Reason 125 on why I said no to getting a dog

When we first got Elliot he looked like this:

Our backyard was fenced in except for an open area where a gate should be on one side of our yard.  Because Elliot was so small and fluffy and couldn't move quite so fast Tom added some chicken wire across this open area.  We also added a few bricks to a few areas where the back fence was a tad too open for a small fluffy puppy, but for the most part Elliot was contained.

He sometimes sniffed and dug around the back fence area, but never did he venture over to the side with the chicken wire.  If he wanted to see what was happening in the front of our house, he went to the area where we had a real gate and where the most traffic seem to move.

That was until this past week.  I put Elliot into the backyard because he was whining to get outside to chase squirrels.  I put him in the back because I wanted to sweep my living room, a chore I'm unable to do with the dog around as he loves to attack and chase the broom.  He was busy chasing squirrels in the backyard, and I was busy sweeping in the front room and all was right with our worlds.

Then I heard Elliot barking and the barking seem to be quite loud for a dog that was in the back of the house.  In fact as it continued I thought to myself, "it sounds like that barking is coming from the front yard", and after thinking that same thing twice I looked out the front door to find Elliot in the front yard treeing a squirrel.  He had jumped over the chicken wire chasing a squirrel.

I immediately went outside and started sweeping hoping to lure him toward me, but he only glanced at me and continued barking at the treed squirrel.  I walked toward him and as I walked around the tree he too walked around the tree...away from me.  We both circled the tree twice and then I changed directions and so did he.  We circled the tree again.  Now I am steaming.  I have things to do and chasing the dog was not one of them.  I went into the house and returned with a jar of peanut butter.  He didn't care.  He sniffed the air a bit, but gave me a look that said, "do I look stupid, stupid?"

It wasn't until I scooped out a tad of peanut butter and put it on a leaf on the ground that he came over and allowed himself to be captured.  I put the end of the leash onto the dog stake we have out front and left him to finish his peanut butter leaf.  He lay contently in the yard until a squirrel ran by him.  Elliot jumped up, forgetting he was on a leash, and took off after the squirrel his leash and collar coming off over his head.  Once again he treed the squirrel and once again I tried to capture the dog.  This time I'm afraid some choice words were shouted quite loudly through the neighborhood.  Elliot, enjoying the chasing game, took off running two houses away and into the backyard.  As I trudged through my neighbor's yard to get him, cursing up a storm and ruining my NY's resolutions, the dog came tearing around the side of the house and took off running in the opposite direction through the next three neighbors' yards.  I went back into the house.

Eventually he returned to the squirrel in the tree and eventually I got him with a piece of lunch meat, but I was as mad as I've ever been and texted his father to let him know how his dog had behaved.  Father immediately called laughing as he pictured me running around the tree after the dog.  He said it was only because he had been in my shoes, but I wondered.

And then later on during the weekend I was the one laughing....

The new gate is now secure and the puppy is enclosed.  I'm thinking of running around to each of the gates during the day acting like a squirrel and receiving some exercise for myself, but right now I'm content to just sit poolside with my paper and coffee and watch the dog chase the squirrels on the back fence.  So much for that cute fluffy little ball of fur.

My first experience at a tween concert

My daughter's friend, Savanna, received tickets to see Miranda Cosgrove in concert for Christmas.  She invited Darcy to accompany her and her mother.  The mother then suggested that I take the third ticket as I was "more fun" then she.  While I agreed that was a true statement, I had no interest in Miranda Cosgrove.  I don't care for the show she is in on Nickelodeon, iCarly, and I had never heard any of her music.  And the concert was in Tampa, which for me is like NYC.  I don't go there unless I have someone chauffeuring me.

Two days before the concert the mother conveniently got sick.  I said I would take the girls, and then I proceeded to convince Savanna's father to do the driving.  He hemmed and hawed some about it, but when I mentioned that parking might be a problem, and that we might have to walk several blocks in the dark I knew I had him hooked.  He is the most protective parent I know.  When the time came to leave, he was showered and ready to do the driving, and he decided to buy another ticket for himself so he could watch his daughter's enjoyment.

She had no wish for this to happen and had a little attitude.  Middle schoolers + parents = uncool.  Jim + Cara = we don't care what the middle schoolers think.  So the four of us piled into the van and headed for Tampa to see the concert.  I was prepared with directions that I had gotten from the theater site, and I was quite excited now about the concert because I read that the opening act was Greyson Chance, a kid I saw on YouTube a while back.  This kid had blown me away with his piano playing, his voice, and his ability to rearrange Lady GaGa's, Paparazzi, and make it his own.

The concert was at the Tampa Theater, a 1926 Tampa City landmark.  The stage is quite small for a concert, but the surroundings are absolutely breathtaking.  Paramount financed the theater with the helping of private backers back in the day when theaters were heavily populated.  The Tampa Theater was designed by the famous theater architect John Eberson who had visions and designed theaters with the illusion that visitors would feel as if they were outside in a romantic courtyard at night.  With 1,000 seats I thought it the perfect place to see a first concert.

