Friday, September 28, 2012

Artsy Fartsy Friday~~Lisa Hannigan~ Lille~



Welcome! Don't stand out there in the rain...please come in, have some tea and stay a while. Today, I bring you a song and video that are a perfect match. I've included the lyrics...please feel free to sing along~



He went to sea for the day
   He want to know what to say
        When he's asked what he'd done
              In the past to someone
                       That he loves endlessly
                            Now she's gone, so is he

I went to war every morning
    I lost my way, but now I'm following
        What you said in my arms
               What I read in the charms
                    That I love durably

                      Now it's dead and gone and I am free

        

I went to sleep for the daytime
    Shut my eyes to the sunshine
        Turned my head away from the noise
            Bruise and drip decay of childish toys
                 That I loved arguably  
                     All our labouring gone to seed

Went out to play for the evening
     We wanted to hold onto the feeling
            On the stretch in the sun
                  And our breathlessness as we run
                       To the beach endlessly

            As the sun creeps up on the sea

  

Singer: Lisa Hannigan  Song: Lille from the album "Sea Sew"
Video directed by: Jamie Hannigan
Pop-up Book made by: Maeve Clancy and Jamie Hannigan
Up-loaded to You tube by: 


                       Have a melodious weekend!!
                         
                                    Blessings, Joanne



           

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Real Camping~ Day and Night 2



We woke up to a glorious day.


  And the best part was that I did not have to cook breakfast. Hubby had made coffee eggs and bacon.

We happily planned our day and fishing was first on the list





We caught nothing so fish was not on the menu that night



Later we had a feast of steak and potatoes.

As the sun started to set My husband made a nice campfire and we made smores~~We call them Schmoes

We noticed that as the sun set, there were no stars to be seen.

Oh oh...could that mean it's going to rain?
Then my daughter and I noticed something in the background.

Something over the nearby mountain

Lightening flashes behind the clouded sky


Within 20 minutes we were all in the tent listening to the rain


then the wind~


Then crackle BOOM!

the lightening lit up the inside of our tent and let me tell you I was scared

TERRIFIED

Our Dog cried and whined and the only way to calm him was to let him sleep on my mattress. I held him like a baby


My Daughter asked " Mom are you scared?"

I answered, "No Baby, I'm not"



But I was! I WAS!



My Darling Daughter J was sitting up on her mattress right beside me and Sweet Son was huddled with Dad on the other side of the tent

The tent came with a rain fly (a sort of extra covering) for the rain and it was held in place to the ground by some stakes

We could feel the water flowing and rushing all around us outside

The sides of the tent bowed and shook

I prayed

I really prayed

At one point I couldn't hear anyone talking

All we heard was the sound of the storm
It echoed and seemed to bounce against and back from every tree, every rock

and just when I thought the tent could not withstand anymore...the rain slowed and the lightening faded into the distance

Finally, the crickets started their song again and sleep took us away to la la land. Ahhhh finally we could get some rest

   until...


around 3am when my daughter woke me up and said she had to go to the bathroom...



Happy Birthday to me

Monday, September 24, 2012

Real Camping Trip Day One



Hi All!

        I am sorry for the lack of posts lately. Last week was crazy and this past weekend we went on our first REAL camping trip. I write "real" because this time we were in a tent instead of the comfy cottage that we always rent.
                    
                                           our cool tent



Oh and did I mention it was my birthday weekend? I did? Oh well, one more time won't kill anyone.



It was my birthday weekend



Soooo, we set up the tent in record time...(24 minutes), and our screened-in eating and cooking area was a God send because at night all sorts of bugs (that I have only seen in nature shows) came out to see what all the hub bub was about.

                                    Our 4 star restaurant
                                    


Our camp site was high up the mountain and we had a great view.


The one thing that was a bit freaky was that there were no other "tenters" near us (I don't know if that is even a word). Down the hill there were a few others but they were   from us. During the day It didn't bother me at all. I loved having that whole area to ourselves.


But at night


it was a different story.


       Creepy
              
                              source



Scary
         
                          source



        Vulnerable is the best word I would used to describe how I felt.






I kept envisioning one of these
                           
                                           source






or this
                             
                                        source







or even this
                              
                                    source





             creepin' up on us...and not to mention the volume of the chirping crickets  and the owls hooting made sleeping a bit hard....but sleep we did all cozy and safe in our little home away from home. Well, it was all comfy cozy until....


