Sunday, February 1, 2009

This and That

1. SuperBowl and Kurt Warner--Kurt used to be a neighbor when he was the quarterback for the St. Louis Rams. One day we saw him at the local grocery store. My son was pretty awe-stricken, and of course, we didn't have anything on us for autographs. But Kurt helped us track down a piece of paper and was very gracious. When a star is kind to your kid, in an unguarded moment, you always remember that. So here's to Kurt! He's a poster child for a guy who never gave up on his dreams even when he was stocking groceries and folks said, "Um, get a life, buddy," he believed in himself. Even when the Rams let him go after he broke his hand, he never stopped thinking he could get back on the field and fire a cannon. That's an inspiration to all of us.

2.Please, No More Help!--I'd been complaining about how cold my feet get in my office, which is in our basement. So to be sweet, my husband plugged in a space heater and fired it up before I went down to work. In fact, since he gets up earlier than I, he did it BEFORE I was out of bed and BEFORE he made me my daily latte. (I know, he's a gem!) Unfortunately, the space heater blew out the electrical system in my office. When we finally got things running again, my hard drive sounded like a blender. So David then had to take my computer in to get it fixed. The culprit? Dog hair. (Which is really odd because our dogs don't shed!)

3. Oh, Doggies, Could You Read That AAA Card to Me?--Last week David was in Tupelo, Mississippi, playing poker in a series of tournaments. On Monday, with all the bad weather threatening, I decided to take the dogs for a ride and go get groceries. I loaded them in the car, got part-way down the drive and remembered the box of food I wanted to mail to our son. I turned off the motor, left the keys in the ignition--I didn't want the dogs to knock the car out of PARK--ran inside and grabbed the box. After I closed the trunk, I tried to get back in the car. It was subzero, so I was in a hurry. But...the car was locked. One of the dogs had stepped on the door lock mechanism.

Inside the car was my purse. I ran into the house--fortunately I could still get in--and called Triple A. The woman was very kind, and told me, "This happens all the time, but usually when drivers pick their dogs up at the vet's office." She dispatched someone to help, but she also asked, "What's your Triple A number?"

Um, that was in the car with the dogs.

I thought maybe if I hung around outside long enough, one of the dogs might step on the door lock mechanism AGAIN and unlock it....

A few minutes later, my husband called from Tupelo. I try NOT to call him when he's off playing poker. I don't want to wake him up after a long night of playing or interrupt him when he's at a table. But, he was there on the line, and he knew where I could find a second set of keys. Whew.

4. Love Is Murder--I'll be up at Love Is Murder in Chicago. They always put on a great conference! Hope to see some of you there this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

13 comments:

Camille Minichino said...

My "this" for today is that I waited for superbowl to start, set up my husband and a couple of buddies with drinks and snacks and went to a crafts store, which I knew would be open and empty.

Had a great time browsing and picking up some beads to use as vases for my new miniature flower project.

Kathryn Lilley said...

My "that" is I'm trying out a new skin machine for research for my tips for MAKEOVERS CAN BE MURDER, a deep penetrating light using LED technology. Has anyone ever tried one of these? I asked a dermatologist about it and I guess there's a bit of science behind it, but I'm not sure it's worth $300, which is what the high-end machines go for. It's supposed to increase healing time and improve skin tone.

Kathryn Lilley said...

I also found out from the dermatologist that zinc-based sun screens are the best. Ya hear the tips here first, ladies.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Camille, a girl after my own heart!

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Kathryn, is that sort of a do-it-yourself Thermage?

Kathryn Lilley said...

It's very mild, not a real laser at all, Jo Ann! More like pointing a big laser-pointer pencil at your face! You sit in front of it for 9 minutes a day twice a day and it promises to "lift" your skin. So far no lifting, but I've only been using it a few days.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Do they make a full-sized version? Body length? Just wondering...

Anonymous said...

Hey, cool about Kurt Warner. I watched the SB commercials but I hoped Kurt would win because people dumped him so quickly here in St. Louis when he wasn't perfect all the time. He still comes back to do charity work and I think he's great for that. He won the Best CHarity work award before the SP also. If your going to Chicage from St. Louis this week aren't you going from the deep freeze to sub-zero. Pack your woolies or you'll freeze. Good Luck.
P

Kathryn Lilley said...

Joanna, no kidding, you can strap it around various parts of your body! It's shaped like a waffle iron.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Karen, explain to me why my son, my mother, my sisters, my nieces, my grand-niece, and my aunt all live in Florida--and I'm FREEZING up here north of the Mason-Dixon line? EEEEYAH. And I'm off to Chicago? I am truly NUTS.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Kathryn, sounds like a plan. Of course, I already have waffle marks...

deedub said...

Joanna! You may not remember me...quite a blast from the past...you visited my scrapbook store in Bothell, WA after the release of one of your books.
I stumbled onto a blog that led me to this one...and YOU! Your writing is always so pure and inspirational!! Glad to see you are still blessing us with opportunities to read your thoughts.
Hugs,
Deanna Wentz Shain

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Deanna! Of course, I remember you! How the heck are you? Dish! Do you still have the store? What's up? I still remember that lovely group of stores around yours and I still have the pretty umbrella I bought that day--the one with the hummingbirds!