Hockey Games

One of the fun things we did this winter was go to a few Texas Tornadoes hockey games. The Tornadoes are the minor league team under the Dallas Stars and the best thing is that they play in the Frisco Convention center which is basically one light away from our apartment. So we would just walk to each game and didn't have to worry about parking. We had won some tickets in the silent auction during Casino Night at work and then also bought a couple on a Groupon deal.

The first night we went, we had amazing seats right on the glass. I have only been to a hockey game a few times and certainly have never sat right on the front row. I was pretty excited and it was crazy to see the game from that perspective. You could see the players faces (and how YOUNG they all looked).

Well, here's the thing about being on the glass at a hockey game. Part of the game is slamming into the glass and slamming other players into the glass. It seems extremely violent but they have

pads on and must be used to it, right? Also, when things slam into the glass - hockey sticks, players, helmets, etc it ends up being really loud (especially if you are sitting close). I chuckled a few times at other fans who I saw jump when players crashed into the glass in front of them.

Peter and I got some snacks to enjoy during the game. I got my favorite - nachos. It was the type of nachos that had a section for the cheese and then a section for the chips. They didn't pour any of the cheese over the chips. So, there I am, enjoying my nachos when I see the puck come our direction. I could see two players chasing after the puck and could tell that one of them was going to slam the other one into the glass when they got there. So I prepared myself but not enough. I swear, they hit the glass SO HARD I thought it had broken. I JUMPED into the air and my nachos went flying - everywhere. I immediately started laughing at how silly I was and looking around expecting to see the poor people around me covered in chips. Luckily, the chips just flew basically up and forward vs back and to the side where people were. But when I looked around, I also saw everyone around me laughing...at me... I was so embarrassed but hey, what could I do? It was ridiculous so I just laughed along and couldn't believe I was such a wuss. The picture is of the small crumbs that I left after picking up the big pieces. After that, I didn't touch any food or hold a drink because I didn't want that to happen again. You would think I would have gotten over my jumpiness after awhile but nope, I flinched every time they hit the glass around me.

The excitement doesn't end there! At one point the puck was hit up and over the glass and ricocheted between people. Guess who ended up catching it? Peter! Wahoo. So now we have an official, used in the game, hockey puck. (That's what I'm holding in the picture.)

The other few times we went weren't quite as exciting as that first time but we still enjoyed it. (We also didn't sit on the glass again - NEVER AGAIN!) :)

Other March Fun

Since I'm sooo far behind, this will be quick. Here's a couple other things we did in March.

We went to a dinner party at my work-friend Chad Balch's house. I made Monika's Austrian fruit tart and then some fantastic brownies. We met some of his friends, had dinner, and then played Apples to Apples (which I brought). Of course the game was a hit. When we left, guess what we found??? SNOW on the car. Sheesh!! Will the snow ever stop? I thought Dallas wasn't supposed to get snow!

The next day we went to watch our first NHL hockey game!

We watched the Dallas Stars play the Phoenix Coyotes at the American Airlines center. It was fun. The best part was that the score was tied when the regular game ended so we got to watch a shoot out. Dallas ended up losing but we still had a good time. Neither of know much about the rules of the game so I'm sure people around us were annoyed with our uneducated comments. :)