More random ramblings

Here is what is on my noodle today, in no particular order:

Yes, the snow is pretty and all. And I won't even say that it would be fine with me if it does not snow again until December (except I just did). But I will say, I am done with excessive snow and the ensuing snow days that seem to keep on coming. And I am even more irritated that some schools want to get out of teaching 180 days. The kids need it, and I pay a lot for my kid's education besides.
I read a somewhat disturbing but not too surprising article about how being laid off affects your health. I am really trying to be positive about my situation, and most of the time I am, but I can't help feeling a little down and of course worried sometimes. Not as worried as Brian, however, and we all know what worry can lead to.
Speaking of health, which leads me to health insurance, is it any wonder that people ignore their health problems when they have little or crappy insurance? I was having some weird pains in my arms and legs a few weeks ago. After about five days of wondering if I had a blood clot or was having a stroke, I broke down and went to the doctor. Fortunately, I seem to be fine. But my wallet, of course, is a little less for the wear. The doctor visit and lab work cost about $365, and I am responsible for about $185. Not a huge bill, but just enough to make me wish I had stayed at home. And that is kind of sad.
And speaking of money, I am still bothered by people that are stupid with it. Last weekend there was a couple around my age, with two kids, on the Suze Orman show. They had less than $2,000 in savings and 10k or 15k in credit card debt, and they wanted to buy a house to take advantage of the tax credit. Morons. Need I say more?
I wish people in general would care more about their fellow man (please excuse the sexist language). Someone wrote a letter to the editor about how the guy who died because the ambulance could not reach him might have lived if he had neighbors or friends who could have helped carry him in the snow to the vehicle. He makes a good point; we should think less about what government, services, etc., can do for us, and more about how we can help each other. JFK might have had it right.
I will be glad when February is over. I am not a fan of Valentine's Day, I don't think people need a day off school or work because of President's Day, and I am just hopeful March won't be as snowy as February. Please tell me it won't be, okay?!

Let's build something together!

That is one of my favorite slogan's (Or is that a tagline? Over a year removed from a design firm, and I can no longer remember). It belongs to Lowe's, although I am more of a Home Depot gal. But suffice it to say if someone handed me a $5,000 gift card to Home Depot (or Lowe's), I would be ecstatic. If I had $10,000 to spend, you could hear my shouts of joy from miles away. The things I could do with that money. Well, the things I could have Brian do with that money anyway. I love walking around Home Depot and admiring the fancy bathroom sinks and tubs. I look at the lighting and think about where I would put each fixture. I touch textured and colorful tiles and wistfully look at the fancy kitchen cabinets. I admire the various carpet styles and blinds. I look at the fancy front-loading washer and wonder what it must be like to have a steam dryer. I even look longingly at the vacuum cleaners because I can no longer buy a replacement filter for my eight year old mo...

If only I had taken pictures of my detoured drive

When I moved to the Burgh just over 14 years ago, I had a lot of anxiety about getting from "here" to "there." I found the city, which is triangular, and even some of the suburbs quite confusing. On top of that, a lot of the signs were of little help. Clearly they were put up by either natives who had no need for directions or people with a sick sense of humor who thought it would be funny to put signs in random places, leaving off important roads. At some point, I got over that fear of driving to a new building downtown. I don't recall when it happened, but eventually I just figured most of the city out; and when I had to head to a new place, I just drove around, no longer with a feeling of dread, knowing I would eventually get there. But on Sunday morning, that awful, long-ago feeling returned, thanks to the closure of the outbound Fort Pitt Tunnels. I had to pick my mother up from the airport, so there was no avoiding it. (For some reason, my family think...

Summer in review

This summer I made it a point to try to take at least one pic of Jordan whenever we went somewhere, which most often was a park. I wanted to capture all the great, fun things we did this summer, knowing that it was probably going to be my last summer not working for quite some time. So here goes. I have expressed my love of Frick Park, particularly Blue Slide Park, in other posts ; it really is one of our favorites. And this summer marked the first one I did not feel the need to follow J around like a little puppy dog. I actually let her run around and explore, though, admittedly, I would panic if more than three minutes went by and I had not seen her. In the pics above, J is at the end of the blue slide, and then hanging several feet above concrete (which scared the crap out of me). We also visited another section of Frick Park, the area on the corner of Braddock and Forbes, a few times. There is not as much to do as Blue Slide, but we go there to mix things up a bit. In the p...

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