what a depressing day

The kids and I started out the day by going to the dentist, not on any of our lists of favorite activities.

This afternoon I fell into an exhausted sleep for a few hours - I literally could get nothing done around the house beyond a single load of laundry. I couldn't even read a book or watch television.

Tonight my Wings lost game seven - and the Stanley Cup - on home ice. At least the Penguins legitimately won the game - it was not decided by poor officiating, as I had been dreading might happen. The Wings looked disorganized, old, and tired. The numerous injuries caught up with them, I think. Perhaps if they had been healthier, they might have had a chance, but such was not to be.

I did have to turn off the television before seeing Crosby being handed the Cup at the Joe. Nothing against him as a player or a human being, but I despise the constant hype over him. If it had been any other captain I would have watched the Cup ceremony.

NO, not a game seven~!

Ugh. The Penguins beat my beloved Wings the other night in game six, forcing a game seven in the Stanley Cup finals.

I hate game sevens.

I hate how a team's season can end because of a couple of bad bounces of the puck or a couple of bad calls (or non-calls) by the refs!

Ah well, win or lose, I love my Red Wings.

This year's playoffs have just been...bizarre. While I am sure it has happened in the past, I cannot remember any team ever facing so much adversity in the course of one playoffs - from the flu outbreak in their dressing room last week to all of the injuries (at this point it would probably be easier to name the few players who have not been injured rather than the all of the ones who have been) and illnesses. Nicky Lidstrom got hurt in the Chicago series and has not been playing as well as usual in the finals - and I ran into a rumor tonight on the Internet that he was speared in the groin in game three against Chicago and has a ruptured testicle. OUCH!!! Yeah, that would certainly slow most men down. A lot. I do not even have a testicle, and it makes me wince.

Crazy and awful stuff.

So win or lose, they have done a great job overcoming adversity and getting this far! In fact, if they do win, I think this might be the most meaningful Cup in my lifetime with the exception of the first Cup in the Yzerman era (and first in my lifetime won by the Wings) simply because the team has been through so much.

They have one big strike against them - I will be able to watch the game. Every Cup they have won in my lifetime has been while I have been at work and have been unable to watch the game. This time game seven will be on my night off from work! And that gives me a very ominous feeling. Nothing against the Penguins (a very good team) or Sidney Crosby (a very good but pukingly over hyped player), but I think I will have to turn off the television before seeing Sid the Kid hoisting up the Cup at the Joe should the Pens win.

WINGS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RED WINGS WIN GAME FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One win to go to earn the Stanley Cup!

With the return of Pavel Datsyuk as an inspiration, the Wings blew out the Penguins tonight at the Joe 5-0. The Pens fell apart and took a bunch of really dumb frustration penalties which let the Wings keep on the power play for good chunks of the second and third periods.

This is the first time in this entire finals series when my team actually played like the Red Wings!

worried for my beloved Red Wings

The schedule and injuries are killing my team. Not to take anything away from the Penguins, who are a damned good team - but the injuries and schedule are killing the Red Wings. I could not watch game four because I was at work, but from what I understand they were reeling from exhaustion and making all sorts of dumb mistakes as a result.

The decisions on the part of the NHL to move the finals up by a week and have back to back starts for game one and two has probably destroyed most chances for the Wings to win the Cup this year.

I think if the Penguins win game five tonight, they will win the Cup in game six. If the Wings somehow manage to win game five, I think it will go seven games - and anything can happen in a seven game series.

game two

I couldn't watch or listen to any of it, since I was at work (and worked sucked hugely tonight, which is a whole 'nother story) but my beloved Red Wings (led once again by the defensive work of Hank Zeterberg, the magical goal tending of Chris Osgood, and the Grand Rapids minor league kids)won game two of the Cup finals, again by a 3-1 score.

Two more wins to earn the Cup!

Wings win game one of the finals!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

Red Wings win game one of the Stanley Cup finals!

