Am I back for good …

…… no … evil

That’s a little Joke my boss likes to tell when he hears someone ask me if I’m “back for good” at the office. He’ll look at whomever asked that and say “no she’s back for evil!” and he thinks he is funny, I think he’s funny and they think he’s crazy. He’s not wrong btw. I guess I am officially back in the office after working from home for over a year. I’m not overly excited about it but it is what it is. I knew this day was coming, I've been mentally trying to prepare myself .... I'm still working on that. As I’ve mentioned on here a few times I was slowly becoming one of those people that would be perfectly happy to never rejoin the world again. The world is scary yo and I’m not just talking about a virus, or mass shootings or crazy drivers (I swear you'd think I was driving an invisible car sometimes), and the various assortment of people in this world. However put that aside the truth is I get so much more done at home than I do at the office with all the distractions and interruptions, and "Do you have time for a 15 minute meeting?" which always always turns into an hour and a half. EVERY.DAMN.TIME. 

I feel that soon it won’t be my choice and frankly I’d rather go back on my terms than having been told I had to be back on this date. I also needed a change in my routine. I was not in a good place for a long while, and still kind of not but am pulling out of it I guess. Plus it’s kind of an out of sight out of mind thing. My desk has been host to a number of people during my “time away” with squatters from other offices or people needing the room to social distance, to have conference calls etc., but those squatters were always temporary and I’d like to keep it that way. I did spend the first full hour back in the office cleaning it just to be safe. 

One of my staff (that’s right I’m a manager now and I have a STAFF) lost her desk during all this mess. She walked in one day to print/bind a submittal went to her desk and someone else was in her office. They were like yeah this is where I sit now. My coworker looked around and all her stuff was in boxes along the wall. I was like wait what happened as she told me this story?! Apparently, they just assumed she wasn’t coming back and gave her space away, but I’m not buying that. They knew for sure she was coming back cause we’ve talked about it several times. So I had to get to the bottom of that…. Fun times. Turns out this squatter is there cause her area is getting some work done. I'm not sure she realized it is a temporary move. So I’m hoping this is a temporary shift in the matrix but it was still quite unnerving for my coworker, who frankly already has a chip on her shoulder about her longevity with the company, it’s her chip she put it there, we can't knock it off so we have learned to navigate around it. I have another in my staff who lost her space when we moved out for the pandemic and as near as I can tell no one is interested in finding her a new place. Both are cool with this cause they aren't ready to return and not having a place to sit is a good reason to not, so I’m sitting on it for now. However, it kind of pisses me off that they have just been cast aside with no space and we are just supposed to be cool with it. You’d think as part of this remodel that could be corrected at least I think it could be and hopefully by being back I can enter some of those conversations.  

See when we moved to our new office some 3 years ago there wasn’t a space big enough for all of us on one floor. So half of us ended up on the 5^th floor and the rest of us (myself included) ended up on the 10^th floor. There became a big divide of 10^th floor vs 5^th floor people. It wasn’t pretty. A very close tightknit group at our old office was suddenly 2 groups divided who never really talked or saw one another. Keep in mind that the 5^th floor is actually divided into 4 “pods” that aren’t connected so even on 5^th they aren’t intermingling. During the pandemic we went home (for a while) and another organization on the 10^th floor also went home. The other organization has decided to not come back. So my “main” boss swooped in and bought that side of 10^th so that 5^th can move up and we can all be one large happy dysfunctional family again. They move up to 10^th the first of May …. Which should be … interesting to see how that changes the dynamic. It’s definitely going to make the bathrooms more busy.

All that aside my first week back in the office was … interesting. As before the “Safe at work” protocols that were put in place early in the pandemic are not being adhered to at all ….. what really kills me tho is the people who apologize for not wearing a mask when they see me in mine. Which leads me to believe they know they should but they just aren’t going to. That’s fine whatever. I'm beyond giving a shit what others do or don't do. I'll do me ... you do you.  One of my coworkers said “the Gov said we didn’t have to wear them anymore.” I said that’s right but the company hasn’t said that yet. I also had another coworker ask me if I “enjoyed my vacation” and another asked if I “finally decided to come back from my break” I almost went to HR (that’s when my boss came up with his cute joke). The last year or so has been a lot of things, a vacation or a break aren’t even near that list. I was there half a day Monday (I was waiting for the go ahead to print/bind a submittal) then was in the office for a full day Tuesday and Wednesday. I worked from home Thursday (nephew’s b’day and I was leaving early), and was back in the office on Friday. Next week will be my first full week officially back in the office. 

