Murphy's Law

I feel like I've been living under a black cloud lately. You know that feeling -- like anything that can go wrong, will. It's been hanging on for close to three weeks now. And no matter what I do to wake up with a good attitude toward the day, something goes wrong.

Now I'm at the point where I have a sour stomach every day with the left overs from what has been going on. It seems I'm coming out of it, but I have some emotional baggage left still to deal with.

It first started with our local hockey team. We're very dysfunctional up here, and we always start out the season with a lot of drama. No big deal, as by about Thanksgiving the drama has resolved. This year, it hasn't. Our team manager is usually the instigator of this drama. She's into "image", and the "image" usually revolves around her son when it comes to hockey. He has to be the "star". Well, he didn't make the state team again this year, but my son, Derek, did -- again. This has always been a bone of contention for her, and so the drama begins. This year, though, the drama was/is at the insane crazy level. There's another ice rink/team down in Albuquerque who is rather cliquish, and most people just poo-poo them off as "that's the Outpost". Well, this year several of their kids also tried out for the State team and most of them did not make it. The people/association who put together the state team didn't want these kids to be left out and wanted to help develop them, so they were going to go with a "B" competetive team for them. Well, our manager and these other parents refused to let their kids play unless they could play for the "A" team, thus not having enough kids to make up a "B" team so that was abandoned.

So what happened? These parents got together under the direction of our manager and decided to make their OWN "B" team! Our manager invited all of our best players off of our local rec team, and then invited the kids from this other rink to join us. Well, okay, fine. EXCEPT that the first games scheduled were during our local team's first games -- which I didn't know. The email was sent out that our first games for our local team were in Durango. Anyway *I* thought it was our local team. I send out our calendars for our team, and sent out the scheduled games for that weekend, noting that our manager's email did not include all of our parents on our roster, so corrected it, and sent the calendar out to EVERYone on our team. Big unknown mistake on my part as I found out later. It was NOT for our local team, but this "new" team put together from our manager! She also told me just to leave off the games scheduled here in town, that it was only Durango for that weekend. On hind sight, I see what happened. Because our entire team was not invited, the kids that were not invited were just dropped from having games that weekend. But the parents who did not get the invite were furious that this was going on, that their kids' games were canceled because only half of our team was invited to go to Durango leaving not enough kids to have a game here! Yikes!

Okay, so that's going on -- still. Our local hockey board is furious with our manager; many parents are furious with our manager; and I feel like I'm between everyone because I'm listening to the woes of our manager AND the parents. In the meantime, our manager is absolutely ballistic about her son not making the state team and keeps directing her anger at me and Derek, trying to find absolutely everything wrong with Derek to try to get him banned from the rink. Which means, Derek has to be absolutely PERFECT in everything he does. Have you ever seen a kid who is absolutely perfect???? Makes it really hard and stressful on both of us... and she's been blaming Derek for absolutely every wrong that is happening, and so far he hasn't been involved in any of it, but once did have to applogize along with the other kids that were involved. I don't think he even has to be at the rink to be blamed, either. He's just automatically on the list of kids to blame now. *sigh*

Now, to continue on with our dysfunctional local hockey team...

We have an assistant coach who is... well, "odd", for lack of a better word. He's the kind of guy who comes across as really nice, cooperative, knowledgeable, etc. But behind the scenes, he's a bully to the kids. Now, I don't mean the kind of bullying that you would associate with the image of a coach, either; I do mean bully. And it's done so only the kids know it's happening, and the parents kind of ignore what their kids are telling their parents about him because he seems so nice and cooperative. He's virtually on a power trip, trying to be dictator. Never has a kind word for the kids; is known to slam the kids against the boards, or physically grab them by the neck or jersey, all because they didn't sit down when told, or because they tried to explain to him why they did what they did ("don't smart mouth me!") -- things like that. But this is all done where adults rarely see it.

This coach declined being the assistant coach this year for our local team because he volunteered to be assistant to our state team. The kids here cheered. The kids on the state team are getting a taste of him now. Now, I'm the kind of person who, after an incident has happened, tell myself that it can't be as bad as I thought. Because we both had kids on the state team this year, I agreed to share rides, and even agreed to share a hotel room for a weekend. What a mistake! After finding out that Derek was being bullied the whole way home from high school team practice in the mornings, and after being bullied myself on our shared weekend, I called it quits. I do not care to be bullied, intimitated and yelled at. And it really hit home what Derek was going through on those rides home from the rink in the mornings.

Okay, so on to his coaching on the state team. Because he knows Derek, he benched Derek over Thanksgiving. And because Derek's friend on the state team stayed with us that weekend, he benched Derek's friend. I never thought that he would do that, but he did. It's also obvious that he's talking to our head coach because I watched as the dynamics of our team changed to what we see going on here with our local team in Taos. It was chaos on the ice, with a lot of kids upset and angry. I don't think anyone else knows how our team here in Taos is, but it was obvious to me and Derek. It was this coach's team, not our head coach's. So our head coach was actually doing what this coach suggested. Our great state team has now turned to Dysfunctional Taos.

Derek says he has quit the state team. He refuses to play as long as this coach is on the bench. I really can't blame him, but this coach has our team over a barrel because his daughter is the back-up goalie. We can't even register for Nationals if we don't have two goalies rostered, and this coach's daughter will make it so we can go. She's on the team so that we can go to Nationals. If he pulls her, we can't go, simple as that. But if our head coach continues to do what our Taos coach tells him, we haven't got a chance in Nationals. We WERE a great team; now we're a joke.

So we've got that going on. I still have to call the manager of our state team and officially resign. In the meantime, if we want to play for the travel team that our local team manager put together, the rules are that Derek has to officially resign from this state team. Which leaves a sour taste in my mouth, because the other parents from the other rink absolutely hate the state team because their kids didn't make the team. So I feel that's manipulation.

So as Derek says, "hockey has really soured this year." We're looking at moving in with Mom in California and trying out for the Jr. Ducks for next year. I, for one, am tired of the drama, so have not ruled out that option. Mom, on the other hand, seems to sound thrilled at the prospect...

Okay, so that's hockey.

And then I lost my bonus at work and blew up. I guess I have a reputation for speaking my mind at work. November was the month I had several scheduled days off for hockey tournaments, so it was going to be a short paycheck month for me. I went home sick one day at the beginning of November when flu was really going around, and the supervisor on duty I guess didn't like me that day and "deviated" me. So I lost my bonus that I was counting on. All the other supervisors were shocked that she did that, so I wasn't alone in my feelings. When she told me sternly, "we have to talk about this or you're insubordinate", I just told her, "then I'm insubordinate." I thought she was going to fire me -- which, in my state of mind at the moment, was fine with me.

