Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Happy Summer Solstice to all! It's been a nice week with hubby home for a visit between jobs. He got to play with his radios and even got one fixed. It sounded great! We were listening to a station in Romania. He cleaned it up and took it with him on the road so he'll have something to play with.No big projects like in Father's Day's past. Yes, for the last 4 years we have had some sort of demolition/beautification project.

2005
200620072008This year the weather didn't cooperate with us making it difficult for us to work. We were hoping to get the floor laid in the attic but we would have to move everything out of the garage and with the rain that is a no go. We did get a head start a few weeks ago by taking everything down from the attic and organizing it. It's organized in the crates but not so much in the garage.
Once the floor is down and secure we will put everything back up in the attic and hubby will have his garage back to work/play in.

Mom and I went to Philly on Saturday to Bleed for Prest0n & Steve. They are the Philly morning show guys I listen to. I got mom to start listening to them too! For the last 4 years Prest0n & Steve have hosted a blood donation day for the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Red Cross. After finding out that my blood pressure meds won't effect me donating I signed up and mom decided to join me. We went to the Philadelphia Navy yard. They had close to 2000 people sign up to donate. It was very well organized. I was able to donate but mom couldn't because she had gotten a vaccine shot. She had to wait 21 days before she could donate. Next time she should be good to go. It was a really nice, well spent morning. We got to meet the entire morning show crew and even got them to sign their new comic book. I plan on donating again next year. They said that with the start of summer the supply gets really low and each donation can help up to three people. You just never know when you might need to be one of those people and wish someone had donated to help you. It didn't take that long and there was plenty of people to talk to who all listen to the show. They even were giving away free samples of ice cream and they were small desserts rather than samples. The guys were super nice. Mom told Steve she was a new listener and he asked her how he was doing so far. And they thanked us for helping out and donating.

I've got the sweatshop still working on sports but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I see little football holders and cactus on the horizon.

I'd like to teach the world to sing, In perfect harmony, I'd like to by the world a Coke...

I came home the other night to ATTACK OF THE DIET COKE!!! What a mess! I had 4 cans explode and split up the side and another explode from the top. The force was so strong it blew the fridge door open.

Here is some of the carnage.....

*Sorry about the crappy cell phone photos but I just snapped a quick few before I cleaned up the Diet Coke before it leaked into my rug* No, I don't have poke-a-dot sheets and pillows....when the soda exploded and opened the door, it must have sprayed out all over the bed.

So now the question is, did they all explode at once like a suicide pack or was it a one can suicide and the others were just casualties of war?

"There's pride in every Americans heart and it's time we stand and say...

I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free, And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me, And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today, 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A." - Lee Greenwood

What a great and powerful song. One in a long list of American pride songs. After 9/11 this song was put back into heavy rotation on a number of radio stations.

I feel myself to be patriotic. I have a strong love of history and a great respect for things in this country taken for granted like our Flag, our Veterans, our men and women serving in our Armed Forces and our National Anthem.

The US Code states:

TITLE 36–PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
SUBTITLE I–PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES AND CEREMONIES
PART A–OBSERVANCES AND CEREMONIES
CHAPTER 3–NATIONAL ANTHEM, MOTTO, FLORAL EMBLEM, AND MARCH
Section 301–National Anthem
Sec. 301. National anthem
(a) Designation.–The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.
(b) Conduct During Playing.–During a rendition of the national anthem–
(1) when the flag is displayed–(A) all present except those in uniform should stand attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart;(B) men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder,the hand being over the heart; and(C) individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note; and
(2) when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag

When I see a flag in a parade I stand. When I see a Veteran I say "Thank you for your service" and when I hear the National Anthem, I stop in place and stand until the last note. This is where this soap box rant is going.

