The Holidays are over for another year and that for me is a double edged sword.  They are fun, although very busy, hectic and go way too fast.  I always travel some at the holidays and I love that.  The general good feeling is a blessing and so is the time off for many of us.  BUT - sheesh the cookies.

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!  You can't get away from them.  Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but.....

I don't know about you, but cookies are my downfall.  Oh, I like a good piece of pie, or cake, ice cream too.  But cookies?  Well, they are just in a different league.  They are everywhere around the holidays, you can't escape them. You make some, you're given some, you buy some, and they are always right there!  RIGHT THERE in the kitchen, and I can hardly walk by a plate of cookies and not grab one - or a few.

They are so easy to eat, no plate, no napkin, no knife, no cutting, or opening the fridge, or putting anything back.  You don't have to wash a fork, or find a plastic one.  It's just the easiest thing on the planet.  You walk by, you grab a cookie and by the time you're done walking through the kitchen, it's gone. It's perfect.

And don't we all think that it's "just a cookie."  It's not a huge piece of pie or cake and its' way better for us, and in the long and literal run, it probably is.  But it's the half dozen part in a single day that gets you.

Christmas Cookies - THE BEST

It was a heck of a ride in 2022... Buh-bye to the year that was.  Let's make 2023 BIGGER THAN EVER!

Whether it's the shows, out in the community or talking on your radio. You make us... Your Country,

Happy New Year!  Thank you for making me and all of us at 94.9 WQMX a part of your day and lives!  

You are truly THE BEST!!!!

Sure at WQMX we have a lot of fun... We are LIVE and LOCAL on your radio! 

The hardest thing is lining up for all the pictures!!!!   Can we get assigned spots in 2023? 

Now to re-focus from all the flashes!   Thank you for listening and making 94.9 WQMX...YOUR COUNTRY!!!

Growing up in the 90's, I had my tradition for New Year's Eve. Starting in 1996 my parents would go to First Night Akron and I would spend the evening with my grandparents. The three of us would go to a movie, then run through a drive thru for dinner and take it back to their house.

We'd then turn on the TV and watch episodes of "Supermarket Sweep" and "Shop Til You Drop" they had taped. Then, maybe another short movie. In between we'd check in with the networks on their coverage in New York. I would float in and out on the couch...I couldn't make it awake all night back then (frankly I doubt my grandparents did either haha). I usually would wake up about 11:00 or 11:30 and watch the ball drop in New York with my grandparents.

After a little bit, my parents would stop by and pick me up and I'd go home. I enjoyed those evenings very much.

Now that I'm an adult, I have no traditions. I'll get dinner with my mom or some friends, and likely spend the evening falling asleep on the couch. Likely miss the ball drop, and continue napping. Happy New Year!!!

I go to the movies a LOT. I review them, so it's important to see them as soon as they come out. I love seeing big blockbusters and getting popcorn and just being a part of the theater experience. But lately, there's been one thing keeping me from enjoying the film, and it's probably my biggest pet peeve of all time.

You're not supposed to do it anyway, but if you're going to the movies PLEASE STAY OFF YOUR PHONES!!!!!! It's one of the first things they tell you to do, yet as of late I've seen TONS of people doing it as of late!!! Even if it's a quick text, your screen is still super bright on it's lowest setting and can be extremely distracting to those around you.

I have ADHD, so paying attention to things is already hard enough without people sending texts every 3 minutes. I can't even have my own phone on silent (unless I need to be super aware of time), I need to turn it completely off because the vibrations distract me. But now ON TOP OF THAT, I have to sit in the first row of the back seat or along the handicap spots just to avoid people on their phones. I had to put my hood up just to hide my peripherals today and there was STILL someone in front of me texting!!!! Unbelievable!

If you're going to the movies please be courteous of other movie goers and stay off your phones. I understand that things have been more relaxed as of late, but don't waste $10 of your hard earned cash if you aren't even going to give a film your full attention.

Queen of Country, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and National Treasure...  Dolly Parton has done it again!  

Her 'Imagination Library' is expanding to California.  Children getting a head start on reading is always a great thing.  There is no one like Dolly!

Starting in June 2023, every California child under the age of 5 will be able to receive a free book in the mail, every month, thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library expansion to California! ?

pic.twitter.com/OXrtYIfp4h

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) December 29, 2022

Reality has set in for even the most die hard Browns fan as a result of Christmas Eve's cold weather fiasco at the stadium.  No playoffs for the Browns again this year.  I never expected them to come close this year and almost none of it had to do with the QB situation.  This team is not as good as the media thinks they.  The Browns right now, have the wrong idea and that needs to change.

This season didn't end last weekend in the frigid, it ended about 2:45PM on October 2nd of this year.  That was just after halftime of the Browns/Falcons game (game 4) of this season in Atlanta.  At halftime, a very mediocre Atlanta team, who we were already counting as an easy win, blew up the Browns entire season.  They decided to run the ball down the Browns throat and did exactly that with basically average running backs.  They saw the Browns have a very small, lightweight, speed defense with 215 pound linebackers and they went to work.

