Haven't done much of anything lately.  Prednisone withdrawal really caught up with me.  However, today I felt pretty good so I've been getting stuff done around the house.

Oops-movie/tv fact of the day:  The Oscar statuettes arrived in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon via private plane.  Final voting ballots must be post marked by the 21st.  Saw "Safe House" with Sam yesterday-wonderful movie!  Second movie I've seen in a week that was shot entirely with handheld cameras.  Denzel was wonderful and Ryan Reynolds was, well absolutely gorgeous.  The majority of the movie was shot in So. Africa.  In one scene, Denzel's character gets "water boarded"-he did it himself.  Figured that, since he is a good swimmer, it wouldn't be so bad.  It was bad.  All the networks have ordered their fall 2012 pilots.  Not really hearing anything good coming up.  Very excited "The Walking Dead" is coming back Sunday night.  Goto my hands on some spoiler info which was exciting.  Especially since when the last episode aired last year and in the last two minutes I'm screaming at the tv, "WHAT, WHAT, WHAT???"  Berlin Film Festival is going on.  BAFTA's (England's Oscars) are tomorrow night.  All I want to know is what Gaga will wear to the Grammys?

Today it seems like the cats and dogs are running the house and sort of making me crazy-fights and bizarre behavior in general.  Since the four-leggeds outnumber the two-leggeds in the house, I don't mind these days occasionally.  Matt still out of town shooting the BMX team.  I send him daily pics/videos of Buk the dog via text.  I love texting but its become challenging with the long fingernails again.  Have finally gotten used to the new glasses/sunglasses with the progressive lenses.  Next Saturday is my first day of Oscar movie showcase-so excited!  I'll be watching movies from 11am to 9:45pm.  I am concerned with sitting so long and not being able to get up, but I'll figure it out.  I finished reading "The Descendents" this week and really loved it-I can see how it would make a good movie.  "Extremely Loud" I'm still on the fence about seeing.  The book was so wonderful, but I don't see how it could become a movie.  Hopefully I can track down some people at the theater who have seen it.

Didn't do much exercise type walking this week.  Need to get back at it as it is really so good for me.  Went to the grocery store and CVS pharmacy this morning.  Looked like someone had gone in and thrown up Valentines Day stuff all over.  So I bought myself a beautiful bouquet of yellow daisies-very springy looking.  Cooking a tuna casserole for dinner tonight.  Sam is at rehersal, so I have no idea what time he'll get home.  Matt's gf had texted me about going to see "The Vow" tonight.  It will depend on how she feels.  In a way, it feels like she has been pregnant forever and it will be 4 months week after next.  I've started my rocking chair fund and am tossing all mt $1 bills in a Disneyland popcorn bucket.  I've been wanting to get a chair for my bedroom, so I might as well make it a rocking chair.  In anticipation of becoming a grandmother at some point, a couple of years ago I started putting together a small collection of children's books to read aloud to my grandchilden.  Ones that I used to really enjoy reading aloud when I worked at the school.  Some books (like "Fox in Sox" by Dr. Seuss) are just made to be read aloud and giggled at!

Movie/TV fact for today:  Out of the 297 songs that were eligible to be nominated for an Oscar, only two got nominated this year.  There are very strange rules about what songs can be nominated.  One of those rules is that the song has be be played within so many minutes of the movie starting.  Makes no sense to me at all.

It is insanely warm here today-going to be 75 degrees this afternoon.  I have the whole house opened up which the animals are loving.  I ended up going downtown yesterday and wandering around the harbor for a while.  Then Sam and I went out for Greek food later-we love our Gyros!  Doing exciting stuff like laundry and cleaning the house today.  Boring but necessary.  Its been quiet around here with Matt and his girlfriend out of town.  I have to admit I am enjoying it just a little.  My hands, feet, and knees are not happy with me today.  I dropped my medication down to 1 mg today.  Two weeks of that and then, hopefully, I'm done.

Your movie fun fact for today:  Denzel's daughter is in Quentin Tarantino's next movie which will be out next December.  Also, the "class picture" for all the Oscar nominated actors was taken yesterday.  Wish I could get my hands on one of those.  Don't follow those movie critics for nothing on twitter-they were all there when it was done.

I'm sneaking off today.  I love those days now that I can do it.  Am taking the trolley downtown and going on the harbor excursion.  You get to see all the seals and the aircraft carriers.  Then I am going to walk over to Seaport Village, and doing some shopping and lunch.  Lots of walking, but its good for me.  The weather is lovely, 70 degrees and I can't complain.  May even ride the merry go round at Seaport Village.  The thing is that the boys love my little adventures and I like to do them by my self.  Have decided its an only child thing-we are used to doing stuff by ourselves.  Wish I knew how to post pics which I will be taking, but since Matt got me the Mac computer, I am lost at it.

Justification for todays adventure?  Because I can.  Knees a 2 and hands a 5 today-thats what Motrin is for.

Have decided you get a fun movie/tv fact every day I post until the Oscars.  By then (for atleast a week) I don't want to know or see anything about Hollywood.

