Sean and Me after him boogie boarding
Night time shot of the official OC boardwalk sign
View from the roof of our hotel. Gotta love being this close to the ocean!
Aug26
Category Archives: Me stuff
Aug23
Happy Blogger Anniversary to me!
1 year today!
I really love to blog and I hope anyone who reads it gets a ‘little something’ out of it. ; )
Aug22
Busy week…don’t know about blogging
That’s why I was f-a-arting on the computer today. We won’t be home for 3 days this week. I have that doctor’s appt also the day before we leave. I’ll be glad to get checked out. I am sick of feeling crampy and not myself lately. I was really good for nothing today.
Sean and Brian brought me home a red Liz Claiborne XL t shirt from Atlantic City. It’s nice, but it’s too big and not dressy. I wanted fudge for cripes sake. Sean got himself an expensive Eagles jersey. I told him I bet he spent a lot of time looking at them and not for fudge! 😛
Hey, anyone know how to get an older gent to give up his favorite shirt and jacket? Brian’s dad has been wearing the same worn out striped shirt every time I’ve seen him since June. It’s ugly and there’s something stained on the pocket. I told him nicely to only wear it around the house, but the guys said he was wearing it plus a dirty, ripped ‘use to be white’ nylon jacket that’s at least 15 yrs old yesterday (we have proof because he took Sean to a aircraft show at Boeing when Sean was about 5!). We had gotten him a new jacket and he said it’s too big in the shoulders’. I wonder if I can fix that? Add another sewing project for D! I told Bri to take him jacket shopping anyway. I know he doesn’t need shirts. My grandmom’s sister did the same thing Pops is doing at the same age wearing the same clothes day in and day out. I hope he is just lazy and not getting Alzheimers.
Jul31
Art cards are all the fad on eBay
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.
Jul29
Free landscaping business…
….only if you have shingles! Man, I am way pooped today from doing stuff around my mom’s house. I went into her house with really good take out from the Concordville Inn (they just opened a ‘to go’ service). I got her shrimp salad and me chicken salad. I walked in to find her in a fairly warm and smelly living room with her eyes almost rolled back! No joke! It scared the sh#@ out of me. Her ‘baby boy’ dog had perfumed himself in some other doggie’s release. Darn him. Mom ‘came to’ and I told her about her lunch which she wasn’t hungry for yet. She looks like sh#@ too. She’s lost weight again and had raccoon circles around her eyes. Her lesions from the shingles are drying up. Yeck, what a wicked thing. Anyway, no way did I have an appetite, so I ate half my lunch and debated to clean inside or do stuff outside. I did the same thing I would do here, I went outside! It was too nice not to. I got the weed whacker out and went to town in the shady part of the yard first. My ‘trigger’ finger can’t hardly bend today from weed whacking. I moved hanging plants and statuary around. I cleaned up trash and things around her yard. I knocked down weeds. I did good. Mom came out later and said ‘what about those weeds over near the shed’ (Brian does this to me also). I said some other time. I even had Sean drive me up to a store to get more cord for her weed whacker. And I did grocery shopping inbetween the yardwork. Mom said ‘I hate to remind you, but I need some groceries’. So I took her Sable up to the Acme (Thursday is a good day to go) and got what she wanted (she requested pumpkin pie too!)
My brother and his kids were there when Sean and I got back from getting the cording. We hardly recognized Kenny as he’s getting so tall. My brother cuts the grass for mom every week. The kids love Sean and were following him around. Sean showed Ken the bumper and Ken thinks he needs a new one. We can’t seem to get the State Police to give us the address of the lady who ran into Sean. (Brian is probably going to stop at the barracks today to see if ‘face to face’ will make a difference.) Ken and the family are going to Ocean City, MD this week coming up. That reminds me, I need to make arrangements for our OC trip next month.
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BTW, I didn’t go to the doctor today. I figured out what my problem was from past experience.
Today I am going to the hair salon. I need to go and get ‘spruced up’.
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My pond’s pump in a pita this week. It fell over now about 4 times and leaked all the water out of the pond. Some of that stringy algae got in the motor and it wouldn’t work. I got it taped up and fixed (I have to tape the fountain head on to the newer pump), so I hope it won’t fall over again. It makes the new resident ‘Kermit’ upset!
Jul27
Saw this on Abby’s blog…
| Your Blogging Type is Kind and Harmonious |
 You’re an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends.People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support. You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone. You have a great eye for design – and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block! |
What’s Your Blogging Personality?
Thanks Abby.
I feel a bit better tonight. I did lay down for 45 minutes or so. I got a package of goodies in the mail from Collectibles,Inc. and they all had to be put together. I got a little fairy birdbath (the fairy is solar powered), a duck fountain that spits water back into the pond (pictures are coming);a fountain I was going to put outside but it’s for inside-an old-fashioned hand pump that pours water into a bucket(noisy) and a few other things.
