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!!!!!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
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!!!!!!
GO PENS!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Happy Birthday, Aunt Anne!
Buon compleanno, a ti...
Buon compleanno, a ti...
Buon compleanno, mia cara zia...
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!
Monday, May 18, 2009
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!!!!!
At least my Penguins are still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Go PENS!!!!!
Friday, May 15, 2009
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.
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!
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!
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.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Fun in DC
This weekend, Maria, the girls and I drove up to Sara's for some visiting and fun. Diana & Ken also flew in from Chicago. The 4 of us sisters all together is a guarantee of fun and mayhem, in spite of Sara being sick and my allergies acting up. The nonstop rainy weather and germs inspired naps in between the fun. Someone (probably Maria) managed to get Ken to read aloud from a trashy novel that Maria'd bought at the airport last week. That was some unplanned comedy right there. Ken opened up the book at a random spot and started reading (in this monotone voice that makes Ben Stein sound animated in comparison) that made the smutty parts even funnier. "Oh god. oh god. I want more. I want more. don't stop. oh god..don't go..." Andrew had been upstairs putting Ella down for a nap and when he came downstairs in the middle of the smuttiest paragraph, completely unaware of the spontaneous story hour event, the looks on his face were beyond priceless! I got cramps from laughing too hard! We decided that the plot must've been written by an 8 year old with some editor inserting the smutty parts. Not a book intended to boost your IQ in any way!
Some of us went to a coffee shop nearby during some kiddos' naptimes (Sara took one, too) and like everywhere else I go, I discovered Steeler love there. There was a Super Bowl Terrible Towel on the counter, with a mini helmet that'd been autographed by Byron Leftwich sitting on top of it. Naturally I bonded with the lady behind the counter, sharing stories and comparing which memorabilia we had in common (which included the Terrible Tote and the Polamalu hat), much to the amusement of Maria, who has been utterly schooled by now (thanks to hanging out with me so much) to the vast reaches of Steeler Nation.
We went out for dinner at some Italian place that had a dedicated kids dining area, which Dale & Dinah loved. They had their own server, their own little table and got to watch a movie while they dined. I was mildly envious! After the kids went to bed, we played a game of 80's Trivial Pursuit, which Ken knocked out of the park. We decided that next time, he can read all the questions instead of playing, which will level the playing field. It was the shortest game of that game we'd ever played! Due to the fact that I was in an allergy medicated haze, Maria bestowed upon me a new name, Bernie (weekend at Bernie's).
Sunday morning was occupied by Andrew making beignets to go with breakfast, me taking more medicine and some of us heading downstairs to play on the Wii. Bowling is about the only game I've gotten comfortable with on it. I am pretty old school when it comes to video games, so I play more on the gamecube and old Nintendo when I actually have time to play games. Andrew patiently showed Dale & Dinah how to play it, and they had a blast!
I tried to get a good picture of the kids in their leprechaun hats that I'd made for them, but I got the kind of photo that I usually end up with when I try to get one of my own kids. But it's still funny.
The drive home was yucky. Unlike last time I was in DC, this time the traffic getting out of there was nasty. We only went about 10 miles in the first hour, it stayed backed up before Richmond, and didn't really speed up until we'd gotten off 95 and onto 85. Maria and I took turns driving and by the time I got all the way home after dropping them off in Hillsborough, it was about 7 hours after we left Sara's. Granted, that did include a stop at the massively sized Wegmans that is south of DC, but still. I barely had the energy to spend much time with Chris before I fell asleep. Today should be better. I woke up feeling crummy but not so much now.
Some of us went to a coffee shop nearby during some kiddos' naptimes (Sara took one, too) and like everywhere else I go, I discovered Steeler love there. There was a Super Bowl Terrible Towel on the counter, with a mini helmet that'd been autographed by Byron Leftwich sitting on top of it. Naturally I bonded with the lady behind the counter, sharing stories and comparing which memorabilia we had in common (which included the Terrible Tote and the Polamalu hat), much to the amusement of Maria, who has been utterly schooled by now (thanks to hanging out with me so much) to the vast reaches of Steeler Nation.
