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.

comments

Ok, all....I fixed my page so comments are a little easier to leave now.  Turns out I had the comment moderator on the most difficult setting.

Happy Holdays!

Or as i usually say, Bah Humbug!

I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I hate the holidays.

Dont get me wrong...I don't hate what they stand for. I just hate what they have become.

One of my neighbors has had their Christmas lights up since mid-October (and they probably won't take them down until mid-February). People spend way too much money on gifts often putting them in debt until July. Grocery stores are so overrun with shoppers that you can't even find the bare necessities. And don't even get me started on goodwill towards all! There are more fights around the holidays than any other time of year.

I hate the holidays.

But there are certain things that I don't hate. And they are the things we should hold onto because they quickly seem to be slipping away.

I love Christmas cards. I admit that in recent years I haven't sent them out to everyone like I should and I promise to try better. But I do love getting them. Got my first of the season today! I love the fact that someone took the time to write my name, look up my address, sign a card, buy stamps, and put it in the mail-all for me! Yes it's nice to get a text or an email, but it only takes a second to push a button on a computer. It takes so much more time and effort to send a card. We get way too many bills in the mail. Isn't it nice to find a card in the middle of all the junk? I love them, cherish them and I do keep them. I still have cards from my grandmother and from time to time I get them out just to see her handwriting.

I love Christmas carols. Nothing beats Elvis. I can listen to him sing Christmas songs all day long. Blue Christmas is tops. I have some of his carols on my ipod and I listen to it throughout the year. I cry when I hear him croon out the line "I'll be home for Christmas....if only in my dreams." It does bother me that radio stations have been playing carols since before halloween, but I will confess that I put them on the radio.

I love Christmas specials. I haven't watched The Charlie Brown Christmas Special in years, but when I see it's on the tellie, I feel better about the world. My favorite is "Twas the Night Before Christmas." I love that little mouse. Stations don't show it as much as they should and it's hard to find, but when I do, I make the time to watch.

I love traditions. Or as my cousin, Chris, called them when he was a little kid 'reditions." Everyone has their own differnt ones. My favorite is putting out my stocking on Christmas Eve that my gram crocheted for all the grandkids. Mine was Rudolph. It still gets filled each year. Yes. I'm thirty-six and I still get a stocking every Christmas morning. Its the first thing I look for.

I love Santa. I still believe he exists. I just think he has a different M.O. now. Parents buy their kids everything they need and/or could want anymore. And the population increase had him stretched way too thin anyways! Santa has become more selective. He knows where he's needed the most and shows up there. He may not put together playstations, but he travels around incognito and puts the spirit of Christmas in people's hearts making them his unofficial helpers. They bring joy into the hearts of those who need it the most. Sometimes it could be a volunteer in a retirement home who spends extra time with an elderly person just listening, or a maintenance man at Children's hospital who takes extra time stringing christmas decorations for poor little kids who are stuck there faced with the possibilty of never seeing another Christmas. Perhaps it was Santa who made one of us stop and put a five or ten dollar bill into the Salvation Army bucket instead of throwing in loose change or passing it by altogether in our hectic dash to buy more things we don't really need. I know he's real. Even in my scroogelike state, I see evidence of him everywhere.

Oh, yeah. And I forgot to mention that I saw him flying over my gram's house when I was little. Rudolph's nose was leading the way. Its true! I saw it. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in her bedroom and my mother was yelling at me to go to bed. I checked out the window and saw him flying over Clifton Road. I aint making this shit up!

If I don't get a chance to tell you, I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas. I didn't get into the religious aspects of the holidays on here, because to each their own, but please realize that when I said 'Merry Christmas!' I mean just that.

I'm not accepting Christmas gifts this year, but what I think would be nice is if anyone would, please leave a comment on here, telling me about a favorite Christmas tradition or memory that you have. Those are the kind of gifts I cherish the most. If at least 10 people do, I'll tell the q-tip Christmas story.

DIETING FOR A POOR, WORKING SLOB

After many prior attempts, I’m back on a diet. No! Wait! It’s not a diet…it’s a lifestyle with healthy eating habits. Call it what you will-diet, lifestyle choice, healthy eating habits- I’ve porked up once again and I decided to do something about it.

Why have I porked up? Is it because I’m a pig? Okay, sometimes, maybe I am. But when you’re dieting you realize that a mostly it is about money and time constraints.

I work five days a week and go to school three nights. Add into that the dog training I just started and Penguins games and my schedule is packed. I’ve even sold Penguin tickets because I’ve been so busy. Whodathunkthat? I know I’m not the only one out there and many others have an even more hectic schedule than I do. In all the craziness of work, school, homework, studying, laundry, dishes, and hockey how do you find time to grocery shop, cook, and exercise?

The grocery shopping dilemma is one I’ve easily solved. I do it on Sundays while the Steelers are playing because I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in the whole tri-state area NOT watching the game. The stores are empty other than wives and girlfriends who didn’t plan the party food well enough and were forced to go out and get provisions.

Now exercising is another story. What to do about exercising?

Wednesdays are a no brainer. I have dog training that night and if working with a 4 month old German Shepherd puppy for two hours doesn’t count as exercise, I don’t know what does. GSD training is not like the normal, “Sit. Sit. Good dog! Here’s a treatie weatie for you!!!” kind of training that most people do with their dogs. It’s almost constant heeling; faster, faster, slow, slow, about turn, halt, start, faster, faster, slow, about turn etc. Leave your dog on a stay command and run in the other direction while you pray that she stays there. If not you run back, put them back in place and try it again. I’ve had one of those sessions where you gotta do it like twenty times before the dog stays. When you finally do get far enough away and your dog stays, you call the dog on a recall and pray that IF they come then they don’t knock you on your ass when they get to you. It may not be the most intense cardio in the world, but it is good exercise for you and the dog.

I did manage to get in two other days of walking this week; Sunday prior to grocery shopping, and again on Tuesday night. The problem? Mingo Park right next door to me now closes at 5 o’clock due to the season changing. This is major suckage. Most people who work don’t get home until after five. Possible solution? Go to my local high school. Problem with that? They don’t allow pets. I don’t just mean on the walking track. There are no pets allowed at all on the grounds anymore. I’m sure there is a good reason and something must have happened but it still pisses me off. Sure I could still go, but considering I have two German Shepherds that need exercised and I’m trying to squeeze it all together, the high school is not a solution. My only alternatives are to either walk at night in downtown Mon City which is now home to some pretty creepy looking individuals, or drive to South Park which is about a fifteen minute drive. I’m leaning towards South Park right now. Even if it takes longer I think I’ll try that this Tuesday. If anyone knows of any other alternatives in the area, please lemme know.

Gyms are too expensive and when you’re still in fat mode you don’t want other people to see you huffing and puffing while you try to keep up. Gyms are not for fat people.

Last night my entire health class went to our campus fitness center for an hour as part of the class. It was fun, it’s free to all students and I did enjoy it, but yet again!!! They normally close at 6 o’clock. More suckage.

Tomorrow is the big weigh in. We’ll see if this attempt to exercise and be more active pays off on the scale. If not, I’ll try not to let it discourage me because in spite of the fact that I’m trying to squeeze even more into an already busy day, I’ve had more energy this week, gotten better sleep, am more focused and just all around feel better. Maybe there’s something to this health thing…..