A Time For Everything

...into the future...

...or...

Life Returns to Normal

The road trip is in the rear view mirror.

My friend's visit came to an end.

Life returned to normal.

And now I have things I want to accomplish.

My desire to finish books has returned. It didn't come back in a rush because you long-time followers know that I wasn't sure it would come back at all or that I even cared if it did. But it has. The feeling have been simmering for a while and broke into a boil more recently, but being excited about my books and about writing and telling stories feels good.

My first project is a re-vamp of the first series, including new covers and some Amazon A+ Content graphics, for which I got an amazing deal from my cover artist.

The books were originally written in some weird second person, present tense which is prevalent in fan fiction but *not* in commercial fiction.

Why I did that, I have no idea, but I've been meaning to edit all those books into proper third person, past tense for years, but doing that until recently has been a tedious chore. The advent of AI platforms means I can make AI do the hard work. I still have to edit and tweak what it gets wrong (dialogue), but that's a much easier and less time-consuming endeavor.

I also want to finish book seven, which has been sitting un-done and un-touched for too many years, so I've been re-reading and percolating those heroes and that story, as well as brainstorm a plot and character ideas for books Eight and Nine. :0) I'm ambitious, aren't I?

* * * * *

Just a quick shout-out to my friend's visit because I haven't done that yet...

My friend Angela is a fellow writer and a fellow hockey fan, and we agreed that it would be fun to attend a hockey game together and, long story short, we made it happen.

She flew into Dallas to see her team play my team in my team's barn. Now, her team isn't so good right now and we both knew the chances of the Stars beating the Coyotes were high--which they did--but it was more about the experience. Surprisingly, she wasn't the only Coyotes fan in the crowd. We spotted a handful of them.

And we had fun, both visiting in general and watching hockey. Well, I enjoyed it. I shouldn't speak for her. ;0) She also got to meet a shared online friend that she'd never met before, so that was cool for her as well.

Here we are, post game:

* * * * *

So Q2 starts today, and I've been ruminating on what specific goals I want to work towards and accomplish over the course of the next three months. I also needed to update my Vision Board to keep those tasks / goals front and center.

So here are the things I'm working toward this quarter: a new cross stitch pattern for the online store; planting a Chinese wisteria in the bird feeder bed to a) provide shade for the birds / bird feeder and b) provide food for bees; read two non-fiction books (about money probably); get my eating habits back on track; and lose at least 5 pounds. I also want to finalize the converted text of the first two books I mentioned above.

* * * * *

I've also spent some time out in the yard -- HELLO SPRING -- cleaning out the squirrel buffet area of the yard. I churned up the old mulch and pulled the weeds. The weeds I tossed, but I relocated the funky mulch and dirt to a large low spot in my lawn (see that dark patch in the upper right edge of the image).

I also took down and tossed that white bench hanging off the tree at the top of the image. It was falling apart. I like it a lot, though, so I looked for another and happened to find them on sale at Hobby Lobby where I just so happened to have a gift card. I bought two since it was basically a two-for-one deal.

I'll buy some fresh mulch in a week or two, I'm thinking red this year for a pop of color, and fill in all the spaces around the rocks and fill up the bordered space to help my tree retain any moisture come the heat of summer.

* * * * *

And some good news--the Brown Eyed Girl and her soul mate *and* Sonshine are coming to visit. Sadly, not at the same time, but I'm not complaining. The Brown Eyed Girl will be in town over Mother's Day, and Sonshine will visit for my birthday. So YAY!

And that's about all I have to say for now.

Take care and see you in a couple of weeks.

The Dallas Stars have made the playoffs! But you knew that right??

*Clicking on the image will show you the largest version...

According to the chart above, created last October, the Stars had a 58.3% chance of making it to the playoffs and a less than 6.2% change of running the gauntlet of four rounds and winning the Stanley Cup.

