Facie’s Ramblings

If I were a betting a woman, I would bet that I have used the above post title before. I will try to remember to check before I post this. Here it is, another New Year's Eve. Unlike Barry Manilow, I don't feel the need to make it the best. This night really is just another night for me. My guess is that I have stayed up past midnight only once in the past decade (old-cough-old). Tonight will probably be no exception. I will be going out to dinner with my mom and the kid. We waited until yesterday to make a reservation, so we will be dining at 4:30 (speaking of old). My guess is if we had tried this in the Burgh, we would have been out of luck (we are at Mom's in Indiana County). But the worrier in me likes to be off the roads pretty early anyway. Mom has been in PA since Sunday night, just before midnight. For some reason almost an hour elapsed from the time her plane landed (around 11:50 p.m., not exactly a prime flying time) until her suitcase made it on the luggage...

I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas. If yours was anything like mine, you may still be in some sort of a food coma. I started eating a lot of cookies Christmas Eve and since then have stopped eating (not just cookies) only when I was at church, in the car, or sleeping. A lot of my pants are too big anyway... Anyway, now that the secular season is winding down, I wanted to share some observations: Even though I have been listening to Christmas songs since the 19th of November (Light-Up Night is the "official" start of the season in the Burgh), I am not ready for the radio stations to stop playing the jolly tunes. This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Christmas songs on two stations, but I am guessing that is for us Church folk, who are still in the Christmas season.  I like to think that I have finally accepted that no matter how many times I ask my MIL not to buy Jordan a lot of gifts and/or spend a lot of money on her for Christmas (and birthday, for tha...

The above post title is the sentiment/closing on our 2010 Christmas card (below, not that you can really read it). Nevertheless, with those things in life, life is good. Happy Birthday, Jesus. Emmanuel. Wonderful. Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. Merry Christmas!

I have been a posting fool the past few days. But I wanted to get Jordan's little solo on the blog before I forgot/while I was on the computer. My baby sang one line, three times, for "Mary Had a Baby" during the school Christmas concert. Of course, I am biased when I say she is good. But I think I am right. And just watch her bob her knees to the music. You would never have known that she was nervous. And so was I, but only because she was. So proud of my little angel. Enjoy these last few days before Christmas. Try not to get too stressed out. Remember the reason for the season, whatever the reason for you may be.

I realized I never posted my blow-by-blow account of our getting our Christmas tree, which was such a fun experience that I had to share. If you have never gone to a tree farm to pick out and cut down your own tree, I recommend you do it at least once or else go with someone who is doing it (this is our second year). And in case you think it is bad for the environment (what, killing an innocent tree and all), know that these trees are grown specifically to be cut down for Christmas, and many trees are planted each year to take their places. Plus, you are supporting a local tree farm! So here goes our little story. And by little, of course, I mean long-winded. We went to Fleming s in New Alec, which I would guess is about 45 minutes east of downtown (yes, Pittsburghers really do measure distances in time, rather than miles). They also have a bigger location in Indiana, the Christmas tree capital of the world (or so Indiana likes to say). First, we walk through the field (forest?) ...

Back in September, I ranted about having to pay a $25 copay for my annual gynecologist visit because apparently that is considered a special office visit (the copay for a regular office visit is $15). Imagine my surprise and delight when just a few days ago, I received a $10 check from the practice for "overpayment" for that September visit. I thought about calling the 800 number to find out why I was getting this $10. But I am pretty sure it is because I was right. Now nurse friends especially, please resist the urge to tell me otherwise. I just want to have this small victory.

If you have been reading this blog regularly, then you know my mom was hospitalized about two months ago, and once she got out, she headed to Texas to stay with my little brother and his family. Up until that time, Jordan and I spent a night or two at my mom's about every other week. Today, we drove to Indiana County, where she lives (lived) for the first time since. It felt weird to drive on those roads again after that hiatus. I was at once sad thinking about how long it had been and comforted by the familiarity. But I was not going to see my mom; rather, we were headed to spend a few hours with some cousins followed by dinner at an aunt and uncle's (they all live in the same town Mom did/does). Between destinations, I decided we might as well stop by Mom's house to "check on things," something that probably was not necessary since my aunt had just been there a day or two before. As we neared Mom's house, I noticed the car of a neighbor whom Jordan and...

