I Just Can't Win

I really want to get back to blogging on a more consistent basis, but things happen in my life and I just can't seem to sit down and write as much as I'd like.

Mom hasn't been feeling good this past week, which always puts me on edge.

I'm always doing my best to try to keep her out of the hospital.

It costs so much for all involved when she ends up at Mon Valley.

It's $4.00 a day to have tv on in a room, which raises her monthly phone bill. Then it costs me $2.00 a trip to park in the garage there. This is a huge bone of contention for me, because the only people that use that lot are patients and guests of patients. So they are making money off of people that are using their services or visiting sick loved ones.

Oh and just an aside, Mon Valley Hospital is not a city hospital that would have people other than patients/visitors/employees working there.

Which is why I'm glad I haven't had to be there lately

5 Things

5 artists that could sing me to sleep and the song they would sing

At some point I know I've answered this question, but I think the answer may have changed just a little bit.

Gordon Lightfoot: Pony Man. This song is actually a children's song and there was even a book to go along with it.

Keith Harkin: Daisy Fields or Orange Moon. OK, Keith Harkin could probably sing anything to me and I'd happily go off into the land of nod. I've done it before. That's what Amazon Music is for.

Justin Hayward: Did you think Justiny poo wouldn't make the list? He's another one that could sing the NYC phone book and I'd be happy. For him, though I'd pick New Horizons

Micky Dolenz: Please come and sing Sometime In The Morning...which is one of my favorite Monkee ballads.

Ryan Kelly: Yes another Celtic Thunder boy, and he can bring his dog too. I want to here him sing Hallelujah

I need to be prompted

I found an awesome site with 119 journal prompts

In an effort to get myself back to more regularly blogging....I'm going to go through some of these or maybe all of these.

I'm picking on from the "If" section....

• If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?

This is actually a hard question to answer because there several fictional characters that I would like to meet.

My first choice would be Erik from The Phantom of the Opera. I think I might try to talk some sense into him, maybe get him to consider therapy. and remind him that kidnapping singers is not a good thing. Oh and I'd play the musical for him to see how he liked it.

But lets go on to more interesting TV fictional characters..

I want to meet THE DOCTOR.

This is one character that is probably more intriguing than a lot of characters that are just in novels and stories, because of his wibbley wobbley timey whimey-ness. There are parts of this character that will always be left open for the imagination.

That's probably part of the reason why this show can continue on the way it has. Faces can changes, companions change..and if we are unfortunate enough, even gender can change.

However..I'd prefer to meet the Doctor as 11 or 12....if I met 10..I'd drool on him too much, because no matter what, 10 was pretty darn easy on the eyes.

Who would you chose?

Songs Everyone Over 50 Should Own

This is my response to Bilbo's post which was inspired by an AARP article of the same name.

Here are the songs from the AARP list

Once Upon a Time, by Frank Sinatra
Harvest Moon, by Neil Young
Lately, by Stevie Wonder
A House Is Not a Home, by Dionne Warwick
Little Green, by Joni Mitchell
Gangsta's Paradise, by Coolio
Landslide, by Stevie Nicks
Hotel California, by The Eagles
You Shook Me All Night Long, by AC/DC
C'est La Vie, by Emmylou Harris
He Stopped Loving Her Today, by George Jones
For What It's Worth, by Buffalo Springfield
Crazy, by Patsy Cline
God Only Knows, by The Beach Boys
Jailhouse Rock, by Elvis Presley
In My Life, by The Beatles

I do like some of these songs, but for the most part it says if you are over 50 you stop listening to new music sometime in the 80s...And because you want to be a cool old codger they tossed a rap song in there..that is better when Weird Al did a parody.

Now I'm not putting this list down, because there are some really lovely tunes here..I'm partial to the Landslide which should be labeled as a Fleetwood Mac song and For What Its Worth by Buffalo Springfield


I'm going to do this a bit different

5 songs from the 50s
The Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon
Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
Bobby Darrin - Mack The Knife
Elvis Presley - Hound Dog


5 songs from the 60s
The Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
Chad and Jeremy - Yesterday's Gone
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - Lady Willpower
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale


5 songs from the 70s
Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
The Moody Blues - Question
James Taylor - Mexico
Jimmy Buffett - Volcano
Carly Simon - Your So Vain

5 Songs from the 80s
Elvis Costello - Man Out Of Time
Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me
Duran Duran - Union Of The Snake
Whitney Houston - The Greatest Love Of All
Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror

5 Songs from the 90s
The Gin Blossoms - Allison Road
Madonna - Frozen
Matchbox Twenty - 3 am
Semisonic - Closing Time
Alanis Morrissette - You  Oughta Know

5 Things On Sunday

5 Things I Need a Lifetime Supply of

I never thought I'd have a hard time answering this question.

1. Money: I mean really this should be on everyone's list. How else could you have lifetime supplies of anything else without this one?

2. Canada Dry Blackberry Ginger Ale: OK Canada Dry peeps this was a limited edition flavor.  I don't drink much soda anymore, but when I do its always ginger ale or Sprite.

3. Cozy mystery novels. Those are my genre of choice these days

4. Dove Dark Chocolate: I don't think I need to explain myself here.

5. Lambic Beer: The Belgium champagne of beers and its delicious

Booking Through Thursday

What kind of book do you like to curl up with on a snowy day?

