I LOVE Christmas! But for some reason I’m still preparing up until the last possible minute and this year is no different. But I did manage to steal a minute (hour) to make this lil video. Enjoy!
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Have yourself a Merry little Christmas now! 💗💚💗🙏
Context: my daughter texted me about her daughter, and a back and forth they had. More context: the grandpa she is talking about? My ex-husband. (I'm not snickering at all!)
Dear Steve,
Some women on Facebook are freaking out because they heard you have a girlfriend. While I am a huge fan and can appreciate a sexy man whose voice could sing the pants off most women, I am not freaking out.
I am glad you have found someone since you and I cannot be a thing. There are some fundamental things that make that impossible. I mean - you like spicy food, I do not. You can sing (so I’ve heard) and dance, and I can do neither. You’re a guy who is a bit hyper and wants to go, go, go, and I am more of a homebody. You are of a certain age, and I am 10 years younger, which still makes me too old for you. When I win the lottery and do some nips and tucks – I will still be 10 years younger than you, and while I am close enough in age to understand things like – you wanting to show me your etchings, there are other things I could not bring to the table at this point. I mean, I wouldn’t be doing any jogging or beach volleyball, things like that. But maybe the biggest deal breaker, Steve – you are a morning person and I am, most decidedly, not.
So, there you go, we can’t be a thing. I wasn’t worried about you finding someone you could ‘be a thing’ with but since hearing you have a girlfriend I don’t feel like I need to let you down easily.
Thank you for all the music, Steve. Past, present and future! I am grateful you have come back to sing for us again.
Love & Respect,
BetteJo
Me: You are?
4 yr old: Yes! Will you come get me to bring me to your house?
Me: Well if you are a full grown up person you will be able to drive yourself to my house.
4 yr old: But I don't know how to get there!!
She's got a valid point.
Do I embrace aging? Oh HELL NO .. and .. YES! I mean - I am glad to be here to age and not taking a dirt nap some place. But since Covid and working from home began, I don't look in the mirror as often or as closely as I used to because I don't put makeup on all the time. So when I do - sometimes it's a little shocking.
However, by the time my mom was my age (she is gone now so I can post this) she had 2 facelifts, a nose job, and an implant put in her chin. My mom was fairly vain, and had married a man who was 12 years her junior. No doubt that factored into it. But also? We just don't have nice, elastic skin. So I almost feel like she was just trying to even the score with the first facelift, so she was attempting to look like what her contemporaries did. She hated her nose so had that changed, and had a prominent overbite - hence the implant in her chin to offset the overbite. The second facelift was keeping young for her husband. And her own vanity.
Just my opinion, of course.
Would I do all that? No. My nose is my nose and braces took care of my overbite. But would I get one facelift - take care of the eyes and neck as well? You betcha. Because of weight gain and loss over the years my skin is much looser than I would like. It shows on my face.
I know, fellas. This is making you want to line up for a date again ..
So I am trying to accept my face, as is. In this pic - I am still tired, still have circles under my eyes and a crooked smile. But I do have makeup on and oh my gosh - EYEBROWS!
People just don't understand how important eyebrows are. Just sayin'.
Not my thing.
So as soon as online shopping started to become a thing - I was on it. My porch would be piled high with boxes many days of the Christmas season and I loved it! But it does take more time than people who don't do it, think. I will search for a specific thing for as long as it takes. It's rare I don't find what I am looking for.
Didn't get my tree up until yesterday - a week later than I meant to, and am still finishing up my gift shopping.
Almost done, though!
The cats are pleased because they've never met a Christmas tree they don't want to sleep under. One cat I had who has since passed away, Jake, she used to climb the tree every year. At least once. I miss her, she was a sweet kitty, but I don't miss that!
Hmm .. seeing the picture it looks like I need to fill in some spots with lights. And yes, I need to fill the holes in the wall from where I used to have cat shelves, but the tree. is. up! I feel accomplished!
I admit it, I whine, I complain, but do not think I don't know how good I have it. I have kids, a grandchild, a job, a roof over my head, and food in my belly. And oh - I have plenty of things I wanted but did not need. My life is good.