With Jim behind the wheel of the van and a determination of getting a ticket, we got to the theater in plenty of time.  We paid to park in the lot adjacent to the theater, and secured Jim an aisle seat ticket.  Savanna had seen a pizza place as we searched for parking and so we walked down the street to try it out.

It was fabulous!  It was an organic place with all natural ingredients.  We had a Caesar salad topped with free range grilled chicken and an extra large half cheese/half pepperoni pizza.  The sodas were natural sodas that went down smooth after our jaunt to find the place. The waiter joked with us about needing ear plugs among all of the screaming tweens we were about to encounter, and so we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

After dinner, we headed back to the theater and hung out in the lobby, checking out the decor and the $40 concert t-shirts for sale.  Jim and I vetoed the purchasing of the shirts and instead forked over $10 for glow sticks which my daughter informed me were for holding up while the performers sang.  I told her back in my day we held up lighters.  She was not impressed.

First up was Greyson Chance seated at a keyboard with a three piece ensemble, which I felt he didn't need.  His voice is out of this world.  That kid can flat out sing (to use one of my brother's quotes).  He sang 6 songs in a half an hour, three of them alone and three of them with the musicians.  He rocked on the three songs with just him behind the keyboard.  I can't say enough about how wonderful this kid, he is only 13 years old, is as an artist.  He writes his own music and lyrics and can just belt them out with so much feeling.  He range is incredible and his baby face is adorable.  Savanna and Darcy were hooked and on the Greyson Chance bandwagon by the end of his set. 

I made sure to show the girls how to squeal and wave their arms in total devotion of one's idol.  They rolled their eyes, but it didn't stop me.  I was in love with this kid!  He ended and stood for another half an hour signing autographs, but we missed that as we were standing in line to use the one room restroom.  It took a half an hour for his equipment to be disassembled and Miranda Cosgrove's to be set up.

At exactly 8:00 the lights dimmed and the tween screaming began.  Holy Crap, but it was loud on this forty something's thirty something's eardrums.  I thought they might rupture and bleed, but that was nothing compared to how the decimals rose when Miranda Cosgrove ran out on stage and the music started.  Suddenly I was my parents, "I can't understand a word she is saying".

Her band consisted of a drummer, a bass player, two guitarists, a keyboardist, and a back-up singer.  They were so loud that you couldn't even hear Miranda sing.  For all I know she was lip syncing and a CD was playing in the background.  Miranda herself had obviously sucked down a gallon of caffeine because the 17 year old did not stop and stand in place for longer then 10 seconds.  She ran to the left of the stage, hopping and dancing, and then she ran to the right of the stage and hopped and danced some more.  Sometimes she ran to the middle of the stage and hopped and danced, and then she turned around and ran up four steps to stand in the middle of a platform to sing, dance and hop.  It was like watching a tennis match.  I couldn't take a decent picture because she never stood still long enough.  (Well, and I'm not too swift with my IPhone camera yet and my other camera ran out of battery).

Miranda had three costume changes and sang and hopped for an hour.  She looks just like she does on iCarly, and she has the most beautiful, long, silky dark hair that just moved so smoothly as she hopped and danced her way back and forth on the stage.  The concert was sponsored by Neutrogena, but I wanted to know what hair care products she used.
 

When the last costume change was complete she sang her two last songs.  Jim took the girls up to the stage for the last song, and they got to see Miranda up close and personal.  Greyson joined Miranda on stage for the finale, and they danced and sang across the stage shaking and slapping the fans' hands.  Both girls got their hands slapped and so they won't be washing them for the next hundred years. (Insert screaming!)

It was cool to witness this first time event with my daughter.  It brought back memories of seeing Shaun Cassidy in concert with my friends, and that feeling of pure happiness and awe at seeing your idol up close.  I did; however, find it interesting that these tweens were fawning over a girl entertainer....times they are a changing...

Connie photo #7

The wound looked better this week although her foot, ankle and leg were quite swollen.  Because of this swelling and some redness on the top of the foot and leg the Foot God put her on two antibiotics.  He said the vac is doing its job and filling in the wound nicely.  Not sure why she has that swollen bump above the wound.  I didn't really check it out this time as I was concentrating on the wound.

Her foot was still swollen the next day, but not as much as when she saw the Foot God.  The rehab hospital is kicking her out the end of this week and the question is where to go from here.  Another rehab facility or home?  She is weighing her options and discussing things with the therapists, and I threw in my opinion.  As long as she can stay off her foot I have no problem with her going home, but she tends to be on her feet puttering around when she is at home.  She promises not to do that.  Hmmmm....

Two peas in a pod or is that two feet in boots?