And then I got jury duty. On the first day I reported, when I came back to work, I couldn't park in the parking lot and had to park across the street. When I went home from work that day, I got in the truck, went to pull out, and realized that my driver's side mirror on my truck was stolen! $800. And that after I had just replaced my back bumper from some girl who "just had to see what was going on across the street" instead of looking at the cars stopped in front of her and rammed into me.

And Derek, who got flu in September, just has not fully recuperated. He's had ear infections, and this last one a couple of weeks ago, he had two ear infections, severe bronchitis, and fluid in his lungs. The doctor grounded him from ice time for a WEEK. "I'm FINE!!!" he kept proclaiming to both me and the doctor. *sigh* So I had to deal with nebulizers, inhalers, meds and keeping an active kid resting. Yeah, like asking for the moon!

And my tires are bald, and my major service on the truck is due (approximately $2,000 service every 60,000 miles -- I now have close to 70,000 miles on this new truck!!!).

Got the tires last week -- wrote a check (if I have checks, I have money, right??? lol)

So that's my black cloud. Seems to me there's more, but I can't remember what all it is. Oh, yeah -- Derek grew another two inches, and so we had to buy more hockey equipment. And the zipper on his hockey bag just broke. *sigh*

End of Season

We had one last hurrah this season -- in Anaheim! This was with the competition state team, not our local recreational team.

I told my new job that my condition of being hired was to have Memorial Day weekend off for this tournament (plus other things -- and they still hired me??? ...amazing...). I emailed the family in Anaheim and let them know the schedule.

My brother Steve and Mom were there for all of Derek's games! Everyone else went to the river for the holiday weekend. Steve had to stay because of not only the work he had to do for the year-end school year (he's a teacher), but because of Christopher's (his youngest son) hockey games. So we spent the weekend going between Derek's games and Christopher's games! Cool! What a weekend for us hockey fanatics!

Now, you have to realize that our team was lucky to go. We had exactly two lines, as the other kids couldn't go (we usually have three lines). Which meant tons of ice time for the kids that did go. Derek got a hat trick in the first game, a play maker in the second game, and FIVE goals and two assists in the third game! Awesome! We won all our games and went on to the Championship game.

The Championship game was against a Canadian team. They scored first, but we came back and tied them. They were a REALLY tough team, and we weren't playing as well for this game as we did for the previous games. So our kids really struggled. The game ended in a tie, so we had to go into "sudden death" over time.

What's really sad, is the other team got a goal in first, but it was disqualified because it was kicked in (a no-no). Their team thought they had won and was already throwing their helmets and gloves into the air when the ref said "no goal". So the puck was dropped again, and within seconds, one of our kids took the puck down the ice and scored! ...making US the winners!

Each of our kids got a trophy cup -- METAL (amazing it wasn't plastic!), and our team got that huge banner in the picture to hang. 'Course, don't know where we'll hang it as we don't have our own rink we practice on. Our kids are from all over the state, and we practice on any rink in the state that we can get ice.

But what a way to end the season! Champions!!

Those Heart-Stopping Moments

As you know, we're very involved in hockey. Derek is a second-year PeeWee (11-12 year olds), plays locally on our recreational hockey team, plus plays up (Bantams 13-14 year olds) on the local rec team, plus plays on the state competition team at PeeWee level.

This weekend was the State Championship tournament for recreational hockey. Every recreational hockey team in New Mexico comes together to compete to see who is "the best" in our state. It's a really big deal.

This year, we (Taos) hosted the tournament (YAY! We didn't have to travel!). So we also got to set up the game times. Our rec team is pretty good this year, but so is Los Alamos. Both of us are about equal, and Taos and Los Alamos have always been rivals in everything each town competes in, whether it's hockey, football chess or whatever. As we're doing up the schedule for this tournament a few weeks ago, we thought that probably we and Los Alamos would be in the Championship game for the trophy. So we set the schedule up for both of us to play our first game against each other. Each team would play four games, and the two teams with the most wins would go to Championship.

We won all four of our games. Los Alamos won all their games except the one they played against us, and it was only by one exciting and tense point! An exciting game, to be sure! Both us and Los Alamos "creamed" all the other teams we played. :)

So yesterday afternoon was our Championship game. Many of the other teams who didn't make it to the Championship hung around to watch the game. The air was thick with the excitement of who would win. It could go either way, everyone thought.

I planted myself firmly in the bleachers at the center line. I had taken special care to make sure I didn't "jinx" our team by wearing the same clothes and doing the same thing I did the days previous. I had my horn and kleenex firmly in my hands. I discovered that only one other Taos parent was in the bleachers with me; we were surrounded by Los Alamos parents, which means we really would have to compete to be heard as we yelled! We didn't care; we wanted to be in the center of the rink.

Now, Los Alamos has one really awesome player on their team, Jared. He can get incredible speed up in a matter of a split second, is awesome at deking and puck handling, and has a slap shot from even the center line that could knock someone out. He's pretty accurate, too.

On our team, we have my very own Derek. He has incredible speed and deking and puck-handling skills, and an incredibly accurate shot, although not nearly as hard and fast as Jared's. He's the only one on our team that has the speed to catch Jared. And Derek and Jared are friends, as they have played together on the state team, so they both know each other and what they will do on the ice.

Our coach decided to "just play hockey" and not have someone "shadow" Jared -- which means he decided to not dedicate a player on our team to "stick like glue" to Jared so he can't move.

It was obvious that the Los Alamos coach decided to have someone at all times shadow Derek, usually at least two kids, sometimes three.

Yes, both Derek and Jared can easily take the puck down the ice by themselves and score. Almost no big deal to either of them.

The game started. Within minutes of the first period, Jared made the first goal for Los Alamos. We fought hard, and within another couple of minutes, one of our players managed to score. We were now tied.

The game dragged on at this tie score through the rest of the first period, the second period and on into the third period. Both teams fought hard to try to get a puck in the goal. Both Derek and Jared finally left their teams behind to focus on getting a puck in for their teams. Our team was somewhat successful at shutting Jared down, although he got a lot of shots off on goal -- missing or our awesome goalie stopping them. Derek, on the other hand, was still dealing with his shadowers. There were so many times he had three kids at once checking him before he could get complete control of the puck.

