The Thought Locker: Crazy Weekend Edition

• Having the elevator door open just as you push the button is one of life's simple pleasures.

• Who decided peanuts are the best snack to serve on planes anyway?

• When you are confronted by multiple idiot drivers on your way to work, it's a sign you should just go home.

• How can you burn the candle at both ends? Only one end has a wick.

• Anyone who thinks you can't train cats to do stupid tricks as easily as dogs hasn't spent much time on YouTube.

• Why does the first stretch of sunny weather have to make my skin drier than the Sahara? All I want to do is put the top down on my car! I have to moisturize too?

• Only a Facebook application can turn my sister into my 11 year old nephew's "Lover of the Day."

• No matter how much I plan otherwise, I will always wait until the week before my taxes are due...to do them.
  

Kings vs Coyotes: Magic and Mystery

On the surface of things, he looks just like an ordinary 20 year old hockey player.



He's chewing gum, he's laughing and having fun, he's jamming out on the bench to whatever loud rock music is playing. He's not always wearing his mouthguard when he should, and sometimes his hair gets a little long and sticks out in weird directions from under his helmet.

None of these things make Drew Doughty sound like the makings of a Norris Trophy winner.

Then, he pulls a brilliant maneuver like this http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=65482 ....

And then you know Drew Doughty is no ordinary hockey player. He's a magical one. He WILL win the Norris Trophy one day. And he may even lead the Kings to their first Stanley Cup.

What a shame the rest of the team couldn't turn that magic into a win. They played 50 minutes of GREAT hockey, and then lost the game in the last 10. They blew a 2-0 lead, were forced into overtime, and gave 2 points to our division and conference rivals, the Phoenix Coyotes in the first sudden death round of a shoot-out. It seems like a poor way to repay the efforts of their #1 Star of the Night.

This is how it seems to be with the "Magical Mystery Team," as Nadine has named them. And in our season long game of "Which team will we see tonight?", the bad one showed up and took over in the end.

So with just two games left in the regular season, and only one more at home, something tells me we've got more mysteries to come. Hopefully, the magic will kick in by the time Round 1 of the play-offs start. I'm counting on Drew to bring it.

And Nadine is right about one other thing.



I'm counting on Kings GM Dean Lombardi to do the right thing this summer and lock our magic man down for as many years as possible. Because if Drew Doughty can do things this special while having fun and being a kid, I can't wait to see what happens when he gets serious.

GO KINGS GO!

Work vs. Play

There was a time in my life when I thought work was the key to everything. All I had to do was be as successful as possible at work, and everything else in my life would be perfect. After 20 years in the workforce and 15 at the same company, I've learned a few things. One of those things is that the "Success = Happiness" formula doesn't work. Or more precisely, that there is so much more to happiness than professional success.

This revelation made writing an e-mail to my boss I would have once considered career suicide very easy. In essence, I confirmed I'm probably going to be missing the biggest meeting in my department all year...to be at a hockey game. You see, since the Kings clinched the play-offs, the projected home game dates conflict with the meeting dates. And since it took the Kings 8 years to get to this point, I'm not gonna miss my chance to see them in the post season. Work, on the other hand, will still be there long after the play-offs are over.

Using these is gonna be special.



If I get to use these, I'll be in heaven.



And if I get to use these this year, I will have reached a state of pure NIRVANA!



Time to rock the "Black Magic" jersey....



GO KINGS GO!

In Training: A Step Back

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time. Seeing as I've never REALLY gotten back to my pre-holiday training routine (and the holidays ended 3 months ago), I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the latest news from the scale - I've officially gained back 5 pounds.

I'd noticed a little fluctuation going the wrong direction for a couple of weeks now, but it would always somehow manage to readjust. Then the Easter Bunny arrived and things went to hell in the proverbial hand basket.

If you looked at the pictures of Easter, you saw how good everything was, and I overindulged. OK, maybe that's putting it mildly. When I went back to work Monday, I felt like Godzilla after he ate the entire city of Tokyo.

Am I discouraged? Absolutely! Am I giving up? HELL NO! My Momma and Daddy didn't raise a quitter. And I learned another great lesson from this setback. Success is a journey, not a destination. You have to keep working at it. And I'm still halfway to my goal even with the 5 pound gain. I just have to get back at working my plan.

I have 4 months left and 25 pounds to lose...

Only 6 pounds a month...

Or 1.5 pounds a week...

I CAN DO THIS!

An Easter For The Record Books

What do you get when you combine 8 people, 3 dogs, a mountain of food, and an earthquake? A California Easter Celebration hosted by my friends John and Nadine Donat! They sure know how to throw a party!

I love the fact that I have an incredibly diverse group of friends, but I was more pleased to find out we have a couple of things in common - we're all great cooks and we LOVE to eat. And none of us know how to do things on a small scale, so we had enough food for an army. If any of this looks good to you, contact Nadine because I'm pretty sure she STILL has leftovers.













