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BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY going out to the coach (JD)⁽¹⁾ today. A class act in every regard.

Pretty sad day yesterday…I got a call at work from Nolan letting me know that he was at the hospital with Melissa. Seems her appendix has gone bad. Tough thing for someone who has just turned eight.⁽²⁾ I went to pick up Andrew from the hospital and he and I went to Wendy’s for dinner and then decided to go and pick her up a little something to cheer her up. Andrew is so thoughful. She had just come out of surgery and was still sleeping when we got back but it was nice to see her anyway. She is a tough little girl and I will be taping Survivor for her this week.

(1) – Happy birthday JD. We all miss you.

(2) – I remember this pretty clearly. Most of all it was the first time I had seen Nolan scared of something or helpless. Getting to spend time with Andrew was awesome though. Not sure how old he was at the time, maybe six, but I remember my car was a bit dirty and he was like…”does your girlfriend know your car looks like this”. Of course Melissa was fine and her birthday is on the 15th, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Missy!

Just want to start with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY PONCH. We celebrated last night after Roller Hockey. We started with Wings at Manhattens and then finished off a few pitchers at the Pemby⁽¹⁾ before they threw us out at 2am. We went back to Ponch’s and had few while watching “Beautiful Girls” (the movie).⁽²⁾

Today we are going shopping for social stuff. I am starting to get a little nervous here. The tickets are out but I haven’t gotten alot of money back yet. We are raffling off a SONY PLAYSTATION⁽³⁾ this year so don’t miss out!

(1) – I hated the Pemby but the guys liked it and I am not sure why. It was dark and moldy and it was mostly dudes there.

(2) – Joel still hasn’t seen this and it’s forsure in my top ten. It’s a coming of age movie, a must see. I am sure it still holds up.

(3) – The picture from that night with Puncher’s dad is one of my favorites. It was such a good night. Not a PS5 either, it was a Sony Playstation 2 and it launched in 1999 so it wasn’t easy to get. Besides the hole in the wall that social was a huge success. Big thanks to Coach JD for the after party.

Happy Birthday Dad. Yes, I am 27 years old and my dad is still my hero. As a kid you can’t really appreciate the things you are learning indirectly from dad. The kind of things you don’t really notice at the time but seem to stick with you as you grow up and understand them. Even today when I get up in the morning and go outside to start the car I have have to stop myself from brushing off the car next to mine, and I think of him. He would do it. He would give me his heart if I needed it and vou can’t teach that to someone. One day I hope to be half the man he is.

Thursday night was Survivor night at Nolan’s and speaking of birthdays, Nolan is the kind of guy to buy pizza for the room on his own birthday!⁽¹⁾ What a quy. As we sat down to watch Survivor we all took our spots. Shan and I on the small couch and I went to put my arm around her and it felt a little strange. It seems Andrew has beat me to it and is giving me a little glare for getting in his space. It was priceless.

Friday was a nice holiday. Shan was meeting Carla for lunch so when Vernon called me to meet him and Steve at Montana’s it was perfect timing. What I didn’t know was that we were going to be there all day drinking! I said NO to the first two Jag and coke (but Vern had my back) and after nine the restaurant finally cut us off because it was good Friday. We were there from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. It was great I have to admit. Thanks for coming to get me Shan! Friday night Shan and I went and saw “Panic Room”.

Saturday was hockey and I was dying to play after sitting out last week because of a pulled groin. Very first play of the game Dickenson and I go in and he feeds me a beauty pass⁽²⁾ and I tap it to put up 1-0. I had another breakaway that I put past Tony and he got me on another. All in all it was a great game. Saturday night we went to Mike and Tara’s place and watched K-Pax.

Sunday morning I woke up and the Easter Bunny had already been over. I love the Easter Bunny. We went for breakfast with Ratty and Easton at the Sals. Funny how every old woman that came into that place had to come over and scare the crap out of poor Easton while we were trying to eat. That’s what you get for being so damn cute I guess. Got the invite to JD’s for dinner. When we arrived JD and Dyan had an Easter egg hunt worked out with clues and the works It was super fun and we made out like bandits. Mike and Tara ate all their chocolate before dinner. We feasted on an an amazing roast beast. Huge thanks to JD and Dyan for a wonderful meal. The coach even made sure I went home with lunch for today!

After dinner Shan took me to Carla’s parents place to meet everyone. What an amazing group of people. Carla hasn’t changed since I last saw her. She is very genuine. Her boyfriend, Ryan seems very much like her and it makes me really happy to meet the people Shan will be surrounding herself with in Thailand. Carla’s mom even gave me a hug, and her dad…well her dad is hilarious. He had me laughing from the minute he came upstairs and the cat swatted his head on the way up. Looking forward to sseing them next weekend at the social we are attending. I will need so some backup, any takers?

(1) – Fun fact, Puncher and I took Nolan out for wings and talked beforehand about splitting the bill for his birthday. Next thing we know the waitress hand him the bill and it’s taken care of. Not much has changed in the last 24 years I guess.

(2) – I told you Mike passes.

