Category Archives: Brian

Jan27

Definitely cabin fever…

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…and hormones. It truly stinks to be my age, I’ll tell you. My weekend is a waste as I’m not up to par from lack of sleep. That happens a lot and it’s not unusual for us older chicks. I’m trying to get crafting on my mind. There’s something that is on my Kirigami calendar that I want to make, but do you think I can find my stash of watercolor paper? Do you believe in praying to St. Anthony to help you find something?

Brian was telling Sean he’s going to miss him when he goes to State College. It’s something I don’t want to think about until a month or so before it actually happens. If he keeps it up for 8 months, he’ll drive us both crazy.

Got a goodie in the mail-a camera case for our new camera from an eBay seller (good price). It’s a Samsonite and really nice-everything fits but it’s a bit weighty. Now I can go ‘walk it off’, whatever it is, at Longwood Gardens and other places around here. I don’t mind going alone sometimes. I figure if I go enough, I’ll get to know people at the gardens.
Darn-I forgot all about Photo Hunt this week. I may surprise ya later after my nap.
Back to looking…or sleeping.

St Anthony

St. Anthony of Padua
Patron Saint of Lost Items

Dianne, Dianne look around.
Something’s lost and must be found.
I’m praying that you find what you’re looking for.

Jan26

Brrrr…

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Not fit for man or beast in PA and much of the northeast today. It was a balmy 10 degrees this morning with a windchill factor of ‘pretty darn cold’. I felt bad that the guys had to go out in it.

The most exciting thing today for me was receiving Carol’s pretty Neighborhood Round Robin cross stitch project from the ice cold hands of the mailman (I had to sign for it and he had no heat in his truck). At the beginning of the project, I had gathered a bunch of designs and low and behold, a cottage and garden looked perfect for this one. I started on it tonight!

Brian’s new thing is bidding on eBay. He uses my account, so I have to make sure he pays on time and all. He had to get a money order tonight for a camera he won. I’ve been doing this since August, 1999 and he’s really never taken an interest in it before. I have a few things for sale, but need to add more. It’s good pocket money for me-sometimes.

Jan24

Artichokes and Persimmons

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I am learning so much from the Rachael Ray show! Yesterday a doctor was on and talked of the benefits of the above foods for your cholesterol. I like artichoke hearts the best. My dinner last night had a few in it. I have a triglycerides issue and fish oil repeats on me. Now I don’t think I’ve ever had persimmons. I bet there is persimmons jam? Do you believe the average American eats 156 pounds of sugar a year! Wow-that is terrible. It’s hidden in so many foods.

I changed my blog style as I was looking for one with tabs at the top for addition pages. I think this style is even more organized. Wish my house was that way-everything where it should be or in see-through plastic boxes stacked alphabetically and labeled. I was in ‘the room’ that I want to craft in-OMG what a disaster. I have so much to go through. I have to sanitize the room as it’s the one that gets water in it when we have too much rain. I think I’ll get Brian to the Home Depot to get a new light fixture to start off with. At the same time he can get a new toilet to replace the 47 yr old ‘water waster’ we have upstairs. Wish me luck!
PersimmonsArtichokes

Jan13

More football

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The Eagles are in the play-offs down in New Orleans. The guys are in their Eagle shirts and have their eyeballs glued to the tv. The only good thing-I can stay on the computer as long as I want. Think I’ll go make a collage or something. I’ll let you know how it goes. Just don’t show too many Campbell Soup commercials of Donovan McNabb eating clam chowder-not cool.

Oct30

Buy a truck-get a shotgun!

