BRING ON THE RATBIRDS!!!

It's playoff time, baby, and Heinz Field was rockin' today!!! The Steelers took it to the San Diego Chargers in grand fashion and this time, the offense stepped up! From Styx doing the national anthem and revving up the crowd with Renegade,
to Santonio taking a punt return to the house for a touchdown, Pittsburgh came to play. Give it up to the offensive line for finally protecting Big Ben and springing Willie Parker time and time again. The O matched performance with the D this time and it made for a big victory.


Now it's Baltimore again next Sunday, in Pittsburgh, for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Bring it, Ratbirds! The Steelers are waiting for you and we are going to make it 3 wins against you this season!

WOO HOO!!!! Go Stillers!!!

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2009 and hope it brings good health, good friends, family and maybe even a 6th Super Bowl trophy to Pittsburgh!


good night!

Merry Christmas to you!!!!!

Just want to wish y'all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

(or Happy Hanakkah, Kwanzaa, or every holiday out there. Whether you worship Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, or simply the porcelain god,)...

Have a wonderful holiday!!!!

Congratulations to my Steelers!!!!!

Today Pittsburgh came from behind yet again to pull out an awesome win against their hated rivals, the Baltimore Ravens! The Steelers have clinched their division and at least the #2 seed for the playoffs. Not to mention that since Tennessee lost today, the showdown next Sunday is going to be an incredible game! Pittsburgh plays Tennessee next Sunday and if they win, they have a chance to snatch away the #1 seed from Tennessee!


Time to go to bed in a good mood now.


How awesome was it for the one guy who is most despised in Baltimore to snag over 100 receiving yards on their D? Well done, Hines Ward!

Yet another interception by our AWESOME STEELER D to seal the win!!

Shoutout to Kai and Mark

Just wanted to give a shoutout to my friends Kai and Mark, because their favorite football guys, the Miami Dolphins, won again today. Miami went 1-15 last season and today they got their 9th victory and are still tied for first place in the AFC East and still in playoff contention! It's so great to see a team turn it around from a horrible season but it also points out that they weren't as bad last year as their record said they were.

Catching up on life...

Time to get caught up here. Last week, Mom & Ed returned here from their riverboat trip and were here for a few days. Then last weekend, Diana & Ken flew in, Sara drove down with Ella Saturday morning and Andrew flew in really late Saturday night, so we had 16 people here at one point since Maria, Robert & the girls came over, too. Very fast weekend but fun. Everyone was on their way back home by last Sunday.

Friday night was the Triangle Mommies holiday party. Very fun night. We had a casino theme so it was dress as you feel most comfy. Naturally, that meant dressy black pants, black shoes, my Gary Anderson jersey and my Terrible Towel earrings. Had to put my game on! Plus, my mommy username is steelersgirl so how else can I come to party? I met at least 3 of my fellow Steelers loving peeps, which was awesome. That jersey is my party shirt. It put me in a great comfort zone for my high school reunion 2 years ago and it served me well at this party, too. I helped out with the games, doing bingo calling. That was interesting for me, because while I was calling out numbers, such as "I-24, G-56, N-43, I-22..." inside my head I was calling them differently "Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, Troy Polamalu, William Gay...." I know, I am an obsessed fan! Maria was having fun making fun of me about that.

Yesterday Alice was in the Cary Christmas parade with her Brownie troop and we went to Disney on Ice (getting tickets through the troop). The parade was kind of cool but the Disney thing was so-so. I think it's geared toward kids younger than Alice. Parts of it were fun to watch and other parts were tedious. And talk about a money-making racket! They soaked me for parking...10 bucks! What a rip! And all the overpriced Disney food, drinks and souvenir crap...we drank from the water fountain, I stashed granola bars in the bottom of my purse from home and we let them keep all the pricey junk. Alice got a patch with the ticket, so that was her souvenir and I sewed it on the back of her Brownie vest.

I will post photos for here tomorrow since it's getting late and I have one more post to make before bed.

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!!!