We were down to about 12 seconds left in the game, and the score was still tied. All of us parents were now talking about who would score in overtime, or if we would have to go to a shoot-out. What were the rules for a tie game? We didn't know. We parents were now set on overtime or a shoot-out, when the puck dropped for the last time in the game.

Derek won the face-off, successfully getting the puck to a defenseman, and started skating up the ice with one of his wingers keeping up with him. The defenseman passed it up to Derek. Jared was now on Derek getting ready to check him. Derek braced for the check and counter-checked at the point of Jared's check, sending Jared to the ice and successfully putting him out of commission to keep up. Derek had several players on him, so he passed to his winger. He and his winger were both still skating up the ice, crossing into the end zone together. His winger now had Los Alamos players on him, so he passed back to Derek, freeing himself of players for a split second. As the Los Alamos players crowded in on Derek, he quickly passed it back to his winger who was now deep in the corner. His winger again passed a perfect pass back to Derek, who was now standing directly in front of the goal. Derek caught the puck, then easily flipped the puck into the goal -- SCORE!!

The clock read 1.2 seconds left in the game!!!! THEY WON!!!

I must say, all of us parents (Los Alamos, too) were all screaming and yelling and about having a heart attack! It was so incredibly miraculous! I was about knocked out of the bleachers will all the high-fives and hugs from everyone at this incredible goal which made Taos the State Champions!

But it just goes to show all you hockey players out there -- never ever give up, even when there's only seconds left on the clock!



Derek is fifth from the right.

Holiday Travels, Part 7

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Last night we went to our coach's wife's mom's house for pizza and hot chocolate and to allow the kids to skate and play pond hockey in the park. It was -5 degrees F.

Now, the "ponds" are really small outdoor rinks in the parks, some with boards around them, some not. This one had boards around it and a few tall lights to light the rink at night. Our bundled-up boys had to walk across the icy street in their boots, carrying their sticks and skates, and tredge along the snow banks along the path to reach the rink where they sat down on hills of snow to put on their skates. Many of the boys had to have help tying their skates because their fingers were so cold that they couldn't maneuver their laces, so the adults that followed the kids over took turns tying skates. The boys that had waxed laces found it the hardest to tie their skates because the wax on the laces had become hard and stiff.

The ice was rough and bumpy. To clean the ice, of course there is no zambonie. I found out that it is up to the people in the neighborhood to keep the ice clean by taking snow shovels out on the ice and scraping it clean and as smooth as they could get it. Pete, our coach, was out there in his boots doing this while the kids hit the ice and skated around him.

The boys then started a scrimage, and, as Derek noted, "there are no rules; just don't get rough." They had a blast! Us adults had to pull them off the ice a couple of times to bring them inside to warm up and get something to eat and drink. They must have been on the ice for over six hours!

The last time they came in the Junior Championship game between Canada and the U.S. was on, so the boys crowded around the big screen TV in the basement to watch that, while many of us adults stayed upstairs and chatted. But we knew every time the U.S. scored, because the kids would cheer! U.S. lost in the end, though...

Now here's a thought about these "ponds": if one learns to skate on these bumpy lumpy ice surfaces, you'll get to be a pretty good skater! I mean, think about it. When you hit the nice flat, shiny smooth surface of a rink that has a zamboni, it should be a piece of cake! So between learning to skate on these rinks and all the practices you have up here, is it a wonder that Canadians are such good skaters?

We'll be going to the Rideau Canal today to skate. It's the first day it's open! Can't wait!

Holiday Travels, Part 6

Set the alarm last night for 6:00 a.m., and was actually up after the first push of the snooze button! I figure that my body will have adjusted by the time we leave here… and that I’ll also finally have learned my way around!

The first thing I checked this morning was my email, and guess what? There was an email that came in late last night from our coach. Our game this morning was cancelled! Bummer. The reason given was because the other team couldn’t get any refs, but our coach thinks it's because they're afraid of playing us because they found out how good we were. LOL! Nice thought, but I doubt it. After seeing some of these local teams play -- WHOA! They are soooo good! 'Course, we found out that most of them have at least 2-hour DAILY practices, too!

One of my friends wondered at how in the world I could stand this weather here when I am really a “California” girl. LOL! Well, I just grit my teeth and forge outside the front door, is how I do it! Can't think about it... BUT, Ottawans I think just do the same. TONS of layers, unfashionable hats, WHATEVER it takes to stay warm! We're all a bunch of Pillsbury dough boys walking around! LOL!

It's the driving that gets me... I'm white knuckling it all the way on the roads, even though they're kept very clear. But when I see six-foot high banks of snow along the sides of the road, I'm nervous. And the windshield scraping in the mornings... yuck! And I mean SCRAPING! I'm almost afraid of breaking the windshield! We have to do that in Taos, too, but NOTHING like this! LOL!

It's the people here that make the daily grind in this weather all worthwhile, though. LOVE Canadians!!! And HOCKEY, of course! LOL! Hockey is almost a way of life here. Derek's ready to move here! LOL!

I've kind of come to the conclusion that people can walk on the sidewalks and streets so easily because they all can skate well. I think when you have the confidence to skate, walking on ice is no big deal. Does that make sense? I mean, I'm tiptoeing everywhere. LOL!

So I’m waiting for an email to see if the boys are going to get together to go sledding on one of the “sledding hills” here in Ottawa. Guess it’s a big deal here --- well, gee, of COURSE it would be a big deal with this kind of weather! LOL! Pond hockey tonight in one of the neighborhood parks. The parks here have not only swings and slides, but an ice rink! Cool!

Holiday Travels, Part 5

Today's been a "down" day for us, so we could actually catch up on some things. I'm trying to set up iTunes for Derek right now. "Santa" brought him an iPod and an iTunes gift card, and I'm trying to help him figure it out, but, boy! This new stuff is another language for me! LOL!

Also figured out how to use Derek’s movie camera, and went downstairs and took a few minutes of film of Derek and his friend playing “hall hockey”.

And then I went and found a gas station to fill up the car, and figured out how to enter the underground parking structure for the local grocery store that I walked to the other day. It was interesting to see how the parking tickets worked. Take a ticket (thin paper type), take it in to get validated. The validation was done by the clerk at the register taking the ticket to a machine and punching in the numbers from my ticket. Then when I left the parking structure, I had to manually punch in the code that was now on my ticket. Interesting! (is anyone else fascinated by these little differences like I am?)

