My bloggers pals have played with googling their names with certain verbs. Barbara tried…Unfortunately Barbara. My name didn’t show many interesting results. But ‘Dianne believes…very insightful! Thanks to both Barbara and Carol for this fun exercise.

Dianne believes that “public libraries need to be proactive rather than reactive
over patron concerns over the Internet”
Dianne believes one of the ways to bring about greater equality is through …
Dianne believes it is important for other women to get involved in politics …
Dianne believes that each person’s soul is on a journey of growth and discovery
and that people are responsible for their own choices.
Dianne believes love is the power that repairs everything.
Dianne believes that it takes a lot of love and sacrifice to be a good parent.
Dianne believes that people need to be shown what is attractive and positive.
Dianne believes that music can be used an effective intervention to enhance
reading and writing skills, to decrease stress, and to meet health care goals …

Oh holy jeebers. Remodeling is so pricey. Brian is going to have a bird. BUT, it’s still cheaper than moving and it will increase the value of our house. I just did an online appraisal as I heard that’s the thing to do when you want a home loan. I think it’s a little low as it says nothing about our basement, central air or alarm system (not to forget the cable and dishnet hookup). I’d say they would add another 5K to it. And I think 1.4 acres of land is worth something too. Just hoping of course.
Guess what the most expensive thing is? The electrical work! The contractor didn’t even include them taking away the cabinets and counters. That saves us about $450. Brian could use some of the cabinets in the shed. I bet we could get some takers if someone is looking for honey maple cabinets from 1960. : ) Brian works for newspaper, so he could put an ad in.
I have some arm twisting to do. Wish me luck.

When we were little kids, it wouldn’t be unusual to find us about 8 feet up in the backyard apple tree. Actually we climbed all the trees in our yard and the neighbors’ yards. As a mom now, I cringe thinking about these brave feats. I had to learn that doing this was not a good idea when I fell out once and knocked all the air out of me. That was scary. I got no sympathy at home. I was thinking about this lately because of my mom having sciatica problems in her later years. When I took her to the chiropractor a few years ago, she had her back x-rayed, and they could tell she had had some kind of accident from the curve in her spine. She remembers falling off a sled hard as a girl. I sure hope that my ‘tree incident’ won’t haunt me in my later years. I have fallen hard on ice a few times in the last few years. These days there is a little more padding on my rump.
Sean has a nice bump on his head from falling face down on a hardwood floor during a kiddie YMCA class. Brian was climbing a ladder left against a house under construction when it fell backwards and he broke his arm and gashed his head.
It took a generation to actually ‘see the light’ I think. We baby boomers didn’t have carseats. I wasn’t watched when I was playing outside. I hope that all parents these days will be super caution with their kids. Remember that less than a year ago, three little local boys were playing around an abandoned car and got locked in the truck and died. Kids really need our guidance and care-all the time!

I have been listing a few things on eBay in the last few weeks. I use to hang an assortment of flags and then the pole just would not stay in the house’s stucco wall. I know, I was wondering why we didn’t find wood to screw it into. So I decided to list the flags I had because they were in such good shape. I opened up my eBay summary this morning and there was a question from a flag bidder-did you go to Penncrest and graduate in 1977? I was flabbergasted, as I told this lady in my second note to her. I completely missed her name in the first message. I also added, what’s the chance of someone (about 480 in our class) who doesn’t live in PA anymore, bidding on your auction? Now this is going to sound weird, but I swear I was thinking of this lady not that long ago, less than a few weeks. You see, I have a tear out from a book/brochure that they give you when you visit one of the beach resorts and her husband is a photographer, so she and her three kids are in the ad! I have it in my yearbook along with a few wedding announcements from other people.
I can think about not seeing people who go to our church and they show up the next week. Is that ESP? ; )
~Update~My old high school classmate did not win the flag. I didn’t hear back from her, but I hope if she reads this she’ll leave a comment here or on eBay. Sorry you didn’t win.

I was so happy to see that my birthday twin Meg Ryan (the actress) adopted a little Chinese girl about a week ago. She has a teenage son by Dennis Quaid. This is something I would have loved to do. Sean didn’t want to share the spotlight. We didn’t have the money either. I always love to see the little Asian girls who I know are adopted. They are usually totally Americanized. Is that a good thing?

I was checking out some of the blogs on the side bar and went to visit Kate’s. Now she ran across a list of top songs of the 90s and she was talking about them. Heck she’s only in her mid 20s and I didn’t recognize some of the songs. Now here’s part of a list that I could relate to:
+1. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
2. Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
*3. Hotel California – The Eagles
4. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
+5. Imagine – John Lennon
6. Layla – Derek and the Dominos
*7. Superstition – Stevie Wonder
*8. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
9. Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
+10. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
*11. Maggie May – Rod Stewart
+12. Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who
*13. Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees
+14. Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
+15. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
*16. American Pie – Don McLean
+17. Let It Be – The Beatles
18. Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone – The Temptations
*19. Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
20. Family Affair – Sly and the Family Stone
21. London Calling – The Clash
22. Anarchy in the UK – The Sex Pistols
*23. Your Song – Elton John
24. No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley and the Wailers
+25. Tangled Up in Blue – Bob Dylan
*I had the album or 45
+someone in the family had it.
What about you? Are you humming right now?

This is all happening so quickly. The contractor called last night when I was down at my mom’s house. I have never had a contractor here before-just the Amish roofer. I know what cabinets I want, but I haven’t chosen the countertop, the flooring or the lighting. I sure hope this guy can help me with the lighting. I will probably have under the cabinet lighting. We only have four outlets in the entire kitchen! And if I have two appliciances in the same general area, I trip a fuse. Guess he’ll suggest an electrician. I sure hope these guys are good. I have seen several designers on tv use The Home Depot and rave about how fast they got in and out. That’s my aim.
My sofa is going to the repair shop. It was worse than I thought. It is sagging along almost the entire bottom. The man who was suppose to look at it and fix it can’t come until the 14th of Feb. I decided I couldn’t sit on a busted sofa for 3 long weeks. I called and complained. They are taking it on Saturday and will hopefully get it back to me in a week-and hopefully good as new. If not, they better give me a new sofa and a different make. What a hassle!

Just a quick post as I may have to get off the computer. About 10 minutes ago it started to thunder and lightning. Now that is weird for January. My resident meteorology student then ran in an said we were having a thunder snow event! It’s was snowing sideways! It was a front coming through.

I swear, I have the worst luck! When I first starting blogging, I was redoing my family room. I had purchased a second bookcase. We were in the furniture store and I saw a ultrasuede red sofa. I didn’t order it until the next day and on the phone. I had to wait for it until the end of Sept. 04. A few days I ago, I felt something ‘move’ under the cushion. As the days wore on, I know I was sitting lower. This morning I looked underneath, and the springs were all sagging to the floor! I had to go through tons of papers until I found the receipt and I called the furniture store right up. They have some guy coming here the middle of next month to check it out. I don’t know what he’s going to do, disassemble my sofa and fix the springs? I don’t think so. I am going to raise a stink if they give me a hassle. A sofa that is only a little over a year old should not have broken.
My sister-in-law has had problems with her sofa (and she has kids) and they even replaced the cushions. And we didn’t purchase them from the same place. What’s up with craftsmanship these days? I am sick about this. My last new sofa was 12 yrs ago when I did have a little boy.
So I went down to mom’s and we had some Macy’s gift cards to play with. We bought pretty hats (I got two Liz Claiborne’s and yes I will photograph myself in them soon), undies, makeup and a pretty crushed velvet like jacket in a wine color. I treated mom to dinner in Carrabarras…it was good.