total Bruce mode

Well...........it is total Bruce mode for me over here!!!!......that's what I call the state I get into when an album is released and the whole week before a concert.....sometimes my husband doesn't even recognize me on the ride into city... buzzing through all of my favorite songs.....and then there is the actual concert.....I am taken over, mesmorized and NEVER sit down....and at the very end I get very upset wondering if it may possibly be the last time I see him.......well...this is a big week...He will be playing at the Superbowl half time show and his latest album was released yesterday with the first part of his concert tour being announced.....he'll be here in Pittsburgh at the Mellon Arena on May 19th.....this is his 24th album...there are a lot of stand out tracks on this album...the most compelling are "Good Eye", "The Carnival"...a touching tribute to the E Streets late keyboard player Danny Federici.....and the "Wrestler" from the movie with Mickey Rourke...they boast a raw and poingnant quality.... the title track "Working on a Dream "was first performed November 2, 2008 in Cleveland for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign...... then there's "My Lucky Day" with a vintage E Street feel.....The album was recorded at Southern tracks in Atlanta, LA, NY, and NJ....it could be viewed as and extension of "Magic"......as the Boss finished that album, he carried on writing material for this album.......This album resounds with the same passion as "Born in the USA" 25 years ago....YES!!!!.....it has been 25 years!!!!!!!!.....yikes! It's great to hear Springsteens creativity....these optimistic tunes are just what America needs to listen to right now!

ice, ice baby!!

All righty then............the winter weather continues......and I am loving it!!!!!.......my husband arrived home from West Virginia last night and I had him park outside because he had about 15 pound of black coal slush hanging from his truck and it is absolutely horrible when is melts all in my garage......well.........after the ice storm that hit this was the view from my kitchen window this morning!!!.....it was totally encased ...as was everything else in my yard.....I couldn't resist snapping more nature pictures........



No wild life will be nibbling on these berries in the near future........




.......pint size icicles.......




.....and some frozen pieces of coral from our last vacation to Florida....



I know I sound crazy......but I do love it!!!!.......I have shovelled for about at total of 3 hours already today and it's only 2:30pm!!..........with I'm sure at least another 2 or 3 later through out the day.....I may not make it to the Y today....hmmmmmmm....I better call....I bet they are not even open!

my BB

I got my cute pink blackberry just before Thanksgiving...and I have to say I LOVE it......I had been thinking about getting a phone with internet capabilities because my husband and both of my kids phones have it.......and I thought it would keep me much more organized.....well......when it was time to upgrade I went into the Verizon store four times in two days!!!!......they didn't even greet me anymore!!...and I was bringing people with me to show it to them.....I was so apprehensive.....I'm just a stay at home mom....not a CEO or anybody really important....what do I need a Blackberry for?????....my sister has her own design group out in Vail, Colorado with an office in London and a new office opening in Dubai....check it out at http://www.greenauer.com/ ....make sure you click on portfolio to see some of her latest projects ......and she has the same phone.....but still, I decided I was worthy......as I drove home with it I felt silly, almost embarrassed....but not anymore!! I'm addicted!......just like the President Obama!...he is also a confessed Blackberry addict...saying they will have to pry it from his hands after the inauguration....I love being able to buzz through my emails, check on my ebay stuff, and even bid on ebay!!...I won a great pair of jeans in the Walmart checkout line that I had been outbid on!.....I use the calendar function , address book, daily alarm and camera all the time...but I know there is tons of stuff I don't know how to do, so I signed up for a clinic at the Verizon store!...I hope it helps!.... a dear friend tried it for a week or two and decided it wasn't for her, but you don't know until you try it out......now, I can't picture my life without it!....and just a little F.Y.I...they now have Verizion gift cards at Giant Eagle...you can purchase these to upgrade, use a gifts or pay your bill.....cha-ching!!! more fuel perks!!!!

water bottle

It really doesn't take much.....this new pink water bottle makes me so happy....I lost my old one last week....I checked around for a few days while I used some random ones ......and when I felt the old one was lost for good , I was in Walmart and thought I'd look real quick.....I didn't love my old one anyway....my ice melted in an hour and it didn't feel good......and of course I had it the longest without losing it....I was always on the lookout for a replacement but just didn't happen upon one.....I can't believe I was lucky to find it right away!.....it keeps my ice for 6-7 hours!!!!...the lid twists so a straw pops out....it has a great little loop so I can grab it easy right off the floor in class without having to bend over all the way :) ...and there is this black clip I could dangle things off of.....and you know I love to dangle things!!.....maybe it will be a good spot for my keys???......oh....and it fits in my cup holder!!......and when I love something this much I have to go get a second one in case I lose it!!....I'm so happy for me!

frosty and beautiful

I wanted to share these frosty and beautiful pictures that I snapped in my yard the other morning...I'd love to capture a red male cardinal perched on a snowy branch......I"ve been trying for several winters now.....I may have to break down and find one on etsy!!!

