2022 YEAR END REVIEW

It’s New Year's Eve … who knew. Not me at least not until someone sent me a text telling me to be safe tonight, and I was like why where I am going. They said you know if you go anywhere for the holiday. I responded with you mean tomorrow. They were like um…no tonight. People celebrate New Year's tonight, since it’s New Year's Eve. I again responded with tomorrow. They wrote back with a screen shot of the date, like my devices don’t also have that. Turns out … guys they were right today is New Year's Eve. The last day of 2022, the last day of the year, tomorrow starts a brand-new chapter full of wonder, excitement and pretty much the same shit that 2022 had but with a different date at the end … if I’m being honest.

New Year's has just never been a thing I celebrate. I mean yeah sure it’s an accomplishment to get from point A to point B I guess and not everyone got to make that circle, heck I went to 2 funerals just this week alone, so I see why people celebrate this “milestone” but I’ve just never been interested in it. Even as a little Marcy I wasn’t concerned with staying up to watch the ball drop. Seemed like a lot of fuss over not much and you spend the night wandering around going from place to place finally landing somewhere to count backwards from 10 then it’s over and everyone goes home or leaves to head to yet another place. I’d rather stay home, sleep at a decent hour and just get up the next day. I will admit I do like seeing how everyone chooses to usher out the current year and welcome the new one, but it’s all become a bit much. Every single town now has a thing. Hell, mine has a Moon Pie Drop. They take a LARGE Moon Pie strap it to the side of a building downtown and at midnight lower it to the ground because nothing says New Year like getting ready for Mardi Gras.

It's been another year of hard work and some appreciation for both Golden and I. I do wish she got more appreciation but there's very little I can do about that. I just completed my first year at the helm of the ship at my work, which has been a learning curve. I'm proud of what we got accomplished this year and know there's more we can do so that's the goal for 2023. Once gain I'm gonna lose some of my vacation time, I hope that next year I do better about that. Golden and I are trying to come up with our next big trip (other than Dragon Con) because it's been a few years since we did that. I think the two of us just need something to look forward to if I am being honest. 

Last year on this day it was 84 degrees and sunny, which was just dumb. I rang in the new year in shorts and a t-shirt. Less than 24 hours later it was raining and in the low 50s. tell me the south isn’t always sick for no reason and I’ll explain all that again. It’s been ridiculously cold the last week or so which was nice to have a Christmas holiday where I could wear my Christmas sweaters without sweating through them for a change. Today it’s 67, cloudy and wanting to rain. We had a wicked storm blow through on Friday afternoon and it was supposed to hold over until today, but it was moving faster than originally thought and we are left with a dreary, cloudy, warm day instead. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be in the high 70’s low 80’s. So basically, back to normal.

I’ve spent the majority of my “time off” for the holidays (Christmas and now New Year's) cleaning. Throwing things away, purging my life of the things I don’t “need” I have 5 bags of things to take…. somewhere. It’s mostly clothing that I can’t or don’t wear, some of which still have the tags on them. I’m really bad about that, it’s the downside of online shopping it looks better on the screen than in my house.

While I wasn’t looking this blog turned 8 years old. Since 2014 we have had 261 entries that have been viewed 27,526 times by ….. someone. We average about 29 post a year, but I credit most of that to the first two years when I did blog challenges and then in 2019, I did kind of a resurgence of the blog in an effort to bring it back to life. I will admit that with this blog I’ve not been trying to set the world on fire, teach anyone anything in particular, or even study specific subjects for a greater understanding of a higher universe but I have tried to stay consistent in my posting. Here lately it’s felt more like a journal or diary than an actual blog with a purpose or passion. Like this isn’t a lifestyle blog, or a blog trying to sell my various projects or causes, or a blog that is used to promote anything or generate likes and collaboration with companies. It’s just me, my little HP laptop that’s still kicking (knock on wood), and sometimes Golden just sharing various thoughts with people who might be interested. It tuns out that while most of our views come from the US, we also get a large portion from Russia and Ukraine (haven’t those people suffered enough) with France and Germany rounding out our top 5 countries. Sorry Canada you just missed the top 5.

