Taught him well...at least at some things...

What a dreary day here! I did a little flower planting late yesterday-some snapdragons, the mini-marigolds and some chamomile in the fairy garden. It looks colorful and sweet.
Sean went to the 'after prom' event from 11 pm-5 am last night. He didn't attend the prom, but the after prom event is open to all juniors and seniors. They started this about 6+ yrs ago so the kids had something 'fun' to do after the prom. They have door prizes, including a car. Sean didn't win the car. I had trouble sleeping as I was wondering how he was holding up. No problem-he came right home and crashed until lunchtime.
So in my subject line I am talking about Sean-he is so neat and tidy with his clothes. His father is the opposite! I asked Brian to come back in the bedroom to pick out some shirts, etc for our trip. I dumped about 40+ shirts on the bed. He said he didn't have that many clothes before I did this! He forgets what he has! They were stinky, like they needed a good airing out. So I washed half of them today though I wasn't really up to it. He just wants to wear t-shirts and shorts. Surprise-he's taking a couple of polo shirts to wear out to dinner. I folded all the shirts 'just so' and separated them (I am a perfectionist to some degree) by color and design. I can guarantee you that they will be all messed up in a month's time. This is what happens when you marry someone whose mom was still washing his undies at age 27! I just inherited all the stuff she use to do for him. And he doesn't really care if he looks clean and polished at all. Sean does. I found a steamer that gets the wrinkles out of clothes and he used it today. At least one cares, and the other is a lost cause.

The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies

The above exhibit is coming to the Franklin Institute in the fall. The reporter for Action news went to Chicago to preview this unusual display of real bodies. They are preserved with a special plastic. Not sure if the squeamish could handle it. I was ok looking at it on the tv, but wonder what it would be like to see a pregnant lady with an 8 month old fetus dissected in half. This is such an 20th century exhibit! They even have a 'store' with mousepads, watches, etc. displaying the bodies. Maybe that is kinda overdoing it. All the bodies used were from people who donated their bodies to science. There are over 200 of them in the exhibit. Be sure to check out the 'body facts' page.

Seems like I'm blogging alot, I know...

Actually I'm getting it out of my system as I probably won't be near a computer for 4 days from the 6th-9th because of our Florida trip. We can't wait! Brian is a bit anxious as he hasn't been on a plane since 1989. I am praying my sinuses will be clear and I won't have to use the bathroom too much on the plane. And damn that 'Lost' show! Funny how you worry about dumb things. Hey John Travolta, come get us! (he's a pilot too). I was just suffering so much with my nose and throat today. My nose feels like it's closing up and it's burning. Flonase is helping, but I bet I'll have to take a dose of Sudafed tomorrow. Crossing fingers.
Watched one of the best contestants get the boot tonight on 'Survivor'. Here she's a local girl from Glenolden, PA. Brian just happen to work in the same town for 13 yrs. Bet she knows the company he worked for too! She's a 'Prendy' girl, went to the burb Catholic girl's high school. I know other grads from that school (one was in my wedding party). Pretty neat. I usually pick up a local accent, but she didn't seem as 'Philly' as Paul from Extreme Makeover:Home Edition.
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I didn't plant outside, too windy. I got hung up repotting indoor plants. I did about 10 plants from Prayer Plants to Christmas cacti before I ran out of potting soil. I have another bag outside though. I'd like to combine the leftover cacti into one big pretty pot. They are one of my favorite plants. I also have a windowsill full of African violets. I do have a green thumb, don't I? Wish me well with my sinuses. : )

Johnny Jump-ups in fairy garden. 

Perennials-hollyhocks, poppy and gayfeather ready to plant. 

Ah springtime!!

Pretty viburnum bush was loaded with blossoms this year and they smelled so heavenly.

Cosmo on the prowl outside. 

Buying garden plants

Geez, I'm so excited about buying plants! I went to drop off the 4 bags of clothes at the Goodwill and right around the corner was Richardson's. They have gorgeous plants mostly from $1.99 to $4.50. The more expensive ones are perennials.I bought some plants for my fairy/gnome garden. It's really cute. It use to be the rose bed and I moved the roses and had the space. I have lots of little fairies and friends-not tacky ones but sweet ones with little chairs, a mini glazing ball and some ceramic mushrooms. I found some miniature marigolds which will be perfect for it (if they don't get nibbled by animals). I also bought a big pot of purple Johnny jump-ups for the same garden plus a few other plants.
What else? Snapdragons, pale pink petunias, some herbs, a poppy and a few other perennials. The sales lady said I could plant everything. The lilacs are about to bloom, so that's a good sign there won't be a freeze again. I can't wait to get digging and rearranging.