I will state it again for those in the back, if we have in fact returned to normalcy too soon and come the fall are back where we started and I miss a 2nd Dragon Con there will be virtual hell to pay. 

For now ... all that's keeping me moving forward is knowing that in a month I'll be celebrating Golden's birthday, with Golden in a shared space (both of us fully vaccinated) and I can't wait. From what I know she's spent a good deal of time during the pandemic making changes to her house and I can't wait too see all her hard work! 

Marcy 

The Can’t Help Its ….

That’s what I have. When I was little and having a bad day mom would say “you have a case of the Can’t help its” and I never really understood that until now. While I don’t know the “official” definition …… Can’t help its in my world anyway is basically the feeling or a phase where whatever you are doing you immediately don’t want to do but you really don’t want to do anything else either. So you walk around aimlessly from one thing to another not really putting any effort or heart into said thing until you basically just stop walking around aimlessly. It’s not the same as lazy tho it sounds that way …. I’ve been lazy before too…the difference is the effort involved. When you have the Can’t help its you at least make the effort to see that things need to be taken care of … lazy just pretends that there is nothing there to do so you can continue to be lazy. The best I can describe it by is when someone now says "you've got a case of the Mondays!" but it last all day, all week, all month until you say ok that's enough and break out of it.  

Tho I think I know why I am feeling that way. I would imagine a lot of you are in the same boat as everyone around us keeps reminding us that March was when all hell literally broke loose across the Country.

3/16/2021 marks the 1-year anniversary of my working from home (WFH – as my boss calls it) due to Big Rona. I know this cause on March 16th I was suppose to get on a plane and go to Tampa for a conference. We were leaving on Monday (the 16th) and would return home on Wed the 18th. On Friday morning the 13th we got notice that the conference was being cancelled, after spending several days trying to decide what to do. If we bailed, we paid, if it was cancelled we might get some of it back. So, we spent most of the day cancelling hotel rooms and flights (I think I still have a flight voucher that may or may not be expiring soon … who knows). On that Sunday, the 15th my boss made the call that we would work from home that week. The plan was to take it week by week, a few weeks into it and they shut down the office. We have yet to go back.

At first, I didn’t think it would work but also didn’t think it would last long so I thought ok I can do this. I just needed to focus. I always thought I was one of those that couldn’t work from home, then I thrived in it and was getting more done that I could have imagined because I realized that the distractions of the office weren’t a thing anymore. The co-worker without as much to do stopping by to chatt, the co-workers not asking me to find x…y…z… cause they didn’t know how or didn’t want to (easier to ask than do) – not being down the hall they had to find it themselves – they’d hit me up on Teams and I’d tell them how to get there … it was quite liberating. Not to mention the other mundane office things like going to lunch, fixing that Mfing printer like I’m IT, the conversation about where to go to lunch, figuring out that we are out of supplies and getting them ordered, inviting others to join us for lunch then the discussion about how they didn’t want to go where everyone else did and how did we feel about xx, calling IT when I can’t fix the Mfing printer, the coming back from lunch late - cause well it takes time for 3 or 4 people to get in a car, decide where to go, get there, order, wait for the food to come, eat, pay (seriously the hardest part most days), and make the return trip back to the office. Plus, the let’s chat about this or that when it comes to projects, and meetings endless … endless meetings that we now hopefully understand could have been e-mails. There’s a lot that goes into one’s day in an office that doesn’t make it on a timesheet guys.

My office was “technically” open, but my super amazing boss left it up to each of us to decide our level of comfort in going into the office. Especially when he realized that some of our “in the office colleagues” weren’t following the “safe at work” mandates such as wearing masks in common areas, social distancing within the office (AKA if I’m in my office don’t come behind my desk but chill in the door please), or the filling out of the “SAW form” that was supposed to act as the gate keeping by giving one access to the office if they filled it out correctly or even at all. No one seemed interested in enforcing these polices so he said to stay home unless we HAD to go in and then go, do what we needed to do and get out. I love him for many reasons but will ALWAYS love him for that alone.

