“Mom, I had fun,” said my youngest. That alone made last week’s family night out to the Texas Tornado hockey game worth it. Oh, they lost to Topeka Roadrunners, but being there provided a memorable experience for my husband and our two sons. Our teen daughter had no interest in going.
And all that in spite of my older son refusing to eat the BBQ buffet meal and my husband standing in line for an entire period. One of my clients invited us to the hockey game as part of its partner appreciation. We didn’t sit in the normal seats in the crowd. We went to a reserved area on the ground level behind one of the goals. It had tables and chairs and a buffet along the back wall. Popcorn, baseball hats, signed hockey sticks, pennants and programs decorated the black and gold tables.
I had an it’s a small world encounter when I entered the area. It was one of the tennis coaches who taught several of my classes a few years ago. Her husband also works with the client.
NHL vs. NAHL Experience
I’ve attended a Dallas Stars hockey game. The NHL Stars have nothing on the NAHL Tornadoes. If you’ve been to a major league and minor league baseball game, you can tell the difference. It’s the same way with the NAHL hockey game. Smaller arena, more entertainment, closer to the action. Although I grew up a big sports gal, hockey didn’t make my top list of sports. The Dallas Stars didn’t come to Texas until I was a teen and hockey wasn’t popular in Texas.
Watching the game on the ground level is a whole different experience than watching it way high up in the stands like I did with at the Stars game. At one point, I jerked in response to the loud crashing of players into the window near me.
Intermission
During the intermission, the boys got into a Porsche and rode in it around the ice. That may not sound exciting to you, but my boys — especially the older one — LOVES sports cars. It was the first time he rode in a Porsche. The girl on the other side of the cheerleader in the photo is the client’s daughter.
After that, the fans threw hockey pucks to try to get them in a small bucket in the middle of the ice. It was wild watching hundreds of flying pucks and only two landing in the bucket.
And another small world thing happened during intermission when kids from an elementary school choir sang. That elementary school was my kids’! What are the chances of that? First, the arena is in Frisco. The school is in Plano. Second, the Tornadoes played 34 games at that point. About half of that would be home games. So out of roughly 17 games, they sang at the one we attended.
I also met Ike, the team’s mascot. I’ve got a thing (no, not a fetish) for Mascots since seeing the San Diego Chicken when I was a kid. The chicken came to a Texas Rangers game and I had a blast watching his antics.
Freelancer Feels Like a Part of the Team
As a freelancer, I don’t have opportunities to attend corporate events like I did when I worked in the corporate world. One event took place at the old Texas Stadium in Irving (pre-Super Bowl 45 stadium) and one at Las Colinas Studios where TV shows film. Imagine how it makes a freelancer feel when she’s invited to a client’s event. One thing’s for sure — it makes you want to work harder (I already do, but it gives you renewed energy) for the client knowing they appreciate you.
It’s a Teeny, Tiny World
Though a local company (my only local client — Hint: Look on the window of the Porsche), I met Frank online. He created Fib or Not and hired me to do the copy for the game. Later, we discovered we lived within a mile of each other. When we first met, the little guy and girl in the Porsche were babies. Fast forward a few years, they are one year apart in grade at the same elementary school and we run into each other at school events.
Brain food…
- Phlixie: It’s tedious to find captioned instant download movies on Netflix. Phlixie is doing what Netflix should’ve done. They hope to expand it to other services. Yeah!
- Reading Judiciously: When I read — especially nonfiction — I try to look at the author’s writing and learn from it. Tough to do because you want to absorb the material, too. Kind of like multi-tasking brain. [Link: Elizabeth S Craig]
- The Query Letter That Won Me an Agent and a Four Book Deal (And Why It Was So Successful): That says it all.
- HTML5 Cheat Sheet: I still rely on my old yet in great shape VisiBone HTML card. It has high quality lamination.
- Claim Your Oscar: Worried about giving away too many trade secrets? Need not to worry.
And for fun because we’re allowed…
- Parents Shouldn’t Text: That should be “SOME parents shouldn’t text.” I think I’m a decent texter. Training my son on texting etiquette. [Link: Bitrebels]
- Light Show: Sensational!
- 13 things worth knowing about Super Mario: I had the mini Donkey Kong arcade toy. Memories…
- A cartogram done in real 3D: The material used? Legos. My mom has an beautiful book of map art. This will need to be in the next edition.
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