My grandfather was in the hospital for the past two or three weeks, and the reports from one of my aunts had been positive: we didn’t have to visit him when he was first hospitalized; that we could wait ’til Thanksgiving to go to Vegas where my entire extended family and father live (though this was my maternal grandpa), which was our original plan; that he was supposed to be discharged earlier this week.
But at around 3:00 a.m. CST on October 30th, my grandpa had two heart attacks in a row and passed away. Just recently he was teasing the nurses, doing his crosswords, and watching college football. I so badly wanted to talk college ball with him, find out who his favorite teams were, ask what he thought about my Buckeyes being ranked 25th in the beginning of the season and now being number 1. I so looked forward to discussing this over Thanksgiving. Now I’ll never have the chance.
Well, Brian told me that wherever Lolo (”grandpa” in Tagalog) is, and since he was devoutly Catholic, I know he’s in heaven, he’s aware that I did want to talk college football with him. It’s just really hard because I didn’t get to visit him like my brother and sister did when he was first hospityalized, and that our trip to Vegas won’t be the festive one we originally planned. Since Brian and I are attending the services this weekend, we won’t be able to visit over the holidays. But I guess that’s life.
My grandmother, at least, is holding up really well.
I’ll continue to post what and when I can — I have one more game post, an update on Basil’s health condition, as well as my own GI condition. I would have posted this stuff earlier in the week, but I’ve been sick with a cold. Figures, huh?
I Know I Stopped the Puck . . .
. . . But it Got Lost Somewhere in My Pads.
So One of My Teammates Helped Me Look in My Pads and My Pants!
It Was in My Left Pad. “Here you go, Ref!”
(click to enlarge)
(click here to view the game pics)
This was my first game as a substitute goalie this season, on October 27, 2007. I was playing for the Vixens, who we played the week before, and for whom I subbed occasionally last season. I know I mentioned this when the Tigers played U of C — we (the Vixens) were the home team even though we wore dark jerseys because the Maroons only have one set of jerseys. This may have confused the scorekeeper because s/he displayed the goals under the “Home” team when they should have been under “Guest.”
Although we lost, it was a fun game — and challenging. U of C had a different goaltender this game than when the Tigers played them, and I happened to know her. She complimented me on my performance and noticed my improvement since the Spring Mixer, so that was pretty cool. Even some of my own teammates who I was on a team with in the Mixer noticed, too!
Brian’s Goalie Summary
First Period: The first goal was shot from between the face-off circles; it was a wrist shot that went in off the glove-side post. Goal #2, another wrist shot, was scored on a wraparound when one of the Maroons beat our defense to the puck and then skated around the net.
Vixens 0, Maroons 2.
Second Period: Third goal was another wrist shot: the Maroon skated in to the glove-side circle and shot high on my glove side. For the fourth goal, a Maroon picked up a loose puck and put in a backhand into the glove-side post.
Vixens 0, Maroons 3.
Third Period: The Maroons’ fifth and final goal was scored on a breakaway: she skated from their zone to ours and top-shelved it, stick-side. I reached as high as I could with my blocker, but the puck just went right over it.
Final Score: Vixens 0, U of C 5. (Note that Brian’s stats may not match those reflected on the scoreboard, but since it’s Brian’s summary, I always go by his stats. Besides, most of the time, the scorekeeper doesn’t keep track of the players’ shots on goal.)
For stats abbreviation key, see below.
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I’ve been having problems with my Blogrolling account for quite some time now. Although my sidebar lists all of the blogs I’ve added to my blogroll, when I log in to my account (which I can’t do at the moment because the site’s down), only one link shows up! So I’ve been afraid to even mess with the sidebar widget containing the javascript for my blogroll for fear of losing all of those site URLs. Yeah, yeah, I know haven’t been reading blogs for a million years, anyway. Well, maybe this is a good time to just start over and redo my blogroll — by hand.
