The Schraefel Farm

The Schraefel Farm

Adam & I traveled on a stormy Friday to Meadow Lake for his Zone camp weekend. We had spent the night Thursday with no power from 3 PM till 8:30 AM because of the frost on the power lines and the winds. The ol' house got pretty cold. We had a few Kerosene heaters burning to keep from freezing, but the smell is taking a while to disperse!

Adam was having quite a camp. He was feeling muscles he never even knew he had. It was a very intense high level camp with about 80 players from our zone. Near the end of the first game, Adam took a hard check into the boards. He immediately got up as if he was OK and took a penalty shot, went off and came back on for another shift, but he wasn't looking very good. The trainer came and talked to me after the game, saying Adam didn't know where he was or what was going on. It turned out he didn't remember anything starting from about last November, and was complaining about a sore neck. We took him to the hospital and it was clear he had absolutely no short term memory. For the next 3 hours through the tests and X-rays, he kept asking if he had just woke up and where we were. He was insisting that he never even wanted to come to this type of camp. He would go through the text messages on his phone, denying that he sent any of it. I explained what was going on, and I would show him the list of kids he was playing with and he couldn't believe it. He would then ask the same questions again and we would go through the whole routine again as if it never happened. Very scary for all of us. He stayed in the hospital that night showing very little improvement. By morning, however, after a good sleep, he had recovered 90 % of his memory, and was released with instructions to stay away from hockey for 6 weeks. To his disappointment, he is done for the remainder of the season. He has had concussions before, but none were this severe, so we are watching him closely, but he seems to have made a full recovery.

Derek's Friday playoff game was rescheduled for Sunday, and they handily won their first game of the total point series. Derek got a beautiful goal, but his Uncle Rob, future Aunt Amber, and Grandma Betty missed it because they left early. I can't believe they can find something more important to do than hockey. Stephen continues his playoff run on Friday against Prince Albert. It will be a tough series.

Clem

Home again. The boys and I went to Saskatoon on Friday to shop for a few items (i.e. clothes for them) and to take Derek to his Tier One tournament at the Jemini arena. They were beating Regina 4 -1 at the beginning of the second period when I had to leave to take Stephen to Warman for a playoff game. Derek's team ended up winning 9 -4, but Stephen's team didn't fare so well. They lost 5-3 in a back and forth game. It was a bit of a heart-breaker after last weekend's 7-2 win over Warman. However, it was the first game in the two-game total point series, and Kindersley got them back good on Sunday, beating them soundly, 13-4, in the old Klipper barn.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I sent Stephen and Adam home from Warman on the Klipper bus on Friday night, and Derek and I were on our own for the rest of the weekend. His team played two more games on Saturday, beating two Saskatoon teams 7-0 and 5-4, and ended up in the "A" final Sunday morning against a very strong Edmonton team. We lost that game 12-3, but the kids played very well, and never gave up. We were so proud of them. That was the first game they lost all season. They were heart-broken, but being 8 years old, recovered quite quickly. They start playoffs on Friday, and will likely end up with the league championship. Stephen's team will advance to the semi-finals in his league. The finals are scheduled for the weekend of March 17 - my brother, Rob's, wedding. That could pose a fine dilemma! What kind of hockey fan gets married in March??

I ran into a few people from the old country - Luseland - this weekend in Saskatoon, Leo and Vicky Gartner, and Danny and Kelly (MacKenzie) Zunti. It's always nice to renew old aquaintances, and revisit old memories.

See you next week!
Chandra

Well, now that my heart is beating again, I figured it was time to once again post a bit about the Schraefel happenings.

I went to North Battleford on Thursday for a routine scope (day surgery), and ended up staying a bit longer. It seems my heart stopped while I was sedated. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't even get to see the bright light, but as someone said, at least I didn't smell anything burning. The doctors, and I use that term fairly loosely, don't have any explanation for the incident, so I guess I will pursue the matter with my own doctor this week. So when I finally got home late Friday night, I realized I never did get the scope, and I have two other problems for which I wasn't looking. Plus, it ruined our plans to make a weekend hockey road trip!

Adam's team played in Unity on Thursday night, and battled hard against the league's first-place team only to finish with a disappointing 4-2 loss. Adam got the two Kerrobert goals, though. The team traveled on Friday to Davidson for the second game of the provincial series and lost again. (Adam wouldn't tell us the score, so I'm guessing it wasn't very good!)

Derek's team won in Luseland Friday after school. Derek got to stay with his buddy and cousin, Corson, overnight - we were supposed to be on a road trip, remember? - and had a ball.

Stephen's team traveled to Waldheim (new rink, Olympic-size ice) to play Warman in the second round-robin playoff series. They won 7-2, and Stephen tells us he was +4 for the night. They play Prince Albert today in Kindersley, but that will be a tougher battle.

Things are slowly returning to normal since Clem's mom passed away. There are still disconcerting moments when I have to pinch myself to realize that it happened, but I guess that will go on for a bit, yet. We miss her, but don't wish her back to what her life had become. We are fortunate to be able to still use her house as a "waiting place" in town. The kids are very comfortable going there, and I just keep the freezer stocked with easy-to-microwave junk food and make sure the dishes get done once in a while!

The kids are home from school again this week - yeah. I'm praying the rink will be open often for shinny. Derek's team is going to Saskatoon on Friday for a Tier I tournament. This undefeated team may get an eye-opener when it runs into some competition, or at least that's what we're hoping!

It's been very cold here for about two weeks, so Clem is glad the forecast shows some warmer daytime weather coming up. He has some grain-cleaning to do, and things go a lot smoother when its warmer outside.

Better go. Hope all is well with everyone, and that you stop by again soon!
Chandra