Rescue me...

I love animals. I really do! I have a West Highland Terrier, he is kind of like my hyperactive toddler dog. Kind of? No, he is actually my hyperactive toddler dog. It is like having a three year old in the house again. We had planned on getting a pair of Westies and having puppies grace our home occasionally, but about a year after we got Angus, we were shocked to discover he was actually a puppy mill puppy. We bought him from what we thought was a reputable local purveyor of pets, not an actual breeder, but we got papers for him and thought all was on the up and up. Turns out not so much. We thought we had to choose a hypo-allergenic dog for my daughters allergies, so we looked and looked until we found our perfect puppy. Well, I love my dog, but any thoughts of breeding went right out the window. He is all terrier, but we couldn't risk passing along any undesirable or dangerous traits to a batch of pups. So, we settled in to life with one dog. Occasionally, I would check Craigslist or the local paper for dogs, I volunteer for my local shelter as a foster family for kittens and cats, but never really happened upon anyone I felt I had to add to the fam. Until now. Then I found her. I went to meet her and do the paperwork yesterday and she is perfect. I can't wait to bring her home! I wonder what Angus will think.....

Merry Christmas James May

...and David Tennant
...and Noel Fielding
...and God bless us, everyone!

My first SWAP! I'm so excited!

I have gone and joined a Valentine's swap. I actually have been wanting to do this for quite some time, but wasn't sure I was actually up to it. I have looked at the stuff these folks do, and I feel a little intimidated sometime, but a Vintage Valentine doll swap popped up on my radar, and I have a LOVELY pattern for an angel with a heart full of vintage-y valentines, as well as a bag full of Valentine's from the 40's and 50's, so I am READY to PLAY! Because there is a blogroll of participants, I decided to post one of my dolls so folks could see what kind of dolls I make.
This is Stella. She is painted muslin with needle-felted hair and painted features. She is all decked out and was on display over the Fourth of July holiday at my house. I love her and my angel pattern is similar, so I am confident it will be swapworthy! I love all kinds of crafts and dolls actually, especially working with felt, but she is one of my faves. Wish me swappish kind of luck! I am so excited!

Multiple Choice Weather

If you look at the satellite picture of Virginia right now, it looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man has been up to his old mischief again. All over the state. I am thinking this is a bad sign. From the border we share with West VA. to nearly Williamsburg it is one huge blob of melted mallow. Having suffered today from a blackout of my information gathering capabilities by a poorly timed upgrade by my friendly local cable/internet/phone provider, I am now able to see the radar picture and hear the forecast that I really didn't want to hear. The last time we had snow like this it took me 4 hours to drive home from work. This is normally a 25 minute drive. That is a ___% increase (math nerds please insert answer here...) in travel time which I am assuming I will have to repeat tomorrow. Geez. Can't I find a job where I don't have to leave the house? It would really come in handy when the weather outside is frightful. So, long story short, no Feel Good Friday today. I don't feel good, and it is almost Saturday, so we'll skip it for this week. I really wanted to post something crafty today in honor of my blogging bud RunLoriRun and her great success being in print and all. Give her a click and check out her totally awesome creations and drop her a Congrats comment. And I promise to post something craft next week. Wish me luck!

Random Dancing! (in photos)

That is a reference to my lovely daughter's fave tv show. iCarly. Apparently it is THE BEST.
I love taking pictures, even though I am not terrribly great at it. I don't take the time to actually read any booklets or follow any directions. Oh no! Otherwise, I might actually GET good at it. I'd just have less time to take the pictures because I spent so much time READING about taking them. However, I do know what I love to look at, so I end up with pictures that others might not understand, but I totally get. I decided to share a few of my less recognizable shots from around Disney, as well as introduce you to a few new friends I made while I was there....









