Hockey games and travel plans

I am analyzing the hockey games that I have tickets for this upcoming season. They require that I travel down to the Twin Cities. One of the tickets is for the Winter Classic games, which is so exciting because it's outdoors at Target Field. I have never been there.

I have my regular vacation just before Christmas till after New Year's Day. I am considering using some of my 2022 vacation to add an extra week to my vacation. It will allow me to take in three hockey games.

There is also thought about travelling in early October for a longer weekend. I can also try working abroad for a week in late November, so I can catch two games after work.

The good news is that I can fly. I am still a bit concerned about the mask situation in the States. It seems less reinforced than it is in Canada. Even though I am fully vaccinated, I don't know whether it's true for those around me.

I am doing a lot of planning right now. It's exciting to think about travelling again. It will be different.

Travel planning and thoughts

Planning travel is both exciting and weird. I haven't done it for so long that it feels so unfamiliar, but not really.

I have three NHL hockey games in Minnesota that are close together in December and January. I may do a longer vacation and see all three.

I am still adventurous. I'm doing research to figure out what I need to fly down without a hitch.

I'm optimistic and hopeful. Things are looking up even thought we aren't fully out of this pandemic yet.

Hockey in the summer and games at odd hours

It's strange watching hockey in the summertime. Games are shown during odd hours of the day.

Games in my timezone happen in the afternoon. I can't exactly tune into them because I am working. On Tuesday, I was on a call for two hours. Before that, my manager was late for our meeting, so it got extended to nearly an hour. Ugh!

I'm watching a game right now. There are two hub cities for hockey: Toronto and Edmonton. The latter is two hours behind my timezone. It's a good thing that I am a night owl and can work from home. Still, it's just a strange schedule.

Ah, priorities!

P is for playoff hockey #AtoZchallenge

Years ago, I was a huge hockey fan. It was to the point where I would watch hockey every day, subscribe to NHL GameCentre Live, and go to several live games each hockey season, including playoff rounds.

When I got divorced, I still liked hockey, but lost much of that desire to watch hockey game after game.

I switched cell phone providers last October. I took on a corporate plan that was much more attractive than my old plan. This plan also includes NHL GameCentre Live for free, including playoff games.

I have rekindled my love for watching playoff hockey these days. I also like the idea of saving a ton of money by doing a compromise. I won't go and see live games as often as I used to. Instead, I can watch games from the comfort of my home.

It's all good.

My guy will be the first to admit that he isn't a sports person. He has asked me in the past to explain how baseball works. I like that he confides in me. I don't find that odd at all. I still don't understand how cricket works. He does.

So, I am perfectly content being a homebody and watching hockey games for free. My guy likes that I have adopted some of his frugal ways. He likes calling me his Cheap Bastard wannabe, which is sweet.

M is for moo

I could have written about today being a significant milestone for me. I have blogged thirteen days in a row, something that I haven't done in years. I am nearly midway through this challenge.

Instead, I have chosen moo as my topic. Yes, I do mean the sound that a cow makes.

Years ago, I went to The Ex, which is short for the Canadian National Exhibition. It runs every year from August till early September. It's a fair, where you can go on rides, stuff your face with all sorts of food, shop, and see the air show during the Labour Day long weekend.

My parents used to take me there as a little girl. I ended up working there for three summers as a late teenager and towards the end of my undergraduate years.

Anyway, I ended up playing one of the games there and wound up winning a mini purple cow. I could have played more to trade up for a much larger plush toy, but I liked this cow. It was in my favourite colour. I had also never owned a stuffed cow toy.

Last week, my guy returned from Croatia. He got me a couple of gifts. One gift consisted of traditional cookies from the country, which are not too sweet. They are perfect.

The second gift? Milka chocolates with a mini stuffed purple cow. I got the rectangular gift bag like the one in this picture:

Coincidence? My guy doesn't know the story of my owning a purple plush cow. Now, I have two, to keep each other company.

He does know me well. I don't refuse chocolate. I also love anything purple. He is thoughtful that way.

So, that's it for my moo-ving post. Here's to being halfway through this udderly sweet challenge.http://theex.com/

Feels like high school, but we're at work, supposedly working

This post is late. I need to be dealt with. My tardiness is an issue. =)

Two Wednesdays ago, my guy and I were in a training session together. However, this week had a number of events that had occurred. The latest was that our medium-sized company that we worked for had been acquired by a rather large one.

The day before, there was an informal gathering about the news. Everyone in our training class completely missed this announcement. There was, however, going to be a formal rollout on Wednesday. Our manager indicated that we all had to be at this rollout, which was held at a hotel ballroom close by.

So, on Wednesday, my guy and I rode in a colleague's rented minivan. Our colleague was from the Chicago area and was also with us for training. He was nice to chat with. He had a new white iPhone 5. I got to hold it. It was impressive compared to my nearly three-year-old BlackBerry.

Anyway, my guy and I sat next to each other in the ballroom. Our relationship feels like we are high school kids. We seemed like insolent kids who just didn't care. It was partly because the vice president, who was describing the parent company, had a thick Italian accent and was based in Sweden. She was on a conference call in which the audio was poor. Whenever someone joined or left the conference, that person's name was announced to everyone that he had joined or left, respectively. It was highly annoying!

My guy was playing a number of games on his phone during the presentation. He first played a toss-the-crumpled-paper-ball-into-the-wastebasket game. He then played virtual pool, which he completely sucked at. I had to tease him. His sinking a ball by tilting his phone to will the ball into the pocket was not working. He scratched a number of times, which made me laugh. Then, he played some kind of twisted Tetris game that involved elements of nature.

There are moments where I want to put my guy over my knee and spank him. Today was one of them.

We cracked jokes throughout the entire presentation. I did something different, though. I had dropped my left hand between our chairs. I decided to touch the back of his thigh. My guy liked it. He actually moved his right calf closer. I caressed it for quite some time.

Eventually, I reached under his pant leg and felt his bare calf. It was nicely sculpted. I liked the feel of it. I did it discreetly. I could tell that my guy enjoyed every minute of it. Needless to say, I loved it, too.

We went back to the training room for the rest of the day. We occasionally showed signs of affection. He touched my thigh. I squeezed his. He came over and put his hand behind my back, which slide to my left buttock. He groped it. I was incredibly aroused.

It is rare for us to be in training together. I like it. I wish that we had training more often.

My guy told me afterwards that he thought that the day was special. I agreed. In fact, we both felt that the week was shaping up to be a memorable one.