Darcy has something called seaver's disease.  She has this in her left heel and it is a typical injury in children who play sports.  She started complaining about it last year during her football and soccer overlapping part of the seasons.  I poohed it and we iced it and then it went away after the soccer season ended.  Soon as soccer started and overlapped once again with her football time she began the complaining again.

I took her in to the pediatrician who diagnosed her.  She suggested just to make sure there weren't any broken bones or other problems we go to an orthopedist.  I did some research on the disease and decided that since the cure for this was shoe inserts, and being well affiliated with the Foot God, I asked his opinion.  We had a nice discussion on the subject during Connie's last visit and an appointment was made for Darcy to see the Foot God.

He took X-rays and squeezed around on her heel.  She was very nonchalant about all the squeezing despite her limping and whining the previous week, and I thought he would think this was a case of worried mother syndrome, but then he asked her to stand up and walk on her heels.  She practically fell to the floor in a puddle.  She couldn't do it no way, no how.  He told her no more soccer and then put her in a compression boot for a week.  A compression boot.  Like someone else we know...

Only difference is that Darcy has compression on her boot that she can blow up or let out depending.  She loves going to the rehab hospital to visit grandma because she can get into the wheelchair and go down the hallway and let everyone help her as they think she is a patient.  People are very helpful, especially in the dining room.

We return to the Foot God this week at which time he will fit her for orthotics.  She, like her sister, has a C-foot, which means they are under pronated.  This will cost quite a few pennies, but hopefully will stop them from having any hip and back pain in the future.

Meanwhile, Darcy didn't follow the doctor's advice and played in her soccer game this Saturday.  I was in concession stand duty earlier that morning and left them in the care of their father.  He too claims he didn't know Darcy would take off the boot and put on her cleats.  She played and had no problems, but I'm not sure I'll tell that to the Foot God!

And the pain just keeps coming

Thursday, Feb. 9th - 8:50 AM

Darcy goes in to get her bottom braces

Gets the bands in silver to match her top braces.  Complains of pain and receives no sympathy from her mother whose mouth still opens automatically whenever her body is reclined. (Tons of dental work and tons of pain)

One sad little girl who thought this face would keep her out of school for the day.

She was wrong!

Connie foot of the year photo #5 & 6

Unfortunately I was not around to take photo #4 for the year.  Connie fell at home and ended up spending a few days in the hospital where the Foot God saw her in the evening around 8:30, long after I was gone.  She spent a week at home with nurse Rusty and then entered a rehab hospital where she is working to build up strength.

 Photo # 5 - Wound vac will be placed on the foot to try and fill it in again

Photo #6 - looks better then it is as it was drippy with blood, but once it was cleaned it looked a lot like the above photo.  Foot God said it looked better, see you in a week.

If college doesn't work out, perhaps the circus?

For Christmas Madison and her girl buddies exchange gifts.  This year the girls asked each other what one wanted for a gift and as usual Madison replied that she didn't know.  And she is honest about that.  She doesn't know because she has everything she wants and "doesn't really need anything".  That just made each girl ask her over and over and over again.  Finally Madison told her friend Lily she wanted her to get her a cotton candy machine.  Madison was joking of course.  Lily, believing her, told her mother who immediately got online and began searching for a cotton candy machine.  At some point the whole story was told to me.

I told the mother "absolutely not", and ignoring my wishes, she found one online and Madison received a cotton candy machine for Christmas from Lily.  The machine was quite compact and could also make sugar free cotton candy.  It came with sugar and also with hard candies that could be woven into a nice ball of cotton candy.  I put the machine away and hoped the girls would forget about it.  Then I planned revenge on the other mother.

A boring weekend finally rolled around.  Homework was done.  Rooms were straightened.  The girls had nothing to do.  Please, please, please could they make cotton candy?  I chickened out and told them to ask their father and there had to be NO MESS.  Father said yes if they did it outside in the garage.  Before I knew it cotton candy was cookin!

The machine

The girls used hard candies to make this batch

The candy went into the middle of the heating element, machine was turned on, and within a few seconds strands of cotton candy began forming along the sides of the machine.

The final product was a tart lemonade flavor that puckered the lips.  Everyone agreed that the batch made from sugar was the best.

Out of the mouths of my babes

This morning while taking my eldest to school, the song Sister Christian came on the radio. I immediately yelled out, "Sister Christian, Knight Ranger".  Used to my silliness, she didn't respond, but I felt the need to elaborate.  I explained that back in my younger days when MTV was just starting out my brother and I would go to my neighbor's house and watch MTV.  We would turn the channel and wait until the video had started and the song title was gone from the screen and then we would flip back to MTV.  First person to yell out the artist and title of the song got a point.  The five of us played that game every chance we got, and for some reason the two songs that remind me of those times are Sister Christian by Knight Ranger and Oh, Sherry by Steve Perry.  Every time they come on the radio I tend to shout out the title and artist.

