My New Year's Wish For You

Bye Bye 2013

I'd like to say good bye and good riddance to 2013.

Most years I could give you a list of some of the nice things that have happened over the past 12 months.

This year, I'm not sure I can.

Yes, there have been some great albums out, and great singles

I particularly loved Nick Lowe's Quality Street. It made Christmas brighter for me



I also adored Erasure's Snow Globe



Paul McCartney's album was good, and I still don't own Elvis Costello's latest.

Early in 2013 Justin Hayward treated us to a fantastic album...Here's a video from his Pittsburgh show, which I sadly couldn't attend....



As for TV...Doctor Who rocked my world...

The 50th Anniversary Special was amazing as was the movie An Adventure In Time & Space. The Christmas Special, The Time of The Doctor broke my heart.

In my reading world, there were some fantastic reads.

Adriana Trigiani's The Supreme Macaroni Company was a favorite as was The Bride Wore Size 12. But when you've read 200 books in a  year, it is hard to spotlight the best from the rest.

On a personal front, my dad's health is failing and as most of you know, he's on hospice care at home. It is sad to see a strong man brought so low. He needs anti anxiety meds most days. He fixates on one thing and lets it take over.

It is heartbreaking.

On a furbaby note..I lost 3 of my little ones this year...Bootsie, my sweet sweet invisicat, Blinky and Mucker (two of the kittens from Miss Itchy's litter last year)

So if asked how 2013 was..I'd have to say...it sucked!

The Most Brilliant Thing I Found On The Internet Today

I think this speaks for itself!

Cat Thursday!

Meet Eliza Dookittle! This is my little foster baby, who I'm loving until she can be spayed, and then she is moving in with my sister and her furry brood!

Christmas Mix 2013

I didn't think I would get to it, but I have.

I just couldn't go a year without a holiday mix CD

I'm hoping to have it completed in the morning. I'm still looking for a few songs.

You can never have too much Christmas music in my eyes.

I'll post the final tracklisting when I finish.

Cat Thursday

A little winter kitty fun!

Hump Day Hunks

I've decided..I want to bring back my hunks. Everyone should have something that brings joy in their life..and well...hunks it is!

Today I feature Doctor Who Hotties...from the classic years


Before he was on Who...Jon Pertwee was quite a dashing gent

And as the Doctor

Any of my Moody Blues friends think Mr. Pertwee and John Lodge might be related?

Then there's Peter Davison..who I fell in love with when I was in college watching reruns of All Creatures Great and Small

He's still dashing...almost as dashing as his son - in -law, David Tennant.

And lastly...how can you not drool over Paul McGann?

Thinking About Dad

It was  a long hard weekend.

He's had some good moments and some bad.

We've found, he stays the most calm when there's music on, so we've put on the Christmas music station from Comcast.

Today wasn't much better.

Its very depressing at our house.

The only good thing, that's happened recently is someone finally came out to fix our plumbing. Woo hoo.

As I walked upstairs...I said.."Go to bed, Raymond," to my nephew. When he was younger, that's what my dad said as he went up to bed at the ungodly hour of 9 pm!

I love my daddy.....

If the Doctor could come in his TARDIS..I would go back in time to the day he had his first cigarette and I would smash it to pieces....

No one should have to go this way.....it is terrible...especially as my daddy has always been a strong man.

Regrets

Dad had a very bad day today. He was medicated and out of it most of the day and his breathing wasn't good at all.

Everyone was upset and it didn't help matters that the house decided that it needed attention too, with a faucet that decided to give up the ghost.

Back in the day, these little problems were things my dad would fix.

Tim "The Toolman" Taylor was my dad's hero. (Only dad didn't blow things up...)

It made me think of all the things I'm going to miss out on with my dad.

He's never going to walk me down the aisle. (Not that there is anyone waiting do that)

He's never going to hold a grandbaby of mine. (unless you count all those kitties)

I regret so many things in my life, but if I had made changes...if I had "Turned Left" who is to say whether or not he'd still be with us.

I can only sit here and type and wish with all my heart that he makes it to Christmas and that he can have one last merry one with everyone that loves him so much.

I'm so upset ....

I don't want my daddy to go...

My biggest regret....

Not having enough time

Cat Thursday

Yay, Cat Thursday. I'm sorry I've been absent for the last few weeks because my father's health has been deteriorating :( Things are more stable, but it is a matter of time now.

I'm in a very Doctor Who mood..so that's my theme this week..

Random Stuff

Let's go by subject shall we...

TV

I'm loving The Goldbergs, The Middle, & Super Fun Night...totally meh about 2 Broke Girls this season and Mike and Molly just plain sucks with the new format.

