I know EVERYONE really cares about my list

It is still not a bucket list, Mike.
 
I know these posts are terribly interesting and exactly what you were hoping to see today. I'll even show you pictures. So, you might care a little.

In a fun twist for the month of October, I've gotten to check off stuff that wasn't even ON the list.

I saw Falling Water:

Ignore the tourist.

This was a beautiful place to visit. Everyone should spend a whole day to go and visit the Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  

I used blackmail to get this pic

I wonder what he would have created with today's technology. The man was a visionary.


I got to see Kentuck Knob:


Here is the 50 mile view from the top of the knob where the house sits. My battery was toast for the most part by the time we got up there after, Falling Water.

3 states can be seen here

More blackmail





There was an art meadow at Kentuck Knob, which featured an art piece of something like 500 red metal dancers in a grid. It was slightly creepy and neat looking at the same time. (not pictured, obviously)

The Heinz History Center!

 

Kid loves the roller coasters.

This is also a place you should spend an entire afternoon visiting. It is a pretty amazing place.

I used to ride one of these with my mom

Shit I wanna do list: Running out of Stuff Edition:

• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights
• The PGH Glass Center
• Go to the Frick Art & Historical Center
• Take Julia to the ocean
• Just Ducky Tour (I just want to take mike on it once)

Unexpected List Update!

Shit I wanna do list: Tired Of Putting a Year Here Edition

• Go to see Falling Water or Falling Water AFTER DARK TOUR
• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights
• Heinz History Center
• The PGH Glass Center
• Go to the Frick Art & Historical Center
• DONE: Sandcastle
• Just Ducky Tour (I just want to take mike on it once)

Wait. Do you see it?

I took Julia to sandcastle for the first time!!

When I lost my job and all vacation plans were tossed in the garbage, I had to think very local. The happy new job has a happy fund to cover things like amusement park tickets. Which is GREAT. Because: Do I really need to point it out? Also because happy new job doesn't pay as much as torture terrible job did. ( I'm ok with that. I like my sanity and everyone else does too.) I got to do something fun with her since there was no trip anywhere this summer.

There is also a rumor that I might get to check something else off this list in September. See if you can guess what it might be!

Hello? Again.

Hello.

Are you there? Are you?

Yeah, I'm here. The blog has been refreshed, and I intend to make an effort to post again.

Things got crazy. 
I got laid off. I got a new job. My head was slightly explody (yes, I made it up) from shoving unix into it for the new job. I starting singing semi professionally in my BFF's variety show every couple of months. I have jumped in to the black hair color again, this time with the red/black and the results are much better. (I LOVE IT.)

I would update my (not a bucket) list of shit to do. But I haz no vacation time now. So, I am probably not checking anything off of it.

Keep an eye out for updates. :-)

 

Time to update the (NOT A BUCKET) list

Shit I wanna do: 2013 Edition

• Go to the Ocean (THIS IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK!!!)
• Go to see Falling Water or Falling Water AFTER DARK TOUR
• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights
• Heinz History Center
• The PGH Glass Center
• Go to the Frick Art & Historical Center
• Sandcastle once this summer (been 18 yrs. Ahem)
• Just Ducky Tour (I just want to take mike on it once)

Things I will do again:

• Phipps Conservatory (this is a staple... I love seeing the flowers)
• Splash lagoon/erie  (Julia loves the water park)
• Aviary
• Arts festival (THE FOUNTAIN REOPENS THIS SUMMER)

If anyone has some suggestions, leave it the in the comments. If I haven't done it? I may add it.

The Things That Amuse Me

Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Twitter, you are generally supposed to read it from the bottom up. However, sometimes at work when its been a while since I checked it, I'm lazy. I jump to the top and scroll down. Scanning tweets. I frequently use "view conversation" to catch up if I happen to see something interesting as I'm scanning...

These were all  random conversations going on. Most of them are not between the people pictured. Just the words matter in these cases. I blocked out names since I'm not sure who is private and who isn't these days.

I giggle as I'm reading from the top down and see stuff like this:
(BTW, screenshots are the favorest feature ever on my phone.)

Things get lost a lot:

THE PANTS. They are missing.