Snow days, like today are the hardest days for me to really read. I tend to catch up on stuff that I may not usually get around to. The house gets an extra good cleaning. I clean out the fridge. That's the sort of stuff that I do on snow days.

Oh and baking....especially if its a planned snow day. You know when you know that a foot of snow is coming. That's when I try to bake bread or something I wouldn't normally be able to do otherwise.

So I'd say the first type of book that I'd curl up with on a snowy day would be one of my many cookbooks.

The next type of book I like to curl up with on a snowy day is a good historical novel. I like anything historical, mysteries, romances or books revolving around royalty.

The question now is, what book am I going read on this snow day!

Remembering My Daddy

I miss my dad.

I like to remember the little things about him...that made him who he was.

He was a hard worker. Even after he retired from Corning Glass, he worked as a custodian at the high school to keep busy.

He was good at fixing cars and he always gave our old Malibu a tune up before we'd go on vacation. The level of difficulty in the job always coincided with how many "sonfabitchinbastards" that came out of his mouth.

He loved to eat out, especially Mexican and Chinese food. I took him to Rock Bottom and he had pot pie, and I thought he was going to lick the plate. We always ate out on Sundays. When mom couldn't go with us any longer, I always took him, even if he had to lug around his oxygen tank to go to La Fiesta.

He was fond of a good beer. (Especially at Rock Bottom)

Dessert was his favorite part of any meal. He loved his sweets. Even in his last months...he wanted cookies and candy more than any other food.

He was stubborn. (With a touch of dementia from his blood and lung disorders he could be frustrating with this trait and it often caused us to scream at him, but never to stop loving him)

He was a great dishwasher. No one else could clean up like him.

He liked to break our Coke glasses. (He was good at breaking things that the rest of us liked, especially if he was doing something he didn't want to do)

He was generous. When I wanted to get my first CD player, he left quarters on the floor of my room to help me with my savings.

He was a savior. I can't begin to count the times he had to come and rescue either my sister or me where stuck somewhere with a broken down car or stuck in the snow.

He was a wonderful man, and not a day goes by that I don't miss me.

Reading Slump

I am totally in a reading slump. I have so many books that sit half finished, some are good, others aren't holding my attention and are just frustrating the hell out of me.

I very seldom leave books unfinished. That's just not how I am. I slog through most everything. (Except Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned. I tried that one 3 times and never could get through it)

I'm not even sure how to break out of this slump, since I've been trying books of all my favorite genres, and nothing is making me happy.

I can't remember when I last had a book that I didn't want to put down. Maybe it is because I have to many and I have such high standards when it comes to my books.

Whatever it is, its making me very sad. (especially since tv and politics suck too)

Sheet Pan Suppers Rock

OK, I have to admit. I'm lazy. I love to cook but I hate cleaning up, so I'm a huge fan of anything that can be cooked in one pot, pan or in this case sheet pan.

Yesterday I made a fabulous dinner of cubed potatoes, smoked sausage and brussel spouts all on a sheet pan.

The potatoes where done with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika mixture...the sprouts had olive oil and natures seasonings on them

Today was a sheet pan chicken parm, which was delicious except the chicken breasts obviously came from a chicken the size of a turkey.

My Favorite Authors

Bilbo  has a fabulous post on his blog about his favorite authors. These are authors whose books you buy, just because you know they are going to be winners every time.

I have very odd taste in books. I run the gamut from romance to mystery to sci-fi and many spots in between.

Here are a few of my favorite authors.

Sarah Morgan: Sarah is romance writer. A lot of her early books were for the Presents line, which I was never a huge fan of, but in recent years, she's stepped out of the shadows of the sheikh's and is writing longer series books and they are all so wonderful. The O'Neill Brothers trilogy is one of my favorites. (And Sarah writes the best Christmas stories EVER)

Heather Wardell: Heather is one of the only authors I have ever met. She writes women's fiction that makes you think. There's always a touch of romance there, but it isn't the gushy kind. My favorite book is Planning to Live. You can't finish this one without shedding a tear or two or twenty.

Phillipa Gregory: I have always loved historical fiction that involved the royals. My first favorite author, who is sadly no longer with us was Jean Plaidy. Phillipa's Tudor novels are some of my very favorites, after all, how can you not be fascinated with Henry VIII.

Janet Evanovich: I'm a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum series, though I do think it has gone on a little to long. We're up to book 23 now. I'm not as apt to buy her books these days as to take them out of the library, but they still are good fun, for what its worth.

Meg Cabot: Most people know her for her Princess Diaries series, but I love her Heather Wells Mysteries which are really funny and just plain fun reads.

Richard Paul Evans:  Yes, his books are sappy, but they warm my heart. I've read so many of them and if you handed me his latest, I would read it without question.

C.W. Gortner: C.W. Gortner writes some fabulous historical fiction. I've recently read his book, Marlene that was about Dietrich and it was fabulous.

There really are too many authors that I love...Amanda Stevens who writes the Graveyard Queen books which are beyond fabulous. Holly Jacobs, a PA author who writes the best romances and of course Terry Pratchett, who has gone on..as well as Joyce and Jim Lavene