Facie’s Ramblings

Another month has passed without my blogging. I (sometimes) long for the days when I would blog several times  a week. I am just in a weird place now, and I am not sure blogging will help. Plus with the rather boring life I lead, there really is not much to say. But I will try to say a few things that are on my mind. The Steelers are the playoffs! I used to be so excited by that. And I am still a little. I will certainly be watching the game. I am wearing my Hines jersey as we speak. But I no longer get really worked up by a game. I don't cry when my team loses a big game. I no longer post a lot about the Steelers as I used to on Facebook and a little on here. This season is the second in a row I did not go to a single game, which is now my longest streak. My family got season tickets when I was in high school (can't remember when). I went to a game or two a year then. In college, I probably went to only one per year. Once I graduated and up until I had Jordan 10 years later,...

So I ran in my first 5k in two years this morning. I ran in the Race for Pace, which is one of my favorites because it is local (10 minutes from where I live) and Pace School does great things for kids with emotional and behavioral disorders. I initially wanted to finish in under 35 minutes, but once I realized that I ran the race in 28:55 two years ago, I decided I had to do better than 35. Even though back then I ran, swam and did Zumba weekly, and I was two years younger, I refused to settle for something six minutes slower. For the love of FloJo, I am not that old and out of shape. So I set a new goal of 33 minutes, though I was really, really hoping to do it in 31 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen: This Supergirl finished in 29:21. And, best of all, I got first page in my age group, 40-44 (or 40 and Fabulous, as I like to call it). It turns out there were only three people in my age group, but I was still first! (If I had finished third, I would have been pretty bummed)...

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 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...

Tomorrow the kid starts daycare. I am not even sure that is what it is called when your kid will be 10 in about 2.5 months and headed into fifth grade. As I said on Facebook, it has been almost five years since I had to gather up extra clothes, write my kid's name on things, etc. I am not even sure what the etc. is  because I cannot remember what you are supposed to do when you send your kid off to a child-care facility (which in this case is a church-school)! J is a little apprehensive about it, but I think she is also slightly excited (and by think, I mean hope and pray). It will be a chance to meet some new people who hopefully will be kind-hearted. We are both glad that the place provides breakfast, which means that J can sleep in an extra 10 minutes from what she did the past nine months. The place also provides lunch, most choices which she likes, which also means that she won't have to pack her lunch too often. I still am sad that she has to do this. I am sad that she ...

So far, the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs has been an interesting ride for the Penguins faithful. The first game, this past Wednesday, was awesome. The Pens pretty much wiped the ice with the Islanders in a 5-0 route. I have heard people say that they would not want every game to be a blowout/one-sided. I agree with that statement, but I would certainly not mind if most of the games went that way for my teams. I get way too wrapped up in important games to go through too many nailbiters, which is exactly how the next two games played out. Friday's game started off well, with the Pens pretty much picking up where they left off and scoring a couple of goals in the first period, most notably one by Sidney Crosby, who had been out for a month. He may have been wearing more headgear than a football player, but that kid can play. I was (somewhat happily) thinking the Islanders were in for another shellacking, although I was actually feeling a little sorry for them. Unfor...

I started getting occasional bouts of insomnia when the kid was a baby. I don't recall how often my sleepless nights would occur back then, though I very vividly remember one fall night when I got up to do work. But for the past few years, I would say I have had trouble sleeping anywhere from a dozen to several dozen times a year. Typically it is stress-related, but not always. This latest wave began when I was offered the job for which I have now completed my first month. It was really bad the week before my job started and the first week of, but it has settled down since. Unfortunately, I still cannot seem to go more than four or five days without getting only a few hours of sleep in one night. The good news is that because I have been quite busy at work I don't really notice how tired I am. Surprisingly (and I hope I am not jinxing myself or tempting fate by saying this) I still can manage to react quickly in traffic, something I have to do pretty often. But there are ti...

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...

I really could not think of a good title to this post, and the one above says just about nothing. But I am sure, as usual, once I finish writing this post (which I already wrote in my head early this morning while trying to fall back asleep but most of which I forget), I will have come to no conclusions. Sports are on my mind right now, and I wanted to briefly (for me) touch on what are probably the most-talked-about topics as of late. First you have that jagoff, Lance Armstrong. I was one of the duped ones who wanted to believe this cyclist not only beat cancer but went on to do amazing things in a grueling event many times over. I love feel-good stories. And, as has been noted around these here parts, I like and want to believe the best about people. Further, when Armstrong denied the doping allegations and then went on to sue people who said he did dope, well, how could he have been lying? I don't know why Armstrong chose to, mostly, come clean at this point (or maybe I read...

