Almost June and Happy Birthday Dale!!!

Unlike last weekend, which was spent being sick and indoors the whole time, this weekend has been spectacular! We have enjoyed upper 80's temps and sunshine, and I have broken out the summer clothes. Today Chris and I washed our cars and I vacuumed mine, which looked pitiful inside. Unbeknownst to me, Chris had some fun taking pictures of me washing my car...only one of which was fit for sharing with others! I was trying to wash off the roof of my car while perched precariously on the hood. Feel free to giggle if you want!



And....today I get to wish my niece Dale a very Happy Birthday! Can't believe you're 5 now! WOW!

OK, GET YOUR BROOMS OUT, IT'S A SWEEP!!!!

PENGUINS WIN TONIGHT 4-1 OVER CAROLINA! A 4 GAME SWEEP AND IT'S ON TO THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

GET THE BROOMS READY....

PENS WIN AGAIN, 6-2!!! Crosby and Malkin are on fire and Carolina has no answer. One more win and it's the Stanley Cup finals, baby!

So get your brooms ready, cuz' there might be a SWEEP coming!!!!!


WOO HOO!!!!!!

UP 2 GAMES TO NONE SO FAR!!!

Game 2 is in the books and Penguins win again! Evgeni Malkin gets a hat trick and Pittsburgh finally rolls in the 3rd period and gets a 7-4 win. Now it's on to game 3 in Raleigh.

GO PENS!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Anne!

Buon compleanno, a ti...
Buon compleanno, a ti...
Buon compleanno, mia cara zia...
Buon compleanno, a ti!!!

WOO HOO!!! We took game 1!!!

Awesome! Penguins take game 1 from Carolina, 3-2!!! Only 3 more to go and it's Stanley Cup Finals again, baby!

Well, one out, one left

It looks like I am finished with basketball for a few months now. The Celtics lost last night in game 7 and the only magic goin' on was Orlando this time. Oh well.

At least my Penguins are still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Go PENS!!!!!

catching up, part 4

Maria and I took off on another adventure earlier this month, driving to Greensboro to see the Boss (Bruce Springsteen) in concert. I was the designated driver, not so Maria could get smashing drunk, but because she had knee surgery in April, so she wasn't allowed to drive at the time. She had anticipated this when scheduling the surgery (injury in December) so we ended up purchasing tickets in the handicapped section to accommodate crutches and maybe a lent wheelchair for her to sit in.

Well, we parked at a spot across from the venue so we could park for free. (Maria and I are bargain hunters.) This proved to be both good and bad, as we discovered the will call window where our tickets were being held, was at the opposite side of the building from our car. So we walked around, which took a while because I walked and Maria walked with crutches. I asked someone working the event where we could get a wheelchair so Maria wouldn't have to use the crutches much further. This was ill fated as well. The arena uses an outside company to work the handicapped assistance, and we waited around for help that never showed up, even after they radioed the people several times. Maria and I ended up missing the first half hour of the show but only about 15 minutes because Bruce opened the show a little late.

We got to the section where our seats were supposed to be and there was no room. How ridiculous! Our tickets had a seat number on them, what the heck? We were given folding chairs, but if we sat down, we could not see anything because everyone in front of us were standing. This is really poor planning by the seating arrangements. We stood for a while but that was hard for Maria. We ended up getting moved to another section where there was room, but no view because yet again, everyone was standing. Maria and I kept moving our chairs back and forth trying to find a space between swaying people. Had we been able to see well, these would have been fantastic seats!

We were also the beneficiaries of an extra side show next to us. There was this large, tall woman with bleach blonde hair and an equally tall boyfriend. Let's call the boyfriend Groping Ken doll because they were all over each other. They were also drinking beer the entire time we were there. Maria and I were so afraid that Amazon Barbie was going to fall on her. They were swaying, both on purpose and from the influence of a few beers, and good God, Groping Ken was all over her. I mean, get a room please, and how about one far from us? I used the time to keep an eye on our large Barbie doll, praying she'd stay off my sister, especially when she fell onto her own chair once. I also entertained myself coming up with nicknames for her. I'll list some here...feel free to choose your own favorite. I won't mind.

