Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 35

Of a Sunday Afternoon

 

 

The squirrels provide no end of amusement... Check out the critter lying in the picnic table--feet dangling over the edge. And the other one just sitting in the bowl snacking leisurely.

In other exciting news, our Dallas Stars won their game yesterday--a game they desperately needed to win. It was back and forth with the score throughout the who game. A nail-biting, barn burner for sixty minutes plus of game play!

Also, the heatwave has been slightly broken. It'll only be 93* today instead of 103*!! I'll take it.

Hope you had a great weekend...

Bring on the Hockey

 

Once upon a time, DD would only watch Dallas Stars hockey. Didn't care about news of any team other that of our home team. She was a more a Stars fan and less a general hockey fan. It was challenge to have a hockey conversation with her sometimes. But five months after the world went on hiatus and my girl is watching all kinds of hockey.

Of course, other games have ramifications for our team, provided they move forward.

It's really nice to have hockey back, but we've both become realists about the chances our Stars have to get past the first round. Could it happen? Sure it could. Anything can happen during the NHL playoffs. Will it happen? Sadly, the play of our team and decision of the coaches on whom to put in the lineup greatly reduces our chances.

We've both made other picks as to who the winner of the Stanley Cup will be. Neither of us has picked our Stars to go all the way. We're each rooting for one of the other's most hates teams. I'm rooting for Colorado Avalanche and she's rooting for Philadelphia Flyers. Since they're in different conferences, they could end playing each other for the Cup. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

Anyway, it's been an exciting week of hockey with more to come this weekend.

Hope your weekend is whatever you're looking for it to be! Have a great one.

 

 

I've been on TV!

 

Me on the right, my DD on the left.

This is a still from a commercial for Fox Sports Southwest or the Fox Sports Go app. The footage was taken at one of the many watch parties DD and I attended during the spring of 2019.

I have not seen the commercial myself, but will be watching for it when my Dallas Stars games are broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest over NBC or NBCSN.

 

Hope your week is going well!

 

Kudos to the NHL...

 

First I'd like to say that, sadly, birthday boy Sidney Crosby and his team the Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday. What a sucky birthday. :0(

But!

On to more amusing things. I mentioned a week or so ago that hockey is back and being played in two "bubbles" in two cities to keep players and staff and officials and everyone as safe as they can be. One thing that's not in the bubbles are fans.

Us fan are watching from home. But the NHL has given a humorous nod to just how strange the whole situation is. So on the jumbo-tron at various games, fans have been treated to the following memes:

On happier note--my Stars finally won a game in spectacular comeback fashion. The win was really nothing more than a great morale booster but they needed it and badly.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Happy Birthday, Sidney Crosby!!

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Kneeling:  Ryan Reaves, Jason Dickinson, Tyler Seguin, and Robin Lehner
These four players are the first to take a knee during the American and Canadian national anthems prior to a game in which they were playing. Matt Dumba took a knee at a game a few days prior to this, but he'd given a speech and was not playing in the game itself. Please note that Matt Dumba and Ryan Reaves are players of color.

Now, many on social media are saying all kinds of negative things about a guy (Tyler specifically)  who's trying to mature, grow, and learn in the wake of George Floyd's murder by supporting his hockey brothers of color. As an FYI and for what it's worth, there are only 43 players of color in a league of 700+ active players.

I know some people think it's political, but how is standing up for what's right and supporting your friends and colleagues political? I get that there can be and maybe are political aspects to the issues, but sometimes, there's just doing the right thing. Such as standing (metaphorically in this case) with those who are fighting for basic human decency.

These players are using the platform they have as popular professional athletes to bring an important issue to the attention of some who might not otherwise give it a moment's thought.

It's so important for those with white privilege, such as Tyler, Jason, and Robin to stand with those whose experience has been different and far worse. It's important for them (and the rest of us who also enjoy white privilege) to acknowledge there's been wrong done to a certain sector of our fellow human beings before people who don't understand that there's a problem can begin to change their perception.

No, Tyler (or Jason or Robin) shouldn't be traded. He shouldn't be fined. He shouldn't be unfollowed on Twitter or Instagram, but knock yourself out if it makes you feel better (as if he'd know, sheesh).
He certainly shouldn't be excoriated for standing up for what's right. Or for using this form of peaceful protest to advocate for change.

I was one of those outraged, uneducated people back when Colin Kaepernik took a knee back in 2016, thinking he was disrespecting the flag and those who'd fought and died for our freedoms. But what I forgot was that those who fought and died--well, they fought for our freedom and certain unalienable rights. Let's take a look at the First Amendment shall we...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Yeah, that last phrase. People have a right to gather peaceably and to petition the Government to right its wrongs.