Alright already. If anyone has stuck in there with me till the end of this post, you should win something. Maybe you should win several weeks without me posting Disney pictures??? Tomorrow I will post pics my son took while we were there, which shows his budding skill and good eye, and I will mention that I had to pry my new camera out of his hand after I got off my first ride ever. I did NOT need that kind of stress on my vacation! I did start to feel that I was seeing my vacation through the eye of a handycam, though, so I slacked off a bit on day three. However, when I downloaded after getting home, which I think is a bit like a military debriefing, I ended up with over 900 pictures and something like 35 videos. Several times while watching them, my laptop sort of imploded and cut off. I can only imagine what would have happened if I hadn't paced myself as well as I did....

Disney continued...

Here's a few more pics from the vacation of a lifetime! The had this wonderful miniature village set up with several train sets running through it. We spent a long time there just following the trains, looking at the details on the little houses and sets. Take a close look and see if you can spot the filming of a Japanese monster movie...

In keeping with the "monster" theme, my daughter loved the Panda puppet, so I told her she could try it out, and lo and behold, here comes big brother with the dragon. aaaah....to be young, but not the youngest!
Oh if only I could go back for a day or five, or seven.....I told the kids today that when I do go back, I will get through those gates and RUN RUN RUN to the Haunted Mansion! They will not be able to keep up, but there will be no doubt about where they can find me...

Brrrrrrrrrrr...it's cold out there!

There is no doubt that we are in the weeks leading up to the Christmas Holiday now! I am not sure what the temp is here, but it is physically painful to go outside. I got a wild hare (hare/hair, get it??) earlier and found a recipe for Chicken and Dumplings on allrecipes. I love allrecipes. I braved the elements to get all the necessary ingredients, and just happened to print off the recipe for Kentucky Butter Cake I had been craving. I swear it was an accident. Anyway, I got the necessary incredibly fattening ingredients for that as well. I then proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen chopping and measuring and simmering. I kept thinking about the clip I was watching on YouTube last night. It was The Big Fat Quiz Show from 2007. It is worth checking out if you have never heard of it, though I will issue a language and content rating. i.e. make sure the kiddies are tucked in... Russell Brand and Noel Fielding are the Goth Detectives, they really keep the laughs a-coming. Jonathan Ross is on there, as well as Lily Allen, and if you have not heard her music yet, be sure to check out the "Bum-Bum Song". It's a keeper. Anyhoo, it is sort of a current events quiz show involving teams of celebrities. My next objective is to watch some of the older ones. The 2007 show is the only one I have seen all of, and it is, unlike to many things on tv nowadays, NOT time you will wish you had back. Somehow it hangs with you, and the strange thing is how endearing Noel Fielding is. I mean, he is obviously a wild thing. Not that those creatures can't be fascinating, but still, endearing? Not normally a word that comes to mind when referring to a person obviously familiar with illicit substances and LOTS of physical exploits under his belt, literally. Face it, you knew I had to say that. Still, his smile kind of gets to me. Anyway, as I enjoy my Chicken and Dumplings and Kentucky Butter Cake, I search for a photo to capture the endearingness of that man. Let's see what I can find...scratch that. The photos all appear to be of him leering at some woman, looking completely smashed, or wearing something ridiculous. While I don't have a problem with these, it doesn't do much for the "endearing" label. I will continue my search on another day! On a completely different note, I wanted to mention the Duggar Family on my blog today. Regardless of how you feel about them and their number of children, the fact is that they have had a precariously tiny premature baby this week, and the baby, born at 25 weeks is very much at risk indeed. I work with pregnant patients all the time, and I know that if they delivered her by emergency section at 25 weeks, then she was in danger as well. Not a good situation. I find them a very likable family, possibly a little overexposed, but so full of old-fashioned goodness that I can' t help but love them! Sort of like homemade oatmeal cookies. I know they have been in my thoughts and prayers today! Best wishes to them and their new babe.

The Photographic Evidence

Back in the real world...