I admit that some days I was more productive than others. However I also admit that I have not missed an hour of work since this happened, not even a vacation day. Well that’s not true I took one day off to take dad to have a procedure done at the hospital (sat in my car for 6 hours waiting on him to come back out – I did have two calls about submittals I was working on but basically just played on my phone. Then I also took half a day when I got the first vaccine shot (I get my 2nd shot later this month!). Otherwise I’ve been at my PC logged in and working every day for the last year. It’s starting to catch up with me guys. Hence my Can’t Help its” diagnosis. I’ve talked here before about how the second my feet hit the floor I’m doing something for everyone around me that my energy to do anything for me is dead. My downtime is now “taking a shower.” Unless I’m in my bed someone is pulling on some part of me asking me to do, to help, to see, to get, to take care of whatever. Part of me is hoping the 2nd shot sends me to my sick bed for several days just for the “break” but I also know that that will be in a critical work moment and won’t be able to do that. My father had the 2nd shot about 3 weeks ago, my mom is a week into her 2nd shot. So I think they would be ok if I did but it would give me a great excuse to lay in bed for a day which is really all I want for Christmas Charlie Brown!

In Feb I realized that I needed to do something about my weight and get serious about it. I started an aerobics/cardio program that I found on youtube and it was really great for about a week. I have a reoccurring knee injury (from high school Volleyball) that flares up from time to time and in Feb it flared up HARD. I am not talking about it was just a little sore I am talking about being unable to put any weight on it at all. I was this close to going to the doctor when I made a sudden movement not thinking when my mom’s biscuit bowl was about to fall off the counter (and we can’t have that her biscuits are that good) and my knee popped. It hurt yall. I cried, my dad came from the other room to check on me, mom was reaching for the phone to call 911…  it was that bad yall. Then I went to move and realized I could use it again. It still cracks and pops every time I move it but it doesn’t hurt anymore. So that’s helping. I still don’t fully trust it but as long as I keep it a little bit bent I can function with it now. Being in pain that long didn’t help my state of mind. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do things at that point I physically was unable to do things.

I am hearing rumblings that we will be heading back to the office soon even if we aren’t ready … frankly I’m happy they have given us this long cause I really didn’t see them doing that. I figured the second they were legally able they were going to call us “home” and I guess they kind of are. I refuse to even discuss it until after my 14 days after my shot. 

So a few goals for the next few months. 

• Safely transition back to working in my office 
• Getting back into the habit of dressing like a normal human who must go out in the world (AKA no sweat pants)
• Sleep .... good lord I need to get back on a normal sleep pattern STAT 
• Going to see Golden in May even if we do nothing at all I want to breathe the same air as her (she had both shots of the vaccine about a month ago) 
• Not having a panic attack at the thought of leaving my house 
• Watching the Auburn Tigers at the SEC Gymnastics Championship (I won't be there in person but in spirit for sure!) 
• Getting a freaking haircut (the first place I plan to go after my 14 days btw) it's been OVER a year officially now guys, i'm thinking closer to a year and a half
• Get my 2nd shot and getting through my 14 day period before having to function in the world again
• Feeling comfortable enough to really be around my co workers again 
• Convince my brother and SIL to get the vaccine ASAP
• Watch the freaking Olympics .... I need the Olympics to happen this year ... Invicitus has already been cancelled .... I NEED the Olympics ... at this point I'd even listen to Tim Daggett instead of muting my phone
• Continue to not get sick ... and hopefully the rest of my family can say the same 

Those are the things I hope to accomplish between now and May 2021. Nothing that will set the world on fire for sure but things I need to focus on right now. 

Wish me luck that I get off my arse and get it done.

