Monday, July 31, 2017

Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights


So...in all the hockey talk on my blog, I haven't said much of anything about the NHL's latest expansion team.

This year, the NHL added a 31st team to the League: the Vegas Golden Knights. They populated their roster with one player chosen from each of the thirty other teams. Each team was allowed to protect a certain number of players/combination of positions. There were a lot of deals made behind the scenes leading into the expansion draft to protect additional players. To be honest, I don't remember who the Knights pilfered from Dallas and it's not important.

What IS important is that the Stars will be playing the Knights in their home/season opener and guess who's going to be in attendance??

Yep. Me. I'm so excited to see this match-up. One of the things I'm most excited about is seeing Marc-Andre Fluery in the net... I hope the Dallas crowd cheers him on when he's introduced because he's a beloved player across the league--in fact, he got a standing ovation from everyone in attendance at the expansion draft/NHL awards ceremony, players and fans alike.


Mr. Fleury was plucked from the back-to-back Stanley Cup winning Penguins (remember them, lol?) by Las Vegas. He's gonna prove a challenge to our boys, that for certain.

I'm excited, but I'm nervous too. The Stars didn't do so hot last season, and I just want them to acquit themselves well at home on opening day against a brand new team. It'll be kinda embarrassing if they don't, huh?

Keep your fingers crossed on their behalf, would you??

Friday, July 28, 2017

Welcome to Riverdale...


Depending on your age, you might or might not be familiar with Riverdale...


Riverdale is the home of Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead of Archie Comic fame. I'm vaguely familiar with the comic, although I never read them as a kid.

But I was looking for something else to watch and finally decided to take a chance on this and was pleasantly surprised as well as pulled into the plot lines.

As far as I know, the original comics were about teens in high school and the related high jinks. Riverdale, while still focusing on our high school foursome, is darker and begins with the murder of the Riverdale High School quarterback, Jason Blossom.

 (L-R: Alice Cooper (Betty's mom), Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Cheryl Blossom,
Josie (of Josie and the Pussycat fame), and Hermione Lodge (Veronica's mom)

At least one parent of all four teens plays a role in the show. None of the characters, save for maybe Archie, Jughead, and Veronica are what they seem. Betty has a dark side we see glimpses of, and all the adults, except maybe Archie's dad, have some sort of secret.

The writers have done a fantastic of weaving this tale of secrets, lies, and revelations through the thirteen action-packed episodes of season one.

Has anyone else given this a try? What did you think?

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Thank goodness for YouTube...


I'm sure y'all know that you can find many amazing (and a lot of not-so-amazing) and wonderful things on YouTube.
From yoga routines to car maintenance how-to's, you can save a lot of money. There are craft tutorials, music videos, audio books, old movies, new movies, news footage, video game analysis, and so so so so much more.

Honestly, I don't actually spend a lot of time on YouTube. I pull up the yoga occasionally and listen to music when I don't have access to my iTunes.

Do you know how hard it is to catch much of any kind of sports on regular TV with basic cable??? Nearly impossible.

Even with sports venue/network apps, you have to enter your IP login and if you don't have the right cable package, you're still S-O-L. Last year, I subscribed to NHL.com and got to watch any and every hockey team/game I wanted. EXCEPT the STARS... Why??? Because I live in their blackout zone or whatever the heck they call it. Yeah. Needless to say...I will be changing my cable package starting in September.

In the meantime, better cable wouldn't do do me any good because hockey season is over, but you know what there is? YouTube. :0)

I can find old games on YouTube. Why would I want to watch an old game? Well, first of all, beggars can't be choosers. Second of all, I just want to watch some hockey. Not always watch even, just listen to the play-by-play in the background is good enough. Why hockey over music? That I can't say.

But I can say, thank goodness for YouTube!

Have you used YouTube for one of the a-for-mentioned reasons??

Share a YouTube experience with me!!


Monday, July 24, 2017

Second Quarter Goal Review


With all the excitement of the 4th of July, I forgot to review my progress of my goals. Let's take a look!

Goals are just there to the left...

How'd I do?

Oh--I just noticed it still says 2016 Goals--oh goodness. Okay, changing to 2017.

Now let's gauge progress...

1) I've been writing Grandma in Denmark, but not staying as on schedule as I'd like.
2) I'm not doing as well calling my mom's either, though to be fair, the last time I tried to call my mom, I think she was camping and had no cell service. Will call both moms before the week is out.
3) Am I cooking and eating better? I might have been during the first quarter, but I haven't been so well as of late. But the Fitbit's capabilities have got me swinging back that direction, so during the next two grocery shopping cycles, I'll make changes as needed.
4) I haven't cleaned out my writing room/office/craft room. *shrugs* It's not a high priority.
5) Cleaning plan is nowhere in sight.
6) I have not pulled the trigger on the publishing journey. I've lamented my ups and downs in other posts, but the new goal is November.
7) Because of my lapse in exercise, I've gained back about 4 pounds, but I think I can lose that fairly easily and quickly and be within 5 pounds of the high end of my target weight.
8) No, I still haven't taken that poor dog out for a walk...


Friday, July 21, 2017

Getting enough sleep...


One of the things the Fitbit tracks is sleep. DH had mentioned several times over the last couple of months that he hadn't slept well and referenced the sleep tracker on his Fitbit.

Mostly, I sleep well. Or so I thought. And it turns out that I do.

