Another Week Nearly Over

I'm really glad this week is almost over. It has been a long slow one. All the running I've been doing in the last 5 days has really left me exhausted.

It is further proof that I would be a lousy wife/mother.

I make dinner usually for 5 people.
I do the grocery shopping.
I do laundry, at least 3 medium to large loads a week.
I make sure everyone's medications are in order.
I clean the port-a-potty.
I get all the checks cashed or deposited.
I go to work.

Nope..I'd be a lousy wife and mother...because I bitch about all of this..and I know most women do more.

BAH!

A Book A Day Keeps The Boredom Away

Actually living in my house keeps the boredom away. But for some reason, with all the chaos in my household right now, I've actually been reading!

I've even been reading a book on my smartphone.

Now that's an App I can really love.

But let me tell you, reading on a phone is not really fun. Not because of font sizes or anything like that, but because of trying to sort out the bookmarks on the Nook app. And then there's the page turning.

I'm trying not to blame my app, because I know it is my Citrus that doesn't like to be too smart.

It falls under the category, "I wanted a smartphone, but I couldn't afford the super nice ones."

However I do love my Citrus, and I love that I can read on it, especially when I'm someplace where it isn't so easy to carry a book or my Nook.

Oh and I can play Angry Birds, but that's another story altogether.

Things That Are Constant

~ Taxes and Death of course. We'll all die, and we'll all pay taxes. We'll probably all die paying taxes.

~ Laundry will always creep up on you like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

~ There will never be enough hours in the day.

~ However long you have slept, it won't be enough.

~ The day you plan on getting something done early, you'll be running later than usual.

Recovery

This Olivia Newton John song appeared in my head today. So off to You Tube I went and voila! There was a video!



I think this video had to be one of Olivia's strangest off of the Physical album.

Dad Update and Other Things

~ Dad is doing well. He had another 2 units of blood. They aren't sure why he's anemic. His chest X-Rays are good for his level of COPD. Again, smoking is bad people! His CT was good too. This is frustrating.

~ They may be doing an endoscopy in the next week to see if he has an ulcer or something else causing the problem.

~ I have one review of a super album to get done. I wish that when I finish reviewing I could continue enjoying the albums, but I feel like after listening to something a bazillion times to write 600 words describing it's greatness, I have no interest in revisiting...Wow that was a run on sentence!  Anyway, if you like modern folk music, check out Tom Levin. This guy has a fantastic voice and is a great songwriter. Listen to For Life Tonight. You won't regret it.

~ I have been to mass now, every Sunday for a month now! I'm oddly proud of myself for returning to the Catholic Church. I may not always agree with everything the say, but I feel a sense of peace when I'm there and I need that now badly.

It Just Gets Worse

Dad's back in the hospital again. They think maybe some kind of infection, but they really don't seem to know for sure.

I may be scarce the next few days, as I'll be at the hospital keeping him company when I can, and when I'm home I'm just exhausted.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. We really need it right now.

Wacky Weather

Well our area made GMA today. A tornado or something similar touched down in Greensburg, a few miles from where my bff lives.

Weirdness.

It did a fair amount of distruction too. At least 8 houses were mostly leveled and the Hempfield High School got hit pretty badly.

In my neck of the woods, North Charleroi obviously had some issues. My sister was without power all night and into the morning.  Our school district is without power too, so the kids didn't go to school. Lucky them!

As I look out my window it is snowing.

Yesterday it was nearly 70 degrees.  Today it is in the 30s.

The weather is totally out of whack!

Revisiting Old Friends

After watching clips of Les Mis a hundred times over yesterday, I got to searching some of the other theater artists I used to listen too.

I had to look up Michael Crawford, because he was my musical God in high school. I was excited to see Michael is playing The Wizard in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of The Wizard Of Oz.

Here's a picture of Michael as the Wizard in the UK..and Danielle Hope as Dorothy!

I think Toto is adorable too

Brilliance!

