hola...

from nola!!!




having a great week on vacation
and
hoping you are having a GREAT one, too!!!

love and blessings,
dani xx

my mosaic...

i thought i'd share here on blogger a tag i received from a facebook friend:)
i was tagged by my sophomore honors english teacher to create an
"about me mosaic".

if you would like to create one of your own, here are the directions.

DIRECTIONS:
- Go to Google image search.
- Type in your answer to each question below...
- Choose and save a picture from the FIRST page of images for each answer.
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.
- Save the image (mosaic) to your pictures.
- Upload to your blog post.

QUESTIONS:
1. What is your name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?




1. dani 2. donut 3. henderson
4. pink/green 5. terms of endearment 6. diet cherry limeade
7. puerto aventuras 8. brownie sundae 9. God's child
10. free 11. grandmothers 12. loved

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

the love keeps coming....

from across the pond:)



this has been an awesome birthday month!!!

the days have been long, lazy, sunny
and
full of wonderful surprises from my "snail-mailers":D

over the past couple of weeks i have received an adorable birthday card, a blingin' mirror compact and some yummy, sweet'n'sparkly lip-gloss from my friend, amanda (penny 'n' pounds), all the way from scotland. then, tabitha (twinkle twinkle), my friend from england mailed me a beautiful birthday card with a portrait of my favorite prince and princess (her daniel and lauren) enclosed. and, last but not least, elise (adventures of e and t plus 2), my friend from brisbane sent me a lovely birthday card as well as a really cool "season (puzzle)tree".
each gift and giver is so special to me...
as are ALL you fellow bloggers and snail-mail friends!!!

thank you all so much:D


love and blessings,
dani xx

happy birthday, tab!!!

a cold, refreshing daniel craig popsicle on a stick...
need i say more:P

I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY,
TABITHA!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps. if you would like to go over and wish tabitha a happy birthday,
click HERE.

happy 'little' father's day...

mister john has been a wonderful dad to our little kitty katherine:)

she said it best when she was three...

i had picked her up from play school: we were returning home. further, she was in her car-seat in the back seat of our van. and, as we turned into the driveway, she noticed that her daddy, who was home early from work, was on the riding mower mowing the front yard.

"awwwwwwe, mama, look... it's my little father!!!"
she continued...
"i just love that little father of mine, don't you???"

how sweet was that:)))

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, JOHN!!!

WE LOVE YOU:D

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps. i hope all the fathers in your lives have a blessed and happy day today.

grandpa elliot!!!

(grandpa elliot)


in the fall of 1991 i made a trip to new orleans for an engineering conference. the first night i was there, several of my friends and i made our way down canal street and over to bourbon street. the first native of nola i met was musician,
grandpa elliot.

he was such a nice and talented man. i loved listening to him talk and sing and play!!! we stopped every night for the next 6 nights and did just that:)

~@~@~@~@~@~




when hurricane katrina hit new orleans several years ago, i wondered if he'd been spared, and, if so, if he'd had to leave his beloved city.

then, about 3 years ago, i returned to nola but never saw him. i went there to visit my cousin, rendi, who had just recently moved to the big easy. the last morning we were there she took me to a section of town in which habitat for humanity had taken upon itself to rebuild so that the local musicians might be enticed to return home.

(musicians' village)

as we passed the not-yet-occupied homes,
i wondered if one of those houses might someday be his.
i hoped so!!!

~@~@~@~@~@~

a couple of days ago, john emailed me this video clip...



i think i squealed as i started watching it. john had no idea he was sending me such a valuable link... grandpa elliot is alive and well and in new orleans!!!

further, i am getting ready to make a trip there in about a week... for a week. i hope to get to see him!!!

how cool would that be:D

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ww...

love and God's blessings,

dani xx

i want to go to a fat farm for just 4 days!!!

i haven't talked about weight for a while,
but it is something that really bothers me:(




i am ocd about only 2 things in my life...

my hygiene/bathing
and
my weight-food/FOOD!!!

