Date Night

Pre-empty nesting our social life was controlled by the kids.

Greg played travel hockey and we got to know all of his team mates and parents. For about ten hockey seasons we hung out with these people pre-game, during the game, post-game and of course there were all of the out of town hockey tournaments and hotel-room fun. Summer was soccer games and rowing regattas with Kaitlin. Jen kept us busy just keeping up with her friends and her travel. Now the kids are all independent and out of the house, we are not needed for our taxi-service or our cheer-leading. Suddenly Terry and I finally had time to spend together. For quite some time spending time together meant staying at home on the couch recuperating from all of those years of trying to keep up with the kids.

We soon realized we were in a rut.

We decided to spice things up with “Date Night.” So unoriginal I know but it really worked. We have done lots of interesting things and lots of things not so interesting but at least we are together. The premise is we alternate weeks planning something to do. I scour the newspaper for anything promising. Sometimes it has to be kept a secret or I know Terry will find an excuse not to go. If he had known ahead of time about our trip to the library, I know he would have stayed home. It turned out to be one of his favourite stories to tell. Terry has learned when it is his turn to plan we need to start out early or I will be too tired and will wimp out.

So far we have spent lots of time walking the pier of Port Dalhousie and eating out at Scorecard Harry’s. We have gone to the theatre, lectures, hikes, and once even a hot air balloon ride. While we spend time together we also meet lots of interesting people. Last night was no exception.

We headed out to join the Haunted Pub Crawl of Port Dalhousie. We started at Port Mansion where we met our other group mates. Kerry was fabulous as our group leader making sure we got to the right place at the right time and more importantly, provided us with tickets for our food and drinks. The pub crawl consisted of touring six restaurants/bars in Port Dalhousie where we were greeted at the door with glasses of beer, shots, and a food speciality of the house. At one place we even had pumpkin beer. While I probably wouldn’t order again, it did put some “spice” in the evening. Each shot had a spooky Halloween name but tasted just fine.

Our group started out very quiet and polite but at each pub the crowd got louder and friendlier. We had a great time until near the end when one our new best friends suggested we could be facebook friends and no one else would need to know. His pimp outfit hadn’t creeped me out earlier but his line and the look he gave me certainly did. The creepiness was confirmed when I found out he said something similar but even more blunt to my friend Diane…..all this while his girlfriend was in the washroom.

Other than the creep, we had a great time and another story to tell.

I'm A Cover Girl!

Who knew that Terry and I were going to be stars on the cover of Cottage Life Magazine?

Since we bought our cottage about 15 years ago, I have been an avid reader of Cottage Life. Last summer I was very excited to actually have an item published in the magazine, a small bit about potato gun fun at the cottage. The article even evoked some controversy. Something I wrote caused some one living in Korea to write a letter to the editor! Terry was upset someone had the nerve to criticize the use of potato guns, (or was he just trying to protect my honour???)The writer thought it was a disgraceful waste of food, shooting random potatoes into our lake. I was just excited it was published and got a nice cheque to go along with it!

The cover pic was taken when we decided to attend the Cottage Life show in Toronto. One of the booths offered to snap it if we took some survey about cell phone use. A few days later we received an email with our picture superimposed on the cover of our favourite magazine! I am just curious about what an accompanying article would be about.

Game One - Stanley Cup Final Series

My Pittsburgh Penguins did not do very well tonight. A 5-0 loss to Detroit. While watching the game tonight I was vividly remembering our latest family outing.

Last Thursday on my way to work, my cell phone rang. It was my sone Greg asking me if I wanted to go to a Stanley Cup final game. Before I calculated exactly how much this excursion was going to cost I said yes. Of course MY credit card had to be used! By 10:00 a.m. Greg was on-line and was able to score 4 tickets to game 1 of the Stanley Cup final series between Detroit and Pittsburgh.

So last Saturday afternoon with my husband Terry driving, Greg and his girlfriend Kim in the back seat, we were off to Detroit. It was a pretty uneventful drive until we were between London and Windsor on the 401. I was engrossed in a book when I heard Terry swear and say we were about to be pulled over by the police.

The police office came up to the passenger side so I rolled down my window. Standing there with a great big smile was the youngest, cutest looking cop I have ever seen! She very politely explained Terry was driving 131 in a 100 kph zone. She went on to add this section of highway has seen an abnormal amount of accidents due to the lack of median. She then headed back to her car to write up the ticket.

Terry stepped out of the car at this point and asked her if it was OK to go and visit the woods. She agreed and off Terry went into the trees at the side of the road in front of a cop and the other hundred people zooming past us on the 401!!! No one said Terry had any class. When the officer came back to the car, she asked Terry to get back and went on to tell us because we looked like such a nice family she reduced the ticket to no points and only a $50.00. We thanked her profusely and commented how we appreciated her kind manner.

Terry did slow down a bit (with my backseat nagging) and we arrived at our hotel room to get ready for the big game. Kim and Greg donned their matching Red Wing jerseys while Terry and I kept on our civilian garb. We headed to a city bus stop where we got on a bus and went through the Windsor tunnel and through customs. I was going to give some motherly advice to a young gentleman on the bus who was upset about getting hassled from the customs inspectors. I was going to suggest if he removed the massive dollar sign tattoos around this neck it might make his entry into the USA easier. I decided to not get involved.

As we entered "The Joe" we were all given white towels to cheer with and we then headed for the pizza stand for our dinner. Looking around I had never seen so many jerseys being worn. Literally, Terry and I were some of the very few people not wearing a jersey. Most were Detroit but there were lots of Penguins jerseys too, considering we were in the Motor City.

The game was a blast! While I wasn't happy the Penguins were on the wrong side of the score sheet, (I always seem to cheer for the underdogs) the arena was rocking! Attending a game at the Joe was a cross between a great hockey game, a rock concert and a karaoke party! In my other life, I am sure I must have been a back up singer for Bette Midler, so while the goals didn't go the way I wanted, I sung along with the crowd anyway.

NHL rules says the music can only be played when the players aren't playing. That doesn't stop the crowd! Never really a fan of KISS, suddenly all of the words came back to me, and 20, 000 other people. At the end of the game we all sang together "I Want to Rock and Roll All Night.......and Party Every Day!"

The bus ride back through the tunnel was much louder and rowdier than the way over. Lots of not so watered down American beer can do that to a bunch of twenty-something-year-old hockey fans. I did feel sorry for some poor kid from London Ontario, the apparently sole Penguin jersey wearing rider on the bus.

All in all, it was a great week-end. Lots of fun. A great family outing even if only half of the family was there. Daughter #1 Kaitlin was very upset we didn't have a ticket for her. Daughter #2 Jennifer couldn't figure out why anyone would actually want to go to Detroit.

As we travelled back along the 401, at almost exactly the spot Terry got the speeding ticket, we saw a car crumpled up in the ditch. Several people were out of their cars heading toward the crash. We could hear the siren wailing from the ambulance on the way. A severe jolt back to reality.

The rest of the series we are back to being common folk, watching the game on the TV. But in the background I can still hear them play KISS and I still sing along.