Black tea rocks!

I got a bunch of bottled beverages called SoBes at the grocery store last Friday- a variety of teas and some other flavors. The green tea was okay. I had the black tea today and I swear I didn't have that late afternoon slump! It has ginseng in it and a little more sugar than the green tea. I did eat more for lunch. I weeded almost my entire rose bed and I figured out a few programs for my blog (thanks for the idea Abby). I even made mashed potatoes with the ribs we had (slow cooked boneless pork ribs with salsa in the crockpot all day). So I feel like I got things accomplished. It may also be that I am happy to be talking civilly with my mom again.
Brian set up the wrought iron umbrella table for me and got out my glider. Things are shaping up outside. The next thing will be planting flowers-my favorite thing!
I am get so darn excited about our trip too. The hotel looks awesome and I am sure the guys will have a blast. 10 more days!

Hand holding amongst the blue bonnets

"You've got to have friends....."

I mentioned the Buck County Playhouse was flooded out a few weeks ago. Found this on a Tyne Daly fan page. That means little Timmy was only about 7 yrs old. Wonder if he liked Bucks County too? The names were already highlighted with yellow. They are all members of the Daly family. James and Hope Newell are Tim's dad and mom. Glynn and of course Tyne are his sisters.
Update 4-26-I wrote an email to the BC PH yesterday about photos or a playbill from the above production. They replied and said their website was being updated all the time and that there probably weren't any playbills, etc. from 1963. Oh well.

A good cooling does wonders!

I just wanted you to know that I am talking to my mom again. Things are fine. She just read the email I sent her last Thursday and replied with this: message read - point(s) taken and considered - over and out Mom. All that bull crap over a used shirt. Geez.
Mom's talking about going up to 'Shady Maple' an area in Lancaster with a food store, restaurant and retail store that sells lovely plants which would be the reason for the trip. I didn't get up there last year, so it's a possibility that I may go. Not sure if it will be this week or when we get home from Florida.

Links to Charity stitching

I just want to get up on my soapbox and give my little 'why don't you do some charity stitching' speech!
Here's a great link:
CyberStitchers Cross-Stitch Picture Galleries:Calling All Stitchers!
I am pleased to say that I have contributed to 3 of the 7 charities listed. I see that St. Jude's would like cross stitched bookmarks! I like to stitch them myself, so I plan to make some in the future. How easy are bookmarks?
I love to make kids happy and charity stitching is perfect. I get to stitch and I get to contribute my work to a needy cause. Enough said. : )

Looking for a baby squirrel photo at Corbis.com and found this one. The kitty looks like my Cosmo a little. See the baby squirrel there? AHHHHH! 

Act of kindness

So I was on my way to MickeyD's for dinner and two teens in an SUV in the other lane made me stop. Here a baby squirrel was sitting right in my path! I wouldn't run over him! The driver got out and kinda swooshed at it (it was so cute I am getting all smoochie thinking of him). That didn't work, so her pal got up and scooped him right up in her hands! I was praying that he wouldn't bite her and he didn't. The gal stayed on the side of the road to make sure 'lil' fuzzy tail' got on his way. Isn't that just too sweet?

Clothes sorters

Geez Louise! Even my son and I have too many clothes. I guess we take after a certain lady who isn't talking to me. I needed to get some things together for our Florida trip in a few weeks. I had bought a few new things, but I wanted some 'kick around' shorts and tees that are all ready 'broken in'. For Christmas I bought Space bags and managed to get a big plastic bin worth of clothes into about 4 of them. I gave Sean the bin and a jumbo space bag for his stuff. He is as bad as me! His bed was piled high with clothes, mostly from his favorite store Old Navy. We decided to donate about 2 huge bags of clothes to the Goodwill (there's another bag in the van). I am pretty happy with what I have to take. I have to try on shorts (which I hate, I found knee length polyester skirts that look so much better on me). I guess I'll have to look through Brian's clothes next because knowing him he will wait until the last moment.
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So we watched Sideways last night and this morning. There was a shocker 'copulating' scene and full frontal nudity of a couple of bit actors (just to warn you). Sean saw that and I think he was quite surprised. If you over look those few scenes, it was a pretty decent movie. I think it won the Golden Globe this year as best movie comedy. Paul Giamatti was excellent. Hard to believe he played an orangutan in the remake of 'The Planet of the Apes'.
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I am pleased with how the yard clean up is going. I am moving a few plants around that were looking sad in their present location. The plants are Japanese iris that were in front of the driveway and some lilies that were under the Japanese maple in the front yard. They were reaching so much for the sun they were legging and not doing anything. Brian dug them up the other evening and just being placed in a pot they look more perky. Some of my lawn decorations got broken or are faded. I had a fairy garden and some of my wee folk look a wee bit pale. I want to find some miniatures for the fairy garden. Last year the impatiens took over. Maybe there are mini-impatiens! I'll have to look around and I am getting that itch to check out some garden centers.

