Curtis Joseph (Cujo) gets ready for the second period against New Jersey. After a rough start to the season, he has found his game again and was solid last night, allowing 1 goal in 15 shots.

Hannah having fun at the fountains by Glendale Arena.

So, we went to our first hockey game of the season last night. The Coyotes played the New Jersey Devils at Glendale Arena. (I hate, hate, hate calling it Jobing.com Arena. Absolutely ridiculous.) We are going to see the 'Yotes play Calgary on December 16, but I was trying to find another game to go to before we get too close to Gracie's due date. On the Coyotes radio broadcasts there were ads for stubhub.com, where you can allegedly get tickets from season ticket holders who can't make it to a game. So I went to the site early last week to see what kind of prices there were. I found lower level tickets (section 102, row X) for only $40 per! Seriously, that's "Prices slashed, everything must go!" type of price. On ticketmaster, $40 tix are upper level. I quickly called Mama and got the go-ahead to order 2 tickets.
The area around Glendale Arena is being developed as the Westgate Center (or something like that) and is allegedly going to be quite a development project. They are putting up a couple hotels right now, as well as a theatre and a shopping center. The fountain above is right by the arena. The streams of water kind of moved in time to different songs, so that was cool. Hannah got a big kick out of it.
The Devils' goalie, Martin Brodeur, has the most wins of any goalie in the NHL right now and is generally one of the best in the league. So, being the faithful fan that I am, I was sure the 'Yotes were doomed. Fortunately, I had forgotten that when Hannah is at a game, the Coyotes win. Seriously, she is 3 for 3 now. A 1.00 win percentage. It was great. The Coyotes had goals from Derek Morris (on a sweet pass from Jeremy Roenick), Dave Scatchard (a redirect on a shot by Ed Jovanovski I believe), and Owen Nolan (slid right under Brodeur's shoulder as he went down to stack the pads). Cujo let in only 1 goal, scored by John Madden.
The Devils played like the Coyotes have been most of the season. They couldn't keep the puck out of their zone and did not put much pressure on the offensive zone. The Coyotes however, only allowed 15 shots all game and for the most part kept NJ out of their end. They put good pressure on Brodeur, with the 3 goals coming in 27 shots (two were top corner, glove side). They played 3 solid periods and looked good throughout the game. It was also Shane Doan's first game back from a back injury, and it was Mike Ricci's first game all season. He had a neck surgery in the off-season and played two games in the minors over the weekend to get back into the swing of things. It was his first time in the minors in his entire 14-year career.
We, as usual, had a lot of fun. Can't wait to go again next month!

Now Grace is being posted. I am 22 weeks pregnant (5 1/2 months) with Grace Gillian Isaak. However, I really don't look that big in real life, I just had to take the picture with one hand.
(Images may appear bigger than in real life). Hannah is growing too. She is 21 months old. She will be 2 on February 1st. Hannah loves to talk to my belly. And Gracie loves to move when I am ready to go to sleep. Hannah points to my belly and says "baby, baby, baby" all the time now and gives kisses to Gracie.

A recent picture of The Flames.

(not pictured: Pilot Light Gracie)

Because Halloween is such a controversial subject in conservative Christianity, and because my views clash with many in this group, I would like to skip Halloween entirely. But it's impossible. Even the most disinterested Christian is going to be bombarded by messages about how evil 10/31 is, and about all of the atrocities that allegedly happen on that night. Some of these scare tactics have historical basis, but many are just silly. Eggs, toilet paper, and silly costumes are no more satanic than the black cat we used to have. And Halloween isn't the only "holiday" with sinister origins. I don't know the exact history, but I've been told that Jesus did not invent the Christmas Tree. *gasp* Nor was He actually born in December. *gasp, gasp* Nor were there necessarily 3 wise men. *triple gasp!!!* But that's a completely different subject that I may get into at another time.
Michael Spencer, a Christian thinker/teacher/blogger whom I highly respect, has posted on his site a Toast proposed by The Great Pumpkin of Peanuts fame. Here is an excerpt:
"The world of the imagination has always been essential to human beings, but they've never known just what to do with it. Sometimes they want to live there entirely, and others times they avoid it completely. They reward those who create it in books and music, and yet they fear these artists of the imagination as well, even doing them great harm. Throughout history, the imagination has been denounced as well as celebrated. Each one of us knows about those times when we were welcome to bring happiness, and also about those times when we were blamed for all kinds of evil that we did not create, in fact, could not create because of what we are."
"Particularly painful for many of us are the escalating attacks of religious people on the realm of the imagination. We have suffered from those who see the imagination as a gateway of evil, rather than a canvas on which human nature itself paints the picture. We have been blamed for violence and even death, things we would not even know were it not for human beings investing us with those actions in their own minds. It is as if some religious people actually believe that we exist- that we are real and were somehow a threat to them."
You can read the entire Toast at http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/P/pumpkin.html. It may do you good.