Monday morning sports recap

Don't have much since I was on an Indiana farm. Watched the Colts play something, didn't much resemble football. Obviously Painter isn't too interested in being a starter. Either that or he just isn't a player. I had some hope for him when I saw him in his start against the Bucs, but seriously yesterday was just painful to watch. Thank god the Steelers game was on in Indiana!

I wore my Steelers hoodie on the plane and truly the only winter coat I own is my Steelers coat, which I brought just in case it happen to snow. Those clothes didn't go over well with the Indiana Masons. Nor did my explanation.

Me: "I thought you guys needed to see what winning looked like."

Okay, maybe a bit harsh, but the Colts lived in Baltimore back in my day. Nice to see the state embrace the team, but I'm loyal to the boys I started out with!

Steelers:

1. Ben - He was on yesterday leading the troops down the field, remaining calm and collected. When he is in the zone you can't dispute he is one of the best.

2. Troy - How great was his last play of the game? Or when he got a tackle by jumping on the back of one of the Patroits? Just love his love of the game.

3. LaMar Woodley - Sacks, sacks and more sacks!

4. Antonio - Finally got in the endzone! I shook his hand you know.

5. Relatives - Having them watch with me? Priceless!

The end of my vegetarian experiment

Rusty: "Are you hungry?"

Me:"Yes I'm starving!"

Rusty: "Where do you want to eat?"

Me: "I don't care, but remember I'm a vegetarian so we need to go somewhere I can get vegetarian meals."

Rusty: "Yeah sure you are. Where do you want to eat?"

Me: "No I'm serious. Did you not know that? I'm a vegetarian now."

Rusty: "Well if that's the case then I'll just pull off the side of the road and you can munch down in the median because you're in Indiana now and we're meat eaters!"

Heading back to the midwest

Last week I received an email from my sister, who had heard from a cousin, that my aunt, who is around the 95 year marker, isn't doing well.  She had been in the hospital for pneumonia and although home now her heart was weaker and she was slower.  She is my father's sister, the oldest of four children.  She is the only child still here, having outlived her three brothers.  She tells me that is hard.  She still hears her back door open sometimes and thinks she will hear my father call out to her, "Hey Sis!".  I understood that.  I too still hear his voice and sometimes smell his cigars.

On Tuesday she sat by her eldest son's hospital bed and watched him die.  He has fought poor lungs for years.  She told him to quit smoking.  "Those cigarettes are no good.  I told him for years, but..." she would pause, shaking her head at today's youth, "he wouldn't listen.  I just worry for him so.  He is in so much pain."  He isn't now. 

I'm in Indiana today for my cousin's funeral.  I wanted to be here for my aunt.  She has always been there for me.  She came to my high school graduation.  She came to my wedding.  She bought me Christmas presents when I was younger and recently gave me her chicken dumpling recipe.  I feel a calling to see her now.  She has rallied and lived through many hardships, but I don't know if she can get past all that has happened in the last month.  It is important sometimes to just drop everything and tell those you care about how much you love them.  I plan on doing that this weekend.

Connie Foot Photo #38

We think it looks now like a peanut.  I think we should call it that instead of "the wound" or "your foot ailment" or "that damn thing on your foot".  Peanut sounds so much friendlier?  Although truth be told we are over the whole foot thing now.

We told the Foot God this at the appointment and asked what the game plan was in his mind.  He gave a response that made me think he doesn't worry about his patients once he leaves the office for the day.  He mumbled something about checking on dermagrafts and his new wound care center that is schedule to open next month.  I cut him off at the pass and told him I was tired of coming to the office every week for the same old thing.  I was bored.  Next thing I know Connie is scheduled for an outpatient surgery next Friday where the Foot God will put on a type of graft that he put on once before while she was still hospitalized.  I'm not sure of the name, but it is a two layer graft that he feels would be better then anything else and Medicare pays for it. 

Sounded good to us.  Anything to move on...

In the golden days

This summer Susan and I spent time visiting relatives on my side of the family.  We spent the day with a cousin and then decided to visit a couple of aunts.  The first aunt was my cousin's mother.  She lived not far from the second aunt who was in a nursing facility at the time.  My cousin knew the name of the nursing facility, but not the address, so she and I quickly picked up our Iphone and began punching in the information.  While we were doing this her husband picked up the phone book and looked up the address.  We made fun of him, despite the fact that we both had the information at roughly the same time. 