Lets just say someone in our little group didn't tighten the cap on their air mattress.


Let's try and guess who that someone was... shall we?


The Hubby's mattress
 

                   source




                         Darling Daughter's Mattress
               
                                          source





                                  Sweet Son's Mattress                         
                                      source






Mine  
 
             source



Sometime during the night the heaviest part of my body...my butt, was slowly introduced to the cold hard rocky ground.



 Ehh, It's better than being attacked by Sasquatch.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Artsy Fartsy Friday~~~Animated Short "Rooted"

                



     Hi Everyone and welcome!
       
                    It's Friday and on Fridays I always try to post some art that has intriqued me and that I hope you enjoy as well

                                     I LOVE Art!

       Today I want to post an animated short that I found on You Tube ...and I have to tell you this one just ran away with my heart.  


 Without further delay I give you this beautiful love story... Rooted
       
                         Uploaded by: 
CREDITS: Edwin Schaap (Animation, Editing, Art, Compositing), Jeroen Hoolmans (Character Rigging, Programming, Compositing), Pim Reinders (Environments, Animation, Effects, Compositing), Floyd Angenent (Layout, Modeling, Rigging, Compositing), Vidjay Beerepoot (Music), Ronnie van Overveld (Sound Design & Final Mix)





Now go on and have a great weekend...

                                        
                                and don't forget to hug someone!




                                                                             Blessings, Joanne





Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Learning and Laughing

            


I have a birthday coming up and I have to admit sometimes I get a bit depressed about getting older...my back hurts and I swear I hear my bones creek sometimes. 

However, in my head and in my heart I am young.  

The following videos show the secret of not so much staying young...but living life with the a youthful joy. Everyday there is opportunity to experience new things and to love this moment right now this second!....
One, is always learning new things...as displayed by this 60-year-old MOM dancing with her son!!!!!
                        

                       
                                  uploaded by: 

              
It doesn't have to be physical, learning new things, like sign language or joining a new group in the library or traveling and checking out new places or trying new foods ...learning, learning always learning will help your mind stay young

All of my blogger buddies not only practise this, but help others to learn and to experience different things and for that I am soooo grateful



The next secret is laughter....yes laughter. I think all doctors should prescribe a good belly laugh every day for overall health and longevity.
If you know Elmo from Sesame street
                                                                    source 

then this video will have you in hysterics. The driver does a spot-on imitation



                      Please Enjoy "Elmo" ordering at the Taco Bell drive-thru
                          
                                               uploaded by: 


Hope this post made you smile and laugh!!!!


Now go on and have yourself an awesome day!



                                          Blessings, Joanne



Monday, September 10, 2012

REAL Camping




Very soon the family and I are going camping again.

I have written posts about our yearly summer camping trips.

We always stay in a little cottage
                                     
                      

It has a bathroom


It has a small kitchen


It has airconditioning.


The Hubster hates it when I call it camping.


Soon we are off on another little camping trip



There will be no
                     



we'll sleep in a
                  


The bathrooms are far far away from the campsite



And if I have to go at night I will risk my kidneys and bladder exploding rather than running into a bear in the pitch blackness.
                                  
                                                          source




We will have to cook everything outdoors
                                    
                                                           source


There will be bugs...lots and lots of bugs. And this realization makes me yell out into the universe...


                        "WHO THE HECK THOUGHT OF THIS STUPID IDEA???"





and the universe yells back...



                              "IT WAS YOUR IDEA,  YA MORON!!!!"




And the universe would be right.




It was my idea.



My son ( who has a face like an angel) has wanted to go "real" camping for a long long time.


How could I say no to an angel face?

So, very soon we will go camping

and the worst part of it all.....

                                            It'll be on my birthday weekend.


 I am doing this to make my son happy


So, if it's true that what goes around comes around and good deeds are rewarded


Then that means that I should be winning the lottery any day now.

                
                                            source



                                         ...Just sayin'

Friday, September 07, 2012

Artsy Fartsy Friday~~Tilt Shift Disney



Soooooo, after four phones calls

               One lady that kept interrupting me

                      One dropped call (I want to think it was dropped and not that they hung up on me)


The mystery of the missing forty dollars was solved, and the money was credited to my account


All was well in the world until later today when a cashier at Kmart neglected to place a ten dollar item ( that was already paid for) in my bag. UGH!!!!!