FINALLY connected with Mom! My cell phone is iffy at best in getting through to anyone. Mom called here at the hotel (and I happened to be here!). She’s at the river for New Year’s, but had to leave early because the heater went out at the house. *sigh* What else will happen? LOL! …my camera also quit, so it doesn’t look like this “dark cloud” that’s been hanging over us has moved on yet. :( Both Mom and I are just flabbergasted at all the stuff, so we just have to kind of chuckle in spite of the irritations and sadness.

Our last errand was to walk to the bakery and pick up some goodies for our night time TV tonight. I told Derek he needed to bundle up because it was really cold outside (about 17 degrees F.) He poo-pooed it, of course, but I finally got him to wear his heavy coat and big hat we got him before we left. When we stepped outside and started walking, he said to me “it IS cold out here!” LOL! Yup, maybe now he’ll bundle up a bit more before going out, huh?

Holiday Travels, Part 4

Last night we went and watched one of the International Junior Championship games – U.S.A. vs. the Czech Republic. U.S. won! It was played where the Ottawa Senators play (ScotiaBank Place), and the place was PACKED!! Over 20,000 people there to watch! These are kids just out or almost out of high school and hopefully on their way to either the Olympics or the NHL. And the games are ongoing, playing one game right after the other, with people filing in and out with no time to clean up the stadium. It was a mess there! It’s been the only time we’ve really seen trash anywhere.

We had a game this morning across the Rideau River and won, making it two games we’ve won! Then we went to Maryanne’s (the coach’s wife and our team manager) mom’s house where her mom had TONS of food for the boys! Pete’s (our coach) parents were there, too, and it was interesting to hear some of the stories they told about Pete in his early hockey years.

Then we went to our third game, and lost... boo hoo! The Canadian people we’ve talked to seem surprised we’re good, though! (ha ha!). But if you saw some of the other teams – whoa. Some are REALLY exceptionally good!!! But like people reminded us, most of the kids here in Canada have practice two hours EVERY DAY. Wow.

Tomorrow we have a skills competition, and then I think another exhibition game, and another exhibition game on Wednesday, with a pizza party and pond skating/hockey over at Maryanne’s mom’s house for New Year’s Eve. They have a park across the street with slides and swings and also an ice rink (they call it a pond)!! I guess it’s common here… cool!

With the unusual warm weather here, the canals are not frozen hard enough to skate on yet, so the New Year’s festivities that the town had planned have been canceled until it freezes harder – which could happen in a couple of days, as it’s supposed to turn really cold by tomorrow, I think. Maybe a little snow, too.

Oh! I forgot – on our drive to this morning’s game, we went past the Parliament buildings and the American Embassy! Huge. AND the Prime Minister was at our second game watching his own boy play hockey on the other rink! There were only four secret service guys with him, too. Interesting!

Well, Derek’s back from the hot tub with his friends. And I need to look up maps for tomorrow to write down directions. So I’ll try to write more of our adventures tomorrow!

Holiday Travels, Part 3

Morning…

We just woke up -- 9:30 here, 5:30 California time!! My body is not used to the time difference. Have to leave in about a half hour, and Derek is already pacing. Have to find a quick breakfast on the way or something. He went up to his friend's room, but his friend is still asleep, too! LOL! But his mom (a good German woman) is already out walking and looking for food to bring back to feed her son and hubby. *sigh* She has too much energy and dedication for me! Plus, the ice outside makes me really hesitant...


Afternoon…

Ottawa is just FILLED with hockey!! There are banners all over everywhere we’ve gone advertising all the tournaments and games going on. The TV is FILLED with hockey, and we see kids and people everywhere with sticks and bags. It’s awesome! There are dedicated hockey channels on TV here. The local TV channel for Ottawa is called “Rogers” and has televised some of our games! And, yes, some of the major hockey channels are televising some of the games going on here, but I don’t think OUR games. I think it’s the International Junior Championship games (IIHA) that Steve (my brother) is seeing in California.

This city is HUGE. Freeways everywhere, of course, with all the little streets just like downtown L.A. I’m LOST. I am SO GLAD I printed out a bunch of maps to some of the rinks before we left (there’s something like 200 rinks here in the Ottawa area!!!), as I have been the lead car for some of us to get to games. BUT – I never thought about how to get BACK. Hahahah! It’s not like we can just reverse the instructions, as the freeway ramps are NOT at every exit on both sides, one-way streets, etc. So we’ve been following one other person who has a nav system to get us all back home. And then with some of our side trip games and visiting, it’s like we have a long caravan so we can all get there.

Canadians are funny drivers! They’re a little “loose” about the rules – speeding like crazy on ice, in rain and fog, and probably do so in snow, too. Lines for lanes are loosely followed, too, weaving around slow cars, parked cars, or cars turning without a hint of slowing. Red lights are met with cars easing into the middle of intersections to wait for the light to change. Except for the speeding in bad weather, I’m finding it rather comfortable!

And they’re CLEAN! Oh, my gosh, EVERY single person I’ve seen go to the restroom washes their hands – and so thoroughly, too!!! The men I’ve seen come out of the restroom are still shaking their hands dry, too. Hardly any trash anywhere, either. Friendly, polite, and easy-going. But the French language rules here – it’s probably more prevalent than Spanish in So. Calif.! Most people speak English, though, so no problem.

We haven't explored the canal yet, but after our game in Quebec, another mom (who’s German) and I walked to the grocery store ("oh, it's just right down the street"). Ha! I should know better than to interpret “down the street” from a European as meaning a couple of blocks. It was probably ten blocks!! Ugh. She's a stout woman with boundless energy and I was huffing and puffing just trying to jog to stay up with her. LOL! Hauling four bags of food back was not an easy chore for me, especially over ice. But I did it without falling or dropping any bags! Yay!

Plus, we stopped at the bakery around the corner (really around the corner) on the way back, and we got a couple of freshly baked rolls to go with our dinner. ‘Course, it was obvious we were not from here, because we had no clue what the system was – we both asked for a bag to put our stuff in, when we were supposed to grab a tray and tongs and load the tray up and then take it to the counter to be bagged. LOL! I just find these little differences too fun!

