Oh Mother

Oh Mother our lives have changed so much over this past year.
I can’t get through a single day without shedding a tear.

Oh Mother, I pray that you will enjoy your special day.
We are missing Dad, but that will never go away.

Oh Mother, our faith, our trust, our love, will see us through.
I thank you still, for all of the things that you still do.

1inawesomewonder

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

One night a couple of months ago, I was tired and my mind was overflowing. I needed at least a little downtime and some quiet. I sat alone at my keyboard, and I felt a poem, a rhythm, that I needed to capture.

Eventually I turned on some music and I came across this instrumental that I have grown to thoroughly enjoy. To me, this tune playing and the flow of words go hand in hand. That’s how I see it and hear it. Either way, this is how it came out.

Oh Mother I am grown now, can I turn it back some how?

Just to live life again, but to see you then, as I do now.

Oh Mother hold me again, as only you could, and did.

In your eyes, and in my heart, forever linked, just a kid.

Oh Mother rock me to…

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Dr. Ben Carson for President of the United States of America!

This is short, sweet, and makes a good point.

Beautiful Life with Cancer

  
I do not care much to meet a movie star on the streets of New York or shake hands with a rockstar at a concert.  No offense or disrespect, just nothing about that inspires me.  Dr. Ben Carson coming to town for a book signing, now that excites me!

My family and I just spent most of the whole day standing outside of a bookstore in order to shake the hand of Dr. Carson and for him to scribble his name across the inside cover of his new book.  Total time in his presence: all of about seven seconds.  I SAID THAT I GOT TO TOUCH THE HAND OF DR. BEN CARSON AND HE WROTE HIS NAME ON MY BOOK!  It was amazing!  My heart was about to beat out of my chest and every star struck nerve in my body was on overload.  The man is my hero!

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The “Entitlement Generation” by Amanda Goodman

I came across this and had to share it. Short, sweet, to the point. Accurate.

The “Entitlement Generation”

“If your parents had to use a wooden spoon on you, then they clearly didn’t know how to parent you.”

Yep. I got that email last night after I posted my blog.  I honestly had to laugh. Here was a stranger criticizing my parents. I tend to think they did a pretty good job. They raised three, well-rounded children. One is a successful HR exec, one is a journalist and the other is a doctor. Clearly they did something right. And let’s be real for a minute, it wasn’t all about a wooden spoon. It was about manners and respect.

I went home and was talking to my husband about it. He said, “This is why we have a generation of entitled kids.”

I repeated that earlier today and someone asked in shock: “How could you say something like that?!”

Because I have seen it first-hand.

At my last job, there was a young woman who was interning with our station. She showed up to work one day wearing extremely short shorts and a halter top. To work. Our news director at the time said, “You have two options…you can run home and get changed and come back…or you can just go home.” Her response came quickly and loudly: “WHO THE F@#K ARE YOU TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT? YOU CAN’T TELL ME TO GO HOME!!”

Ahh…and there it is. The entitlement coming out. The “I have never been told no because I want to be your friend…let me give you a trophy because you signed up to play soccer even though you never come to practice, only games…I’m not going to give you a grade on this test because I don’t want you to think you’re a failure, even though you don’t study…you’re going to sit in time-out and then we will discuss why you called your mom the B-word…I can post anything I want on social media because I have freedom of speech…I won’t be held accountable at school because my parents will come and yell at the teacher for me.”

I will say it until I am blue in the face: I am thankful I was raised the way I was raised in the era I was raised in.  We used the terms ma’am and sir…we said please and thank you…we wouldn’t dare look at our parents cross-eyed…if we didn’t study, we failed…if we didn’t go to practice, we didn’t play in the game…if we didn’t win, we didn’t get a trophy…if we talked back to our parents, we got the back of my mom’s hand to our mouths…if we used a bad word, we got soap in our mouths…if we acted up in school, our parents were called to the principal’s office and we served detention…if we didn’t like our dinner, then we didn’t eat…if we were late for curfew, we were grounded…if we lied, we had our toys taken away…if we misbehaved in the neighborhood, our neighbors would discipline us…if we didn’t get hired for a job, then we weren’t who they wanted.

We weren’t handled with kid gloves. Our parents let us fall so we learned how to get back up.  We were told the word “NO” and told it often. It wasn’t about our parents being “our friends.” It was tough love. Why? Because they knew how tough the world is.

I’m over the “entitlement era.”

I’m nowhere near a perfect parent. I learn something new everyday. But I do know…I want to raise my kids the way I was. Because I don’t want to send spoiled, entitled brats into the world.

There is only one thing I knew: whatever my parents did…worked.

And guess who my best friends are now? Yep. My mom and dad. The ones who were “so mean” growing up.

Anchor Mom

NH Avalanche 00 – Fear Factor

There’s a saying that goes something like this: “There’s nothing to see here”. This may be one of those places, nothing to see here. I will let you decide though.

The great thing about rumors is that anyone can start one. So, that’s what I am doing, in good fun, I am starting a rumor. Rumor has it that opponents are fearful of coming to the Ice Den Arena to play this NH Avalanche 00 team. The team has continued to practice. They are playing hockey in any shape or form that they can find. They are working to improve their games and to get ready for the next levels of their hockey careers. And based on recent history, with no games since January 25th, they are waiting for an opponent to play.

