He shoots, he scoooores!

A couple of weeks ago, Handsome Hubby and I went on a fabulous date. First we went into the city for dinner to this really cute urban-chic restaurant. You know, the kind of place that has cream of rutabaga soup on the menu (which was a first for me, but I took the risk and it was really good). Then, we went to see a hockey game! You may not have guessed, but I was too psyched! Honestly! I grew up going to professional hockey games, and have missed it ever since. The sweet thing is that we ended up with great seats.

For Christmas, HH got two gift certificates for seats to a game. You just show up before the game, wait in line at a window, and then get your tickets. Well, that was the plan anyway... We showed up 30 minutes early, but by the time we waited in line and got up to the window (twice actually, because who knew there was a *particular* line for us!) the upper deck was sold out, which was the value of our certificates. So we could either bag it and try again at a future game, or pay to upgrade. Of course, we decided to upgrade. I mean, we were there already and basically planned our whole evening around this game! But I'm so glad we did. We ended up about 15 rows up from the ice, right at the curve of the ice (not mid-ice, but not at the very end either). SWEET! And after thinking about it, I'm so glad it worked out the way it did because if we ever decide to go to a game, I know we'd never shell out the money for those seats. It turned out to be a really exciting game to watch, and we won! We both had such a blast. It was awesome! I really can't remember the last time I had such a fun night. I even got HH to sing along with me...

"Oh, the good, old hockey game is the best game you can name.
And the best game you can name is the good, old hockey game..."
-Stompin Tom Connors

Moment of Clarity

I was just emailing with someone I love very much. Recently she did something that spoke a lot about her great character. Without thinking about it, I sent her a quick email stating as much. By her email back to me, she was obviously very touched by it. Then I started thinking... (here come the rambles)... and here's my email back to her:

"I'm just trying to be better about communicating the truth. We only get one shot on this ferris wheel of life (or only one as far as I know!), and it would be a shame to think thoughts like that, but never communicate them. That's really cheating the other person!! And not just general good will, but real, concrete examples of what makes someone special. No, more than that, an upstanding person who is honestly a great role model. It's too easy to forget why we are good people, and the aspects of who we are that are GREAT. Isn't it up to those who love us to remind us of those things sometimes?

Of course it would be ideal if we could always keep those thoughts idle in our own minds, but we're human and changing that inner dialogue can be so hard (I know, I'm trying!). Sometimes I hear you get down on yourself. And I know it hurts me to hear you talk like that, because I know how much it's hurting YOU. And I KNOW that for every one time I hear you actually say it out loud, you say similar things 100 times or more to yourself. So, if being honest and taking 1 minute to write a quick email to tell you the TRUTH and remind you of what a spectacular person you are, and not just in general vague terms, but in hard concrete evidence that *you* provide all by yourself, how can I NOT? I think that's going to be my New Year's resolution... to be more honest about the GREAT things people do. It's easy. They provide the greatness, I just have to point it out.

Ok, I know you weren't expecting all that, but there you go... :-p"

Cheesy? Yes, absolutely.
But, true? Well... *I* think so.

Like Buttah...

My fingers, that is. I think You Who must have a sixth sense (or maybe just a talkative wife?). In any case, I did in fact drop my laptop at work. D'oh! The LCD screen is now shot. The best part? My conversation with work's 'Help Desk':

Me: "I'm calling because my laptop had a meeting with the floor this morning and now the LCD screen is shot. It should still be under warranty, but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take care of getting it replaced."

Help Desk Dude: "Oh, ok. So you dropped it?"
[let me note here that if you're not picturing a teenaged-surfer-dude-voice, you absolutely should]

"Yeah."

"Was there any physical damage?"

"Yeah, the screen snapped out of place a bit but I was able to snap it back in."

"Oh, ok. So you snapped it back in? ... So, what's the problem?"

[OMG]

"The LCD screen doesn't work. It's broken. It's shot."

"Can you see anything?"

"Just lines and static."

"Whhhhooooooaaaa. Huh, huh. Uuuuuhhhhh, yeah, that's really messed up!"

Uh, YEAH! Why do you think I'm calling you?!? So glad I waited 15 minutes on hold for that jewel of wisdom. His bright-*ss solution?:

"Yeeeeah, so I don't know... I'm going to have to find out and call you back, k?'

Good grief. I have to think that this COULDN'T have been the first time something like this has ever happened. Shame on me for expecting someone to actually be the least bit helpful. I only called the HELP DESK ya know.

Sickly

I've been battling a cold all week. I just can't quite seem to stay healthy this winter. Just last month I had a horrible GI-related-turn-into-fever-the-next-day virus. And now I've got a bad head and chest cold that I just can't shake. I went to my doc yesterday and she gave me some 'scripts to try to help with the congestion. I hate missing so much work b/c I always feel like I'm letting people down, besides the fact that I hate getting behind. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow b/c I've got clinic in the morning. I know that in the big picture of things this is miniscule, but it's hard to not get frustrated...

Hannu-Wha?

Scene: Me trying to find some Hannukah candles, now at my FOURTH store... Walmart.

Me: "Excuse me, do you know if you have any Hannukah candles or decorations?"

Walmart Employee: "Hmmm... ... that's *Jewish*, right???"

[Are you joking me?]

M: "Uh, yeah."

WE: "Well, we have a Holiday Shoppe. You could check there..."

M: "Yeah, I did, but I didn't see anything."

WE: "Yeah, I don't know then..."

Maybe I'm missing something... but what the HELL is the point of calling it a 'Holiday Shoppe' (and there was a HUGE banner so there was no mistake) if there's only Christmas decorations? I just don't see the point of being so P.C. that it leads to false advertising.

And yes, I finally found some candles... at store number 5.