I did just learn that our blog with the most views has changed … it used to be the “Royal Welcome” my Real Person fiction about Haley and Michaels working with the Royal Family. However ironically the post now with the most views of 314 is “He is Risen” posted in April 2019 … I just re read it and it’s nothing to special so I’m not sure why so many have felt the need to click on that particular one but it’s gonna be hard to pass that many views. But I’ll do my best.

Have a great 2023 and a safe New Year’s Eve, which is apparently tonight in case you didn't know.

Marcy (@beaslma)

2020 Christmas TV Movie Calendar

Let’s start by stating the obvious … 2020 has just drained me and I came very close to not doing this calendar cause well frankly nothing else has worked out this year why should this … but then decided A. I needed something to look forward to so looking up these shows and movies made me happy. B. so many people have been asking about this calendar even before the Halloween one went out so the pressure to do it was strong. C. For that reason I knew that many of you were looking forward to was this calendar and I didn’t deliver then well it would have made you sad and I can’t have that on my head. D. by sending out the Halloween calendar I kind of obligated myself to do this one too E. For those indifferent to the calendar I salute you but question your loyalty F. it’s all about me and this calendar makes me smile and wears out my TV … so we must proceed! (My Tivos recently died a horrible death but Xfinity-X1 is in the house …. Literally. Dad blames Xfinity, Comcast whatever they call themselves these days… I am just gonna lay it at 2020’s doorstep, in a paper bag, with other organic matter inside it, and it will be on fire. Just saying.

So … here you go …. I present to you the 2020 Christmas TV Schedule in all its glory! It's best if you save the image below for viewing on the go. By my calculations my digital files of calendars goes back to 2008. However, before 2008 I was horrible about file management (I’m getting better) so who really knows. The Halloween calendar stated the 12^th Edition so that’s what I’m going to go with …. tho I swear I’ve been doing it longer. I also confess that I, who is on the finance committee at the Church, suck at Math so ya know … take that for what you want. Forget Diamonds … Calculators are a girls friend. Cell phones with a built in calculator ... well that’s our bestie.

Another house cleaning item before we dive in …. You’ll notice that I never sent an e-mail about the Charlie Brown goodness that was to have been the airing date of the Great Pumpkin back in October. I confess at the time I blamed ABC … little did I know that they were just as sad about it as me (at least I like to think they were). Well that’s cause Apple's TV+ and Peanuts ruined Halloween for everyone. Just everyone. I mean yeah sure Covid (the Covid, The Virus, whatever it goes by in your respective parts of the world) killed it in many areas of the US … but even those people have to admit that it was truly dead when it was announced that Peanuts had sold out to Apple's TV+  and thus no showing on Network TV (ABC) was to happen this year. Screw those kids whose parents hadn’t bought into the online digital age. Forget the littles who rely on network TV for their wholesome TV (you know after they watch 10 minutes of vomiting on Family Guy). Suck it …kid far away from home for the first time in college who smiles when Charlie Brown gets his rock or when Linus misses the great pumpkin…again. GUYS …the thing I’ve been trying to combat with this calendar is finally happening. They are slowly removing all life as we know it from network TV and moving to Digital platforms. Or…you know something far less dramatic. I blame you all for not watching. For DVRing and then not watching cause it’s a week or two after the holiday and you are trying to free up space for yet another Walking Dead spin off. For not tweeting and facebooking that you were watching when you finally pause long enough to watch. You know who you are. Anyway… once that “news story broke” all haties broke loose, the world descended into anarchy and Apple was like whoa we don’t care for negative backlash (I mean their fan allegiance is usually really high), then Charles Schulz and his halo came down to the Peanut offices all God like and mad demanding answers as he threw footballs at his staff for this very obvious betrayal. I understand, Steve Jobbs decided to not don the Turtleneck and make the trip north in order to get involved (see what I did there?). So, after all that the result was that we get one showing of the Thanksgiving and one showing of the Christmas specials on PBS …. One. Make it count guys. Plan your lives around it cause while I am still mad at them we need to watch. Show them that the backlash was real, explain to them that it is important for it to be on network TV and maybe just maybe next year I get my freaking Great Pumpkin back! I don’t ask for much guys …. I mean honestly.

