Roxy
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Posts by Roxy
First Day of Autumn
Sep 23rd
If you didn’t already know today is the first day of Autumn. It usually signifies the start of fall. Here in Pittsburgh it gets colder and the leaves start to fall. I am not much for colder weather but one of my favorite things about fall is the smell of wet leaves.
This year in Pittsburgh it is a hot, muggy day that feels nothing like fall.
We often do an annual trip to Cedar Creek Park with my sister and her kids.
Hubby does the cooking. He is the master chef of the grill in my family.
After filling our belly’s we go on a hike.
Doesn’t she look thrilled? I think in her teenage mind she would rather be anywhere than stuck in the woods with her family. That teenage angst makes for great photo opportunities tho.
Other than swimming pools and the beach this is the one time a year we go somewhere that the kids can get wet. We don’t even take clothes to change into. Air dry baby!
Back to Autumn. My daughter. Back in the first grade she came home and told me a story while choking up a bit trying to hold back a few tears. She is just going about her normal day as a 1st grader. She was sitting at her desk minding her own business when the teacher had an announcement to make. ”Today is the first day of Autumn.” That didn’t bother my daughter at first, it was the kids who all turned and pointed their little first grade fingers at her and started to laugh. They weren’t trying to be mean because they didn’t like her but try telling her that.
It’s a joke now. Today I texted her “Happy 1st day 
” We shall see if she texts me back today.
She may not talk to me at all.
What are they thinking?
Sep 22nd
According to a KDKA report city parking rates are going to go up if this lease goes through. They aren’t just going to go up they are going to the moon. What kind of city do they think we are? We are not NY where downtown is the place to be at all times.
Apparently the mayor was able to set the rates with the sale of the parking garage lease. So what did smarty pants do? Some of the rates will triple! $15 an hour for one garage, you have got to be kidding me. Yeah, I will want to do a little shopping downtown. Forget the issues with bus fares supposed to be going up that’s minimal compared to these rates. Parking meters will be hit up as well with the highest one reported at $4.50 an hour.
I sure hope they find another solution. I am not paying $30 to go to a function at my kid’s school. I am not paying $4.50 to pick up a book or pizza. This is far from any good idea to try and get the city more business; they are doing a damn good job of driving it away.
I spent years on a major war against living here and started to finally find the love. This is the wrong time to do this. Year by year the city is driving people away.
Pod Camp Day 2 #pcpgh5
Sep 20th
PodCamp weekend is officially over. I spent the weekend with a couple hundred people I don’t know, some of which I talk to on twitter and read their blog. I’ve been to many events in my life time considering I have volunteered for a few organizations and have even ran some events. I have never learned so much in one weekend nor had such a good time with strangers before.
Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers!
Sunday’s attendance was lower but it left me the ability to talk to people that just the day before had people flocking to talk to them.
My first session was Our Burgh Story Through Blogging by Joe and Betsy.
They went over the phases of their personal blog since 2006 and were a joy to watch interact with each other. I think Joe looks a bit like Justin from Brothers & Sisters
The next session I attended was Advance your Career with Marketing 2.0 with Nicole Crimaldi.
She gave some great advice to stay on top of industry trends by reading blogs. Make relationships and understand your prospects.
She also shared 8 ways to be great on Linkedin.
1. Complete your profile (in the 1st person)
2. Update it often
3. Groups: join and participate in them
4. Start a group
5. Check status updates
6. Think about keywords
7. Always connect with people you meet in person.
8. Get recommendations.
Lunch yesterday included chicken and of coarse another visit from The Goodie Truck. I got my peanut butter cookie fix and purchased extra. Guess what I am having with my lunch today at work?
My last session was 10 Things I learned on my journey with Girlhack.
The best advice she gave in my opinion was to be passionate. When your passionate you will be authentic. Great advice and that can apply to anything you do in life. Something else that struck with me is her discussion on low blog/video views. We all worry about it at some point and wonder if people really read our blog regularly. Even if you have 20 views consistently to your posts imagine if they were all in one room to hear you speak. You would be thrilled at having those 20. Your always going to want more.
Who did I get to meet yesterday?
Wormy of BitchBurgh! We talked a bit before lunch as well as after lunch out front where she let me take a pic of her. She is really down to earth, funny as hell and easy to talk to. She is someone you wanna hang out and drink with.
I had lunch with YinzerParty gal. Well, I had lunch then she sat down. Some other guy sat down pitching stuff to her. I butted in to give her my business card and tell her that she took my pic at a bar one night last year. That’s all I got in but still cool in my book.
I also got to talk to Hutch of Burghseyeview. Hutch and his son do a webcast together. I talk to his wife on twitter LOL I love watching the two of them have twitter conversations to each other.
To end the day before I went home I found out they had extra Swag Bags. Gotta love goodies.