Well as usual the weekend flies by when it’s back to work on Monday. Friday night I played hockey with Fewster and the guys. When I got home Al called me to see if I wanted to go for a Caesar at Johnny G’s.⁽¹⁾ From there we went to Yotes⁽²⁾ to pick up Nat⁽³⁾ and her buds who were a little shocked to see us there on girls night out.

Saturday was my last skate at Nolan’s hockey now that I will be working Saturdays. Not exactly the most memorable skate for my last one. At one point I actually thought Smitty⁽⁴⁾ was going to come out onto the ice and spear me in the chest just for a little icing on the cake. It’s obvious Nolan isn’t having fun out there anymore and I miss him joking around out there and laughing with him much more than anything else. After the game Nolan and I push the nets for the zamboni guy and he is usually the last guy off the ice with me. This week I took my time, took a couple deep breaths and had one last look around.

Saturday night Vern and Gage⁽⁵⁾ came with me to the Monster truck show at the arena. I can’t believe how low budget this show is. They don’t even bother to bring in mud anymore and the trucks are jammed in there so tight you can barely open a door. Anyway Gage seemed to enjoy it and thank goodness Vern never had to pay for tickets.

Today Gould and I went to see “The Hot Chick”⁽⁶⁾ at the cheaps and then I went for dinner at the Garwood with the family. The Garwood has the second best clubhouse⁽⁷⁾ in the city, next to the Wagon Wheel⁽⁸⁾. Just thought I would throw in a plug there. Back to the grind tomorrow.

(1) – Al and I used to do this a lot more often. I love the Caesar salad there and the chicken fingers were good as well. Parking around that place…not so good. I need to pick a night and see if this place is still rolling. I haven’t been to the exchange district in years and I think they still have a spot right on Main if I am not mistaken.

(2) – Coyotes. This bar was wild back in the day. Lineups for days.

(3) – Nat is Drew’s sister. Al likes the sisters too.

(4) – Greg Smyth was one of the craziest exits from Nolan’s hockey. He was intense to say the least. He played D and he was always yelling at someone. This particular time he was mad at Mikey and they collided at center ice. As Mike was getting up “Smitty” speared him in the stomach. It was disgusting to watch. Worse than that he worked with Nolan so the next day Nolan had to talk to him at the office and let him go.

(5) – Gage is Verns oldest son. Not sure how old he would have been in 2003 but it’s cool to look back and see that we hung out. I ran into Gage and Parker the last time I was out with my girls at Leopold’s.

(6) – I have no recollection of this Rob Schnieder movie but I am sure we thouroughly enjoyed it.

(7) – Best milkshake too. Recently Lexi and I have been going to the Nook to get our Clubhouse fix and I think it might push the Garwood to the number 2 spot now that the Wagon Wheel is gone.

(8) – The Wagon Wheel is a famous Winnipeg hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had an amazing clubhouse. I have some pictures of the last time I was there with friends that I will have to dig up. Man it was good.

Canada 5, USA 2, and clearly the best team won.⁽¹⁾ Everyone looked great out there but personally I thought Fleury was incredible and he must have played on every second shift because it seemed like he never left the ice. Mario showed his smarts on Canada’s first goal when he let it through to Kariya on the wing. Nice to see a dominant win against the Americans. Congrats all around to Canada’s Men and Women for bringing home the gold. In the last minute of the game when the crowd started singing O’Canada we all joined in. I thought it was great to see Owen Nolan taping the cermony after the game. It really enforced what this means to the players.

We started the day with a little shinny at Windsor. When we arrived there was already a group of guys playing and when we offered to put the sticks in the middle to mix up the teams they insisted that we all played together. It was nice to play some pond hockey on the same team with Bry, Sully, Christian, Sigs, and Ratty. What a perfect pre-game. Bry was gracious enough to have us over for the game. Melissa and Easton were there for a little but Easton didn’t like the cheering too much. We were going nuts everytime Canada touched the puck. I would have loved to have Shan there but she had to work.⁽²⁾ I called her in between periods and she told me that they were actually announcing the score in the mall! After the Ratty and I took A drive out to Portage and Main where Winnipeg gathered for some good old fashioned street hockey and flag waving in the middle of the street. Guys were running by the car high fiving us, horns were honking, people hanging out of thier cars…it was a sight.

(1) – Unfortunately this year the best team didn’t win. The score should have been 5-1 with all the missed chances for Canada. The McDavid breakaway, Celebrini (breakaway), Toews on the doorstep open net, MacKinnon open net. Now, I am not one who believes in LORE, but not having Sid in the lineup may have hurt us as well. He would have taken Marchand off the PP at least. Not to mention he is undefeated 26-0 when playing for Canada over the last 15 years. There is that. I can also go on about not having Shaefer there on D, the absence of Bedard over a couple questionable guys on the roster, and the missed calls on the ice, but I won’t do that. The best team did not win but the US did and now all we can do is sit back and bask in their Amerogance.

(2) – Apparently they do not have the game on in the Barbie store at the Bay downtown.

