What a snow storm!!

Hello everyone,

Well, just when that dang groundhog promises "Spring will be here soon," we find out that the little rodent was WRONG!! We got dumped on last night!! They all said "Oh we'll only get 3-5 inches of snow maybe..." but take a look----this is at LEAST a FOOT of snow or more!! The weatherman lied too!! DRAT!! These liars need to be held accountable I say!! String 'em up!!

Here's the view we woke up to this morning. You can't even see our cars!! They are buried!! Not to mention the driveway--forget about it. We haven't got the snow blower out of the garage in WEEKS!! Just when we thought it was going to be a nice warm spring day, BOOM, suddenly Michigan decides to come to Pittsburgh. BLAST YOU MICHIGAN!!!

Here's the view of our patio furniture, in case you can't tell from such a high altitude just how much snow we got....it's ridiculous!! Who the HELL ordered this stuff?! It wasn't ME. If I ever find out who did it, though, they'd better RUN.

So, we called our dentist and cancelled Pete's appointment, and we called my chiropractor to cancel my appointment too...looks like we're staying in all day today. Usually we have "the boy" (Nathan) go out and clear the driveway. But, he'll soon be leaving us. He's planning to move back to Rochester NY in mid-March. So WHO THE HECK IS GOING TO CLEAR THE DRIVEWAY THEN?!! AAAUUGHH!! Let's hope the snow is GONE before then.

Yes, he's graduated with his welding degree from the community college, and wants to move back to Rochester where he knows several people, his brother and sister live there, and he knows his way around. There's also a GIRL he likes there, so hopefully he'll be able to hook up with her after knowing her since 9th grade! He'll be job hunting first thing, to either get a welding job, or to continue making more money and tips as a pizza delivery guy. One way or the other, he's excited to go off and start his life, and we're excited for him too.

In other news, Valentines' Day came and went, we were all sick with the "creeping crud," but now we're all back to our normal healthy selves. I was mostly worried about Florence, but she is healthy as a horse! A little Robitussin is all she needed, and she is finally over it too. Even the doctor had it, and said "everybody's got this virus right now," so we're not the only ones.

Pete took me out on that following Wednesday to make up for missing V-day, we had a nice dinner at the Radisson Hotel's "Brassierie" restaurant----homemade potato gnocchi, in an Alfredo sauce, with artichokes, mushrooms, and lobster! MMMMMM!! We pigged out!! Then we went to see the musical HAIR, at the Heinz Theater. It was very cool! I had never seen it before, but it was very fun. We had a great time.

Now we're heading up on spring time, (hopefully). Soon we'll be making reservations for Ocean City, to take our mom's there for Mother's Day. Then my mom and I will be driving up to Michigan for a week, to spend time with my nephews and with my best friend Laurie to celebrate her birthday and mine. After that, Pete and I will be going away at the end of May for a 9 day camping trip! YAY!! And then the summer will be upon us. I hope by then, we'll have a brand new house that we love.

So, lots of things going on right now. We just informed our current home owners that we are NOT going to buy this house, and we may sign a 3 to 6 month lease to stay on until we can get financed for the new house. So, between now and then we'll be working on fixing little things here and there that need fixing, sprucing up the paint where it's needed, and packing our stuff.

This coming weekend, Pete and I are going away to DC just to have a nice time alone. It's far enough away but close enough to home. So we're looking forward to that little getaway.

Other than that, we're just getting through this last big snow of the year...we hope...

So, let's hope all this melts, and we can get everything done and packed, and ready to move within the next 3 to 6 months. We'll keep everybody posted.

Bye for now!

Love, Rebecca

Well, Bill, maybe there really IS a God...

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I love it. The guy is such a bonehead. All these creative computer geeks decided to create these hilarious "meme's" about his stupid comments last week regarding "The tide goes in, the tide goes out, there's no miscommunication, you can't explain it." (He was defending God to an atheist). BUT....guess what? You CAN explain it, Bill, because the MOON causes the tides to go in and go out.....you silly poop. So, somebody smart on his staff actually TOLD him that, as well as John Stewart on his Daily Show, and he comes back the next night to say, "So then tell me, you smart-ass pinheads, where'd the moon come from?" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh my GAWD, all you could do was shake your head and say WOW.

