A Hawk Tua Post

Back in March, I wrote about a hawk living on my street. And no this was not Dominique Wilkins or Tre Young. Over the last few months, several other hawks joined the original. While they were loud, I was fascinated being so close to them.

The unfortunate side effect was that one parking spot on our street was completely unusable unless you were okay with you car being unclean.

About two weeks ago, our street was repaved. Between the loud equipment and the asphalt smell, I believe that the hawks abandoned their nest and moved about a block away. I still hear the hawks, but it's less frequent now, and I haven't seen one in the nest lately. I'm not an ornithologist (yes, I had to look up this word) nor do I play one on the internet, so I don't know if they will return to the nest on my street.

As for the Tua portion of this post, I think Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa will have a good 2024 season.

Tooth Fairy Fail (Almost)

On Sunday just after lunch, Luigi (6) lost his second tooth. He was very excited. We put his tooth in a bag for him to put under his pillow and went to our neighborhood swimming pool. We then had family over for dinner, and after they left, I went grocery shopping at Wegmans. After getting the kids ready for bed, I did a little work and watched some TV before falling asleep on the couch. I finally woke up after 3:00, cleaned Lucy’s litter box and took a shower since I never did that after swimming. Nothing like a 4:00 AM shower! I went to sleep and woke up only a few hours later to go to work. 

As I was getting ready to leave, Luigi woke up and was on the verge of tears holding the bag with his tooth. Crap! The tooth fairy completely forgot to do his, I mean, her job. I tried to calm him down by calling the tooth fairy. He heard me leave a message for her (on my work voicemail), and then he decided to lay down on my bedroom floor. With the bag in my hand and then put in my pocket, the tooth fairy magically put $2 under his pillow. I told Luigi to go back to bed and that the tooth fairy would come soon. Fortunately, he must have been too tired or upset to think about putting the tooth back under his pillow or to look to see if money was there. About 10 minutes later, he got out of bed and happily showed off the $2.

SAVE!

* Looking at the bottom of his mouth, we're fully aware that braces are in Luigi's future. 

End Of An Era

I am writing this post from a bus. For the first 15 years of this blog (this blog is so old!), this was a common occurrence. Nearly everyday, I took the bus to the Metro to get to work. Then the pandemic hit, and I worked from home. When I returned to the office, the thought of cramming onto crowded Metro trains seemed less appealing. 

There have definitely been pros and cons to my commute to work by car. I listen to more podcasts. I’m able to talk on the phone with family. I have more flexibility as to when I leave my home and office. Conversely, I spend a lot more money on gas. I read much less and get less exercise from not walking to and from Metro stations and my office. I also write less frequently and don’t get my afternoon power naps.

Over the last 4 years, I’ve probably taken the bus and Metro to work about 20 times, and that number might be high. Because of me and others who similarly adjusted their commuting routines or work remotely, my bus route is being eliminated. I’m disappointed, but I’m certainly not mad. It doesn’t make sense to keep this route. I’m about to get off the bus at the Metro station, and there are 5 of us on the bus including the driver. Yes, it’s a Friday and the summer, but this number wouldn’t be significantly higher on a Tuesday in March.

Next week, there is a new route going through my neighborhood. The bus will take me to a newly built transit center where I will transfer to another bus before getting to the Metro. It probably won’t make much sense for me to take this new route most days. I realize I am fortunate to have a car allowing me options to get to work, so I may drive to the free parking garage at the transit center and take the bus from there to Metro. It’s not perfect, but it will save money on gas, and there are more frequent buses to and from the transit center to the Metro station. It may be a good compromise. In the meantime, thanks to all my bus drivers, familiar faces I’ve seen on the bus over the years, and everyone else who administers the bus operations and allows the buses to run.

Changing the subject, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve barely written any posts the last few months. I’m finding it difficult to focus on writing since my mom passed away. (The bus is actually helping with this right now since I can’t stand up and do anything else!) I’m struggling to write thank-you notes to people who honored my mom with various donations. I also feel like I need to finish the thank-you notes before writing a new blog post. Just know that I’m (slowly) working on it and am excited to write about some fun things I’ve been able to do recently.

Zac Brown Meets Russell Wilson

New Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is certainly making the rounds. He had an impressive introductory press conference as a member of the Steelers, threw out the first pitch at a recent Pirates games, and over the weekend, Wilson went on stage during the Zac Brown Band concert.

He seems loved by most of Pittsburgh right now, but that could change quickly if he has multiple interceptions in his first game. With that written, we’re hoping for big things from Wilson and wish him success. I also want to hear Ciara perform a new version of the song “Pittsburgh’s Going to the Super Bowl.”

Thanks to OneBURGH for the picture. Please click here for all of my Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear posts.