Madison listened to my story and smiled.  I asked her if she paid attention when I told stories of my childhood and did she remember any ones I had told her?  She said of course she paid attention.  She said she remembered my stories of playing games outside, of painting the fire hydrant in the yard, and stories of school.

Later, while taking Darcy to the orthodontist to get her bottom braces, I told her the same story.  It led into this conversation:

Me:  "And so those two songs remind me of that game."

Darcy:  "Oh."

Me:  "Another thing we did was turn down the sound on the TV and each of us would make up what the characters were saying."  I sneak a glance at my daughter who is smiling that mom-is-nuts smile.  "Listen, kid, that was the type of fun we made up when we were kids.  We didn't have all those video games and electronics.  We made up our own fun!"

Darcy:  "Uh huh."

Me:  "Do you hate when I tell stories about when I was a kid?  Do you even listen?"

Darcy:  "Yes."

Me:  "Ok, then what do you remember that I've told you about my childhood?"

Darcy:  "I remember how Uncle Rusty use to push you down on your bed and yell, "Sit down!", how you stole candy and a pen from the grocery store, how you got into trouble..."

Me:  "Wait.  Are the only stories you remember ones in which I was naughty or got into trouble?"

Darcy:  "Pretty much."

Super Bowl review

• Ah, the day after.  Not used to a loss, but having to deal with it nonetheless.  A reporter in our newspaper said that the worst two weeks were the hype leading up the Super Bowl.  I disagree.  I enjoy those two weeks of buying merchandise and wearing black and gold each day.  I like playing my "Here We Go" Steelers theme song and flying my flags.  The big day actually causes me stress, a sick stomach, and lots of anxiety.  I'm not even sure I enjoyed the game one little bit, not the pregame, not the entertainment, not the commercials.  Certainly not losing.
• So, I'm putting the blame on the shoulders of Ben Roethlisberger.  He is the leader of this team and he didn't lead.  He didn't fire up the defensive.  He didn't light up the offensive.  He couldn't get anything started, and he should have had no trouble doing so.  This was his third time.  He had the talent, the years of experience, and the fans.  Perhaps not being able to party as hard as he has done in the past was an issue...shades of Tiger Woods?  If so, he had better buckle down in the offseason and find a way to win again.
• I'm also putting the blame on coach Mike Tomlin.  I don't know if he didn't, but he should have grabbed Ben by the shoulders before that last drive.  He should have grabbed his head between his hands, looked him in the eye, and said, "You are the leader of this team.  This team is a group of winners.  Lead these guys down the field and win this damn game!  No excuses.  Win the damn game."
• Hines Ward tried getting into Ben's head, but maybe, just maybe, they had all had enough of that.  
• I never expected to be where we were Sunday night.  I watched too many games this past season where the offensive couldn't move and the games were won by the defense.  That defense didn't show up Sunday night.  Without the defense and without Ben's leadership we were flat.  
• Troy Polamalu was the AP's Defensive Player of the Year.  He deserved it, no questions there, and anyone that says otherwise is just plain crazy.  What he did in the Bowl doesn't change that.  Just wished he could have shown up as the defensive Troy we all know and love.  
• I really believe we were the better team.  We should have won.
• Tired of listening to the bloggers talking about how James Harrison ranted on about his fines during media day.  Was anyone paying attention besides me?  Media day could be an interesting and funny experience, but seriously?, the questions asked of these players?  Some idiot reporter questioned Harrison about the fines.  He didn't bring them up.  Reporter after reporter kept asking him about them and they wanted a response.  So Harrison tried to be funny, and he was.  I about peed my pants when he talked about putting a pillow down on the field.  And ending it with "Mr. Goodell".  Hilarious stuff and not at all vicious.  Yet?  Reporters and bloggers blowing it out of the water.  Stop!  Take it the way it was meant to be...good fun.
• Also was annoyed at the woman reporter that asked the stupid questions of Troy Polamalu on media day regarding his hair, Cher, and the movie Burlesque.  This is why no one takes women seriously in the world of football.  Poor Troy didn't have a clue what she was going on about, but he did turn it around by singing a stanza of Cher's Believe.
• Kudos to the Packers.  If we had to lose to a team, I guess it wasn't so bad to lose to them.  I enjoyed watching Brett Favre lead them back in the day, and I have a few friends that are Packers fans so that made it easier.  I didn't know much about them this year as I was annoyed at the way the Favre situation was handled, but the President of the Packers team is the son of a friend of mine.  He flew his mother to the Super Bowl and when they showed him on the field at the end of the game it brought a tear to my eye as he looked so much like my dear friend, Murphy, his father.  Mark Murphy is a mighty fine fellow, a fellow NFL'er, and he was a pride of joy to his dad.  Mark got the Packers job as Murph discovered he had a brain tumor, and I helped Murph put the block of cheese on his head that Mark sent him in the rehab center.  I told him that it was against what I believed in, but that I would faithful cheer the Packers when they weren't going against my Steelers.  Murphy would have so enjoyed this Sunday...and so the loss is bittersweet and not so hard to take in the scheme of life...