I have been watching this clip for most of the evening! Colm Wilkinson and Alfie Boe own this song from Les Miserables. The clip is from the 25th anniversary cast concert at the O2. The other two gents performing with them from other Les Mis casts are pretty fabulous too.





Les Miz is my absolute favorite musical ever.

Sleep Is Avoiding Me

Apparently I've pissed off sleep. It has been avoiding me like the plague for about a week now.

Every night, I've been awake until at least midnight, which is so not my usual schedule.

It is after 10 now and I'm still wide awake, even though for most of the day I felt like I could drop off to sleep at any minute.

It doesn't help matters that I've been running around like a crazy fool today...grocery shopping, dinner making...Walmart and trying to get Dad to listen. The last one being the most difficult and the most stress inducing.

Oh but on a happy...less bitching note...Way to go Hines Ward! He looked awesome on Dancing With The Stars tonight!

Steelers Nation!

Represent!

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Three things about this weekend

The Good: I got to Wheeling and my bookshop. I also got my exercise in Friday - Sunday! An hour or so each day!

The Bad: We got our electric bill and for some reason it was double what it was last month!

The Ugly: Dad had another bad coughing spell today.

I think I need a nap...ok..it's 11 P.M. I need to go to bed...

Good Drinky Poo

I had the best drink today at Cheddar's Casual Cafe. It was called a Cherry Peach Tree. It was made with Cherry Vodka and Peach Schnapps.

You really can't get much better than that.

It was really pretty too...and had a speer of Maraschino Cherries.

Tres tasty.

I could have probably downed about 4 of them, but I didn't think my friend, Jennifer wanted to drag me back to the car. Plus at $5.25 a drink, that would have been a bit pricey.

Still it was a pretty great drinky poo!

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 album covers

Tell us your favorites!!

You guys know the drill. Play along in the comments or in your journal. This meme is created for my site Music Memoirs. Feel free to go there and check out my other weekly memes and play along.

All 5 by the Moody Blues: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, In Search Of The Lost Chord, A Question Of Balance, On A Threshold Of A Dream and Long Distance Voyager

Beer Beer Beer

It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without some Irish music!

Well...and Beer

So hope you ate drank and made merry.

The Cake

This was the fastest consumed cake ever to enter our house! So I can safely recommend Giant Eagle's chocolate cakes with whipped cream icing.

OMG so freaking good.

I'll be on the eliptical if you need me....working off the cake.

Happy 59th Mom & Dad!

I think today went pretty well for both my parents.

We had a lovely dinner. The Sweeney Specials were really great. And the cake from Giant Eagle was to die for. We were all contemplating licking the icing off the cake, it was that good. (I'll share a picture of it tomorrow sometime)

I bought mom a pretty bouquet of Crazy Daisies, since her sight is bad, so cards aren't as nice for her.

Our neighbors brought over a makeshift card, which was very sweet.

So all in all, it was a good day.

Here's to 59 years! May they be lucky to reach 60 together next year!

Love you mom and dad!

Just Another Manic Monday

It is Monday and I'm already wishing the day over. I hope to get my car inspected after work. I have loads of cleaning to do tonight, plus I have to get organized, because tomorrow is mom and dad's 59th wedding anniversary.

I have a chocolate cake with whipped cream icing ordered from Giant Eagle and I found out that I can get the Sweeney Special from..well Sweeney's Cafe & Pub for them for dinner.  Yes, they are having club sandwiches for dinner. But there is something special about these. 59 years ago, that is what they had after they got hitched. I thought it was appropriate, and I thought it would make mom happy.

I really want this to be a nice anniversary for them. I hope they get to 60 years, but with Dad's health the way it is...and mom's too, I'm not taking any chances. I want all their celebrations to be as nice as they can be. It is best to enjoy life while you have it, rather then wait to celebrate in the futures.

Here's hoping tomorrow turns out well...and then I can destress on Thursday with some green beer, or at least a Shamrock Shake at McDonalds.

Another Weekend Come And Gone

Allow me to recap what I accomplished.

