Entries for the Spring 4x4 Swap

Katespin

Traveling Fairy

Her name is Madam Pixie! Perhaps you have heard or seen the Traveling Gnome or Norm the Gnome Well, I will be hosting their great friend, The Traveling Fairy, Madam Pixie, for a short two week visit as one of her stops along her adventures. She will begin her stay with me on Monday, April 21st, I'll be taking lots of photos during her stay and posting them for all to see, and then she will depart in her traveling accomodations (a trackable Fed Ex or UPS box) along with her travel journal, off to adventures unknown! If you are interested in hosting Madam Pixie for a two week adventure, please send me an email to thorn.goblinglitter@yahoo.com, it's not too late to help set up her Itinerary!

Pulling me down!

I had it out with my GF on the phone yesterday, she hung up on
me...apparently she had just had it out with her mother telling her
pretty much what I was, that her BF is and always has been pulling her
down and that she has more issues with her kids than she thinks she
does, since she's always stressing over him and the kids can sense it all. Her mother apparently was getting on her about not wanting to
tell a therapist the whole truth and nothing but the truth and
get some REAL help, so when she was telling me how upset she was with her mother for lecturing at her, I told her that I have to agree with her mother and that this
is just the tip of the iceberg and now that the kids are in school,
more and more people (teachers and such) are going to begin to
notice behavioral problems with her children, and she is not going to be able to
continue to deny the problems at home that affect the kids, she
began getting very defensive saying there is nothing wrong and that
she is tired of all the negativity and that "her and her kids are
not going to end up...", then she stopped right there...so I
said "Go ahead, say it...you think you and your kids aren't going to
end up like me and mine? Just because you have mommy paying your
bills and you have mommy paying for your vehicle...take all that
away...and you are no different than me! You think because you
can "go" places each day with your kids that that makes for happy
and healthy children? You are in denial!" So she hung up on me!
So I'm left thinking that maybe I would be better off without all HER
negativity in MY life! Maybe I've been holding MYSELF back from getting
to know any other types of "happy" people due to my friendship with
her and being able to "comfortably" relate so well with her, rather than expanding
my own horizons and doing away with all the negative junk myself. For the most part, we have phone conversations every day, in which she is SCREAMING at her kids to leave her alone, I can never finish a sentence without her yelling at the kids in the background, and she's constantly telling me that they (the kids) frustrate her so much and are so out of control that she feels like she's losing her mind! That she dreads taking all of them somewhere at the same time because she cannot handle them all at once. So OKAY??? She has no problems with her kids? And they are "happy and healthy"? Hmmmm? I think not!!!! She's going to be in for a real rude awakening if she keeps shoving things inside and not acting on the problems. So I'm thinking that with all THAT negativity in MY life each day...it really isn't doing me any good either!

Identify this Plant

Does anyone know what this plant is? (click on the pic to enlarge) there is a large shrub of it growing infront of the neighbors house, I figure the seeds blew over here under my hedges. It looks like some type of holly, so I ripped and tore and dug and cut it from under the hedges and transplanted it under Mr. Gnomefeeder! Will the yellow berry-flower type thingies turn to red berries???????????????

P.S. I've been out in the yard enjoying the sunshine, transplanting and cleaning and such, incase anyone actually has MISSED me!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter All!
May all of you enjoy sunshine and love with your family and friends!
Got the ham cooking in the oven and the greens and beans are simmering in the crock pot...smells awesome! The sun is shining, but not yet warm enuf to sit out there to enjoy, still a bit of a chill in the air this morning!

Roger called already this morning at 9am to wish us a Happy Easter, that was real sweet of him! I'll have to be making some calls real soon!

Deejer spent the night at his friend's house lastnight, even though it was Easter Eve...they had started to watch King Kong and was going to be late when it was over, he promised to be home by 7am before Poopie woke up...HE WASN'T!!! Had to call and wake him up near 7:30am, all worked out, she wasn't awake yet anyhow. So while Deejer woke her up and got her dressed, I went out into the yard and played "Easter Bunny" dropping pink and blue wrapped treats all over the place! Then we "took a look" in the yard for any signs of the Furry Generous Dude! Well, imagine our "surprise" at all the loot littering the backyard! Deejer looked so funny out there, this 17 y/o "almost man" walking around with a bunny basket gathering up goodies! But he played real well for his little sis...check it out! Easter 2006

Thursday thru Saturday...PAIN!!!

