Some Hard Times

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the prayers and condolences received here, on Facebook and in person.  I can't tell you how much they have all meant to me.

My Mom passed on September 19th at 7:30 am Central Time.  I left here that morning to go up and see her and she died right about the time my plane landed.  That was hard.  Neither of my sisters were with her either.  We suspect she wanted it that way.  At least that's what we've been telling ourselves.
I did see her in July and felt at that time that I was saying good bye.  But, I guess I still thought I would see here alive one more time.  I did see her on the 19th, but she was already gone.

We held a small memorial service for her the very next day and were able to pull together many people in the Chicago area that knew her to celebrate her life.  We'll be holding another family only service next Spring or Summer in California.

My older sister had to leave to go home on Sunday morning so my younger sister and I headed over to Mom's to pack up the place.  Fortunately, when we closed her house we had gotten rid of a lot.  But, there was still a lot to get rid of.  Amy and I accomplished nearly all of it in that one day just leaving a few odds and ends and the furniture for Amy to handle later.  I couldn't help but marvel that it was almost exactly two months from the day that Gini and I had packed up Mom's house.  Strange to pack the same things all over again. . .

Amy and I decided to have a day in the city on that Monday and went on an Architectural Tour on the Chicago river.  Very beautiful day, relaxing with my sister and seeing some really interesting buildings.  The only fly in the ointment was my dad telling us he wants a copy of Mom's death certificate so he can change his retirement to all come to him and that his girlfriend (for whom he left our Mom for) will be his sole beneficiary in his new will.  Nice timing. . .

I came home on Tuesday and then decided to stay home the remainder of the week.  I was emotionally and physically exhausted and I wanted to just be around my family.

The week ended with a trip into Washington DC for a Caps preseason game during which my kiddo and some friends skated for Mites on Ice during an Intermission.  Sounded like fun, but wasn't such a great idea.  They were announced as the Vipers, which was a team Aidan had been on during the Spring and Summer.  Turns out, you can't be rostered on another team when you are a member of the Xtreme.  Fortunately, the kids aren't being punished for the bad decision of the parents.  However, we do have to explain ourselves.  Some of the parents are angry.  I'm just upset that I didn't think about it being a problem.  Not a smart move on my part.

And the thing that really gets me about this is that the parent who set this up was warned that we shouldn't do it and he never told the rest of us about that warning!

Now he is trying to say it was something it really wasn't.  I've told our Coach all of what I know and will present that in our mandatory meeting with the head of the Club.  I'm not going to lie and I'm not going to change the story.  I'm just going to say it was a dumb move.

The irony on that situation is that Aidan hasn't had anything to do with that team since the end of June.  He practiced all through April, May and June--hated it due to the horrible verbal abuse of the coach and his minions--and we went to two tournaments in June.  We opted out of the July tournament due to my travels to help my Mom and had said no from the beginning to the August tournament because it was right before school started and I wanted Aidan home to get ready for that and to be fully focused on the Xtreme.  He's wanted to be on the Xtreme team since he was in Mini Mites

And so, I hate drama and here we are in the midst of it on all sides.

But wait, there's more!!

During Aidan's game yesterday, he just all of a sudden checked out and really didn't try anymore.  I should have known something was up but instead I got mad at him.  Not one of my finer Mom moments.  We went to Total Hockey after to get a couple of things, ran into his coach and talked a bit.  On the way out of the store, Aidan complained of a headache.  We headed to Wegmans and I noticed the familiar sound of him talking around his tonsils.  By the time we got home, I knew something was wrong so we took him to Urgent Care.  Yep.  Positive for Strep Throat.  And he had a fever, something he rarely gets.

We got him on the pink stuff and started him on Motrin and he seemed to get better.  But, he woke up about 11:30 with the fever back.  Really hot.  More Motrin then and some more just a bit ago.  Fortunately, Pat is off work today so hopefully Aidan can get some rest and more medicine in him to beat this thing back.

Meanwhile, I am physically and emotionally exhausted. . .I think I already said that!

But, I can't leave this post in such a down mood.  So, I'll share a picture of Aidan with his new buddy Larry Bob (Aidan named him) when he was feeling a little better yesterday.

So funny!

Hoping our hard times are on the wane now, but a few prayers thrown our way wouldn't hurt.  Have a good week.