Well. they made to the playoffs and they've secured home ice. Which means the first two games are at home to give them the lift of a hometown crowd to support them and cheer them on to early victory. DD and I have tickets to Wednesday night's second home game... :0)

Fast forward six months from the date of the original chart and there's new chart with the sixteen teams (of thirty-two) who made the cut.

Our chances of winning the Cup, today, before the playoffs even start, is 4.6%. It's not the lowest but it's close. They thing about hockey, though, is that once you're in, anything can happen. There are a lot of factors outside the players' control that help or hinder a team's progress.

Injuries to your own players or to the players of your opponent are a big factor, as is "puck luck" and the capriciousness of the officials on the ice making calls. The frustration of many teams is that the officials put the whistles away come playoffs because they don't want to affect the outcome of the games.

BUT... They affected every one of the eighty-two games that led to these teams being in the playoffs and they affect the outcome of a game by not calling penalties when penalties are due anyway. So please, for the love of the Hockey Gods, call the penalties as required.

Okay, enough of that. The officials that get assigned to the Stars' games are all going to call penalties properly. I'm putting that into the universe.

If you don't have rooting interests in another team, will you please send your well wishes and winner vibes toward our boys in Victory Green?

Many thanks!

And on a sad note, the Pittsburgh Penguins, captained by my favorite player Sidney Crosby, didn't make the playoffs for the first time in sixteen seasons. >>sad face<< That's basically Captain Crosby's tenure in the NHL...

Hope you have a great week and don't forget to:

BE LOUD while WEARing GREEN and cheering on the GO STARS!!

Have a super week.

Image courtesy of IMGBIN.

As the title says...it's a new month and it's a new quarter, and it's time to get moving. Literally and figuratively. :0)

Physical therapy for my hip is just about complete--one more PT appointment then I'm on my own. "PT" at home needs to continue until I'm dead. PT has been primarily yoga-type exercises, so no problem.

DH and I have started a new exercise / eating plan known as carb cycling. Instead of going full throttle on Keto, you cycle through days with higher and lower amounts of healthy carbs to coincide with higher and lower intensities of workouts. A quick Google search will bring up a bunch of articles if you're interested.

Carb cycling seemed like a good next step in our constantly morphing plan for weight loss and good health. DH was plateauing on Keto. He researched why and found not only the answer but a solution in carb cycling. We'll see how it goes.

* * * * *

It's also finally spring and we should have tolerable weather, at least, going forward. We've hit that part of the weather cycle where it's not warm and it's not hot, but because it's spring, there's a lot of moisture in the air and everything can get sticky.

That also means that my house partners will want to run the AC more...which I get, but there's a delicate balance between not sticky and too cold in the house for this time of year.

Conversely, there's been lovely mornings with the windows open and the breeze flows in over the bed and it's delightful and delicious to snuggle with Karma.

* * * * *

Getting physical books that look professional is a chore. Every time I made a change in the Kindle Direct Publishing site, I had to wait three days for the proof copy. And then when I finally got everything situated and I hit the official "go live" button, the book had to go to review which was supposed to take up to 72 hours. Luckily for me, each book took less that 48. So now I'm waiting on the delivery of my first ever physical books! They should arrive between the 8th and 10th--two different shipments, one for each book.

That's cutting it a bit close, since my author event is the 15th. There's nothing to do in regards to books but hope and pray. Now I can focus on setting up my table. Finding my swag. Prepping for panel discussions or whatever programming I'll be tasked with. I've reached out to the librarian for questions in advance so I can prep for those in advance. I'm not good at off the cuff kinds of things.

And in preparation for selling physical books...I finally got around to setting up a method for accepting credit cards. For things like this, I definitely appreciate technology. All I have to do is plug the card reader into my phone, open the app, ring up the sale, and swipe. Easy peasy. I hope. I should probably do a test sale, huh?

* * * * *

Image courtesy of DepositPhotos.

I've started yet another fiction book. I think I'm gonna blow right by my purported six books. Not that I mind. My current title in progress...