Today's fact:  Ryan Reynolds is the only actor who has ever given Denzel Washington a black eye.  They did their own stunts in "Safe House".  Ryan was driving a car with Denzel fighting him from the back seat.  Elbow hit the eye.  Ryan admitted to being a little scared afterwards.

Sam and I have a movie date Friday which is when "Safe House" is released.  Bought and started the book "The Descendents" today.  (I'm really into adapted screenplays and this got a nomination for the Oscars for that)  I'm only a few chapters into it and am really enjoying it!  Looking forward to seeing the movie.  In anticipation of 2/12 which is when the 2nd part of the 2nd season of "The Walking Dead", I'm watching season one which Matt got me and enjoying every moment of it.  Sam heard the new Van Halen album today and said it was pretty good.  So I went shopping on iTunes and got it and some Beastie Boys stuff.

Matt took off today for a road trip shooting the bmx team until 2/14.  He and I are so much alike that I'm sort of looking forward to some peace and quiet for a few days.  He is totally my clone, and I have found that I exhaust myself.  It has always been hard when we fight, because we know exactly what the other one is going to say before they say it because its what we would have said.  He's my mirror.  In ways I love it.  But I think that's why being with Sam is peaceful for me at times.  

And I know you have been waiting for it-what did I do for Super Bowl Sunday.  Buk the dog and I watched the Puppy Bowl.  He liked watching the puppies, but really enjoyed the kitten halftime.  Watched every minute of it.  Then I turned to the Super Bowl for half time.  Quite frankly, I could have watched the gladiators march around the field for a while-I was having "300" flashbacks.  Madonna sang all my old favorites of hers, but didn't care too much for the new song.  I got really distracted by the staging and enjoyed that almost as much as the gladiators-kept wondering how they did some of that stuff.

Its raining here for the first time in over a month.  Buk won't go out in the rain and keeps looking at me like its my fault.  But the change in the weather is nice.  I'm hoping it will be clear by Thursday, so Buk and I can go walking for a few days.

Hands and knees today are a 4.  But errands had to be run and bags of stuff carried in.  I find I'm going through the "6 months ago I was dying stuff".  Figure that should last for around a month or so.  But I'm not the only one going through it.  Matt mentioned the 6 months ago stuff a couple of times while we were at Disneyland and this last week.  Know Sam is thinking it, so I'm trying to do fun stuff with him.  I get frustrated many times with how I'm feeling.  And I still have no answers from the medical profession as to why my liver decided it wanted to quit six months ago.  All they can do is to rule stuff out.  I've learned many things from the medical profession since July, and one of them is that doctors don't always have answers for you.  It gets hard when I can't do stuff that I could do a year ago.  But then I remind myself that I have only been off hospice care since October.  

And each time I laugh with my boys about something is worth more than anything.

Had to deal with medical stuff today at the hospital.  Got furious at the boys this morning before even walking out the door to become a human pin cushion.  Felt like crap all day.

Going to go to my mental happy place and pretend today didn't even happen.  Are you jealous of the very mature way I deal with things?

Sam and I went to see "Chronicle" Friday-wonderful movie!  There are times a girl just needs a good sci fi movie filmed completely with handheld cameras.  Then Matt and his friend took me to play pool that night.  Alas, the pool gods were not with me but I still had a wonderful time.  It remains a mystery to me that whenever "Free Bird" by Skynnard comes on the jukebox, I manage to make every shot as long as the song plays.

Finished reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" today.  Amazing book.  Can not see how its going to translate successfully to the big screen. I may go shopping while that is showing at movie showcase.  That's the nice thing about that-last year I only lasted 15 minutes in "127 Hours" before heading to the Target in the mall.  The boys and I have certain rules in our house that can't be broken.  One of those is how we will staunchly support certain actors, directors, writers, and producers (in addition to film styles).  So we will go see "Safe House" on Friday.  If we didn't, we know Denzel (in our house, he is known only by his first name-that's all the man needs) would show up knocking down the front door.  We also support Quentin Tarantino.  Sam and I made the choice to support Daniel Radcliff, but I can't see his new movie because I'd get scared so Sam will go with friends.  Another director we support is Tim Burton.  We are so loyal that, years ago, we even paid money to see his remake of "Planet of the Apes".  *mental groan*  

Don't these people realize what we do for them?

We find out on 2/21 if my grandchild will be wearing pink or blue.  The whole thing still seems a little unreal to me.

Time for "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" reunion part 2!

Had a fun movie evening last night and discovered the joys of mixing kettle corn microwave popcorn and microwave popcorn with black pepper together-yummy!  We ended up watching "Catch Me if You Can" with Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Mr. Spielberg.  I had forgotten how amazing the cast in that movie was.  So darned well done.  It was weird to see Ellen Pompeo in it-I'm pointing at her shouting, "Its Meredith Grey" way too loudly.  Anyway, the boys were gone so we had the house to ourselves and had a delightful time.