ok, yes, i'm obsessed with hygiene therefore it is my compulsion to shower two or three times a day. (many of you already know this; some newer to my blog may not.) anyway, i don't see this being a big problem... as "cleanliness IS next to Godliness", right??? (i giggle as i type;) though, i do maybe use a bit more water and go through more shampoo and conditioner, soap, shaving cream, and razors than a person should. however, i feel so good... so refreshed after showering:)


you may wonder, "is her skin dry???" the answer is, "no. and i don't even use lotion that often." i really see this a a positive/positive affliction.
i'm clean=i feel good:)


therefore, i embrace my obsessive compulsive hygiene disorder. i am totally ok with it and even like calling it mine:P

~@~@~@~@~@~


on the contrary, i have a very 'bad seed' sister-ocd.

i am obsessed with my weight; i am obsessed with food. though i want to eat only what i need to to maintain a healthy weight, i am a very compulsive eater!!! furthermore, not only is half of my obsession food, my compulsion is FOOD also.
i love the stuff!!!
and, lately, i cannot get enough of it:/


thus, i'm having a hard time saying NO to food right now. it's a very bad habit i have started...
eating whatever the hell i want whenever the hell i want to eat it:(


obviously this is NOT an ocd i care to embrace:/


several years ago, i was in a bible study with an elderly man and his wife. he was talking about how he'd given up smoking years prior. then he said something that i have found to be true. he said,
"if you can give up a habit for 4 days,
you can kick it."


back to my title,
i want to go to a fat farm for 4 days!!!
(so, i can kick my habit, you know!!!)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday XXXI...

after the fall that afflicted his back, mr. moss was never physically the same again. on the contrary, mentally he was as sharp as a tack!!! from that time forward he depended on his wheelchair and walker. these new dependencies, however, seemed to in no way limit him.

at the age of ninety, mosses had advanced parkinson's, arthritis, artificial hips and knees (as well as the bad back); yet, he continued to get up every morning and eat, bathe, shave, and clothe himself. if he had errands, jean took him to accomplish those. if not (and weather permitting), he ate breakfast and made his way out to work in his yard.

mosses was a farmer at heart.

~@~@~@~@~@~

he had a yard full of beautiful flowers and flowering trees. he even planted a small vegetable garden, which he hoed, sowed, weeded, and watered. many times during the summer i returned home to find a grocery bag full of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, corn, and later (in the early fall) turnips sitting on my back deck. he loved sharing his harvest.

mosses, full of heart, was a sharer.

~@~@~@~@~@~

like most farmers, i suppose, mosses used the colder months to rest. he spent most of his time running errands, watching cnn, and keeping up with the stock market. i never remember him complaining a whole lot about the cold so long as there was no ice involved. ice and snow brought his mobility to a halt...

usually.

one snowy sunday evening, jean called and asked me if i would mind to come over to the court and cut mosses' hair for him; she said he wanted john and katherine to come as well so that we could visit and enjoy drinks and snacks afterwards.

when we arrived, mosses, draped in a towel, was already sitting in his wheelchair in the middle of the kitchen floor awaiting his trim.

as i cut his hair, he thanked me over and over again and explained that his appointment with smitty (his barber) was supposed to be the next day but with the snow he knew he wouldn't be able to make it to the barber shop.

jean laughed and told mosses that smitty wasn't going to like that he had been replaced.

after she made that comment, a concerned look came across mosses' face. i finished his trim and cleaned him up and too the mess i had made. then we all enjoyed our drinks, popcorn, chex mix, bugles, and our time together talking and laughing.

around midday the next day, jean phoned me. "do you know what mr. moss did this morning?" she asked then continued... "he got up, got dressed, and told me to drive him to the barber shop."

"oh no, did he not like the cut i gave him?" i inquired.

"he liked it just fine; he just didn't want to hurt smitty's feelings by not showing up for his appointment..."

i giggled.

"smitty told mr. moss he didn't know why he had even gotten out in this weather... that his hair didn't even need to be cut. mr. moss just shrugged... never once letting on that his hair had already been cut."

mosses was a loyal gentleman, too:)

~@~@~@~@~@~

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

after 32 years...

i said goodbye to my white, 13", general electric, black and white tv:( it still worked but was officially outdated and no longer of any use as of yesterday (mid morning) when all tv signals were converted to digital.

