Murphy’s Law and how it applies to me…

 

Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup and I missed it!

 

Sorta…

 

Murphy’s Law says, "Murphy's law or the fourth law of thermodynamics" (actually there were only three last I heard) which states: "If anything can go wrong, it will."^[

 

^{I am a die-hard hockey mom of two boys.  Hockey can rule our household as any hockey mom (or dad) knows.  Practices, extra skates, travel games, expenses to say the least. You hockey people know what I am talking about all too well.}

^{Last November I wrote a little post about how emotional it can be.  You can see it here.}

 

^{So of course we have been following the awesome Chicago Blackhawks this season in their quest for the Cup.  I watched every game (well almost) and the playoffs were incredible!}

 

^{Fast forward to Monday night, June 24th, 2013…hot, humid, still, crazy dark clouds coming from the west. If the Hawks win this one, they win IT ALL!  My older son had practice at 6:50pm.  Game Six started at 7:30…not a problem.  I knew the game would be on at the rink and I could watch some of it there and get home for the end.}

 

^{Just as we are about to load up the van and leave, a huge storm blows through and freakin’ knocks out my power!!!!}

 

 

^{I’m still ok…figure it will be on by the time the game ends and all will be well.}

 

^{It wasn’t.  Quickly I thought of all the places we could go to watch the game--friends’ houses, sports bars, restaurants…Chicago was crazed with hockey fever.  But my youngest had fallen asleep and I couldn’t justify waking him up to go to a crowded place full of crazed fans.}

^{So my husband and I sat in the dark and put on the emergency radio and listened to the game. (Kinda romantic, right?)  Definitely not the same as watching on a large screen HD TV, but at least we could hear the incredible last 2 minutes of that game.  Afterwards, fireworks could be heard everywhere and I could only imagine how awesome it was to actually see those boys hold up the Stanley Cup and skate around the ice.}

 

^{The kicker in this story is that the houses that were just across the street had power!  Uggggggh!}

 

^{Murphy’s Law…}

 

^{In early September of 1993, my all-time favorite rocker, Bruce Springsteen, was coming to Chicago to perform.  I had worked at the venue where he was performing all summer long as a beer seller and it was the best job ever!  I got to see all the bands warm up and do their sound checks before an empty auditorium with (hardly) any one else around.}

^{My boyfriend at the time was from New Jersey and I wanted to impress him so I got tickets for the Springsteen concert and figured we could hang out before in the auditorium since I was still able to arrive early before the crowds.  We were back at school at the time, in Chicago, about an hour from the venue.}

^{I had a long day of classes before we could leave.}

^{I got in the elevator in my dorm with about 12 other people.  It was hot, humid and sticky.}

^{About half way up to my 13th floor dorm room, the elevator stopped.  Broke. Not moving.}

^{I was stuck in an elevator with a capacity of 15 with twelve other people!  For a couple of hours!  Breathing in each other’s air and feeling woozy from the heat.}

^{And we missed the concert!!!!  Ugggggggh!!!!}

 

^{Here’s another example…}

 

^{In 2005, my sweet sister asked me to be in the OR while she delivered her first born child.  What an honor!  I was all ready to be her support, camera ready to take that first precious picture….}

 

^{Guess what?  I had kept turning on and off the camera all morning taking “before” pictures that when it was time for the baby to arrive, my camera was dead!  No battery life!  No time to say, “Hey, wait a second, push that baby back in while I go and get new batteries.”   Uggggggggh!!!!}

 

^{There are plenty of other ways Murphy’s Law applies to me, as it does to everyone, but I will not bore you with more details.} 

 

^{Just know that it will all work out in the end!}

 

^{For instance, that boyfriend I wanted to impress so much from New Jersey?  Well, I ended up marrying him and he is the best husband and father I could ever imagine.}

 

^{And about 15+ years later, we ended up with Floor Seating for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Born To Run” re-tour.  If you had General Admission seating like we did, they handed out numbers before the concert and randomly picked the number to start with.  By sheer luck and a lot of Grace, we ended up second row from the stage.  That concert was seriously one of the highlights of my life.  I was thisclose to Clarence Clemons, Bruce and the band.  An old grade school friend even wrote me on Facebook and told me he saw me on the JumboTron during “Hungry Heart.”  (Which isn’t on the “Born to Run” album, I know.)}

 

 

 

 

^{As for the birth of my niece, by some more sheer luck and a lot of Grace, my camera turned on for one picture…}

 

 

      Can’t get any better than that first moment!

 

So I know I have to be patient and things will work out.

