Surprise phone call

I was sitting here going through my endless piles of paper when the phone rang. I knew who it was right away and was both surprised and anxious to talk to the caller. It was one of my newer pals Kathy who is a mutual pal to my friend Karin. Now Karin's been in the hospital for almost a week due to complications from surgery. I was scared Kath was going to give me bad news. Karin isn't doing good post surgery and was getting sick enough that she had to have a tube down her throat. This is the third operation Karin has had in 5 yrs and she isn't even out of her 30s yet. I appreciated my 'New Yorker' pal Kath calling and we hit it off good and chatted a while until my blasted insurance company called and interrupted us. It's so nice to talk to someone you've only written emails to.
I don't know what the heck is wrong with me. I feel like I have something but the weird feeling comes and goes. My bod is probably fighting a bug. My throat is a bit scratchy though. Brian said he was all achy today. Something gets in your system and settles in good.
The presidential debates are on and I hope 'the smart' candidate shines. I don't want to get into squabbles with anyone, but we need a change in DC so badly. I want to shake people and make them think. Oprah was good yesterday. She had Drew Barrymore and other celebs who were recruiting people to vote, esp young women who rarely vote. I have never skipped voting in a major election. My first official election was 1980 and I voted for Jimmy Carter who I still think is a wonderful man. My son Sean is voting this year and he is using his brain. Good for him. He is weighing his options.

One big ache

Darn I hurt when I woke up today (the 29th). Felt like I was run over by an out of control VW bug or something. Every joint hurt that was being overused lately-elbows and knees the worst. I had stuff to do, but put off food shopping until the evening. Sean said there's some bug going around school and a few teachers are sick. He had a stuffed up head for a few days. I usually get something in Sept. or Oct. like clockwork. Betcha I will get it from being rundown. Brian went to the store with me and I felt so weird I didn't really 'get into' it and basically threw stuff in the cart and we were home in 1/2 hour,$117 poorer. The cost of meat is making me want to switch to be a vegetarian! No way and I blowing most of my budget on two little pieces of steak & a pork tenderloin. I could go on.
I got home and out came the deep heat rub, took a Tylenol and settled in to watch tv (Lost, The Bachelor and Wife Swap) and stitch on an emergency cross stitch project. I am taking a chart and switching it around. The young lady loves flying pigs (when pigs fly) and I am taking a 3 Little Pig chart and making one of the houses a 'wing shack' and the pigs are lined up to get their wings. Try to picture this please. I will make a sign for the shack or whatever I call it.
Speaking of pigs, Brian 'hogged' the computer updating windows-it took 4 hours and at first it wouldn't work, but now it seems to be of course when I am on here.
I still haven't gotten my beloved plastic boxes. Maybe tomorrow. The 'leftovers' in the family room need to be out of sight so I can enjoy the changes in the room.

'If' Meme of the day

IF you were to describe your life right now as a hallway with six closed doors, what signs would you put on the three doors that you want to open, and on the three doors that you want to keep locked?
The three doors I want to open and keep opened are-'Love', 'Family' and 'Creativity'. The doors I want to keep locked are 'Past Hurts', 'Ignorance' and 'Prejudice'.
There are lots of other doors that I would like to open and keep locked, believe me! I thought these were really important. So many people live their lives based on things that happened to them in the past. They didn't use them as learning tools for the future. For myself, I have kept past hurts locked for a long time and when my grandmom died four years ago, that darn door got opened a bit. But the 'past hurt' had lots of 'love' from my grandmom in there. What happened was when I was little (about 2-3), I slept on a cot in the hallway instead of in a bedroom. My brother had come along a year after me and took my crib. Instead of putting me in with my grandmom, they stuck me in the hallway at the top of the stairs! I could have fallen down the stairs. Was my father such a brute, my mom and grandmom had no say? Anyway, I would wait until my father turned off the light over my head and sneak into the bed with my grandmom who made me feel safe. Lots of time my father would come in and pull me out of the bed and throw me on the cot again. No wonder I am a light sleeper to this day.

Lovely golden mums for Autumn before the drenching rains. 

Somehow these little purple petunias grew from the crack in the step. 

Throw us a line...it's a river out there!

Jeanne strikes havoc in the tri-state area! What a night! It's been raining pretty steadily since around 2 pm or so. And it's after 11 in the evening and it's still raining. We had a little water in the basement. Less than expected, but in different spots. One is near the heater-not good. We have a call to the Amish roofer who put up the roof last year. I sure hope he doesn't have to go down the basement. It's still a disaster down there, especially where he needs to look. I doubt he will come in. He'll probably just seal the flashing again. And the other water was outside our finished room when it was usually in it. We added dirt along that side of the house so maybe that helped a bit. We just swept the water into a hole cut out of the corner of the basement. There's lots of flooded out roads and a few 'small' tornadoes touched down in New Jersey and Delaware. We think the end of our road is flooded out as there is a creek there. There's 6 inches of rain in Wilmington, about 15 or so miles away.
I made an early dinner of beef stew just in case we lost power. It only flickered a bit. Brian was a little spazzed and was up and down checking things all night. I tried to work on a quilt square and I had one color done in the middle design of a beehive and it wasn't centered. So that got ripped out along with some lettering. One step forward, two steps back.
My brother and his family made it home safe from Disney World this morning around 2:30 am. They spent the few days they were stuck there in their hotel room eating and watching tv. Both my brother and his wife had to go to work today, but in the afternoon.
Hope all is well in the morning. Sean is waiting for his first delay. As a senior he doesn't have to make up the missed days.

Plastic Boxes

Ok, where would we be in this world without plastic boxes? I really need them, esp now with this 'stuff' sort going on in the family room. I am at a standstill because I need my plastic boxes! Cardboard won't do! They get wet and smelly and break down to a bent up pile of nothing after a while. I want my lidded boxes that I can stack to the ceiling, see what's inside (I try to buy the transparent ones now). I can also label them! I have two huge plastic boxes that take turns holding my summer and winter clothes. It's a major feat for Brian to get them in and out of the attic. We have terrible closet space here. Each room has the basic closets with the two sliding doors. I actually use 1.5 closets plus an armoire and hope chest and still can't fit all my things in them all. I do have too many clothes, but I take good care of them, so they last a while. Last year I did a major sort and got rid of about 6 bags of clothes and hung my nice tops and jackets by color-all the blacks together, etc. Back to the boxes-I remember when we were looking at houses and this one place had about 30-50 plastic boxes stacked in their basement. I was mortified-but look who is into boxes now? I can't seem to get rid of these extra video tapes, cross stitch magazines and miscellaneous things that accumulated in this room for the last 12 yrs. Even Sean's guitar is still sitting in front of the closet. I stuck a plastic bag over it today. Sean has had it for 6 yrs and never learned to play it and I want its former space for my magazine basket.
Guess I'll go get some boxes in a while, even if it's going to be raining cats and dogs.

Stitcher's Blog QOTW

Would you or have you designed your own cross stitch design? If you have can we see it?
The only thing I remember designing is a pillow for my college friend's new baby daughter back in 1990. I had this beautiful French tapestry fabric that my mother-in-law had brought back from one of her several trips to Paris. I had made a vest out of it (remember when they were so popular?) and had a bit left, so I made Olivia's daughter Emily a little pillow. On one side it was the forest animal tapestry and the other was her name and birth date. It was really pretty and I didn't take a photo of it.
I would love to design cross stitch patterns from using antique picture books as inspiration.

Questions for the Soul-found my own meme book

I found a really neat book 'If...Questions for the Soul' by Evelyn McFarlane & James Saywell. I will pick a random question once in a while to answer.
If you could be more ambitious in a single area of your life,what would it be?
I had to think about this one a moment. I really wanted to handcraft items to sell and whether it is I haven't found the right thing to reproduce or I haven't taken the time to actually get down to brass tacks to find it, I don't know. Now that I have all my books in order, I can see the ones I really love and want to try to make the crafts they illustrate. I also would like to make Christmas gifts this year like I did last year.