Yesterday I was going back and forth between my kitchen and bedroom.  Sam turned up his electric guitar and starting practicing the set list for his band.  Thank goodness he couldn't hear me, because I was singing along to "We're an American Band" (by Grand Funk Railroad) almost as loud as he was playing it.  And I can NOT carry a tune at all.

Got caught up on all my Hollywood reading/magazines today, so I'm up to speed on the Oscars as of today.  Not only do I love movies, but also love my tv shows.  *standing up and clearing my throat* "My name is Leopardditz and I watch whatever Real Housewives show that is currently showing on Bravo".  But I also am seriously addicted to "Sons of Anarchy".  Matt has gotten me into "Madmen".  I am proud to be a Gleek.  Love "House", "Psych", "Burn Notice", just to name a few.  Very excited "The Walking Dead" is starting up again 2/12.  Matt got me season 1 on DVD and it even came with a cool zombie mask which I wear from time to time around the house.  Also just finished 7 seasons of "Greys Anatomy", I could go on and on.  But this last September I started a real love/hate show with Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story".  I would often question how the man who created "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee" could come up with a show that scared me alot but I couldn't stop watching.  So I made "American Horror Story" watching rules:

*I can't watch it on the big wide screen tv.  I only watch it on my computer where its much smaller and decreases the scariness.

*It must be broad daylight when I watch it.

*One of the boys MUST be in the house at all times when I watch it. (Tried to watch it alone and lasted 30 seconds)

The show is simply amazing!  Jessica Lange won 2 awards for her part.  Can't wait to see what they do with the next season!

I walked for almost an hour today-on a scale of 1 to 10, the knees were a 5, so I took advantage of that and the pretty weather.  Hoping for a good knee day tomorrow so I can do the same.  Its been a week since I've been down to 2 mg.  Next Thursday I go down to 1 mg.  One of the side effects is that you feel very spacy and forgetful.  I've noticed over the past couple of days that I actually seem to be getting my mental marbles back-I've missed them!  I look forward to the day when there aren't sticky notes all over reminding me of things.  Its kind of scary when you are talking to someone and your mind goes completely blank.  I've gotten to where I can cover it pretty well-the boys still notice though.  I guess I get a panicky look on my face when it happens.  But it is definitely happening less.

I may go to a movie tomorrow.  I'm thinking about seeing "Chronicle"-been in the mood for some good sci fi action.  But I also want to see "Haywire", too.  

I am not a football fan, and I guess the Super Bowl commercials with be all over the Internet on Monday so I can see them then.  So I think Buk the dog and I will watch the Puppy Bowl on Sunday.  I can do housework during the commercials.  I read that the cheerleaders this year are going to be pigs.  Four legged, curly tailed pigs.  I can't wait! 

Birthday month is officially over!  I ended up going to get my tickets for AMC Movie Showcase, getting my nails done for the first time in several years (the cats are rejoicing and wallowing in the ear scratches they are getting from me), and took myself out to lunch.  I was getting ready to put my jammies on and watch "Glee" last night, but the boys dragged me out to shoot pool.  I have to laugh at how amazed they still are at how good I am.  Its kind of neat that, after all these years, they are discovering another side of me that they didn't know existed.  Ended up not going to Old Town for the day.  Walking was a hit or miss thing yesterday.  Also, I kept getting the sleepys really bad.  I keep telling myself in a month or so life will get a lot better once I'm off that damned medication.

I bought "Drive" yesterday and watched it.  Really good movie.  Then I got on the Internet and started researching it and learned all kinds of interesting things about it-definitely need to watch it again very soon.  I have got to get started on researching all the movies nominated for Best Picture that I'll be seeing.  I'm pretty sure that "The Artist" is going to win.  When will Hollywood start consulting me on these things?  Right now, I'd vote for "The Help".  The backstory of how that movie got made is almost better than the movie itself.  And I now want to be BFF with Octavia Spencer.

I'm reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".  Was expecting sort of a 9/11 story.  Yes, the boy's father dies, but that's not the focal point of the book.  I can't even begin to describe the wonderful way the book is written and presents itself visually.  Its like turning each page is a treat, because you don't know what will be on it.  I'm having difficulty imagining the story making a successful transition to the screen.  Talked to someone about it yesterday and he said there was a darn good reason it didn't get nominated for Best Screenplay Adaptation.

When Matt moved back home, he brought Buk the dog with him.  I had heard he did this, but today Matt put on an episode of "Meerkat Manor".  That dog sat next to me for 30 minutes watching every single minute of it!  So now I know what to do for him when Matt is out of town and its raining.

Tonight my neighbor is coming over for our bi-monthly movie night.  We wear our jammies, moisturize our faces, and eat popcorn out of plastic popcorn buckets I bought us at Target.  The last one we watched was "Midnight in Paris"-absolutely wonderful movie that I really love!  Not sure what will be tonight's choice will be.  But as large as my collection is (maybe I'm getting close to 450 dvds??), I know we'll find something to watch!