Jan25

Cooking made easy

Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 by Dianne

I found this on Amazon a year or so ago. I had it on my wishlist and never got it. Then I decided to open up an Amazon charge and they give you a $40 gift card, so I finally got one!

I made the basic red sauce lasagna for dinner. My substitutes were -no cook noodles, ground turkey and low fat ricotta. I sauteed onion and garlic to dress up the turkey when I cooked it. The noodles were too wide to put in the pan long ways, so I had to break them all. This made them fit sideways and made 3 perfect servings in each section. I think it needed a bit more sauce, but all in all pleased with it! It also came with it’s own little spatula.

I plan to try other recipes-chicken and broccoli, lobster(!), etc.

I also had a nice Caesar salad with lemon garlic dressing.

Jan24

Let’s hope these fixes hold

Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by Dianne

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I was at the dentist yet again. The new temp duo was fixed by the dentist’s assistant (got a chip in it last night) and I asked her to check my upper crown too. She called the dentist in and he filled it like a cavity. He said no more crowns for that one, that he’d continue to fix it until I eventually need an implant. I had a bit of a rant in an email to him last night…some of my words…’financial burden’….’my anxiety level keeps raising’… I guess he got the picture. I came home and ate popcorn. Hopefully all will stay good for a few more weeks until the crowns are ready. The receptionist tried to milk more moola out of me, ‘for my balance’. I said in two weeks. It was rough waiting until 5 to go. I ate dinner at 4-shrimp fried rice and apple chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s.

All was well with my mom. I should have started off with that. Being a lady’s matter I’m sure she wouldn’t want me to come right out and say what was the matter. I’ll say one word, (so go look it up) ‘prolapsed’. She’s good for another year and is getting a mammogram soon. She had us worried, but she’s like her mom and bounces back. The weather was strange yesterday-rainy, a bit warm and foggy-perfect for ducks.

I’ve been working on projects, including one for a Flickr group. They all need finishing touches and I will share soon. Doing these helped get my mind off my teeth and annoying postnasal drip. The later seems to get stirred up every few weeks.

I got declined from the online writing job. I guess they thought either my blog stunk or I didn’t have enough writing experience. I took a look at one of their writers when I was checking out their site and she was just alright, nothing flashy about her writing. Brian just reminded me that I took a correspondence course in the 90s and did have samples of my actual ‘typed’ writing. I got a diploma for ‘Writing for Children’s Magazines’. Maybe I should see if that is still in demand. So the search goes on. BTW, this is post 3, 293- Suite101.com. So there….

Jan22

Better start living up to my blog name

Posted on Sunday, January 22, 2012 by Dianne

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I worked on three projects last night, one of which was:

The little love bird is new and a Martha S. piece. I have the copy machine with the printer and the edging is some copied music I accordian pleated.

Today I remembered that there was that fab book sale a few miles away down in Hockessin, DE. I called the library and sure enough, it was running a few more hours. I high tailed it down there and if they were going to close at 3, they would have been crazy-the place was jam packed! I hesitated buying a bag for $6 and finally did. Well, you know I can’t just buy one book. I had such a heavy bag, I had to leave it near the door and go get the car first. I got a few for my mom.

Of course we were saddened (and I shed a few tears) over the passing of former Penn State football coach Joe ‘JoePa’ Paterno at the age of 85. The scandal from a few months ago hastened the poor man’s bout with lung cancer. He is survived by his wife Sue (who gave communion to Sean a few times at church), his 5 children and 17 grandchildren. There is quite a memorial now outside of Beaver Stadium near his bronze statue.

Off to my mom’s to take her to the doctor tomorrow. I know she is nervous about her reoccurring issue over the last 50 odd years. Keep her in your thoughts.

Jan21

A little snow event

Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2012 by Dianne

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Overnight we got a little snow, about 2″ of it, but of course it wouldn’t be a complete dump without a little frozen precipitation on top. I would have been fine with that, but I had to go out this morning as I had a piece of a crown break off while sucking on a peppermint Life Saver! Talk about luck! Brian took me in at 9:30 and the dentist cleaned around the temp on the bottom as it still was bothering me and said the one on top (yep, problems with the bottom left and top right-fun chewing times!) that has a post into my gum needs to be replaced! This will be the third one now (roughly at $900 each). I can eat with it. I guess when I go in to get the ones on the bottom, they will prepare that one and probably the one next to it which needs a filling underneath (that’s the one I thought broke). Luckily the tops ones both have had root canals.
Here is a bit of a peek of the snow:

Last week, before all the dental stuff, Sean and I went up to the outlets in Lancaster. I got some great deals in the QVC outlet store, some slacks, tops and this which I tried out last night:

It’s a Technique muffin pan that makes square muffins! They didn’t stick, but deflated a bit, but very moist. The mix was a raspberry one found at The Christmas Tree Shops for $2.00 (half off). The price on the page does not reflect what I paid-I think mine was $15 with something off!

