Sweet Dreams...

So, months and months have passed and I have not made a post.  Those that know me well should not be surprised. I guess it takes something to happen which moves me to get back on my blog spot (a place I wish I could visit more often) but time just gets away from me somehow.  Either something happens or a time of the year happens, and this post must have to do with the time of the year....November.

Next week will be the sixth anniversary of my beloved Grandma Josie's passing.  Grandma was one of the most special people in my life and a special person to most everyone that knew her.  In November of every year, I think of her more than normal and this morning I was awake early thinking about all of the stresses of the day ahead of me.  Kids, cooking, cleaning, doctor visits, dogs, homework--shall I go on?  When I looked at the clock it was 4:30 am too early to get out of bed I thought to myself.  I must have drifted back off to sleep and what happened next has truly inspired my day.

All of a sudden I found myself in my Grandma's bedroom lying in her bed.  I was at her house and my kids were there and my husband.  I could feel myself laying there and feeling as if I was "home".  Then my Grandma came into the room, but I could not see her, she was a dark shadow merely a figure.  She said, "Get up Anne, you need to get going".  The next thing I remember is her sitting on the bed playing with Wyatt and LT.  I distinctly remember seeing Wyatt's face laughing with glee.   Wyatt never met my Grandma.  Then I remember looking out her bedroom window at the neighborhood thinking how does she do this alone when her whole family is gone (meaning her brothers, sisters, Mom and Dad).   All the further detail I can remember is her hair, there were curls and many bald spots and with that there appeared the face of a clock and the feeling of "home" came over me more strongly this time.  And that was the end.

I had woken up thinking Grandma, she's back.  Then shortly after waking I remembered no, she is not back it was all a dream.  Then came the tears as for a moment she was with me again.  Then I remembered what she said in the dream "Get up Anne, you need to get going."  I needed to get going for myself and for my boys and she gave me the strength to do it. 

Grandma has come to me in dreams before, not often at all, maybe one other time but when she does it is so comforting.  I am not sure where it all comes from and some may say I am crazy, but I truly believe we all have a special guardian angel or maybe more than one guardian angel.   I did post the picture of the 1976 half dollar coin (which he used to give me all the time as a kid) I found under my bed after thinking about my Papa a couple of months ago.  Although that was a special moment that I will remember, Papa has never come to me in my dreams.

So what all of this means to me is when my Grandma was alive she used to tell me how hard it was to get older and to see those we love go away.  Boy was she right and her words ring in my head frequently.  At the end of her life she was left having to say goodbye to many family members and now that I am experiencing it in my own life having to start living without those who raised you I know how hard it must have been for her at times.  But today she told me you must move on you must do it for your kids, they need you--just as I had once needed her.   So today I start my day with special thoughts of Grandma and all she has done for me and is still doing for me.  I hope to see her again one day.

Father's Day...

It has been some time since I posted my last blog, but today, Father's Day, I felt compelled to log in again and write something as my Dad is someone I rarely speak of. 

It has been many years since I have seen or talked to my Dad, not by choice but that is the way life worked out.  Since he passed away on July 4, 2011, Father's Day has been harder for me to get through than ever. It was always hard since we had last spoken in 2002, but now it is just different as I know I will never get that chance again to spend a Father's Day with him. The last time I saw him was at my sister Jenny's wedding.  I can still see him standing by the door yelling bye to me and me running the other direction as I did not want to deal with him.  He had so many problems, but the drinking was the worst one of them all.  The alcohol tore our family apart to the point of no matter what I said or did the alcohol always won. 

It was not always bad, he tried hard to be a good Dad teaching me to play the organ and to drive, but the alcohol always won.  Finally it got so bad that we needed to cut him out of our lives, something that deeply hurt each of his daughters to do.  He was not there at some very important times in our lives, he decided not to walk me down the aisle at my wedding nor meet any of my children.  Through it all I always believed one day he would wake up and come to his senses, but that never happened and it won't happen--the alcohol always won.  It was the alcohol not him, that is what I always told myself and that allowed me to move forward in life without him in it.

There are many fond memories I have of him which I want to remember today. One of the best is the day he decided to adopt me as his own daughter something he did not have to do.   Other memories include listening to him play in his band back in the day, him trying to teach me to swim and water ski and still trying even though I was and always will be terrified of water, and as I said he also tried to teach me to play the organ but I only got so far before he realized I was never going to be interested enough, but he still tried. Teaching me to drive must have been quite the task for him the day he asked if I saw the parked van two feet from our car.  I try to remember the birthdays he celebrated with us, the trips to the zoo and Great America, that is the Dad I want to remember today. No matter what, I can say his intentions were always to protect and love his daughters.  Just last night I was going through an old box of greeting cards and found one he gave me for my 16th birthday signed "Daddy Dearest".  I am glad I have this card as in the fit of anger I got rid of many of these kinds of items as not to be reminded of things I did not want to remember.

It hurts badly when I see all the facebook pictures and posts of people with their Dads, I so wish that my relationship with my Dad could have continued into his old age, but this was not in God's plan for him.  To those people I would say to cherish every moment you have with your Dad as a Father's love is one of a kind.

So today, this post is my way of saying "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD" you are missed.  RIP.

AG

Seaworld, Roller Coasters and Paddle Boats

So I have kept my promise and am posting another blog before too much time has passed, but it has been a busy week. 

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Seaworld last Saturday.  It was the first time LT and Wyatt have been there.  Seaworld is the best "aquarium" I have ever been to.  Such a cool place.  We did not cover even half of the park on this trip as we just bought season passes for LT's birthday so we want to go back again a few times before we cover the entire place.  This particular Saturday we saw the sea turtles exhibit and 3D movie, that was wonderful.  We also went into one of the aquarium buildings and it was neat to see all of the colors of the fish.  Here are some photos of LT and Wyatt in that exhibit.