I hope I'll walk the walk when the time comes...

Have a great week.

Happy Monday

So-- Ice Cream. I attempted chocolate strawberry chocolate chip. It wasn't bad, but it needed to be sweeter. Next time around, I need to add a bit more sweetener to the jar. Also not terribly keen on the frozen bits of fruit. So I need to mash or blend the fruit up into more of a compote too I think.

From this:

To this:


The recipe makes a bit more, but I'd nibbled a bit before remembering to take a picture. :0) Add all ingredients to a mason jar, shake for five minutes, then freeze until done. Easy peasy.

More to come!

* * * * *

DD came home with a little tiny baby Stars jersey for the cat. Karma was not impressed.


Now we need to get one for the dog and take pet pictures of them together--ha!

* * * * *

How was your weekend? Mine was productive, especially on the writing front, as I had the house to myself Friday evening, all of Saturday, and half of Sunday. Since writing time starts pre-dawn, I was able to invest myself in writing sprints for as long as the write-brain would cooperate.

I also took the broom and Swiffer mop to our bedroom. Last task in there is to dust everything on the walls. Dusting. Blech! My least favorite household chore.

I'm also debating on whether or not I'm up for re-painting my bedroom. It's been well over a decade and, with some of the spoils of our fireworks season, DH and I are getting a new bed. If there's ever a good time to repaint, I'd say that qualifies.

Not really going to change the Americana  theme, but if I paint, I'm going with a different set of colors. Right now, my walls are light blue above a wallpaper border and dark blue below it. So I'd have to remove the border for sure. When I move forward with this project, I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint the wall the bed is on some shade of burgundy and then go with a light beige/cream color for the other three walls. New mini-blinds are in order as are new window coverings. And that should do it.

I'll keep you posted...

Anyway, back to work. Have a great week.

It Finally Happened--

I've mentioned my podcast habits multiple times...

I'm a subscriber on Patreon to one podcast in particular and one of the perks is the monthly 'subscriber suggested & voted on' topic.

For months and months and months, maybe close to a year, a The-Simpsons-related topic is put forward. The top four topics as "hearted" (voted on) by the subscribers makes it to the final vote. For months and months and months, maybe close to a year, The Simpsons topic has lost in the final vote.

Until this month. :0) The topic finally became the bride.

I won't be listening to it since I never watched The Simpsons and none of the conversation will mean anything to me, but now we (all the subscribers who couldn't care any less about the Simpsons) can be done with it once and for all.

* * * * *

I've been struggling with temptation and have been giving in way too often...from fast food to Starbucks...and I need to get back on the eating plan.

Thank goodness for bestie writer peeps who keep me accountable on a weekly basis. If I have to report back, I'm more likely to make better decisions.

So today I have to decide what's on the menu next week (chili with kale for one!) and add to the grocery list.

I recently tried a keto ice cream recipe and it was pretty darn good. Now I want to play around with some ingredients and flavors and see if I can come up with something that will thrill me almost as much as Pecan Pralines & Cream. Okay, who am I kidding? It won't take much. :0) Chocolate chocolate chip with coconut flakes was good enough.

* * * * *

All right...time to get to work.

Have a great weekend!

The Battle of Pensylvania!

I watched live hockey for the first time in five months and it was glorious!!

Despite their teams (Penguins and Flyers) having one of the biggest rivalries in hockey, the players mixed it up during the playing of the national anthem in the spirit of unity and solidarity and to stand against social injustices, racism, and hate.



My favorite player--Sidney Crosby. And, no, he's not a Dallas Star...but he's the best in the world.

Sidney's teammate, Evgeni Malkin.

Sadly, my Pens lost...3-2 in overtime, however it was an exhibition game with no playoff consequences...except for maybe the mental ones from losing... :0(

Hope you're having a great week--I AM!!

Annual Writers Retreat

This past weekend I attended my annual private writers retreat at Lake Conroe. It's a private house and not a public venue, so the risk of COVID exposure is minimal, but I will be hunkering down for the next couple of weeks to make sure I don't have anything and to make sure I don't catch anything as I have my annual trek to visit my family coming about a month out. There's a new baby in the house I'm itching to get my hands on, so I have to ensure my health to ensure hers.

ANYWAY

A good time was had by all as usual. I went in expecting to get the issues with my current work-in-progress sorted and I did. Does it still need some work? Yes, quite a bit still, but the missing pieces were found and another 5K words were added.

But I'm ready to get at the heavy-lifting called editing and work in the emotional story arcs and the internal narrative.

Lake Time is a favorite daily activity:




Hope you had a great weekend as well.