Or there is a misunderstanding at the most basic level:

The old men? ALL CONFUSED.

When animals mix in:

EVERYBODY HURTS. Sometimes. Even Pandas.

When it comes to bras, this group of tweets are funny no matter what direction you read them in. LOL.

BRAS. In lots of places they should NEVER be.

This group? Well, you can read both images as one or separately...:

VINTAGE. In a way I never want to know.

WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS. I have none.

Finally. The screenshot that inspired this post:

LOVE. and Muppets.

It's not a bucket list, Mike.

There is no order to this list... It's just things I plan on doing. It's been almost a year since I updated my list. With my new shift giving me sundays off, I hope to actually have time to do some of these things. Julia, of course has her requests too lol.

Shit I wanna do: 2012 Edition

• Go to the Ocean (provided the gas price doesn't make it cost prohibitive)
• Go to see Falling Water or Falling Water AFTER DARK TOUR
• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights
• Heinz History Center
• The PGH Glass Center
• Visit PGH Popcorn
• Go to the Frick Art & Historical Center
• Sandcastle (been 17 yrs. Ahem)

Things I will do again:

• Phipps Conservatory
• Splash lagoon/erie
• Aviary
• Arts festival

Apartment warming party

Twitter ordered me to have one. So... I am. If you can read this? Your invited. Just rsvp to me by 12/1 thru Facebook, text, email, or twitter. It's not hard to get a hold of me.
DETAILS: 12/10 @ 7 pm. At my apt. With the after-party around 10:00pm at Tramps. (412 greentree rd) Let's admit it... I have a small place even with the little patio, hence the other location for later. You CAN smoke at tramps. I request that smoking be taken out to the patio while at my place please.
I was told to post a list of things I needed still. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET ME STUFF. SRSLY.
I feel ... Weird... Asking, because I've had so much help already. In moving, emotional support, stuff people gave me.... It's been so much. 
As of today, I kinda need :
Potholders (the catalyst behind this all. I don't have any)
Canister set (sugar, flour, etc type.)
A full set of measuring cups
A blender (I don't have one. Do I need one? I don't know?)
I really want a little charcoal grill for my patio and the charcoal chimney. But I'm probably not grilling anything till spring.
Bread pan (promised a friend meatloaf)
Cake pans. (Round, square, whatever. I have none. And I have a mini stove.)
Small coffee maker (for the handful of visitors who may drink coffee)
Someone mentioned a tool set. I lack hammer, pliers, level measuring tape, stuff to hang pictures...  maybe a little box for it to go in. You may decide if I should really own a hammer or not LOL
Gift cards to target and walmart are always good.
I don't know what else. I can't think of anything.
You don't have to get me stuff. Just come over, hang out. Good friends and family are all I really need.

A life worth living.

[Mom blog post]
At the last minute last week, I decided that I was taking Julia to kennywood. Just the 2 of us. It was a great afternoon. I have some adorable pics that I will put up on Facebook soon. We got there later than I wanted, but we rode everything we could ride. And a couple things, we rode twice.
She was pure joy and so well behaved.... And I left behind all that has been stressing me out.
I try to make all my time with her count.
I think about all I have gone thru in the last year. How I have survived thru it an become a stronger person. How its helped me to have her. How its helped me to be a better mom.
I hope it has.
My job maybe a pain in the ass. But it pays me enough money that I can do things like that with her. What is life worth living without love, laughter, and someone (even just a 4 1/2 yr old) to hold your hand? Something we should all strive for... Maybe then... This world would be a less angry place.

#PoolTour2011 South Park Wave Pool

Last week I decided we were going swimming damn it.
My sister suggested the south park wave pool since she was over that way.
Admission is the same price as north park.
DAYTIME Adult 5.00
Senior Citizen 3.00
Junior 4.00
Youth 3.00
Children 1.00
The changing area was fairly clean. The concession stand was pretty extensive, but chaotic... Because it was kinda of self serve, if they were out of something you had to wait. This caused a bit of confusion. The prices were not too bad and the food was pretty good.
There was a good bit of seating though outside the concession area, thought not a lot of it was shaded with table umbrellas. There is a reasonable sized play area for toddlers and a larger tree just inside the gates. But there is no baby pool.
The wave pool was clean, has a sloped entry and the waves seemed to be turned on randomly. A bell would ring as warning. The towel area was covered in indoor/outdoor grass carpet and rafts could be rented for $4 + $1 deposit.
Over all we had fun. It was Julia's first wave pool experience. She got a pretty big kick out of it. The water was a bit cold. But at 90* you tend to welcome the numbness from the cold. And waves tend to take care of getting you wet fast.
I would give it a B. Because the tables were missing their umbrellas and lack of kiddie pool

