"New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions."
- Mark Twain
Doing anything special this New Years Eve?
It's a sticky/icky/non-winterish and rainy day here, so off and on I'm watching the (very edited)Doctor Who marathon while barbecue cooks in the oven. Naturally, I plan on staying up until the fake apocalyptic/fake "Bad Wolf" year of 2012 ends. (Hooray for Doctor Who references! Like bow-ties, Doctor Who references are cool).
Before midnight, I'll probably relive my childhood by watching Rudolph's Shiny New Year. (It's been on my dvr for at least a year). So yeah, that's pretty much it. We love to party around here, can't ya tell?
Someone might have to tie me down so that I don't hurt myself with all this rocking and rolling and throwing confetti in the air in between sipping iced mocha's and kissing my cat at midnight.
And unlike myself, our neighborhood has been celebrating for weeks now. Anytime there's a holiday on the horizon, the fireworks are popping until 3 am.
Evidence below:
(Scary, because we're surrounded by tall pines. At least today and tomorrow it's raining).
Anyway, here's my New Years Eve math:
~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
Because I lack imagination and New Year Resolutions, here are some New Years comic strips and pictures that I found during my bout of insomnia last night.
I might borrow this resolution that I found on the internet: "Start buying lottery tickets at a luckier store."
"Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to."
- Bill Vaughan
I couldn't resist posting this video because of the New Years Eve scene between Rose and Tennant.
Now please excuse me while I sob crocodile tears over my BBQ sandwich.
Today isn't only New Years Eve, but my uncle's birthday as well.
Ever had one of those evenings where you can hardly contain your glee that the day is f-i-n-a-l-l-y over? And to make it even better, tomorrow is Saturday! Today I worked at the new school I've been dreading going to for so long. It wasn't exactly a great day.
I had to fill in for Computer Lab as well as the class I actually accepted... the classroom was so boiling hot it felt like a sauna.... for a school that's so HUGE, it had an embarrassing lack of bathroom stalls.... the teacher's lounge is kept locked, which meant that the one coke machine in this school was barred to me.... the secretary there was nice, and a bit of a ding-dong.... but I guess the day could have been worse. There were a couple of funny moments in the day. (While a lot of 8th Graders are just plain weird, they're also really funny without even meaning to).
My one regret was not sending this one belligerent, delusional, wannabee diva to the principal's office. I RARELY send anyone to the principal, but boy did this little Miss &%^$ deserve a darn good spanking! (Discipline begins at home, and apparently this girl receives none). The only reason I didn't send her sorry derriere to the office was because this was my first day at this school.
Needless to say, I was SO HAPPY when I was greeted by the dogs when I got home. We were all very happy to see each other.
Of course, Wendy Kitty didn't miss me at all. She was far more interested in the delicious smell of dinner cooking on the stove.
To celebrate this day being over I'm not going to bore you any further with a boring blog post that will send you off to the Land of Nod. Instead, I'm directing you to a few of my favorite blogs. I've done this a couple times before, but now I think I'll start doing this more often.
I can't imagine anyone not knowing who Susan Branch is. A couple months ago was when I discovered her blog. It's so much fun to read, and she always has some nice photos posted on there.
Until I found her website, I had no idea she was such a fan of Beatrix Potter. In her house... which is really pretty. I love the feel of the neighborhood she lives in... she even has what she calls "The Peter Rabbit Room." Cute, huh?
Just fun-fun-FUN! Lots of vintage goodness and pretty projects. (I LOVED the Christmas-themed shadowboxes so much that we just bought the materials to make our own). This is one of the most cheerful blogs I've ever visited, and I love the name of it.
Lots of freebies and pretty things here. Jewelry, banners, mini-books (I fell madly in love with those), altered journals, etc. Loads of creative talent! Very inspiring.
I'm gonna make believe that it's 40 degrees outside (just as I wish for in December and January), my sister just got her dream job, I'm a published authoress, and my mother has found her knight in shining armor that takes her to Disney World 3 times a year.
1. I am proud ofmy niece for beating the odds in trying out for drum major during the end of her freshman year. Even if she hadn't gotten it, I would have been equally proud of her bad self. She rocks!
2. This weekend I willattempt to make at least one necklace with the materials I do have.
3. A secret dream I have isto see the earth from outer space. CAN YOU IMAGINE?! I bet it puts life in perspective.
4. I can't handleloud noises and big crowds.
5. The most annoying thing in the entire world iswhen you step in a puddle of water directly after putting on clean, dry socks..
6. The most relaxing thing in the entire world isbeing a lottery winner I would imagine. The world is their oyster, and they can never go broke no matter how many times they shop at Hobby Lobby for crafting supplies.
7. I think everyone shouldbe forced to watch the retired tv series Northern Exposure, and visit Walt Disney World more than once. That way they can experience everything the parks and hotels have to offer.
I am so loving all the goodies and little surprises you can find on the internet. The above painting is concept art for Rapunzel. Pretty, huh?
