The Rebels game

We were given four Rebels tickets the other night and as No.1&2 were spending the night at their cousin's, Hubs and I decided to take the little ones. They were so excited, especially Milena. Miss Diva Fashionista picked out an outfit, very funky and cool I must say. My outfit was just blah, whatever was clean. I wore my red coat, though. (This is all important info for later in the story.)

So away we went, just a little late for the start of the game. The only available parking we found was wayyy out in the boonies of the parking lot, took like ten minutes just to walk to the centrium. Found our seats, which, because of the season-ticket-holder nature of the tickets, were in a choice spot, right behind and to the left of the goalie. (Also important info.)

Being the very first home game of the season, it was kind of a big deal. Everyone was wearing red, with white pom-poms and little signs saying 'Go Rebels, Go!' that apparently the Advocate had supplied in that day's edition of the paper. The cards were important because at a certain moment, the announcer would ask everyone in a certain section to wave their cards and one lucky person would receive a Rebels jersey. We, of course, did not have a card but whatever.

The game was great, very exciting; the Rebels kicked butt 8-1 over the Oil Kings. Every time the home team scored, the siren would play, lights going on and off, everyone going crazy and cheering. Ryder really got into that. He would clap as hard and fast as he could, grinning hugely.

During the first period, Ty realized that a guy near him was an old work buddy, so they talked and caught up. Right before that, Ty had asked me to switch seats with him. Presumably to talk to this guy, right? (We were sitting with the kids in between us, I had been beside an aisle and he'd been beside a tweenaged girl.) So whatever, I switched, no problem.

Uh, PROBLEM!!

This girl, probably between 11-13, you know, that talkative stage, well she would just not SHUT UP. Seriously. At first it was cute. I was thinking, "Wow, its nice to see a girl that age who's not shy or hesitant to interact with strangers." Yeah, that thinking lasted about five minutes. Seriously, I'm talking non-stop talking. NON. EFFING. STOP. And if she thought I hadn't heard something, she'd repeat it again and again, especially if she thought it was hilarious and that I should be laughing. At one point, I just pinned my evil glare on her father, who was sitting near the aisle, until he must've felt it and looked at me. Now, if that was me and I noticed a complete stranger sitting by one of my kids and that the person was glaring daggers at me, I would rightly assume that my kid was bothering them and I should intervene. But did he? NO. He just blandly smiled at me and went back to texting on his cell. FUCKER! He was probably just happy that he'd pawned the daughter off on some poor sap and he wasn't the one with bleeding eardrums.

But you know what made it even more horrible? Ryder decided to start being a little ass. Got totally hyper, didn't want to stay in his seat, decided that crawling under/over the seats in front of us (which were blessedly empty, thank god) was much more fun. Oh, and he decided to really push my buttons and just take off, up the stairs and out of the stands. Naturally I had to race after him and carry him kicking and screaming back to our seats. (Because HELL NO was I letting the little wanker run around willy-nilly in that big open area that was jam-packed with people, he would've been lost in the crowd within seconds.)

So we finally get back to our seats and here its intermission and Ty decides to take Lena to the concession to get the kids some ice cream. Fine, whatever, thanks for all the help with Ryder, I really appreciate it. See ya later in a couple of minutes. Right? Because the concession was directly above where we were sitting. So it shouldn't have taken too long. Right?

Twenty frickin' minutes later and I'm about ready to pull down Ryder's pants in public and spank his bare ass. People around us were either totally pissed off at his bratty behaviour or humorously indulgent. Meanwhile I've got The Mouth sitting next to me, The Little Ass crawling all over everything, and no sign of Hubs and Lena. During the intermission, little cameras strategically placed throughout the arena would focus on particular people in the audience and they would find themselves up on the big screen. I thought to myself, 'What are the odds that I'll find myself up there? Hopefully NEVER because I look like crap -- well, my at least my hair looked good.' 

Finally, FINALLY, they come back with ice cream. And thank god, because at that point that was the only thing that could've grabbed Ryder's attention from eating popcorn off the floor. They came bearing gifts, though (besides the ice cream). I guess there was a big wheel thing set up by the concession that kids could spin and win a prize. Lena spun and won Ryder a mini stick. Cool. But then, for whatever reason, she refused to spin for herself (maybe was uncomfortable with all the attention on her, she gets like that). Just flat-out refused. Whatever. Ryder was thrilled with his new mini stick, so that was all that really mattered.

So there we sat while the game started up again, the kids quietly eating their ice cream, Hubs back to chatting with his buddy, while I sat and wondered how long this calm-during-the-storm would last. At one point, Ty dragged his attention off his friend and informed me that he saw me up on the big screen, but my face was turned away because I was looking down at Ryder. Not wanting this to be true, I asked how he knew it was me if he hadn't seen my face. "Well, your red coat, duh." Oh. Great. But actually, I'm thankful that my face wasn't on the screen because I would have been grimacing-and-bearing-it. How attractive would THAT have been? Yikes. I said, "Well, hopefully the camera won't return to this section." He looked at me funny and replied, "Uh, we're right behind the goalie, this section gets the MOST attention from the cameras." DOH!

So anyway, that calm thing I mentioned? Ya, it didn't last long. Ryder lost interest halfway through his ice cream. He decided that banging his mini stick on the empty seats in front of us was wayyy more cool. And of course, I had The Mouth sitting beside me, egging him on. And that is when I lost it. Just spazzed out.

Reached over and grabbed Ty's arm, snagging his attention away from Bestfriend McWorkguy. "What, what do you want?" UM, WHAT DO I WANT? How about for you to pay a friggin' lick of attention to what is going on here and help me out a bit? Do you even REALIZE that Ryder has eaten a bucket's worth of popcorn from the floor? And that everyone around is about to murderlize him for being a complete brat? And that he's smeared ice cream all over himself and me and the chair? And that I am about one second away from getting up and leaving to go sit in the truck? Oh, and THANKS A BUNCH for asking to switch me seats, I totally see what you did there. DO YOU REALIZE ALL THAT???"

Poor Ty, I really do feel for the guy. He handled my outburst very well. Returned his attention to me and the kids, sat Ryder on his lap and talked to him about the game, actually diverting the little DICKens attention from being a brat to the game. So phew, I calmed down and chilled out and was able to enjoy the game as much as I could with The Mouth still carrying on beside me. But then, miracle of miracles, her family decided to get something to eat and they all left their seats. So I quickly moved to sit beside Ty, leaving Lena and an empty seat beside The Mouth's seat. Yesssss! My eardrums breathed a sigh of sweet blessed relief.

So now it was the third period, game almost over. The ref called for a brief time-out and the cameras started rolling on the audience again. Lena stood up in her seat, waving one of those cards she'd found on the ground. And wonder of wonders, the camera focused on her and Ryder, cheering and waving that card, and when they saw their faces up on the big screen... well, it was a moment I'll never forget. Just pure, utter elation and excitement. "Mom, we're on the big tv! Am I famous now? Am I on the REAL tv?" I just ran with it, "You sure are! Wow, you're on tv! Smile! Wave!" I think it was the biggest thrill of her life. The icing on the cake was that she looked awesome, a totally cool outfit on, pretty face and hair, huge grin. Ya.

Finally the game ended but the spectators were told to stay in their seats because for the very first time, there was going to be an indoors fireworks display! The lights went off, everyone got real quiet, and it began....

(So friggin' sorry for my high-pitched yelling, talk about EMBARRASSING!!! Why did I do that? What is WRONG with me?? So you might want to turn down your volume so your speakers don't blow. SORRY!!)

But yeah, we had a great time (at least that last little bit). Don't know if I'd do it again, though. LOL