He then explained how to get to both places, adding in a Dairy Queen stop for the girls.  Susan and I must have asked too many questions in regards to his directions because the next thing we knew he was drawing out directions...on a napkin, using both sides.

He was very serious in his directions and his penmanship.  His wife and I reminded him we had Iphones with navigating systems built in, but he continued drawing and explaining.  I halfheartedly  paid attention because really who doesn't use their phone to get around now days? 

Turns out we used the map.  The town and its street signs weren't exactly a match on the Iphone.  We drove up and down past both places before we turned to the map and made our way to see both aunts.  I had told my cousin's husband that this map would be on my blog as I found the whole thing so hilarious.  I mean who draws out maps now days?

This is the promised blog entry...and me...eating crow.

Overheard, but couldn't believe

Gabby:  "I'm going to watch television here now." (or something along those lines as I didn't really hear that part)

Susan:  "NO!  NO!  I'm watching the game.  I'm watching the game on this television until I finish these dishes.  Then when I'm done with that I'll go downstairs and watch the game and you can watch your shows on this TV.  But not until I'm done."

Huh?  Anyone who knows my sister-in-law will be shocked to read that she was watching a game, let alone screaming about watching a game.  I was driving when this conversation occurred.  I'm lucky I didn't run off the road!  It's only taken 20+ years in the Mason family for this to happen, but sooner or later we pull you to the sports, don't we?

Monday Morning Sports Recap

Steelers:

1. Whew! Played like they played the day I spent at Heinz Field.  The defense was sharp most of the time.  The offense came to play.  I wasn't too stressed.  Made for a great game.
2. Troy made several mistakes and missed tackles in this game.  I don't know if he was still reeling from his $10,000 fine from last week's cell phone on the sideline incident (something that really burns me up, but the rules are the rules) or what, but he will look at the game tapes and not be too happy.  Again he had the opportunity for an interception and missed it.  I keep saying he is due.  Perhaps next week against the Patroits?
3. Big Ben got beat up as usual, more so in the second quarter then the first.  He did some great stuff yesterday getting out of tackles and scrambling.  In one incident a Cardinal defender had him by one leg and Ben was throwing.  The referee blew the whistle and called it a sack, but Ben was far from the ground and still in control so the ref was wrong on that call.  I thought he played exceptionally well.
4. LaMar Woodley was credited with two sacks and getting a safety.  He is an animal!  He has stepped up to the plate and taken over for James Harrison in that position for the past three weeks.  One thing the defense does on this team is step up when needed when it comes to regular players sitting out.  You go Woodley, do your dance.

Other:

1. Got to say something here about Albert Pujol's night on Saturday.  Whew! Five hits, three of them homers, driving in six runs.  Wish that same Pujol had shown up last night too, huh Cardinal fans?
2. Kudos to Denver Bronco quarterback Tim Tebow for leading his team to a comeback tie and then a win in OT.  Tebow fans have been chanting his name for the past five weeks despite the critics coolness toward him.  He came in a bit rusty, but rallied as we Florida fans know he can do.  And he got the W for the 2-4 Broncos.
3. New Orleans is very happy with their 62-7 win last night over the Indianapolis Colts.  Drew Brees threw for 5 touchdowns, 31 completions out of 35.  Very impressive.  He was taken out in the 3rd quarter, just missing his four games straight with 350 yards total.  All the quotes I read said the team was beyond thrilled with the way they played.  Really?  Let's not get too carried away.  After all you were playing a winless team who is last in the entire league.  Go out and have a game like that against the Patriots and then I'll be impressed.
4. I totally missed most of the games in my pool this week.  I don't think I've been this off in all the years I've guessed games.  Not sure if it was me or the teams.
5. Who's bright idea was the whole travel to London during the regular season deal?  First of all, why are we providing live NFL games to Europe?  Second of all, how about doing that during the preseason when it doesn't matter?  Why are we making players fly across the ocean for one game and then returning home to play another one the next week.  It isn't rocket science to figure out that doesn't work.
   

Playing dress up

I have never been a fan of adult Halloween parties. Mainly because I'm not creative enough to invent an out-of-this-world costume idea and pull it together. I can't sew. I'm not clever. I'm not crafty. All reasons to avoid dressing up. My husband, on the other hand, enjoys all of the above. He use to attend a party every year before he met me, and in his photos he is dressed to a "T" in a handmade costume. Once we started dating I usually got out of going to any parties because my job required me to be a part of our recreation department's Haunted Halloween, which was always the Saturday before Halloween and also the time everyone held parties.