Marcy

PS I was going to add fun pictures throughout this but my PC was like nah we are good and wouldn't let me :( 

#MusicIsEssential … finding new musicians is amazing

Loyal readers to this blog, you know who you are (likely Golden or Sarah and maybe my mom) know that I like to post on this thing when something really hits me to talk about. I have a lot of things bouncing around in my head at the moment but nothing that I feel are blog worthy. That usually means there’s a random thought blog coming but I’m not there yet...so..... I'm doing this instead. You are welcome.

As you know ……Music it moves me …. Drives me ... Calms me down when I need it .... pumps me up when I need that too and there is  nothing I love more than discovering an artist on the brink of making it “big” and watching that rise.  ... I listen to everything. I guess I tend to lean country. I like songs that tell stories, I like songs that make a movie play in my head but I also like music that just … make me happy. Doesn’t matter the genre, the location of the musician, or the style. I want it all ....  Thank goodness for digital files cause CDs were taking up a ton of room. PS I also still have tapes, nothing to play them on but ... um.... Hi. My name is Marcy and I am a music hoarder. I apologize for nothing.

I haven’t written a music blog  in a while, so I decided on an experiment. Recently I’ve followed several musicians on Instagram (my social media of choice lately due to the lack of RTing and sharing certain things) and listened to their work, bought their albums (if available) and have decided it’s time to share some of these musicians with you.

Here’s the thing that struck me funny about this once I really started it …. they are all female. Traditionally I’m not a huge fan of female singers. I don’t really know why it’s just I tend to gravitate to a male voice in my listening. That’s not to say that my musical playlist doesn’t include female singers, cause it definitely does, but it’s definitely in the minority group. That’s not by choice just happens to be the way it is, or the way the music industry has pushed things but that is a post for another day.

Many of the singers below fell into my radar in a variety of ways (which I explain below) but I’m glad they did. It’s really opened up my brain to see just what I’m missing cause I’m not paying attention.

In no particular order I give you the results of this experiment for lack of a better word to call this.

Karen McCormick

Honestly I can’t recall how I found Ms. McCormick. I think it was the cover she did of superbass but I’m so glad I found her. I could listen to that voice all day long. It’s so smooth and calming and it just makes me happy. Plus she’s adorable. Her laugh is infectious, and her smile can’t help but make you smile too.

Since finding her on insta I’ve done a deep dive into her music. It feels like old school country coming back around think 90s country but with a little attitude. I feel like finding her was inevitable as she’s really rising to the top of the Nashville cream and it couldn’t happen to a better artist. Her new EP RETRO. My favorite tracks include Girl in Blue, and If This Bar Could Talk, but in a 5 track EP there’s not really a throw away.

Official website : Kären McCormick | New EP 'Retro' Available Now! (karenmccormickmusic.com)

You can purchase RETRO on itunes here à       Kären McCormick

Link to how I found her ….  Kären McCormick (@karenlmccormick) • Instagram photos and videos

 

 

Sacha Visagie

I found Sacha when Ed Sheeran posted the Tik Tock video of her accompanying him on Afterglow in his #DuetwithEdSheeran post. He shared several of them and I found and started following a few of the musicians who I found interesting. That being said I likely would have found her without Ed it just might have taken a little longer …. At least my ears hope I’d have found her. In 2021 she was named CMT Next Woman of Country and I really honestly think it was Ms. Visagie that might have shared the video that helped me find Karen. I might be wrong about that. She has a new to me EP out called The Best Thing and in 2014 she released Just Like You both of which are worthy of space on your hard drive. Small Town History was one of the first tracks of hers that I feel hard for but both Stix n Stones and Stronger have been added to my “bad day” playlist. I think Words should be mandatory for every middle school and high school kid out there …. I’m also thinking there are a lot of adults that need to hear that song too.

Link to how I found her ….  S A C H A (@sachavisagie) • Instagram photos and videos

Her website à Sacha Visagie – Small Town Girl, With A Guitar Full Of Dreams (iamsacha.com)

Purchase her music here à Sacha 

 

Briella Etta

I guess maybe I should call this post the artist I found through Ed Sheeran (but that list is long) cause Briella is another who did the Afterglow duet challenge. After watching her clip with Ed I noticed she has a ton of other covers as well as original tracks that she has posted and … yall …. I watched all of them (If I missed any that’s my bad). I love that she plays the guitar, I love that she writes her own music and I love that she is sharing her talents with the world. She graduates later this year (if I recall) and am very interested to watch the rest of this journey.

