Category Archives: Sean

Dec25

Pass the cookies-Merry Christmas!

Posted on Thursday, December 25, 2008 by Dianne

To all my pals in blogland that I call my friends-Merry Christmas. I have made some newer blog pals that I have enjoyed getting to know. I think back on my second grade teacher who taught use this little song in round-‘make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold’.

Here are my cookies for this Christmas-

7 layers cookies, Russian Tea cakes, Sour Cream Drops, Sugar cookies, Rum Raisin squares, Mini Reese’s cup cookies and peanut brittle.

And one of my favorite gifts from Brian-

Adorable little mushroom salt and pepper shakers from Anthropologie! I thought they were just mushrooms for my collection. : )

I also got a GPS for the van-which will be great if I get into going antiquing in unknown parts along with some books and music CDs. I highly recommend Sarah Brightman’s Christmas CD-it’s beautiful!

Brian and Sean got new watches-Bri a Ford Mustang one and Sean a new Penn State one. Sean got almost everything off his Amazon wishlist-a cool big book on the history of Penn State Football with removable ‘artifacts’ like old banners, etc. He looked at it for a long time.

It was nice to have my mom here this year. We took her to midnight mass at a church in Delaware. We sat off to the side instead of in the middle pews and it took away from hearing the choir as well. I saw her singing quite a few times.

We had shrimp and chicken carbonara last night:

It was good-very rich with maybe a wee bit too much garlic. The recipe wasn’t written well and I skimped on the sauce-but in retrospect, I didn’t use all the milk product it called for. I think I would do a breaded chicken next time and not put the shrimp in with the sauce as it was hard to peel.

Tonight we had ‘Surf and Turf’! I cooked the sirloins from BJ Wholesale and cut them in half as they were huge. I bought two lobster tails and cut them in chunks so we all got some. Also made the green bean casserole with fried onions in the can; Potatoes and sweet potato au gratin and asparagus. It was a great dinner and everyone enjoyed it.

The fellows took Brian’s dad some dinner and his gifts, so mom and I are hanging out relaxing.

Hope everyone had a great day!
The entire song from above:

Make new friends,
but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.

A circle is round,
it has no end.
That’s how long,
I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright,
it warms the heart.
We’ve been friends,
from the very start.

You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.

Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
and so are you.

You help me,
and I’ll help you
and together
we will see it through.

The sky is blue
The Earth is green
I can help
to keep it clean

Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be

Dec16

A change in the weather

Posted on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 by Dianne

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Seems like almost everyone in blogland is getting some kind of rain, sleet or snow today. It held off for a while, but the temps are dropping to the 30s. Yesterday it got to 66 degrees! It seems to be bothering my sinuses. Bri says he feels like he has a cold too. I heard general stuffiness all around me in Walgreen’s yesterday. Speaking of Walgreen’s-they have some neat holiday decor-from purple, pink and red/green lights on the string-two for $5 to fun Frosty the Snowman and Peanut comics stand ups. I bought the red and green lights and a set of three light up large Christmas balls then promptly decorated the front edges in anticipation of Sean’s arrival. He got home right when I was wrestling with an outdoor extension cord that was buried under stuff piled in the shed. Bri isn’t one to stack nicely.
Of course I was so happy to see him. He made good time-3 hours, but said the traffic was rough.
Mom has a follow up eye appt today, so I hope she’ll just get rain. We plan to take her to a wholesale club tomorrow or the next day and help her put up her tree. She wasn’t feeling well at all yesterday.
Today I plan to do some gift wrapping. I have almost everything I wanted to get-not a lot this year, but enough. One of Bri’s gifts is on back order, so I may try and find if locally.
Stay warm and dry!
~~Thanks to all who stopped by and looked at my slideshow yesterday~~ I plan to check more out too and leave comments.
~Update-Bri came home and showed me an obituary in the local paper, it was of a teacher from Sean’s elementary school that he had briefly in first grade. She was only 52. I left this condolence-
When we think back on Sean’s time at New Garden, Vicky is definitely a stand-out in our memories. She was so sweet and her niceness was contagious. Sean had her briefly for a teacher, so we always chatted when we saw each other over the years he attended the school and if we ran into her at the store,etc. She touched many lives in a positive way, I’m glad we knew her.

