Thankful Day #2

I really should of started this "thankful" thing a month ago, because I have so much to be thankful for, I could just ramble on and on...and ON...and then, you'd want to throw things at my head, and delete my blog address and un-friend me on facebook, and well, we can't have that now can we....so it's best I keep this limited to a week as not to cross your threshold for Thankfulness.

Today, I'm thankful for my family.  An unconventional family....Boyfriend instead of husband, Boyfriend's offspring instead of step-son, two dogs, a ferret and a turtle.  But they are my family, and I couldn't be happier that we all now live together in a house of our own, and I no longer have six bras and forty seven hoodies in my car due to the fact that I was living between two houses for the past couple years!  I <3 being all in one place.

And you know, sometimes boyfriends are cranky butts, and sometimes, teenagers are a bit of a nightmare to interact with, and sometimes the dogs crap on the floor, drink out of the toilet, and throw up in your bed, but they are my butt sniffing, toilet licking mongrels and I love them.  So the point is, when you live in a house surrounded by boys and animals, things can get a bit "hairy"....but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I also have a wonderful Mother, Two sisters, a Niece and Nephew, Brother and Brother's girlfriend Tara!

I have THE BEST cousins, and kids of cousins, grandma's and Aunts and Uncles...."Uncle Snuggles" comes to mind!

I was lucky to grow up at Woods and Waters, where my family adopted many people AS part of our family and its' a trait that to this day, I love and appreciate.  Because, family isn't just the people you're blood related to, its the people you choose to love, and CHOOSE to treat LIKE family and thereby BECOME your family....Stephanie Stemen, Amber Kruse,  Tonia Wodarski, Karen Connolly, Chuck Peak, Sherry Bentley, Margie Rostorfer, Jan Romes, Mary Meyer, Chris Huisman, Alexandra Nahum, Jessi Hammonds & Beth Huffman.....just to name a few.....

They say a man with lots of friends is richer than the wealthiest man in town, and I agree with that....it's not your bank account that matters most, it's your friend account that matters...because it's your friends and family that COUNT the most.

One thing I have been really blessed with through my writing is that I've come to know people that I might not of otherwise have met....Betty Dilworth, Gary Dilworth, Cindy Tippie, Kasey Rigali, Donna McGuinness- Allen, Carol Shulfer, Laura Tippit, Mary Meyer, Alexandra Nahum, Dionne Cooper Yurko, Chris Huisman, Tommy Cross, .....just to name a few! :)

It always astounds me when I hear people say "I hate people!"...."and people suck!"....and things of this nature, because I can't imagine being the lone human in the world...I'd be just like Tom Hanks in Castaway, I'd have to befriend a volleyball just to survive!  Human interaction is like air to me, I need it to live.  I write about, I sing along to songs about it, I dream it, I live it...I love it.

There is no amount of money that you can put on a conversation that enriches your soul....a debate that boils your blood, or a laugh that you feel in your toes that you share with a dear friend.

So, as I give thanks for my friends and family, and for the human race, be sure to love those who treat you right, .....

If you're reading this right now, I probably know you, and I most likely think you're pretty darn special, and unique and wonderful....and I'm glad you're here....and if you and I are not friends, if I have never met you and you are here, perhaps one day we will be friends or family.  Ya never know...I once was the maid of honor in a wedding for my high school nemesis, turns out, she was really awesome, and I can't believe we ever hated each other!  Life has a funny way of coming back and showing you a thing or two....so never rule anybody out...because one day, you could be standing next to them, honoring them by being at one of the biggest moments of their life.  You just never know!

Love,

~HeatherLynn~

House Before and After's...{A PREVIEW}

This week starts the things I'm Thankful for Blog posts!

Monday November 25th, I'm thankful for all the hard work Jerimy and I did to get our new house livable and ready for the holidays!

Here's a sneak peak into our little love nest!

