The Heineken

It's time to bring your Heine to Grapevine for the Heineken cup game. That's right Euless vs. Grapevine is this Friday night at 9:00 pm at the rink in Grapevine Mills. It should be a good game as Becky and I have been trying to recruit a ringer for the game. Yes we are trying to bring in a Canadian. We figure that would put the edge on our side. Our regular goalie will not be able to attend, but we have a special goalie who goes by the nickname "Helicopter". He is fun to watch and great to laugh with after the game.

To make it more fun I have 2 games Saturday back in Euless. I am back helping out with the Grave Diggers. They play at 9:00 pm followed by the Komets at 10:30 pm. I do not remember who we are playing in either game but it should be fun.

Now for a special treat, if you have not had the chance to attend Becky's bootcamp, this is your last weekend to do so. They will be meeting at 8:00am in Grapevine on Saturday. Jay Johnson and his wife Lin will both be instructing this last class for the month. Becky already has 2 co-workers and our next door neighbor saying they will attend (remember it is free, great time to try it out without having to pay). From what I am hearing from Becky, it sounds like she will be signing on for another session next month.

On the school side of things, Becky is having to do a community service project. The organization she has chosen to work with is the Mothers Milk Bank of North Texas (http://www.mmbnt.org/). This is a wonderful organization that provides breast milk to babies that need the supplement in the hospital. Becky had heard of this organization, and after Johnathon passed she donated all her frozen milk to them. She had to work there one day last week. Since then she has come to appreciate this organization even more. For her project she has to write a grant and try to get funding for the organization. She has taken real ownership of this project as she has already start doing all of the written work and is trying to identify potential organizations to seek funding from. Her main goal is to find the $36,000 that is necessary for the Milk Bank to purchase a pasteurizing machine. This new machine would allow for them to process more milk and get it out in larger quantities to the hospitals that request it. We have a couple of friends who may have companies that maybe interested, but I do ask that if you know of a good contact at a company that may want to sponsor such a project please let Becky know.

I had an interesting moment at the cemetary the other day. Becky and I went after church to visit Johnathon and leave some flowers. While walking up we always stop and pay our respects to any new graves that we may pass. On this day when we approached Johnathon's resting place we noticed fresh flowers from a sevcie around a new grave site that was about 8 feet away from Johnathon's. I stopped to read the name, in doing so it dawned on me that the name was too familiar. As I stood their examing the flowers a card stood out with the Texas A&M markings and the Dallas Stars emblem on it. I instantly realized that this was for Matt McKee, he was the Dallas Stars Director of Ticket Operations. Though I had never talked directly with Matt, we had seen him at some functions and he did help me get the price for my season tickets corrected once before. We had learned of his passing just the previous weekend from one of our hockey friends who works for the Stars. Matt was only 32 when he passed away. Here is the artcle about him on the Stars website http://stars.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=350473.

Before Johnathon had passed we had been informed that the Dallas Stars were to be at the hospital the following Tuesday. We knew this would be a great chance to get some pictures with the players and to share a moment of joy with them. We even requested selected players that would make it more memorable. Seeing that a member of the Stars family is now resting close to Johnathon made me renew my commitment to getting the book completed of this blog. I would like to furnish a copy of it to the Stars team for them to see what has occurred from them that has brought us some memoriable moments.

Hockey has become a real past time around our house and has provided a new family. If you have had a long week and need to get away this weekend, I invite you to come join my other family and see for yourself what all of the fun is about.

It's Hockey Time!

The new season kicks off on Saturday. Since our team is on Pointstreak you can actually now check out our record and see my stats. http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-team.html?teamid=103934. No exact date on when Becky will take the ice for her first game action, but I will say her boot camp is definitely getting her into shape. About a week before she started boot camp she bought a new pair of scrub pants to better fit her with the remaining baby weight. After going to boot camp for 2 weeks, when she put the pants on to wear them to work they turned into MC Hammer pants (GO Becky its Hammer time). From what I am hearing it sounds like she is having such a good time that she wants to sign up for another month. I guess you could say she is "Too Legit to Quit" (ok no more Hammer references). It is safe to say with Becky returning back to work and school back in session she is returning back to her normal schedule. With her busy days now I guess you could say "U Can't Touch This" (sorry that one slipped, no more Hammer references I promise). With her busy schedule I guess we will have to start playing where's Becky or "Have You Seen Her" (ok so I lied, if you are addicted to Hammer check out this site for all of his albums and songs http://www.google.com/musica?aid=gw3q7osDIGE&sa=X&oi=music&ct=result).

School is going good for me. Lots of reading. I was in Sarasota, FL last week. Temps were in the 60's and it felt good. I was attending an operations conference for my Company. Great to see so many of my co-workers that I do not get to see much of during the year. Next up, it sounds like a trip to Richmond and Denver. If I go to Denver I will see if I can bring my tag along with me. I think Becky would love to see her cousins who live out that way. It has been quite awhile since she has seen them. We will just have to wait and see, as Becky is trying to save up vacation for the Alaskan cruise. To note I have narrowed it down to 3 cruises, 1 on Princess and 2 Holland America. I just received some pricing information from my Dad so I hope to make a decision by this weekend. David and Christina have mentioned that they may want to join us again on the cruise. We love cruising with them. David and I are so similar in our lay back atmosphere on a cruise and leave the real partying to the professionals (our wives). Well must be off I have a psychology book that is calling my name (and no I do not blame my problems on my Mother, that would be my Brother who falls into this Sigmund Freud category).

