Jan6

Next holiday please

Posted on Friday, January 6, 2012 by Dianne

Valentine’s Day decoration low light, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

When I was at Kmart earlier this week, I saw they had pink, red and white smaller Christmas balls for 50% off. As you know, I never pay full price for anything if I don’t have to. So I bought a few boxes of them. I then went in CVS and they had the silvery white branches with white lights-$5. I have that neat red martini pitcher I found at an antique store that use to be in a train car up in our town many years ago. I love that pitcher! The birds were 50 cents and the mylar in red and pink were cut from garland. Under $10. (I made the ‘Love’ house out of a food storage box a few years ago).

And some new things for my winter alpine forest display

Jan5

Seasonal help I bid you adieu

Posted on Thursday, January 5, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

Today I went down to my mom’s house to spend some time with her and take her out to lunch. We went to the local mall and Carrabba’s wasn’t open for lunch! We had to eat somewhere else which was less than satisfactory. We decided to check out the sale stuff at Macy’s and they had such cute stuff for 75% off. I got some adorable mushrooms and gnomes. I will add some to my window display as it’s not just Christmas, it’s a winter themed one. My mom has that eye issue and broke a few of them at the store. Also got a few clothes for cheap. I mainly get my clothes when they are on sale at a deep discount and from Macy’s, Kohl’s, Boscov’s and Pee*bles….

…who I don’t work for anymore. I figured that when he only scheduled me for 9 hours this week and it’s been slow as molasses there. I hate to be bored. The last night I was there, I wiped down most of the shelving in the gift department, and let me tell you, it hadn’t been done for a while. I couldn’t tidy up another rack of clothes that night, so I did that. I made some money, got awesome discounts that not only helped us, but my mom at Christmas. I walked in there tonight to check the schedule and I wasn’t on it. Then the manager came around the corner and said he was going to call me later. Yeah, right. Why didn’t he just tell me a few days ago? I said I understood and I was glad to get the experience and I sure learned about retail again. So that’s that. Not sure if I’ll go back in November, depends on what I’ll be doing in November.

A little bit ago, I opened my email and there was a note from Care.com that stated a lady nearby was interested in for babysitting. Only it’s 4 days a week, also toddlers. The mom has an at home business and needs someone there. I’m thinking 2-3 days and not all day as I have my own house to take care of. Plus I’m thinking kid germs. But the money is good! What to do?

And my art is calling out to me. I’ve only been a little crafty lately. A store up in the next town sells mostly mushroom related stuff and back in November the owner said she’d take a look at crafty stuff from me. Lots of possibilities.

My poor back was starting to really complain-even driving to mom’s and back made it bother me. It was sure time to stop being on my feet hours on end.

So now I will be taking my Christmas stuff down and will clean like crazy. Working made me appreciate my home a lot more.

Jan3

2011 in retrospect

Posted on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by Dianne

Standard

I’ve been a bit busy with work on New Year’s day (12-6, very boring) and running around to after Christmas sales with Brian on Monday. He goes back to work today. I was thinking though 2011 didn’t start out that great, we still got the nice 2005 Mariner at the end of January:

It was my vehicle for a few months until we spotted this one on the internet in July:

Yikes….it’s not a Ford/Mercury (my family loves Fords) and now we have two car payments a month for the next several years. I do love my little Ina who just turned 10. I’ve only seen two other gold PT Cruisers since July. She’s a rare one in these parts.

We decided we needed to take a few trips, not a week…but usually one or two nights.

First we went to Baltimore, MD and loved it there!

Baltimore’s World Trade Center

And we took the ‘side trip’ from Baltimore to Fort McHenry where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write our national anthem ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.

(Opps-that’s my funny shot)

We got to see Chincoteague Island and really loved the place too!

Because we had the Mariner, we got to travel more than we had in previous years.

Sean and I saw the taping of a local Philly talk show and one of the guests was ace Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee!

We went to the tribute band event ‘Beatlemania’ down in National Harbor, MD

We took a little time to see Alexandria, VA. and liked it there as well.