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What’s that all about you may ask? Well, it’s an ad that Brian got for the local paper that made the news (that’s his job anyway)! Brian said that NBC 10 news reporter Deana Durante was in his office today to get a copy of the ad which he gave to her. What happened was that a resident thinks it’s unappropriate, especially with the Nickel Mine Amish shootings of less than a month ago (only 15 miles away). People who read the paper live in a very rural area and hunt. I am all for gun control! It’s kind of a weird promotion. Why not give them a gift card for dinner or something that won’t kill anyone?
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I got outside late in the afternoon to dig up the roses. Sean said he would help, but he went to the gym instead. The ground was soft, but digging up the 5 roses was hard. My 19 yr old Queen Elizabeth rose had a long tap root and I had to cut into that. I also dug up about 15 gladiolus, but chopped into two of them, so I have 13 now. I need to put them in a better spot next year or at least keep them supported so they don’t fall over.
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I made caramel apples-so easy, but mine are too sticky! I may have kept them in the microwave too long. We’ll eat them anyway. I was thinking about making brittle like Giada DeLorentis made on her show-with dried apricots, toasted almonds and chocolate chips. Does that sound good or what?

Oct24

Celebration photos

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We ate at the Olive Garden and both Sean and my mom had Mediterranean Shrimp pasta.

Mom and me toasting the birthday boy with peach ice tea.

The cake I made Sean-devil’s food-with chocolate sprinkles and candy corn (which he really loves) on a leaf plate.

Sean and his ‘Mom-mom’. He’s about to blow out the candles of course. The candle in the middle plays ‘Happy Birthday’. I told Mom she has two interwined orbs over her head here and there’s a big one in the window. ; )

Aug31

Trying again…on many levels

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I was at the store yesterday buying food items from a 5 day diet plan that sounded good. Lots of grains and fiber to fill you up. We had salmon with bread stuffing, broccoli and even rice (I should have gotten brown and we had white) for dinner last night. I had a few small snacks way after dinner, a few honey wheat pretzel sticks and a Stella Doro cookie.
Brian is a constant snacker. He eats too fast and won’t listen to Sean and me to slow down (you know that it takes your brain 20 minutes to realize you’ve eaten). His tummy is big and rock hard. I mentioned a diet aid pill and he told me to take it. I think he’s a nervous wreck, you can tell by looking at his fingernails as they are all nibbled down. Probably having a father in his 80s doesn’t help and worrying about his future.
Another thing I want to do is try ‘Curves’. There’s a sign for a free month, but I wonder how many months you have to commit to first? All the gardening and sweating I did this summer and my weight didn’t budge. I also had a sick mom and when I am stressed I eat more.
After lunch, I plan to list a few things on eBay. I haven’t really felt like doing eBay lately though I have a huge table full of things gathering dust. I rarely make that great of a profit. I think it’s too popular now (really has been for a while). I remember when I first started, I’d sell at least 15 things a week.
I tried to call my friend in Alabama and her phone just rang and rang. She is up near Birmingham. My other friend from Mississippi sent us all an email and said she moved the family to Panama City, FL. From what I saw, PC didn’t fair well either. That’s where the loan company is that we just sent the promissory note to. It’s going to be a long few months for the people down south. I would definitely go to this site and donate a little something. I plan to do that too.

Jul31

Art cards are all the fad on eBay

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I was on tribe yesterday and on the ‘eBay freaks’ tribe specifically. A tribe member was telling us about the art cards that are selling like hotcakes there. They are mostly original art of any kind and are about 2.5″ x 3.5″ like a baseball card. I was really intrigued by them and bid and won a few featuring old fashioned children as the focal design. Really neat. I think I will start a new collection to inspire me to make and sell these. The guy on tribe says he sells ALL originals and makes about $600 a month. Now that isn’t bad. Maybe I should dust off my sketch book (I use to draw all the time). Maybe these little cards will be in my inspiration.
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Brian cleaned out the totally filthy shed today. I dropped hints all morning and he finally went out and was complaining about doing it. We even unloaded a 17 yr old window air conditioner in the same manner as we disposed of the old computer desk. We put a ‘FREE’ and works sign on it. Hope it isn’t blowing too much stinky mouse piddle air in their house. But it was free! ; )
I spray painted my wrought iron patio set’s chairs today. I asked Brian to please save the space he made from removing the a/c so I could put them in there this year. It’s not hard to paint them, but I don’t want to paint them every two years because of them being left in the elements. It totally looks better in the shed, but all the mess is in the front of it waiting for big trash pick up day which happens to be this week coming up! What do we do with all these pieces of wood? He said we can’t use them in yard projects because they aren’t treated? I tend to disagree. Can’t you prime and paint them? I’ll have to check the books I have here.
I also had a good cry from all the mess of this last week. When the screen door (it’s heavy with metal decorations in it) hit me in my arm, well that was the stick that broke the camels back. I think it helped.
BTW, get an ‘instant dark tan’ with black spray paint! My feet are tanned that way-geez.

