Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 25

A New Addition...

 

The latest addition to the collection! :0) Aren't they cute?? I'd seen them when I was out and about with DD a few weeks ago, but didn't buy them as I didn't want to or need to spend the money even they weren't terribly expensive.

But DD ended buying them for me as a belated Mother's Day Gift (she did take me to lunch already), so that was a pleasant surprise.

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Yep, I missed two days last week, but life has been terribly boring. I've done little but work, read, and write.

So I hope you're well.

No guarantees of blog posts for the rest of this week. I've actually been considering dropping to once or twice a week anyway, so this may be a good time to transition. If I have something exciting to share, I'll let you know.

Have a great week.

It is done...

Despite two more games to play in their regular season, my Dallas Stars have been officially eliminated from the playoffs. While they won Friday, the team that needed to lose Saturday did not. Even if we won both remaining games, we'd only tie the team ahead of us, but the tie-breaker goes to them...as a result, we're out.

As I mentioned several posts ago, I am so sad for the players. A lot of things conspired against them--including themselves--and they just couldn't pull it off.

On the other hand, there are so many things to be grateful for and I won't bore you with all of them, but they'll have a nice long off-season to heal up physically and mentally. DD and I will be ready and rarin' to cheer them on to great heights again next season.

As for me, I'm a little disappointed, but mostly relieved, not only for myself, but for my pocketbook. :0)

I can now ramp up the writing projects and plan for my upcoming trips (three of them!), including the annual GRL conference. Without hockey playing such a prominent role in my schedule and my mind, I can focus and produce.

Hope you had a great weekend and a lovely Mother's Day if you are a mom, or you celebrated the mother of your children, or celebrated with your own mom.

I called both my moms, had lunch with one child and received phone calls from the other two, and otherwise enjoyed a quiet weekend just me, myself, and I... (DH went to visit his own momma.)

Here's to a great week...

Happy Mother's Day

My momma and me...

My baby and me...

My hockey  partner in crime and me...

And my dear first born and me...

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I am also a dunce...I messed up the new subscribe process, but I spent Wednesday sorting it out, so...

My mom (YS), my friend NC, and my friend GN, have been manually added to the NEW subscribe list. Any blog post will show up in your inbox at noon of the day I publish it. (I hope.)

Everyone else will need to re-subscribe because, as promised, the Feedburner lists/databases were deleted.

* * * * *

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Happy Hump Day

It's a beautiful day here in North Texas...and I'm stuck in the office. But!

I was given the Core Values Embodiment Award for our company for the month of May. :0)

Along with the honor, I get a $25 gift card for food, and I get to choose the next recipient.

Hope you're having a good week. Catch you Friday!

Spring Has Sprung

 

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.

What a Difference Two Weeks Makes...

Two weeks ago, I was feeling low, low, low...and pretty convinced my Dallas Stars were going to miss the playoffs. They're still not a lock, but as of Monday night, they're two (!!) points behind that 4th place team...with two games in hand...and one more huge game against said 4th place team on Saturday.

Two weeks ago, we were seven points back...

...and as of Monday we're the 5th place team!

Now, last night, they lost, but so did that 4th place team, so we didn't gain or lose ground.

But the boys now have a five game stretch against the teams ahead of us with their remaining two against the team we just passed in the standings. The Nashville Predators (the 4th place team for those keeping score at home) have an easier slate of games, but two fewer left to play. I'm not sure the scales balance proportionately in our favor.

But we're a scrappy bunch and we'll be getting one of our best players back from injury any time now. Will it be soon enough to make a difference? No telling.

While I'll be sooo sad for the team, I'd still be relieved if they didn't make it. I'm thankful last night was the last home game. I'm just tired right now.

But if they do make the playoffs, I'll be cheering them on in person as often as possible.

* * * * *

Overall, I'm feeling a bit better. Mentally and physically; mostly mentally, but physically too.

I'm working on the book again. I'm exercising again. I'm trying eat better again.

I just need to keep making the decisions I need to make...

* * * * *

Hope you're doing well so far this week. Keep on keeping on...

National Pretzel Day

Huzzah! Today is National Pretzel Day… 

Pretzels have long been one of my favorite snacks. Hard or soft, sticks or twists, I love ‘em.

