Facie’s Ramblings

It kind of seems wrong to utter that phrase, which has been one of many catchphrases/battle cries for the ever-faithful Steeler Nation, who fairly regularly has a feeling their ( our ) team is going to the Super Bowl. But I am not even sure the Steelers are going to pull together more than six wins this season; I am 99 percent certain the playoffs are not in their future. But the Buccos. Oh, the Buccos. The Pirates are in the playoffs, baby! Sure, the longest losing streak in major sports ended a few weeks ago. But the way the season was going, it was not going to be enough to just break even or end up a little over .500. No, the fans (both die-hard and fair-weather) wanted more. Last night, we officially got that. And what an ending it was. I don't remember the last time I was so nervous/excited for a baseball game/play. But to see that tag out at home plate (I have no idea if that would be considered a tag out, but that is what I am calling it). Here's hoping the Pir...

I wonder how many others obsess about money the way I do. And by do , I mean do, did, and do again. When hubby and I were both working for however-many years the last time around, I often worried that we did not have enough money, even though we were able to put a nice chunk of change in the banks every month. I cannot explain this somewhat irrational fear, though I am guessing it is mostly related to our making less than many others I knew. And then when I was first laid off, I worried even more, because all of a sudden our income was drastically reduced. So if I was worried before, it made sense that I would have a world of worry at that point. But eventually my worrying lessened, even though I went several years without a steady income. Being frugal and boring to begin with meant that we did not have to give up too much (oh, we definitely gave up stuff). And caring very little about material things helped tremendously. If we had been spenders who had debt on our credit cards and...

Every year around this time I write a 9/11 post. This year will be no different. Yet in some ways it is different. As the years pass, I think about it less and less. It used to weigh on my heart as the anniversary was a few weeks away. But this year, I don't think I thought about until it was about a week away.  Although I don't think time heals all wounds, time can certainly lessen the memories and the pain. But as I watched streaming video of the remembrance ceremony today, I saw just how raw and painful this day is for those who lost loved ones during that relatively short amount of time. My heart ached for the people whose voices cracked as they read the names of their loved ones. My eyes welled up with tears, particularly as I watched and heard young people say the names of their relatives and most definitely when someone had lost a parent or child. Every year I allow myself to be somber and reflective. I always watch a few 9/11 programs; my favorite is "102 Minutes T...

I am fairly certain at one point, I may have written a blog post with that very title. But I am not willing to take the time to find out. Because the main point of my post is that I don't have time to write blog posts anymore. And, as bad, I am missing out on reading so many of my blogging buddy's posts. I long for the days when I would have read posts from 10 blogs and then the next day I would be all, "Why can't these people write more often?!" The truth is that I could make time for this. But once I got the iPhone, the computer took a backseat. And it is fairly annoying trying to write a blog post from an iPhone. That was my last post, and it took me probably an hour. I could spend that time playing Scramble with Friends. ;-) Anyway, let me just throw out a handful or three of updates, in case any of you still happen by these parts. Work has been going pretty well. The busyness comes and goes. It should pick up soon. But overall I'm still happy there...