I've reviewed the logs of my sleep for the last several nights and then had to do some research. My time in deep sleep was low compared to light sleep. I didn't think much of it seeing as how I sleep fine and usually have enough energy to get through the day, but I mentioned it to a friend and she wondered if that little amount of deep was good for a person.

The short answer is...it depends. Of course, it does. But for my age and gender, I'm right where I need to be. Article One | Article Two

Different things go on in the body during various stages of sleep. As I'm a grown woman in the second half of my life, I don't need all of the things or as much of those things as I used to, hence my time spent in deep sleep is less. Babies, children, and teens should have longer periods of deep sleep because growth hormones are released during this time.

I've always known that I require a certain amount of sleep, I've known what my window is, and I've fought hard to maintain it, because I know and I like the way my body functions and feels when I keep that balance.

How about you? 

Anyway, have a great weekend!

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Funny how small the world can be sometimes...


I've been struggling again with this whole publishing journey.


I know all the best practices from a money-making stand point. But what's best for me?

Sure, I'd love to have a steady income stream in order to pay off debt and fix up the house and leave something to my kids. Unfortunately, publishing on the type of schedule that maximizes my money-making potential is stressing me out. All my friends are very encouraging. "You can do it, Jen." "I have every confidence in you, Jen."

And it's not that I don't think I can--eventually. I just can't yet. I've still got some learning to do.

On one of the Facebook groups to which I belong, someone shared a blog post from an author who I created a series bible for last year. I enjoyed all her books tremendously. But, as it turns out, this poor woman suffers with depression and really struggled to meet the deadline of the publisher she signed a contract with.

She talked about pinpointing when the writing was fun for her, i.e. not a chore, when she was most productive. She talked about what it means to be a writer. What "THEY" say... and what the realities are.

The fact is, we're all different. We all have a personal ecosystem going inside of us which includes not only physical health, but mental health, among other things. Each writer gets to decide for him- or herself what their writing life looks like in order to balance that ecosystem and get out of writing what they want or need from it.

I love writing and I don't think I'll ever stop, even if it ends up just be fan fiction. But I also think I can make money with my writing. So I want to try, but I have to keep the process realistic for my abilities and needs at any given time. Do I think in the future I can write faster and get where I want to be in terms of output? Yes, I do. But just like getting the physical body in shape, getting your writing abilities in shape takes time and effort as well.

So, with yet another timely "tale from the trench," I'm gonna do need/what I want to do to have fun on this journey.


Monday, July 17, 2017

Happy Anniversary to me!


I got a FitBit for my annivesary... DH got one several months ago and he's really benefited from it. I don't really need something to encourage me to get up and move, etc, but the Charge 2 has some other functions and features that I thought would be helpful to track. Things like resting heart rate, fat burning, sleep quality. I've sort of plateaued in terms of motivation and I'm hoping this device will get me revved up and ready to step it back up again.

Anyone else using a Fitbit or similar device for health and wellness purposes?

Friday, July 14, 2017

I've been derelict this week...


There just hasn't been much to tackle via blog this week. But for the sake of a post, let's see...

Book six is trickling into existence. It's not coming as quickly as I'd like, but I average about two pages a day. It's not as much as it could be, but I'm gonna be happy with that over a big fat goose egg.

Hockey is mostly quiet right now. Most of the big trades across the league seem to have taken place and the Stars look good for the upcoming season. A few players are starting to train again. Pre-season starts end of September. I'm super exicted.

My cruise and all its attendant costs has been paid for--thank you DH and thank you fireworks.

Tomorrow is writers group and I'm so looking forward to seeing my core peeps whom I haven't gotten to see en masse since April. There will be a lot of chatter tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Have a great weeknd!






Monday, July 10, 2017

Mall Shopping...


DD and I had a mother/daughter date yesterday. She wanted to check out a store at one of the local malls, so off we went. We had a fun time and I came home with a sore hip joint and a Build-A-Bear bear...


It was a tie between the hockey outfit and the Navy one, but ultimately they didn't have a Navy one, so hockey it was. I'll just have to order the sailor suit online.

It's not often I get to hang out with DD, so a good time was had by all. I hardly ever go to the mall because generally speaking I hate shopping. I mean I don't go just for the sake of going. I go when I need something.

Part of me had been wanting to people watch because I'm hip-deep in writing books and I really don't spend a lot of time out in the world. I see the same five people everyday and that's a very small sample group. :0) I got to do some over the 4th while down at the fireworks store, but then you get busy and you forget.

Are you a shopper? Do you like going to the mall?

Friday, July 7, 2017

Who's watching "The Ranch"?


It's a thirty-minute sitcom on Netflix starring Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Debra Winger, and Sam Elliott.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure, with its crude humor, but I gotta say, I laughed my way through the first season. The show, while still humorous, explored some more serious plot-lines through end of season one and into season two, so the laughs were fewer.

I've never paid much attention to Ashton Kutcher over the years, so I'm not terribly familiar with his body of work, but I like his boyish, dumb-jock charm and sweetness in this. He's not hard on the eyes either...


Anyone else seen this? Your thoughts?


Monday, July 3, 2017

Happy Fourth of July


Happy Birthday America!!!



Sure, we have a lot of issues, but it's my country and I still love it.

Have a lovely and safe 4th of July filled with family friends fun food and fireworks.