End of September Weekend Windup

Aaron was in Denver at a trade show from Gwensday until Saturday night. For me, Aaron's absence means eating junk food (and regretting it afterward), napping, shopping and watching tons of TV (convenient, since the fall season just started).

I did venture out Saturday morning to watch our niece Lauren run a cross country meet. She's in 8th grade so she ran middle school varsity and she finished 17th out of 215 girls! She's tearing it up this season, and she (stubbornly) ran the whole race while her calf was giving her major pain. We're so proud of her, even if she probably shouldn't have run. I don't have any pictures because my phone was on stopwatch duty, and the picture taker (ahem) hasn't forwarded any pictures.

My sister-in-law said that Lauren had developed a habit of turning around to see who's behind her. One of the coaches told her this:

“Run in your shoes, not in your head.”

I'm not a runner, but I think that's good advice in a lot of areas.





I'm not sure where September went, but I do love October. We have the Italian Festival coming up, which is just a few blocks away from home, and we'll be getting into sweaters, scarves and boots season! I bought a couple pairs of boots over the weekend.

















And of course, this year I have reason to be excited for the baseball playoffs! Tomorrow night is the one-game wild card playoff between the Pirates and the Reds. Aaron and I have already decided that we're not watching the game at home. You remember the house divided issue, right?

It's a good thing I have baseball to hold on to for at least a bit longer, since the Steelers are sucking it up right now. Yesterday we went to a bar to watch the game, sad as it was. But we did see this curious sign:

"Everyday open to close ... $2 Off All Appetizers." Huh? 

Also sucking right now: my fantasy football teams. Ugh, rough day yesterday in both leagues.

And finally, yes, another cat picture:

I think we'll be re-washing this sweater.

Gwensday Dose of Random

My brain is fuzzy today. Could that have anything to do with the (very) late night I had singing karaoke? All signs point to yes. I love that my friend Kat comes to the neighborhood bar to sing with me. Right about now I love even more that I work from home so I can do my work in pleasures and biscuits (sorry, Kat). Here are the songs I did:

Time After Time (with Kat)
Love is a Battlefield
What's Up (with Kat and Amy)
Lola
Galileo (with Kat)


One of my favorite parts about being home all day:

These two napped together ALL day.

Have you seen any good new shows yet? I still haven't watched Hostages or The Blacklist. Tonight I'm excited for the returns of Modern Family, Criminal Minds and Nashville! And as much as I feel like Law & Order: SVU should probably end, I can't wait to see how Olivia gets herself out of last season's cliffhanger.


Have y'all heard? The Pirates are going to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years!

Via

Speaking of sports, I kicked some ass in both of my fantasy leagues last week. Observe:

And finally, go over to Life According to Steph and wish SMD and MFD a happy third anniversary!

Happy Gwensday! I'm going in search of a fountain coke.

I have no title for this post...

I think those particular brain cells are gone. I hope you come back, little brain cells!

Did you miss me? I haven't managed to post in several days, and today won't be thought-provoking by a long shot, but it's Friday, which means Fan Friday with Sarah AND my girl Erin is co-hosting a Football Friday linkup so I couldn't sit that out, and of course it's #backthatazzup Friday with Whitney and I definitely need some jams to get me through the day. Holy run-on sentence, Batman.

So here's the thing. Usually at this time of year I am salivating for football season, but right now I'm still totally invested in baseball. Why? Let me show you.

Even though they lost badly last night, the Pirates are on top of the overall standings. I sure hope I don't jinx them now.

As for football, in a mere four weeks the college season starts. We'll probably have some overlap when we might have to switch out these:

for this:

...since Aaron's a Buckeye fan and I'm a Penn State fan. But once NFL season starts, it's Steelers all the way, baby! On Gwensday, I was over on Erin's blog where I was certain she'd draw a mustache on me.
Check it out here.

I thought about cropping this but I kinda like how the gecko looks like it's biting my arm.

As for #backthatazzup, this song relates to nothing else in this post but we played it last night on the porch and it cracks me up.




Happy weekend, friends!

Freaky Friday - the hair edition

This is me today:

I have no idea why my right eye is squintier than the left one, but I digress. This is my hair today. It's a hot mess. The grey is out of control and I think my hair is thinning which depresses me. But this afternoon I have an overdue appointment for a cut and color. Come back Monday to see the results - no matter what they may be.

So in an attempt to connect this to Sarah's Fan Friday linkup, I give you just a few of my favorite hairstyles on athletes (and of course they're Pittsburgh-related):

Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates

There's just something about (well-maintained) dreadlocks that I can't resist.
Don't worry, Aaron knows this and he also knows that I like clean-shaven heads so we're all good there.
Also, the Pirates and the Reds start a weekend series tonight so keep a good thought for peace in our house.

Larry Fitzgerald – Arizona Cardinals

Even though Fitzgerald plays for Arizona, he DID go to the University of Pittsburgh.
And how stinkin' cute is he when he wears his glasses?

Troy Polamalu – Pittsburgh Steelers

Did anyone NOT see this coming? Head and Shoulders has a $1 million insurance policy on Troy's HAIR.
I can see why; it's freakin' gorgeous.

Now I'm even more depressed by my own hair. So to #backthatazzup with Whitney, here's a little song that will by my mantra today.

House Divided

I've mentioned before that Aaron and I are both sports fans. Aaron grew up in the Cincinnati area and I grew up near Pittsburgh. When we got married, even though we liked different teams, it wasn't a huge deal. But then two things happened: Penn State joined the Big Ten (meaning they were in the same conference as Aaron's beloved Buckeyes) and Major League Baseball went through realignment, placing Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the same division. Really?

While I'm more of a football fan than baseball, I still enjoy going to games. I was 12 when the Pirates last won the World Series in 1979 (yes, I'm that old) and oh, how we loved Willie Stargell. In 1992, when the Pirates lost the National League Championship Series in a heartbreaker to the Atlanta Braves, I cried the whole way home from the bar where I was watching. I still have a soft spot for Jim Leyland, the manager at the time, even though he's now in Detroit.

PNC Park is a kick-ass place to watch a baseball game. Aaron and I have gone a couple times, including for our 20th anniversary (we're so romantic).

Aaron is a huge baseball fan. There's not much he likes more in the summer than sitting on our screened porch listening to Marty Brennaman calling the Reds' games on the radio. A while back we went to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and they had a display about radio and this sign sums up Aaron's feelings.

And yes, we've been to many a Reds game and as long as they're not playing the Pirates, I'll wear my blinged-out Reds hat. Fortunately, we're good-natured about the rivalries, although this year both the Reds and Pirates are playing well so things could get ugly at our house.

But the other day I came home to this:

My husband rocks.

And speaking of rock (or disco), what else could I choose for my #backthatazzup Friday tune but the Pirates' theme song from that fabulous year of 1979?





PS - But wait, there's more! Today I'm guest posting at my friend Steph's blog, Life According to Steph, while she's frolicking down the shore. Check it out!


Linking up with Sarah and Whitney!