31 followers

294 daily readers

rank of 25

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Category Quick Links

ZENtertainment - by Lisa Vankula Donovan

Just kidding, there's no free beer. There is, however, a really kick ass video I made using my photographs of Australia set to, you guessed it, Men at Work's "Down Under". So crank it up baby!

Sorry for the delay in posts...life has taken me by the ass and thrown me in the deep end. But I have swam, swum, swimmed...whatever...I've made it to the shallow end and I am now standing, um, okay, this bad analagy is really not working.

Anyway, until the new posts start at their regularly scheduled time tomorrow, please enjoy the following video.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Mum of two still has a hot bum...sort of.

July 26th 2010 10:40

There's never a dull moment being a mother. I think if there were it would just make me worry anyway.

Right now our household is in the throes of potty training, picky eater conquering and oral hygiene learning.

Unfortunately, none are going well.

Before kids, I was going to be "Ms. Healthy Mum". No processed or otherwise unhealthy foods were going to pass the lips of my furture children.

The stifled giggles from my friends with children now make more sense.

My oldest currently survives on ravioli and garlic bread, but she loves apples so I figure somewhere on the food pyramid is balances out.

My youngest is still at the age where there's nothing she won't eat. Even live stink bugs and the heads of Lego men (later found in her dirty nappy) are on the menu -- but that's a story for another time.

Potty training has as many ebbs and flows as the ocean, with one week seeming we've succeeded, and the next, Child #1 flat refuses to even acknowlege her big-girl undies.

Child #2 is either well-advanced for her age and trying to copy big sis, or she's just a baby nudist since nothing short of a chain lock can keep her in a nappy.

Any tips of teeth brushing would be greatly appreciated since apparently I've done little more than getting my oldest addicted to eating toothpaste.

One night I was taking a shower while the hubby was putting the little one down. My oldest came in and asked me if she could brush her teeth. Feeling a set-up but willing to take the hit for a few minutes of peace, I loaded up her toothbrush and she headed out the door.

From the shower I heard her say "uh oh", and when I stepped out she handed me her now empty toothbrush. Then, in her sweetest voice asked, "More, Mama?" Looking around, I didn't see where the dollap of paste had dropped so I begrudgingly gave her more and she promptly left the room.

I got out of the shower, slipped on my night clothes I had laid out, and began to notice my bum getting progressively warmer. The first thought I had was that my husband had played the old "tiger balm in the shorts" trick; and no, it's not beyond him.

But upon further investigation, I found the missing dollap or toothpaste and the reason for the "uh oh"...in my pants.

image credit: http://www.zazzle.com/cartoon baby photosculptures

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Put 'em up Facebook...I'm still not convinced.

July 22nd 2010 12:11

Here's a little addition to the previous post on my decision to delete my Facebook account. Which apparently is a big pile dog doo. I made this huge decision to hit the "deactivate" button and after three or four "are you sure" screens, I hit it. And do you know what it said then?

"If you ever want to get your account back, just log in as normal with your same e-mail and password."

No pomp and circumstance, no "sorry to see you go, we'll miss you", no, "there's no turning back now, it's about to be alllll over if you hit that button!"

Then, I set an account up for my poor mother-in-law who now couldn't see pictures of her other children's kids, her grandbabies, living in the States because I took a stand. And when I tried to link her account to my e-mail (she doesn't even know how to use a computer, let alone e-mail) it said, "that e-mail is linked to an existing Facebook account".

Well, it shouldn't be, considering I DEACTIVATED it. Sheesh, it's like telling your drug dealer that you are going to rehab and they give you a going away bag of dope. They don't really believe you're done. But you know what? I'll stay away just on pricipal alone now. Just because Facebook doesn't think I can.

Either way, as I stated in my previous post, Facebook, or Mark Zuckerberg more precisely could take down the ridiculous page dubbing Raoul Moat a "legend" (see the Electronic Trading directive below) but the math as to who they would piss off most didn't lean in their favor. If I could find this bit of information, are you expecting me to believe Facebook didn't know about it?

Hmph. And I'm just a simple blogger.

Electronic Trading Directive 2002

"On top of the existing laws, there is the little-known Electronic Trading EC directive of 2002, which gives all of us the power to fight back.

The directive gives providers of sites such as Facebook immunity from prosecution only if they act promptly to remove offending articles from the web when a complaint is made."

Read more: Really Long Link

122

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Australian Bush Poem

July 19th 2010 02:19

So since my husband and I have moved to Australia, we have spent more than half the time here living in the bush. The beauty of the landscape and wildlife is remarkable and awe-inspiring.

[ Click here to read more ]

137

Vote

Comments (3)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Goodbye Facebook...it's you, not me.

July 15th 2010 23:43

I'm going to do something different today...I'm going to be serious. I know, my husband says it's not possible but I'll give it a try.

I am writing this because once again my decision to F-Off Facebook has been strengthened. I just read a story, that you can find here about a Facebook page established to bid adieu and pay respect to Raoul Moat, the man who led British police on possibly their biggest manhunt in history, before cowardly killing himself

[ Click here to read more ]

166

Vote

Comments (4)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Pardonnez-moi, where have manners gone?

July 13th 2010 23:01

Writer Burton Rascoe once said, “What no [spouse] of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window.” This is also true when walking down the street, driving a car, and grocery shopping.

This leads me to the inspiration for this week’s column

[ Click here to read more ]

162

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

G'day Ya'll! What not to do when meeting the other guy.

July 12th 2010 12:16

Recently I've been getting some grief from my fellow Yanks about being too Aussie. Look, I love this country almost as much as my own, but I've still got my American pride deeply intact, I can assure you.

So feeling a bit like the “(wo)man in the middle”, I’ve come up with few tips for my Yankee and Aussie friends when meeting one another for the first time

[ Click here to read more ]

141

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

I'm American...is that a good excuse?

July 11th 2010 02:57

Today, I Lisa Donovan, in a show of fairness and an effort to save my marriage, vow to throw myself under the proverbial bus. After many talks with the previously written about bat-torturing (here),directionally-challenged hubby (and here), I’ve decided my time has come.

That’s right readers. Although shockingly witty and immensely humble, I am not without my share of faults. I have had a few moments where it may have appeared that I was a complete and utter buffoon

[ Click here to read more ]

175

Vote

Comments (3)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Un-friending Facebook week 2: Facebook who?

July 10th 2010 04:46

So, days are passing without me realizing it when it comes to Facebook. I have broken my own rule a time or two, but for good reason.

No, I no longer cruise the site like a cop in a doughnut bar, I just got on to say Congrats to my sister-in-law who just had a baby boy. Other than that I have been completely unconcerned with the goings on of good ole FB

[ Click here to read more ]

130

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend

Un-friending Facebook-One week out

July 7th 2010 10:44

Well, I did it. I made it one week without Facebook, woo. And if you read that "woo" with no exclamation point, that's the way it was meant.

[ Click here to read more ]

145

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Lisa Vankula Donovan - Category: My Ramblings

Email this Post to a Friend