Is it really Saturday morning? My body feels like a Mac Truck hit it! I can’t work in the yard anymore without days of pain afterwards! Poopie and I worked all day (and well into the evening) in the yard on Thursday…cleaning all the caught up leaves, sticks and garbage out from under the hedges!








I now have a sampling of the hedges growing in a pot, wondering what kind of “art” I can do with this “twig”, like Bonsai? I read somewhere, or saw a show on HGTv, not sure…but you can do Bonsai on any tree or shrub, and since I plan to be moving to a much smaller apartment this summer, my gardening needs to be on a smaller scale as well!













Mr. Gnomefeeder got a new home, as I was worried that there would be too much action on the porch and no little feathered friend would fly up to Mr. Gnomefeeder there, so now he is “caged” inside a Tiki Torch pole which is staked into another pot down by the flowerbed. I got my ivy transplanted into a window box planter, now also sitting in the flowerbed. Then I found some plants out front that truly wanted to be transplanted to the back of the house!


Today’s forecast is for another beautiful day, but first things first…I don’t have a thing done for Easter yet except the ham…nothing like waiting until the very last minute! So it will be off to the grocery this morning and then out in the yard to work on a water feature alongside the back porch! I think my fountain equipment is still packed somewhere in the basement?….HMMMM?
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Special Events
Special Prayer Requests
Listening to
Soul Survivor - Young Jeezy w/ AKON

What's your religious Philosophy? This is "ME" to a T

You are Agnostic

You're not sure if God exists, and you don't care. For you, there's no true way to figure out the divine. You rather focus on what you can control - your own life. And you tend to resent when others "sell" religion to you.

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

(found this on http://alter-myworld.greatestjournal.com/ March 17th post, thought twas interesting!)

Blue Skies and Passing of a dear one

I haven’t had much time to blog, since the weather has been so nice…I just have wanted to be out there soaking up the sun. Today it was rather overcast, but I got this picture yesterday and just had to share it!



I've also been suffering from terrible night sweats just about everynight, makes for a long night of tossing and turning, which means an early bedtime for me, since I never get much sleep the previous night.

Since it wasn’t the most beautiful weather today, I went shopping! I saw some of the cutest things the other day at Dollar General, and just had to go back for them today.





My girlfriend, Kim, FINALLY sent me an email! We’ve been out of touch for a little bit, unfortunately her email was bad news. Her mother passed away Jan 29th of this year…I’ve been so preoccupied with what’s been going on in my own life, not reaching out to others. Kim was my very first friend ever, we’ve been friends since I was in Kindergarten, maybe even before that…but that’s the earliest memory I have. I spent a lot of time at her house, her family was like a surrogate family, her bro was best friends with my bro too. Here is the pic she sent to me, I’ll cherish it forever…since it has Kim, Donna, Don and their parents, Don Sr and Karen altogether before Karen’s passing!



Birthdays, Anniversaries, Special Events
Special Prayer Requests

Illustration Friday - "Speed"

This one was difficult! The first thing that came to mind when thinking of the word “SPEED”, of course, was a car…but I don’t DO cars! (giggling)…so the only other thing that came to mind was the actual word SPEED! And a few other words…

Mission Accomplished!

