Tuesday 31 December 2013

2013 - The Year that Was

It was a year.  :)  And it's just about done.  Reflecting back on it, there were more good times and things on it than bad, so we'll put it in the plus column of the ledger book.  There are some things that stick out in my memories and thoughts of the year.  Things other than the day to day activity of life that is really what living is.  :)

My blood was good all year!  Go me!  The COPD and phlebitis sucks and makes things difficult to do at times, but it is what it is.  I've not smoked in 2 and a half years, which is a good thing.  (I still do crave a good cig every once in a while, but it passes quickly.)  In the coming year, I have to find a way to get more active.  I had the greatest plans for walking when I retired but the COPD put a HUGE spoke in that wheel.  But I am going to work on that.  For now it will have to be inside because the lungs really, really, really don't like this arctic cold thing the weather has going on this winter.

I had some family and friends going through really shitty times this year and I wish I was closer to them so I could help, you know?  At the very least to offer hugs and coffee.  To them, I hope the new year brings peace, happiness, good health and a very limited amount of crapola.  *hugs them all*  

Speaking of friends, I got to know someone a whole lot better this past year and she's become a very good and close friend.  The internet is really good for some things.  

I read a lot of good books this past year, among them, Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan, the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy by Nora Roberts,  Beyond Shame, Beyond Control and Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha, Touch & Geaux by Abigail Roux, Forever Promised by Amy Lane, Catch a Ghost and Long Time Gone by SE Jakes are all among my faves.  Here is my Pinterest Board of Books I Read in 2013 if anyone is curious.  

Movies that I saw this year include Frozen from Disney that I highly recommend to anyone who will listen.  *LOL*  It turns all those Prince Charming, romance and Knights on white chargers tropes on their heads in a most wonderful way.  I wanted to have All The Daughters so I could take them to see this one.  :)  And this song... THIS SONG!!  There are no words to describe how I love this song.  Yeah, I'm a headbanger, I know, but THIS SONG!!!!




Some great TV watching this past year.  All the regulars of course, Dancing With the Stars, The Voice, NCIS, NCIS:LA, Hawaii Five-0, Survivor, Arrow, Revolution, Chicago Fire, White Collar, Once Upon A Time, The Amazing Race... there are even more.  *LOL*  I've enjoyed them all.  And the new additions to the schedule, Blacklist, Almost Human, Sleepy Hollow, Agents of Shield, Tomorrow People, The Originals and my latest total obsession Strike Back.  They have all kept me occupied in the best ways.  :)  Check out one of the best opening credit sequences in television -




So that's about it.  In the coming year?  There are things I want to do, get more active, write and complete something, things of that nature. I want to enjoy my family and friends.  I want to read good books, enjoy good movies and watch good TV shows. I want to enjoy my retirement.  :)

Happy New Year, everyone!!  *HUGS FOR ALL*


Friday 27 December 2013

A Review

I finished this book on Christmas Eve but I'm just getting around to writing about it now.  It's been a busy few days!  :)  It was an interesting read and I had fun with it for the most part.





Wednesday 18 December 2013

He Loves the Tango

I was up early this morning - well, early for me - and as is my habit, I turned on the TV for the morning shows.  I've been watching Good Morning America since I retired because I prefer their people to the others on Today or CBS This Morning.  And yes, I'm a terrible Canadian because I don't watch the Canadian morning shows.

Anyway, today on GMA, Robin and Josh are over at The Vatican doing reports on the Pope and his Christmas message and how the past 9 months have been since he took over the job, and it made me ponder.  Made me think about my mom who's been gone 15 years now.  She would have loved Pope Francis.  His message, his demeanor, the love he shows for everyone - yeah, she would have dug him big time.  :)  And you know, he's a lot like my mom was.  She was a real good lady, not a mean bone in her body, she loved everyone and everyone loved her.

My family is Catholic.  Very Catholic.  I was taught by nuns for my first few years of school in Cincinnati, until we moved back to Canada, where I went to Catholic school - elementary and high school.  Church every Sunday without fail, grace before meals, prayers before bed, rosaries said when the family got together, mass cards, no meat on Fridays, confession, the whole nine yards.  However, when I left home, I basically left organised religion behind. The by rote praying and church worshiping and the very strict dogmas of the Catholic church hinder my spirituality rather than enhance it. I don't get a religion whose church so often acts against the basic beliefs of itself.   I believe in the tenets of love thy neighbour; do unto others as you'd have done unto you; love, tolerance, appreciation, all things that Jesus taught and that are really at the base of most religions, no matter who's doing the teaching.  I am a lapsed Catholic as they call them or used to call them in the olden days.  *LOL*  And I'm okay with that!

