Last holiday celebration is OVER. December 26th, we were out in Hood River, with my father-in-law. I wish I'd had my camera with me, and a chance to take pictures of the Columbia River Gorge, because the scenery was absolutely beautiful. There was no snow falling, but plenty on the side of the road in Hood River.

I had a chance to throw snowballs with the kids at the park across the street. That was fun. I guess that qualifies as our white Christmas. Kids had a lot of fun with their various holiday gifts. I know Mary Lou and I did as well.

Now, it's time to look towards New Year's Eve, and the hockey game against Seattle. This year will be the 11th straight New Year's Eve game that we've gone to together, counting the first in December of 2001, before we got married.

Cheers to you, my loyal readers!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas... however you choose to express it...

I am thrilled to be able to post my holiday wishes to all my loyal readers. Thanks for following me to this point, and I look forward to continuing the posts into the new year.

It's the afternoon of the 25th, and would you believe that I've already been through three holiday celebrations? One at home, one with my family across town, and one with our close friends as well. We have one more, and it may prove the most challenging, since weather may very easily cause problems. It's only about an hour drive on a good day, but the Columbia River Gorge can be very tricky in the snow, so we shall see what happens.

We are all relaxing for the rest of the day, having done our three holidays in under 24 hours. Nothing like flying through everything... that's for sure.

Be safe out there in the weather, and have a happy holiday.

Merry Christmas!

First, let me state that I am deeply saddened by the tragedies of the last week. The Connecticut shooting is something that just makes me shake my head, because I can't imagine it, ever. The senseless violence is too much for me some days, and it makes me not want to even go outside, or let the boys go outside. My step-sons are 19 and 17, and until about a week ago, I didn't worry too much about what they were doing. Now I'm much more concerned.

As for the mall shooting in Oregon, it hit too close to home... literally. I live across the street from Clackamas Town Center, and am over there about once a week or so. I heard the sirens initially, and helicopters for hours as the media hovered over the scene.
I was in the mall about 20 minutes after it re-opened on Friday, and was pleased to see that I was able to move around without feeling overly anxious.

Readers, don't let a day go by without telling your friends, family and loved ones how you feel. Tell them you miss them, say that you love them. Let them know you are thinking of them always.


On a somewhat lighter note, today, the 18th, we had our first significant snowfall in the Portland area. Not much of it was actually sticking, but boy did the morning commute look ugly on the news. I'm just happy I didn't have to join in with the other cars, slip sliding away.

Last weekend was the Teddy Bear Toss hockey game. My family and friends managed to bring 462 critters to the game, and had a blast throwing them onto the ice. Our friends had a lot of fun watching hockey with us, as they always do.

With Christmas coming up, I would guess that posts will not come frequently, but I'll be sure to keep, at a minimum, about a post a week going. It's going to get busy, starting tonight.

Cheers!

OK, 8 days is a little over a week, but since I've been fighting the early stages of bronchitis, I figure that's a good reason to go that long between posts. I should be over it soon enough, though.

Celebrated my birthday, along with Mary Lou's, with my dad today. We typically celebrate ours together, since there are already 3 to deal with from mid-November to mid-December. It certainly makes things easier for planning purposes.

It's definitely colder around these parts; the weather is holding in the mid-40s many days, and the rain comes and goes whenever it likes. But at least we're not getting a lot of snow like other parts of the country. Typically, Portland won't run the risk of snow until January, so there's still time to see what happens.

More doctor appointments for most of us later this week, so we shall see what we see.

Cheers!

WOW!!!  It's been a whole week since I last posted anything. Sorry about the delays...

I completed my Thanksgiving holiday obligations with flying colors. I had a wonderful time with each and every group that I celebrated with, and thanks to everyone for the holiday treats.

I also celebrated a milestone birthday: 40 years old now. I've been told that I'm older than dirt, but I prefer to think that dirt still has a few years on me... we shall see.

I had won tickets to the hockey game a couple nights ago, and the team beat Seattle... always fun to beat up on Seattle. If you follow the Winterhawks, you probably know by now about the sanctions on them by the WHL. No doubt you can find more information elsewhere, so I'm not going to get into that here. If you e-mail me, using the provided link, I can probably point you in the right direction of a site or two... 

