About moi~

I’m a lady in the last year of my 40s from se Pennsylvania who loves domestic life-meaning her family, gardens, stitching, baking, trying new recipes, crafts, photography, blogging and kitty Cosmo.

100 Things
1. I’m named after both my mother Jeanne and my father Carl- Dianne Carol.
2. People usually call me ‘Di’ which I don’t like. Mom calls me Diadsie.
3. Born Nov. 19, 1959
4. Born in PA
5. Grew up in PA
6. Attended Delaware County Community College and West Chester University.
7. I ‘turned’ Catholic in 1983 before I got married.
8. I am a ‘liberal’ Catholic if there is such a thing.
9.I have been married to the same man, Brian for over 24 yrs.

10. I have one son who is now a college senior at Penn State majoring in Geography/Climatology.

11. I am of a melting pot of nationalities but mostly English, Swedish, Danish, French, Irish & German.
12. When I was 2 we lived in Fort Pierce, Florida for a year, but the heat was miserable.
13. My parents divorced when I was about 13, but they had lived apart for many years.
14. My father wouldn’t look at any of his 4 children at the court proceedings at the divorce. He passed away Feb. 16, 2008 alone.
15. I have 3 brothers, 1 older and 2 younger.
16. I have 3 nephews and 1 niece.
17. My niece and I are the only females in our immediate family for 40 years.
18. I love to cross stitch & have done so for over 29 yrs.
19. I mainly cross stitch for different charities and have done so for over 9 yrs.
20. I also love to garden and putter around in the yard every day in nice weather.
21. I’m 5′2 and 1/2. The 1/2 is very important.
22. My favorite food is chocolate.
23. I love iced tea, especially home brewed with lemon, but raspberry is good too.
24. My favorite movie is ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and I have a collection of memoribilia from it.
25. I am a liberal democrat.
26. I have one cat, a boy named Cosmo who has a blog.
27. I try to read at least 5+ novels a year because I read slowly.
28. My current favorite TV show is Survivor.
29. My favorite actor is probably still Harrison Ford with Tim Daly as a close second.

30. I wanted to be a early childhood education instructor.
31. After I volunteered at my son’s school, I changed my mind, but I still love little kids.

32. I have to drink my hot tea in a mug.
33. I don’t like coffee, but it smells good!
34. I was the corresponding secretary for the PTO (not PTA) at my son’s school one year.
35. I was computer illiterate until we got a computer in 1993. I taught myself how to make a webpage and can do html.
36. I love folk pop music.
37. I have been a fan of James Taylor’s since I’ve been 13.
38. I have seen JT 4 times in concert and his daughter Sally once.
39. I have also seen the following in person: John Denver, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Loggins & Hall & Oates, Jim Brickman and Linda Eder. I would love to see Bonnie Raitt someday.
40. I was born the same year as the Barbie doll and I have a huge collection of them.
41. I have a Thumbelina doll that I loved to pieces and even cut her hair.
42. I contracted Lyme Disease in 1998 and still have symptoms from it.
43. My favorite chain restaurant the Olive Garden.
44. I live about 1/2 hour from where I was born.
45. I would like to live near the ocean someday.
46. I use to have medium brown hair, now it’s golden brown-dark blonde.
47. I have hazel eyes with specks in them like my maternal grandmom.
48. I wear bifocal glasses and don’t like contacts.
49. I would love to be a backup singer for James Taylor at least once.
50. The best trip I ever took was a car trip to New England with Brian when we were newlyweds.
51. I love to bake, esp at Christmastime.
52. My favorite color is teal/aquamarine.
53. I like skirts better than shorts, but I wear shorts too.
54. I met Brian at the wedding of his first cousin to my brother.
55. Brian lets me cut his hair and I still do so after 26 yrs.
56. I was shy and quiet in high school and people thought I was stuck up.
57. I love brownies of any kind. I’ve never found any as good as Rachel’s (from the 80s).
58. I could eat chicken salad from ‘The Little Inn’ everyday.
59. We still live in the first house we bought back in 1986.
60. We moved in when I was 7.5 months pregnant with Sean our only child.
61. When I am uptight, music usually calms me down-chocolate helps too.
62. My favorite perfume has to be flowery and expensive-like Lancome’s Miracle or Estee Lauder’s Estee. Perfume usually bothers my sinuses though.
63. I loved M*A*S*H the tv show, but not the movie version.
64. I wished that Alan Alda was my father at one time.
65. I have ESP sometimes. I recently got stung by a bee and remembered thinking about it a day or so before it happened.
66. I have a thing for tall, medium stature, dark haired men like Tim Daly and Hugh Jackman.
67. I married an average sized guy with brown, curly hair.
68. I get bad vibes when I go in places like ‘Ford’s Theater’ (I see dead people?)
69. My brother Don and I would put on shows for the family. He always out sung me.
70. Someone died in the bedroom I sleep in. It doesn’t scare me.
71. Growing up, I use to babysit all the kids from a nearby neighborhood.
72. I love anything Victorian. My living room is somewhat decorated that way.
73. I have excellent handwriting for a lefty. I used calligraphy for our wedding invitations.
74. When I was practicing the calligraphy, I wrote the name Sean Matthew out of the blue. (that’s our son’s name).
75. I would like to see the west coast one day and also visit friends & relatives there.
76. I have yet to go to New York City. Thanks for x-out reminder Barbara!

