Happy Birthday to Me--Now Get to Work!!

A very content me last year in St. Thomas.  If possible, Birthday Fairy, I want to go there RIGHT NOW!! :-)

It's my birthday and I'm feeling a smidge philosophical.  I should be cleaning for the arrival of my parents and prepping for Thanksgiving dinner, but what fun is that??!!

It's been a strange year I'm glad is officially over.  If there's been any overriding theme I can't ignore, it's that health has got to take center stage.  I'm putting it out there that by my birthday next year, I WILL lose at least fifty pounds.  Yesterday, I picked up a seventeen pound turkey and nearly couldn't do it.  Not cool, but it is what it is and lord willing, by this time next year I'll be doing laps around Super Wal-Mart with my Honeysuckle White.

Another area of personal housekeeping I vow to work on is organization.  I've given ten bags of clothes and misc. household flotsam to Goodwill in the past couple weeks, and would love to give more.  One of my fave TV shows is Hoarders, because it always inspires me to tidy.  Like if they can clean those huge messes, I can tackle the junk drawer and closets!!

One big goal in regard to my writing is to be more like my amazing friend, Margaret Daley.  And I'm not just saying this because she's taking me to birthday lunch!!  LOL!!  Margaret plans her days down to the minute and gets more done than anyone I know.  In the time it takes me to write one book, she'll write three.  Her secret?  Consistency.  She writes EVERY day.  I think I'll put a pic of her on the wall beside my desk, always reminding me to write by the Margaret Method.

Other small things I must tackle during this, my forty-fourth year:

• Weed our front gardens. 
• Read more.
• Lunch or coffee more with friends.
• Sleep more. 

Whew, that's plenty for now, and even if it weren't I seriously need to get on with Turkey Day prep.  To all my friends I've been been neglecting--I'll be nagging you soon to go play!!  Until then, here's to hoping we all have an extra special Thanksgiving!! 

Seat Stealers--I'm Watching You!!!

Hubby and I with our Hannah.  She's our fave Ice Girl!!!

Tonight is date night as Hubby and I are headed to an Oilers game!!  This is big for me as I actually do my hair and he's charming and attentive and buys me onion rings while lots of hot guys skate within a couple feet of my seat.  Sounds perfect, right?!

It would be if not for a breed of people I will now call the despicable "Seat Stealers".  Some back story--lauramariealtom.com is a corporate sponsor of the Tulsa Oilers.  I figure what better product for a romance writer to sponsor than men.  Along with my sponsorship, I get a pair of REALLY great seats, but they aren't exactly cheap.  Because of the price, during some games, not all of the glass seats are occupied, making way for the Seat Stealers.

Now, not all Seat Stealers are inherently bad.  A couple behind us who also have season tickets send down their little boy who politely cheers on our guys and doesn't litter.  He's cute and well-mannered and doesn't bother me a bit.  Drunks are always welcome, as they up the the night's entertainment factor by setting their beers on the little ledge under the glass.  When players ram into that section, the beer splatters and voila--beer soaked drunk people.  Great fun!!  Especially when they're happy drunks!!

Unfortunately, sweet little Trent is the cream of the crop when it comes to Seat Stealers.  We had a game Sunday and I arrived a little later than usual.  (Hubby was out of town.)  I get to our seats and there are already TEN people in our row.  I think it only holds fifteen and our seats are seven and eight.  First, this crew refused to let me in.  They all just stared like I should climb over them.  Finally through, I set my purse and blanket in seat twelve, politely asking the girl in MY SEASON SEATS if she has tickets.  She says, "No, we got in free."

I say, "That's great, but you're sitting in MY SEASON SEATS."

This girl gives me a death stare I found chilling, then shrugs.

Fuming, I sit in seat twelve, trying to figure my next move.  Then a strange thing happens.  The guy in seat one seems to be the group leader announces they have to move.  So six of them move to the glass seats in section 101 and four stay with me, moving to seats one through four, the whole time glaring like I've done something wrong.

Oh well, at least I've got my seats, right?  Ha!  Next to arrive?  AN ENTIRE PEEWEE HOCKEY TEAM!!!  Well over a dozen rowdy, sticky, spilling, dripping, jumping, horribly behaved kids fill in the rest of the row.  More kids file in behind them.  Where are their parents??!!  These kids were so bad, I moved closer to the original Seat Stealers to attempt getting away. 

During the first period intermission, two of my adult row mates start making out so hard I thought I might need a condom!!!

Some time during the third period, thankfully, the bad kids ran off.  Sweet little Trent appeared and what does he do?  Starts picking up all the trash the other kids left!!

Sadly, most every game, this scenario plays out in some form.  Like I earlier said, if people are polite about it, it's not a big deal, but by far most Seat Stealers lack basic human manners.  Tonight, I plan to speak with the BOK Center usher of our section.  I'm highly doubtful this will accomplish anything, but for my own sanity, I have to try.  We've got a long season ahead of us . . .

Lets go Oilers!!!! :-)             

Hockey is Waaaay More Fun Than Lounging on the Sofa!!

Remember our Romance Road Trip? Gorgeous Louisa and her

super-talented Oilers goalie, Ian, are still an adorable couple!!

After a freakishly hot summer here in Oklahoma, it's cooling down and time for Oilers Hockey!! I've been sick for so long with that *&^%$ mystery tummyache, I was beginning to doubt if I'd even make it to the first few games. Finally, the last test with the last specialist showed a not-so-little problem that landed me in surgery a few days later.

Fast forward a little over a week and while I tire easier than I'd like and still have twinges of surgical pain, the mystery knife pain that's held me prisoner since May is gone. Can I get an Amen?

I'm not just being a drama queen when eluding to pain being the ultimate warden. After a while, I felt caged. Pain pills made me nauseous, which only made me feel worse. Thus, I've spent months on the sofa and it was getting old. Now that I'm sprung, I've been deep cleaning the house that's felt dormant and at least trying to catch up on laundry. Hannah and I went girl-shopping Saturday afternoon and I did lunch with Russell Sunday afternoon.

Another task Hannah and I tackled is buying silverware--more specifically, forks. We were down to three. How does that happen? Where did they go? We now have a nice, new set I'm counting after meals!!

Wish I had some clever moral to this story or a definitive reason for what I went through. I have gained a new respect for anyone suffering from chronic pain. Having had one doctor tell me it was all in my head, don't take that sort of disrespect!! Only you know your body and insist the search for the problem doesn't end until you say!!

Quick shout-out of thanks to my amazing family and friends who've suffered this with me--Big Terry, Little Terry, Hannah & Russell, Mom & Dad, Margaret, Winnie, all of my fab Facebook friends local and far away, and of course Sweet Pea, Cocoa and Daisy--at the worst of this, you all made life worth living.

As for my Oilers, they're doing great!! Yesterday, since Hubby's out of town and Hannah was doing her Ice Girl thing, Louisa and I cheered them on to a HUGE win over Wichita!! Let's Go Oilers!!!