So nice to have FOOD in our hotel room! Derek was STARVED. We have a full kitchen so I can cook and save money by not eating out. He only had part of a hot dog at the rink this morning (cooked the "French" way, of course) that I was worried he wouldn't even take a bite of. At least he ate some of it. LOL! We had pasta and crab and veggies and fresh-baked rolls from the bakery for dinner. Spent $56 CD for the week so far -- meals and snacks. So much cheaper than eating out!

We were in KEH BECK (Quebec) this morning. Hardly anyone spoke English, including the referees. Derek told me after the game that he had no clue what the refs were telling him on the ice because it was all some "foreign" language. LOL! And the girl at the concession stand didn’t know English, and we both finally realized we were both saying “hot dog” but we couldn’t understand each other. So funny!

Yes, this IS the Hockey Capital of the World! I have never seen so many types of noise makers for hockey, either! Bought one for about $7 CD.

Oh, BTW, our team beat the Quebec team. We have to win three games to go on to play-offs. For some reason, I don't get nervous until it looks like they go to championship games. Then I fall apart and get scared I'm going to "jinx" them by not doing the same things I have been doing! LOL!

Well, off to another hockey game -- not ours this time. It's the World Junior Championship game. I think the kids are high school or just out. Anyway, it's about 2 levels below the NHL I think and is supposed to be a big deal (clueless here; my hockey education doesn't go that far! LOL!) Maps... yikes! Gotta go look up how to get there.

Holiday Travels, Part 2

The day after Christmas Derek and I were scheduled to take off to Canada for the Bell Capital Cup World Tournament.

It's a week-long tournament, with about 500 teams from all over the world coming to compete. Team New Mexico was entered! It's only PeeWees, too. And it's held in Ottawa, Ontario. Our itinerary was to fly into Buffalo, New York, rent a car, drive to Niagara Falls for the first night, then drive on in to Ottawa for the tournament.

My trip so far has had some really weird MAJOR glitches...



At 5:00 a.m. the day after Christmas the Super Shuttle was at the door to pick us up to take us to the airport. Okay, fine. The next passengers we picked up turned out to be con artists, trying to get out of paying the full fare. *groan* Cops were called at the airport. Really felt sorry for our driver. Kind of rattles a person to have all this going on before you've had your first cup of coffee!

Sat next to an old guy on the plane who farted the whole way!!! ...was blaming Derek at first, of course...

At the Buffalo airport... wellllll... *sigh* Went to pick up my rental car...

Now, before I continue, when anyone leaves on a long trip, on your list of things to do for a trip, do you ever check when your driver's license expires??? Well, do you?

Ha! *I* don't. And guess what? My license expired last friggin week!!!!! We don't get notification in New Mexico. BUT we also have 30 days to renew it, too... and we can't renew online, either.

So they wouldn't give me my rental car without a current driver's license.

The next four hours I spent crying -- no -- SOBBING -- on the phone to my mom, my brother, every single "info" person and ticket agent in the entire airport, while Derek sat with all our luggage ready to just turn around and go home.

The airport literally shut down, so no planes out for the rest of the night, no buses for the rest of the night, etc. etc. etc.

Lots of ideas and NOTHING panning out.

*&%@^%*&%$#!! along with Excedrin Headache #401.

Then a girl came running up to me. "My brother can't get across the border to pick me up and I understand you need to get across!"

Uh...

"I have a license! You can use my license if you'll drive me to Niagara!"

Uh... *blink blink* well, yeah, sure, okay...

(uh, God? May I have a word with you?)

So we used her license to get the car (and I had to pay another big amount for stupid insurance since they wouldn't let us go without insuring her because they "knew" she wasn't on my insurance), and she drove us to Niagara in my rental car, where I dropped her off with her brother.

So Derek and I cruised Niagara at night, seeing the Festival of Lights and the Falls at night, and then went and collapsed in our hotel room.

Now, in Niagara the next morning when we woke up it was pouring rain and very foggy. It took us a good hour to find our way out of there and to the highway heading to Toronto. But we did manage to go up the Skyliner (humongous tower) that overlooks the Falls, and got to really see them! BEAUTIFUL!!

Now, that rain and fog followed us ALL THE WAY to Ottawa. Took us 8 hours instead of 5, so we missed our "exhibition" games and pizza party that first night. Which I didn't really mind, because it was like an ice rink outside from all the rain. Plus I was physically and emotionally exhausted with huge puffy eyes from all the crying I did at the Buffalo airport.

And then our hotel here in Ottawa charged me for parking and internet. Pooey.

And then my credit card was declined for the room. Pooey again.

Have an email in to Mom. HELP! ...again...

Holiday Travels, Part 1

As many of you already know, I make it a point to spend Christmas with my mom in Anaheim. With Derek’s rigorous hockey schedule this year, our time with Mom this year was shortened – or adjusted, you might say.

Derek is on three hockey teams this year: for our local recreational hockey, he is on the team for his age (PeeWee), and also the team one level up (Bantam). Practices are twice a week here in town, with games nearly every weekend. This puts him at playing two to three games a weekend, depending upon his endurance.

He is also on New Mexico’s state competitive team, Team New Mexico. This is the team he has to try out for and be good enough to make – which he did! But the parents have to make the commitment just like the player by making sure their child makes all practices and tournaments. Practices are two to three times a week, and all out of town, with the nearest practice a 1 ½ hour drive one way, most being a 2 ½ hour drive one way. He has at least one tournament a month, all out of state. These are usually three-day tournaments, requiring a lot of driving to another state, plus a hotel room and eating out. Not cheap, by far!

So for our Christmas travels this year, we couldn’t leave until the weekend before Christmas, cutting our shopping time to the three days before Christmas. We left Sunday, December 21 early in the morning, stopped in Santa Fe for Derek to play two Bantam games, then continued on to Albuquerque where he did comp practice. Then we hit I-40 for California, arriving at Mom’s Monday just after noon, where I madly started shopping for Christmas!

It was so great to be with Mom! We did a lot of wrapping and baking in preparation for Christmas, catching up on talk. We didn’t make it to Church Christmas Eve (we were just too tired!) but did after opening our presents on Christmas Day. After coming home from Church, we baked our last dishes for our family get-together, Mom napped, and then we were off to my brother Steve’s for our family dinner.