Jul27
Very sleepy…
…I felt like I had menstrual cramps from the early evening until about 3 am when the Tylenol and heating pad helped me to fall asleep. The thing is I just went through ‘all that’ less than 2 weeks ago. I made an appt with the gyn for Friday because I didn’t like how I was feeling. I just looked at a few pages on uterine fibroids (I had to refresh my knowledge about them). I think they are acting up and I don’t know whether to wait until my yearly exam on 8/23 or to actually go on Friday. I depends on how well I sleep the next few nights.
I still haven’t been down to see my mom and it will be 2 weeks tomorrow. I was telling her about the above problems and she said she ‘needed milk’. Sometimes people who are in a fog of pain can’t see beyond their own needs. I want to help her, really I do, but I wish she had gotten my sister-in-law to grab her a few groceries when she asked.
I want to join a ‘Curves’ or a similar establishment, but my cycle and fibroids rule my life. I guess I have to either live with them until menopause or try to seek relief by the doctor’s suggestions. I have never had the doctor examine me, only the mid-wives. The doc looks like the carpenter on the TLC show ‘While you are out’-Andrew Dan-Jumbo. Hmm…. wish me luck. I need a nap. (BTW, it’s still really hot here).
Sean was involved in a fender bender yesterday with him being the filling in the sandwich between the three vehicles involved. He’s fine, a little shook up though. A lady in her 30s was right near where she was going to turn and she plowed into Sean. The paint on half his bumper crackled. The front of his car that went into a van and caused damage to it isn’t hurt at all. The poor kid had to stand in the heat for an hour while the police came. He was happy to tell us that he is moving into a higher math class. You know, this and my mom surely would cause me stress and screw with my insides. Geez.
Jul26
Men not as fixated on skinny women
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.
Jul21
Extreme makeover…well almost
I’m only saying that because I got the 4th crown in my mouth today. Not a pleasant experience as the dentist had to put it in and take it out of my mouth about 6 times. I know the dentist would love to close the gap in my front teeth someday. He mentioned it years ago when I first started going to him. I told him I didn’t want to look like Bugs Bunny with huge front teeth. The gap is me, it fits me. I also have a mole on my left cheek. That’s me too. But what would I change about myself? The Extreme Makeover show was just on. I would get a nose job, a tummy tuck and liposuction to start off with! I would love to be able to wear a smaller size pant and skirt, without elastic waistbands. I don’t think it will happen, but I think it would help my appearance tremendously.
Enough about me. I am sick myself over my mom having shingles. I was reading up on it today. She has like a 1 in 4 chance of the pain staying with her after the lesions go away because she is in that age group. She’s suffered with sciatica since ’03 and right now that isn’t bothering her. Big surprise right? I don’t know how she will live with that and be able to run a household. I don’t think her future looks like rose gardens and tea parties. It just doesn’t seen fair that my mom has to suffer like this.
Jul1
100 things
Nabbed this from Kate’s blog. Finally got around to doing it today:
100 Things
1. I’m named after both my mother Jeanne and my father Carl- Dianne Carol.
2. People usually call me ‘Di’ which I don’t like. Mom calls me Diadsie.
3. Born Nov. 19, 1959
4. Born in West Chester, PA
5. Grew up in Media, PA
6. Attended Delaware County Community College and West Chester University.
7. I ‘turned’ Catholic in 1983 before I got married.
8. I am a ‘liberal’ Catholic if there is such a thing.
9.I have been married to the same man, Brian for over 21 yrs.
10. I have one son who is now a college freshman at Penn State.
11. I am of a melting pot of nationalities but mostly English, Swedish, Danish, French, Irish & German.
12. When I was 2 we lived in Fort Pierce, Florida for a year, but the heat was miserable.
13. My parents divorced when I was about 13, but they had lived apart for many years.
14. My father wouldn’t look at any of his 4 children at the court proceedings.
15. I have 3 brothers, 1 older and 2 younger.
16. I have 3 nephews and 1 niece.
17. My niece Tori and I are the only females in our immediate family for 40 years.
18. I love to cross stitch & have done so for over 25 yrs.
19. I mainly cross stitch for different charities and have done so for over 6 yrs.
20. I also love to garden and putter around in the yard every day.
21. I’m 5’2 and 1/2. The 1/2 is very important.
22. My favorite food is chocolate.
23. I love iced tea, especially home brewed with lemon.
24. My favorite movie is ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and I have a collection of memoribilia from it.