• ·       A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Nov. 22 – sorry I didn’t get this out in time for you to watch …. that’s on me … but hey if you miss Christmas… that’s .. well that’s on you
• ·       A Charlie Brown Christmas On PBS  Dec. 13 plan accordingly

Now that all that unpleasantness is handled …. Back to our regularly scheduled programing ….

The rules:

• ·       No e-mails about taking Christ out of Christmas, it’s just a really long word and using X-mas allows for extra real estate on an already full calendar. Thanks for your understanding and if you don’t understand that feel free to let me remove you from this list.
• ·       I live in the central time zone thus the times reflect that, adjust accordingly and plan ahead. Unless otherwise stated the times are PM.
• ·       This is about specials and movies, not single one off episodes for scheduled shows. You can watch those all year long, this is about things that other than Hallmark, Lifetime etc., you can only watch this time of year.
• ·       It’s about me… this calendar reflect what I WANT to watch and the channels that I get. There is a mixture of cartoons, children’s programs, and adult themed programs. Some are classics, some are new. I vouch not for their quality or content so don’t be calling me cause your little watched a Lifetime movie with you and now has questions. You made that not me.

Channels you will want to take note of

Freeform has been having a Kick off to Christmas all November and is planning another 25 days of Christmas starting December 1st. If you have littles this is the place for you. There are some classics Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph, Frosty … that being said just cause it’s airing doesn’t mean it deserves your time. While the offerings for Christmas are a lot better than the Halloween offerings, there are still a lot of repeats. If you have had a bad day or want something for background noise as you bake or wrap gifts, or the kids are being impossible and you just need a break … this is your channel. Let me also add that the LOVE that Freeform is giving to Rudolph and Frosty this year makes for a Happy Marcy! Claymation for the Win!

As a friend of mine so eloquently stated … “Hallmark, Lifetime, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries have been assaulting us with Christmas movies all freaking year” … so I have decided to only include “new movies” or movies that I liked and want to see again are on the calendar. There are frankly too many to show them all and if you are having a night where you want to see the same movie but with a different setting and actors then these are the channels for you. They are predictable but always good for killing a few hours.

On that note …. All new showings (or new to me anyway) are marked all PURPLE.

A few airings of note ….

• ·       Die Hard …. I tried guys, I really did, mostly for you Joe (stay safe out there, and come home soon sir!). The only place I can find it on is HBO, and I don’t have HBO and well remember the rules. I was really surprised AMC didn’t jump on the Die Hard is a Christmas movie bandwagon. It would fit really well with their line up but maybe HBO has the rights?! Who knows. At least I’m finally conceding that it can be conceived by some as a Christmas movie.
• ·       How the Grinch Stole X-mas – look I love the original….the cartoon … with all it’s wonderful Seussiness …. I like the Jim Carey version but it comes on like 62,986,529,862 times on Freeform. This calendar shows some of those but if you miss it well you have been warned. There is also a showing of the new Grinch cartoon (2018) Dec 18^th at 8 on Freeform (you know the new one from Illumination (Minions Fame) that has Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch-which I haven’t seen yet so that’s exciting), but the OG Cartoon with Boris Karloff as your narrator comes on once … on NBC Dec. 25^th at 7  …. It’s marked as TOON and in true NBC fashion it’s MUST SEE TV!
• ·       It’s a Wonderful Life – we get one shot at this one this year …. Dec. 24^th NBC 7  … Don’t blow it. What’s up with NBC showing stuff once and then moving on ?! Like really?! 
• ·       The Grinch Musical – I don’t know much about this one ….. I know it stars Matthew Morrison as the Grinch …. And frankly I don’t have high hopes for it, however I love me some Broadway and anything that puts Broadway on my TV gets a win in my book, tho I’d love to have been in the pitch meeting for this musical. It airs on NBC Dec. 9^th at 7.
• ·       The Sound of Music – This is just an iconic story that a dear friend of mine loves and thus I love it too. Definitely worth watching at least once in your lifetime, more if you are so blessed to do so. Released in 1965 it is about Maria (Julie Andrews), a young Austrian postulant (candidate to be a nun) in 1938 who is sent to serve as a governess to the 7 children of a naval officer (Christopher Plummer), when it’s clear the life of a Nun is not for her. It features music, puppets, dancing, costume changes and Nazis. The 2^nd half of the movie is stupid dark for as light and fun as the first half is. Catch it Dec. 20^th on ABC at 6 (it’s a long movie 172 minutes to be exact. Or nearly 3 hours).
• ·       Kennedy Center Honors – we could all use a pick me up and watching a special that highlights wonderful people doing wonderful things for others is a good start. This is the 42^nd showing and it airs on Dec. 15^th at 7 on CBS.
• ·       CNN Heroes on well … CNN … is also a great pick me up and a reminder that there are people out there who care about others airing on Dec. 13^th at 7 well on CNN.