Great Googly Moogly! Has it really been that long since I have put pen to paper, uh, skip that, updated my blog??? Yikes. So much for habits.
Well, here I am back in the real world, still finding it feels familiar and unfamiliar simultaneously. We returned from a week at the House of the Mouse, aka Walt Disney World, a week ago tomorrow, and I no longer need a daily nap. This is, I assume a good sign. I have had a nice, easy, week, so I am thankful for the chance to recuperate. Being that this was my first trip EVER to Disney, I am still slightly amazed and awed at everything I saw and ate and experienced. It is like a dream come to life, especially for a girl who grew up on reruns of THE Mickey Mouse Club, watched the Wonderful World of Disney every week, and pored over Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge encyclopedias. I also spent an inordinate amount of time singing songs from my Official Disney Songbook. I could spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious without issue. I was a Disney kind of kid. I am not sure why my family never went to Disney. I guess we weren't very "travelly" when I was growing up. I have tried to do things with my kids. Give them memories and experiences...I imagine my daughter will one day take a trip back to WDW without me and remember our first trip. We had a BLAST. No really. We actually did. You feel a bit like royalty. They bring out all the great characters. Just for you. They throw parades in your honor. Fireworks every night. They feed you like calories don't count. You get to TOUCH the castle. How cool is that? Now, I know that I really didn't go on a European tour, but after two days at Epcot, I do feel that I got a little taste of that glamorous destination. Not only are the buildings beautiful and the shops filled with regional items and gifts, but the Cast Members in each place are actually from the countries they are working in. One particularly lovely little restaurant called The Rose and Crown had the coolest wait staff EVER according to my kids. British. Every one of them. For kids raised on Fawlty Towers, Top Gear and Doctor Who, this is as good as they have had it. I could only have made them happier if I got behind the scenes filming passes for the new Harry Potter movie. In England and Scotland. At real castles. One day, I will take them to England and let them mingle to their little Anglophile hearts' desire. But for now, Disney has made them happy. The CM's in Norway were actually from Norway. The CM's in France were actually from France. It was a great learning experience, and really between the employees and the guests from ALL OVER THE WORLD, you really felt Walt Disney's dream come alive, "...the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us." I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I want to go back. Now, for all the silly lists!
Favorite Rides at Magic Kingdom:
1. Haunted Mansion- I loved so many rides, it was hard to pick a number 1, but this one I really felt a tug at my heart when I knew it was my last time. I loved it all, from the GREAT CM's who direct you into the front parlor, the creepy hall full of doors that knock on themselves, breathe, etc. The hallway with the floating candelabra, the dining room full of spectral partygoers and dancers, the special effects are completely amazing and if you suspend disbelief just for a few minutes, you will have a super spooky time!
2. It's a Small World- OK, I know this is goofy, but I just LOVED actually going on this ride. I had heard about it since I was a youngster, had sung the song over and over again as that same youngster, and had so wanted to see those little children from the world over. I adored the tiger with the parasol, the little French dancers, Oh, I just LOVED it all. Even if it was a little long. I never noticed. The 14 year old did notice the second time when his MP3 player had given out and he couldn't drown out the song with Muse or Breaking Benjamin. However, he did survive, and actually enjoyed it!
3. Dumbo- This was the first ride we got on at any Disney park, we made a beeline for it as soon as we walked through the castle, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was also, hilariously fun. Especially if you let someone else control the rise and fall. Just don't let a teenager do it if you have eaten recently. I'm just sayin...
4. Pirates of the Caribbean- the Hollywood Version- I so totally thought that Johnny Depp had actually snuck into the ride for our trip through this pirate adventure. The animatronics are THAT good. I say Hollywood version, because you will recognize a few characters from the movies, but since I never saw the previous version, I was perfectly happy with it as it was. Pay close attention during the ships battle scene. Again, if you allow yourself to relax and sink into the illusion, you will feel like you are right in the middle of the action! Totally COOL.
5. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad- Wild and woolly, and the longest we waited in line to ride any ride in any of the parks. It was worth it! I wish we would have ridden it again on another day, but alas, we ran out of time. Or energy. Or both...