(Pic Uploading isn't working today! So just click on the highlighted words, it will take you to the pics) I tackled the back flowerbed! YEEHAW!! Feels so good to accomplish something that’s been on your mind too long! I was waiting for the very next nice day to get out there. That would have been yesterday, but after my “night out” Saturday (oh..details on that to follow) I really didn’t have much get up and go Sunday! Poopie wanted to get out there and ride that bike…I allowed her to ride it up and down the sidewalk along the side of the house, because I could see her from the window; however I could also see this strange man slowly walking up and down the sidewalk…very strange looking. Not strange LOOKING, but out-of-the-neighborhood-strange-LOOKING, like “stranger danger” feelings were setting in. He walked slowly to the corner, looking about…crossed the street, came back, walking slowly…then went and sat in his car, which was parked right along the side of my house, near the gate! Okay…that was enuf to flip me out…Poopie came into the yard, I closed the gate and stood on the porch watching him sit in his car. The sun was warm (on my jammies which consist of sweat pants and t-shirt, magenta colored furry slippers, and leopard print fleece robe), “a cuppa would be nice sitting out here on the porch”, I thought. Then as I sat there, the warm weather feelings started creeping in…those feelings that you get when you are minding your own biz, just trying to sit there and enjoy a warm day…the weeds and all the yard work speaking to you “Pull me…get your hands dirty! You know you want to transplant me over there in that spot…Come on..get up and DO something!” Okay…the voices just would NOT stop! Poopie had to come INSIDE the house while I changed into jeans and sweatshirt and mud shoes (since “Stranger Danger” was still sitting in his car).

So out I go, gathering the necessary tools…rake, shovel, hoe, and hand shovel. Deejer decided to take Poopie on a real long bike ride to the grocery, which gave me plenty of time to start ripping and digging! Taking little breaks here and there, I realized that “Stranger Danger” had only been waiting on someone to arrive at the house on the alley…he and others were carrying boxes and furniture out of the house the rest of the afternoon…has me wondering if someone has passed away that lived there, maybe the family is now clearing it out and selling? That’s got to be a terrible job!

The results of my toil and sweat is a nice clean flower bedFLOWER BED in which there will grow English Wallflowers, Zinnia, Marigolds, Forget Me Nots, and a mix of Wildflowers…HOPEFULLY! Let’s keep our fingers crossed, I’ve never grown anything from seed before! I also transplanted some stray TIGER LILLIES?? Maybe? Not sure what it is yet, but two bunches were sprouting up in an awkward spot, so we just had to move them. Also, I stumbled upon a stray DAFFODIL that grew behind my garbage can? How weird, it’s a wonder the poor thing didn’t get smushed…well, he’s happy now in the flowerbed! My rose bushROSE BUSH got a heavy dose of pruning…she looks rather bald now…I will be sure to prune her back in the fall THIS year, she was nothing but dead wood! She will be okay, I give her lots of TLC!

Okay, my Saturday night…Mr. K called after work, as he always does…just can’t wait to see my bright and cheerful face I guess…oh yeah..who couldn’t resist?…ha ha, joke was on him, I already had all my housework done, got my bath and was fully dressed and ready to go by the time he got here! After he caught up on all the basketball stats and such (BORING!) he had to go shopping for his Moms, so I took Poopie to his Mom’s house, she picked little flowers along the way to give to Mrs. C and Darryl (Mr. K’s Mom and brother, Poopie just adores Darryl, he‘s like this huge teddy bear for little children to play with and he TALKS too!). Yes, the flowers were a bit wilted, the type that go back to sleep after their morning majesty! Mr. K felt she could have found some better, I let him in on a little secret…told him he will need to have several very small vases for all the little posie/weeds that his babies will be bringing in to him soon enuf!

The visit with Mr. K’s mom went as usual…she gets so frustrated with me sometimes…they are older and always feel they need to “tell me how life really works”, I don’t always believe the way she believes. Being from a whole other generation, sometimes things just aren’t the same. However, we did touch on a subject that we could agree upon before Mr. K and I left out, so there was hugs and kisses in the end, despite Mr. K almost having a heart attack thinking his mother and I were going to do battle on the living room carpet! Ya know, some men just do not see the difference between a cat fight and just a woman’s excited higher-than-normal-pitched debating practices! Calm down! We are just having a conversation!

After that “nice” visit, we were off for a ride in the boonies to find a house of a friend who was hosting a “Fight Party”…don’t ask me who was fighting Saturday night…I wasn’t paying any attention to the tv..the tv room was a “den of men” covering every inch of the furniture, and Mr. K kept bellowing at me every time I‘d go near the room! Instead I was too busy looking thru the Host’s wedding album, the pics were just beautiful! There was only one other girl at this “party”, and it was a girl that I have been around several times throughout the past, but her and I just never clicked! We clicked at the party…funny how you can see someone pretty much all your life, and just never really connect, until ONE DAY (or one party). She was quite enjoyable…I look forward to seeing her again!