Digital Options for you …….. cause I love you guys that much … can be found at the following links …. The 2^nd link breaks it down by service and days which was super nice of someone

Netflix, other streaming services add more Christmas movies and specials, from 'Lego Star Wars Holiday Special' to 'Charlie Brown Christmas' (msn.com)

 

Everything Coming To Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu And Prime Video In December (wegotthiscovered.com)

Anyway, the intention of this calendar, much like the Halloween one is to get your family to pause and spend some time together making memories. In this season where we spend so much time rushing around we forget to enjoy the down time and enjoy the family time. Great specials come and go and if we don’t watch they will go forever.

Today’s “classic Christmas special” may be next year’s no show on the calendar. That’s the other reason for this calendar, if we stop watching they will stop showing, I present Exhibit A …. Charlie Brown. Exhibit B Yes Virginia once again not showing up on CBS …. For reasons I don’t understand. Like seriously can someone explain this to me? Exhibit C What happened to Yes Virginia … I can’t even find the movie airing anywhere. So please take the time to watch it with your family as it airs so that it will air for years to come.  If not for me do it for the children, as they are our future, according to some nice lady who sang really really loudly but also really beautifully.

So sit back, laugh, smile, and cry (some of these are sad, I mean who doesn’t cry when George Bailey is standing next to the tree with Mary holding little Zuzu and his friends are coming in to save the Bailey Savings and Loan, oh no did I give the end away ?!) and have a GREAT Christmas season!

Marcy

2018 Resolutions/Guidelines

HAPPY NEW YEAR…. In a few hours … look I plan to be sound asleep in bed at midnight or at least in bed wishing the neighbors would stop with the fireworks already. So I’m telling you happy new year now mostly cause I can’t wait for this shitstorm of a year to just go. Seriously 2017 don’t let the door hit you on the way out. It’s not 2017’s fault, really I mean it just showed up and what happened …well it just happened however I’m blaming 2017 cause there’s really no one else to blame.

Overall it was a pretty decent year, for me anyway, for the Country that's for history to decide. My 2017 resolutions all pretty much came out ahead so that’s a positive. In 2017 my resolutions included write more … which I did … kinda …hey I finished my Haley and Michael’s story so that’s one thing I did … I didn’t start a new one which I had wanted to do but hey that’s Future Marcy’s problem right?! I also wanted to exercise and lose some weight. I did kind of do this, I maintained the weight I was at so I didn’t gain any but I lost very little too so I’m calling this one a draw. I wanted to Travel more and damn if that didn’t rocket to the top of my success list. I traveled to Auburn a few times, Birmingham a few more times, Atlanta a few times, Pensacola (for work), Orlando for fun, and Nashville for the best weekend ever. I definitely can say that this resolution was met with a very happy yes let’s do that attitude. I wanted to get more involved in church, since I had just started a new church in 2016 and I can definitely report that I did do that, from Vacation Bible School to helping with Communion and the Nursery this was also a successful resolution. I also helped with several “parents night out events” and have been appointed to keeping up with the monies coming in and out of the church in 2018 which I’ve already started. I wanted to spend more time with friends which I can report I did so, I mean I didn’t go on all those trips myself did I? I want to make more time to stop and do lunch with friends, or have dinner with friends I don’t see often more in 2018 so that’s a new goal. I also didn’t want to die. That was the main thing I wanted to accomplish for 2017 and I can proudly say that I accomplished that goal. Whew … it was touch and go panic wise most of the year but I did it. Suck it 2017.

