Nov7

Photo Hunt-Veteran/Military

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‘The measure of life after all, is not it’s duration but it’s donation’-(CT Boom) was the verse I chose to grace this Art Trading Card for a swap I am in. We are not really a military family. I do know my father was on a ship during the Korean war, but my brothers were to young to go to Vietnam.
This is for the Civil War. I chose the Gettysburg Cemetery right here in Pennsylvania as I’ve been in that area a few times. I think the battlefield conjures up more images of gore rather than the peaceful cemetery. But remembering the magnitude of causalities pitting North against South is astounding-over 600k! The flower is a poppy for remembrance.

Nov6

Mama’s getting a new toy!

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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:
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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.
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Probably going to my mom’s to help her clean in her room. My brother is moving in at the end of the month.

Nov3

A cool friend

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She just accepted me-awesome!
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Just got my letter from the hospital radiology and it said my mammogram was normal! Yeah! Most mammogram machines are digital now, so not as uncomfortable. Don’t forget to get yours! Waiting on the ultrasound and pap, but I do have a follow-up on the 12th with the gyn.

Nov3

Autumn Splendor

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Sean said there was a lovely sunset on Monday, so I went out to capture it to share:
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I wasn’t feeling 100%, so I decided to stay off my feet and scan some old photos. My brother always gives me a bunch of them and it takes a while. I just love this one of my maternal grandmom Ruth at age 2 with her sister Ethel about 3 or so. It is dated April 1, 1906! Little Ethel passed away when she was 6 from pneumonia. My grandmom was the second of 6 and she had 2 children and her younger sister Edna had only 1. She had two brother pass on in their 20s. So sad to think that we could have had a larger family if they had lived and married. By the way, my father was an only child with a few step siblings, and Brian is an only child. Our immediate family is about 13.
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and after I photoshopped it a bit adding a reddish tint. The tints seem to bring out more detail in these old photos:
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And here’s a cute one of Sean on his 1st birthday (1987) on a motorized car he had and loved to pieces:
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The Phillies are giving the Yankees a run for their money, but they can’t just play well every 5 games. They have to win the next two game to hold on to their championship title. They had a huge lead and the gap narrowed in the 8th inning. We were on the edge of our seats. I only see 3 Phillies really giving it their best. At least we won the National League Championship to get this far two years in a row-the Yankees can’t say that.
Hoping for a good game on Wednesday!

Nov1

Snaps from cellphones

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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:
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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:
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And our dinner at Chili’s last week for Sean’s birthday:
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Those salsa and chips are so good! And they are a bottomless bowl!
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The first few were my camera. This is Sean’s camera (more $) and I had to tweak it a lot more!
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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.

Oct28

Family Ties-part 2

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I’ve had this project put aside for a few months with the papers selected, many of which were given to me. The ‘canvas’ was a piece of wall art I found at Big*Lots for $2.00. It use to have sketchy looking toiletries on it. This was taken in the summer of 1967 as my younger brother was an infant. It was one of those Polaroids that was deteriorating and my face had a lot of damage. I used a photo effect to soften it and it doesn’t look bad. I am #2 in the line-up and only girl.

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I made this one a few days ago. I was looking through a gardening catalog and ran across the peas.
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Now the waiting game begins. I use to think after a few days I was fine, but I learned differently a few years ago. I give myself a week now. The ultrasound took a while. I had drank too much water and was asked to go to the bathroom in the middle of it too. If the doctor thinks I can have the embolization, I will probably go for it and hopefully feel better, do more and lose weight. Crossing fingers.

Oct26

Family ties

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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***