With that, our evening ended and I was too happy to leave the boonies and see my bed!

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Special Events
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Blog of the Day - Sioux‘s Zest

Listening to
Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas

Happy Saturday

Oh…Good Saturday Morning to you all! A dreary damp day, we had our first thunder and lightning storm of the season last night…wasn’t much of one, as far as rains go…we didn’t get too much! Poopie is always wanting to water the plants outside…being 5, I’m sure she loves it, but I’m also concerned about overwatering! I told her that God waters His plants and he knows just how much water they need! So, last night I had her looking out the window to watch God water His plants! I am so looking forward to warm temps staying with us for awhile!
And with that, I think it’s time to open up this big ol’ house a bit more…I have the LR and DR closed off from each other to keep the heat in each room…I think it’s time to open it all up! Get the breezes moving from room to room…oh and while I’m at it, why not wash all the bedding, mop the floors, vacuum the rugs, scrub the bathroom, wash more laundry…the list just goes on and on and on! Housework is never done!

Deejer spent the night at his friends house last night, their idea is to hang the banner that he painted (which asks a certain “heart throb” to go to the prom with him) and present this “girl of his dreams” with a bunch of care bears, in hopes that she will say “yes” (to the prom)…well, I just hope after all his hard work that he put into it, that she doesn’t break his heart! :-(

Lastnight was the night for Poopie’s hair to get washed, meaning two hours this morning was spent on re-braiding it all! It’s getting so long, always makes me wonder how old she will be when she will decide to cut it all off? If I had my way, I’d make her grow it long FOREVER and have dreads put in it!
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Special Events
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Blog of the Day - Life and Times of a Twenty-Something
Listening to
Brain Damage - Eminem

New Names for the kids

I'm always reading other blogs where they have these absolutely cute names for their kids...you know, I guess you have to be a little cautious sometimes of the info that you are putting out there...never know what little freaks are running around reading blogs for their own personal "warped satisfaction", but I've never been too awful worried about that, wierdos can GETCHA no matter what if they really wanted to...I've always been pretty damn open about things.

I just think the "name game" is really fun though, so from here on out I figured I'd let you in on the "baby names" of my two younguns!

Deejer

Poopie!

Happiness

I'm always having problems with my cellphone camera, the comp seems to not want to communicate with the USB port sometimes, HOWEVER I was finally able to get it working and get some pics that I took the other day off of the phone of Kayley riding a "BIG" bike! Another milestone! She can ride the bigger bike very well, but still has some problems getting on and off of it, so I think an "in-between" size bike is what she's ready for! It was funny to watch her ride her small bike over to the store lastnight, it was like watching an adult ride one of those tiny miniature motorcycles! She's so proud of herself and wants to ride her bike everywhere now!

I spoke with a true friend lastnight at length about a lot of things that have been going on lately, we discussed anger and how devastating it can be. She gave me a for instance, telling me about an episode of Star Trek that has stuck with her through all these years, and here is how she explained it (pretty much, I may have missed a small part, but you'll get the jist)

The Klingons (spell?) were invading a planet of very relaxed calm people, and Captain Kirk and the Federation were bound and determined to wage war against the Klingons for this invasion, this battle to protect and invade went on between the two unrelated groups for quite sometime until the calm people of this planet said "Enuf is Enuf" and they handled it with all the weapons of destruction turning too hot to the touch...These calm relaxed people, as it turned out, were not real people but "ENERGY" only taking human form in order to be seen by the Klingons and the Federation. This "Energy" had it all under control the entire time and had lived peacefully for thousands of years, unscathed, never dying because they already had all the POWER that they needed to fight off any attack and they lived peacefully. Captain Kirk was mad that the "Energy" didn't need his help and he couldn't fight the "good fight".

So the moral of the story that I took from my friend, was that there is other ways to use your energy rather than to fight a "battle" that can't be won with an unrelated force. She also reminded me about an article she read that talks about how ANGER has become one of the deadliest of emotions, where people are killing people over road rage, sports rage, new shoes, etc...none if this is worth my happiness to me! I'm glad that I have two beautiful children that love me and stand behind me no matter what, and are both healthy and strong. I'm glad that I've gone through the trials that I have gone through in life, which have made me a better and stronger person, that I can learn from unpleasant experiences and that I know how to CHANGE undesirable experiences in my life. I thank the lord above everyday for the friends that have stood beside me for over 13 years throughout all the life experiences and the new friends I made last year that held my hand through a really tough experience and have stood behind me and continued to teach me about all the joys that life has to offer, so I'm back to my painting and writing (no matter how much I still need to learn) and allowing creativity to be my release...there is nothing and no one person worth my happiness!

