Facie’s Ramblings

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...

Once again, I started to write another post. On one of my favorite topics as of late: Penn State. I wrote an even better one in my head last night when I was trying to fall asleep. But in the light of the day (which is actually the dusk of the evening now), I cannot remember it. Since I still have so many thoughts swirling around my head about this whole hideous mess, I want to instead come up with a list of some memorable Penn State moments. I feel for the victims. I truly do. And I am saddened that people lied and covered things up. But I am not sorry that I went to Dear Old State. Anyway, here goes nothing, in no particular order. It won't mean a whole heckuva lot to most of you, but it sure means something to me. I remember... Having mono, going home for something like 10 days, and then getting on the Loop bus back to my dorm only to be greeted by several of my friends who were riding around the bus waiting for my return. Signing up for astronomy because I thought i...

By now I should be tired of all the negative political ads that I am being bombarded with. But because Penn State continues to remain at the forefront of local and, to a lesser extent, national news (Paternoville is now Nittanyville! Take the statue down! Camp out to defend the statue! The Paternos are conducting their own investigation! The Freeh Report is biased! Joe Paterno is a child rape enabler!), the ads are not affected me as negatively as they have in the past. Yet. I read yesterday that Romney is outspending Obama. I was extremely surprised at this nugget. I would have put the ratio of Obama to Romney ads at about 4 to 1 in western PA, which would lead me to conclude the opposite. Because isn't PA supposed to be a battleground state? If so, why is it that it appears I am seeing mostly the mud-slinging by Obama's camp? Maybe this just occurs on the stations I am watching, but if any of you is seeing a lot of Romney ads, I would love to hear. But speaking of mud-sli...

I spent almost three hours last evening reading the Freeh report. Hubby asked why I would waste my time doing so, and I said that as a Penn Stater and someone who has given Paterno the benefit of the doubt, I needed to read it. Too many people were commenting in various places without having read more than the press release or parroting what others have said, and I didn't want to be one of those people. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who are having trouble putting all my thoughts and opinions into coherent statements. In fact, I have edited and pretty much changed this post three times. What follows is rambling and disjointed, which is due in no small part to my difficulty in wrapping my head around so much information and trying to reconcile that with my wanting to think the best about people. :-( Do I feel differently since yesterday, when based on the press release and some of what I had read, it appeared that JoePa knew more than he let on? Not a lot. In fact, he and...

I am currently about a 1/3 of the way through the Freeh Report, the investigation about what Penn State did and did not do in regards to the Sandusky nightmare. As you can imagine, I am most concerned with JoePa's role, having greatly admired him. I wanted to wait until I had read the entire report, which I plan to do this evening, but even without yet doing so, I wanted to share some opinions I have formed so far, pretty much off the cuff. Joe Paterno is not looking as good as many of his followers (including me) had hoped he would. It seems pretty clear that he (and former President Spanier) knew about the 1998 shower/bear-hugging incident, something he/they denied before, which makes his/their actions (or inaction) regarding the 2001 shower incident all the more troubling. I did, however, feel slightly better knowing that JoePa told Sandusky he was never going to be coach before the 1998 shower incident occurred. People have speculated it was the other way around. What I a...

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...

That may have been the longest blog title I ever wrote. But it sums up my feelings pretty well. You could read just that and skip the post, and you probably would not miss too much, other than a bunch of disjointed thoughts. But I have a few things I want to say, so here goes. I love Joe Paterno. Well, loved . I realize many, many people don't understand this and never will, and that is okay. I won't bother to try to explain it, because, as I said in a Facebook post this morning, I can't. But there are people out there who do get it. All of whom know what the expected response is to, "We are." And I guess those of us can take comfort in this shared experience. As someone else said on Facebook this morning, “I would hope that my life would be judged as a whole and not just by some bad choices.” That is the thing that too many people have overlooked. Joe Paterno did not molest any boys. Joe Paterno did not shower with any boys. He is not a monster. Yes, he sho...

I still have so many thoughts swarming around my head regarding the Jerry Sandusky-Penn State scandal, but I cannot take the time to write them all down. And there is no way anyone would want to read paragraph after paragraph even if I could. So let me briefly (for me) sum up my thoughts as of right now. The whole situation is sad. So incredibly sad for the kids, but sad for others too. Sad for the people who thought they were doing the right thing but may not have been. Sad for the people who should have done more and probably knew it. Sad for the reputation of a great school. Sad for coach who did so much for a university. Sad for the fans. Sad for the students. Sad for the community. Sad for sports. Sad for parents. Just sad. I know that Joe Paterno needed to no longer be the coach. I had hoped he would have stepped down on his own, but he did not. I know PSU's cutting ties with him is the right thing to do, but that does not mean that it is not sad. I hate that this is ho...

Before I launch into my thoughts about the scandal at Penn State involving former assistant (until 1999) football coach Jerry Sandusky and the apparent cover up (at least ignoring) of Sandusky's sexual abuse of youth, let me say that unlike many alumni, I cannot personally be embarrassed by something involving my alma mater when I had nothing to do with what happened. I am still Penn State proud, though a little less for sure. Now on to the story... The 23-page attorney general report on Sandusky in graphic detail recounts how a respected man sexually abused eight youth over the years and next to nothing was done to either stop it or keep it from happening again. It is pretty sickening. Throw in a dozen other news stories, blogs, and comments from various people and you find your head spinning as you try to figure out what really happened. Here are some of my thoughts: I understand it was a report and not a trial, but the stories of eight youth as well as the eye witness...

I have a bunch of thoughts swimming around my head. But since they center around things that are currently perplexing and/or bothering me, I am forgoing a "random ramblings" post title. Here goes nothing. I love Joe Paterno. But I am not sure if he should keep on coaching. On the one hand, he has done so much for the school, and he really is a great, funny (at least he was when I met him about eight years ago) guy. But on the other hand, considering he is almost 84 and seems to have lost a bit of his step, shouldn't he hang it up? Is there an intelligent reason that about 13 million people are still paying off last year's Christmas purchases? I saw this stat on the local news and was appalled. Other than someone's buying a car or perhaps a computer, IMHO there are no other purchases that should not have been paid off within a few months (for the record, if I get to the point where I have to carry a credit card balance, it would not be for gifts, but I am tryin...

I spent most of the day yesterday watching various 9/11 programs on the History Channel. Some I had seen last year, one probably a few years ago, and at least one was new to me. As gripping and harrowing as they were, by 11 p.m., I had, quite simply, OD'ed on 9/11. So tonight I want to think about things that have made me smile the past few days. My family (most especially Jordan and Brian), relatives, and friends make me happy so much more often than not, but I decided not to include them in this list. Not surprisingly, since it is September, quite a few of my happy thoughts revolve around football. :-) Football season. Every year I expect the Steelers to make it to the playoffs, and much more often than not, they don't disappoint. Even though I can't say with a lot of confidence that the Black 'n' Gold will get there this year, there is something exciting about the first game of the season (and, during this unusual year, seeing what a relatively new QB can do)...