Mary Lou's dad has been in and back out of the hospital for a minor procedure, and he's back in town soon for another one. It's pretty much a day thing, and we're all treating it as "not a huge deal" but, as always, we're keeping an eye on things.

Cheers for now, I'll try not to go a week between posts.  :o)

So, it's the end of the holiday weekend, and I seem to have survived mostly intact, and without eating too much. That's quite an achievement.

I am very thankful for my family, both here at home, and around town. I would also like to add a shout-out to my extended adopted "family", with their furry friends. Seeing them as often as we do can really help cheer a person up.

I managed to win a contest over the weekend, and won myself two Winterhawks tickets for an upcoming game. WOOHOO!!!

Cheers!

Hey hey hey!!  Thanksgiving is almost upon us, which means we're already almost a month into the Christmas season. Doesn't that just get you going??  Sure gets me going... away from the malls for the most part, anyway.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to three, yes THREE holiday get-togethers this year. Ahh, the joys of family and friends. Fortunately, they're not all within 36 hours of each other.

I wanted to let my readers know that because of the upcoming holidays, I likely won't be posting much for the next few days. Rest assured, I haven't forgotten my blogging responsibilities, I'm just enjoying my holidays as a parent and husband should. 

Don't eat too much, and I'll see you all on the other side!

Cheers!

We've started celebrating birthdays now. With one just past, and two more in our home, plus family and friends, we're going to be busy with cards and stuff between now and the end of the calendar year. It's going to be fun, that's for sure.

Speaking of fun, we've begun the final phase of preparation for the annual Teddy Bear Toss hockey game. If you're not familiar with this, it's possibly the best promotion I've ever seen. The fans bring new and almost new teddy bears and other stuffed animals to the game. When the home team scores their first goal, all of the critters get tossed onto the ice. Then, all the critters all get collected and donated to various charities in town. Here in Portland, they go to places like the kids hospitals',  the police and fire departments, and other places that help kids during the year. This year alone, my family and friends have collected about 800 critters. We start in the spring, hitting garage sales and such. When we tell people what we're doing, and why we're collecting them, they almost always give us a volume discount.

Happy Veteran's Day, and a salute to all our vets serving everywhere on this great earth, as well as to those who have served in the past. A personal thanks to both of my grandfathers, who served during WW2 and afterwards. Thanks!

Nothing like typing a blog while you've got two dogs playing at and/or ON your feet, literally. One is 16 weeks old, and the other is about 17 months old, so they've got tons of energy. I'd love to be able to can it and use it when I needed a quick boost... 

It's been cold here the last couple of nights, but now we're trading the near-freezing weather for slightly warmer but rainy weather. Not sure which I'd rather have...

My wife and I had lunch with my dad the other day in downtown Portland. We tried out a Lebanese-Syrian place. Excellent, wonderful... I can't use enough descriptive terms. It was amazing! She's somewhat adventurous when it comes to food, so I suggested a "sampler plate" if you will. Turns out it was just enough for the two of us to share. A pleasant time, and a good time to catch up on a few details of Dad's recent trip to Europe.

See y'all soon... Cheers!

So, the country has decided... we've decided on governors, mayors, a President, and more. Nice to see the process still works.

I was up early today, and saw the extended forecast. Coming up this weekend in Portland, the low temps are expected to get down around freezing. WOW! First time this season, if I remember correctly. Guess it's time to make sure the window is closed at night, now. Better get some wood for the fireplace as well...

I heard today that "Santa" is going to be appearing at several stores, to kick off the holiday shopping season. WHAT??? Back in my day, the Christmas season didn't truly kick off until Black Friday, but this year, I saw tons of holiday stuff before Halloween even arrived. The stores just can't stop themselves...  (sigh)

Stay warm!

Today is Election Day, the day that we all make our choice for the next leader of our country. It's quite a process to watch on the news. Again, I'm not going to get caught up in the chaos of which party to vote for, and I'm not turning this blog into a political rant.

However...

