Sometimes We Need A Second Lunch + Hockey Weekend

 

This weekend was truly a hockey filled weekend. I am not complaining.

People are always so shocked to hear that I am a life long huge hockey fan but it’s true. Girly girls are allowed to follow sports! Even more than men sometimes!

I have always loved my Islanders and raised my son to do the same.

I was just the other day looking at pictures from his Bar Mitzvah photo shoot. Can we believe the Bar Mitzvah was almost a year ago already?

So this weekend was a special one. It started Saturday morning shortly after my run that I needed to get my son to his hockey game. We have our routine for weekend morning games. I drop him off for warm ups, drive through Dunkin Donuts for coffee which is down the block and then I come back to drink my coffee (usually in the car) until the game is about to start.

After his hockey game, it was home for a super quick shower (for him), quick-lunch for me and out the door to Islanders training camp. They had a whole Fan Fest type of thing going on with the Stanley Cup and NHL centennial activities taking place too.

I was just happy to watch the players practice while trying not to calculate how much older I am when compared to the rookies. Actually, when compared to any of the players. It’s frightening.

Their stretching sequence always interests me while inspiring me to remember to stretch more often.

On a side note of interest to you, I was hit with the most major hunger attack while at this training camp. Like I couldn’t even function politely on any level until I was given food. I needed a second lunch in the worst way as though I couldn’t get to food fast enough.

I’m convinced it was the 10 miles I ran earlier in the day. I must have worked up a crazy appetite because I haven’t felt like that in forever.

Panera is not usually a weekend spot for me but it was the only thing that was going to work quickly while still satisfying whatever I felt I needed. Sometimes we need a second lunch!

Sunday was the really big day of the weekend.

Maybe you remember me  talking complaining a whole lot about the Nassau Coliseum no longer being the Islanders home. They made the move to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in 2015 (because they couldn’t get anyone to agree on renovating/rebuilding the Coliseum) and NO ONE is happy about it, including the team. Here’s my Newsday article on the subject in case you missed it the first several times I shared my local fame. < – sarcasm at its finest but whatever, it was a Newsday top story at the time. Yes, I understand that it was probably a slow news story day.

Without getting way too winded here on a topic you probably don’t care about, the Nassau Coliseum was renovated after the Islanders moved to Brooklyn (I know, it makes NO SENSE) and hosted the Islanders preseason game yesterday afternoon to torture my life just a little more than usual.

It was the first hockey game to be played there since renovations and my first time back to the Coliseum since the playoffs in April 2015.

I refuse to attend any events or concerts in this building unless it’s an Islanders game. It’s my version of a strike, okay?

I wasn’t really sure how I felt about going to this game yesterday. Once they announced last spring that the game would indeed be played at the Coliseum, I related it to going to see an ex-boyfriend.Things would be all fun and great and feel NORMAL yet at the same time, inside you knew it wasn’t going to last beyond those few special hours.

So why bother being happy for those brief few moments only to know you wouldn’t be able to see him again like that?

I was totally on target with this analogy by the way because the radio hosts on NHL Network radio literally made the same comparison to seeing an ex! I’m so intelligent sometimes but certainly not a dating expert. Don’t listen to me for dating advice.

So how did it feel yesterday? Normal. It felt so NORMAL that it felt weird. We were home but it wasn’t home anymore. The building was renovated but you still knew where you were. The structure was the same. The hallways were as crowded as ever.

They upgraded the concessions too which was always a dream of mine as a kid. The Nassau Coliseum was always so basic and boring when it came to food which I guess was part of its old fashioned charm.

Yesterday though I was able to have roasted Brussels sprouts at an Islanders game. I believe they were covered in a sweet chili sauce.

And the game. It was only preseason but the sold out crowd took it so seriously you may have thought it was the playoffs.

They won in overtime, so similar to the last afternoon playoff game I attended here over two years ago. It felt eerie actually.

And then it was over. We easily drove home within minutes and now we go back to complaining about taking the train to Brooklyn for games. Unless they move either back to the Nassau Coliseum (won’t happen) or build a new arena in a better location than Brooklyn. It’s still up for discussion so I guess we will see.

I’m leaving out that somehow my son was chosen for a new Islanders marketing campaign. We may be looking at the new face of the Islanders.

I actually have no idea how this all came to fruition but the next thing I knew before the game started, I was signing paperwork and he was in front of the green screen being directed to make all sorts of emotional faces.

It was a proud moment. I was all like, “he’s mine! I made him!” which is a far cry from my usual duck down and not claim him.

Anyway, that was my weekend. It’s now Monday and I’m not ready although we are off Thursday and Friday for Rosh Hashanah so that’s what I will think about today. 🙂

[bctt tweet=”What it was like to experience an islanders game again at Coliseum #isles @ny_islanders ” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Do long run days leave you super hungry? When was the last time you really needed a second lunch?

Are you a sports fan? Which sport do you love the most? Favorite team? Do you go to games often?

Best thing you ate over the weekend?