ACDC

no not the band ... they never were my faves ...

and definitely not the electrical current ... that scares me

instead, it's a catch up post ... surprise!!!

At this rate, I am beginning to wonder if i will ever post on time again .... sigh ...

A
Abundance
I think we, or at least most of us, have been blessed with an abundance of so many things ... of life & love, friendship, creativity, happiness, and loads of other good things.
But do we all recognize how truly blessed we are?  We complain about the weather, the price of gas, the economy ... and the complaints are valid ... but... wouldn't it be much more fun, and much better for our health as a society if we considered how much abundance we have in our lives instead? and then shared that?
we can smile at a stranger, hold open doors, greet people while walking ... and in sharing our life (even in the smallest bit) we can enrich someone Else's ...
we can hug a friend, and share our hearts and our love ... it's in us all to give and share, so lets take the time to do that ... live as abundantly as possible ... share what we can with the world around us ...

C
Create
Oh boy do i ever love to create ... in my mind, with my hands, with my keyboard ... i absolutely love to create something ... almost every day ... I swear that it elevates the mood, if one doesn't take it too seriously.  Creating to me, is not about perfection ... it is never about the "rules" ... its all about getting one's hands a little dirty, even metaphorically, and just setting free the mind to wander and do as it will! I know I don't have to encourage bloggers to create ... you do so every time you post a new entry ... i just want to encourage you all to keep at it and to colour without lines!

D
Dressage
Judy, this one is for you my dear blogging friend ... Dressage, which is all referred to as "horse ballet"
Well so it turns out that the great would be leader, Mitt, has a horse that might be participating in the Olympics in the horse ballet events ... now here's a politician that's totally in touch with the common man ... lol!
Dolls,
also falling under the D category is Dolls ... gosh I love dolls!  I have been blessed to receive a few from friends.  The most recent, from my dear friend Izzy, who picked up this little beauty for me at a recent trip to a vintage fair.  I am totally delighted!!!

C
Create
I found this little sign on Pinterest the other day ... I have adopted it as my new Mantra ...

told you this was an ACDC post!  Please click on the Jenny button below to read other much more fascinating D entries!
thanks for reading, peace love & paper,
Jo

Be Beautiful ...

"Every day is so wonderful

And suddenly it's hard to breathe

Now and then I get insecure

From all the pain, feel so ashamed

I am beautiful no matter what they say

Words can't bring me down

I am beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring me down, oh no

So don't you bring me down today"

Eight years ago, the word Beautiful … became much more to me … it became synonymous with the word Bully.  I remember this day … a funeral for my daughter's friend … she was bullied and had taken her own life … at such a young age … The song “Beautiful” was playing at the service, and my daughter was openly weeping … it truly was the worst of times.

So my B word is Beautiful … and I have a second B for you … Bully.

And once again, I have to sit and wonder what the heck is wrong with our society.  Why do we openly worship some of the worst people … just watch almost any reality TV show to realize that some of the meanest people come out on top …

Hockey parents … or parents with kids in very competitive activities … they can be so mean, hurling insults at not only each other, but at the children who are engaged in the activity. 

The internet ... harsh words and accusations can fly from such young minds ... and where are the parents who should be monitoring what their kids do and say on line.

So I am asking you all, be beautiful … love yourself, try to love others, do no harm… 

Teach your children and their children, teach your friends and your neighbours and coworkers ...

"'Cause we are beautiful no matter what they say

Yes, words won't bring us down, oh no

We are beautiful in every single way

Yes, words can't bring us down, oh no

So don't you bring me down today"

Check out the song if you want, Lyrics by Linda Perry, Performed by Christina Aguilera, and click on the Jenny button below to read some fascinating takes on the letter B ...

If I had a Zillion dollars ...