In the course of our togetherness we have attended three Halloween parties together. The first was to his annual Halloween party with his triathlon group. I'm not sure how I got roped into that one, but I was the love police and Tom was my prisoner.  I was young and thinner and didn't mind dressing up so much.

The second party was a last minute decision to attend as the city's Haunted Halloween was cancelled due to mosquitoes. Since it was last minute we didn't have much time to create costumes, and we each went as one of the baseball players in the World Series that year. I didn't even remember which teams were in it until I found the pictures.  Everyone kind of booed us for not being more original, but I thought it not bad for a last minute thing.

The last party was six years ago. Tom went dressed as a cow. I was the farmer. We actually didn't look too bad considering I was a porker, but I was happy because those overalls were some of my most comfortable clothes.

This year we were invited to a casino Halloween party. I didn't really want to attend because of the required costume attire, but I hit the "yes" button on the evite without really thinking it through. Then I proceeded to whine about it and moan about it and wonder why I hadn't declined the invite. Finally I decided to steal Kelly's idea for her party and dress up as Troy Polamalu. (Whenever we dress up for trick or treating around our neighborhood I go as a Steelers fan since I own all that crap anyway) I decided Tom should go as Mike Tomlin. That was as far as I got until two days before the party. Then, of course, I panicked.

Friday I drove to Party City intent on buying a wig as I felt that was the main part of my costume. Before I went I did some research on Party City's website so that I knew what was offered before I popped in the store. I had it narrowed down to two wigs; one was a DJ wig with the guy on the cover reminding me of Howard Stern, the other was a pirate. The pirate was ten dollars cheaper and so that was the one I wanted.  Once there I discovered that Florida has some weird law about returning opened packages containing wigs.  Thankfully the store offered to let you try on the wig if you asked.  Not wanting to do that, but wanting to see if I could make the wig work I asked to see it, saw that it would work if I cut out the bandana, and I bought it.  After that I went home, exhausted from that bit of creativity.

The day of the party I totally began to panic.  I had the jersey and the wig, but that was it.  I needed pants and socks and mostly, a helmet.  Darcy and I set off to look around.  We first went to a second hand sporting goods store.  We found a used kid's helmet, but it was too small and the wrong color.  We headed next door to Michael's where we wandered around and around the store.  I put a bowl on my head, but Darcy vetoed that.  Eventually we found this and when I saw it I suddenly got a vision.  Darcy did not like my vision, but I saw that with the right stuff (hadn't a clue what that stuff was) this would be my helmet.  I bought the $3.00 hat, some black duct tape (Darcy's idea), and yellow felt.  I came home and cut off the reindeer's antlers and ears.  I then covered the hat with the duct tape, made a Steelers logo for the side, a yellow stripe down the middle, and added the number 43.  I was totally pumped, but Madison wrinkled her nose at it because it didn't have the required face mask.  So back to the computer I went.  I found a Riddell picture of a helmet, blew it up, printed it, cut it out, and added it to my hat.  It was awesome!

My second vision was for the shoulder pads.  I had some pillow filler, but found it too itchy so while at Michael's I found some black skeins of yarn and used two of those inside my shirt.  We added some men's black sweat pants (yellow not being a color found here in Florida) from Target, some yellow soccer socks from the sports store, and I wore Madison's soccer cleats.  I wore gloves I bought in Pittsburgh for Kelly's costume, added a mouth guard and a football, and damn if I didn't almost look like Troy Polamalu!

Tom made his own costume with his black shirt I always said made him look like Bill Cowher back in the day.  He added the logo to the shirt.  He got a clipboard from the neighbor and made up a playbook full of naughty cheerleading pictures, added a headset and his Steelers hat.  I think we did a fine job in the end, and thought we should have won the costume contest, but alas we lost out to two sumo wrestlers in store bought costumes.  Whatever!

Fruits, vegetables, and hummus, oh my!

Whenever I fly I like to purchase magazines to read on the plane. For my flight to and from Pittsburgh I purchased a couple of People magazines and an US or something along those lines. In each magazine was something in regards to vegetarians. One magazine had a huge article about a woman who had written a cookbook on vegetarian recipes. Another magazine had a page on the different types of vegetarians, and another one talked about how healthy a lifestyle it was and how more and more people were tuning in and becoming vegetarian. I read about the ways in which to get protein and the accompanying vegetable photos were colorful and made me hungry.