Anyway, what a complete loser. I read a ton of these on FARK.com today and laughed myself sick. Here's the link, if you so desire...http://www.fark.com/comments/5950949/Bill-OReilly-Meme-You-cant-explain-it-(VE)?startid=66908818

Well in other news, yes it's Valentines Day weekend. And what a thrill, we're all SICK. Yes, our wonderful son Nathan decided to be sick with the 'creeping crud' for about 3 weeks, coughing and hacking, spreading germs everywhere---despite my Lysol trips around the house---and then my MOM gets it, and it was so bad I took her to the doctor who said it was walking pneumonia, and she needed a chest x-ray...(she's better now but not 100%)...and then I got it, and I've been coughing and tired and just plain BLAH for the past few days, and just yesterday, Florence started hacking and coughing. SIGH. So, it's been a big load of FUN around here lately, to say the least.

Anyway, our plans of taking our moms both out to lunch and a movie tomorrow probably won't happen...but we have DVD's and I can cook, so we'll just have a nice afternoon together watching something at home I think. Then take naps!! We've all been sleeping a lot too lately.

There's even a Valentines Dance at the local assisted living place, right down the street (where Florence goes for physical therapy exercise and Bible study and other activities a couple times each week), and I even went out and bought her a pretty dress---we were going to curl her hair all up nice, and paint her nails, etc., but I really don't think she'll be up to it at all. Bummer. (She is relieved though, says she "can't dance.") I said, "HEYYY, everybody there is over 80, so go enjoy the MUSIC and TALK to other people, that's probably what most people will be doing, and you might meet yourself a nice GUY even!" But, she just blushed and shook her head no, chuckling at me, "You think I'm still a young woman!" I said, "Well, that's how I see ya toots!"

Ah well, she's a good egg, that Flo-Flo. We love her. She gets off some good zingers sometimes, and cracks us all up. She's really developed quite a sense of humor, hanging around all of us silly folks for so long. I think she's loosened up a lot!

So, I should just get my MOM all dolled up and have HER go meet some men at the dance instead! hehehehe Ya just never know, she might find a good one!!

Well, the good news on the home front now is, we got an important confirmation letter and are finally able to move forward with all our financial "ducks in a row" to buy this new house...it will still take some time to get everything finalized, but the initial "PAID IN FULL" confirmation letter came and that's EXCELLENT news. So, hopefully by the end of March, we'll be all set and ready to get a mortgage. Then we have to make the offer, hope they accept it, then get a home inspection, etc., and it just seems like it's taking FOREVER, but it's slowly moving forward. We did go see another house last night, but it was really just too small. But we also got some freecycled moving boxes today, so we're going to start packing all the excess stuff we don't need.

So that's the scoop from Pittsburgh. All those $25 Steelers t-shirts on the street corners now have a $5 sign on them. LOL I thought that was kinda funny. But, SHHHH, don't tell anybody here in Pittsburgh that I said that!!

Bye for now, and Happy Valentines' Day! (cough cough, hack hack, blah)

Love, Becky

Happy Valentines Day weekend everybody!!

Well, here it is....the dreaded holiday of my life as a single woman for 40+ years....I used to really HATE Valentines Day. The only real redemption it had was 50% off candy on February 15th!! And I took FULL advantage of THAT every year, you can betcher bottom.

Since getting hitched to Pete, we've had a few Valentines' Days together, and they're not so bad anymore. Typically we just do something quiet, not elaborate at all, but very enjoyable, like go out for dinner or a movie, etc., which is MUCH better than sitting home watching sad movies by yourself, crying from loneliness like I used to. I don't miss that ONE BIT.

I sent out some packages this week, to people in my life that I thought might like a nice Valentines greeting surprise. I sent a package to my best friend Laurie, and her kids (I send them something for every holiday & birthday), and my two nephews, a card to my friend Melva, and a package to my friend Barbara too. The mom's and I put together a nice package for Pete's new baby granddaughter, Lia, and mailed that out too. I hope everybody likes the packages!

