Category Archives: Me stuff

Apr2

Pressure pot world

Posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 by Dianne

I believe this is so. Our lives are simmering well for our existence and someone comes along and clamps a lid down on our world and the pressure starts to build up. You’ve got that little valve though, and if you are lucky, you can open it and things calm down a bit.

Someone in my life, not under this roof, has turned the heat up indirectly, though I have to feel it too. I have to hear my mom sobbing and being upset when she has enough to deal with everyday.

I won’t go into it in case that person reads here and has something to say to everyone else about it, even exaggerating it.

The temps dropped and last time I looked it was in the upper 40s. 70 was so nice! I took the cat for a walk without having to wear a coat. Debating about going to the grocery store. It’s different with just the two of us. I can go longer between trips-I don’t like grocery shopping that much. I am low on meat mainly. I could just go for a meat run.

Wish me (us) luck with the above!

Apr1

And it’s no joke…

Posted on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 by Dianne

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It’s 70 degrees outside!!! I’m inside and wearing a sweater though.

Just got some bloodwork drawn this morning-terrible slow place-45 minutes with only 3 people ahead of me. The woman who draws the blood, does the paperwork too. She had to stick me in both arms-ouch! Wish me luck with that. Next week is my cornea thickness test as it got postponed.
I promised Brian a nice dinner, so I better get busy with that.

Mar31

Last day of March already!

Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 by Dianne

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We had such a busy month, it just seemed to go quickly. Having Sean home in the middle helped with the winter drudgery feeling. I just got a phone call and the lady said my eye appt was moved to the 9th as the machine is down. Maybe Bri can go with me since it’s late in the afternoon.

Today I have to return a movie, maybe rent another and buy some cards, one of which is an anniversary card for us! It will be 24 yrs for us this year! *Bowing* With Sean not home a lot now, it’s rather like the old days of keeping each other company. I find cooking for two a drag. Sean use to eat most of my leftovers, his dad doesn’t.

Here’s progress on The African Violet sampler plus a ‘happy’ real one close up. I think I’ll finish this one violet and then pick up a different project.

A few ATCs I made recently:
Made from mostly recycled things-part of a postage stamp package, a stamped image that wasn’t perfect….the glare is a hummingbird sticker

This one is called ‘Dress rehearsal’. I love finding these old images:

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Tip of the day-eat rice cakes! They fill you up and help like fiber does! Enough said. : )

Mar30

Today it’s Obama

Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2008 by Dianne

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Sean called about 11:15 this morning and said he was in a long line to see Barack Obama-said that he was about #8k! Hope he gets better photos this time around. It’s an exciting time to be a college student!

Update-Sean got there too late as it was a huge crowd of 20K or more and couldn’t seen Obama at all. I found some great shots on flickr and forwarded the link to Sean.

Not much new. Bri and I went to Value City and QVC last night. I needed to pick up a few birthday gifts for my niece’s upcoming 9th birthday. I can’t believe she is getting so big! She’s wearing glasses now. Yeah, people say she looks a bit like her auntie, especially with the specs! I don’t want to say what I bought in case a family member is reading.

Speaking of family, my second brother will be trekking his way back to PA tomorrow to live. The one I have had issues with. He’s staying at my uncle’s house until he finds a place that takes a dog and cat. I heard he had to sell a lot of his possessions to make the move.

Watch for photos of my new orchids and begonias. My mom decided not to come out today and I guess I won’t be going to Longwood Gardens again tomorrow. I’d like someone to go with me to the eye doctor on Thursday which is 16 miles one way and an office I’ve never been to before. I have to have my corneas measured. I hope they do the pressure test first. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that the pressure has gone down.

Off to finally make our corned beef dinner! Better late than never.

Mar28

My old high school

Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008 by Dianne

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One of the NBC 10 news guys, Jamison Uhler graduated from my high school in 1993. Today on the 5 pm news, he went back to Penncrest. The school is much bigger than when I went there. I was having a good laugh at his old French teacher pulling out his grades and showing that his final grade was a ‘D’. There is a slideshow of famous people who went to our school, but he forgot a few, though I didn’t know about a few he mentioned. He forgot former congressman Curt Weldon and broadway actress Anne Crumb. The movie director and award winning screenwriter, Todd Robinson was in my class (’77) and attended our reunion last
November.

I just thought it was neat and wanted to share.

Mar28

Orchid paradise

Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008 by Dianne

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I just got back and had love to jump on the computer to check out my shots (this camera doesn’t take any bad ones). That’s after getting the mail and walking Mr. Cosmo around the yard first. It’s so dreary here, but not cold. I got quite warm a few times in just my sweater! There is also a orchid sale at the gardens today through the weekend and I bought two (from a Hawaiian seller) and a neat begonia-all for under $30. I need to take photos of them to show you.

