Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Chapter 18

Christmas in Chicago was so beautiful, it was cold and snowing everyday. I had the day off while the boys had morning skate so I decided to clean the house and get it ready for the family coming into town within the next few days. The team’s Christmas party was the night before, and went very well, no drunken Amanda, no black eyes, just a fun night of dinner, drinking and more dancing.

My parents had made the plan to stay with us on their trip, and Jon’s parents were staying there as well so it’s going to be a full house. Jon and I went with Laura and Kaner to pick up a Christmas tree the week before, so that was decorated and made the house smell amazing. I picked up my parents from the airport the next day, and then Jon picked up his parents the following day while I hung back with my parents at our house. We had a big New Mexican dinner with enchiladas, posole and tamales and flour tortillas. The parents got along great, my dad and Bryan talked sports of course.

Christmas Eve was another home cooked meal with tons of food from home, and Andree had cooked a few things as well, some traditions they had back in Winnipeg. We had hot chocolate and some friendly competitions of Wii bowling and other video games before we called it a night. I always feel like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning, not knowing what to expect and so excited to open presents, I practically jumped on the bed to wake Jon up, then I got coffee started for everyone. Jon opened all the blinds in the house to see a new coat of fresh snow on the ground and it was still falling…gotta love a white Christmas! I had gotten Jon a Rolex watch that he had been eyeing for about a month but never bought, he got me a new pair of Uggs and some Chanel sunglasses…oh how I love him. Jon gave my dad a Hawks jersey signed by all the players, and my mom a gift card to the nicest spa in Chicago. Having just met, our parents didn’t exchange anything but cards, until they decided to do a dinner one night of just the 4 of them.

There had been 2 home games that we had gone to with the parents and they also went to dinner one night while Jon and I stayed at the house. All the parents headed back home and there was one road game against Buffalo the night before New Years eve, so they flew out for that while the girls and I stayed home and planned our big New Years Eve bash, which was going to be at Brent and Dayna’s house this year. Her and I had gotten outfits the other day that we decided to wear, so we just had to pick up all the food, which were just basic food trays that Costco sold, and we stocked up on the alcohol and the plastic ware also. The decorations that we decided to do was unbelievable, we had streamers everywhere, party hats, confetti, balloons, you name it, and it was probably there. The boy had arrived home on New Years Eve day after losing a close game against the Sabres 3-2. I joined Jon for a nap when he got home before getting ready for the party.

Dayna, Abby and I did some last minute setting up after arriving before people started showing up at 9. We had a table set up for beer pong and flip cup, and another table to play kings, Duncan brought his poker set so the guys could do that too. Laura and Kaner were the first to show up (she had to add that he had asked her to be his girlfriend on Christmas Eve…about time Kaner!) and before long, more then half the team and their wives or girlfriends were all at the house. Brent moved furniture out of the way so we had room to have a little dance floor. The night had gone by so fast because next thing I know, Dayna and I are getting the glasses of champagne ready for the toast. I walk over to the couch where Jon is standing and hand him a glass as he slips his arm around my back.

“I can’t believe it’s already going to be 2012,” Jon says
“I know this year went by so fast!” I tell him
“Are you glad you made the move out here?”
“Of course, I had plans to move out of New Mexico after I graduated anyways, but I’m glad it was here, the last half of the year has been amazing. I have the job of my dreams pretty much, I have an amazing boyfriend that I love so much, and I have great friends,”
“Yeah, it’s been amazing, sad that we didn’t win the cup this year, but I’m really glad I have my beautiful girlfriend out here with me,”
“Aww, thanks babe,”
“Of course, I love you, J,”
“I love you too,”

“Ok, guys, there’s 1 minute left in the year!” Sharpie yells
“Hellll yeah! This is our year gentlemen!” Kaner adds
“Kaner, you are so drunk!” Laura says,
“I know, ha ha”
“Ooooook, lets get this countdown started!” Kaner yells again
“8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” we all yell, Jon wraps his arms around me as we share a kiss
“Here’s to an amazing year together, we have so much to look forward to, I love you so much baby,”
“I can’t wait to see what the year brings us, I love you,”

Everyone partied into the early hours of the morning, most of the guys crashed at the house, we all got maybe 2 or 3 hours of sleep and then decided to wake up and watch the Winter Classic, which was at Yankee Stadium, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadians. Abby and Elina went to the store for milk and juice while Dayna and I stayed back and made breakfast for everyone, thankfully there was only 12 of us, instead of the 25 that had been there only a few hours before, Chelsea and Laura were also there still and Chelsea decided to make mimosa’s when the girls got back from the store.

