Pitts"burgher" Bucket List

As I sit here waiting for Danny to finish a practice test and listening to my stomach growling at me, I'm trying to decide where I would like to go for dinner.  Danny and I have lived in Pittsburgh for over a year now.  We are pretty boring with our restaurant selections.  We are living on my teaching salary, so our budget is limited.  To avoid a surprisingly large check at the end of the night we keep our restaurants simple.  I'm realizing though that we now have less than a year left here and I think we need to start branching out from our usual Taco Bell, Little Caesars, Steak and Shake, or Five Guys.  I've decided to make a Pitts"burgher" bucket list of all the cheap restaurants we need to go to before we possibly leave next May.

The Pittsburgh Restaurants we've been to so far are:

Primanti Brothers**

Deluca's*

Pamela's****

Southside Steaks*

Los Chiludos****

What's Cookin at Casey's***

Jerome Bettis' Grille 36***

Alladin's*

Carbonara's**

Tamarind****

Taj Mahal***

Dormont Dogs****

Mendoza Express***
Beto's Pizza**

(*Not impressed)
(**Eh, I've had better)
(***Pretty good, I would go back)
(****LOVE IT! I'm going to miss this when I'm gone)

The Pitts"burgher" Bucket List:

Restaurants recommended by others:

Uncle Sam's

Dor-Stop

Quaker Stake and Lube

Fiori's Pizzaria
Mineo's Pizza House
Fuel and Fuddle
Green Mango
Angkor 

Restaurants I just found online:

Smiling Banana Leaf

Peppi's

D's Six Pax & Dogz 

Thai Me Up  

Original Hot Dog Shops Inc

Cambod-Ican Kitchen

The Terrace Grill 

A'Pizza Badamo

Armstrong's 

Do you have any thoughts on those restaurants?

Are there any other cheap restaurants you are in love with or wouldn't be able to live without? Give me your suggestions please, our deprived tummies are yearning for some culture! (Even if it is Pittsburgh culture) 

Tastes good...

So I made sausages for dinner today and decided some green peppers would taste really good with them.  I tried to think if I had any in the fridge...no.  I tried to decide if I could run to the store to get some before the sausages finished cooking...not enough time. Instead, I walked out my front door, around to the side of the house, reached down into my garden, and PICKED one!

That was a first.  I've never found that I was missing a key ingredient for dinner and realized I was growing that very thing right outside my front door.  Amazing!  I admit, it probably was not ready to be picked.  It was only half the size it could have gotten, but I got it when I wanted it, and victory never tasted SO good!

Let's take a peek at some of my other vegetables...

Zucchini:

 

Broccoli:

The ones in the ground are doing a little better than the ones in the pots.

I planted some in pots on my deck to protect them from the deer.  It looks like I should have been more concerned about deck dwelling insects.

Carrots:

Spinach:

Poor spinach never had a chance.  Apparently it likes cool weather...not 95 degree Pittsburgh humidity.

Tomatoes:

I should be awarded Employee of the Month

Let's review the facts.

1. On June 1st I started my new job and I was 15 minutes late because the battery in my car was dead.

2. On June 4th I insisted on ditching the tour of our new locations early because Danny and I were going to Philly for the weekend and I didn't want to hit traffic.

3. On June 16th we moved from the central office to our new location in Carnegie and I was 20 minutes late because my battery had died again.

4. On June 18th I went on vacation to Utah for 12 days and I missed 7 1/2 days of work.


5. On July 1st (my 1st full day back at work after our vacation) I came to work for 2 hours then left early due to the splitting pain in my abdomen.


6. Turns out I had to have surgery and missed another 6 days of work.

While I was out recovering I had $720 worth of work done on my car, including a new battery, so I wouldn't have to be late to work again.

