Phew

So I've been out for a week. When last we were together I had scored a goal in a 7-1 win last Saturday. Well, I've had 7 more hockey games since that Sunday morning post. It's been a tiring week. And my life has been a little overwhelming in general right now.

First, the hockey. Including that Saturday game my team had 8 games in 9 days. We didn't have a game on Monday (Happy belated Valentine's day to you all) and Thursday, but then we had two on this Saturday. We had a Saturday-Sunday combo, then a Tuesday-Wednesday pair, and then this weekend we had the Winter Classic Tournament. The tournament was 4 games in 3 days, starting Friday night and ending Sunday morning.

Unfortunately our team isn't very good this year and we didn't have a very good record for the week. We won that first game last Saturday and we won the first game of the tournament on Friday night, but we lost the rest of them. A disappointing week to be sure, but not out of line with the rest of the season.

I am feeling the wear and tear on my body. I have sore ribs on both sides. I can't remember if I've ever had that before. My legs are pretty exhausted. I fell hard on my elbow this morning (I need new elbow pads) and it hurts to rest on anything. But I'm not doing nearly as bad as some other guys on my team. Our goalie got hit in the head with some really hard shots over the weekend. During our Friday game he wasn't sure he was going to make it to the end after a bell ringer made him nauseous. Another guy, who had just turned 41, had hurt his knee skiing, he had a big gash on one of his thighs, got another gash in his forearm, I hit him with a ripping slapshot in the calf, and he got hit in the throat with a puck. He ended up not showing for the game this morning.

As far as tournament results go, we didn't do very well. All of the teams played three games and then were seeded for the "Championship" round on Sunday. Our team was 1-2 along with a couple other teams, but because of tie breakers we were forced back into the 7th/8th place game (out of 8 teams in the tourney). Our game on Sunday morning was a rematch against the team we had beaten on Friday night, who had lost all three prelim games. Well, they came out seeking revenge and got it with a 2-1 victory. So there you have it, the Phatties took 8th place in our own tournament. Oh well, we did have fun and play pretty well except for the Saturday night game.

As for the rest of my life, yikes. For those of you who don't know, I've decided to finally leave Bozeman...for real this time. I'm moving back home to Minneapolis in a couple of weeks to be nearer my family and work for my dad. He bought a small cabinet-making business and I'm going to be Mr. Jack-of-all-Trades at first while I learn the trade and the business. It is exciting and scary at the same time. None of my jobs to this point in my life have given me much responsibility. But as one of the few cogs of a small business my responsibility and accountability will most likely skyrocket. That is a scary proposition for me.

So I guess I'm just saying that some big changes are coming up in my life in the next couple of weeks and it's been weighing on my mind. Like I said, this is all a little scary for me, but it is also exciting. It is going to be a challenge and something totally new. And that combination is something that motivates me.

I generally enjoy a little change, I've always enjoyed doing something new (working as a surveyor) or going somewhere new (living in Germany for 10th grade). But, even so, I tend to resist the change if I can. I'm inertial like that. When I'm settled and comfy, I'll tend to want to rest on my laurels and keep doing what I'm doing. But if I'm already up and doing something new and just going I'll get more into it as I get into it all will be fine.

If I just stayed in Bozeman and worked my computer support job and surveyed part time while living in a small house and eating steak with friends every week or so, and skiing when I can in the winter I'd stay relatively happy (happiness in my life outside of work is more important to me than happiness at my job). But I finally decided it was time to pick my life up, put it in a blender, and see what the Frappe setting does to it.