Category Archives: Mom

Jan13

Coping

Posted on by
Standard

Only 12 days into the new year and there is such devastation in the country of Haiti. Just about 38 seconds (and many after shocks), caused the worst earthquake in two centuries. It’s almost unbearable to look at the photos of the wounded people and many buildings laying in ruin. We’ve met some Haitian people in Florida before when my brother took us to a flea market down there. Anyway, all I can say to do is what we did (give up pizza one night) to donate $10 through the Red Cross. You can text it on your phone as we did. Every little bit has to help.
Another thing for us on a more personal level is that my mom has to cope with her failing eyesight. She went to her eye doctor today and there is nothing else they can do to save the sight in her right eye. She sees distorted figures and wavy lines in that eye right now. We are praying that her left eye stays strong. I think she knew that’s what kind of news she was facing. Too bad she went through cataract surgery in 2008 as her path was taking her down this road, which they didn’t know back then. She is still driving, but I rather she not. I guess eventually she’ll have to go to senior daycare or have someone come during the day to help her. I’m hoping that’s a long way off for her sake.
So that’s a lot to digest for us all. Wish us luck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I did make some ‘Brooklyn Cheese Puffs’ from the ‘Lost Recipe’ cookbook. They were mainly ricotta cheese with a little flour, butter and cheddar cheese. You had to put them in the freezer for half an hour and then bake them in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. My oven was smoking!
You can see the recipe if you click on the photo and make it as large as possible.

Yum-so tiny and tender, like a biscuit, but they were definitely puffs!
Here’s the link to the cookbook.
Off to the eye doctor for me tomorrow for my 2 yr check up. I have a feeling I’ll need new glasses. All of us have dry eyes right now too.
Sean will probably start in Wally World next week. He just had the ‘drug’ test (the ‘liquid’ in a cup) today which won’t be finished getting evaluated until the end of the week. We are glad he will be bringing some money in for his bills, but it’s only part time right now.

Dec27

Another Christmas

Posted on by
Standard

I love to decorate and bake for Christmas, but the gift buying and all not so much-it helps if you have a lot of money! : ) Maybe when we have a grandchild or two down the road, it will be fun again. I got some lovely craft and cookbooks that I asked for and a few other things. I do like surprises and Brian gave me some sweet smelling Crabtree* and Evelyn bath items. My brother gave me a Cricut that he bought from a fellow employee which is neat-it cuts out letters and shapes for scrapbooking, etc. My guys liked what they received too.
My mom was in a bit of a mood and was exhausted and not herself when she was here. My brother is living at her house now, but says he will not stay. I think they are too much alike. Plus he’s lived alone a long time and doesn’t like cleaning up after other people. That’s my life-lol. : ) She said she was bored here as she can’t hear very well and about 4 pm on the 26th went in our room and we didn’t see her the rest of the night though we watched a rented movie and asked her to watch too-she refused. She couldn’t decide where she was sleeping and ended up in the family room and was ready to leave at 10 this morning. I had taken away her keys as she wanted to go in the pouring rain yesterday. That’s one reason we all stayed put all day yesterday. She was in a terrible way and it took my uncle and me a while to calm her down. She finally left and went over his house again and I hope she gets back to her place before dark. I will be calling about hearing aids-she must get one!
Last night I was going through my craft items and papers and made a few things I will share soon. I put on my MP3 headset and it relaxed me a lot. So that’s my life for the past few days. I need to get some makeup on to go out to Chili’s or someplace down in Delaware as I’ve been stuck inside myself for a few days.