Working from home has been something to get used to,
since the pandemic began. Now it looks like many of us will continue working
from home once it ends. There are pros and cons but my cats would tell you it's
great!
I have 4 cats, my self-imposed limit. That's not to say that if I had the resources I might have a bigger house and another cat or 2. But there would be a lot of conditions. 4 is a good number for me now, although I should probably only have 2. If I had a house with a catio, or someone to come vacuum for me everyday, maybe I would be better at justifying 4. However, I met a guy once who had 16 so I don't consider myself over the top.
There are usually 2 or 3 cats in my office at any given moment during the day, the only time there are 4 is if Emmett comes in at 5:01pm (now that's he's gotten used to the time change) to meow at me for dinner.
Cruz is my frequent flier and biggest nuisance er
.. velcro cat. He has to be on my desk between me and my keyboard, or between
my keyboard and monitors, or wherever he can cause the most amount of
disruption, in general. He wants me to pay more attention to him than is
practical while typing.
Louise likes to come in and meow plaintively at me because in the morning there are reflections dancing on the walls that remind her of the red dot. The red dot is her psychosis inducing nemesis. Eventually she climbs onto the cat tree and goes to sleep.
Abby will murder me in my sleep one day, I'm convinced. But being home and having access to me almost 24/7 seems to have mellowed her a bit. Now she only plans to murder me when I'm touching her. She has a place of honor on my desk, she lays in front of the window on some cat blankets and basks in the sun in the morning. In the afternoon she switches to an enclosed bed under my desk.
Emmett, well, Emmett. He is my scaredy-cat who hides under or on my bed during the day. He doesn't hang with us in the office and only emerges when his stomach (which is VERY reliable) tells him it is time to eat.
It's possible that working from home without my cats would be harder. They bring some comfort during the day, humor, and loads of cat hair. But it's also fair to say that working at home with my cats, isn't any easier either!
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| Cruz Louise Abby Emmett |
I was not a perfect parent by any means, ask my kids - they'll tell you. But somehow I still got rewarded with a grandchild which to me is a gift to treasure forever.
This little girl is growing up way too fast but because of the invention of the smartphone, there are pictures and more pictures to look back and remember the days she fell asleep in Grandmas arms, tried to drink Grandmas tea, and tried to climb the cat tree.
Right now those pictures allow me to look back and remember when she was a baby and relive all the moments we have spent together so far.
Hopefully someday those pictures will be what she uses to remember things she did at Grandmas house, music she heard, treats she talked me into, and with videos - even remember the sound of Grandmas voice. Right now the pictures aren't so important to her, one day - they will be some of the only things she has of me.
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| NOT my pizza |
There are morning people out there, and there are even morning people who are perky very early in the day. Pretty sure those perky morning people might be struggling with a mental disorder, but I can't prove it. Regardless, I am not a morning person, and certainly not perky in the morning. There might be an argument made that I am not ever perky, and I'm not sure that word has ever been used to describe me. But I digress.
So tomorrow morning when I need to be at my desk at 5:20am to do some go-live testing (technical I.T. talk), I will be there. I am reliable. But I will not be happy, and God knows I will not be perky.
Also - if the testing is successful and goes quickly - you can bet your sweet a$$ I will go back to bed.
As I have said in the past - I would be in favor of morning, if it would come later in the day. Who do I talk to about arranging that?
In 1985, in a "Superstars of Rock" interview, the great philosopher Steve Perry, said "I guess it is safer to be lonely, sometimes."
He didn't say it's safer to be alone. He said it's safer to be lonely. The connotation is there is a longing to not be alone. That says so much.
Maybe being the youngest, I am the one to break the chain. Married once, divorced once. I mean - who wants to be a statistic, anyway?
Although it would be nice to have someone to lift heavy things and fix stuff. And I don't give a rat's a$$ whether or not that's sexist.