Super Bowl pick

Not surprising, I'm going with the Steelers!  Dreamed about it all last night and I have to go with my boys.  They have kept me abreast with tweets these past two weeks and they seem focused and ready for the big W.  Still looking for Troy Polamalu to have a big night as he is still due.  If the defense can shut down the Packers quarterback we should be good.  Big Ben has a chance to step up to the plate for the team, his fans, for history and for himself.  Should be an interesting night.  Looking forward to it...

GO STEELERS!

Sewer clean-up

• Total days workers were here working on problem: 5
• Total number of county workers that have worked in my yard:  9
• Total number of plumbers that have worked in my yard:  2
• Total number of others that have worked in my yard:  2
• Total number of county vehicles parked in front of my house:  8
• Total times my pipes had to be unclogged: 2
• Total dollars spent on our end:  $1065
• Total cost to the county:  unknown
• Total holes dug in my yard:  3
• Total trenches dug in my yard:  2
• Total Steelers fans among workers:  2
• Total number rooting for Steelers among workers:  4
• Total times I had to scrub showers and toilets with bleach:  3
• Total number of holes in the road:  1

Super Bowl humor

A man had 50 yard line tickets for the Super Bowl.
As he sat down, he noticed that the seat next to him was empty.
He asked the man on the other side of the empty seat whether anyone was sitting there.
"No," the man replied, "The seat is empty."
"This is incredible," said the first man.
"Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world and not use it?"
The second man replied, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This will be the first Super bowl we haven't been together since we got married in 1967."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else -- a friend or relative, or even a neighbour to take the seat?"
The man shook his head. "No, they're all at the funeral."

Email tidbit for the week

I can't remember what email things I have posted in the past and I'm sure this will have some repeats, but I found this hilarious today.  Thanks to my friend, Robin for the funny.  I have edited it some:

When I was a kid adults use to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were back in the day.  Walking uphill five miles to school in snow, barefoot, both ways...blah, blah, blah.  I swore that when I had kids I would never lay that bunch of crap on them about how easy I had it or how hard life was, but then I had kids and turned forty.

My god, but these kids today have it made!  Life is a breeze for you little twerps.  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in damn Utopia!  You have know idea how good you have it.  Why back in my day...

• We didn't have car seats to save our lives.  Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on for dear life.  If you were in the front seat, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard?  Well, that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!
• We didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something we had to go to the library and look it up in a book, and we had to find the book by using the card catalog!
• We had no email.  We had to write somebody a letter, and we had to walk outside and down the walk to put it in the mailbox.  And it took a week to get there!
• Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all our friends also had permission to kick our ass!  No where was safe.
• We didn't have have MP3 players, ITunes, or Napsters.  If we wanted to steal music we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and usually ended up with the DJ talking over the beginning or the ending of the song.  
• We didn't have CD players.  We had tapes and when the tape was finished we had to hit "eject" and we were lucky if the tape came out in one piece, but it usually came out all undone and tangled and then it was useless and we had to start all over again.
• We didn't have fancy crap like call waiting   If you called someone and he was on the phone then you got a busy signal and had to try again.  We didn't have caller ID.  If the phone rang you had no idea who it was!  It could be your friend, your neighbor, your parents, your boss, your principal, your drug dealer...you just didn't know.  You had to pick up and take your chances!
• We didn't have any freakin' cell phones either!  If you left the house, you just didn't make or receive a damn call.  You actually had to be out of touch with your friends!  The horror!  
• We didn't have any Playstations, Xbox games or Wii with high resolution 3-D graphic.  We had Atari where your screen guy was a little square and you had to use your imagination!  There weren't any levels or screens.  You just kept playing while it got harder, and harder, and harder until you died.  Like LIFE!
• We didn't have any TV menu.  We had a little book called TV guide.  We didn't have any remotes either.  You wanted to change the channel?  You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV and change it.
• We didn't have the Cartoon Network either.  We got cartoons once a week each Saturday morning and then we had to wait ALL week before we got them again.
• And our parents told us to stay outside and play...all day long...no matter the weather.  No electronics to keep us busy.  And if we came back inside before we were called?  We were doing chores!

You kids seriously have no idea what I'm talking about.  You're all spoiled rotten!  You wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in the 1970's!

Update on my life

• Sewage problem kicked in again and we lost the use of our bathroom facilities Monday night around 10:00 PM.  Youngest was showering when the problem occurred and the other daughter and I left the house and showered at Kelly's house.  Husband plunged all the showers and toilets and thought all would be well as long as only liquid went into the bowls.
• At 4:00 AM my mother's neighbor called to tell us Connie had fallen and was being transported to the hospital.  She fell and hit her head, opened a nice wound on her knee and her shoulder, and was dizzy.  Nothing is broken and her head scan came back normal, which we all know to be iffy anyhow...ha!  She is getting some rest in the hospital while they run more tests to determine why she is dizzy.  The foot god visited her, and despite the culture they took there growing MRSA, he refused to put her on antibiotics as he thinks it is topical.  He wants the vac back on the foot when she returns home.
• Workers are on the scene, I'm told, at my house this morning working on our end of the sewer issue.  They are Pittsburgh Steelers fans so it should be good when I finally get home this evening.  If not I'm sure good ole Kelly will enjoy having us raid her shower once more as we bring our own towels and offer up good stories and humor.