Wife Swapping

I just got finished watching 'Wife Swap' on ABC. It's really interesting to say the least. The one swapping lady Bambi had about 25 pets and most of them had the rule of the roost-do do everywhere with a little toddler running around. Her teen boys had no schedule and the little girl went to bed whenever she wanted. I wonder if the health dept will get after her? Her husband seemed really nice and not only did he work but he made the meals! I don't think Bambi works outside the home. The lady who she swapped families with-Charice I think, cleaned her house 5 hours a day and was really by the books with her teen boys and husband. She made lists all the time. The swappers had to live by each other's rules the first week. The second week they get to make the rules. Charice put about 22 of the pets in storage or whatever they do with them. She cleaned the heck out of the house even buying them a dining room table so they could eat together as a family. The outside of the house was a dump. I think Bambi girl needs to grow up and look around. Charice's oldest teen son asked for a kitten and Bambi got him one. When they met at the end of the program, Bambi told Charice that she hated her, but she kept the dining room table! Charice eased up with her family and fell in love with the kitty. : )
Can't wait to see the show with the rich Manhattan lady cutting wood!

Cat Stevens

"Oh baby, baby it's a wild world!" I really can't believe a well known performer wasn't allowed to enter the USA last week. I loved his music! He's been around for 30 yrs. He did a benefit concert in the states not that long ago. They saw Islam and he was 'branded' and kicked out of the country. What's right and what's wrong? I am a practicing Catholic and every time I open the hymn book and see 'Morning Has Broken', I think of the former Cat Stevens. What's wrong is when innocent people are getting decapitated at a whim. The families beg for their loved ones lives and those pleas fall on deaf ears. It is a wild and crazy world and Cat Stevens plays no part in the insanity.

'Hurricane' Jeanne hammers her two sons....

Well, not literally! But that is my mom's name and two of her sons are in Florida at this time. My one brother lives in Fort Lauderdale and his power is going off and on. I'm still mad at him for calling my family room a bordello because I have a red sofa now. Oh I do hope the dear boy is safe (as always-and his 'little dog' too).
My other brother is down in Disney World with his family (wife and two sons). They were suppose to come home today, had checked out of the Contemporary and decided to call the airport to see if the plane was on time and surprise!!-all flights have been cancelled. They high-tailed it back to the hotel and got another room. No one in either Orlando or Fort Lauderdale is allowed to leave their buildings. My older brother is suppose to be able to leave in a few days. This was his 50th birthday trip. I don't know if I would have picked September to go, but you never know. They had great weather all week.
Crossing fingers and doing some praying.

Think about it

I just made this last night.

If you can't figure this out yourself,

check out my sidebar.

Quaint Idioms & Expressions of the Amish part 2

This is the other little book I have from Amishland in Lancaster, PA. These are fun books and only cost about $1.00 or so.
My husband-he always had such a good abedit (appetite) but now he don't fress (eat) much anymore.
He is as airlich (honest) as the day is long.
This country is full of dirty biscotza (skunks). LOL
Come here once just a bissel (little;short time) I want to talk to you.
The dear little bubbelly is so sweet-like; she is nice-behaved.
It takes a lot of croosht (crust) to "sponge" on your relatives all the time.
It feels so good when I can crotz (scratch or rub it).
to be continued...

Sunny Autumn Saturday

I do feel a wee bit better today. I know what one of the problems was and you guys can't relate unless you have women in your life. I love when people start to question my behavior and ask if I am PMSing or 'when is it due'? Sometimes I'm freakin' tired!
I am still living in disorganization and plan to get rid of some of the growing piles today. No painting though-can't hack that. It's going into week 4 for this project. I have so much to do. It's not like the tv shows-Trading Spaces, etc. The designers go in the rooms, talk to the homeowners (I would say they don't go by what the owners want lots of the time); they sketch their plans, order stuff. I am sure it's at least a month's project for them. So I don't feel too bad. And it's not like I am getting tons of help. I just bought 2 more quarts of paint. One in the room color that may not match-thanks saleslady-I'll have to do under the window with that can and one a darker gold for my complimentary wall I decided to do. If this room needs painting in the next 10-12 yrs (that's if we still live here), I am hiring help. So there!

Blah Friday

I guess it's from overdoing it in the house and not being careful about what I eat that made me feel so crummy this morning. My schedule was completely screwed up yesterday anyway. It was my mom's birthday. I drove solo down there (46 miles round trip) in my van that needs the gasket repair. I brought her an Indian Summer bouquet with mini-sunflower, white tea roses, yellow roses, some goldenrod type flower and something that looked like rosehips. She loved it. She opened her gifts from me later. She had overdosed the air with this spray that my brother had sent from Florida to mask dog pee. Her dog is doing that again around her house. To her he's just a bad dog and she puts up with it. My sister-in-law Colleen and little 5 yr old niece Tori came to take us to lunch up in Media at a restaurant called 'The Town House'. It was a pleasant lunch, I got a Reuben sandwich. We then went to C&T's house to have some cake and chat a bit. They took us home and we decided to go to the movies. Before we went, I vacuumed in there, probably a big mistake for my sinuses. The movie 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' was excellent. See my previous post. We came out of the theatre and I said I wanted to grab a bite before I had to make the trip home. We went to Wendy's and their salads were wilting big time and we hardly ate what we ordered. I came home just in time to see Survivor. Yippee, I could now relax! Nope, Brian came back home early from the open house at the school and started to talk about that. I was interested, but the talk between father and son was overwhelming. It was still in high gear when The Apprentice
came on, unfortunately. I also ate a slice of pizza at 8 pm.
The first thing I had to do this morning was call billing at the doctor's billing as they said our insurance wouldn't pay for Brian's June bloodwork. I was on the phone between the two of them for almost an hour. Not a good thing to do when you first get up, thus prompting a coughing attack. I was stuffed up, coughing, felt sick, all rolled into one. This happens when I am PMSing too. I think it was a combo of all the events from above. Gotta treat yourself good, ya know?
All in all, I think mom had a nice birthday which is a miracle after the year of suffering she's been through. I wish I could help her clean more, but the dog dander is obviously making me sick.
Tonight, Cosmo is going for his rabies shot. He saw the cat carrier in the kitchen and went half in to check it out-and whoa Nellie-backed right out again. He's been getting on a window ledge in a room we have in the basement for hours on end. I think he is watching the squirrels (or groundhogs) go after the chestnuts that are falling now from the trees. Cats are funny companions.
Tomorrow can only be better.

Theatre Thursday

Since I just came home from seeing a new release, thought I'd do this one:
1. Do you remember the very first time you watched a movie on the big screen?
Now this makes me feel really old, it had to be 'The Sound of Music' when I was about 4 or 5. My mom and grandmom said it was going to be a real treat and it was so boring and long for little kids. Couldn't wait until it was over.
2. What was the last movie you saw on the big screen?
Just took my mom to see 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. I was surprised that a lady of her mature age would want to see this sci-fi, action type movie. It was based in 1939-40, just the age when she was going to see Saturday matinees with Buck Rogers, etc. This was done in sepia tones with some coloring. Loved the 'bigger than life' cinematography. If you happen to see it let me know what the last word spoken in the movie was. My mom said something at that very moment. Incidently, Jude Law and his ex-wife Sadie Frost are co-producers of this movie.
3. Did you ever like a movie so much that you paid to watch it more than once?
The Poseidon Adventure, Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark and Back to the Future. The movie house in the town where I grew up had cheap prices, like $1 for the above movies, so why not see them more than once.
BONUS) How much does a movie ticket cost in your neck of the woods?Full-price shows here are around $8-$8.50 and $5.50-$6.50 for a matinee.

The finished collie 'portrait' for Kyle of Love Quilts. 