The blew us off the ball with 320 pound men the entire second half and won a game they themselves more than likely thought they would lose. Not only did they run it down our throats, they ran it up a few other sensitive areas too and got the win dropping us to 2-2.  BUT they gave the film to the league and the rest is 2022 history. The Browns never really recovered.  Ensuing teams just ran it right at us and we couldn't stop it. Even teams that didn't want to, ran it up against us.  Can't score if you don't have the ball, and so on.  It was embarrassing, being positively shoved around and being out manned every Sunday.  And that was after a couple of very embarrassing performances earlier in the season. Jets!~

That's just one area the Browns need to clean up.  Special teams are awful, defense is too small and really not good. I can only think of one game (Bengals game 1) the defense played really well against a GOOD team at FULL STRENGTH. They also have a ton of money invested in players that let this team down all year, especially early on.  Analytics are making in game decision making a real challenge, as we have many of the wrong personnel and no draft picks that really matter for a while. If they continue down this exact path, 2023 will be no better than this year.  They need to admit they are on the wrong path in not all, but many regards.

Next year is all being pinned on Watson and his full year availability.  Stefanski will get a full camp and year with him and that will buy the coach some time.  But it may not be enough. The division is just better than us, and next year, better still more than likely. This year we are going to finish in last place in the division and no media local or national saw that coming. And believe it or not, the Steelers are still in the playoff race, which is simply incredible.  See what a coach CAN do?  Mike Tomlin somehow has held his team together, with NOTHING to work with and they are still around.  Players will run through fire for him, I am envious.

The Browns need what the Steelers have, accountability.  They really have none from the top down.  The Browns just simply meander on like all is OK, and it's not by a long shot, and the record shows it.  They have to admit many of their players are overrated. They continue to invest in players no one else wants to pay big money too, and get minimal results.  We have a lot of players with "potential" after 5 or 6 years that gets old too.  They really need to self examine and take a path not yet taken by this franchise and get it right.  But my fear is that they won't have that kind of courage

Because what they DO have is the NFL's best running back in Nick Chubb.  The best offensive guard combo in the league,  a enviable offensive line, and a couple on defense that are as good as any.  They have the QB they wanted and one of the best fan bases in the entire league.  But do they have the guts to make the changes within the organization to be better, because THIS is not better.  Do they have the courage to admit wrongdoing, and poor choices? To have a better and deeper roster with the correct kind of players that can make a difference? Time will tell.

Fair question here. In their quest to reinvent the NFL with analytics and an Ivy League mentality and such, has the league passed them by with good football sense, physicality and better decision making?  Has attempting to be the smartest people on earth, actually been a real bozo move? Today, it seems so as there are a ton of teams that are really good right now that are old school tough and play football the way it's been played for 100 years.   Fair statement here too, as smart as they are, I don't ever recall any Ivy League team being ranked in College Football - ever.  Think Harvard could beat Ohio State?  Yeah, me either.

I'm not confident this bunch running the show here will have the humility to bow at the alter of pro football's history, as they seem more intent on reinventing something that is not really "reinventable."

GO BROWNS!!

Wednesday Night was WWE Holiday Tour at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.  A great show, a power packed card with a cage match, a women's championship match and well my favorite was The Miz.  The Miz works the home crowd so well.  He reeled us in and just backhanded every Northeast Ohioian.   The Parma kid who went to Normandy High School and on the Real World...  had us fans drop our guard with his pleasantries saying the crowd electrified him when he came out.   The City of Cleveland was the mecca, a "it" spot to be... The Cavs will be in the Playoffs.  The Guardians will be in the Playoffs again.  And The Browns...   well...  THEY WILL BE IN THE PLAYOFFS NEXT YEAR!!!!'   Crowd roared... 

Then that backhanded thing.... he changed gears pretty quickly as he called everyone fat, lazy and how he is god's gift to fitness and looks. He claims LA as his home not Cleveland.  Which in his regular everyday life you know he is Cleveland and Ohio 100%.  Needless to say the crowd was pretty upset after that...   The Miz can play a crowd like no other, it was a great promo and a great show.  Hopefully you got to check out the show or won your tickets from WQMX.

My fur monster Buttercup was a very good boy in 2022, so Santa rewarded him quite handsomely!

Santa brought him another cat tree to put in the living room for when our back sunroom is closed off for the winter :). Grandma (my mom) got him a pack of yummy Salmon flavored snacks! She also got him three new toys!!!

Hopefully he will be on Santa's nice list again in 2023...who am I joking? he's a cat - I'll get him stuff no matter what! LOL

I was lucky enough to get a Lego set for Christmas! I was even luckier to find out that December 27th was actually Lego Build Day! Since I hadn't built it yet, I decided to build it today!

It was definitely a lot of fun, and I hope to make sets more frequently now that I have more time to do so!