Best Places to Eat
1. Rose and Crown Pub- Try the Surf and Turf. It is smashing. The mini Yorkshire Pudding has made me want to make my own, I am still searching for recipes! The Toffee Cake as as rich and buttery as you would hope, and the atmosphere was completely gorgeous. The CM's were sweet and friendly and I actually left wishing I had taken pics with them! The evening we ate there we had an 8:30 reservation, got an outside table and had prime viewing spots for Illuminations. I could never accurately explain to anyone how AWESOME this whole experience was. Fine Food, Friendly Folks and Fantastic Fireworks. ahhhhhh.......highly recommended. Did I mention how much I highly recommend this?
2. San Angel Inn- This is a fantastic place for lunch or dinner. The scenery inside the restaurant is what sets it apart from any other, you feel like you are sitting at the foot of an ancient temple, with a smoldering volcano in the distance throwing off smoke and ash. The lighting is very low, but absolutely a beautiful place to spend an hour of your Disney time. The Mahi Mahi was terrific, and the Chicken Enchiladas Verdes was divine. The portions, like the ones everywhere in Disney are suitable for two lighter eaters, it is difficult to take leftovers with you, so plan accordingly!
3. Yak and Yeti- We ate at two different places in Animal Kingdom, YnY and Tusker House. The Yak and Yeti was by far the superior of the two, though they both had interesting decor, Tusker House was a buffet, the food was much less interesting and flavorful, and it was more of a depot type decor. Though, I found it charming, I found the food flat and uninteresting, but Yak and Yeti had very tasty fare, had a more upscale look to it, and was just generally more pleasant. I am sure it doesn't need to be noted that sometimes a more "authentic" environment can be interesting, it would have been nice if the food had at least been palatable. The best thing on the buffet was a tiny little strawberry mousse tart in a chocolate shell. And, lest you think that should signal that the food was exotic, it was mostly hummus (passable), breads (nothing I can't find at Kroger) cold couscous salads (kind of ick) a kids area with mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy and pb and j (wha?) and two kinds of sliced meat. I don't know. Maybe it had just been a long day, but I really expected more based on the description of the menu. If you can only eat at one, pick Yak and Yeti, walk through Tusker House, cause it really was cool inside, keeping the whole Safari theme going, and then spend about an hour walking through the park again before you brave that Expedition Everest again...
4- Everything Pop at Disney's Pop Century Resort- I have to mention this because we consistently got great food here throughout our trip. DO NOT MISS the Chicken Alfredo Pasta. It is busy, but runs pretty darn efficiently. The fruit actually had flavor, and don't forget to try the White Tea with Citrus and dog gone it, try one of the Frosted Crispy Treats from Minnie's Bake Shop. These packaged snacks put Rice Krispy Treats to SHAME. And I LOVE Rice Krispy Treats.
5. The Plaza- VERY lovely themed restaurant, very Art Nouveau feel, good food, spectacular ice cream desserts, and again, very large portions. MMMM!
We also ate at Casey's Corner Magic Kingdom (hot dogs don't agree with me), at the Backlot Express in Hollywood Studios (large portions of mediocre sandwich, but GREAT fries), and Tangierine Cafe in Morocco at Epcot (weird compressed meats, yummy hummus and bread, and really odd crunchy green stuff. Dessert was only Baklava, which I peeled apart to avoid the dreaded nuts, but which was good. Messy, but good. Anyway, I think that is pretty much enough info for tonight. I will continue tomorrow, I have the whole day off and will upload pics proving I was actually there!!! Thanks for looking in on me!

Such a pretty place...

