Yesterday the UV Index was quote - "very high."  As I was driving home from work, I realized just how painfully white I am. It's quite embarrassing for late June. So, I put on the 'kini, grabbed a towel, a couple of magazines, my lotion and drove to the wave pool.  I'm driving around and around the parking lot, not seeing any cars. I thought that was strange, because the sign said the pool was open.  So, I saw a couple of guys on a riding lawn mower and asked them - and they told me the wave pool doesn't open until 11:30am!  11:30! What? The pool should be open before then! They're not even serving breakfast at fast food places anymore.  By 11:30, the day is in full swing, so is the sun. 

I drove home, tried to stay awake -- but by 11:30 I was asleep in my bed with the TV on.  Today, I got home later - I'd probably have a better chance of staying conscious until 11:30 - but, of course, it's cloudy.

So, I made fajitas.  Good night.

*Oh, just in case the administrator of the Boyce Park Wave Pool is looking for suggestions -- how about an early bird special? You can charge us hard core sun worshipers more, we'll pay it.  Or, cut us a deal... like the business membership at Sam's Club.  They let you in at like 7am, before everyone else.  Let me in, I'll be asleep before all of the toddlers get there, and I'll wake up in just enough time to spend some more money - at the snack bar.

I'm just saying, it's something to think about...

Other random thoughts as I drift off:

1. If I see another soundbite from LKL's interview with Paris Hilton, I'm going to do that forehead wrinkle again, and I just don't need to do that - I think I'm getting a couple of permanent lines.

2. Tomorrow I drive to the DC area to apartment hunt.  I'm staying with the fabulous Becky Barber!! I'm dreading the drive but looking forward to having fun and checking a major "to do" off my giant list.

I have had two smoothies in two days. Homemade. You so wish you were at my house.  Well, don't.  I live in a townhouse here in Pittsburgh (which I will NEVER EVER do again).  It's always HOT upstairs!  I have to put it on like 60 to get it to cool off.  I don't even want to see my electric bill.  That's why I don't get the mail.  And why I drink an exorbitant amount of frozen drinks.

Cheers!

I just realized I have the same coffee maker as Nate Berkus. Score!
I remember when I was 12, I realized I had the same alarm clock as Clarissa Explains It All.

Coincidence? I think not.

I am my mother. And that's just fine with me.

You know we're all turning into our mothers, right? I don't think we can fight it. Well, perhaps we can, but only to an extent.

Yesterday my mom asked me who Tony Snow was. I explained to her like 47 times that he's the White House Spokesman.  Sigh.  I think she still thinks he's the Speaker of the House.  How, exactly, I ask, did I come out of this woman?

That aside, however, I am, actually, my mother. I would say I'm a "little" Cindy, but my mom is tiny.  I think I could fit her in one of my thighs.  I'm hoping that shrinking thing will happen for me one of these days. C'mon DNA!

Really, the only differences I have left from pretty much being my mother are my fascination with current events and the fact that I can cook.

That's it.

Seriously.

A few months ago I pulled up to a Barnes and Noble and I saw my reflection in the front of the store. I pulled in fast to the space in my silver SUV.  Pulled down the sun visor.  Flipped up the mirror. Applied lip gloss. Blew air through the spaces in my teeth. Smiled at my reflection. Grabbed my purse. Then I called my mother to tell her - it's happened. I'm you.

Except I know who Tony is. 

Breaking News!

Most of the people close to me already know this - but here's my BIG NEWS: I got a job in Washington, DC!!  This has been my "destination point" for so many years - now, it's here and I don't even know what to think about it.  I'm overwhelmed.  There isn't a word that really describes the feeling - there are words like "excited," "pumped," and phrases like "looking forward to it" and one of my favorite states of mind... anticipation.  They're all accurate, however, none seems to be good enough right now.  I'm just, so, .... well... AAAAHHHHHH!!!! You get the picture.

I'll be moving in August.  I appreciate all of your prayers. They are definitely needed. Please pray specifically that I will find a good, safe, affordable place to live. 