So I decided to become a vegetarian (albeit one who eats dairy and eggs). For one month.

I began the Tuesday I returned from Pittsburgh. I ate an egg and an english muffin for breakfast. I had a salad for lunch. That night we went to the grocery so that I could load up on vegetarian groceries and get sub sandwiches for dinner. I ordered my usual turkey forgetting I was vegetarian.

Madison: "I thought you were going to eat vegetarian."

Me: "Oh my god! Why didn't you say something before he made it? I forgot. Oh, well, I'll be a vegetarian starting tomorrow."

So I became a vegetarian on Wednesday. I have had lots of support.

Darcy's classmate's father: "Tom, do you call it eating at your house or grazing?"

Another father: "Cara, I have a little something for you in case you get hungry on the drive home." He opens his hand and gives me leaves he has pulled off a bush.

Madison has been helpful. Together she and I make different types of salads. She looked up a black bean burger recipe, and we made it. It was actually good, a tad dry, but that's because I got carried away with the bread crumbs. Darcy declared it too spicy. Tom thought it fine and very filling.

Tom: "It is sitting right here in my stomach."

I ordered a vegetable pizza, minus the mushrooms, the other night and even ate the diced tomatoes sitting on top. I find that I am trying more foods that before I would have turned my nose up at. I ate a spinach and egg white burrito yesterday morning. I'm planning on making vegetarian appetizers for our upcoming Halloween party.

So far I haven't noticed any difference other than an increase and regularity in my bowel habits. As everyone who knows me well knows I'm not embarrassed to discuss fecal matters. I haven't lost weight. I don't feel more energetic. I don't feel healthier. I do find that being a vegetarian requires more work. Whipping up a turkey sandwich is certainly easier then a salad for lunch. A salad makes more meals; however, and I've learned to adapt so that the leftovers can be served that night for dinner.

I craved bacon in the beginning. Now I crave a big, juicy hamburger. I had a small slip when I ordered baked potato soup and it came with chopped bacon on top. Perhaps it was unconscious. I ate the damn soup anyway and don't count the small amount. I bet it was tofu anyway.

It has only been a week so I don't think I can draw any conclusions just yet. I'm determined to make it a month, but I find that the longer I go the more I want to eat meat. In the beginning I enjoyed the novelty. Now I just want the hamburger. There are no easy choices in the fast food department and that is when I became a pescatarian, one who eats fish, although I'm not sure most pescatarians would consider McDonald's fillet o' fish as acceptable.

I'm not sure I can make it the entire month, but I'm certainly giving it the old college try. It might make a good science project topic down the road for my kids if it doesn't make me a healthier and happier individual. Either way...it gives me a blog topic.

Connie Foot Photo #36

The home health nurse told Connie that he thought the foot looked terrible and that it was tunneling.  Just wanted to reassure her apparently...

We went early this week as the Foot God is going to Europe on a "guycation" to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play football.  The hematoma was good.  The foot was the same.  He couldn't really agree with the "tunneling" action, but nothing much had changed in a week.  The whole area is getting smaller, but that little area to the right isn't doing much.  She needs dermagrafts or apligrafts and no one is schedule for one of those anytime soon.  It is very frustrating. 

Monday Morning Sports Recap

I'm starting this entry out differently this week because yesterday we lost a local resident, Indy Car driver Dan Wheldon who was killed in the Las Vegas Indy 300. I had just been reading about him in our paper because he was in the race sort of on a fluke. He was chosen to drive for a $5 million purse that he would have split with a fan had he won. The condition was that he had to start at the back of the field. The crash that killed him involved fifteen cars and started when two cars in front of Wheldon rubbed tires. Wheldon went airborne and his car flipped.

I'm so sorry for his family and for the community of racing. These guys are only human, doing what they love, and we tend to forget that what some of them do is really quite dangerous. I hate to loose anyone in sports. It is a sad morning.  All our best to the Wheldon family.

Steelers:

Me: "I just don't get it. Pittsburgh did so well the first half. They played like they played last week, but they just can't finish it out. It was like they came out the second half thinking, "We got this. It's boring. Too easy." And then they were like whatever. It's so frustrating. I mean, am I going to have to be at all the games to make sure they keep motivated?"

