Rednecks, Hockey and Cookie Dough. . .

Recently, Aidan and I were talking.  We do this a lot, but this one conversation has made me chuckle a bit off and on since then.  He started talking about Red Necks.  Now, this can be a derogatory name for some folks, but in our neck of the woods, there are a lot of Red Necks--Pat being one of them--and they aren't really bad people.

When asked what a Red Neck was, Aidan replied that it was someone who had been outside in the sun a lot and now has a red neck because its sunburned.

Really, I said?

Yeah.  And Daddy is one.

Okay, that's true.

And then he went on:

I can't wait until it's sunny and warm again so I can get red on my neck and be like Daddy.

Priceless!!

My most favorite in the world Russian American Redneck!!  He's wearing my sunglasses, which he informed me make him see blurry!!!  Of course!

Aidan has also informed me that he has renamed our cat.  Cleopatra will be 16 in a few weeks and is definitely showing her age these days.  She has always been a cranky cat.  But, now she is a cranky old cat.  Cleo has been renamed by my little red neck (who has now gotten some sun on his neck, although it turned brown) Mrs. Hissums.  It's because she hisses at him so much.  : (

I fear, based on the vet visit yesterday, that Mrs. Hissums, aka Cleo, aka Cleopatra may not be with us much longer.  Well, she's had a long very full life.  I think, when she goes, we'll bury her with Brutus her big dog buddy that she spent her first 7 years with.

Hockey is back in full swing for the Spring season.  And tournaments are about to commence.  Aidan Ashburn Power Play Selects team has a tournament this weekend with one game on Saturday and three on Sunday.  It's local so we will be staying at home, thank goodness.  But we'll be there all day on Sunday with our first game being at 8:00 and our last one at 4:40.  The one on Saturday is at a nice time of 2:20 so we'll still be home at a decent hour.

The next Power Play Select tournament will be in Philadelphia where we will need to stay two nights.  This will be a hard tournament as the boys will be playing teams from further north--not the local teams.  And the first game on Saturday morning is at 6:00!!  Early to bed that Friday, for sure.

The DC Elite team has also been going very well.  The boys have been practicing about a month now and have been working very hard on an Offensive Breakout move.  Last night, they were really getting close to getting it.  The coach of this team is very hard and strict, but the boys pay attention and are doing what he tells them.  They had a two hour practice last night but the boys hung in there and Aidan came off the ice all pumped up and excited. . .and starving. . .and after he ate. . .out!!!  : )

With the DC Elite team, we'll be heading to Stamford Connecticut and somewhere in New Jersey during June.  We've opted out of the July and August tournaments to have a small break and to start getting ready for the Fall Xtreme shedule.

Speaking of hockey, the boys have the ultimate most favorite in the world store. . .aside from Bass Pro Shop, that is. . .Total Hockey!!!  Why?  Well, of course because the gear is there.  But, also because they have synthetic ice so they can play while mommy pays.

Aren't you just loving this weather???  It makes you believe we might actually have summer this year.  But, jumping straight into the mid to upper 80's does have it's draw backs. . .Pat still needs to install the ceiling fan in the porch.  Hopefully this weekend!

And our counter tops are in. . .boy was that fun redoing all of the kitchen cabinets!!  Technically I didn't really need to do that, but I'm glad I did.  I still need to do the glass cabinet and the pantry. . .hopefully soon.  But here are some before and after pictures of the kitchen. . .

Aidan and I said our good bye's after we cleared the counter tops of all but the coffee pot--I had to have my morning cuppa!  And when we got home from hockey later in the morning, the green counter tops were gone. . .and by the end of the day. . .

The sink looks more like a tub it is so deep!!!  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about going back to having just one sink instead of the double sink.  But, I have to say I love it!  When I did a mental calculation of how many times each year I did dishes by hand (three!!) the single big and deep sink seemed the way to go.  So glad we did!!

We still need to remove the old tile back splash and replace it with something:  either slate or stone. . .and we need to repaint.  But that will come.  Probably when it gets too hot to be outside this summer.

That's about it.  We have a weekend filled with hockey:  a practice and a game on Saturday and three games on Sunday.  What better way to spend Mother's Day than to watch my kid tear up the ice???  And the coming week has a super excited little boys birthday in it. . .doesn't it seem like the wait to be eight takes a very long time???  Aidan's been waiting for that day since before he turned seven!!

I'll leave you with this super cute picture of Aidan with his best buddy Jake cleaning out the cookie dough from the mixing bowl. . .

Happy Friday!!