Mom and I have been walking at night, getting some much needed exercise. We walk on the high school track because the track is easier on the joints and easier to keep count of how far you've gone. The last two nights the high school baseball team has had a game and at the beginning of the game they play the National Anthem. The first night mom and I were on the track, which sits next to the baseball field. We were pretty close to the dug out areas when we heard the announcer say, "Please rise for our National Anthem" Mom and I didn't even think twice and we stopped where we were and stood there until it was over. (Mom even had her hand over her heart) I was disgusted by others on the track who were running, jogging and walking also who kept on going. I know that may sound harsh to some, disgusted is a strong word and emotion but that is how I felt. Last, night we stood in the parking lot because you could hear it when you got out of the car and only when it was over did we walk over to the track.

What is wrong with people? I know the economy is in the toilet, we are still fighting wars for foreign lands and life is hard but come on, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I may not always agree with our government and I may not always understand why they do some of the things they do or the bills they pass and I may dislike some that are in office but our government is unique in that "we the people" decide who makes up the body of government we live by. However, I do support and have pride in our country. We do live in the best country in the world. I believe that so many other countries around the world dislike us because we are the best, the most free.

*stepping off my soap box* I just needed to vent, thank you for listening.

What are you doin, are you, Busy with your world, Well I wish you were busy with mine

Day trips, strawberry fields, birthday cakes & yummy cakes, exercise, more football helmets, tinting windows, hillbilly golf and more. Yes, I've been busy, very busy. I know, I know, no excuse. I promise to try and blog better.

Got to Lancaster! WhooHoo! We were there the weekend of the Rhubarb Festival. Yick. I don't like Rhubarb and the Strawberry Festival was weeks away. I went for the food but Rhubarb wasn't it. On the plus side I found this cute little yarn shop. It was a fiber overload. Just when I thought I had seen it all I turned the corner and there was yet another room full. Betty was super nice and very helpful. I have to thank Mom, Kim, and Kimmy's mom for being so patient was inside drooling.

We also hit the outlets for a second or two and the market up on the hill. That isn't it's name but that is what we have always called it. They have a great fruit vendor and mom gets Ralphie's garlic bologna there.

Then the food came. I have one word for you Yummy. Ok I have another word for you, Rolls. At lastly two more words, Pot Roast. MMMMM!!! The food is so good here at Dienner's. It is always fresh and it's home made. The wait to get a table it worth it any time. I can be bribed to Lancaster with the promise of Pot Roast and Rolls. Kimmy's Mom got her peach pie which as you see in this picture she is guarding with her life. We came back with an extra passenger too. We stopped at a couple antique shops (I was wearing my good wife hat) to look for antique radios and found this little gem for a steal. I'm not sure what it is an whether or not it will even work but I bought it for hubby. If nothing else he can use it for parts. I was very proud of myself until we discovered that it was a bit to big for the trunk. It sat as the third passenger in the back seat forcing mom to ride the hump all the way home. And it did generate a lot of laughs. We had a really nice day.

If you didn't already know, for me, the kitchen just came with the house. If I had a choice, I wouldn't signed on for one. I don't like to cook. I like to bake but I hate the clean up so I don't do it very often and when I do, I try to convince mom to help because she just loves a clean kitchen. CEOreo knows when I'm in the kitchen it's going to be good.

When mom was in the hospital I got her a Paula Dean Magazine that had a fabulous Raspberry Lime Cake on the front cover. I made some changes and turned it into a Strawberry Lemon cake. It was so good! Too damn good! You can't go wrong with Paula and her 3 cups of butter. The recipe made enough filling and icing to make two cakes. I ended up freezing the extra icing in hopes to make another cake some day. Hope it keeps. But that was only one of two cakes I made that weekend. Just call me Betty Crocker. It was Sharon's Birthday and it was time for birthday cake. I had it in my mind to do something yarn/knitting/spinning related. And we needed to top last years ball of yarn cake.