At the end of September, we finally got to go to a mini reunion for my high school class in Ocean City, NJ! It was fun and we enjoyed seeing the town of OC and Cape May, NJ also. My mom was along for that trip.

Brian took me up to York, PA again in October so I could attend the rubber stamp and scrapbooking show and we looked around the town a bit, not as much as I would have liked. But we went over to Mount Joy so we could eat at Bubbe’s Pub.

I got to see my little pal Nick and his mom Jenn on his second birthday when we spent the day at Longwood Gardens:

And oh Longwood…I really went there so many more times than I have in the past and hope to do so this year too!

And the Sugarloaf Craft Festival in November up in Oaks, PA was fun too-never been to that either. I found some nice gifts for people there.

So, it was a good year that we got to go places and see new things. We got to spend time with old and new friends and our family. I always like spending time with Brian and Sean, but this group-my ‘almost’ children (and mom too). : )

I want to get back on the weight loss track, one reason I posted photos of me at different angles. I plan to keep walking in the lovely local park and Longwood too!

And I can’t forget about getting the job. I’m wondering if I’ll still be there next week, only time will tell! If not, I’ll be taking a break for a month or so to get the house in shape and do some art.

Dec31

The sands of time

Posted on Saturday, December 31, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

Goodbye to a somewhat trying year….some health issues ‘last’ January were quite unexpected. I learned that I can actually hold down a job too. Wow-it’s been a while, that’s why I say that. If the manager doesn’t keep me at the store, I know I can hold down a retail job. It took me a few weeks to learn it, but I did it!

I had my mom and brother over. We had Veloute of Asparagus soup, delicious beef brisket with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans with mustard sauce and Rum Raisin bars and Rum icing brownies. The only thing that wasn’t good was my back when I went to check the brownies at dinnertime. It’s better after I sat here and used an ice pack. Don, my brother enjoyed the karaoke machine and had Brian laughing so hard! Then Brian took his dad some dinner and we played the new game ‘Logo’ about commercials and advertising. It’s not that easy. Mom got tired and they left at 7ish (they had gotten here at 3 and then went to Delaware to hit a Kmart as they are collecting the lighted houses that are on sale now).

I’m happy to sit here and watch ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’-the 40th anniversary!

Happy 2012!!!

Dec30

New gadget on the way

Posted on Friday, December 30, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

My Uncle Don left me a little something in his will, I think to get a used car with it. So I got the PT Cruiser in July and it’s financed, but isn’t that much a month. I wanted some kind of tablet for us all to use, so today I looked on the Apple refurbished page and ordered an iPad2 32 gb for an excellent price. Sean says that his store sells the 16gb for the same price that I paid! We’ve bought other refurbished things and Apple has a good reputation and won’t send me anything scratched, etc. (at least I hope not). Here’s a sneak peek:

It will be great on trips instead of lugging around a laptop. The 32 gb is great for movies, etc. I’ll let you know about it.

I swear every time I’m excited about something, something else happens. My brother’s 11 yr old dalmation Baxter is having G.I. issues, and he is taking him to the vet. I hope he’s okay-such a nice dog and always glad to see you. Mom and Don have to get up several times a night for the poor fella.

Dec29

Working, tidying and watching movies

Posted on Thursday, December 29, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

Yes, that’s my life this week. Though I didn’t go in Wednesday, I still have to get up early to call to see if they need me to fill in for someone sick. I worked Monday 10-3 and Tuesday 5-9. Today it’s 5-8. I worked an extra hour on Tuesday. I watched three movies-an ‘Indie’ film called ‘The Tree of Life’-more visual than a ‘regular’ movie; ‘The Help’, which was really good and featured Jessica Chastain who was also the mom in the first movie-totally different characters-she’s awesome. Then Wednesday Sean brought home ‘Water for Elephants’ another good one based in 1931.

He uses ‘Redbox’ now-a $1 a night and they are springing up all over the place.

Wednesday I was cleaning in the family room. I got halfway finished and pooped out. I am going to tackle the kitchen a little tomorrow. I may be having company for dinner on the 1st if I have off.

