Festivities

I had my second book signing yesterday.  This time at Mediacom Ice Park during a MSU Ice Bears v. KU Jayhawks game.  We won - oh, yeah!  What a gratifying experience, though, to be able to talk about No Penalty for Love with team members and staff and fans.  I hope everyone who bought a copy enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  It was a challenge for me to get the technical aspects of the game on the page and let the thrill of it come through in the writing.  I never would have been able to pull off some of the scenes if not for the Ice Bears.  So, thanks again, Guys!

I'm feeling partied out this weekend - festivities abound.  Though, I did manage a Saturday morning at home yesterday to make some Christmas candies and cookies.  I found a recipe (another good one) in Grandma's recipe box - 4 Chips Good Fudge, it was called.  Rich!  Oh, my!  Made that and also some Maple Nut Brittle which didn't "brittle" so became a new and oh, so wonderful Christmas delight - Maple Nut Clusters.  Also some plain, but simply wonderful sugar cookies - not the frosted kind - icky - but just a touch of colored sugars to give them a little sparkle.  I wore my Snoopy Christmas apron and played Christmas music on the radio in the kitchen, sang to Natalie (she's the only one I sing to besides God because neither of them are critical of my tunes), and had a jolly good time.

Speaking of festivities, here are some romantic suggestions for December in case you  need a little Christmas right this very minute:

1.  Find a movie house showing one of the classics and go - It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, or Miracle on 34th Street (which Bruce took me to see at the Gillioz last night).  Barring that, dvr one and make a point of watching it.
2.  Gotta watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Other specials to revive your childlike enthusiasm for the season are Rudolph the Red Nosed Reineer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and, if you can find it (which I haven't) Mr. Kreuger's Christmas - apparently I remember a 1/2 hour long made-for-TV special from the '70's with amazing clarity.  It stared James Stewart.
3.  Burn a pine scented candle, light the fire and watch the tree blink lazily.
4.  Make a fireside supper - that's what I plan to do next Saturday night before the actual holiday week is upon us.  One of the great things about vegetarian cooking at Christmas is that there is an abundance of red and green food to choose from.  Makes for festive and lively plating!
5.  Sing - even if it's just to your dog.
6.  Get quiet and remember Jesus - if that doesn't make you happy and grateful, you're a lost cause.
7.  DON'T make any resolutions or bemoan the year past - just make sure you remind yourself that every moment of every day is a new beginning and nothing stays the same - good or bad - and plan to make the changes you want to see sooner rather than later.
8.  Make a Christmas treat for the birds - airpopped popcorn tossed out by the handfuls, or something more adventurous like backyard tree decorations made with peanut butter and bedecked with seeds.
9.  Read a great Christmas book:  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; anything Christmassy by Debbie Macomber.
10.  Count your blessings - as Bing sings - it's better than counting sheep by far.

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season -
Shellie

What a Launch!

Last night's launch party was perfect. It was everything I'd planned and more. Of course, when you start planning an event a year in advance, you have a better chance of it working out nicely.

We had the Club Room at Mediacom Ice Park. A gorgeous (and very delicious) cake that looked just like the cover of No Penalty for Love baked and decorated by Julie's Chewies. Flower arrangements to match the colors from the cover including a hockey stick decorated with flowers for the head table (thank you, Mom!). Most importantly, though, we had around 80 guests - friends from church, work, old friends, new friends, and lots of family.

The Missouri State Ice Bears won their game against Northern Illinois and about 50 of the 59 people who requested tickets for our event got to see their very first ice hockey game. I think we made a few new fans! The front row, mainly people from our church, began pounding on the glass by the second period! Others took ice skating vouchers and spent some time in the west rink under the disco ball.

There was only one surprise for me the whole evening and, though I'm a shy person and normally would have hated something like this, it turned out very well. The General Manager of the Ice Bears is Stan Melton. His wife, Cindy, was a substitute teacher in my high school classroom a few years ago and she noticed my Ice Bears memorabilia on the wall. She also did some long-term subbing across the hall from me, so we had lots of opportunities to talk hockey. Since then we've spoken at games. Last night she had me paged during the second period to come to the tunnel at center ice. I watched the second period from next to the penalty box and between the second and third periods went out to center ice (in slick shoes and praying not to fall) and was interviewed about No Penalty for Love. The announcer also mentioned my book and where it can be purchased three or four different times throughout the game. So, unexpected publicity!

At any rate, when you write your book I highly recommend doing a thematic launch party if you can. It was an experience I will always treasure. Thanks to Kelly for grabbing up my camera and taking so many great pictures for me (pictures to come soon); to my mother for the decorations; to Bruce for keeping me grounded and for being so protective of me so that there was nothing put a damper on the excitement; to Shawn for sneaking off to give them the initial announcement about my book and to Cindy for making me go out on the ice; to the Ice Bears for a well-played game and showing our guests how fun hockey is; to Trey and Megan and the others on staff at Mediacom Ice Park for the accommodations and all the attention; to the ladies at Julie's Chewies for working so hard to get the colors just right and for baking such a sinfully good cake, and to each of my guests for helping me celebrate!

Go Bears!

Shellie