We dumped Larry the Cable Guy

Chris and I decided that we didn't watch enough tv to justify keeping and paying for the non-promotional and newly increased cable rates by our local monopoly, Time Warner, since our promotional bundled price was ending soon. So we turned in our DVR and ditched cable. We decided to go instead with antenna and got a signal converter box for the free network programming. We also joined Netflix and are having a lot of fun watching all kinds of movies that we'd never seen before (and not heard of before) because we refuse to pay the exorbitent movie ticket prices at the theatres. We then bought a netflix player, Roku, that lets us stream movies instantly over the internet to our tv. That is something that is included in the subscription price for Netflix (the instant streaming). People who don't have a netflix player can still watch stuff on their computer and we can do that as well. The instant selection is a bit smaller than the DVD selection that Netflix will mail to the house, but there is still plenty to choose from, including many television shows that are out on DVD as well, and it supplements the DVD's that come in the mail. So far, we are enjoying it immensely and I figure we are saving almost 100 bucks a month from doing this. (Well, this and I'm switching our phone and internet service to another provider that will save us about 20 bucks a month. Don't worry, our phone number is not changing.)

Anyway, there was something really empowering about dumping Larry the Cable Guy and we are happy with saving that money for something else! There's something really un-American about doing business with a monopoly, and now we aren't!

Catching up on life...again.....

Hmmm, it looks like some recapping is in order here. We had a fun visit last month with Aunt Aileen & Uncle Jon when they stopped by on their way to Florida. Aunt Aileen generously sacrificed one of her t-shirts on my behalf and made me a fabulous pillow that shows Big Ben and the Bus on the front. It looks right at home sitting next to my football pillow and in front of my Steelers blanket on the recliner! They also brought me a Pittsburgh meal. We had chipped chopped bbq ham sandwiches with Heinz pickles and for dessert, Steeler smiley cookies from Eat n Park.

Earlier this month, Mom came back down here for a few days, splitting time with me and with Maria. The same day she got here, Will came over and joined us for dinner, since he was in town for work. That was fun. He brought me the post-Super Bowl Pittsburgh newspaper, so I was very happy. I was later on, gifted through the mail with some Super Bowl Champs goodies that Alicia and Karen decided I couldn't live without. Will also picked out a tshirt for me. It is indeed a wonderful thing to have a Pittsburgh connection!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

6 LOMBARDI TROPHIES!!!!! STEELERS WIN THE SUPER BOWL, BABY!!!!!!

Between butterflies in my stomach into the 3rd quarter to hyperventilating into my Terrible Towel at the end of the game, I am soooooo WIRED right now!!!!

Snow in NC!!! Awesome!

Look what we got today!!! A few inches of snow, which normally for us would be no big deal, but since we live in the south now, this rocks!!! The kids were home from school, even more fun is Chris stayed home from work since they told us on the news to stay off the roads. We got to use our boots, snowpants, shovels....fun!

The kids got another break since school also got cancelled tomorrow due to worries about ice tomorrow morning. We'll see how bad it is as far as Chris going to work or not, but we have to wait until tomorrow for that.

Some pictures from this morning...




Kristen and Alice made their own dessert, pouring Hershey chocolate syrup on the snow and eating it with a spoon outside. Gotta love freshly made dessert!

GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL, BABY!!!!

Time to get ring #6!!!!! STEELERS-CARDINALS....see ya in 2 weeks!!!!

Exam time

I have become re-acquainted with the notion of mid-year exams, as I discovered all the upcoming dates that Matthew gets an early release for and a couple days off, beginning tomorrow. It's been a while since I survived high school, so I'd forgotten that there were days in January that offered some bonus free time. Matthew is quite enchanted with this aspect of being in high school, as you might imagine. It does require me to re-think my daily time for the next week, though. Hopefully we can actually spend some time together that doesn't degenerate into a stressfest like our usual interactions.

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.