Best. Weekend. Ever.

Well, pretty close, anyway.

On Saturday night, WH and I attended an auction and dinner concert for one of the Colourful University choirs. We were attending as guests of the artistic director, in exchange for promising that we would bid on items and help the choir raise some money! And we did! We went home with $100 in gift certificates from a local pub and a really nice basket of gourmet coffee.

But the real excitement came during the live auction. One of the items up for bid was a chance to conduct the choir in concert during their season next year. I have always wanted to do this. So I started bidding. Eventually, it came down to me and another lady pushing the bids up $5 at a time. The drama and tension were high. And I won!! Actually, eventually we called it a tie, and will both get the chance to conduct next year!! I am very excited!!

And then on Sunday, I woke up to find that for the first time since November, I AM NOT IN LAST PLACE IN THE HOCKEY POOL! Given that at one point, I was 45 points behind the second last person, this is indicative of a pretty amazing comeback!

How was YOUR weekend?

Five Reasons Chorus Loves the World Juniors

For faithful readers who aren't hockey fans, the World Juniors is an annual international hockey tournament, held in December, involving players aged roughly 17-19 at the level just below professional. Many of the junior players have either been recently drafted into National Hockey League teams or expect to be drafted in the next year. The tournament is fantastic, for the following reasons (and more!):

1. The players are highly skilled, but have usually not yet reached their full size which means that the games do not involve as much physical play as they do speed, finesse and stick-handling. Much more fun to watch than many of the heavy-hitting professionals. I always find it hard to believe that kids so young can be so fundamentally talented!

2. Enthusiasm: For many of the players, it's the first opportunity they have to wear their country's jersey on an international stage. And their excitement and eagerness is so exposed and so genuine, that it's impossible not to be affected.

3. Angelo Esposito was invited to the Canadian junior camp three years in a row. And for three years in a row, he didn't make the cut. This year was his fourth invitiation, and there was some speculation that he wouldn't come at all, that he couldn't risk the disappointment one more time. But there he was, with the same excitement, enthusiasm and determination he must have shown at his first camp. And lo and behold, he made the cut. And was a key factor in Canada's drive to the gold, scoring a key goal in the final game.

4. I love that the junior players SING their national anthems, in full off-key, belt-it-out spirit.

5. Because the quality of play is so high, it's easy to forget how young these players are. But there's always a wonderful moment when the camera pans in on a player's face, in his full wide-eyed, acne-covered, baby-faced glory. There's no hint of jadedness or weariness on his face... He's just a happy kid playing a game he loves.

The Ugly, Horrible, Nasty Truth

I am in last place in the hockey pool.

Not only am I in last place, but I am THIRTY-SEVEN points behind the guy in second-last place.

My hockey team is a disaster of epic proportions.

I hate the hockey pool.

Harumph.

Oh, blech.

So I've posted once before about our hockey pool and about the fact that this year, I'm the only girl participating. It's really not a big deal to be the only girl; I've known all the other participants for a while, and they're all good guys, so while our pool has a fair amount of trash talking, the chatter always stays focused on the teams themselves.

Until yesterday.

One of our regular participants brought a friend to the pool, a guy that none of the rest of us really know. Fundamentally, this is great; the more participants, the more money! Early this week, my team had a little surge of success, and jumped over a whole bunch of others, including New Guy, to about 5th place in the standings. Somebody else mocked New Guy for being suddenly at the bottom of the pool, and asked how he was enjoying the view. New Guy responded that the view was just fine because there was a skirt above him.

So not, in the grand scheme of things, a REALLY offensive comment, but more just... yucky. And not really the kind of attention that I need or want as a part of my hockey pool participation. So WH, bless his heart, replied quickly that, actually, I was wearing pants, and that I was kicking New Guy's @ss all over the pool. So that was gratifying.

More than I am offended by the comment itself, I'm annoyed that New Guy went in that direction. He's introduced an element of awkwardness to the pool that has never existed before. Blech.

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On another note, Baby Cat caught her first mouse last night!

Hockey Pool Day

I hadn't perfectly realized how much I wrote yesterday about the kittehs... clearly I was in the mood to write a lot, though perhaps not much of any substance.

Anyhoo, today is Hockey Pool Day. WH has run a hockey pool for a number of years, and when he and I started hangin' out together, I naturally became a part of the annual hockey pool organization and administration team. There are normally anywhere between 10 and 15 players who descend on our home one afternoon in September to pick teams, eat chili and have a good time. Each player picks two full lines - six forwards, four defensemen, two goalies - plus one enforcer.

So right now, WH is at rehearsal, the chili is in the crock pot getting hot, and the house is the most peaceful and quiet it will be until much later this evening. All the stuff is printed out that needs to be printed out. I still need to grate cheese for the chili...

What are you up to today?