So … what do I hope to accomplish in 2018 …. What does it have in store for me ….. what can I try to control when the outside world is too much ….. these are my resolutions/guidelines for 2018 …

1.       Lose Weight – I desperate need to keep this one in check. It’s weird I’m like the opposite of anorexic, like I don’t feel overweight when I’m just sitting around or walking around then I walk by a piece of store front glass and I’m like who the hell is that or someone takes a picture and I’m all ewwwwwwwwwwwww. I really need to get this in check sooner than later and no time like the present, or tomorrow, maybe tomorrow is better. If nothing else I want to be able to go to things and buy a tshirt remembering that trip or that event and right now I’m often told they don’t have that size I have started wearing clothing that fits instead of clothing that’s too big so I can hide in it some. That’s helped a bit but I have more work to be done … stupid chips … being so damn delicious.

2.       Clean More – I have a tendency to let things go until I simply can’t take it anymore then have a massive day where I spend it cleaning, typically it’s a Saturday and by say 5pm I’m done even if I’m not done. So my area often looks worse than it is cause there are piles of crap everywhere. I need to take a lot of stuff to good will, I have far more clothes than I’ll ever wear, I need to throw things away that I’m not going to use and are of no use to anyone else. These are things I really need to do. I should also vacuum more but I know me let’s start with just being able to sit on the window seat.

3.       Spend more time with Friends – this includes dinners after work, or long lunches with friends I don’t see often. I did some of that this past year but not nearly as much. There was still al lot “let’s do x-y-z” then nothing came of it, and I miss these people. My goal is to do more of the planning and less of the not doing the planning. I’m not talking long trips, I’m talking around town going to movies, going to dinner, having adult conversations over adult beverages. I’m really bad about thinking no one wants to do x-y-z with me so I don’t ask, but I need to trust these people to tell me no. ha!

4.       Travel more – I want to continue to travel in 2018. I really enjoyed that aspect of 2017 getting to go and do things instead of being at work or not being at work. I even enjoyed a few of my work travel trips, tho my friendship trips were way more fun obviously. It’s not even 2018 and I already have a trip to New Orleans planned for Mardi Gras (who am I ?) and also a trip to Orlando in October with that same friend now that I think about it. So I’m hoping 2018 will follow 2017’s example and I’ll have more fun during my “downtime” cause after all that’s why I work as hard as I do right?!

5.       Spend time with the nephew’s – As I said the other day the older nephew will be in college next year, that’s just insane. I know after he gets to Auburn he’ll have less time with his aunt Marcy and that’s ok. He’s growing up and has his own life but I have little time left to hang with him so I want to take advantage of it even if he’s busier than I am between school, work and his girlfriend, bring her a long, I like her. As for the little one when big bro leaves I want to hang with him more too cause I remember when my brother left for school I suddenly felt like I was disconnected from him even if we didn’t spent a lot of time together as it was. I want to do more with them than go to a sporting event, have lunch, then come home.

6.       Discover new music – last year I found a new artist whom I adore cause I took a chance and found someone who I my ear holes have been very happy that I found. My twitter follower list is filled with independent artist just waiting for that big break and I like seeing that from the beginning. I also want to post more about these artist to try and put their name out there some. When this blog first started I wrote a lot about my obsession with music, I need to get back into that.

7.       See more movies – I’m not talking about DVDs tho I do have a ton of those still in the wrappers but I’m talking seeing movies in the theater. I had several movies this year that I wanted to see then never did. Either I couldn’t’ find anyone interested in said movie or there wasn’t a good time to go so the movie left the theater. My goal this year a movie every other month even if I have to go alone, I mean it’s not like me and the friend I drag along are going to be talking through the movie right?