3 more wins to earn the Cup!

a Red Wings moment of beauty

Darren Helm, with his speed and puck handling ability, will someday be one of the deadliest players in the NHL. Great little player, who has been brought up from the minors the last two years in the playoffs to cover for injuries, and who deserves a spot in the regular season lineup as soon as one is available. (I could see him replacing Maltby or Draper on the checking line when one of them retires, for example).

an amusing moment from Franzen

An amusing moment from Wings/Blackhawks game four.

With all of the injuries (especially Datsyuk and Lidstrom) I am afraid that the Wings will have a world of trouble beating the red hot Penguins in the finals.

and still waiting!

Still no word on the biopsy results! It will be two full weeks tomorrow!

In the meantime, I have been feeling increasingly tired the last week or so, to the point where all I have energy for is going to work (the dirty laundry pile in my room is nearly as tall as I am) and sure enough, the blood test they pulled last Friday came back with my thyroid levels too low, and they will be increasing my synthroid dose. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon.

At least the Wings have a commanding 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals against the Blackhawks.

still waiting...

Still have not heard the results for Dan's biopsy. It should have been 3-5 days according to all of the medical articles I googled. It is now over a week, and this is getting old very quickly.

At least the Red Wings are still playing and keeping my mind off of more serious issues. They won their game seven against the Duckies, and won their first game in the Western Conference finals against the Blackhawks. I missed being able to watch both games due to work. Let's go Red Wings!

waiting for the biopsy results

Waiting...waiting...dreading...hoping.

In the meantime, both the Tigers AND the Red Wings lost tonight. Bah. Humbug. Now the Wings will have to play a seventh game in their series against Anaheim - and ANYTHING can happen in a game seven. You can end up losing the series on a bad bounce of the puck or a bad call from an official. I hate game sevens.

Wings win! work week over! biopsy in the morning!

The work week is over! YAY!!! Tomorrow a friend might come over, and we will exchange yard plants. I will give him some raspberry vines, and in return get some crane's bill geraniums from his yard.

The Wings won game four in their second round series against the Ducks. The series is now tied 2-2, with two of the three remaining games to be played in Detroit. We have a chance! YAY!!!

Poor Dan has his biopsy in the morning. He is not happy, to say the least. Apparently they do a biopsy of a man's prostate via his butt, and let's just leave it at that.

And, of course, there is anxiety over the biopsy for other, more obvious, reasons.

the days since we got home

Dan and I both picked up a bit of a bug sometime somewhere on our trip. We have both been coughing and sneezing and having muscle aches, and I have been running a low grade fever off and on and have had some light diarrhea almost every day. Nothing serious, and no one has had to go to the doctor, and the kids have not caught it from us - but it has been enough to slow us down somewhat. Neither of us is a spring chicken anymore, and we have both been having health issues over the last few months (well, in my case more like the last few years).

I do not think that it helped that New York was in the high eighties and sunny all weekend, and back home in Michigan it has been mostly rainy and in the forties/fifties since we got back. Quite a change and shock to our systems, LOL.

Nonetheless, I am very happy that we went, and am glad my health was good enough to allow me to go. Yes, I had to take a lot of naps over the course of the weekend - but at least I could go. And being able to be at the wedding was a cause for joy.

On Friday I had to run a bunch of errands. On Saturday Bill and I planted some cold crop vegetables (onions, shallots, garlic, etc). and some flowers like pansies who like cold weather. We did a bunch of yard work as well.

Then we relaxed and watched the Tigers and the Kentucky Derby on TV.

Dan made burritos for dinner. I had requested Mexican food, since that would be our last dinner together before Cinco de Mayo (given that he works days and I work afternoons).

I really did not want to go to work today, as I do not feel 100%, but forced myself to go in. Luckily, it has been quiet. While I was at work the Red Wings lost their round two game two in triple overtime at Joe Louis. I am really afraid that they lost the Stanley Cup with that game.

At least Verlander seems to be pulling out of his season plus funk - with two great starts in a row. It would have been three great starts, but three games ago he had a really bad one inning meltdown. It is great to see him going - the Tigers will not do much unless both he and Galarraga have solid seasons.