Here are some neat shots. I uploaded my photos and am editing them at flickr. Here is the slideshow.

Inside the conservatory. ~~What are those~~ white ~~spiky flowers?~~
Zoey IDed them as Foxtail lilies! Thanks! They are awesome against the green!

Love any lime/chartreuse colored orchids and flowers in general and these are so pretty next to the bluish purple flowers-Canterbury Bells maybe?

These were some of my favorites with the polka dots!

Some awesome ones near the entrance

I went to the rose and hibiscus room and look what I found:

Talk about neon!
And this is in the children’s garden. We didn’t see everything at Christmastime

I wore my pedometer and I walked 3 k steps there today! Yeah!!

Mar28

Missing in blogland

Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008 by Dianne

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Only a few pals are blogging regularly this week. I know one had company and others are waiting for their long winter to end so they can go out in their yards and blog about flowers, etc.

I was going to try and get to Longwood Gardens today if the rain holds out. I’m mainly interested in the orchids in the conservatories, but it’s a little walk to that area. Now my mom wants to come out too, but I bet I won’t see her for at least 3 or more hours. She’s anxious to print out her flower show pictures as I just bought her two ink cartridges for her new printer for Easter. She also wants to use her camera more. Sean used his new camera at the Clinton rally, though he wasn’t that close (8k were there!). He also took a little video. I guess he will upload them sometime today. I also have to proof a couple of his papers over the weekend.

I really feel like I need to get out of the house today, so I’m hoping I can at least chase a few raindrops to see something different.

Mar27

My AVs

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 by Dianne

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I am so ashamed that I have neglected my African Violets so long! Many had very twisty stems under their crowns as if they were trying to find room to grow in their too tight pots. When I lost two of them last week, I decided it was time to take action to save them! They had provided me with months of cheery little flowers, mostly from the plant food I offered them on a sporadic week. They would get so dry! I forgot the winter sun was closer to the earth (I’ve known this forever though!) Then I pulled this out of my cross stitch pile of WIPs (yeah it’s aida, but I love the color):

“To grow ’em is to love ’em”

Well I wasn’t showing much love for these beauties, many bought each year by my mom at the Philly Flower show. I remembered I had a bag of AV dirt, so I retrieved that, lined the dining room table with newspapers, and got to work! Over 2 hours later and working with 16 or so plants, I was finished. I had run out of dirt, but I now only have a few left to repot or add dirt to. I also cleaned off the windowsill and had a lot to clean up from the kitchen to the family room. But now it looks like this:

I have three of these ‘Frozen in Time’ AVs! Mom must have really liked it or I told her not to get me purple.

And here’s the whole window (the yellow is a faux orchid):

It was a job well done and made me forget about my allergy attack for a little bit, though I got really warm when I was running back and forth with the plants. I hope they all make it!

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Crossing fingers that Sean gets to see Bill Clinton tonight at PSU and Barack Obama tomorrow (I think). We’ve never seen a President in person. The ‘closest’ I got to a prez was seeing Ted Kennedy crossing the street in Washington, DC as a kid on a school trip. Sean wasn’t sure if he’d go, but I told him the above and he has a new digital camera too!

Mar27

Extreme Home Makeover-local

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 by Dianne

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About a month ago, the ABC show Extreme Makeover:Home Edition redid a home in Wilmington, DE., very near our neck of the woods. In the local paper it was saying how a local meat/food market provided the food for the crew (gourmet they said). Anderson Homes did the major work, but some local contractors did things like painting and removing debris and went back even after their alloted time was put in. The one guy’s daughter graduated from high school with Sean and I worked with his mom when I did the teacher aide fill in job. It’s a small world! Watch it on Sunday night at 8:00 and you’ll see those guys (other than carpenter Paul DiMeo) with heavy Philly accents!

Mom had me turn on a PBS show the other night as they were showing scenes from the Mushroom festival that takes place here in September, and one chatty lady who was telling them quite a bit about mushrooms was in the church choir with me.

Today, I’m like the lady in the commercial who feels like her head is blowing up like a balloon. My right sinus was achy like a toothache last night. I know it’s suppose to rain for about 1.5 days, so I was wondering if that has something to do with people and their sinuses-like barometric pressure inside your head? Anyway, got a pot of stew cooking to get my mind off my head as I can’t use Flonase until I get my eyes checked next week. I have to stick with salt spray or the homeopathic kind of nasal spray.

Bri has some dental work today, about 3 different spots and he’s just thrilled about that. My mom went to the doctor and he wants her to get a few tests on her spine as he is concerned about her sciatica still bothering her as much as it still does. She weighs about 120, not terrible, but she could stand about another 10 pds.

I want to get to Longwood Gardens before the 31st as that’s the orchid display is only up until. I completely forgot about it! I want some awesome photos!

Here’s some more flower shots from yesterday: