bahama mama??

so, we returned thursday from our bahama cruise. five days away from the hellhole. away from the every day stresses. away from t.willie and bilbo baggins and buster the wonder dog...

 five days with "the gals"- to be silly and laugh so hard our stomachs hurt. five days to eat and EAT all that bountiful cruise food. five days to breathe sea air and relax and u.n.w.i.n.d .

 but here is what i want to say- although all that was nice, i am happy to be back home. what i discovered is, i am not a cruise kinda gal. i was overwhelmed by the crowds and the glitz and lights and shine of the cruise ship. the noise and activity was a bit much for this "home gal".

nassau-was not impressed

my ideal vacation would be a plane ride to a nice hotel and sitting on a beach reading a book (or two)for a few days. yes, now THAT would be a real retreat from the chaos of the hellhole!!

this beach at half moon cay-was INCREDIBLE!! (photo courtesy of grace)

i do thank my mom and grace for the experience. it WAS fun and we DID laugh--a LOT!!
but, alas, the only shipboard romance i had was the one with the dessert display!!

 i was here! (photo courtesy of grace)

grateful today for:

1. being back home with my family
2. warmer weather here at home
3. MY OWN BED!!

picture me HERE!!!!

well, i have had enough of winter, i'm heading out in the morning for a cruise to the bahamas! my mom, her friend, my sister and i will have five (hopefully) glorious, relaxing days on board a carnival cruise ship. we will leave this behind:

for something like this:

so, sorry to tell ya-there won't be a new blog post for a few days...
just picture me HERE!

when the HELLhole freezes over...

...it looks something like this:

and this

and this

but also like this

 and this

and this

yes, sad but true, mr. snow's face is falling off! 

grateful today:

1. for the week-long snow

2. for birds at my feeders

3. for warm stew in a warm home

how very unfortunate

so, a short while ago, i had been to a blog that alerted me to this fun tidbit:
do you know that if you go up to the google search engine and type in the word "unfortunately" and your name- like this- "unfortunately, joanne", it will give you many responses starting with those two words?! i know, i just had to try it. some of the responses are kind of dull but most are pretty funny and some are down right hilarious!

**remember, these are NOT my answers, i have NOT changed anything, this is NOT  actually about me and i am JUST fine! what follows are some of the responses i liked best:

ok, here is the bad news:

Unfortunately, Joanne's pre-marital bliss is ended by a devastating earthquake in Florida.

Unfortunately, Joanne's going to have to do it without her Djinn-turned-lover, who remains behind in the hands of her enemies.

Unfortunately Joanne's interest in C&W dancing was way ahead of the rest of us. She was too far ahead of the pack for this group to tolerate. ...

Unfortunately Joanne was forced off the road by a rather large lorry and ploughed through quite a few cones.

Unfortunately, Joanne was the last person to consult with when you were in need of some sound advice, because she was forever going off on these tangents ...

Unfortunately, Joanne & I got carded cause the new lady that worked there has a stick up her ass or something…

Unfortunately, Joanne is right. Here's the deal. Splenda DOES have calories -- four calories per packet!

Unfortunately Joanne did not do her research into the operation which has caused a lot of other patients a number of complications and has even caused some ...

Unfortunately, Joanne had not gotten enough Spanish lessons, and realized much later that loco was the masculine form of crazy, and that the screen name was ...

Unfortunately, Joanne has moved to Arizona, so I had to find another blonde to fill her place. (You've seen one blonde, you've seen 'em all ~smirk~)

what the...??

Unfortunately Joanne, with a fish that old it is hard to tell if you can fix it.

Unfortunately Joanne said the statistics were much worse for cats, with 408 cats impounded, 44 reclaimed and 17 rehoused. ...

Unfortunately, Joanne doesn't let her more frisky self out very often. She likes to keep her kittens caged. To those who don't know her, ...

Unfortunately Joanne was hanging onto the the nearest object that would hold her, which was a bystander's hiking boot. ...

But unfortunately , Joanne's camera is spoilt because she left it on the floor and someone stepped on it when we were playing.

Unfortunately, Joanne has been neglecting her shamanic studies for many months, so now that she needs them, she's on a crash course

Unfortunately, JoAnne and I forgot the fact that most anime fans are all-nighters and end up stuck in their beds until 11 am or so. ...