Sheep. Fluffy, fuzzy, bug eyed sheep. Perfect. I also branched out and made a second cake from scratch, this time chocolate. I got the recipe from Hershey's website. It's call Black Magic Cake. It had a cup of black coffee in it (which I couldn't taste, I think it helped keep it moist). It tasted like good old fashioned chocolate cake. Decorating was pretty simple, what's the best way to make a cake fluffy looking, mini marshmallows. So the sheep cake was born. Sharon liked it but was a bit apprehensive when it came to cutting it. Poor little sheep. I said BAAA when she cut it with the knife to freak her out. Cartman and Annie liked it too! They love marshmallows.

I had a epiphany regarding bugs and curtains and decided it was time to take the curtains down and out of my bedroom. The problem is the curtains helped the bedroom to be cave like, which is the best way to sleep. So I went to the auto store and got window tint and painfully tinted the windows. I used the darkest tint they have 2.5% and it still wasn't dark enough. So I decided to go ghetto and spray paint the suckers with black paint. Aaahhh, much better now.

I've started walking again for my health. It is my favorite form of exercise. I dislike gyms because I feel like a hamster on a wheel when on a tread mill and I wouldn't run even if I were being chase by a pack of wild dogs (They would catch me anyway since I'm a slow runner) So walking it is. I'm also trying to watch what I eat, so chocolate cover donuts are out. I'm doing well for the most part but I do have my weak moments when the coco bean calls out. Mom ask me if I wanted anything from the drug store the other night (she was picking up some script). I told her chocolate. She scowled at me. Our favorite Pharmacist was working and she must have asked mom how we were doing with the walking and mom said good but I was craving chocolate. So she sent mom home with a very special prescription.
It made me feel good. So good I didn't' even need to eat it and I have it up on my shelf as a reminder that there are people out there that care about me and support me when I need the extra push.

Speaking of extra push......it still amazes me that toddlers have no consideration for adults, lol. I mean I pushed this child for over 30 minutes on the swing, I thought my arm was going to fall off. I'm speaking about the little man of course. Mom and I babysat Alex and his baby sister Maggie a few weeks ago. Mom and Dad needed a night out, bad. So while mom was on baby duty, I was on Alex duty. Which was fine by me, Maggie is still in the blob faze and not as much fun yet.
Alex and his mom, Kathy also went with us to pick strawberries. My mother, for reasons unknown to me, loves to pick strawberries. She doesn't even keep them!!! She mostly gives them away! I eat a few in the field while picking and I hit my strawberry quota for the year. Alex loves strawberries as you can see by the strawberry goatee he is sporting here.

Good for us we can't read! I couldn't resist this photo opportunity......ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.....

Lil' bro has introduced us to a new, addicting game. Hillbilly golf. Its common name is Ladder Golf. But it is called by a few other names as well, Hillbilly golf, Hillbilly horseshoes, redneck golf and my favorite Testicle Toss. What ever you call it, it is a lot of fun. I got my butt kicked but mom cleaned up. Lil' bro said it was because she is a hillbilly (she was West Virginia born and raised) and it is in her blood to be good at hillbilly games.

AC Moore had a sale on plastic canvas again! I was there when the store opened. I got a few dozen sheets to stock up.
When it was all said and done I think I ended up adding 160 or so sheets to my stock. Which is good cause I was running low. I got another football helmet order for a team that I needed to design a pattern for. I think by the time I get tired of doing football helmets I will have a pattern for all the teams. This time New England Patriots.
I think it turned out really nice. The customer was very happy with it and that is what matters most. I have also assembled three more Cowboys helmets and a Yankees box. The time is coming for me to sit down and make the final decision on what to make for this years craft show. I will let you know if I come across anything really cool.

M is for the million things she gave me......

I want to start out by wishing all mothers and all women and Happy Mother's Day! Now time for the weekend recap.

I was planning on taking my mother, sweatshop worker Kimmy and her mother to Lancaster, PA for the day on Saturday. We were all looking forward to having a great time and some yummy pot roast. We didn't make it so we will be going this upcoming Saturday. Instead mom decided or let's say mom's health decided for her that she didn't need a trip to Lancaster, she needed a trip and overnight stay at the hospital.