More later as the days progress!

What happens when the boss is away

I was walking out of the Steelers Room the other day, and as I passed by the door I saw this out of the corner of my eye.  Darcy was at school. 

Monday morning football recap #2

Steelers:

•  That first half was the best half I have seen from the Steelers since I saw them live in Tampa.  Rashard Mendenhall running for 91 yards was a sight to see pounding and pounding through the Jets' defense, the Steelers' offense line helping him through.  I kept waiting for him to have a break through run for 50 yards, and if the half hadn't ended I think he would have.  The momentum was too strong.
• But the half did happen, and I was worried.  I knew Jets coach Rex Ryan was going to be cursing up a storm in that locker room trying to fire up his team of mismatched players from all over the league.  He has done it all year and they have responded.  I knew our guys were going to get a tad cocky and let down their guard as they have done during the year.  We work better, as my Steelers watching buddy, Grandpa Bob, has said, when we are having to come from behind.  The Jets came out getting the ball first and they began clawing their way up the field and into the end zone, and I began having chest pains.
• The Steelers defensive stop of the Jets on the one yard line on four downs was pure Steel Curtain.  How often do we get to see safety Troy Polamalu pumping his fist out straight in pure victory and emotion afterward?  Big play.
• But the biggest play came with rookie Antonio Brown catching the 14 yard pass from Big Ben on third down to get the Steelers that final first down needed to run out the clock.  What a catch and what a pass from Big Ben.  Ben had to scramble to get out of the pocket to make the throw and to throw it accurately, and he did.  Major play.
• Hate having to see Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey hobbling off the field with a high ankle sprain.  Word is that it is a 4 to 6 week recovery, but Pouncey is already saying he will play.  We need him, but I have faith in back-up Doug Legursky if the doctors tell Pouncey he can not play.  Two weeks is a lot of time to bring Legursky up to speed and for Ben to help him work on his confidence.
• Jets coach Ryan didn't mouth off this week about the Steelers, and for the most part neither did his players.  Aside from some comments on Sunday about Hines Ward being a dirty player, the Jets were quiet.  Just goes to show everyone that the Steelers led by coach Mike Tomlin are class acts.  Makes me have a tiny glow in my heart for Ryan.
• I feel for Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson, formerly of the San Diego Chargers.  I think he too is a class act and a hell of a player.  If the Jets had pulled off a win yesterday, I would have been rooting for them just because of Tomlinson.  Nice guy all around and probably his last year in football.  He owns many records, but the Super Bowl win still escapes him.  The Chargers gave up on him and Ryan snatched him up and helped bring him back into playoff material, and that is the only reason I feel sorry for their loss.
• When I got home last night I told the girls, "Notice I did not call Patrick (my huge Jets fan buddy) tonight after this game?  No point in rubbing it in his face.  He is sick enough as it is.  I know that feeling of losing..."  We sat quietly for three seconds, and then I snickered, "Actually, I don't, but..."  All in good fun though, all in good fun!

Others:

• Got to address the Jay Cutler situation, and I'll do that by giving my own opinion.  Cutler, the quarterback of the Chicago Bears left the game in the last quarter with a knee injury.  Who decided that will always be the big question in that city.  Was it Jay himself who preceded to walk along the sideline during the game snuggled warmly in his Bears parka or the trainers and doctors coach Lovie Smith sort of eluded to it being?  The thing that bothered me the most was how he sat on the bench next to the third string quarterback, Caleb Haine, his hands inside his warm pockets, ear buds in his ears, starting straight ahead while Haine studied the play book.  I can guarantee had that been Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning or even Brett Favre, they would have been hanging over Haine's shoulder offering advice, encouragement, and helping this kid pull out the win that would send them to the Super Bowl.  Hell, it's exactly what I would have been doing!  Instead we get Cutler acting like he hasn't a care in the world, and there lies the problem with his entire NFL career thus far.  If I can offer him some advice it would be this:  take what has happened to Ben Roethlisberger and what he has done to redeem himself in the eyes of his family, his teammates, his fans, his town, and himself and ask him what he has done to turn his life around and then work on straightening out your own.  Because until this man is happy with himself he isn't going to do anything on the field that will make others happy.
• That being said, kudos to third string quarterback Caleb Haine for getting out there and playing like a monster.  He almost brought the Bears back to turn the game into something worth watching.  If it weren't for those two mistakes, he might have been having the day of his life.  And wouldn't it have been exciting for the next two weeks to wonder which quarterback would have started in the Super Bowl?
• I have quite a few friends who are Packer fans, and I know the President of the Packers organization, so it will be an interesting two weeks.  I just wish the Super Bowl were being played in an outdoor stadium instead of inside.  These two teams aren't indoor wimps.  Wouldn't it be great if it were outdoors in the snow?  Sigh.

