On Ducks and Monkey Pants

Duckie Stuff: YAY! The Ducks finally won a game! They finally have one in the "win" column. They finally have a point! You can't see me, but I'm doing a little happy dance!

Mind you, 1-4 is not a record to be happy with. But it is so, so much better than 0-4. So I dance.

This is really the first game that I've been able to give my full attention to and I admit, I was looking for whatever was going on that made the Ducks start the season off so poorly. Aside from way too many trips to the penalty box, there wasn't anything that really stuck out. Now, the heavy penalties they kept taking did get me a little ticked, but you know, that's not all that unusual for the Ducks - they've always been tops in the league for penalty minutes. Looks like this season is shaping up to be no different. Other than that, there was nothing that screamed "I am the problem - I am why the Ducks keep losing!" so I guess the Ducks saying that they were putting in the effort and doing the right things but it just wasn't coming together were right. Or else whatever was the problem was fixed so it didn't show up in tonight's game. The Sharks pretty much dominated according to stats during the game, but ultimately the score is what counts, so whatever.

There were a few fights (Parros even drew blood from Shelley), some good saves by Giguere, not quite enough defense for me (but nothing too bad), and a lovely breakaway by Sammy Paulson that made me happy (and resulted in a goal). And it was a shut-out for Giguere, so yay all around! I'm happy!

Another thing that made me happy (and is probably the real reason for the Ducks' win) was Chris Pronger turning up clean shaven.

Say "Bye-bye" to the Beard

Now, I'm totally anti-beard, but I just really am not a big fan of seeing them outside the playoffs. Shoot, I'm not even a big fan seeing them in the playoffs. But for post-season hockey, I deal.

Anyway, congratulations to Chris Pronger's razor for winning the game against the Sharks tonight!

Monkey Pants: In other news, I am sick. I'm 99% sure I got it from work and I think Dan is coming down with it now. It's this weird virus thing. I say weird because it is hard to say exactly what is wrong. I go from burning up to freezing cold, my temperature keeps going up and down and last night I was having some really weird dreams/hallucinations about pants not fitting or something that was vital to tell Dan, but when I was able to tell him this oh so important information, he just ended up laughing at me.

Anyway, I went home from work early yesterday and only managed to swing a couple of hours at work today before I had to come home and die. But about 6pm tonight, my fever broke (again) but this time it seems to be sticking so hopefully I'm over the worst part.

But until I feel 100%, I will continue to wear my fleece monkey pants.

Monkey Pants!

Seriously, how awful are these? Bright green, fleece and monkeys! I love them! They are my ultimate I-need-cuddles-because-I-feel-wretched pj pants. So I will keep wearing them and my Blues shirt circa 1990 that I stole from Dan when we started dating until I feel like I'm ready and able to rejoin the land of the non-infections.

Until then, please slather yourself in Purell after finishing my blog.

Thank you.

Can we have a mulligan?

Hockey season officially started for me last night when the Ducks went to San Jose to play the Sharks.

Sadly, they lost. Kinda badly. 4-1. Yeah. Not cool. I'd really rather start the season with a win, but then who wouldn't. At least it wasn't the home opener, so there is that.

Honestly, I didn't pay enough attention to the game to judge exactly what I thought was going on - I was exhausted and thought I did pretty darn good just to stay up for the whole game (why can't I follow a team in the central time zone?) - so I can't really say much about how the team is shaping up. Which is a shame because I know the Ducks' coaching staff is desperate for my opinion. But sadly, they will have to wait until I see more games.

I'm just happy that hockey is back on so I have something to watch! Even if that means that some nights (like tonight) I have to watch Blues. But they have Andy Mac.

Go Andy Mac!

Mini Teemu Appreciation Post

Hockey has sorta started but not and I was not planning on posting anything hockey related until it started for real (the Ducks have their first regular season game on October 9 but their first preseason game was yesterday), however I had to post something about this.

I just love Teemu Selanne.

Teemu

Check out this article talking about how Teemu's at Ducks training camp under a "pro tryout agreement", waiting for the Ducks to shuffle around their roster and make some deals so they can clear up enough salary cap space to sign him.

I love the fact that Teemu has loyalty to the Ducks and an obvious love of the game. He seems like a genuinely good guy (even with occasional f-bombing towards the refs after penalties included). I think if there were more athletes like him, the sports world would be a better place.

So yeah, Teemu totally rocks. He's the type of guy that I hope good things happen to, you know? And I really hope the Ducks can sign him again this year!

Oh, and since I'm already posting pre-season stuff, I'd like to mention that the Ducks won their first preseaon game (against the Sharks) 6-4. Yay! Of course, preseason means nothing but whatever.

Scrap

Wow, it's been a couple months since I've done any scrapbooking. I started this page a while ago but then Nibby died and I didn't feel like doing much of anything so it's taken me until tonight to finish it up. But I think it turned out really neat! Thought maybe this isn't the best picture of it...

Ducks @ Stars

I've got a lot of pages to do, but a lot of them I need to get pictures developed for. Once I've got the pictures printed out, I want to do a Hawaii scrapbook and one of Nibby's pages for the Kitty scrapbook. I just have to sit down and pick out what pictures I want to use for them, edit them and then take them to Costco next time we go. Hopefully I'll get in gear and do that in the next week or two.

Boo!!

I'm grumpy today for two reasons:

Reason one: The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last night in Game Six last night. Dang it. Oh well, at least now Sidney Crosby can shave off his horrid excuse for a playoff beard.

Crosby attempting a beard

I feel like he should be wearing a stained apron and a hairnet and be bussing my table.

Reason Two:
This is the big one. Guess what sight greeted us after we got up this morning.

Stupid wind!

Yep, another section of fence was blown down. I hate the stupid wind we get here. Dad's coming down to help fix the fence today, so that's good but still, I hate the wind.

