Take a good listen, do you hear it?

Go ahead. You hear it, don't you! That gasping, throat holding wheezing & gagging sound. Do you recognize it? No? Then let me enlighten you. That choking sound is the Dallas Cowboys LOSING to the Steelers yesterday!!! The Steelers' offense sucked eggs for most of the game but their AMAZING defense continues to keep them in every game they play. I went from dropping the F word a bit too loudly during one point in the game (oops, sorry kiddies) to gleefully jumping around and yelling with joy when Deshea Townsend intercepted the 3rd of Tony Romo's ill advised passes with just under 2 minutes to go in the game and took it to the house for the winning touchdown. Love you, Deshea!!!!

My Steelers are now 10-3 and play Baltimore for the division title this coming Sunday. It is going to be an AWESOME game! Kickoff at 4:15 pm. You know where I'll be. In front of the big tv decked out in my black & gold finery, (not taking any phone calls until after the game!)

Who had fun storming the Cassel???

Why, that would be James Harrison of the Steeler D, of course! I was treated to the extreme television viewing pleasure of watching James sack and strip Matt Cassel of the football multiple times, resulting in Patriot turnovers and a Steeler SMACKDOWN in Foxborough! I can't think of a better way to end the month than watching Pittsburgh spanking the Patriots in the cold rain. Good stuff there. Ben was only sacked once and Willie Parker is getting his groove back. Notice in the photo below, the empty stands. By the end of the game, the place was almost deserted & quiet and the only thing you heard between plays was "Here we go, Steelers, here we go!" in the background! Awesome!



And, in less interesting details of our weekend, Chris and I spent yesterday painting our bedroom. New paint and a little furniture re-arranging, and we have a much nicer room! Now all I have to do is crochet some curtain tiebacks so they tie back a little lower....

Thanks a lot, Ben.

Well, due to Ben Roethlisberger's fondness of throwing picks at the worst possible times in a football game, I lost a bet with Kristen on the game. Since I am a person who keeps her word, I have spent the day in a Peyton Manning jersey, out in public. That devious 12 year old made sure I couldn't hide at home so no one would see me wearing it. I was the one who upped the ante, requiring a photo for the blog, because I was so certain Pittsburgh would win. Here's the ugly mug shot:



I had to wear a shirt underneath the jersey so it wouldn't touch me any more than necessary. I think I need to apologize to the Chief, and to say a few dozen Hail Rooney's to atone for my mistake in engaging in gambling with a minor. In the meantime, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shower now, to scrub off the enemy.

Thanks, Ben....heeeeere's your brick.

Fun with the inlaws

Today saw us head out to a minigolf/arcade type place that's about 10 minutes from our house. We all did a round of minigolf first, with most of us managing a hole in one before we were done. Matthew got 2 in a row, so he was happy. The kids all got tokens to play some games that spit out tickets that you could redeem for some cheap junky fun stuff. All of the kids ended up with some fake teeth, which provoked some silliness. Kristen struck a deal with Matthew to get the bright orange, buck toothed ones, Alice selected a hot pink pair that she later decided she didn't want to wear anymore because in her opinion, they looked like hippo teeth. Matthew's are the tackiest of all, they are white and if he clicks on the middle piece while in his mouth, they light up and flash. Talk about a technicolor redneck's dream! Actually, they look like Matthew mugged a tic tac container. I will post below a couple photos:




The current evening entertainment is that some of us are playing Dark Tower, an early 80's, medieval themed war board game. I'm looking forward to the Steelers-Redskins Monday night football game later tonight, of course!

Happy Halloween.....

Today is Halloween and Chris and I also went to vote. North Carolina is one of the states that allow early voting, so we went this morning. It also made me think about the fact that I have a child who will be old enough to vote in the next presidential election. I find that really throws my mind for a loop. Matthew old enough to vote next time? Wow, that is something for sure. Guess I'm getting old!

I stayed home while Chris and his mom took Alice out trick or treating, Kristen went with friends and Matthew passed out candy. We don't get a lot of trick or treaters here, so he left the candy with Chris' dad and ventured out for some treats of his own. I did not dress up this year since I've beening fighting off a cold for 2 weeks now, and I took medicine earlier this afternoon. I've been a bit sleepy but I wanted to catch up on posting.

Hope everyone has a nice Halloween, don't forget to brush your teeth!

Pittsburgh!!! Part three

Sunday morning we went back downtown to Station Square, to the Grand Concourse for brunch. This was where we met up with Beth & Mike, and Aunt Aileen & Uncle Jon. They had all kinds of stuff to eat, from omelettes made on demand, to pancakes & waffles, to salmon and roast beef and nearly anything you could think of to eat. Alicia clued me in to the donut machine, which made them as fresh as any Krispy Kreme, and you could get them hot. I coated mine in cinnamon sugar and wow, they melt in your mouth! I don't usually eat donuts, but I ate 2 of these. I was glad to see my uncle since he was about to undergo open heart surgery (which was today and he's doing well, thank God!)