...the deer love these berries....they are all gone on the bottom 1/3 of the tree.....that's as high up as they can reach....

Take a few moments and enjoy the wonders of winter!

the conditions were perfect!

What a fabulous morning!!!......the condtions were perfect for sledding!!.....the sun was shining, no breeze, not too cold and we were the only two on the hill......I haven't been sledding in years.....but I looked out the window this morning and thought it couldn't be better.....so I didn't clean...I didn't check my emails/blogs or put clothes away....and I didn't finish my ebay crap..well, I did change all the sheets on the bed..but anyway....we got all bundled up and headed to the big huge hill by the pool for a morning of sledding....as I pulled up I didn't realize how HUGE that hill really is!!!.....Cub grabbed his sled out of the back of the van and started running!.....we had soooooooo much fun! ....just he and I.....run after run we just kept laughing and whooping it up!....we'd come to a stop at the bottom and lay on our sleds in the sunshine soaking it up......and once again I have to say thanks to those girls at the Y for whipping me in to shape.....I breezed right to the top time and time again....effortlessly!....I don't know if it is one of those things that he will remember....but I certainly will.

the inauguration

Today is the day of the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States.......a historic day in the history of our United States...a cold brisk day...the oath will take place at noon....millions of people will attend...millions and millions more will watch on t.v.....10,000 people will participate in the parade......the festivites started days ago as thousands flocked to to Washington' National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial to attend a two hour star-studded concert which included BRUCE!!!!....Beyonce, Bono and Stevie Wonder...to name a few....yesterday Barack helped paint a dormitory in honor of Martin Luther King.....and today he will attend a private prayer service at St. John the Episcipal Church ....the church of the Presidents...they will sit in pew 54....across the street from the White House at 8:45 am...the Bushes will host him at a coffee at 10:15 and then the ceremony will begin......he will be taking his oath with the bible Abraham Lincoln used...the only President to use this bible since him..... he will attend 10 inaugural balls with his wife.....and of course everyone is wondering about her dress....the media have run out of adjectives to describe this enormous American experience.....behind the scene hundreds of people are moving the Bushes out of the White House and moving the Obamas in...mother in law and new puppy included!!!..painting offices, putting clothes away, placing floral arrangements, preparing food....all within the few hours he will be away this moring and early afternoon....and then tomorrow he will begin his first day at work......his new job....the most important one in the country.....getting the economy moving is paramount...the threat of terrorism and the war are just a few of the daunting agendas he will have to tackle.....but for now.....the American people will watch the historic events with a sense of hope and wonder.

Here we go!!!!!!!!

Here we go Steelers...here we go......Pittsburgh's goin' to the Super Bowl!!!!!!!!!!.....Yeah!!!......I'm postive it was the lucky hoagies!!!!!!......they were as delicious as they were last week!!.....We'll be in Tampa on February 1st and my man Bruce will be the half time extraganza........B-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!......We'll be up against the Cardinals.....they haven't had a championship title in 61 years...this is their first trip to the Super Bowl...it will be the Steelers 6th!....we were the first team to win 6 AFC championships and could be the first team to win 6 Superbowls as well.......Gigi book your ticket now!!.....Let's go Steelers!!

skype

If you're not skyping...you should be!!!.....it's a lot of fun and it's free!!!!!!!!!!.....essentially it is a free video phone call!!!......my sister hooked me up when we were in Florida over Thanksgiving....it's really easy to do...just go to their website and it walks you through the step...it takes just a minute or two......and you need a webcam...my laptop came with one...or you can get a portable one at Best Buy.....it is crazy!!!....I got my niece hooked up when she was home over Christmas break....I can go to her house with my laptop and ring her up, then she can she her beloved doggie Rocky while she is away at school!!....my sister got my Dad and kiddos laptops for Christmas and we're all connected now....she spends several weeks a month in Dubai and it's just bizzare to see her there.....and my Dad is getting really techie too.....he was spending a week in London with his girlfriend at my sisters flat and we skyped with him over there too!!!.....what a fabulous way to stay in touch with family and friends......treat yourself to a little skyping today!

