Pizza Hut waitress gets $10,000 tip!

Good story!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19796133/

Pizza Hut waitress gets $10,000 tip. Check came from family of regulars who heard she couldn’t afford college.

Let the weeping begin.:)

There's a ticket holder in Indiana that's hundreds of millions richer: Come out, come out Wherever you are!!

Lucky dog! (Or just an average American Pit bull terrier, Webshots)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20450113/
That Powerball Lottery Ticket is out there in Indiana!

I Found the Source (MSN gave it up)

Good Stories (all kinds, look here): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13282721/

No more needed to say.

Tim Burton & Helena Bonham Carter produce a baby girl for Christmas!

I like Ms. B-Carter a lot: so self-effacing (that means she makes fun of herself & has a lovely sense of humor)!

Both are up for Golden Globes for 'Sweeney Todd,' he for Best Director, she for Best Actress.

Life is looking Suweeet, and Sweeney Todd hasn't opened up (made the money) yet! It's sweeping like wildfire as a must-see, without even being available yet!

Wow! Merry Christmas, happy couple!:)

Hunh, and to think Bonham Carter's pregnancy got on my radar without her even begging for a belly shot on a major magazine. Go figure!:)

Holiday postcard arrives 93 years later

‘Perfect shape,’ says postmaster, despite its curious journey

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22263905/?GT1=10645

MSNBC

Ideas on What We'll Give This Year (2007)

Gifts for others: The Relatives

For our gifts for others, well I'm the one trying to reassure Husband that less is just fine. His idea: Gift certificates from a specific restaurant. I said $10 increments, for a couple.

This is a downsize from his $15 per person, probably to pay for an entire meal for someone that husband feels obliged to.

But it doesn't have to be that way. $10 off of an entire meal seems like a great and useable coupon for anybody, at least in my world, and just who is it we're trying to impress?

He is also fond of the 'send a hunk of sausage' directly from the factory to people. I wonder what will win out this year?

For My idea, I got some photo work, including magnets, made by York Photo http://www.yorkphoto.com and it gave me an idea. Somehow, we need a picture of ourselves, preferably with both the cat and dog this year, but I'll take what I can get, and Voila! Magnets & Husband's gift certificates that can fit inside a Christmas card, and that finishes the relatives off this year.

I will check Shutterfly http://www.shutterfly.com to see if I can get some cute borders around each magnet. I spent hours on my last order with them, putting different borders on the pics. It was so fun!

About those Christmas cards. As folks who read my other blog de rant, I am nothing if not honest. Well, I bought this year's Christmas cards in the Dollar Store. They are cheap in quality but they fit the bill: they say 'Merry Christmas' on the inside, not Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays - but 'Merry Christmas' because that's the holiday I'm celebrating.

Fantastic blog entry about this from Mysti http://mystispirtualjourney.blogspot.com that assures Christians that now is the time to say 'Merry Christmas,' and to say it proud.

It's not that I couldn't send those cheap cards out, but I just feel that if the inside of the card is our gift this year, why not have truly pretty or reflective cards.

It should feel heavy or weighty, or at least like real paper, not glossy, slickery poo. And I am such a paper whore: a lover of all things paper, stationary, your basic insides to Staples or Office Depot. I swear that's hereditary, too!

Husband says he doesn't care about all that, he's just so glad I got my Christmas spirit back, that I care again and that I am plotting what to do for it. That's a big deal for a bipolar, and a big deal at our house.

Besides, I am an Exclusive Gold Card member of Hallmark, and get enough deals and coupons that my boxed card purchase will seem practically free. :)

(Our) Christmas Hopes 2007

Hmmm...Christmas 2007 approaches and I have a few thoughts on what do to do for gifts on a [frayed] shoestring budget!

I am so thankful that we are on an 'off-year' for the large family gathering. Every two years we come together, like a flock of seagulls, and last year was the year.

It was a VERY long drive to Grandma's House last year (my husband's g-ma), not to mention the Massive Amount of Work it took to make everyone's gifts - 30 or so very personal baskets for everyone.

I have reason to be very proud of that work, not only because I had a vision for what I wanted, and made it come true, there were some unexpectedly overjoyed relatives that made the entire thing worth it.:)

This year is a polar opposite - what a shock! I think it will be just Husband & myself! I am looking forward to this!

Not because I think we'll lay around and never really realize that it is Christmas, on the contrary, I want to pull out all the stops!

