This story begins before we'd even left:
Problem A: Early in the afternoon your vehicle unexpectedly requires repair. It will be on the hoist for 2-3 days. In 2 hours you are expected in another city to pick up players on the school's field hockey team. Two hours after that, your in-house goalie needs to be in Toronto. John, who is at the office, also has to get to a meeting that evening. Solve this in a way that each person gets to where he/she needs to be on time.
Problem B: The next morning is your turn to drive the student carpool to school. You have a med delivery and an appointment. John arranged earlier in the week to drive a co-worker to the office on this day. There is a field hockey game from 3:30 - 5:00, a social event for your other teen, another meeting for John to attend and you need to pack then get to a hockey tournament out of town. You still have one vehicle. Solve this in such a way as to minimize cancellations. Bonus: Feed the dog and walk him, too.
On the road - T + 100:
A little behind schedule, but it's under control. A driver in a Honda thinks that my 120 kmh on the connecting ramp (DVP to 401) is too slow and veers around us. He's at the top of the arc at 135 kmh, realizes he has too much speed, slides sideways to the concrete wall on his left and just misses it. Since he has over-corrected, he slides down to the wall on the inside, turns the wheels hard to avoid the crash, straightens it all by the end of the curve and merges onto the 401 without a scratch.
Summers End, a wonderful country retreat, will be our home for the next couple of days. We are used to placing floor lamps on top of tables to simulate an IV pole, and I have this 2-hanger-contraption I've developed that works well on wall sconces too. Ceiling hooks are the best, but rarely found. There are several tricks we've learned since tearing a curtain rod out of the wall at a hotel one trip. (Maintenance should've used anchors!). The ceiling hooks here are no good: the ceiling is 20-feet away, the IV tubing is only 30-inches! The lamps are far too delicate to handle the weight of the bag. I take a mirror off the wall, put the pump on the table and that seems to work, as long as I don't roll over! The original plan included bringing the IV pole, but had to be left behind as part of the solution to Problem B.
I have been awake for 40 hours and look forward to sleep. Set the alarm. Sleep.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Fall Classic
Up early. Make coffee. Get the paper. Wake up Jessica. She makes herself some breakfast. One owner of Summers End comes downstairs and finds his morning routine disrupted considerably. Dad takes it pretty well...He usually makes the coffee, then he usually gets the paper. He's reading the paper as the large equipment bag rolls by. We are out of there before 8:00 a.m. Gramm and Bubba will see us at the game.
Etobicoke downs Brampton 2-1 in the opening game. The team heads to Summers End for brunch. We have a lot of time until the next game. The players are taken care of thanks to Laura, Barb and Lorraine and Mom. I'm running meds. Mark is inspecting the construction of the century-home. The team goes out to kill some more time. Later, while they're at dinner, I run some saline for hydration and meet them back at the arena. Etobicoke shuts out Vaughn in game 2 and racks up another shut-out against Aurora in game 3.
The team finishes first in their division and advances to the semi-finals. We never expected to make it to the semi-finals! There are several hours until the puck drops. The players want to see a movie. I had an allergic reaction at the arena and agree to sleep in the theater as their chaperone to Jackass Number 2. The girls agree that there will be no shenanigans, like forgetting to wake me up when the film is finished.
Etobicoke falls to the stronger Durham West 2-1 in the win-or-go-home semi-final contest. Nobody's disappointed with the showing at the tournament. It's a fun weekend for the team. There is a point when fans have mixed emotions: they cheer for the team to win, but would be happy to have it over, too. Tournaments are tests of endurance: long days, a lot of down-time for parents/fans, lots of hockey for the players and coaches.
We stay the night at Summers End. On Sunday, I consider heading to the Run in Kingston since I'm almost half-way there already. In the end I determine it will be too much. We head home.
Etobicoke downs Brampton 2-1 in the opening game. The team heads to Summers End for brunch. We have a lot of time until the next game. The players are taken care of thanks to Laura, Barb and Lorraine and Mom. I'm running meds. Mark is inspecting the construction of the century-home. The team goes out to kill some more time. Later, while they're at dinner, I run some saline for hydration and meet them back at the arena. Etobicoke shuts out Vaughn in game 2 and racks up another shut-out against Aurora in game 3.
The team finishes first in their division and advances to the semi-finals. We never expected to make it to the semi-finals! There are several hours until the puck drops. The players want to see a movie. I had an allergic reaction at the arena and agree to sleep in the theater as their chaperone to Jackass Number 2. The girls agree that there will be no shenanigans, like forgetting to wake me up when the film is finished.
Etobicoke falls to the stronger Durham West 2-1 in the win-or-go-home semi-final contest. Nobody's disappointed with the showing at the tournament. It's a fun weekend for the team. There is a point when fans have mixed emotions: they cheer for the team to win, but would be happy to have it over, too. Tournaments are tests of endurance: long days, a lot of down-time for parents/fans, lots of hockey for the players and coaches.
We stay the night at Summers End. On Sunday, I consider heading to the Run in Kingston since I'm almost half-way there already. In the end I determine it will be too much. We head home.
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