I'm An Ancient Astronaut Theorist

I have to admit, that I'm really addicted to History Channel's Ancient Aliens. For the last several months we've been watching that show and some of the other alien/UFO shows and some of the stuff makes a lot of sense.

I also have a little bit of a crush on the crazy haired ancient astronaut theorist, Giorio Tsoualos.

But really, especially in regards to the pyramid, I have to think that maybe something otherworldly was helping us along.

I mean, could we really have gotten so stupid, if humans once built the pyramids? Thanks to this show I've found myself interested in ancient history again.

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to wait for my spaceship to land.

I've Moved!

Well, we've been in the new house for almost a week.

Things are crazy busy and probably will be for some time. I've been trying to wash any and all dishes coming in, before I put them away.

I've bought so many cleaning supplies its insane!

Oh and I've lost at least 5 lbs! Woot!

Now for some pictures for those who don't check out my facebook.

Andrea's Birthday Top 10

Top 10 things I'd like for my birthday.

1. One more hug from my daddy.

2. All foods especially potato chips should become calorie free!

3. My belongings should levitate and move to the new house all by themselves today. Pretty please.

4. Time to relax and read!

5. A birthday serenade by my favorite singers (Elvis Costello, The Blue Jays, Gordon Lightfoot, Keith Harkin, Mika and Andy Bell)

6. 10 pounds to drop from my body. (OK maybe more than that, but I'm trying not to be greedy)

7. The Doctor to come in his TARDIS to take me away.

8. A birthday screening of Minions and Inside Out at my house. (I'm really my age in reverse)

9. A visit from the money fairy (who doesn't want a visit from this fairy?)

10. Some Barnes and Noble or Amazon goodness.

New Duran Duran

My friend Jennifer reminded me that there was a new Duran Duran song floating around. So I went to You Tube and did a search.

Its definitely Duran Duran, but for some reason, it doesn't excite me much.

Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe they just aren't as good anymore. I don't know.

I'll let you decide, but I think this song isn't for me.

Moving Sucks

Most of you know the old homestead is a three bedroom deal, 1 bath a living room, dining room and a kitchen.

Do you know how much stuff can accumulate in this much space since 1967?

A LOT!

Do you know how hard it is to move BY YOURSELF! With little to no help from any family members? ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT LIVE IN THE AREA!

I've hauled over cooking supplies. I've hauled over some clothes (But I'm trying not to take stuff off the hangers since they are only moving 6 blocks down the road). I've hauled books.

Note the word, "I".

No one else.

The nephews have helped take stuff in but trust me it isn't much and the youngest nephew put together my bakers rack, but as far as helping me get more stuff than my Focus can haul. Well that's all been on me.

Pardon me while I scream.

Loudly!

At least when the furniture gets moved I'll have some help.

YAY!

Moving My Books

Today I moved some of my many many books to the new house.  This is going to be the hardest part of the move.

Finding space for all the books, and let me tell you there are loads of them.

And CDs too.

ARGH

Not to mention that I'm trying to find stuff for the new house.

Not easy.

Not fun.

Oh and have I mentioned that I'm doing most of the moving by myself.

I would like to scream now please!

Best Line From A Monkees Episode

OK, one of the best lines, cos this show was always funny as hell.

I don't want to be a chicken, I don't want to be a chicken. Ward, I don't want to be a chicken. I'm a chicken. I'm a chicken.

Stupid Reruns, Stupid Crush

There's not been a lot of stuff on tv lately. I've overdosed on Ancient Aliens on the two History channels.

Now I've rediscovered Full House on Nick.

I've also discovered that I still have a crush on Danny Tanner...erm...Bob Saget.

A very huge crush on Bob Saget.

That's very very wrong.

But I've always loved me some geeky men.

So while I hang my head in shame at how I've reverted back to my teenage years, I'll give you one more picture of Bob Saget's geeky sexiness

Getting Ready To Move

My closing is on Friday, so for the next few weeks, every spare moment is going to be spent shifting houses.