*In my most TV Game Show announcer voice over cheesy game show music*
Yes, that's right! Mom you get to spend two glorious nights at the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital at Hamilton. Your stay will include two bags of fluids, a CAT Scan of your skull, 4 EKG's, an Ultra sound of your heart and coradordic auteries and several blood pressure checks. Also included in your stay is crappy hostipal food and several large pills that we're sure you will have a hard time swallowing. All travel accomidations will be provided by your local EMT & ambulance squad!

Mom was not feeling all the great Friday afternoon but insisted she cut the grass because after 10 days of rain it needed it bad. It was hot and sticky and of course she was not providing herself with enough fluids. She also had a recent medication change and she doesn't always eat properly or get enough vitiams. So while waiting for a table at Uno's she passed out and whacked her head on the floor. She says she doesn't really remember much more than herself not feeling good and getting up and walking over to me to tell me. But she didn't get that far. I turned to look at her and she was already on the ground. Passed out cold for about a minute and came to pretty slow. There were two men in the vastible asking her questions and helping me stay calm. I wish I could have thanked them because they really did help me stay level headed when all I wanted to do was freak out. EMT's came really fast, thankfully and they were great getting her hooked up and quickly to the ER. Later in the ER mom said there were two men and a women who mom mistaked for a man. She said her name was Meghan which then promtated lil' bro to provide some comic relief by telling me about a clip from Family Guy.

Lesbian Quartet | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

He is good for a laugh. Mom had to have a CAT Scan and when she asked why he responded, "They have to see if you knocked the hamster off it's wheel when you whacked your head." Poor mom, down and out and getting picked on. But she may have deserved it (not really) because she kept breaking the hospital machines. No kidding! Either she has evil super powers or this hospital needs some funding for new stuff. The EKG machine went screwy,twice, the automated blood pressure cuff wouldn't work, her TV had no sound, the fluid drip regulator kept beeping and had to be replaced and her room clock stop working in the middle of the night. Good news is that it appears to be low potassium and dehydration. So I busted her out this morning (well, they let her go, I didn't take her without permission but it sounded cooler). I mean it would have really sucked if she had to be in there on Mother's Day. But now, I will be keeping a better eye on her because she scared the bloody hell out of me and I never want to go threw that again.

So kids a word of advice, if your body is trying to tell you something, anything, listen to it. Don't ignore your upset stomach, light headed, dizzy, nauseous feelings because if you ignore them they will slap you down and down hard.

That is what I spent my weekend doing. Hospital duty, laundry, yeah fun and this:

This is a full sheet. 6141 stitches plus a whip stitch border. Needless to say this is a very limited edition. I did this piece entirely myself and I have to say that I appreciate my sweatshop workers a lot more after this. I am very proud I did it all myself but I realized how much I would rather cut, prep and assemble then fill in. I mean that is why I have a sweatshop.

I may did a little break after this and do something fun, small and quick for myself just to recharge a bit. I don't want to get burned out and loose my mojo, the summer hasn't even started yet.

But it's a beautiful day, It's a beautiful sunrise....

Yes, I guessing most don't know that line or song or even artist. It's by Saving Abel and the song is Beautiful Day. It's a slow song, not my type and it's kind of sad. Now the reason I'm using it is not because I'm a huge fan of any sort, though I did see them open for Seether and Nickelback. They do have a few good songs (18 days and Addicted) and were really good live. I picked it because it will be a beautiful day when Saving Abel stops sending me text messages. While at said concert, I texted in during the show for a chance to win a signed guitar. Who wouldn't want a cool free guitar signed by a band? But by sending this text and entering to win, I apparently also was signed up to receive text message (about once a week) from the band. I no longer want to receive them but I haven't yet figured out how to make them stop, thus it will be beautiful day once I do.

This is three for one blog and all follow the beautiful day theme. Since I haven't blogged in a few weeks and already broke my goal of trying to blog once a week, I figured I would make it up to you all. (My faithful 5 readers). So I've broken this blog up into three parts. Why not just do three separate blogs? Feels like getting credit for something I didn't do.