77. 9-11-01 left me with an anxiety issues for a few years.
78. I live in between NYC and DC and was thinking it was the end of the world that day.
79. I have at least 500 books or more.
80. My books are mostly non-fictional.
81. I have a huge cookbook collection too-at least 100 + books. My favorite is Fannie Farmer that Brian gave me.
82. I hate to have piles dirty clothes in the house, but sometimes I let the dishes sit overnight.
83. I grow zinnias almost every year because they were my maternal grandmom’s favorite flower.
84. I helped to pay for my grandmom’s grave marker.
85. My family and I were with my grandmom when she died June 18, 2000.
86. In high school I had a crush on a soccer player who I got to pose with me for a photo at out 30th reunion in Nov. 2007.
87. I love The Food Network!

88. I use to watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus and had a crush on Michael Palin.
89. I have several things in my ‘beauty routine’ to do before I go to bed-one is using Vick’s vapor rub in the wintertime.

90. I love to do crafts and draw portraits (though I haven’t done the later for a long time).
91. My favorite flower is the gardenia.
92. I like lap dogs like Eddie from Frasier.
93. Cats have always loved me as I love them.
94. I’m a packrat, but so is the rest of my family.
95. I have a gap in my front teeth as does my older brother.
96. I love getting things in the mail.
97. I have sold stuff on eBay for almost 9 years.
98. I love taking photos and digital photography opened up a whole new world for me.
99. I wanted an emerald engagement ring, but settled on a diamond with two little emeralds on each side.
100. I am really good at putting things together without directions.

101 (since I went to NYC) I had a breast biopsy in Nov. 2007 and couldn’t eat or drink anything for about 21 hours. It was benign. : )

48 Things you could care less about:
1. FIRST NAME? Dianne
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Mom is Jeanne with two ‘n’s and my middle name is Carol- my father is Carl.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I’d say watching Terri Irwin talking about her late husband Steve.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It looks good except when it smudges when I move my hand over it-that’s a leftie for you.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Turkey
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think I could handle me. : )
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? This blog is as close as I get to journaling as an adult.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I think I would if I didn’t think I’d badly hurt my neck or something.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Captain Crunch peanut butter crunch (bad) Cheerios yogurt flavored (good)
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Sometimes.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, but I have to hold the world up for others sometimes too which breaks me down a bit.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolatey anything.. but Breyer’s had a fried ice cream limited edition that was decent!
14. SHOE SIZE? 7.5-8, depends on the shoe!
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Being overweight.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My grandmom Ruth.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I’m just sharing.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I’m ready for bed, but earlier I had on a apricot color faux cashmere sweater and black bell bottoms with brown boot like shoes.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Oreo-and it was double stuff too. And I worry about my weight?
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The Tonight Show.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Aquamarine, hands down!
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Gardenia
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? I don’t really know Annette, but she seems popular in the stitching blog community.
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Iced tea, strong brew, ice, lemon, sweet and low
28. FAVORITE SPORT? Figure skating.
29. EYE COLOR? Hazel- brown around my irises, green and speckled around the brown.
30. HAT SIZE? 22″ I look good in hats because of my big head!
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No-I think glasses make a fashion statement.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate!!
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer for my gardens, Winter for my indoor hobbies….but I like autumn the bestest
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Both!
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate mousse or cheesecake.
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I hope to see this on a few blogs.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Why not steal it from me?
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I am slow as molasses-I am still reading Ya-yas in Bloom.
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Crayola crayon postage stamp as it works the best of all the ones we have.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? The Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Rain on the roof and children laughing.
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Cancun, Mexico
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Cross stitching! I can sing soprano too. Surprise!
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? s.e. PA
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I took it from Annette’s Acre

Also from Annette and Mindy.

~Movies ~

I’ve seen or remember seeing or have seen a little of-ok? : )

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
(X) AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
( X) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( X) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch

(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( X) White Chicks
( X) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( X) I, Robot
( ) Robots
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(X ) Meet The Parents
( X) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X)King Kong

( ) A Cinderella Story
( X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( X) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber

( X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( X) Secret Window
(X ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(X ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George

(X) Independence Day
(X ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(X) Christine
(X) E.T.
( X) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds

( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( X) Calendar Girls
(X ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3

(X) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X3
(X) Spider-Man
( X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday

( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2

( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street*
( X) Old School
( X) The Notebook
( X) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( X) A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( X) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
(X) Willard

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(X) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix: Reloaded
( ) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
Bold what you’ve eaten and strike through what you would never eat.

Believe me, I had to look a lot of these up!

1. Venison-only tasted

2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush-maybe
11. Calamari-only tasted
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich-are they kidding? : )
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart-at the ballgame actually
16. Epoisses (French cheese) probably
17. Black truffle (I think I have)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes-I’ve grown these!
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper-may have tasted sauce with this
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters-only tasted
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jello
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal-Indian curry dish
44. Goat’s milk-does feta cheese count?
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu-no puffer fish
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone

54. Paneer-Asian cheese-maybe
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty Gin Martini

58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine-Canadian french fries with cheese curds and gravy-ugh!
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads

63. Kaolin-don’t eat clay

64. Currywurst-German sausage-probably
65. Durian-fruit
66. Frogs’ legs -only tasted
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette-don’t even look at the photos for this!
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe-liquer
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail-only tasted
79. Lapsang souchong-smoky tea-maybe
80. Bellini-pretty sure-peach puree and white wine
81. Tom yum-Thai soup-sure I had something like this
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky-like skinny bread sticks dipped in chocolate-probably
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant-what is this?
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate?? I’ve tasted practically every chocolate there is.
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa-red hot sauce
94. Catfish-is really good!

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox -without the lox!
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake