This past Thursday night, this daddy had a special date with one of his daughters. We went to see our favorite hockey team play in person.

Don’t we look cute! I know we did because as we walked through the concourse and even at dinner, everyone was admiring how cute we were. I do mean everyone. Ushers, security, and even fans of the other team smiled or made sweet comments as we passed by. It almost made me uncomfortable with everyone staring as we walked hand in hand. However, her soft voice and little hand in mine made it quite magical for this proud papa.

On the ride over to our closest NHL arena where our team was playing and daddy happens to have season’s tickets thanks to an amazingly cheap deal, you have to make sure entertainment is provided.

All good dates have to have dinner right? She got her favorite dinner, pizza.

Did you know if you talk sweet and put gear on you can stand on the ice during warm-ups? Kidding. But we did stand right on the glass. No, that picture did not use zoom. It’s awesome!

When you get that close you get to see guys like this one up close. All 6’4″ and 227 pounds of him.

His name is Trevor Gillies and that was some screen caps I personally took of him last week before they played the Rangers. I love his intensity for the game. He is an enforcer in the NHL which means if you pick on one of my team’s star players, you get to deal with him in a not so friendly way.

On this night though, he would change my young daughter’s life.

As we watched the players during warm-ups I told her to waive at the players as they skated by and maybe one would wave back. 2 years ago it worked when my favorite goalie waved back to my older daughter. Anyway, as warm-ups were ending, she kept waving and Mr. Gillies spotted her from the blue line some 50 feet away. He stopped skating, motioned to me, bent over and picked up a puck off the ice. He then skated over to where we were in the corner and punched out the plexi-glass cover the camera guys stick their lenses through to take those great in-game photos you see in various publications, and handed the frozen rubber disc to me. Of course, I thanked him and he nodded and winked as he skated away.

It was too cold for her to hold for a few minutes, but she couldn’t have been happier.

My actual regular view at the start of the 2nd period. Yes, it was pretty empty for a Thursday.

But my team won the game in overtime. Now I’ll go back to cheering for the home team. Except when they play my team.

My little one had so much fun she told me she didn’t want to go to sleep when we got in the car. Alas, she did and our perfect night ended with Daddy in bed before midnight.

The best part for me is that I get to create these memories for my children. I seize every possible opportunity I can to do so with them. I do it with the two of them together, but I feel its just as important to get the one on one time every now and then. The bond I’m building now I feel will last forever.

In a few days, I get to do exactly this once again with my oldest daughter. This time though, we’ll be seeing her team play in person. I guess I’ll have to cheer for them with her.

My friend Shauna did a nifty post about what certain things mean when a woman says them to you. As I read the list with coffee spewing from my nostrils from the giggles, I realized us guys say the same things. Only our meanings tend to be a little different. So here is her list from a masculine point of view. Also, I’ve been struggling to find blog topics so perhaps this nugget of inspiration will get my juices flowing once again.

Fine
Women: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut the hell up.
Men: We also use this word to end an argument. Most often its because we realize if we say anything else relations could be suspended indefinitely. Sometimes though, we’ll say it because we agree with you. Read the tone ladies, all about the tone. Especially considering we’ll use it if we think you look good.

Five Minutes
Women: If the woman is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.
Men: When men are getting dressed, this means we missed the alarm, just woke up, and will be dressed and ready in five minutes. You can bank on that. However, if we’re engrossed in a game, that means we think we will be completing the current level but extra time may be required. If we’re watching a game where the clock stops, you may have to wait 30 minutes after timeouts and commercial breaks. If either of the last 2 are accurate for the situation, do not be pushy. We will be a grumpy grump wherever it is we need to be and it’s better to be a few minutes late than dragging along a grumpy grump.

Nothing
Women: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in ‘fine.’
Men: Another word where you must consider the tone. Generally though, this actually means the definition of the word. We know nothing more, we have nothing more to say, and if you keep asking questions you’ll get exactly that. Nothing. Our arguments will begin and end with the word nothing, even if there really was something but we feel it will be used against us at a later date, we’ll bottle it up and give you nothing. No sense in arguing over nothing.

Go Ahead
Women: This is a dare, not permission. Don’t Do It!
Men: If we meant this as a dare, we’d follow it with specifics such as “…just one finger” or “…just not with another dude” or “…make my day.” We will usually say this to grant permission, but we will use this as a bargaining chip later. It’s like saying “yes” with an asterisk and we will expect payback in some fashion shortly. Most likely when we go to Best Buy.

Loud Sigh
Women: This isn’t actually a word, but a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing.
Men: We only do this sometimes. Like when we’re thinking of the correct response and we’re trying not to fart. We roll our eyes or get bug eyes if we think your an idiot. Mostly though, you’ll only hear a man do this after pushing out a stingy turd. In which case, why are you in earshot? A little privacy please.

That’s OK
Women: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That’s okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
Men: This is a term of agreement for a man when we really don’t agree, and want something different, but are agreeing to end whatever it is we’re arguing about. It’s either that, or we’re about to make fun of you in some way with a follow-up comment. Hopefully not out loud though, that would be a trigger to hear these same words in return which translates to lots of “alone” time for awhile.

Thanks
Women: A woman is thanking you, do not question it. Just say you’re welcome. (I want to add in a clause here – This is true, unless she says ‘Thanks a lot’ – that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say ‘You’re welcome’ to a ‘Thanks a lot’– that will bring on a ‘Whatever’).
Men: Funny, this has EXACTLY the same meaning when it comes from a man and EXACTLY the same reaction by the receiving woman. Replace the “she” with “he” and you get the same message. Imagine what this world would be like if we believed each other when we said this?

Whatever
Women: Is a woman’s way of saying’Get lost you idiot’
Men: Is a man’s way of saying “shut up you tool.” To a guy though, we’d never call a woman a tool to her face. When we say it to a woman, it’s another mechanism to agree with whatever the hell you want so you’ll stop talking and we can un-pause whatever we were doing. This is another word we’ll use when we want to get something else later and end the discussion now.

Don’t worry about it, I got it
Women: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself.
Men: We always got it. Even if we have to secretly ask Doctor Google how to get it, we got it. Often, this leads to trips to the emergency room for us guys, but we’ll get it. However if we say it to a woman with a sarcastic tone it means, “you just sit right there and continue to praise mama Oprah or watch your stupid stories while I do something domestic.” Not that there’s anything wrong with men doing anything domestic, we just hate how mama Oprah seems to have that much power over women.Sometimes we envy mama Oprah and must vent our frustrations.

So my work HR department STILL will not recognize an agreement between myself and a chief officer when I was hired regarding earned PTO time. That’s ok, my in my office workers will help me get what I deserve for the second year in a row. I swear, they are really doing their best at removing the “H” from HR.  I imagine I’m not alone in my situation.

After my next hockey game, I do not know when I will play again. I have lost my team to the goalie who’s self-imposed hiatus has ended. He was the team’s keeper though for like 5 years so I kind of expected it to end at sometime. After playing every week for the past 3 of 4 annual seasons though, it sucks. It’s extremely hard to find a team as a goalie. Only one per team. Anyway, after Thursday’s 9:45 start time game, I’ll be out a goalie job for I have no idea how long. All I can hope is that it’s not as long a break as the last time. I really had my angles down and rebounding touch back. Now that professional hockey is back in season, it’s like salt in the wound. Nothing makes me want to play hockey more than watching it on TV and in person does. Damn.

Have a good weekend, enjoy the tune. Turn it up loud so you hear the subtleties….trust me.