Since we had given LT the season passes for his birthday, Tade was pushing the roller costers with him(Seaworld has two).  When we first got there he told LT that he needed to go on right away because the line would be too long later and he would love it.  LT was all about going on until we got right up to the ride and then he said no, he did not want to go.  I was so relieved as due to Tade's back condition he can no longer ride roller coasters and Wyatt is not tall enough. So, by process of elimination, that leaves yours truly to ride with him.  So we kept going after Tade gave him the lecture on "being a man".   About a half hour later we came to the second roller coaster in the park, again Dad tells him he should try it.  So LT says ok I will, my stomach did a flip flop.  In any event, I gave Tade my purse and glasses and followed LT trough the queues.  We get to the front and LT says, let's ride in the front car.  GREAT!  When we got on, I fastened our seatbelts, checked to make sure they were "really" fastened in my best OCD practice possible and we waited to take off.  I could not feel my feet by this time.  Wouldn't you know it, there was a delay in us taking off.  By the time the operators gave the thumbs up I could hardly breath.  

Truth be told I never really liked roller coasters.  My Dad used to take us to Six Flags every summer growing up and thought I just loved to ride The Demon.  Not really, in fact I was terrified throught the whole wait in line and throughout the red and white lighted tunnel shooting out water, every time.  I don't think the scary recordings playing as you waited in line to ride The Demon helped either.  We would get off and he would ask, "Wasn't that great?"  Sure I would say, but inside I was thrilled it was over, but I would do it again the next summer with him never wanting to say no.  Now I find myself in the same position with my own son, not wanting to say no.  I guess I have not always hated to ride roller coasters, but I could sure tolerate them better when I was a teenager.

Now back to this ride with LT at Seaworld....we climbed up the incline to the first drop, this is the part I hate the most on any roller coaster with a drop.  Don't look down, oh the anticipation.  Once we reached the top I thought, here goes nothing.  We went down and around through and back, upside down and with each twist and turn LT screamed with glee.  When we went upside down then I needed to close my eyes, but lucky for me I could not see too well as I had to take off my glasses!  Once we got to the end, LT looked at me and said "That was awesome!!!".  I smiled back and agreed just as I always had to my Dad as a kid.  In my head I thought I made it through another ride!  "Let's go again!" LT said.  "No, Mom needs a break," I replied.  So we headed off to lunch so I could get a beer and by this time I think Dad needed one too!

After lunch we did more exploring.  We encountered one of my favorite things....paddle boats.  Here is an image of the paddle boats at Seaworld.

When I was younger, I used to drag my sisters with me to a forest preserve somewhere in Lake County, Illinois to ride paddle boats they had there.  After awhile they made fun of me because I always wanted to go ride the paddle boats.  Lots of fun, I want LT and Wyatt to ride them the next time we go.  They have no idea what they are missing, right Jenny and Sarah????  It is strange that I like these things as generally I hate water because swimming was never really my thing, we will leave that subject alone for a future post.

Before we headed home for the day, we had to go and play some games, LT and Wyatt love to play games any where we go.  We came upon the old "Pick a Duck" game, but this one was "Pick an Octopus".  As a kid I remember this being my favorite carnival game to play because it was the only game I could win.  Sometimes I relive my childhood through my boys.

So our first visit to Seaworld was a success, but we still have so much more to see.  The kids are looking forward to going back and so am I. Next time I want to see a show! As for Dad, I think he will go back simply to watch me squirm when I have to accompany LT on the roller coasters.

As a final note, I am going to keep my blog name as "Adventures of a Hockey Mommy" for now, truth be told, I don't know how to change the title.  I am sure someone reading this does, so let me know how would you.  LOL!  Anyway, on that note I sign off for now by saying this,

LIVIN' THE LIFE IN THE MAN CAVE!

AG

So It Took Me Awhile to Make My First Post....

I am so excited to say this is my first ever blog post!  Being the "hockey mommy" that I am, I find little time to do things that I want to do for myself, well maybe it's because I am addicted to reading Facebook, really.  LOL!  I need to stop worrying about everyone else's life and start to focus on my own!

So in MY life, this is what has been happening. 

Last week we celebrated LT (Little Tade's) 9th birthday!  9!!  As has been said before, where does the time go?  It seems like he keeps growing up faster and faster, and get this, I can't stop him from doing it!  He looks more and more like a clone of his Dad the older he gets, we all have our crosses to bear!  Before I know it he is going to be driving me to Walgreens for my prescriptions!  It has been a great 9 years of seeing him grow and change and develop, and he is beginning to become an individual.  Last night he hijacked my Facebook account and started commenting on people's photos he wrote on one, "Shhh!" [like we will not know that he has made the post, he says, on one of his hockey friends Mom's photos] "this is LT and I am on Facebook, that was a sik shot [hockey shot], can't wait for the birthday party"  Ahhh to be 9 again....

Wyatt, well you know, he is just a lot to handle.  Wyatt will be 5 on May 3rd registering for kindergarten in a couple of weeks (lord help the teacher).  Again, seems like I just brought him home from the hospital.  He is enjoying his last quarter of preschool and is learning a lot. 

We will be going on a day trip to Seaworld this weekend so I will share our adventure with all that are interested here next week.  The kids are super excited and I must say so am I as aquatic life is one of my passions.  So peaceful and relaxing to watch!

All in all we are settling in to our new life in Florida and I hope you all will continue to view my blog to see what direction this newest beginning will take the Gerischer Family in... stay tuned.

Anne


P.S.  I also need everyone's opinion on my blog's title, should it be "Adventures of a Hockey Mommy" or "Livin' the Life in the Man Cave"??????  Please vote.