As strange as it might sound, I need to research the food 'traditions of Christmas,' ('a Googlin' I will go!) because I don't recall a lot of these traditions as a kid, plus this is my chance to start some!

I need to know what yummy, appetizing, wonderful smelling stuff 'makes Christmas' and make it! I'm talking food and I intend to throw myself into the making of it. That is a weird & new Christmas joy for me!

We have been gifted a spiral-cut Christmas ham by Mom, already, so we can have that. That says 'mashed potatoes' to me, but yams are better for you.

My mom and I have made wassail for Christmas before. Talking about Wonderful Smelling Stuff! That has orange juice and cloves and I forget what else, but it is a warm drink, doesn't have alcohol and is thoroughly yummy & makes you feel toasty inside!

I must have a small tree this year. I was promised a tree for this Christmas, a year ago. Luckily, I know we have an artificial one that will be just the ticket. Believe me, we have TONS of ornaments from Christmases of yore, all the way back to when I was in Kindergarten.

To me, those are Mom's memories. Sadly enough, she tells us she doesn't care about Christmas, she doesn't need a tree or ornaments. But, she's living in an RV (her choice, we didn't put her in there), now in a 'warm location' for the first time ever and actually, this year she's about as close to get to as my in-law relatives. She has instructed us to stay home.

One of my 'secret joys' is my tiny amassment of ornaments. I'm starting my own set, little by little. [It's everything I can do not to buy out Hallmark's ornaments, I love them so, something for every hobbie and personality type - all in miniature!] Hence, the need for only a small tree.

So food (good smells), tree with ornaments. This is important.

Another Movie to Love!

"Enchanted" is enchanting! What a joy!!

I loved it!

Amy Adams - what a little cutie! (You know, I used to be that small. Just sayin'!:) Patrick Dempsey is yummy, I mean to an adult. I think to a child he is properly debonaire.

I did not mentally 'pass out,' not one single moment. I thoroughly enjoyed the dancing and singing numbers. And it all made sense, but I swear not in a sickeningly nice way. More like, thank God they finally made one on Tart's level. Buuut, may-be that's me!

Oh! Fabulous actress alert! I know I never mentioned it, but Susan Surandon is one of Tart's FAV Actresses! She had me at 'Thelma and Louise' and I'm pretty sure I'd go see her perform in a gunny sack, which she CERTAINLY is not in in this movie. ROWR! Even with enough makeup to be a drag queen she is still her exquisite self. And so good at mean! Hey, someone's gotta do it!

A picture is worth a thousand words so I won't over-word everything.

I will say that I went by myself (!) to this little wonder and I highly recommend you take 'Your One True Love' or at least 'Someone You Like A Lot!' This will be a must-buy for me when it comes out on DVD -so that Husband can finally enjoy it with me, too! This is one of those happy films that I will watch over and over, to forget the ills of life.:)

Wonderful for both kids and parents - now how enchanting is THAT!:)

Out!

Ellen gets Jenna to call her Dad

Isn't that a nice picture? I think George W. makes a better Dad than President. I'm so glad he is good at something.:) Tart

Straight off People.com:

Jenna Bush has tried her parents' patience once more – this time with the help of Ellen DeGeneres.

Pleasantly prodding the First Daughter during a taping of her show on Tuesday, for an episode to be aired Wednesday (and previewed on that morning's Today show), DeGeneres inquired if Bush could get her high-powered papa on the phone any time she wants.

"I usually call him in the evening or in the morning, when I know they'll both be at home," said the 26-year-old.

"Could you just pick up the phone like right now and call him?" wondered a wide-eyed Ellen.

"Sure," replies Bush. "He's going to kill me, though.

After being given a phone – "Hit 9," says Ellen, while the dutiful daughter is careful to cover the phone so no one can detect the private number – Bush comments aloud that because of this, "I'm not going to get anything I asked for for Christmas."

'Not Barging In'

DeGeneres, meanwhile, says that if Jenna's parents don't answer, she'll get Jenna's grandfather, former President George Herbert Walker Bush, on the phone, and observes: "We're not barging in while they're in their pajamas or something."

Once Bush gets through to First Lady Laura Bush, she says, "Hi, Mom." Asking how the show is going, Mom says, "I'm not watching you because you're taping right now."

She also tells her daughter, "I'm just sitting here with Daddy."

Pipes up Ellen: "I wanted to say hi to Daddy."