So now I'm grumpy. *pout*

Cry Fowl!

Yeah, haven't been blogging oh so much this month. Been not sleeping so great since Nibby. I think it is finally catching up. Kind of brain dead when I get home. But, I did want to point everyone's attention to the fact that the Stanley Cup Final is currently going on.

The Detroit Red Wings lead the series 2-0 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tonight is game three and the Pens are leading 2-0. Since the Ducks were knocked out of the series in Round One (doh!), I'm pulling for the only other waterfowl in this series:

So, Go Penguins!

BTW, are penguins actually waterfowl or just fowl? Is there such a thing as icefowl?

ETA: Pens won 3-2. Woo hoo! Saturday will be game 4 and the Penguins can tie up the series. And I simply must say that Crosby has a horrible playoff beard. For his sake, I hope he shaved it after the Conference Finals and the current growth has been between the end of that series and the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, but I doubt it. Really, if you are going to wear the C you should be able to get up a beard other guys can look up to. It's all about leadership! Or, if you can't man up with the beard, do like Teemu did last year and just shave. Didn't hurt Teemu or the Ducks any and is much less embarrassing.

Sencha Hockey

So I got a lovely sampler from Hibiki-An which included Sencha Superior. (No picture - suck it up... it looks like green tea).

I'm on steep number five of this tea and am liking it more and more. The first steep I used about 1g per oz of water and that was a little weak. So instead of using 8oz of water, I started using 6oz for the re-steeps and this took care of the thin taste I was getting from it initially.

It's got a good muscatel smell but any muscatel flavor has only started coming out in later steeps. It's not the smoothest tea and I thought the somewhat bitter tail that seems to build up was going to make me dislike this tea, but nope. I'm surprisingly starting to like that lightly bitter end.

So, I think I'm just going to hang out this evening at home, sipping on my sencha superior and try to figure out if I want Dallas or Detroit to win the Western Conference final. I just can't convince myself that I want Dallas to win, but I know I don't want Detroit to. I still want San Jose to win, but as Dallas knocked them out last round, I don't think that will happen.

I'm kind of thinking I want Philly to win it all. They have ex-Duck Joffrey Lupul on their team and since the Ducks were booted in the first round (dagnabit!) he's the closest I can get to cheering for the Ducks.

Joffery Lupul is purty, even with the sketchy playoff beard

Of course, it would be cool if Pittsburgh won the Cup - they kind of deserve it.

And there is officially something wrong that I want an Eastern Conference team to win the Stanley Cup. Shame on me.

Look! Something Different!

I finally did some more scrapbooking! I took a little break of a month or so but now am back at it, at least a bit. Here's what I cam up with tonight:

Blowout Hockey

This is from the December 26th Blues game Dan and I went to when we were in St. Louis. The "blowout" bit is because the Blues were beat 0-5 by Detroit. It was embarrassing.

Sort of like the Ducks current play against the Stars. Sigh.

Ducks vs. Stars

Well, regular season hockey is over. Now it is all about the Cup, baby.

Ducks finished second in their division putting them fourth in the Western Conference. That's better than a stick in the eye, so go Ducks! Here's how the west shaped up:

Western Conference Standings

You'll notice that the fifth seed is the Dallas Stars. That means round one will be Stars at Ducks and it all starts at 9pm Central this Thursday.

You know, most of the time I do cheer for the home team, but as they are playing my Duckies, I hope they get booted and booted quickly.

Go Ducks!

Oh, and I almost forgot about Dan's Blues. Which might have been kinder. Yet again they are chasing hard after that first round draft pick. Poor guys. They need all the help they can get.

But on the plus side, they aren't the Kings!

Go Jiggy! Uh, Jonas!

Wow, I can't believe it is almost playoff time in the hockey world! The past month Dan and I have been bad about watching hockey. We haven't been watching too much TV other than Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America and our oh so guilty pleasure ('cause it's funny, people) WWE RAW. But this week I've made a determined effort to get back in touch with my Duckies.

Sadly, for so close to the playoffs, things aren't looking all that shiny for the Ducks. Giguere is having back spasms so Hiller has been in the past few games (and doing a good job, thankfully).

Jonas Hiller. Thank goodness he plays smarter than he looks.

Pronger got suspended for stomping some guy's leg (bad Pronger, no cookie). Getzlaf is out, too, with something upper-body-y but no one is saying what. And Duck's leading scorer, Perry (I so want a Perry jersey) is out with a torn quad that requires surgery and multiple weeks recovery time. So yeah, could be better. Oh, and Ryan Carter is out but compared to the other names on the "unavailable" list, I just gotta say, "Who?"

But, un-shiny line-up or not, the Ducks managed to clinch a play-off spot last night when the game against the Kings went into OT. That one OT point got them their spot and then they put a nice little cap on it by having a very exciting OT and then a long shoot out that went to 6 players. Teemu and Schnider scored in the shoot out (Teemu was score #3 and Schnider #6) to give the Ducks two points and the big ole W.

So go Duckies! Now we just need to make sure some opposing team behind is kicked in the playoffs so the defending champs aren't outed in an early round. 'Cause that would suck.

My Final Scrapbook Page

Okay, so this isn't my final scrapbook page ever, but this is the final page in what I have planned to be the 'Dan and Amanda Scrapbook One' (anyone have a better name for that? please?) which will have 64 layouts covering the time period from our graduation in 2001 to the end of the year of 2007. So basically, our first 6 years - five of which we were married and (due to not taking many pictures) those five years of marriage will cover all but 5 pages (one being the title, one graduation, once for our engagement dinner and two for the wedding). So yeah, one year of dating will have two pages basically. Unless I want to include a soup eating page. For some reason Dan took multiple pictures of me eating soup in college... Weird.