The doggies, of course, were very excited about Easter as well, because food and people in the house means snacks for them too. But Momma Denie has them very well trained and they know they have to wait outside until they get invited in. Bailey (left) was a little more patient than Ziggy, who barked the entire time.



Now I ask you, HOW do you resist that adorable little face?



Or that adorable big one?



Bailey is tall enough to see what's on the table. Luckily, he's pretty good about not stealing things....but we kept everything out of tongues reach just to be on the safe side.



Of course, if you're Sasha, you're only interested in beer. She's definitely Daddy's dog...



Special thanks to Bob and Natalie Adams, Chelsea Alexander, Aaron and Blake Danchik, and of course Nadine and John for not only being great cooks but excellent company as well! We shared a lot of laughs and got one HUGE surprise.

No, it wasn't the earthquake. We didn't even feel it, we just found out about it when my sister texted me from the East Coast checking to make sure I was OK.

The big surprise of the day was the news that the Kings CLINCHED A PLAY-OFF SPOT! That's right, we're going to the play-offs for the first time in 8 years!

Come to think of it, that must be what caused the earthquake....

Kings vs Ducks: Quack, Freakin' Quack!

Thursday nights HUGE win against Vancouver was so incredible, I just wanted to bottle the feeling I had walking home so I could spray it around whenever I needed to feel good.


(Hmmm...still got my shiner. Maybe another hat-trick tonight?)

I could have used it right away, because our latest effort against the Ducks...well, pretty much stunk.

Not enough puck possession, no sustained control of play, too much chasing back and forth and up and down the ice - and yet we somehow had a 1-0 lead until 2 minutes left. The King most to thank for that stat was our #1 goalie Jonathan Quick, who was an absolute rock all night.



And then, it happened. Two minutes left, and we take a penalty, the Ducks pull the goalie, we have 6 Ducks on the ice vs 4 Kings, and damn Saku Koiviu gets the puck...and ties it up.


(Sorry we dropped the ball Quickie...ya ready for some OT?)

The game stayed tied through overtime, and then went to a shoot-out. Anze Kopitar, Jack Johnson, Dustin Brown - should get some goals outta that, right? Uh, no. Personally, I think Nadine jinxed Kopi by finally buying his jersey.



And who scored the game winner in the shoot-out? FREAKIN' SAKU KOIVU AGAIN!! At least Lubo didn't break our hearts like he did with Edmonton. Or even worse, it could have been Teemu Selanne that buried us.

Either way, with the play-off's at stake, losing to to a hated crosstown rival that won't even get a SNIFF of the play-offs this year just sucks big time.

At least the fans are still bringing the right spirit to games, and great signs as well. Except for Nadine, who for some reason did not bring her "We Believe" banner. Bad girl, Denie!







Except you, honey. Please go away....



Speaking of fans, I gotta give a huge shout-out to my Facebook buddy Jerry Archuleta, who I finally got to meet in person after many on-line hockey chats! And it was an absolute blast running into the "Frotographer" herself, Nichole Glaze! We had fun catching up over coffee at Starbucks.

So the Kings only have 4 games left until the play-offs start, and in spite of tonight's performance, I still believe we're gonna be there. Of those 4 games, only 2 more are at home, and the Kings need your support! I actually get a blogger discount code (part of a new ticket promotion the Kings are doing), so if you don't have tickets for April 8 vs the Coyotes or April 10th vs the Oilers, hit this link for discounted seats:

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/group_corp_start.htmI?l=EN&team=kings&owner=2560656&group=277&err=&event=&customerID=

The password is LAKings.


Hope to see you there. I still bellieve! GO KINGS GO!!

Home Cooking

Getting a package first thing on a Friday morning is always fun, especially when you're not expecting it and it's from home. Many people have marveled at my ability to find and give personal, spontaneous gifts, and I learned from the master - my Mom.

Since it was Easter weekend, I was thinking a chocolate bunny, but I got something even better - an ADVANCE COPY of our church cookbook!



My Mom was part of the committee that typed, proofread, and sorted through 600 recipes to make this wonderful collection. So now I have everything from my Aunt Mary's Italian Wedding Soup recipe to my old high school classmate Lara Lee's Quick Shrimp & Scallop Pasta.

And way back in the back, filed under "This & That," the secrets to "Pop's Fresh Horse-Radish," submitted by Mom in memory of my Dad. I remember him stinking up the entire kitchen making that stuff from horseradish root he grew in his own garden. I would never eat it, and all he would say is, "You don't know what's good." He was probably right.

Well, I'm off to the store to get the fixings for grilled shrimp for a BBQ this weekend. But looking at page 26 of my new cookbook, I'm also adding the stuff for Pat Strickland's Chicken Corn Chowder. Mom already tried it and says it's amazing, plus it has received my nephew Mike's seal of approval. And with bacon on the list of ingredients, I can believe it!

If you're interested in a copy, they go on sale April 11th.