Link to how I found her ….  Brielle Etta (@briellesingss) • Instagram photos and videos

 

L-da Wild 

The how I found her story for L-da is fun…… Dakota Mia Jane reached out to me in Instagram Message (which can be a cesspool of awful if you let it) with a simple not of “you should follow this amazing musician @LDAWILD she is so passionate and motivating and her music is beautiful and inspirational!!!  So ok I was in. Mostly cause she wasn’t trying to sell me … she gave me the information and let the artist sell herself. It didn’t hurt that one of the first videos I found was a cover of Chasing Cars a song that I just LOVE. Her new Album In the Making has some really great tracks like Soar, Unapologetic, and Brooklyn’s Bridge. The rest is great too.

Link to how I found her ….     L-da Wild (@ldawild) • Instagram photos and videos

Get her music here à L-da Wild 

 

Wiffy Griffy

So if you are like me you found this lovely soul through Disney. Disney+ added a short (3 min) animated video around Christmas called “From our Family to Yours” which is about a Filipina grandmother and her granddaughter at Christmas and the first time I watched it I am not gonna lie I cried. The second time I watched it I listed to the song in the background. The third time I watched it I flipped my phone over so I could focus on the music in the background. I fell hard for that voice, the message in the song along with the video. I started searching the internet to find out who that voice belonged to and I was introduced to Ms. Griffy. She is just so much fun to watch, her new song Blackhole has recently come out and its as good as the track from the Disney short. BTW the proceeds from that Disney track went to Make-a-Wish in the UK which I thought was awesome. She is definitely an artist who thinks as she puts pen to paper, each syllable is there for a reason, each note there to accentuate those syllables. It’s all been very carefully planned out. How can you not love that?!

PS as I rewatched this video for this post that damn thing made me cry again!

Link to how I found her ….  Griff (@wiffygriffy) • Instagram photos and videos

 

Alyssa Lynn

So I didn’t find her as part of this challenge but I wanted to include her in a post about up and coming female mucians cause I think she is a great singer songwriter who just needs that push. She’s recently graduated and the sky is truly the limit for this small town girl, with the chops to write and sing with the best of them. Her single Do It For a Boy came out in 2019 I think but it’s by far not the best track on her EP My Home. Music For Days, High Heels or Camo or My Home grab you and refuse to let go.

Link to how I found her ….     Alyssa Lynn (@thealyssalynnmusic) • Instagram photos and videos

 

Sarah Janovich

I also have to add another amazing female singer to this list. Sarah Janovich has been a “friend” for years. I say “friend” like that cause we have actually never met. She lives in Ontario and I live in the States. We met through our mutual love of Matt Morris and have kept in touch over the years discussing more than just Matt. We now send Birthday and Christmas gifts to one another, she sends me videos and screen shots of her niece and I do the same with the nephews. We talk movies, TV shows, politics whatever is on our minds. Her sister lives in Washington and when all hell broke loose in 2021 I immediately checked on her through Sarah. Sarah contacts me when hurricanes are anywhere near where I live. She and I are as close as two people can be who have never shared the same face space. I love Sarah and when I was re reading this post realized that to leave her our would just be a tragedy. I needed to share her music with you as I believe she has the talent, drive and ambition to make music her full time career one day and I can’t wait to sit front row cheering her on!

I have many suggestions for music that will make you fall for Sarah’s sound including: Batman Superman (my all time favorite – so far), You’re a Star; Princess (which honestly has a you’re a star feel to it); Chocolate; are just some of my favorites.

Check out her music here à Sarah Janovich - A Hot New Pop Music Artist - Official Website

So there you have it ... the artist who have been filling my ear holes of late. Cause really at the end of the day that’s what Music is all about. Finding that artist who speaks to you and letting the rest of the world find that musician as well. Not everyone on this list will be your favorite new artist but it opens the door to possibilities of what other kind of artist you might be into.