See you at the game! It starts at 9:15pm. Here is the link to the schedule http://www.pointstreak.com/players/players-team-schedule.html?teamid=103934.

Back to School

"In the school I went to, they asked a kid to prove the law of gravity and he threw the teacher out of the window." -- (Rodney Dangerfield - Back to School, 1986)

Well it's back to school for us. We have already got our books and backpacks together. Becky starts on Wed., but I had the luxury of going at it on Mon. night. It was fun to see what the community college class was like compared to the private universities that I attended in the past. I am glad that I went the private university route as I found a sense of laziness in the air (something that was never present at any of my other schools). I guess this is from students who are taking a course just to get by and not taking it because they have an interest in it.

Update on Becky. She is sore. She has found out that it is possible to be sore on top of your sore spots. However she is having a good time and is making great strides. It is fun to hear her workout stories when she gets home. Saturday I will be joining her for a free workout session (you are welcome to come, it is at 8am at the Fellowship Church in Grapevine off 121). Wish me luck.

On a lighter note . . . .

Taking your wife to the Stars hockey game . . . . . . . . . $75.

Finding your neighbor in your garage wearing your hockey equipment . . . . . . . . SCARY.
Seeing your wife for the first time wearing hockey gear . . . . . . . . . Priceless!

Wife Whupper

In my master plan to turn Becky into a lean mean fighting machine I enrolled her in boot camp today. Not just any boot camp but Jay Johnson's Boot Camp (http://www.jaysbootcamp.com/). That is right the same Jay Johnson who puts the smack down on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. To make it tough I enrolled her today and she was at camp tonight. The first words she said to me when I picked her up were "oh my legs are soooo sore". I am so enjoying her burn!

Becky will be attending boot camp 3 days a week for the next 4 weeks. This will help get her into shape to return to work (and for some hockey). I hope to sneak down on Saturday and take a picture of her enjoying her pleasure pain workout. The best shot would be her Drill Sergeant making her drop and do push ups. Soon to follow should be a Becky ice sighting.

Speaking of the ice, it was a mixed bag of results this weekend. The Grave Diggers lost (but came in 4th place for the season) and the Komets won (coming in 7th for the season). Both games turned out to be great laughers. We were all cutting up and enjoying ourselves so much. Thanks to Pastor Eddie, his Grandson (sorry I am starting to forget names again), Dustin, and Rebecca for showing up to the game with Becky. The after party with Supergirl was awesome (by the way Dustin how many guys asked you to dance with them, must be your sweet dancing skills). Well the new season will start soon. As soon as I get a schedule I will post it.

Happy New Year!!

If I have not already said it to you, Happy New Year!

What many things are going on this year. Becky and I are looking at taking an Alaskan cruise. It sounds like my parents maybe able to join us (I am still working on the details). As I have offered in the past if your interested in going let me know and I will see if we can get a group discount again. On our last cruise we got a total of 10 friends and family members to go. It made for an awesome time and for some great memories (several of the inside jokes are still running till this day). We look to be traveling around mid-May. This is too coincide with Becky's and my schooling.

Yes that is correct I am heading back to school. Not for the PhD. degree that I thought I would be after. Instead I am working on some pre-requisite courses for a Physician's Assistant program. After being in the hospital and working so close with the Doctors, it rekindled my earlier desires to be a Doctor. Though I don't want to make such a drastic change in my life in becoming a Doctor, I am willing to explore the options of a Physician's Assistant. My degree would be another masters level degree and would open options for me in the entire health care field. Imagine a Doctor having someone who could not only help with his workload but could balance his books too. No job change should be expected as I am at least 3 -5 years away from completing the program. I figure for once I may take my time with school since I completed all of my other programs 1 year in advance of the expected completion date.

Becky has been accepted back into the nursing program at UTA and will be registering for her classes today. I think being at home has really started to get to her as she seams a little anxious about getting her schooling going again. Becky is also trying to get back into shape for those 12 hour shifts at the hospital. She has found several personal trainers that will work with her to get her back to the level she needs to be at (then I will work with her to get her endurance to hockey readiness).

On the hockey front Becky has slowly been acquiring some gear and will be back on the ice this Sunday to work on her skating (oops Becky did I forget to tell you this . . . well now you know). Our next door neighbor Rebecca has even discussed joining in the fun (well if Rebecca and Becky don't play good, at least they will look good trying). Saturday is a playoff game for both my teams the Komets and the Grave Diggers. The Diggers game is first up at 7:30 pm followed by the Komets. I hope to play in both games, but I am a little under the weather and it will depend on how I am feeling Saturday if I will play in both games. I have guaranteed the Komets that I will play in their game (since I have been with them the longest). At 8:30 pm Becky will be at the rink in the Crossbar upstairs watching the game. Please come if you are able to attend. We would love to have a little party with you. Remember if you've got it wear Komet orange!