8.       Write more letters – sure social media is fine and allows us to feel connected even when we really aren’t, but a long or short letter to someone can make their day. I want to do that more often, I had a pen pal I guess I still have that pen pal I haven’t heard from her in a while but I went a few months without reaching out to her too. I want to make more of an effort to her and to others in my life who aren’t close enough to touch but that would be fun to reach out to in this more traditional way.

So that’s the plan for 2018 …… I’m sure I’m leaving a few things off but just cause they aren’t on this list that doesn’t mean I can’t do them right?! I’m not nearly as anxiety ridden about 2018 as I was but I see another social media break for me in my future. I really enjoyed the Lent break I took and I think that’s going to become a yearly thing for me. It’s good to step away, stop with the RT and shares and think about how we use that platform not always for the greater good. I’m hoping that 2018 will include more conversations and less name calling, more discussions about events and ideas and less dismissing things outright since they don’t fit into my beliefs. I think we can make the world a better place in 2018 but only if we strive to listen to one another, have the conversations we’ve been avoiding and realize that it’s ok to not agree with others as long as those disagreements are done respectively. You can’t change someone’s view but treating that person as if they are an asshat. You don’t have to change the world but you can make it a better place. Let’s make 2018 a positive year and that starts with what we post, how we interact with one another and frankly what we put out into the world. 

Let’s do this!

Marcy (@beaslma)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2,434+ times people have clicked on this blog to read something we wrote and for that we ask you what in the world is wrong with you? I mean we love you but surely you have something better to do like slam your hand in a car door, punch yourself in the face … fling yourself down a flight of stairs to see if your magical abilities come out? (PS if anyone tries that stairs for magical abilities thing A. that was your decision not ours, B. our lawyers instruct us to tell you that’s gonna hurt and C. if it works totally let us know cause we want magical abilities too!)

No … well ok then … welcome!  Anyway we hope that we have made you laugh, made you think, made you smile and made you say OH MY GAWD IS THAT JEM SELLING A HONDA?! Cause she did … did you guys see Jem selling a Honda?! They did a whole 80’s themed “Happy Honda Days” campaign featuring the toys of my youth… Jem, GI Joe, Gumby, Skeletor, Strawberry Shortcake, Stretch Armstrong … it was beautiful … it was marketing but still it made me want to drive my car into the side of a bridge so that I could then go out and buy a Honda. I didn’t but I totally thought about it.

Again, we had a goal for this blog …. Well we had several goals for this blog but the main goal was to give the creative side of our brain some exercise, offer a creative break to people in a similar situation as ours, and to meet new people who share similar interest to us.  We will continue to work towards these goals in 2015 and work to be more “on schedule” with our posts as it’s kind of hit and miss when we post.

Since starting this blog in August we have now posted 82 times, which actually sounds kind of sad but we’ve been busy. We promise to do better in 2015, you know what suck it we did the best we could and enjoyed it and tell the truth you enjoyed it too. We have set several “goals” for ourselves with the blog since starting it. We didn’t want to be the kind of people who set one up and then let it die. We wanted to continue to push forward.

 

From the “a post everyday for a week” at the beginning to the recent “Thankfulness Challenge” we have so far made every internal goal set for ourselves. It hasn’t always been easy. We want our post to be more than just hey look I saw a butterfly today and it was cool, now if that was a unicorn that would be epic! Which is why there is a bit of a delay sometimes in our posts, that and cause frankly sometimes we get all caught up in our daily lives and kind of forget it exists. No wait don’t go!!!!!!!

Maybe in 2015 we’ll have more fun like we did back at Dragon Con, or share more confessions, and share more struggles of a Medical Marvel, alert you to really cool things like movies and TV and nerdtastic awesomeness. So go out tonight, have a fantastic time, live it up and enjoy yourselves, but BE CAREFUL cause you don’t wanna miss the adventures we have planned for 2015. Tell us how you celebrated cause let's face it we were asleep by midnight, well I was Golden is out doing her thing.

Happy New Year from #SayWhatMG

Marcy (@beaslma) and Golden (@theonlygolden)