Category Archives: Brian

May16

Working hard part 2

Posted on by
Standard

Today Sean and I went to my mom’s to wish her a belated Happy Mother’s Day and to plant some flowers for her. I need to go back to the nursery in Delaware as the garden centers around here aren’t that great-even Walmart! We stopped there and I couldn’t believe they wanted $10.88 for one hanging baskets. Guess I’ll be making my own. I did get a couple of waterlilies and a couple of perennials like asters.

So we get to my mom’s and I have never seen the yard around her house look so weedy and terrible. I had to fix her weed wacker and then I went to town with it! Most of her front yard isn’t fit for a mower, so you have to use a weed wacker. The leaves (mostly from Japanese maples) were never cleaned up from the fall so I did some of that. I would say that we made a nice dent in the yard and the flowers that I planted last year (white astible, white bleeding heart, hosta, lilies and barrenwort) were all coming up nicely. It was warm though breezy today. What my brother did to the back yard is really neat. Imagine a thicket of evergreens with the bottoms trimmed up and a new layer of green, green grass growing under them. It never looked like that when we were kids. (I’ll bring my camera next time).

Mom treated us to dinner at Carabbas which was nice. Glad it was dark in there as I had some grass still stuck to my legs! I had chicken, spinach and ricotta stuffed raviolis. We hit Macy’s and I bought some necklaces, a dress and a few tops.

We just found out that Brian lost his Aunt Rosemarie (she looked like Lucille Ball) on Sunday. She is also Brian’s godmother. She has two sons around my age and 3 grandchildren a bit younger than Sean. This is the auntie who was in a nursing home in Delaware, very close, yet Bri’s dad or Bri never went to see her. That is the last of my father-in-law’s six siblings. I am either going to the viewing on Thursday or the funeral on Friday as we have a 70 mile round trip from here.

Snowball bush beginning to bloom

Snowball bush beginning to bloom
My windowbox 2007
Windowbox 2007

May14

Mother’s Day rap up

Posted on by
Standard

I didn’t get to spend the day with my own mom, but I promised her Sean and I would come down on Tuesday to plant a few annuals in the garden I fixed up for her last year.

I have terrible dry (and a bit itchy) allergy eyes. I thought it was from handling dusty Space Bags of my summer clothes, but I’m now thinking something is pollening that is bothering me. I am using both tears and allergy formula and it helps a bit, but looking at this screen is not easy. I’ll call the eye doctor if they aren’t better in a few days. I just have some circles under my eyes (what else is new).

I got two lovely cards today and one from my friend Terri in Alabama the other day-hers was a total surprise and so sweet. Sean’s was oversized and pink and flowery with sweet reflections of motherhood. Bri gave me a musical card that played ‘How Sweet it is’ by Marvin Gaye. (James Taylor also recorded it later on).

I asked Sean to drive to a garden center at a store in Delaware, but they didn’t have one this year. We ended up at Loew’s and their stuff was just ok. I got some tomatoes and a few flowers and bags of red mulch.

We grabbed a burger at Friendly’s and headed home.

I just watched the 3-hour long ‘Survivor’ finale and reunion while trying to finish up a redwork cross stitched piece. I was cheering for a 54-yr old man to win named Yau-man, but he got back stabbed as the remaining players knew he’d win if he was left in the ‘final three’. I miss talking about ‘Survivor’ with my estranged brother who enjoys it too.

So to end this nice weekend, here are some things I admire about my mom-her beautiful, trained soprano voice, her ability to pick up a pen, pencil or marker and sketch a portrait that resembles the person she is trying to capture (and from memory sometimes) and her love of giving, though that gets her in trouble sometimes. I told her once that Penelope Cruz could be her daughter more than me as she looks like mom a little. The next thing you know someone asks if we are mother and daughter and they say ‘I can tell’. What a nice compliment.

Mom on her 75th 9-23-05

Mom on her 75th birthday-9-23-05

and-Mom as a young mom with my grandmom and older brother Dave. (See how she looks like Penelope Cruz here? It’s clickable)
Mom as a young mom about 1955-56

I tried the edger tool that Brian just gave me (so long electric edger) and it works pretty good, but I can see me only using it after a rainstorm like we had last night.

May6

Camera phone shots

Posted on by
Standard

Brian driving somewhere
Brian behind the wheel of the van.