I ‘did’ work on a little project for my arts and crafts day. I am almost finished, but not quite up to it today. It’s a little shadow box. I don’t know about you, but when I have teeth or head issues, I just tend to be blah and stare at stuff. Glad I made an effort. I did print out some Valentine’s things and may work on them tomorrow.

Sean just booked a room in Seacaucus, NJ, 8 miles out of NYC. We can grab a bus in. We’ll plan our itinerary now.

Monday I take my mom to the doctor. A long time coming and I pray all is fine.

Jan18

One year ago

Posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by Dianne

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I was not to be seen in blogland for over 3 days. I had that gnawing pain in my gut and it turned out to be a bum appendix (with a benign polyp) and a case of pneumonia and I ended up in the hospital. I didn’t feel that bad from it really, but the shots in the tummy were not fun nor getting pumped up with medication. The guys went out and bought the Mariner the day after I got home, a big surprise!

So this January it’s all about the teeth. Went for a cleaning, they took x-rays and all the work that needs to be fixed sprang out from the shadows. Yesterday I went to the dentist and was there two hours. So nice of them to let me use an iPod with James Taylor drowning out the drilling-which I wondered why went on for over 4 songs. Seems I had 4 cavities and of course had the temp crowns made. My gums are hurting a bit, but so far I can live with it.

I declared Fridays for ‘Arts and Crafts’ on a Facebook post. I don’t necessarily mean all day, but it can be from paper collaging to baking for a few hours-I just want to produce something to share. : ) I need to do this for myself. I am happy getting help with the big jobs like the basement so I can think of being creative again. What was down in that dungeon (and still is) taking up space was insane. I have a few boxes to sort, maybe tomorrow if I can lean over.

I’m waiting to hear from a few online sites about writing articles for them. I submitted a blog post, so hello there Suite101.com if you happen to read this too. The child care leads seems to be going no where. I don’t have a premium account, not sure if that’s it, but it’s expensive. I got a background check thinking that may make the people happy-maybe I’m too old.

Jan16

Cats can paint!

Posted on Monday, January 16, 2012 by Dianne

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This is an app for the iPad2. So much fun watching Cosmo play with it. I have a protective cover on it.

And this is a video of my front window made from the iPad:

Jan14

The Presence of trees and other things

Posted on Saturday, January 14, 2012 by Dianne

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The Presence of Trees

by Michael S. Glaser

I have always felt the living presence
of trees

the forest that calls to me as deeply
as I breathe,

as though the woods were marrow of my bone
as though

I myself were tree, a breathing, reaching
arc of the larger canopy

beside a brook bubbling to foam
like the one

deep in these woods,
that calls

that whispers home

(so it’s not the woods, but isn’t this a wonderful tree?)

I had the rare opportunity to enjoy a walk at the park in January as it was in the 50s (this was on Thursday). I had my new-ish phone and captured this of what I think is a Sweet Gum tree. My fellow h.s.alumni , a movie director in California, gave me a thumbs up on Facebook (I sent the photo there first)-I was really flattered Todd. : )

So what else is new-sorting and cleaning in the super dusty and yucky basement-it was so bone chilling cold outside and I still needed to get Christmas stuff put away. I had a helper-thanks to Brian for sticking his nose in the dust. He’s making ‘smoke’ now. Good thing I took a Claritin. We had a nice roaring fire in the fireplace and he gave me a mixed drink of some peachy stuff and tequila-a bit strong. I had the ‘brilliant’ idea to get wood from under the Chestnut tree and it’s just not burning now. The ‘bought’ wood was fine, but I didn’t like the smell of it.

I got this today-a gift to myself and since I put so much moola in the iPad2, I wanted it to be protected:

(my protective cover has specks of dust under it, so little bubbles there)

You can see my messy wall desk calling out to me in the background. I am getting to that maybe tomorrow.

It’s a stand and the iPad can swivel from ‘portrait’ to ‘landscape’

I sent this to Zoey via email, not sure if she got it, but here’s catalog shopping at your fingertips! I got the case from eBags-funny I checked for coupons on the laptop while using the catalog app and found one for 20% off with free shipping. I really like that site. Got the case in two days! (Came from Penna. too).

(That’s my $5 ‘five below’ case, I think I’ll find a new use for it).

I got my mom the Le Pan tablet and she was upset as it froze up on her tonight. I went online and it said to just push the ‘reset’ button on the back. She is having fun browsing the web. She has an email account and Facebook but hasn’t used them yet, or any applications. It’s Android like the phones I am using. I got it for $180 and saw it for $350 on another website. She is enjoying it, but needs to learn how to clean out the cache.

I feel a weight off my shoulders as we start to dig through the mess of the basement. I want a craft corner for messy projects, etc. We made a resolution to go down there once a month and do more sorting. I have about 5 blue Hefty bags and only a few cardboard boxes with stuff left to sort. I’ll be buying more plastic bins for sure. We had 3 bags of trash and several things for the Goodwill. I still need to whiddle it down.

