Well …….there was a¬†bit of excitment last election day for me¬† ….¬†but it wasnt about the election ……¬†though a new President was of course important … this was a little different …

¬†See I had a secret¬† …¬† it was a hard¬† one to keep….. I was filled with …..anticipation¬†…anxiety¬† ……¬† the reason¬†??¬† …..¬†you will know shortly….¬†

I also had¬†a blog friend help¬†me with¬†my secrect¬†…..¬† to ¬†add an element of surprise¬†on¬†that particular day¬†……¬† it¬†had to do with New York …. well not really …but sort of….¬† in a round about way….

OK OK OK …. I know …¬†GET!… to the point….¬†

Well I dont know…………… I had to wait a while for all of it to come to fruition¬† ……¬† I think maybe ?¬† you should too….¬†¬† no!!! … you say……¬†¬† Get on with it Jo !!!¬†….hmmmm¬† ……

See …¬† it can be hard when you are waiting ….¬†right ?¬† …..¬†now you know how I felt ….¬† hehehe ..¬† See Bill I had to wait too …

Oh alright….on with it then ……

I am sure a lot of you will recognize the face below.

 

¬†If you dont …..¬† This is Natasha Burns…. www.NatashaBurns.com¬†¬† coming¬†all the way from Australia to the USA for Silver Bella…..¬†

Well here is the thing… she is talking on the phone at a Restaurant in New York…. where my partner in crime and blog buddy…. Barbara¬†¬†¬† www.BarbaraJacksier.blogspot.com ¬†…..presented her with a package…¬† the person on the phone is the person who gave her the package…. this was a little surprise that Natasha had won in a giveaway I had (we wont go there as to how long ago that was) but… in this picture she is finding out who the person is by reading the card …hehehe

Below is the surprise …. well two surprises …. I am the person she is talking to…. I got to talk to Barbara too … what a sweet person she is for helping me out with this … it was planned a few weeks before they¬†hooked up¬†¬†so that I could get a chance to “meet” Natasha ….. though not in person …. it was enjoyable just the same….¬†

Now I am excited because the surprise is the painting ….. I did this beautiful rose painting that she won…..¬† I am pleased¬†……. proud at how lovely it turned out ….especially since I must have¬†re painted it several times….¬†¬† a perfectionist I am….¬†I also wanted it to be special for Natasha…..but this rose was not an easy subject either….

I will be offering prints of the painting in the near future for sale on my website¬† www.NeereAnDearCreations.com¬† … It will be named the Natasha as she is the one and only owner of the original…… this painting was taken from a photo by my friend Cat over at¬† www.ShabbyChicCatsgardencloseups.blogspot.com¬†¬† … Her photos are quite stunning

So the moral of this story is…. sometimes waiting can be worth it ….

Ciao for now

JO

…

This is going to be a VERY long post… so grab a drink… sit back and relax… and dont forget your reading glasses…..

First¬†… I would like to thank everyone for their well wishes while I was gone… it was to say the least an interesting trip…¬†¬† more of that on¬†several different posts to come

While I was unable to blog and I did miss my friends…I did NOT miss my computer…. funny how the break away from it was rather nice

Now I received several different awards and I have been lax in thanking everyone and posting them so I am going to do that first…..

The first two awards… I received¬†from the lovely Jen at: http://www.pearstreetstudios.typepad.com/¬† ….¬†I have known Jen for over a year now and as always she is a real sweetie and I thank her for thinking of me!!

This second award I received from Rosie at: http://www.rosieswhimsy.wordpress.com/¬† it has been a true pleasure getting to know Rosie these past few months… she makes some of the neatest wall hangings and hangar cozies I have seen … and more

And I have been tagged by Heather at:¬† http://www.jeweledelegance.blogspot.com/¬† …. this¬†darling makes some gorgeous jewelry and you should go visit her to see¬†all her¬†lovelies ….she is¬†an inspiration¬†

Now with both Rosie and Heathers ¬†little surprise I am supposed to tell 7 and 10 weird things about myself…. I dont find myself weird… a bit ecentric perhaps… but I will try to do my best… I am just going to do what I can and if I dont reach either 7 or 10 then so be it…..

