…AND, OF COURSE, ADAPTING.

Darien Lake

If you look very carefully, you can see how Michael and I are so similar!

One of the components of our trip was Darien Lake, an amusement park that never ceases to amuse our family (hence why we keep going back each summer) Henry, Michael and Jenny go mostly for the roller coasters, mostly the Superman (I mean "Ride of Steel" as it is now called as Darien is no longer owned by six flags)
Me, I enjoy other aspects of the park...the huge ferris wheel, the water rides, the merry-go-round and the funnel cakes. Oh, and I must of course, mention wack-a-mole, my favorite carny game. Henry and I faced off against each other for the championship title.
I had him at the first mole.
(That, or Henry has learned a thing or two after sixteen years of being married to me!)
Our friend, Brenda, videotaped my victory dance. She looked quite surprised at the spectacle I made...I don't think that she had seen this side of me yet. Henry actually caught my slightly rougish streak as I bumped the crap out of our friends at bumper cars. (Who knew that I also have the family trait of sticking my tongue out when I concentrate?)

The funnel cake gods were not nice to me the first two days...can you believe they didn't have any apple or strawberry topping??? I had it all planned out, Apple on Monday...Strawberry on Tuesday, and just a sugar-coated one on Wednesday. Of course, you realize with my family, I had to make excuses to sneak off to actually have one all to myself! However, my family knows me better than I think, as they tracked me like a seasoned pro and innocently asked to share. Some days being a mother is just too much for me. Check future posts, as I will compare this episode to our puffin-watching boat tour.