Anna'a first game

First off I want to say that there will be pictures about 4 hours after this post. I brought the camera in and thought that I grabbed the correct cable to down load the pictures but got the wrong one. So I am going to have to do it one at a time on the ancient abacus that passes for a PC that we have at home. So Anna had her first game today and in preparation I woke early to get a good carb breakfast I cooked all this food and then we layed on bed and she started to get the butterflies in her belly. Of course me and the boys then were subjected to screaming for a hour because she was nervous and did not want to go. I brought my Ipod in the car to pump her up and she proceeded to tell me to shut it off because it was making her sick. We pulled in and she then stated that she did not want to get out of the car. I of course did the sane thing and called my sister and had her talk to Anna. She in not so many words told Anna to shut up and get in the ice rink because her kids were all watching. So then she started to get nervous and welled up because she felt that no one was going to see her play.

You see what no one really knows until now is that Anna is a VERY competitive person but her entire life her mother has told her that she couldn't play this sport or that sport because she was not athletic or she was not coordinated. Well after hearing this a few hundred times Anna started to believe it. That is until she started to surround herself with people that encourage her. Her new husband, her friends, and most recently her new family. Last vacation my parents and my sister and brother in law talked to her about sports and what she wanted to do with her life. The stigma of sports and how they can build a person up. She started to think about it and this summer we got Joseph into BMX. It was like pulling teeth but as soon as he started to have fun he took to it. Anna upon seeing this realized that to have her kids do this and not do it herself was hypocritical. She also does not want her kids to look back and wish that they had tried sports. With encouragement form my family she has begun to try different things and succeeding in them
Anna did ask George and although George does support Anna he just does not understand how important that it is for him to get his butt to the rink. He had to go to work so here is Anna and I and we are in the Artic entry and she has tears welled up in her eyes and says "No one is going to see me play please take picture so we can show your parents and Amy and Jack and the girls." Not knowing what to say I comfort her tell her the stories about me puking before Football and Soccer games and the one person that we know shows up who is on her team and they go in to see her play.
I of course get right on the phone and call Andy and she picks up the phone yelling at me "What the F*ck, it is not even time yet and I am always late you know that, You got to give me at least until the start. And how dare you think that I would forget my best friends first game you C@#*s%^$#r I am on my way with the kids tell her we'll be there" and click she didn't even let me talk. I look up and Kirsten and Andi (her boyfriend) are walking up. They were waiting outside her dressing room so the first people that she saw was them cheering her on. I go to change Abby and there is Sarah and John, literally half running half walking so as not to miss her first minutes on the ice I just sat back and thought about how stupid we were to think that they wouldn't show up. She did not start but she played at least 3/4 of the time. They had her at defense. Half way through the first period I hear a redneck coming through the door and see Andi pointing out Anna to the kids and they all immediately start yelling for her. She did awesome she was instrumental in quite a few clearances out of her zone and she defiantly had the LARGEST cheering section in the place. I was very surprised to find that Justin was the most vocal and interested in her. He could not stop grinning and at that moment I figured out why she was doing this all for that smile and flicker in his eye.
She is a great passer and has a strong shot, skating, well at least she is better than me! She also can now compare herself to some of the greatest defensmen in the history, Mario Lemuix, Bobby Orr, and Anna Sochocki, what you ask do they have in common they have all been to the penalty box. She got 2 minutes for tripping. It was a three on 1 and she was the lone defense player. Anna has the tortoise approach when it comes to skating but she is EXTREMELY fast with her stick to make up the difference. This little girl thought that she would handle the puck right next to Anna and embarrass her. Next thing she saw was her skates and then the ceiling my wife while going for the puck took the ladies skates right out from under her and then fell on top of her to add insult to injury. Now none of this was planned (I do not think that Anna even realized she was all alone) But Anna saved the goalie from a 3 on none break away and when the ref blew his whistle and told her to go to the box Anna thought that he meant box like in cool hand Luke. Then she couldn't get off the ice because she was frustrated, Chere (our friend) helped her up and skated away, and Anna fell again. After she was in the box she looked at the ref and then the coach and in a meek little voice asked "Umm coach what did I do and why am I in the box and what is the box?" Just one more Anna also realized that politeness (a thing that we are both working on) does not work with the opposite team. She was defending the crease and someone from the hockey camp was on the opposite team, She was in the crease with Anna and Anna was told to not let any one in there. So with all the aggressiveness that Anna is none for she said "Umm excuse me could you please get out, aahh excuse me" She went back and told the coach and was a bit appalled when he told her to push her out next time. "but that is against the rules" he looked at her and told her not to make it obvious, Well when Anna SHOVED her I saw her neck snap forward, She didn't go back into the crease the rest of the game.

Anna has never been so humbled by the outpouring of love that she has been given recently, we want to thank EVERY one for showing up and/ or calling. Her team is sponsored by a local dentist and they are called the "Polar Molars" come out on next Sunday and cheer them on at the North Pole Ice Rink "Polar Ice" at 3 in the afternoon.