Nov19

My life at 50

Posted on by
Standard

That’s right, 50 yrs ago, yours truly floated into the world in a rather fast labor and delivery-one hour to be exact. Yours truly was the loudest baby in the nursery too. My mom said she heard me over the other babies and got up to comfort me and was ushered back to bed. I was welcomed home by my older brother David, age 5. Three months later, my mom got pregnant again and was also coping with a troubled marriage. My father was to leave us all in 1972 (by that time there were 4 kids, Ken came along in 1967) to go back to his home state of Oregon where he would pass on alone in Feb. ’08.
Though I’ve had a rough childhood, I think we still had many blessings and I’ve tried to hold on to family traditions with my own son. Mom always outdid herself on birthdays, Halloween and Christmas and we had so much fun. I don’t remember wearing a store bought costume. In fact one year, she cut up her wedding dress for a 1st grader. It felt a bit odd wearing it, but I’m sure I felt pretty special. My birthday was usually shared with my year younger brother Don. We had the best one when we were about 6 and 7 when we had a house full of neighbors and cousins. Christmases were special, down to the overstuffed stockings that would always hang on the stair railing. One year my mom and grandmom(she was my second mom) sold some evergreen trees that my late grandfather had planted to have money for gifts.
Here’s me as a newborn babe-with my mouth open:

I turned out to be a stay at home (mostly, I’ve had a few jobs) wife and mom, though I went to college to be an Early Childhood Education teacher and came very close to doing so. I have been an aide to many children over the years. I think I would love to do art projects with little ones now. Sean always enjoyed doing projects from making paper to painting wooden plaques.
I think I’ve been a good wife, sister, aunt and mom. I’ve been there for people. I look forward to this part of my life when I hope, things will get easier soon. It’s hard to believe only 10 yrs ago I had a son entering his teens and now he’s a young man. He’s been my best gift ever. And he was almost my birthday gift back in 1986.
And lastly, thanks to Brian for being there for me through thick and thin. He’s been a great husband and best friend. I hope when we are 80, we have scooters to toot around Longwood Gardens on.

Nov6

Mama’s getting a new toy!

Posted on by
Standard

I gathered some things that I had been gifted with over the years-some necklaces, bracelets and earrings that I would never wear (not my taste)that belonged to someone else (deceased). These were ‘regifted’ to me over the different holidays, and I would just stick them in storage. I went up to the neighborhood jewelry store on Thursday to sell it. I almost got enough for the full purchase price for this:
Dell15.6
It’s a Dell 15.6″* Inspiron* 1545!
With Windows* 7! Rolled over at Wally World to a better price! I wanted something I could take with me to bookstores, coffee shops, on trips and I needed a faster computer for games I play on Facebook. I still own jewelry that I like and I even left off two rings to be resized, one of which is my birthstone, but a blue topaz. Hey, I’m getting older and like everyone else, I need to downsize. It’s great to make a little cash in the process.
Brian doesn’t know about my purchase, but I think he’ll be ok. He was looking at a laptop on here and it was over 1k and I said no way. Can’t wait for my early birthday gift. It has a webcam and case, so if anyone has that, we could use it to chat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Probably going to my mom’s to help her clean in her room. My brother is moving in at the end of the month.

Nov1

Snaps from cellphones

Posted on by
Standard

I don’t think these are too bad for cellphones. I did lighten or enhance the color in PSP7 just to make them more visually appealing:
Longwood3
Enhanced with Abode.
This is right near Longwood Gardens. I wanted to capture the burnt umber of the corn/wheat fields against the dark orange fall leaves:
Longwood4
And our dinner at Chili’s last week for Sean’s birthday:
Seanbd
Those salsa and chips are so good! And they are a bottomless bowl!
BriDi
The first few were my camera. This is Sean’s camera (more $) and I had to tweak it a lot more!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Halloween didn’t feel much like Halloween until we saw some trick or treaters in my mom’s hometown on the way home. It’s the first year I didn’t see my niece and nephew as they were with their friends.
Working at my mom’s was very draining. It was a rainy day, but in the low 70s, so humid. She says she does things, like go through slacks she stuffed in a big black bag. I had to take every pair out and hold them up and read the size and most of them she discarded! I think we loaded up three of those bags. She loves jackets and says she has about 70! She said she would pick the 20 or so she likes best. It’s so hard to do this. My brother was running across tons of old family photos and sent them home with me to scan. Brian came along and we set up our old dining room table and we all could sit together for a change and share pizza. Brian and Don need to hang a mirror in mom’s room and hang a ceiling fan in the dining room. I have to go and work in mom’s room next.
I’ll be scanning the photos over the next few weeks. Need to make some chili for dinner soon for Sean’s arrival from Penn State.