I have a bid on this print on eBay for over my sofa. I absolutely love the colors and shapes, plus it looks like a younger version of Bri and me-it's 24" x 36" Wish me luck. 
It's called 'The Kiss' by Klimt

Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Dutch-part 1

As you know I am sorting out my endless collection of books of all kinds. I ran across a few little paperbacks purchased in Bird-in-Hand, PA and published under the name 'Popular Home Remedies and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans'-The Aurand Press of Lancaster, PA. I'll share some with you now.
Bad luck-you should never sew anything while a person is wearing it.
Don't kill a spider (opps, I've done that a few times lately).
Always put your right foot down first when you first get up.
Ear-when your left ear burns, you know that someone is speaking evil of you; if right they speak good-you know it.
Nose-if your nose itches, you will be kissed; or you may get a letter.
And my favorite of these few pages-
Wedding-they say it is a sign of a wedding when a dog slides on his rump-but the sign might come from another cause, too.
And this leads up to the finale of 'The Amish in the City'. I kinda had a feeling that since the 5 Amish kids were on a tv show and had experiences even us non-Amish never will have, that the majority of them would say they weren't going back to the Amish right away, but were staying in smaller towns. Jonah passed his GED test with flying colors. I love that Mose made them all remembrances of their time together in the form of wooden toys. He is really clever with wood. He made a mini basketball net and flipper and other cool things.
I was switching back and forth to 'The Amazing Race's finale. It looked like Colin and Christie were going to nab it and then Chip and Kim got on a different flight than the other two teams and won. Chip was a really cool guy and his wife was so laid back. She reminded me of a lady who lived around the corner from us growing up.I was surprised to see the 'bowling moms' come in 4th place. This show just won an Emmy the other night.
I just finished up a Love Quilt square. It was a monster of a square, and I really didn't finish the bushy 'ruff' of the collie. It looks fine though. No more doggie portraits. Alas, I have another doggie I am doing for next March. It's for a friend's granddaughter who has CF. Love Vicki, so I had to do this for Ashley Ann.

A Sweathog was crying...

Yep, John Travolta was crying his eyes out on Oprah yesterday. He is coming out with a movie on firefighters and was plugging his movie- Ladder 49. Then Oprah had him fly these two firefighters in (John is a pilot too) to her show as they saved a fellow firefighter's life. The firefighter who was saved came out to give his buddies medals of honor and thanked them for 'giving him a second chance at life so he could watch his kids grow up'. That turned on the waterworks in the studio. Then Oprah had Mattie Stepanek's mom on. Mattie passed away in June at the age of 14. He was this mom's 4th child with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Oprah and Prez Jimmy Carter were crazy about Mattie and took him under their wings. He definitely had an old soul and wrote wonderful little books filled with his thoughts and poetry. By that time not only was John crying, but Joaquin Phoenix and the woman in the movie were moved. Mattie's mom is in a wheelchair herself. Mattie loved the whole firefighting business and had about 1K firefighters at his funeral and his little casket was carried on the back of a firetruck. Crap, I'm gonna start crying again.

The My Hero Project-Mattie Stepanek
Thanks to Jim Hawkins for this photo.

Facing the Future

Every journey begins
With but a small step.
And every day is a chance
For a new, small step
In the right direction.
Just follow your Heartsong.

by Mattie Stepanek
© Hyperion. All Rights Reserved.


My mom was out yesterday in her newer car-it's a '91 Sable not a '92. It doesn't look its age and is so different than the '87 Escort. I was really tired yesterday from cleaning up and shelving books, so Sean took mom to the car wash for a wax, to the hairdresser, to 'lots of junk' Big Lots and to the food store. That's why I could see Oprah. They brought home a rotisserie chicken and salads for dinner. The potato salad was gross-the mayo looked like it was separating and the potatoes were grainy. Sean ate a lot of it and I spit it out. He was ok-must have a stomach of steel.
My friend called from Montana to see if we had gotten flooded out. I said it was the Pittsburgh area and up north where the Delaware River is that got hit the hardest. We live near the Brandywine, but aren't effected that often. There was a flood in Kennett last year because someone up north opened the flood gate all the way instead of 20%. That flooded out many places. I talked to Pam for about 1.5 hours. This always happens when I call a friend, we talk forever. Thank goodness for MCI's, The Neighborhood.
Mom said my sofa isn't as red as it looks in the photo I sent through email. Mom bought me this gorgeous silky throw with different Asias fabrics in squares-like a quilt. Very exotic.
I may go to the food store, but I definitely need to get more paint. I have a few walls to finish. I am pleased with the way it looks in here.
I have to finish up my Love Quilts collie square and mail it by Friday. I downsized the dog's ruff. It looks alright though. I used an entire skein of white floss!

I found a neat book of prints that I have and loved the apple one. The mushroom print pays homage to the mushroomland I live in. 

A ribbon board I got up at my hometown's Super Sunday.The Polaroid is of Brian and Me on a date in Wildwood, NJ-one of those photo booths. Upper left is a postcard from my friend Charlotte when she was home in Austria (she lives in Ireland now). The black and white is of my son Sean fooling for the camera for a photography assignment for school. The group of children is of my niece Tori (pink dress) and her brother Kenny (on the end) waiting for the bus on the first day of school a few weeks ago. 

Dianne's library in the corner of our family room. I thought the globe looked nice there. 

Monday Madness

1. My computer chair is the most used piece of furniture in my house.
2. The one electronic 'gadget' that I use most often is my TV remote control .
3. My favorite appliance, and the one I absolutely cannot live without is the microwave oven.
4. One thing that I thought I just HAD to have at one time, and I now barely ever use, is my smoothie maker.
5. I find it easiest to keep in touch with family and friends via email or the phone.
6. I own more cd's (or other music media) than I do family photos.
7. All my important addresses are stored in/on my file box.
8. If I had to live without TWO keys on my keyboard, I would choose x and z.
9. I probably own about 15 pieces of software that I haven't used in years.
10. There are a few food items that I try NEVER to run out of, and those would be bananas and bread.

Just a few....

Hey...added a few interesting blogs to my list. Will keep checking them to see if 'they are worthy' to read. Mindy is my pal and got me into blogging, so she stays for good. I snagged some of the others from her that are interesting and comical-Fully Caffienated and Annette's Acre among the others who like to cross stitch. Don't strike me down because I don't have ALL cross stitch blogs. I'll cheer you on with your stitching, but I don't want to see every step of it either. I'll get jealous as I am such a slow stitcher.
Heck, I even added cutie Zack Braff's blog too (He's Dr. Dorian on the tv show Scrubs). Hey Zach, can't wait to hear your Emmy chatter. He's pretty funny.

Getting stuff in order

My organizational type personality is breathing a bit of a sigh of relief. With the sofa in place and now the bookcase, I can get 'down to brass tacks' and get things in order again. I already loaded up the second bookcase-can we say 'real library'! Geez-well, if you collected books for 30 yrs like I have (and the majority being added in the last 10 yrs I believe), you'd have your own library too. I do need to go through them and downsize. The first being the books on dried flowers-I have four of them and I don't even like dried flowers in general. I do like to dry some rosebuds when I get them as gifts or whatever, but I don't need 4 books to tell me how to do it. I'll have to say my largest 'subcategories' are garden books and Christmas books. These are the ones in this room. I own about 30 or more cross stitch hardbacks. They need a good going through too.

I went down to 'Big Lots'. Sometimes it's just 'lots of junk' but I got this big old square basket to hold my paperbacks and hardbacks-another collection I have to downsize. They had it reduced and the jerks who work there were probably rubbing their hands together when I left because they knew they sold me a defective item. I didn't find out until I got home that the bottom was broken on one side. I ingeniously wired it back together (thank my grandmom for teaching me these skills) and it looks fine and is doing its job. Other than that I got some junk food for my son, birthday cards for him and my mom and some birthday stuff for my mom. I can't top locating her a newer car, but I think she'll like what I have for her.

And how much do I love this red sofa! I was telling my friends that I lived with a red sofa for 2 years. I had a Surefit slipcover for my old sofa. It's so comfy and really has too many pillows. I love to cuddle up and do my cross stitch and watch tv on it.

Why you are important

I do the 'next blog' thing at the top of the page a lot these days. I found this on the blog of a 19 yr gal named Surabhi from Ill. I really thought it was a nice thing to publish. I am sure she won't mind if I share it too as she snagged it from a friend...
The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape paradise for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt." -Leo Buscaglia
Think about it.

Do you love my ruby red microfiber sofa? It was 3 hours late getting here as the weather was so bad earlier in the day. I have some cleaning (messy in photo) and decorating to do. Please admire the new paint behind me. And yes, my eyes are closed. 

Cosmo enjoying the new bookcase-think he wants a bed there? 

Makin' Blinkies...

Oh joy! I found a good tutorial for making blinkies and here is my first one!

