.4.

And just like Jon had said, “we’ll be home before you know it,” the girls and I would be picking them up in a few hours.  Don’t get me wrong; those 10 days spent with the girls was amazing and much needed, but I want my husband back! I hate sharing him with the entire hockey world.

It was near 3am when Dayna and I left for the arena.  Between the boys coming home, and me getting rid of the brace and crutches on Monday, I was beyond excited for the coming days.

Jon and the guys were so excited to be home, I think they liked the fact of being back in their own beds with their loved ones, instead of going from hotel to hotel.  Brent & Dayna dropped us back off at the house and the guys packed up Dayna’s things to take home.

“Wake up!” Jon says, carefully jumping on the bed

“Nooooooo! Go away,” I say, covering my face

“But babe! Today’s the day!”
“Ok, fiiiiiiiine,”
“That’s what I like to hear! Your appointment is at 10. Rise & shine!!”

“How are you so awake in the morning??”

“Always have been. Get up, get up, get up!” he says, smiling

“You are so not allowed to wake our kids up,”

My appointment took 30 minutes, but it was done and I was back to normal…well almost. I’d be starting physical therapy tomorrow, in the building across from the Trump Tower.  It was taking me a while to get used to walking again; at first I was scared to put pressure on my leg, but Dr. Johnson urged me not to because everything was fine. 

Before we knew it, December was here.  My parents were going to come out and spend Christmas with us, and I was pretty excited to see them.

But things became a little more stressful, and a little scary, when Jon and I came home to a disaster of our house being broken into. I never understood what caused people to do things like this; it was stressful, and scary to be involved in something like this.

Jon got the police officers over to the house while I tried to look around without touching anything.  I think Jon and I were both glad that I couldn’t wear a lot of jewelry, so there wasn’t a lot of that to take.  More things were destroyed then stolen. 

I walked back out to the dining room where the cops were talking to Jon; they could all see how uneasy I was, but I guess that was expected.

“Do you guys by chance have someplace to stay? I wouldn’t recommend staying here, and I can see in your face that you don’t want to,” the officer says to me

“Yeah, I don’t want to…I don’t feel safe here anymore,”
“I’ll call Seabs and see if we can stay with them,”

We took what we needed for the night, because we would be able to come back tomorrow to get the rest of our things.  By the time we got to Brent’s house, I was so emotionally drained and stressed, I broke down in tears and Jon just held me tight and rocked me to sleep.

The next morning, Dayna made breakfast, and Jon brought up something that I knew would be brought up eventually. A new place to live.  This was not the stress I wanted right now.

“Babe, I know your not comfortable at that house now, and to be honest, the security there sucks, because if we had any security guards, there’s a bigger chance this wouldn’t have happened,”
“I know, and your right,”
“So lets start looking,”
“Ok, is there a way we can be quiet about this so it doesn’t happen again?”
“Yes, and I’m sure if we asked a realtor about a confidentiality agreement, that can be done.  And I kind of have an idea for a place for us.”
“Already? Where?”

“The Trump,”
“Of course! You love that building, but do you really want to be living that close to Kane?”
“I know, probably not, but I love that building more then him so,” Jon says, smiling

“Of course, well do you want to call before we go over there or do you know if anything is even available?”
“Yep! There’s probably a handful of condos for sale, I’ll call Kaner and get his realtor’s number and get in contact with him,”

Greg, Pat’s realtor was so nice and was very understanding of our situation and helped us get a condo within the next few days.  So we were in the process of relocating…to the 85^th floor of The Trump Tower, 3 down from Kane, who lives on...the 88th floor, of course. Lord help us with that moving job.

With 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, plus a den, as well as a living room, we had so much more space then we did at our old house, but it was so spacious and I loved it. Plus, the view is breathtaking!

Oh yeah, of the things those jerks stole: 2 TV’s, a blue ray player, and both our iPods. They broke our coffee table and the DVD shelf. Oh, and they also took 2 of Jon’s hockey sticks that were signed & he was PISSED.

But it turns out there was a positive side to all of this. The police caught the guys who broke into our house after they broke into another house a day later.  They sold the TVs and iPods, but Jon got the hockey sticks back.

.3.

Surgery day! I woke up around 7 when the nerves kicked in, to the point where I felt like I was going to be sick. I was hungry too, but of course I couldn’t eat anything. I put on Jon’s Fighting Sioux sweats; I stole them because they are the most comfortable sweats I’ve ever worn.  Time comes around and we head to Northwestern.

