Backward and Forward

Looking back - it's been a good year.

I've done lots of fun stuff with lots of great friends.  Gatherings for tastings, birthdays, movie nights, dinners, house-warmings.    And then there's the Holidays - OMG - of course Halloween of which I never shared pictures with you.  OK - here's a few:




















OK - I think you get the picture nyuk nyuk.... a fun time was had by all, there was tons of cool food, I decorated my fool head off and there was a good turnout.  Who could ask for anything more?

A few other 2012 highlights

People I have reconnected with on Facebook - - - Butch Vecchio, (my first (ever) boyfriend-wow huh?), Eddie Evans, Dave Jones, Guy Bonds and several others from early 1970s group of friends (40 years ago - wow again), Cousins Thomas and Gary Fohrenck (My Uncle Bill's kids), several other members of the Vecchio family (my ex's kids,cousin Tory,  sister Mary,  etc.) - Sonya Byrdsong Pereira (half sister to my son Tony - (abandoned by her father (my ex) after her mother died...so sad).....and I'm sure there are tons more I am forgetting.

Some fun things I did this year (just to name a few):

Went to Bill Randall's 50th birthday party in Phoenix with my friend Jo Hurst - Bill is a twin - he lives in Sacramento  and the party was in Phoenix at his twin brother Wes's house.  I met the family - his crazy nephew Taylor and more conservative Nephew are both engaged in the entertainment business in Hollywood and quite successful for young people.  Nice kids!  His sister in law Sandy is a sweetheart.  Jo and I stayed over at a nearby hotel and shopped and ate out a couple times while we were there before heading back (I drove).



Went toMeag Palm Springs to visit friend Meagan Beavers - and stayed with her for a couple days.  What a lovely visit.  She has a wonderful house with a pool out back that I spent most of my time either in or by.  We went out and ate and drank and just hung out at the house and caught up and visited.




Went to the California Wine Festival in Santa Barbara with Rebecca Pate, Jo Hurst, and Deborah Dominguez.  Drove to Santa Barbara (beautiful coastal drive) and stayed at a hotel - and did a 2- day drink fest with great food and shopping in between.


Also attended several of Rebecca Pate's  events...Her bridal shower, her military promotion, and her wedding.   All were great!

Went to Universal Studios with Nephew Chris and his family - who stayed with me for about 4-5 days (He, his wife, and 3 kids) - We also went to SeaWorld - and tons of beaches.  I tried to get them around to see as much as I could for as short a visit as they had - and they say it's the best trip they've ever been on.   They are a lovely family and the kids are just great!  We had a cookout at the house one evening and My sons Rob and Justin - with their girlfriends Jodi and Michelle were there and got to meet their cousins as well.  It was a very nice visit.  Jo and her husband were also there.  She also thought they were great.  It was a wonderful visit - they (and I) had a great time.






Had a Lobster fest on Justin's boat.  He trapped about 8-9 lobster and 5 of us ate lobster like kings - a great night!






wonderful Thanksgiving (double turkey) and Christmas (seafood extravaganza) gatherings at my home with my sons, and with friends.







And of course the typical gatherings for True Blood, Dexter and just gathering for the heck of it with friends now and then or after work on a Friday








Oh and last but not least - have discovered the cause of all my Left-sided aches and pains - seems
 a vertebrae has shifted forward and to the left and is pinching nerves on that side so the Left hip, leg, knee, foot - etc etc issues that I have been having - all because of THIS:



Can you see it?  The diagonal coming up from the right bottom corner - is the spine - 1 bone - 2 bones then oops - big dark space and line is crooked - 3rd bone is way out of line... see it now? Sooo lots of physical therapy in my future.  I will NOT succomb to spinal surgery....the most debilitating thing a person could ever do to themself!  I will get through this with hard work and determination!