Jul26

Men not as fixated on skinny women

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VILLANOVA, Pa. – U.S. men are not as fixated on women being
thin as most women believe, a study found. Charlotte Markey
of Rutgers University-Camden and her husband, Patrick
Markey of Villanova University, study what couples find
attractive. Most U.S. women, even skinny women, think they
should be thinner because they feel they would be more
attractive to men, but that’s not the case, the researchers
reported. They studied 104 couples. All the women were in
their 20s and none were significantly over- or underweight,
reported U.S. News and World Report. In separate rooms, the
couples were asked to choose photos of women in bikinis that
look most like the woman in the partnership. They were also
asked to choose a photo of what body type they or their
partner would most want to look like. Women chose drawings
larger than average to represent themselves, while the men
saw their girlfriends as thinner than average. The body type
the women desired was significantly underweight, while men
chose a body type close to how they saw their partners now,
the New York Daily News said Sunday.

So how do women feel about heavier men? Personally, I don’t care for guys that let themselves go unless they have a physical problem that has caused them to not be able to exercise. Case in point, my Bri. He needs to lose about 50 pounds. His knees are bad. He never complained about his knees until he put the weight on. His tummy looks like he enjoys beer. He rarely drinks it. He eats too fast and sometimes takes seconds. His job has him in the car a lot. All this adds up to causing weight gain.

May31

Funky Memorial Day

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Ever have one of those days that just happen to be a ‘holiday’ and you don’t feel like ‘getting into at least part of the celebration? Sean did-in a way. He went up to the next town’s parade and took some photos. I stuck some flags around. Brian char-cooked and ruined the meat we had for dinner. And it was the second time he had cooked this cut of meat that way. Like we didn’t learn from the first time not to cook it on the grill. I actually wanted burgers but he had defrosted the meat and that was that. Before the grilling disaster, Sean and I ran down to the mall so he could get some dress pants. He needed a larger size then the ones he had and he picked out some nice navy blue ones. He is going to the Senior dinner dance on 6/3. We also had to get a battery for the cordless phone and my digital camera at good ol’ Radio Shack. The phone battery was the wrong one, so I have to take it back. I checked out this one department store’s outdoor plant area and nabbed some 4-packs of flowers for about 95¢ each. I needed some more portulaca (finally got that spelling correct) and I got some pretty salvia-a dark purple and burgundy. Sean used all my celosia, so I bought some more of that too.
On the way home we stopped in Walmart so Sean could apply for a job on their in store computer. He has no previous job experience so he just put in the volunteer work that he did for his graduation project. He had helped out at a nature center in Delaware last summer.
I really was in the mood to do some flower planting before it rained. It’s been like this for the last three days. It’s nice, it gets dark and cooler and then in the late afternoon it rains. I managed to repot my geraniums and pot up some planters for the front step. I used mainly fancy coleus, salvia and a few other trailing plants. The planters I used didn’t have drainage last year and the potting soil got muddy. Brian poked some holes in them this year. I don’t think the same thing will happen this year as they are planted very tightly with the new plants. I’ll post a photo soon.
The cat pooed on me this evening as the last straw for such a weird day. He jumped on me, I was snuggling with him and felt ‘wet’ on my t-shirt. There were little brown spots on me and it wasn’t vomit. Cossy was embarrassed. Tomorrow has just got to get better!