On July 13th (my 2nd day back at work after the surgery) I had to go to the central office in the Waterfront at 8:30am to sign some paper work.  At 9am I was in my car headed back to the Carnegie office. They had the main road closed off for construction.  Traffic was forced to cut through the shopping center in order to get out.  As I was cutting through I noticed I was right in front of a Target and there was an empty parking space right in front of me.  I knew I needed some face wash and I would have to go get some eventually.  I whipped right into that parking space and rushed into Target to make my purchase quickly so I could get back to work.

As I stepped into the Target I got that familiar rush knowing there were so many things that would be fun to buy.  So many trinkets and knick-knacks; things I didn't need, and things I probably did need if I thought long enough about it.  I set off with a purpose toward the health and beauty department.  I was side tracked momentarily in the jewelry department.  I spent a good minute or two looking at all the shiny earrings.  I even picked a couple up to look at them closer.  I was strong though.  I put the earrings back and completed my mission.  I grabbed my face wash and headed for the cashier.

Since it was so early in the morning they only had 1 register open.  I got in line behind 6 other customers.  After a couple minutes another employee came over and opened another lane.  The lady in front of me let me go 1st since I only had 1 item. "Yes!" I thought.  I was going to get in and out and back to work.  I paid for my item, got my receipt, and headed for the car.

As I was walking I started digging through my purse for my keys.  They weren't clipped to my strap.  They weren't sitting on top.  They weren't under my wallet.  I started wondering if I had left them somewhere in the Target as I was browsing.  Maybe by the earrings.  I decided to go to my car first so I could thoroughly search my purse. I was in a hurry and didn't want to have to go back in the store if it wasn't necessary. Nope. Not there.  Before turning back I decided to look inside of my car.  There they were.  In the car.  In the ignition.  And what was that sound? It wasn't the car next to me.  It was my car.  I had gotten out of my car and LEFT IT RUNNING!!!  I tried my door. Locked.  I tried the backdoor.  Locked.  I looked at the 2 doors on the other side.  Both locked.  I tried my door again.  Still locked.

I went back in the Target and asked for help.  Surely someone at the customer service counter would serve their customers.  After 7 minutes someone finally came over to see what I wanted.  I explained the situation and just asked for a hanger and a screwdriver so I could pry my way into my car.  They basically said "I don't think so" in a politically correct way and suggested I call the police.

I called 911 and explained the situation to the dispatcher who told me the police don't open car doors anymore and I would have to call a locksmith.

I fished my AAA card out of my wallet which was 14 months expired and called them to see if there was anything they could do.  They told me they could renew my membership for $60 and charge me a $25 fee for same day service.  This time I was the one to say "I don't think so."  

I called Danny to see what he could do to help.  He said he would come to unlock my door with his spare key but it would take about 40 minutes to get to me.  I had him look up the number for our insurance company to see if they would help.

I called USAA and they said they would be glad to help me.  (Hurray!) They said they would contract with a local locksmith to come out and unlock my door but it would be 40 minutes.  I was sure they were giving themselves a wide buffer in case something happened but they would probably get to me a lot quicker.

I leaned against my car and waited for rescue.  5 minutes passed.  No rescue.  I called my boss to let her know the situation and that I would be late.  10 minutes.  No rescue.  My car was getting hot.  I grabbed my purse and my face wash and walked over to the sidewalk in front of Target to wait on a curb.  20 minutes.  No rescue, but what was that smell?  It must have been the drainage pipe next to me.  I grabbed my things and moved down the curb, far from the drain.

Many people came and went.  Cars pulled in and cars pulled out.  "That could have been me if I wasn't so dense.  Why did I come to the Target any way?  Was this face wash really that important?  I should have kept driving!"  30 minutes.  No Rescue. "The next car will probably be him.  He should be here any minute."

I eagerly inspected every truck that came near.  Anything that looked like a work vehicle could be him.  I would get so excited as any truck came near thinking, "I waited patiently and now the wait is over."  Every time they would keep driving right on past me. 40 minutes.  No rescue.  Times up.  I pulled out my phone and dialed the number of the locksmith company.  I decided I would give them 5 more minutes and then I was calling to chew them out.  41 minutes. 42 minutes. 43 minutes. 44 minutes. *Ring* It was him!  He was here!

