Stupid Photobucket

OK, so I thought I'd try to fix the broken image links which were hosted in my two photobucket sites.,

That lasted about 15 minutes as I tried to edit an old blog post from way back when. (Like back in 2002).

Nope it wasn't happening.

But that was when my blog had a different address, so maybe that was why I could do nothing.

I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, so knowing their are broken links on some of my blogs just really irks the hell out of me.

I think going forward I'm going to use very few images in my posts unless they are from my phone or something of the like, so I don't go crazy.

~sigh~

When It Rains It Pours

I could be talking about the weather, which pretty much has been quite damp this summer, or I could be talking about all the issues that have plagued me since April.

Let's see...2 of my cats have cost me near $1000.00, between eye and ear infections and a strange skin condition

Mom was back in the hospital at the beginning of this past week with afib

Then there's the work issue.

Its not related to me, but it has me stuck in the middle.

It seriously is making me want to drink large quantities of alcohol.

Oh and apparently photobucket wants you to pay for anything worthwhile so most of my photo links on all my blogs are dead.

Grrrrr.

I think its time to make that proverbial lemonade from all the lemons life has been tossing me lately.

Cupcakes and Coffee Oh My

My favorite place in the whole world...ok, maybe not the whole world, because I still long for some places in Atlantic City and Sugarcreek, OH, but as far as the Mon Valley is concerned, Perked Up Cafe is my favorite place to be.

First of all, all the employees are so nice and the owner is super sweet. That makes the shop so welcoming and wonderful.

The decor of the shop is adorable. A fabulous vintage look that's so cozy. It makes you think of a shop that would be featured in a cozy mystery series.

Secondly, everything on the menu that I've tried so far is delicious.

Soup?  Yum! Broccoli cheese is to die for and there was a mushroom orzo that was perfect too.

Candied bacon? YUM YUM YUM! (Candied bacon, is seriously one of natures most perfect foods)

Breakfast sandwiches? OMG YUM! It is so nice to see breakfast sandwiches that don't involve English muffins, and I really have no issues with muffins, but they are boring.

But let's talk about the cupcake. Cos Perked Up as the best pastries, I've found in a coffee shop.

The chocolate espresso cupcake is a coffee lovers dream. Its a little poke cupcake, because that icing that is a touch of coffee heaven, goes deep into the cupcake. There's also a pumpkin cupcake that will delight fans of the fall flavor.

Oh, I forgot, this is a coffee shop, so how is the coffee?

Kiss Starbucks goodbye. You won't need it anymore.  I have a drink that I adore, the Pretty In Pink. Its and iced raspberry white chocolate latte with a shot of espresso, topped with whipped cream and white chocolate and a raspberry drizzle.

So if you are looking to limit your sugar, well..I feel sorry for you, because this is a fabulous drink.

If you aren't a fan of sweet drinks, don't worry, there's plenty for those of you that just need a cup of Joe.

This is truly one of the best things to happen to Charleroi, in ages.

I'm Melting

This fat girl isn't cut out for 90 degree temperatures.

My house doesn't have central air, just small units in certain rooms.

Cooking makes the house hotter.

I'm tired. I'm miserable and I can't even go for my walks..cos well...I don't wish to die.

And now I have a clog in my bathroom tub.

Please just shoot me.

Cat Pictures

Birthday recap

My birthday weekend was pretty awesome this year.

I'm really not sure how that all came to be, but it was.

Friday night ....had drinks and appetizers with my sister at Red Dawgs and then saw Donnie Iris, which was cool, even thought it was only 2 songs.

Saturday I did some shopping, along with my usual laundry, got some cool clothes and discovered that our tiny Mexican taco stand type restaurant is awesome.

On my birthday, I went to the library's book sale and to Barnes and Noble and Trax. It really couldn't get much better than that.

Oh and pizza pretzels rock

I drooled over some pretty gorgeous flowers at Trax too.

It was really a nice few days

Its My Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To

I want to talk about Doctor

I watched the finale of series 10 of Doctor Who and I'm absolutely gutted. I have a tendency to cry at the end of Doctor Who series, especially when a Doctor is departing.

I cried for the 10th Doctor..I cried at the Day of The Doctor for everyone, I cried for 11, though I wasn't fond of the episode, but for The Doctor falls, I started crying early on for 12.

See, I feel like 12 has got the short end of the stick in his brief tenure as The Doctor. Peter Capaldi was so brilliant in his curmudgeonly incarnation of the time lord, but he was saddled with the worst companion for 2 out of his 3 series.

Clara Oswald and Danny Pink ruined things for him, rather than making the episodes better. Sure Jenna Coleman is a beautiful girl and she was ok with The Eleventh Doctor, but saddled with a mature, not classically handsome timelord made her unbearable.

Twelve deserved a companion like Sarah Jane Smith, someone smart and inquisitive.  Bill Potts was a nice addition, but I still wanted more. Oh and I don't care what anyone says, I loved Nardole. (Matt Lucas is fab)

Deep down I think River Song or Missy would have made a fabulous companion for 12 for a complete series.