Whew, it’s been a pretty hectic couple O’ days. I worked Friday night as the Moose were downed by Detroit 6-1. Saturday was hockey. Another great game but the body is starting to suffer. Once the adrenalin wore off the back and neck were hurting from a spill into the boards. After hockey Trish and I went to my Grandma’s where we celebrated my Mom’s 50TH BIRTHDAY.⁽¹⁾ HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! From there I went to Mikes place to babysit as he, George, and Shannon⁽²⁾ went to Mustang Sally’s for a night on the town. Today I saw “Rushmore”⁽³⁾ with Mikey. Great movie. OH YEAH…FIVE more days until the HIP takeover Winnipeg!⁽⁴⁾

(1) – I was 27 when my mom turned 50. That is nuts to me. My kids were 12 and 14 when I turned 50.

(2) – I would have been looking after Jordan for Mike so that him and George could go out and party it up with my future wife. I wonder if this was the same time Shan was dating George?

(3) – Funny I recently talked about Rushmore in a previous post and now I am figuring out the exact date I saw it with Mike.

(4) – The Hip was here February 26, 1999 – you can purchase the concert here.

OK, every once in a while when I am out with Erin I get the occassional “your little girl is so polite” or someone will say to Erin “Ask your dad”. I think we handle it pretty well. I usually just smile proudly and nod. Erin usually responds with something like “that’s not my dad, that’s Tom”. Today Erin and I went skating at the park and it’s times like these that I really feel sorry for Erin’s real dad. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against the guy. I have never even met him in fact and it would never be my place to say anything negative about him, especially to Erin who does know him to some extent. Today I need to thank him for letting me be the guy who gets to figure out if she needs a left or right handed hockey stick. She’s a righty by the way, nobody’s perfect. I got to be the guy to tie her skates and adjust her oversized helmet that fits snug over her touque with a big bumper sticker on the front that reads “Canada Kicks Ass”. I got to pick her up when she fell and clap for her when she went from one side to the other all by herself. Not for one minute did it ever cross my mind that this was not my child. Not for a minute did it ever matter to either of us.⁽¹⁾

Saturday night was Kristen’s⁽²⁾ social. The boys pulled through at the last second and I didn’t end up going solo like I thought I would. So big thanks to George, Mike and their lovely dates. The social was good, nice turnout. Nice to see the Nolan’s out on the town and Scottie and Jodine whooped Georges and I at some foosball (Jodine was using spinzies). Once the food came out I made the most ridiculous ham sandwich I could. Why is it that most social cheese is cubed?⁽³⁾ I could understand if you were going to toothpick it all but that is never the case. Cubes don’t work in the sandwich and they are usually too small to nibble and too much to handle all at once if you just eat em’ straight up. For some reason this really bothered me. Next social I put together it’s slices all around.

Went and watched Paul’s sister Cherie⁽⁴⁾ play soccer tonight at the dome behind the Winter Club. Her team got whooped but she is by far the fastest, hardest working player on that team. Ratty, Lissa and Easton picked me up. Easton is getting so big. Tooth number five is in place.

Look out boys, chick day is coming in fast. The 14th is this Thursday in fact. Now I’m no Don Juan but a wise man told me that well placed card will do the trick. He said “don’t just go out and pick up a card, any schmuck can do that. Go out and look for THE card. The one that sums up how you feel like only a poet could describe it. That means no dalmations with heart shaped spots. This is the card that she keeps in that box under the bed or in the closet that you have always wanted to look in and always been to scared. It has to explain that when she’s gone only the smell of her pillow can put you to sleep and when she is right there beside you the Chinese dictionary makes sense.⁽⁵⁾ Good luck fellas!

(1) – Erin prepared me to be the father I am today. I try so hard not take anything for granted but they slip through your fingers so fast. I watch back their old videos and see all the good times and fun we had but still feel like I could have been so much more present. I don’t mean, put down the cell phone kind of present. I mean, you will never get these days back kind of present. Your kids will never look at you like this, they will never smell this good right out of the bath, they will never hang off your words like this. Your arms will never scoop them up and pull them away from troubles like they once did. I was there for it all and the cliche still stands true…it goes by so fast.

(2) – Kristen was our first ever full time female skater at Nolan’s hockey. She was a friend of Jodine, MacDuffs wife.

(3) – Sometimes it scares me when I am so right about things.

(4) – I always liked Paul’s sister Cherie. I like sisters in general but I could always make Cherie laugh. She was a tough cookie too, a real feminist of sorts. One story that I will never forget was the time I was at Paul’s place and Cherie’s BF was over and they were getting ready to go cross country skiing. Cherie’s BF was prepping his skiis and asked Cher if she wanted him to wax her skiis. She went off on him hard like “you don’t think I can wax my own skiis” type of beating. I could not believe it! That being said she is the type to go out and do just about anything on her own.

(5) – Shan and I have a tradition of going to A&W on Valentines Day. It’s usually not that busy. The kids have even come the last couple of times but the food is just not what it used to be. Might need to start a new tradition this year!