~@~@~@~@~@~

looking back, i suppose i needed a tv of my own that year. if i remember correctly, my parents watched several shows (soap, rich man poor man, saturday night live, etc...) i didn't need to be watching.

whatever the reason, on Christmas morning, 1977, i awoke to find a baby doll, a tape recorder, a clue game, and a shiny white television of my very own under the Christmas tree.
santa rocked it that year:D

~@~@~@~@~@~

over the next several years, i recall watching many episodes of little house on the prairie, all in the family, the waltons, charlie's angels, one day at a time, alice, happy days, laverne and shirley, 3's company, etc...

i loved my tv!!!

~@~@~@~@~@~

then, in 1980, santa rocked it out again with an atari gaming system and a plethera of games. my little tv continued to be very appreciated while i played hours and hours of pac-man, pit-fall, missile command, frogger, galaga, donkey kong, etc...

~@~@~@~@~@~

while in my teens, i nightly dragged my little tv into the bathroom with me to watch hart to hart, dynasty, dallas, etc... while i took my nightly bubble bath.

one hour of pure heaven:)

~@~@~@~@~@~

as well, my companion went with me to college. my roommate and i watched our soaps on it everyday between classes. i watched as erica gave birth to bianca, as the buchanans returned to the old west, as victor and ashley danced in the snow outside on the balcony at the peppermint ball, and as monica unknowingly had an affair with her husband's nephew!!!

yes, i scheduled my classes around my soap operas, lol!!!

~@~@~@~@~@~

later, when john and i married, i often used it to listen to my soaps while lying in the sun. and too, john watched many a nascar race on it while piddling outside.

what a little gem!!!
(my tv and john;)

~@~@~@~@~@~

further, once katherine was old enough to toddle and play with her toys in her nursery, she too watched my little tv, which sat in her rocking chair. she enjoyed such pbs shows as barney, sesame street, reading rainbow, and thomas the train.

~@~@~@~@~@~

for years now, though, my television has occupied the rec room in our basement. it has been depended upon a countless number of times as we have hunkered down waiting for storms to pass...
tornado warnings to expire.

it has never once let us down when we've needed it.

and, do you know...
it worked as well yesterday morning as it did that Christmas morning all those years ago!!?!? the picture was perfect as was the sound; and, up until all the signals were switched over to digital, all three major stations plus fox and pbs were picked up by its original antenna.

~@~@~@~@~@~

rest in peace my friend;
you've been a good one:)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

etsy woes...

i had never heard of etsy before i started blogging. however, after seeing it touted here and there, i decided to visit the site and have a look for myself. i was amazed at the many beautiful and creative items i saw and decided to give etsy a try. i placed my first order from my friend, tania (little sweethearts), who lives in belgium. the orders were to be delivered to the us, australia, and the uk.
clockwork!!!
all my recipients received their orders in a timely, orderly fashion and were thrilled with their beauty full gifts.

thus, i was thrilled with my new-found site, etsy:)

and too, my next orders went smoothly. i ordered three children's items from a couple of vendors in australia to be delivered in australia and here in the us. the next two orders were also incident-free. then, on the 24th of may, i placed 3 orders with 3 different vendors... one was to be sent to my mother for her birthday... perfect!!! one was to be sent to one of my snail mail friends in scotland... it arrived here on the lane... not packaged well and not containing the birthday note that was to be enclosed, grrr!!! and the third was also to be sent to another snail mail friend in australia... i received an email quickly from that vendor saying that she saw that the recipient's birthday was the 6th of june; hence, she would get to work on my order and have it in the mail by wednesday, may 27th...
guess what???
the friend in australia has yet to receive her gift, which was supposed to have been mailed 16 days ago!!!

further, i cannot find the option to rate these two vendors:?

have any of you etsy fans experienced the same problems???
if so, what did you do???

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps. sorry for the rant...
i'm probably just a little pms'ed besides being frustrated:/

news, weather, sports...

chico graduates from high school!!!





two more months of sun and fun,
then he will be headed to vanderbilt university
where he earned a full naval scholarship:)

congratulations, alfonso!!!

