Iced

Since we built a rink, Mike talks to me a lot about ice. We go on our evening walk and discuss the condition of the ice, how the weather forecast will impact the condition of the ice, how to repair the condition of the ice, how to proactively protect the condition of the ice ... so.much.ice. 

Related, Mike and I just sat down on the couch to recover from the day. Quinn had 9:15 hockey practice (which she skipped) and a noon full-ice game in Bloomington (which she did not skip). Dec had practice overlapping with Q's game so was not happy about the fact that Coach Dad went to Bloomington and he was stuck with JV Mom. We all met back at home for a snack before Mike went to his hockey game. And then I shoved dinner in Quinn before our friend picked her up to take her to goalie clinic.* Mike went directly to goalie clinic from his game to pick Quinn up and now my dryer is covered with pairs of hockey socks air drying. 

*Goalie clinic, you ask? Yes, indeed. Quinn is doing a four week goalie clinic despite the fact that I stated very clearly and very often when this whole hockey thing started that there would be No Goalies. She listens like Mike does. Even more annoying, she's really good. Mike says she has great instincts. Quinn loves the challenge. We'll see where this thing goes. Sigh.

Last week, I decided to run to the rink (it's about 2.5 miles if I take the trail) and catch the end of D's game. Then I could ride home with Mike and Dec. However, the trail was crazy icy. While I navigated about a third of a mile of glare ice, my playlist queued up Another One Bites the Dust. The universe thinks it is soooo funny. I felt pretty proud of myself that I did not fall. 

As I told Mike the story after the game, he told me that he had totally wiped out  at D's game - probably about that same time. He hurried out on the ice to set up the boards, but had forgotten to take one skate guard off. When he went to stop on that edge, there was no edge and he went down hard on his hip. Now we just think the universe is mean.

Not to be outdone, Fiona was playing outside this week, hit an ice patch on our driveway, and went down on her knee. She was quite annoyed that she didn't get much of a bruise (neither did Mike) because it hurt for several days. It doesn't help that she's still growing like crazy so all of her joints are sore and stretching. 

Yesterday, I went for a run and completely wiped out going around a corner to the sidewalk. I had even slowed down because I knew there was ice. But my shoe didn't grip and my outside foot just kept going. I managed to control the fall pretty well (my hip is only a little sore to the touch), but I smacked my shin on an ice chunk. There's a pretty good-sized goose egg - and I'm mainly just excited that my fall got a bruise. 

Oh - and back to D's game last week. Uncle Brad was watching it on the rink's livestream, so was texting me updates while I was running. Apparently Dec scored a pretty sweet wraparound goal that I missed. But let me tell you, D was proud when I told him Uncle Brad saw it. Little dude is in the upper group of talent this year and is showing more confidence out there. Also - he is crazy fast. Quinn has learned that if she is going to race him, it can't be sprints. He'll beat her every time because he can take off fast. Quinn does not care for losing to her little brother. So I've noticed the races are longer distances these days …