Category Archives: Brian

May16

Proud memories

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Sean is about to graduate with degrees in Geography and Climatology
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With his proud dad
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With his proud mom
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Shaking hands with the head of the Geography department, guest speaker and dean of the college
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Returning to his seat with his degrees-thanks to dad for these good shots!
More later!
Sharon asked what Sean might be doing for a living. He didn’t major in Meteorology, so can’t really be a weather forecaster. He can do GIS mapping like he did for his internship. he could work for the National Geographic! He’ll be scoping out jobs in the weeks to come!

May12

Sleepy Tuesday

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I don’t know if you guys know how hard it is to live with someone who has been having sleep issues for almost 4 months. Last night Brian decided he was going to have company and announced very loudly that I was snoring-and that was 2 am-not sure if I had even dozed off yet. The night before I had had PMS issues and was up a lot. I think I finally went to sleep around 4 and at 9 was dreaming about pancakes when the cat jumped on me. Bri had been taking prescription sleep med for about 3 weeks-didn’t work out for him. He will be going to a sleep center for a consultation on the 19th. He had called and scheduled for June 3rd- I called back and asked for something sooner and got him in Tuesday.
I’ve been drifting around the house like the cartoon bunny sniffing a carrot on a string. I did lay down in the afternoon for a few winks before Sean’s phone started ringing in his room-can’t seem to win!
I finally fixed my live feed there. I had email issues a few weeks ago and it got changed to Collingswood, NJ-never been there-is home to Comcast.
I planted some Snapdragons, Sweet William, Nemesia and African Daisies tonight while Brian cut the grass. I don’t know how he does that on a few hours sleep. He is laying down right now.
Wish us well for Friday. I have to sleep on a inflated mattress and it wasn’t feeling great on my back when we tried it out. We are renting a full size car, so that will be nice.

May10

Happy Mother’s Day

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Couldn’t let the day go by without wishing the moms out there the best!
Here’s a photo of Sean and me. Earlier,we were over visiting my mom at my uncle’s (she was visiting him and I wanted to see her on Mother’s Day), so we ran over there. Afterward, on our way home to cook grilled chicken, Sean said why not eat someplace? We ended up at a place that we had a coupon for ($8 off appetizer or dessert). We had a big platter of nachos-really good for 69 cents! Sean and I had fajitas and Bri had fish and chips-all good!
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Hope you had a pleasant Mother’s Day!

Apr27

Too darn hot!

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It feels like we skipped a few months here-went from April right to the end of June! I can’t remember seeing the leaves on some of the trees pop out like they have in the last few days-even the lilac bush is blooming! There is also a pollen explosion which has had me down and out. Allergy medicine seems to be taking the edge off my stuffy head and gooky throat. It definitely is a heat wave and if it goes above 90 tomorrow-it will be only the second time in history it’s happened for 4 days in a row.
I’ve only planted some Sweet William and pansies under my little Japanese maple.
The bugs are even out and I have a few wicked bites already!
People have even played hookie and went to the shore, though the water still feels like April. I guess you can’t get it all.
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I made a map for a customer of Brian’s and it will be in the ad in the local paper. I had to change a few things, but here it is-made in Paint Shop Pro-
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Be careful about washing your hands because of the Swine flu. There’s cases in NYC and Ohio, so it’s getting closer to us. Scary stuff!

Apr19

Tweet tweet

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I’m curious like a kitty-that’s why I like them so much. I went over to ‘Twitter’ and signed up. It’s pretty interesting, especially to see what the celebs who are on there are saying. Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore (Ashton’s wife), Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon have really been into Twitter, so I am following what they are saying. I have actors, cooks and comedians-and even the President and he is following me (should I be scared?) Anyway, I see I have some new followers and I will see if I want to keep them. Of course if anyone in blogland twitters, I’ll follow you. ; )
Not much new since our busy day of yard work yesterday. Brian had a tick on him, a larger one that he’s glad he felt crawling in his head-ugh!
Sean has a virus or something-started with a headache yesterday and he’s a bit feverish, though feels better. He’s gone to college up there for almost two years and this is the first time he’s been ‘blah’ sick. He may go to the infirmary tomorrow, but if it’s a virus, it will have to work it’s course. He went to church last night and to the store today, so he’s getting around.
We’re expecting lots more rain, so I will have to make a nice dinner since I wimped out and went to KFC tonight for their new grilled chicken. It was a bit dry this time around, but their food is definitely better.
I’ll be getting my hair done on Tuesday instead of tomorrow. Hope to get to Trader Joe’s that day too.