Sean gave us a Kodak printer for Christmas. It’s wireless-nice feature. But I am loving that it’s a copy machine too. I can do a bunch of stuff for my collages which I need to get into again. I have a pile of really old books and I can utilize the artwork and then if I really don’t like anything else about the book, toss it-well maybe-lol.

Off to read a few pages of my next read-book #13 for the year-a record for me!

Dec26

Some holiday shots

Posted on Monday, December 26, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

For some reason, we left the camera on a high ISO rating, thus the photos are not as sharp as they could have been.

Mom’s Christmas fairy display

Part of her massive lighted house display (my brother did a ton of decorating)

Me and her dog Kelsey

The Comcast offered a roaring fire for atmosphere

We had turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce with walnuts and mandarin oranges and what I made puffy cauliflower casserole and ultimate green beans. The recipe called for a pinch of hot pepper flakes and must have really ‘activated’ when my brother reheated them. They were way too spicy.

I’m wearing a vest I’ve had for a while with a new top. Both Brian and Sean are wearing new shirts. You can tell Brian’s been sick from his dark circles. He’s getting there. These were taken before the tablet cracked. After that, we were kind of sad for the rest of the evening.

Update-Sean was able to return the tablet and get a refund. We’re saving up for a better brand that doesn’t break as easily.

Dec26

This welcomed Christmas Day

Posted on Monday, December 26, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

I never had a white Amaryllis and I’m loving it.

We had a nice Christmas eve and Christmas. We did get together with almost everyone except my oldest brother who is a tech down at KYW tv in Philly. We said hi through my sister-in-law’s iPad. Speaking of tablets, I got one from Sean and it got a crack in the glass and hopefully he can return it. The blasted thing is made of glass and it slipped out of the case right on the floor and got the crack. I didn’t even have it 11 hours. I was showing it to my mom and was using the Kindle case (should have left it home) and forgot to zipper it when I got home and out if slid. I think it has to had a defect to break so easily! My brother says he has dropped his phone (me too) many times without a problem.

Anyway Sean got us a blu-ray player and the picture is really nice. He also got us a Kodak wireless printer (gotta love that he works at a Wally World). We got a family gift of a Keurig coffee maker which was fun to use this morning.

I did take a few photos last night and today, but only had the ones from last night on the computer.

My niece Tori opening her gifts from us-a book that featured making jewelry from famous paintings and a friendship bracelet kit.

Almost all of the cousins (missing Kenny-but he did join) having fun.

Sean and his Mom mom.

Dec24

When you need a little help from stress

Posted on Saturday, December 24, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

I finally figured out how to print out the labels to fit the Altoids tin…

Dec22

Snowball wreath

Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 by Dianne

Standard

So I got this idea from Pinterest, but had to make it my own. Plus, when I purchased the Styrofoam balls, I could have stood another few bags. I got the bags of goods at the handy ol’ Dollar Store. But first the issue was the wreath base. I could not find a round Styrofoam base. Where do all crafters search for stuff-the basement! I was looking around and found one that Sean used as a costume prop when he was a Titanic sailor back about 13 years ago! (I know what you are thinking-pack rat). So anyway, brought that base up, took off the red string and the lettering S.S. Titanic.
I did have to saw off the top to make it easier to pin the snowballs in. The one lady on Pinterest rolled her snowballs in Epsom salts to give them a snowy look, but I was happy with the way mine were. Two near the bottom are from a pick from another wreath. To fill in space, I wound some garland around the snowballs and added the snowflakes. I think it was under $10 to make.

Here’s a few other new things. I got the Cloche’ at Longwood Gardens yesterday for half price. The little ‘boxes’ inside are Monet. They are a little reindeer and gingerbread house.

The pods in the faux berries are Moonflower seeds. In my china cabinet are plaster castings of Sean’s hands we made a number of years ago.

And I am growing an Amaryllis and some Narcissus. I just planted the later and all I had was a pie tin and sea glass-I’ll probably have to find something deeper, but they have no roots on them and were sprouted like this when I bought them. The pinkish salmon Poinsettia is from Terrain.