One song can travel around the world in a matter of minutes while another song, that’s equally as good is just outside of everyone’s radar, so a lot of the time it’s not talent but luck in your music finding someone’s ears at the right time.

A lot of these artist are on spotify, youtube, and the like so go follow, like, and play them as much as you can …. Whatever you do ……. Enjoy it.

Marcy

This was fun …. Might do this again! :D Maybe next time we invite some boys to the table. Anyone want to make suggestions?! :D

 

Bring Positivity to the New Year

Happy New Year! We made it …the calendar actually flipped from 2020 to 2021 now let’s see how long it takes my brain to understand that it is 2021. My mom is cooking up s storm, here in the south there are very strong traditions that surround new years that dictate what we can eat, the things we can do, and of course the things that we can’t do. Such a laundry, if you do laundry apparently you are washing away the good fortune of the new year. Every year I get a lecture from mom on NYE that if I have anything that needs to be washed I need to get to it as I can’t the next day. Like clockwork. It’s the one day a year that no laundry is done in her house. 

I have my own New Years traditions. Every year on Jan 1^st one of the things I do is clear off my cell phone. Go through aps and uninstall them if I haven’t used them lately. I also take all my photos off the phone from the previous year basically wipe it clean and start fresh. That’s one way of organizing my pictures, if they were in 2020 I took them on my camera roll ….. it also allows me to start fresh. All that stays on are the aps I use and my contact information. It feels like a refresh, even if I spend part of the first week redownloading pictures for lock screens and memes I want to send by no longer have.

I also go through my social media and drop those who need to be dropped. I’ve been a little funny with my social media the last few years. I’ve decided most of my lack of enjoyment in said social media is the people I interact with. I am slowly learning to let negativity go and move on with positivity and light and people who generally make me laugh, engage in conversation, or are just interesting to talk to even if it’s only every once in a while that they hit my radar. I have found that all that negative BS, sharing, RTing does is block the positive and meaningful conversations from even have a chance to rise to the top and so there fore those people have to go. Sometimes it’s athletes from my alma matter who graduate and move on with life and no longer “do” social media as they have entered the real world and are no longer pushing their sport. A lot of time it’s fly by night fans of said alma mater who are far too critical of 18-24 year olds and I can’t support what they are saying. Usually it’s celebs that I followed after watching something they did and really wanting to learn more about said person, or musicians who entered my realm only to not really land on my ear holes so they have to go ….. long tern vs short term in full effect here.

I keep thinking about 2020. We got a call last night randomly out of the blue by an old family friend who wanted to tell us hello. She said she thinks of us often but rarely picks up the phone to call. Last night she felt the need to call. Now she genuinely had a lot of problems this year, her Son in Law died (he had a massive heart attack and died in his wife’s arms), her daughter is going through another round of cancer and it’s apparently really bad. She’s 80 and has recently moved into a new house to be closer to the daughter who just lost her husband. However most of the call talked about how really horrific 2020 was for the world as a whole, you know the cliché stuff you see online. Like people believed that on midnight Dec. 31^st everything was going to magically get better all because the clock turned to Jan 1, 2021. Yes for most it sucked hard, for many it was a really rough year but I keep thinking that there has to be more to 2020 than just unending misery.

I keep thinking about the people who had a GREAT 2020 but can’t really talk about it cause of the overall belief of the collective is that it was awful for everyone, to think otherwise must feel like being out of touch with the rest of society. However I have to believe that there are people who fell in love, who had children, who got married, who took trips (when allowed), who graduated, who got their dream jobs. Those people likely look back on the year 2020 in a fond way, at least in private.

I guess my point is that a lot of what we do is shaped by the collective belief of others, the media, our social media feeds. AKA if someone is having a bad day you will have a bad day. If someone constantly talks about negativity then negativity will creep into your thought patterns making it hard to find the positive, the good, the … happy. So that’s my goal for 2021 to not let the views of the outside affect my thoughts and views as much.

So here’s to a great 2021 for us all …. Let’s focus on the good, give positivity a chance and connect with each other in a greater way. 2020 proved that when we collectively come together we are all better for it.