Nov25

Shopping and a stitching finish

Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 by Dianne

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I’m posting late as I just did finish my swan and waterlily cross stitch piece. I believe I started it around 13 years ago. It wasn’t an easy stitch, but it was on 14 count aida (before I started stitching on other nicer fabric). I think it turned out pretty. It came with a frame too! I have the chart up for grabs for anyone who would like it!

Also had to go shopping for a wedding gift for Saturday. We decided that a $25 gift card was too cheap and a $50 one was too much. I got a German made lead crystal vase at a price somewhat in between price. I plan to add a little note to remind the groom that he should always remember their late November nuptials with a big bouquet of gorgeous blooms. Glad I found something.

I did buy a few Christmas gifts too. I bought my niece, Bri and my mom things. Sean bought a few gifts at Wally World tonight. This year we aren’t going overboard because we don’t really need anything. We are planning on concentrating on the decorations and food. : )

Had a phone spat with my mom and she hung up on me. She bought her new eyeglasses at the eye doctor’s office and in my opinion was terribly overcharged for them. I was going to take her to one of the stores I’ve used in the past. My new eyeglasses are from Wally World and I just got a compliment on them. I think I paid half of what she did. She’s talking about having her friend Jim move back in. That would infuriate my brothers even more. I know it’s her house, but the situation was not good when he lived there as he is a messy person. I swear it’s always something.

Thanks to my friend Carole over at Pea’s Corner for the lovely birthday gifts-a cute basket for bread or muffin with a red cloth and bells that says ‘Jingle All the Way’, a miniature coffee cup candle, Christmas themed cheese spreaders and some yummy soap. I plan to make muffins out of a gazillion bananas I have, so I will show you the goodies later.

Nov24

What we bought at the church bazaar

Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 by Dianne

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We bought a bushel of mushrooms!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I made some ‘brownie kiss’ cupcakes for the church bazaar on Saturday (no photo). They were from scratch and came from ‘Taste of Home’ cupcake email. The batter was really thick, like icing, so I added a little milk to it. It helped a bit. The recipe said to ‘bake until the tops springs back’ and I wish I had taken them out sooner as they were getting a bit dry. We had to try one to make sure they were good-lol.

So I did buy a few things. We bought the 3 lb. bushel (I guess) of mushrooms for $5, and I need to do something with them today or tomorrow. I made a mushroom omelet for dinner Saturday night and they were really fresh and tasty. Any ideas? I’m thinking of marinating them too.

Brian found a seller with quartz crystals and he wanted to buy a piece, so he did for only about $7. My friend on Flickr said you can dig them up all over Arkansas.

I bought a few new Christmas pieces that you will see soon.

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Sean is safe and sound here at home. He arrived at 11:15 pm on Friday night. I don’t think he’ll drive at night anymore as it’s such a tedious drive. He took his dad and me out to dinner last night to The Olive Garden where Brian and I had their shrimp and chicken Carbonara-yummy! And Sean says he’ll get me a Phillies World Champ t-shirt too.

Nov21

Show & Tell plus some gifties

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 by Dianne

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My Aurora Borealis pin collection, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

These are my vintage pins featuring Aurora Borealis rhinestones-which are my favorites. I found most of them on eBay over the last few years. I thought I’d show these as there may have been a Northern light phenomenon in the local area. A scientist from the Franklin Institute said that may be what has happened, but he’s going to look into it more. Here’s the story about it.

I received some lovely things in the mail too! Karin, my friend from Illinois sent the cute pampered card with the robe and slippers. She enclosed a gift card for Bath and Bodyworks inside.

