December 2014 in review

Let me first say I’m sorry to all of you who wanted a white Christmas – for me, such a concept is overrated! I was completely happy to see temperatures creeping up on the 60s on Christmas Eve – it makes my life a little easier.

Of course, things got a little dicey on New Year’s Eve, when everyone wanted to be outside watching the ball drop (or guitar if you were in Niagara Falls). I stayed in, wondering if work was in my future…

credit: freedigitalphotos.net

December was all about the holidays – getting together with family, decorating, gifting, indulging (for which I need to get back on track in January!) and lots of time off from work. One of my indulgences was going to see Lorrie Morgan at the Seneca Allegany Casino at the beginning of the month – because the package included a casino buffet! After lunch, I ate nothing…

Then I got to meet one of my all-time favorite Buffalo Sabres, Clint Malarchuk, at a book signing at Barnes & Noble – check that out here.

I also made it to my fourth movie of the year – which is unheard of, it used to be one movie every four years – when I went to see the third installment of The Hobbit, which I pre-gamed for by watching the first two in the series, and post-gamed with the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This sudden onslaught on movies I want to see continues in 2015 with a new Terminator film, the final Hunger Games installment and the new Star Wars franchise (at least!).

I also got to see my little cousin and future all-star play hockey for the first time – for someone who just started skating in September, I’m impressed!

Future all-star!

And finally, I got to the Botanical Gardens for the Poinsettia Show – so much color and too many decorating ideas!

Starstruck: Clint Malarchuk at Barnes & Noble

I love hockey, I love my Sabres, and I love seeing the guys I grew up watching come back to the area for any reason. One of my favorite Sabres of all time is goalie Clint Malarchuk, who was just totally cool as a player and a person – he is a cowboy, after all!

A few weeks back, my mom and I walked into Barnes & Noble because we had some time before the mall opened. “Mom, look – Clint Malarchuk’s gonna be here!” I was like a little 16-year-old hockey fan finding out her favorite player was going to be appearing – just 25 years after the fact!

In spite of a great hockey career, Malarchuk is probably most remembered, unfortunately, for a horrifying accident that took place on the ice of the Memorial Auditorium in 1989 (see more about that here). In part, that was what brought him back to Buffalo over the last few days – Malarchuk wrote and recently released a book, “A Matter of Inches,” about his life, the accident and the aftermath.

I can’t wait to read the book – and it’s pretty cool to have a personally signed copy!

Yes, he signed it "Happy Trails" - love him!!

Life complete!