Yesterday's post was a rant about a fairly pointless two-hour delay. For the record, if it is snowing in the morning or if it has snowed throughout the night, I am not against a delay; the road crews have a lot of ground to cover. It is unfortunate for those who still need to get to work and are left scrambling to find child care or have to go in late. But I am all about safety. It is the temps that are clearly going nowhere any time soon that do not warrant a delay, again, in my opinion. It will be cold all day today. Having another delay today, once again, seemed pointless, but I am over it. ***** I had a rough weekend, and I have debated whether I should write about it. As my mom and one of my brothers are so fond of saying (though I will be paraphrasing), "Once you put it down in writing (on paper or in an email), it will always be there. You can't take it back." For that reason, when things weigh heavily on my mind, I don't always share them in this blog....

As part of my embracing the holiday/Christmas season, I am trying to be chipper about the snow. Seeing as how we most likely will be seeing a lot of that white stuff over the next three months and all. Well, maybe chipper is pushing it a bit. I guess I am going more for not loathing it just yet. But, already, we have had our first delay of the school year. A delay that was rather pointless, in my opinion. Sure it is cold today. It was maybe 18 degrees with a windchill at or just below 0 degrees when I woke up around 6 a.m., turned on the TV, and discovered we were on a two-hour delay (FYI, this "discovery" took some time; our school's automatic call system did not go through this morning, so I found out about the delay after staring at the bottom of the TV screen until we got to the saints). The low temp was no surprise; the weather people had been calling for it for days. The same weather people did not, however, tells us that by mid morning, the mercury was going ...

This holiday season (for the record, I am referring to it as the holiday season because Christmas does not start until December 25 and it seems a little too narrow to refer to it as Advent), I am doing just what I said I would not. Well, I am doing what I said I would a few weeks ago, which is embracing the season . I listen to Christmas music every day in the car (mixed in with some sports radio, of course). I am trying my best to be extra pleasant to people while waiting in long lines. More often than usual, I let cars in traffic get in front of me. I have worn my various Santa hats (PSU, Steelers, red) several times , including yesterday during lunch duty. I bought a gift for the angel tree at church and have given a donation to the food bank. And I finished my Christmas cards before Thanksgiving and painstakingly waited to send them out until November 29 (just could not wait until December 1). The thing that I did not want to do was get caught up in the presents, which is exact...

In less than an hour, I will be 39. I have no bad feelings about this. No feelings of impending doom because I will be 40 next year (God willin' and the creek don't rise, as dad always said). No feelings of sadness because I have not yet accomplished a lot of great or impressive things. I just want to be glad that I have made it this far. Proud because I am in pretty darn good shape, thanks to running, swimming, and just keeping active in general. Thankful that I have a roof over my head, food in the house, a healthy family, and a still-working husband. Grateful that I get called in to substitute (even if it is not as often as I would like, considering the day I had on Wednesday, I should probably be glad). Lucky and blessed that I have been able to spend the amount of time I have been with my kid over the past 1.5-plus years. Fortunate that I live in the US, where we have freedom of speech and religion and the right to vote. And happy that I am able to write this blog (and f...

Yesterday, the Burgh woke up to a bit of snow. Just a trace amount where I live, but enough to dust the roads and create some slick spots (it was worse in other areas). Pretty much every year without fail, the first time it snows, I get a teeny bit freaked out. I worry about sliding my car into another or getting stuck trying to make it up the hill out of our area. And our steep, downhill driveway is no picnic either. Back when my kid went to an at-home, city neighborhood daycare just off a hilly street, I was pretty much a nervous wreck anytime it snowed. With cars parked along both sides, you had just one lane to drive up and down the street, often making it impossible to turn around. So I was often forced to head down the very steep perpendicular road near her caregiver's house. Said narrow street often had cars parked along the side. Gives me the willies just remembering the many times I had the car in the lowest possible gear, holding my breath and clutching the steering whe...