It is no secret that I prefer books for Children to books for Adults. Anyone who knows me or sees me walking around might assume I am a teacher (well, I am, but anyway...) or that I might be a Children's Librarian. I usually have some "juvenile" book tucked under my arm. I do HAVE kids, so maybe it wouldn't be so odd, I mean I could be carrying the book for them. But, I never am. I make them carry their own books. It's a life lesson. What!? I assure you, it is! I also love movies made from children's books, and a particularly great one is The Witches by Roald Dahl. The movie is so enchanting! No pun intended! I love Anjelica Huston's portrayal of the Grand High Witch, the whole cast is DELICIOUS! Again, no pun intended... But my favorite part of the movie is the scene where they are telling the story of a little girl who disappeared and wound up living out her days in a painting. It just stays with you. It was told so well, and the paintings were so lovely, that you almost envied her living in that painting. If it weren't so sad that she was taken away from her family, you might even imagine that her "painted world" was lovely and simple and filled with quiet pleasures. Anyway, I did! Which brings me to my picture header today. This painting is by one of my favorite artists in the whole wide world. Carl Larsson. If I could live inside of someone's paintings, it would be his. Probably. The first painting is entitled Das Blumenfenster, which translates from the Swedish to Flowers on the Windowsill. Das Blumenfenster is so much more fun to say though. His palette is so lovely, his subjects so graceful, that to live in his paintings would be a treat! At least I hope to recreate a bit of his colors and atmosphere as I redecorate my new-ish home. I am fascinated by how the Larsson's ran their household as well. It is worth reading up on. They seemed a perfectly lovely family, if a bit unconventional. But, I have never been one for convention! The next painting is entitled "Old Anna". I LOVE the little black-shoed feet that barely appear in the picture! The man is a genius of the understatement! What we imagine upon seeing those little footsies, obviously their owner is up on the counter or table top. How wonderful "Old Anna" must have been! Allowing little ones to help in the kitchen, teaching them wonderful skills of baking bread, making cookies, all of her lifelong wisdom being passed from old one to young one. Oh what we miss when we don't have multi-generational families together!
With Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays upcoming, we should remember to get together with friends and family, take time to pass some wisdom along, some little something we enjoy doing or reading or looking at, take a moment to share it with someone else. It is okay if it isn't a smallish someone! Any someone will do. It is just the teaching, the sharing that is important. It is like giving a little piece of you to someone else. Whenever they think of it or do it again in the future, they will think of you as well! And they will probably smile...

And the mice began to play...

I happened across this completely out-of-this-world photo while blog hopping this morning. I SO want to make this. I actually have a pattern for some similar little mice, and the pumpkins would be difficult but not impossible to find. I have seen similar pumpkins around, but the expense might be ridiculous. Also, I will never find belt buckles like those. One might suspect that all of this impossibly clever craftiness would originate with one Martha Stewart. However, one might be wrong...it actually came from last years Hallmark Magazine. I checked the website, and much to my disappointment, it has gone belly up just like my FAVORITE magazine of all time Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. How that mag could not exist is beyond me. Anyway, I thought I would post the instructions for the pumpkiny transport device here. I found it on a blog called www.artsanddafts.com. Photo and directions are from Hallmark Magazine. If this doesn't make you feel all Halloweeny inside, I just don't know what will!
How-To Make the Carriage Pumpkin:
You'll Need

• 3 ornate metal belt buckles
• 1 pumpkin, about 12 inches tall
• Pencil or marker
• Knife
• Craft glue
• 1 ornate lamp finial
• Cordless drill fitted with ¼-inch bit
• 4 gourds, about 4 inches tall
• 2 quarter-inch dowel rods, cut to the approximate diameter of your pumpkin
• 4 ornate drawer pulls
• Heavy-gauge florist's wire

1. Trace the inside of each belt buckle on the pumpkin with a pencil and cut to create openings for two windows and a door. Glue the hardware over the openings. Remove or cut down the stem until it's even with the flesh of the pumpkin, and twist the finial into the top.

2. To create wheels, drill a hole through the center of each gourd. Insert one dowel rod into the holes of two gourds to create an axle, and secure with glue. Repeat to create a second set of wheels. Finish off all four wheels by inserting a drawer pull into the outside hole of each gourd for hubcaps.

3. Line up the two sets of wheels next to each other at about the same width as your pumpkin. Then wrap wire from one dowel rod to the other to fasten the axles together and to create a webbing for the pumpkin carriage to sit on.