So here goes:

1)¬† Ok first off… Unless you have seen my feet you would not know about this and I am amazed I am admiting this to the world… but…. I have web toes …..¬† yes …. on my¬†right foot…¬†my two middle toes¬†are fused together…¬†¬† my Daddy used to tell me that is why I was such a great swimmer… I like to believe that one hehehe …. arent Daddys the best?

2)¬† I am a bit of a germaphobic ….. Not like Howard Hughes or anything but I do wash my hands a lot… seems I look at someone who is sick and I get sick

3)¬† When I go to a motel I bring my own sheets and pillows blankets etc…. sometimes even my own blow up bed…¬†¬† I watched Inside Edition one time about motels….¬† Big mistake!!…all I can say is dont do it!¬† If you ever want to stay in a motel or hotel again that is…..and dont watch the one about food if you ever want to eat again either (when that one came on I turned the TV off….I learned my lesson about the motel thing)…actually the blow up bed has a lot to do with my back… it has memory foam in it and I find sometimes the beds at motels and hotels sink in the middle…

3) When I get a bad stomach ache I drink olive juice…. yes¬† …. I did say that… ok so this one might be rather weird…. but for some reason it settles my stomach…. sometimes I want lemon juice and salt in soup or something like that….I can always tell when I am not feeling good when I start craving any of those things¬† ….

4) I am a hopeless insomniac….which makes for a very big grouch…. hehehe

5) I have a vast collection of books…..¬† I would say at least a hundred probably more but I am sure not going to sit here and count them…. I like to collect 1st editions….¬† mysteries… some biographies ….¬†lots of best sellers…..¬†have I read them? Not all… a few….¬†¬†however…. some day I plan to do nothing but

6) I have vast collections …. most people collect one thing…. not me….. I collect …. books…..¬† hummingbirds….. coffee mugs…. shot glasses…. etc….you might say my home is a serious dust magnet

7)¬† I am allergic to dust mites… lol…¬† go figure

8)¬†¬†I am claustrophobic….. me and little spaces do not get along…..¬† wide open is a must for me…

9) I LOVE cold….¬†¬† I dont like heat…. give me winter anyday as opposed to hot and¬†stuffy…

10)¬† And last …….I am afraid of heights…..

Ok so there you have it…now you know what a truly strange bird I am….. so on to the winner of the second chance giveaway

First… I asked Betty Crocker to help but she was busy baking…. she did however allow me to use her bowl again….

Since Betty was¬†elsewhere¬†I had to do something different so I decided to mix things up a bit…so the entries were placed in this cocktail mixer

Then shaken not stirred….

And of course poured on the rocks….

Hehe¬† …..¬† Just kidding…

And the winner is….

Congratulations to Phyllis !! 

This giveaway has been such a blast I plan on having more… it was too much fun

AN FYI…. I promise that we will give both Natasha and Phyllis prroper congrats on a future post.. along with links to their sites……Natasha is out of town so I didnt want to overwhelm her with a ton of responses which she cant answer…. while in and out she mentioned something¬†about 300 emails… so once she is back… we will congratulate BOTH ladies

Now someone sent me this and I loved it so much that I decided I had to share this with you….

  Life is too short for drama and petty things!

So laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly!
   

¬†Don’t break the elastic!
In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday. ¬†Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. ¬†And, there on television, she said it was ‘exciting.’ ¬†¬†Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring every day…like her breasts. ¬†They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first. The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!

Maya Angelou said this:

‘I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.’

‘I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.’
¬†‘I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.’
‘I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’
‘I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.’

¬†‘I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.
¬†‘I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.’

¬†‘I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.’
¬†‘I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. ¬†People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.’
‘I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.’

¬†‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’¬†

Now you are supposed to send this to at least seven people in your email…
If you don’t…the elastic will break and your underpants will fall down around your ankles! ¬†Believe me, I didn’t take any chances on MY elastic breaking….¬† I posted it for the world to read!!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST…..¬† A LITTLE TEASER…

¬†And more….

This will be a series of posts to come

HUGS

JO