So for now, I’m going to use this Autoroll thing, though I’m not sure if visitors need a Criteo Autoroll widget for their sites’ links to show up or what. Meanwhile, I’m just going to create a separate page that’ll contain my blogroll and type in all of the URLs by hand. Or I might just give in to Google (I’m a Yahoo person myself) and use one of their Google Reader widgets on my blog. Decisions, decisions. Twitter, which I’ve been using for quite a while now, is becoming even more and more attractive. As is Crackbook.
Some of you regulars may know about Angelo’s um, habit (see “Angelo’s Groupies”). He’s been at it again lately, but I’ve been too depressed (because of the BM thing) to care, even if I happen to be lying underneath one of his so-called groupies since he usually does this after he eats breakfast. Often one or more of the cats will sleep with me during the week because Brian feeds them before he leaves for work, and I fall back asleep after taking my morning meds.
So yesterday, I walk into the bedroom after the cats have had their morning meal. Surprise, surprise. Angelo was at it. Basil jumped up there just to take a nap I’m sure, so I turned back towards my dresser to pick out clothes. Suddenly, I hear this small cry/growl, turn around, and find that Angelo made Basil his bitch! And Basil didn’t even fight back, which he does when Angelo decides to attack him out of the clear blue sky, bully that he is — and that’s like, fighting fighting. This was not! Fortunately, it didn’t last long, and let’s just say that their parts didn’t connect. Brian and I were quite shocked.
Looking Like a Pro
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(click here to view the game pics)
At least the picture looks like the ones of the NHL goalies in my goalie books! That’s Brian’s doing. 
We may have lost 4-1, but we played really well. And I made 34 — that’s right — 34 saves! Woohoo! That’s me making one of them! It was a really fun game.
Brian’s Goalie Summary
First Period: The first goal was scored on a rebound: I stopped two shots but they pushed the third through my 5-hole on a 2-on-1. All of the action was on our end, there was a scrum in front of the net just before the second goal was scored; the puck was loose between the face-off circles; I was screened and didn’t see the shot. The third goal was a one-timer caught from a great pass in the corner; none of my teammates had her covered, and I had no chance. Or maybe I would have if I’d taken my head away from the action in the corner just long enough to see who was at my back door.
Tigers 0, Vixens 3.
Second Period: Shutout.
Tigers 1, Vixens 3.
Third Period: See third goal scored in the first period.
Final Score: Tigers 1, Vixens 4. (Note that Brian’s stats may not match those reflected on the scoreboard, but since it’s Brian’s summary, I always go by his stats. Besides, most of the time, the scorekeeper doesn’t keep track of the players’ shots on goal.)
For stats abbreviation key, see below.
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Though we’re still waiting for the results of Basil’s lab work, I’m happy to say he’s doing much better. No more vomiting, no more diarrhea. The special, short-term diet seems to have helped, as usual. Still, I hate waiting.
As for me, the ECT went smoothly. The anesthesia wasn’t too much and I probably could have been up and around the next day. Unfortunately, the GI thing has reared its ugly head again. If you’re squeamish, don’t bother reading the rest of this post.
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This Rink Was So Cold . . .
(click to enlarge)
(click here to view the game pics)
. . . you could actually see the fog or vapor or whatever it was rising to the ceiling! I was just glad that I was on the ice the whole time so my feet wouldn’t have a chance to get cold while sitting on the bench waiting for a shift. This is probably the rink with the worst conditions we’ve ever played in, and not just temperature-wise. Some of the actual painted lines on the ice were missing, including most of the crease on one end of the ice!
But who cares about all that, when we got our first win of the season — and on the road, no less! We celebrated afterwards by going to a local tavern where I actually had fried mozzarella sticks and a Coke! Although this game took place on October 14, 2007, I believe I’m paying for eating that now.
Brian’s Goalie Summary
First Period: Shutout.
Fighting Squirrels 0, Tigers 0.
Second Period: Shutout. We scored 2 goals and were up for most of the game.
Fighting Squirrels 0, Tigers 0.