Unfortunately, Joanne had to witness all of the gooey stuff. “Ugh, I think I will be leaving now. Don't need to see my own nephew trying to get it on!

my decline:

Unfortunately, Joanne's bullying demands verge on the unbelievable.

Unfortunately, Joanne was heading in the opposite direction. She began drinking, which tore apart our relationship. The divorce hit hard. ...

Unfortunately, Joanne hit a rut and took a tumble. Thank god there weren't any cliffs at that part. She got quite a nasty cut on her right knee, ...

Unfortunately, Joanne's mobility had declined rapidly and she needed to use a wheelchair

Unfortunately, Joanne learned the hard way that keeping a tan at all costs can end up costing a person their life.

Unfortunately, Joanne is injured in a bombing masterminded by a group of white supremacists led by Tim Porter

and finally, my demise:

Unfortunately, Joanne passed away in March 2009. The book club participants pooled their money together and purchased a selection of ...

Unfortunately, Joanne died only a few weeks later. This gave Jean-Paul the idea to publicly announce his homosexuality, hoping that as a former Olympic ...

Unfortunately, Joanne passed away on 29 November, 2009. She now is watching us wistfully from Valhalla

*******************************************************************************

i have to say, i had way too much fun with this! and i know, you're all saying "boy that gal has way too much time on her hands!" but if you find yourself with some time to kill, try it yourself. you may find that your Djinn-turned lover remains behind in the hands of your enemies or that your bullying demands verge on the unbelievable or  that, even now, you are watching wistfully from valhalla!! 

have fun!

i know but i don't know

so, in monday's post, i asked those of you who visited my blog to leave a comment. in the comment, you were to tell me how you found me and, for fun, to count the "subliminal" messages in the text. well, i have to say, i am somewhat disappointed. those of you who did leave comments (and i LOVE ya for it!) are the same friends and family who i already knew about, who i know how you found me and who comment regularly.

i am still very much in the dark about how all the other folks who supposedly visit, find me. maybe maploco really is loco and it tells me i have more visitors than i do!!! so, fine.........i'm taking a cleansing breath here............i'm letting it go. i am just going to be grateful for those of you who take the time to check out my blog every day or so, and to leave a comment to tell me what you think. it really means a lot to me. a LOT. because, as you guys know, i have no life. this blog is it!

okay, 'nuff said. i've made ya wait through all my ramblings and now it's time to tell ya who t.willie chose as the winners of the three necklaces. (yes mom, i did put your name in!)
and just remember- you are ALL winners to me!


1. val
2. emily
3. gail (who left me an email)

and also, i have a fourth necklace that is going to my friend jerd, who was the ONLY commenter to count up the subliminal messages!! woo hoo, good for you, jerd, you followed directions and had all the fun! ha!

YAY! so happy for you gals, they really are neat pieces of jewelry with a great message to "cultivate peace" in our world. please send me an email aurorafedora01@yahoo.com with your mailing addresses and i will get these right out to you.

grateful today:

1. for YOU guys!
2. for the chance to do something creative and make a poster
3. for children's tylenol, that takes away t.w's fever (wish him well, he's got the crud!)

how in the WORLD did you find my blog??

today, with the approach of my one year blogiversary (next month), i would like to ask you- my loyal visitors- how you managed to find my blog. according to my maploco map (in the side bar), i have had 6,425 all time visitors since i added the map to my blog. that number astounds and amazes me!

now, if you have ever clicked on my map, you will see that just over 1000 of those are from sparta, my town. ok, so even if ya throw them out, that's STILL over 5000 visitors! hoo-wee, that still impresses me.

but, as happy as i am to think that that many folks have been to/read my silly stuff, i have to wonder HOW IN THE WORLD did they find me?

so, here is the favor i want to ask all of you who read this particular post-----
PLEASE leave a comment or send me an email (aurorafedora01@yahoo.com), and tell me how you found my blog.

as an added bit of fun, tell me how many subliminal messages you found.
hint: count up all the bold print words

make sure you leave an email address where i can contact you. and in my next blog post, i will put all the names into a hat and have t.willie choose three names. those lucky people will


win one of these pretty little necklaces. these were purchased from the hunger site. they depict the world with a peace sign on one side and say "cultivate peace" on the other. they hang from a silver-tone chain.

i will announce the winners friday night.

so please please please leave me a message and spread the word...
thanks...joanne