(Before I even get into the real topic of this post, let me address the photo. Yes, I see my wonky eye. I don’t know why it was wonky. Was I half-winking at Nick’s brother taking the photo? Was my left eye partially frozen shut from the sub-zero temperatures? Was I drunk on hot chocolate? Pick your favorite, because I’m not sure. But, I am definitely aware that there is some wonk factor going on there! )

Affordable Steelers tickets are a rare and valued commodity where I come from, so when Nick and I were offered two 100-level seats at Sunday’s Steelers vs. Cowboys game for face value, we almost felt obligated to accept them. Of course, when we bought them several weeks ago, we had no idea that we’d be in the middle of a seemingly never-ending cold snap. On Sunday morning, I actually had Nick drive me into town to do the grocery shopping because the roads were snow-covered and slick and even though I grew up here, I’m still deathly afraid to drive in the snow.

As we were coming out of the store and the wind was whipping our coats and sending the snow blowing sideways, we began to seriously consider not going to the game and trying to sell our tickets. But, as we watched the weather for the rest of the morning, and saw the snow start to taper off, we decided to just try to brave the weather.

When it was all said and done, I wore a set of 10-year-old Eddie Bauer silk long underwear, jeans, two pairs of wool socks, a turtleneck sweater, a Columbia fleece jacket, a winter ski jacket, an earwarmer thingy (you know, the ones that look kind of like headbands), a hat, a pair of gloves, and this thing that you slip over your head that works as a neck warmer, hat, face mask type contraption. We also each had two packs of Hot Hands handwarmers, and at Nick’s brilliant suggestion, we used the Thermacare heat wraps that go around your lower back. Those things are friggin’ awesome! Oh yeah, and I also took three wool blankets with me. (Thankfully, the stadium’s security lady who patted me down as we were entering, allowed me to take the blankets in with me. She said my bag was technically too big, but since it was so cold and it was just blankets in the bag, she let me take them anyway.)

The game itself was pretty much a comedy of errors. Both offenses played terribly, mostly due to the weather conditions, I’m sure. But, the Steelers staged a fourth quarter comeback that kept us all in our seats until the final second ticked off the clock. That win made the four-hour sit in the cold worth it. I’m sure if they had lost, it would have been an entirely different story. Even so, I’ve still told Nick that I’m done with December Steelers games. Maybe next time we’ll try for September!

  Mr. & Mrs. P

Today, though, I went to the salon to have my hair colored and highlighted for the wedding. I spent three hours and $150 there, and enjoyed every second of it. I love my stylist, Chelsey, and I love the way they treat me there. During my shampoo, not only did I get a deep scalp massage, but after laying back in the shampoo chair for ten minutes, I was also treated to a neck massage. It was the nicest feeling I’ve had in a very long time!

I loved what they (not only Chelsey, but the other two stylists who worked on me) did to my hair, and I’d love to look this way every day. But, I just can’t spend 45 minutes blowing out my hair and going at it with a flat iron. God, who wants to do that at 6:30 am? But somehow, it seems that women do. I guess I’d rather have an extra cup of coffee in the morning, or play with the dog, or catch up on email; I just can’t spend that much time on hair!

So, now I’m questioning if maybe I’m not just a high-maintenance girl trapped in a lazy girl’s body.

For the thousandth time in the past week, I just looked at my ring finger and thought, “Holy crap! I’ve lost my ring!”

It’s not actually lost, though; my engagement ring is just at the jeweler’s. It, too, is getting ready for the wedding. It was always a little bit small, so I’m having it sized up to a 5.5, and it’s getting a new rhodium finish applied so it will be bright and shiny and match my wedding ring when they’re worn together…..in less than two weeks!

I’ve been wearing my engagement ring for so long now, though, that I keep having these little moments of panic where I realize it’s not on my finger. They last a nanosecond, but they’re there nonetheless.

I can’t wait to have it back on my finger where it belongs.

Nick’s baseball team won the league championship. The series went to Game 7, but they managed to hold them off and win their third championship in three years!

It was a big commitment, playing (and watching!) baseball three nights a week (and many nights straight during playoffs), but I’m glad Nick played. We had a blast, and it was great to see him so excited about something. He’s already getting ready for next season!

She looks very proud of herself, doesn’t she?

Nick and I decided to give Arrow an opportunity to stay in the kitchen while we were out for the evening. Normally, she would have been caged, but we’ve doing that now for about two months with success, and we thought we give her another shot at being left in the kitchen.

We were gone for about four hours, and this was the sight that greeted me when I got home. We drove separately, so Nick didn’t get the full pleasure of seeing this in person. I had it all cleaned up before he arrived home, but I made Arrow sit right in the middle of her handiwork and pose for photos so he could get a sense of her idea of a good time while home alone. 

Arrow somehow managed to clear nearly every single thing that was on the counter onto the floor. Newspapers, mail, my notebook with my grocery lists (which she chewed the wire spiral binding out of), and a case full of cash register receipt tape (I’m sure those were fun — they roll! like a ball! whee!). In what was surely some kind of miracle, she did not manage to reach the stack of old family photographs that I had borrowed from both my mom and Nick’s mom. Can you imagine? Five generations of family photos, and I have to tell our parents that the puppy ate them? Thank goodness, I didn’t have to find out what that felt like.

She also got Nick’s hunting license, and although it is well-chewed, it is still intact and all of the information remained (fairly) readable. Nick’s reaction: “I’ll be so embarassed if I have to tell a game warden that the dog ate my license!” Well, at least we have the pictures to prove it. He should carry a copy of this photo in his back tag!

So, we’ve decided that crating while we’re gone is going to have to be the norm for Arrow. She does really well while crated, and she truly doesn’t seem to mind it. However, if we leave her out, madness ensues. Until we find another solution, she’ll stay nice and snug (and out of trouble) in her cage.

Last Friday, Nick and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s Summer Zoo Safari. We had so much fun, and I already can’t wait for next year’s party!

We got to see the Zoo’s new baby elephant, Angelina:

Isn’t she the most precious thing you’ve ever seen? The Zoo’s second baby elephant was born the same day as the Safari party, so we didn’t get to see her, but we were able to see the baby tiger. Unfortunately, no pictures of him (there was quite the crowd around the enclosure!), but there is a YouTube video below, so you can see him in action.

The food was excellent, the music was awesome (my first time seeing Velveeta, a band that Nick had been raving about!), and the whole event was put together really well. Bravo to the Zoo staff; it couldn’t have been easy! 

Such a great time!

Here are the videos of the baby elephant and tiger from the Pittsburgh Zoo’s YouTube account. Enjoy — they’re adorable!