And so, the President of the United States comes to the phone, and is told by his offspring, "This is the Ellen DeGeneres Show."

'Are You Mad?'

"Well, that's great!" says the surprised Chief Executive, who asks DeGeneres, "How's my little girl doing?" "Oh, she's great," answers the host.

"She's scared she's going to get in trouble [and] not going to get any Christmas presents." Pause.

"Dad?" asks Jenna. "Yes, baby," he replies. "Are you mad?" she inquires. "No, not at all," says President Bush.

"I'm excited to talk to you. I'm glad to talk to Ellen."

Well, what do you know.

Mimi La Rue has an outing!!!

Yes, yes, held by blah, blah McDermott, Tori Spelling's husband and their human kid, Mimi takes part in her human caretaker's 30's dress-up fun. Ms. La rue, ever the lady-Pug, leading the million dollar Pug life!:)

The Princess & Her Peanut Butter

Several videos, and plenty of pictures, were taken of Emma, my Apricot Pug, completely and utterly enjoying the last remains of a peanut butter jar. This one is my favorite because she lays downs and actually holds the jar with her paw!

Watching her have this much fun made me realize that I really could get by in this life with just furbabies. I know, those of you with kids, it is not the same, I'm well aware. But clearly, for Princess Emma, there is nothing better than a peanut butter jar, it must be the closest thing to Heaven! What a life!

Cross-stitch Excitement!

Ginnell Point, Swift Mountain Lake, Montana but reminds me of the beautiful Technicolor sunsets in Gone With the Wind!

Hurray, hurray! I checked out my mail a moment ago and I got something that I was waiting expectantly for! It's a 'Gone With the Wind' cross-stitch chart, bought from one of my favorite sellers off Ebay. I guess I'm starting a little collection, since I bought 'Scarlet' from her.

I've talked about charts on my other blog, Adventures of a Jungletart. Don't confuse a chart with a kit. A chart will have a picture of what your finished product will look like, and the pattern itself, marked in color coded - and nothing more! No ready-to-use fabric, threads, or frame - those things you must go to your local craft store and buy. Decent/good charts should use DMC colors in my estimation since that's a standard. Also, a truly good pattern is not just chugged off a computer (there are programs now that pretty much anyone can use), at least not one that you are going to pay money for. I love my chart person because I know she really did put in the extra work, by hand, to make it an excellent chart.

As far as buying this latest chart goes, its certainly not for the sensibility on how much time it will take me to finish. These charts, when finished, are huge! It already takes me a semi-lifetime to do the adorable Stitch-n-Hangs (see my latest finished one below)!

I guess there are some things that utterly strick my fancy and deep and abiding love for certain movies/actors/actresses: Vivienne Leigh, actress that portrayed Scarlett in GWTW was bipolar in real life. Married to (Sir) Lawrence Olivier who dedicated himself to trying to help Vivienne, including with her constant insomnia. She died of tuberculosis in real life. She'll never die on the screen. If you have never thought to sit through the two-disk set of "Gone With The Wind," I highly, highly recommend it. If not, 'Tomorrow Is, Another Day', one of Scarlett's life-isms.

There are some things I find collectible and get a wee tad compulsive. Not to mention the price was insanely awesome and I knew my chart person was all about quality.

We have more to look forward to on this blog! We took a million pictures (and video!) of Emma dog enjoying the utter patootie out of a peanut-butter jar. That is a must see! Also, some adorable video of Paddy-Pug in super hyper, freaked out by my shoe, mode. I ran out of time today! Some of the stuff needs to be edited, so hopefully I can figure out how (or where on the web?) to edit out some sound. Tomorrow IS another day!:)

Insanely Gorgeous

These are the most exquisite pictures I have gotten yet, from Reese the Siamese. I have learned with him that he is like the big time, highly paid human models. You do not 'get' a picture out of Reese, he 'gives' it to you. You must beg, at least a little, and praise him highly for the priviledge of being 'allowed' a gorgeous, no red-eye picture. No lie!

My God! As you can clearly see, he is the Iman of the kitty-kitty world. And he is mine!!:) He's an affectionate sweet-baby and I am often stunned when I see him sitting/lying throughout the house, he's a living, breathing statue. With enormous fangs! - that's only one reason we call him Freak Boy!:)

I Finally Finished Something!

I really like to cross-stitch, I find it relaxing. That really came in handy in March, when I had to go through all my Dad's things, and there was pretty much nothing [zero] to do in the evenings.

