VD

Well, Dean and I had a nice Valentine's day. AS you know from my previous post, It was a snow day for me. Dean had to go to work and fortunately made it without much problem. He was actually the first one in the building and ended up being 1 of only 3 of the 10 or so employees in the restaurant. That made it tough. and can you believe that the people that work in the building (he works in a cafeteria type place housed within PNC bank's First Avenue Building) they couldn't understand why the deli section wasn't open and why they couldn't get hot food or food made to order! They had Dean, Jim the exec. chef for lack of a a better title. It doesn't sound like he does much (cheffing to me. He more a management figure) and the Manager, Cris. I can't believe how non understanding people were considering the weather!

Anyway, I stayed home and shoveled snow (twice) and salted the driveway (twice). I probably shoudl have done a third time, but my back was screaming. So Dean got me earrings and and a necklace the are heartshaped and my birthstone. I've never had jewelry in my birthstone before. At least not good jewelry. I think I lucked out at a bubble gum machine once when I was little and got one of those adjustable rings that had a stone the color of my birth stone.

thursday and Friday were normal at work days. Today we went to breakfast as per our usual Saturday a.m. routine, then grocery shopping and then filled up "Blue". that's what we call the truck. It's Chevy Arrival Blue is the official Chevy color.

Tomorrow is the Daytona 500! WOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO! We got to Dean's cousin's every year for the annual Daytona 500 Party. It's really a great time! It's like having a Superbowl party and the Steelers are playing every year. Everyone roots for their favorite driver, and some of get some riducule over our choice of favorite driver. (Me and my friend Lisa, because we are Jeff Gordon fans) But, I think that in NASCAR, when you win so much, they either love you or they hate you. They hate you because if you're winning, that means their favorite driver isn't. Plus the fact that he has a GORgeous model of a wife, lots of money, really nice houses, motor homes, boats, cars AND you get to drive a race car for a living. So, I think jealousy has a lot to do with it too.

Anyway, there will be lots of people, food, beverages of all kinds (bourbon slushies, baby!) and dogs and kids. And of course the main event, the race. I usually try to take a dip in the hot tub, not thinkin' so this year. Tooooooo cold. Even though the room has a wood burner, which I usually camp out in front of, I don't think getting out of the hot tub will be fun. Getting out of that warm water, then try and stay warm while you dry, uh-uh.







Here are
some pics from last year's...........
Dean's cousins and us/Dean cutting the ham while cousins watch the race/Mac snoozin' by the hot tub. As you can see, there is a garage door in the background. Well, the party is held in a 3 bay garage attached to his cousin's house. (he's the one with the 3 on his shirt. His name is Rich, but everyone calls him Doodles) We throw darts, and there lots of chairs and tables, a bar, cupboards, a sink, a fridge,a wood burning stove, and the hot tob in this garage. And the 32" TV! It's way cool! (or warm, depending on were you sit).
So, I have to put the macaroni salad together to take tomorrow. Lisa is making some sort of garlic salad, there will be a veggie tray, a cake, some other sides, chips, dip, salsa, a ham cooked on the grill and a deep fryed turkey! Yum-O! Did I mention the Bourbon Slushies? Or maybe strawberry daquiries made with fresh strawberries! Double Yum-O! Maybe some Margaritas? Oh, Have I told you I'm not a big drinker? No, really. I'll have 3 or 4 all day and be the designated driver home. Dean has President's day off, so he can get his groove on. So, we'll be off early tomorrow! Race time is 1, or 2 or 3 (I don't know) but we'll leave our house at 9 or 10 and not be back till way after the race is over! Daytona 500. Gotta love it! Go Jeffie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ho do ya know..........

