Tough kids

Normally I'm not the overly suspicious type. But when Company A's system that's worked for years suddenly develops a problem, and no one apparently can figure out how to solve it other than to suggest I start using a product of Company B with which they conveniently have an alliance, I can't help but wonder.

Apparently that's what's been going on with Blogger these past few days. There's suddenly an issue with uploading photos through the web browser I use. But, if I switch over to the Google Chrome browser, all works just fine. How convenient.

Enough about that... we are a week into January, which means we are living and breathing hockey. It started last Thursday. And if the hectic schedule wasn't enough of a slap in the face to remind us, the frigid cold temperatures did the trick.  

Yes, it really was as cold as it looked. And the windchill made it even worse. But as I watched the long shadows created by AJ and his teammates as they skated the length of that cool gray surface, I couldn't help but be proud. After nights like these, it's no wonder the kids in this part of the state are so tough.

And it's one more reason I don't mind the way this sport takes over our lives for more than a third of the year. Any activity that so enthralls my son that he doesn't notice how incredibly cold it was that night - that's an activity I want him to be part of.

Sydney had practice, too, that night.

She noticed the cold.

It turns out, though, she had a couple valid excuses for needing a break. Her skates were two sizes too small. (Apparently this is a rite of passage in our house. We unintentionally inflicted the same agony on AJ his first season, too.) And, she also was probably fighting the early stages of a virus - which didn't fully rear its ugly head until Saturday night. So yes, she played in two hockey games Saturday before finally crashing on the couch with a nasty fever that lasted for 48 hours

But all seems better today. She'll be heading back to school, and so far no one else seems to have caught it.

Yes, they're tough kids. Thank goodness!