I was tagged......

I was tagged by jennifer juniper over at hopestudios a few days ago....before I continue with the required six random things about myself be sure to check her fabulous talents at http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com/ .......

being tagged entails listing six random things about yourself and tagging six other bloggers....but since I don't know six other bloggers :)...I won't be tagging just yet!....well....here are six juicy tibits about the treatgirl:



1. I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life!....I gradutated from Juniata College in 1987 with a degree in marketing, and promptly got a job as a flight attendant with Usairways....I was going to do it for a year while I found my "real" job....well, after 17 years I retired.....and I'm now I'm still in search of what I really what to do....



2. I love to eat in restaurants! Pizza places, mexican, italian, chinese......breakfast, lunch and dinner!


3. I LOVE food!!!.....this is directly related to #2.......I think about it almost all of the time....those late night commercials for pizzas or the new sandwich at Wendy's are killers!.....I can't get them out of my head and then have to have it! I always have a "taste" for something!


4. I'm crazy about going to the Y.......which is also related to numbers 1&2!!.......I have to go almost everyday because I eat so much crap!....thank you to my girls there for keeping me motivated.


5. I would love to be able to sit and relax all day.....just sit and get caught up on some magazines, read a book, scrapbook.........take a nap.......play board games...work on a puzzle....watch the snow come down...I just can't seem to slow down....there is always something that needs to be done.


6. I am originally from Buffalo, NY...I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for 21 years now....yet to this day when anyone asks where I am from I always say, "I'm from Buffalo...but I live in Pittsburgh"....not sure how long I have to be here to say that I'm actually from here....and it has just dawned on me that I have actually lived here for half of my life...so maybe this will be the year!

very frustrated!!!

My frustration level is quite high today.......I've been working on Lego kits that Cubby got for Christmas....the age on the kits are 5-12 years old and I seem to be having some major difficulty!.....these were intended for him to build....but he wasn't able to....so now I am....and he is trying to "help"......which is part of the problem.....then he goes to watch t.v. for a while and I'm still sitting there trying to put them together.........I got one done this afternoon...but I had extra parts...not very many...just some little itty, bitty ones....well this led to a major meltdown.....so I had to start all over again...............and the real novelty of it all is that he really wants to play with them when they are built.....and they truly aren't made to withstand a 5 year olds ambition.....and then they break and come apart and it's tears all over again.......I tried to be ahead of the curve this time around too...my older son loved these kits a few years ago and I learned my lesson...he would build them once and then when they started to break he'd throw the whole thing into his big Lego bin and it was never to be built again.....even if we did have the little booklet .....and some of these kits are $30!....so this time I got my favorite little Sterilite bins for all of the kits....my intent is that when they break and are dismantled I can keep all of the parts separate with their booklet .......so hopefully we can have tons of fun doing all over again!

jack's back

He's back!!!!!!!!!...the Redemption at Thanksgiving was a teaser to hold us all over from the writers strike of last year.....but last night after the Steelers fabulous win over San Diego....my beloved Jack is back!!!!!!....it was the 2 hour season premiere of Day 7....with another 2 hours tonight...I am in my glory.....I got caught up on the first 4 seasons of 24 on netflix 2 years ago...it was awesome to watch episode after episode whenever I wanted.....sometimes 4 or 5 day!!!....now the agony of waiting from week to week is excruciating!.... last year my husband spent hours trying to get my cell phone to ring like the phones at CTU.....but the free ringtones wouldn't work on my cell phone....now that I have my new phone dare I ask him to try again???.....and I know it sounds scary...but I think I'm even trying to morph my husband into Jack......I seem to keep buying him those thermal henley type shirts that Jack is wearing in the picuture above...maybe it's just a coincidence????......anyway...now that the season has started...please! no phone calls or interuptions on Mondays from 9-10pm!! thanks! :)

lucky hoagies

We are convinced these hoagies brought us good luck for the Steelers game today!!....and for the record....I'm from Buffalo and we call them subs up there!.... it's still a bit odd for me everytime I say "hoagie" :)....anyway....myself, my sister and brother in-law, nephew, hubby, 3 kiddos and my mom....in town from Delray Beach....all settled in to watch the Steeler game today....we had my son's 12th birthday party last night and I had two loaves of Italian bread left over from the big lasagna dinner.....my brain started clicking and we decided to make hoagies for half time during the game!....they were awesome!!!!!!!!...and we even voted that the tray was lucky too!!....so next week.......same half time menu!!....we're all hoping they win again and make it to the Superbowl.........and just a little FYI...BRUCE will be the halftime show at the game in Tampa!! Yeah! a huge treat for me!