Monday Morning Football Recap

PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE 

SUPER BOWL!!

HERE WE GO!

Playoff picks - NFC and AFC Championships

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears:  Everyone is saying this game will be a doozey.  I'm not so sure.  I think the Packers and Aaron Rogers are going to run up the score and leave the Bears on their own muddy, snowy field.  But if Rogers is off or the Bears defense can get to him, then the field is open for Jay Cutler to be a "somewhat local" hero.

New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers:  Always go with my boys and they have the experience.  The defense has got to step up today and stop the Jets' running game.  I'm looking for Troy to make a big play as it is his time.  The Jets are fighters and coach Rex Ryan can certainly fire them up, but they already beat us once.  The Steelers don't like to loose twice. 

Ready for some football?

Connie foot photo #3

Connie: "How does it look?"
Foot nurse: "Looks beefy."
Me: "I was going to say meaty."

The doctor wasn't happy.  He didn't like how the original wound was deeper then usual. He has ordered the wound vac back on the foot, but this will be a home vac that will be smaller and more portable.  He will see her back in a week.  It was a downer for all.

And the homeownership mishaps continue

ATTENTION:  Do not read further if you are squeamish in regards to potty talk.

Last night after rushing to and sitting through an important impromptu meeting, I returned home with a caramel frappe to sit and chew the fat with my girl, Kelly, who had spent the evening with Darcy.  We enjoyed some laughs and our frappes and Kelly went home for the night.  I hit the showers.  At the very end of my shower I felt water around my ankles, nothing new in that shower, and so I figured I would be getting out the Liquid Plummer.  But as I hurriedly rinsed off my toilet began gurgling.  My first thought, "That can't be good."

The master-bath toilet has been gurgling every once in awhile when the toilet is flushed in the other bathroom, which butts up against my bathroom.  In fact the toilets are butt up against each other (no pun intended..hee hee).  I had mentioned this occurrence to the husband, but as I've stated numerous times, my husband hears the ocean 95% of the time I speak to him.  He claims he never heard me talk about gurgling toilets.  Uh huh.

I got out of the shower, dried off, and dressed.  I peered into the toilet.  It looked normal so I used it.  I flushed and was washing my hands at the sink when the toilet began to overflow.  I didn't panic as toilet issues too are a common occurrence in our house that was built in the 60's.  I tiptoed through the water and turned it off at the toilet.  I got rags and went to work cleaning.  I got out the plunger.  It was seeing its last days as a plunger, but I lowered into the bowels of the toilet and began plunging.  As I plunged a gurgling noise began sounding in my shower.  My second thought, "How odd.  That can't be good."

I stopped plunging when the plunger broke.  I muttered some choice words, sopped up the floor, and then pulled back the shower curtain to make sure all was well.  What greeted me behind the curtain was not a new car.  Instead I got oozing black sewage creeping up the shower drain to mix with the standing water.  It reminded me of the Lost smoke that terrified the inhabitants of the island.  I wandered out to alert the husband.

He entered the bathroom muttering under his breath.  By the time he was up to his elbow with the broken plunger pumping away in the toilet bowl, the muttering was full scale yelling.  As I watched him, eyes mad, mouth opening and closing, toilet water running down his face, I heard from the other bathroom a flushing sound and then some screaming.  It was midnight and my eldest had gotten up to potty.

I ran into the room to find the same scenario:  toilet overflowing, sewage back up in the tub.  My husband tried plunging both toilets, but it was a no go.  He shut off the water to both toilets, washed his hands and face, and announced before going to bed, "Well the plumbing is shot so if you have to go to the bathroom you will need to go outside in the yard like the dog.  Nothing I can do."  Within ten minutes he was snoring, and I was sure my bladder was full. 

I cleaned up what I could on the floor and threw everything into the washing machine to be cleaned when the situation was fixed.  I left the black sewage alone.  Since the water was turned off it had stopped creeping up from the drain and was slowly disappearing back down again.  I went to bed and told myself I did not need to potty.  It was 1:00 in the morning.

At 3:00 AM I jumped out of bed afraid I was about to pee the bed.  My bladder was completely full and screaming.  I awake at least once a night to use the toilet and this was it.  I paced in my bedroom reviewing my options.

• Go out back and pee in the side yard using the hose as we do when swimming.  (Yes, judge me, but you wouldn't want wet kids with no regard for your clean floors to be dripping through four rooms of your house on the way to the toilet either)
• Use one of the three sinks like your mother taught you when in Europe and sleeping in a hotel next to a whore house which shared a bathroom that was located down the hall from your hotel room.