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill originally published in 1937.

I'm only a few chapters in, but it's very motivating so far.

What I find truly amazing--and I believe it's the universe at work here--is that it echoes other messages I've received from books and one of my YouTubers. So certain tenets are being reiterated. And I have to believe that that's my Angel Crew reinforcing the message they have for me and telling me to get after it.

I'm gettin', I'm gettin'...

* * * * *

And last but not least, while my Dallas Stars haven't officially clinched a spot in the playoffs, it's been a given for months that they're gonna make it...

Thank goodness for the loser point, otherwise we'd be nowhere near the playoffs according to one of my pod casters. :0)

* * * * *

Have a great week!

Image courtesy the NHL / Dallas Stars.

It's been a while since we've I've talked about the Dallas Stars, huh?

It's not because they aren't doing well, because they are. They're doing so well, they're firmly in a playoff spot, bobbing between first and second place in the Central Division with Division rivals, the Winnipeg Jets, depending on who wins or loses on a given night.

Our top line is the best top line in the League. And that's not just me saying that--that comes from beat writers and pod casters I read / listen to.

Our young goalie is one of the best in the League. His save percentage speaks for itself. But, again, beat writers are writing and pod casters are talking about the young goalie in Dallas.

It's just that I've had so much else going on since the start of the season in October. DD and I have only attended two games because attending games requires (a lot of) money and energy, both of which have been in short supply--the energy more than the money.

While I do keep track of their wins and losses over the course of a week, the last few months have been busy months, so hockey's been more a part of the background fabric of life right now than the thing around which other things get slotted.

DD and I have tickets to two games later in the season, already bought before the no-spend challenge was officially issued, so we'll go, have fun, and add to our bobble head collection. I mean, if we're gonna go, we might as well score before the game too, right??

I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to pre-fund food before the games and a beverage ($6 bottle of water) while there. During our last season as season ticket holders, we got pretty good at keeping the expense to a minimum, usually eating at home or picking up inexpensive food at QT.

QT hot dog: $2.50 versus AAC hot dog: $6.50

Crazy, huh?

At this point I really don't need any more souvenirs-- If the Stars make the play-offs, however, there will be commemorative puck purchases for the collection; possibly magnets if they make it all the way to the Stanley Cup. Maybe a key chain or two as I've discovered that many key chains convert nicely to Christmas tree ornaments.

I guess I'd better think about pre-funding those as well. :0)

Have a greet week and don't forget:

The Boys in Victory Green Are Back in Town!

DD and I enjoyed everything the Dallas Stars home opener had to offer this past Saturday--most especially the win!!

As mentioned, for the first time ever, we were able to attend the opening day Victory Green Carpet Walk. After a lunch out (thanks to a gift card and no out of pocket $$ spent), we lined up along said green carpet and waited. And waited. And waited. Things didn't get started until about twenty minutes after they should have.

We got got stuck behind people who kept pressing forward against the "rope" and blocking our view. This really sucks for a short person. And DD has a few inches on me, but she's still on the short side.

But I was able to get my phone mostly in good position that it could see what was coming and I was pleasantly surprised a few moments later.

After being there way early and the things not starting on time, DD and I didn't stick it out for the whole thing. We were both hot and tired and very thirsty, so we left before everyone had walked the carpet. We only missed a couple of faces we would have liked to have seen, but we got the really important ones.

Jamie Benn, the captain:

Tyler Seguin, the super model:

Jake Oettinger, the new number one netminder:

And this dapper fellow here, is Luke Glendening. I thought he just looked so charming with his bow tie.

After our return to the car for some cool air and cool drinks, we returned to the arena. Not to our former season-ticket-holder seats, but close enough. But sadly we were in a set of seats that saw a lot of traffic by lazy people. It ended up being a lot of up and down to let people pass. Lesson learned for future games.