Okay, so I posted about the Toyota Tundra truck commercial. Dean and I have gone to the Pittsburgh RV show the last 2 years. We have found campers that we like really well, but don't know what the towing capacity is for our truck. any one who can help, it will be greatly appreciated because it doesn't just come and and tell you in the owner's manual. I've been on line looking to find the answer, but the variables are staggering. Simply, we have an '04 Chevy Silverado Ext. Cab, 5300 Vortec, 4.73 axle ratio. We have been told 6500 lbs., 8200 lbs, 8500 lbs, and 7200 lbs. Does any one know the correct answer? It is hard to seriously look at buying a new camper with out this answer. Not that we are buying it tomorrow. But, you go to the RV show, trapse in and out of all the campers, find ones you definitely would consider, but don't know if your truck can tow it without a problem. Hopefully, we will have the answer before the truck is paid off, cause that's when we plan on buying the new camper........

Ho do ya know..........

Okay, so I posted about the Toyota Tundra truck commercial. Dean and I have gone to the Pittsburgh RV show the last 2 years. We have found campers that we like really well, but don't know what the towing capacity is for our truck. any one who can help, it will be greatly appreciated because it doesn't just come and and tell you in the owner's manual. I've been on line looking to find the answer, but the variables are staggering. Simply, we have an '04 Chevy Silverado, 5300 Vortec, 4.73 axle ratio. We have been told 6500 lbs., 8200 lbs, 8500 lbs, and 7200 lbs. Does any one know the correct answer? It is hard to seriously look at buying a new camper with out this answer. Not that we are buying it tomorrow. But, you go to the RV show, trapse in and out of all the campers, find ones you definitely would consider, but don't know if your truck can tow it without a problem. Hopefully, we will have the answer before the truck is paid off, cause that's when we paln on buying the new camper........

Well, it's been a few days ince my last post. And last nite while watching television, There is a commercial for a Heavy duty pick up truck. Foreign. Toyota Tundra, I think. Any way, the commercial has the truck going up a metal grid work ramp that looks like an unpaved bridge deck. The truck is pulling an open cargo trailer and it stated weighs 10,000 lbs. As the Truck reaches the point where the ramp is supported by a very high upright, the ramp pivots so that now the truck is going to go down the ramp. Then near the bottom it comes to a complete halt. Now the tag line says something about the truck being able to haul or tow 10,000 lbs as it ascends the ramp. Then the dialog has a pregnant pause as the ramp pivots. As the truck stops, it says something about the truck being able to stop while hauling 10,000 lbs. Now, if you have ever towed a trailer in your life and are knowledgeable of the laws and the workings of such a trailer, the trailer has to have breaks too if it weighs or hauls over a certain wieght. Our camper weighs 4500 lbs, I think, and it has breaks. So this commercial is aimed at the uneducated who have never towed anything before, so they think, "wow! That's great! That truck stopped (almost) on a dime, downhill, while towing 10,000 lbs!!! The ad people must really think the public is stupid. Any one who would need a truck like that, I would think, has had to do some research. So, if they don't already have a truck that they tow with, and they need to buy this truck, plus the trailer, the salesperson would let them know. Don't cha think?

______________________________________

Well, we have had some of the most significant snow we have had here in the Burgh for quite some time. It snowed about 6 inches yesterday, then turned to sleet, then rain, and today it is back to snow. The thing is that when it rained, that put a layer of ice on everything. My truck was just covered with snow and underneath was coated with ice. I had a heck of a time getting the door open! Since this ice coated everything, the "T" (subway) was shut down due to the ice on the tracks. Therefore, most of the people that work in the factory at my work could not get to work! So, my boss called me this morning and said they were shutting down today! Yippeeeeee! A snow day for me!!!!!!!!So, I figured I'd do this post, work on Jordan's baby journal and just hang out today. I cleared the driveway and salted so Dean wouldn't have to.







This is what it looks like at my house. The footprints in the first picture are mine. I walked around from the front to do the back. And I was walking on the road! Not that you can tell there is a road there! The second picture is off our back deck, looking toward the front end of the house. The third picture is looking at the lane in the winter wonderland. You can click on ony of the pictures to see a larger image. I hope my neighbors don't mind me taking pictures of their houses........
I hope they plow soon.
It's Valentine'sDay. We are going out to dinner. Woody's. It's an Italian/American Restaurant over near the little Boston Bridge. they catered our wedding reception and we try to eat there a couple of times a year. Their Valentine's Day specials are really good.