I can't wait to meet:

And I can't wait to spend lots of time with:

"Robin is on 26"

So, many of you will not understand the title of this post, but my friend Robin will, and that's what counts.  Robin and I worked together in Roanoke, which in some ways seems like forever ago, and in other ways, seems like yesterday.  She's one of those people I was instantly friends with.  Something inside of me just gets the inside of her.  We are kindrid spirits, I guess.  Robin is smart, funny, creative, and sometimes she scares me when she's laughing really hard because I think she actually stops breathing.  Seriously, there is no noise. Nothing coming in or going out - It's even scarier to hear on the phone.  We happened to both be home in VA the same weekend - so you know we had to celebrate.  We had dinner in Smithfield, which is a quaint little town -a la - Stars Hollow.  We had a blast.  Thanks Robin for the pictures!

I like how we both brought the sunshine.  And it wasn't even planned. I swear.

Highlight of the night.  I forget what the official name of this dessert was, but I'm pretty sure it fell from heaven. It tasted like my grandmother... made a little debbie cake.  It was two pieces of pound cake, with vanilla ice cream in the middle and this hot fudge on top that was TO. DIE. FOR.  You know, the kind of thing that you just keep stuffing in your mouth, even though there is no more room in your stomach? This is that thing.

See?

It was no small feat.  But, we did it together.  We reached the summit. Conqured the top of the cake. Devoured the divine.

Breaking News: We have a live update here from the scene - another wall has just given way and there is goodness spreading all over the place.  Forks and spoons are being evacuated.  The governor has just declared a state of emergency, we should start seeing National Guard vehicles any minute now, John. That's the latest live at the scene, back to you.

It's a media circus, I tell you.

Robin, thanks so much for all of the laughs.  One of my favorite things to do in life is laugh so hard it hurts - and I definitely did my fair share that night. 

By the way, I checked with Emily Post and it turns out it is completely socially acceptable to leave a restaurant with your pants unbuttoned.  At least, as long as someone in the room has been to Lobster Camp.

Okay, now, "I gotta go."  :)

Fun with Brayden

My youngest nephew, Brayden, just gets better with age. He's 5 now, can you believe that?  We had a blast together - I took him to the station, where he did the weather, along with Brokaw.  And we had a photo shoot with this really strange rug that my sister has in that room in her house that no one ever goes in.

I seriously have the best family. Ever.

The best Granny. The best mom.

The best sister.

And brother.

Congratulations JT!

Last week, I went home to Virginia for my oldest nephew's graduation.  I have to tell you, I am so proud of this kid.  I was just a kid when he was born.  Now he's an adult. And he's grown into quite the charming young man.  It was so sweet to see my sister's eyes well up with tears at Jorden's graduation.  She's so proud. She should be. She was just a kid too.  Our family has really been through it.  But when you have a kid like Jorden to show for it at the end of the day, you know you're doing something right.  The video I made for JT was a huge hit.  It was my pleasure to make it.  I love him so much.  We had good food and good times at his party.  It's such an exciting time in his young life.  I can't believe it's been 10 years since my own graduation.  Jorden - soak it up.  It's so cliche - but it really is one of the best times of your life.

How many grandmothers does it take to graduate?

Still Catching up...

I've been meaning to post these pictures too. My co-worker, Bob Mayo, was recognized for his contributions to Journalism here in Pittsburgh.  Bob did an amazing job covering Mayor Bob O'Connor's illness and death last year, and he was recognized for that, as well as for all that he does to further good truth-telling journalism here. I really admire Bob, look up to his work, and I was honored to sit next to him the night of the Golden Quill Awards. Way to go Bob! You can read Bob's blog, "The Busman's Holiday," here.

In the spirit of catching up...

I've been meaning to post pictures from the Race For the Cure this year. It was back in May.  Gretchen and I finished first and second.  We were running our own race.  Both times I've done this race, I've been really inspired by the breast cancer survivors. I just think as I run "okay, pick up foot, pick up other foot - you can do this - the person in front of you has gone through so much more."  It was a good day.  I felt like jello for like 3 days afterwards.

Where in the world is Ann Nagy?

Cue Rockapella. My best friend, Ann, took off yesterday for Slovakia - where she will spend the next 6 weeks.  I envy this part of Ann. Her heart to serve others. I wish I was made of more of that.  I have a twinge, but Ann, Ann would give all she has for someone else.  It's admirable.  Please pray for her while she's in Slovakia.  I'll miss talking to her on the phone everyday - thank God for e-mail and myspace!