Meganame generator

Dianne Carol C's Aliases

Your movie star name: Candy Alan

Your fashion designer name is Dianne Paris

Your socialite name is Diadsie New York

Your fly girl / guy name is D Col

Your detective name is Cat Penncrest

Your barfly name is Snickers Apricot Sour

Your soap opera name is Carol State

Your rock star name is Dove Sports Car

Your star wars name is Diacos Colbri

Your punk rock band name is The Empty Lightning Rod

The Amazing Meganame Generator

Beef stew

I have to admit, this was the best I've made in a while. I make stew at least twice a month in the cooler weather. No way was I going to make it in 80 degree weather yesterday. It was in the 60s today, so I made it. I swear, the turnips and parsnips make the world of different flavor-wise. I like a bit of rosemary and parsley with a splash of Worchestershire sauce. I made some 'packaged' lemon squares for a treat. My son Sean has a terrible sweet tooth. He's practically eaten 4 packages of cookies in less than a week. Half the tray of lemon squares are gone too. And look ma, no cavities and he's 'just right' with his build.
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I did weed whacking instead of food shopping. I have a lot of pent up anger in me from my phone conversation with mom. I did almost the entire front yard! Mom even involved my uncle in this spat. He called and was very cool with me. I don't know when all this will end, but I really hate it because I feel like a heel and I don't want not to like myself when I didn't really do anything so horrific.

Dry as punk

My grandmom use to say this. I would get a visual of the little sticks that we would burn to ward off mosquitoes in the summer. What was the 'punk' part anyway? We were told it was manure and would dare each other to taste it! This is a suppressed memory and they spring into my head a lot lately. We use to do to weird stuff to lightning bugs (earrings out of their behind!). Kids can be cruel.
Anyway, I can't really do that much in the flower beds because it is so dry. I could use the 'weed whacker' which I may do later, but I need some groceries too. Weed whack or grocery shop? I may choice the later because my eyes are red (see old post update).
It's a lot cooler today anyway. I do not like warm weather in April. For one thing there is no shade and I end up sitting on the front step. All the spring flowers were wilting too.
They are telling us that the whole area is a fire hazard. There have been wildfires in New Jersey.
Hopefully we will get a little rain soon as it's been 11 day since we had a decent rainfall (we had a wee bit last night).

Where's my boy?  

A new Pontiff

I'm a Catholic girl (have been since 1983), so I was interested in who was chosen to fill some pretty big shoes. When I was watching around noon, the tv guys couldn't figure out if the smoke was white, but I could tell right away. It took awhile for Pope Benedict XVI to come out and I was surprised they had chosen such an old man. Even his brother is wondering about the new position for an almost 80 yr old. Brother said 'Sometimes when you are approaching 80, you don't feel like getting out of bed the next day'.
The new Pontiff seems very talented (piano, languages), but so conservative. We will never have a 'fun' Pope. They are so stuffy and are against everything that has to do with the modern world. I guess tradition lives in the Catholic church.