Madison: "Uh huh."

Me: "I guess I could go for the weekend to the home games."

Madison: "Sure, just fly in. Help them out."

Me: "I could fly in on Sunday and take a cab to the field. "Get me to Heinz Field STAT". Of course I couldn't spend the night at the field."

Madison: "You could fly back Sunday night."

Me: "Yeah, but that's hard and then its late."

Madison: "You could get a personal jet."

Me: "That's a great idea, Maddy. I could. Where would I get one of those?"

Madison: "I don't know. Ebay?"

• Polamalu - I keep saying that he is so overdue for a pick, and I still believe it. He had a couple of chances this week, but he is so focused on getting the other guy to the ground. He left in the fourth quarter due to "concussion like" symptoms whatever that means, but again he had a good defensive game. At one point he tackled the opposition by flying around the defensive line for a two yard loss. If I were coaching the other team, I would have one guy whose job it was to just follow Troy around to make sure he doesn't cause any damage. (Note: Troy is fine and should play next week).
• Mendenhall - Tomlin make reference to spreading the running game around among the three, Mendenhall, and last week's heroes, Dwyer and Redman, and Mendenhall must have been worried because he went out and ran like the devil was chasing him.  146 yards rushing kept him in the game over the other two, but after his 68 yard run I still think the Steelers should have Redman run into the end zone.
• Run, Ben, run - He did get an important first down by running with the ball, but I'd like to see a bit more rushing from this guy when it is necessary.  But then again I listen to all the experts telling quarterbacks to stop rushing and stay in the damn pocket, so maybe I'm missing something.
• Heinz Field - I watched the game on my computer this week and pointed out all the places that I had been in the week before.  I could hear the announcer say, "And that is another Steelers...." and I yelled, "First Down", pretending I was back in Pittsburgh.  Still have that glow from last week.

Other:

1. Coaches Fight - Apparently the coach of the 49ers, Jim Harbough, started something with Detroits coach, Jim Schwartz, during the after game handshake. I've watched it several times. Harbough shook Schwartz's hand and then clapped him on the back.  Look at it from afar and the smack on the back looks harmless, but look at them close up and it seems like a dismissive push. Apparently Schwartz felt like it was, and instead of just sticking out his tongue and walking away, he went after Harbough screaming and bumping into Harbough. Either way it was childish.  Schwartz should have walked away, and Harbough shouldn't have been so smug about winning. Now everyone is asking whether the league will fine these two idiots. I understand that if the NFL expects the players to act a certain way, then they should expect the coaches too as well, but aren't we just looking for things to fine lately? Watch the tape again and you'll see all the players and people around the two babies laughing at them as if they can't really believe this has become something.  Fine them?  Come on. What they need is a good spanking.
2. Eagles - And then we have the opposite end of the spectrum.  Eagles coach, Andy Reid, has taken heat all week long on the fact that his "dream team" has not done what everyone hoped they would do.  His players rallied around him, took the blame, and then went out and proved everyone wrong by beating the Redskins.
3. Eye Black - I noticed on my HD TV while watching Brian Urlacher being interviewed that he was wearing eye black stickers under his eyes, and for a moment I felt that feeling I get when I've thought something for a long time and then get called on it for being wrong.  I've always  thought that the players painted that eye black under their eyes.  So I got curious and researched it and found I wasn't so stupid after all as it was once painted under the eyes.  Now, of course, there are stickers, although some players still use the grease combination of beeswax, paraffin, and carbon.
4. Cowboys and Patriots - All the sportscasters on Fox NFL Pregame were talking about how the Cowboys were going to win this week. They agreed it would be a close game, but that Tony Romo would step up to the plate and show America how wrong they have been in regards to his quarterbacking skills.  Huh?  I'm telling you right now, if I were betting my life savings on a game that was coming down to the wire and could choose a quarterback, Tony Romo wouldn't make my list of choices, but Tom Brady would be in my top two choices.  It was a close game, but Romo got the Cowboys ahead with a field goal and more than a minute on the clock, and Tom Brady went ahead with a touchdown.
5. Sean Payton - As Penn State's Joe Pa will tell ya it is dangerous on the sideline.  Payton got tangled up with his own player on the sideline and broke a bone and tore a ligament.  He ended up coaching from the locker room while being tended to, but his team lost to division rivals Tampa Bay.
6. Aaron Rogers - Have you seen his commercial for State Farm?  Could he look more uncomfortable?  Something about this guy just seems odd, but I can't put my finger on it.  And I felt this way before he demolished my Steelers in the Super Bowl.  But it is a cute commercial.
7. Brandon Marshall - The Miami Dolphin receiver did some mouthing off this week about he was going to "get kicked out in the second quarter" on Monday Night Football.  That sound bite made the rounds with everyone speculating and wondering if Goodell would be keeping an eye on him, but seriously?  These guys get mikes shoved into their faces and are asked stupid questions and in the heat of the moment they mouth off.  Apparently he got called into the office for some scolding, but he laughed it off and told everyone he was joking.  Whatever.  The way to show people?  Kick ass on Monday Night Football Marshall.
8. St. Louis Cardinals & Texas Rangers -  Let the World Series begin.

