The year is almost over- HALLELUJAH!!!

This year wasn't quite as bad as the second half of 2014, but it was by far from my favorite. I'm really hoping for a better 2016. Not banking on it, but I'm hoping.

Christmas was what it was. I worked, I got sick, we had the family celebration on Sunday. A few of my favorite presents:

Not much else to report. Been kind of a cruddy month. I'm looking forward to getting a few days off. I probably won't do anything special, but at least I won't have to be at work!

Not the greatest week- I hate having blood drawn

So, I went to the lab a week ago to have blood drawn for my doctor's appointment. I got a new-to-me tech who I never want to see again. Actually, I *DO* want to see her, preferably across a courtroom when I sue her incompetent ass. This idiot picked up a needle that was a cross between a darning needle and a railroad spike and jabbed it into my arm so hard that I expected to see it come out the other side. Now, I admit to being a wimp when it comes to needles, but this was ridiculous! Then I got a fresh wave of pain when she jerked it back out after collecting the umpteen vials of blood needed for my tests. I've never had one hurt coming out. EVER.

By the end of the night, I had a huge bruise on the inside of my arm and the needle hole was still visible. There were also red streaks extending up toward my wrists. Sunday, the hole was STILL visible, although the bruise and red streaks had faded. I had, however, developed random shooting pains and muscle spasms. And a lump about 3 inches down from the needle hole. Then I found out that she'd done the same thing to my father on Friday, only he didn't have the same side effects. Luckily for her.

My appointment with Dr. B was on Monday. He looked at my arm after I told him what happened, and shook his head. He thinks the lump is an internal bruise. The pain & spasms are because that cow most likely nicked a nerve. He had his office manager call down to the lab to find out who we needed to complain to and was told that the cow's last day was Friday (the day after she abused me & the day she hurt Daddy) and they were very sorry to hear what had happened. That's great, but what about the damage done to my arm?!? Dr B said it should lessen by the end of the week, and to call him on Monday if it hasn't. I'm here to tell you, it hasn't.

Just to add to the fun, I got my flu shot. In the same f'ing arm. So now I have a stiff achy shoulder (I always have the worst reaction) as well as the shooting pains & spasms in my lower arm. Did I mention that this is my left arm and I'm left handed?!? Not fun.

Oh yeah, and my recurring sinus infection is awake with a vengeance. Love the changing of the seasons.

So, there's my WAAAH post for the week. I'm not even going to start on the general stupidity of my workplace. Instead, here are some pretty boys to look at!

I couldn't resist Crimson Peak

It opened yesterday. The first showing nearest me was at 11:20. Depsite the fact that I have been suffering from a migraine all week and was dead tired; AND I'm supposed to go on Monday with some friends, I stayed up to go see it. Why?

And from the scene that has fangirls around the world screaming "She's in MY SPOT!!!"

Any Questions?!?

Because it was so early, I had a nearly private screening. It was me & two slightly weird guys, both of whom had to be discouraged from sitting next to me. Seriously. In a huge empty theater, the only place you can find to sit is next to the Amazon in the center of the top back row?!? One caught my headshake as he saw me and started up the stairs and had enough sense to stop and find a seat where he was. The other had to the threatened with being tossed back down to the bottom after saying "don't worry baby, you can cling to me if it gets too scary." He wisely decided to move a few rows down after that. AND I heard HIM screech in fright when the first bloody ghost showed up. Heh.

I won't say anything about the story other than I walked out of the theater wondering what the hell I'd just watched. Tom, is beautiful, even when his character's Loki is showing. (yeah, I went there) Jessica Chastain is wonderful as his possessive sister, and I even liked Mia as Edith despite the fact that she gets to snog Tom & I don't. Charlie Hunnam was wasted- they managed to make him look plain, and his character was boring.

The guy who had enough sense not to come near me at the beginning did linger after the credits to talk to me and ask what I thought of the movie. He turned out to be a rather nice comic book geek and we had an interesting chat. He also asked me if I wanted to go have lunch with him. I actually would have gone if I hadn't been so tired that I couldn't see straight. It was 2:45 before we left the theater- the previews were nearly 45 minutes and the movie itself was 2 hours! I did suggest meeting at the bookstore on Sunday instead and he agreed to that. It's not going to be a date, but I figured it might not hurt to make a new friend.

Three last things:

1. Guillermo del Toro lied. We DO NOT get to see "Loki's pokey stick."

2. Don't bother sitting through the credits. There's no bonus content.

3. the 2 best previews were for Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy & Daniel Radcliffe- looked quite promising!) and the Last Witch Hunter. (Vin Diesel) Will probably wait until they both are on DVD, but they looked good!

Random thoughts from my brain

So, I've lost just enough weight (again) that my current underwear is too big, but the next size down is too small. I firmly believe that underwear - actually, all clothing - should come in half sizes, just like shoes!

I like the daily planner that I bought last year, so I thought I'd save money this year and just buy a refill for it. After going to three bookstores & two office supply stores, I *FINALLY* found one at Office Depot... and it cost just as much as buying a new planner would have. Actually more, because I would have at least gotten a 10% discount and B&N if I bought a planner there. I bought it anyway, but it really irked me. I mean, shouldn't there be some sort of eco-discount for reusing something & buying a refill for it rather than adding more junk to the landfill?!? On the other hand, the cashier was a cute little tattooed boy who lit up when he saw my Doctor Who inspired shirt. We had a good chat about our favorite Doctors and tattoos.