Now, I have to tell you why Steve was hosting our dinner. First of all, it’s too much work for Mom at her house. Second, we couldn’t have it at my sister’s because she was still trying to clean up the mess the fires caused. Did I write about the fires? Her house is one of three houses left on her street – the rest burned down in wild fires. She has soot everywhere, lost all her food in her freezers because of the electric being turned off during the fires, the pool is black from ashes, etc. etc. etc. They were able to move back in just last week after installing new air conditioners, hepa filters, and new ducts throughout the house. Still a lot of work to do! But at least her house didn’t burn down with all their stuff in it!!

So we all decided to travel down to Steve and Barbara’s this year. Yeah, it’s a long way (45 minute drive for us, longer for Jeny), but worth it! One thing I absolutely love about our get-togethers is the FOOD! We have such great cooks in our family! My contribution? I made sour dough “hockey pucks”. Yeah, I sometimes wonder why my genes didn’t include the cooking genes the rest of us got! LOL! *sigh*

Anyway, I drove my truck instead of riding with Mom and Cal (my little brother) because Derek and I probably would be leaving early to finish packing for our hockey trip the next morning (more about that later). It was raining the whole way down. But it was nice to have my truck because we could easily put all the presents for everyone in the back! Plus, I could “mark” Steve’s house on my nav system… I NEVER remember how to get to his house! So that was nice…

My adventures took a down-turn at Christmas dinner. *sigh* 'Course, they're funny, but of course not at THE TIME. Since I was in my Church clothes still for dinner, I didn't have a place to put my truck keys, so clipped them to my purse (usually clip them to my Levis belt loop). After I had helped to unload all the presents and food, but before I could get back to the truck to get my purse in the truck, Derek, like a good kid, LOCKED the truck for me. AAAGGGGHHHHH! So there sat my keys on my purse locked in the truck on the front seat.

Okay, I have a Tundra. The guy who came out from Auto Club took one look at my truck and said "no can do". Tundras you just can't get into! Well, great; comforting thought that no one can break in, but how do *I* get in, huh?

It's pouring rain by now. The Auto Club guy and I were literally soaked to the skin trying to get SOMEthing inside the cab to reach the keys to push the button on them to unlock the truck. In the meantime, in my brother's quiet, upscale neighborhood on this festive holiday, as soon as the wire breached the air inside the cab, my truck went majorly ballistic. *sigh* so embarrassing...

Everyone was done eating by the time I re-entered, sopping wet, but jubilant with my purse in hand!

Okay, so that was Christmas... on to our trip...

Life of a Hockey Mom

Thanks to Sarah Palin, hockey moms have gotten some attention. Maybe not *great* attention, but attention all the same. At least it's on the mouths of people now, where before probably no one even gave a thought to hockey moms, other than they were just another mom who had kids in a sport.

Well, I'm here to tell you that being a soccer mom or a baseball mom would be MUCH more preferable to being a hockey mom! Wow, what a life those moms have, leisurely going to practices, not having to get another job to support her child's sport, sitting comfortably on the sidelines drinking a soda while cheering her child on.

Hockey moms, on the other hand, usually have to juggle the budget to buy their child's equipment -- or get a part-time job. As a child grows, so does the cost of the equipment. My son's sticks right now are right around the $200 mark. Yup, that's just the stick. We're not even talking skates, which can run cheaply from $150 on sale if you're lucky, upwards to whatever you're willing to pay for. Yes, you can get used, but used is only good for the first few years of hockey, really, unless you want to risk your child getting hurt from equipment that possibly may have some unseen damage to it. Good equipment is imperative to keeping your child safe on the ice. Once they reach about 10-11 years old (and they've been playing hockey for awhile), the game gets rougher -- and so does the child. So the equipment is important. Plus, the child now has skills that need to be addressed as to what kind/brand of equipment s/he is comfortable with and plays the best with. They start to have preferances about what works best for them -- and believe me, you'll find it's not cheap.

Oh, and don't forget the sign-up fee! $500 upwards is pretty common. We have it good here -- only $200 for the season, but we have cheap ice here. The fee is for our ice time for practices for the season. The season is only about 5 months for recreational hockey. But there's the extra fee that has to be paid to USA Hockey and to the local association, which runs another $50.

Then there's the practices. They're usually after the sun goes down -- if you're lucky. Early morning practices are even worse. Have you ever stood or sat rink-side? Better bundle up! It's not a comfy-cozy experience, to be sure! Coffee and hot chocolate not only warm the inside, but also warm the gloved hands. For me, it's rare to be at a rink that has comfy seats or bleachers, let alone heaters. Some rinks don't even have seating, and some rinks don't even have walls or a roof, so you're completely exposed to the elements.

If you're lucky to be in a city, maybe travel for games is minimal. Where we are, we have to travel to the next nearest rink an hour and a half one way. I've heard some rec teams don't go anywhere because they have enough in-house teams to play each other.

Okay, that's recreational hockey (rec). Then there's competitive hockey (comp for short). This is another ballgame entirely. Fees for ice time start at +$800. That does NOT include tournament fees, game jerseys and whatever else the comp team requires like warm-up suits and jackets. If your child is good, this is where s/he goes from rec or also includes in his/her hockey program. So this means extra practices to add to the schedule, plus extra tournaments.

Now, comp hockey teams travel all over the U.S. and Canada to compete against each other. Have you looked at gas prices lately? Uh-huh, add that expense. Plus add the expense of hotels and meals while traveling. But, if your child is good and wants to continue in hockey and you hope for him/her to get a scholarship to college, this is a must. Or even a must if they would like to try for the NHL.

Sarah Palin...

I think I just decided who I would vote for. I just read an interesting tidbit on the Republican VP hopeful:

A nervous young McCain staffer took it upon himself to explain to Palin the facts of life in a national campaign, the intense scrutiny she'd be under from the media, the viciousness of the assault that she'd be facing, etc.:

Palin: "Thanks for the warning. By the way, do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull?"

McCain aide: "No, Governor."

Palin: "A hockey mom wears lipstick."

She's a HOCKEY MOM????

Wow. The Republicans just got my vote!!

Hockey: Greeley, Colorado, Part 2

Our hotel room is CLEAN! Hurray! I'm getting so tired of dirty hotels. It's like people just don't know how to clean any more. There was no built-up dirt on the floor in the corners or by the walls. The grout in the bathroom was clean -- no dirt and/or mold. And the sheets didn't come untucked!! (pet peeve!) And no dust on shelves and window sills! I mean, it was like it SHOULD be!

We got in REALLY late. But was greeted by a Polish woman who was really friendly and interesting. Learned her life story, of course!

