Facie’s Ramblings

Today, I went to the Pitt-Penn State football game. The last time I saw Penn State in action was also the last Pitt-Penn State game, also in Pittsburgh, way back in 2000. It was and I am quite different this time. Today, two jagoffs Pitt fan did things that I find reprehensible. About 1.5 hours before kickoff, I was walking down West General Robinson Street with a ton of others. All of a sudden, when I was nearly at Art Rooney Way, some a-hole in a Pitt shirt cross-checked my shoulder so hard, I spun slightly and dropped my water bottle. I was stunned. But being the middle of a fast-moving crowd, I picked up my water bottle and continued on. There is no way he could have accidentally done it. He just looked straight ahead right after and kept going. After I recovered, I could not help wondering what kind of a person does something like that to a complete stranger, a woman especially, presumably just because I had a Penn State hat on. I guess I will never know. But I feel sorry for hi...

Yesterday I took my dad and my kid up the incline so we could get a great view of the city. I ended up with some nice shots. I only wish I had thought to have brought my camera; the iphone does not do the view justice. Nice view of Heinz Field and the three rivers (mostly the Ohio and Allegheny) The edge of the Point, with Downtown and the Mon River Mostly the Point View of the Ohio and a little of Heinz Field The Ohio We ate at the Grandview Saloon, which I have not been to, I am guessing, since before J was born. We were fortunate that the waiter got this nice shot of the three of us with the view in the background. dad, J and I, with our fair city and a couple of rivers in the background (plus some random guy to my left) We also took a Gateway Clipper one-hour cruise, which allowed me to get a handful of nice city shots as well. View of Downtown from along the Mon River The Point from the Mon The Point from where the thr...

This past fall, I had the wonderful experience of being a chaperone on a field trip to RiverQuest, a non-profit educational organization that operates a river learning center for students, teachers, and the community of southwestern Pennsylvania. During the four-hour boat trip, the students got to examine organisms under microscopes, test water, learn various facts about plant and animal life in the river and environment, and much more. Recently, I looked up RiverQuest on the great big internet, and I discovered (or perhaps just remembered) that the organization offers Saturday cruises. So I decided the family should go. After a long walk around the North Shore on beautiful sunny day, we boarded the RiverQuest boat on the Ohio River, after having purchased our tickets at the nearby Science Center. The one-hour trip did not disappoint. The hubby, who was still slightly under the weather, appreciated time in the sun. And J and I did various learning activities. She was partic...

Back in December, I posted some pics from an afternoon/evening at Phipps Conservatory. I so enjoyed my time there that I went back a week or so later to get a dual membership. Probably the best $75 I have spent on anything. (And it was more like spending $54 since I was able to put the $26 I spent that evening in December towards my membership.) Including that time, I have been to Phipps at least five times, sometimes with others and sometimes alone. I have gone to the winter show, the spring show, to something in between the winter and spring show, and then J and I went today, for the summer flower show. Maybe I will do a post of the spring show, for posterity's sake. But here is the summer show! Here are some pictures of random, pretty flowers and plants  (I have no clue what is what): Purple is my favorite color, so of course this is beautiful Right now there are trains in many rooms. Love how the yellow and pink/red mix Here are some pic...

I had a really great Mother's Day weekend. It started out Friday evening with my enjoying a glass of wine while talking to the neighbors as our kids rode their bikes. I was able to let go and not hover over my kid, as I did last summer, when she first learned to ride a bike. (But I did get up a few times when they went around the corner and were out of our sight for more than a few minutes.). Let's not talk about the Pens loss that evening. Saturday morning, my MIL brought me a nice glass decorative thing. I really don't need more knick-knacks, but it was pretty and thoughtful. Then the hubby and J took her to the airport, while I cleaned the shower (okay, that part was not too fun) and then went shopping for a couple of hours. I am not a fan of shopping, but I had not been clothes shopping in months and this was the first time I have done it without a kid in way longer than that. I ended that trip with three free pretzels from Philly Pretzel Factory, thanks to my winning...