We went out for dinner at some Italian place that had a dedicated kids dining area, which Dale & Dinah loved. They had their own server, their own little table and got to watch a movie while they dined. I was mildly envious! After the kids went to bed, we played a game of 80's Trivial Pursuit, which Ken knocked out of the park. We decided that next time, he can read all the questions instead of playing, which will level the playing field. It was the shortest game of that game we'd ever played! Due to the fact that I was in an allergy medicated haze, Maria bestowed upon me a new name, Bernie (weekend at Bernie's).
Sunday morning was occupied by Andrew making beignets to go with breakfast, me taking more medicine and some of us heading downstairs to play on the Wii. Bowling is about the only game I've gotten comfortable with on it. I am pretty old school when it comes to video games, so I play more on the gamecube and old Nintendo when I actually have time to play games. Andrew patiently showed Dale & Dinah how to play it, and they had a blast!
I tried to get a good picture of the kids in their leprechaun hats that I'd made for them, but I got the kind of photo that I usually end up with when I try to get one of my own kids. But it's still funny.
The drive home was yucky. Unlike last time I was in DC, this time the traffic getting out of there was nasty. We only went about 10 miles in the first hour, it stayed backed up before Richmond, and didn't really speed up until we'd gotten off 95 and onto 85. Maria and I took turns driving and by the time I got all the way home after dropping them off in Hillsborough, it was about 7 hours after we left Sara's. Granted, that did include a stop at the massively sized Wegmans that is south of DC, but still. I barely had the energy to spend much time with Chris before I fell asleep. Today should be better. I woke up feeling crummy but not so much now.
Life is a bottle of ketchup
Here I am, yet again, playing catchup with posting. It seems like all I've done lately is write "catching up on my posts." Stress will do that to a person. But to get myself caught up here and write about the fun that goes in between all the stress...
February 28th, Maria, Kelly and I went to Drag Queen Bingo in Durham. It is apparently a very popular event here and all the proceeds go to a really great cause, the HIV/AIDS alliance. I'd never seen drag queens in person before but I like bingo so I went. That was a few hours of hilarious fun. The dude hosting was dressed like he was captain on the Love Boat and his drag queen sidekick, Mary Kmart, was hilarious. There were singing numbers between every game, which is why the event was several hours long. I was a little annoyed by the fact that some kid won the 500 buck cash game, not because I expected to win anything, but because of the fact that there were a LOT of shall we say, risque and sexually charged jokes flying around the room. Not an appropriate venue for a child, in my opinion. I would not have taken any of mine there! But it was great fun.
This one in the orange circus tent dress reminds me of that over the top Mimi character from the Drew Carey Show. The funniest part of this one is that during his(her) song, you could tell the dress wasn't put on all the way because it bunched at the top and near the end of the number, the fake boobs started to slide down a little!
here's Capt. Stubing and Mary Kmart (isn't this a cheap tart of an outfit?) heehee
February 28th, Maria, Kelly and I went to Drag Queen Bingo in Durham. It is apparently a very popular event here and all the proceeds go to a really great cause, the HIV/AIDS alliance. I'd never seen drag queens in person before but I like bingo so I went. That was a few hours of hilarious fun. The dude hosting was dressed like he was captain on the Love Boat and his drag queen sidekick, Mary Kmart, was hilarious. There were singing numbers between every game, which is why the event was several hours long. I was a little annoyed by the fact that some kid won the 500 buck cash game, not because I expected to win anything, but because of the fact that there were a LOT of shall we say, risque and sexually charged jokes flying around the room. Not an appropriate venue for a child, in my opinion. I would not have taken any of mine there! But it was great fun.
This one in the orange circus tent dress reminds me of that over the top Mimi character from the Drew Carey Show. The funniest part of this one is that during his(her) song, you could tell the dress wasn't put on all the way because it bunched at the top and near the end of the number, the fake boobs started to slide down a little!
here's Capt. Stubing and Mary Kmart (isn't this a cheap tart of an outfit?) heehee
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