Sleeping during that time was fitful and I never physically ached so much in my life, which was odd, because it mostly went away when we left that area.

Anyhow, I actually finished this March 2007. I made it with my sweet Emma-dog in mind. She is my puggie-Princess!

I'm just getting to posting it now because it took me forever to take a picture of it, and since my Dad died, for me, it's hard to pinpoint the 'good stuff.' I probably should buy a book on grief, or look up that kind of thing on the net, because it's sooooo not over. I feel like I handle it all myself and shouldn't I have a therapist for these things? For anything?

Anyway, please enjoy today's Good Stuff.:)

What Will Matter

This is a beautiful poem and webpage that truly captures what it really does mean to live. For me reading it, right after my father's death, it has such a special poignancy, a real meaning because it rings so true. It gets right to the heart of what matters in life, and what won't. Because it has copyright, I didn't try to contact the poet but instead am posting the beautiful site where you can find it. Peace.
Tart

http://susie1114.com:80/LiveALife.html

Somewhere beautiful

Webshots pic

May there be somewhere beautiful

for you to go to

May there be somewhere beautiful

to lead you there

~MVZ

Pictures that I have taken Myself!!!

I post a lot of pictures on Adventures of a JungleTart, mostly from free sites like Webshots, or off of MSN, etc. Well, the Tart does take her own pictures and that does qualify as something of her own creation. So I have decided to post them here!


Behold! The Emma dog, Emma dog! As you can see, she is the embodiment of intelligence, beauty and just plain Pug cuteness. She is now 3, and we adore her so!

This is a picture of creeping hyacinth (I believe its called) from my in-laws old house. It is incredibly beautiful when flowering, otherwise its just an ugly vine waiting for good weather.

Yup, I took this gorgeous picture of tulips!

This is one of the first things I ever bought on Ebay! It's a glass Pug cutting board and it works great!

Asian (or Chinese?) amaryllis. They bloom every summer and are beautiful!

Decoupage is easy!!

For Christmas 2006 I decided to make my own candles, from jars I'd been saving all year (like spaghetti, pickle and little nacho cheese jars). Candlemaking can be another post. So, I'll just focus on the embellishing of the outside of the jars.

I wanted something whimsical on my candle jars, so I went to my local craft store and asked them where their decoupage stuff was. The yout that was directing me clearly didn't know WHAT I was talking about, so I basically had to explain it to her, hoping that she might know where it was located in the store.

What is decoupage? It sounds like some French word, which it probably is, and sounds old-fashioned like something done in the 70's (hence this store person/child mostly likely born after 85-later wouldn't ever have heard of it!).

Well, regardless of all that, essentially it is a kind of glue that usually dries transparent when loaded onto an object (the glass jar in my case).

Then, a die-cut paper picture, or some other picture usually made of paper, is immediately stuck onto the spot where you loaded your decoupage. Once the picture is placed just how you like (it should still be moveable on your wet decoupage) put another coat of decoupage on top of the pic (I used the sponge brushes for all of this. They will get clean nicely after the project if you immediately run them under water and squeeze.)

When you first put the decoupage on, it may not be clear immediately. Don't panic, because it should dry clear after it has fully dried. After the first application on the paper picture, let it dry, do another coat, let it dry - at least three coats are going to actually seal in your picture to the object you're trying to put it on - that makes it a real decoupage.

So, I chose fairies to be on my glass jar candles, and after securing each fairy to the jar I wanted some 'fairy dust' to go with it.

So at this point the project is dry, with picture secure, I put another layer of the decoupage/glue just where I want my 'fairy dust' and then sprinkle glitter over the decoupaged area. I admit that I let it dry and left it at that, with no more layers of the decoupage/glue. I was a little afraid that my fairy dust/glitter would get scraped off. I did buy a 'finishing spray' when I first bought all my decoupage stuff at the craft store, but I never used this either. The spray was supposed to seal everything in, with gloss, but I was happy with the results the way they are.:)

I had thought about doing creative things with the jar lids, maybe covering them with fabric or something and placing them on top, but I found that too overwhelming and wasn't sure how to go about it and I was just plain running out of time, so I threw them all out! Throwing anying out is cathartic for me, and I'm not sorry I did it, because they weren't necessary to the project/gift. I'm so proud of my glittery fairies! I hope you get a kick out of them, too!