I chose option number two.  I used the kitchen sink where paper towels and comet were readily available.  I went back to bed.  In the morning I awoke the girls and told them to hurry and dress.  My bladder was full again and I knew their bladders were going to be as well.  We loaded into the van and went to McDonald's to ready ourselves for the day.

There were two toilets in McDonald's.  I went into the handicap stall and Darcy took the other one.  I did my business and flushed.  I washed my hands and happened to look back at the toilet.  It needed a double flush.  I flushed again and exited the stall to stand with Darcy at the hand dryer.  We began talking and we dried our hands while Madison did her business in the stall that Darcy had vacated.  As we talked loudly over the noise of the dryer, I realized that we were still having to talk loudly after the dryer shut off.  Something else was making noise.  I stopped and listened and then crept back into the handicap stall.  The toilet would not stop flushing.  I jiggled the handle and Darcy and I rattled the lid some in hopes it would stop flushing...loudly.  My third thought was, "This is definitely not good."

We ran.  But we bought food just as a thank you for the use of the facilities.  When I returned home the plumber called.  I made arrangements for them to come out to the house, went north and took my mother to the foot doctor, drove back home and met the plumbers.  They entered the bathrooms and surveyed the scene.  I gave them the story, minus the one about me peeing in the kitchen sink.  We talked some football and then they headed outside and on to the roof to fix my problem.  Here were some of the problems:

• We have no clean out in the yard.  The only clean out is on the roof.  One plumber began inching the router, or the snake as I like to refer to it, down through the roof clean out.  The other plumber stayed in my master-bath watching to see if the water in my toilet went down.  It didn't.
• As the snake was inching down through the sewage pipes buried in our yard, water began bubbling up in my side yard under the master bathroom window.  It stunk to high heavens which indicated to the plumbers, "This is not good."  
• The plumbers switched positions, with the one on the ground now digging a hole where the water was bubbling.  He eventually hit pipe about ten feet down.  The pipe was covered in cement which he claimed was a good thing.
• The plumber on the roof went in with the snake 90 feet into the pipes.  I was in the bathroom when the toilet water disappeared.  I leaned out the window and informed the digging plumber.  I then joined him outside where the roof plumber then pulled out a handful of roots from the clean out.
• The plumbers got my toilets working again, but suggested that I call the county and have them come out to make sure it wasn't a problem on their end.  I have a large oak tree in the yard that was obviously the culprit.  From the tree down to the street is the county's problem.  From the tree up to my house is my problem.  The plumbers would go back and work up an estimate to redo our sewer pipes as their fix was only going to be temporary.

They left about 5:30 PM.  I put on latex gloves and set about cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom with bleach.  I threw out shower curtains and washed all towels and rugs.  I scrubbed the tub, shower, toilets and floors with bleach.  I cleaned the sinks and mirrors.  I even cleaned the fake greenery in the kids' bathroom.  I worked until 9:15 PM.  Thank god for Kelly who purchased me new shower curtains and more bleach on her way home from work so that I wouldn't have to stop and run errands too.  We went to bed that night confident there would be no more late night peeing in the kitchen sink.

The next morning the county arrived in a huge industrial truck.  One man.  He and I wandered around the house.  He remembered being at my house a few years back when we had another clogged problem, this one in the kitchen.  He was annoyed that he hadn't ordered a clean out at that time.  He told me that it could end up being our responsibility if the the problem turned out to be from the tree to our house or the county's responsibility if the problem was from the tree down to the street.  I offered him up some water and lemonade and told him that I would appreciate it if he found in favor of the latter.  He laughed and said he would be here awhile.

Three hours later he called me outside.  He had good news and bad news.  He had a camera down the pipes, and I got to take a peek down the sewer pipes.  Water was flowing quite freely until it reached a bright light at the end of the tunnel.  That light, he explained to me, was my tree roots blocking the pipe...on the county's side.  I patted his shoulders and told him he had done a good job.  Unfortunately, the problem didn't end there.  From where the plumber had dug down to the tree our pipes were slowly crumbling.  The problem was both of ours, with the majority of the problem on the county's side all the way into the middle of our street.  It would be a huge job.

He sent a root cutter down the pipes in hopes of buying us more time.  He was later joined by two more workers and two more trucks.  They worked another hour marking spots in my yard and in our street with green spray paint.  Then they left.  The next day it rained and they didn't show.  The plumber, however, did.  He came with our estimate, which he slowly folded when he heard the county's news.  He wandered around the house and stared at the green painted markings.  He seemed disappointed that the job wouldn't be bigger on our side.  We decided to wait until the county completed their job before beginning work on our end.

In the meantime I use the toilet very cautiously and take quick showers.  I have put the neighbors on alert that I may need to come a running.  I'm hoping the county doesn't leave us hanging because with all of our fecal issues in this house we need our toilets!