Seven Quick Takes No. 79–A Trip to Pittsburgh

I.

We spent last weekend and part of this week in Pittsburgh celebrating my grandma’s 85th birthday.

Me and Grandma

 We celebrated by taking a dinner cruise on the Gateway Clipper Fleet, which was a great meal and boat ride around the three rivers of Pittsburgh. We sailed by PNC Park, Heinz Field, the Point, and other Pittsburgh landmarks. Quite a bit of the family– though not all–was there, and it was a fun way to celebrate.

 

Dad and my cousin Diane’s youngest child.

II.

One of the best parts was seeing my cousin Diane, and especially meeting her newest baby (above with Dad). She has two older daughters, whom I’d met before, but I’d never met this little guy, who turns 1 in August.

Diane and I with her little guy.

III.

The next day we went to PNC Park to see the Pirates beat the Phillies in extra innings. I’d never been to a Pirates game where they won, so I was pretty excited about that! Dad taught me how to fill out the scorecard that was in the game program, so I feel very educated in the Ways of Baseball. (Sort of. I find baseball always has new ways to confuse me.)

Our seats were behind home plate and under the overhang of the upper deck, so we were in shade, which was great when it was 85+ degrees.

Pirates win and the Parrot takes the mound.

III.

 After the game we had another party at one of my aunt’s houses. She has a pool and her husband grilled, and there was, of course, jello marshmallow salad, because it’s not a family gathering on my mom’s side without jello marshmallow salad.

Kids like cookouts.

These kids….

Grandma received cards and presents, and then there was Bethel Bakery cake, which is the Best Cake in the Universe. Not kidding. Our swimming was curtailed because of a huge thunderstorm that opened up, but that didn’t deter the youngest from having fun….

ballooooonnnnns!

IV.

Diane’s oldest girl (seen above, in the pink glasses) and I:

Me: So, Susie, what’s your favorite movie?
Susie: Frozen.

Me: OK. What’s your favorite song?
Susie: (As if I am deeply, deeply stupid) “Let it Go.”
Me: Well, there are other songs in the movie.
Susie: No there aren’t.

V.

Monday we went to Kennywood, where I hadn’t been in over ten years, so it was nice to be back, and Diane’s husband had never been there at all. Susie and I had fun riding rides, but when I took Bridget on the carousel, she seemed a bit wary, until the ride starting going. She also really enjoyed the ice cream cone.

I had to rescue this ice cream from hitting the pavement more than once.

 VI.

Kennywood really does have things for everyone, which makes it fun, but my grandpa’s favorite ride was “The Restaurant”, so we had dinner there. It’s a large cafeteria style place and it has good food and, the real winning point, air conditioning. It was hot, so we got a lot of water rides under our belts, and then dried off with roller coasters.

VII.

Of course, some of us couldn’t handle all the excitement:

Being this cute takes a lot of work.

Daybook No. 79

Outside my window::

Well, this

Yeah, it snowed yesterday. Heavy, wet snow, about 2-3″, depending on where you were in the city. This is the sort of snow that looks pretty, because it sticks to the tree branches and makes them look all magical, but it also causes power outages (because it’s so heavy, weighing on the lines), and is a real pain to get off the car.

I know. I’m a grump. Sorry. I mean, I didn’t have to go anywhere yesterday, so I didn’t mind it, and it is pretty. I just remembered days of having to scrape this stuff off my car, in the morning, when it’s really cold. Shiver. (This morning, the low was seven, without the windchill. Yeah.)

Anyway, moving on!

Wearing::

Jeans, a sweatshirt, gray socks. Nothing exciting. Today’s going to be a lot of around the house stuff (see, really cold temperatures, above) so I want utilitarian clothes.

From the kitchen::

On a day like today, a lot. I’m thinking a vegetable soup for lunch or dinner, depending, and then chicken and rice for the other meal. So it might be chicken and rice for dinner, since the meat has to thaw (an adventure, today…). I might also try this chili recipe, which is super good and fast. (and warming!)

The snow threw me quickly into “winter provision” mindset–meaning making sure the freezer is stocked and I have a list of things I can make if I get snowed in. I mean, it’s not The Long Winter, here, but Columbus can get very, very cold, and we do get big snow storms, as last winter attested. So it’s better to be prepared. Part of my “around the house” stuff today includes making a list of recipes I can make from mostly shelf and freezer stable items.

Reading::

I just finished Traveling to Infinity, by Jane Hawking, ex-wife of Stephen Hawking. She wrote this book awhile ago, but it was re-released to coincide with the release of The Theory of Everything, the biopic about the two of them, which stars Eddie Redmayne (sigh) and Felicity Jones.

The book is very, very good. She does a wonderful job talking about the good and bad parts of their marriage–it’s not all about the ALS. It’s about his work, her work, their children, their travels…it’s well-written and she isn’t writing it heavy on the pity, like some memoirs are. It’s factual, but you can also feel Jane’s emotions as she tries to balance everything. The movie’s already opened in New York and LA, but it gets wide distribution next weekend. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

Pondering::

How much money is enough money?

Recently, I’ve become a baseball fan. My parents are from Pittsburgh, so they grew up with a full complement of professional sports at hand, and us children were raised to love them. This included the Pirates. But for most of my (conscious) life, they weren’t very good. Rooting for them was sort of like rooting for the Bad News Bears. They sure tried hard. It just didn’t go anywhere.