Connie Foot Photo #35

Before she even got her boot off Nurse Kelly noticed blood coming from Connie's right leg.  "What's with the blood?" she asked.

"Oh, it's a hematoma," Connie said.  "It's fine.  I took care of it and bandaged it."

In came the Foot God, in a hurry because he had his own doctor appointment.  Nurse Kelly, who had removed Connie's bandage job, pointed out the leg to him and suggested he take a look.  He did and he didn't like what he saw.  It was deep and so he had Nurse Kelly measure it and now he is adding that wound to his care as well.

The foot?  It looked "better".

"We don't want that," he said, pointing to the leg wound, "to turn into that," and he pointed at the foot wound.  So she has added a wound instead of healing a wound.  Somehow we think that isn't what she is suppose to be doing.

Now I'm the pied piper of dogs

This past week was the end of the first grading period for one daughter so she had Friday off of school. It was parent/teacher conferences for the other daughter and she had Thursday and Friday off of school. I had to get up on Thursday to see the one daughter off to school and then head over for the other daughter's parent/teacher conference. Sleeping in was not an option for Thursday, but it was for Friday, and I planned a nice, long morning nestled in clean sheets.

At 7:30 AM on Friday morning the phone rang. It woke me from a dead sleep. Tom was in the shower, both girls were sleeping, and dog was at the foot of my bed watching me. I answered the phone, worried it was in regards to my mother, but it turned out to be my neighbor across the street. She told me that she had a stray dog at her house and did I know who might be the dog's owners. Immediately this picture popped into my head:

This is the dog that Tom brought home the morning after I told him no more dogs. This dog lives one street over and is known on that street as the escape artist. One summer a year ago the dog was at our house almost daily. Madison and Darcy would take the dog home and the owners were always very nonchalant. This last time Darcy and I returned the dog and the owners didn't even know the dog, named Hildy, was missing. Apparently she spends a lot of time in the fenced in backyard.

I informed my neighbor of all of this and then gave her detailed instructions on how to get to the neighbor's so that she could return the dog.

"Uh, Cara," she said, "I'm at work."

Oh, yes. Every time my children are home I feel like I'm off of work between the hours of 5:45 and 3:00 and forget that the rest of the world is not. Turns out my neighbor had discovered the dog at 5:45 in her garage, and not wanting the dog to be run over by a car, she put the dog in her house when she left for work at 6:00. The dog had no collar.

"Sorry to do this to you," she said, "but you are the only one with a key to my house."

Needless to say, by the time I hung up I wasn't too happy. There went my morning of snuggling in clean sheets, my brain in sleepyville. I began griping as soon as my husband exited the bathroom.

"What is wrong with these people? I should call the pound and have them take care of this dog. Clearly the owners don't give a damn. How many times is this dog going to escape? I wanted to sleep in this morning!"

Hubby suggested I call the owners. I suggested he call the owners. He did. As predicted, they had no idea the dog was missing.

"Oh," the lady owner said, "You have Hildy? Well, I'm looking around now and I don't see her."

Really? Because she isn't there! Tom explained the situation and how the dog was locked in the neighbor's house, but that we had the key. And the lady owner? Did she apologize and thank us profusely? No. She actually said, "Well, I just got out of the shower, and I have to get ready for work."

It is a good thing that Tom made that call and was listening to this nonsense on the other end because in my mood I might have started a neighborly war. Seriously? She needed to get ready for work? Well I needed to get more sleep, but that certainly wasn't happening.