LIVING ROOM BEFORE:

 LIVING ROOM AFTER:

{+ A CAMEO FROM GEORGE}

DINING ROOM BEFORE:

 DINING ROOM AFTER: 

(+ GEORGE, A MINI TRAMP AND SOME RANDOM DOG TOYS]

And here's the results of my weekend

 artwork / decorating project:

{and yes, i know they are crooked and mis-spaced, I just hung them to get a preview....

Jerimy will make them look pretty later!}

{my personal favorite}

I got out all my yearly movies to watch for the holidays....and I'm curious, what do you guys watch each and every year to put you in the holiday spirit?

Here's mine:

Ok, you're turn, what will you be watching?

~HeatherLynn~

I don't know how it happened....

but I've hopelessly fallen in love with a table!  Yes, I know, it's shocking, and unethical, and wrong to love a "possession" with fiery passion, but I do, I'm in love with a table, and I can't apologize for it.

I swear it's like this wood was carved, nailed, whittled, decorated and painted with me in mind!

I'm so happy I found you table, ....

I hope we live happily ever after together....

Oh, I also bought a new vehicle, and I'm ashamed to admit, that I pretty much LOVE it too!

I never wanted to have such affection for material things, and while the vehicle is used, it DOES have heated leather seats, and while I got the table on a Facebook Garage sale site, I feel like the luckiest girl to be able to have found such wonderful, affordable finds!

Nothing's better than finding things you love, and actually being able to afford to buy them and knowing that you won't have to feel guilty about what you spent.

And while I'm counting blessings, I just want to give thanks for Jerimy, my better half, Easton, the offspring of my better half, George and Chubs, my furbabies, and for our new home that we bought together as a family.  My cup runeth over...

I vow to never take my blessings for granted.

And to top it all off, I sold a handful of books this month so far, and I'm so very lucky to have sales still coming in after the release of my books has come and gone and probably nearly forgotten by most.

The season of Thanksgiving is upon us, and this is one thankful Ohio-writer-monkey!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

~HeatherLynn~

This is me with a good book....Hope you're all still out there, and I hope you've got a good book to keep you company!

A Re-Post from 2009, but it's that time again....worth a re-share!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009

Oh, Great....now I'm cursed!!

Yep, while doing a little online research to the mythical folklore of Friday the 13th, I finally realized why i have such atrocious luck....and as it turns out...I'm cursed.

LEGEND HAS IT: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven. (http://urbanlegends.about.com)

So my name...Heather O*****, guess how many letters that has...yeah, go ahead and count em...THIRTEEN!

So I join in the ranks of Charles Manson, Theodore Bundy Alber De Salvo....Jeffrey Dahmer!!! C'mon, damnit, i don't want to be lumped in with those psychos!

Although, if ever i was looking for an explanation for my series of unfortunate events in my life....I suppose I have discovered a scapegoat. A reason for my misfortune. And I'm going to kick my mom's butt for this....any expectant mothers out there....take note, don't give your daughter the luck of the devil....do the math, check your numbers and check them twice...it just may determine if your child is naughty or nice...as i clearly was very naughty growing up!

WAIT! HOLD THE PHONE.....upon further research...maybe I'm wrong....I just did a little more research and look at what it says:

"Devil's Luck"(The): Astounding good luck. Persons always lucky were thought at one time to have compounded with the Devil.

“You won't have to pay his annuity very long; you have the Devil's luck in bargains, always.” -
Dickens.

But would we say Charlie Manson was lucky? Or Jeffrey Dahmer..I mean that dude was beat to death in prison....*scratches head*... So which is it, am I lucky or predetermined to be a serial killer? All these superstitions are conflicting.

Oh, and listen to this...I found this story highly entertaining:

LEGEND HAS IT: Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck – as in the tale of H.M.S. Friday ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to quell once and for all the widespread superstition among seamen that setting sail on Fridays was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected her crew on a Friday and hired a man named Jim Friday to be her captain. To top it off, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage on a Friday, and was never seen or heard from again.