After that, we returned to Will's so we could get ready for the game. I couldn't talk Will into painting his face like mine, but we did talk him into a tattoo, so he sported a Steelers helmet on his cheek. I, of course, went all out, as you can see from this picture of Alicia and I.



Will and I decided that it would be easier to have Karen drop us off downtown and pick us up after the game to avoid dealing with parking, so we headed out early.



Will and I walked through some of the tailgating areas. What an intoxicating atmosphere! There is so much Steelers pride everywhere and the parking lots are one big party here! I never felt so at home as I did here!





After spying a free photo tent, I decided that was a fun idea, so I dragged Will into line with me. Here's the fun but posed photo that resulted:



And me with Steely McBeam:



The inside of Heinz Field is a Steeler fan's paradise. There was history celebrating the team all over the walls, columns, etc. I took some pictures.

One of the 5 Lombardi trophies



more Steeler history









Terry Bradshaw's locker



Will and I got there early enough that we got to see both teams out on the field for pregame stretching and warmups while the stadium was filling up. Our seats were next to the jumbotron scoreboard and we had a pretty good view of the field. There were a few Giants fans in our section but for the most part, everyone was well behaved.





The game was a good one. We had the 2nd highest attendance in Steelers history and the crowd was rocking. Unfortunately, the Steelers' offense was out of synch and the D couldn't carry the team for the entire game, and the Giants won. We had a great time, though, in spite of the final score. I managed to get on the jumbotron during a tv timeout, although no one watching at home got to see me. I saw some people with their faces painted, but no one had theirs painted like mine. It'd been a really long time since I painted myself up for a football game and it was a blast.





By the time we got back to Will's house, it was late enough to wind down and pack up. I managed to get all my loot into my duffel, so I was happy about that. Will and I had to get up around 5:30 am to get ready for the airport on Monday. One of the perks of Will being a frequent flyer is that we got to go through the short, status line at security, instead of the cattle call snaking lines. I was happy to tag along and we got right through! Since Will's flight left an hour after mine, he kept me company until I had to board my flight. We amused ourselves by people watching. That is always great fun in an airport since you really do see all kinds there. There were predictably a couple of people who made us snicker out loud after they passed by.

Anyway, we both got back to Raleigh safely and I have spent the rest of the week catching up on sleep, chores, and now we have Chris' parents visiting from Minnesota, so the fun just keeps going on. My weekend away was easily the best birthday present I've ever gotten and I am convinced that I must have lived in Pittsburgh in another life. How else can I love the city so much and the time I spend there? Thank you to Will, Karen and Alicia especially for making my trip so great and providing me with room & board, and to see Beth, Mike, Aunt Aileen & Uncle Jon so my visiting was complete!!!

Pittsburgh!!! Part two

I was shocked to wake up and realize that it was 9 am instead of the 7:30 it felt like. I hadn't slept that well in a very long time!! With the daylight, I got to more completely check out my gift bag, which was a drawstring Steelers backpack bag. What a great purse that'll make! Inside, I was greeted with a #1 fan magnet with my name on it, some Steelers mints in a tin, a foam Steelers brick (good for throwing at the tv when the Steelers play stupid) and a really awesome hat that says I love Steelers football. It's so good to be loved this way!

I was able to say hello to Alicia and she got to open the box of goodies that I had mailed for her. The main part of her goodies were a quilt and pillow that I made for her.



Will, Karen, Alicia and I headed into Pittsburgh to the Heinz History Museum. That is one cool museum, from the saved goalposts of Three Rivers Stadium mounted outside the building, to the inside of the building itself. The history of Pittsburgh itself was fascinating. I hope to find a book sometime that includes some of what I saw in there. For Alicia and I, the best part was the 2nd floor, which was the sports history. There was a giant room that had all kinds of murals on the wall and some video screens that showed footage of Pittsburgh sports. I actually got chills from watching the Immaculate Reception with Franco Harris. I've seen that play before, but never on such a large screen. It was awesome! I was most interested in the Pirates, Pens and of course, the Steelers. There was some really cool stuff in there!

Some pictures from this floor:




Will decided that I couldn't get the true Pittsburgh experience if I didn't have a meal at Primante's. This is the original location, which started out with just a lunch counter. They are famous for their sandwiches, which are a meal in one. I ordered a salami sandwich, which they built on thick homemade bread, topping the meat & cheese with a layer of their fries and a layer of their vinegar based slaw. It sounds a lot weirder than it tastes, and I'd come with an open mind. It was surprisingly good, but I was not going to need food for quite a while after such a large sandwich!