Oct26

Family ties

Posted on by
Standard

I’m not going to go into things too much, but my mom is such a big part of my life-my constant worry about her is a daily issue . My middle brother is suppose to move in with her and now that he has a deadline (needs to move out of his apt which is going to get redone) he is pushing mom to get only two rooms cleaned out so he has some place to put his things. Now you all know mom is 79 and has health and eye issues. I feel for her in that respect. What bothers me is that she can’t seem to part with things. She says he has no right to tell her what to do in her own home. But if he was there, she’d be better off financially, probably have new floors and rugs and a updated kitchen among many other things-even maid service. He spent the summer and much money fixing up her yard-it has never looked nicer. My brother has a very vocal and often brash way of getting his point across, but I am glad that he is interested in taking over the family homestead. I talked to him over 2 hours yesterday. In fact I talked to 4 family members and we all want some kind of resolution-but the older folks, mom and uncle are clashing with the ‘younger’ folks. It’s not like mom’s house is picture perfect, she had vermin issues at one point and that was bad enough. She has all that stuff! I feel if most of it went away she wouldn’t miss it. So this has been on my mind.
I’m still doing my collage projects and getting together ideas for the book I hope to write. My friend said if I did larger canvases similar to the small art trading cards, I may be able to do a show in a Philly suburb gallery she is affiliated with! It would be nice to actually sell something I make. It’s really nice to have someone take an interest in something I do creatively.
Lots going on!
Who likes it when someone asks you what you want for your birthday? When I was 10 I knew, but at this age? I would still like to go to NYC, but maybe in early December.
Going for my mamm and ultrasound tomorrow. Please send me good vibes!
***Go Phillies***

Sep23

Happy Birthday Mom!

Posted on by
Standard


Happy Birthday Mom! 9-23, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Next year will be my mom’s BIG birthday, but I wanted to take a walk down memory lane. The newest is the second photo where we are toasting each other with Blue*Moon beer. (I sent that to the website, I should see if they uploaded it yet). The first shot, mom is about 16 (I always thought she looked like actress Penelope Cruz); the 3rd shot is when she went to the Smithsonian Institute with a friend and the last shot is us in my childhood room. We are going down in a few hours to bring her gifts, flowers and a red velvet cake (bought). One of my brother wants to take mom out to dinner and said we could come along.

Update-
Mom and me at Barnaby’s. We had Blue*Moon again and we both got strip steak. My brother treated us all to dinner. : ) Taken with Sean’s cellphone.
DiMom923
With 3 of her 5 grandchildren.
IMG_7962
Blowing out the candles on her red velvet cake (bakery bought and really yummy!)
IMG_7963