“So, here’s to a new year,” Chelsea says
“New adventures,” Laura says
“No crazy girlfriends,” I say with a laugh
“Ha! Yeah hopefully, but most of the guys now are taken, so hopefully that wont be much of a problem now,” Abby adds
“Yeah, except for Jeremy and Skille, all the guys are married or have girlfriends,”
“And Jake too,” Chelsea says
“Oh, yeah! I forgot about him, poor guy,” Abby says
“I know, at least they are still civil to each other for the baby though,” I say,

The girls got back and the boys had stampeded into the kitchen at the smell of the food, so we all got our plates ready and got settled in to watch the outdoor game.

February

Already the first month of 2012 had gone by quick, the guys were unstoppable, and winning 12 of the 15 games played in January, including 7 in a row. They had knocked the Kings out of 1st in the western conference and sat in 3rd place overall in the league, behind the Penguins and Hurricanes.

For the longest time, I was a boycotter of Valentine’s Day, I either never had a valentine, or just had bad luck, and so I completely hated it. Jon had little things planned throughout the day as well as after their game against the Oilers. He made breakfast in bed and sent me to a spa for the day while he was at practice, so I took advantage of it, got a great massage and also got my nails done before heading home. I walked into see a dozen red roses on the counter and another dozen on my nightstand in the bedroom. We cooked dinner together before heading to the arena for the game.

Diana and Abby had ordered a bunch of single stem red roses, pink roses and also red and pink carnations for the wags to hand out to all the ladies coming to the arena. The guys beat the Oilers in overtime, and all made quick post game interviews with the media before jetting out for plans with their ladies. I was sitting in the lounge talking to the girls when Jon came up and grabbed my hand for us to leave as I said a quick goodbye to everyone. He said he had some more plans to end the evening, saying he was going to make it the best Valentine’s Day ever; and of course not saying anything else about it, which surprised me because he was the worst person ever to keep secrets.

We had gotten home and he sent me to one of the guest bedrooms so he could set up whatever he had planned. After 10 minutes of sitting on the bed, he came in to get me. He had set up the balcony just like it had been on the night of our first date back in March. There were more blankets and candles then before, being that it was still cold, and he had wine and chocolate covered strawberries again, and topped off with George Strait playing in the background…geez who woulda known that Jon could be such a romantic guy. We polished off the bottle of wine when he mentioned the idea of a nice hot bubble bath. So I cleaned up the balcony stuff while he got the bathtub ready. I followed Jon into the bathroom in my bathrobe to see that he had filled it all the way up and added rose petals and more candles around the bathroom. We lay in the bathtub for almost an hour before our skin got all shriveled up. I started to reach for a towel to dry off when Jon just picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bed and slowly climbed on top of me before sliding himself into me. I had to give him credit though, he planned the amazing night, and so he deserved a little something extra if you know what I mean. And it really was the best Valentine’s Day ever, so I hated the holiday just a little less then I had before.

The guys had another 4-day Canadian road trip the following week. I stayed behind so I could do some office work with Diana and also Adam. The office had been pretty quiet for now, not many events going on until late March. I talked to Jon everyday, they had gone 2 for 2 on the road games, and he felt that the loss to the Flames was his fault because he caused the turnover that ended up being the game winner for them. The guys won the last game against Toronto, and Kaner had the bright idea to go out that night for some drinks. Jon had said he didn’t feel like drinking so between him and Sharpie, I think they would do fine with keeping the other boys in line. Laura heard about it and started freaking out, but I calmed her down, and told her that if she trusted Pat, then things would be fine. I was wrong.

The boys had gotten home the next day and took the bus from the airport to the arena, where the wags were waiting. Jon came into my office, and was in a quiet mood, I questioned to ask him about it but I figured he was just tired and didn’t worry about it. Patrick was extra quiet also, but that is a whole other story because Pat is never one to be quiet, so something is wrong. I gave him a hug and said good game, he quietly said thanks before I asked if he was ok, he responded with a nod and said he might call me later to talk…oh shit.

5 comments:

  1. I love the update. I wonder what is going to happen. Update soon!

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  2. I love this story!!!!

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  3. oh goodness yall are amazing!! im so excited that yall are excited to see whats going to happen! i will have a new chapter up soon!

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  4. uh oh Kanerrr. I can tell this next chapter is going to be interesting. Cant wait.

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