Hockey's cool.

I went to a hockey game last night. My first. It was great, despite the embarassing loss by the Dallas Stars. A friend from work is in Ireland, so her fiance, also a friend, asked if I wanted the ticket. I'm so glad. Now that NASCAR's wrapping up, I have something new to learn. Such a geek about my nascent sports fandom. I'll be going online after I post to find sites that can give me the history of the sport. Then I'll look for the rules.

I don't think I would have enjoyed myself as much if it were not for R. He was patient and willingly explained many things. Also, the ease of getting to the game was wonderful. We parked near a restaurant, had dinner - great gringo Mexican at El Fenix - and walked to the arena. The entrance was 30 feet from the entrance to our seating section (yes, great seats, they have season tickets). The rink was surprisingly small and the venue more intimate than Philips Arena where the Thrashers play.

The arena is new and shiney (American Airlines Center). Colorful polished floors, squeaky clean metal detectors, brightly shining concession signs. According to R., folks in Dallas don't show up on time to the games, so the crowd was thin when we arrived - better for me, even if it looks bad on t.v. to have so many empty seats when the game starts. The volume of the music more than made up for the lack of people. So loud.

I was watching the fans, listening to the music and thinking that it's easy to let go and get carried away by the orchestrated atmosphere. Something primal in it. Loud noises, groups of people shouting... though, last night's game didn't have shouting so much as booing at the lackluster performance of the home team. R tells me the Stars are a good team, but didn't have it in them last night. Even to my novice eyes they seemed to lack sparkle.

I'm going to figure out how long I'm here and I'll get me some tickets.

No idea how long I'll be here. It could be the 9th of December, the 21st of December, or sometime the first half of April. Things are changing a little, but I should know what's going to happen in the next couple of weeks.

While I am eager to be home and miss you all terribly, I am not ready to leave. I trust my instincts and they are not screaming to go home. It could be that nasty little creature - complacence, but it could be something more positive. The agency seems to be pulling around and changes made the past two months are showing themselves to have been good. I don't want to leave if I can still contribute to something good.