Marcy

You know what 2020 ... just ...just go

2020 ... you don't have to go home but you gotta get the hell out of here 

Unless the universe decides to just send us into a never ending 2020 it’s nearly over. We have finally reached the day when we can tell 2020 get out and leave. It’s been …. Interesting to say the least. It hasn’t been fun, much, and it has been stressful but I guess for some of us it could have been worse. For others however the idea of worse isn’t even something they can fathom.

To fully send 2020 to their room to think about what they have done we have to have a year end recap to remind us just a few of the things we accomplished this year. This year was not without accomplishments….we just have to dig a little deeper to find them. 

Blog Accomplishments: 

This blog was born in August of 2014 and we have had approximately 238 posts with over 22,324 views since that time. That honestly boggles my mind. Our top post changed this year. “Big Rona” bypassed our previous top post “Original Fiction – A Royal Welcome” with over 225 views 61 more views than my original fiction got featuring Haley and Michaels. I really enjoyed writing those stories I’m glad they got some love. I’m a little surprised to see so many of my “original fiction” pieces making it to our “top post” lists for all time. Maybe that means I should do more ….. I really should. I hope I will.

In 2020 alone we had 17 posts (Counting this one) …not the record for this blog by any stretch but it means the blog isn’t dead and that’s something I can be proud of. In previous years I did challenges to myself to post for a week or for an entire month, something I did not do this year. We spaced them out pretty well too so it wasn’t all at the beginning, middle or end of the year but only missed one month. June. I’m ok with that as June was a pretty challenging month for me as it was the middle of summer, work ramped up hard, I was seeing plans that were in place fall away and the fear of losing Dragon Con was becoming real. So June was just not a good month for me and thus was reflected in this blog.

March was a particularly busy month on this blog but that’s also when the Country ground to a semi – stand still and I had more to “say.” I started working from home in March and see no sign of returning to the office in the near future. I go in when necessary, but I don’t stay long. I am usually there long enough to get through what I need to get through then head back home. The numbers are ramping back up here in my town since Nov and the bossman is a gem of a guy who wants us to all stay safe. I also have two coworkers with very young children (one who just celebrated her first Crimmus) and another coworker who like me cares for aging family members who could be devastated by the virus. She’s a lot like me in that going out isn’t a concern for her but bringing it back very much is.  I wonder how long he’s going to be able to keep us at home before someone makes it necessary to come back. So far our group has been successful at doing our jobs and doing it well so right now it’s not an issue.

This year also saw the return of Golden to this blog with AITAH. I’m not going to harp on her, Lord knows she has enough going on without me climbing up on her back yelling about this blog. I hope 2021 gives her part of her spark back and allows her the recovery time that 2020 took away from her. However, I do hope 2021 will result in more blogs from her. Her voice is quite unique and the way she paints a picture with words is something I’ve never been able to match which makes me proud and also very jealous of her. Don’t tell her that tho I don’t want to give her a big head.

Marcy's Accomplishments

I have successfully mastered the work from home side of the table. I never thought I'd be good at it, and some days are frankly better than others. Last year our office floor flooded out and we quickly mobilized to working from home. So we had a trial run before the big thing and I think that helped. My bosses management style also helped. He's not a micromanager. He gives you an assignment and expects you to do it. If you have troubles or problems he expects you to handle them or come to him. He's an ex-professor so he's of the gives you a task and then he moves on expecting it to be handled. There's a few times that has backfired on him but luckily he has a staff that knows when to rally and get something done and that's what we have done throughout is rallied when necessary and kept the balls in the air. In September I crossed the milestone of having been working at my place of business for now 17 years. I know what's expected of me, the time frames required for said tasks. What I am learning as co-manager of this department now is how to lead. My boss and I basically split our already split region in half and he's "managed" one side while I've "managed" the other side. This has resulted in more communication and time management on my part in order to proof their submittals, helping them communicate needs to project managers and subs, and in helping them get their submittals across the finish line. I've learned a lot about not doing it for them but showing them how to do it so they can get better. I'm still working on that. 