Anyway, the hockey game took place on 12/29, so that's the end of 2007 and thus the end of the scrapbook. I think it is kind of sad but I have the entire book planned out - each even, how many pages and where in the book it will go. I figured I had to do something so I didn't have to insert blank pages to ensure that two-page layouts kept facing each other even when previous events were scrapbooked and included(if that makes sense).

Okay, so that was a bad "anyway" because I just kept babbling. So here's the real one:

Anyway, here's the page:

Blues Hockey

I like it.

Whee!

So, I went in to my new job for about an hour and a half today. I think it will be a great match for me. I took a hard-sided notebook with me to take notes and I was so excited when I got home, that I "fancied" up my notebook so it would be my official office manager notebook.

My office manager notebook - Yes, I'm a dork

I was so pleased with how the notebook turned out (even though it proves that I'm a total nerd and should have no contact with anyone, much less the general public unless I have a keeper with me), that I kept on scrapbooking and made my Stanley Cup layout.

The Stanley Cup so deserves a 2-page LO

And each page:

Habby Nuw Yeah

Who knew you could type with a cold. *sigh* I'm sick. I have a cold. And I think it is currently trying to turn into either a sinus infection or bronchitis. Or both. I blame St. Louis. Because it was cold there. *sigh*

Spent New Year's at my parents where we had our Christmas. That was fun. It was good to see them. My aunt Grace was there, too. It was a good, relaxing family time. We even took family Christmas pictures.

Dad, Mom, Gracie, Me and Dan

And now, on to something completely random... With all the St. Louis hockey I've been seeing, I just had to comment on this. The Blues goalie's mask. Toivonnen's mask has ears painted on.

Check out the EARS. Freaky.

Every time I mention how those painted on ears freak me out, Dan has to comment on the fact that it is modeled after the mask that a very well known Blues goalie used to wear and so those ears are that famous goalie's ears. But still. Freaks me out.

And now for something fun, not freaky, to end this babbling, cold medicine-induced post:

Attack Moneky

My mom sent me this. My mom rocks.

And oh yeah, happy 2008!

More Hockey Goodness

Well, last night Dan and I went to the last of our series of three Blues games. It was the Stars vs. Blues. We got the tickets from Dan's boss, Kelly. Kelly and his wife joined us for the game and it was a lot of fun.

Dan, Kelly, and Gina

Sadly, I forgot my camera so I had to make do with Dan's camera phone. Not the best pictures but it is better than nothing. Of course, there was no AndyMac to stalk this game (he's out with a pulled chest muscle) so at least I didn't need to camera-stalk anyone.

At first it looked like the Blues would have as much luck against the Stars as they had against the Red Wings. But a little bit into the first period, the Blues were suddenly reminded that, oh yeah, they were actually supposed to be playing in the hockey game, not just watching.

After that, the game stayed close, though the Stars kept the lead most of the game, with the Blues only taking the lead in the third. Ex-Duck Paul Kariya even had a hat-trick - go ex-Ducks!

In the final minutes of the third period, the Stars took back the lead, but with 10.7 left in the game, the Blues tied it up, taking the game into overtime.

No one scored during the OT and it went to a shoot out. Dallas got a goal with their last shooter and the Blues had none, so the score ended up 5-4 Dallas. All in all, an exciting game. And much better than the game against the Red Wings!

I Have Returned!

YAY! I have returned from the arctic north (though Dan still insists it is call the mid-west... whatever, it is so totally the arctic north) and no frostbite to be found. Of course, it is still winter in Texas, but our lows are St. Louis' highs.

So, let's see what all I have to share:

December 24, cont.
After opening presents (Dan got a whopping 15lbs of gummy worms - he's thrilled and would have liked to have gotten even more, the nut), we finished up Christmas Eve by going to the Zimmermann's church for not quite Midnight Mass (since it started at 11:00pm and the church is Episcopal). The choir, including mother- and father-in-law, sang some lovely songs. It was very neat. Though I do think that our church's Jesus cookie tastes better. And yes, I realize calling a communion wafer a Jesus cookie is not church-sanctioned. But that's what it is in my little world.

December 25
Yeah, so after five years of marriage, Dan never thought to tell me of the Zimmermann tradition of all the women-folk getting aprons and taking a group picture for Christmas. Now, it's an odd tradition, but Dan's aunt makes the aprons and she is an awesome quilter, so that's pretty nifty.

Group Apron Shot

Still, you would think Dan would mention something about it. Sigh. I guess it is because he isn't the one that gets to wear the pretty apron.

Anyway, we spent Christmas day with the extended Zimmermann horde, had some good food and a fun white elephant gift exchange. Quite a change from my regular Christmas experience which is just immediate family. It was also the first time in 11 years that I hadn't been with my parents for Christmas so I missed my mommy. But we are going to do Christmas in Graham New Year's Eve, so I get to see them then.

December 26
Okay, today was a busy day. We went to the City Museum and a Blues hockey game. The City Museum is... insane. There is no other way to describe it. It's not so much a museum as an urban playground with stairways, underground and overhead tunnels, hidden pathways, and just a whole bunch of weird stuff - including the World's Largest Pair of Underpants!

Tunnels!


Isn't My Hubby Cute?


Underpants! And Sister-In-Law!


Yeah, it was a weird place. I wanna know if they really need this warning.

There was also an aquarium and there was a box fish there that was totally flirting with me.

It's hard to focus when the subject is less than one inch from the camera

Anyway, after the City Museum, we went to the Blues game against Detroit. OMG. Total blow-out. The Blues lost 5-0. Ouch. I'm pretty sure the Blues were still on Christmas vacation. But, total bonus, I got to boo the home team along with all the other fans! Woo hoo! Dan even said they deserved it. And, double bonus - I got to camera-stalk former Duck center, Andy McDonald. Go Andy Mac!