Silent treatment

Oh how I hate silent treatments. My mom is giving me one now. She was mad at me for making fun of a shirt she bought for Brian at the Goodwill. Now I don't know what possessed her to buy this shirt as it is at least from the 80s with a fitted waistband for him and it's faded. Brian just had a birthday and got new shirts. Mom hung up on me last night and said she'd never buy us another thing (promise?). My brother has her all stirred up because he wants her to get her house cleaned up and in shape. She's hoarded so much. She was going through bedsheets and I saw a fitted sheet in the pile that I used as a teenager, so that was 25+ yrs old.
I am curious to see how long she can hold out. I love her, but man, I don't miss the complaining and all.
Update 4-21
I'm not going to do another long post about this. I tried to make amends with mom to no avail this morning. It turned into a shouting match. All the stuff I was thinking about that was negative concerning her boiled over. Mom said that maybe we shouldn't call each other anymore. Told me my family was dysfunctional(not sure what she means). I almost threw the phone and was in tears. She just tried to call about 45 minutes later and I didn't answer. We need more of a break from one another. Family issues suck.
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For dinner tonight we had chicken tenders spread with a mixture of mayo and parmesan cheese. On top of that you shake on some bread crumbs. You bake it for about 20 minutes at 425. I cooked them in the toaster oven and put the broiler on them to make them nice and brown. I went to a produce place looking for broccoli rabe (which they didn't have) and got some 'homegrown in our town' spinach. Sean likes it raw, so I saved him some. I followed a recipe on the bag-heat olive oil, brown some garlic in it. Take the pan off the heat, drop in the bag of spinach. Put a lid on the pan and cook for 6 minutes. Add lemon juice. I threw in some cooked bacon and it was so tasty. Try it as it's so good for you too.

Forsythias in the front of the house. They will be all green soon. 

Airing out a yo-yo afghan made by my Great grandmother Caroline back in the 1940s. It needs lots of repair work, but I don't know if I can do it and ruin the integrity of it. 

Me and my cross stitch

Man I look tired here! I framed this, but I'm not crazy about the mat (it's just a piece of scrapbooking paper with added lace trim). I need a mat cutter.

The Royals of Monaco

I guess Prince Rainier's passing took 'second place' to that of the Pope's demise. Most people know he was married to actress Grace Kelly, but they don't know she grew up in Philadelphia. She had a fake snooty accent during her Hollywood days and as a Princess. Come to think about it, I guess it sounds better in the long run! Her daughter Stephanie use to come to the states to summer in the Poconos and she indeed did not sound as affected as her mother. Stef actually sounds like she is from Philly!
So I wonder how Prince Albert will do as the 'royal in charge'? Maybe Caroline would do better in this situation. I believe Rainier had a stip in his will that she could take over the job if her little bro couldn't handle it. Caroline has had an interesting past. She's on her 3rd husband. Her sister is just as interesting with all the men in her past (though mom was a temptress too).
A few years back, we got to see Princess Grace's wedding gown on display at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
It was yellowing, but still beautiful and very intricate and looked very uncomfortable. We also got to see Princess Diana's 'Elvis dress'-the white gown with the high collar that was covered with little pearls.
My grandmom's first cousin was family friends of the Kellys and Kate went on the ship over to Monaco to the royal wedding. Kate was a neat lady and it's cool to know there is somewhat of a long lost connection there. She and her daughter were well off, but they weren't snooty. Kate's daughter Gloria started the business 'Dane Decor' that sells imported Danish furniture. When Gloria came to my wedding, she gave us a teak tea cart that I still use. Gloria also told us that she looked in the phonebook for Hasselbergs in Denmark (on one of her buying trips) and there were only a few there. She looked in Swedish phonebooks and there were many more. Hasselberg is my grandmom's maiden name. Don't I think about that when I see Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Bette Midler who is married to a Von Hasselberg!



Princess Grace's wedding gown on display at the Phila. Museum of Art (after it was restored).

The Gables at Chadds Ford

The outside of the restaurant

I like a nicely presented dinner once in a while. I get excited waiting for the food to come! Brian and I went to a place called 'The Gables at Chadds Ford' earlier this evening. We were the first diners there.
From their website:
The Gables at Chadds Ford, established in 1997, is situated in the heart of the historic Brandywine Valley. Located in a converted 1800s dairy barn, the setting is simple yet elegant. The menu offers a contemporary twist on traditional American cuisine, utilizing French and Asian influences.
I was looking at the menu on the website and it's almost completely different than it was tonight. The only thing that was the same is the Caesar salad that Brian ordered. They didn't even have it cut up which he would have preferred. I had a spinach salad with pecan fried goat cheese, marinated cherry tomatoes, olives and roasted peppers in a tomato basil vinaigrette (I brought a paper menu home). The flavors were intense and the presentation beautiful.
For our main dishes I wanted the pork tenderloin with a crusty pecan coating, rhubarb compote, etc., but they were all out of it. I did say we were the first diners of the evening, so that was strange. I ended up getting Salmon with English peas and pea tendrils (looked like watercress), garlicy new potato and lobster salad (skimpy on the lobster), with a cucumber dill yogurt. They gave me a huge piece of salmon. It was a little raw in the middle, so I didn't eat that part.
Brian had the Red Snapper (Hawaiian) with mango barbeque and pecan fried rice. I was getting pretty full but the chocolate mousse on a brownie base with ganache sounded too good to pass up. It was like eating an elegant chocolate Easter egg. I brought half of it home.
Poor Sean didn't have the car keys for the Taurus so he ate leftover pasta. Bummer. He had other food to work with though. Brian tries to make me feel guilty when Sean isn't along, but he can fend for himself at 18.
All in all I enjoyed it there. We don't usually treat ourselves that often.