By the time the episode was ending, in a nasty cliffhanger way, I was really looking for tissue. I just don't want Capaldi to go and the ending....AH...just AH...I want to see the Christmas episode so badly, but I don't want 12 to regenerate.

I hate when tv shows leave me gutted like this.

Donnie Iris

Be proud of me.

I went.

He played 2 songs

Routines are Bad

I am a creature of habit.

Back in my 20s and even my early 30s I'd be able to get home from work, decide I wanted to go somewhere and go. I wouldn't feel like my day was screwed up if I did.

I'm going to be 43 on Saturday, if I go to the grocery store after 6 o'clock, I feel like my life is being shook up.

I don't know why this has happened to me, but I don't like it, and I don't know how to change it. I like things done at a certain time and when they aren't I get frustrated.

This weekend is community days in our town and there's a small concert downtown on Friday night. Donnie Iris, a kinda local one hit wonder from the 80s is playing. I mentioned that I wouldn't mind going down. (This is about 6 blocks down the hill) and then it was decided that I'd go with my sister, and yet something is not sitting right with me, going somewhere and doing something, that is likely going to be fun.

WTF is wrong with me?

Have I had to worry about too many other people that when I have a chance to do something now I feel guilty about doing it and therefore don't want to? Am I becoming that anti-social?


ARGH!

I need to break out of my boring routine that is turning me into a lump

Important albums in my life

It nearing my birthday and my birthday has always brought music to mind.  Today I found myself thinking about all the albums that really meant a lot to me in my   *GASP* 43 years.


There are artists that have to be on this list:

The Moody Blues, Elvis Costello, Gordon Lightfoot, Glass Tiger, Erasure to name but a few. Some artists that seemed important to me for a long time aren't anymore.

I seriously can not take much Duran Duran these days. I used to love them. I had dreams of Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes, but these days I can barely listen to them.

Off the top of my head the albums that I can still listen to and love even now are


The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager
The Moody Blues  - Strange Times
Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth
Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate
Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
Gordon Lightfoot - Summertime Dream
Erasure - I Say I Say I Say
Erasure - Wild
Keith Harkin - Keith Harkin
Justin Hayward - The View From A Hill
Celtic Thunder - Heritage
Byrne & Kelly - Acoustically Irish
The Monkees - Headquarters
The Monkees - Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones
Diana Krall - The Girl In The Other Room
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Beatles - Revolver
George Harrison - Cloud 9
George Harrison - Somewhere In England
Paul McCartney - Press To Play
Paul McCartney - Tug Of War

Internet Free Days

Sunday my cable modem died. Comcast couldn't bring another one out until late Tuesday, so I was mostly internet free for nearly 3 days.

It was refreshing.

I didn't get overloaded on news about 45, which actually relaxed me for a bit.

I actually got some reading done too. That was amazing.

In those days I really came to understand what "Too Much Information" really means. News is out there in so many sources, real and fake. (BTW CNN isn't fake news...) And what does that news do? It helps foster the hatred that is so prevalent in our society today.

Maybe we all need to unplug a lot more.

Then we wouldn't be angry or jealous or just anxious of what is going on.

Watching the 6 o'clock news is enough to fill the void anymore.

Losing My Mind

OK, most of you probably know that I don't have much of a mind to start with, but I am losing what I have left of one now.

I get books from publishers to review and from authors that have tours scheduled for their books.

One book has gone missing, and I swear to god I had it.

I swear it had been on the mantle above my fireplace.

The only place it could have gone from there would be my reading room and it isn't freaking there.

I swear to god that the book has vanished into thin air!

This is the kind of stuff that happens to me all the dang time.

Join me in saying ARGH please.

Why I Don't Like Holidays

Holidays always bite me in the ass.

I try to make them nice.

I go out of my way to decorate...to make good food...whatever I can and yet nothing ever goes right.

Memorial Day had my kitty 'Mokey in a tizzy. I thought he had a UTI. Seems my cat is neurotic and has a horrible flea allergy.

Can  you say bye bye to money?

$173.00 later, 'Mokey had quite a shot and now has a fancy flea coller.

Hopefully that will help the little guy out.

This comes one month after Dewey had eye/ear problems.

Seriously, I can go years with no health issues with my pets, but when they decide to get issues they do it all at one time.

And things like this always happen around holidays or birthdays or other days that are supposed to be calm and relaxing, but never ever are.

Scales, Exercise and I'd Rather Be Fat

OK, no I wouldn't rather be fat, but there is nothing more irksome than doing your best to become more active then stepping on the scale and finding that its gone up a few pounds.

Yeah.

Each day this week I've done over the 10,000 steps that Fitbit seems to think we should all do. I know that's not a lot, but I've actually been doing closer to 20,000 steps and one time I even went over 21,000.

When it hasn't been raining I've been taking at least a mile long walk after supper.

The scale could have been nice. It could have gone down a pound.

But no, that would bring me joy and I can't have that.

But I will plug on.

I am determined.

The 5 Kitchen Gadgets That Everyone Should Have

I watch a lot of shows on Food Network, much to my chagrin.