I’m taking the boys to the victory parade in Chicago tomorrow and who knows, perhaps by sheer luck and a lot of Grace, we will get thisclose to the Cup and those fantastic hockey players that made it happen.

 

If not, I am very content to be one of the millions cheering and being part of the incredible energy that is sure to be.

 

Way to go, Blackhawks!  Congratulations on an amazing season!

 

Love,

Me

Pay It Forward Friday #2

 

Harder Than I Thought It Would Be…

 

 

 

Truthfully, this is harder than I thought it would be…how could doing one simple, little nice thing be so difficult for me this past week?

 

Because sometimes I forget, sometimes I am nasty, sometimes I don’t really feel like it.

 

I meant to surprise some little kid at the ice rink by leaving some money in a baggie on a vending machine, but I was in a rush to get my son to his game and had too many other things on my mind, so I forgot…

I meant to leave a home-baked treat on my cranky neighbor’s porch, but then he yelled at my son for accidentally kicking a ball into his yard, so I thought, “Screw you, Jerk.” (See, I told you I am nasty sometimes…Remind me to get a 6 foot fence…)

 

I meant to send a card to an old friend who I haven’t talked to in a while, but I kept putting it off, distracted by all the “day to day” chores and errands that fill up my day.

 

I meant to, I meant to, I meant to…

 

So here I am on Friday…

 

The best thing I did was to offer to cover a co-worker’s weekend night shift so she could go to some party but I did this grudgingly….(during the summer I work only weekends so any free weekend night is precious to me.)

I’m a nurse, did I mention that?

 

How was your week?  I would love to hear what you did…

Pay It Forward Friday #1

 

 

At the beginning of this week, I posted about this concept about “paying it forward” inspired by our trip to New Orleans.  You can read about it here.

I think I picked the wrong week to start this because I am a crabby, crabby mess.  I blame it on peri-menopause and hormones because, let’s face it, what the hell else is there to blame it on?  Not even the Blackhawks winning the first game of the Stanley Cup could flip me out of my funk.  I think I counted AT LEAST 5 people I wanted to punch in the throat.

On top of all that, I had computer issues.  Big ones.  It’s a very good thing I didn’t throw the damn computer out the window a couple times.  My children and husband have been running for cover for the last few days.  I feel sorta bad about this, but believe me,  I believe I am acting rationally.  Doesn’t everyone cry, laugh and then yell all in one sit-down dinner?  No?  Well too darn bad…for 2 or 3 days out of the month, I do!

By the way,  I wish I had a Red Tent to retreat to…(literal reference to one of my favorite books.  Go read it!)

So…..I digress.

But here it is…

 

 

I started something and I want to follow through with it.

For our first week, we bought a small geranium and made a card.

 

 

 

We wrote a little note inside it…

 

 

And left it on a park bench…

 

 

 

We didn’t see who took it, but in my mental state, I actually thought to myself, “Self, what if no one takes it and it’s just sitting there all night long and this nice gesture is left there to fall over and geese poop on it?”

Well, someone must’ve taken it, because I did check back an hour later and it was gone.  And my bad mood was gone too.  It felt really, really good to imagine someone picking it up, being surprised and taking it home.

 

What did YOU do?  I would love to hear all about it. 

If you have a blog, feel free to link in and link back to your blog.

If you don’t have a blog, please just use the comment section to tell me (and everyone else) all about it.  I can’t wait to hear all about it.

<

Challenge: Pay it Forward

 

“Be the change you want to see in the

world”-Ghandi

 

We recently returned from a family trip to one of my favorite cities…

 

New Orleans!!!

 

In my opinion, going to New Orleans is like going to a different realm…the food, the architecture, the people, the music, the way of life…like no other city in the United States.

I started visiting there in the early ‘90’s when both my brother and sister attended college there and continued to go back through the years.  It’s always an adventure!

This is the first time my husband and I took our children who are 9 & 11 years old.  We went to visit my brother who still lives there with his family, and my mom, sister and niece went also.  It was an incredible time, so full of moments that will live in our memories forever.

Side note:  Going to New Orleans with children is a much different, yet still fun, time than going with your girlfriends to celebrate your 40th birthdays.

 

My brother had a crawfish boil for us! 

 

 

 

Learning how to “pinch the tail, suck the head.”

 

We went on a Swamp Tour with alligators galore!

 

 

 

We walked around the French Quarter…

(in the daytime, of course.  Young, impressionable minds, you know.)