It took him 5 minutes.  He stuck a pad inside the door, pumped it up, got his stick in there, fiddled around a bit, and click, the door was open!!

7. On July 13th (my 2nd day back at work after the surgery) I was 2 hours late to work because I locked my keys in the car...while it was still running.


Wouldn't you consider me for employee of the month?

Healing Quickly

I know people have been concerned about me so I wanted to write an update on how the recovery is going....  It's going great!  I had a lot of help and friends to hang out with while healing which made it go quicker as well.  I know my doctor told me to stay home for two weeks, but I say that a happy body is a healing body.  I would have gone crazy if I never left the house! 

My happy healing started when I got out of the hospital.  I called my friend Ashley from the hospital to tell her what happened and she had a delicious meal (and a hug) ready for us to pick up as we passed her house on our way home. When Danny's parents heard what happened they sent roses to my house.  Conveniently, they were delivered while Danny was at home for an hour getting some things together for school.  When I walked in the door my flowers were there to greet me.  I went straight up to lie in bed and Danny brought the flowers up to me with a TV tray so I could have them right next to me! :) 

I took it easy on Saturday, but on Sunday night I went over to my bishop's house for dessert and to watch Mt. Lebanon's fireworks with my ward.  On Monday Ashley and Jordan invited us over for dinner.  Delicious blue cheese burgers and a rowdy game of Pirates Cove (which I won!). On Tuesday I went out with the girls for some dessert (chocolate, of course) and to watch Eclipse. 

I think my doctor would cringe if he found out how much I did NOT stay tucked up in my bed.

I called Megan for another dinner, but she was out of town, so CJ brought us some AMAZING pizza from Cestone's. I felt bad, but not too much, because the pizza was delicious.  Thursday some of my new coworkers came over to see me and to bring me dinner.  My boss also came and brought me an edible arrangement, balloon, and teddy bear.  Aren't they so cute?  And I only met them like a month ago!

I stopped taking any pain medication a week after the surgery and was able to take the steri strips off my incision.  There was still a lot of bruising, but it is looking better by the day.  I was back at church on Sunday teaching my primary class, and back to work on Monday (shhh, don't tell the doc).

I can do most things as normal now. The only times I really notice my incision is when I sneeze or roll around in bed trying to get comfortable.  I can't lift heavy things or work out for several more weeks, so I get to sit on the couch and eat Oreos while I watch Danny struggle through (or as he would say, "dominate") P90X.

The Lord gives us Blessings and the Lord gives us Trials (life in our world)

The Lord gives us Trials 

Last Thursday, while in Utah, I started to get a gradual ache in my abdomen.  Over a couple hours it got worse and worse until I was crippled over in bed and couldn’t get up.  We couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  We thought maybe I was just dehydrated and needed to drink more water.  I drank 3 glasses of water, took some Ibuprofen, and went to sit in the hot tub.  Forty-five minutes I felt perfectly fine.  Four days later on Monday I started feeling the same pain coming on.  Before it got too bad I took some Ibuprofen grabbed a bottle of water and headed for the hot tub.  Thirty minutes later I was fine.  I didn’t feel it again until three days later on Thursday.  It was my second day back to work after our trip to Utah.  We were getting certified in First Aid.  I had been there about two hours and felt completely fine, then all of a sudden while watching videos of people getting sick and others administering first aid I started to feel the pain.  I couldn’t stay in that room watching those videos.  I walked out and collapsed in the next room.  I was blacking out, sweating like crazy, and I felt like I was going to throw up just from the pain.  I’ve never been in that much pain in my life.  I lied there on the ground for half an hour with a coworker looking after me.  Finally, when the pain wasn’t subsiding, I called Danny to come pick me up from work because I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive.  I tried hot baths and heating pads when I got home trying to recreate the hot tub feeling, but I was still in extreme pain.  Danny’s friends were driving through town to go to DC from Columbus and they wanted to go to lunch with us.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to do lunch but Danny and Justin were able to give me a blessing when they came by.  I was able to go to sleep for a couple hours and when I woke up the extreme pain was gone, but I could still feel the pressure.  I think the 4 ibuprofen I took had kicked in.  We decided to go see a doctor thinking I might have an ovarian cyst.  We called 8 different doctors’ offices but no one could get us in that day.  We considered setting up an appointment for the following Tuesday because I wasn’t in extreme pain anymore but I was scared that the pain hadn’t gone away completely yet.  I knew if it was the third time it was happening it probably would happen again, and I couldn’t imagine it getting even worse the next time.  We decided to go to the ER. 