It was a little more complicated as you have to paint in the little squares (pull the grid up) around the border on three gifs and then merge them in animation wizard, but then it worked for me while others failed. I was happy. I'm not crazy in love for it, but it may be replaced down the road. Another 'toy' to play with. : )

Hurricane Jeanne followed by Karl

We're getting drenched with rain today, thanks to Ivan. The next Hurricane was Jeanne, but now she's a tropical depression. The funny thing is my mom's name is Jeanne and spelled the same way! And then we all had a good chuckle as the next Hurricane is Karl and mom's ex and my father is Carl. That spawned a few jokes, believe me.
And of course my furniture is expected in all this mess too. I sure hope they have it wrapped well. It is only a few steps from the drive, up the sideway and into the house.
My older brother Dave and his family are in Florida as I write this. That's if the weather didn't hold them up. This is my brother's favorite place on the face of the earth. He is going in celebration of his 50th birthday which was this past July 4th. His wife Mary Anne had a scare when her mammogram found a few lumps that had to be biopsied. She is fine though.
I am on the verge on understanding the makings of Blinkies. I printed out tutorials and almost had one made and it wasn't quite right. When I pasted it into the animation shop, the lettering went away. It's gotta be easier than I'm making it.

Four for Friday

FOUR FOR FRIDAY
Q1: Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast every morning? If so, do you generally tend to eat the same thing each morning, or do you try to mix it up on a daily basis?
I must have my real tea with Splenda and lemon to start off with. Generally what I eat depends on how hungry I am and how late it is. Today I had two pieces of Aunt Jemina french toast as it was a little later and I am having a light lunch. I like peanut butter granola bars, Hot Pocket egg and bacon 'sandwiches' (and they are light too), pancakes and good old toast too. The breads have to have margarine and syrup or jam on them too. I can't eat cereal anymore as cold stuff bothers my tummy in the morning.
Q2: Lunch: If you could have lunch today with any two or three people you wanted (dead or alive), who would you have lunch with? Also, if you were able to eat that lunch at any location on the face of the planet, where would that be? And finally, if you could choose to eat anything you wanted, what would you have?
Most people would say Jesus for a lunch companion. I would be 'blessed' to be in his presence. I think I would like to eat with my grandfather who passed away when I was a few months old. Any relative who passed on before I really knew them would be neat. I have heard so much about them all. Where to eat-some beautiful beach resort with a nice lobster dinner of course!
Q3: Dinner: On average, how many nights per week can you be found cooking dinner for yourself or for yourself and others at home in your own kitchen?
I try to cook 4-5 nights a week. I am quick to burn out after 3 days. So if I cooked for 3 nights, we ate pizza the next and then I cooked another few days, that would be fine. As you know (if you read my posts) I hate my kitchen as there is no counter space, so cooking is really a chore for me. Also my husband and son are really not into me trying new foods on them.
Q4: Generally speaking, which do you feel you have more of in your life... control or influence?
I think as long as your parents are still around and involved in your life its control. I feel that my mom helps to generate how I feel that day. If she is upset or stressed, then that follows me around the rest of the day. I hope I am a good influence on my son, but I know I still have control over him too. He's living under my roof.

Survivor and The Apprentice

These are two of my favorite shows. The cool thing is my younger brother Don watches Survivor too and we can chat about it.
Speak about living in a primitive way! It was interesting that the men got separated from the women and were treated with greater respect. Watch that viewer mail. And then the black pig was carried out tied upside down to poles and it was like he knew what was going to happen to him. Thank goodness they spared us the hatchet job. It didn't seem to bother the woman who was the sheep farmer. I guess they didn't have a pig roast later.
The women won the first challenge as Chris the one fellow couldn't get across the balance beam. They all basically crawled across-ouch! Hey, did anyone try to walk sideways on it? That may have been easier. I'm not sure why Brooke was voted off-maybe he had too much to say. Looks like an interesting season with some fiesty characters.
Now here is a cool thing. I was reading our local paper The Kennett Paper-and Wes Moss who is one of the candidates for The Apprentice is from nearby Unionville, PA. He now lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife.

My friend Karin had the first winner Bill from her area of Chicago and she met and hugged him!

I think the assignments are interesting. These candidates seem to be very snooty and to ask them to design a toy and create a new ice cream brings them down a peg or two. Last night the men really did a great job selling a gross ice cream-I know I couldn't eat doughnuts in ice cream at 9 in the morning, but they pulled it off. And how did the women lose each other for 3 hours when they were half a block away? They did nothing to dress up their ice cream carts or stand their ground when another vendor was giving them a hard time. The idiot probably should have figured it was a one day thing and with the cameras and all, more people would be buying from him too.

I was surprised and then agreed with 'The Donald' when he voted off Bradford. That was a wierd move to give up his immunity. It's not like he is on Survivor or something!

Here is my nightmare of books! The other bookcase will hopefully sit side by side with the old one. 

Amish in the City

I didn't think I would like this show because of what I know about the Amish, but it's really an interesting hour. I also didn't know that much about the Amish people letting their kids go through a 'right of passage' into adulthood called 'rumspringa'-or 'running around'. It was very surprising for me to see them being photographed and all, but if they aren't in their community, they can pretty much do as they please. Reading up on rumspringa, I think it's a very confusing thing for these kids. They have had a strict growing up and all of a sudden they have all this glorious freedom.
I especially liked last night's show when the city kids went back to Ohio to see what the Amish area was like. Two of the guys were such whimps when they were asked to clean out sheep do. They were holding their noses and then went inside to work with the girls!
I really like the one Amish girl named Ruth (dark hair-oldest of 13 children!). Last night they brought her boyfriend to where they were staying and she was so thrilled to see him. The boyfriend Marvin is going through the rite of passage too. He has a pierced ear to match Ruth's pierced belly button. They were working on a farm where the family wasn't Amish, but they followed the basic life as the Amish do. One of the city girls bought a golden retreiver pup from the family as they were dog breeders. The day before they had a pig roast at another farm and the girl who is a vegetarian puked after she smelled it cooking and saw the head of the pig on a platter!
The finale is on next Tuesday. The five Amish kids have to decide what they are going to go. I have a feeling most of them will go back to the farm. Jonas (in burgundy shirt) took his GED test and they will show the results next week. Good show with fun personalities.

UPN

Theatre Thursday

You've just been hired to write, cast, direct and produce your own movie. You've been given $75 million to hire a cast and crew, and 90 days to shoot. The film is scheduled to open a year and 1/2 from today.
1) What is the name of your movie? The Reunion
2) Who are the stars you hire? Holly Hunter (woman), Jeff Daniels (husband), Christopher Walken (father) Swoosie Kurtz (ex-wife to father)
3) What is the general plot/style/theme of your dream movie?Feel free to dream - what movie would you, Gentle Reader, like to make yourself with all those resources? It can be autobiographical, historical, or completely fictional. Be careful and don't go overbudget (Getting Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, and Robin Williams all in the same film won't leave you enough money to actually shoot, nor will on-location filming on Mars likely leave anything for actors).BONUS) What's one obstacle you see that could prevent you from achieving this dream movie?Roll 'em....Action!
This is semi-autobiographical but it hasn't happened and probably never will. I brainstormed about this once and thought it would make an interesting story. The plot is: A women and her family move into a beautiful old Victorian 'fixer upper' in Lancaster, PA area (think great shots like 'Witness'). They want to do the fixing up themselves but soon realize they should hire some help. The next scene is out on the west coast in Oregon. An older gentleman is looking for work to make ends meet. He has a family in Penna. that he hasn't seen for years and something is pulling him to see them again. His Penna. family doesn't care for him since he practically abandoned them growing up. The father is really a great handyman, craftsman. He hears from his cousin(who the daughter writes to) that his only daughter just bought a home and it needs work. He decides to go to Lancaster incognito to help her. Next scene is him knocking on her door. He has somewhat of a beard and since the daughter hasn't seen her father since she's been young, she assumes he is a man answering the ad she put in the paper. She has a connection with him she doesn't understand and they get along well, while she is impressed with his work. I think the climax of the story would be when the woman's mother meets 'her ex' and then all hell would break loose. Or maybe not have the woman's mom around anymore and she herself figures out that the man is her father. Anyway, it will have somewhat of a happy ending as the man has mellowed over the years and even still had old photos of his kids that he carried around with him. It would be healing for his kids as not having their dad around left them a bit scarred. The father ends up moving in with one of his kids because he has cancer and they will take care of him in the end.
I don't see any obstacle except there being a lot of traveling involved and casting may be a problem. Although Holly Hunter is an Oscar winner, she may not be a draw to the movie, but she's good and can play a woman in her 30s-40s.. I think Christopher Walken would be a draw.