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Anonymous Comment": Why dont you all just mind your own business, appreciate who you are, your health, and just try and be happy. There is so much anger and it is disturbing for me to read any more.It is all negative. Both of you.goodnight.

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Special Events
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Listening to
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

I think this is very important too

Friends & Family
Yes, it is your business
Maybe he’s(she's) your friend, your brother-in-law (SIL), your cousin, co-worker, gym partner or fishing buddy. You’ve noticed that he (she) interrupts her (him), criticizes her (his) family, yells at her (him) or scares her (him). You hope that when they’re alone, it isn’t worse.
The way he (she) treats her (him) makes you uncomfortable, but you don’t want to make him (her) mad or lose his (her) friendship. You surely don’t want to see him (her) wreck his (her) marriage or have to call the police. What can you do?
Say something. If you don’t, your silence is the same as saying abuse is ok. He (she) could hurt someone, or end up in jail. Because you care, you need to do something… before it is too late.
What Can You Say or Do?
Taken from http://www.ndvh.org/educate/abuser_quiz.html

Apology for my brief Angry Moment!

(Image thanks to: japantimes.co

I lowered myself and posted something that was very childish, and this is not the forum for that. Although a blog is a place to write about your feelings regarding certain issues, so what I WILL say is that I do not agree with abuse from a man or a WOMAN! Women are more likely to go public with their abuse and their abusers, where a man may not want to admit that it's actually happening! Let me just say...it is no more OKAY for a woman to spit, slap, shove, push, harass, scream or throw things at a man than it is for a man to do these things to a woman! You women out there that are not getting what you want out of life, if you feel you are "OWED" more...you are WRONG! No one OWES you anything in this life, if you want something...you need to get up and go after it yourself...don't take your anger and frustration out on the one that you SAY you love, just because you didn't get your own way!...Not to mention, your CHILDREN are standing there watching your actions and how you treat others! If you are going to throw a hissy fit and start pushing and shoving and throwing things at people because you didn't get your own way...well, then...how do you think your own kids are going to act when you tell them "NO"? Makes a whole lot of sense, now, doesn't it? Not to mention, it's ILLEGAL! Stop blaming others and the world for your problems...if you have enuf energy and stamina to slap, push, shove, scream and curse then you obviously have enuf stamina to go out and get a job and get the things you want in life for yourself! If you chose to be in a relationship that you are not "getting enough out of", then maybe you need to sit back and take a look at how you could make things better for yourself and your children!
I spent a whole precious day of mine, sitting and brooding over my anger because of the actions of another and how that person ruined what could have been a perfect day because of her selfishness, and that was MY downfall...allowing another's actions to affect me, when I KNOW that they cannot change because I want them to, they will only change for themselves or they will go to their graves in their own perpetual HELL...I cannot allow people like this to continue to affect my life! I have allowed this person to hurt me and verbally assault me way too many times...I've watched her verbal and physical abuse against others way too many times, she'll never have that power over me again!

Spring 4x4s and Sun Shine

Another beautiful early spring day! It's so nice to see the sun shining early in the morning; alas, the weather is going to change back to 40s and 30s the end of this week! :-(

I finally got my Spring 4x4s (today's pic) done for Violette's Exchange Thanks to Kate, who is hosting this Spring Exchange! I'll get them out in the mail tomorrow morning, I want to embellish them just a little bit too! This was my first project using my WC pencils, then using a slightly damp q-tip to blend the colors, I was real happy with my tulips! (click on the pic to see larger view in more detail)

Yesterday was a nice day, enjoyed a bit of time with DD staying at a friend's house, so Kevin and I ran around a bit, I was pretty crabby though while he was trying his "April fools Jokes" out on me, I was NOT humored at all! You know, you just get into those moods sometimes!