1. Amazon Barbie (Maria thought of this one)
2. Betty Bunyan Barbie (hey, Paul needed a wife, didn't he?)
3. Big Boned Barbie
4. Beer Babe Barbie
5. Big Bubblehead Barbie

I could go on, but you get the picture. In spite of all this, we could at least hear the show. Bruce sure gives you your money's worth, because he sang a 3 hour show, including encores. He went into the audience a couple times to grab signs from fans, which Maria told me were song requests. Some smart aleck put Hang On Sloopy, which is an oldie but not one of Bruce's songs. Well, Bruce showed him because he and the band knew the song and the music. That was cool. I finally located people who were supposed to help us from the beginning worked out with them for us getting out of there. this time Maria got a wheelchair ride outside and I got to move our car into one of the parking areas right outside the doors so she wouldn't have to repeat the crutches marathon a second time. I went out early and she got to hear all but maybe one of the final encores.

I'm happy to report Maria got the chance to fill out a customer satisfaction survey for the concert and did she give them hell! The concert music was great, the environment in which to see the show, not so much.

PLAYOFF TIME, BABY!!!

May is looking like a good month for my teams! The Boston Celtics are still alive and fighting and the Pens are in the conference finals, fighting for the right to play for the Stanley Cup! I would dearly love to see the Pens win it all. Then Pittsburgh would have 2 championships this year and I can get another collectible Wheaties box to go with the one I have from 1991.

Catching up...part 3

April shaped up to be a really fun month. Our best friends from up north came down here for almost a week, which was really wonderful since we'd not seen them for a long time. We had a great time...getting to a Durham Bulls game, after which Alice & Kayley got to run around the bases. I love going to the ballpark. Baseball is really meant to be experienced in person and minor league parks let you feel like you're part of the action and a lot less expensive.





We also celebrated Alice's 9th birthday in April. She wanted to go roller skating, so off to the rink we went. I made pizza and we had lunch here before we went, and after returning home, we had cake and ice cream.





April also saw Chris and I make it our 16th wedding anniversary. Yay us! Time sure flies by!

catching up, part 2

That brings us to April. Chris actually has a nice boss now who seems to appreciate his hard work (and more importantly lets Chris know his appreciation!). His boss gifted us a pair of hockey tickets for a home Hurricanes game on April 4th. We have unfortunately, reached the point where we cannot use babysitting help but cannot yet leave the kids home alone for long, so Chris gracefully stayed home with the kids while I went to the game with my friend Faith. Faith is a huge hockey fan, so this was a winning plan, particularly since the Canes were playing my guys, the Penguins! (you know how I feel about my love for all things Pittsburgh)


Anyway, it was a good game and we had incredible seats...lower level, center ice. We had an awesome view! Carolina has a good team this season and unfortunately for the Pens, it went into overtime where they lost. Let me tell you, the arena here is LOUD. They actually play real hurricane warning sirens in the building to get everyone fired up about the game. I was pleased and proud to see a good representation of Pittsburgh fans at the game, including a section of waving Terrible Towels. I am indeed proud to be a Pittsburgh fan!

Catching up on life...again.....yet again...part 1

Well, as you can see, I have not posted in a while. About 2 months long. Since last post, Alice took part in a fitness competition. There were over 30 or so elementary schools in the area that chose to compete and Alice was one of the students selected for her school. Her event was speed rope, jumping as many times in a minute as she could. Alice did great, getting 158 jumps. She got a participation ribbon but was only 12 jumps fewer than first place for 3rd grade girls. I unfortunately did not have my camera with me so I have no pictures to post. She has a tshirt that she wore, with all the events & kids' names on the back. Alice is very proud of her shirt and so am I. I recently picked up a jump rope and tried to do what she did. Needless to say, it is a lot harder than it looks! I was horribly inept, but may strive to improve on that this summer.