Let’s Go Devils

When I left for work this morning I had no idea that I’d be headed to a hockey game tonight with three teenaged boys. Since my dad and brothers are away in Florida, my dad’s season tickets were supposed to be split between my sister’s family and mine. We had Tuesday’s game which was postponed due to the blizzard. My sister wound up working late and her kids didn’t want to go, so I took Drew and two friends.

I hadn’t been to a game all season, but I threw on my Ken Daneyko #3 game worn jersey – my favorite and possibly most expensive article of clothing, and we headed to the game. The Devils wore their “retro” jerseys, the green, red and white, so my old jersey fit right in.

The Devils have been playing terribly this season. One of their worst in a very long time. Maybe it was the old jerseys, or maybe I was the good luck charm because they won 6-2! I don’t know if they’ve scored that many goals in a game all season!

Drew doesn’t think it was me that brought the good luck, but at least for a few hours he may have considered me the fun mom again. I am sure it won’t last so I will take it when I can get it!

Loved

Tonight, as a perk for being a season ticket holder for over 20 years, my dad was given a suite to watch the game from.  It has been a year of perks for him from the Devils.  Drew and my nephew Mikey got to ride a zamboni, DJ got to follow the production team around one game, Drew got to press the starting horn of a game….there have been a lot of perks.

This weekend the Devils are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of winning their first Stanley Cup.  We were lucky enough to have been at that game!!  One of the most amazing things to witness in person!!

In the suite next to ours tonight, were many of those alumni players – sitting right there.  We were all a bit star struck.  John Maclean, Scott Niedermayer, Colin White, Randy McKay, Bruce Driver, Brian Ralston, Mike Peluso and a quick drop in by my all-time favorite, Ken Daneyko.

All of them were nice enough to let us take some photos and several of them talked to us about the “old times” and how great it was to watch that team play together.  Mike Peluso was posing for selfies and being silly with my brothers and kids.

We only had our phones with us for photos, so the photos aren’t the greatest but they are fun and gave us new memories from our favorite “old” team.

We loved this team then, and watching my own children love hockey and The New Jersey Devils the way I did when I was their age, has been so much fun to see!  So for today’s photo prompt, the word is LOVED. This photo of my brother and Mike Peluso (although snapped super fast so the clarity is not great, ) might just describe the love for the team without words!

Happy Birthday Drew

12 years ago right now, I was in labor with Drew.  It was a total surprise, as he four weeks early and not due till mid-January!!  He was born at 11:37 in the evening.  It was a whirlwind of a day and Drew hasn’t stopped since!

Drew is a bundle of energy.  Reserved and quiet at school but at home or with friends and family, the complete opposite.  He loves to make people laugh and has a great sense of humor.  He also has a temper!!  (much like his mom.)  He and I are similar in so many ways, it is a bit uncanny!

Drew is an original!  Every time he goes to a sporting event, he finds a way to get on the jumbo tron, or chosen for a contest.  Even last night!  We let him go to a hockey game with my dad since it was the night before his birthday.  My dad has season tickets so we let him go to most weekend games.  A friend sent me an message asking if Drew was there because she was sure she had seen him on the big screen!  Sure enough, it was him dancing around.  He was known as, “the dancing kid” for awhile because he got up on the jumbo tron so many times one season!  This morning, DJ was watching NHL Network and who’s photo pops up on the show but Drew’s.  DJ tweeted it and by the end of the day, it had been retweeted by Ken Daneyko, (a former NJ Devil – now MSG correspondent- but most importantly, my all time favorite Devil) and a few other NHL Newtwork guys! So typical.  He was photo bombing before it became a trend!

Tonight we will head over to my grandma’s.  We do this every year.  All the cousins come and we decorate her tree and celebrate Drew’s birthday.  Drew says it is one of his favorite days of the year.  He always likes to be the life of the party so being the center of attention just makes his day complete!

11-12-13

I am a sucker for lucky numbers, times and dates.  I always make a wish at 11:11 if I randomly notice it on a digital clock.  Yesterday, I just happened to look at my phone at 11:11 and since the date was 11/11, I sent my husband a text saying, “make a wish!”  I guess I figured if there was ever a time that it might just work, that would be the luckiest time to try it! Did anything different or magical happen to me?  Nope.  Nothing.  It never does.  Yet, I won’t stop doing it!!

Today, the sequential date was 11/12/13.  I keep hearing that this makes this a “lucky day.”  Being at the beginning of a century we have been able to experience one of these “lucky” dates a bunch of times, 1/2/03, 2/3/04, 3/4/05…..I am sure you get the idea… There’s only one more sequential date this century and that will happen on December 13 next year. That is unless we live outside of America where the dates are written in Military Time.  In those countries they will find December 11 as their lucky day!

So why do so many of us think that dates and numbers are lucky, or unique or magical?   There is Pi day celebrated each year on 3/14.  May 4th is a big day for Star Wars fans, “May the 4th be with you.”  One of my good friends was born on 7/7/70 so not surprisingly her lucky number is 7.   My “lucky” number is always changing.  For a long time it was #3, because my all time favorite hockey player, Ken Daneyko wore it on his jersey. Dave has two lucky numbers, #16 his birthday and #36 which was his badge number at work.  Are these numbers really lucky?  Not really, but they have a story behind them though and I guess that makes them special to us.

My favorite lucky number story just happened.  On my brother’s birthday last week, he told a friend that he was feeling very sad knowing that he’d never get another present from Francine.  He played the lottery with her birthday number,  031.  He won!!  $200.  Maybe for him, it really is a lucky number.  Even if it isn’t, he’s got a great story to tell.