I promise I will post pictures of the house on Friday.

I figure it may take the full 3 weeks to get everything out.

Wish me luck.

Happy Music

This is today's smile worthy tune. I think Mika has trumped Erasure in my happy music category.

Things You Find While Dejunking

I cleaned out one of the strange cabinets in our house yesterday

~ I found a precious Valentine's Day card from my Dad to Mom. He was always about the silly, when mom would have loved flowers, but his silly sentiment always was what he meant. Lots of tears shed there.

~ Cookbooks from the 1960s were a hoot, and as a result of looking at a bunch of Better Homes and Gardens books, I want a soup tureen!

~ My mother has 3 copies of Beverly Lewis' Amish Heritage cookbook and about 4 copies of one made by the ladies at the Monessen Food Pantry.

~ Found a book about the Gnostic Gospels that I'm going to have to read to mom now.

~ Found a beautiful Christmas ornament with one of the Presque Isle Lighthouses on it. Now I can't wait for Christmas!

~ My mother had an odd obsession with Ideals poetry magazines.

The Stupidest Ad Ever

Gateway Hospice has a billboard campaign that really really pisses me off.

It says "Embracing Life" and shows two smiling old people.

Pardon me if I want to beat the living crap out of the person who came up with this ad.

If you are on hospice, your life is ending, and for the most part,  you can't embrace it. You can only hang on to it for every second that you can.

My father was very lucky that in his year on hospice that he had time to enjoy what time he had left. Most do not. Most are cancer patients in great pain.

"Embracing life" my buttocks!

Everyone that knows me, knows I have very mixed feelings about hospice care. I think we were very lucky that my dad had great nurses and aids from Amedysis, that really liked him and were kind, and to them, I still give my heartfelt thanks, because dad could be very pig headed, especially in his last months when his illnesses gave him dementia. (He could be pig headed even before his illness, but that's why we loved him)

If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure I would have let my mother agree to it. I would have fought her tooth and nail not to.

But back to the ad.

I know that you don't want to reflect sadness and death in an ad, but I just think showing smiling seniors with one of their adult family members/child/etc is just  stupid.

Books Books and More Books

In the last few weeks I've taken bags upon bags of books to be donated to our library and to the lending library at our YMCA.

You would think that it would make a dent in our house but it doesn't.

We have a small library going on here.

Lots of novels and lots of cookbooks.

Oh and did I mention the library had their book sale this week.

erm...

On a counter productive move, I found about 10 cookbooks. Some are from women's groups and others were those awesome Taste Of Home annuals that usually cost about 30 bucks.

So I've got a lot of great new cookbooks to make yummy stuff from.

Yay, but I still have a house that looks like a war zone

Boo!

This move is not going to be easy at all.

Things Seldom Go As Planned

Allow me to tell you how my weekend went

~ Missed a call from my loan officer on Friday. I need to get my boss to fill out yet another employment verification form. This is a long story, but at the beginning of the year I was being paid by the father's company and now I'm being paid by the son's. Oye to the vey.

~ My brother in law had a seizure yesterday. We had a feeling one was coming on, but we didn't know when it would happen. Don't know what brought this on, but it through the whole day out of whack.

~ I only got to the YMCA once.

~ I'm still trying to sort through books, which is making my house look like several tornadoes whipped through it.

One word, ARGH

I'm A Weekend Blogger

This is getting ridiculous. I've got to start blogging when I get up in the morning.

I'm still working on dejunking our house, which is none to easy. I think we are going to have to get a huge garbage hopper when we move so we can just toss the junk and let it get hauled away.

I was telling my mother, there are two jackets from my college days that my father wore. I bought one for him and then there was mine, that I gave to him when his started to fall apart.

I can't part with them. Just like some of his novelty t-shirts. I can't get rid of them. It would be like throwing my father away. They may be miscellaneous articles of clothing, but they were things that he loved.

That's the hard part about this move.

~sigh~

Now to shift gears..

WTF is up with the new Rob Thomas song?