But the game was exciting and we won again a division rival. As is my wont after a win, I got a picture--no, have the whole video!-- of the Reunion Tower Ball lit up in Dallas Stars colors:

* * * * *

Cleanup in Aisle 9!

Okay, not really, lol.

But my Walmart did get new shopping carts yet again. They're a little unusual, but with a couple of cool new features: A phone holder on the left of the back of the child seat, and a cup holder on the right side of the seat back. As a short person, the push handle is a little higher than I'd prefer, but what are you gonna do? At least all the carts will push properly for a while--no wonky wheels yet.

* * * * *

The Sun's a Hot Star...

Did you know that Venus and Uranus rotate east to west when all the other planets rotate west to east...?

There are some theories as to why and you can read those here, if you're so inclined.

Uranus also spins on its side, which those who are fans of the original Blue's Clues would know.

I did note that the animation had Venus and Uranus spinning in the correct direction!

As a side note, the original Blue's Clues was a staple in our house for many years as Sonshine was a wee little lad when it first aired.

* * * * *

A very young Rayna...

Last but not least...

Our family was given sad news last week.

Rayna, our dog of eight years (she's 10), was diagnosed with a very fast growing bone cancer on/in her left shoulder that could easily metastasize to her chest. The best (but not likely) prognosis, even with aggressive measures (amputation and chemo) is two years.

Unfortunately, the cost of treatment for only the possibility of a two year reprieve doesn't make any logical sense. And we still wouldn't know if she's in any pain and how much. Or what her quality of life would be. So the plan is to give her another month of the best life we can offer and then euthanize her over the Thanksgiving week so that DD and I can both be emotional and not have to be at work while doing it.

A teenage/young adult Rayna...

Well, yes!

Colorado Avalanche vs. Edmonton Oilers in the West and Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers in the East.

I placed several $5 bets on various teams early in the year.

Only one team is left playing. That would be the Avs, and they are a juggernaut right now.

But Tampa Bay is going for a three-peat, meaning they're back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and going for their third Cup win. They too are a powerhouse team. (Usually.)

As of this morning, the Avalanche and the Rangers lead their respective series ...

In hockey, however, anything can happen. So by the end of the week, we could be looking at an Oilers / Lightning Cup Final. Both Edmonton and Tampa Bay would have to win all their remaining games. Could it happen? Yes. Is it likely? No

But the Conference Finals and the Cup Final is not what I wanted to muse on today.

Let's circle back to my boys in Victory green.

It's the dawn of yet another new era in Dallas Stars Hockey.

Rick Bowness, head coach for the last couple of seasons, and the team parted ways. Bones inherited the coaching job initially when the previous coach was fired. And as a result of the run to the Stanley Cup Final a couple of years ago, he was offered a new contract.

A lot of people in the fan base are of the opinion that he's not the best coach for our team and while I'm not a strategist nor do I really understand a lot of aspects of the game, I've come to agree. Their explanations make sense.

Bones is an old school coach, but the game has evolved, is evolving, as are the players coming up. While Bones is by all accounts a great "players" coach--everyone in the League loves Bones as a person--his coaching style seems to be stuck in the 80s and 90s. And some of our really good players aren't playing as well as they could as a result. Their skills and talents aren't being utilized, they're not being put in positions to truly shine and succeed. And that's a shame.

Hopefully, the new coach will be able to balance the strengths of each and every player for a truly contending team.

Several of our older players--"veterans," as the over age-thirty players tend to get labeled--are coming off the books, meaning their contracts have expired and are not being renewed. Sadly, we're stuck with one guy who most everyone (fan-wise) hates.

On the other hand, they offered one of our very best players at age 37 a one-year extension. And thank the Good Lord for that. Joe Pavelski, along with his two younger line-mates was responsible for over 40% of our goal scoring last season. While on the one hand it's impressive--we made the play-offs on the backs of those three men--we should be getting scoring from all four lines as well as from the defensemen.