I urge all of you to go out there and vote; exercise your right to make your choice for all of your leaders, whether nationally, regionally, or just locally. Ballot measures great and small will be decided, and could affect your state for years to come.

(steps off soapbox)  There, I've said enough about the elections.

Cheers!

First, I'd like to state that I'm not planning to get involved with all the election hoopla. Everyone has their party, their candidates, and their side of the ballot measures. I have mine. There, that's said and done.

Now, to today's regularly scheduled statements... my older son came home yesterday and told me that he needed something new for work. OK, I can handle that. But, when he told me that the new stuff he needed was a Nerf gun and darts, I just shook my head. Apparently, that's new store policy, and comes straight from the store director. They're all allowed to shoot each other with Nerf darts. I wouldn't have believed it, but my wife is training inthe same store, and during a training session, someone knocked at the door, and when the door opened, the store director shot the trainer with two darts.

My son bought the Nerf gun himself, and the extra 50 darts and the additional shells. I think it's kinda crazy, knowing that he's going around the workplace with a Nerf shotgun and ready to blast other employees.
I was at the store with him getting dinner today, and I must admit to some looking over my shoulder waiting to get caught in the crossfire. We made it out of the store without being shot at, and I think my son was disappointed.

Cheers for now!

Heard from my dad a couple days ago, he's about ready to fly back from Zurich. Can't wait to hear all about his European Vacation!

Our Halloween was non-traditional; normally, we have spent it with our friends across town, handing out candy, and mostly laughing the evening away with games and stuff. This year, we were at the hockey game. Good game too, Portland won.  Woohoo!

Dog update: Sweetpea continues to get big, and quickly too. Azure has been going through a barking phase, but we're working on training that out of him. Cody just doesn't seem to mind about much of anything.

I've got almost 80 pages written in my D. B. Cooper novel. I hope to have it finished completely by the end of the year. At that point, I'll likely end up talking to Powell's bookstore, and the publishing center they've got.

Cheers for now!

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy. I hope that everyone can begin to resume a "normal" life sooner than later. It's been interesting watching the news coverage. The reporters go out into the storms, into dangerous places, to tell us normal people NOT to go out into those dangerous places. Go figure. Just be careful in any storm that you happen to be in during the winter season.

I have family flying back to Portland this coming weekend, and I'm fairly confident that they'll be fine getting back, but I wonder what it's going to be like... will the airports be horribly backed up, or will things have settled down by the weekend?  We shall see.

On the west coast, we had earthquakes all over the Canadian coastline last weekend. I think there were over 25 of them, but I lost track after awhile. Fortunately, here in Portland all we've had to deal with lately is just wind, rain, and colder weather, and by cold weather, I'm referring to temperatures dropping down into the 40s. That's October for you.

Halloween is almost here, but I'm not wearing a costume to the hockey game. I'll probably just go as myself; that should be scary enough. 

Cheers!

So, looking back at the last few days...

We had some friends join us at the hockey game Saturday night. Always fun when friends are with us, and more fun at a Portland vs Seattle game. Late 2nd period, with 2.8 seconds to go in the period, Portland pulled their goalie for an extra player. Amazingly, they scored before the horn! That pretty much broke Seattle's spirit, and Portland rolled up a few more goals in the 3rd period to run away with the win. Lots of fun for everyone...

The weather has not only turned rainy and windy, but cold as well. I finally had to dig out some extra blankets the other night, since the lows were falling into the upper 30s. Living in an "outlying area" has it's ups and downs, and this time of year can be a real downside.

The boys continue to be busy with their respective schedules: Brandon is busy much of the week at work, and Tyler has not only his regular school work, but his car class as well. He's moving into an advanced level, and that means bigger things to work on, like electronics. He's really excited about all of it, and really seems to enjoy it as well.

As for Mary Lou, she's starting a holiday position soon as a bouquet designer. In fact, she's going to be at the same store that Brandon is at, just in a different area. She continues to worry about her dad, who is still recovering from bladder cancer surgery, as well as dealing with thyroid cancer. Updates on that as they become available...

Onward from here, see y'all later...

It's official! Fall is here and with a vengeance as well. The temperatures have fallen, the rain is falling, and it looks like even snow is falling, at least in the Cascades.