“Good morning guys! How are you?” Dr. Johnson asks

“Good, she’s been tossing and turning all night,” Jon says

“I’ve been up since 7 because I’m nervous,” I say

“Well you have nothing to worry about, you are in great hands, Dr. Green and I will take good care of you,”

A few hours later, I wake up in the recovery room pretty groggy and still tired. 

“Hey baby, how you feelin’?” Jon asks, walking towards me

“Ok…my leg hurts” I say ask he kisses my forehead

“Dr. Johnson said you may need a new IV by the time you wake up, I’ll call her in,”

“Hi Jamie, how are you feeling?” Dr. Johnson asks, walking in

“My leg hurts, but I’m good” I respond, sitting up

“Well, good news is your surgery went very well, and your healing time will be 8-10 weeks,”

“Ok, do I need a cast?”

“No, we will change your bandage once more before you leave, then put the brace back on your leg to keep it stabilized, & you’ll need to come in once a week to get the bandages changed,”
“Ok,”
“It’s one that will fit over your jeans too, but I would recommend that you wear sweats for as long as you can, they will be more comfortable,”
“Ok, I have a pair somewhere,”
“Ok, great. Now, Jon will need to help you, or somebody will. Do you have someone to help you when he goes out of town?”
“Yeah, some of the girls offered to help,”
“Perfect!”

So Dr. Johnson shows Jon and I how to put the brace on right, it even has a post type thing behind my knee to keep it from bending.  Once I’m discharged, we leave and head straight to Walgreens to fill the prescriptions for pain medicine.

Our kitchen counter is full of flowers and cards, it makes me so thankful for the family I have surrounding me.  Jon helps me get situated on the bed so I can lay there the majority of the time.

He throws in The OC in the DVD…yeah, I love this man, and he knows my favorites.  I end up falling asleep at some point, and Jon goes to get my medicine and some food.  I’m pretty thankful that I didn’t get sick after the surgery, or from any of the medicine, so I wasn’t limited to what I could eat.

Thanksgiving was around the corner, I was progressing with the healing, and the team’s 10-day road trip was a few days away; I wasn’t a happy camper knowing that I couldn’t go, at least to California, like planned. It was one of their longest road trips of the season. Plus it was breaking our “4 day rule” that we made shortly after we got engaged.  We had gotten the idea from Patrick and Abby, who has said that it’s helped them through so much.

Since the girls and I were staying back, I asked Dayna if she wouldn’t mind staying at the house to help me around while the boys were gone, she didn’t mind at all, so she and Brent came by with a trunk full of stuff, before we went and dropped off the boys at the UC.

“Baby, if you need anything, just call me,” Jon tells me

“Ok, D will help me with stuff, so I think I’ll be fine” I say, reassuring him

“Ok, we will be home before you know it,”

“Behave, and don’t get in any fights please!”

“I’ll try not to,”

“AHEM. Tazer! Step away from the wife & walk towards the bus,” Kane yells

“Oh shut up Kaner, you’re just jealous you don’t have a beautiful wife to kiss goodbye & see you off” Jon fires back

 “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get this show on the road,” He says, getting on the bus

“Guess that’s my que. I love you babe, I’ll call you when we land,”
“I love you too, talk to you soon,”

I’m actually crying. What the heck? I guess I just hate him being gone this long…what am I going to do with myself?

“You ready, girl?” Dayna asks, rubbing my back

“Yeah, lets go,” I respond, hobbling to the car

“It gets easier, I promise,”

“I know, I guess I’m just homesick, I hate when he’s gone,”
“How about some lunch?” she says with a smile

“Sounds fabulous,”

Abby and Madelyn end up joining us. It was a good group for lunch and I always love spending time with the girls, especially since we get caught up in our own lives. But the guys being gone for 10 days meant plenty of girl time.

Wednesday came and it was time for our viewing party to watch the boys play the Canucks. Tonight it was at Jon & I’s house, since Dayna was staying there anyways, it made it easier. 

The boys beat the Canucks by a score of 5-1 with Jon getting a goal and an assist, before the next few games got a little ugly.  They lost in Calgary before they got the worst of it in Edmonton with a 9-2 loss.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Jon so angry when he called me after the game, but he kept with his promise that he made, and was sure to leave it in the arena; which I was thankful for, because in situations like that, it was sometimes difficult to make sure you said the right thing.

The next few games got better, after those two losses and losing to the Sharks, they beat the Ducks & Kings.  

.2.

***Here's another short sneak peek! Let me know what yall think :)

~J

Surgery. UGH. I don’t think words explain how scared I am of surgeries. I have no idea why either, the only surgery I’ve had was to remove my wisdom teeth, if that even counts. It’s all to heal though, that’s what I keep telling myself.