But this post is not going to be about my regrets; I will save those for another blog post (or maybe never). Instead, I want to come up with a list of things, on the fly, that I do not regret! Here goes, in no particularly order (because, again, these are just popping into my head): Moving to Pittsburgh. I have blogged about my love for the city (and I have complained about a number of things as well). But I am glad I live here and hope to for as long as possible.  Having a child. I debated about this for years. And I almost did not have J. But I thank God and whoever and whatever else is responsible for that (including the hubby!). Getting married. I am not going to pretend it has been easy. And there are times I just do not want to be married. But there is something about making a commitment and sharing the journey with someone else. Loving and losing in love. Heartbreak sucks, but I think it is important to go through it. Whatever doesn't kill you... Being close to my f...

Although I don't like creepy, crawly things, I am not afraid of them and am perfectly able to kill them when I see them. I like the dark, heights don't bother me too much (though I don't love them), and ghosts don't concern me (not sure if they are real, but have not ruled them out either). So what worries me and sometimes keeps me awake at night (or infiltrates me dreams)? This first one is really, really strange, and kind of gross: overflowing toilets. This goes back to a time when I was in high school, and upon flushing the toilet in the "big bathroom" of our house, the water starting pouring over the seat. I freaked out! I can still picture it happening and my subsequent panicking as water flowed onto the floor. I don't recall who was at home who came to my rescue and, presumably, turned the water off. What I do recall is being afraid to flush the toilet when I was home alone after that for weeks if not longer. Fortunately, I have never overflowed a...

One of my favorite blogger friends, Bluz, over at Darwinfish 2 , recently posted about his four-year blogiversary. I recall thinking at some point in either December or January that January 2008 was when I started this blog, but, surprise, surprise, I forgot about it when the actual time came. Regardless, five years is a long time to be doing something like this, for me, anyway, so I do want to acknowledge it. Yeah, me! My original intent for this blog was to post things about my kid, mostly pictures, so my brothers and their families would be able to keep up with us. Because they live too far away! But right from the get-go, my first post had very little to do with the kid, other than I posted a picture of her and the dog (I cannot believe how little my J looks in that pic). That post was a bit disjointed and lacking focus. The next one I titled "True Ramblings," yet it actually was not all that rambling (unlike many of my subsequent posts). Worth noting is I did not cap...

I have written about my love for Pittsburgh before. In fact, a Pittsburgh blog picked up a post I wrote a few years ago, which was the first time anything like that had ever happened to me. I am purposefully not going to find that post; I want to write a new love letter to the city I have had long-term relationship with. The impetus: Momalom , a blog written by two sisters who have six children between them (the blog is in my Blog List at right). My dearest Pittsburgh, I have loved you since I was a child, living two counties away. Back then you were many things to me: trips to the Buhl Planetarium, a ride on the incline or one of the Gateway Clipper boats, a chance to be on KDKA radio and visit Santa at Horne's during the holidays, the Ice Capades and an occasional child-friendly concert, a show at Heinz Hall and later the Benedum, the arts festival and regatta, and, pretty important to my family, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1984, we had season tickets to see the...

I tend to drive downtown (Pittsburgh) during the week only a few times a year, typically to meet a friend or two for lunch and most years to attend a Steelers pep rally. I generally have no reasons to be downtown during the week, and the pricey parking options, traffic, and triangular grid (kind of an oxymoron) peppered with one-way streets give me even more excuses to avoid the area. Two days ago, I headed downtown to pick up tickets I had won from a radio station. That winning phone call came only a couple days after I had won a free pizza from Papa John's for picking heads for the Super Bowl coin toss (something good did happen as a result of the Super Bowl). So I was in a pretty good mood as I headed into the city, a mood made even better as I arrived in about 20 minutes thanks to my waiting until after 10 a.m. I called up a friend who works downtown to get his advice on parking. Typically I park in the First Avenue Garage, which is located near the jail and at the beginnin...