Well, Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day. And remember, Be with the ones you love and if you can't be, love the ones your with!!!!
Toodles!

What's the big deal????

Well, Superbowl XLI in now in the sports history books. I am glad Payton Manning won the Superbowl. My heart was rooting for Da Bears, though. But with the Colts winning, the media will let the whole Payton Manning thing die. And he won MVP. Very cool. Nice new ride for him, a trophy and I am sure extra ca-ching. But, as the media does, we were bombarded by "Can Manning pull off the big dance? Is he going to be another Dan Marino that holds all these records as a quarterback, but has no Superbowl ring?" yada yada yada, blah,blah,blah. There, He's won it. Now shut the hell up.
And what was the big deal about the first Superbowl to have two black head coaches? So what! Why does the color of their skin matter? Did the color of their skin get them into the Superbowl? No! It was their skill and talent and coaching ability! Now, I do think it is a big deal that Tony Dungy (former Steeler, thank you) is only the third head coach to have won a Superbowl as a player and then as a coach. Now, that's something to write home about!
The commercials were quite lame this year. Chevy commercial, nah. Budweiser, nah. Fed Ex, nah. Go Daddy.com, nah. Doritos, okay. Blockbuster, H I L A R I O U S! Click the mouse. Oh My God!! That was just way too funny. Best commercial of the game!!!
The halftime show with Prince sucked. I like when an artist comes out, sings the songs so I recognize them and is done. Don't come out thinkin' you're all cute and stuff, strut around, sings god knows what, and at the end you do four lines from one of your hits, probably your biggest hit, and then have the crowd sing some part that wasn't even part of the song! And in the meantime, you're stretchin' it out by addin' in all these crazy guitar riffs. I don't appreciate a screamin' guitar. Just play the damn song! I appreciate that it was pouring down rain and you went out and performed for 8 minutes and got big bucks to do that, but sheeze!
___________________________________
Did ya see Two and a Half Men tonight? They have brought to life the saying that men think with the wrong head. Charlie has even started talking to his. It was actually very entertaining from my standpoint. I always thought men thought of their penis as a seperate person from themselves. Just proves me right. They (Charlie and his penis) had an entire conversation, the last being in the grocery store, and guess who won the discussion? Of course, not Charlie. He dumped the groceries and went after the girl.......
___________________________________
New show aired tonight. Rules of Engagement. It's a married couple, a couple that JUST got engaged and a single guy. Now, the married couple has been married a while, yet the man can't figure the wife out. Probably not too far fetched. I don't think men will ever figure us out. Ah, honey, what's wrong? Why should we have to tell you? You should know. You are the reason, or something you said or have done is what's wrong. The newly engaged couple are just learning each other's faults. Not only did they just get engaged, they just started living together, too. The single guy, is just an uncaring pig who wants to go to bed with every woman he meets, played by David Spade (SNL fame). It's a good character for him and he plays it very well. I think it might be a cute show. I'll let you know on that one..............

Groundhog's Day

So, Friday was Groundhog's Day. Punxatawney was in it's finest. There was even some snow on the ground! And for the first time in I don't know how many years, Phil did NOT see his shadow. That means that spring will come early. No. I've never understood how he does see his shadow anyway. They do this thing at 7 in the morning, and the sun isn't even up yet! So, how could he possible see or not see his shadow? I think he sees it because of the lights for the tv media. lol. When he does see his shadow, it means 6 more weeks of winter. But, come on, now, really. If Groundhog's day is February second, and the calendar says the first day of spring is March 21, then it is 6 more weeks either way! I think the whole thing is crazy! Just a reason for a party in Punxie!!!!