After we run by the house so I can change and whatnot, we head to the Apple Store for a new iPhone.  We run into Patrick and Abby, with Madelyn tucked away in her stroller, looking at iPads.  Jon tells them what happened as I’m getting help to get a new phone.

I planned on taking advantage of Dr. Johnson’s advice of going all out for lunch. Jon doesn’t even have to ask anymore, he knows I want Cheesecake Factory, so it’s like we’re programmed to walk that way. What can I say though, a ton of memories have been made at that place. I met the guys and their wives/girlfriends, that was also where us girls had plenty of lunch dates…revealed a baby on the way (Abby) & an upcoming wedding (me), plus countless late nights of drinks & gossiping…what? We’re women, it’s what we do! Yeah, I love that restaurant. 

I was already getting tired from walking around on the crutches, that I had a feeling I’d be taking a nap with Jon when we get home, so I hobble into our bedroom, as he’s getting comfortable in bed,

“Can I join you?” I ask, standing in the doorway

“For a nap?” he responds, confused

“Yes, for a nap dummy,” I say laughing

“Weeeeell. You never know!” he says, with his hands up in defense

“Your cute. I’m tired, and my arms hurt!”

“Just think, you’ll have some killer arm muscles after that”

I don’t know how the guys can take short naps like this; well Jon takes a 2-hour nap. But geez, I would just want to keep sleeping all day.

Jon gets his pregame meal ready while I shower and get ready. All I can say is thank God we have a big shower with a bench inside, that may be my key to survival with whatever I end up with on my leg tomorrow.

Once we arrived at the UC, Jon helped me get out of the back seat and hobble through the parking lot and into the arena.

Dayna, Elina & Abby are all the wives there, and immediately ask what happened, except Abby since she knew. As I’m telling the story, something on Elina’s hand catches the light above

“Is that an engagement ring?” I ask

“OH! Yes! Nik proposed last night!” Elina gushes, as I examine her ring

“Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous! Congratulations!”

“Thanks! I was going to tell you but then we asked about your leg first,”
“Oh thanks, such a pain,”
“You have surgery in the morning?” Dayna asks

“Yes mam, pre-op is at 9am,”

The girls and I make our way up to the box, thankfully there’s a back way so I don’t have to worry about the crowds.

Tonight’s match up was against the Maple Leafs, who have been hot, currently a 7 game win streak, and one of the best road records in the league. Can we change that? Damn straight.

Being at the game with the girls took my mind off the nerves for my surgery tomorrow.  Especially with having a bouncy baby like Madelyn in my lap, she was such a daddy’s girl.

The win streak continued for the Hawks! We beat the Leafs 4-3 after Jon’s go-ahead goal. It was a good night.  It will probably be the last one for me for a while.  All the girls offered to help around the house when the boys were on the road, which I was so thankful for.

.1.

***Hey yall! So here's a little teaser for my other Toews story I decided to go back to :) I'll still update my Neal story...it might be a while though, since Im about to graduate in a few weeks! & I dont know about yall but Im definitely going to need some handsome Toews & Neal in my life with this loooooong off season! SO let me know what yall think! 

~J

***

Running is my absolute favorite thing to do. It’s so therapeutic. Thanks to my husband being a morning person, I wake up with him, he’ll take off, and I’ll go for a run along Michigan Ave or wherever my legs take me.

Today was no different, hubby was at the United Center, and so I went for a run.  I was nearing the Bean in Millennium Park, when I took a bit of a spill, thanks to a couple guys attempting to get away from shoplifting…jerks. Karma will come for you!

“Oh sweetie! Are you ok?” A lady asks as she runs to me

“Son of a…! Oy, my knee hurts!” I respond, not wanting to get up

“Well, those boys took you down pretty quick,”

“Not to mention turned me completely around,”

“Can you get up?” She questions

“Umm…no” I say, unsuccessfully trying

“Here, can I help?” a guy stops and asks

“Yeah…I’m kind of in the way aren’t I?” I tell him

“Here, put your arm around my shoulder and hers, we’ll get you to the bench”

“Ok, thank you guys so much,” I say, getting up

“Of course!” Diana, the lady, says

“Can you put any pressure on your leg?” Matt, the guy, asks

“No, it hurts really bad,”

Being that it was starting to get cold, I had sweats on, my wedding/honeymoon tan had worn off, and so I looked like a vampire again; but I had to see the condition of my knee, which wasn’t bad…yet. But I knew if I couldn’t put pressure on it, it was far from ok.