Next stop was in the strip district, otherwise known as Steelers mecca. I was surrounded by more Steelers gear than I'd ever imagined and it was awesome! Needless to say, I found all kinds of fun stuff for myself, including bling for my car, shirts, coasters, buttons, another Terrible Towel....

Alicia's suggestion for my Pittsburgh experience was to take a ride on one of the Inclines, this one being across the rivers from Heinz Field. I'd actually never ridden on it before, so it was quite fun. The slope of this incline is so steep, you'd have a lot of trouble getting up to the top without assistance! You can get some great views of the city from the top.




We returned to Will's after that to chill out for a while. Dinner was at a mexican place not too far away and both Will & I decided on margaritas. It turned out that they were 28 oz. margaritas and I realized by the end of dinner that I was not entirely sure I'd be able to stand up without borrowing Will's arm! I did manage, however, and slowly sobered up while we watched some college football into the evening.

Pittsburgh!!!! Part one

My big weekend seemed to start off fine, at least until I got to my gate at the airport. I was soon greeted by the reality of about 7 different flights heading to Atlanta were delayed, due to gloomy weather there. My well timed flight did not leave Raleigh until 2 1/2 hours later than it was supposed to. So many other flights into Atlanta were also delayed getting there from other cities. Does that mean that my connecting flight to Pittsburgh was delayed so I could still catch it? Of course not! That one had to somehow leave on time, without me, of course. That put me in the less than comfortable position of flying on standby. I was praying that I'd not have to spend the night in Atlanta. I'm sure it's a nice city but its weather placed it firmly on my hit list since it tanked my evening plans. Not going to take the midnight train to Georgia....ever!

The only thing I had going for me was that there were many other people who missed their connecting flights, so even though the 2nd to last flight to Pittsburgh had about 40 people on the standby list, we all made it onto the flight. I was excited by the fact that there were quite a few who were decked out in Steelers gear, as was I. Can't go to Pittsburgh without wearing my black & gold! Even in Raleigh I followed a guy wearing an autographed Jerome Bettis jersey through security.

The upshot was that I arrived in Pittsburgh more than 3 hours later than I'd planned, so I didn't get to hang out with Beth & Mike, which greatly bummed me out. The upside was that I did get to Pittsburgh safely and Will was there with his famous Hat to pick me up. Even at that late hour, I was really happy to be in Pittsburgh. The sight that greeted me when I got to Will's house and to their guest room, was a bedframe wrapped in yellow Steelers tape, an inflated helmet hanging from the curtain rod, Steelers blanket on the bed and an awesome goodie bag full of Steelers stuff from Alicia! With all that black & gold goodness surrounding me, I was assured of sweet dreams for sure!

I AM READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!!!!

Yay, I fly to Pittsburgh this afternoon!!! One of my favorite cities and it's football season! Beth is going to meet me at the airport and Will has all kinds of fun planned for me. It's going to be the Pittsburgh experience!

I already mailed my face paint so I promise photos will go up when I get back home. Maybe I'll get on tv! Our seats are by the locker room tunnel under the jumbotron, lower level.

I can't wait!!!

Pictures to get me in the mood....

A great day!!!

Today started off cold and I thought I was getting sick, but Maria and I had our triathlon this morning in Chapel Hill. I have gotten so spoiled by the heat of the south that the low 40 temps really got my attention! We have to get there so early and since I was in the later timing to get started, there was a lot of waiting. Once I got in the pool, everything went well. It felt so wonderful to get into a heated pool after being outside! Today was 250 yards in the pool, a 9 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run. A super sprint tri, it's called.

I didn't have rubber legs this time when I got off my bike but I did a lot of walking with some sloooooowwww running in between. I had to put my stamp on the festivities, so I changed into my Gary Anderson jersey for the run part. There were a few times where I saw someone for the event taking photos while I was walking, so I was like "oh crap, another camera!" So I had to run past those people! Every part I ran, I had to twirl my towel. No fun in a Steelers jersey is complete without some Terrible Towel waving, and the Steelers fans in attendance enjoyed it!

Here are a few photos from today:

Maria and I trying to keep warm while waiting for our start



On my way to the finish









And.....if that wasn't enough to make this a great day....my Steelers kicked Cincinnati's butt 38-10 this afternoon!!!! Oh it's good to be alive!

Happy Birthday Matthew

Ok, I know Matthew's birthday was 9 days ago but I've been busy. My son is now 14 years old; it doesn't seem possible sometimes! I made a dog bone shaped cake and had fun making him blow out 15 candles (always have to have the extra one for good luck!)

Time to catch up on posting--Spirit day at school

I haven't posted in a while...earlier in the month, there was school spirit week at the high school. Can I just say...Matthew is perfect for these kind of festivities? I only wish I had thought to take a photo of Tacky Day because you would not believe what he put together....This pair of photos, though, are from Nerd Day. As you will see, Matthew had a great time dressing up! I can guarantee he'll make it into the yearbook from this!