Tom told her he was leaving for work in fifteen minutes and so she agreed to retrieve her dog. I stormed into the bedroom, ranting and raving, and began changing into my clothes. Then I decided that I wasn't going to change. I was wearing Steelers pajama pants and a black T'shirt so I put on a bra, hooked up Elliotto his leash, and went across the street to join my neighbor buddy, Sid, who was outside sipping coffee in the driveway. He listened to me rant and rave for several minutes, and we discussed all the things I was going to tell this lady owner when she appeared. Eventually my next door neighbor buddy joined us, and we all discussed things we would do if the dog escaped again.

Time passed and no lady owner. The next door neighbor buddy wandered home. I went over to the neighbor's house to make sure she really had Hildy as I suddenly had visions that perhaps I had guessed wrong on the missing dog. I hadn't. Hildy met me at the door, her tail wagging rapidly.

It took the lady owner one hour, ONE HOUR, to finally wander down the street to retrieve her dog. She appeared with a leash and full make-up, dressed in her work clothes and high heeled shoes. I felt great standing next to her in my pajamas. She was sighing as I opened the neighbor's door and let Hildy out. My anger had dissipated, but I did ask how it was that the dog kept escaping. She said something about the dog banging up against a board in the fence, but she just shrugged like "what are you going to do". How about nailing the damn board shut? But I kept my mouth closed and off they trotted down the street.

I went home, called the neighbor who had housed the dog to report it was all taken care of, and then, because I was feeling defiant, I went back to bed and slept until 11:15 AM. Ha!

Day 2 - Pittsburgh - Game Day - Part 2

Before we sat down I watched the special teams practice.  Tom was in line for a hamburger off a grill that was set up behind where we were standing so I joined these folks (in picture) to watch Shaun Suisham kick some balls through the uprights.

Then we walked up, up, up and rode a few escalators up, up, up to our seat level.  I was out of breath by the time we hiked up, up, up to our seats which happened to be one row from the last row at the top of the stadium.  In full sun.  I didn't care.  Because the view was breathtaking.

The players were on the field stretching and running through a few drills and then they headed to the locker room for some words of Tomlin wisdom.  The announcer was great.  He told us what was happening every minute from the band on the field, to it being breast cancer awareness month in the nfl.  He let us know when the Post-Gazette took its weekly fancam picture so that we could all cheer and wave our terrible towels to we could prove later that we had attended the game.  Note:  I'm at the back, row 526, to the right on the end. (Darcy is hidden by the woman standing in front of her, but you can see her arm)

While the announcer was firing up the fans, they were busy filing into the stadium to take their seats.  The Titans came out on the field first.  Then Mike Tomlin.  And then the roaring began.  We sat across from the Steelers tunnel so I could see them waiting to be announced.

When they were announced the crowd went wild.  We were all on our feet with our towels.  I will admit I was crying a bit.

The offense came out first and formed two lines on the field.  The defense stayed back in the tunnel and were announced one by one, and each one ran out between the two lines slapping hands with the offense.

Out of the tunnel came LaMar Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, James Farrior, Chris Hoke; guys I've watched on television and who grace my Steelers room walls.  One by one they exited the tunnel running out on to the field to all the cheering.  I alternated between peering through the binoculars and watching it with my own two eyes.  Waiting...

He came out last to the biggest roar ever.  "At safety, number 43, Troy Polamalu!"  And the hair on my arms stood up and a chill went through me.  I was really here seeing all of this, experiencing all of this live... in the Steelers own home... in the city of Pittsburgh.  It was a beautiful moment.

And then Mike Tomlin's niece sang the National Anthem, fireworks went off, and the players met in the middle of the field for the coin toss, which Pittsburgh won, and we were off!

I watched the defense.

I watched the offense.

I watched the 63,857 fans that filled the stadium.

And I soaked it all in.  We were, literally, the last fans to leave the stadium.  I can actually say that I closed down Heinz Field.  We left the field and stood in the upper deck leaning over the concrete wall to watch the players as they exited the locker area into the secured parking lot where most of them were parked.

We saw Sanders, Kiesel, Wallace, and Roethlisberger among many.  Mike Tomlin came out and went right out the gates to chat with some of the fans who were standing outside.  I was waiting for Polamalu when security came up and told us we had to leave.  They were very nice.  "If this were my stadium you could stay here all night," one guy said to me. 