“I’m sorry, I have to run, but I hope your leg is ok!” Diana tells me

“Ok, thanks for your help!” I tell her, and then continue

“I should probably call my husband to see if he can come get me,”
“Do you want me to stay with you to make sure your ok?”

“It’s totally up to you, you don’t have to though”
“Your husband won’t kill me, will he?” he asks sarcastically

“Ha, no I doubt it, he’ll think you’re a savior for helping me,”

I pull out my phone to see the screen completely shattered. Fantastic.

“They did a number to that too, eh?”

“Ugh, those assholes! Sadly. Your Canadian, eh?”
“Yep, from Calgary, you?”
“No, but my husband is Canadian. And of course he’s not answering,” so I try again

“Patrick? Did I call you?” I ask as he answers Jon’s phone

“No, but he told me to answer it,” Sharpie replies,
“Can you tell him to come get me please? I was running and got ran over by some guys and now I can’t walk,”
“Shit, Jay! Where are you? Are you ok?”

“At the bean, and I don’t know, I cant put pressure on my left leg, my knee hurts really bad,”

“Ok, he’s right here…go get your wife, she got hurt,” I hear him tell Jon

“Babe? What happened?”

So I tell him the story, I can literally hear him running out of the United Center.  Matt was a super nice guy, just moved to Chi with his fiancé, Flames fan turned Blackhawks fan, so I told him my husband would like that.

About 10 minutes later, I see a black Tahoe drive up and Jon jumping out of it

“Oh my god, are you ok?” Jon asks, kissing my forehead

“I don’t know,” I say, frustrated and in pain

“Oh, this is Matt, he and a lady helped me over here. He’s a converted Blackhawks fan,”

“Nice to meet you man, thanks for helping her,” Jon says, shaking his hand

“No problem, Mr. Toews,”
“Oh, Jon is fine. Hold on a quick sec, eh?”

He comes back from the car, with 2 tickets for tonight’s game in hand and gave them to Matt, as his way of thanking him, super excited, he thanked us and went along with his day. Jon scooped me up and carried me to the car. I showed him my cracked iPhone with the saddest look on my face, so he says we’d go get a new one. It’s probably sad to admit, but my iPhone=my life. Literally, it has all my appointments, reminders and everything you can think of on it.

I called my doctor at Northwestern and, thankfully, was able to get an appointment in thirty minutes. 

Jon parks in the structure across the street, after I told him to drop me off at the front and then park, but noooo. He had no problem carrying me, I guess I could get used to it J

Dr. Johnson sees me right away, and examines my knee before I hear the word “MRI”

Great.

I hate MRI’s.

Well the machines, anyways. I’m claustrophobic, so I’m not a fan of lying in that small machine; and on top of being in a hospital, which I’m terrified of also. Let’s just say I was uncomfortable and nervous.

“Well, I can’t say that I have good news and bad news, because all I have is bad news,” Dr. Johnson says, coming back into the room

“Great.” I respond, sarcastically

“What is it, doc?” Jon asks

“Torn MCL, and your going to need to have surgery to repair it,”
“Seriously? But I didn’t tear it! Those jerks that ran me over did!” I joke

“I know, but it’s still torn,” She says, kind of laughing

“Ugh! Dr. Johnson, surgeries scare me!”

“I know, but your knee will feel so much better afterwards,”

As much as I shouldn’t be tuning her out, I am. I’m too nervous thinking about surgery. And being in a cast & on crutches. AGAIN. Thankfully, Jon was listening to every detail. I’m brought out of my zone when she asks

“Do you want to meet your surgeon?”
“Yeah,” I respond, Jon looks at me, he knows I didn’t hear a word she said

“Jamie, Jon, this is Dr. Green, he will be performing your surgery,”

“Nice to meet you both, Jamie-do you have any questions?”
“Not that I can think of, Jon might, I can bet he was listening better,”
“Mr. Toews?” Dr. Green asks

“Oh, call me Jon, but no, not really,” he replies

With that, Dr. Green goes over pre-operation for tomorrow. Yeah. Tomorrow. Lord, help me. Dr. Johnson puts a brace on my leg for support, and crutches to measure, so I can get used to them again and prepare myself.

“So, if you want to go all out on lunch or whatever, do it, but try and stick to water and light foods, don’t eat or drink after midnight.” Dr. Johnson says

“Jon, will you be available to be here with her during surgery as well as at home?” Dr. Green asks him

“Yeah, we’re here for 9 days before the next road trip,” He says

“Ok, great, then we will see you here at 9am,”

“Thanks!” Jon and I respond, and head out