We made it to a game seven of the first round on the back of our young goalie. He was the best goalie in the league during his single round of playoffs and was just shunted into second best position two games into the third round...

Many in the fan base are hoping that the new coach will balance all the talent we have--help the veterans be as productive as possible and allow the young guns opportunity and a chance to shine, all while bringing back a little more offense from up and down the roster.

Looking forward to see what the 2022-2023 season has in store for a boys in Victory Green.

In the meantime--LET'S GO AVS!!

Sidney Crosby Reaches 500 Goals

My favorite player, Sidney Crosby, became only the 46th player in NHL history (over 100 years), to score 500 goals in his career. Quite a feat considering there are some 700+ players in the NHL in any given year. He'd have had at least 100 more if not for "work stoppages" and close to a year of not playing due to concussions.

* * * * *

Jake Oettinger ~ Personal Puzzle

Check out this little puzzle--made just for me by DD. The subject there is our young Dallas Stars goalie when he competed on behalf of the USA at the World Juniors Championship back in 2018.

I'm hoping for another puzzle featuring another favorite player of mine, but I might have to flat out ask for that one. This one was a surprise. :0)

* * * * *

A Little Help From Our Friends

Marc-Andre Fleury is another goalie in the NHL. I've been a huge fan of his pretty much since I got into hockey. One of his fun little quirks is the appreciation he shows the goal posts and crossbar for helping him out on the ice. I tested this and it should work. You'll have to click the little arrow on right side of each image/clip to see the next.

If it doesn't work, click over and cycle through this short amalgamation of video clips. (No Instagram login / account needed.)

Have a great week...

All good things must come to an end. I was going to brag on my hockey team who had tied their longest win streak in franchise history this past Monday. They had a chance to set a new record at eight wins last night, but lost. Granted, it was to one of the better teams in the league, but any team can beat any other team on any given night, so they could have done it. And were on their way to doing it, but seemed to rest an their laurels in the last few minutes of the game and gave up a two-goal lead in less than minute. *sigh*

Instead...let's talk podcasts.

As I said at the beginning, all good things must come to an end.

Puck Soup is my favorite podcast. I've mentioned it before, here and there. I won't bore you with how I found it, but it was the first and the favorite and has been a staple in my life for a good four? five? years now...

While this pod has its roots in another pod with a different pair of hosts, it started for me with Greg and Dave. Greg was a part of that original pod, but for whatever reason, one or both had to move on from it.

So Greg recruited Dave, and the two of them started this adventure called Puck Soup (version 1.0), mostly hockey news and talk (the PUCK) with some pop culture thrown in for fun (the SOUP).

I loved that version and the dynamic between the two of them...the jokes and the bits and the impressions. Oh, the impressions...

But then Dave needed to move on for career reasons, and Greg brought in two new voices, Ryan Lambert and Sean McIndoe, for Puck Soup, version 2.0... It took some time to get over missing Dave and adjusting to Ryan, who, sadly, has no use for Greg's impressions.

Wysh impressions are like sighting endangered species in the wild... I had a couple faves and I do miss hearing them. Sean is great and has a hockey-history-mind like a steel trap.

Now, because of contract terms with his employer, Greg can no longer host the pod. He's gonna be around for guest appearances and provide other content for the community, so we're not losing him completely. Thank the hockey gods because I just don't think I could handle the loss well at the moment.

I'm hearty believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm looking at you Special K and Apple.

As I said, I was disappointed with the loss of Dave from the original incarnation, but have come to love what Sean and Ryan bring to the table, er... the pod.

Sadly, even though nothing was ever broke, circumstances forced the morphing of the product. And while I'm sad that Greg won't be a part of the regular shenanigans, he'll be around and a new voice is taking his place--one I'm familiar with and actually enjoy and am looking forward to hearing on a more regular basis.

So here's to Puck Soup, no matter what version we're in. Long may it simmer.

You know what that means...

Dallas Stars Hockey is back and the Stars pulled off a win.