Back at the start of the season, when this Avs team was losing games by some pretty big margins, it seemed that teams were lining up to play the NH Avalanche 2000 team. Things have changed. Better play, a few ties, some more wins, the change of seasons, continued practice (mostly consistent) and now nobody is lining up.

Lets take a quick look at some numbers here. Games played by month (based on the game sheets collected)

September: 5 games played. Outscored 39-6 in those games.

October: 4 games played. Earned two ties and scored 13 goals.

November: 10 games played. First two wins of the season. Turkey Tourney.

December: 2 games played. High school seasons start.

January: 4 games played. Another win and a tie.

February: 0 games played so far. Patriots win the Super Bowl.

Including the first weekend in September when games started, there have been 24 full weekends this season, right through this past weekend. The NH Avalanche team has played 25 games.

I know that high school seasons started tryouts back in early December and subsequently there have been fewer and fewer games and/or teams to play against, or so it has appeared as such. Yet, I have seen other 2000 teams still playing 2,3, and 4 games a weekend throughout this time frame, up to, and including this past weekend. I know that some have said things like…”This has been a trying year for many on the team. The Avalanche Organization has done everything we can to make the best of this season, going above and beyond, however some things that were out of our control led to some issues…” 

I am not behind the scenes. I have no inside knowledge of efforts made, efforts not made, agendas (personal or otherwise), or how strong the organization is, or isn’t. I do know that any organization is only as strong as its weakest link, or its limiting step. The reality played out over the last 24 weekends would tell me that there is and has been a very limiting step in this organization, or at least how it relates to this team. Again, I am just a parent on the outside looking in. It seems to me that the coaching staff and kids on this team have been undermined. Every time the ice is offered, kids and coaches show up, even though some kids can’t make it because they’re already on the ice somewhere else. I will have to look back at the information provided to us coming into this season, but honestly I don’t like looking back except to learn from history or to remember those things worth remembering, and this would not be one of those things.

I realize the kids are not Mites, Squirts, or PeeWees anymore. When the games and practices felt more like a family affair and were as much about the kids as they were the parents (in our minds anyways) especially during tournaments. (Speaking of which, how is the Avs 2000 tournament forecast looking?) Even so, this is still a game; a great game; a wonderful game. It’s hockey. It’s the most family oriented sport of them all in my opinion. Yes, I keep referring to family because in my opinion families spend time together, they do things together, they are ‘all in’ more then they are all out. This has been disjointed at best. Over the first 48 days of 2015, the Avs have played just four times, with no games in the last 23 days. I know there are other teams. I know there are schedules. I know there is weather. I also know that where there is a will, there is a way. Where’s the passion? When did it stop being about the kids? “Above and beyond” to me is far more proactive than reactive. It’s far more open minded than close minded. It’s more about ‘what can we do?’ versus ‘this is what we can’t do’. I suppose I have to trust that everyone has been “making the best of this season”, but I do know that best is defined as follows: of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality.

On a positive note, there is a game scheduled this Sunday out in Exeter. Hopefully that holds up, although the last time the Avs played there, it certainly was memorable. Oh, and, I hear there’s free money being offered up to Avalanche families who have not yet spent money going forward. In my calculations, that is equal to exactly zero cents on the dollar.

Enjoy the rest of the week. I look forward to more hockey. I love the game. I love the season. And more than that, I love the kids that play the game. It’s a game, a kids game, and didn’t we all grow up making our ‘best’ efforts just to be playing a kids game one more time; every time?

 

Snow Streak

Here in my yard, in Goffstown, NH we have seen snow in the following amounts over the last 20 days or so. I know these are not necessarily record-breaking, and that others have seen a lot more, but this is a pretty good run none the less. I do love all four seasons and here in NH I do feel that we get a good taste of each season annually. So even though the air temperature was -8°F when I went to bed last night and my driveway needed snow blowing again today because of the snow that had blown into open areas at depths of several feet; I still love winter. Late this afternoon I spent another hour or two outside working in the cold and the snow. There’s just something special about the crisp, cold air, and taking in a deep breath of it while pondering the white world around me. #ilovewinter

Part of our homemade backyard rink, two storms ago.

 

January 27 – 22.0 inches

January 30 – 5.0 inches

February 2 – 16.0 inches

February 5 – 6.0 inches

February 7 – 1.0 inch

February 8 – 4.5 inches

February 9 – 8.0 inches

February 10 – 2.0 inches

February 12 – 3.0 inches

February 14 – 6.0 inches

February 15 – 5.0 inches

February 18 – 4.0 inches

February 21 – 3.4 inches

March 1 – 2.0 inches

Streak Total: 87.9″ of snow

 

Impending Night

1inawesomewonder

there’s a lump in my throat where a laugh used to be
did the good times get away, or is that just me?

there is ache where distant smiles war again to be recalled
are those dear memories real or have I forgotten them all?

ease of step and stride no longer accompany my gait
or is there a plan in place, or just some cruel fate?

up-turns always close to the corners of my mouth aren’t there
have those pleasantries vanished into the cold winter air?

free flowing thought seems hemmed in by barriers I cannot see
where is the joy that often wandered about, boundless and free?

the frame from where I peer closes in like dark of impending night
dare I ask my role in the stifling of that darling light?

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2014 in review – 1inawesomewonder

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,600 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.