Until next year, I will see you all on Twitter
Pod Camp Day 1 #pcpgh5
Sep 18th
What a day. It was a long and early day but for once I sat in classrooms and learned useful information. If you have never heard of Pod Camp it is an unconfernce for people interested in social media, blogging, podcasting, stuff like that. I attended a day full of great sessions at Pod Camp Pittsburgh 5 at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. There is another day of sessions tomorrow and they are free! So head down even if you didn’t pre-register. You can also watch the sessions live online at their website. Today’s sessions are up at The Tech Buzz.
We started with the keynote address by Norm & Bill Peduto.
Bill had many videos to share but one stuck with me the rest of the day and had the most impact. I am very interested in social media already. I utilize what I can, when I can. I was amazed by the facts in this video all about Social Media Revolution. Company’s really need to watch it and see the impact social media really plays today.
The first session I attended was 10 Ways to Create Social Media That Matters with Justin Kownacki.
Not only was this session informative he is a really funny guy. He easily engaged the audience with humor. I had to stand in the back, it was hot, and I wasn’t leaving. One of the things he shared with us was that there are 3 reasons to create.
#1 Educate
#2 Entertain
#3 Engage
My next session was Blogging 201: Finding Fodder 52 weeks a Year with Michelle of BurghBaby.com.
I started reading her blog some time ago and came out of lurker world and started commenting here and there and talking to her on twitter. She is incredibly nice and keeps me wondering what her daughter did each day. Her session helped understand that you need to know why you blog. She gave many questions that a blogger should ask themselves such as; how often should you blog? is this topic ok? and should i have ads?
Lunch was provided to us after that session and yay I finally got to eat from The Goodie Truck! I found out about them on Facebook or Twitter one day and thought it was such a neat concept I started following them. They drive to local events and sell homemade treats such as cookies and brownies. Sorry to my lunch mates who I dashed out on to get me something yummy!
After lunch I attended Friend Me? No, Friend You! – Creating Real Relationships with the internet with Justin Burdett
He talked about listening to people out there before blogging and figure out who your trying to reach. Who is that one person you want to impress the most.
Then I went to Living Out Loud: Real Life Effects of Living Online by BitchBurgh
The room was packed. So packed there was no where to sit, the room just wasn’t set up for more people than there were chairs for. I went into the overflow room to watch the live feed and the audio wasn’t working well. It got so bad that everyone left, including me. It is unfortunate I missed out on it. I love reading their blog. From what I was there for they talked about expecting your readers not to always agree with you and pissing off your loved ones, which they have. I write a blog where I do a bit of bitching so I really wanted to hear this session.
I wound up going to another room for that session since the audio wasn’t working.
I went to Memo From Your Blog’s Legal Department by Cris Hoel who is a lawyer. He had some great info! He shared many things to be careful about sharing and copyrights.
Things he said to stay away from:
1. Accusing someone of criminal conduct.
2. Accuse someone of loathsome and communicable disease.
3. Direct effect on someones livelyhood. It could affect ability to earn a living.
4. Don’t accuse a female of being un chased or a male he is impotent. However you can accuse a male of being un chased or a female impotent LOL
A website he gave that has good information is the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The last session I attended was SWF Seeks… The Birth of a Blog: How I evolved from Lurker to Creator by Tara of Stylish White Female.
She talked about how she started on the internet on ICQ and the like, gave up Myspace and got to where she is today. She talked about how our online converstations are very real and finding your social voice. She was very informative.
My one big issue was I didn’t socialize much in person. I shook Chachi’s hand on his way out a door. I talk to him via Twitter and read his blog. I also met a few people at lunch that I had a good conversation with. Part was I was into the presentations I was there for, the other is I am shy. I mean hundreds of people where there I had never met. I talk to many on Twitter through the week but I couldn’t just go up and say hi to them. Ugh, WTF. Once I know someone I don’t shut up, but I just can’t seem to always be that outgoing person around so many new people. I also had made business cards. I failed at giving them out. I probably only gave out 5 of them the entire day.
I still had a great day and learned a lot. It was organized better than most events I have attended and the Twitter was going insane with Pod Camp talk. My Twitter friends who don’t live here or weren’t there were probably annoyed. My feed was full of Pod Camp. You can find all the Pod Camp talk with the hash tag #pcpgh5. People tweeted about the sessions they were in, some one liners the presenter had said they thought were great. They also had a live feed of the Twitter hash tag in one of the rooms. Thank you Pod Camp Pittsburgh!
Now I have to decide if I can handle another day and what sessions I will attend if I go
Baby Visits the Vet
Sep 17th
Yes, we are officially calling her Baby. We took her to her first visit to the vet tonight.