Well, not too much to report, been a quiet weekend so far, no shootings! I'll be spending the day at my bro's house with the kids, and hoping to stop along the road up there to find me some Wild Tiger Lillies that should be sprouting up!

Illustration Friday - SPRING!

This is my very first illustration for illustrationfriday.com Well, I guess it got my creative juices flowing!

Open and Honest Chap 3

Chapter Three

Spring is DEFINATELY here!

And I'm DEFIANTELY loving it! I haven't created or written anything in three days! The weather has just been beautiful, and I've been "porch lounging", trying to chase this little Robin down with my cam, telling DD to "shoosh" so her excited playfulness wouldn't scare her (the Robin) away! It just wasn't Spring until I got a pic of this delightful little creature! The sun has been so warm and bright, it finally did rain a bit lastnight, not that we are in any major shortage of water, we had quite a bit of snow and other precipitation to keep things moist, however Spring Rain is just a whole different type of moisture for all those posies and buds coming out! So glad it rained overnight, and it's looking like a nice day arriving as I type! I tend to venture outside so much more (as I'm sure everyone else does too), I can sit on the porch for hours watching DD play with the neighbor kids, and I have a higher desire to listen to music, so I get those speakers cranking. Technology is awesome, I can stream to Hot 102.1 in Virginia Beach (my old stomping ground!) or I can listen to WPGC 95.5 out of DC or I can hear what's going on out in Lincoln, NE on KIBZ (shout outs to Renie!)

As for creating...I really gotta get my ass in gear! I signed up for Illustration Friday, and yesterday was my first topic sent to me, the topic is SPRING! Amazing, I'm in another swap for Spring too. But as for this Illustration Friday stuff...I believe when signing up for the group, they were suppose to send me a password, which I didn't receive, now I don't know how to login and publish my illustration? I have SO many passwords and User IDs, I try real hard to use the same ones or else I'd be in this confused situation that I now find myself in... Any suggestions for how to fix this? I sent a request email to the link that was sent to me, but it was returned "undeliverable"...short of signing up under another name, don't know what to do!

On a more somber note, we've had a second shooting just this week (story from WNEP News) It's just not normal, our little town is going crazy! We've been dealing with the drug influx for over 22 years now, and that's all become rather "acceptable", we've learned to be a very multi-cultured town, with lots of folks from more urban areas coming to our town to rehabilitate from their drug addictions, and just to have a better, safer living environment for themselves and their children. And for many (influxers), it has worked out well, but it's their family and friends that come to visit the influxers in our town and find that it's also a real good place to sell their drugs at a much higher price, and with all the recovering addicts, they all make real good customers when they relapse. Along with the dealers, have come the gangs, turf wars, and retaliation! I don't know if it's going to be possible to get this under control, there's too much money involved for the gangs. I was real upset with the article in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, a town meeting was held after the first shooting this week, and it understandably became a "vent session"

As the session neared its end, James looked tired and said he was disappointed. There had been too much”bitching and moaning,” he said, and many of the people didn’t understand the purpose of the meeting.

Well, yeah...DUH! Our city tells us NOTHING about the victims or the suspects, and I can understand that they are protecting their investigation, but no names means we know NOTHING of who is doing this, who we should be watching for so EVERYONE becomes a suspect...thinking "have they caught them, or are they in the next vehicle coming down the street and are we going to get shot in some crossfire?!" Another quote I was very unhappy with:

People come out and get involved for 30 days or so, he said, then when they think everything is all right they drop out. The crime commission volunteers were happy about one thing: A lot of people signed up, maybe as many as 200. But they were concerned about how many would stick with it.

You know, you arrogant bastards! Give the citizens some credit! Why should the citizens do YOUR jobs? What do you want US to do? Go walking and stalking around in the middle of the night, standing our ground on these corners to keep the gun toting dealers off them? Should we go hang out at the bars and report any suspected drug activity? Go sticking our noses all up in this, chasing these people with guns down? We don't have what it takes to protect our neighborhoods except for dead bolt locks on our doors! All we can do is post signs and pray that we aren't next for trying to run them off! One thing I can tell you that I WILL be doing, is calling Children Services the next time I see anymore young children out running their neighborhood after dark with no supervision!