25. I am a liberal democrat.
26. I have one cat, a boy named Cosmo who has a blog.
27. I try to read at least 5+ novels a year because I read slowly.
28. My current favorite TV show is Survivor.
29. My favorite actor is probably still Harrison Ford.
30. I wanted to be a early childhood education instructor.
31. After I volunteered at my son’s school, I changed my mind.
32. I have to drink my hot tea in a mug.
33. I don’t like coffee.
34. I was the corresponding secretary for the PTO (not PTA) at my son’s school one year.
35. I was computer illiterate until we got a computer in 1993. I taught myself how to make a webpage and can do html.
36. I love folk pop music.
37. I have been a fan of James Taylor’s since I’ve been 13.
38. I have seen JT 3 times in concert and his daughter Sally once.
39. I have also seen the following in person: John Denver, Joni Mitchell, Linda Rondstadt, Dan Fogelburg, Kenny Loggins & Hall & Oates. I would love to see Bonnie Raitt someday.
40. I was born the same year as the Barbie doll and I have a huge collection of them.
41. I had a Thumbelina doll that I loved to pieces and even cut her hair.
42. I contracted Lyme Disease in 1998 and still have symptoms from it.
43. My favorite chain restaurant the Olive Garden.
44. I live about 1/2 hour from where I was born.
45. I would like to live near the ocean someday.
46. I use to have medium brown hair, now it’s golden brown.
47. I have hazel eyes with specks in them like my maternal grandmom.
48. I wear bifocal glasses and don’t like contacts.
49. I would love to be a backup singer for James Taylor at least once.
50. The best trip I ever took was a car trip to New England with Brian when we were newlyweds.
51. I love to bake, esp at Christmastime.
52. My favorite color is teal/aquamarine.
53. I like skirts better than shorts, but I wear shorts too.
54. I met Brian at the wedding of his first cousin to my brother.
55. Brian lets me cut his hair and I still do so after 23 yrs.
56. I was shy and quiet in high school and people thought I was stuck up.
57. I love brownies of any kind. I’ve never found any as good as Rachel’s (from the 80s).
58. I could eat chicken salad from ‘The Little Inn’ everyday.
59. We still live in the first house we bought back in 1986.
60. We moved in when I was 7.5 months pregnant with Sean our only child.
61. When I am uptight, music usually calms me down.
62. My favorite perfume has to be flowery and expensive-like Lancome’s Miracle or Estee Lauder’s Estee.
63. I loved M*A*S*H the tv show, but not the movie version.
64. I wished that Alan Alda was my father at one time.
65. I have ESP sometimes. I recently got stung by a bee and remembered thinking about it a day or so before it happened.
66. I have a thing for tall, thin, dark haired men like Tim Daly and Hugh Jackman.
67. I married an average sized guy with brown, curly hair.
68. I get bad vibes when I go in places like ‘Ford’s Theater’ (I see dead people?)
69. My brother Don and I would put on shows for the family. He always out sung me.
70. Someone died in the bedroom I sleep in. It doesn’t scare me.
71. Growing up, I use to babysit all the kids from a nearby neighborhood.
72. I love anything Victorian. My livinig room is somewhat decorated that way.
73. I have excellent handwriting for a lefty. I used calligraphy for our wedding invitiations.
74. When I was practicing the calligraphy, I wrote the name Sean Matthew out of the blue. (that’s our son’s name).
75. I would like to see the west coast one day and also visit friends & relatives there.
76. I have yet to go to New York City.
77. 9-11-01 left me with an anxiety issues for a few years.
78. I live inbetween NYC and DC and was thinking it was the end of the world that day.
79. I have at least 500 books or more.
80. My books are mostly non-fictional.
81. I have a huge cookbook collection too-at least 100 books. My favorite is Fannie Farmer that Brian gave me.
82. I hate to have piles dirty clothes in the house, but sometimes I let the dishes sit overnight.
83. I grow zinnias almost every year because they were my maternal grandmom’s favorite flower.
84. I helped to pay for my grandmom’s grave marker.
85. My family and I were with my grandmom when she died June 18, 2000.
86. In high school I had a crush on a soccer player.
87. I love BBC America and watch ‘Bargain Hunter’ and ‘Cash in the Attic’ everyday.
88. I use to watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus and had a crush on Michael Palin.
89. I have several things in my ‘beauty routine’ to do before I go to bed-one is to apply cream to my dry feet.
90. I love to do crafts and draw portraits (though I haven’t done the later for a long time).
91. My favorite flower is the gardenia.
92. I like lap dogs like Eddie from Frasier.
93. Cats have always loved me as I love them.
94. I’m a packrat, but so is the rest of my family.
95. I have a gap in my front teeth like my older brother.
96. I love getting things in the mail.
97. I have sold stuff on eBay for almost 6 years.
98. I miss my brother Don who lives in Florida and haven’t seen him for 3 yrs (we went to see him).
99. I wanted an emerald engagement ring, but settled on a diamond with two little emeralds on each side.
100. I am really good at putting things together without directions.
Collages & Creative Goodness 