While on Facebook this morning, I noticed that WTAE-TV Pittsburgh posted a video reporting about a massive brawl that occurred among local high school students and some parents/adults near a school bus stop after school yesterday. At one point there were as many as five different fights going on. Naturally, someone took the video and posted it to You Tube, because that seems to be a requirement anymore anytime something violent happens. Apparently, there were two different videos posted; a brawl actually happened two days in a row. WTAE posted a few snippets of the fights, blurring out the people since some are minors. If you want to view the video, you can find it on the station's website or Facebook page. I am guessing the complete videos, with full-on fighting are still on You Tube. I, however, have little interest in watching the savagery of people anymore than what I already witnessed. And, quite frankly, it is stretch for me to call these fighters "people." As I...

I swear that whenever I think my car will need new brakes or something else, it almost always ends up being fine as is. Just this past fall, the Saturn was fighting me almost every time I tried to turn the key in the ignition . I was fulling expecting to pay a lot of money to replace my lock cylinder, but my great mechanic tried graphite, and my key has failed to turn only one time in the past four months. Sure, the Vue is living on borrowed time, but I am happy to put that off as long as I can. Yesterday, I said to the hubby as well as to my mom that I really cannot think of what repairs my car would need during today's inspection. I am very hard on my brakes, but since I had those replaced less than two years ago, I figured I was fine. And after my tire debacle about a year ago, I was quite sure my just-under-one-year-old tires were going to be good at least until the end of this year (even though, of course, they are warranted for 80,000 miles). So what was left? Yes, there a...

For some people, 2012 was really awful. For others, 2012 brought many blessings. For me, 2012 was pretty good and mostly uneventful; there is not any one particular things that stands out for me. I had a short-term job for almost three months. But, much like my last steady/regular job, it seems like almost a lifetime ago. I also did some freelance work for the company where I used to work, and at times, I kind of felt as if I still worked there. And of course there was subbing. I won't even venture a guess as to what 2013 has in store for me job-wise. I am, however, pretty worried about my impending 2012 tax bill. Our run of getting a nice chunk of change back and putting it toward home improvement is over, at least for this year. I just hope we (I) don't owe too much money... I ran, swam, and did Zumba, but did not set the world on fire in any of those areas. Of course, I ran in the Race for Pace 5k and earned a third place medal ( albeit several weeks after the fact ), so...

Did you every notice how bad weather and holidays tend to bring out the worst in people? Sure, many come together in various, and sometimes positive, ways during those occurrences, but there are times when ugliness rears its head. Yesterday, western Pennsylvania was hit with some fast-falling snow, which happened to land on some ice. The roads, from the pictures and videos I saw and the comments I read on Facebook, were quite dicey in most areas. Considering this weather had been forecast for several days and this is PA in late December, not the deep South, the roads should have been in better shape. But on the other hand, you can pretreat all you want; when freezing rain comes down and there are a ton of cars on the road, it is unrealistic to expect smooth-sailing. But to read and listen to the number of complaints, it was clear that many (including the hubby) fell into the former camp. Admittedly, I was annoyed with the road conditions. Our taxes have gone up as has our house ass...

Ever since J was a toddler, we (or at least I) have been taking her to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Once or twice, we went when it was free (thank you, RAD). Mostly, we would go with the Pittsburgh chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association. And the past two years, J and I went during the week when the Penn State College of Education sponsored a day at the Zoo, most recently last week. I love our zoo! I cannot say that enough. I could spend all day there, but unfortunately, we seem to end up going on days when it is near or over 90 degrees. Still, I have never had anything less than a great time there. As creatures of habit, we always start out clockwise with the tigers and leopards. When it is hot, those guys and gals aren't too exciting, so we tend to see them (if they are not hidden) and quickly move on. I like to spend a few minutes looking at the flamingos because they are so pretty.  I am not too enthralled with the rhino, but I still manage to get a pic for good mea...