 

 

 

Creepy, Above the Ground Cemeteries…

 

 

You get the jest…

My brother was the most gracious host, making sure everyone got to do what they wanted to do and had fun doing it.  He gave my sons the most beautiful St. Ignatius medals and my niece a beautiful St. Cecelia medal that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

 

But this isn’t a post for tourism for New Orleans, though it may sound like it up till now.

 

Amazing things happened to us while we were there…

My niece was tired and hot, hungry and probably not in the best of moods.

A homeless person noticed this and started singing to her to cheer her up.  He started singing, “You are My Sunshine” and you could see her start to perk up.

Then he saw one of his friends nearby and had her join in…They started singing, “This Little Light of Mine” and before you know it, we all joined in.  It was a little, impromptu gathering of bad singers but we were so joyful, right across from Café DuMonde.

 

Our hotel kitchen started on fire, and no one was hurt and no one’s property was damaged.

 

Our flight home was terrible, crossing above storms that left Oklahoma so damaged.  I was terrified as I am not a good flier any way.  This is what greeted us after baggage claim…

 

The amazing thing that stuck out in my mind the most was at a food joint called Salvo’s in Belle Chase, LA after the alligator tour.

 

We all were hungry, needing some Po’Boys and Sweet Tea.  There were eight of us seated at a picnic table style restaurant, our mouth’s watering and stomach’s grumbling.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this very, very tall man, probably in his 50’s,  come in the restaurant.  He must’ve been about 6’6” tall, at least.

  I thought, “Wow, that’s a tall man.”

The waitress sat him behind us and I didn’t give him another thought.

At this point, my 11 year old accidentally knocked over his very tall glass of Iced Tea right onto my husband’s lap.

Ugghhhh!  He felt so bad about this…he was embarrassed because everyone turned to look at him and he was nervous his dad was going to be mad. 

He started to rub his eyes…the waitresses came over to wipe up the mess and were so kind to him, assuring him it was OK to spill, not a big deal.  We all told him it was OK…But he was still upset, was starting to cry, and got up to go to the bathroom where he could be alone.

I’m not sure why this incident upset my hockey playing son so much, but I could only guess it was because he didn’t want to upset his dad who now had a lap full of Iced Tea. ( He didn’t look too happy as he was cleaning up the ice between his legs.)

So I said between clenched teeth, “Go get him and talk to him and tell him it’s ok.”

My husband came to his senses very quickly, realizing how upset our son was, and went to speak to him in the bathroom. 

They came out, arm in arm, everything back to normal.

Our food arrived.  We all held hands and bowed our heads and said Grace.

 

When it was time to pay the bill, I waved the waitress over because I wanted to pay it for everyone.  My mom wanted to pay it for everyone.  We argued over this for a bit.

Then the waitress said, “Nobody has to argue over this bill,  it’s been paid for ya’ll”.

Huh?  We all looked at her stunned.  “Who paid it?” we all asked, almost in unison.

“That tall gentleman who was sitting behind ya’ll came up, paid his bill and left.  Then he came back and told me he wanted to buy ya’ll lunch because he was impressed at the father-son relationship and said, ‘If they ask, tell them it was because you don’t see that kind of family very much anymore.’”

I asked her if he comes in often, I would like to leave him a huge thank you note.

“No, I never seen him before today,” she said.  “I would remember him, he was so tall.”

I’ve heard about things like that happening, strangers paying for lunch out of the kindness of their hearts, but it’s never happened to me and I’ve never done it before, either.

How thoughtful, kind and generous that simple act was.  We all left that place a little different, I believe.  For the better.

I keep thinking of it.  That man did this without expecting anything in return.  He didn’t even see our faces when we learned he had paid.  We couldn’t even thank him.

The only thing that comes to my mind is,

 

Pay It Forward

 

So that’s what we’re going to do.

 

Summer break has officially started and I talked to the boys about this incident and we came up with a plan…

 

We will do one act of Paying it Forward once a week and post about it on Fridays.  One act is not asking very much.

We want YOU to get involved too.

It doesn’t have to be a big deal like buying lunch for eight people…it could just be a simple, kind act like leaving a note for a neighbor to tell her how pretty her garden is.   I’ve included a cool site I found on the web for ideas…

http://www.spreadkindness.org/tools/ideas

On Fridays, I’ll post about what we did.  Please, please join us on this. Post to me what YOU did. I can’t wait to see what a difference we will make.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
― Mother Teresa

And to that very, very tall man who my mom’s first impression of was Michael, the archangel,

Thank you…you don’t know this, but you’ve started something good.