... I'd buy me some world peace, bring water to those that don't have it, feed the world, and soothe weary hearts ....

and hopefully I would have change to buy this ...

and this ...

and this ....

and this ...

and every single other piece in the Chanel 2013 Resort wear collection.  And the mastermind behind these creations ... the brilliant Karl Lagerfeld ...

 What I wouldn't do to crawl inside his mind for a few hours, it must be just crazy up in there.   This collection seems to answer the question, What would Marie Antoinette wear if she was at a luxury summer resort?

and besides, my own zany "Marie" inspired wear needs and update!

This little "Z" post has been brought to you by the letter Z. the words, Zillion and Zany!

Remember that song ...

yeah ... Yellow ... by Coldplay ....
I love that song, but I have never really been in love with yellow ... sure the song made it seem that yellow was very cool ... but my affair with yellow didn't last long .... until ...

a weekend scrapbooking with my girls .... and oh what a weekend it was!

It started off innocently ... sitting around scrapbooking at Sue's ... then dinner ... and a couple of very yummy yellow Lemon Meringue Martini's .... and then I think we all had a few too many more martini's .... yes they are just that good ... and then we did more scrapbooking ... and wow, those martinis get the creative juices flowing!

Seriously this is one delicious drink, just take equal portions of frozen lemonade concentrate, pineapple juice, vanilla vodka, limoncello and ice.  Blend and voila!  Sunshine in a glass!

so the next morning ... we need to head out to Mink for fabulous coffees ... and the walls have some yellow ... and well other colours ... but look at the pretty yellow ... these are all labels of their chocolate  bars, and if you have never had a Mink chocolate bar, or Mocha ... then I feel for ya!

Sue, Kathy, Izzy, Sue and Iris ... we have a 3rd Sue but she couldn't make it.   Morning Mochas at Mink!  (My favourite bar .... "By Any Other Name" ... yummy!)

So since we were in a little outdoor mall,  we did some shopping, but near the end of the shopping a few of us diehard scrappers were anxious to get back to scrapping, so to pass the time, we played with the yellow courtesy umbrellas .... hey it was a great photo op, what can I say???  lol!

Doesn't yellow make everything look happier!!!

and look ... a yellow line down the middle of the road ... how cool, they must have known we were rocking the yellow that weekend! 

oh yeah, I did not take these photos, my friends did ... i was rocking my little Instax that weekend and I am going to make a little mini album about my yellow weekend ... soon!

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I made a scrapbook page of my daughter in Yellow!  geez. I am really getting fond of the colour, I am going to have to pop up itunes and listen to that Coldplay song again!

My two beautiful girls!

 Thanks so much for joining me for "Y"!  Just click on the Jenny button below to find other Y posts!

and big hugs to those of you that read my catchup post and commented last week ... you really made me smile and feel happy, and hopeful and .... well.... yellow!

X = ?

X ... here's a little story for ya ...  I was getting my new (well new to me) car (it's a honda, i love it) and the insurance agent comes in with 4 licence plates for me to choose from.  2 of them had 8's in them (considered to be a very lucky number in some cultures) 1 of them was really easy to remember and the 4th had 3 numbers, followed by 3 random letters that seemed difficult to remember ... until it dawned on me that the 2nd and 3rd letters were my middle and last name initials ... I pointed this out to Mom, and told her I wish that it had a J for my first name ... and she replies with "well this plate is perfect for you, X, afterall, stands for Unknown quantity ....

so now, my plate is quite easy to remember ... and I am now Unknown Quantity Jo

Okay so by now you are thinking that hey, where have I been for the last 3 or 4 weeks or so ... well at least some of you are thinking that ... truth is, I got stuck on R ... yes R ... a letter with hundreds of words I could write about, but didn't.  I was going to go with Real ... and talk about the absence of Real in just about everything we eat, drink and watch ... especially Housewives ... but I got so caught up in the politics of "Real" that I hit a major block ...  Instead, my R is Rainbows ... and I love rainbows, as does my daughter ... infact she is enamoured with them, they have a secret special meaning to her, and if something is meaningful to her, it is meaningful to me ... so when she asked me to whip up some rainbow jelly shots she found on pinterest, of course I obliged ...

