Weekend Wrap-Up

Craig and I recently had our bikes serviced so that we might begin to explore the territory around our neighborhood. I was so excited when he sent me a text on his way from work on Friday, telling me to "get changed" for a bike ride.

I hadn't ridden for a while, so I'll just say that after a moderate ride, I was hoping that my weekend wouldn't involve much sitting.

The soreness didn't last long, thankfully. I enjoyed "breaking in" my new seat.

We had a marvelous evening ride, complete with some bird spotting. My camera is broken, so I'm having to use my phone for now. (Please forgive the quality.) Sadly, I didn't get any bird photos.

At one point, we came upon a flock of water birds that flew up and circled overhead, leaving me motionless in awe. 

It was magnificent!

Just as they began to take flight, Sara Groves's rendition of "Breath of Heaven" began to play in my earphones.

The piano intro was the perfect segue to what seemed like a choreographed dance in praise to our Creator.

It brought tears to my eyes.

I felt a little like this guy.

Suddenly I realized that Craig hadn't stopped with me. 

It took some effort to catch up with him.

At this point, we realized that we were approaching a private residence, so we turned around and headed back.

Although I was thrilled to move to the Houston area, I was afraid that I might never see anything green. To my great joy, I learned of this place, and our family headed into the city for their get-acquainted-with-the-outdoors event.

We enjoyed a birds-of-prey demo, which was the biggest highlight for all of us.

Craig couldn't wait to see a falcon, since he's wanted one for several years. This one is rather young and still in training for doing demos; but we enjoyed every minute!

We got to see this hawk "hunt" for the "prey" on this leather lure. What a treat to get a close-up view. It was literally right beside us.

This is probably cheating, but our boys were glad to see an airsoft booth at the event. I'm sure they meant this for younger children, but Craig Grayson & Graham couldn't resist the challenge of target practice. Graham walked away with the record for the most targets hit in the least amount of time.

Craig Grayson did well, too; but he couldn't keep up with his younger brother.

He's always a good sport, though.

Gabriela wanted a turn, too. She did well, considering that she hadn't shot before.

There were many other exhibits, including this wildlife center that had a few reptiles on display. We miss our ball python, "Kaa", which we gave away when we left Alabama.

The Hunter's Education booth was a favorite of the guys. They're anxious to get "legal" in the state of Texas.

Craig was intrigued by this gentleman's tales of hunting in South Africa.

I'm still amazed at the idea of electric cars. This booth was advertising "charging stations", two of which are already available in the city.

Snow cones in the shade

On Sunday, we were privileged to join our friend, Leo, in watching his son's team play (and beat) the Texans here at Reliant Stadium.

With my puny iPhone camera, I managed to at least show proof of Stefan talking with his uncle/coach, Steve Wisniewski, before the game.

Football fans really are a rowdy lot. My ears were ringing long after we returned home.

We had loads of fun, though.

We were especially grateful for the stadium's roof, as it rained quite a bit yesterday.

After the game, I ended up taking off my shoes, which were irritating my feet. We had a long walk in the "cold" rain to where Craig had parked, but I felt like a kid splashing barefoot through the puddles and dodging rocks.

A shower never felt better.

Doing My Best

This is a big day here in the city of Pittsburgh. Steelers fans are passionate about their team -- our family, included. I must admit that I, personally, have never been a very loyal fan, but it's hard to resist being swept away in all the excitement. 


In a city where many people -- even women! -- wear Steelers jerseys to church, my pseudo-southern sensitivities are somewhat offended. (It's quite vexing really.) I've decided to wear black and gold today as we join friends to watch the Super Bowl. That I'd even do this is noteworthy, considering the fact that I've never even worn team colors to our son's football games. 


Where I actually attended. 


And he actually played. 


Our son. 


Who came from my body.


Choosing game attire has been a bit of a challenge for me. I own plenty of black, but other than a (very cute summer) skirt that I stole inherited from one of our daughters, I have nothing yellow. Although I find them appealing, I avoid yellow clothes, for the most part, because I'm... well... yellow. It's just wrong for me.


Thanks to one of our daughter's sweet friends, I do have a metallic gold scarf that should work just fine, I think, for today's festivities, along with one of the magnetic bracelets I bought a while back in the Strip District.


And here's the final ensemble:

The bracelet and scarf don't really match, but hey! It's only a game.

I Guess I'm Just a Push-Over

A while back, I wrote a blog post about this spoiled dog's attempt to really push the boundaries in our house. In it, I declared victory over his presumptuous use of our hall rug, by purchasing a doggie pillow for him to occupy, instead. I had shown him who is boss (well, at least when Craig's not around).

Apparently, though, he's found an "in". One tired young man -- exhausted from lifting weights with the football team -- gave Rhodes his golden opportunity to push the limits.

They're just so cute, I couldn't bear to shoo either of them away. So, I stepped right over them and went on about my laundry duties -- after capturing the moment, of course.

I guess I'll just have to toughen up. Later. Yep. That's what I'll do. But later.

My Fruit Bowl Overfloweth

So far, living near family has some pretty great bonuses. My dad is a serious food shopper. My mom is a serious browser of all things girly. I am the product of both.


We've been in our house for just over two weeks, and there is still so much organizing, planning, scheduling, (sewing!!!), and stocking up to do. I decided that I couldn't possibly postpone our new homeschool year any further, so we started gradually moving into our school work on Monday.