All this to say, Pope Francis is truly a breath of fresh air.  No, he's not perfect.  He's not going to overturn centuries of dogma and practice and beliefs and rules and all those things in a matter of months, or probably years or even his total tenure as Pope.  But he is changing things.  He's changing the ATTITUDE of the Catholic church.  He's an extremely smart man as well as being a very religious man and you know what?  He's full of love.  It radiates from him!  Love and humility and UNDERSTANDING.  I truly believe that the Catholic church will undergo a shift in attitude.  Maybe not an about-face, I think that's far too much to ask, but I think there is a gentling going on.  The church is trying to become more about love and acceptance and I believe that under Pope Francis' guidance, it will.  Hope.  Pope Francis has brought hope to so many of those who have been disenfranchised.  It really is wonderful to see... and I wish my mom was still around to see it.

After all, who can resist a Pope who loves the Tango?  :)   





Tuesday 17 December 2013

Book Review


Last night I finished the final book in Riptide's "Home for the Holidays" bundle.  Oh my sweet Lord, it was depressing.  :(   Not really what I was looking for in a Holiday read.  I mean, I'm all for realism and truth in my love stories, but DAMN!  I wanted a Christmas Miracle and didn't get it.  So, if you are interested...





Saturday 14 December 2013

Book Review

In keeping with the season, I finished the third of four books in the Riptide "Home for the Holidays" bundle, Amy Lane's Christmas Kitsch.  It's pretty much what these days they call a New Adult book, college-aged characters coming of age and all that.  So many of my favourite authors are writing in this genre now.  It's almost discouraging!  I like my more mature main characters.  But Amy is a genius at writing these youngsters, so I won't complain so much about her forays into the NA world.  :)





Wednesday 11 December 2013

Christmas Tree is Up!

The tree is done.  I have so many darned ornaments, but I can't stop buying them!  *LOL*  It's a tradition I got from my mom.  Every year she'd buy a new set of ornaments and put them on the tree Christmas Eve after I went to bed and then Christmas morning, after I opened my stocking, I could take the time time to find them while she and Daddy managed to get a little coffee down their throats.  *LOL*    So that translates to me, 45+ years later, buying a new pack of ornaments every year.  :)


I've done red and white for a while now, 6 or 7 years and I'm thinking that I may have to change to either a mixed colour scheme or maybe blue.  The thing is, it's really hard to find white corded lights.  I'll have to take a look at the after Christmas sales.  :)

So that's it for now.  Tree up, decorations out.  I'm debating putting lights in my windows because I have a ton of green corded lights but I'm pooped out on the decorating for right now, so I shall ponder.  

Sunday 8 December 2013

Book Review

I have come to realise that Z.A. Maxfield is up there in my favourite M/M romance authors along with Heidi Cullinan, Amy Lane and Marie Sexton.  There is always something quirky about her characters and her tales often make me chuckle out loud, not because they're comedic, really, but more because life is funny, you know?  Anyway, I finished her latest Christmas tale, Lost and Found, and I loved it!






Saturday 7 December 2013

Goodreads Does Indeed Suck


I had been debating buying Book Collector, a book database program that's full of lovely bells and whistles and the most important thing, provides me my own copy of my collection of over 2600 books on my computer as well as cloud storage etc.. etc...    So, I went ahead and bought it.  

Now, two months ago, I opened an account (link in the sidebar if you're interested) at Booklikes for my book blogging and imported my collection from Goodreads.  Now I love Booklikes, but it's newish and growing and it doesn't have an export function yet, so... I used my Goodreads export to load up my Book Collector.  I sure wasn't going to add all 2600+ books one by one AGAIN!   Once was enough.  :)  

Anyway, in doing this, I have realised how Goodreads has totally fucked my books and shelves.  I had taken the time when originally adding my books into Goodreads, to find the proper ISBN numbers, the correct covers and editions etc...   Then Goodreads was bought by Amazon.  They "cleaned up" their database because no one using it had books any older than 10 years old, right?  *eyeroll*  Now I have ISBN numbers that don't match the books I own, covers have gone missing all over the place, even books have disappeared from shelves.  Add in their censoring of reviews and peoples shelves and all the other bullshit from the past 6 months, and I'm CONVINCED I did the right thing in moving to Booklikes and buying Book Collector.  

I have sorted the author names (you wouldn't believe the mess of the import) and now I 'm about to dive in and do covers and series.  It's going to be FABULOUS once I'm done.  :)

But DAMN, Goodreads used to be the PRIME way to catalogue books, but then Big Business got involved and it went into the shitter.  And it's made me so very pleased I don't own a Kindle.  :)   Now, if only the Kobo Aura HD will go on sale....  I'm due for an upgrade. 
 

Thursday 5 December 2013

Book Review


I finished another Christmas tale last night.  How I Met Your Father by L.B. Gregg was exactly the light-hearted fun read I was looking for.  I like these holiday romances - they add a little something extra to the season for a reader like me.  :)





Sunday 1 December 2013

Book Review

I've started the holiday season off with Let It Snow by one of my favorites, Heidi Cullinan.  A really fun and romantic read.  Heidi never disappoints.  I am in love with Marcus, the grumpy bear.  It's really too bad he doesn't swing my way.  ;)