Sesame Chicken Salad
My dinner 5-5-07-Sesame Chicken salad-where’s the lettuce-under all that good stuff-grilled chicken, sesame noodles, red onion, carrots, cashews, tomato, green pepper (Bri got these). They forgot the dressing which I had to ask for and no, I didn’t eat it all or the roll. You also see some bbq chicken nachos in the background which the guys mostly ate.

Apr20

Catching up with a friend

Posted on by
Standard

We did get to go out to dinner to eat and visit with Bri’s pal Kathy from college a few hours ago. Seems she was all around our house today, but didn’t plan to stop in-I don’t know why. I thought maybe it was too far for her to drive. Anyway, we went back to the restaurant where we couldn’t get a seat last Saturday. I called about 3:15 for ‘call ahead seating’. I bent the girl’s ear back about how awful it was there with people sitting and waiting while there were empty tables sitting empty. I suggested it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the people there to discuss how to make a bad situation better. We got a nice booth in the back-right away, like it was waiting for us.

Here’s a couple of photos that Sean snapped, which I should have cropped because of the big white napkin there. I like the first of Brian a lot!

Bri and Kath

Bri, Kath and me
Dinner was delicious, but this Carrabbas isn’t as generous with their food as the Springfield Mall one we usually eat at. I had lost a few pounds (I think because of my new med) but my dinner tonight added them back on. The guys ate some of mine and I had no leftovers. It helped my head to go out. When I came home I felt better. Even Kathy, who never had sinus problems, is saying how hers were bothering her.
She too just celebrated a big birthday (the same as Bri, but back on Nov. 19th-so she is exactly 3 yrs older than me as that’s my bd too).
She just purchased a lovely new house last summer (TN) and has wild turkeys running around-we saw photos. She’s a single lady and works at a community college to help disabled students. I gave her a mini scrapbook and an Art trading cards graced with tulips as I remembered they are her favorite flowers. I also printed out some photos and stuffed them in the bare pages.
I asked if Sean reminded her of Brian at that age (same age when they first met) and she said yes, but Sean is more outgoing. : )
The pal where Kath is staying called on her cell and said she had to take her son to Children’s Hospital as his injured and patched together knee of 3-4 weeks ago was causing him a lot of pain. Her friend sent her twins to a pals house, so Kathy has the place to herself. Tomorrow Kath is headed to near where my mom lives to stay and visit with another pal.
We are welcome to come to Tennessee anytime.

Apr16

4″ of rain Sunday

Posted on by
Standard

That nor’easter sure did blow in and is hanging around. That’s a lot of rain for a single day in these parts. Mom’s yard was like a swimming pool (so she told me) as my brother was preparing it for grass-the seed is surely gone now!

I made a nice roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese biscuits, which was very good and perfect for the cool, rainy weather. Brian peeled the potatoes and mashed them to perfection. I didn’t use the ricer as the russets had weird looking skin and I didn’t want to cook that.

I haven’t been up to par, I had indigestion Saturday, ate the Chinese food (uh oh), but slept ok. I had a sore stomach all day until I wised up and took a Tylenol. It felt better within a half hour. I tried mint tea, Gas-X and assorted tummy remedies when I probably had a muscle pull! My mom had had a wicked tummy thing on Easter and I am knocking wood that I avoided that one.

So here is what I made today. I am using old flower, bird and kid’s books (shown mostly in the first example). I hate to cut them up, but I feel I am giving them new life through art. The second card has a definition for ‘dreaming’. I was using the water sphere from the flower show and rubberstamped a face on it, but the embossing power was put on thick and melted too much, hence an entire new idea crept up in my brain. The children were part of a CD collection I found on eBay.

Why do stars shine?

Dreamer child
These were photographed on a trio of cute wicker chests my mom gave me for Easter that I am using to store a lot of my art supplies in.

And last, but not least…my latest cross stitched piece, a The Prairie Schooler church for Su’s neighborhood (see link in sidebar).
Su’s NRR church

Apr15

In memory of Titanic

Posted on by
Standard

Back in 1912, the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15th. We of course will always associate our anniversary (when the doomed ship hit the iceberg) with this tragedy. I made this wallpaper last year, it’s one of my favorites. I was always interested in the Titanic, yes, even before the movie. This is clickable.

Titanic collage
Thanks for your well wishes for our anniversary. The nicest thing-we gave each other lovely cards. Everything was downhill after that. The cordless keyboard and mouse that Bri gave me (I think it was a gift for him too) wouldn’t install properly, so it went back to Walmart and I got a new vacuum since the cord is shot on my old Bissell. We went to church and found out a member who lives across from the church had taken his own life. Then we went to Carrabbas (our appetites were diminished by then) and couldn’t get a seat as it was overcrowded. We ended up in a so-so Chinese restaurant as it was close by. It was really salty (uh-oh MSG). So Debby Downer is done for the night. Have a nice Sunday. Oh, and here comes the nor’easter!