Because of that, my experiences with pro baseball were pretty limited, and what I did know, I didn’t like: the designated hitter rule, the strike, and the fact that there wasn’t any salary cap. I thought it was ridiculous that someone was getting paid a nine figure deal to hit a ball.

So anyway, I started putting all this aside and realized that baseball could be exciting and a fun sport when the Pirates started winning. Not when they went to the playoffs for the first time two years ago, but a few years before that. I started to follow them and I liked what was happening.

Yesterday we lost one of our best players to another team, who are going to pay him eighty million dollars over 5 years.

Eighty freaking million dollars.

Now, that works out to about $16M a year (Canadian–it’s a Canadian team). $16M is more money than I would really know what to do with.

When is enough, enough? I don’t know if he left just because of the money (he’s Canadian, he wanted to end his career in Canada, etc.). But really? A team that treated you well, a city that adored you….lost because of money? (Or at least that’s what it seems like.)

When is enough money enough money? I know how capitalism works. I know it’s “what the market will bear”, yada yada yada. But all the other pro leagues have salary caps. Why doesn’t baseball? Why is money such a huge part of the baseball makeup? There’s no parity, that’s for sure. Teams like the Pirates will never make as much as the Yankees in TV deals and all that stuff. They don’t have $80M to throw on one player.

So the system does need fixed. But also—guys? When is enough money enough money? How long would it take to spend $80 million? Think about it for a second.

I just don’t get it.

(Back to regularly scheduled programming!)

Around the house::

Dishes need washed, the first floor needs vacuumed and dusted, I think I’m going to bring the creche up today, sheets need changed on my bed and the furniture in my bedroom needs dusted.

Creativity::

My NaNo novel has sort of stalled. I don’t know why. Is it because it’s not the right time for me to write this? Because I’m dry on ideas? Or something else? Or maybe this story just won’t bear out. I’ve tried writing it in two different formats, now, and each time it hasn’t been enough to sustain my writing juices. Something to think about.

Still working on my scarf/cowl. I’ll have photos tomorrow for the yarn along.

Raise It

I may actually like baseball after all….

 

Going to the ballpark…

So last Sunday, I got to do something new and fun.

Behold, PNC park!

I hadn’t been to a Pirates game since they were in Three Rivers. So a long time ago.

(That’s my dad’s head in the foreground.)

I was very excited to see the new park.

You get to it either by boat…

This is how my Aunt Patty and her family came.

Or by walking across the Clemente Bridge, which is closed to vehicular traffic on game days….

As you come off the bridge, the larger-than-life Clemente statue is the first thing you see (appropriately).

My dad and Roberto.

There are several of these throughout the perimeter of the park, but this one seemed the most popular. Even though Clemente has been dead for decades, his name still pops up on many shirts in the park:

My cousin Matt

Dad

We walked around the stadium for a bit before getting to our seats in section 323.

(The right field entrance)

The Pirate Parrot!

Once we got to our seats, the view was breathtaking…

Me and my godson

Every ballpark has something special going for it. In Washington, it’s the Racing Presidents.

In Pittsburgh, it’s the….

RACING PIEROGIES!!!!!!!

They will take over the world.

The scoreboard says so.

And while the Pirates didn’t win, we still had a lot of fun.

My cousin Courtney

Because, as Pirates fans, we’ve learned to keep our expectations low. 🙂

Seven Quick Takes Friday–Vol. IX

1. I am REALLY excited for this weekend! First, I am taking Monday off. That alone excites me! Why am I taking it off? My parents and I are going to Pittsburgh for my cousin Matt’s graduation party. I can’t believe he’s a high school graduate! Sigh. I am getting old. So that’s tomorrow, after Ragtime rehearsal. 
2. This will be fun, because 1) my Aunt Patty (matt’s mom) throws great parties and 2) I will get to see a lot of family, including adorable cousins, that I haven’t seen since Christmas. And possibly there will be swimming. Possibly. This is HIGHLY possible because my little cousin Paige is a fish. Literally.
3. On Sunday we’re going to 10:00 Mass and then going to PNC Park for Pirates v. Mets. I am really excited because I haven’t been to PNC and I keep hearing about how great it is. I am excited to give my new camera (a Canon PowerShot ELPH 100HS) a workout, because we will have seats on the 3B line, which means skyline views! And the weather will be perfect—low 70s. Plus there is Primanti Brothers, which I think I will have to try, at the ballpark.
4. I am not really a baseball person. This could be because we are Pirates fans, and they haven’t been very good in……..a………long…….time. But they are doing (reasonably) well this year, so I’m hoping they will win!
5. We’re coming home on Monday. Lunch at Red Lobster. So good food this weekend, because there is also a Bethel Bakery cake at my cousin’s party. And if you haven’t had a Bethel Bakery cake, I feel sorry for you. Because they are sort of beyond awesome. The icing is perfect. Not that cloying sweet stuff, but light and delicious and basically you want to just lick off the icing. MMMMM.
6. My cousin Kelly (Matt’s sister) just got back from China, so I want to hear about that. And have a Steinbeck discussion with my (entering high school) cousin Courtney. Yeah. A Steinbeck discussion. I’m serious.
7. We’re staying with my grandma, which means I will have to play her piano at some point. Because I love it. And it’s the piano I learned to play on. So there. 🙂

For more quick takes, visit Jen!