I am not the Energizer Bunny...

...though I try to be. I may have a tummy like him, but I have completely run out of steam-change my blasted batteries! I was painting again today. I use a small roller with a long handle, so it takes a little longer, but it's easier on my arm joints. I have 2 walls left and the ceiling (Brian does that). I am thinking about doing one small wall a darker color from the paint chip just to be a little different. I could get some decent artwork and put a light over it. I am thinking about medium gold for that wall. Red was a slight option (the new sofa), but that may be a bit too dramatic for the guys to stomach.
It occurred to me that painting rooms definitely marks the passage of time. I was thinking back on my mom's house and all the colors that graced the walls in the 21 yrs that I lived there. She had the 60s gold (hmm, see above) and dark avocado green in her living room. Then she went for an 80s peach color when I got married in '84. About 6 yrs ago she went to a minty green. I have had a minty green in my living room and switched to a grayish light blue. I love blue in rooms. Some people think it looks cold, but it a relaxing color and it's in my bedroom too. The family room is a buttery light gold. It was that color before. I was going darker, but in the same color family. I stood at the wall of colors at Sherwin Williams and picked almost the same shade we've been looking at for 12 yrs! I have a sunnier yellow in the guest bedroom and didn't Sean pick an avocado mossy green (geez) for his room last year! My 1960s kitchen in a peachy apricot (think 80s) and I want it to be my Van Gogh sunflower kitchen someday with light yellow cabinets and maybe a blue counter. Still figuring that one out.

Cooking Lesson-roast beef-101

I love a good 'pot' roast. My mom-mom use to make the best. I try to cook a roast a few times a month. I usually buy a rump roast or a cheaper cut of meat. This all depends on the price and beef has been so high. It seems to have gone down a bit and chicken is now high. Now here is the secret ingredient-V8 juice!!!! No kidding. Most of the time I use those oven bags that Reynolds makes. You add some flour to the bag-shake it around; put your meat in the bag; add the little can of tomato juice and whatever else you like to use. I use carrots, onion, some tops of celery and my spices are usually salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic. You tie the bag up, cut a few holes in it and pop it in the oven inside my oval corning ware dish (I love that dish!) for a few hours (check out cooking guide that comes with the oven bag). Yummy! And your gravy will be a rich tomato based one that you thicken up with a little cornstarch and water. I usually add more seasonings-esp s&p and rosemary. I serve the meat with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Thoughts for Hump Day

First of all, I will never complain about being thristy again after reading about what the terrorized Russians went through on the 1st of September( in People magazine last night). I knew it was going to be hard to read, and I am sure they edited out stuff that was even grosser than the little children drinking urine because they were dying of thrist. That was a horrific experience on what should have been a glorious first day of school. I didn't know that the terrorists had wired bombs all around the gym where all the hostages were and it blew up because the one that was hooked up to the basketball net fell down. God help the grieving family and friends left behind.
Personally and very insignificant as compared to above, I was up until 1:30 redoing my blog. I was fa-arting with putting some more bling bling on my sidebar and though the preview was fine, it screwed up after I republished it. I had to republish the template and lost all the goodies that were already on there. It wasn't hard to fix, but gee, what messed it up so badly? I think my mouse is going and I must have deleted html without knowing it.
I am so tired of trying to do everything around here. Can she paint, wash clothes, sort junk, dust, make beds, make dinner and still have time to work on a cross stitch project that desperately needs to be done in 2 weeks? I need my time on the computer to get my thoughts together before I plunge into the day.
I was reading the blog of a young woman I know who is a freshman at a Penna. university. First she was all sad and missed her family and boyfriend. Then she must have had a revelation and started to look around and appreciate how unique everything and everyone is. I thought that was a cool way to cope with feeling alone and like you are in a new universe. I felt that way more than once at different schools when I was a newbie. You miss the sheltering arms of your family. I kinda felt that way after I had Sean almost 18 yrs ago too. My mom was here for almost a week, but she was cooking and cleaning and not really helping with the baby that much. When she went home and I had a little baby all by myself all those long hours, I had postpartum depression for a day or so and got over it. It's like I knew it would be my only chance to be a mom and I better be the best mom to my little guy.

The sofa is coming and the bookcase too!

You think I just won a prize! I just got a call from the furniture store and the woman said that they can be delivered on Saturday. No more fighting over the lumpy lounger chair. My red microfiber sofa-ahhhhh-I can't wait.
Not much new, just doing a little bit of listing on eBay-it isn't adding much to my pocketbook lately. Guess it's either too popular (seems like everytime they start showing their tv commercials sales can go to either extreme) or with school starting, people are spending money on their kids. I am mainly listing items that I found in the family room over the last few weeks. A few are things I just picked up at flea markets.
Got lots to do and I can't believe it's after 1 already.

Oprah spreading a little cheer

By now you must have heard about what our girlfriend Oprah gave away to welcome the 19th season of her show. You haven't heard? She gave away 276 Pontiac G6s!!!! Wowsa-woo-woo! I would have fainted dead on the spot. Thank goodness she had paramedics in the studio, just in case. We looked up how much those cars list for-$28 k. One of the 11 people who first came on the stage lives a few towns over (stone's throw) in Unionville, PA. Her friend had written a letter requesting a car for her friend Jayne because their present vehicle was breaking down all the time. Jayne's 14 yr old son Jared is really sick from Lyme Disease and needs to go to A I Dupont hospital twice a week for treatment. We learned about Jayne through the local news, not on Oprah.
It was great that she gave the lovely homeless girl named Alex a new lease on life by helping her get a full scholarship to any university of her choice. Alex originally wanted 'just a hug' from our g/f! The last good deed was paying for a home that foster parents to about 8 kids was about to get kicked out of. They also got goodies from Crate & Barrel and Best Buy.
If anyone would like to write to Oprah concerning my 1960s 'original' kitchen (yep has the 44, almost 45 yr old oven) and get her decorator pal Nat to come here, that would be fine and dandy. I have been wanting to do something in there for years, but my pocketbook is always emptied by something. Oprah, can you hear me? : )

Stitcher's Blog QOTW

Do you stitch small projects one at a time that you can finish quickly, have numerous large projects going at once that you rotate,or both? How does your current system work for you and have you thought about changing it?
I usually have 2 larger projects and 2 smaller ones. The larger ones are usually the charity quilt squares that I do. I work on 2 at a time so I don't get bored with either one as I need to complete them to have them included in their finished quilts. I am having a hard time with the collie dog head I am completing now. I have the rest of his 'ruff' (new word alert-the fur around his head) to complete before the 27th of Sept. If I don't get it finished, I'll have to stop and make it look half-way decent before I send it. This happens to me sometimes when I am working on an old chart and the symbols are hand drawn. This one had one symbol and a line drawn to indicate to fill in all the blank squares with that color. Lazy!
The two smaller designs are usually Christmas ornaments or something that I know I can finish. I think my current system is working, though I have a few UFOs that I need to get out of the way so I can start something new.

Sharing a famous name...

Hey, I can come up with topics too. I was sitting here brainstorming last night....
How about if your name was Charles Manson like the infamous ring leader who killed actress Sharon Tate and the others? Wouldn't that be freaky? I think I'd have to be known as Chip or Chuck or maybe by my middle name. But if you were still a Manson, they you'd be asked if you were related to Charles. That would be a dilemma.
My name is Dianne Carol, the Carol part meant to be the feminine for Carl, my father. When anyone would hear my first and middle name (when I was younger), they thought it sounded like Diahann Carroll from the tv show 'Julia'. At the time I didn't like the comparsion to a lady close to my mom's age and of a different race. My feelings now are that I think Diahann Carroll is one of the loveliest performers ever! She has a class that so many of the younger singers or actresses will never possess. I am proud to have a similar sounding name.
Sometimes Jay Leno (right?) will have people's drivers licenses if they share a famous name or have a funny sounding name. You definitely have a picture of the famous person in your head, and he shows you the driver's license of 'Neil Armstrong' and it's not the first man who walked on the moon.
Once we were looking through a local newspaper and a real estate agent had the same name as Brian (last name too). The guy looked nothing like Brian either. And why would he have to look like him any way? LOL
Sean will do a search for his name and see other Sean Cs on the internet. He has found a few, some in Ireland too. He said 'Look mom, I'm an English professor in Ireland'. : )

Really busy weekend...