Trust You is fun enough song, but like She's So Mean, he is so much better than this. I wish he wasn't trying to follow the corporate music path.




If you don't believe me, listen to Ever The Same...this is the man at his brilliant best.

The things you find

My parents dresser drawers are more like junk drawers in the last few years, some of them longer than that. We moved a lot of their clothes downstairs when their health started failing.

So I was going through them to  see what we could keep and what we needed to give away or through away or donate.

In one drawer I found my dad's diploma from grade school and then his junior high diploma. My dad left school to join the coast guard during WWII.

I also found that letter that President Truman sent to all the men who fought in the war.

That war affected my father, in ways you didn't know until his health issues started giving him dementia. I'm pretty sure he had PTSD when he returned home.

Every time I hear about Okinawa, Japan, I cringe.

I found some of his papers from his time working at Corning Glass here in Charleroi (Pyrex), PA. He took such pride in his work there.

I love finding this parts of my father that were kept hidden, but in other ways they have brought me lots of tears in the past few days, because I want to talk to him about them. I want to hug him and tell him I love him.

I also found some of my mom's old yearbooks and one had a particularly poignant poem

So in the spirit of Bilbo's Poetry Sunday

Away


I cannot say, and I will not say
That he is dead- . He is just away!

With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand
He has wandered into an unknown land,

And left us dreaming how very fair
It needs must be, since he lingers there.

And you- O you, who the wildest yearn
For the old-time step and the glad return- ,

Think of him faring on, as dear
In the love of There as the love of Here;

And loyal still, as he gave the blows
Of his warrior-strength to his country's foes- .

Mild and gentle, as he was brave- ,
When the sweetest love of his life he gave v To simple things- : Where the violets grew Blue as the eyes they were likened to, v The touches of his hands have strayed As reverently as his lips have prayed:

When the little brown thrush that harshly chirred
Was dear to him as the mocking-bird;

And he pitied as much as a man in pain
A writhing honey-bee wet with rain- .

Think of him still as the same, I say: He is not dead- he is just away!

James Whitcomb Riley

Accomplishments

The dejunking continues

For the weekend, I have

1. 2 bags of garbage

2. At least 2 bags of stuff for Goodwill

3. Four bags of books to donate for the library's book sale

The house looks like a tornado hit it.

I absolutely give up. There is no winning. I just hope I can dejunk enough so that when we move things will be easier

Hump Day Hotties

A little Aiden Turner..I can't wait until PBS airs Poldark next month!

Now some Matt Smith sweetness

And my favorite guy from Coupling

Overwhelmed

Things are totally crazy right now, with so much to do regarding the home purchase. I have to say, I'm terribly frightened.

This is a huge deal

I'm scared and excited all at the same time.

The bank asked if I might be able to close on the loan early.

ARGH!

Not that I'll be able to, because the owners of the property live in Maryland, and they still have to get their belongings out of the house.

There's so many things I have questions about, and I don't have any idea who to ask.

Its all so very crazy.

I'm trying to go through my books and such so I can scale down when I move, but I'm a hoarder when it comes to books and CDs. (Funny, I don't even own a cd player anymore though)

I just hope that sometime in the next few months that things will settle down and that I won't be stressed out so much. There's very little that I enjoy anymore and that makes me sad and I feel like I have no friends except for the cats.

~sigh~

Preparing to Move...I Hate It

Things that suck about mortgages and moving

1. Waiting for the appraisal and just about everything else.

2. Home inspection...I think I just don't want to know. Anyone know any good fix-it people

3. Trying to downsize life sucks. Seriously my house is a library and I know all the books can't come with me. How in the hell do I decide the old "Should I stay or should I go" conundrum?

4. The total guilt that is consuming me about leaving the house I've lived in since I came home from the hospital in 1974.

5. Will my dad understand? I know he's gone, but this was his home since 1967. He freaking died here!! This house was his home.

6. All my previous pets with about 4 exceptions are buried in the back yard.

I am so depressed right now, I don't know where to begin. I feel like nothing is going right and I have no help from anyone.