Although it seems she's lost her slipper, Cinderella Style. Or perhaps Rapunzel is like me and just not a card-carrying member of the We-Love-Shoes club?
Even so, I can still appreciate a cute quote when I see one:
This is my 4th Texture Tuesday! The theme for this week is to use at least one texture by Kim Klassen, along with a favorite quote. When I read that, initially I was excited but then realized that I have far too many favorite quotes to choose from! It was a little overwhelming, but in a good way. It was a lot like standing in the line at Starbucks, or the teacups in Fantasyland.
In the end, I found this old photo of my niece and added a quote I've always liked from our favorite Disney movie (Hook) when she and her brother were kids.
It's a bittersweet quote from that sassy little Neverland fairy named Tinkerbell.
(When the kids were children, we were big fans of Peter Pan, The Darlings, Neverland and Tink. And I'm speaking of Classic Tink of course, and not those new cartoons of her which make me cringe because they have her actually talking. How could Disney forget that J.M. Barrie named her Tinkerbell because her voice was actually the tinkling of bells?! I can only hope they won't someday turn our iconic character of classic children's literature into a disgraceful tomboy that raps and does beat box).
This particular photo I took of my niece when she was little. As a child, Autumn was really into playing dress up with fancy scarves and my jewelry. (The dress-up skirt she's wearing here, my mother made for her). She loved posing for the pictures, and was a natural at it. And I'm not sure you can tell from the picture, but the book in her lap is "Peter and Wendy," so I felt that that alone made the quote just perfect! I really think the pic and quote married well.
The Kim Klassen texture I used this time was "Let Go."
The dimensions of my blog won't allow me to post my actual TT submission here, so the above photo is just a downsized version without the quote. To view the finished photo and quote, please clickHERE.
As always, I'm sure it could be better but I'm teaching myself how to do this. I only have GIMP and not Photoshop. I've seen a lot of people mention adding warming filters, but then I discovered that the GIMP program doesn't even have that feature. (Boo on GIMP!) I'm still searching for a way to achieve the same effect, but so far I'm not finding anything.
And what's all this talk about Light Room? I keep hearing about it, but I assume it's another expensive program. I'll have to look it up.
I find this kind of a fun coincidence. (I'm easily amused). I changed my header this morning to the Harrison Fisher print with the lady and the cat, and a few minutes ago I saw on a blog that today is National Hug Your Cat Day.
I had no clue, so you see?! I truly am a cat person.
Don't think I'll be hugging my cats though.
Tiger Lily would not be amused, and Wendy would probably kill and then eat me afterwards.
Oh my goodness. This is sort of funny - because I wasn't a passenger on that monorail, or slowly being chased by it - but take a look at this:
"Monorail passengers at Disney World had a 45 minute ride between stops because a squirrel got on the track and the woman driving couldn't bring herself to run it over. They made progress a few feet at a time, honking at the squirrel to continue further down the track."
We finally can see the squirrel about one minute into the video. And what's with the bird chasing it? (It must have been one of Snow White's birds trying to help? Lol!)
Well I guess that squirrel got his/her 15 minutes of fame. Poor thing was exhausted though. While I don't find that one guy talking in the video funny, and while I don't think the poor critter being hot and exhausted is something to laugh about.... (it gets HOT in Florida, and that poor squirrel was on some piping hot concrete for all that time) .... I LOVED the applause at the end. It's a wonderful thing that squirrel made that long jump in the end because otherwise it'd have been electrocuted down there.
Warning:
This is turning into another long entry, so if you plan on reading more here's your reward ahead of time.
I decided not to make you wait as I did the last time, seeing how I figure you'd need the energy to continue reading my prattle. Snickers bars provide that extra energy... or so the commercials on television have been telling us for years, right?
Okay, back to babbling.
I found this wonderful new blog hop recently, over at Noel's Beautiful Life. Please join in the fun! It's such a very sweet idea, and it runs every month.
Our furkids really do show us such unconditional love, day after day, so the least we could do is remind ourselves at least once a month just how special they are to us. All it takes is a few sentences.
You don't have to practically write a novel as I did.
~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~
Dear Maddie Kate Scarlett O'Hara,
What can I say except that I feel you were destined to be in our little big family here. After several months of vowing never to get another dog again, in June of 2003 fate led us to the Humane Society. (Or rather a sweet old lady outside PetCo one day. She heard about our little Yorkie, Tinkerbell, that had passed several months earlier and she persuaded us to become dog owners again). We went there to find another miniature dog - which we really didn't expect to find - but then we found something even better. We found YOU!
At first the family didn't bring it up with each other, but secretly we were all thinking the same thing; that you reminded us of a dog we had loved and lost several years before. Our sweet "Bambi."
Despite the people at the shelter thinking you were going to be one of them dinosaur-sized dogs, we felt that wasn't true. All we really cared about was that we just HAD to rescue you. You were such a miserable thing at that shelter, and we just had to make it all better.