It was super game and the boys did us proud.

Being back at the AAC with a full-capacity crowd was mostly awesome. :0) Awesome because, of course, the crowd yelling "Stars" as one during the National Anthem is amazing. The sound of the goal horn and the cheering of the fans is music to our ears. Just feeling the excitement of the crowd and the all-encompassing reverberation of the whole crowd yelling "Dallas" "Stars" "Dallas" "Stars" after a goal is a unique experience.

It lacked a bit of awesome because we lost the elbow room from when social distancing was in place. But it's time to re-build normalcy. And this was a super start.

They added a new thing, at least for the home opener, but I'm hoping it sticks around--three long sheets of fabric acting as a projection screen:

For opening night they handed out battery powered glow bracelets:

Normally, I'm all in on just enjoying an experience. I grew up before cell phones, and I don't take a lot of pictures...but...if you're so inclined to get an inkling of what it's like at the AAC, I perfectly-timed hitting record to catch the game winning goal and the resultant crowd response.

It looks as though we have a new group of fellow season ticket holders on our little area and one guy is going to get really annoying really fast. But we'll see how often our paths cross. Not often I hope.

Anyway...

Be Loud. Wear Green. and..

 GO STARS!!!

Okay, it really happened before I left, but I didn't realize it until I was halfway there.

So I stopped for the night in Neosho, MO--roughly halfway between Fort Worth and St. Louis--and discovered when I went to take a shower, that I'd forgotten to pack underwear! What with all the duplicate lists I had, I missed this one key item of apparel. Luckily for me there was a WalMart across the highway from the hotel I stayed in, so the issue was easily rectified.

There's some very lovely countryside between here and St. Louis...the eastern part of Oklahoma is mostly cattle country as far as I could tell and I enjoyed the beauty of the Ozarks as well. The foliage had barely, and I mean barely from green to yellow, started turning, but it was so so lovely.

Here are a few images...

My first couple of hours on the road Wednesday morning was filled with low, low clouds and then some rain.

And then some beautiful canyon-like passages in the last couple hours before hitting the outer edges of the city.

My roommate was arriving via Amtrak and I timed my arrival to pick her up. Actually I arrived a little early because, as it happens, the Enterprise Center is right across from the Amtrak Station. :0) Despite not being a fan of the Blues by any stretch of the imagination, I am a hockey fan. I visited the fan store, because of course I did. They didn't have much that wasn't Blues specific, not even hockey pucks, which was a bit disappointing. I did end up buying a cat toy so that Karma could literally tear up the Blues.

They did have some lovely statues out front however...

And that's it for today...more about the actual conference on Monday. Have a great rest of your week.

I'm off to my con tomorrow and then after that--hockey season begins.

Happy fall everyone, it's finally starting to cool down. We've even had rain.

Hope you're all well. Have a great week.

Not to any "very important dates," but I kept meaning to do a report card on my 2021 goals as of the end of the 2nd quarter, but I just hadn't gotten around to it until now.

But honestly there's not much to say...I didn't make much progress on any of them. It was a rough quarter, topped off by a crazy 4th of July.

I'll be sending my Grandma a post card this week though. I'm doing okay there--not quite monthly but averaging every other. I think. Also August is her birth month, so some flowers will be ordered. She gets an arrangement for her birthday and Christmas.

Oh-wait-- I accomplished one thing! My home gym is complete as far as equipment goes. There are some empty boxes that have piled up that need to get tossed and a couple of random items that need to get taken to the warehouse.

I also need to figure out if I can get on the internet on the TV. I can do YouTube and watch my yoga channel, but I also bought another program that I want to try to access from out there.

The three pounds did get gone, although the inches did not. But that's a project for another day, well, another quarter probably. lol

The three I really failed on were learning about personality strengths, getting a handle on my housekeeping, and the brainstorming of characters and plot arcs for a specific series...