The List. UPDATED... heh

First, sorry for lack of posting.... oops. I didn't realize I hadn't posted since 4/18.

I got to use my Groupon. Took Julia to Phipps to see the butterfly room. Oh she loves that and the kid garden. Facebook has tons of new pics uploaded... We will go again. :-) Today, I am adding a couple of new things for my next 12 months....

Shit I wanna do: May Edition

• Go to the Ocean
• Go to see Falling Water 
• Go to see Falling Water AFTER DARK TOUR
• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights
• Heinz History Center
• The PGH Glass Center
• Phipps Conservatory (DONE!!!WOOO But I wanna go back with an adult lol)
• Visit PGH Marshmallow
• Visit PGH Popcorn

So... WHO wants to help me check some shit off this LIST???

Happy Ranting

I will bitch about our football team #fail later. For now?
A Happy Post
WOOT!!

So first up? I am checking some *more* shit off the list.... I know!!! I need a New List. Funny thing... I was saying I needed to add something to it and now I forget what it was. Shit....
Original List:

• Go to the Ocean. 
• Go to see Falling Water
• Go to a Penguins Game at the CEC (I will sell my kid for a ticket.... just kidding. maybe.)
• Go to a Haunted House and actually get scared, Scare House maybe? I am so freaking jaded that the last haunted house I went too my heart didn't even race a little bit.
• Go to Karaoke and actually sing. Nothing scares me more than singing in front of people. I am working on planning a Twitter Karaoke night. Soon.
• Go to Kennywood for phantom fright nights with out a kid in tow so I can ride the coasters in the dark and really get a rush.

See all that Purple??? See that the Pens Game is IN PURPLE??!!
That is thanks to @douglasderda. I will have a ticket. For a pens game. ON MY BIRTHDAY.
I am stoked.
BTW Karaoke was a roaring success. In the house for my first song at Dukes (in bethel) were @feuxdeforet, @jackieinserra, and new friend @chicklitlisa. And?
We ROCK.
From what I understand very few try and succeed well at Evanescence. Well, Jackie and I nailed that shit twice and I'm pretty sure we were encouraged to come back by some of the regulars. (It was loud so I couldn't hear the whole conversation). We danced, we sang. It was fun as hell girls night out. The place is nice, smoke free, has an excellent DJ and sound system. (New fav drink? Cherry vodka and Sprite)
Now that I have overcome the fear... I am pretty sure we will have to do this on a regular basis. So anyone who missed out.... There will be future outings. I promise.
Gawd I love singing.
I will get a new list posted soon....

What I learned at Scary Crazy....

I learned that some people will do ANYTHING for a good cause. Like running (yes running.) through a haunted house that terrifies her. Or putting on the most hideous dress and make-up I have ever seen in my life. They both looked like they wanted to puke and/or cry. But they sucked it up for KIDS.

Scary Crazy raised $6,299 to split between the 2 charities (see prev post)

Damn.

Here is a taste. Trust me. Listening to this through Ginny's wireless mic in the VIP/RIP room? Hilarious! (For the record. Ginny went in it *a second time* w friends which I didn't know until later)



And From Unclecrappy... Our point of view....


Now that your done laughing.... What I learned....

I learned that I am not a screamer. ScareHouse made me jump out of my skin a several times. But I never screamed. Apparently, I have to be truly terrified to scream. Haunts just dont because I am too f*&%ing "its not real" about the whole thing. Only giant roller coasters  scare me enough to scream. Case closed. I lived vicariously through Ginny's screams.... Thanks hon. :-)

Also I learned that I am still the biggest klutz. EVER. Ginny might have lost a shoe... I freaking FELL on an uneven spot when I got too close to a rail near the end.  I felt it, but I was reacting to someone yelling at me and had no chance to save myself from ending up on my hands and knees.  And I missed doing a header into the opposing rail by hairs.

