Aug27

August, 1989

Posted on by
Standard

My post was getting ‘eaten’, so 3 is the charm. This was taken when Sean was almost 3. He was about to start preschool and had some ‘training’ issues, not too bad. He loved to follow me around in the yard, so busy. He changed a bit as an adult. : ) This is one of my favorite photos of us. Please note that I was not the incredible Hulk mommy. I had to take the photo of this photo at a funny angle to avoid the camera’s flash.
Dianne and Sean

I miss you like crazy, I miss you like crazy, ever since you went away. Every hour of every day…the rest is a love song.

Aug26

Collages

Posted on by
Standard

I’m still trying to do a few collages a week, but I don’t seem to be able to catch up with my friend Gret. She’s really into collaging lately. We still love doing the Art trading cards. Here is our latest theme-nature inspired. Can you guess what I used?

Nature ATCs

I kept the one on the bottom right. Gret’s is the one that looks like animals on the top left since she loves critters.

Here’s a collage page I recently made:

Love in the mist

The little window opens to a Romeo and Juliet kind of scene. The raspberries are cut out pieces of wallpaper.

College boy update: Sean went to some meetings today and said the people were nice. Not thrilled to hear he ate a chili dog for his Sunday dinner, especially starting classes tomorrow-geez, I told him about that kind of eating. Uh-oh, still being a mommy here!

Aug26

Need a little change

Posted on by
Standard

Now that my boy is gone for 3 months, I feel like I need to change things around in here little. The first thing I did was clean out a circular tin Sean keeps on the back of the toidy. I threw away a ton of stuff and put other stuff in a plastic bag and in the bathroom closet it went (even his old retainer-ugh). Also put his footballs and sneaks that were behind the front door in his room (grrghh). I would put things in his room and out they came. I think when he comes home, he’ll be editing the quantity of what’s in there. There is hardly a dent! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Back to the change part. Not sure if I just mean to do a change of the table cloth on the dining room table or to rearrange a bunch of stuff. I could start by getting into the autumn themed things-soon.

Sean is fine. He wrote an email and said the trash truck woke him up at 4 am this morning. Said it was hot all night. I told him two 6″ fans were a joke-he didn’t listen. He did move his bed away from the door a few feet. I’m curious to see what the room looks like now.

Wait until you hear this-Sean’s cousin is two doors down! They don’t know each other well, but maybe this will be the time they can get better acquainted. Their grandfathers (Bri’s dad and Ryan’s mom’s late dad) were brothers.

So I’ll have plenty to keep me busy today. I am tidying up for the priest’s visit tomorrow. I hope he doesn’t ask too much about Friday and Saturday as I am still a bit weepy.
Bri has had his moments, but he eggs me on I think. Worries about the car, Sean being sick, all that negative stuff. I’m trying to envision him going to his first football game in the second largest college stadium in the country; meeting a nice girl, you get my drift. Time to grow up. Times change and so can you.

Aug25

Many, many miles and one less

Posted on by
Standard

What an emotional experience, the hardest I ever had to do as a volunteer thing. It was a long, trying trip to start off with yesterday. We were doing fine and lost our way near Harrisburg, our state capital. We went about 25 miles one way out of our way and took like 5 hours to reach the motel. That was a lot of driving and seeing scenery like this:

Allegheny Mts.
These are big mountains. We also crossed the Susquehanna River.
We ate dinner at the motel and ventured out to Penn State a few hours before dark. Here are Bri and Sean outside Sean’s dorm,
Hamilton Hall:
Brian and Sean outside the dorm
The motel was about 12 miles further away, but off the main drag where the kids do all their shopping. We had a good laugh when we saw Big Lots, the store Sean had worked in all summer down here. We also passed through Bellefonte, a town near the water and there was a quaint park there with a little waterfall and a few step bridges with wrought iron sides. Sean said he’d go back to take photos of that area someday.
It was a humid and hot day and we got to check in at 10 and seemed to beat a lot of people who were probably waiting to check out of their rooms and eat lunch. His room is on the 3rd floor, which is really the 5th floor. The first two floors are used for a cafe, computer room, etc.
I should say how nice and clean the campus is, like Williamburg a bit, lots of brick and fancy building. His dorm was built in 1949.

PSHunt
Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Photo Hunt-Happy
(I hope he will get this way)
Here is Sean in part of his room (not sharing and no a/c) which is 9’x16′. He has his laptop, printer, a tv that plays DVDs, a microfrig and lots of storage. I’m sure he’ll make it his own, but it’s nice to have this photo so I remember what the room looks like: Sean in dorm room
And his window (open)-hello up there! He should be glad for the tree!
Dorm window
That’s the hottest I have felt in ages! I climbed the steps to his room twice-yikes, I felt really old. Notice there are no photos of me. I asked a few times, but it was too hot for Bri to bother and I was too blubbery.

Sean called his old high school classmate Peter and they met up for lunch, which was nice. Sean’s also been to a few meetings. He will be so busy he won’t worry about what roads to take home. Today we got home faster, even after stopping in Lancaster to stretch our feet and a few miles down in Gap for dinner. We went a different way which was better.

Good luck Sean and we miss you like crazy!

Aug23

Amphibian adieu

Posted on by
Standard

We’re all set. Bri finished up the lawn and found this little guy to show me. I got some cute photo ops as he sat on the edge of my waterlily garden.