Be very very quite, we're hunting dandelions, hahahahahahaha.
Sweatshop worker mom loves to do yard work when not working in the sweatshop. Her favorite pass time in the spring is hunting dandelions. And though I tease her about it endlessly, it is addicting to search for them, the trill of the hunt.
She's even got CEOreo out looking for them.So every evening when she gets home she goes out with her handy dandelion picker and a bag and goes to work.

She said the yard was becoming overgrown with them!!!!! Really?!?! OK, lets play a game, I used the larger format for this photo of our backyard. See how may dandelions you can find. Don't cheat by scrolling down to the answer. I'll give you a minute.





No cheating.




Ok you ready for the answer key?





Five. There are five dandelions in the backyard and it is considered over grown.

Too bad dandelion wine is not to my liking. I'd have a cellar full.

It's all fun and games until someone breaks a broom.

My idea of being an "outside" girl is sitting on the deck in the sun, chilling out and crafting. Sweatshop worker mom's idea is yard work. Now we know that she hunts dandelions but that is just a small part of her outside activities. She loves working in the yard. Loves it. She likes to cut the grass, pull weeds, trim and overall make the yard look great. And I must say that it always looks great and has a wonderful curb appeal.

I don't participate in those outside activities if I can help it. I have been tricked into assisting from time to time. I have helped with the beautification of the flower beds in the front yard and the rebuilding of the deck in the back yard, to name a few. Mom does all the other dirty work. However, she does not like to use the edger. She doesn't like the sparks that occur when you happen to accidentally hit the concrete. Since she seems to make a lot of sparks I have been entrusted with the edger job. I do occasionally make some sparks but I think it's cool. Of course it does wear down your blade quickly. Edging thankfully is not a weekly job like grass cutting. I usually edge about 3 times during the season and then in between mom uses the evil weed-wacker. So I was commissioned to edge for the first time of the season a few weeks ago. But I don't just get roped into edging, I also get clean up duty. That means sweeping. Ugh!

But if I'm going to do it then I'm going to put my heart into it like my mother does. Last year while sweeping, mom broke her broom, yes broke it. She was sweeping and sweeping and it just broke clean off and went flying across the yard. So this year she had to get a new broom. So she bought a cheap broom since it was for outside. I warned her that she should be a heavy duty broom since she has a super power of broom breaking. She said that this new broom would be fine. So, she got the broom at 5:30 pm while food shopping. She came home put the food away, ate dinner and was out in the yard by 7:00 pm. I was instructed to edge and sweep at approximately 7:30 pm. Yard work and clean up was nearing completion at around 8:00 pm (getting dark now). I was quickly sweeping and then.........I broke her new broom a 8:15 pm. This poor broom didn't have a chance. So now we have two broke brooms in the garage.And mom now has a nice heavy duty wooden broom that I got for her from Home Depot. If either one of us breaks that sucker, I'm just done with yard work.

We also have a new addition to our yard ornaments. I got this little guy for hubby and now that the sun has been shinning he is working. Kind of spooky but super cool.

BEST Hubby EVER!!!
YEAH!!! I got to see hubby again this weekend after not seeing him for many, many, many, many weeks. I missed him oodles. Of course I never get to see him with out some sort of work involved. I got to bring him supplies and I got to bring home, wash and return laundry. That is ok though, cause I get paid..........IN PINS!!!!! I think that is a great trade! HaHaHaHubby was in Los Angels for a few days and I didn't want to bug him about the Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store. I know he is busy and seems to get annoyed with me when I ask. I get excited because he is there but I know he doesn't feel that way at all when it comes to pins, Disney and crowds. So I only mentioned it once and I prefaced with, "I know you are busy and I'm not asking for you to make a special trip but if you get anywhere near the store and have a chance, there are a couple pins that I would like" So not expecting anything I forgot about it. Until, he called me on a Saturday night at about 11:15pm, with him asking, "I'm here, what do you want?"