High temps are expected to be pushing the mid-50s, and the lows down close to or below 40 degrees for much of this week.

So, it's time to break out the rain coats, sweatshirts, hoodies and warm blankets for the beds. Good thing we have a fireplace... it helps take a bit of the chill out.

...and oh yeah, this sort of weather really gets you into the mood for a good hockey game. Portland-Seattle coming up!

Cheers!

In spite of schedules that have not crossed for quite some time, my younger sister and I had a pleasant chat tonight on the phone. We talked about the extended family, relatives, friends, and started laying groundwork for the holidays. Hey, it's only about two months to Christmas.

While I write, whether on this blog, my hockey-book reviews, or anything elseI often play music to help me relax. In many cases, I listen to the music of ABBA. I have been a big fan since I was a kid, growing up in the Middle East. Though many artists have come and gone through my collection, ABBA remains a staple of my music preferences. I have updated my music player with plenty of my favorite ABBA songs.

I am also working on a fictional story that, when finished, will link the great Alcatraz escape of June 11th, 1962 with the D. B. Cooper skyjacking mystery. These two events could not be any further apart, and yet, I'm working on a way to combine them into a wonderful fictional adventure.

Stay tuned!

Hockey book reviews can be tough. The idea is to give an unbiased opinion of a book, but at the same time, you can give some opinions either way about the book.

I've started a spin-off site for my collection. It can be found here:

http://markshockeyreviews.blogspot.com/

I will put up my hockey reviews there as I work my way through what I've got at home, and whatever I may find at the library.

Happy reading to everyone!

It's been a few days, and I've spent many of them dog-sitting for a close friend. Dogs are wonderful creatures; they don't ask too much, other than give them love and attention every so often. They'll curl up beside you or at your feet. They'll play ball, or with their other toys.
When you're dealing with service dogs, they are even more entertaining, because you not only have to keep up their training, but you can take them everywhere around town.

Nothing like taking a service dog in training to a hockey game either. You get a lot of funny looks from other fans. Granted, our friends love our puppies, but most of the people in the arena don't care, and don't think it's fair that we have dogs in the building, and they don't. After all, it's not a guide dog for the blind, and yes, we've had many problems in the past few years at the games.

I should have another hockey book review up in a couple of days. This is a fun one, but I'm not going to say any more until I'm done.

Cheers!

Book review for today:  Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, America, and the Day Everything Changed by Stephen Brunt.

I was a big fan of Gretzky back in his prime in Edmonton. I loved the way he could do almost anything, practically at will on the ice. It was amazing to watch as a budding hockey fan. I figured he'd play forever in Edmonton, and retire with the Oilers.

To my shock and disbelief, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9th, 1988. I believed everything that was printed at that point, not having the internet or NHL-market papers to read. Who would have the nerve to trade The Great One? What in the world happened that made him want to leave?

This book answers all those questions and more. You get a feeling for how Gretzky was slowly being pushed to the side and edged out, so that Peter Pocklington, the Oilers owner, could get some new, younger blood back and make another pile of money.

The inside information is exquisite, and easy to follow even if you don't know anything about the game. From the beginning of Gretzky's career in Edmonton, to the days of the trade and following his arrival in Los Angeles, everything is not as it seems. The reader begins to see that not all was well in Edmonton, and Pocklington was to blame for much of that.

To purchase this book through the website of Powells City of Books, located in Portland, OR:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781600783043-0

So, here's my first hockey book review. This is intended to be the first of many, as I start with my personal collection as well as stuff I've read from the library, and it will go from there.

Many of my reviews will include a link to purchase the book through Powells City of Books. This is an independent book store, located in Portland, Oregon. The main store is a 4-story, full city block emporium of new and used books. While their hockey selection can sometimes be lacking, I have also found wonderful treasures on the shelves. If Powells doesn't have a book, then I will include another web site that has it.

Today, I'm reviewing Hockey in Portland (Images of Sports) 

This is a book about the history of hockey in the city of Portland, OR. (my home town)

As a hockey fan, I am interested in both current hockey, as well as the history of the game. This book starts all the way back with the Portland Rosebuds in the early 1900s. The Rosebuds were the first team based in the United States to compete for the Stanley Cup.