My last post about fading into the background is absolutely true for the vast majority of the time. Every once in awhile, however, the "old" me shows herself. Yesterday and today are two examples. Story 1: Facie the Competitor Some guy at the pool yesterday: You have been swimming a really long time. You must be tired after all those laps. Me (slightly annoyed): No, I have done only 10 (which took me about 12 minutes, which is not a long time). I swim more laps and notice the guy looking at me as I am swimming towards him. The guy: Do you want to race me? Me (after my jaw drops): I might swim a lot of laps, but I am not fast. I then swim away, wondering if I had traveled back in time and am at some junior high camp. I continue to swim my laps and actually consider racing him. After all, I used to be quite competitive. And I just finished about 24 laps and still have energy for more. He is of average build, closer to thin, but he keeps taking breaks after a few laps. ...

I spent chunks of time today writing a post on this morning's Race for Pace. I would add more details and then take something way. Ultimately, I ended up boring myself, which means I would probably put most of you to sleep. So here is an abbreviated post, in a list. It was probably about 35-degrees at race time, but sunny (it was 29 degrees when I got there 45 minutes earlier). My attire of a long-sleeved t-shirt, a windbreaker, yoga pants, socks as gloves, and a knee brace (one of those flexible-stretchy things) from early this century turned out to be the right wardrobe. I was relatively pain-free the entire time (knee brace was a good call); even my feet hurt very little (though during the first mile, two of my toes were numb from the cold!) I started off strong, kept a pretty steady pace, struggled a bit near the end up the last hill, but "kicked it in" as best as I could the last tenth of a mile. Having my friend Diane there cheering me on really helped. As I ...

On Saturday, God willin' and the creek don't rise, I will be running in my first 5K in two years. I started slacking off on my running last year, pretty much all the way through the beginning of this school year. But when school started back up this year, I rededicated myself to running at least once a week, and I have done that, for the most part. So I decided to turn this running into something that "counts" at least once this year. And since I have done the Race for Pace before, and it is only a few miles from my house, it seemed like a good race to do. New for me this year is the age group I will be in: 40 to 44, which apparently qualifies me as a master. Huh?! What the what? Whatcha you talkin' 'bout Willis?! To me, 40 is not old to be a runner. I see runners of all ages. Granted there are many more younger than older runners, but just looking at the results from last year's race, I noticed that 42 out of 135 males and 32 out of 100 females were...

I am sitting here waiting for the oven repair guy (or gal) to show up. Earlier this year, our oven, which looked brand new when we bought the house 10.5 years ago but was probably several years old, would randomly shut off during baking. Fortunately, if we turned it back on, it was fine, so we chose to ride it out. Then, a few weeks later, it would not light/start (whatever happens with a gas oven). So hubby scheduled a repair and mentioned only that the oven would no longer light/turn on. The repair guy fixed that, but within a day or two, the oven would shut off again. Since hubby failed to mention the randomly turning off issue, we knew we would have to pay for another appointment, so we, once again, ignored the problem. Unfortunately, it has gotten worse, and the oven hardly stays on now. And that is why I am waiting for the repair person and hoping beyond hope it won't set us back more than $150. Wall ovens are not cheap to replace! But wait, there's more. Back in July, ...

Right now I am watching the Olympics, as I have done late every night since Friday. I don't know about you, but my favorite sports are, in no particular order, swimming, diving, gymnastics, beach volleyball, and some track and field events. I am a pretty good swimmer. I may not be the most graceful (my butterfly is more like the baboon), but I have endurance and a fair amount of speed. I am not even ashamed to admit that after a particularly good day of swimming last year, I actually looked up some Olympic records to see if I came close. Spoiler alert: I did not. Unfortunately, that is about as athletic as I get. I can dive the most basic dive; everything else scares me (not that too many pools in this sue-happy era have diving boards). But seeing the twists and turns these divers do leaves me almost breathless. In a good way. I am absolutely lousy at gymnastics. I cannot do a cartwheel, handstand, or split, which makes what these gymnasts do all the more amazing to me. Ser...

