having a place other than work or even home to feel that feeling you get when you breathe in deeply and exhale is a bonus. if home is where the heart is...then i must be destined to live in an ice rink. a sheet of freshly cleaned ice is like a welcome mat to me. a tiny blade under my foot keeps me from freezing cold feet and allows me to glide so (or not so) elegantly. i am in love. it's true. 200 feet of oval, blue line, red line, goal line, white, shimmering ice is my love affair. i love hockey. absolutely. once i slip that helmet over my face, wipe the extra bangs out of my eyes and buckle up the straps, i feel whatever Superman felt before he took flight. I felt what Batman felt when he looked up and saw his spotlight shown in the night sky. Anyone??? Invincible.
BUT! standing on a sheet of ice by yourself can get boring. throw in some more bodies, high school drama and an abundance of laughter and you're a coach. (disclaimer...im not TECHNICALLY a coach, no, i'm not certified.) Minor details...
i don't blow whistles, draw on dry erase boards, sharpen skates, or scream and yell.
but let me tell you, those girls would be lost without someone (me) filling up those friggen water bottles! and i'm happy to do so. I'm busy. i currently have 3 different jobs. 2 are sub jobs (but can count on them at least 2 times a week) and the 3rd at a hospital which is steady. i get paid for those jobs. i spend most of my time at the rink. sometimes 4 times a week. i don't get paid to do that. but the amount of joy i have lugging around my heavy hockey bag into that rink is.......well, there are no words really. and whatever word i could scrounge up would not suffice. lets just say that in my daily agenda on my desk the first thing listed is whether or not i have hockey to go to...then if i have to work, or have any OTHER things to do. hockey is listed first. not just because i love that silly sport, but because i love those silly girls. There's only about 5 more weeks left, then i'll have to fashion one of those paper chains together like we did back in elementary school...counting down the days 'till Christmas.
I'm not a coach (not technically anyway) but i feel like it sometimes...i would like to be some day. But for now, i'll fill up water bottles, tape sticks, open doors, crack backs, give rides, carry sticks, loan out hockey gloves and make puppy chow until they pay me the big bucks. And even then, i still wouldn't mind it.
i love those girls.
No comments:
Post a Comment