I really want more Doctor Who...not ready to say goodbye to Matt Smith, yet I'm so excited to see Peter Capaldi in the role. I can't believe we won't get a full series until next summer.

I'm pleasantly surprised at Kirstie...the show is actually funny, which is more than I can say for Hot In Cleveland. (The Exes is my favorite TVLand Sitcom)

I need to buy the complete That 70s Show DVD all the stations that were airing the show have taken it off or put it on at 4 a.m.! (And I still haven't seen all the episodes)

Music

I'm not doing a Christmas mix this year. I just don't have the time. I can't believe I am even typing that.

Really pissed off that our PBS station didn't broadcast Chris Mann's holiday special. His voice is too die for and his version of O Holy Night is better than Michael Crawford's.

Erasure's Snow Globe = Much Happy

Books

I've read 193 books so far this year! I may make 200 by Dec 31!

If you love cozy mysteries...you have to check out the cozy mysteries by Henery Press, plus they have the cutest covers.

Yay For Cable

I got my cable internet hooked up today.

Now all I have to do is call Comcast to let them know I have my own modem, so they don't charge me for a rental and call Earthlink and tell em buh bye.

I also have to figure out how to set up my comcast email, because so far every time I follow the instructions on the site, I get nowhere.

I guess I should be happy with fast speeds and no lost connections.

It is better than nothing, right?

Changes Coming

I have been absent, more because my DSL connection SUCKS ASS than anything else.

Tomorrow we are switching to cable internet, a little more costly, but we all hope, more reliable. I really can't deal with DSL that thinks it is Dial Up!

No joke!

My connection drops whenever the phone rings or someone calls out, and it isn't a router issue.

I figure it has something to do with the phone lines into our house, so we're giving DSL the boot, since we can't afford to fiddle with the indoor lines.

Such fun!

So here's hoping I'll be a more active blogger in the next couple of days!

Getting Back To Normal

I think things are starting to settle down on the home front. Dad's condition is stable for the time being. He's full of it and eating cookies like there is no tomorrow.

I finally have a small Christmas tree up and the cats are doing their best to make a meal of it.

Such fun.

I'm actually scared of baking this year, because he may eat my cookies before the holiday...not that I'd stop him.

It is all so frustrating.

I'm tired most of the time, any time I sit down with a book after 6 o'clock, my eyes start going shut. I feel old and miserable...and I'm pretty sure at 39, I shouldn't be feeling this way.

I'm hoping I can get back to more regular blogging, at least I hope so. Wish me luck

It's All Too Much

As I've mentioned before, Dad is home from the hospital but on hospice care. That in itself is depressing. Watching his health decline is more so.

He started out doing pretty well.

I can hear the change in his breathing more so now than ever and it is killing me.

We aren't telling him the nurses coming are hospice, because he knows what that is, and if he knew that, he'd give up fighting and he still has fight in him.

It is just damn depressing.

Everything is depressing and I feel beyond powerless.

I've got our tiny 4 ft tree up, so that he can enjoy the pretty lights (assuming our cats don't kill it) I want him to enjoy the holiday as much as he can.

~sigh~

Randomosity

~ Dad is home from the hospital, on hospice care, but he is doing surprisingly well, so let's keep our fingers crossed here.

~ The Day Of The Doctor = Awesomesauce....that's all I can say.

~ I need about 48 hours of sleep...that's not happening though.

~ I need rehab from Facebook games...STAT

~ DSL is no longer working well for me..thinking of switching to cable internet, but the cost is making me a bit nauseous. As I typed this..LAST NIGHT the connection went crazy and I don't know what is causing it, but it is more crazy when it rains.

~ Still loving the Mika and Arianna Grande version of Popular Song.

~ Have read a bunch of not so great books, that really makes me question the time I've wasted with them. I hate reading bad books. Blech.

~ I'm pretty sure my cat Gumdrop is trying to kill me. She's been sleeping on MY NECK!

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 artists/bands you would like to thank for their music.

1. The Moody Blues

2. Elvis Costello

3. Mika

4. The Monkees

5. Gordon Lightfoot

I chose these 5 because there music has meant the most to me in the course of my life.  The Beatles should be in there too, but I imagine everyone wants to thank The Beatles for their contribution to music.

Without these 5 artists and countless others, my life would be so boring.

What artists are you giving thanks for this year?

Cat Thursday

I love Cat Thursday.

First I want to share a link to an article about a little island in Japan known as Cat Heaven Island

Now some silly kitties

Giggles..

Nothing to laugh about right now..except maybe this

Update

Dad is better, physically, but for some reason this hospital stay has taken his dementia, which was very mild to something very scary.