~ Vacuumed the house

~ Did 2 loads of laundry

~ Ordered the cake for my mom and dad's 59th anniversary, that is on Tuesday. I still don't know what we are having for dinner.

~ Downed at least one Cocoa Cappuccino from Starbucks with a free petite carrot cake cupcake.

~ Bought an ebook for 99 cents.

~ Grocery shopping and Walmart

What a fun filled weekend I had.

NOT!

It would have been nice if I could have squeezed some reading time in, or more exercise time. Oh and did I mention we had to have a visiting nurse come in  yesterday, because Dad had a spell after supper again.

No joke, I have lost at least 30 years from my life since December with him!

I Bought Music!

It has been ages since I bought a CD or a download because I wanted to. Today I finally used one of my Amazon gift cards that I got from Coinstar and pre-ordered the new Duran Duran CD and I bought the digital downloads of Pittsburgh girl, Sarah Marince's latest EP and single.

So in a few weeks I'll have a pretty new Duran Duran CD, that I already know is  great, because they released a shorter form of the album digitally a few weeks before Christmas.

Sarah's EP is awesome too, especially if you are a fan of Taylor Swift, though personally I like Sarah better. She is also the face of Eat N' Park now...so if you are in the area, and you see a commercial with a super perky and super cute little blonde girl, that's Sarah.

So yeah...this is what I bought today

Kind of an eclectic mix there!

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 songs that get you ready for St Patrick's Day




You guys know the drill. Play along in the comments or in your journal. This meme is created for my site Music Memoirs. Feel free to go there and check out my other weekly memes and play along.

Celtic Woman - Danny Boy



The Pogues - If I Should Fall From The Grace Of God



The Irish Rovers - The Pub With No Beer

Enya - Orinoco Flow

Clannad  w/Bono - In A Lifetime

I Want To Remember

I keep thinking about how few photographs of family we have from recent years, especially on my father's side of the family.  When I was little, I can remember going with my mom and dad to my aunt and uncle's home in Belle Vernon.

I remember sitting at the kitchen table with mom and dad drinking iced tea. I remember playing with Duchess, the big German Shepard that was one of many Duchesses.  What makes me sad, are there are no pictures.

Knowing how ill my uncle is, made me think about photos. My grandmother had hundreds of them in her house from younger days.  Even though there wasn't much call for photography in her last years, there were still pictures, from family gatherings and her 100th birthday party.  There are things that can be pulled out so that people down the line can say, that was Grandma Rehula.  Her face won't fade from memory.

However with my dad's family there aren't many pictures.  I was an adult before I saw a photo of my grandma and grandpap from my father's family. There was a picture of Grandpap Rehula on my grandmother's TV at all times. That picture now sits in our living room.  I never knew my grandfather, but I can see  his face clearly in my mind.

There is nothing like this from my dad's family. There are a few photos from family reunions in the 80s when I was a little girl, but other than that, nothing and yet my dad came from a large family.  The sad part is, though I've met most all of them, I can't remember the faces of the ones who have passed on, with only one exception.

I know a lot of people dislike having their picture taken. I'm one of them, but people down the line might want to remember you, so maybe the pain of that flash isn't so bad.  I don't want to be gone and forgotten.

Bad News

Last night they rushed my dad's brother to the hospital. He was coughing up blood.

The diagnosis: a tumor on his lung.

Tomorrow he has a PET scan to determine if it has spread.

Keep Uncle Leonard in your prayers, I know he needs them, as does his wife.

~sigh~

This is turning out to be a really sucky year so far.

Random Thoughts

~ Winter Storm Watch for Friday? WTF!! No More Snow!!!

~ Reading an old Patricia Cornwell novel and liking it. Not usually my thing, but hey, I'm always up for a change as long as the book is good.

~ Totally sick of hearing about Charlie Sheen. Maybe if we ignore him, he'll go away? If that works, we should definitely try those tactics with Sarah Palin.

~ When can they recall that asshat is Wisconsin? They need to now, before there is an uprising instead of peaceful protests.

