The Perfect Leap Day Mood!

I am in a particularly good mood today. No reason I just am. I got my final paperwork for my taxes, that may have helped. I got a new cell phone in the mail. Mail that isn't a bill is always a good thing. And my new “you'll sleep like a baby pillow” shipped today. Thank-you teambuy. I was able to work on my novel today, a whooping 1000 words. I am feeling good. I got inspired last night and have an idea for next years blog. If, I fingers crossed, i make it to next year. I am super, super excited about it. But I am not spilling the beans until it get closer to the end of the year. But I guess you could say there are surprises to come!!! So watch out baby! Have a fabulous Leap day! A day full of possibilities!

Oh and I hit 300 views today!

Little Avocado of Horrors

Feed me Seymour!!! 

        As you can see my avocado plant has sprouted again! My best friend keeps saying she is just waiting for the avocado to sprout legs and kill us in the night. It is biding its time, gathering its resources. I don't think she is far off. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I mean it has bark now for goodness sake. I first posted my avocado progress a month ago. I only had two sets of leaves. Now it has four. I mean damn! I posted more pictures 10 days ago and again it was not as tall, full. I have a tree, a real tree in my house. I wonder how much longer until I get fruit? We will see. 

Now just for fun............

PiBs in a Blanket!

It's A Hard Life, Knitting Mittens Everyday!

        I have been working on mittens, just mittens, all month long. I was suppose to be finished three pairs by the 29 of February but that is not going to happen. As of today I have a completed pair, plus the right hand the other two pairs and a quarter of the left penguin mittens.

        I spoke to my client today. She is fine that it will be at least another week. A month ago she really wanted them by the end of February. We have been having a very mild winter in Ottawa. She was in a real rush so that her family she is gifting them to would have some use out of them this winter. Well that was until Friday when we were hit with a massive storm. Then today we got a shitload of snow. So there is no longer a rush. Yay! But I will still work my little fingers to the bone to get them finished. After I have finished all 5 pairs I am going to be done with mittens for a while. Then I will have to get back to socks. Wish me Luck!

Honourable Mention Miracle Max

     Recently I wrote about how Princess Bride inspires me. But I did not mention Miracle Max. 

        With the Oscars tonight I thought he deserved an honourable mention. Although all the characters are amazing and Princess Bride is arguably one of the greatest movies of all time, Billy Crystal makes the movie for me.(Well him and Inigo) I know he only has one scene but still he steals the show. From a MLT to Humperdink to blave to bluff!!! to Have fun stormin' da castle to You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles. (This one is from his wife but I still like it, Chocolate, makes it go down easier.)

        Billy Crystal brighten every movie he is in. He brings an honesty and sincerity to his roles you rarely see. Watching him do his very best in his movies inspires me to try to do better. To be my best in all I do. A talent like him doesn't come around very often. That's why Miracle Max get an honourable mention in my blog.

Kermit and the Rainbow Inspiration

        Kermit A.K.A Jim Henson has always been a major sense of inspiration for me. But what about his is so very inspiring to me? Well he's not perfect. In Muppets take Manhattan and A Very Merry Muppet Christmas, Kermit freaks out on his friends. He reaches a breaking point and reacts badly. Which he later regrets, but it is endearing that he is fallible. As human as a singing frog can be. He is determined. In the Muppet Movie and Muppets take Manhattan, he perseveres even in the face of rejection. He is willing to do anything even wear a gold chain and pretend to be something he's not.

He believes in his dream, to become a star, to sell his show and he keeps at it until he achieved his dream. As he yells at New York, "The Frog is staying!" Even when it seems impossible, I mean in most countries he is an entree, not a potential star but that is what he is. Despite all the barriers keeping him from fame he still become the thing he is meant to be.

        

        The songs in his movies are very amazing as well. In Muppets take Manhattan Dr.Teeth sings “You can't take no for an answer.”

You can't take no for an answer!
You can't take no for an answer!
You can't take no for an answer!
No, no, no.