I saw him yesterday and he was mostly calm, but some work related issues cropped up and it made him agitated and now he's worse again.

They have been giving him Valium to make him sleep and that puts him in LALA Land.

I don't know if we are going to be able to bring him home and if we do if we will be able to handle him. I'm so scared and worried now and I feel completely powerless.

I don't want to separate my parents if at all possible. My mom wouldn't be able to visit with him ever, if he were in a skilled care facility.

I'm so upset right now...so if this blog goes a little quiet for awhile, it isn't because I don't want to blog anymore, it is because I'm too upset to blog.

Update...

Just a short note to say my dad is back in the hospital.

Not much to report, except that his dementia seems to be progressing..and that isn't good.

~sigh~

It has been a lousy year.

I Am Annoyed

Have you seen this commercial for Google Nexus?



How is selling a product through the demise of someone's beloved pet the right way to go in advertising?

I mean, what genius thought that this is a brilliant ad?

It annoys and disgusts me.

And yes, the ad works, because it makes me talk about the product, but no, it doesn't make me want to buy it. It makes me want to send nasty letters to the company about how terrible this ad is.

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 recent new releases

Paul McCartney - New

Elvis Costello - Wise Up Ghost (This album also gets the award for the MOST BORING ALBUM COVER EVER!)

Nick Lowe - Quality Street

Elton John - The Diving Board

Alison Moyet - The Minutes

Cat Thursday

Its time for some kitty cat silliness!

Did You Vote?

Today was election day here in the US. Not many big races in my neck of the woods, mostly mayors etc.

Voter turnout was low.

And yet our government has the lowest approval rate by the people that supposedly elect them.

Voting takes minutes.

At my poling station I was number 20 on the machine.

20!

And I voted after work!

It is no wonder why our towns/cities/states and country are run by idiots.

We don't care.

Every voice counts...regardless of your party.

You have no right to complain, if you didn't cast a ballot.

48 Minutes Of Heaven

Found this wonderful video of Elvis Costello at Glastonbury.

Ah...how I would love to see a concert again.



On a silly note..I'm still pondering why I was doing laundry with him a few days ago in a dream, because he so obviously needs a dry cleaner more than anything!

Retail Therapy!

I went shopping today.

No, not grocery shopping, my friends, I went shopping, shopping.

You know for clothes and stuff. Fun stuff.

Woo hoo!

And I actually got quite a haul.

At Peebles I got two pairs of shoes, a pair of sketchers and a pair of easy spirit walking shoes! I also got 2 tops! And when I did my shopping I ended up with a coupon for 40% of one item from my next purchase!

Then I headed over to KMart. I got a pair of NORMAL jeans! You know jeans without an elastic waist band! I also got 3 sweaters and another top and I bought my dad 2 pairs of jeans!

Woo hoo.

Oh and on the cooking front...at Aldi..I got a crazy awesome grater!

Yes, I did some shopping and it felt good.

I even had a peppermint mocha from Starbucks!

Cat Thursday!

Some cute Halloween kittehs!

Hump Day Hunks

Its been a long long time since I posted pictures of my favorite hump day hotties!

The Post Where The Music Whore Discusses Everything

~ My kitty Gizmo had a most unpleasant abscess and an expensive one at that. This is my year for costly vet visits. Such fun.

~ Paul McCartney and Katy Perry on Graham Norton: If you haven't watched this episode, hunt it down. James Corgan from Gavin & Stacey and those fab guest spots on Doctor Who. Seriously, Katy Perry has to be one of the sweetest celebs.

~ Coolest new video..Erasure's Gaudete for their new Christmas album Snow Globe!



~ I have no life, my Saturday nights are spent watching Too Cute on animal planet, and wishing I had the houses this cats and doggies had. They should rename this show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Baby Animals! Even the foster pets live in style!

~ I was totally disappointed in The 10th Doctor Revisited. Why couldn't they get all of the companions? Martha and Jack? And the dude that played the Sontaran. Blech. David's episode was almost as boring as The 9th Doctor.

~ Speaking of things that are disappointing...The Big Bang Theory. I know I'm the only one that probably feels this way, but the whole Leonard and Penny relationship is so boring.

~ New fall shows..I'm loving Super Fun Night, The Crazy Ones, & The Millers..I think I like The Goldbergs too but for some reason at 9 o'clock on Tuesdays...the only thing I can do is sleep.

My Current Musical Crush

Pardon me while I bask in the cuteness that is MIKA.

If you haven't heard of him..and well, I'm pretty sure most of you have, at least in passing cos I'm totally loving his re-working of Popular from Wicked...you should.

He performed on Dancing With The Stars this past week with Ariana Grande, doing Popular Song.

Watch and enjoy!