Oh boy...I'm in trouble.  Did not write the blog yesterday.  I know from experience there's a small group out there, the leader being my daughter, who get worried when the blog does not happen without any prior explanation.  Yesterday was just one of those days.  I started my oral chemo yesterday....so maybe I had chemo brain!  Not.  Actually, for the most part I have very few side effects from the capecitabine so don't think I can blame it on that.  Let's just say the day got away on me.  I got up and actually did a little housework....something I am not nearly as committed to as I once was.  In any case, got that done and decided to go see Geoff's hockey game at COP.  I haven't been to a game this season and thought it would be a good fix for the hockey drought we've all experienced this season.  To be honest I haven't really missed it but I will probably be one of those people watching Sundays opener.  Back to Geoff's game however....it was the B shift Bullies playing the D shift Devils!  Lots of goals....13-7!!!  It's funny, these guys are all adults but there were a couple of funny, almost child like moments in the game.  The first was on a face-off in front of the Bullies bench.  I looked over and saw two of the Bullies on the bench reaching out and poking one of the Devils with their sticks as the puck was being dropped.  Had to shake my head....  The next happened when one of the Devils was tripped and hurt his knee.  You would think playing in a league of EMS players that you would get immediate attention.  Quite the contrary.  The guys on the bench glanced over at this poor guy swearing and writhing around on the ice and then went back to their visiting.  The guys on the ice gathered around him in a circle and just looked at him....it was like ..."Get up man and get off the ice.....we have a game to play!"  I told Geoff at supper I was surprised at the reaction of everyone.  He just laughed and told me that last year a guy broke his ankle.  They dragged him off the ice, sat him on a chair (not even facing the ice) called an ambulance (told them it wasn't an emergency so the poor guy had to wait 45 minutes) and went back to their game!

In any case, I enjoyed the game tremendously....doesn't matter if your kid is 9 or 29 (almost 30), I think you always enjoy being part of their lives.  Having said that I was reading the paper this morning about "Helicopter Parents."  Hmmmm.....think many of us are guilty of this to some degree but honestly can you imagine going to your kids job interview, or calling up their employer demanding to know why they yelled at your kid?  Can you imagine challenging the university on your kids grades???  Well, yes I can imagine that but I would never do it.  What about doing your child's papers or assignments or writing them a reference letter for a job?  I couldn't write a paper for Kelli if I wanted to!  I do have some memories of rescuing my kids when they were in school.  I still remember the summer Geoff had his appendix out the end of June was discharged the day before Stampede started.  He also had a job down at the grounds as an usher at the Grandstand.   On top of all this he had to attend summer school as he had not passed Math that year.  So the poor kid had to be at Viscount every morning (five days a week) at 8 AM.  He was there until noon then I would pick him up and drive him down to the Stampede Grounds where he would work until midnight!  This, just after having surgery!  In any case one day he didn't have time to get his homework done and the homework counted as a portion of the final grade.  Guess who did the assignment?!!!  And I was actually pretty proud of myself as I was never really great at math and that Pure Math program that my kids had to do was like a foreign language to me!  As I read the article this morning I told Bill I still felt guilty about this.  He snorted righteously and I reminded him of the time he built a car out of popsicle sticks and elastics for Geoff's grade 8 science project while the group of students played floor hockey in our basement.  The sad part is that Bill only got 65% on "his" grade 8 project.  So....my point is....."Guilty" but not as guilty as some people.  How bout you!!???

Kelli back in town for the weekend.  She is out in Vancouver for the month doing a very intense rotation in the ICU.  Steep learning curve but one that I think she has enjoyed.

So, again apologies to those of you who thought "something might be wrong."  Everything was actually right.  Hockey game, shopping, visit with Kathy, dinner with Geoff, to bed early!!!!  Those are my excuses.