Angela from NY sent a handmade card with lovely flowers. She made a miniature card to fit inside a pretty card box she made for me. She used one of the adorable flower fairies as the main design. She also sent the cute dolly that says ‘You are sew special’. Barbara from the Netherlands sent a sweet handmade scissor fob that she bought from Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs (I think etsy.com)which she turned from a necklace to a fob. It has a sweet sampler on it. Donna, a flickr pal sent me an altered tin featuring a baby in a nest. Donna used vintage jewelry in her art, so that ties in with showing you my pins. : ) Thanks ladies, I love them all!

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I went to the dentist and got the filling replaced that was just replaced at the end of August-no charge-he even said he could have done a better job on it. It looks a ton better too. Also went and did most of my Thanksgiving dinner shopping and plum wore myself out! I had to only pay $6 for a $23-20 pound bird! I never cooked one that big before, but we like leftovers here!

Sean will be heading home Saturday night after the last football game of the season. We aren’t crazy about him driving at night, but he’ll have a pal with him.
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November snow captured by Brian out the window this morning. We only got an inch, but my mom got 4 inches and she’s only 23 miles away.

Oct28

Ah, sweet technology

Posted on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 by Dianne

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I was a bit nervous this morning, but I was home in one hour following my mammogram. They have a new digital machine, so it was faster (though still uncomfortable and you don’t have to hold your breath). I had a nice 50 something lady tech that was the spitting image of my grandmom Ruth’s sister Edna. Now what’s weird, I just had a dream about Aunt Edna within the last few days. (I had been looking at a lot of family photos lately too). She was in my living room plain as day, and I said to her ‘I thought you were deceased?’ She had plenty of breast issues in her long life. Maybe she was confirming to me that I would be fine. I got to see the images on the computer screen. I didn’t realize how much is going on in your breasts. The digital images are really crisp and clear. Crossing fingers.

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They just said on the news that the suspended game last night was the first ever for a World Series. I doubt they will play tonight as it is still really lousy. We are still hoping for a win. I think it would be nice for a new generation of fans to see a championship. I loved it back in 1980 and still have an entire container of memorabilia from that Series plus an autographed photo of Tug McGraw.

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I’m helping Sean edit some summaries for a Geography course that he was struggling with. This last article was a doozie and took me 2 hours to read and then to edit his paper. So far ‘we’ have gotten a ‘C’ ‘B-‘ and ‘C+’. Not bad for an Early Childhood Ed major who isn’t into such dry material. I did read in the last article that overtilling is bad for soil, which makes sense. They suggest planting a winter cover-like alfalfa (I guess) or just to poke the seeds in the ground without tilling it. As I had said in a previous post, our vegatable garden failed miserably this year. We need to do something if we want to continue to grow things. I like learning how to help the environment too!

Oct27

Halloweens from the past

Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008 by Dianne

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I’ve been wanting to scan and group these for ages! I could find most of Sean’s Halloween costume photos except for when he was a Sorcerer (made from my graduation gown) and Inspector Gadget(I know I just saw that somewhere). Almost forgot him in his Pizza costume!

Sean was in Kindergarten in the first shot. I used a gold t-shirt of mine for his tunic and made the collar from green felt. I think the hat, etc were in a package to buy, but I added a nicer pheasant feather to the cap. The next shot is also Kindergarten (he was in a two year program). The third photo is preschool. I added the fancy feathers to the helmet. He roasted in the sweat jacket while running around and playing in the classroom. The last shot he was two and a Magician. He also had a hat with a bunny in it and a cape with a red lining.

Since Titanic was big around this time, he was a sailor. That was my grandmom’s beret that I added a band to. He is holding a little life preserver- for a cat, don’t you think? I think that’s 6th grade. The skeleton bones were the white vinyl Contact paper stuff. He’s wearing a bowler with a skeleton ribbon. It poured rain that year and the bones started to unpeel. I believe this is 2nd grade. In the next photo he is the Phantom of the Opera-5th grade. And then he was Mickey Mouse when he was 3. The shoes were mail order, but I did the pants up and added his mouse ears from Disney World to a black knit hat. He was even in a parade in my hometown that year.

