Icecats

         We found ourselves back at the TCC to watch game 2 of the Arizona Icecats versus the Arizona State Ice Devils...deja vu all over again...just a change of characters...tonight, Andrea dropped Lexy off to us and we went to El Minuto again, minus Amy, Tom, Alex, David and Cody (Cody had a birthday party to go to that turned into a sleep over!)...

                  Lexy chose the beef tacos, Autumn got the topopo salad again, Antonio (oh man, you know that I have my hands full just looking at that face!) got rice.  Yes, rice.  That's it.  He wants Mario's recipe on how to make this kind of rice.  And I got carne asada tacos.  Once again, great food - and two nights in a row!  I literally did not eat a meal today in anticipation of this feast!  And it was well worth the wait.

        We had some sweet seats, courtesy of Mrs. Golembiewski, a teacher over at Desert Sky Middle school, where Cody goes - she also happens to be the sister in law of Icecats coach, Leo Golembiewski - nice contact to have!  The Icecats attract a curious crowd...many of them truly like hockey...some are just students there to support their school...some just like to yell, scream and be as loud as they can...some don't have all of their teeth...this was the case of the mother and son that had been sitting next to Lexy...they were unabashedly rude and unapologetic...and got kicked out before the end of the first period, protesting all the way 'Hey, this is a hockey game, come on!'.  It was a lot quieter after they left.

       Tonio's favorite is the Zamboni...invented by Frank Zamboni back in 1949.  He aspires to drive one some day...When Kim and I were Philadelphia Flyer season ticket holders, we'd always enter each other in the 'drive the zamboni' contest...but, alas, it was not meant to be.  Kim sure loved the Icecats games - we typically would see one or two a season.  One season, a young lady I worked with at Linens 'N Things, had an uncle who was head of security and scored us free tickets!  We saw at least 5 games that season!
      During intermission, we ran into one of the technicians, Robert, from St. Joseph's, who works security at the Icecats games.  He worked so hard for Kimmy, and was always a calming influence for her and our family.  He presented Antonio with a puck!  Antonio is so excited - he took the puck to bed with him tonight...yeh, that hard rubber is not a cozy, comfy, huggy item, but, for Tonio - it works!
      Well, having lost 10-5 last night, the Cats got off to a great start and were winning 4-1 after the first period!  They actually looked coherent and were putting together smart drives with crisp, clean passes.  Then, they gave up 3 unanswered goals in the second period and it was 4-4 after 2.  There were two lengthy delays, as a panel of glass was shattered and took about 30 minutes to replace and later, one of the braces holding the top of the glass together came lose.  So we left after the 2nd, as it was already 9:45, the kids had had their ice cream ( I am a new fan of the Thrifty brand! It is so smooth and creamy!) - not sure how it turned out, but, hopefully the Cats found new life in the 3rd period.

             Lexy and Autumn decided to sit together in one seat...and fit with no problem!
             Earlier in the day, the bambini got a great workout at Skate Country.  One of Autumn's friends, Emma LaPlant was celebrating her 11th birthday there and the LaPlants were gracious enough to allow me to drag Tonio, Cody and his friend Alex along.  I always think of those skating dates Kim and I had back in junior high - they didn't do enough 'couples' skates in my opinion!
             Slowly, we are piecing things together...some days, things fray at the edges, or out right tear, leaving the fabric of reality seeming thin, almost transparent...but today, we held it together...together.

           Surely, on those days, where I begin to lose my grip on reality and that feeling of being absolutely lost descends upon me, I find comfort in the words of Dave Mustaine:
         
Somewhere there's a reason
Why things go like they do
Somewhere there's a reason
Why somethings just fall through
We don't always see them
For what they really are
But I know there's a reason,
Just can't see it from this far

Maybe I don't like it, but I have no choice
I know that somewhere, someone hears my voice

I thought I knew it all
I thought I had it made
How could it end this way?
I thought I knew

Somewhere there's a reason
Why things don't go my way
Somewhere there's a reason
That I cannot explain
Just like the change of season,
Just may not be my turn
But I know there's a reason,
The lesson's mine to learn

                  -Megadeth

        It's a great tune, really - and sounds best with Liberty High School graduate, Jimmy DeGrasso as their drummer!

          Love,
              Dave