'Helis' from Canada

This is the name of the white Beluga whale hanging around the Delaware River. Seems he's a Canadian dude who's about 30 yrs old with a propeller blade wound (how he was recognized). They are worried about him being in fresh water instead of salt water. Apparently the fresh water isn't good for his eyes. I'll keep you posted about what happens to 'Helis'.
From WPVI.com website....
"Helis is a very distinctive animal, so it was easy to identify this guy," said Robert Michaud, scientific director of the Canadian group.

Photos showed a scar along the whale's dorsal ridge and other blemishes. Helis, pronounced ay'-LEE, is derived from the French word helice, or propeller. Experts believe Helis' scar was probably caused by a propeller when he was younger.

Helis was first sighted in the St. Lawrence Estuary and was seen regularly until 1994, Michaud said. But since then he had only been spotted twice - in 2000 and 2003 - until he turned up in the Delaware River.

Bedtime routine...don't get to excited...

It takes longer and longer as the years go by. I swear by washing my face every night and have done that all my life. I am lucky to have Lancome products (thanks to gift cards) and I use the cleanser, toner and dry skin cream. Then it's eye drops (just the wetting kind), chapstick, maybe Flonase or herbal nasal spray and cream for my dry tootsies. I've been using the udder cream as previously posted and my dry feet have improved tremendously. I have some herbal rub if I feel stuffy if I don't use the medicine. I just started using cuticle cream again. Sometimes I put meds on my face. Of course tooth and hairbrushing are squeezed in there too.
Wasn't that an interesting post? I know people in my own family who don't wash their faces, and to me that is just nasty.

Wayward Whale on the Delaware River

As of yesterday (when he was first spotted), a 10-12 foot white Beluga whale has been swimming around in the Delaware River near Trenton. They say to get where he is, he had to swim by Wilmington and Philly. It's a big deal around these parts and he made the news. They think he is headed south which would be good as he's headed toward the ocean. If he doesn't seem to be getting the idea about heading out to sea, guess he will get some help. Thanks to our local affiliate WPVI tv for the following map and photo of our new friend.




4-14
On 'The Daily Show' (I watch the repeat from the night before the next morning), Jon Stewart mentioned that the Beluga was near his hometown of Trenton (I didn't know this). He said the only reason anyone would go near Trenton is for condoms and cheap champagne-so you know what he said the whale was headed in that direction for-well... he said 'a blow hole dance'.
I happened to watch the DVD of 'Shark Tales' last night. Talk about a tie-in to this current event! It was really a funny movie with Will Smith (another local boy) as the voice of Oscar the main 'fish' character.

Lots to do

We have to get serious about getting our summer clothes out and ready for our trip in 3 weeks. I have a few new pieces, but I need my old, kick around in stuff too. Sean is really excited about this trip and I pray things will run smoothly. I am feeling really guilty about leaving the cat here by himself for almost 4 days. I can't count on anyone to watch him either. I have a food dispenser, so he won't starve. He has a window perch which is nicely padded. I will turn on a battery radio for his listening pleasure. He will be lonely, but he isn't lonely that often. He was an outdoor boy when we first adopted him, so he should be use to being independent.
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I was so thrilled my niece Tori, pictured below loved her gifts from me. She even got her own tv and chair from her mom and dad and was happy about them, but went right back to the dolls. I got her these mini-dolls called 'Shorties' and she played with them the entire time I was there and ignored the other toys. I'm wondering if she is playing with them today? They reminded me of 'Little Kiddles' from my childhood and they were really popular. I also gave her the little fairy and bunny cross stitch I turned into my first quilt square. Everyone was impressed by it. The quilt part was so-so, at least it looks handmade.
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We stopped by my mom's house first and it looked like clothes had exploded in her living room! My brother is helping her clean out some bedrooms and I think she is quickly moving clothes so he won't toss them. I could not believe how many clothes one person had. Now I know where a lot of her moola went. I like clothes too, but I have donated tons of them to charity within the last few years.
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Not only did we see the fox the other day, but we saw some gorgeous swans on the way to Brian's dad's house on Sunday. I would love to have a huge pond with swans-they are so elegant.
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Brian and I celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary on Thursday. We can't believe it's been that long. Goes to show you how quickly the years pass by.