Hence why you don't mess with things you don't understand. If I've got the devil's luck, well then I got it....now....it's up to me to use to for good instead of evil, and hope like hell I don't piss the devil off in the process.

Happy Friday the 13th all! Strap on your crash helmet, wear your seat belt and throw some salt over your shoulder for good measure! I have to still work at EP tonight....which is comparable to the depths of hell on ALL Friday nights, so I can only imagine the demonry that awaits me tonight!

Wish me Luck,

~hl~

The Big Time!

This weekend I had my first book signing after the release of my most recent novel's publication.  It was at Hearth and Home in Van Wert, which for those of you who are not familiar, is an assisted living facility.  Very nice place, and the people there were so friendly and fun, I can't thank them enough for having me out for their event.

Senior Citizens are so much fun, I can't tell you how many times they made me smile, Like for instance when two ladies got tangled up in front of my table one with a walker, another with an electric scooter, they both laughed and were so funny about it!

Then the other lady who cruised past me, and said "I BUY MY BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY" and then just kept on walking as I hollered out..."me too!" to her...she was sassy!

And let us not forget the wonderful resident of H&H who told us the story about reading 50 Shades of Grey OUT LOUD to the other residents during story time!!  Talk about pure amusement for me and Mike (my right hand man at book signings)....

I joke with people and say "You know you've made it big when you're doing the Assisted Living / Nursing Home Circuit" but you know, if this is the only circuit I'm ever a part of, I'll always be ever so thankful for the ride!

Special Thank you to Stacy Klint & Lisa Stemen!

Next Stop:  PUTNAM COUNTY!!!

Some Hard Humor

So, Jerimy and I have been crazy busy this summer, working on our houses with the slight possibility that we might be buying a house together, IF it ever comes up for sale.  So Jerimy has been feverishly working like a madman on getting all his projects done at his house.  He's been drywalling, putting flooring in, painting, plastering, cutting and hanging trim....and he says to me yesterday:  "you know, the more of this stuff I do, the easier it gets."

And I said to him "Yeah, that's because you're getting good at it!"

And he said:  "I don't know about good, but I kinda know what I'm doing now"

end of conversation.

Right now you're thinking to yourself, that's it?  that's your funny story?  No, there's more.

So I go back to watching DVR'ed "The Following"....final 4 episodes of season 1, and he goes back to patching a hole in the drywall in the hallway.  A little while later, I need to let my pup George out to go potty, I walk from the living room to the kitchen, passing the hallway when I saw something out of the corner of my eye...that had me stopping dead in my tracks and throwing it in reverse to see if I saw what I thought I saw.

I took four steps backward, looked to my left, down the hallway to see Jerimy standing on a chair, both hands working on something at head level, and I couldn't help myself, I had to get closer, because what I saw in that hallway made my eyes get very wide.  I was in shock as I approached him and saw that my eyes were not deceiving me.  There was a gigantic protrusion sticking out the front of his shorts.  With wide eyed wonder, I walked up to him until the bulge was looking me right in the eye and I reached out and touched it.  It was hard, and un-moving under his shorts' fabric.  It looked like he had a ginormous hard on!  Upon touching it, I looked wide up at him and said, Oh MY GOD!!  And I started to dye laughing.  Because upon me groping his groin, and finding that he was holding an cordless drill between his legs while he tried starting a screw on the piece he was patching in he looked down to see why I was feeling up his drill.

I laughed and laughed and said, "Oh, my!  I thought you had a huge boner!!"  

He looked at me and said:  "You didn't see the drill?"

I said "No, honestly from where I'm standing, it looks like you LOVE drywall work far more than any man in the history of guys who do drywall!  I honestly didn't know home improvement was such a turn on for you!?!?"

He then smiled at me and said, "You are such a geek!"

And it is images like THIS of yesterday's events that keep me smiling all day.

Never a dull moment on Clime Street with Jerimy and I....

Nope.  There sure isn't.

"Is that a cordless drill between your legs, or are you just happy to see me?"

Luv,

~Heather Lynn~