I was the head of the the group of 6. So 4 Scarehouse Actors, 2 ladies I didn't know, 1 reporter w camera man, and 1 twitter friend saw me bite it GOOD. My knee is killing me. I took 2 layers of skin off in one spot.

Now that your done laughing.... I would go again. It was pretty cool. I'll watch out for the rail next time... or maybe just not wear heels to disguise how freaking short I am.

Checking shit off the list....

So. First I want to mention that like 12 people Googled how to get rid of stink bugs... or stink bugs in general and then clicked on my previous post : Things that piss me off: Bug Edition

I wonder if they were inspired, amused or horrified by my murderous spree. One which continued with 4 more deaths and 4 that committed suicide when they found out I was coming for their little bug asses the other day.....

Second I want to mention that Strange Sightings tag may get revived. Cause I have seen some strange shit recently. Its amusing. I promise.

Anyway.

Tuesday I get to check off Scarehouse off my list... Now the issue here is I am so jaded that this stuff doesn't normally scare me. It may or may not. I am kinda hoping it does. Srsly.
However.
I have a ticket ordered from Michelle/Burghbaby that votes for Jane Pitt/ThatsChurch to go thru there by herself... I'm sorry Ginny, but if it doesn't scare me, I would like to live vicariously thru you... LOL.

The biggest thing I LOVE about all my twitter friends is their generosity. Both these ladies are raising money for sick and needy kids. Read the posts I linked to. Tell me you have done something this wonderful recently.... SRSLY. They are not the only ones. Just two examples of good people doing good things for kids stuck in a hospital, or ones whose family doesn't have enough money for Christmas presents. Twitter Friends Rule.

I'll be there Saturday, I hope I get to scream from Haunted House for once. And that Ginny does too....

heh.

:-)

7 things....

So first... Oops. I didn't realize it had been like 10 days since my last post.... Sorry about that. Life has been a bit busy.

I owe a reader a PAT rant... but that's not what this post will be about today. Soon. I promise. One of my favorite blogs inspired me the other day.... Now I am following thru with the comment I left saying I would blog my answer...

The other day BurghBaby wrote This Post: Celebrating Our Talents that was inspired by a blog she saw.


I have thought long an hard about 7 things I feel I excel at. And it is very true.... Somewhere along the way we stop being proud of our talents. Here are 7 things I am proud of about me.

#1. I am Self Taught. For years, I have built (rebuilt) my own PC's from scratch .  Starting w a memory upgrade to my first Packard bell when i was a freshman in college. No Formal Schooling. Everything I know about building pc's, I have taught myself. I asked a ton a of questions, did tons of research, made mistakes... (last upgrade my mistakes were admittedly cause it had been 5 yrs since the last build). I may not have always done it the "right way" but "Angie's Way" has never failed me yet. I know one reader who did have schooling for it that nearly died when he found out how I greased a processor.

#2. I am a good mother. Julia is behaved for a 3 1/2 YR old. She says please, thank you, kisses my boo-boo's when I have them... ( I'm good a being a klutz too) She is an outgoing, smart and sassy little girl. I would like to think that is because how much I love her. Sometimes she is still the mistress of destruction, but hell... what girl isn't every once in a while?

#3. I am an excellent singer. While I never got to do much w my voice after high school... I have never stopped singing. My range is not as big as it used to be, but its decent. (Ask the person who drove me home from HelloSAL and had to listen to me sing Fiona Apple's Criminal as loud as I drunkenly could) I was in a special program for 2 years in high school that required an audition to get in to. I sang at a wedding when I was in college too.

#4. I am Creative. I have written a full novel. I like to believe it is a good book. Some people who have read it gave me great feedback. I have half of one done that I might one day get time to finished. I but I wrote the whole story from scratch. Edited it 10,000 times. I am proud of that book. One day I will get it published.

#5. I am great friend and listener. I am not always ranting. I am there for my friends. Listening, giving advice when I can. Consoling or supportive when I cant. I try to always be there for my friends. I do my very best to be the kind of friend I want to have.