Anyway, I went out and bought my mom and Florence each a pretty blouse and necklace at Fashion Bug, so they'd have something new to wear when Pete and I take them out for a nice lunch at Hokkaido (a seafood buffet that is AWESOME). We might also take them to a movie. I'm not sure yet what he and I will do on our own, if anything, but it'll be a nice time nonetheless. The mom's will love it, I'm sure. I got them each some candy in a gift bag too.

Florence bought my mom some yellow roses (her favorite) yesterday, because my momma's been sick this past week with what COULD be walking pneumonia. She's much better today, but she was really bad a few days ago, so I made her go to the doctor on Tuesday, and then we got her a chest x-ray yesterday, so we're waiting to hear the results of that right now. But, she is one stubborn cuss, I tell ya, she STILL insists on going outside to smoke. GREAT GOOGA MOOGA MOTHER. I don't think she'll really QUIT smoking until she's wearing an oxygen tank 24/7, and/or has a hole in her throat to talk. It's quite frustrating to say the least.

Anyway, Pete and I are planning to go to DC Feb. 25-27, for a party we were invited to. Then, his daughter Sybil and Justin will be visiting for a week in March, and in April, my mom and I are planning to drive up to Michigan for a few days' visit. Then in May, Pete and I are going away to our annual camping excursion (9 days!), and in June my nephew Josh will be graduating high school and having his graduation party in Michigan. So, it'll be a busy time, but we're looking forward to it.

Somewhere between now and April, I am HOPING that we will be able to FINALLY move forward on buying that house we want so much. We might be going to look at another one soon though, just as a "Plan B." I'm getting so antsy about it, I actually ordered one of those fold-open organizer things from t.v., which will hold all my papers with photos of each room in the Sutter house, and my ideas for decorating them. hehehehehe

Well, I hope everyone out there has a great Valentines, no matter what you do to celebrate it.

(Just save me some of that 50% off candy on February 15th)!!

Love, Rebecca & Pete

I call LIMBURGER SHENANIGANS!!! THIS STINKS!!

Dammit to HELL, the Steelers took a major CRAP and lost the Super Bowl....what a BUMMER!

Now the riots will ensue in downtown Pittsburgh---check tomorrow's headlines for damage control. Dumpsters on fire, cars flipped over, windows broken, shops looted---wow it's gonna be like Kristallnacht all over again!! TAKE COVER!!

The game was a good one, I gotta say, they both played very well.

I'll just never eat cheese again as long as I live!!

The funniest commercial, in my opinion, was Ozzy Osbourne saying, "Wot's a BEEBAH?" about Justin Bieber....what a hoot!!! Ozzy is a hot mess, but funny as all hell. The one of HOUSE, where the young boy offers him a churro, that was FUNNY because it was a spoof on the Mean Joe Green 1970's commercial!! That one was the most clever.

It was a good game, Pete and Florence and I sat together watching it. My mom isn't feeling well today, she's got the same chest congestion that Nathan had for a couple weeks. I got her some Mucinex and Robitussun, though, so she'll be okay. She just didn't feel up to watching the game.

And nooooo, sorry folks, I won't be watching GLEE. Can't stand those stupid teeny bopper shows. (Guess I'm getting too old for that fluff).

GET OFF MY LAWN YOU CHEESEHEAD BASTAGES!!!

Love, Rebecca and Pete

Even SASSY is a Steelers fan!!

Well, in only 2.5 hours, the Super Bowl will begin!! And in about, oh I'd say, 5.5 hours from now, there will be a buncha cracka's and CHEESE HEADS spread all over the field!! hehehehe

Sassy is lovin' the whole Steelers Super Bowl thing, too! Actually she's thinking, "Mom, you're abusing me again. Stop it." But, let's ignore that. She just looks very COOL in the hat!!

Enjoy the game everybody! We're off to Hooters to get our WINGS....mmmmm!!! And celery with blue cheese, and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon....mmmmm!! Football food ROCKS!!

Love, Rebecca & Pete

Here comes the big one...

Well ya'll, (or should I say YINZ, since I now live in the 'burgh?), here comes the ice storm!! The weatherman says it'll be 4 days of snow and ice, nasty conditions, and everybody is hoping for a snow-day tomorrow from work and school. I'm sure if this hits DC, the whole place will shut down like it did last week. My former co-worker, Rachel, was stranded and stuck at the Museum until after 8 p.m. because she couldn't get home, the highways were a parking lot, nobody moved in nearly 2 hours, so she turned around and went back. What a crock!! I don't miss that one bit!!