These shots ... oh to die for yummy!!!  but they took about 4 hours to put together ... not a solid working 4 hours, there was about 45 minutes between each layer at least ... These photos are before we cleaned up the glasses ... my daughter took these to her party, and finished them off with a little dollop of whipped cream and cake sprinkles ... they must have been adorable
Are you Sitting down???  this is going to be one lengthy post, and we are only up to S ... and for those of you that know me S could only be for scrapbooking ... I actually went to a retreat with some friends last weekend and had a blast, and got a lot of scrapbooking done.  I still have a passion for scrapbooking and other paper art, like ATC's, cardmaking, and altered objects ... and more and more I find myself dabbling in mixed media pages, incorporating paints and sprays and mediums and well just stuff ...  this is a page of me I did on that weekend ... I have an alter ego,and this layout is about that part of me ...

The best thing about Scrapbooking, is that it has led me to meet some amazing women, and we are all now the best of friends.  It also led me to blogging and to meeting some wonderful blogging friends.  Scrapbooking has been a big blessing to me.

T .... time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking ... and where it is going so fast i do not know ... but what i do know is that in life's hourglass, the glass is firmly glued to the table and there is no going back to turn it over and start again ... we only have just a finite number of bits of sand, and is it me, or does it seems to everyone that as the bottom of the hourglass fills, the sand seems to slip through quicker and quicker ...

So I am determined to have fun and play ... in some way, every day ... there is no reason to grow "old" ... and I encourage all of my friends and family to enjoy, and get some play time in every single day!

U ...  underground .... it's a place i never want to think of ... I know for a fact that I will never be a cave crawling spelunker ... the thought of being underground just brings chills.  So what am I doing here ...

This was our ride ... we are heading into the mine 

all signed up for a mine tour (daughter dearest planned this excursion for us and Grandma and Grandpa) ... and well, after seeing the museum, the outbuildings, and everything else, it was time to climb 45 stairs and then enter the mine ... and it was Fabulous!!!  but underground is so totally different ... no sounds from birds and wind ... and the air smells so different, you can smell the minerals in the rock ... and it was dark and damp ... water constantly running down the inside rock walls ... and cold ... constant cold ... would i do the tour again?  YES!!!  it was fun ... and hopefully it's the only underground experience I have ...

in the underground ... the mine shaft ...

V ... well here i am again, stuck on a letter ... this was my second reason for not posting for weeks on end ... and I am ashamed that I am so very very late.  I feel like I should be chastised by a white rabbit screaming "your late, your late" at me ... "very very late!"  and speaking of white rabbits, is it just me, or do some of feel like you have too have fallen into wonderland, and that tea may never come?  'nuff said about stuff and nonsense ... let's just leave it at very very .... for V!

Now, for those of you still with me ... cuz this is one mega post ... i am on to the last of my "late" letters ... W.  And please stay tuned because there will be a test! What to say about W?  again, so many options ... Wanderer is a word that I would use to describe my self.  Not that i wander about the earth visiting mystical hidden gardens or forests that speak in the language only known by trees ... Nor do I visit the great cities ... my wandering is all on the interior ... in the heart, the soul, and the brain ... I love to explore the nooks and crannies .... the clear paths and the blinds of a good maze ... Images conjured from books read long ago spring forth with new life and collide with memorized song lyrics, light, space and colour ... now and then I insert a bit of reality to see what comes of this inner space ... and for the most part, it is beautiful ... or at least that is what i feel in my heart ... and I think that I will always explore this inner space, happily wandering in an ever expanding land of beauty and peace ... 

For those of you still with me .... there is no test .... i was just pulling your leg ... but thanks for reading and sticking with me!  I am linking up with Jenny's meme, Just click on the button below to read some wonderful posts about the letter X!