What surprised me was when he said he used to cut his own hair when he was on tour. How many housekeeping staff at the hotels he stayed at missed hunks of hair tossed in the garbage that belonged to Mr. Perry himself??
This pic is one that has always made me smile because the caption in my head is "Yep! I cut it myself!" And there ya go, that's probably exactly what was happening when it was taken. The quality of the photo is pretty bad, but you can see the look on his face. It says it all, and that sure looks like a fresh haircut to me!
There is a snapshot in time of my going outside to play with other kids for the first time since being told about my parents impending divorce. Kim from down the street had come over and we were walking on the curb in front of my house, balancing so as to not step off into the water in the gutter. I can see my sun-browned feet and feel the quiet between us, yet hear the roaring in my ears. No one told me not to say anything, but speaking it aloud was somehow scary, shameful, and would make it real. So I was silent, and felt alone even with a friend by my side.
Life went on, scar tissue formed, and I turned inward. It wasn't like today where people are hyper-aware of how hard divorce is on kids, and it's certainly not unusual anymore. But back then, in 1970, I was 11 years old and the only kid out of my group of friends whose parents were divorced. For some reason this one snapshot in time is stamped in my mind, representative of a broken, sensitive, child who didn't know there was anywhere to turn.
It was all so unspoken back then. Or was that just my family? I honestly have no idea.
So yeah, IV iron infusions. No weird blood disease or anything serious like that, my body just decided to stop absorbing iron. Not serious but does need to be treated.
Came home with a headache which I am starting to think is related to my aversion to drinking water. Tea in the morning, 2 big 14oz mugs, which is a total diuretic. Then maybe diet Pepsi .. but not enough to hydrate my body. I've never developed those good habits.
Waking up with a headache most days is most likely equal parts anemia, and dehydration due to my desire to only consume things that taste good. Water does not taste good. Doesn't taste bad either, it doesn't .. taste .. at all. But .. I am trying to do better.
Like I said, came home with a headache so laid down for a little while, and Emmett decided he would help make it all better. He's such a love but oh, so, awkward.
And if you think it's cute that he's making biscuits on my head - he's using his nails. Just sayin'.
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He is cute though. 💗
People have speculated on why that is so but my opinion is it's about the emotion he puts into his music. There are lyrics, but then there are lyrics sung by Steve Perry. His vocal ability is unmatched, and for many years Steve wasn't given the respect his voice and talent deserved. Thankfully, that has changed in recent years which is a great thing.
The Season is being released November 5th, and Steve is also doing a live chat on YouTube that day. Can't wait!
We need to do better, people!
Yet there it is on social media, people saying really repulsive things just to dunk on Baldwin because of his past statements about them or their opinions. It's gross. It is obvious from statements made and pictures published that Alec Baldwin is a man who is suffering right now.
Regardless of whether they knew he killed Gabby, or knew where he ran off to, they are still parents and their child is dead. They could not have helped Gabby because she was already dead when Brian came home. But apparently people need somewhere to direct their rage.
We have gotten to a point I fear we may not be able to come back from, with the way we treat each other in this world. It is so sad.
I am not one of the politically correct, need safe spaces, speech is violence, kind of people. But can we show some kindness and some grace? Sometimes?
"I like your nipples." she says.
Me: "Those are moles, Honey."
4 yr old: "Oh."
(Yes, this did happen)
I've heard that James Bond (SPOILER ALERT) dies at the end of the new Bond film, No Time to Die. From what I have heard about this movie, whether you liked the plot or the acting or any of it, there is no disputing this was not the James Bond Ian Fleming created in 1952.
James Bond no longer smoking, no longer a chauvinist, womanizing, sexy, spy, settled down with one woman with a child? For those of us who will always consider Sean Connery to be the real 007, this one had been well, essentially neutered.
Seems to me the ending of this film was fitting because the original James Bond would not have wanted to live that way and pretty sure I wouldn't want to watch him that way either.
Late last week TMZ managed to spot Steve Perry outside The Ivy in L.A. having lunch, and filmed him from their tour bus. Who knew TMZ had a tour bus?