Whenever there's a dream worth a-dreaming (dreaming!)
And you wanna see that dream come true (dream come true!)
There'll be plenty people talking
"Forget all about it"
Say "it isn't worth the trouble--
All the trouble that you're going through!" (it ain't worth it-NO!)
Well, what can you do?

You can't take no for an answer! (you can't take no)
You can't take no for an answer! (no no no no)
You can't take no for an answer!
No, no, no.

No no no no no no no no no.
No no no no no no no no no.

Whatcha gonna do when the dimes get tough
and the world's treating you unkind?
You gotta hang on to your optimistic outlook
And keep possession of your positive state-of-mind
(state of mind, state of mind, state of mind, state, state, mind!)

No no no (No 9x)
No no no (No 9x)
No no no (No 9x)
No no no!

        Another song I love from that movie was Right Where I belong.

You mean...
Look at me, here I am
Right where I belong
I see that face coming back to me
Like an old familiar song.
What better place could anyone be?
Cause you're here with me!
It's all I've been looking for
And so much more!
And now I'm here
Now you're here!
Nothing can go wrong,
Cause I am here right where I belong!

         I think I was 9 years old when the most amazing moment happened to me. I turned on the TV and there he was, Kermit the frog, singing the Rainbow Connection. And I thought he was singing just to me, even though I knew that was impossible. But then I realized, he was singing to me because he was singing to the dreamer in me. Singing to the dreamer in all of us. It has taken 20 years but now my dreamer is ready to listen. When he sang, “It's something that I'm supposed to be.” It profoundly changed me. It made me feel like I had a destiny, like I could be anything. sometimes I like I lost that feeling but in that past few months I can feel it growing again. 

     So here is the lyrics of the Rainbow Connection and a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFLZ-MzIhM. I hope it was as inspiring to you as it was to me.

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard
and answered when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it.
Look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
and what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell. We know that it's probably magic.

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Time Travel and Inspiration

        I like that when a song comes on it can instantaneously transport you back to a memory/time in your life. So if it triggers a memory of an amazing event it can help motivate you even years later. I remember crowd surfing at a Killjoys concert at 16 and every time I hear one of their songs I remember that feeling. Freedom and invincibility.

        Who doesn't feel their step quicken a little when working out as soon as you hear “Eye of the Tiger” (Adrian!!!!)

So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge
Of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the
Eye of the tiger

        Most of the time when I am writing this blog I listen to Journey. So I don't stop believing.

Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights people

        I have always loved Chicago's You're the Inspiration.

Always on my mind
in my heart
in my soul
You're the meaning in my life
you're the inspiration.
You bring feeling to my life
you're the inspiration.

        I will miss Whitney Houston and her voice but I still can relate to how she felt while singing, One Moment in Time.

I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity.

        In the past few years Hedley has written a few great song. I saw them as an opening act a few years ago and look where they are now. One life

Oh it's a great big world and you'll see
It could pass you by at light speed
You've got one life, one life
Don't stop live it up, no

Hedley Invincible

I've come a long, long way
Made a lot of mistakes
But I'm breathin’, breathin’
That's right and I mean it, mean it
This time I'm a little run down
I've been living out loud
I could beat it, beat it
That's right, cause I'm feelin’, feelin’

        There are a lot more artists I could put up here but I think you get the point. Music inspired me like nothing else because it is a form of time travel for me and I hope it always will.

Inspire By Example!

        As I have previously mentioned I come from a really big family. But something that I may not have told you guys is that I was raised by a single mom. When I was born my mother had four children under five. Think about that and the fact that soon after she became a single mom. Although she had a lot on her plate, she never stopped taking in kids. Sometimes they stayed for a long time, other times just a short while but all were welcome at our house. She worked but after school she was always there making a home cooked dinner for all of us.

        She always seemed to have the answer. A very intelligent person and heavy into politics. She also multi-talented. She is an amazing chef, I have been asked multiple times if she was professionally trained and has made wedding cakes for 4 weddings. She taught me to cook, bake, sew and knit. She let me wear my designs to work starting at 8 and let me dress up my little sister. She taught me perseverance and a good work ethic. And I don't think she is done yet. She is a very strong woman and that's why she inspires me.