 

I’ve never been to the doctor for anything other than a check-up, routine shots, or a broken limb, and definitely never to the ER.  I felt dumb going to the ER when I wasn’t in very much pain, but I’m glad I did.  I checked in to the ER at 4pm, was told I was 5 weeks pregnant at 5pm(we had no idea I was pregnant), found out it was a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in my left fallopian tube and I was bleeding internally and that I would have to have an emergency surgery at 7pm, and by 10pm the baby and my left fallopian tube were gone and I was in the recovery room with a sizeable cut across my abdomen.  That was a lot of information to process in such a short amount of time. I still don’t think I fully comprehend the situation that there was a baby inside of me and now it’s gone.  I didn’t think it was a very major surgery and was planning on shooting a wedding Saturday and going back to work on Tuesday.  My doctor basically said “I don’t think so.”  He said I shouldn’t think about doing anything for 2 weeks.  He said after 2 weeks  I could consider going to the grocery store and running little errands, but it will be 3-4 weeks before I’m completely functional.

I had to spend several hours yesterday morning calling around to anyone I know in Pittsburgh who is interested in Photography to cover the wedding for me tomorrow.  Most people were out of town or busy tomorrow, but I found one person who would cancel her camping trip and take over the wedding for me.  The bride didn’t sound very happy about the photographer change the day before her wedding, but she wasn’t very sympathetic about my situation so I don’t really care.  

I’ve spent all day yesterday recovering at the hospital and working on slowly getting off the morphine, folly catheter (Which is amazing by the way.  I want one 24/7), SCDs (calf wraps that reduced blood clots from forming in my legs), liters and liters of saline, pulse oximeter, and antibiotics.  I’m still in a lot of pain, but the doctor let us decide and we chose to go home last night instead of this morning.  My amazing husband wanted to sleep in my room with me after the surgery so I didn’t have to be alone, but he had to sleep in a chair while I got the comfy bed.  At least this way we could both sleep in a bed last night. 

Even through the Trials, the Lord gives us Blessings 

We were blessed in many ways through this trial.  We are blessed that even though I started feeling pain in Utah, I didn’t have to have the surgery in Utah and get stuck there for several weeks before I could come home.  I was blessed that the intense pain that did me in didn’t start during our 7 hour flight home.  There’s nothing I would have been able to do and the situation could have potentially escalated if it would have gone too long without being treated.  We are blessed that this happened during Danny’s only time off school all year and that he’ll be able to spend 5 whole days looking after me before he has to start his rotations again.  We are blessed that they caught it when they did and no more serious damage was caused.  I can still get pregnant through my right fallopian tube and my left ovary will still produce eggs, but my chances of having another ectopic pregnancy have increased.

That is all the information we have now.  We are open to answering any questions you may have.  For those who don’t know what an ectopic pregnancy is (like me 48 hours ago):

 Ectopic Pregnancy 

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the embryo implants in one of the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. Ectopic pregnancies can be life-threatening due to severe blood loss or rupturing if not treated. Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the first trimester and needs to be treated to avoid future fertility problems.

If there is a rupture in the fallopian tube, the bleeding could cause fainting. It is important to go to the emergency room right away if these symptoms are present to avoid hemorrhaging and safeguard future fertility.