~@~@~@~

weather...

sunny and 80's with severe storms moving in later this evening.

~@~@~@~

sports...

the orlando magic earned their first win ever in the nba finals and cut the lakers' series lead to 2-1!!! go magic!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

mosses monday XXX...

katherine's primary school sent home a note stating that grandparents' luncheon was going to be the following week. i didn't mention it to katherine because john's mother had died years prior, his dad was working, and my parents were living in new hampshire (a 23 hour drive). a couple of days passed before katherine mentioned it.

"mom, did you know that grandparents' day is next week?" she asked.

"oh, katherine, i think i read something about that," i replied. "do you want your dad and me to come?"

she snickered, "mo'om, you and dad are NOT my grandparents. i need to call mosses!"

she was certain he was hers:)

~@~@~@~@~@~

a couple of months later, katherine received the student of the month award. she proudly presented me with her certificate stating as much and a note from her kindergarten teacher explaining that part of receiving this honor was that the honoree was supposed to bring something to school and present it for "show and tell".

"kitty kat, what are you going to take to school for show and tell?" i inquired.

"MOSSES!!!" she informed me. "can he bring popcorn and coke for my kids (what she called her class-mates)?"

"i think you are supposed to bring a THING, kat, NOT a person..." i answered her trying not to giggle.

"i've already asked miss cleaveland," she continued, "she said that was a very good idea."

so, katherine and i drove over to mosses' house to invite him. i think when she asked him, he was truly honored. it was too bad that he developed a horrible cold over the weekend and was too ill to attend.

all turned out well, however...
katherine played her harp instead.

~@~@~@~@~@~

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

40 on a silver platter...

a little over a year ago, my sweet friend, tania (little sweethearts), organized a small snail mail group... i was so delighted to have been included. it was at that time, when the six of us shared our details (birthdates, addresses, etc.), tanya (where the heart is) and i realized that i was a mere 4 days older than she and that we were to turn 40 this year. not knowing that the economy was going to take a nose dive, i commented to her that we should meet somewhere on june 4th (half way between our special days) to celebrate together.

unfortunately, we were unable to do that. however, the day before my birthday, i received a parcel all the way from tanya's gold coast of australia bearing birthday pressies she'd sent my way. i opened the package (no, i did not wait til my birthday;) to find a precious "angel of friendship" and an exquisite beaded bracelet (pink and green accents... my favorite). my eyes welled up with tears and a HUGE smile formed across my face:)

thank you, tanya!!!

~@~@~@~@~@~



that wasn't all i received to commemorate my big day...

the notorious d (dana/moonpie in the sky) sent me an adorable cake safe; but there was no confection inside it. no, on the contrary i opened the safe to find breast enhancements, lmao!!! (i haven't officially tried them. though i am wondering if the enhancements are going to increase my bust size horizontally or, God-forbid, vertically:? i'll let you know when i get brave enough to test them:P

~@~

katherine bought me the curious case of benjamin button dvd, and, even better, she and chico took time out of their busy schedule to watch it with me:) also, my brother came in with a cute, Cute, Cute purple and white beach tote containing a new scrabble game, a movie, and a large bottle of wine (pink of course;).

further, in the late afternoon on my birthday, i heard a knock at the front door. i opened it to find the flower delivery man (cliff, who i have known all my life) standing there holding an arrangement of dead spring flowers with black balloons attached... i looked at the flowers and then at cliff and said...
"i guess dead flowers are better than no flowers at all:?"
cliff just giggled.

tee-hee, after a brief chat, cliff left; i turned around, shutting the door with my heel; as i did so, dead flowers fell from the "arrangement" into the floor, leaving a trail all the way to the dining room table. i cracked up then read the attached card, which was a welcome to the over 40 club from my aunt...

