Category Archives: flashback

May19

Gloom and chill

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The funeral for Bri’s Aunt Rose was today. He attended the viewing last night and left before we did this morning to go to the funeral home first. Sean and I picked up my mom and went right to the church. I just didn’t want to remember his aunt ‘that way’, you know? I showed my respect for her and my husband’s family which is really decreasing rapidly. I think with the one son’s wife’s family, there was only 40 people there. The kids (Sean’s age and a bit younger) are getting so big which makes us feel old. Soon we’ll be the oldest generation. Ugh. I got up to go to the restroom (at the restaurant), the mom of Aunt Rose’s daughter-in-law said loudly (so I could hear her) ‘Oh those are the people who didn’t go to the wedding’. I acted like I didn’t hear her. If Brian’s dad had gone last year to his nephew’s wedding (and the nephew begged him), then we would have gone too.

The church was the one we use to go to 20+ years ago when we lived in the area (we lived in the same apartment complex as Aunt Rose and Uncle John (also residents in the late 50s-early 60s were Dick Clark and Ed McMahon).

After the luncheon (at an Irish pub style restaurant-one of the dishes Shepherd’s Pie), we went to a Dollar Tree store across from the restaurant (ha) and then remembered that a great plant/product place was about 10 minutes away. I got 3 nice hanging baskets for $7.50 each (two toned pink petunia, multi-colored vinca and burgundy impatiens) , a gorgeous Christmas cactus and a clematis vine for $5.00. Good prices!

I came home and planted a few tomatoes (roma), green pepper and an eggplant before the early evening chill sent me in.

May14

Mother’s Day rap up

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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.

May5

Photo Hunt-Childhood

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Dianne and Don

I love this photo as it’s really too small a pool for two toddlers but Florida in the summer is hot, hot, hot! My brother and I are only a year apart and were close for many years. Maybe putting this up will send him vibes to get in touch with us all up here.

Later on today (it’s a little past midnight here), Bri and I are going to get a chaise lounge chair a lady from the Yahoo freecycle group is nice enough to give me! It’s sight unseen, but it’s free. I don’t have a lounger right now. I just put a request for a used, but good one and I got a few replies. If I had been quicker, I could have gotten a ton of free perennials-rats! And Bri perked up an ear when he heard someone got a snowblower for free. Check to see if there’s a group for your area.

I got my blog critiqued here. Thanks Bill, much appreciated.

Apr29

Time flies

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In 4 months Sean will be headed up to University Park. It doesn’t seem possible! The two of us were sitting next to people we know from church (by chance) at a restaurant on Friday called ‘Cheeburger, cheeburger’. They have two sons, one of whom graduated with Sean and their other son was about to graduate from high school. We were talking about empty nests. The younger son then ate the 16 oz burger and made us laugh a bit and forget that childhood truly does fly by.

I didn’t do much yesterday and today I am home from church with the sniffles. I am pretty much finished the following ATCs one of which is my grandmom Ruth (see her marriage license below) and me at about the age of 1. That is my Uncle Don’s house without all the trees way back in 1960-61. I didn’t care to go there as my aunt would stick me in a playpen for hours on end (so I’ve been told). I don’t look too happy here, do I? This was at a time when my mom was expecting my brother Don, and me being the baby already here, well I guess she needed a babysitter once in a while.

Time Flies
The clock face came off of a CD of images I purchased at eBay. The ‘fly’ in green came from an online image generator where you type in the word and you get an image like this back. The bird is from an old book and is a Cape May warbler. I added zinnias (also from an old book) to the one of my grandmom and me as they were her favorite flower and I still grow them. They are easy to grow and I recommend them!

Speaking of Uncle Don, he had good blood work and will probably be headed back home after 3 months in the nursing home.

Apr28

Photo Hunt-Rare

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My grandparent’s marriage certificate from 1921, though my grandfather spelled his name with one ‘l’:

Marriage license

My  above mentioned grandparents were married until his passing in January, 1960. I was only about 8 weeks old, so I never knew him. My ‘mom-mom’ was in my life until 2000, when she passed on at almost the age of 97.

