he said. she said. a married couple's blog.

Tuesday, January 31

It's pretty much all Super Bowl coverage all the time at the Kelly household. I can understand it. Brendan sent me an email with this article attached. Be thankful you're due in the off-season, he said. But seriously, our niece was born on a Sunday in October. We were vistiting Brendan's brother and his wife at the hospital and Bren put the game on. Fortunately, it won't be an issue for us.

Of course we're having a Super Bowl party on Sunday. We've got Steeler's plates and napkins plus some extra gold ones. One of Bren's best friends Vince is coming down from Jersey for the game. He called last night and told Bren that he has a $6 present for him. This will drive him crazy. Brendan can't keep a present a secret from me. He's got to give it to me right away or at least tell me what it is. He gets too excited. Yeah, I've got a big kid for a husband, but I like it that way.

Friday, January 27

proud

Sometimes, I'm just so proud that I'm a Virginian.

Del. John S. "Jack" Reid had gone through this morning routine dozens of times. He'd reach into his pocket, pull out his small semiautomatic .380 handgun, release the clip and store the weapon safely in the desk drawer of his office on the seventh floor of the Virginia General Assembly Building.

But something went wrong Thursday. Reid's pistol, which he said he carries for protection, fired as he popped the clip from the handle, sending a single bullet into the cushion of a bulletproof vest that was hanging from the back of his closed office door.

Monday, January 23

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

What'd I tell you last week? Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl.

I was nervous yesterday, but confident. I didn't think that Denver was going to pose too big of a challenge, but I was still nervous about their big play ability. The big play never happened, and it allowed us to embarrass them at home. Just like the other two games. Everyone was down on the Steelers, saying they couldn't go in and win at (insert stadium), but they did.

And it's been beautiful. The past two weeks have been gravy. I'm still proud of my boys even if they don't win the Super Bowl. The only one I couldn't stand a loss to would have been Cincinnati. Now I don't think they can/will lose. Anything can happen, but after what they've done to get there, I don't think the Seahawks are going to stand in their way.

Thursday, January 19

fired

This is why traffic was snarled on 395 this morning? A small fire at the Pentagon during Rumsfeld's breakfast meeting? I'm glad that "The fire did not disrupt Rumsfeld's schedule". It sure did disrupt mine and just about everyone else going into DC via 395. Apparently the areas near the affected ductwork was the bus bay. They weren't letting anyone in, so 395 was stopped clear back to Alexandria. Glad no one overreacted.

Sunday, January 15

I've got a feeling....

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl.

Again this year, the "Hand of God" came down and touched the Steelers to send them to the AFC Championship Game. This time was more that the Colts really didn't deserve to go. Last year was lucky. This year they WON the game. No luck involved, they dominated that game. The darlings of the NFL lost at home, and nothing the refs did could stop them. How often does Vanderjagt miss a kick from that close? 46 yards. Indoors. At home. No way he misses that kick. We are now a team of destiny, and nothing can stop us from taking The Bus to Detroit in February.

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!

goodbye

Yesterday I said goodbye to my Jetta and hello to a 2004 Vibe. As excited as I was to get the car, it was a little sad letting the Jetta go. When Brendan was thinking about getting the Jetta, I wasn't too enthused -- we were doing just fine as a one car household. So I gave him a list of things that I wanted: black, manual, sunroof etc. I didn't expect him to find the exact car, but he did. But now, with my shoulder on the fritz again, I can't really drive it. I was always terrified that when I shifted into 5th gear, my arm would just keep on going. The truck isn't exactly practical for my future use, either. So that meant replacing the Jetta with a car I could drive easily, had a nice backseat, and a hatchback.

I suppose though that just about anyone who has kids has to make this sort of adjustment. At least we didn't have to go the minivan route like my brother did. My father always laments trading in his Monte Carlo when I was born. I imagine it looked something like this. I know he had the swivel bucket seats. Ah well, the first of many sacrifices for the offspring.

Wednesday, January 11

attention employees

Brendan and I went browsing for umbrella strollers, a crib and a high chair last night. Since we have a strict one hand operation rule now, we're much pickier about what we need. The Babies R Us near our house has a great selection so that's where we go, but everytime we leave I'm this close to hurting someone. Who? The trying to be helpful employee who asks us "Do you guys need any help?" We say no, we're just looking. We need to physically try things out. About every 10 minutes for a good 45 minutes this girl comes back asking "Are you still OK?" Um yeah. Now shoo! Maybe she's new or needs to make extra commission this month. Whatever. Leave the pregnant lady alone. I still have one good punching arm. I know, I know, she's trying to be helpful, but she's the only one in the store who doesn't get that we'll let her know if we need something after the initial offer has been made.

Monday, January 9

game day

I've uploaded some photos from the New Year's game to flickr until the gallery is all put back together. Check it out.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

Made it past the Bungles yesterday, so that makes me happy. I can take a loss to almost anyone else, but a loss in the playoffs to a division rival is extremely painful. Glad to have that one past us.

Tuesday, January 3

happy 2006

I barely made it to 9:30 on New Year's Eve. We spent the afternoon at the Carnegie museum*. The walking on top of a four hour drive, plus a fancy-ish dinner up the incline had me totally worn out. We had thought about going out for some of the First Night festivities, but it was raining so that was pretty much out. Brendan hung out with me in the room until I fell asleep, then rang in the New Year at the hotel bar. This does not bother me one little bit. New Year's is not high on my list of must-celebrate holidays. Honestly, I'd rather be asleep than in a smoky bar surrounded by intoxicated people (especially when I'm not one of them). Brendan makes friends where ever we go, so he didn't need me.

I rung in the new year with a visit to the medics at Heinz field. Yep, I almost totally ruined the whole game for my husband. Not thinking about it, I reached down to get something from under my seat, and as I was there, I thought: oh shit, I should have used my other arm. Then bam, my shoulder was no longer in the socket. You have to understand, we had 2nd row seats on the 30 yard line right behind the Steelers' bench. It was likely the Bus's last home game and Brendan had been looking forward to it since the summer. He handled it well, though. We almost got my shoulder back in ourselves, but it wasn't quite there. Fortunately, the doctor at the stadium was able to reduce it easily and we only missed the introductions. Bren wouldn't have let me, but I was going to try and insist that he stay for the game if I had needed to go to the hospital. The arm is staying in the sling for a while. No more forgetting. There's nothing that can be done until after I have the baby anyway.

The football game itself was a whole lot of fun. I've never been to an NFL game before, so being that close to the action might have spoiled me a little. I have no desire to be up in the nosebleed sections. The fact that the Steelers kicked butt, and they had a nice little tribute to Jerome at the end helped out a lot, too.

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*Their famous dinosaurs are in Hoboken, NJ being cleaned!