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

finally, when john returned home, he gave me a card with money for a fall trip i hope to be able to make. what a sweet guy i have:D

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

another friend, another june...

another birthday...
and it's suz's:)



it's the season: it's the reason
for celebrating:D

happy birthday, my dear friend!!!
i hope it is a wonderful one:)))

much love and God's blessings,
dani xx

ps. you may go HERE to wish miss suz a very happy birthday!!!

happy 40th, t!!!

birthdays, birthdays, birthdays!!!

aren't they grand:D

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

it is my dear friend's, tanya's, special day, today!!!
please, feel free to leave her a birthday greeting here;

or go over to where the heart is,
and wish tanya a very happy birthday there!!!

t, i hope you have as lovely a day today
as you helped to make mine on tuesday,
you beauty full woman you:D

enjoy, indulge, and celebrate!!!

much love and God's blessings,
dani xx

happy birthday, sam!!!

i love you!!!



you are my favorite little guy in the whole wide world!!!

love and God's blessings,
miss d xxx

mosses monday XXIX...

d (dana-moonpieinthesky) and i decided that we would have a rummage sale that saturday morning and that katherine and william could have a lemonade stand. so, we did, and so did they. we situated our merchandise in d's front yard close to her house... while the kids sat up shop on the side walk.

we were still organizing our items when the first few customers arrived. dana and i weren't paying a whole lot of attention to our little entrepreneurs but noticed that all the customers were carrying cups of lemonade. not too shabby peddling for the moaner and groaner who didn't want to get out of bed that morning!!! it wasn't long before d was back in the kitchen mixing up more lemonade. i would have sworn they were giving the stuff away had it not been for the mounting coins in their jar.

when d brought out the second batch, i mentioned to her that i was sure they were making more money than we were. we laughed and noted that it was unbelievable that people were drinking lemonade that early on a rather cool morning.

after a couple of hours, there was a lull in business. i ran inside to make a third batch of lemonade while dana helped kat and william count their money. when i returned william looked up at me and said, "miss dani, we've made $14... that's $7 for me and $7 for katherine."

"awesome!!!" i replied.

~@~@~@~@~@~

sweetly, the kids made a couple of cups of lemonade for d and me. we meandered up to her front porch to relax for a bit. we hadn't been sitting for much more than just a few minutes when i noticed mr. moss' white cadillac heading our way. we all waved as he and jean drove past d's house. soon, a few more cars pulled up to the curb and more rummagers poured into d's front yard. it wasn't long before we had sold most all of our items: william and katherine were on their last batch of lemonade. it was almost time to close shop!!!

hence, d and i began to discuss what charity to take the things, which hadn't sold, when jean pulled mosses' car up to the curb.
"MOSSES!!!" katherine squealed.

out of his passenger side window, he looked at her then me with a GREAT BIG SMILE on his face. i hurried toward his car. as i did so, jean turned off the car and started around it to come open his door. i got there first so i opened it for him. it was then that i realized two things... the first was how will and katherine had been able to sell so many cups of lemonade and the second was that mosses had a great BIG birthday cake for me he was holding in his lap!!!

i'll get back to the lemonade pawners in just a second.

i was so excited and happy and grateful and loved!!! i couldn't believe that mosses had remembered my birthday AND brought me a beautiful, yummy cake. it was the first birthday cake i had had since i was a little girl...

he was still smiling like the cheshire cat; for he knew how much what he had done meant to me... how much he meant to me.
what a wonderful surprise!!!

"dani, bless your heart. happy birthday!!!" he said in his southern gentlemanly way as he handed me my card, first.

i pulled the card from its envelope and read the front, then opened it to find that mosses had signed it himself... parkinson's and all. "thank you so much, mosses," i said as i gave him a big hug, "i love you!!!"

"we love you too, dani" he replied.

though mrs. moss had died nearly a year prior, she was still with him...

~@~@~@~@~@~

(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx

you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

ps. evidently, after we sent them on their merry way that morning, william and katherine divided up who would do what down at their little lemonade stand. william put ice in the cups, kat poured the lemonade, will handed the customer a cup of lemonade, and katherine charged $.25 and placed the money in the jar. those poor, unsuspecting souls never had a chance... they ALL received a cup of lemonade and were charged for it whether they wanted it or not; and, we didn't realize HOW they were being so successful until i saw their racket unfold on mosses' driver, jean:/