Apr21

Photo Hunt-steps

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I like this photo as it was before Mom was hurting everyday from sciatica and she looks more like she always did. It was taken on a day trip to a New Jersey shopping area-Smithville Village. We later went to Caesar’s in Atlantic City.
Mom on steps in NJ

When we went to Orlando a couple of years ago, we went to a Titanic exhibit the last day and this is a replica of the ship’s grand staircase.

Steps of Titanic replica in Orlando, FL
And just for fun…

The Part of You That No One Sees

You are compassionate, caring, and soothing.
You like other people to depend on you…
In fact, you don’t feel right unless you are helping someone out.Underneath it all, you feel the burden of everyone’s problems.
Without your guidance, you fear that many people’s worlds would fall apart.
You like to feel in charge, even if it brings you a lot of stress.

What’s the Part of You That No One Sees?

Apr20

Catching up with a friend

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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.

Apr10

Ancestors and things

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I went down and met my mom at the hospital thrift shop. I was there browsing when she called and said she was finally finished up with her doctor’s appointment. She needs to get quite a few tests, one of which is a mammogram. I don’t know why she needs to be put through some of the others like a nuclear stress test and an MRI-I can almost guarantee she won’t be able to hack the treadmill at almost 77. She had a MRI several years ago and was in the machine for 1.5 hours without moving. They’d have to drug me for that one. She said there is an ‘open model’ in a place about 20 minutes from her house. She worries the heck out of me-so thin, hardly eats (I took her for an early dinner and she only ate the hamburger and not the bun at Ruby Tuesday), her house has so much in it, things that could be discarded. My brother and his pals did a ton more in her yard then I thought. I’ll have to take photos next time. She has old pine trees (that my grandfather Alan planted in the 50s) and they took out 6 dead ones and trimmed many from the bottom up-no privacy now. Ken happen to stop over and I suggested bushes along the neighbor’s fences. He was not thrilled by this. I came home and found a tick crawling up my pant leg. Mom’s yard was disturbed, so I’m thinking it came from there. Talk about taking one’s clothes off quickly! When you’ve been deathly ill from a tick, you don’t play with fire!

What I got at the thrift shop-a real old flour sifter (ok I’ll take photos!) and an old musical sewing box.

Below is a photo (taken with my camera!) of my great grandfather William Hasselberg and his siblings that mom gave me a copy of today. The third man over is the great grandfather (Charlie) of my cousins with the store Dane Decor I mentioned a few posts back. My mom thinks this is from the 1930s-40s and was taken in Bohemia, Maryland. When I see Bette Midler, I think of her husband, Martin Van Hasselberg. Also, Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s husband must be a distant relative.

Great grandfather William

My great grandfather is the first one!

Going on to other things and a weird coincidence-aren’t you glad you know who Dannielynn belongs to? I mean she looks just like her real father. I was looking up Larry Birkhead to see how old he was (34) and then clicked on the link to Anna Nicole Smith who was born November 28th, the same as my brother Don. Here’s the weird thing-her father’s name is Donald Eugene Hogan and my brother’s name is Donald Gene!

Mar29

The decorating Danes are back!

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Congrats to my cousins for the rebuilding on their flagship store, Dane Decor in less than a year. Lightning hit this 19th century building that originally was a church last June and gutted it-I believe I mentioned it happening in this blog. A fireman happen to see the lightning and knew it had struck something and got to Dane Decor before the siren went off. The 4 guys’ grandmom Kate and my grandmom Ruth were Hasselberg first cousins. (for those of you good at geneology-what does that make my relationship to these guys-3rd, twice removed?)Their mom Gloria (passed away in 2000) taught my mom when she was a student teacher and she also came to my wedding. I still use the teak tea cart we received as a gift almost 23 years ago, from Dane Decor! The last time I was at Gloria’s house, Sean was a little baby and I had a severe gallbladder attack the next day. Weird.

Here’s the story about the reopening-(the link may or may not work, but wasn’t at the time I wrote this).

And I’ll have to go visit sometime to say hello as my one cousin Drew would like to chat with me (he said so on my blog last year). Also at the link from last year, another cousin I don’t know left me a message-his name is Sean!

I love that the guys are ‘tree huggers’ and saved an old maple that was part of the store when they enclosed a courtyard for space.