Here's a pic of the design on my shirt:

Tom Hiddleston & Michael Fassbender are trying to kill me. They both have several movies coming out that I desperately want to see. I may actually have to break down and set foot in a movie theater.

Nightshade is getting possessive. I think she knows I'd adopt all the feral cats if I could and she's making sure that they know I'm *HER* human and she's not sharing. Some of them have gotten brave enough to let me touch them - just for a second - before they run away. Or they'll brush against my leg when I'm filling their food bowl. Anyway, now there's an adorable little black kitten in the bunch. She looks like an even smaller version of my Shady-girl, right down to the white spot on her chest! I don't care what Shady thinks; if I can catch that little one, she's living inside with us. Period. In the meantime, Shady comes and stands by my feet while I talk to the outside kitties and hisses if they start to come over.

Tune in later for another installment of Random Thoughts...

This week's odds & bobs

So I forgot to mention 3 of my favorite birthday presents last week.

1. I got a new slow cooker! I've been struggling with my finances (again/still) and making a concentrated effort to cook/eat at home instead of the fast food habit I'd fallen back into. I'm pleased to say it's been working AND I've lost another 5 lbs. Having the slow cooker & crock pot helps a lot with that. I throw something together in one of them when I get home from work, go to bed, and have a nice meal ready when I wake up later!

2. These sheets. Forgive the unmade bed, note the Loki pillow, with the normal Tom Hiddleston pillow peeping out in the background. 😉

Yes, they're a sort of tiedyed fireworks pattern. Made out of super soft jersey material.

3. I didn't feel like unmaking the bed to get a picture of the best gift. My parents got me the memory gel mattress pad that I'd been wanting. OMG, that thing is like sleeping on a cloud! I never like to wake up and get out of bed as it is and that thing makes me want to LIVE in my bed permanently.

So that's those. Next we have a shot of my IKEA shower curtain (I spent part of Labor Day scrubbing my bathroom & putting it up) and the pillowcase I'd bought there. (also went to the Joann's Fabric Labor Day sale and scored the pillow form dirt cheap!)

Last, but not least, my cross stitch projects. I've done a bit more on the cat (it might not look like it, but trust me, I did a good bit) and started Sweetheart Tree's Teenie Tweenie La Fleur on a random evenweave mini in Carrie's Ltd Edition silk Not Slate.

I've taken another break from Facebook, and it helped me realize that I was spending WAY too much time on it. I've gotten back into my stitching, been reading more again (that was the first sign that something needed to change- I was barely reading and that's just NOT me), and will probably blog a bit more frequently.

Ta ta for now!

My New Favorite Acquisition

I'm still Fan-girling over Tom Hiddleston. So much so, that I bought a pillowcase with his face on it from Amazon. Here's the image:

This is the closest I'll ever get to snuggling up with him every night. Siiiiiigh.

Belated: Happy Birthday to Me!

So, Dad got moved OUT of the ICU on my birthday! We're very happy about this, especially him.

Mom & I went and had our tea party at Sister's Tea Shop. It was tasty. I tried their Buckingham Palace Garden Party tea blend which turned out to be an Earl Grey with Jasmine. I loved it. The three-tiered nibbles assortment we ordered was also good. 2 of my favorites from that were the Black Pepper Biscuits with Ham Salad and the Caramelized Onion/Corn scone. They also brought me a giant chocolate cupcake with a pink rose frosting that was moist & delicious.

Went back to Mom's to open my presents. She & Dad bought me the Hollow Crown miniseries on DVD- Tom Hiddleston, yay! I won't list everything else, but Mom did her usual bang-up job of gifts and gift-wrapping.

Back to the hospital to spend some more time with the old coot, and then I went home and grilled myself a steak. Watched my new DVD's- ok, mostly just my favorite Tom scenes, but I'll watch the whole thing later.

3 More Things- Entertainment Edition

3 of my favorite British actors:

1. Tom Hiddleston

2. David Tennant

3. Ben Miller


3 CD's currently in my car:

1. Keb Mo'- Blues Americana

2. Kelly Clarkson- Greatest Hits

3. Pop Evil- Onyx


3 Movies at home waiting to be watched:

1. Thor: The Dark World

2. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

3. Safe


3 Favorite snacks while watching movies:

1. Popcorn (preferably movie theatre with butter)

2. Potato chips

3. Chocolate

Random Fandom **now updated with visible photos!**

In case the picture doesn't show up, it's supposed to be actor Tom Hiddleston, best known to American audiences as Loki from the Marvel movies.

I have fallen in utter lust with this man. He's beautiful, British, a VERY versatile and talented actor, and by all accounts a genuine sweetheart.

I am so desperately ga-ga over this man that I found myself doing something I never thought I would do- I joined the fandom community. I've found a few groups on Facebook where I go online and babble incoherently about Tom. I got lucky- on my first try, I joined a group that is full of women (and possibly a few men- I'm never sure) that are actually able to type coherently and have intelligent, if rather dirty, conversation about Tom, what we like about Tom, what we'd like to do WITH Tom, and what we'd do if we actually met him. (general consensus is blush furiously, babble incoherently if we can speak at all, and possibly faint)

That group led me to two more...which led me to a deliciously dirty Tumblr site that I'm not sharing (EVIL LOL)

Anyway, I'm having a good time with it so far. I don't plan on becoming one of those people who lets fandom consume their life. I have resisted the odd urge to wrote my own stories, dirty or otherwise, and I'm certainly not going to write them on my work computer!

Ok, I'll stop now.