Dan and Me at the Game (and I'm wearing my nifty Western Conference Champs hat from SIL - way cute, no?)


This fight was pretty much the most positive excitement the game generated - the Blues player won.


Andy Mac!

December 27
Well, we came home the 27th. It was about an 11 hour drive and there was a lot of fog, but it was really good to get home. The kitties missed us greatly. Of course, before we left on our road trip, I had to get one last kitty cuddle from my favorite furry sister.

Me and Simone (yeah, I look crumby, but it was early!)

The 'Stache vs. The Fridge

Tonight is the Wild vs. the Ducks.

             

That's right - Parros, the Duck's current heavyweight and Fedoruk, my favorite former Duck. The 'Stache vs. the Fridge. Part of me hopes that one of them is a healthy scratch so I don't have to choose between a current Duckie and my favorite ex-Duckie.

And does it totally negate me as a knowledgable hockey fan when I call them "Duckies"?

(ETA: Sigh. The game wasn't on Center Ice so I had to listen to it on internet radio. Of course, that could be for the best as the final score was 5-2 Wild. And the 2 Duck goals weren't until the 3rd period. Giguere was pulled in the second period. Sigh. All around just not a pretty game. Both Parros and Fedoruk were dressed, but no big fights occurred, so at least I didn't have to worry about who to cheer for. I think I need to go sulk now after that painful loss. Come on, Ducks! Get it in gear!)

Nieds is Back!

Scott Niedermayer is coming back to the Ducks! Woo hoo!

Cappy Scott Niedermayer

He had previously taken time off to figure out if he was going to retire and looks like he isn't. He should be back in 7 to 10 days.

YAY! Hopefully this will help the Ducks shape up more. They started out very messy at the beginning of this season. They are playing better but their record still needs a little work (especially compared to last year). Scotty should make a big difference.

Oh, and there are rumors about Teemu Selanne being back in another month or so. Hmmm. I'm not sure if I buy that, but way cool if it happens!

Now, I'm going back to the Buffalo/Anaheim game.

Go DUCKS!

(ETA: Ducks Win! Ducks Win! 4-1! Good game, too. Ducks put a full 60 minutes in and even when they had a 2-goal lead they played strong and aggressive (I hate it when they "protect their lead" by playing defensively - they don't seem to do as well with that style of play). And for teams that haven't seen each other for apparently two years, there was a lot of animosity - several fights, including a big ole throw down after the buzzer sounded. Anyway, go Ducks! Good game!)

I'm Taking Votes...

Well, it's really a case of collecting suggestions actually. What should I title future blog updates that really have no redeeming social value and are just me showing the world the fact that all I apparently do is scrapbook?

Yes, that's right - I have another completed layout. It's busy, but I quite like it.

Hockey!

Text reads:

Dan & I got to see the Sharks & Stars play thanks to more free tickets. It wasn’t a great game, at least not until the final period. Both teams were playing like girls with lots of playground-style pushing & no real checks. Bad puck handling & we couldn’t believe that Turco wasn't pulled from the game. But then the Sharks started racking up goals (3 goals in less than 4 minutes) which really turned the game around. Even though the Stars lost 4-2, it was a fun game!

Hockey is always fun, but extra bonus, ex-Duck Todd Fedoruk was playing for the Stars! He even had one fight that was sadly very short and ended up with Fedoruk losing his footing and falling flat on his back. I still love him, though. Go Fridge!

Yes, it is a layout for something that happened less than a month ago. Go me! Of course, I still have tons of stuff to do from earlier this year. So far everything I've been doing is from this year, but my ultimate goal is to go back to when Dan and I graduated in 2001. Have the scrapbook be basically our life together (which actually started a couple of months before graduation, but I think the only picture I have of that is me eating soup in Dan's room. Thrilling, yes?)

Of course, I ran out of two of my favorite adhesives - mounting squares and Tombo Adhesive roll. Sigh. Saturday I am so going to the craft store to get more. Yay for a new budget month! (I still love my budget, though. And Dave Ramsey).

Dave!

Oooh, speaking of budgets, Dan said that Dave Ramsey is going to be in Dallas in February. I think we are going to go. We both really want to because Dave is well, simply awesome. Not sure how much we actually need to go since we are about to start "Baby Step 6: Paying off the house early" hopefully in January.

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps

Of course, we are skipping Baby Step 5 since the kitties do not require college education to shed and vomit up hairballs. And we are doing a little more than 15% in Baby Step 4 to try to max out our IRAs for this year (we got a late start because of paying off Dan's car so are playing catch-up).

Anyway, enough babbling about our finances. At least I didn't post our budget here. And no, I don't have a budget line for scrapbooking. Though that could be useful....

Butter - Now with Pictures! And More Words!

Ah, butter. The most spoken word at our house over Thanksgiving. And the most used cooking ingredient, too!

Four sticks were used for the turkey alone. The scalloped pineapple had two, then there was the cheesecake, the pecan pie, the two different stuffings... Of course, we also had cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, potato salad, green beans, three bean salad - none of which involved butter. Which is probably a good thing since Dan and I used almost 2 pounds and my parents used more than 1 pound. And since we had to do things gluten-free, it was real butter. None of this light or substitute stuff.

Dad waiting (not so patiently) to start Thanksgiving Dinner

Not all the food fit on the table

Our Butter-ific Turkey

Anyway, thanks to the butter, the good food and the great company, we had a fantastic Thanksgiving. My parents came down to spend Thursday and Friday with us and then Emily and Danny (the youth minister from my parents' church and her boyfriend) stopped by on their way to take Danny home.

