Grabbing my shovel…

Wahoo… Talk about a fun Music is My Muse post….  And a very interesting way to start 2009. I swear to you, I am not on drugs… But this all is coming about because I’m apparently going to go ahead and join the Pittsburgh Polar Bear Club on New Year’s Day and take the plunge in the Mon. Along with Uncle Crappy, Mindbling & Wormy, Chachisays and perhaps DjLunchbox…

Oh yea, we’re doing something more fitting of, say, this animal:

For more info:

Pittsburgh’s River Plunge

Post-Gazette 2007

The Trib

I know… The Mon… Dirty Dirty… I swear I’ll be in there for like 30 seconds max… Thank goodness I have two pairs of fleece pants, fleece socks, Cold Gear Under Armor and other things to help me warm up… And I’ve just been given the go-ahead to open My Living Room if I’m freezing my ass off and my friends and I need somewhere for hot coffee and warm food… That is why I love My Living Room…

No hard core plans for New Year’s Eve. Dinner with Anthony and perhaps Jennie of Bricks & Boxes… then a very short time at My Living Room… I will NOT be joining the other rugby folk at the bar they have chosen. Not my style… After the Living Room, then what I really should do is go hang w/ Chachisays and DjLunchbox so that I have a chance of waking up in time for the Polar Bear stuff… We’ll see…

Happy New Year to everyone. I am so thankful that I started this blog, and more so that I know the members of Yinz Team… I’m incredibly happy to know these people – whom my family call my “internet friends” (I wish I could break them of this, maybe this summer when my parents are in town some of you can come out and MEET them… then they will believe you are REAL!!) lol. Me expecting any of you to meet them is like my random dream that they will step foot in My Living Room (has never happened!) anyway…

Mind you, not everyone is in that picture. It took me 10 minutes to explain to my mom that some of them were there, but others had previous engagements… I think she got it…

Regardless, I get it.  My friend Nicole and I had  GREAT time that day!!

I am so happy I got involved in this blogging/social media/tweet/plurk/burgh thing. It has brought me out of a slump somewhat. And has helped me let go of some other things that were tying me down.

I can’t promise I will be a great Yinz Team softball team member, but what I can promise is that I will try very hard to be successful in softball (I already have a softball trainer!), that I will attend the next few or many Podcamp Pgh events, and that I will always be there for all of you – as some of you have been there for me when I’ve needed support in small ways recently… (And I’m going to beg for Yinz Team Broomball next winter!!!! Ask and I’ll fill you in!)

I’m very thankful that I know the members of Yinz Team and Pittsburgh Social Media that I do know now. Thank you for your help, support, friendship, sharing and everything else. I have tried to be my true self with all of you. More so than I ever have with The Organization folks… and I think it’s worked out for the better… If I don’t know you, I look forward to meeting you. Thanks to all of you.

Here’s to a fan-freaking-tastic New Year!!! Cheers yinz.

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Aside – for myself… a goodbye to “my bunny”… hoping I can not break down on New Years, and leave the pain behind and start a New Year strong without needing her or needing to see her…

Who has a PlayStation 2? Me!

After discussing video game systems, a friend of mine offered me his PS2. For FREE. Wow. He has a Wii and a PS3, so the PS2 was collecting dust… Of course I accepted the offer. And tonite I went and picked it up.

It’s the older design, but what do I care. He gave me the two controllers, a memory card and 8 games. If anyone has any suggestions or comments on the games, feel free…

We’re almost halfway there…

As I mentioned in at least one previous post, I think, my sister is pregnant. I may not have because of what I’m about to shell out here… I’m seriously excited about this… My sister and NE are expecting a baby sometime in early May. I think the current due date is May 9th. I’ve been asked to arrive somewhere around Memorial Day. Mom gets the first week, Mother-in-Law the second week. Then my sister has to fit myself and her three zillion friends into the fray.

Personally, I am mad that they live in Florida and hate myself that I don’t live there. Considering how happy I am to be with their dog, and how sad I am to leave her, what the hell am I going to do when I’m faced with this neice/nephew??? I’d come visit every weekend if I could… I can’t even imagine not seeing every single day of this baby’s life… Be prepared, people, this baby may FORCE me to leave the ‘Burgh. I’m just sayin’.

Right after we found out about the baby, I started looking on Etsy and thinking of all the wonderful things I could buy the baby. But then it dawned on me – what the heck am I doing buying something for this baby when I can build or sew or construct all kinds of stuff… I am totally building this kid his or her first toy box. I already have plans and everything! But I took upon myself the monumental task of sewing the baby a quilt. I chose the following little kit – good for beginners, apparently.

I originally decided it would be a BIG surprise for my sister… But then I packaged all my partial pieces and took them with me to Florida to show my mom. And last Friday she decided I should show my sister. So I did… I think she liked it. I’d like to think she loved it. Actually, I think she did. She liked that the flannel stripe fabric was so soft, (It is!)  and that it was so bright and had so many things to attract the baby’s attention… And she loved the personalization I’m going to add (I’ll have to add a pic of that once I’m able to)….

I’m really excited about this kid… I hate the heat of Florida. I do. I can’t even handle some of the hot, humid days we have here in the ‘Burgh. I faint if I get too hot (not even kidding, yo.) I don’t know how I’d live in Florida… But I have a feeling that come May, I’m going to reconsider my living situation…

Oh, what am I going to do!?!?!?!

Book Club – Update

We were given our new book club book a few weeks ago, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  I read it over my trip to Florida for Christmas. And I LOVED it. I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait till we have Book Club night so that we can discuss it. I think I have to read it again. Definitely.

I highly recommend it. If you want to read it and would like to borrow my copy after the Book Club night, let me know. I’ll gladly loan it out!