My 96-year-old grandfather is in a nursing home on the opposite side of Pittsburgh, so I try to plan our visits to coincide with my parents' visits. It turned out that Craig Grayson's football game was at a school just up the street from the nursing home, so on Wednesday, we planned our first visit to Grandpap in over three weeks. Being a multi-tasker, I thought we should also squeeze some "special" grocery shopping into this trip.

The Strip is the mother lode of imported and local food and goods. My dad is the perfect tour guide for this place, and we were almost in competition with our purchases. He teased me later when he learned that I hadn't thought to buy Buffalo mozzarella at the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (but he had). I did, however, get some other great cheeses while we were there. The lady in the deli kept calling me "Dear Heart" as she helped me with my order. Precious.


I especially enjoyed visiting Labad's Middle Eastern Market. (Labad's also has a restaurant annexed to the store, but that's not how Daddy rolls; so we ended up eating at Smallman Street Deli. Allow me to recommend their filet mignon sandwich. Mmm. Hmm. That's right.) Anyway, I was delighted to find that Labad's carries the Turkish coffee that Craig likes. I'm sure that I could just add cardamom to his coffee at home, but he enjoys the experience. So, I let him have his fun and use his ibrik. By the way, if you are in the 'burgh and decide to visit Labad's, make sure and purchase the special Medjool dates that are sold at the counter for $5.99 per pound. You'll be glad that you opted against the smaller ones that are sold in a container. (Daddy won this one.)

(Here, Mom and I are taking advantage of the 3 for $25 deal on scarves. [What is UP with my side profile?? Look at that cranium!])

 (This place reminded me of the souk. In fact, there was a bag that drew me back three times to the souk in the Old City in Jerusalem, only to decide in the end not to buy it. How funny that the same style of bag is right here in Pittsburgh, PA!)

 (The clerk was so pleasant and hospitable. I love that we can still enjoy an international experience here in the 'burgh.")

 (I'm not sure if our friend, Arun, reads this blog, but this photo is for him. 5 kilos of Nutella. It doesn't get much better. This was taken in Pennsylvania Macaroni Co.)

(And for the occasional "shot", I bought a few of these pocket-sized samples for Craig to carry in his car.)

As we shopped for produce, Daddy and I planned future shared meals. While shopping for peppers, he requested that I invite him over for some of my Abobora and Lentil Stuffed Peppers. I saved the last one for him to sample last week, and he liked it even more than I had expected. I'm trying my best to wean our family off of sausage, and I hadn't yet purchased ground beef; so I used lentils and mixed them with ricotta, roasted butternut ("abobora" in Portuguese), spinach, garlic, and herbs. I can't recall which cheese is over the top. It doesn't matter, really, as long as it's Italian. That's my default: You can't go wrong with Italian. Check it out:

Before leaving The Strip, Morgan and I stopped by the Asian market to pick up a few things for my friend, Sue. We agreed to meet my parents and the other children (minus Craig Grayson, who stayed behind to catch the bus to his game) at the truck. It was at this point that I really learned the link between fitness and homemaking. If it hurts me to carry two bags of groceries a few blocks to the parking lot, it is time to ante up with my upper-body workouts.

(Here's a layout of some of our loot. I was able to stock up on some everyday seasonings from Penzey's Spices.)

(I was happy to find that this jar of artichoke hearts did NOT cost $80, as it would have in Moçambique. However, to my chagrin, I discovered a day later that I could have saved $4 on this very same jar at Sam's Club. Lesson learned: don't get too tickled just because it's sold at the Italian market. [What would Barbara Kingsolver say of my purchase of CA artichokes in Pittsburgh? And how ARE her books distributed to such widespread locations, considering her 100-mile rule?])

Reader survey:

Italian olive oil or Spanish? 

(Since Craig hasn't been traveling to Israel for business, I can't get it from there.) 

Following our city shopping excursion, we headed to see Grandpap, and then on to Craig Grayson's football game. Upon our arrival at the field, a knock-down, drag-out storm swept through the city, postponing the game an hour and a half. Craig was on his way from work to watch the game, but had to turn back. Along the way, he ended up with a cracked windshield on his new car. The radio reported that our neighborhood would receive the brunt of the storm, which we later found to be true.

Just that morning, the children and I sang "All Creatures of Our God & King" as our morning hymn. I had been reflecting on God's sovereignty and all of His creation that points to His Majesty. Even in a storm, He is shown to be in control. As they say, "There are no maverick molecules." The Book of Job and the Psalms have much to say of this Truth. It is by God's Divine Providence that this large limb from one of the colossal trees in our front yard landed on the iron railing that leads down our steps from the street, rather than on our house. Notice the damage to the railing:

(This limb also fell, just feet away from our glass patio table. I was away when the clean-up crew came; but Morgan said that as they were working, yet another limb fell. Fortunately, no one was in its path.) 

Although we were only without electricity for about 12 hours, two days later, part of our neighborhood is still without power. There are many traffic lights that are not working, causing awful congestion, even beyond what is typical for Pittsburgh. 

I have had a hard time getting used to the idea of having an actual "Pittsburgh" mailing address, but I'm liking what the city has to offer. The trees in our neighborhood, though dangerous in storms, give the illusion that we live away from the city. Still, I'm very aware of our proximity to "where it all happens". Today, I experienced the bonus of having a Pittsburgh address when my wheat order was delivered by truck to our doorstep for a mere $3 service charge. I'll save the spike in wheat prices for another post.