I have always said, I'd like to see some of these uppity cooks do their thing in a real kitchen

My kitchen is small and it has the added feature of having cabinets that are very low, which limits what I can have sitting on my counter space. Today Ree Drummond was making hashbrown waffles in the biggest waffle iron I have ever laid eyes on.

Uh I have a barely used Belgian waffle iron and a Nordicware cast iron, stove top iron.

I think there are about 5 gadgets that should be in every kitchen whether they are for cooking or prep.

1. A Crock Pot: The size depends on how many people you have in your household. I have a small 4 qt and a larger 5 qt. Because of space issues, I store mine in the basement when not in use, but it is definitely not a gadget that I could live without, even if I hate cleaning it.

2. A good mixer: Everyone should have at least a good quality hand mixer. (If you can find one with attachments the better) If you are a baker, having a Kitchenaid stand mixer is a must. They are pricey but well worth the investment. Plus there are so many attachments you can buy once you own one that you can do many many things from grounding your own meat to making pasta.

3. A Food Processor: This is a versatile gadget. I mean chopping nuts, making salsa, shredding cheese and veggies. I like this article on the Food Processor v/s The Blender. The blender is also an awesome gadget, but I've found that I've only used it a handful of times. I'm not a smoothie maker, but if you are, this is something you should add.

4. A toaster or toaster oven. No home should be without a toaster. (If you have a big enough kitchen, a toaster oven is so worth the investment. I wish I had the counter space for one, as they are great for brownies, open faced cheese sandwiches and small casseroles)

5. An egg slicer.  This is such a little gadget, but as I look at my huge collection of appliances and gadgets..its one that gets a lot of use. If you can find a really good one, it makes making egg salad so much easier, as you double slice the egg.

Some runner up things

1. A mandolin slicer, but for god sake use the guard. I love this for making scalloped potatoes, fried zucchini, or cucumber salad.

2. Pineapple peeler: If you like pineapple this is a great gadget and it really works like a charm.

New Mp3 Player Arrived!

Well my new device came today. Woo hoo! The Zen is still functioning but it isn't recognized on my computer or my nephew's.

So yeah, there is something wrong.

It is holding a charge though..so I'm going to keep it charged as long as I can.

I payed close to $200 for it 12 years ago..I don't want to toss it while it still has some juice left in it.

Ahh..all the Doctor Who and Torchwood I watched on that teeny tiny screen.

Tonight I will hook up my external hard drive and add some tunes to the new player. Woo hoo.

I'm hoping the new player has good or at least passable earbuds. (I could rant for days on how I hate earbuds)

This will be making my walking a little more tolerable. I've been walking about a mile each night at our walking path. So yay.

Any exercise is good exercise right?

And exercise with music is even better.

Walking Walking Walking

Well, after nearly two years at my new address, I finally started to utilize the walking path/dog park that is two blocks down from my house.

Can you say lazy?

I think you can.

Its a pain for me to go to the Y during the week, but I can sure as hell walk down the block. (Even though I live on a huge hill and those two blocks coming back up are pretty painful)

I've done at least a mile for the last two days, so that's a start.

Now if only my Zen Micro would stay alive.

Its partially charged again, after 2 days of usage.

I think it might be time for a new device.

My computer doesn't seem to recognize it when I plug it in to the USB port, but when I plug it into the wall, it does show that it is trying to charge.

Isn't it nice to know that things are built to last.

HA HA HA

I paid close to $200 bucks for the dang thing..I think it should last a good long time. (And walking sucks without music)

Lazarus Thy Name is Zen Micro

My ancient mp3 player, a Zen Micro that I bought...god, in 2005 maybe has come back from the dead.

I've been trying for months to get the battery to charge. If you look to youtube about changing the battery, you know that changing a $10.00 battery can actually kill the player because they didn't build this player to change the battery.

Yeah.

WTF would the company be that stupid.

I don't own, or ever even want an Iphone. My smartphone only has the bare minimum of apps on it. I even disabled Facebook, because Facebook is in fact, the devil.

Today I got to walk and listen to Keith Harkin, so all is good. Now I need to move some Justin Hayward to my player so I can have some more variety to my life.

Yay for my mp3 player being raised from the dead.

Trying new things

I've been making a lot of new recipes.

I found a recipe for overnight oats here  I've got that in a bowl in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. I had to make a few changes to the recipe. I only had french vanilla creamer and vanilla yogurt, but from what I could tell when I sampled the mixture, it is going to be delish.

The other thing I'm planning on making is a coconut-peach crisp that I found in a cookbook I have to review.

The cookbook is called Signs & Seasons; An Astrology cookbook.

Most of the recipes are a bit more involved and with pricey ingredients, but this one looked delicious. I wouldn't mind trying the frittata caprese which has relatively easy to find ingredients.

I'll keep you posted as to how they turned out.

My Intentions Are Good

I've wanted to get back to blogging regularly. Lord knows I've tried.

Things keep happening and well..I just don't know.

I think the thing is...my life is so boring now I have nothing to say anymore.

I don't watch much new tv. I don't get out to the movies ever. I haven't been to a concert in 7 years.

7 years!

I'm lucky if I can get to a coffee shop to relax once a month.

I will try to keep up the blog. Not that anyone reads it anymore.

How life changes.