M.E. – I have your Mars Bar…

You better get in touch before you take your trip. Santa sent a Mars bar back with me from Florida…

You’re lucky my Mom didn’t steal it and eat it before I made it back to the ‘Burgh!!

Christmas in Florida

I’m back home from my trip to Florida. It really was a nice & fun time. I spent about a day with my parents, then my sister, NE and my favorite dog on the planet, D, arrived. D was so excited to see me that it made all the travel and delays worth it.

D has been trained VERY well. So before I could run out of the car and hug her, she had to sit and be good and wait to be allowed to come to me. And then it was mass chaos. Hugs, kisses, a doggie trampling. Oh, so much fun. D is a lover, not a fighter.

We went inside and I snuck D away to put her nice, new Christmas collar on her… it’s in the picture below, with the bell… along with her Christmas scarf and one of her toys (the red & white thing) that I tossed on her and she didn’t try to remove…

She looks very happy, doesn’t she??? At this point in my trip, my sister and NE had gone to visit the In-Laws and left D with my parents and I. When this happens, D gets very depressed. You’d think she was abandoned, lol. It’s really hilarious. She lays down with her head on the ground and gives you these big “poor dog” eyes. Fortunately, we can usually get her going by playing catch with her tennis ball (in the house, no less). She is such a sweetie.

I then gave D her other present from me. One of those random Petsmart stuffed toys. I gave her one last year and she demolished it in hours. This one took a little longer. She first chews it and finds one of the squeeky toys. Then she rips that area apart, removes the stuffing (doesn’t eat it, she pulls it out, turns to the side and spits it out. amazing) and removes the squeeky toy. She usually continues until it is just a shell of fabric. This year, it ended up (before I left) with stuffing in the head and feet, and nearly split into two pieces, held together by a strip of fabric about one inch by 1/4 inch. But this is it at its original attack…

Many thanks to my sister for helping to make this trip better. Have I mentioned that she is absolutely adorable pregnant? She is. She tried on a dress today for her friend’s wedding, and she looked gorgeous. I can’t wait till there is not only D, but this baby to be excited for me to come and visit. That will be AWESOME.

I will probably have more to say about my trip, but right now, all I have is my thank you to my adorable sister, and my immediate love of D in these pics because I’ll forget if I don’t post them now

Christmas Crazy

Ah, Florida. 80 degrees on Christmas Day. And the people down here decorate like it’s 18 degrees with 2 feet of snow. I know I’m a little late with this post for BurghBaby’s Christmas Crazy, but I had to wait till I was able to take pictures.

And now I give you Christmas Crazy.

Location 1:

Location 2:

Christmas Crazy Slideshow

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas! even from Florida!! Strange to be so warm on Christmas Eve, believe me.

I’m working on a Christmas Crazy post right now. But it might take a while. There’s a lot to sort through.

In the meantime, I’m giving you the Carptenters. This song came out right after my parents met, but before they were married. My dad would go to Montreal to see his sons, leaving my mom with her cousin in Toronto. This song really reminded her of her situation and she always told me when I was growing up.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. And I’m thankful that I either know you or you’ve found this blog. Thank you.

Procrastination

I should be doing other things right now… actually this whole evening I had other things I should be doing… Like getting ready to fly to Florida. Packing, cleaning my fancy shoes for Christmas dinner and all kinds of other stuff. What am I doing? Surfing the interwebz.

And for what? Oh, new music. Well, it definitely isn’t new… Last Saturday at My Living Room we were entertained by some 50’s and 60’s “Golden Oldies.” Music I actually enjoy. We have a new jukebox, one of those psycho machines where you can download things from the internet via the jukebox. One of these days, Asshat will regret his choice. I guarantee it. Heck, he would have if he had been there Saturday.

So tonite, I checked out some old music and found a song I haven’t heard in a while…. a song that my mom used to have on 45RPM vinyl. I remember popping this tiny thing into the record player when I was little.

I’m actually excited for my trip tomorrow. I love seeing my parents. They really are stellar people. And within 24 hours of my arrival, my sister, NE and my favorite dog will be in the house. I can’t wait.

I still have one or two things to buy for my sister & NE, as well as my parents’ gift. I managed to convince my mom that I need to take the car on Wednesday morning for a few trips. And she agreed (first time ever now that they are living in Florida). Wow.

After I’m done buying things for mom & dad, my mom and I are going shopping for the dog and cat, C & D. We are buying C just treats, because D eats his toys. Not fair. My boy C rocks and he should have the best toys ever. So to make up for it, I’m buying D one of these:

~or~

NE might want to kill me, but D is such a cool dog, she’ll totally wear it for like 10 minutes. I’ll post pics if I can get ‘em.

We’re also getting my super dog this doggy dental toy… I dunno, my sister said she needs it…

And, same as last year, I’m getting D one of these. I’m going to go with red this year, if I can. She literally will have the squeeker removed in less than 8 hours. The stuffing removed within 16 hours and the rest of it torn apart, oh, by Christmas Night. I know it’s a small gift that gets torn to hell, but she has so much fun, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

And that will make my Christmas Merry.

Music is My Muse – 8

Sooooooo… we all know my music tastes are pretty random… And today is no exception…

Last night, I had a discussion with the Mechanical Engineer about the post of country music that I did the other day. During our discussion, he made a request, which I turned down.  However, it seems he gets his wish, as the person he requested actually appears in this video. Check it out – I’m not telling you who it is. You’ll have to see for yourself.

I’ll be checking out some more of that artist’s music during my trip to Florida on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it.

My research for the video above reminded me of a concert I went to a few years ago with the Camp Director & the Mechanical Engineer at Hartwood Acres. If you have never been to the free Sunday concerts at Hartwood, make a point to go next summer. They are FREE and every once in a while, you will stumble upon a gem of a band like this one.

Enjoy!