It was an unfamiliar place. It was as cold as a human doctors office which made me glad I brought her blanket in to keep her warm. It was a fairly small waiting area. I imagined it would be larger. Human waiting areas are larger and we don’t chase each other (ok maybe the kids do), or try to eat smaller animals. The picture below is the nurses station. So image an L shaped area with some seats and a door to my left.
We have only had her a few days so we had no idea how she would take to other dogs being around. Right before we came in we encountered two other smaller dogs to which she casually strolled on by sniffing the wall which I am pretty sure many dogs have urinated on. She patiently waited in my arms for about 10 minutes looking around at the other dogs and people…….
…… until the dog seated right next to us crept a little too close to us. Oh man she started growling, barking, crying, you name it. She was the loudest pup in the joint. The other dog barked back a couple times but Baby was trying to jump off me and go after him. Uh honey, your an appetizer to that dog please calm down! The one lady at the nurses station commented that everyone always blames the big dogs. Did you miss the part where the big dog kept coming towards us? Yeah she was fine until he started invading her comfort zone. I attempted to calm her down by having her look out the window covering her with the blanket so she couldn’t see enormous doggie. Every now and then she would let out a growl, she knew he was there she isn’t stupid. Everyone else in the room thought it was funny.
The exam room was tiny as could be. I have no idea if they have smaller rooms but if they don’t I feel for people with big dogs or who’s kids wanna watch the vet.
She was weighed on the tiny infant looking scale and came in at a whopping 6 lbs. They also said they think she is 9-12 months (we were told 14 by previous owner). She went over her shots and some testing they wanted to do. She went over prices for the visit and I was semi okay with it. Two of the shots require a return visit in 3 weeks, that will cost more money. Then she went into having her spayed and when I saw that price sheet I almost hit the floor. The previous owner claims she was up to date on shots, but had no proof. Oh yeah, and hubby forgot the bag of poop (I mean turd) in the waiting room. Apparently they like to test poop there. I just hope I grabbed the right animals poop 
When/if we take her to get spayed they can also remove two baby teeth that haven’t come out. They may fall out on their own, but if they don’t they recommend having them removed as it can cause tarter build up problems. I will be sure to brush her teeth.
They offered to take her in the back to give her shots and take blood to test for heart worm or give her shots in the exam room. I opted to allow them to take her back and sent her with her blanket. I wish my kids doctors had asked me that question. I hated having to hold my kids down so they didn’t screw it up while they screamed and cried. I felt horrible. I remember the docs saying the kids will understand one day you did it for their own good. Really? Well, right now they are hating me, thanks.
We received a new puppy goody bag with food, flea medicine and heart worm medicine. Of coarse to keep buying it from the vet will cost ya. Sometimes them freebies get ya, they rope you in. Was nice though. I paid the bill, OUCH. When it was all over they brought back my sweet Baby all swaddled up like an infant.
Freaking adorable! She was so content and happy in there…… until she saw that same damn dog again and let out a few groans and growls.
All in all the vet visit went well. They said she looked good and we will get her poop test and blood test results in the next few days.
TV Chefs vs Me
Sep 16th
I watch many food reality tv programs such as Top Chef, The Next Iron Chef, Chopped, you get the idea. I love to cook when I have the time. I’m not sure I understand my obsession with watching these shows where they cook food I would never cook let alone eat. The food just isn’t my cup of tea although most of the time it looks pretty and sometimes I get ideas.
I find the judges on most of these types of shows extremely picky. When I hear that a dish just didn’t come together I have to ask if they expect it to give them an orgasm or something. The dishes look beautiful and ingredients don’t seem outrageous.
Often you hear about seasoning issues in chef’s dishes. Often salt is the culprit. I want to see one of these chefs have the balls to put a bottle of salt on the table with their dish and tell them to season it there damn selves. I can understand not enough other seasonings, but salt &/or pepper I mean come on! Every persons tolerance for salt & pepper are different. I think thats why a restaurant has them on the table for you.
I think some of these chef judges really need a home cooked meal. A real one. One where there are little kids running around with boogers coming out of their noses.
Many of the chefs claim they are not bakers and make excuses when expected to make a desert. Do you people watch tv? Do you bother to watch the show your apply for, if it already exists?
Newsflash: learn how to bake at least enough to save your own ass.
I feel for the chefs tho. It has to be tough to have their job in real life and even tougher to be in these competitions. They bust their asses, some receiving nothing in the end. The time they are given half the time adds so much more pressure. If I had to cook under that much pressure to make dinner I would throw out my pots & pans and refuse to cook. I guess that’s what makes them professionals and me just a home cook. I can take some criticism but more often than not I think I would run away into a corner and cry like a big baby.