Shhhh ....

... turn everything off and let's focus on the quiet ...

I always find it interesting that no matter what the situation, i can never find absolute quiet.  Perhaps this living earth was never meant to be completely quiet ... as i sit here in the quiet, I can hear a car driving by on the road ... my dog is scruffling up her blanket to make a nest ... and my keys are clicking as i type.

In the evening ... curled up in a blanket reading ... pages turn, there is a clink of china as i rest my tea cup, daughter sneezes as she clicks away on a paper she is writing ... Honey lets out a little yip as during a doggy dream.

I love the quiet of the outdoors ... and as much as i would like to sit in the quiet, birds fly by ... a tiny bee will buzz on his search for pollen ... wind rustles the trees, the creek gurgles and every once in a while a squirrel will take on a crow or two over possession of some bit of scrap.

image from Pinterest

At the beach ... even the quietest of beaches ... there is always a gull ... at least one, crying out as it drifts over the shoreline ... quiet waves, lap at the shore, and then there is that unmistakeable sound of footsteps in the sand ...

image from Pinterest

The closest I have come to quiet, is on the early morning of a heavy snowfall ... no tracks in the snow from animals or people ... the birds, unseen and unheard ... it is so quiet, that i can hear the snow flakes fall.

image from Pinterest

So maybe ... just maybe ... we are not to know what absolute quiet is ...the earth is a living mass of organisms ... constantly in motion ... maybe quiet is not to be heard here on earth.  So then, do we ever experience absolute quiet?  Maybe when passing from this world to the next it will be quiet ... but then, I have always thought that Adagio for Strings should be surrounding our soul on the journey to the next plane ...  hmmmm ... i wonder ...

image from Pinterest

thank you for joining me for the later Q.  I am late as usual, although I really am working on that procrastination thing I have going.  Linking up to Jenny's fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme!

as promised .... procrastination

Procrastination, procrastination
is making me late
is keeping me waiting .....

Yeah, okay, i did borrow that  from the uber talented Carly Simon ... just replace my "procrastination" and add in her "anticipation" and you have her amazing hit "Anticipation" ... of course i left it too late to write a hit of my own, so i am borrowing hers...

does any one else out there procrastinate?  please tell me there is someone out there who does ... i look at all of your lovely blogs and wonder where everyone gets the time to do all that they do ... and then i look at time management blogs and realize that i have more hours in the day than i thought ... but i spend them all procrastinating ... seriously, you should see my pile of ironing or mending ... they just grow by the week and yet i continue to put them off ...

okay, enough whining about my P problem ... so from today on ... hopefully (and don't hold me to this)
... but from today on, i am going to try my best to not procrastinate ... and that way, i may find a few more hours for fun stuff, like blogging, and reading and well, just enjoying!!!

Oddly enough i don't have a picture of me procrastinating ... but i do have one of me getting a henna on Tuesday night ... that was fun!

 I wish i had taken more photos ... but this is the henna right after it has been applied.  After it dries, it is set, and then glitter is applied to it.  Mine was done in silver and sapphire blue, I loved it.

This is my DD's henna at the end of the night ... the beautiful dark textured colour comes off as well as the glitter and then you are left with the "tattoo" marks left by the henna.

omg, when did my hands get so wrinkly looking!!!

And this is what mine looks like today ... still loving it!

Now without further procrastination, click on the Jenny button below and visit some other Promising P Posts!

O ... ooops, I forgot M and N

Well okay in all honesty i didn't forget M, i just kind of tossed one idea around so much, and i couldn't Make it work, and by the time M naturally came to me, it was kinda late to write it, and yes, the dog did eat my homework ... sigh ...
I can tell ya one thing for sure, come P my word will be Procrastination ... but back to O and N ... and M ...