4. Gently place your carriage on the wire.

I do believe little white mice can become cheese-loving footmen with cute little noses.
I do believe that large pumpkins can become sweet smelling carriages with a slightly damp interior.
I do believe in Fairy Godmothers.

Up Against the Wall

Because sometimes you just feel better after a good cry...

And then the Rains came...

I believe I have found the definition of growing old.
When you are 14 and love music, the idea of going to a 13 hour all-day music fest is thrilling! Dude! You can't wait! You count down the weeks, then the days, then it is TOMORROW! ROCK ON! You make bizarre hand gestures and stick out your tongue and wave it wildly from side to side! You don't sleep much the night before, and then, you are up at the crack of dawn! AWESOMENESS! It is today!! You can't handle all the excitement you are feeling so on the way there, you blare your ipod, rock out in the back seat, insult your buddies and trade punches over just about anything. All is right in your little teenage world!
When you are the driver, who is NOT 14, (flip that li'l number right around...) and you love music and you love your 14 year old, the idea of driving to a 13 hour music fest that is 2.3 hours away and into the fabulous Beltway of our Nation's Capital is daunting, but not without it's charms and excitement! It is a beautiful, gray, young Autumn day and the State Fair is in town. What could go wrong, you ask yourself. It ought to at least be great music, and you have packed half of the kitchen into your little coolers. You have extra shirts, extra socks, umbrellas. You are not wearing flip flops or sandals. You are good. After all, some great bands are slated to play, you can't WAIT to see Kutless again and you have two, count 'em TWO fully charged digital kameras to kapture the aktion. Oh how quickly the two paths diverge. The teenaged boys are crammed into the mosh pit action, daughter and mature adult are back a bit, but still with a fab view of the stage. Yes, it's gray, but there are funnel cakes. We're good. Then, around 2 hours into your magical mystery tour, it begins to drizzle. Gently at first, as if it is not commited to it. The teens do not feel this slight moisture up in their violation of all personal space rules area. You, however, start wondering if you should trek the mile back to your car, uphill, both ways and retrieve umbrellas. Nah, it will quit. It doesn't seem to be getting worse. You put up your hood and daughter's hood and return to the festivities at hand. Ok, it is not stopping. In fact, it appears to be putting a bit more effort into it and is really sort of a rain now, not really a drizzle anymore, is it? That is NOT a good sign, but hey, how long does it usually rain anyway? Teens still oblivous. Most people here still walking around in flip flops and shorts. They seem fine...lets just fast forward a bit to when even the teens have noticed that there is moisture actually falling FROM the sky. The come back to the "spot", eat half a sandwich and head back into the fray. They are smiling. Foolish children. Daughter and I trek for the third time out to car (uphill both ways, now in muck) warm up briefly, because the temperature has plummeted. I'm pretty sure it is below zero, but most revelers still walking around sans umbrellas in shorts and most are now barefoot. I have been sucked back to Woodstock. Are these kids on DRUGS? How do they not feel the cold and wet? Will they all be hospitalized tomorrow? My teenage charges? They have not emerged from the pit. At least now that it is dark I can see that there is a large cloud of steam emanating from the huddled mass. I can only hope some of that is evaporating dampness and that my "kids" won't have to be nude on the way home. I am sorry, but I have fabric seats! I have now entered the seventh circle of Hell, and this is Christian music. How did this happen? I have never been so cold, nor so drenched in my life. I am racking my brain for history lessons on warfare and the conditions soldiers had to march in. How was their health? Did they survive all of the slings and arrows only to succomb to illness from the deplorable conditions? As a nurse, I know in my head that they can't catch a cold or pneumonia or the swine flu from being cold and wet, but why do I feel like they could? I'm now officially worried that despite medical science it IS possible. help me. The cold is affecting my brain. Why isn't there a tent here offering hot cocoa and blankets? What kind of people run this Festival? Brutes! At this point even the teens are shivering and huddled under extremely "un-cool" umbrellas. It's a little late for that but we have not covered saturation in chemistry yet. HA! I was mentally prepping that lesson as I tried to stop my teeth from chattering. Thank Goodness that Skillet was up next. Let the head-banging begin. I never really encouraged this behavior in my children before, but I am thinking the muscle movement should be warming. I try it. I stop. Skillet ROCKS. I am slightly warmed by the sensation that I have suffered through this day so my kid could see his musical IDOLS (no, not THAT kind of idols!) I just hope he survives it. Next time I am feeling rested and relaxed, I will describe the drive home. (Teaser: cold, drenched kids, kid who gets carsick if heat is on, frequent side of the road stops for false alarms, the Beltway in the pouring rain, a 2.3 hour trip on GPS that actually took OVER FOUR HOURS....) Just a little taste of the experience that was Awakening Fest 2009. Those pics I wanted to get of Kutless? Well, apparently it is difficult to take good pics and hold a large golf umbrella at the same time, especially when your hands are wet, the umbrella is wet and your camera is wet. Who knew? Oh, and I might have accidentally recorded a bit of the concert on my digital camera. I am so technologically unadvanced and all...and I am officially old.

