Facie’s Ramblings

Yesterday, I met with about 15 former coworkers from the job I was at the longest (almost 13 years). About once every year or two, someone sends out an email and tries to gather together as many people as possible for an afternoon or evening on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Although I could not tell you how many coworkers I had at that job (in 13 years, a lot of people come and go), I am lucky to say that I worked with a lot of great people over the years. And even though I keep in touch with a only a handful of them on a regular basis, it sure is nice to see some "old" faces every now and again. And speaking of old... I missed the gathering that was held in 2012. So the last time I saw most of these people was in the summer of 2011. And it could have even been 2010, as the years seem to run into each other. A few people I had not seen since I left that job (five years ago Thursday!), and one person I had not seen in probably several years before that. Most everyone loo...

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...

I have complained a few times about how I used to be lucky but then I pretty much stopped winning anything . I was particularly dismayed that I had never won a contest with Pittsburgh Mom , despite the fact that I had entered probably 50 giveaways and some of them had only 30 entries, for the love of Pete. Well, that changed just over a week ago when I became the winner of a Nicole Begley mini photo session, courtesy of Pittsburgh Mom. This past Saturday, Jordan, Brian, and I had a bunch of pictures taken at a nice park in the Cranberry area. Of course, Brian and I argued about what to wear; he pretty much has no dress clothes and I don't own a single pair of jeans that fits me decently, hence our dilemma. Ultimately, we decided to wear gray, and we were overdressed (really, who wears dress pants or a dress at a park on a cold fall day?), but, hey, we got free pics! You can see a few of the photos on her blog . I just love the last one of Jordan. The ones of me? Not so much, th...