Happy 6th Birthday sweet Tori! 

Waterfall

Brian and I am major achy tonight. We were bailing out water from our little 50 gallon pond today. It was really muddy. Three of my water plants lived, but two really need repotting as there are about 1 foot of roots coming from the mesh containers I bought them in last year. It's nice to hear the waterfall from the open window. I have three solar lights out there near the pond, one of which is a big sunflower and the only bright one glowing tonight.
Did I say it was a picture perfect day with clear blue skies too? So nice to get some more cleaning up done as we raked leaves out of the flowerbeds. My roses look sad and I lost a few. I feel like giving up on roses all together as they are hard for me to grow.
Bri filled in the hole mentioned in the the post below with that expanding foam stuff. "How does a redneck fill in a hole-with expanding foam stuff!!!" LOL I'm wondering if it will work. I can just imagine all the flying bug eggs under this floor where the garage floor use to be. Ugh.
I am trying to get myself in gear for weeding next. Yard work seems like so much more work than 'fun' as the years go by. I ask myself too why I made so many themed gardens? Man I'm getting old.


Can you see the fox in this photo? We were busy outside cleaning up debris and saw this little fella lying in the sun. He got up, grabbed something (not sure if it was another animal) and took off because he heard Brian come out to take more photos of him.

The invasion of the nocturnal winged creatures...

This happens every year when the first warm day of the year rolls around which was a few days ago. These flying ant like things come marching up through the vents (or some place) and start walking all over the walls, our heads, the cat's tail, you name it. It took me two hours to fall asleep that night as I had the feeling like something was crawling all over me.
To put things into prospective this room use to be the attached garage. We had a number of people (family, friends, paid people) who helped turned it into a nice big family room we desperately needed 12 years ago. The driveway use to go all the way up to the house (of course), but Brian knocked a big block of it away-thus the problem with the bugs-he never really sealed the cracks under the broken driveway. I thought he did. I thought at least Bri looked at it. He didn't really do anything all these years. I went out today and moved a rock and there was a fairly big hole. He's gonna have to move his butt and get gravel and cement to seal that area up where the garage door use to be.
We even put screens over the vents in here and the bugs are still finding their way in. If something isn't done, they will invade a few more times and I have to suck up all their little carcasses and they make my vacuum smell like citronella. Gross.

One of my most embarassing moments...

I just submitted this to the Ellen DeGeneres Show:
I decided to become a commuter student during my junior year at college. I had about a 20 minute trip in my rickety old Maverick, but hey, I was driving and could come and go as I pleased.
On the 'first' day of the semester I got up around 6 am for my 8 o'clock English class. I got my new notebooks all together with my packed lunch and was off for school. I was anxious to get started and see my friends again. When I got there I was amazed at how many commuter students chose not to have an 8 o'clock class as I had my choice of parking spaces! As I walked along the sidewalks to the building where my English class was, again I was so surprised that I hardly saw any students walking to 8 o'clock classes. It was about 7:45. Either I was really early or they were going to be late.
When I finally arrived at the building and went inside it was rather dimly lit and my classroom was dark too. Geez, what's the matter? Was school cancelled on the first day? I happened upon a maintenance man and asked him about the first day. He said 'Young lady, the first day of classes is tomorrow!' I had no idea until that very moment. Did I get out of there fast and hoped I wouldn't run into any one I knew. I even had a story in case I did. Luckily, I just went to my car and came home and did it all again the next day.

Terrible to see this landmark building flooded out like this. 

Flooded Bucks County

One of my favorite spots in Pennsylvania is getting flooded for the second time in 7 months. They showed the Bucks County playhouse half under water. Main street in New Hope was a river. I'm sure the quaint inn that Brian and I stayed in back in 1999 was damaged as it is right on the banks of the Delaware River. Brian said he thinks that housing developments are causing the flooding. That may be one reason and they showed a nice looking condo type place surrounded by moving water. Many of these people just cleaned up from Sept. 2004 and some haven't even received their federal relief yet. They will probably declare it a disaster zone so they can get more relief.
This is where Terri Schaivo is suppose to be buried. Just wonder if it's on higher ground away from the Delaware River.