#6. I can RANT. Just ask the twitter friends of mine who met up with me at @pghrugbyangel's birthday party... Me ranting in writing is apparently just a taste of entertainment compared to me ranting out loud when I am pissed. That is probably because you get the inflection, and the written word has more thought than words just coming out of my mouth when I am venting...

#7. I can arrange me some furniture. It was a skill I acquired in high school when I needed to be in control of something. I laid the smack down on my bedroom more than a few times. No matter the size... i find a way to move it. Myself. Till this day, put me in a room and I will find a way to arrange it. Multiple ways. Usually in the middle of the night...

Now, there is my 7. Can you name 7 for yourself??

A Day with out Epic Fail

[mom blog post w mini rant]
On Thursday, we made plans to go to North Park Pool... With friends of course. Funnel cakes were rumored to be found there so yeah... We were going. We were DARING the weather to not get nice by going... Damn it got really nice...  Julia LOVES water.... I went with @pghrugbyangel,  also @burghseyewife, @shellrenee and their boys, along with @aphotobug‘s son. The kids and the adult pools are enormous. I was stunned.

First I must say that I Giant-Red-Heart the Android OS and Google Navigation for getting my ass to North Park in the first place. (aka F you iphone)
I was supposed to follow my friends out there but my drive way was blocked:

And these men were making my head explode when they did this to my sidewalk:

Because they are preparing to tear down the house across the street.
Assholes better fix that shit right!

Anyway.

I get to NP and the place is damn empty. So its easy to find my friends. Julia plays in the kids pool for a bit but refuses to get in the big pool. "Jen says this is MY pool." She says referring to @burghseyewife's comment that Julia had the kids pool all to herself.
                    ---------> empty ass pool!

When @pghrugbyangel asks her, Julia goes right with her. To the Big Pool! Next thing I know Julia is diving off the ledge at her. It was adorable. When we tried to get her to go down the slide... There were about 14 thousand trips up and down those steps to the water slide. She would watch everyone else go. Chickening out every. single. time. I promised to catch her. Jen said she would catch her. Finally, I told her she was going or not at all. She looked at me and said "I want my new friend, Claire to catch me." 
The boys (what great kids they are) raced down the slide to go find her for me and tell her. 


Here is where I know my kid. She will love the slide if I can just get her ON it. When her new friend was waiting at the bottom, I pried Julia's hands off the railings and ignored her totally when she said she didn't want to go. And I MADE her. She LOVED it. As soon as her friend caught her, She said "I want to do it again!"


It was 3 more times she went down. The last time she came off the slide sideways (lol) and was done. She then proceeded to play in the kids pool, eat and try to drown her new friend later... LOL. After the others left, we finally made our way out via ice cream bribe. She did ask... when could she play with her new friends again....

Then, I got lost leaving, Google got me to RT 8, But seriously, Someone should tell Google that RT 28 should never be an option for travel unless the world is ending. Period. Even that wasn't that bad. We even made it to the Family Fest at Brookline park. Julia made crafts, jumped in the the blow up things they had and had loads of fun.


After lots of Epic Fail for me lately... There was no epic fail Thursday. It was wonderful.

Sunshine Personified

Tonight's 2am post is not a rant.... It about Secret Agent L
She also writes {with love from Pittsburgh}

I got to meet her and even got to snag a hug from her, like twice on Saturday night at her reveal party. It was awesome. Sorry, no pics posted here. I hate what I look like in pics. Esp after stuffing myself with good food and pms blah before going over to the Firehouse lounge.

I think I have a girl crush on Laura...

She is a constant ray of sunshine in my twitter feed, and is as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. I am glad to have met her. I am glad that she reached out to me when I was having self esteem crisis. I was astounded to see how happy she was to see me at her reveal when we had only been twitter friends a couple weeks.

I was also reminded that even in heels, I am barely 5 foot 4... and she is like 6 foot tall. I was worried that she might fall down when she was hugging me.

I had so much fun, seeing my friends, putting faces to those not met before, meeting new ones...

I am glad I went. She makes me want to be better at something in life. That's what I'm gonna try to do.