Tis The Season...
The one thing that has been less than stellar this Thanksgiving has been the weather. Now, last weekend Dan was outside while he cleaned out his beer fridge and I kept him company. Well, we were out there for a couple of hours, I suppose, and I managed to get a bit of a tan. The weather was gorgeous. And then a cold front came in on Wednesday. It even snowed a little in Dallas on Thursday! And today it is rainy and cold and just ick. Poor Dan, I think he has a cold. He keeps sneezing and sniffling and dripping and coughing and snorting... I blame the weather change.

Of course, the bonus for the cold weather is now we are firmly in kitty-cuddle season. I've had Gidgie, Bitty, Cocoa (more than once!) and a Nibby camped out on me today. Bitty is sitting on my legs right now and half of this was typed around a Nibby-man perched on my chest (I'm laying down on the couch). So really, that's the only good thing about the cold weather. Kitties make everything better.

I'm a Stalker
And speaking of making everything better, Dan and I got to see the Ducks on Wednesday.

At the Game

It was Ducks vs. Stars and Dan's boss gave him tickets. Great seats - eight rows from the ice.

Duckies!

Giguere at the Bench!

But, before more about the game, I should mention that it was also Mike Modano night, to celebrate Modano breaking the American total goals scored record and American total points record.

Mike Modano

It was pretty neat. Modano cried. And I determined that he just isn't an attractive man when playing hockey. He's got this weird downward curved mouth and his teeth are almost always visible. Not that bright looking. But then, he's a hockey player, so he's not expected to be pretty.

Anyway, the Ducks lost the game 2-1 (and I endured some friendly ribbing from several folks in our section about my allegiance (I was wearing my Ducks jersey)) but it was a good game, especially the last 5 or 6 minutes - very exciting as the Ducks pushed for a goal to tie the game and send it in to overtime. And come on - it was the Ducks! You know I loved it!

But, the bestest thing about the game, what made it all better for having been a loss, is that Giguere was in net! OMG!

GIGUERE!

More GIGUERE!

*gasp* Still more GIGUERE!

I LOVE YOU, GIGUERE!

Ooh, more GIGUERE!

And who is this? GIGUERE? Why, yes!

Each time I've seen the Ducks play the Stars (actually been-there-seen then, not watched-on-tv-seen them) Bryz has been in net. Giguere has either been injured or resting because of back-to-back games. But this time, I got to see Jiggy. Second period he was in net on our end of the ice so I pretty much can't tell you a single thing that happened during that period because I was so busy camera-stalking him (as proven by the number of pictures above. Hey, I had over 100 to go through. You got off easy. )

Fickleness
And speaking of camera stalking, the last Stars game I went to, I camera-stalked ex-Duck Todd Fedoruk. Well, I wasn't even looking for him during the Ducks game and didn't realize until afterwards that I hadn't seen him (I'm such a fickle camera-stalker). Well, turns out Fedoruk is no longer a Star! He was claimed off of waivers by the Minnesota Wild, of all teams!

The Wild is the home of Derek Boogaard, the man that broke Fedoruk's eye socket (in my last post about this I said cheekbone - I was wrong). Ever time the Ducks and Wild played, Boogaard and Fedoruk would fight (sadly with Fedoruk usually being the one on the losing end, but then that seems to be most players that fight with Boogaard). And now they are teammates! Fedoruk isn't just a fighter, he can skate and score, too, but his main purpose on a team is usually muscle. So I can't help but wonder why a team that has Boogaard (who is very much muscle and quite good at being such) would need to add another tough-guy? And do Boogaard and Fedoruk get along or is there any animosity (after all, broken bones have been involved when those two meet)?

ETA Apparently, I'm not the only one thinking this. Dan found a great quote from Fedoruk about the situation in St. Louis Today's Sports

The tail-spining Wild claimed Todd Fedoruk off waivers last week. You might remember that current Wild enforcer Derek Booggard flattened Fedoruk in a fight in October 2006. “I’m just glad that I don’t have to deal with Boogey anymore,” Fedoruk said. “I’m pumped, but it’ll be a little awkward, I won’t lie to you, when we say hello. I’m going to say, ‘Hey buddy, remember me, the guy whose career you almost ended last year. See this dent in my face? Want to be roomies?’”

*snort* Okay, I even more heart Todd Fedoruk after that.

Of course, this brings up the problem that during the next Ducks/Wild game Fedoruk and Parros might be dropping gloves! Who would I cheer for? The Fridge or the 'Stache??

Fedoruk and Parros

Blood in the Water

Last night, Dan and I went to a Stars hockey game. Such fun! Actually, it was a pretty crappy game until the last 15 minutes or so. Both teams were playing like girls. Lots of playground-esque pushing going on, no real checks. Bad puck handling and neither Dan nor I could believe that Turco wasn't pulled from the game.

Game-age

Even if the Sharks hadn't started racking up goals at the end (3 goals in less than 4 minutes - which is what made the game really fun), I still enjoyed myself. Hey, bad live hockey is still live hockey. And even bad hockey isn't that bad when the tickets are free.

All in all, somewhat of a slaughter, at least for the 3rd period

If that weren't enough, though, there was the added bonus of Todd Fedoruk, aka Fridge, now being on the Stars.

On the bench

Fedoruk is a former Duck that was traded to the Flyers during the '05-'06 season after his cheekbone was broken during a fight with Boogaard (who is a dirty word for that and so many other reasons). Anyway, he's a Star now and I spent a decent amount of the game camera-stalking him. He even had one fight that was sadly very short and ended up with Fedoruk losing his footing and falling flat on his back. I still love him, though.

Fedoruk's not just a fighter - he touched the puck a few times, I swear!

Boring Update

Okay, it has been forever since I've updated (but I have a good reason, I swear). So here's some of the stuff that has happened in the almost four weeks since I last posted.

A Month of Goodies

• According to last week's endoscopy, I have a sliding hiatal hernia. Not sure as to the treatment yet, though they have put me on some acid reducers (hasn't helped yet but then I just started it yesterday). We will learn more details on the 12th when the results of the esophagram I had yesterday are in. (Also, I have pictures, but I really don't feel up to spending the time to get them on here right now - when I am feeling better).