When we discovered that your previous owner had named you "Penny," we were even more certain that you were destined to be part of our family. (I say this to you because "Penny" was a favorite dog of Grandma's when I was little, and Grandma was such a fan of dogs. Like yourself, I'm not sure she trusted cats though. She would have loved you soooo much, Maddie! I think that she knew we'd all be perfect for each other).
We told you we would be coming back for you in a few days, to take you home with us. When that day finally arrived - after the shelter freaked us out by forgetting to call us to come get you - we saw you in that cage looking so sad and dejected. Truly depressed and without hope. I'd never seen anything like it, and thank goodness I haven't seen that look on your face ever since. The very second you looked up and saw us walking towards you, you perked up! That was when we knew that you understood that we DIDN'T forget you, and that you were going to be rescued from that horrible place. There would be no more sharing a cage with other dogs that were three times your size and eating all your food. We were going to fatten you up and introduce you to a life comparable to living in a Disney theme park!
It took a while for you to feel comfortable around us and other people, but after you ate a hole in one of our chairs and you saw that we forgave and didn't scream at you, I think you understood then that we would never ever harm you.
After a few months, you settled in so beautifully. Instead of cowering at approaching strangers when I took you on walks, you greeted them with a wagging tail. (They all said you looked like a fox, which you really did). You fell in love with the allure of sleeping on top of fluffy pillows...
... owned pet toys and discovered what playing was; your favorite game being snapping little fallen tree limbs in the backyard. Remember when you used to do that at our old house? I bet you do, because at this house lately I've seen the joy on your face when you stumble upon one sad little twig in the backyard. (I know. I miss our old shady and lush backyard garden, too).
And here it is now, 9 years later, and you're surrounded by so many furkid siblings. It isn't just you and the cats anymore. You took to little Izzy immediately. Mom and I were so impressed, but not surprised, by that. You would have made a great mother! That quality even shows when you play with your squeaky toys/"babies." I catch you grooming them all the time, and even when you take a nap I'm always seeing you hugging at least two babies at your side.
Precious!
You do love your babies, don't you? I think it's so cute how when anything exciting happens - someone walking through the door for instance - you immediately run to one of your babies (usually one of the rabbits) and start squeaking it with such joy. You do love being surrounded by family and visitors!
More things I love about you include that GORGEOUS smile.... how nowadays you actually enjoy being groomed because grooming time is also the time when I tell you how you're the fairest, most beautiful furkid in all the land... I'm proud that over the past months you've taken so well to your 'cousin' Abby living with us... I think it's cute that whenever we took you with us to Austin, you would only perk up after getting that first whiff of country air once we entered Brenham... I love that even when you don't want a bath, your flea meds, or your teeth brushed, you'll volunteer - head sadly looking down at the ground - to have it over with asap.... I love how you play 'referee' whenever Abby and Izzy play together, telling them when they're playing too rough... I love how you and Izzy are so close that you've adopted each others mannerisms... I love that you come into my room every morning to greet me with that happy, all-is-right-with-the-world smile.
I know I'm leaving out a lot of things which I absolutely adore about you, but I have to end this very long, rambling letter with one quick truth.
Which is that you've taught me that the actions of one person(s) really can change another's life. I often wonder what kind of life, if any, you would have had if your previous owners didn't put you in that shelter? I wonder what OUR life would be like without YOU in it?! I can't imagine, and I don't want to. I love you!!!!
How's that for my first pet letter?
A little lot on the rambling side, but I couldn't help that. How could I when right this second I'm surrounded by three of the sleeping beauties on the bed next to me? Sure, they're a little spoiled but they deserve that extra attention... most especially our Maddie Kate considering the cryptic, tough beginning she had early on in life.
I don't know exactly why she was given up, but I do know that she was a very insecure thing when she came into our lives. I don't know if she was ever abused, physically or verbally, or if just being in that shelter destroyed her confidence and frightened her like mad. The poor gal was so uncomfortable around people that it took her somewhere around 3 months to even bark. Before then, we just suspected that she had been debarked by her previous owners. She never made a sound.
These days, however, she has no reservations whatsoever about voicing her opinions to the world.
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I loved these! Ever see the tv series "An Idiot Abroad" with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington? Well, I discovered that there's also some radio shows that they did together before the series even existed. Someone put together little cartoons to those radio shows. (It's hilarious how similar the cartoons look to the real people, especially Karl and Stephen. Just be prepared for a few F-bombs being dropped by Ricky while he's practically falling out of his chair from laughing so hard).
These clips are of them reading snippets from Karl's diary. The first video is a short clip of Karl's "Childhood Dream." With the second clip, I LOVED the pool story which is about a minute and a half into the clip. I loved it because this is something I do daily.
It's official. I'm an idiot, too.
I have to add one more. "Karl's Ultimate Animal."
Way funnier than Ricky's choice when a kid! I think this is my favorite of the shows I've listened to.