Anyway, once the video was published many fans were thrilled to get a glimpse of their elusive,
favorite singer. Fans like me. Others, were not kind. And to that I say - WTF Internet????
To many he is also known for his love of and graciousness to his fans. There are so many pictures out there of him posing with fans, and also photos and videos of him signing all kinds of things, even when it is obvious the 'fan' is going to turn around and sell his signature.
He's a good guy, and does good things with his time and money.
Over the years just like his hair has changed, so has his weight. He was rail thin when he joined Journey, and is usually fairly slim. But sometimes, like most of us, he has put on a few pounds. SO WHAT??? And omg in the TMZ video it revealed that he has let his hair go gray.
OH THE HUMANITY!!!
I have been hoping he would do that, actually. Super dark hair on someone who is older never looks natural, no matter what super duper salon you go to. It's not a great photo because it's a screen cap but to me he looks happy, and relaxed. That is important these days with the world on fire all around us.
Some people were saying that isn't him in the video, that it doesn't look like Steve Perry. The man is 72 years old, people! He has been aging all along, even if we don't see him very often it doesn't mean he has stayed 30 years old and untouched by time. If he had, people would be clamoring for his secret, for sure, and I would be at the head of that line.
What's funny to me is, any time he has put on weight he has always lost it again, so this is actually not new for him. I suspect he is very much in control and consciously decides to not watch his diet sometimes but when he feels the need he jumps back on the healthier road and takes care of business. And if he wants to dye his hair again (hope not) that will take an hour.
Honestly though, why the hell does he have to fit some ideal for US? Let him be who he is. He has given us so much wonderful music and while we are always waiting for more, seriously, he doesn't owe us a thing, and that includes looking a certain way for us.
So I am here to defend him.
Next person who says anything unkind about him is gonna hear from me - like - we can take it outside if need be! Come at me, Bro! (Says the 62 year old gray haired woman)
Be kind.
And here, enjoy some of the many faces of Steve Perry, below, and the very first song he wrote with Neal Schon after joining Journey.
A friend of mine was horrified when I told her I was keeping my gray hair. My hair is short and the color had grown out enough where I just had the dyed hair cut off. "No!" She exclaimed. "Don't give up!" As if I had suddenly thrown in the towel on caring about myself or how I looked. Ummm...
Nope.
Jane Fonda was recently celebrated for going gray, Andie MacDowell made headlines when she showed up at Cannes with gray streaked hair, and fans made memes of Steve Carell expressing how much they loved it when he went gray. So brave! So pretty! So handsome! Blargh.
WTH!?!? A lot of us regular folks out here have been living our lives and letting our natural hair shine through for years, and this is what we get? No! Don't give up??? Certainly nothing about being brave.
I get it, they live their lives in front of cameras and their living depends a lot on how they look. But holy cow the difference between "us and them" is stark sometimes.
By the way, Jane Fonda was quoted as saying she had only just started seeing gray hair on her head the year before she went totally gray at .. ahem .. 82. Even Jane isn't a good enough actress to make that statement believable.
For gosh sakes, people! Grow up! I mean - it happens to all of us.
If we're lucky.
These days if I call myself BJ, people are way more apt to imply I call myself that after some special talent I have which is - I mean - who would do that?? Probably not a woman of let's say - a certain age.
So BetteJo it is.
Or not.
For the last 10 years or so apparently I have become Hispanic. Or Latino. Latina? Or Latinx. Whatever way you want to say it, people have completely changed the ethnicity of my name because of the changing population in the U.S. And it makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time.
At a doctors office someone will poke their head out the door and look around the waiting room, completely skipping over this totally white bread woman with gray eyes and tentatively say ...
"Buh-tay-ho?"
Yes, really.
I see how they get there, I do put the Bette and the Jo together, and if what they are looking at is all one case without a capital J in there - the J turns into an H (in their minds) and I turn a different ethnicity.
So if you must screw up my name, and some people just can't seem to help it, please make me Hispanic. It's the only version of my name being messed up that makes me laugh. Always!!