• I feel like a human pincushion - I've had 5 IVs in 4 weeks. Of those 5 IVs, 4 of them included radioactive material so I should officially glow now. Oh yeah, and I drank barium yesterday. I am my own nightlight.


• I am currently on short-term disability so no work for me. Which I feel horribly guilty about, but since I can't even empty the dishwasher without having to nap and/or begging for death, it's probably the right move.


• I have learned that you can, in fact, hit your out-of-pocket max with your insurance in one month. Of course, we have good health insurance, so that out-of-pocket max is just $1,500 but still. One month? I find that impressive.


• Of course the reason I have hit the out-of-pocket max is all the things that have happened in the past month (in no particular order)... Ambulance trip to the ER, stress test, chest x-ray, blood tests, CT scan, celiac panel, HIDA scan, abdominal sonogram, esophagram and endoscopy. I think that's everything. Of course, that is excluding the multiple doctor and specialist visits I have had. Pretty much now I'm either sleeping on going to the doctor for an appointment or the hospital for tests.


• After a month of this, I am getting whiny (like you couldn't tell that) and grumpy.

Anyway, that's basically what's been going on. Sorry for those that have not gotten calls or emails returned. Most of the time I lose my breath so easily on the phone it is not comfy to talk and sitting up enough to type quickly causes me chest discomfort. Thank goodness for Xanax, though - the only reason I can type this blog right now and just be a little uncomfortable. Apparently it relaxes smooth muscle, which is what your GI track is so I'm thinking that maybe the hernia slides back down-ish to a more normal and comfortable position?

But enough of the health whine. GREAT hockey news! THE DUCKS HAVE WON THE STANLEY CUP! That's right, baby. Stanley cup! WOOOOO! I told Dan that they'd win the Western Conference in 6 games (and they did) and the Cup in 5 games (and they did)! So good job, boys! I was so happy, I cried. Yes, I admit it, I cried. Just a few tears - nothing like Teemu who had tears running down his cheeks while being interviewed. But then he's waited 15 years to hoist the cup. And you can bet that pictures will be posted of cuppy-goodness in the future.

GO DUCKS!

Oh, and one more thing before I go recline in a non-typing-friendly position. Harry Potter comes out next month (both movie 5 and book 7) so I've been surfing to see what news is out. I ran across some fanfic and one livejournal that takes the worst fanfic summaries and lists them for others to basically MST3K. It's really in the comments that it is hilarious. Some of them kill me. But it is long, so maybe best if you have nothing else to do besides sleep or watch horrible daytime TV (which I've been boycotting, it is so bad). Anyway, funny stuff. (Tracy, if you see this, I keep meaning to email it to you but yeah, that hasn't happened. I think you'd get a giggle out of it).

Now, I'm off to nap.

Two Weeks of Updates

(Edited: Now with pictures! And more text - because, yeah, it wasn't long enough.)

Lots has happened in the past two weeks. I've been meaning to make this post for the past 4 days, but I just haven't had the time, energy or inclination. But I need a mini-break from all the work that has piled up on my desk, so I figured now is a great time to post.

I do have some pictures at home that I'll post (hopefully) later tonight and if not tonight that sometime this week.

So now, in no particular order, updates:

Duckie Goodness
Well, the Ducks won the Conference Semifinals against the Canucks in 5 games. Go Ducks! Their next game is Friday against the Red Wings in the Conference Finals. I hope that all the time off they've had (like a week) won't cause a problem. Sometimes they can get a little rusty. But I'm still looking forward to it. The last step before the Stanley Cup Finals, baby! Woo hoo!

Celiac Mama
My mom was officially diagnosed with celiac disease last week. It is basically a wheat gluten allergy, but it isn't like one of those "sweet" little allergies that make you puffy or break out in hives. Any hint of wheat gluten into her system and her small intestines basically start destroying themselves leading to gastro-instestinal damage, malnutrition and intestinal cancer.

Yes, it is an "allergy" that leads to cancer.
(Edited: I actually just looked it up and it is described as an immune system disorder. Okay, that does make much more sense.)

To prevent all this from happening and to reverse the damage that has already been done (which will take about 2 to 3 years to repair), she has to stay away from any food that has wheat gluten or something derived from wheat gluten in it. At first, it seems simple. Oh, avoid breads, pastas, chips, etc. No problem. No - it is more than that. Anything that has been prepared on the same surface as a wheat product is a no-no (she can't order just a hamburger patty at her local burger joint because they toast the buns on the same grill they cook the patties). Also, anything with maltodextrin in it (a wheat derived product) has to be avoided. I dare you to look at ingredient lists for a day to see how much stuff has maltodextrin in it. Even antacids have it! Sugar substitutes have it so anything with Splenda is outlawed as well. Some mustards and soy sauces are no-nos as well as some natural flavorings and colorings. So unless she knows that the flavorings, colorings, soy sauce, etc that has been used in an item is gluten-free, she can't eat it. And then even if the product itself doesn't have wheat or maltodextrin in it, they could use wheat flour (or something with gluten) to dust the belts in the processing plant! Are you starting to get an idea of how hard it is for her to find anything to eat other than fresh fruits and veggies? And man cannot live off of fruits and veggies!

Oh, and the true joy of the whole situation: celiac can run in families. So I have to be tested for celiac, as well. When I was at the hospital yesterday, I got my doctor to call in orders for a celiac panel so now I just need to wait for the results (which I'll get in about a week). Wheee!

And speaking of being at the hospital...
Yes, I was at the hospital yesterday, but it was a scheduled thing so no worries. I had my stress test yesterday. It wasn't too bad - more waiting than anything. But they did stick an IV in my WRIST!!! and I had to keep that in for about 4 hours. So not fun. The really not fun part came in that I couldn't take my medication for 48 hours before the test.