Apr4

And then a hero comes along…

Posted on by
Standard

…John Wood.

John Wood-book crusader

I almost didn’t watch Oprah today. I turned it on while our girlfriend was interviewing Mr. Wood about his program to end worldwide illiteracy called Room to Read (second is linked to Oprah).

Room to Read

 A former big wig at Microsoft, Mr. Wood went to Nepal on a trip and found poor conditions in a school there-overcrowded and most of the pupils couldn’t read. He vowed to go back in a year with books and he kept his promise-I was in awe with him-got the warm fuzzies big time!  Now his org is building libraries and schools all over the world. Many people in the small communities are learning to make bricks and to build themselves! Check out the link and maybe make a $5 donation (I plan to donate something).

For two days and for a few hours,  I did garden clean up. Brian cleaned up the piles after dinner each night. I think I am wearing him out! Last night we moved the big hollyhock that was across from the front door. It broke into 3 pieces so hopefully I have three new plants. I know a tree near where we just planted it gets rust or whatever fungus it is and hollyhocks are prone to get it. We planted the hollyhocks in my iris bed. The iris have spread a little. I am hoping to give some to my mom as I have some gorgeous ones. This is reminding me to go order from the same company as I won their photo contest last year (Aug. 06) and I better use the coupon soon!

Getting my hair done late in the afternoon. I think my mom is staying over to go to the gyn with me. I could go by myself, but she wants to lend support. I have some issues, but just doing all this yardwork has made me stronger (and a bit achy) over the last few days.

Apr2

Something for me?

Posted on by
Standard

I love yellow flowers and Bri saw these in the Home Depot on Friday and brought them home. I appreciate his thoughtfulness, but I need a a rake too and there he was in the Home Depot. I have these in the kitchen and I had an ant on me Friday night-wonder where that came from? ; )
Bri took this photo. I have taken lots more and he’s the one who was buying all the camera magazines like he was dying to get into photography again. He’s always on the computer googling stuff it seems.
Anyway, I’ll plant these bulbs out front probably. Maybe they’ll come up again. Our anniversary is coming up-23 yrs!!!

(BTW, I have a collection of mostly Mary’s Moo Moos that  have something to do with food on my windowsill there. Good eye there, Zoey! One is holding a pie, one has a lemonade stand, etc.) From Brian
BTW, stopped the medicine after 4 days-I couldn’t function and we had the concert last night. I feel better though, just achy in spots. Still deciding what I’m going to do about myself-same problems for years and years and they just tell you to live with it.

This is nice news-my brother Ken really did a thorough clean up job at my mom’s for the past few days! He and a couple of pals were cutting down a tree, trimming branches, getting rid of debris-looks a whole lot better.

Apr1

Feeling cultured

Posted on by
Standard

Woo-hoo! I’m the blog of the minute on wordpress as I type this. : ) **bows** Hey is that April Fool’s maybe?

SO, last night the three of us headed to Wilmington, DE to hear The Delaware Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Opera house. The ride there is very scenic, and I don’t know why we don’t go to Wilmington more often. All the years we lived here and we never took Sean to the Brandywine Zoo! They say three is the charm (how many times Bri and I have been to the GOH) and we didn’t get lost, we actually got there 40 minutes early. A requirement for Sean’s History of Western Music course was for him to hear a professional concert of classical music. We were thinking of Philly, and then the instructor mentioned the DSO. I also have an Entertainment coupon book and we have one for the DSO and got $13 knocked off of one of the tickets-Sean was only $10.

I can’t really remember hearing a symphony orchestra. I have heard orchestras with stage plays though. We sat in the balcony and it was awesome up there. Many of the other patrons were elderly folks. A few kids were mixed in.

The guest pianist was a man named Christopher O’Riley. He was wonderful. First he played a awarding winning composer’s ode to Liberace. After that he played Strauss which was what Sean came to hear. He reminded me of a shorter and brown haired Conan O’ Brien.

Christopher O’Riley

I would recommend anyone going to hear a concert like this. It’s interesting to watch the musicians play and to distinguish the different sounds of the instruments.

We amazingly didn’t get lost going home. It’s always good to have directions printed out, but we just had to back track.