We're still trying to get this family room in order. I knew it would be a job and a half. On Friday, I continued to stack and sort my books. By this time, it must sound like I have a million books-close to it! Only kidding. I've been collecting books since I've been a teenager. Most of them aren't novels but non-fictional. The big hassle now is trying to figure out if the new bookcase is going to cover one of the floor vents. If it does, it does. It probably won't lay right on it, but there will be air space around it like the other bookcase-only the edges hit the floor-you can see the mark it left where it use to sit.
Brian continued to paint the ceiling on Saturday. He's almost 3/4s of the way finished. He noticed a few areas that need touch up last night and he tried to fix a crack in the ceiling. We had to move things out of the way so my brother and Brian could move the old sofa out yesterday which wasn't any easy task. The sofa now sits in my mom's living room. She complained about it being a bit flat in one area (where my butt sat I guess), but that was one reason we wanted a new sofa in the first place! The carpeting is definitely showing it's age in some places. I think I'll have to get an area rug, maybe an Oriental for the sofa area.
Sean and I did go down to mom's yesterday. I skipped the Mushroom Festival altogether. Sean went up to it on Saturday and said they were charging for parking (he found a grassy spot for free), and everything else. I read that a 'sip' of soup in the soup tasting tent was $1 a sip! Are they kidding? Anyway, we hit a killer flea market where I went to community college and then we went up to my hometown for 'Super Sunday'. I didn't buy that many things. Of course I eBay shop at events like this and didn't really see that much. I got some green glass coasters that look like they are from the 1930s, some old snowmen figures (may keep) and a ribbon laced message board for the family room in golds. I got my mom an amber candy dish (she had asked me to look for amber). It wasn't hot, but warm walking around. My sinuses were bad yesterday too.
One of the highlights of my day was stopping off at my brothers to give him gas money for running his truck out here. His children made a big fuss over Sean and me. Ken sat me down at his computer and showed me a slideshow of their recent trip to Ocean City, MD which I enjoyed. I also got a photo of the kids waiting for the bus on the first day of school. So cute! They are getting so big I hardly recognized them in the shot.
The next cool thing was after we came back from having dinner with mom, her 'new' car was waiting in the driveway for her. Ken found a 1992 Mercury Sable (her present car is a 1987 Ford Escort) through a guy at work that was owned my the guy's mom. It is a pearly blue and in good shape. Perfect for someone my mom's age. She was overjoyed! She is usually so down in the dumps it was nice to see her smiling and excited about something. She took us for a drive around to my brother's house (around the corner). She had to figure out where the shift bar was first-yikes! Sean is next on the agenda for a car. Maybe he can get one in the new year.

Daydreaming on Paper

Thanks to Mindy for this one. Her jobs were more varied for sure!
List all the jobs that you have had in your lifetime.
First job-babysat for the neighbors when I was about 10-11.
Babysat for most of the kids in a nearby neighborhood-the same families for a number of years.
(See where this is leading?)
Worked at the daycare center at the local community college while I attended there majoring in Early Childhood Education (have a AAS degree).
I worked at another daycare center run by co-owners who liked each other (if you get my drift). There was a main teacher and two assistants (I was one of the later). Talk about getting sick all the time! I got close to the kids, but it was a no where job for a 20 year old-a glorified babysitter (and they made you eat liver). Of course I turned around and got almost the same kind of job a year or so later, but this time was left behind with about 15-2yr olds for 2-3 hours, which can't be legal. The owner hoarded the food she asked the parents to donate. One time the other assistant opened this cupboard and there was a small supermarket in there! I got a weird virus and was so ill I decided to leave and not work in this kind of environment again.
My mom worked in the job placement at Widener College and found me a job at Z & H Uniforms which I had for a year or so and left for a job at Zale's Jewelers. I stayed about 3 weeks until I was asked to pierce someone's ears and it went half way through and the other saleslady had to finish the job! I also couldn't figure out their complicated register with about a zillion buttons.
Right before I got married I found a job in a take-out gourmet shop. I liked this job, but it was a small family run business (the job search lady was the gourment shop lady's mom). After the woman hired a friend who was desparate for a job, they canned me and made a lame excuse for getting rid of me. I had been on my honeymoon in Mexico and was sick and couldn't come in. Who wants to handle food when you are making trips to the bathroom 12 times a day? She said I had had enough time off (1 week) and she was letting me go.
I took a job in this area filling in for teacher's aides when they were out for the day or week in the local school district. Not too cool. They call you about 6 am (short notice most time) and you have to drag yourself out and learn a job in a few hours. Watching kids on a playground wasn't that great. A little girl broke her nose almost right in front of me because she had done a weird twist off the monkey bars.
If you can call eBay a job-well, it's basically making pocket money, then that is what I am into now.

In other words...

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.
-- Sacha Guitry
I think humor comes from within; you are either funny or you aren't. Just look at the tv show 'Last Comic Standing', esp when they were doing the auditions. So many of the people that came were just plain bad or they thought doing something stupid was funny.
I think most of my family has a good sense of humor. My little brother Ken can get us all laughing. Of course Ken learned this from his 3 older siblings. I have said or done something more than once that tickled Brian's funny bone that he had tears in his eyes from laughing. He makes me laugh too.
My grandfather use to write little bits that he hoped to get published. I think when he submitted one and it didn't get in a magazine, he lost hope. It was called 'How to assembly the little jiffy adironack chair'. Just the title sounds humorous.
Doctors take first place when they have to be serious, esp with delicate matters. Definitely the show 'Scrubs' tries to inject humor into a very sober topic as did M*A*S*H one of my all time favorite shows.

9-11 anniversary

It was like it happened yesterday, not 3 yrs ago already. I got up and turned on the tv and there was a tall building and it looked like a helicopter had crashed into it. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were frantically trying to make sense of what going on. I remember someone had hand glided onto the Statue of Liberty a week earlier. What the heck was going on? And then the earth stood still. It was a plane! And it was one of the Twin Towers! Within minutes the second plane went into the second tower. I sat in disbelief and then I thought-sh#*, Sean's in school! NYC isn't that far away. And then the plane hit the Pentagon and the other plane went down here in Penna., but out in the western part. It was not good living in this area-it was frightening. All those blasted planes had probably traveled not far over our heads. Sean will always remember that he was a freshman in high school and wanted to come home. I think everyone was watching the skies that day and praying, esp for all the lost innocent souls.
Two of the pilots were from near us. The one pilot lived near where I went to high school and his kids were in the same school district. The other pilot was from Bucks County. So many people were from Bucks County as it isn't that far from NYC by train.
A friend from Montana called to see if I was ok, not knowing where the plane went down in Pa. We talked for a long time. I thank her for that as I was a wreck.
I sure suffered post tramatically from that for a long time.
I pray that my child or that his children never have to live through anything like that again.

Portrait Maker

I was playing with this online thanks to Princess who is linked to the blinkie entry below.
Portrait Illustration Maker - Let's make an original icon!!
I'm just a glam puss and look about 25? Gee, what a face lift and nose job would do for me! ~LOL~ I think this is what I want to look like.I'll have to try this again...and again!


Brian was hard, this is a redo...


Now I think this looks like Sean:

Mushroom Festival

The next town over is hosting their 19th annual Mushroom Festival tomorrow and Sunday.
The Mushroom Festival
Last year the cable Food network show 'America's Festivals' ( I believe) were there filming the festivities. We didn't go last year and missed all the hoopla. We saw the show when it aired and recognized most of the people they spoke to. Sean's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Bazzano was a cook in the mushroom soup contest! There are lots of growers around, many who have been growing for years and have practically cornered the mushroom market. We have mushroom farms all around us, not good for the allergies. But what a fun kind of festival! They use to have a big parade and Sean was on his elementary school's float a few times which was fun. I got to walk along side the float and one year I dressed like a 30s moll (it was a Hollywood theme).