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| NOT ME |
If this thing were on ...
... no doubt there would be people who would say they also feel this way from time to time. Luckily, it doesn't happen too often. :) Probably since working from home I'm not in my car as often as I used to be!
When you go to the vet and there is nowhere to hide, sometimes someone lets you sit in the sink and gives you a blankie to cover yourself.
When I was married, my father-in-law (henceforth known as FIL) always made me laugh. He was so stubborn about some things, especially for a pretty laid back guy. He had things he liked (my blueberry pie) and things he didn't (Cubs losing games), and for the most part he was consistent.
He had a thing about when the heat could be turned on and conversely, when the air conditioning could be as well. If it was September 21st and got down to 35 degrees, "Put a sweatshirt on!" and "No, I'm not putting the heat on in September!"
If it was April and got up to 88 degrees it was "Oh stop whining, it's April!" and "You know it will cool off by 5:00 o'clock!"
Living in the Chicago area, both of those temperature extremes are not unheard of. But my FIL would not make an exception to his thermostat rules, the heat didn't go on before Halloween, and the air conditioning didn't go on before Memorial Day. Seriously.
It is September. On Sunday I had the air conditioning on. By Tuesday, I had the heat on. Know why? Because I'm a grown up, it's my house, and I pay the bills now! (insert $hit eating grin)
When I was a kid, this was not the most important thing on my 'why I want to be a grown-up' list. But it should have been because hoooo-boy is it nice to control your environment so you're not subject to some else's arbitrary temperature rules!
It's also a fair reason to not share my house with a guy. Just sayin'.
Maybe the thing people didn't realize about Norm MacDonald was what a truly decent human being he was. Decent, a man of integrity and faith. I'm not sure whether he cared if you knew that or not, as long as you let him continue to tell the jokes he wanted to tell.
RIP Norm. Definitely our loss.
Doc has decided I should start back on the meds, a low dose for a week and slowly going up - and getting another thyroid panel in a month. Oh my gosh I thought I was going to melt into my couch, I had so little energy. Then yesterday I had a lower and upper GI to see if I was losing blood anywhere to account for my anemia, nothing found there, but when I got home I slept the rest of the day away.
Today was a slow day too, by tomorrow I will have been back on my meds for 4 days, and while it's a super low dose - at least it's better than nothing. Hoping to get something done around the house tomorrow before the work week starts again. There has to be more to life than watching Autopsy, the last minutes of so and so's life and Breaking the Band.
Feel a bit like I've seen both sides now, the energized, active side, and the lay on the couch, lazy side. I would love to be the energized, active person ALL the time. Makes me wonder if all those people out there who are uber lazy just have undiagnosed thyroid issues! I mean - I wouldn't choose lazy, if I had a choice. Some people might? But it's SO boring. Just sayin'.
Oh, and I need to stop talking about my health, OLD people do that! Need to change my message.
My thyroid has gone back to where it used to be - I am officially a potato.
4 weeks ago my TSH was 0.03 which meant my thyroid had gone into overdrive and I was experiencing hyperthyroidism for the first time in my life. I had energy and didn't mind waking up a little earlier than I used to, which surprised the heck outa me. Walking has always been my form of exercise but it became a 'had to' not a 'I should' every day. The standing desk was purchased and it wasn't unusual for me to put music on and dance half my day away while working.
It's amazing what the lack of one hormone can do to a body. Why I have swung so far both ways is anybody's guess, waiting to hear from my doctor.
I know it's not good to be hyper or hypo. But if I had to choose .. give me overdrive every time. This being a potato is not fun, it's unattractive and boring.
Please, Doc - give me my meds back!
*** Edited to add:
Yep, Doc gave me my meds back, stepped me up over the course of a month. So now - as of mid October - I am back to hyper again. Not as hyper as before (meds are lower than before) - but still hyper. And yeah, still anemic too, even though I have been taking my iron every doggone day. I know people have it so much worse. But still - this is getting old. Or - I guess I am!