Third Period: We scored one more goal, but the Squirrels scored 2. I made the first save on their first goal, there was a scramble in front of the net, and one of the Squirrels scored the rebound on a backhand. Their second goal was scored on a power play but my teammates and I weren’t sure exactly what happened. According to Brian, there was another scramble at the left post, the puck popped up off of someone’s stick, I remember it hitting my glove, and then going inside the net. It all happened so fast. I guess I should’ve just batted it away, but oh, well. We still won!!!!!
Final Score: Fighting Squirrels 2, Tigers 3. (Note that Brian’s stats may not match those reflected on the scoreboard, but since it’s Brian’s summary, I always go by his stats. Besides, most of the time, the scorekeeper doesn’t keep track of the players’ shots on goal.)
For stats abbreviation key, see below.
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As many of the regulars know, this is Basil. At just over 12 years old he’s our second oldest cat; Hopper, who’ll be 13 in January, is our oldest. In the past Basil has occasionally experienced vomiting for a few days due to an upset stomach, and a short-term diet of Eukanuba Low-Residue (not one of Eukanuba’s recalled products) prescribed by the vets have always helped. We usually bring him in although he acts fine otherwise, but because more than the usual hairball pukies dehydrates him so he needs fluid therapy, and just to have him checked out. This time, though, the vomiting has been accompanied with diarrhea (in the litter box, thankfully!), which never happened before.
Because he’s now a senior cat, he had his first senior exam at the vet last June. This includes all sorts of bloodwork and other tests they don’t normally do to younger cats, and at the time his thyroid level was fine. Part of the senior exam means bringing the older cats in every six months instead of once a year in order to catch any abnormal signs early — preventative care, you know. He was supposed to have a dental, but we had to wait until July because he was sick after the exam, which sometimes happens when cats get their rabies shot. At the time of his dental, his thyroid level went up a level but was still within the normal range.
We weren’t expecting to bring him back for his second exam until December, though we received a reminder in the mail that he’s due for one this month. We thought this was an error, so in a way, it’s a good thing he got sick so his doctor could see him. She expressed concern because he lost a pound since July, but his thyroid level is normal. They took his blood pressure and gave him fluids. However, she heard a heart murmur while listening to his chest. They sent us home and told us to keep an eye on him.
The next day, we learned that Basil needs a cardiac ultrasound. Fortunately, it isn’t an emergency, and he’s scheduled to have it on November 13. When I heard this news, I totally freaked, cried, got really anxious, but managed to drive myself to hockey practice anyway.
He continued to vomit and have diarrhea, but on Saturday, he threw up right after breakfast and more than we’d ever seen in one time. Brian had just dropped off a stool sample, which came back normal — no parasites. We ended up having to bring Basil back to the vet that day even though they were booked up. We dropped him off until the first available doctor could see him, and luckily it was his own.
When we returned to pick him up, they had taken more blood to test for pancreatitis and irritable bowel disorder because his X-rays showed a slight thickening of his small intestines, though not any different from his X-rays this past summer. We won’t get the results back for over a week, and if it’s neither of those, then it could be lymphoma, which is cancer. That’s the worst case scenario and I felt absolutely sick and didn’t want to go to my game that night, but I did.
Since then, we’ve been giving him Pepcid AC and an anti-nausea medication before breakfast, and they sent us home with a bag of Lactated Ringer’s Solution, which are the fluids they give to cats when they’re dehydrated. Luckily, I used to be a vet assistant so I know how to administer this and anyway, it isn’t intravenous.
So that’s what’s been going on this week. I’ve still got two game posts to write and was hoping to have one ready to publish for Monday but I didn’t have time to write it. Monday’s an ECT day and I’ll probably spend it sleeping off the anesthesia, but hopefully I’ll be able to post something. The doctor told us to call if he isn’t better by Monday, but so far he hasn’t vomited since Saturday morning. We’ve seen him use the litter box, but haven’t been able to tell if it was #1 or #2. I just hope he continues to feel better and that none of this is serious.