Apr16

Thursday Thunks

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1. Recently Berleen and I discovered the allure of the Twilight series. Have you ever been sucked in to the latest “thing”? (Like Harry Potter, the movie Titanic, social networking, etc. etc. etc.)
Most definitely. I mean if things are ‘that popular’ there has to be something interesting going on. I still have Titanic memorabilia around-it was the anniversary of the sinking at midnight yesterday.
I was a Facebook hold off for years until my childhood friend asked me to join. My son’s been on it since it’s inception. Now I wonder how I lived without it!
2. What software do you use for your email?
Outlook Express
3. Are you comfortable being nude?
All I can say is getting older isn’t easy.
4. What is something you plan on doing this summer?
My hubs promised me a trip to NYC for our 25th anniversary which was this past Tuesday-so maybe we’ll go there and a beach later on.
5. Do you have a favorite movie/book quote? If so, what is it?
I don’t know if this is from a movie/book-but my mom always says this-and this too, shall pass. I like Oprah’s-knowledge is power too.
6. How many email addresses do you have?
I think about 4, but rarely look at three of them.
7. Is the sky falling?
Am I Chicken Little? Stuff definitely falls from the sky-weird stuff sometimes.
8. Have you been to the Grand Canyon?
Not yet.
9. When was the last time you mailed a hand written letter?
It really hasn’t been that long. I swap art cards with people and always add a little handwritten note to the envelopes.
Want to play?
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First day of sun for a few. I need to run some errands, like get groceries!
Bri still isn’t quite himself-maybe he needs more exercise, not sure what’s up with him-guys can get hormonal issues too! My friend’s dad had problems, got checked out and lost 20 pounds! I think he deep down knows that with his dad approaching 86, he’ll have to face lots of stuff sooner or later.

Apr15

Anniversary Dinner at PF Changs

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We had a fairly nice dinner at this very popular restaurant. It was hard to believe it was so crowded on a drizzly, cold, breezy evening. We ordered off their ‘dinner for two’ menu. I think they over spiced my orange shrimp and I only ate a few pieces. I’ll have to see if I can make a new sauce for lunch today to cut back on the hotness of it. I told the waiter and he acted surprised I mentioned it. It was a 4-course meal, so we had egg drop soup, shrimp dumplings (my favorite part), the shrimp dishes-Brian had a Shrimp Cantonese and finally little ‘shot glass’ desserts-Bri had a lemon ‘pie’ and I had the chocolate cake. I had a blackberry tea too. We went to a few stores in the area-me Anthro*pologie, both of us Bor*ders and then both of us Pier*One Imports. Pier*One had such cute Easter things this year and now they are half off. They look vintage. I’ll take some photos of what I bought soon (had change left from dinner, so why not buy some goodies?)

Bri was having fun with his new Co*by MP3/Fm radio. I’ll download some music for him soon. He gave me some lovely silver jewelry since it’s our silver anniversary-a silver rope necklace, a dangling heart with a pearl necklace and some silver hoops. He also got me a crystal clear heart paperweight.

Despite the yucky weather, we had a nice evening. Pass me the Rolaids though. ; )
~Update~ I just called the above restaurant and said how spicy my shrimp was and the manager is sending me gift cards for our next meal! Goes to show if you aren’t happy with something, complain about it! The manager even told me this.

Apr14

25th Anniversary bouquet

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25th Anniversary bouquet, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Happy Silver Anniversary to my husband Brian. I can’t believe a quarter of a century has past in our lives together.
I hope he enjoys the spontaneous gift I ordered-tickets to see singer Boz Scaggs at Longwood Gardens in June!
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I love his music and voice, so it’s a gift for both of us. I wore out his lp ‘Silk Degrees’. I also have another musical gift he is sure to enjoy.

Tonight we are going to the Chinese restaurant-PF Changs. I got to chose and their menu sounded good. Haven’t had good Chinese for a while and we put aside a crisp big bill for the occasion. I’ll let you know how it is. I hope I remember to put the camera in my purse.
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Sean went back to finish up his last 3+ weeks at Penn State. He’ll come home for a week and then we’ll all drive up together for the graduation. We may rent a nice new vehicle. We promised Sean a snazzy phone for his graduation.
Bri went to the doc for his insomnia and is test driving some med. So far he hasn’t gotten up! I hope it doesn’t leave him too tired, but if he’s getting shut eye for a change-it may be worth it. He’ll just have to take up the sit-up chair again to get in some exercise and increase his alertness. Wish him well.

Apr13

Easter recap

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I hope everyone had a lovely Easter! We had a wintry, chilly day, about 10 degrees below normal. We attended Mass and there were also two baptisms, which stretched it out a bit. We left before the little ones were given their yearly Easter eggs. Many parents still dress their little ones up for Easter-the girls especially with their frilly dresses and cute hats. My son dressed in jeans and boots and he was not alone.
I had to run to a convenience store to get milk and bread as the Giant was closed. Cooking the spiral cut ham was a breeze and I had pre-cooked the potatoes for potato salad and also had asparagus and green beans. My mom and brother Don (he hasn’t been here since Sean was in kindergarten!)arrived about 4:30 and we sat down at 5 to eat. Mom wanted to do the dessert, so she came with a store bought strawberry angel food cake with lots of whipped cream-like icing. Brian and Sean took dinner to Bri’s dad. My company left at 7:15 and I proofread Sean’s paper for 1.5 hours. I had a busy day which went well.

Apr7

Clean as a whistle

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Yippee! Brian’s tummy and colon are good! He had a small polyp removed from his esophagus, but the doctor feels it won’t be a problem. I think if Brian faces his sleep issues, he’ll be like a new person. We got there at 1:30 and the nurse called me in the recovery at 2:45 or so and we left a bit after 3. We even stopped at Wendy’s and he had a grilled chicken sandwich, fries and two frosties!
I guess it’s my turn next…I think he did darn good with the prep-ate lots of broth and had apple juice and lemon ice.
Thanks for all who commented on his well being.
It’s a cold, blustery, almost March like day here-ugh. It’s funny how you notice other forsythia when you have some of your own.