Hey, You Guuuuys!

"Don't you realize? The next time you see sky, it'll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it'll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what's right for them. Because it's their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here. That's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket" - Mikey Walsh in The Goonies.

Penguins fans are not just fans of the team.  They're a part of Penguin Nation.  The team and the Igloo have belonged to us just as much as the individual players that skated on that ice. We've been through the highs and lows and they've involved more than just shooting pucks into a net.  We've watched Mario and Sid captain this team to three Stanley Cups.  We've choked back sobs and heartache as we paid tribute to Badger Bob Johnson.  We've held our collective breaths and said our prayers that Mario would beat cancer.  We look to the rafters at number 21 and wonder what could have been. 

We've known since March 23, 2007, that the day was coming when the Igloo would not be the home of the Penguins any longer.   We've needed a new building for a long time, and it's almost ready for us.  I long for the day that I can walk comfortably through the concourse, not stand in line during the entire intermission to pee, and not have to smell the the deodorant - or lack thereof - of the man sitting next to me because we are practically on top of one another. 

But I'm not ready.  Not like this.

If the Pens take the ice tomorrow night and score ten goals, I won't be surprised.   They are that damn good and they've done it before.  But I'm sincerely afraid that they don't have enough gas left in the tank.  They have played more games in the past three seasons than any other team except Detroit and look where they're at right now. 

Tomorrow night.  It might be the end.  I pray that it's not but I'm making peace with the fact that it may be so.  I know that the Penguins are the better team.  That didn't matter in '93 or '96.  Lord Stanley is a fickle and cruel son of a bitch.  He will shine light upon you one moment and break your heart the next.

Don't you realize? The next time you see the banners, they may be over different ice.  The next time the puck is shot, it may be into a different net. But this is our time.  And it's all over the second we give up hope. 

So let's hope maybe Orpik or Fleury set some booty traps (That's what I said! Booby traps!) or that Gonchar and Geno are wearing some slick skates.  Maybe Sid will come swinging in wearing his Superman costume.

Because these guys are Goonies. 

I'm a Goonie. 

And Goonies never say die.

Let's Go Pens!

One Month to Go...

In exactly one month from today I will be (drumroll please....) 37 freakin years old.

It's sickening, to say the least.  

Where did the time go?  It feels like it was just yesterday that I was excited to be turning 21.  The day before that I was graduating high school.  A week ago? I was learning how to drive.  A month ago? I was playing with Star Wars figures with my best friend, Scot.

So with this final month in my 36th year, I've been looking back at my life.  Do I like what I've made of it so far? Yes.  Are there goals that I still have? Absolutely.  Mistakes? Only 2... dropping out of college and staying with Joe for so long.  Regrets? Very few.

I've had great friends, a great family, and great pets (gotta give props to my animals).  I've enjoyed doing things that I love to do.  It was a dream of mine to go to Alaska and I went.  I always wanted to be a Pens season ticket holder and for five years I've been rockin it at the Igloo with the rest of the Pens Nation.  I had the experience of a lifetime at the Winter Classic in Buffalo, even if I was as sick as a dog and should have probably been in the hospital.  I buy books by the bag full and will never stop.

I've lost people that were very dear to me.  They were taken much too soon but it taught me a valuable lesson....live before you die.

There are things that I still want to do, and changes that I want to make.

Im now about halfway through my degree to be a Special Education teacher.  It gets harder each semester to fit school into a busy lifestyle and also financially it is a struggle, but Im determined to do it.  Determined in a way I never would have been in my twenties.  

I've dropped about 20 pounds since the middle of October.  I still have a ways to go but each day I feel healthier and more energetic, so I'll keep plugging away.

I still want children and will have them one day.  God has a plan for me and I've come to the conclusion that it is to adopt.  There are literally hundreds of thousands of children waiting in this country.  When my schooling is complete and I have my degree, I hope that I can give at least one a loving home.

A year from now I want to update this and be closer to all of my goals.  That's all I ask for in the upcoming year..... to keep moving ahead and have no setbacks (or just minor ones). 

There are days that I feel like I'm going to be 97 instead of 37.  But most days I feel like I'm still just a little kid trying to figure this crazy world out.

Cute, wasn't I?  

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of the past 36 years and 11 months.  Hopefully you will all be a part of the rest.