What I learned...

I learned......
That I really really HATE protesters that destroy property- public and private- in the name of a "protest." I refuse to listen to a word your saying now. I have exactly NO respect for you. G-20 or not. I wish you assholes would go home and quit f&%$ing up the city. All the important people LEFT. Idiots. And Pitt Students- COME ON! You need to knock your shit off too. SRSLY.

I learned......
I fidget **endlessly** while sitting in a training room for like 8 hours a day. Really. I can NOT f&%$in sit still for more than 5 minutes. I get on my own nerves. But I can't help it. Sitting still and listening was never my strong suit. Show me and then let me do it.
If you didn't know, it turns I had to take Job B when they offered it to me because Job A called me with some bullshit about not being able to afford to hire new employees. I am pretty happy with Job B AKA New Employer at the moment. :-) I am glad Job A made my choice easier. I started monday which is why I have been MIA from twitter, blogging and facebook. Sorry about that, but the trainer frowns upon that while she tryin to teach some shit to us. lol

I learned......
That my internal clock really needs to adjust to me working again. I am still awake after 1:30am.... and I can't keep that up beyond this week. 1:30am is bedtime. Or I'll be a zombie.

I learned......
I really am a huge technology geek. And Technology can be complicated. And fun as hell. And damn addictive (read: blackberry). By mid next week, I will be carrying around two (what I call) "rent-a-phones" from New Employer, plus my own cell. That is damn ridiculous!! But I don't care. I don't care if I need a separate purse to carry my phones. Not one bit. Cause this is fun as hell.

Sorry....

I wanted to say sorry to all my faithful 30-some readers. I just haven't had it in me recently.
I had unexpected upheaval in my work life that left me with out a job and very necessary health insurance. (BTW- F*&% You Former Employer.)
My kid went temporarily insane for 2 weeks, probably due to my stress.
I had to rewrite my resume. twice. (thank you to my bestest friend for helping me the 2nd time)
And I had to look for a new job with my temporarily insane kid practically attached to me.

*sigh* Rough.

So, the good news, I quickly found a job that starts in Sept (it sucks that its a pay cut but it is a hell of alot better than NO job), turns out Obama made my cobra premiums for insurance affordable, and my kid has mostly stopped acting insane. Mostly. I still have to make it through this month, and I will. So, I am going to hit MSNBC next and see if there is any good shit to make fun of.

Let's face it. You guys miss the funny shit right? I thought so. :-)

Dear Twitter, I'm Sorry.

That is right. I said I was sorry to twitter. I discovered a program on facebook called Selective Twitter. And I made some friends on twitter too. (That helps.) I am firmly in the "twitter is cool" camp now. Don't judge me.

When I wrote about twitter here: Odds N Ends I didn't really understand it. My problem was I was trying to use it the way it was presented. "What are you doing?" That, I learned is the stoopid way. Now, I am a twitter fan girl, but I am not a power user like some of the people I follow who use hash tags, post pics, and such. I use twitter like AIM/YAHOO IM.

I talk to my new friends. I post my blog links. I rant (when I can, and believe me that takes some thought and creativity when you only have 140 characters). I give advice. I cheer for my team.
I can't wait for football season now. LOL.
Yeah.
Hook.
Line.
Sinker.

You got me twitter. :-)

What I Love about Julia

I am sure to all the parents out there, I am not telling you things you haven't heard before. But Julia is my one and only and I am always in awe that I had a hand in creating this little girl. So, this is not a rant.

What I love about Julia is her imagination. The kid has no rules. Anything and be anything in her world and I find that so awesome. In her 2 1/2 year old mind there are no limits.

My favorite?
2 pennies apparently have a job and a car:

Yes, that is "monies car" and they indeed get in the car and "go work" Sometimes nickels and dimes get in on the action too. Its a hot car! lol

Foam bathtub letters and bath "craynons" have become birthday candles or snacks. Blocks have been drinks that she passes out to everyone in the room. Sweeper attachments are microphones that she sings into. Colored pencils are "cho-cho trains" My old compact is a phone.... I could go on... My point is that she absolutely doesn't let the object's actual form mean anything to her when it comes to pretend play. And I just think it is awesome.