Anyhoo, You are not here today to read about my financial misadventures

You are here to see some art.


OK, If you know me then you know that I am a Disney freak!

My favorite place in the whole wide world is Disney World and I get totally into it. Yep, I buy into the fantasy. I believe that the teenager with the blonde up-do is really Cinderella, and I giggle with delight when Mickey comes around to sign autographs.



I also love Tilt shift videos.

        If you don't know what that is ...It's when a photographer adds a special lens to his camera that makes the objects of the video or photo look like miniatures. In fact the first time I saw a tilt shift video I could have sworn it was a  stop motion film about miniatures!



So now I give you......

A Model Day at Magic Kingdom (Disney World)

                    "The exclusive video first featured on The Disney Parks Blog was created from a series of photos snapped inside the Magic Kingdom Park. Its a sunrise-to-sunset story told without words." ~You Tube Description            
                  
                                             Uploaded by: 



Wasn't that the cutest thing? Didn't it look like miniatures?

           Have a magical weekend everyone!!!
                            Blessings, Joanne

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Looking Ugly at the Bank




Anyways......


            So I go to the drive-thru ATM at my bank and of course the machine is out of order...It's always out of order.


I drive around to the front and try to use the ATM just inside the bank.


I punch in my pin number


      politely ask for 40.00


           The ATM says "Sure Sweetie" (not really, but wouldn't it be cool if it did?)


               I prepare for it to hand over forty dollars


                            I wait


                            And wait


Then it tells me "Transaction complete, thank you for stopping by and see ya later"


Whoa!



Wheres the doe ray me?

                The moola?

                   El Dinero?


OK, time to go Old school and actually enter the bank and stand on line


Now I have to write that I was not looking my normal cute self
                           
                                     source 






I looked more like this
                         
                                   source



It was the first day of school for the kids. I had made sure the kids looked great but I in turn looked like disheveled mess. It was supposed to be a quick errand...to get my money and go... I had no intentions of interacting with ...people...




Well dressed, perky, young people
                
                              source




I waited on line and The teller confirmed my fears "Yes, Mam (Ugh when did I become a Mam?) The computer shows that $40 was indeed taken out of your account."


"But where is it?" I ask


"It says you took it out." she answers


"But I don't have it." I insist


"The computer does say that you took out the money."
                                  She's looking at me like I'm
                                               
                                                               source


"Tell the computer it's a big fat honking liar!" I say. OK, I am paraphrasing here but you get the gist.


Yada Yada Yada she states again what the computer displays and YadaYada Yada "You'll have to wait to speak to another person."



So I sit.


Opposite me is a lady dressed in a business outfit looking like she was on her way to a very important job.
               
                       source



Then on the other side of me there was a couple that seemed like they were newly married...so new that she probably still shaves her legs often and wears cute nighties to bed 
                     
                                     source






Then there was me
                
                                          source



                     Pitiful, disheveled ME





Again, when I was able to explain to the Representative my plight ...he looked at me as if I may have been lying


We both walked over to the ATM machine and of course the machine did indeed behave.


Which made him look at me incredulously, like I was
                                                  
                                                                    source




So now I have to wait until Thursday to see if there is a discrepancy when they do the ATM count.


Which leads me to think that had I looked a bit more "put together" perhaps they would have helped a bit more; and in turn I would have had the $40 credited right then and there.




All I know Is that the next time I go to the bank I will be more prepared
                                                    
                                                                             
                                          



                                   Wha? too much?

Monday, September 03, 2012

Strange Vibe




There was a strange vibe today.

          I noticed all the Moms in church were....smiling
                                                
                                                                      source


                  Dare I write ...giddy?....Yes GIDDY.



There were a few that were skipping
                                              
                                               
                                                          source

                                                      



and others did a bit of a happy dance


                                     
                                                    source


In fact there were hugs all around
        
                    source



Why pray tell? and just as I was about to ask... the answer came in a flash





School begins on Tuesday.




Other than December 26th...the first day of school has to rank as one of Mom's favorite days of the year.

              This commercial still cracks me up                        
           
       









P.S. As weird as it might seem...I hate the first day of school! I actually miss these stinkers! But if you tell anyone that, I will deny it!