The treadmill part of it was blissfully short. My heart rate needed to get up to 160 bpm and the tech said it should take about 10 minutes. I told her it wouldn't take near that long since I couldn't take my medicine that I use to, you know, slow my heart rate. The morning of the test, my heart rate got up to 130 just brushing my teeth. (On the medication my resting heart rate is about 85 or so, which is on the high end of normal.) Anyway, it took 4 and 1/2 minutes for my heart to get up to 170 bpm. Yikes. The tech said that was the easiest test she had done - my heart rate got up there so quickly. I told her that the reason I went on the medication is my heart rate would go up to 160 when I just walked to the fridge to get water. She was a little surprised, to say the least.

Anyway, the doctor is reading the tests sometime today and I should get a call in the next few days from someone. I also have a follow up with my normal cardiologist next Thursday. And if they don't find something on this test or the celiac panel that was done, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Thankfully it looks like the problem has stabilized so I am still able to work. But Dan's been taking me to work because I have lots of problems if I'm not able to take about a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day. So something is going on still and someone has got to figure out what it is. Before I kill someone.

Speaking of killing someone...
I am so grumpy when I travel. For someone that loves to be in new places, I sure hate getting there. But our trip last week to St. Louis was actually okay. I was totally wiped out from the trip (even though we flew) and on the way back home, I wasn't able to take my medicine so I hated life (and poor Dan bore the brunt of that). But the part in between the travelling bits was actually pretty good.

We went to St. Louis for Dan's cousin's wedding and it was a bonus that the whole family was there so we got to see everyone and visit a bit.

David and Bridget (aka Bride and Groom, well, actually Groom and Bride) had a Catholic wedding in a lovely church (I love any place with stained glass, though). Me and Catholicism don't really get along (thanks private school), but it was still neat.

Handsome Usher Dan at the Church

Of course it made me think of my wedding so I started to tear up - but not in the aw-isn't-that-romantic way. More like the I-remember-how-much-I-totally-freaked-at-my-wedding way.

They also had a fun reception with silly toasts, a good buffet and dancing (though no chicken dance, much to Dan's disappointment).

Reception

I actually got to slow dance with my hubby so a good time was had by all. (I did also get semi-stalked by a little kid, but that's a whole 'nother post - and she didn't try to do my hair like she did with Dan at the rehearsal dinner/party).

At the Reception

Other fun stuff, we got to meet my in-laws new(er) kitty, Max (who is a little psycho, Princess-style) and get to know Simone (who is a doll and a half).

Mad Max

Sweet Simone Lovin'

We also got to play a little with my sister-in-law's babies, Duncan and Molly (who has an extra toe that I think is an opposable thumb!).

Leah's Chunky Dunkie

Molly - Check out the Opposable Thumb!

We also went to a Cardinals baseball game. Now, I'm not a big baseball fan (go hockey!) but I did have a good time. The energy is totally different from a hockey game. Much more social, slower pace. I can see why it is a summer time sport (well, that and if hockey were a summer sport, the ice would melt).

Me, Dan and Leah

It was a fun game and I'd totally go to another one but I'd prefer it if the home team didn't get demolished. Yep, Cards lost. 13-0.

Ouch. But Go Astros!

Yikes. But at least it was against the Houston Astros so a Texas team won. Dan didn't like it when I would clap for the Astros. I cheered for the Cardinals, too, though!

Pujols at Bat (I swear)

Can I just interrupt for a moment and say, stadium food prices are total high way robbery. $4.75 for a 1 pint bottle of water! Dan and I get a case of 17 oz bottles at Costco for 50 cents less than that! And I won't even talk about how much our lunch cost. I don't know how those concession people sleep at night. Anyway....

I even got a little more tourist-y stuff in while in St. Louis. Or one thing.

The Arch from outside Busch Stadium

Yep, saw the arch. Go me! As the man behind us at the game said, "It's an arch, not an arc. Do you see Noah around?"

Oh, Dan just reminded me. We saw the funniest thing on the way to the stadium for the game. Two college-age, maybe slightly older guys standing on a street corner. One looking across the street, the other focusing on the sidewalk asking if people had an extra ticket. The one looking towards the street suddenly burst out with a "HAMBONE!" Without even looking at what the other was doing, both the street and sidewalk guy simultaneously throw up their arms in a "the field goal is good" kind of way with the sidewalk guy joined in with the "HAMBONE!"-ing. It was the weirdest thing and so made me want to study college frat guys to see if there was some sort of mind meld that enabled them to do things like that. I hope I never forget that image because without fail, it makes me giggle when I think of it.

As nice as it was to get away from work and visit with Dan's family, it was great to get home, see my babies, and sleep in my own bed. But mostly seeing my babies. I missed them! Just thinking about it makes me want to go home and hug a kitty.

Whew, so this short break from work has turned out to be rather long, so I suppose I will finish off there. Hopefully, I will put some pictures up tonight but if I don't, I'll get them sometime. (edited: Woo hoo! I did get pictures up tonight!) Most of them are St. Louis pictures, but the Big Girl did get a haircut last night so I will add those two even though it isn't related to the St. Louis trip (or anything else I have thus far blogged about today).

Lion-cut Big Girl

A Kitty's Worth of Hair

And one picture that I had to add:

Ain't he cute? Hehe!

HAMBONE!

Kill Me Now

Wow, almost 2 weeks since I have updated. Shame on me. Quite a change from updating a couple of times a week.

In my defense, I have felt like utter monkey pooh. But I figured it was time to post so people could be reassured that I have not, in fact, dropped off the face of the earth. So, without further ado, updates:

Hockey
Okay, it might say something about my priorities that are a bit off since I just got back from the cardiologist and yet the first topic on my blog update is hockey. But this is the playoffs, baby. All other things take a back seat.