Magic .... do you believe in Magic?  and what is magic? what is it to you?  I think sometimes we are all on a path looking for a magic trick to make life so much easier .... but really ... i doubt that any of us will find it ... and oh so many wonderful tales have been spun around magic, tales of bravery, of loss and redemption, of miracles and of endless happiness and fountains of youth ...
magic ... in my mind ... my wee little mind, is just waking up every day ... it's in taking time to notice all of the little things ... the tiny mushrooms growing in moss, the beauty of a new bud on a tree, the sounds of children playing ... a crisp breeze on a sunny day ... the noise the rain, in all of it's forms, makes ... how good it feels to stretch both the mind and body ... that's magic ...

this is magic

N is for Natural ... please tell me, what the heck happened to Natural?  why can't we just let things unfold in a natural and organic way?  why must we "fix" everything now ... why is Botox and other fillers just so almost necessary ... please let me age naturally ... i really don't mind age spots and a hint of grey ... but advertisements and celebrities are telling me that they are bad bad bad and what i really need is some injection, implant or other body modification just to "fit in" with my fellow 50+ friends ...

Even Honey is aging naturally

and finally O is for Options ... sometimes i wonder if we all forget ... we have options at every point in every day ... sometimes choosing the one that right for us is just all too difficult .... but they are there, and they must be shared ... please always teach your younger generations that there are always options ... nothing in life is "life or death" there is always a choice somewhere ... just keep looking for it ...

Yesterday was pink shirt day in Canada ... a Nation wide campaign to end bullying.  DD and I are suited up in our pink shirts supporting this important cause.

Thanks so much for hanging in for this uber long post ... and i promise, no procrastination next week ... well as little as possible ...

as always, linking up to Jenny ...

Love is all you need ...

It's Alphabet Thursday, and I am joining in on the letter L ... my word for L is love ... 

Is love truly all we need?  I think … more than food, more than water, or shelter … we need love.  Close your eyes and try to imagine living without this precious commodity … think of going through life without someone to love … be it a partner, friend or family member … just imagine how much more difficult life would be without someone to love, and someone who loves you back.  Truly, no man is an island …  we all need someone, or even something to love. We have pets, to care for and love, and they love us back, and they can improve our well being just by loving them.  Think of the fictional Chuck Noland and the object of his love, Wilson …  Wilson kept him going, kept him somewhat sane … and in all probability, kept him alive …

I cannot possibly imagine a life without love, so it saddens me that so many do not have it to give or receive … I think of the hundreds and hundreds of children stuck in the foster care system, going through life without the love of a parent … children in far away countries, parents dead, and trying to survive the world alone, animals stuck in kennels at the local animal shelter.

So think of love, and act with kindness towards those that are unfortunate enough to not be able to experience this most amazing state of being …

 … she loves you ya ya ya …

I love these two!!!

K is for ... Sue?

K … K  … K … killer, kobo … kindle ???  I stumbled around for a long time trying to  to find a K word that I wanted to write about …   The first three K words that came to me are up above, but I really don’t feel like writing about killers or e~book readers

I could write about “kind” … but wait, I think I blogged on that topic a couple of years ago … so repeating it would be … well, kinda boring.

And then it hit me … my dear friend Sue  always ends her emails with “Be kind and leave the world a better place.”  Isn’t that a wonderful mantra? 

My dear friend Sue, is probably one of the kindest, and gentlest people that I know … she is wonderfully thoughtful … truly thoughtful, the kind of friend that always seems to know what to say in every situation … she is so attentive to people that she is fully tuned in and just seems to know when things are off.  She gives wonderful hugs, and wonderful words.  And the best part … out of this seemingly quiet, humble and kind person, can come the most hilarious, like pee your pants hilarious … zingers!!!   Oh she can truly get anyone laughing … real good down in your gut laughter … So yes, Sue … I will be “kind” and leave the world a better place.  And thank you for your reminders to do so!

Sue, shortly after she shaved her head to raise funds for Cancer Research ... what a beautiful gift she is to this planet

K is for Sue!