Red Wings playoffs round one game three

Down in Columbus (and I hope their weather down there is better than ours in the greater Detroit area today)!

I was at work, as usual, so could not watch the game.

But from what I have heard, the Red Wings won 4-1 over the Blue Jackets, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in a best four of seven game series. Zetterberg scored two goals.

It is good to know that the team and especially the goalies have found a higher gear for the playoffs. You have got to wonder if the team might have gotten a bit bored and burned out during the regular season this year? And that was why their play so often seemed to lack a bit of focus?

Busy Saturday

My last day off before Dan and I drive to New York for a wedding next Friday!

I spent the second day in a row doing as much laundry as I could. I also packed pretty much everything other then my camera, toiletries, and medicines, and those things should be quick. So that is one big task out of the way! YAY!

Bill helped out by planting the snow peas and working in the garden, so that was something I did not have to worry about!

In the evening we watched Steven play soccer. His team won 2-1. YAY!

Then we came home and watched the Red Wings win game two of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs - they beat Columbus 4-0. YAY! And we also ate dinner.

We were about to watch the Tigers, but the kids wanted to watch Quantum of Solace, so we watched that instead. Turns out that the Tigers won their game, too, 2-0 over the Mariners. YAY!

Red Wings game one

I have been at work and could not watch any of the game, but the Wings beat the Blue Jackets 4-1 tonight at the Joe in the first game of the opening playoff round.

Sometimes working all off shifts sucks, and during the hockey playoffs it is one of those high suck times.

Then again, in April I can watch parts of all Tigers home games before coming in to work - I lose track of the team later in the season when they have mostly night games...

Almost able to go home and start my weekend now - a bit over an hour to go. Man, do I ever have a lot of errands to run - and a lot of laundry to get done so we can pack...

very cute!

Saw this on science fiction writer John Scalzi's blog, and had to bring it here in honor of the playoffs starting.

Tigers/Red Wings - getting ready for the New York weekend

The Red Wings start round one of the playoffs tonight against the dreaded Blue Jackets. Why would a Red Wings fan dread the Blue Jackets you ask? Because they are young, talented, and hungry; they had our number and gave us some mighty beat downs in the regular season; they have a really hot and very talented young goalie who is good enough to win series all by himself. And they have a hideously ugly blue wasp mascott... Of all of the teams in the Western Conference, they along with the Sharks had me worried. My beloved Wings might not make it out of the first round this year.

The Tigers are temporarily tied for first place in the AL Central, along with the Kansas City Royals. I know that probably will not last very long, but I do like the team far better than the team they put out on the field last year, even though most of the players are the same. Last year was infuriating because they often looked so lackadaisical and lazy out there - just not a good effort far too many times in far too many games. This year their chemistry is obviously much better, and they keep trying even when down by quite a few runs. Eating the fourteen million dollars to get rid of Gary Sheffield was probably well worth it - the hard working team that scrapped their butts off from 2006 has returned in spirit at least. And watching Armando Galarraga will be a joy this season - he is really coming into his own as a fine young pitcher.

Very sad about the death of former Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych in an accident. He was one of those rare souls who find joy in life and in whatever life handed him. A truly special human being, and a true original.

Dan went in for more blood tests on Tuesday. They came back better than the first worrisome round, but still not good. They had wanted him to take a course of ciprofloxacin, a powerful antibiotic before the second round of tests. And the antibiotic did improve his blood levels - just not enough. The next step for him will be a biopsy in two weeks. And then I can talk freely about what is going on...

Sheesh. I just realized that tomorrow and Saturday are my last days off before Dan and I go to New York for the following weekend for a wedding, and parts of those two days will be eaten up by Steven's soccer game, a trip to the library, etc. I got up early today to start laundry - and that is a task I am a million miles behind - so I can at least attempt to get started packing on Saturday night - for things like a dress for the reception, Dan's dress shoes, and my camera - all things I will not need before the trip and can pack away ahead of time in preparation.