Kutless!!!

More Fall Giveaways!

Bloggers must be the nicest people in the whole wide world. Here is another brilliant blog giveaway over at Painting Thyme Needfuls. Take a moment to check out her gorgeous artwork (How 'bout that shoe!) and enter her giveaway. I realize that by doing so you will reduce my chances of winning, but Hey, I AM a blogger too!

Why, "killevippen", of course...

When I saw this little door on a crafty blog ( I promise I will figure it out and post which blog, but right now I am unsure of exactly where I happened upon it) I thought immediately of my blogging friend RunLoriRun. I thought it would be a rad addition to the Alice In Wonderland mural she is working on. Tonight when I saw my desktop, there was the little door, calmly waiting to remind me of another childhood favorite. Here you will find a tiny tale by the author of Pippi Longstocking's adventures, Astrid Lindgren. Even though there is no actual door in the story, this is what Nils Karlsson's door would look like if it WAS there. When I was young, this story wrung every emotion known to childkind from my small frame. There was loss, sadness, despair, loneliness, warmth, friendship, and hope. I suppose it is something of a bleak tale, but so are many stories we loved as children. We just managed to find the good among the not-so-good, remember how we had to "find the moral of the story..." This story was in one of my Childcraft books, which I looked the world over for for a year or so, until I finally found one in a thrift store. So, Nils Karlsson is introduced to another generation and Bertil lives on in the imaginations of my children. I hope they love him as much as I did.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Did you know that there was a Dictionary of Idioms? I should have ceased long ago to be surprised by what is available online at the drop of a hat, in mere seconds you can find practically any information you could imagine. But, looking for a title for this entry, I decided to double check my facts and make sure I was using that particular phrase in an acceptable way. I didn't want to appear idiotic, especially since my entry involves education. So, "binging" the phrase I discovered this, fount of all English usage knowledge. What a magnificent thing. We need never be confused again! Or, perhaps most importantly, we need never appear unintelligent after using a phrase incorrectly, leaving us feeling like Alanis Morissette after the she released the song "Ironic" which should have been called "Dude, It's Just Plain Bad Luck." I also have become quite enamored of the online thesaurus available here. Ahhhh, life is good. So, without further ado, my blog title quite simply refers to my new Adventure. A Moment of Truth. I am going back to school. I will do it online, which may be difficult for a procrastinator like me. However, I am going to do it. I will have to tighten my belt, financially speaking, even though that will also be approaching the impossible for me. In fact, that may well be the hardest part of the whole venture. I love to buy stuff. Which brings me to the reason for bringing it up in the first place. I will be, I 'm sure, utilizing this avenue of expression as free therapy as I attempt to 1) Spend less 2) Do my assignments in a timely manner AND 3) do my assignments in a timely manner THERE! I have made myself accountable!!
WOOHOO!
Let the wild rumpus start.....