And, of course, my feet flew out from under me as I tried to walk into the door of the motel. Even though everything was sanded, that ice was incredibly slick and thick. Derek just slid through it -- just like he had skates on. I guess "skating" just comes naturally to him now. LOL! I actually didn't fall, and am not sure why, but my body hurt this morning from NOT falling! I'm sure I used muscles I forgot I had...

This morning it took me 20 minutes to scrape ice off: windshield, windows, headlights, wipers. We were almost late to the first game! And it was at 10:00 a.m.! Only about 17 degrees out. The game lasted (with the kids getting dressed and undressed) about 2 hours. After the game, it took me AGAIN that long to de-ice the truck! But my truck looks so cute with whiskers!

It "snowed" all day. The ice actually did turn more snowy and soft in the late afternoon. We went and ate breakfast after the first game, taking about 20 minutes total, and I STILL had to scrape off the truck before we could drive anywhere!! Gloves are wet, hands are numb. Thank goodness I brought my boots!!

The team lost both of their games today. Boo-hoo! But they played hard and I think learned a lot. One of the teams they played today actually owns the rink we're at. Of course, their fees are super high, but the rink is JUST for this team (has all levels, but only for them)! Wow. So they are really good... Our "A" team lost to their "A" team, too...

Another truck note: there's some new fandangled braking system on this truck, too, like it "senses" the brakes and which wheel needs more braking or which needs less. Experienced that today when I had to brake hard to avoid another stupid car (gee, it's slippery out here, do you think you can still just dash out into traffic?). The truck braked nice and smooth and straight! 'Course, the truck also just kept sliding, too... No fancy stuff is going to keep one from just SLIDING on ice! But thank goodness the truck is nice and big and heavy! It did quit sliding just in time, and I'm sure my old truck (much lighter) would have just kept going...

Hockey: Greeley, Colorado, Part 1

What a weekend! Whew, I'm worn out! Not that hockey tournaments are so exhausting, mind you. But the WEATHER...

Now, Greeley is about a 6-1/2 to 7-hour drive from us.... in normal weather. It took us about 8-1/2 hours to drive up Friday night! It wasn't snowing when we left home, but the sky looked threatening, so I decided to drive over LaVeta Pass instead of going through Eagle Nest and Cimarron. The winding roads over to Cimarron did not appeal to me, especially if it was snowing. Besides, if it were snowing there, that meant that Raton Pass would have snow, too. And Raton can be miserable with snow, many times just shutting down. At least LaVeta Pass is kept up better (why, I have no idea; I-25, which goes through Raton, I would think would be kept cleared better than LaVeta).


So I headed straight up to Questa, leaving the dark skies of Taos. Just past Questa a hole in the clouds opened up reavealing a sparkling blue sky with a huge rainbow! It was gorgeous with the contrasting dark purple-gray clouds all around us, but here we were driving in this perfect little spot of brilliance. As we got closer to Ft. Garland, it was like we were driving toward this cloud wall -- and then we were suddenly back in dark and gloomy skies again -- dark enough that my headlights came on. There was slushy snow at the top of LaVeta and it was lightly snowing. But other than that, the drive up to the pass was just fine. I pushed that button on my new truck for the wheel sensors (forgot what it's called; all this new fandangled technology on vehicles!) and it worked like a charm through the slush. 'Course, I was going super slow, too, as I still don't have that comfortable feel for my new truck yet.


After crossing over LaVeta, the sky cleared up again and it was another gorgeous drive!


Until we hit Colorado Springs, that is.


And that is where I learned about what an "ice storm" is! Now, I have never been in an ice storm before, let alone drive in one, but here I was driving in one for my first experience. Traffic was slowed to a crawl and became bumper to bumper. It was like a fine drizzle of rain, except it was sparkly white in the headlights and every tiny particle of it stuck to everything they touched -- and those tiny bits were ALL ice!


Yuck.

Okay, back to my new truck. My truck has all sorts of "stuff" on it that I really have no clue yet what it all is. It has an "off-road" package plus a "cold weather" package on it that I couldn't even begin to tell anyone what all the stuff is in those packages and what they do. I was only interested in the 4x4, under-carriage coating, and super-duty starter and battery. That was about my limit of knowledge on wanting those packages.

So I'm exploring all the "stuff" on my truck as I'm trying to drive through all the ice. You know, figure out how to keep the windshield clear, the mirrors clear, and stay on the road. Plus stay WARM. The temperature outside read something like 20 degrees (on my truck, of course! :) ). I figured out that that "no-skid wheel sensor" button or whatever it is, just wasn't enough for the roads any more. So I flicked the truck into 4-wheel drive. MUCH better! The truck was just purring through the ice. I also figured out the defrost. The windshield PLUS side mirrors defrost! And I don't mean just hot air being blown onto the windshield, either (there's a different button for that!). It's got something that actually warms the entire windshield! So the mirrors were clear (the backs had over 2 inches of solid ice on the backs, though!). And the windshield did fine. BUT the wipers kept icing up. Not too bad, but still had patches where the ice just wouldn't melt, but not enough where I had to stop to scrape the ice off of them. I'm sure the warm windshield had a LOT to do with keeping the wipers somewhat free of ice. And that warm windshield is what kept all the ice particles melting that hit the windshield. And the inside of the truck was just toasty for us! And the windshield didn't fog up, either! And my butt and back were all nice and toasty, too -- heated seats, you know! :)

So my job was left to driving defensively (LOTS of cars off the road) and trying to figure out where we were going. All the road signs of course were covered in ice, making it hard to read the exits. So even though the truck was doing a great job, I was still "white knuckling" it while driving. It was dark, too, and I have a hard time seeing at night...

Which meant I was only concentrating on the road and ignoring Derek. Now, Derek is a GREAT traveller, and great at keeping me company. But with my focus on the road and weather, I couldn't even begin to tell you what he was talking about! I just mumbled the obligatory "uh-huh" now and then. But obviously it wasn't enough because every once in awhile I would get, "Mom, did you HEAR me?" Uh, noooo...

Thanksgiving Hockey Tournament

Well, Thanksgiving is over, and so is our local hockey tournament. Our Taos Coyotes PeeWees team did GREAT! They came in second. The El Paso Rhinos came in first... grrr... I also found out that it's best to use the BIG air horn on these freezing mornings, as the little ones just freeze up and don't work. LOL! Yeah, the other parents just love me and my air horn... NOT! But, hey! The team voted! And it was unanimous! It's for the kids, right?