I fell behind on the blog again. So, sue me. No, seriously, don't. I have a lot going on right now and I don't have time for a lawsuit - or money for a lawyer.  I am so off my game this week. It's been really weird. I still haven't unpacked from my trip to Virginia last week/weekend.  My house is a mess (which is really not like me).  I feel like the laundry is closing in on me.  I just woke up and ate breakfast food. Usually I eat breakfast food in the morning before I go to bed. (that's my "normal") Now, I'm starting the coffee consumption about an hour and a half earlier than normal, which could either be a good thing, or it could backfire, we'll see...

Oh, happy First Day of Summer, everyone! And Happy Anniversary to my mom and Dave! Just to think, on this day, 11 years ago, I had really poofed out hair and I was wearing a really unfortunate long pink dress that had short sleeves and shoulder pads that I swear were big enough to use as dessert plates.

This morning, Brueger's Bagels stopped by the station and brought us iced coffee and bagels. That iced coffee was AMAZING, let me just tell you. They did it right. The coffee was raspberry cream flavored, which is something that I would never choose myself, but it was quite delightful... they even gave us little cups of ice and a canister of whipped cream! Shout out Bruegers! I hope I'm spelling your name right, and if you had a location that was convenient to me, I would totally stop by on my way to work tonight.   I'm drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee right now, which I realize makes no sense on the first day of summer, but hey - like I said - I'm off my game, and I am apparently just lazy enough to not grind coffee tonight. Pitiful.

Have you guys heard the U2/Mary J. Blige version of "One"? Download it. It's brilliant.

Okay... so.. drum roll... you're about to see Kenny Chesney's backside. My sister swears he's had butt implants since last summer.  I don't know about that - but I do know that little man can wear a pair of jeans! It's too bad I had to break up with him - but he's smaller than me, and that's just a deal breaker... you know, kind of like smoking, or being married.

The concert was AWESOME. I'm telling you, even if you don't like Kenny Chesney - go to his concert anyway.  You'll become a fan!  You can just tell he's having a blast up there and that makes for such an experience.  I can totally see why he won Entertainer of the Year.

Okay, pictures:

This is Heinz Field, as seen from my SUV.  We really should have abandoned the car at this point, jumped in the Allegheny and swam our way to the North Shore.  Can I just tell you - we spent 3 hours sitting in traffic getting to the concert!  It was awful.  We were seriously considering just leaving the car on the parkway at one point.  We were going to pool our cash to bail it out of impound after the show.  Thankfully, we eventually found a place to park for $30.

Here's a cool thing about going to a Kenny Chesney concert: Tailgating!  We were only able to chill in the parking lot long enough to drink a bottle of water - but it was still fun.  Shout out to Scott Stiller for providing the drinks.

It's crazy, people! I haven't ever been to a Steelers game, but now I can just imagine how crazy it must get out there in the parking lot on game day!

Flip Flip Summer Tour 2007. The show was incredible. We missed Pat Greene, but that's okay. As we found our seats, Sarah Evans was starting to play. Then Sugarland. **They were AWESOME. I totally dowloaded all of their songs the next day.  Jennifer Nettles is a great performer. Brooks & Dunn were pretty good, but you know what? I just felt like they weren't that into it.  Kenny, well, Kenny's Kenny and you know how I feel about him.

This is my friend from work, Peggie. I found her through the miracle that is text messaging. It's a beautiful thing.  Peg is friends with the guy who is the superintendent of security at Heinz Field.  If I was going to get backstage, he was going to be my chance. Ironically, his name was Ken. He took Kenny Chesney the day before to workout at the Steelers' gym, cool, huh? Well, I asked him to get us backstage, but he told me that Kenny didn't have a sponsored meet & greet this year, so he was only meeting sick children and athletes.  I told him I played Varsity Softball in high school, apparently that wasn't good enough. :( Oh well. It's okay.

  Ann and I keep it real. Straw hats and all.

Emily and I both rocked the long necklaces.

I knew he was going to start in the middle of the field because I saw Anderson Cooper interview him on 60 Minutes earlier this year and they showed how they roll him around inside a road case before the concert. He's in there all folded up, drinking a margarita.  So cool.

Good butt shots, huh? What do you think, implants? I certainly hope not. If I knew Kenny was in the market for a bigger butt - I would have definitely been a donor.  I know I would have been a match and I have plenty to go around. :)

We sang and sang and sang. I thought we were going to lose our voices, but we didn't. Seriously, GO SEE HIM. It is awesome!!!