The book goes on into the 1940s and 50s with the Portland Eagles and Penguins with pictures of players and the arenas that they played in. Unfortunately, those arenas are long gone in the city.

Finally, the main focus seems to be on the Portland Buckaroos, of the WHL in the 1960s and early 70s. There are pictures of probably 30 or 40 players, action photos, and photos from other memorable games. Each player photo comes with a short bio, outlining playing style, career numbers, and general hockey career.

For any hockey fan who watched the Buckaroos play, this is a wonderful book to bring the club back to life. For a hockey fan who has had the opportunity to meet the Buckaroos at Winterhawks games, like myself, this book has brought their careers back to life and gives people an insight into a different era. It also stands as proof that hockey in Portland was once the "in thing." The Coliseum regularly sold out for Buckaroos games, making it one of the hottest tickets in town for it's day.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in hockey in the Portland area. It stands as a living testament to a century of hockey in the city.

Here is a link to purchase this book via Powells City of Books:

http://www.powells.com/s?kw=hockey+in+portland&class=

Good grief, it's been a couple days since I posted. Hopefully, everything has been going well for everyone.

Two hockey games last weekend at home, and Portland split the two, a win and a loss. I won't go into the games too much, other than to say that along with a lot of Hawks fans, we're getting nervous about the beginning of the season. Things are not looking as rosy as they have been in the past two seasons, but therein lies the problem; we're comparing apples and oranges, and the team doesn't have the same personnel and horses that they did the last two years. Now the team heads into Canada for two and a half weeks for six games against the Eastern Division.

The service dog school did a field trip on Saturday. We took a few students on the MAX train to the airport, and then walked around there for about twenty minutes. A couple of the students and their dogs did some testing as well, preparing for the CGC, the Canine Good Citizen test. After the test, my wife, my son and I sat down in the food court with the program director and we all had some lunch.We had a few laughs, talked about a few things with the school and class, and generally had a good time for the afternoon. My family had to run home, throw on our hockey gear, and go back to the Rose Garden arena after the field trip. Busy Saturday, to say the least.

The  upcoming week will bring the Pet Expo. Special treat at the Expo; from the Animal Planet show Pit Boss, Shorty and his dog Hercules will be there. We're looking forward to a possibility of meeting him.

That's my world at the moment... thanks for peeking in.

So, it seems everyone is talking about the Seahawks game last night, and the blown call at the end of the game. I'm not a football fan, but it looks like the officials blew it. They just plain BLEW IT. 'nuff said, that's all I'm going to say.

I wanted to say a few words about service dogs today. If you know someone who has a service dog, or if you have one... give that dog a hug sometime. Those dogs go through a lot of training, and so do their handlers/trainers. My wife is on her third. The first one, Bailey, went blind in one eye, and wasn't able to keep working. T.J. wasn't suitable for service work. This happens sometimes, for various reasons.

Azure, on the other hand, is about 17 months old, and is really doing well. He's been on an airplane already, been to hockey games, and all over town. The trick is to start them early, and that really pays off. If you are in the Portland area and want more information, I can connect you with All is Pawsible Service Dog School. I work with the program director, and can pass along contact info.

Keep on truckin'!

So, this is my first attempt at this. No doubt, things will get easier as I keep up the writing, but for tonight, I'm still trying to figure it all out. So please... be patient.

I'm married, 2 kids, 3 service dogs at home, and a huge collection of hockey books. That's something you'll discover as the days go by; I'm a huge hockey nut. Whether it's reading about the game, following the sorry state of the NHL, or going to our local team's games... I'm keeping up with it.
Living here in Portland, OR... we don't have an NHL team close by, but we do have the WHL, the Western Hockey League. It's a developmental league, and the players are aged 16 to 20 years old. They're trying to get seen by the pros, get drafted, and move up the ranks.

There's a lot going on around here, but I'll try to keep it fairly simple for the most part. No one wants to read when I ramble.

That's going to be about it for the first post, thanks for your patience. Hang in there... things will improve by the day.