We woke up to 5-6 inches of snow on the Friday after Thanksgiving! Beautiful!!! And an absolute perfect start to our tournament! But it was super freezing cold... well, not really, but we've had such a long extended "summer" with all this wonderfully warm weather, that our bodies just rebeled against temperatures now at freezing. It was so funny to walk into the Family and Youth Center to start our hockey tournament that first morning because all of us adults were talking about how none of us could find our snow boots and winter coats! Fortunately for me, Derek (my "little" son) is such a sweet heart; he pulled out some hand and toe warmers from his hockey bag and handed them to me that first morning. Awwww, what a kid!

Our raffle during this tournament did fantastic! I was "in charge" (whatever that means, except I get stuck watching it during the times no other parent will watch the booth -- which came out to a LOT of hours!). We have a raffle twice a year to raise money for our hockey association. The money goes to not only cut down on our costs, but mostly helps with scholarships for parents who just can't afford our drastically low hockey sign-up fees. We had a couple of winners from the raffle just give us extra money for the prizes they won, because, as they said, "it's going to a good cause"! Sometimes I'm just in awe at the generosity of other people, and get that warm fuzzy feeling about how great people are. KWIM?

Derek has been snot-nosed for a couple of weeks now -- well, so have I. I just haven't quite gotten over that virus a few weeks ago. Anyway, Derek has managed to maintain with some homeopathic Chinese pills that Taos Herb recommended. I thought I was doing great, too (also taking the pills), but THE day after our hockey tournament, wham! I'm down again. :( I'm sure it's because I still wasn't fully recovered and was SUPER tired.

Our tournament ended Sunday. Monday was "back to business as usual" -- which means, schooling in the morning, chess in the afternoon, and then leaving right from chess to hockey practice. Well, being sick that morning, I BARELY made it out of bed to get Derek to chess and hockey! And then Tuesday it's the same thing all over again, except for hockey we drive to Santa Fe to practice with the comp team. Ugh. I slept in the truck while Derek and his friend went in for practice that night...

Gas prices suck. What happened to throwing 5 bucks in the tank and being able to drive all over the place?? HaHaHa! Guess I'm showing my age here...

First Competition Hockey Tournament!

For our first competition hockey tournament with our Team New Mexico, we traveled to Pueblo, Colorado!

Of course I drove, as hauling kids and hockey bags is MUCH easier in a truck! We stayed in a motel that was under renovation -- not quite to my comfort level, as there was dust and chemical smells (like carpet glue) everywhere, so picture me with swollen eyes and snot nose all the time dealing with getting the boys up and ready for games... :( Not a pretty sight!

The kids played 3 games, and won them all! Competition hockey is really exciting for us parents, as it has an atmosphere of pro hockey, complete with up beat music every time the clock stopped. Us parents were all having fun rockin' in the stands! For our fourth and final game on Sunday, we were playing for either first or second place against a VERY physical team that we had already played -- and lost by a point! Darn! But at least we took second! Our team received a very cool and interesting trophy to take home! For our very first tournament, with many of our kids first-year PeeWees (which means the first year for checking for them), they did OUTSTANDING! We were so proud of them!

Okay, about checking... am I ready for this???? The team that was so very physical is comprised of many second-year PeeWees, so they not only had more checking experience, but they were older and bigger. The coach of that team also seemed to be coaching the kids to be more physical, too.

My son played left wing. Wings seem to get checked more. During the third game my son got illegally checked HARD against the boards. His head snapped back, and then his head bounced several times off the boards, he went down, and then his head bounced several times off the ice (all of this within seconds, which, as his mom, seemed like it would never end!). I just held my breath, tears welling in my eyes, my brain figuring out how I could jump over the glass and onto the ice over to my son. Now, my son is not one to stay down when he gets knocked down; he's usually right up and immediately moving again, so I've never had to worry before. THIS time, though, it took him several seconds before he got back up -- and he left the ice! AAAHHH! Do I go over to him? No, that might embarass him. So I stayed put. And fretted. He was SITTING on the bench, too, not standing hanging over the side watching the game like he usually does. AAAHHH! I was numb with worry and indecision. But cheered loudly with the other parents when the kid who checked my son got a major penalty of 5 minutes!

Then he came back out onto the ice! WHEW! He seemed to be skating just fine, too -- in fact, with more agressiveness! When the game ended, I was right there beside him, and asked him how his head was. His response?

With irritation and puzzlement he replied, "My head?!? Nothing's wrong with my head, Mom!"

Oh, okay. So I'll back off.

Later in our room he said he injured his knee during that check. His knee?? His knee had a small bruise and was slightly swollen. And he was having a hard time bending it. So we went off to Target and bought some Icy Hot sleeves for his knee. We put a sleeve on overnight and I gave him a Tylenol. In the morning we put another sleeve on, I gave him another Tylenol, and he said he was "just fine". So he skated again -- with even more vigor! Like there was absolutely nothing wrong with him!

::sigh:: He's obviously ready for this... but am I?

Summer's Over!

Okay, so yes, I don't keep this up very well at all. Sorry to those of who you actually DO read this!


We spent an extra long time at Mom's in California this summer. We left after hockey and chess ended -- about the third week of March. We went for Pascha (Easter), but with the gas prices so high, we decided to just stay instead of come home for a month or so before heading back out for our summer hockey camps.


And I'm glad we did stay! We are huge fans of the Anaheim Ducks. And if anyone knows hockey, you understand why we're glad we stayed! That extra time allowed us to meet all the guys on the team, get some photos, AND get a jersey COMPLETELY signed by all of them!!! Several hundred dollars later, we now have that fantastic jersey beautifully framed -- complete with the Stanley Cup patch, a special edition puck, and the confetti from the Stanley Cup party that we attended! Yes, that Cup party was awesome -- we got to actually lay our own eyeballs on the Cup!!! Well, it was exciting for US, anyway.


Although we're true "country" people at heart, there are many things to be said about staying in the "big city" for a period of time. Aside from the fact that we got to spend time at the beach and enjoy the shopping malls, we had an opportunity to see a couple of plays. We saw "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" AGAIN (one of our faves) and this time also saw "Mama Mia". Now, I've never heard of "Mama Mia", but I'm in love! This has now become one of my all time faves -- not only because of the cute story line, but I love Abba's music! So this is a recommended play for anyone looking for recommendations (but the story line is for mature audiences -- my son thought it was "stupid"!).