#42: TRIFECTA- Zamboni, Golf Pro and Celebrating a Dear Friend

What a weekend! I could easily celebrate each of these three events as separate adventures, but let's group them all into what I will call "The Freaking Badass Illinois Trifecta".

Let's back up a bit.

Jeanne and I worked together for 11 years, and we had an absolutely (mostly) glorious time. There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't doubled over in laughter. 11 years of inside jokes -- Scary owl, colonoscopy room decorations, ice cream raids, snow angels, turkey faces on security cameras, David Hasselhoff and blow-up dolls (Mary, where do you go shopping?), the Chippendales construction workers, flipping the bird, air fresheners, our bathroom, the fitness hallway and paper airplane contests, Beer-less pong and minute to win it games, Christmas cards, frogs/chickens&mice,and so many more stories.

After approx 15 years with the company, Jeanne decided to retire.

A few weeks ago, her daughter in law reached out and asked if her family could fly me to Wheaton to help Jeanne celebrate her last day at work. What an honor! I was absolutely blown away by their generosity, and gratefully accepted.

So yesterday, I jumped on an early morning plane and jetted off to Chicago. After we had some problems landing because of snow and a super hard touchdown, I found myself on the highway in a snowstorm in a little rental Kia with no windshield wiper capabilities heading to Gia Mia.

Spoiler alert: I made it there safely. Next time, I'll test the wipers before leading the rental lot.

It was wonderful surprising Jeanne (who truly was surprised...or is a super great actor) and having two hours to reminisce, laugh, catch up and plan her retirement adventures. Jeanne, please come visit me soon. You are always welcome.

As luck would have it, Oliver was playing a game in the nearby town. So I scooted to the rink to watch the game. Wonderful game to watch -- and they won so that was great! And seeing the hockey parents and boys is so fun.

But can you believe that I finally checked a hockey rink item off my bucket list after all these years?

I was trying to calculate how many times I have seen the Zamboni cleaning the ice. Let's see...Oliver has played hockey for 12 years. Average # hockey games per year including tournaments is probably around 25? Average # of Zamboni cleans per game: 3-4. Which equals approximately 1,200 times I have watched the Zamboni.

And wondered what it was like to ride it and how it works.

So I was hanging out during the game with Kendall and Eliott, and we were talking about Badass Adventures. (Side note: Kendall, remember -- we promised each other to surf. I'm going to uphold my end of the deal if you do...). She mentioned that Macie, her sister, likes to read this blog.

A few minutes later, I said, "Hey...what do you think about messing wth Macie and pretending we did a freaking badass adventure together?"

Kendall was in!

A few more minutes later, I said, "How about we pretend we drove the Zamboni".

Kendall was in!

A few more minutes later, Eliott said, "How about you guys go over by the Zamboni in between periods and I'll take a pic of you in front of it as it drives onto the ice".

We were in!

A few more minutes (as we were watching the Zamboni clean the ice while waiting to pose for picture, I said, "How about I actually ask the guy if we can go on it".

Kendall was in!

So the guy finished the ice, drives the Zamboni off, and comes back to shovel and close the doors. I signalled him over.

With my most pathetic attempt at sad puppy eyes, I said, "My son has been playing hockey for twelve years and this might be one of the last times I get to see him play hockey." (Not true, but it's kind of badass to lie, right?).

He said, "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that" and he genuinely looked sorrowful for me.

I continued, "I have always wanted to see a Zamboni up close but have never had the opportunity. Is there any way we could do that?"

He froze for a second, clearly trying to make a quick decision, and then with a twinkle in his eye said, "Yeah, sure...come on in".

We gave a whoop of delight, opened the gate, and strolled back into the Zamboni garage.

I can say that I am probably the only person in the entire history of the world to actually fangirl over a piece of machinery, but guys...it was so freaking cool. Manny, the driver, was so cool and showed us everything. He walked us around and showed us the mechanics behind the Zam and how it works. Then he let me climb on and try it out!

I got to beep the horn, throttle the snow removal plunger, and pretend to drive. Totally, I was like Oliver when he was two getting to ride on a tractor at the farm...but I didn't care how goofy it was. It was glorious after all these years to finally know why they pump the plunger when they are driving and to get to know what it feels like to do it.

Manny showed us the spikes on the tires to keep from sliding around, but did confess to doing donuts on the ice when nobody is around. He said that it's actually hard to skid around when cleaning the ice because it is so heavy.

After lots of photo ops, we proudly left the Zam garage. I for one, was thrilled to have had this goofy opportunity.

I was sharing with Kendall that before Badass, I NEVER would have asked to ride the Zamboni, but something about this project has given me bravery. And I find that 9 times out of 10, when I ask someone for something related to this project, they say yes and join in the fun.

So fellow Badassians, please don't hesitate to ask if you are interested in something -- you will likely get a Yes!

But the day was not over yet. My boy and I decided to do one more badass adventure. He had done it before, but I hadn't. We decided to take on Top Golf.

I suck at golfing. Truly, It's bad. Like I whiff 90% of the time.

But Top Golf actually helped me get more confident in my ability and by the end of our session, I was hitting the ball some of the time, mostly in the forward direction, and occasionally getting it past the safety netting in front of the tee.

Oliver also noticed my improvement, and said "It genuinely, and in the nicest way possible, surprised me how much better you got". :)

Most of you have probably been to Top Golf before, but if you haven't, it's like a driving range on magic mushrooms. There are giant lighted targets on the field that you aim for, and your ball has sensors so you get a video readout of not only where your ball ended up, but the curve, speed, and time it spent in the air.

The thing is, even though the golfing pods were "heated", they really weren't. So it was about 10 degrees outside, and a wee bit nipply, as we used to say.

I noticed when Ollie got up to tee off that his breath was coming out in great clouds, so I asked him to huff and puff a few times so I could catch it on my camera.

Then I asked him to come over so we could puff steam together. Which made the pictures hysterically funny since you can't actually see our steam but we look like we are trying, and failing, to whistle.

After this, Oliver looked at me and deadpanned, "You would think you never lived in the Midwest". Ha!

But he was right. One year away changed my memories. I had forgotten some of the struggles of a winter in Illinois.

• I forgot how dirty cars get and how when you brush against it, you get dirty too.

• I forgot that bone-chilling feeling when outside in negative temps.

• I forgot how hard it is to drive during a snowstorm and how sometimes you end up parking in a spot by guestimation because you can't actually see the parking lines.

• I forgot how my hands instantly dry up and look like alligator skin.

But....

• I forgot how beautiful it is to see the sun rising over the snow.

• I forgot how quiet it is and how good it smells to be standing in a snowfall.

• I forgot how cozy it feels to bundle up in hats and mittens.

It was an absolutely wonderful trip, and even though I will miss Oliver, Jeanne and everyone I love in Illinois, I am glad to be heading back home.

Except apparently it is going to be 20 degrees in Tampa today.

We are supposed to let our faucets drip to prevent frozen pipes, and there is a warning going out to watch for falling iguanas from trees (don't worry...they aren't dead. They just get super cold, kind of hibernate, and lose traction.)

I'll wait for it to get a bit warmer before I go surfing. Badass Babes, anyone interested in hanging ten with me?