Toadie pal
I have seen a ton of frogs and toads all over the yard. I hope they are helping with the bug population. I also saw a new colony of caterpillars on the milkweed today. Awesome.
My pond garden pump was a major pain today. It wouldn’t stay on when I immersed it in the water. I took it out of the water and let it run without water going through it for a while and that seemed to do the trick. We do have to unplug it tomorrow-rats!
I’m taking the camera, so be prepared to see some lovely PA countryside.

Aug23

So this is it…

Posted on by
Standard

…Sean’s last day here until Thanksgiving! Wow! I remember when he was looking into dorms back in February and August seemed so far away. Sean got to see his grandmom, uncle, aunt and cousins yesterday. My mom got all weepy when we left which lead me to get weepy in the van. I usually have to be provoked into tears. I want to be cool up at the dorm when the actual separation occurs. Give we strength! Sean’s car is already almost jammed packed. He has a few more things to put in there and he needs to leave room for me. Bri will be following us on the 3+ hour trip. We’ll stay a night in a hotel about 12 miles further away and his move in is 12-8 on Saturday and Bri and I turn around to come home.

This had to be the week when the sun never came out and my sinuses have been awful. I’ve had congestion and post nasal drip. I can’t sneeze I’m so stuffed up! I did a Google search ‘how to sneeze’ and people had tips, even a little English boy on youtube.com who stuck a rolled up piece of tissue up his nose-I think so high it made him cough and then sneeze. I came close last night, but I just can’t sneeze. Today I’ll have to take Claritin or Sudafed which I try to hold off doing as long as possible. ~Update-as I proofread this post, I finally sneezed after 3 days! Yippee!!

Here’s a video about my hometown (my high school pal sent me the link) as a company entered them in a contest sponsored by Ikea which they are currently in 2nd place-they won’t announce the winner for a few weeks. You can see the old Media High School where I went one year to junior high and that my niece and nephew attend/attended as an elementary school. You’ll also see Media Theatre where we use to attend $1 movies.

I received some prints from my friend Karin’s wedding that I personally got to chose. I never had anyone offer to do that with their wedding photos, but she and Michael bought the proofs and set them up online at Kodak-a great idea. I bought a special album for them last night at JoAnn’s (plus a few other goodies). Keep Michael in your thoughts as he needs to get an injection in his back from pain that wakes him up several times a night.

My friend Terri had good news that her mom was still in remission after a bout with cancer and then her mom’s sister passed on a few days ago from a heart attack. The thing that bothered me is that the poor woman went to the ER for terrible indigestion, a red flag for women as it is sometimes means heart problems.

My other friend Joy lost her 51 yr old male cousin from a heart attack too. He had a special title, I’ll have to look up the email again, but he was working to preserve waterways if I remember correctly. The cousins set up a nice slideshow in memory of him on Flickr.

If I don’t post again, I’ll see you in a few days. I also have to tidy up as the parish priest is coming on Monday.

By the way, added some new videos and yes I know, two are James Taylor singing ‘Only a Dream in Rio’ one of my favorite JT songs.

Aug21

Happy Birthday Colleen

Posted on by
Standard

 Colleen and Tori

My sister-in-law celebrates her birthday today. She is the mom to my nephew Kenny and only niece Tori. And of course she is married to my lovable baby brother Ken. Colleen’s had a rough year with the loss of her dad and her mom pulling roots to move in with Colleen’s sister. She is always busy, first with her kiddos and the lovely home that she helped redo with Ken, but also as a talented hairstylist. I wish I could send her some sunshine for her special day. We’ve had 3 days of gloom, chill and rain now. Sean and I are probably going to see Colleen and the gang tomorrow so he can see them before he goes away.

Aug20

Tomato stuff

Posted on by
Standard

I perused Lee Bailey’s little cookbook named ‘Tomatoes’ this afternoon. I made salsa for Brian (the only thing not from the garden was the onion). I tasted it and it was hot as I had added an entire jalepeno pepper. The next thing, and it’s still cooking down was a sweet and tart tomato butter. It’s still watery looking, so I’ll keep it on the stove as long as I have to. And finally, for dinner, some basic tomato sauce. It called for shredded carrots cooked with the onion at the beginning-I’ve never added carrots to tomato sauce. I think I used 2 dozen of the toms today. Yeah. Not to say I don’t need to pick more out of the garden tomorrow. I’m thinking about a tomato pie next (not today). Here’s some photos:

Salsa! Ole!!

tomato butter and sauce

Aug20

Tomato explosion

Posted on by
Standard

 Tomatoes!

I’ve got dozens of red monsters sitting out in the kitchen. The longer they sit, the stinkier they get. I need to get my act together and turn them into salsa and spaghetti sauce today! I’ve been giving some away to family, but didn’t get to see my uncle last night, so his bag is sitting there and I have to use them too. Not to worry, there are still some on the vine. I think Bri over plants because he doesn’t think he’ll get anything. This year was different because we mulched around the tomatoes-apparently they love mulch (like what you put in your flowerbeds). It was pretty easy to apply-we used three bags. He did plant one row in a nice straight line, so I did a ‘line tie’ ran the string all the way down and looping it around the individual stakes as I went. Made a big difference! Some of the plants that stood alone fell over.

I’ve been vegging out myself since the trip. I have been tidying up as I get motivated. We are having company next Monday, Father from church for his bi-annual visitation. He doesn’t stay long, says a prayer and goes to the next house. This will be a few days after that trip to central PA.

We have a dreary day here anyway. Something stinks and it’s not in Denmark-must be an overripe Tom. Ugh.