Another accomplishment on my part is my hair. I have always had a love hate relationship with my hair. I still pretty much think it looks a mess 90% of the time but I truly do not recall the last time I went to a hair dresser. This has resulted in my hair being the longest it has ever been in my life. I have no idea how to style it, no idea really how to care for it but it's there and it is big and busy and long. Now I think I've decided to see just how long I can get it. See I've always kept it short cause it would force me to do something to it. The shorter my hair is the more curly it is. Wavy some times. When I was little mom swears I had the Shirley Temple ringlets and when she got my hair cut sometime after my 1st birthday, as mom's do, it grew back pencil straight much to her horror. It stayed that way until my awkward puberty years when it just did whatever the hell it wanted when it wanted. It's still kind of in that stage. I found some new shampoo (a friend was selling and I wanted to support her and I really like the way it made my hair feel, so I kept ordering it). The goal for 2021 is less ponytails and buns and more actually utilizing the beauty that is my hair cause it is pretty on most days for about 15 minutes. 

I have also lost some weight during all this insanity. Not to the point that those around me notice, I'm sure, but I can definitely feel my clothes fitting differently. Clothes that used to be far too tight to wear comfortably now and feel good in them. I attribute it to not eating out as much. I used to go to lunch daily with coworkers and that of course isn't happening. Sometimes on the weekend we'd shop and get lunch on the way home. That's not happening either. Basically on Sundays after church we do lunch before heading home. Otherwise it's food here at the house. That being said I'm also eating Fritos while I type this so in a few months that could all change. However for now I'm counting it as an accomplishment. 

You gotta celebrate the little things sometimes guys. 

Golden's Accomplishments

I am confident she got to this part of the post and said "what accomplishments" but these are the accomplishments that I have seen for her from a far. She's still moving. there are times during this entire year where if she had just laid down and said enough I'd have 100% understood but she got back up....looked life in the eye and said is that all you got!? 

Golden had to quarantine twice, once when we thought she was sick and again recently when her dad got sick. During her first quarantine she made the best of it by purging her house a project she had been working on but the quarantine allowed her to really dive in. It resulted in her finishing up the Mighty Little Library which she fills with books for the community to enjoy and also rearranged the books in her house into her very own library which now lives in her dinning room which wasn't really being used for anything. People that know Golden and the way she keeps books in every square inch of her home knows just what a chore that was for her. I can't wait to see it in person and sit in her awesome new chair. She's really trying to fix up her home and make it very nice, as something she can be proud of for years to come as opposed to a structure that houses her things and sometimes a Marcy for a few days. I'm very proud of her for that. She has packed up things to give away, items for those around her that have had it far worse than she has including clothing, kitchen things, household items and books that she doesn't read but could be used else where. 

She has also not missed a single day at her job, unless it was for the aforementioned quarantines. See Golden's an essential worker and as such has not only maintained her work schedule but has worked a schedule that no single human being should have to work ... ever .. in life. It's really amazing she hasn't killed anyone this year and that might have been her biggest accomplishment. Her work has pushed her harder than necessary and then more so to the point where once I looked up a number to call and kick up fuss on her behalf but knew that would make it worse and I honestly wasn't sure she could handle worse. I do however have the number now and will use it if necessary. That's not a threat it is a promise. 

Health

Our little Blog family didn’t completely escape the Virus …… my nephew got it, but had very mild symptoms. I also had an Aunt and Uncle and several family, friends, and coworkers that contracted the virus all with varying degrees of symptoms which I find fascinating. Personally for me ... my uncle passed away from the virus which made for one of the more bizarre funerals I’ve ever attended. We also lost a few church members due to the virus that I didn't see coming. Golden’s dad suffered through a pretty rough round of it and is really still in the middle of the fight. He’s no longer contagious but he’s definitely not “well” and might never fully recover. 

Prayers for her dad are welcome as well as prayers for all who have suffered through this horrible stupid disease and those that will continue to suffer through it as we move forward cause we as a Country have sucked at this pandemic.

So in an effort to get a post into the December bucket I’m going to end it with some words of wisdom form Golden …

“Dude I’m so over this fucking year, 2020 can go fuck itself!”

Yes 2020 you do just that and here’s to a much better 2021 for us all! 

Stay safe out there all you viewers …. We need your eyeballs. 

See ya on the other side ..... 

Marcy & Golden 

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