Fab Friday

It was a nice short week for Sean (4 days)and way too short for me. I am working so slowly. It seems I never get much done. I didn't realize how much was jam-packed in this one room. And it's still so disorganized, which I hate with a hot hatred!
Sean got his Senior portrait proofs in the mail yesterday. At first we thought they were only the little postage size pictures on a sheet. We were using a magnifying glass to look at them. Then Brian went through the envelope again, and there were the 3" x 5" and we felt a little foolish. I thought the photos would be online and didn't look that hard for normal size proofs in the envelope. The pictures are good for Sean standard. Sean doesn't like to show off his orthodontically enhanced (and expensive) smile. He kinda has his mouth hanging open like he is going to say something-may 'Cheese'? LOL Also the top of his tie isn't covering the top button of his shirt. And that had been an issue before he left to get his photo taken. His dad had tied it the night before and as hard as we tried, it wouldn't go all the way up. That lead me to open my yearbook (and Brian his) to check the guy's tie tying effects from years past. It looked like a lot of guys in my high school tied ties like every 5 years. And they were thicker ties back then too. This was a public school. In Brian's parochial yearbook, the ties were mostly perfect as they had practiced tie tying their whole lives!
Anyway, I am proud of the fine young man who half-smiled at me back in those very grown-up looking proofs. Sean in a cap and gown? Where did my baby go? Of course I ordered $140 worth.

What color is your brain

I went to this site and this is what it told me.
What color is your brain

Why I do charity stitching....

My friend Charlotte who lives in Ireland requested a quilt for a co-worker's niece who is terminal with a brain tumor. I can't stitch as fast as most of the other ladies in our group, so I asked Charlotte if I could send a gift for Kate, the sick girl. She said anything Disney, so I went to the Disney store and bought her a Tinkerbell sweat jacket (she is only 8). Here is the letter Charlotte shared with the group today when the emergency quilt arrived at her house.

Kate's quilt arrived yesterday evening. The box was laid out on our bed when I came home from work. We were so excited! First we locked the boys out of the room as to not get any hairs on it and then we carefully opened the box. All the ladies who ever could see and hold and smell and feel a Love Quilt will understand what I am saying, for all of you who have yet to have this experience - it is awsome, nothing compares to it. When we carefully folded back the flaps of the box there was a cloud of love evaporating like the sweetest perfume, seeing all those sunflowers it was like looking into my moms garden (Dad and her grow sunflowers so the birds can have a picknick on the seeds). We unfolded it and looked at all the fine stitching and all the colorful squares - the pictures on the site are lovely but nothing to the riot of colour we saw yesterday. Do you know that every square has a different feel to the stitching? It really does, you can feel the personality of the stitcher when you run your fingers lightly over it. It was a very emotional evening for us. Lyndon has picked so many patterns to be stitched for children and then watched the squares being finished and washed, packaged and sent off, he always wondered about their next stage - now we both now. The final stage is love and joy! We just hugged each other and cried. I felt guilty for being happy to be able to hug that quilt, because I only had this experience because Kate is so very ill.

I have taken the quilt with me to work today, together with the pillow (Lyndon managed to take a picture of it yesterday so I will post it when I get home) and Diannes sweet gift as well. Mary promised to take pictures of Kate enjoying her quilt.

Everybody loved the quilt - nobody had ever seen anything as beautiful. I got asked to give you all a message over and over and it was always the same message.
God bless you all for what you do!

Weird weather

It can't make up its mind outside today. It's sunny, dark, windy and rainy and has been this changeable all morning. I know I won't be doing anything outside anyway-I am finished weeding this year. Did I forget to say how humid it is? Ugh. I can't stand humidity and thank goodness we had central AC. We haven't had it the entire time we lived here, only in the last 6 or so years and we have lived here 18 yrs now. We put up with a lot of sleepless nights in the past. We had one big air conditioner, but it was in the dining room area which is on the other side of the house from the bedrooms. After we turned the garage in the family room, it sure didn't help in here. It was a lot of dead air space. We are a bit spoiled by the AC now. I think it messes up my sinuses though by actually drying them out a bit like the heat does in the winter.
I did sleep well last night for a change. I was laying there a while this morning and dozed off and started dreaming of snow. Now that was strange. We were at my mom's house and a big truck had come to dig her out while we sat in the car. Brian called and woke me up.
I had a call from someone asking for money. I won't say who, as not to offend anyone, but the guy said he was 'recording the conversation' and started out asking for $50 and up. When I complained, he lowered it to half and then when I said I had to give my son money for his senior trip (they want a deposit already) he lowered it to $15. I never actually said I'd send the money and the next thing out of his mouth was to confirm the above and I said 'good-bye' and hung up. I usually don't answer the phone if the caller ID says unknown and it says that when Brian calls sometimes.
Oh well...back to this mess...and maybe more painting.

3x Thursday

1. If you won the lottery, and could win as much as you wanted, how much would you take? What would you do with it?
I think I would pay the taxes on it right away. What's left would go to probably paying off bills. If it was a lot of moola, I would like a bigger house and maybe a vacation place. I'd help my siblings too, maybe giving them all the same amount so there would be no squawking. I'd get my mom's house fixed up for her and do whatever I could do for Brian's dad and my uncle. I think that covers the family. And it would be nice to make a few donations too. : ) I'm just too good to be true-lol. IF only....
2. If you could have any car/truck/environmental killing machine that you wanted, what would it be?
I'm not into flashy vehicles really, I drive a mini-van for cripes sake. I am attracted to those PT Cruisers for some reason. I'd have to do a test drive to see if it was cool. I also like Thunderbirds and for the higher ticket cars-I'd say a BMW.
3. If you could, would you want to be a professional student? Why/why not? If so, what would you study?
I feel we are all 'professional' students if we stretch our minds and continue to read and learn. I use the internet all the time to expand my mind. I went to a doctor one time (lately) and was asking him medical questions and he wanted to know if I had medical training. I don't think he was being sarcastic, but was hopefully impressed over the questions I was asking as they weren't the basic run of the mill ones.
Bonus Question for Comments: Does it take a lot of money and goods to make you happy? How much/little? Why/Why not?
I'd say no on the money part, yes on the goods part. I think if I had enough money to pay off bills and travel a bit, I'd be fine. My brothers and I tend to need to surround ourselves with stuff. Dave has videos, DVDS, etc galore; I have books and tchotckes; Don has Simpson cartoon stuff and Ken has model cars and his garage of auto tools. Mom has a house full of stuff too. Why? I don't know. With mom it's a shopping thing. We had enough toys when we were young, but may be stuck in a period of our lives when we weren't that happy because of our parents divorcing. I guess having too much stuff is a comfort thing.

Midweek Music Meme

Music that seems to be intended to evoke a happy response will actually trigger a sad feeling in some, and the reverse can be true, as well. I suspect it’s not just because certain music is associated with certain things or situations for some people - sometimes it just doesn’t hit us the way it seems it “should.”
What song or piece of music creates in you a response that seems at odds with that particular music?
This is really difficult to answer. I guess I'll have to say religious hymns, esp Amazing Grace which is my favorite hymn gives me that sad feeling. It must be it's association with funerals. I use to sing in the church choir (and may do so again someday) and we sang 'Morning Has Broken', the song that Cat Stevens sang back in the 70s. We sang it a bit differently though. The only song I really bawled over that I can remember is from a musicbox my brother gave me. It was part of a sewing box. The song was 'Buttons and Bows'. Don and I use to sing for our family and that was one of the songs. I guess it stirred up some precious memories.

Usually people have a particular type of music that they enjoy most, and perhaps a few other genres that are secondary favorites. But once in a while, there will be some other - completely uncharacteristic - music that a person finds appealing.
What song, album, or artist do you enjoy that is radically different from the music you normally listen to?
This has to be the music of Lenny Kravitz. I think he is so cool. And I also can flip the coin and listen to Josh Groban. I am mainly a folk rock person-James Taylor, Kenny Loggins, etc.