Anyway, I am pleased to report that Florence had a very nice follow-up with her doctor today, her blood pressure was very good, her spirits have been up, she looks well rested and feels much better than the last time. The re-evaluation of her medications seems to have helped immensely, so the doctor said "we will change nothing but come back in a month and we'll see if anything needs tweaking." So, Florence was very relieved and happy about that, so I treated her to a frosty at Wendy's on the way home, she loves those!

I am also very pleased to report that, during my 3rd week on Weight Watchers, I have lost 2 pounds. I know it's not much, but it's a start, and considering I don't really exercise regularly, (which I will have to start doing ASAP), that's not too bad for a beginning. Of course, I won't be attending anymore stupid Weight Watchers meetings, but I will definitely keep going on this diet. It's amazing the way I can much better continue on a diet if I tell myself, "It's my medicine," and look at fattening foods as "poison that will make me sicker." I mean, my doctor gave me a prescription to approve me for joining Weight Watchers, so I think of it as, "My doctor says this is my new medicine, so be it, I have no choice." That kinda helps me fool my brain, (instead of my brain thinking, THE DRUDGERY AND DREARINESS OF DIETING DEFINITELY DOESN'T DO!), and so far it's working. I'm going to keep trying as much as I can.

Well, other than that, life is just going along as usual, nothing much to report except the usual insanity of Pittsburgh during the week before the Super Bowl. There have been parties all week long, even party stores are emptied of paper plates, cups, and game-day type of food (wings, appetizers, that sort of thing). As a matter of fact, even HOOTERS has 50 wings for $25 bucks, as a "Super Bowl Special," so Pete ordered 100 wings for Sunday. Sheesh!! Every radio commercial has some kind of football-related theme to it, black and gold items are everywhere, and people have been throwing tailgate parties and random wild bursts of partiness all around Pittsburgh all week long. It's sheer insanity, I tell you!! I am only mildly interested in watching the Super Bowl, but don't tell anybody in the 'burgh that, or I might just get beat up!!

One weird thing of note, is that lately I am really ENJOYING using my new Bissell steam and vac, my hardwood floors have never been so clean, so often! It's one of the best things I've ever had and easiest to use to clean, so I'm lovin' it. I figure every day, I'll do one room, or every other day, and that way the house will be fresher and cleaner more often. That kitchen floor of ours is almost impossible to keep clean with people walking in with their winter boots on. But, the steam and vac is amazing!! I know, I sounds like a weird housewife commercial or something, but that's about the only "news" I can come up with.

So, that's all for now. Upcoming plans for 2011 so far are starting to pile up...Here's a timeline:

February - Get through winter, and avoid eating too much chocolate on Valentines day! Start reorganizing little by little, to get ready for a move soon.

March - Hopefully by then we'll have a mortgage and an offer on that house we love so much! Then we'll have to pack up everything, clean the house we're in now, and move to the new one. This may take a few weeks. We'll have to make some hotel reservations for Ocean City too.

April - The first week is "spring break" in Michigan so my mom wants to go there to see my nephews, so we are tentatively making plans to drive up there for a week. Of course, this depends on the whole house buying and moving thing.

May - Mother's Day, we hope to take both our mom's to Ocean City with our friend Barbara, (whose birthday is May 4th), for a nice weekend, and for the Arts & Crafts Festival that goes on every year there. They will love it. We always have a great time when we go there, I've been there about 4-5 times I think.

June - My nephew Joshua is graduating high school, so this is the tentative date for his graduation party. We'll be going to Michigan for it, hopefully all of us.

July - Pete's 35th high school class reunion is this month, the 15th-17th. I hope to be much skinnier by then!! I want to be that classic "trophy wife," that everybody drools over. hehehe

August - As far as I know, we have nothing going on this month. Stay tuned.

September - So far MY 25th high school class reunion is being held this month, during the dreaded September 11th weekend, which is a royally SUCKY ASS WEEKEND for me, thanks so much fellas. I don't know if I want to go. Depends on my mood and if I'm still skinnier then.