No Save, No Goal, Went Wide
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(click here to view the game pics)
My worst game so far this season, but I shook it off. Although U of C had plenty of skaters that were about the same level as most of ours, they had a few big guns who scored most of the goals, though I did stop some of them!
Since the season began, I’ve used a different stick for each practice and each game, but I’ve finally found one I like. Maybe they would have scored less if I’d kept my blade on the ice more; maybe not. It’s something for me to concentrate on, anyway. I know I tend to lift my stick when I go down, sort of halfway placing the paddle (the wide part of a goalie stick) parallel to the ice, which I used to do, but not quite doing so anymore because I’m trying to keep the blade on the ice — what I was taught to do in the Instructional League I attended over the spring/summer.
At this point, we’d only had one practice and played in one game all season, so we’re still trying to come together as a team. Overall, considering what we were up against, we were satisfied with our performance. 
Brian’s Goalie Summary
First Period: The first goal was scored by #2, one of their best players, on a breakaway. She recovered the puck from us during a line change and skated it in from center ice. Unfortunately, none of our defense was out yet and she skated it right in. On their second goal, I made a nice blocker save on a high shot, but a Maroon was there to score on the rebound. The third goal happened during a scrum in front of the net and went right through my 5-hole (probably didn’t have my stick on the ice!). Goal 4, scored during a penalty kill, was blocked by one of our defensewomen, but she went down on the ice to do it and a Maroon cleaned up the rebound. The last goal this period was also scored during a penalty kill. I thought the first shot went in, but it hit the post and I didn’t realize it, so a Maroon easily put the loose puck into the net. NOTE TO SELF: listen for the whistle.
Tigers 0, Maroons 5.
Second Period: The sixth goal was scored on a breakaway. The player skated towards my stick side, deked, and scored low on my glove side. The Maroons’ seventh and final goal was scored on a one-timer after #2 set up a teammate right in front of the net.
Tigers 0, Maroons 7.
Third Period: Shutout.
Final Score: Tigers 0, Fighting Squirrels 7. (Note that Brian’s stats may not match those reflected on the scoreboard, but since it’s Brian’s summary, I always go by his stats. Besides, most of the time, the scorekeeper doesn’t keep track of the players’ shots on goal.)
Goalie Stats
For stats abbreviation key, see below.
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. . . a real blog post! A very good blog friend called me last week to make sure I’m OK. She noticed that I hadn’t posted anything in ten days, which surprised even me. I realize that most of what I’ve been posting is “filler” unless you’re absolutely interested in the Star Wars and hockey components of my blog, the former of which I’ve been neglecting, the latter of which I know there’s definitely some interest, especially to anyone (me) who’s been tracking my progress of overcoming depression enough to start playing hockey again; well, really, my progress as a goalie. 
Hey — at least I haven’t been posting only memes and quizzes!
I haven’t posted anything personal because things are bad. There’s been so much going on that I’m afraid to even list my problems because I’ll feel even more overwhelmed. The main problem, I think, is increased anxiety, and all of that has been because of the fibroid; the GI thing, which had been under control until a couple of accidents recently; making sure I’m able to keep my commitments (the only ones I’ve managed to are to hockey); settling in to the regular hockey season after only playing maybe once a week since the Puck Cancer Tournament in August; not working out as much as I should be; taking the train to see my therapist instead of driving (one of the items on my 43 Things list is to start taking public transportation again); issues with my mom and family life; probably things that I make worse in my mind than they are in real life; and, my blog friend pointed out, the fact that I’m constantly beating up on myself. She hit the nail right on the head with that one.
There. So I’ve listed some of the stuff that’s been causing stress, increasing my anxiety, and in turn, feeding my depression. There’s really more to it than what I’ve just written, but I’ll try to write about one thing at a time. However, you’ll have to “put up” with two more hockey posts this week (I don’t want to get behind again) because I’m a week behind, and we played two games this past weekend. And probably a few more Star Wars reviews because where I’m at on the Star Wars timeline, it’s all comic books, which are obviously quicker to read than novels. The next book won’t be coming for another another five SW years. Aren’t you excited?
