Black Friday

Well, here it is Black Friday. My family and I spent a nice Thanksgiving at my sister's house and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We listened to Beatles music most of the day and talked about their influence on us as kids growing up. It was very satisfying to give into the tryptophan urge when I got home and go promptly to sleep (a wonderful restful sleep). This morning it I am so happy I'm snuggled in my house, and not out there shopping with the crowds. I watched the Paul McCartney concert that I taped last night and as much as I love him, I discovered something last night I never knew before. He's a Detroit Red Wings fan!! When he was singing "Yesterday," I noticed a Red Wings sticker on his guitar. Oh, Paul, how could you? Don't you know the Pittsburgh Penguins are the best - the Stanley Cup Champs?

I finished quilting one friend's on my Hinterberg and am getting ready to quilt another friend's quilt. My cousin has asked me to teach her how to make a quilt - she wants to make a memorial quilt for her daughter, who lost her father this year. We're going to start on that next week. I'm actually making some slow progress on my oldest son's graduation quilt (from high school-1999). I think I'll be finished quilting it soon, and may be able to give it to him this year. I'm still hand quilting that one and have let it go much too long. I've decided that I'm going to be all about finishing things right now. I'm going to try not to buy any new fabric for at least 6 months, so I can use some of the fabric I currently own.

The holidays always make me happy and sad at the same time. I cry for the people I miss - my mother and my grandmother, cousins and friends I have lost. Even though Christmas is the happiest time, I still miss them so much. When my grandma died, it was the first time I realized what "heart ache" means. And even through the happiness, I cry, because it's there, the missing, the aching, the what ifs.

Take a moment today and appreciate the joy in your life. The family, the friends, the sunset, the snow. Look around and say, I'm glad it's Friday, because I'm here to enjoy it.

Stanley Cup Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what an incredible game the Pittsburgh Penguins played on Friday night! It was a nail-biter until the very last second, but it was soooo worth it! Watching Sidney Crosby hoist the Stanley Cup was so exciting and exhilarating. He works so hard and is such a mature, responsible young kid. I'm so happy for him and the whole team. I enjoyed seeing Mario Lemieux getting a third chance to hoist the cup and then hand it over to Sid. The entire team took the cup to the Pirates game yesterday so they could "share" the excitement. Today, there is a parade downtown at noon. I hope the turnout is huge.My sisters and I went on a Rivers of Steel tour Saturday called "Babushkas and Hard Hats." It was fun. We checked out the Clinton Furnace at Station Square, drove to Sweetwater Cooking School and mixed up some poppyseed bread, talked about the Pittsburgh Cookie Table, visited the Bost Building that holds the Rivers of Steel Heritage Center and went to a Pump House where they obtained water for the mills. I did learn something interesting. The Hot Metal Bridges (of which Pittsburgh had three) actually carried molten iron to the mill (get it - hot metal...). Then we picked up our cooked poppyseed bread and headed back to Station Square for lunch. After that we stopped to buy some Penguins gear at Hometowne Sports. We also drove to the Strip District to compare prices, and check out what shirts they had there. These photos are from Station Square.