Dinner and a Fire
Sep 15th
So everything was going well with my spaghetti sauce last night. My house smelled yummylicious and for once the bottom of the pot wasn’t burning. No matter how low I keep the temp after it starts to boil I have to be careful not to scrape the bottom of the pot, it pisses hubby off as the sauce will taste burnt. I don’t mind the burnt taste personally but I didn’t want any bitching after I cooked on my birthday. It did boil over a bit on my stove but going to an electric glass top stove a few years back was the best thing ever, yay me!
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Anyway, it took about 2 light years to boil enough water for 2 boxes of spaghetti. I purchased Giant Eagle/Natures Basket Organic spaghetti. Would you think the noodles would be inside a plastic bag, inside a box? Me neither. I opened one of the boxes and went to pour the noodles into the pot of boiling water. Yeah, I think I only noticed it was in plastic when I couldn’t separate the noodles with a fork. I promptly removed the oily bag of noodles from the pot. It was fun attempting to open the bag covered in oily water. It was even more fun realizing I was out of paper towels. Do me a favor, forget the plastic and save me some money this organic food is expensive.
Dinner was delicious if I do say so myself.
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My sister was nice enough to bring me a cake to celebrate my birthday. We almost set the kitchen table on fire after lighting the candles. I tried convincing her we only needed 1-24 box of birthday candles but she wasn’t having it. I think she bought a tiny cake for the effect……
Another Year and Another Puppy
Sep 14th
Ok so it’s my birthday today. My kids remembered (last year they didn’t).
My hubby remembered.
My mom remembered (got my card already! thanks mom!)
My FB Friends remembered What would we do without facebook reminding us about birthdays. Makes you wonder if even half the people who wish you happy birthday would without facebook reminding them to. Hell, who cares I’ll take it! LOL Thank you to all my friends who wished me a happy birthday today!
We don’t really do much to celebrate our birthdays, hubby and I. It’s not as much of a big deal with you have kids birthday’s to plan every year. I don’t place much importance on one day, I am happy to wake up every day. This year I feel bad that hubby had to forgo much of a birthday. I purchased his card two days prior. That is a good thing cause after our dog passed away the day before his birthday I was in no shape to even think about it let alone think to get a card. The kids and I did sing happy birthday to him at the hour he was born. I think he appreciated that. We were mourning and it didn’t feel right to celebrate. I don’t feel right celebrating my birthday either really.
I went through a lot over just a few days. Things I can’t even write about here. I contemplated quitting my job. We have had so much go on at home that I feel like I can’t be the mom I had been before I worked. I miss being there when they get home, being able to cook more, having the time to notice when things aren’t right. We can’t do it financially right now but I do want to make that a goal. My obsession with moving isn’t as strong right now either. I want that one day, but I am not sure it’s the right thing to do right now.
This past Sunday I got a call. Someone had a female, long haired Chihuahua. We drove an hour to see it. I don’t know if it is right to replace my Angel so soon but we couldn’t leave this dog with the family that had it. When we arrived we were met on the front porch by a mother and the dirtiest kids I had ever seen. The puppy we came to see practically jumped from the child that had it and kissed us like crazy. The one child seemed to enjoy making her growl and bark at her by squeezing her back leg. They had other dogs, cats, you name it. I was told she had all her shots up to date but I don’t believe that as there is no proof and no rabies tag so she will get shots. She also told me on the phone she had a flea dip but was completely saturated in fleas. I had to scrub her pretty good! She will receive all the love and care she needs with us!
I took this pic on the ride back home, which was an adventure in itself.
The exit off the toll road was closed. The main bridge GPS told us to take was closed. We circled around for about 20 minutes or so until GPS could give us a route that didn’t include a closed road. I was starting to wonder if we were in a bad movie. We finally found a way home. It took a hell of a lot longer but we made it.
This is Baby at my work. We are calling her Baby right now, she likes it. She is about 14 months old (we will find out for sure when she see’s the vet this week).
She is sooo sweet and warms up to everyone easily. She loves to give kisses and nibble on your ears. Luckily I work somewhere that allows me to bring her. I can close the doors to my office and just let her roam, play or sleep as she wishes.
She also loves to just curl up in a ball and go to sleep.
While not exactly alike she reminds me so much of my Angel. Just in the way she looks and behaves. I still shed tears for my Angel but I am thankful that I have Baby in my life.
Do you have any birthday stories or puppy tales you could share with me?
Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Sep 13th
In my quest for healthier eating I have found that my kids like spinach. They didn’t grow up watching Popeye eat something that resembled sea weed out of a can. To them it is just an ingredient you may find in a salad. I am glad as I grew up thinking it was something you pulled out of the lake.
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Ingredients:
8-10 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
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Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain.
Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
Work with one noodle at a time on wax paper. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta, followed by 2 tablespoons of marinara. Top with spinach. Roll noodle and arrange in pan seam side down.
Pour marinara sauce over all rolls. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Bake about 25 minutes.
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Serves: 4-6