One year old Sean and pal:

Sean at 9 as a Pizza! I made this from scratch. I was hoping my niece would wear it, but she has her heart on being a hippie. The box is from Piz*za Hut and I added lights to it. It looked neat in the dark.

Oct26

Bleary-eyed

Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008 by Dianne

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Because of the torrential downpour we had around 6 pm last night, the 3rd game of the World Series was postponed until after 10 pm. It was a pretty good game with the Phillies pulling off the win (5-4) about 1:50am. I just about stayed up to watch it.

Sean just left around 12:30. First he is stopping to see his grandfather, then he will head back to school. He has a ticket for comedian Lewis Black’s show (on campus) at 7:30. The three of us went to see him a couple of years ago at another university-he is sarcastic and funny rolled into one.

Back to the rain-we had just gotten out of church and couldn’t decide where to eat when the heavens opened up! We drove through some terribly big ‘puddles’ in town, almost big enough to stall out the car. We went to BK. The place was almost empty and our burgers were lukewarm. The a/c was blasting in there-may have accounted for the cold food. We should have complained. After ‘dinner’ we ran over to Wal*mart so Bri could get his dad a tv-a 32″ RCA as he has enough money and it was the right size.

We all got up feeling funky and bleary-eyed. The guys are over pop-pops and I am hanging low here trying to get my act together.

GO PHILLIES!

This is the Philly Phanatic:

Update-
I was so whacked out today, it wasn’t funny! Dang BK, but Bri brought me home McD’s chicken sandwich (am I brave?) and I was ok with that. I think I was hungry by then. I also get in a stew when I know Sean has that long trip ahead of him. He made out fine and enjoyed the show.
The Phillies are playing great and winning 8-2 so far in the bottom of the 8th. I get nervous and have to do something else instead of watch. Here’s something interesting-some of the ashes of the late Phillies relief pitcher Tug McGraw

were scattered on the pitching mound last night by his sons Tim and Mark. Tug’s # was 45 and the winning pitcher Jamie Moyer is 45 yrs old. Jamie was really sick with a stomach bug and played anyway. Darn tummy bugs!! I got choked up when I heard about Tug (thanks John Clarke) as I had met him after the 1980 World’s Series and got his autograph. He lived in my hometown for a number of years. (The photo is of Tug recreated his winning pitch at the closing ceremony of Vet’s Stadium in Philly. He would pass away 4 months later).
What! another homerun-Ryan Howard appears to be out of his slump-10 to 2!! We won! 3 games to one! Looking good! I hope it stays that way!

Oct24

Happy 22nd Birthday Sean!

Posted on Friday, October 24, 2008 by Dianne

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Sean playing in the leaves, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Today Sean is home for his birthday. He’s a bit sick with a sinus cold, but he made the trip down to be with his dad and I, so that is a gift to us. I don’t know where 22 yrs went. I remember I got tired of my mom saying how time flies and kids grow up too fast and now I am saying it! My once little pumpkin baby is a responsible and caring young man now. And I call him my friend, which is important to me. The birthday card I got him mentions that, and I tear up when I read it, every time. I don’t know why, I guess I’m just glad he is and I hope he always will be.

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I shared my little ‘foodie’ figurines last week. This week I am sharing my ‘stitching’ figurines. They are on an antique hutch that belonged to my great aunt. I painted it pink.

Incidently, the little sampler behind the pig and cow was one of the first cross stitched pieces I made back in 1980. : )

The little stitcher’s John Deere piece reminded me that he was suppose to be some relative of ours as my maternal great grandmother’s maiden name was the same but pronounced ‘Deer-ree’. I looked up info about him and couldn’t see where he had a brother by the name of my gr-gr-uncle.