Steve Perry is so elusive, with the pandemic and everything fans have been waiting for new music. A couple years ago Steve said he had lots of music he was working on so we were waiting. With Steve, there aren't posts now and then saying - hey I'm still here - don't forget about me - or anything of the sort. When he doesn't have something to announce, he is QUIET. He doesn't do social media except when he needs to so to have 2 pieces of news in the space of a week is unheard of! At least, in recent years.
Last post was about his new Christmas album, and now - Steve Perry donated a car, a signed copy of his new record, and one of his performance tuxes to be auctioned off to benefit a San Francisco Giants charity. What a guy!
This really isn't a Steve Perry fan site, but I am going to post things when they come up. It's just highly unusual to have 2 posts, one after the other, with news!
A few years ago Steve donated a jeep he had. I've seen where he has donated guitars and albums and I'm sure other things as well. Nice that he does this kind of thing, just sayin'. He can donate things to charities, but having things auctioned off that have his name attached to them makes so much more money to give away, than just giving someone an item.
Well done, Mr. Perry. Well done!
***Found these pics for context - this car has history!
I've been waiting for new music from Steve Perry, and a Christmas album is what I got. I will take it! It is being released on November 5th, but this is a peek, I'll Be Home For Christmas. Can't wait for the rest! The album is called "The Season"
“Back home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be!”
Here I am again, in a weird medical place. Hypothyroid forever, all of a sudden my blood work indicates hyperthyroid. I mean .. it happens, but how often, and why? Dr. Google isn't a good idea, so for now I have been removed from my thyroid meds and am getting more blood work done in a few weeks. If the
results still indicate hyperthyroid - it will be time for a thyroid scan to see if the nodule I have is 'hot', meaning, producing hormones.
Here's the thing - I FEEL good! Exercise, losing some weight, having a bit of energy, I've felt like I've been getting the physical part of my life together lately.
Blargh.
Where's Roseanne Roseannadanna when you need her! "As my good friend Richard Fader always said
"IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHING"!"
Yep, Jane is an ignorant slut - and I am probably 100% fine! Let's hope, anyway. I'm voting for a problem with absorbing iron. Not sure what they do for that, hopefully just supplements. Sounds like the best result for the anemia. The thyroid? Who knows!?!?!
Friday was my favorite boss's last day. We are working remotely and there isn't a really good way for a fabulous sendoff for someone when you can't be with them in person, not to mention the fact that she lives in Wisconsin and I am in Illinois. Still. I wanted to be able to do something.
Feeling sorry for myself is not something I like to indulge in (unless it is about discontinued favorite foods - cough) and even if I do - I generally don't drown myself in high dollar, high fat content ice cream. But when I do - it's always chocolate, chocolate chip Haagen-Daz.
Win, win, if you ask me. I get to have a pity party AND lose weight!
Still, I'm going to miss you Heidi. I hope your new job brings you no reasons to binge on ice cream and many new and lovely coworkers!
I know I have talked about this before, but why do things I like get discontinued?
One of my daily indulgences that has been consistent for at least 20 years and maybe more, (I am unwilling to do the math), is eating a bagel with cream cheese every morning. Whatever happens during the day, wherever I go, whatever I do, my day won't start right if I don't have my bagel and my tea. And it's not just any bagel, it's a Lender's Onion bagel with 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Brand cream cheese.
I'm very specific, aren't I?
I don't have a big freezer so I had him pick up (he paid for them) 5 bags.
And then they were gone.
Apparently the company was sold, and when I contacted the new company they said the bagels are still being made but they couldn't tell me the distribution. 👀 Um .. what?? They also said that during the pandemic the demand for bagels has risen and it has been hard to keep up with the demand.
Pandemic bagel eaters? Who knew? (guessing it's not really a thing)
It sort of felt like I was being placated, so it just may be they are gone forever. We will see. In the meantime, my son is buying different types of onion bagels for me to try and so far they have all had one thing in common - they don't taste much like onion.
Blargh. Somewhere I think my onion bagels are dancing with my Stouffer's Noodles Romanoff, laughing at my discomfort.