And so we were the last to leave with security behind us chatting with us as we walked down, down, down and out the gates of Heinz Field.  We walked around the corner of the area we had just been watching, and Polamalu, his hair tied back and his son in his arms, came out with his wife and his other son, and I caught a glimpse of them before they disappeared behind the covered fence where I was walking.  We joined the handful of fans at the exit and waved to them as they drove past us, many of them shouting his name.  It was a nice ending to a great day.

Thank you to my mother-in-law, Mary Anne, for making it possible.  It was without a doubt one of the best experiences of my life and something I will cherish forever.

Day 2 - Pittsburgh - Game Day - Part 1

The goal was to leave the hotel at 9:30 AM.  We left at 9:36 AM decked out in our Steelers shirts, hats, socks, tattoos, beads, earrings, hair wraps, and bracelets.  It was a chilly 56 degrees, but the sun was up and its warmth was slowly working its way into the day.  We ignored breakfast and headed toward the stadium.  As we got closer the streets were packed with fans in their black and gold and vendor booths selling all items from Steelers rugs to pens.

We paid to park and walked the streets enjoying the fans and the vendors on our way toward the stadium.  Once there we found the street where we had parked the day before closed so that more vendors could hawk their wares and so fans could walk freely without fear of traffic.  We collected free give-aways, purchased items, and had our faces spray painted.  At one point we joined some fans in front of an empty parking lot where someone told Tom the players parked and then rode a small bus into the stadium.

We watched as players and families drove in and parked.  We snapped pictures of a few players such as Issac Redman, but the most exciting thing happened directly in front of me.  I was standing and chatting with Tom when a car pulled up and began backing into the space right in front of me.  I had been watching the players and family members back into spaces for some time now and seriously they seemed to all have parking issues so I thought I should help out whoever was driving this car.  I motioned for him to turn the wheel to the left and then I hand signaled him in backing up.  He didn't listen to me all the way and so I sort of made a face at his parking job.  Eventually after some tense moments of wondering who was behind the darkly tinted windows, the door opened and out came wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Immediately the crowd started shouting his name. He had on headphones and he nodded at us and began making his way across the parking lot to the bus.  The crowd kept shouting his name and he kept walking away.

A man to my left wasn't satisfied with just seeing Brown and he kept shouting at him.  "Antonio!  Antonio!  Come on, man!  Come on, Antonio.  I came a long way just to see you my main man!"  I laughed out loud because I thought that hilarious and apparently Antonio was touched because he turned around and looked at us.  And then he began walking back to us, a smile on his face.

He shook the man's hand and signed some terrible towels and some jerseys.  Then he moved down toward me.  I had stepped back from the guard rail and snapped two pictures, but I never shouted his name or muttered a word.  A man behind me moved forward to my right and asked to shake his hand and Antonio Brown shook it.  Then he turned to me.  I figured what the hell, stuck out my hand, shook his soft receiver hand, and told him, "I follow you on twitter!"

He smiled at me and said, "Yeah?"  I said, "Yep."  He thanked me, waved at everyone, and turned around and walked toward the bus.  Never once did any fan rush the guard rails screaming like maniacs.  Those fans that were lined up on the far side of the parking lot never rushed to our side.  Everyone was very cordial and respectful and gave him all the space he could possible need or want.  A few people yelled his name as he walked away, but I reminded them that he needed to get to work.  And then we left and went into the stadium which opened at 11:00 AM.

We entered at the same area we had entered the day before because Tom needed to take care of some business at the Sideline store.  Then we walked into the area that the day before had been roped off.  It was like a mini museum dedicated to past and present players, coaches, and owners.  There were glass cases of personal items, large banners dedicated to important historical game events, and huge colored and black and white photos.

I walked past two television announcers getting ready for a pre-game show with only a glance, because I was too busy taking it all in. I walked through the Steelers walk of fame.  I pointed out players to Tom and Darcy, testing my 70's knowledge and memories.

Darcy and Tom made their way to the concession stand to order our breakfast/lunch of hotdogs and sodas, but I was still too awed by what I was seeing to join them.  Hanging above our heads were gigantic silver footballs; six of them to honor the six Super Bowls the Steelers have won.

We ate our hotdogs beneath the footballs and then we walked clear around the stadium.  Tom stopped for a hamburger off a large grill in the end zone area, and Darcy and I made a few more purchases inside another store.  We joined the throngs of fans and hiked way, way, way, up into the sky to our seats in the full sun at the corner of the end zone, second row from the top.

And waited...