I don’t eat them often anymore as they are 100% carbohydrates, but every once in a while (like maybe twice a season), I’ll indulge in the big soft twists at a hockey game.

Did you know that pretzels came about as the result of the strict fasting rules of the Catholic Church during Lent, aaaaall the way back in the Middle Ages?

In the 16th century, it was the baking of pretzels that saved the city of Vienna from the invading Turks. Monks in the basement bakery of a monastery heard the invaders and were able to warn the rest of the city. As a reward, pretzel bakers received their own coat of arms.

History.com has it that the term “tying the knot” may have come from the practice of Swiss royalty using pretzels in their wedding ceremonies.

Pretzels probably arrived in America along with the first pilgrims, but the first wave of German immigrants in the early 1700s most certainly brought them as well.

One of the best inventions ever was a bagel dog made with pretzel dough…sorta like a corn dog, only wrapped in dough rather than dipped in batter… Mmmm.

Again, the ones you find at ball parks or sports arenas are best, but these'll do in a pinch.

Are you a pretzel fan like me?

Are You "Languishing"...?

That's the word for the middle ground many people are feeling as we enter year two of the world according to COVID: languishing.

You're not depressed and feeling hopeless, but you're not bouncing out of bed and being productive at the pace you once were, back in pre-pandemic / pre-lockdown times...

You're feeling unfocused and blah, and even though you mostly have the energy to get things done, you lack the motivation you once had.

Not much changed for me when COVID hit and the lockdowns happened.

Our business was considered essential and the doors remained opened. No one worked from home except for the lone employee who contracted COVID and that was only for two weeks. Before and since, it's been business as usual.

On a personal front, my writer's group meetings went online, and my closest girlfriends and I gathered in Zoom every Saturday morning to chat rather than the once a month post-writers group gathering we'd done before.

Of course sports seasons were suspended for a while. Once our beloved hockey was returned to us last August, DD and I attended socially distant and mask-required watch parties. A privilege and luxury not every hockey town allowed depending on their location. With the new season (January), we've been allowed to watch hockey live, but socially-distant seating remains and masks are still required. However, some arenas still remain empty of fans despite hockey being played.

Through it all, I've persevered and felt and been my usual self. Until the last couple of months.

I few weeks ago, I chalked it partly up to the series of events surrounding the cookie book. First to the usurpation of my time and my writing plan / schedule for hockey book #5. And then I thought maybe the editor, with all her comments and desired edits, had messed with my confidence in my writing.

And maybe both of those things were catalysts, but they don't explain the trouble I've had getting back on the horse, so to speak.

But a friend and fellow writer shared an article (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/we...) and it really captured the spirit of how I've been feeling.

Take care of yourselves. Give yourselves and others grace. Do what brings you joy and creates energy within you. The mental health ramifications of COVID and lockdowns are going to be with us for years to come.

Take care and enjoy your weekend.

Follow Me Again...?

The application I was using for y'all to receive the blog directly is disabling that feature in July...

Soooo...if you're still so inclined to get my my blog in your email, then I've researched other options and implemented the most highly recommended one.

You can subscribe there to the right in the box with the green outline. What that means is that you'll get notified twice for maybe two weeks and then I'll delete the other one and remove all y'all's email addresses from the original. (May 4th--I'll delete)

And if you no longer want to hear from me, that's fine too. I get it. :0) I'm not terribly exciting and have a bit of a three-track mind.

Speaking of tracks...one of them is hockey (well, DUH, Jen) and the boys have a four-game win streak going... They're not locked into a playoff spot just yet, but they're tied with the fifth place team and a point behind the fourth place team and we won't have anything in the bag until probably the very last game or two with two and a half weeks until then.

Good thing I no longer bite my nails. ;0)

Hope your week is going well...and, you know...

I'm a Great Auntie Again

The newest member of my family made his appearance last Friday...

I'll get to meet him in September when I go visit my family. Can't wait. :0) He'll be the youngest baby I've gotten to hold--the others have been several months older than this little guy will be by the time I get to visit.

Spring is in full swing here in North Texas and we had gorgeous weather Sunday.

Hope you had a great weekend too...