Keep warm!

Taken from the iPad2

Jan12

Winter Blooms

Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Dianne

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It’s so nice to see these blooms and ‘will be blooms’ during the bleak days of winter. The month is half over already, and as many of you probably do, I also count down the days until spring.

The white Amaryllis has been blooming since Christmas! (This is the second stalk). The poinsettia came from the same place as the paperwhites-Terrain. They are about to bloom. I have them in a aluminum pie dish with sea glass in it.

The tree came down yesterday and I still have some the boxes in the living room. I have major tidying to do in the basement, but will need help with the lifting and stacking part. I’ve been having lower back issues (on the right) that I feel is from standing so long and vacuuming for 45+ minutes-all the pushing and pulling. Certain things are aggravating it, so I have to be careful. Then my right eye is really red in the corner. I called the doctor’s office yesterday and she called an antibiotic drop in for me. I can’t tell you the last time that happened (not having to go in for a visit-but I will if it gets worse)! I have to use it for a week and it’s still a bit red, but it was weepy and filmy Tuesday night.

I’m going to start my new year of dental repair on Tuesday. It’s going to be quite pricey and they said we could space out the visits. The first visit will be two crowns on the bottom and a filling. I have an older crown on top where the tooth underneath has a cavity. I hadn’t had my teeth cleaned for over a year, but went there 5 times last year. This time they did bitewing x-rays and the very thorough dental hygienist found all my issues. She was kind of rough, but surprisingly my mouth only was sensitive in a few spots. I can never seem to be debt free with the dentist.

Sean is going to a GIS conference in New York City at the end of February, so I guess we will tag along. It’s been almost 5 years since we went up for Karin and Michael’s wedding. We will not drive in the city, but look for a place with bus transport right over the bridge. We learned the hard way. We will probably take a tour of Chinatown. We’d really like to see the 911 Memorial. Not crazy that it is in February, but maybe it won’t be as crazy up there as it was in June. ; )

Of course I am loving the iPad2. It’s worth every penny. I do love my laptop and phone too. I have 23 apps on it and a lady on Facebook has about 150! A neat one is Hulu pro, sort of like tivo for your iPad. It cost $8 a month, but you can watch tons of tv programs and movies. For instance, I missed ‘Parenthood’ the other night, so I’m watching it in my leisure now. The picture is so sharp! If you take lots of weekend trips or are waiting for people at the doctor, etc. it’s a great device as you can sit all cozy on your sofa and do most of what you do on the web. Am I selling it to you good enough? LOL

Of course I need to get down to doing the crafts I love which I haven’t lately. Everything is gathering dust. I have some ideas up my sleeve and I also have some new yarn for crochet (and new stitches to try thanks to Pinterest).

Jan10

New toy

Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 by Dianne

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I’ve been waiting and waiting for ‘our’ new toy and it finally came at 12:30 this afternoon-it was ice cold. I had to figure out a few things (you have to download itunes first off), but we’ve been experimenting with it and it’s fun! I got a refurbished one from apple.com. Sean says it is about $100 more at his work (I got a 32 gbs).

Here is a photo I took using the ipad2:

I am actually doing well…imported 32 songs from my own collection which saved me some moola-it’s an ipod too!

I used ‘Face Time’ to talk to my brother and mom earlier-he has an iphone as does Sean. It’s like Skyping. The little book I have is quite good for a $1.

I do like Facebook better on the laptop as it of course is bigger. Pinterest looks like a weird app. My friend from Facebook uses all the different readers and downloads books from the library.

I hope to get to the tree tomorrow. I had to go food shopping as the freezer was pretty empty of meat. Now my eye is on the red side, outer corner of the right. I just had my hair done, so not sure if I rubbed a product in it or not. It’s a bit weepy. I swear it’s always something.

My mom got a tablet (not an iPad2) too! My brother is trying to get it to boot up. I got it through Amazon, so if it’s not that great, we’ll send it back. It got good reviews, but like all technology, you have to get use to using it.

Jan7

Brandywine Christmas

Posted on Saturday, January 7, 2012 by Dianne

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Brandywine Christmas 076, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Sean and I ventured down to the Brandywine River Museum to see their Christmas display as it will be over soon. We enjoyed getting in for a good price between Sean being a student and having a entertainment.com coupon (from the book I get every year). I particularly liked the above shot of the statue ‘Boy with Hawk’ with the wreath. The Ann Wyeth McCoy dolls were really sweet and varied in size from tiny to life size. The trains are always a hit with the kids to the grown ups. They had a drive-in, fairgrounds, and a replica of the Herr’s Snack food plant that is down in Nottingham, Pa. Did I forget to mention it was in the 60s and it’s January? I always like looking at the Wyeth paintings too. I don’t recall seeing the Helga nudes, so that was interesting. We had fun seeing the rabbit sculpture to the left of the museum.