Sep14

Great find by mom

Posted on by
Standard

My mom likes to wonder around the local thrift shops. Sometimes she ‘hits’ on a great find for me-like this:
IMG_6082
An entire packet of DMC embroidery floss! (it’s missing some colors, but I’m not complaining). She wasn’t sure if it was DMC or not-she was going by the name of the holder thingie. I looked at it and thought how was I going to match this all up with DMC? Tonight I took a closer look and the previous owner had them all separated and I know the numbers well enough to know they ALL were indeed DMC. I even took out 738-saved me a trip to the store.
Thanks mom!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was so nice today that I planted 5-7′ rows of fall crops. I’ve never done that before, so hoping I didn’t wait too long. I planted beets, arugula, spinach, radishes and lettuce. I’m waiting on the garlic bulbs to be shipped soon-they will go in a raised bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RIP Patrick Swayze. What a journey he was on these last few years. I feel especially bad as my step cousin was just diagnosed with the same kind of cancer. I adored Patrick in ‘Ghost’ and ‘Dirty Dancing’. I even like his one hit song-from ‘Dirty Dancing’-‘She’s Like The Wind’. His skit on ‘Saturday Night Live’ with Chris Farley was a classic-when they both were trying out to be Chippendale dancers. He will be missed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Off to get my hair done tomorrow. I’m pushing for a lighter shade as my roots are horrible against the brown now. On Sunday we were down in my hometown to a town event (where I am going again tomorrow-vendors and food on State Street and yard sales around the town. I got some cute things I’ll share at the end of the week.
And Zoey-the mushroom cookie was delicious-it was a thick butter cookie that I had to split 3 ways! s like

Sep9

A little catch up

Posted on by
Standard

Not too much to post, but I wanted to update you about my mom and Sean.
Mom has to have another series of injections in her eyes as a further measure to save her eyesight because she had macular degeneration. They haven’t gotten better. I think at this point they are hoping they will stay the same. She said she’d be happy to have one good eye so she could read. That is breaking my heart. She wanted a netbook and the man at Target said no way would that be big enough for her with her poor eyesight. I got a new cellphone for myself (I had some gift cards from my Visa and it was free) and am giving her my almost new razor cellphone. She had one from my brother and lost the many chargers they bought her. I have to devise a plan so she won’t lose this one. I got a Samsung*Gravity with a little keyboard. So far it’s pretty neat. I should be texting more now.
Sean didn’t get the internship in Delaware. The guy hired the young lady who was interviewed at the same time. Maybe they didn’t need more than one person doing that work. Sean was bummed, but I am glad in a way as I didn’t want him using a lot of chemicals. The guy said there may be some openings down the road. He is waiting to hear from the Brandywine*River Museum for another internship.
Thought you’d like to know. Hope all is well.

Sep8

Long weekend

Posted on by
Standard

Not much to post about-had Brian home for the holiday weekend. He dug up the part of the veggie patch where I want to add some salad stuff for the fall. Sean had his interview for the internship (it pays) on Friday and had to drive down to Delaware*City. He’ll hopefully get thumbs up today. He will be treating invasive species (plants) like poison ivy at the park in another area of Delaware.
I’ve been doing a little shopping here and there finding some good buys on Martha*Stewart things at Big*Lots. I actually went to two different stores as we went down to Dover, DE on Monday just to do something different. My favorite bookstore- Atlantic warehouse was having a buy 2 get 1 free-must have saved $30 or more! I bought about 3-4 things for my mom’s birthday coming up in a few weeks. We ate at Olive*Garden and I went in a few craft stores. You need a few days to go in all the stores down there. Also went into the town of Dover to find Wesley College, a small, but nice school amongst Dutch Colonels and other lovely homes. The public flowerbeds are kept so nice. There was a bed of burgundy dinner plate hibiscus-gorgeous, with red, white and purple petunias.
A few nights ago, I was doing one of those Facebook ‘5 things’ and they asked my nationalities. I put down Swedish, but my family always thought we were Danish (and may be). My cousin was going to open a furniture store (and may have already) and went over to Denmark. She looked in the phone book in Denmark and there were only a few Hasselbergs. She went to Sweden and that’s where they all were. She started a business which is still going strong and run by many of her children. I found the fan page for Dane*Decor on FB and scrolled down and found my cousin Drew there! He had contacted me about a blog entry a few years ago and so had his brother Jesse. I scrolled down to find a memorial group for Jesse. He had passed away from a heart attack last year to the day-he must have been only in his 50s. I was so upset to read this. So now Drew and I are friends on FB. Cool, huh?
Please keep my mom in your thoughts as she is getting her eyes photographed and checked to see if the injections she had over the last few months has slowed down the macular degeneration. She’s really scared. I’ll let you know.