It is weird for me to blog so infrequently. Yet I almost (almost!) don't miss it. I started working at a company on part-time, freelance basis almost four weeks ago. Even though I have been working only about 20 hours per week, I have had to juggle some things, commute a few times (have not missed that), and send my kid to after-school care twice. When you throw in a day of subbing, no school for almost a week, plenty of Easter-related church, spending time with relatives, and everyday normal stuff, well, blogging and Facebook take a backseat. But I did want to get in a good "Let's go, Pens!" cheer as today is the official start of the tied-for-first-place most wonderful time of the year--the Penguins-included hockey playoffs (Steelers playoffs share the trophy, in case that was not clear). Here's hoping the Pens can bring home another Cup. At the very least, I want the Pens to kick the crap out of Philthy. But not literally, because you know how I am anti-v...

In honor of Sidney Crosby's second comeback from his concussion-recurrence symptoms, I thought I would share how I came to love hockey. I "discovered" hockey when I was a freshman at Penn State, from 1989 to 1990. Growing up 45 miles east of Pittsburgh, I certainly knew of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they just weren't that good (in fact in the '80s, they were pretty bad), plus hockey was not exactly in vogue back then. The only player I had heard of was Mario Lemieux, but his greatest was not enough to get me interested in hockey prior to my going to college. But Penn State, on the other hand, had a great team in the Icers. They won many games by a touchdown or more, and they were just fun to watch. The sports complex was small, so you could easily see where the puck was at all times, the lack of which has turned off many a would-be fan. Because I was a poor college student, I could not afford to go to many games, so my sophomore year I smartly joined the Hoc...

The party's over. I was not really expecting my team, even with all the injuries, to lose to an 8-8 team with a QB who was a horrible passer. But maybe God really was on Tebow's side (I say that with some sense of seriousness; see my last paragraph). But I mostly believe that God could care less about sports, bands, movies, etc. I am pretty sure He has enough other things to keep track of. And let's face it: a lot of rich, famous people are rather crappy people, and I kind of doubt God would want to reward that kind of behavior with a #1 movie, album, or Super Bowl victory. But what do I know? Well, I know that the Steeler season is over, not even halfway through what is typically the worst month of winter here in southwestern PA. And unlike last year, I don't get to look forward to watching football into February. There is no more planning weekend activities around Steeler games. No excitement in thinking that my team could be hoisting another Lombardi trophy thr...

Remember how I complained that I used to be lucky, but then my luck kind of ran out? And then I wrote a follow-up post almost a year later, sharing how I did win a great prize, a photo shoot? Since then, I have entered probably several dozen contests, including a trip to the zoo in which two lucky winners were selected. Only three people signed up for that contest (it was on a blog), and I happened not to be one of the two. Sheesh. I also tried to win one of the many PG prizes over the summer, spending probably $5 in postage. No luck there either. But then, a few weeks ago, I entered a contest to win tickets to the Nutcracker. My odds were pretty good; I think only 13 people entered. And to further increase my odds, I entered the same contest on an affiliate site, where about as many people signed up. I saw the Nutcracker when I was a kid, and I don't remember liking it all that much. But it was something I wanted to take J to, since she likes dancing, and I was pretty sure...

I like to celebrate a birth weekend or a three-day birth anniversary whenever I can. Why limit yourself to just one day out of 365?! So, of course, in advance of today, the big 4-0, I decided to start my celebrating on Saturday. It started off on a small scale. I took Jordan to the Home Depot for one of those kids' workshops. With no hammering and a few screws, it was right up my alley. And, I was able to lift and carry the full propane tank back to the car, so clearly I am not over the hill! We followed that up with a quick trip to Kohl's, where I treated myself to a new wallet. Even waiting in a 20-person-deep line could not dampen my spirits, what with my happily telling the two people in front of me and one behind me that I was turning 40 on Monday. Yesterday was the real highlight. With my Steelers Santa cap and Hines Ward jersey on and my Terrible Towel in pocket, I headed downtown, where I got to park for free! I had a nice walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and...

May your travels be safe, your food be yummy, your family fights be limited (or, better yet, non-existent), and may you find at least one thing to be thankful for. I have many blessings, which I will try to remember over these next few days, particularly while sitting in traffic, being annoyed by a family member, or moaning about how much I have overeaten. I need to remember that I have a car to drive, family to visit, and food to eat. Yes, I am indeed blessed. Happy Thanksgiving! Oh, and can I just say that I am also thankful that Sidney Crosby is back on the ice and that I won tickets to see the Nutcracker. Almost makes me forget about my dead TV. :-)