And a quick 2012 general overview:

Some of the 2012 historical events.....
Obama is president (again)
Olympics in London
Superstorm Sandy in the NE.
The mission to mars
Marijuana legalized in Colorado, Washington and Oregon.
Colorado Theatre killings
Syria's Civil war
Cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy's coast
Queen Elizabeth's celebration of 60 years as queen
Mass Killing (26) at Sandy Hook ELEMENTARY School! (Newtown Conn)
Milestone Deaths:
Neil Armstrong, Ray Bradbury, Dick Clark, Andy Griffith,  Davy Jones, Ernest Borgnine, Phyllis Diller, Thomas Kincaide, Whitney Houston, Andy Williams, and Donna Summer to name a few.

2013 should be better (no more horrible news like the killing sprees please) and hopefull be more like great!  We shall see!

The right to regulate

There are so many issues in the news - all the time about government regulation.  Should they regulate this - do they have the right to regulate that, why don't they regulate this, when are they going to regulate that?   It just goes on and on.

I can sort of understand the regulation of monopolies.  If they weren't regulated - the provider could set any price they want - for a product that is necessary - and people would have to pay it.  An example would be electricity.

Now there are competitors in the fuel industry - and yet they ALL go up at the same time and kill the economy by increasing shipping costs adding to product costs, as well as wipe out budgets to those with limited income.   They are not monopolies - but I feel they are handled very poorly and this is an industry that needs some serious clean-up.   Where to buy from, whether or not to produce our own, funding sustainable energy systems....the list goes on and on.   And don't you think the auto industry has a hand in this?  Cars need fuel, people need cars, if cars didn't need fuel the fuel industry wouldn't be as powerful....thus the powerful fuel industry delays tactics to find better sources of car motivation.  I'd wager money (sort of like the tobacco industry - another powerful, and now conglomerate business) - a lot of these powers work hand in hand to keep each other rich.

Then there are those regulatory bodies that are supposed to 'protect' us.  Like FDA for example.  Really?  Protect us?  Let me see....they say what can and can not be put in foods.   Look at the food out there people!!!  Food shouldn't be labelled if it is 'organic'.  Food should ALL be organic!  WE are ORGANIC!!!  The rest of that crap (insecticides, steroids, additives, preservatives, chemicals of all sorts to make things look, smell, and taste better - or increase the weight (fat) when being sold by weight..)   Are you kidding me?    Other countries foods are not half as heavily regulated as ours - and yet their foods smell, look, and taste better - and don't have ANYthing inorganic added to them! 

When I went to New Zealand and tasted their dairy products - OMG - it reminded me of back in the days when I was a kid - milks and cheeses were so fresh and tasted so wonderful.  Now everything is so over-processed before it is sold - there is no flavor left!   Fruits & Vegetables - same thing.   You don't have to worry about the label on it - if there are additives or whether or not it's organic.  It is ALL organic there!  

Convenience foods filled with artificial color, flavor, and every known chemical known to man - are all garbage - yet allowed on the shelves.  The stuff contained in them is not what our body is meant to digest.  Thus the carcinogen effect of so many of these items.   We can't digest it - it digests US!

Regulating religion - where do I begin.   The atheists, and agnostics have managed to have the upper hand and say no prayer here, no religious artifact there, no this holiday, take God out of that document.   What about the freedom of religion our forefathers fought so hard to acquire in this country?  Fine - you don't like prayer?  Then shut up and wait for those who do!  You don't like that cross on the hill?  Then stay away from that hill - there's lots of others to go climb on and have a view from, you don't like Christmas trees?  They have to be called 'holiday' trees?  What holiday?  For God's sake - it's a flippin' Christmas tree!!   Not your holiday?  Fine!  Don't celebrate it!   Celebrate your own or none at all.

I could go on and on and on.   I just want to know where we draw the line and how - and who makes these decisions on what's safe to eat, what should have a ceiling on a price, and why non-religion trumps freedom of religion.  Who gets that right to regulate?  And how can we be better informed and have the power to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  Give us our health, right to live, and right to worship as well as not worship back!!   We are soooooo on the brink................