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

Sean and I watched this movie yesterday and we really enjoyed it! I so much prefer Jim Carrey in more serious roles, if you can call his Joel character serious. I really like Kate Winslet too and had just seen her the day before in Finding Netherland. In ES she has an American accent. You'll love her technicolor hair too. Some of the supporting roles were miscast in my opinion like Kirsten Dunst was too young for the character she was playing. If you see the movie you will understand what I mean.
I don't want to get into the plot, but it was different and if you don't mind an occasional cuss word, then all the more better. Plus, they show a date written down (the only one in the movie, if I'm not mistaken, and it's my birthday-November 19th (2003). Pretty cool.
See it for Jim and Kate. See Finding Neverland for Johnny Depp, Kate and the little boy who plays the real life Peter....and the guy who plays Nana.

Stitching Blogger's question

How has your stitching evolved since you first started stitching?
The logicial answer is probably to say I went from less complicated designs to more elaborate and detailed designs and I can surely say I have tried a few harder projects. I guess it's evolved in a way that I am not just stitching for myself and family. I am stitching for people I don't even know because of my charity stitching. Plus, back in the late 70s there wasn't a heck of a lot of designs out there like there is today.
I have always admired The Prairie Schooler and The Cross-eyed Cricket (I just finished up the girl in my side bar and she's a CC and I started a CC nature sampler). I have most of these leaflets though I know I won't stitch them all. My stash is huge! I really need to get serious about what I am going to do and what I need to get rid of. Whole other subject.

I was thinking about my stitching goals for April:

1). Finish up Sean's graduation gift-a blue mortar board sampler that includes his name and school. I think I will try and make a tassel and get some metal numbers as not to use the real tassel he will be getting.

2). Get all the colors I need for my new big project 'A Walk in the Woods' by Cross-eyed Cricket. I am a little peeved as the fabric is only giving me an inch border on all sides. I machine sewed the edge and used fray check.

3). Work on the little linen herbal sampler by Shepherd's Bush that has been a devil of a design to start.

4). Finish a Prairie Schooler Santa I started a few months ago.

5). Get another UFO out of the way, maybe the small swan on lily pad.

6). Get the charity quilt design 'The Fledgings' bluebird babies kitted up.

7). Start some Christmas ornaments to sell at Church bazaar in the fall.

PJP2 and the rainbow

It was a pretty weird day yesterday waiting for 'the magnet for humanity' to succumb to his illness. The Pope was just looking out the window a few days before! This reminds me of the passing of my mother-in-law who died from a massive infection herself. The Wednesday before she died we were visiting her in the hospital and at 9:00 pm she said visiting hours were over so we better go. Two days later she passed on and we never saw her again. She did get to say that she loved my son, her only grandchild.
But of course we didn't know the pontiff had passed on until after we finished watching 'Finding Neverland'. I swear I had a tear roll down my eye around 3 o'clock.
Church was moving too. The guest priest choked up a few times and I swallowed hard myself. Brian felt a bit dizzy. My head hurt when I sang. It was a coincidence that the reading about Jesus coming back to show his disciples that he had risen from the dead and that he said 'Peace be with you' was the same opening sermon that the Pope read about 27 yrs ago. I'm sure it wasn't planned as the Pope died around 2:45 our time and church was at 5.
We stopped by a Wawa to get some hoagies for dinner and there was a rainbow in the sky, the first we had seen for a long time. See how things connect?

Googlewhacking

April Fool's ya'll! And yes the word above is a 'real' thing. The guy, Gary Stock who 'invented' googlewhacking was on 'The Tonight Show' last night. He's an English chap who talks really fast. What it basically is- you have to put two words in the Google search engine. You are a true whacker is you only get one page back. No pages of words, but a real webpage. I was watching 'Comedy Central' this morning and in honor of the two comedians who used the word 'midget', I added 'Scrubbable' which isn't a word (just checked) with midget and I got three matches-word lists. I guess 'm' and 's' are too close together. So, I sent this on to a lady whose blog I read and if she enjoys it, I'll update here. Maybe I'll try 'secure midget' instead. : )