So, that's the plan so far for 2011. I'm sure it'll fill up more as the days continue on...

Bye for now!! Everybody on the east coast, try to stay warm and safe during the impending snow and ice storm!!

Love, Becky & Pete

The waiting is the hardest part...

Well we are STILL waiting for all of our "ducks" to be in a row so that we can buy the house on Sutter Road that we love. It's killing me, actually, just sitting here, with my fate in all of these other people's hands, total strangers mind you, that I've never met. Progress in Pittsburgh is very slow apparently, and I'm not sure exactly why, unless I can just lump it as "overall laziness."

There can be no open houses during GAME WEEKEND, you know. And this weekend is NOT a game weekend, BUT they still had a "pep rally" at Heinz Field last night to celebrate the Steelers win last weekend and their upcoming trip to Dallas for the Super Bowl. So, of course, next weekend there won't be any open houses either. This is partially why house hunting in Pittsburgh takes forever. The whole world stops still during game weekend around here. It is ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Florence is still waiting for the key from the deadbeat loser who took advantage of her by living in her home for 6 years without paying rent or utilities. A legal letter was sent to her, (several weeks late because the address was wrong), and she hasn't bothered to respond yet. Florence doesn't have a key to get into her own house. We've demanded the key, but so far it hasn't happened yet. So now we wait for THAT to happen, before we can take Florence up there (and keep her from begging about it all the time like she does now, "I want to go HOME.") Then we can put the damned house on the market and sell it. She can put some of that money towards the purchase of the Sutter Road house if she wants to, according to her financial advisor, so we're going to fib to her and say she's helping buy it for us---when she really won't be---but she needs to feel that she actually OWNS something. So, we'll fib.

Anyway, we're waiting for our new house, waiting to do any repairs at THIS house we're currently renting, waiting to tell the homeowners that we do NOT plan on buying this house after all, waiting to pack anything, waiting waiting waiting. I'm getting sick and tired of waiting. Our credit reports were evaluated, and cleaned up by our financial advisor, Pete's bankruptcy was paid off in full, and THAT will be removed from his credit report soon too. Once those things happen (God help us if the Steelers WIN the Super Bowl, you can kiss the whole month of February goodbye around here), then we can finally go get a mortgage and make an offer, and get a home inspection before we move there.

But, we're coming up on deadlines too. The homeowners of THIS house we're renting, signed a 2 year agreement that expires on March 15th with us, so we have to notify them 30 days BEFORE that if we are going to buy it or move elsewhere. Then they will want us to fix anything that needs fixing, touch up any paint that needs it, clean the whole place from top to bottom, etc., before we move out. Then there's the packing, which will take awhile, and then what to do with Florence while we're moving. (We might have her stay at an assisted living place for a couple weeks until we get her stuff moved and settled in). She says she's ok with that idea, she likes it there, as long as we don't LEAVE her there.

So, everything seems like it's stagnating right now, but will soon hit the fan and be chaotic if and when it does happen. I hate waiting until the last damned minute to make a huge life decision like this, ya know? I hate waiting, it's not my favorite thing, nor am I very good at it. I'm rather impatient. I mean, I've never owned a house before. I'm 42, almost 43 years old. I have been waiting for 42 YEARS here, ya know? Let's GET THIS BALL ROLLING!!!

GRRR. Well, anyway, that's where we sit right now. Just in limbo-land, not really able to do much of anything except bite my fingernails off to nubs, and look at pictures of the new house to think about decorating. I'm looking at photos of rooms on HGTV.com, like color schemes, furniture at IKEA, and other ideas in magazines that I'm going to cut out and keep in a folder.

But if somebody else BEATS US TO THIS HOUSE that we want, and buys it out from under us, I'm going to be absolutely furious. So the clock is ticking, and I'm growing more and more impatient, and it's driving me crazy. Maybe we should just forget it, and rent forever, it's much easier to just say, "well, I'm outta here," if you're renting. If you buy a house, you're stuck. I hope there's nothing major wrong with it...

So, other than that, we have nothing much else to report at this point. Snowing snowing snowing, it just keep snowing. I had snow tires put on both vehicles last week, we couldn't get up our own driveway before. Now we can.

Bye for now.

Love, Rebecca