Such pressure and I have to move so fast because his patience runs thin. So I quickly looked up what was available and then we did the pin phone call dance. Now, the only way I can describe this is, imaging someone calling you while you are at any shopping store that you are extremely unfamiliar with and asking you to find them something that you have no clue as to what it is. That is what this is like. Hubby saw me in action briefly while on vacation this year. I told him I was running into the pin store while we were waiting for the parade to begin. 10 minutes, 25 pins and $200 dollars later, I was done, picked out, paid for and ready to go.

I know what I'm looking for but to have to describe it to him or worse have him describe them to me can be painful on so many levels. I urn to be there just doing it myself but I have to rely on him and use him sort of puppet like to get the goods. So after a short and painful conversation he ended up getting me 8 really excellent pins. Yeah him! But I decided that there has to be a better way. So because this tour takes him to WDW and DL, I made him a shopping list. Complete with photos, prices and descriptions, he is armed with an eight page list and ready to make his wife super duper happy. And I feel better about having to drive in NYC and North Jersey traffic several times, doing laundry and cleaning a bus. Wish him luck!

Because of my hubby's unique profession, it some times leads to some unique opportunities. But I learnt early on to always be & act professional, try & keep my cool and never ask for anything from anyone, photo, picture or otherwise. So imagine my surprise when I was offered the chance to meet the talent.

I'm not going to go into my hubby's job right now but he is currently working for Gavin Rossdale. There was a huge festival like concert event at the Meadowlands that they were a part of. I went up to North Jersey to visit hubby and we were hanging out and spending time with each other when duty called. Hubby has to go back to the venue and do some work. While there he introduced me to Gavin.

I have to say that in the 10 years I have been with hubby, I've never had a more positive and simply delightful experience. I saw him with Bush back in 1997, great show. His solo stuff is cool, it's mellower and softer. To me it's something you listen to while relaxing enjoying a bottle of wine at the end of a long week. I've liked what I've heard so far and I really, really like

Love Remains the Same.

Hubby introduced me and I get so nervous because I never know what to say to people. Famous or the neighbor next door I don't want to seem like a babbling idiot or embarrass myself or them. I know you will find it hard to believe but I can be quite shy around people I don't know. But Gavin could not have been a nicer guy. He introduced himself and his son. We chatted about the tour. I told him about the show I saw back in 1997 and started to borderline embarrass myself. I was nervous which rarely happens to me in those situations because I know in my head that famous people are just people. I guess because it was so out of the blue that I got the chance to say hi. We talked about the weather. Then he signed a picture for me. How cool is that!?!?! He is the only person that hubby has worked for that has ever done that. I thanked him and told him that he didn't have to do that but it was very sweet of him. As I'm freaking out inside. It was only a few moments but I have to say that he was probably one of the kindest people I've met in the business.

"Tammy Thx for letting us borrow your husband Gavin Rossdale XX"

If you made it this far, thanks for sitting threw and reading this very long winded blog post. I'm going to do better and try to stick to my goal of posting once a week. Next time, I will have some progress photos and maybe even a FO. It's a big one!

PS If you happend to find any gramatical erros in this post let me know. It took a very long time to compose it and I was just plain tired to keep re-reading it to fix anything. Thanks!

I'm feelin' so much better, But not quite feelin' fine

Oh happy days for CEOreo, she got a bed all of her very own. Since she is having a harder time jumping up and getting down off of her chair we decided to get her a bed so she can be comfy on the floor. She took to it rather quickly and seem to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. I got this funny card from a friend and I had to share.
I don't eat a lot of candy so the bunny knows better than to bring it to me. But I do have a weakness for those eggs. Remember the St Bernard with the whiskey barrels? Well, I have a Cadbury Egg Bunny....

FYI the craft cave is back in full swing, thanks to my cozy new couches.

Still working hard on all those sports tissue box covers. I hope to take a little break once they are all stitched. I would like to make something for me for a change. I'll let you know how that works out.