I continue to learn peripherally (via a newsletter and a Facebook group) about the Strengths, but I haven't taken that deep dive into *my* top ten as I had intended. And I probably won't get to it this year.

Now, housekeeping I'm working on. I've got a chore or two to do every day this week and we'll see how that goes and ramp up from there.

As for the brainstorming of characters and plot arcs...that series is still a ways down the road, so it wasn't critical that it all get done, but I am disappointed that I didn't make better progress. On the other hand, other things cropped up and that's okay too. I may re-evaluate that plan, spread out the due dates a bit. I can't plan too much of it all in advance though. If I know too much too soon, then I won't have much interest in writing any of the stories.

In other news--it's been a crazy summer for hockey. There was an expansion draft and then there was the regular draft and then there was free agency frenzy. And it was wild across the board. I'm scratching my head about a couple of the moves my Dallas Stars made. But only time will tell how those trades and signings will pan out.

Future road trip plan: Tennessee in 2023 to check out the nations largest Buc-cee's!! Of course it needs to be built first. Hence the 2023. And there are other things to see and do in Tennessee as well. :0)

Hope you're well. Have a super week.

Our sweet Karma enjoying the fresh air and sunshine yesterday. Spring has officially sprung here in North Texas and thank goodness for that. We'll have more rain and storms, but the cold temperatures are a thing of the past for at least six months.

Another thing of the past...hockey playoff hopes. My hockey boys lost on Saturday to the team they needed to win against. They haven't been mathematically eliminated, but the climb into that 4th place spot is now all uphill in the metaphorical snow. I'm not holding my breath.

But! I'm finally writing. These words may or may not be keepers. I'm just trying to get into my main characters' head spaces right now. Honestly, it's fine with me as long as I'm making progress some way some how.

Also this weekend, I hung out with my best girl friends for hours and hours, and it was wonderful to be with them in person rather than just across a computer screen, although being able to do that was a blessing over the last year. We're going back to gathering in person monthly despite our writers group not doing so yet.

Hope you had a lovely weekend and have a great week.

The mayor of Pittsburgh deemed Saturday, February 20, 2021 Sidney Crosby Day in his honor. Sidney was the savior of hockey in Pittsburgh especially, but some could argue for the league as a whole as well.

He was the Number 1 Draft Pick back in 2005 and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins who were in possession of the number one pick.

He's had an amazing career earning himself not only multiple, multiple individual awards, but three Stanley Cups, two Olympic golds, and a gold medal at the World Cup of Hockey and World Juniors.

Here's to many more...

I tried to get something up on Monday, but the inspiration, the words just weren't there.

And now it's Wednesday. I don't feel like I should let two official blog days pass without a post, so have a general life update...

I submitted the cookie book to an online publisher this past Sunday. My receipt email arrived Monday. I should hear back within 60 days if it was accepted or not. *fingers crossed* If it's not, then I'll get a cover made and publish it myself next Christmas. No harm, no foul.

I've got three writing projects on my plate at the moment--finishing the epic historical, percolating hockey book 5, and character development for a future series...

I think I'm just about ready to dive into writing hockey book 5--yeah that's only book five, not six like I thought. My list of hockey books included the box set of the first three. So I thought I was on book 6 for a minute there, but then realized that no, I've only got four individual titles out. Book 5 is for this year, book 6 will come next. I've fixed the list, moving the box set to separate list/section to avoid future confusion. :0)

Aaaand....

Hockey is back!

After a false start (half the team ended up in COVID protocols and games were postponed), we--I should say: the STARS hit the ground running with four straight wins. Then they lost two. And got back into the winning column again last night.

Be Loud. Wear Green. Go Stars!

Whelp--

We made it through January, but 2021 goes marching on.

I made a good start on my goals. I cooked meals. I mopped the kitchen and hallway. I sent a letter to my grandma. I worked on character worksheets. I completed and submitted a book. I worked out.

Now that we've turned the calendar page... 