Ectopic Pregnancy Treatment

Because a fertilized egg cannot develop outside the uterus, the ectopic tissue must be discarded. Some ectopic pregnancies do not require emergency care, but if they do, the most common treatment is surgery. In a laparatomy(this is what I had), an incision is made across the lower abdomen. A laparoscopy involves tiny incisions in the skin and usually offers a quicker recovery(not what I had). In some cases where there has been heavy damage, part of the fallopian tube, the ovary and even the uterus may need to be removed.

Here is a web album with some pictures from Utah and from the hospital.

Not a great first impression

THE BACKGROUND 
(If you're not interested in the background skip down to the story)

So, as many of you know, I got a new job.  I have been subbing for the past year in Brentwood School District but the school year was going to end June 10th and I needed a job for the summer.  Plus, subbing pays 1/2 of what I was making as a teacher so I was also looking at jobs for next school year.  I'd given up on finding a teaching job with a school district because last year I sent out 20 different applications (we're talking 25 page packet applications) and I didn't hear a peep from one person.  I figured it wasn't worth it to go through all that again.  So I've been looking on craigslist for a job as a nanny, daycare provider, summer camp counselor, waitress, etc.  Anything that would pay decent money and that would hire me.  I couldn't find anything that would pay enough and I wasn't excited to do any of those jobs any way.  Then one day I got an email from the IU which is government run and provides specialized services to all the schools in the county such as ESL teachers, Sp Ed, and Head Start programs.  They are starting a new program in Pittsburgh for Early Head Start which is for kids from low income families ages 6 weeks to 3 years.  They were only hiring two teachers and after two interviews they offered me the job!  It's salary and I'll be getting benefits, paid vacations, and lots of professional development opportunities.  Yay! I'm really excited!  The classroom will be in Carnegie which is about 10-15 minutes from my house.  We will be doing training and setting up the classroom over the next couple of months and then school starts August 2nd.  It will be very interesting.  I have a lot of experience teaching Preschool though 5th grade.  But how do I teach a 6 week old?  There will be 8 kids and two teachers so it should be really fun. After subbing for a whole year I'm excited to have my own classroom and to be able to bond with my kids.


THE STORY
For the training the next couple of months we are meeting at the IU in the waterfront which is about 30-40 minutes away.  My first day of work was today.  Last night I dreamed that I kept forgetting about meetings I had to go to in my new job and I was always late for everything. It's ironic because this morning I tried to leave pretty early to make sure I wasn't late on my first day.  I got out to my car, turned the key in the ignition, and....nothing.  I tried again.  Nothing.  MY BATTERY WAS DEAD!  Yesterday I gave my car its annual cleanup and while I was polishing the steering wheel I must have turned the headlights on.  I was even looking at my battery yesterday while I was checking all the fluids thinking, "That's a pretty crusty looking battery.  I'm glad it has never died on me!"

Well I ran to my neighbor's door (neighbors we never talk to) and started knocking (at 7:30am).  Finally they answered but said they didn't have jumper cables.  We own jumper cables but of course they are in Danny's car and he had already left.  I called Libby who lives two houses down from me but she didn't have any jumper cables either.  She did offer to drive me all the way over there though with her 3 children, bless her heart.  (She's had to do it before when I left my keys in Danny's car.)  Then I called the Betteridges who also just live a couple houses down from me.  Luckily Justin was just walking out the door and he did have jumper cables! He drove on over and after a few tries we got the car to start!!!  My hero!  It took a couple calls but I finally got a hold of my Director and told her what happened and that I would be late.  I got there about 8:15am and they had to wait for me to get started.  Not a great first impression!

The day went really well though.  We had fun getting to know each other and learning more about the program.  They bought us lunch from Panera and let us go home 2 hours early (with lots of homework to do).  They also gave us laptops with a Sprint 3G wifi air card so we can connect to the internet anywhere Sprint gets coverage. I love my new job!