So, the Ducks didn't sweep the Wild in the First Round like I thought they would - they let the Wild win 1 game. But I can totally deal with the series going to Game 5. It gave the Ducks a nice rest before Round 2, which started last night. They are playing Vancouver and, if last night's game was any indication, this will be a very one-sided series. Ducks won 5 to 1. Ouch. Poor Canucks, huh? But I don't feel bad enough for them to want any of the next games to be any different. I am interested to see what happens in the Red Wings/Sharks series since the Ducks will play the winners. Not sure if I am interested enough to watch it, though. That could cut into some serious nap time.

And speaking of nap time...

Cardiologist Stuff
Yeah, as expected, the results from my last heart monitor thing were normal. Woo freakin' hoo. So we still don't know what exactly is going on. But I maintain if it keeps getting worse, I will no longer be able to drive, much less hold down a job. Dan's even driven me to work a couple of times. It's nice because then I can nap on the way home.

Anyway, the cardiologist said that when people come in with the symptoms I am describing, they usually have coronary heart disease. But due to my age and lack of strong family history of early heart disease, he thinks not so much. But he wants me to take a stress test just to make sure.

That's right. A stress test. Yet again, woo freakin' hoo. So Monday, May 7th, I will be injected with radioactive material and made to run on a treadmill. I. Am. So. Not. Excited.

The cardiologist did say that he is more inclined to think it is asthma. So I guess if the freakin' stress test doesn't show anything, I'll have to go back that route. The pulmonary function test I took back when came out fine which would indicate it isn't asthma, but apparently it doesn't always show up on those. Back when, I was using Advair and that seemed to be helping, though after the PFT showed up okay, the doctor said it most likely helped just because it was clearing up some inflammation issues left over from my last bout of bronchitis.

Anyway, the cardiologist suggested that I get back on the Advair to see if it helps, so I picked some up today and took my first treatment this morning. It is hard to tell if it is helping. Pressure-wise I'm probably hanging out at a 7 now, with forays into 6-dom, but I had a lovely spike into the town of 9 that made me start yet again contemplating exactly when I needed to have someone take me to the emergency room (the only thing Dan and I can totally agree on is if I do manage to pass out, I'm going). And yes, I've been rating my "discomfort" the past 2 weeks. I'm trying to find a pattern - if the pressure relates to how much sleep I get, if I have sugar, caffeine, if I exercise. So far - no pattern.

Okay, where was I? I got sidetracked.... Oh yeah. Asthma. Basically, the cardiologist said we could play around with which medication I am on (breathing-related or heart-related) but it was "a crap shoot" so he decided to leave me on the heart stuff and add the Advair to see if it helped. Yeah.

Anyway, I guess we will know more after the freakin' stress test. Oh, and did I mention the true joy that will be for the freakin' stress test? I have to stop taking my heart medication for it. I take the test Monday and I can't take the meds Monday or Sunday. Yeah, no meds AND a treadmill. I'm so going to pass out.

Okay, enough of that junk. Fun stuff...

KITTIES!
The babies are doing wonderfully. Princess keeps trying to eat Chloe and has been thinking about making a Bitty-snack, but otherwise is good. Cocoa is doing great with no teeth. Ashes is sweet, as always and Nibby has been super-balancy. Gidget is one giant fluffer kitty and I'm thinking about shaving her for the summer (shh! don't tell her that!) and Happy is her insane but lovable self. Yay for healthy and happy kitties!

Smile for the Day
And now for something that makes me happy: Cuteness! On that site, you can find adorable little pictures and videos that will make you definitely go "aww".

And with that, I'll leave you some supercute for the day:

It'll fit - I swear!

Forgot to Mention....

Okay, this may be hard to read, but this is our fantasy hockey bracket:

Pink Monkeys Rule!

The Pink Monkeys won! And who, you may ask, are the Pink Monkeys? Well, honestly, if you are asking that then why are you reading my blog because you obviously have no idea who I am.

So go me for winning it all in fantasy hockey! Especially since I got so frustrated with stuff that I barely even looked at it about 1/2 way through the season.

Now, if only my real-life team could win it all, I would be a happy camper! Go DUCKS! (Currently they lead the series 2-0 against the Wild).

In other news...
There are also other exciting things going on in my life right now besides winning the fantasy hockey league.

First off, I got hooked up to another heart monitor on Thursday. Woo-freakin'-hoo. This one was a 24-hour monitor, not an event monitor like the last one. So I only had to wear it 24 hours. Which was good because instead of 2 little electrodes like the event monitor, this one had five and a big ole black cable that was impossible to conceal. Total pain in the rear.

I go back to the cardiologist the 26th to see if anything new popped up on the results. He had me hooked up to a monitor again because the past three weeks I've had a horrible time, heart-wise. It feels like I'm not even taking my medicine (no, I am taking my meds, it just feels like I'm not because they don't seem to be doing anything anymore). So the doctor wants to make sure that we are dealing with the same problem as before. Then he will decide what to do.

Secondly, Gateway totally sucks. Never again will I buy another Gateway. Ever. I would rather set my eyebrows on fire than willingly pay to own such a piece of junk. One week (almost exactly) after getting my computer back from Gateway service (they replaced the fan which apparently stopped working so my computer would overhead and crash - that was fun), my hard drive went out. And not like before when it was starting to crash but we had enough time to rescue most of the information (I think I lost like 3 files). But totally, completely crashed. As in, Dan didn't think he'd be able to get ANY information off of it. Finally, though, if he held the hard drive still and at just the right angle and the rings of Saturn aligned properly with Uranus, he was able to access the drive long enough to grab some of the files that had changed since my last computer back up.