SUPER BOWL BOUND!!!

My obsession with the Pittsburgh Steelers is an odd one for a boy growing up in SLC, Utah. I am too young to have watched the Pittsburgh of the 1970's but my brothers who were indoctrinated me in the true way of football. Unfortunately for me, Pittsburgh has had a rough time of it in the 26 years since their last Super Bowl victory. Many seasons I have been left utterly disappointed because quarterback after quarterback could not take care of the ball. I have waited patiently for this day to come and finally will be able to watch the Steelers in a Super Bowl. The last time Pittsburgh was in the Super Bowl (1996) I was in Brazil and was unable to watch that game. I remember hearing about the game the next day and I was extremely disappointed that the Steelers couldn't pull it off (O'Donnell's interception doomed us). Since that time I have seen the Steelers lose time and time again (at home) to other teams (who shall remain nameless, I can't believe I live where I do now) in the AFC Championship game. Finally I will be able to watch the Steelers in the Super Bowl. I hope that they have one more victory in them this season.

This year's team almost feels like a team of destiny. Unlike last year when they were 15-1 and the top seed, this year they had to work for it. Three road games against the top 3 seeds in the AFC and having to win their last game of the regular season to get it have made this team really come together. They have been in playoff mode for 2 months and it is showing. With Bettis possibly retiring after this year and a Detroit native it only seems proper that the Steelers and Bettis go out on top this year.

Come on over, pull up a chair, have some chili-cheese dip and cheer on the Steelers. Long live the Steel Curtain!!!

111111

Well this post is for my friend Jared because I know that I will be scorned by Michelle and my friend Bryan will only role his eyes in disgust for the boring and meaningless post. But I had to post because I haven't done so in quite awhile, and my odometer rolled to 111111. It happened as I was coming home from work this evening right as I got off the Air Force Base in the historic town of Lincoln, MA. It was last January in SLC driving on I-80 over State Street that I passed 100000. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera so no picture to post. However stay tuned for the ever exciting 112358 (Dr. Warnick figure out the significance of that one!!) and of course the ever popular 123456. And if I still own my car in another 9 years I will be sure to get a picture of 222222.

Oh Sweet Child o' Mine...

As her mother and the person who "made" her, I have total rights to bragging, so... after dinner tonight, I just had to "blog" her. She is a pretty unique kid in that she will eat very "grown up" and healthy food and usually prefers it to junk food or sweets (except chocolate - that's the only way I know she's really mine!) I always feel so sorry for my friends who have to make 2 options at every meal-time (one for the adults and a separate bland boring dinner for the kids.) Grace eats and always has eaten whatever we choose to eat. And, if you know us well, we don't usually eat foods that kids would like. I remember when she was just over one year old, we were eating chinese food and she went to town on my cashew chicken and rice. Tonight for dinner, we had cod with spicy mango salsa (cod caught fresh by our neighbor Roger in the Atlantic), greek roasted potatoes, and asparagus. Most kids would look at that and immediately ask for Mac and Cheese or a chicken nugget. Not Grace. She ate a good portion of the cod and roasted potatoes and chomped through 4 asparagus stalks like they were candy canes. Earlier today, we were out shopping (at the one shopping strip within 20 minutes of our house) and she got hungry. There was a health food store nearby and I asked her if she wanted to go in and get a snack. She agreed, so we proceeded in the store. She passed up some cheese puffs (organic cheese puffs?), some chocolate bars, and several other snack options. We came to the produce aisle and she said "I want pink bell carrots." (pink bell for Tinkerbell who also enjoys carrots for a snack.) Unbelievably, they didn't have any carrots at the HEALTH FOOD store, so we left empty handed. When we got home she ate half a bag of baby carrots.

Of course, she will eat mac and cheese and a chicken nugget and fries when offered to her, but they are hardly the substance of her diet like they are for most kids. I can't really claim that it has anything to do with my parenting skills. She is just a cool kid on her own. I think she was born with a craving for good food. When I was pregnant with her I always craved fruits and vegetables that I wouldn't usually eat in that frequency and I regularly turned down dessert which is definitely not me.

She's just a mystery to me sometimes. You might think from this picture that she has sweet little curls that she has in cute pigtails with bows all the time. Really, she just likes to have the curlers in her hair, but won't let me brush it on a daily basis, much less put cute bows and barrettes in it. She usually has what she calls "crazy hair" and loves it that way. I was always bugged by little girls I saw in stores or at church who hadn't had anything done with their hair, but now I'm not so judgemental.

I'm not quite sure who I'm raising, but I really like her and she's taught me a lot about being an individual and not doing things just because other people do. She definitely does what she wants to do almost 100% of the time yet she does it (and I quote from another parent who sees her a lot) without being tyrranical about it.
I can't wait to see what her little sister has in store for us!