Home Grown Beauty

I never claimed to know how to garden.  I've never been able to boast of a green thumb.  I don't know if I'll ever get any home grown vegetables this summer, but what I captured out on my deck yesterday has made all my work worthwhile.  Look at my gorgeous tomato plants after a rainfall!

The Dance of the Pittsburghers

There is a dance that all Pittsburghers have to learn around the time they turn 16.

I never learned it growing up in Texas.

It wasn't one a the dances they taught in my Social Dance Class at BYU.

Even in Philadelphia I didn't need to learn this dance.

It was when I moved to Pittsburgh that I had to learn real quick.

No one ever explained the dance steps to me.  I learned by watching others and then I practiced the steps my self.  I made mistakes at the beginning, but I've been getting better and I have gone several months without messing up so far.  Sometimes when I'm in the middle of dancing I think I'm about to mess up but I've come out just fine.

More often than not you will dance with complete strangers and then never see them again.  Some people talk to their partner during this dance even though their partner will never hear them so many people use gestures as well.

Your feet will not get tired while you dance.  You use them very little.  They only have to tap slightly up and down.  You don't even have to be very musically inclined.  No one cares if you can move to a beat.  People listen to a variety of music during this dance; some might even be dancing to a book on tape or talk radio.

This dance is danced in your car.  Almost all of the neighborhood roads here are two-way roads which would be fine because they are wide enough for two cars to easily pass each other going opposite directions.  The problem arises because most people don't have driveways so they also park on these streets.  These streets are no way no how three cars wide.  So we learn to dance.

I've mapped out the dances for you so if you ever visit you will know what to do.  The dances are listed in order of difficulty from least to most challenging.

Dance #1 The Side to Side (solo dancing) - When you are driving down a street and you see a car parked in front of you, you swerve over to the left side of the street until you safely pass the parked car.  Then you may swerve back to the right side of the street.

Dance #2 The Stop and Go (group dancing) - When you are driving down the street and you see a car parked in front of you but there is also another car driving toward you so you can not swerve to the left side of the street. In this dance you stop before the parked car, wait for the on-coming car to pass, then you may go around the parked car.  Variation #1  If multiple cars are coming in consecutive order you must stop and wait until there is a big enough break in the congo line for you to sa-shay around the parked car.  Variation #2 There may come a time when a car is coming toward you but there is a car parked in front of him and he should be the one stopping for you.  The rules to this dance change when that car is bigger than you or does not look like he is going to stop.  You must be vigilant in this dance.  Safety first.  You have to be the better person.  If the other car is not slowing down you will need to stop in your lane so he has enough room to swerve around the parked car into your lane and back into his before you can go.

Dance #3 The Do-si-do (partner dancing) -  When you are driving down the street and you see a car parked in front of you and 50 yards or so down the road there is a car coming toward you and another car parked on his side of the street.  (This happens a lot more often than you may think) Now you do-si-do.  Almost simultaneously you both swerve into each others lanes as you pass the parked cars but to avoid the second parked car you have to swerve back into your own lanes without hitting each other.  This dance is my favorite and it is beautiful when executed correctly.

These dances will need to be repeated in random order several times before you reach your destination.

Now if you ever come to Pittsburgh you will know how to dance.

I looked out the window and what did I see?

I just realized I post a lot of pictures about plants.  I'm sorry if you guys are sick of it.  Tough.  Until I get kids, plants are my love.  Look how gorgeous all these trees are!  These are some of the blossoms I see when I look out my back window.

Let's just say, Pittsburgh did not disappoint me this season.

I'm in love

With my precious tulip that just bloomed!

Manis and Pedis

My good friend Rachelle just had a big birthday, and we've been partying ever since!  For one of our celebrations we all went to get pampered with a delicious breakfast and manis & pedis.  So fun!

I have an obsession with taking pictures of my feet.  Can you tell?

We had all our nails under the special light to make them dry quicker...I just like the way it looks!