I'm perkin' over here!!!

I have been on the quest for a great cup of coffee for a long time.......my parameters aren't that high.......I just really want it to be HOT!!!!!!!!....it goes back several years when I started out with the coffee maker that ground my beans for me right before it brewed...then I tried to clean it, I took it apart and couldn't get it back together, so I had to shove my knife block in front of it to keep the basket in place so it would brew....I got sick of that and two years ago I just got a regular old Mr. Coffee from Target......it has been fine......but not great......I loved the coffee at marzipanmom's house....but it was too daunting to re-create.....organic beans and a coffee maker they don't make any more .... I'd have to try and find it on ebay....then there was my Dad's coffee.......he switched to an old fashioned percolator over the summer and I raved about how hot it was!!!!....but the drawback was it didn't have a delay start for the morning.....so a few weeks ago I broke down and bought a Cuisinart and the first time I brewed coffee I was dissappointed.......not very hot :(...I started putting the creamer in my mug and heating it the microwave before I even poured the coffee!....every morning I was dissappointed.....then this past week I had piping hot coffee at my Dad's every morning!....so....yesterday I called Bed, Bath and Beyond and they said I could return my coffee maker without a box........I could feel myself starting to get giddy.....I ran in and did a quick exchange for my new Farberware percolator!!!......today is the first day of the rest of my life!!!!!!!......I don't care about the delay start....I don't pour my first cup until I make the kids lunches...so it had plenty of time to brew.....and I'm not picky about my brand of coffee or beans...I put so much french vanilla creamer in it it doesn't matter......I just want it HOT!!!.....and it was so hot I couldn't take a sip or hold my hands around my mug for at least 5 minutes!!!!!.......it will be such a treat every morning!

12 years ago today....

Twelve years ago today my first son was born....my first thought was I can't believe I only pushed 3 times!!!???....and my second thought was, his hair is growing in a perfect circle in the middle of his forehead!!....what a lovely colic he has to this day!.......he was 10lbs and perfect in every way!!.....my daughter was just 15 months old and I remember her stepping over to my hospital bed and leaning in and kissing him.....it was just precious...I brought an adorable little snow suit to bring him home in and I couldn't even zipper it the whole way ...he was busting out of it!....what a good baby he was.....at times I even forgot I had him......I'd come around the corner and be startled to see him in his bassinet!......what a wonderful little guy he was growing into.......I'd often comment though..."what a perfect middle child he would be"......not knowing if I'd have anymore children or not.........years went by and my third surprised us....and he did become the perfect middle one!....he loves being a big brother and took to it immediately....when Cubby was a newborn T. would ask to put his bouncy seat in his room while I took my shower....he'd build trains around it and read him books!.....to this day he loves babies and puppies!......how blessed I am to have such a wonderful, fun loving and healthy son.....how fast the years fly by.......as I often say, "I just want to freeze them!"

a shout out

This is a shout out to my sister who turns 40 today!!!!!...happy birthday Melis!!!!!....hope you're having fun celebrating!!!.....we love you!!

happy 2009!!!

Happy 2009 everyone!!!!...I was having technical difficulties while I was up in Buffalo....my sister got my Dad and my two kids laptops for christmas...and with mine, hers, her boyfriends, my husbands and the 3 new ones...that was a total of 7 and I think we overloaded my Dad's wireless router and mine wouldn't connect.....I wanted to wish everyone health and many blessings for the new year......oh, and for the record I didn't make these cookies......I got them at Wegmans...my favorite grocery store in the whole, wide world.......believe it or not they tasted as great as they looked!!!....often times looks can be deceiving, but these tasted great!!!!....for years we have spent New Years eve at my sister in laws big, huge party....hence, two of my kids are born the first week of October......but the past two years we have spent the week at my Dad's in Buffalo with my sister arriving from Vail at some point......I haven't been able to cook my pork and sauerkraut on New Years day for good luck....but I haven't noticed much difference!!.......every year I make the same resolution too....better posture!!!.....I haven't noticed much difference in that either :).......best wishes and many blessings to all of you!!