An amazing photo from outer space called 'The Eye of God' 

Raindrops...like we need them!

I swear I said I would never complain about rain again. And I will try not to. It's just that we have had so much of it this year. The flowers look great, but you know all that rain makes the mosquito and mold population raise which can make you sick. At least it gives me an excuse to do inside things.
As a child, rain on the window at night made me feel all cozy and safe. It was like a gentle melody playing to ease me into sleep.
I am still sorting books. It's a big, stressful job. I am enjoying looking at the books as I go. As far as getting rid of some, that's hard for me too. I found some special things, one of which was an autographed child's book from the woman who corrected my papers for the correspondence course I took called 'Writing for Children' through the Children's Institute. Lisa Rowe Fraustino wrote that she hoped she'd be reading a book by me someday. Hopefully there is a book or two in my brain that needs to be written down.

Wednesday already?

Gee-thanks for the blinkie addiction gals! I must have about 11-12 now if this blog ever decides to republish itself.
I definitely will be using my PSP7 in the near future. I do lots of photo editing and entered contests on Worth1000.com, but they never seemed to like what I did. They have their own gang there with expensive cameras and computer programs. I edited enought cat photos of Cosmo to make a calendar book which I gave as gifts. I do love my PSP7 and haven't used it in ages except for eBay and to edit out a trash can from the photo on this page of Brian and me.

Thanks for the Blinkies

Thanks to Princess for the cool blinkies she posted in her journal for everybody to use that I found through Mindy. I think they really 'dress' up the page. I had a heck of a time getting them up. 'Hello' only accepts jpegs, so I looked at what Mindy uses and got a photobucket account.
I want to thank Mindy for introducing me to blogging. I am really enjoying writing my posts. Sometimes people think blogs are only for kids, but us middle- agers enjoy writing too. We have 'life experiences'. : )
I also went looking on the web and found a few more that were 'me' to a 't'.
I'll have to try my luck at making them too.

From Daydreaming on paper...

List the 10 best things about being you.
#1. Being a mom-I've always have wanted to be one since I hugged my first doll (Thumbelina). I am happy to be blessed with Sean as he is my only child.
#2. Being a wife-I was lucky to find a man like Brian at an early age. He is my best friend.
#3. Being a daughter-my mom's only daughter. I just found a note she wrote to me in 1980 that said that 'all the pain, grief, etc. was worth it because she had me.'
#4. Being a sister to three brothers with totally different personalities and knowing how to handle them all without them getting peeved at me or their noses out of joint.
#5. Being an aunt to my three nephews and my little sweetie only niece. I called her today on her first day of kindergarten to see how she did. She was upset as it was an orientation day and they left early. She can't wait to stay longer. I remember Sean when he started school and how my heart felt like a piece of it had broken off when he got on the bus that day. Now he is in his last year of school and I am facing him going off to college in less than a year.
#6.I am fortunate to have been able to stay home with my child through his growing up years. I never felt like I jeopardized a career or anything as you can really start a career at anytime. I'm not that old that I couldn't work when he goes away to school.
#7. I can sing from low notes to high C.
#8. I can figure out cross stitch patterns and work them and finish them to produce beautiful pieces.
#9.I believe there is something better than this existence.
#10.I like to help people.

Tons to do for Tuesday

I guess I shouldn't even be on the computer today. I have such a mess to sort through in this family room. I didn't realize how many books I had until I saw them all in towering piles around this room. I am getting many of them on the old bookcase. What's nice is I get to sort them-like all my Mary Engelbreit books are together, etc. I am also finding duplicates and books to sell on eBay. I also put up a video and some software programs. What the heck! : )
So the first thing I did was eBay listing. I had to reinstall the drivers for my digital camera because when the printer got unplugged to move, it messed the camera up too. I only have about 10 things on eBay right now, but I try for 20 a week. I did well this past week-all finds from around the house. The same with this week. The less I spend out of pocket, the more profit I see-of course!
The guys went back to work and school. They helped me a little in here with the painting, but its yours truly who will be rearranging, etc. The dust is getting to me,though it took a few days. Maybe I'm just glad to finally be doing something in here. I can't wait for the new sofa to arrive!
I was trying to sleep a little longer since I was awake most of the night a few days ago. I kept having a dream where I was at an airport (with my family) or something and stopped to do something and the guys (or mom in another episode) went ahead of me and I lost them. Those are the worst dream as they leave you so darn confused when you wake up.
I better get off the computer. I need to eat, shower, wrap things to mail, food shop and get back to the book sorting.

Monday

Nothing too exciting today except dealing with this family room redo. I can't get things out of my head at night and I am awake until 2 or 3 am. Sean had a disappointment earlier. My brother Ken the mechanic said the car that mom was going to give Sean needed too much work and if we did the work, it may not pass inspection in the long run (coming up in November). Sean just hates taking the bus as a senior. He'll have to wait until the new year or until his uncle can find him a good deal like he did our mom.
Brian is cutting the lawn and I know he has stopped as he is chatting with the next door neighbor-I can hear them faintly through the family room window. The neighbor is in his 70s and has been chipping and cutting wood for about 3 days now. What's bad about that is his wood pile is near our house and if we open the window we smell the fumes from the machine he is using.
Better get back to work here. I'm finding some books and tapes for eBay in this mess!

The Daily Dirt

The Daily Dirt
1. What vegetable do you hate eating?
I was forced one time to eat wax beans, so I am not crazy about them. I also like red peppers instead of eating them in their bitter state of green.

2. Which music artist do you hate the most? Why?
I don't want to say I hate self-expression, but rap music really bothers me as it all sounds the same. I can't imagine listening to a rap CD more than once. I thought music was singing notes in a scale of music. Not a big fan of loud heavy metal either. I want to listen to songs I can sing along with.

3. What book do you hate?
I also love to read, but most of those tacky romance novels follow the same basic story lines-about 4 of them. My neighbor read them like eating candy. There is no substance to them at all.
4. What type of clothing do you hate? On me or in general?
On me-anything that makes my tummy stick out too much. My mom can't pick out clothes for me at all-she likes bold patterns and I generally like a more understated look. In general-I can't stand seeing people in dirty clothes or clothes that have holes in them, esp in public. I was watching a cable show on the 'Style' network last night called 'How Do I Look?' This good looking fellow(it was hard to see his looks at first) dressed as I described above and he also had a skirt too because he felt 'free' in it. He had bushy curly hair, a beard and glasses. After they got finished with he he was a different person and looked so good. His girlfriend asked him who he was! : )
5. Do you agree with "you don't hate a person, you just hate what they've done (to you)."
Yes, because I had a friendship end because of the woman not being a true friend. She got to the point where I would never see her and she just wanted to use email to stay in touch. She lives about 5 miles away. I think she is a creative person with a nice family and lovely home, but treats people like they aren't that important.

Best Sellers for me on eBay...so far...

I am very bored tonight as there isn't much I want or feel like doing.This collie dog head cross stitch isn't showing progress at all! I only have a few more weeks to get it finished and I haven't even flipped the book over. He/she may be losing some of his neck hair. Sorry Lassie girl. : (
I was going to post this at some time and since Sean is hogging the DVD watching 'X Man2' (I like Hugh Jackman as a normal person if he ever plays one!)
Anyway, I had stated somewhere on here that I have been selling on eBay for a while-5 years now. I sell practically anything! I find things I've had hidden away for years and if they are in good condition and are 'sale-able', then up they go on eBay.
Here's what I've made the most moola on over the last few years:
Mary Engelbreit Premier Issue of her magazine-$50
Asia style antique bracelet-$90
A how-to book on making Dreamcatchers-$40
Wizard of Oz playset-like Polly Pockets-$61
Whale Salt and Pepper Shakers-$30
Wooden antique bear nutcracker-over $300
(Of course I am running into the woman who I bought this from all the time and in my head she is 'the nutcracker' lady)
All the above items were $10 and under when I purchased them and most were under $5. This is why I enjoy the thrill of eBay. I helped my one friend discover eBay and she is a powerseller now. She goes for the glassware stuff more. I'll sell more books and name brand things. Talk about selling books-I have my own book store and I'm doing inventory right now!