Sunday, March 6, 2011

Chapter 37


[[our suite room on the cruise ship]]

So, Jon planned an AMAZING honeymoon trip, and did a good job at keeping quiet about it, because he’s never been good at that. We went on a carnival cruise that started in LA, made stops in Long Beach, Catalina and Ensenada before going back to LA. I had never been on a cruise and it was always something I wanted to do, so Jon earned major points by doing that.

It was so nice to hang out on the ship and lay out at the pool then hanging out on the beaches. There were nice big dinners and nights with dancing. A handful of people recognized Jon, but they were nice and respectful of him and our privacy, which was nice.

The 4-day cruise went by so fast and before we knew it, we were back at LAX to fly back to New Mexico. We spent a few extra days with my family before we did the long drive back to Chicago…and that was when reality set in. It seemed that there were extra reporters, and Jon was getting a little more attention then usual since we got married. But we brushed it off.

August and September came and went in a flash, and the new season of training camp was underway, with a couple new faces also. Stan did a trade with Toronto, he sent John Scott and out there and in return we got Colby Armstrong, both goaltenders were locked up for a few more years, and so were a few other players. Oh! And we also got Burish back on a trade for a draft pick, Jack was pretty stoked about that to say the least, their bromance had been rekindled.

As a new wife and taking over for Abby while she takes it easy as her due date gets closer (the official date is December 5th), it was my job to welcome Colby, his wife Mel and their little boy Cruise to Chicago and help them get situated if needed. The guys helped Colby move stuff in, while I stole Mel and the baby for the day to spend time around the city and on the Mag Mile, to do what we do best...shop.

“Thank you so much for all your help, Jamie,” Mel says as were walking around
“Of course! I love helping people, I did this too when Taylor and his fiancée moved out here too. Abby and Dayna helped me a lot when I first moved out here, so I don’t mind it at all,”
“Well good! So you do stuff with the Better Halves?”
“Yeah, I help organize team events. And I also do media relations stuff for the team, like I’ll help with player appearances, or press conferences, basically any team events,”
“That sounds fun! I always tried to do that and get involved with the wags of the teams Colby has been with, but by the time I get used to everything, we’ve moved,”
“Yeah, I bet that’s stressful too. So far I’ve been so used to being out here with Jon, and I’m so used to everything, I don’t know what I would do if he got traded,”
“Yeah, but he’s locked up with the guys isn’t he?”
“Yeah, his contract is until the ’19-’20 season, he wants to retire as a Hawk,”
“I think the hardest for Colby was when he got traded from Pittsburgh, he was devastated!”
“Oh I bet, I was even devastated! He’s been one of my favorite players since he was with the Penguins; he was such a fun player to watch. And I didn’t like Hossa for the longest time since the Penguins got him for Colby, but now I like him,”
“Yeah, he kept trying to go back to Pitt, him and the Thrashers coach didn’t get along very well, then he had fun in TO while it lasted. But when he told me about getting traded here, he was so excited,”
“That’s good, I think he’ll be good for the team! I was my office with Lauren Campbell when Stan came in and said we have a new player to introduce tomorrow, then he said Colby and I was so excited! Stan was like really?”
“That’s funny, yeah he was definitely a fan favorite in Pitt, and hopefully he will be here too,”

Mel was an easy girl to get along with, being the wife of an NHL player, we usually hear how friendly the other wives are, and I had heard a few things that she wasn’t a nice person, but I didn’t believe any of it, and I disagreed with it after meeting her and hanging out around downtown with her.

After spending the day with Mel and Cruise, we picked up a bunch of food to take back to the house for the busy guys moving stuff, and ended up spending a few more hours at the Armstrong’s new house.

Preseason was underway, and it started with some away games for the boys, they went to Dallas first, who had some bitter fans since losing Burish again, but hey, that’s the game of hockey. They beat the Stars before shutting out the Avs 3-4, and dropped their next two games to the Blue Jackets and Coyotes.

Before their last preseason game, I was in the office organizing the WAGS silent auction and dinner with Lauren and Mel when Jack was standing in the door way

“Hey ladies, am I interrupting anything?” He asks as he leans against the door
“Kinda, but not really, what’s going on?” Lauren says
“I have a surprise for Jamie,”
“Really? What is it?” I ask

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