~ The new governor of PA is an asshat as well. Let's cut education but lets make sure the elected officials still keep getting paid. Uh, how are we supposed to be competitive in the world market if we screw over education?

~ I've given up on seeing any concerts this year. I simply won't be able to afford it. I'll be lucky if I can make a trip or two to Wheeling to Books A Million.

Lent Starts Tomorrow

40 days of Lent and all those meatless Fridays.

In my almost 37 years, there is one thing I've learned about Fridays in Lent. You will always have a cheeseburger craving on Friday.

I think it is because you know you shouldn't be eating it.

The whole meatless Friday thing makes no sense. You can't eat beef, pork, chicken, turkey, etc, but you can eat fish? WTF! Isn't fish the meat of an animal, so to speak?

My mind boggles, but then again I don't want to have to hunt down totally vegetarian dishes to make for my family on Fridays for 6 weeks.

It isn't really painful, I like tuna patties, halushki, and pierogies, but sometimes the same old food gets boring, which is why I'm always crabby on Fridays in Lent.

At least tomorrow is Gorton's Potato Crusted Fish....tasty.....

Operation Get Organized Goes To A New Level

I've started a cleaning project.

One room a day.

Today's room.

The Bathroom.

Can I get an Ewwww.

That is the most hated room in the house when it comes to cleaning. It is kind of appropriate that this room is cleaned on Monday, the most hated day of the week.

Tomorrow is the living room. What fun! Let's see if I can keep up the pace.

BTW....I cleaned out the coupons...so I'm doing good on that front!

The Weekend From Hell

On a plus Dad is home.

On the downside, he has to have a visiting nurse come in once or twice a week to check his lung function. This is good, because they will know if something is going on that will require him to go back to the hospital without an ER visit.

However the admissions to the program took 2 freaking hours.

OMG!

Then I had grocery shopping to do..and dinner to cook.

Today I managed to make it to church in the rain/snow/sleet...and then I had ...you guessed it, more grocery shopping to do...pills to order for mom and dinner to cook.

I made city chicken...which as some of you might know is actually made from pork. I am the fry goddess. Cracker Meal on city chicken = yum.

I did get two rooms passably clean with the help of my nephew but I still have about 2 more to do. The bathroom aka the hated room being one..and my bedroom....aka the hole being another. I'm too scared to work on the kitchen...

Have I mentioned lately my need for more hours in a day?

Conversation With My Mother

No joke this is something said by mom and I today as we are making dinner.

~ Getting cucumber out of the fridge

Me: Here's your super sized dildo

Mom: I'm only going to need half of that.

laughter.

Mom: I'm not used to them being that big.

more laughter.

Good thing dad didn't hear this

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 artists that you'd like to have sing you to sleep

~ Tell us what songs you want them to sing to you too :)


You guys know the drill. Play along in the comments or in your journal. This meme is created for my site Music Memoirs. Feel free to go there and check out my other weekly memes and play along.

Charles Kelly from Lady Antebellum: He could sing me Hello World from the latest Lady A album

Elvis Costello can sing anything from North and I'll be knocked out in minutes.

Diana Krall can sing me Narrow Daylight

Jen Noble formerly of Grey Eye Glances can sing Angel for me.

Mika can sing anything he wants to me.

This Just In...

Dad's coming home tomorrow.

Can I get a Woot for this?

Can I also get a few extra hours of sleep?

Dad is getting very antsy in the pantsy at the hospital..so this is a good thing

Just Tired

Sorry for my absence yesterday. It was crazy and today doesn't look to be shaping to be any better.  Dad is doing so-so. He's on a regular medical floor which is great, but his breathing doesn't seem to be much improved, which worries me.

He was doing so good since Christmas. It pains me to see him losing the quality of life he had just a matter of days ago.

I really wish I could just turn off my thoughts while I try to make it through my day.  I wish I could have more time off, but time off means no pay and I can't pay the bills without pay.

So if I'm absent a bit in the next couple of days, its because I'm trying to get my head together. I really need some down time, but not downtime that allows me to sit and think, because if I think anymore, I may just lose what little is left of my mind.