I'll keep cooking and mopping and writing letters and writing books and  watching/attending hockey games.

The temperatures will keep warming and the days will keep getting longer and I'll keep making progress.

Hope you're well. Catch you on Friday!

...play their first game of the season tonight. I can't tell you how excited DD and I are.

And yes, we'll be there. The Stars organization has implemented socially distant seating arrangements, one must wear their mask the whole time unless actively eating or drinking, and there's a COVID form each person must fill out before being allowed into the arena. I think there will also be temperature checks upon entry.

The Western Conference Championship banner will be raised and a commemorative mini banner will be handed out at the door. So yeah, we're going.

I'll have safety precautions in place upon my return home--namely going straight to the garage and changing clothes.

* * * * *

In other news, I'm in negotiations with a friend for an exchange of services. I'll get editing for the epic lowlander book. She has an extensive knowledge of Scottish history which I want / need before this book baby goes into the world. Plus she's a great editor. Win/win for me.

She'll get a series guide for one of her series which currently has four books.  She wants to write a couple more at least. She'll have details of her characters and her world (it's a fantasy series) at her fingertips rather than reading all the books herself... So hopefully a win for her. Plus my writing is pretty clean to begin with and this book has been gone over several times already, once by a beta reader way back in the day, and by me a couple of times, so it shouldn't be a time-consuming edit needing a lot of "teaching" comments.

Also--it's the weekend so extra writing time for me. I've started writing the missing scenes and the ability to just submerge and write without having to stop and get ready for work is much needed right now.

Have a great weekend.

Catch you Monday.

For some that means the horrendous year of COVID has passed. Of course, we've still got a ways to go until the return of many normals or the cementing of new normals. By mid-year, vaccines should be available to all who want one. Hopefully, businesses will be reopening and the economies of cities, large and small, across the country will grow and thrive once more.

For the FitzGeralds in general, that means the slowness of the holidays has come and gone, and plans for the business can once again be ratcheted up and set into motion.

For me specifically, it means a fresh start on the accomplishment of my personal goals. Some goals will be recycled from previous years, some will be new, some will be variations on a theme.

Last week, I revisited my goals from 2020 and rated my efforts in achieving each one. I didn't do nearly as well as I hoped. Part of the problem, I think, was that I didn't set actual plans in place to accomplish the individual goals. I also plan to institute rewards. Because who doesn't like to be rewarded?

I'll have my list of goals along with my strategy for accomplishing each one and hopefully the reward soon. I was hoping for Friday, but action plans require a little more thought a time.

The new year also means hockey. The season start in a couple of weeks and if I can be in attendance, I will be.

Have a great first week of the new year. And remember...

I really love rubber ducks. Don't know why or how I came to it--probably a duck too cute to resist--and now I have a bit of a collection.

Perusing Facebook yesterday, I saw a rubber duck advent calendar!

Unfortunately, it's not the worth the $42, so I'll have to pass.

Then DD saw an ice hockey advent calendar...

Which has some cute stuff in it and is probably worth the money because creating one yourself would cost way more when you only need one of something rather than buying in bulk like the makers of this would do...

I did see some cool ideas for homemade advent calendars, so I might try to put a little something together for DD as one of her (early) presents.

Anyway, I hope your week is going well. 

 Mine is going well enough--I got edits back on the first half of the book. My editor had a lot to say and a lot of suggested tweaks and fixes. It's going to take a minute or two to go through and make decisions.

On top of that, I'm not quite finished with the book. I have 500 to 700 words needed to write a transition scene, but I have no idea what to do. I sent the second half of the book off the editor without that scene, because I need the rest done. I'll have to do my self edit on that bit.

As a result of me not finishing, I'm not going to make my pre-sale deadline, so I've got to go with plan B for the Facebook group takeover event I have on the calendar.

Lessons learned-- From now on, no scheduling a release until the book is done. And no scheduling events until I'm confident the book will be ready.

Catch you on Friday!