Star Gazing

Friday night I went with a group of people to a star gazing party. It was hosted by the Pittsburgh Astronomy club out in the country, north of the city. There was a small visitors' center there which housed at least two massive telescopes, one pointed towards a distant galaxy and the other at a binary star. I was pretty impressed and felt pretty small looking at such a big sky. We caught a glimpse of the international space station make a trek above us and a Soviet satellite following it. I taught 5-8th grade science two years ago (though I was trained in elementary education) and covered stars with the students. It was neat to be able to take what I learned from teaching that year and apply it to what I observed at the party.

Living Large

After over 2 months of living in the 'Burgh, I finally got tired of staring at empty walls and decided to invest in some wall decorations. My dad kindly bestowed a hammer and some nails upon me when I moved out here, so I had the necessary tools to do the job. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever hung anything on a wall in my life and definitely not without being under someone else's supervision. Needless to say I was a little nervous about my project. I bought three small plaques to hang in my kitchen and and a clock to hang in my living room. I'm please to announce that there were no trips to the emergency room and the apartment looks pretty good so far. I'm keeping an eye out for something bigger to hang over the sofa. On top of all this wall decoration excitement, I just received an unexpected call from my landlord today informing me that my kitchen countertops are going to be replaced tomorrow - no more burn marks and coffee stains! I love all the renovation my apartment is receiving!

Battle Wound

For those who don't know, I am an Ultimate Frisbee fanatic. Back home I played with a group every Sunday, so since my move to Pittsburgh I've been looking for another group. What a challenge! I found a Frisbee league, but I don't want to pay to play and I don't take the sport that seriously. It's just something I play because I enjoy running around and being physically challenged. I finally struck gold two weeks ago I was studying at Schenley Park. A group of people were playing my sport not too far away, so before I left I asked if I could possibly join them. This past Sunday was my first time sporting my sneakers on a Frisbee field since early spring, and it felt so good. Of course, no game of Frisbee is complete without some kind of slight injury, you know, to keep things exciting. (Plus, my dad thinks the emergency room would be an excellent place for me to meet a nice, single doctor. Oh dad.) So, being the newbie, I was thrown the Frisbee and fumbled it in my fingertips. It bounced off my hands and into my left eye! Ouch! Though my eye stung and kept watering, I was fine except for a slight bruise in the outer corner of my eye. It was hardly visible the next day, which kind of upset me. I think it would be cool to respond, "Oh this? It's just from playing Frisbee," when people asked me about how I got injured. There's always next Sunday...

A Taste of Sweetness

My parents came for a spur of the moment trip this weekend! The goal was really for my mom to visit my grandpa in his nursing home an hour or so away, but they stayed with me Saturday night. We went down to Murry street for dinner. I have to admit that I felt somewhat guilty not inviting them to share in my corn chowder that I made the previous night, but I couldn't stand the thought of eating potatoes again. Instead, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity for non-potato restaurant food and apologized later. I think they would have taken me out regardless, not because my cooking is bad, but because they want to treat me and get me out of my apartment. Sunday morning we went out for breakfast and they left soon after. It was a short visit, but it was so sweet to get a taste of home!

Sack of Potatoes

A few weeks ago I saw a 5 lb. bag of white potatoes while grocery shopping. I guess I was thinking, "Oh potatoes! I like potatoes. You can do a lot with potatoes. Potatoes are filling, but more importantly, potatoes are CHEAP!" So, needless to say, I bought the potatoes. Over the last couple of weeks, I've made baked potatoes, potato fries, and potato omelets. I still had six potatoes left in my pantry this morning and they were in dire need of use. So tonight I decided to make corn chowder, in which potatoes are a main ingredient. (I bought several ears of corn, cooked them, and then cut the kernals off the cob - Hello! It's cheaper than buying canned corn! They needed to be used too.) So now my potatoes and corn are used, which makes me happy. However, there's a gianormous pot of corn chowder sitting on my stove. I estimate two weeks to finish it off. What's the moral of this story? No single person living by herself should ever have need or reason to purchase a 5 lb. bag of potatoes no matter how cheap it is! It's nearly impossible to eat them all without getting sick of them!

Exploring Oakland

Part of the reason why I enjoy my Multicultural class is because we go on a field trip every Tuesday. Yesterday our trip involved touring the American Indian and Dinosaur exhibits at the Carnegie Museum, eating a fantastic Syrian lunch at Schenley Plaza while being serenaded by a live musician, exploring the Pennsylvania Room of the Carnegie Library, and taking a walking historic tour of the Oakland area. Later on, after my night class, a friend also introduced me to the Pittsburgh institution of Dave and Andy's ice cream through a black raspberry cookies and cream waffle cone experience. Though very tasty, the Penn State Creamery still ranks higher on my list. You can't beat the starting point of Ben & Jerry's!

Fireworks on the 4th

A friend's dad works for a local fireworks company and she invited me to her dad's 4th of July show. Before it got dark, he showed me what the fireworks look like and how they're set up before being lit. They're pretty much little bags of gunpowder stuffed down into a tube. It looked pretty complicated with all the filament and not a job I would ever desire to have.

We sat maybe 75 yards of where the fireworks were being shot off and they looked like they were exploding straight above our heads! During the finale, I couldn't decide if I should watch the fireworks or the fireworks crew - both looked equally exciting. The ground looked like a huge ball of fire as so many fireworks were set off at the same time!

Fresh Air? I Think Not!

I've shared my first gripe about Pittsburgh when I began this post - the driving! Now, I'm sharing the second - the air quality. Running on 5th Avenue made sense to me, because for part of it there are only a few side streets until you get closer to the universities. However, I failed to realize that running along this main drag meant that I'd be breathing in car or bus exhaust - yuck! My whole point in running is to reduce stress and make myself stronger and healthier, not increase the chance of having lung cancer. Blah! I'm choosing the side streets next time or maybe the Bellefield gym though I'd much rather be outside.