Facie’s Ramblings

I really could not decide on the better post title to aptly describe the blogger dinner I went to Saturday night, so I used them both, probably creating the world's longest blog post title! Considering this is going to be a long post, it kind of makes sense. So here is how it went, blow by blow (get your popcorn ready): Brian thought with the nearly always awful traffic on the Parkway East combined with a Pirates game and a closed exit that I should leave at 4:30 for the 6 p.m. dinner. I figured that 4:45 would be safe. In reality, even with a traffic backup at the North Shore, I was driving past the restaurant at 5:20. Unfortunately, the restaurant is BYOB and does not have a bar, so I had a dilemma. After driving around for six or seven minutes, I noticed a bar a block or two up the street, so I parked near it. As I was walking to the bar, I thought back to a time in '94 or '95 when I walked into a bar near the campus of IUP one weekday afternoon. I had hoped and ass...

Over the past week or so, I had given a lot of thought as to whom I should send my next thank-you note . Joe Paterno's family crossed my mind, because he did mean something to me, and I wanted to thank his family for sharing him with so many of us. But the family has received thousands of cards, so I don't think my one card is going to mean much to them. I might still send one, but not for awhile. I also thought about sending a note to Amy over at Callapitter. Because of her, I try to treasure the moments I spend with my kid more so than I might have had I never came to know her. But that note does not feel quite right either. If I had lost my kids, I am not sure how much I would appreciate someone with children thanking me for helping her appreciating her children. So I am going to sit on the idea of that note for a bit (or maybe forever) as well. This morning I woke up to the annoyance of a fire whistle followed by several loud fire trucks. I was silently cursing them, si...

Last night, Jordan and I attended the third of three public meetings related to Kate and Peter's Treehouse. When we arrived at the tent at the Frick Environmental Center, Jordan and I were greeted by Marijke Hecht, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy director of education. She asked Jordan if she saw her picture on a recent Conservancy email, to which Jordan happily (and slightly embarrassed) replied yes. (A few days ago, I received an email about this night's meeting, and when I opened it, there was Jordan's picture, messy hair and all, larger than life. Cool.) But on to the important stuff. At this latest meeting, once we arrived at the actual site, we were greeted by large posters about the project. Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing, and my phone takes crappy pictures, but it will give you some sense. The posters also included some photos from the previous meetings as well as some of the comments that people wrote at the meetings. Here are a...

This evening Jordan and I attended the second of three Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy meetings focused on Kate and Peter's treehouse . You may recall I blogged about the first meeting before it happened, and was not even sure we would end up going, thanks to Jordan's reaction to Kate and Peter's death. I am happy to report despite my concern, Jordan seemed to accept what happened, and that meeting went well. Here is the treehouse masterpiece she and a friend's daughter created that evening: Tonight's meeting was held at Frick Park. On our way to the three areas we were to visit, all the treehouses the kids had created from that last meeting flanked the pathway. I thought it was pretty cool. Jordan is standing near hers. Not nearly as cool is my shadow! We then went to the site of the future treehouse and wrote down our ideas on cards hanging from/on wires as well as on trees. At first, I kind of struggled with this creative process. I worked at a design firm...