BIG NEWS! G-20 Summit in the 'Burgh!

I'm sure you've heard the announcement . . . all the world leaders are coming to Pittsburgh in September for the G-20 Economic Summit. As I've mentioned before, our building is right across the street from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center where the summit is being held. And the Federated Investors Tower is physically attached to the Westin Convention Center Hotel where the president and a bunch of people will undoubtedly stay.

It will be interesting to learn whether we actually try to work down here during the summit given the London situation at the last summit. Just getting downtown and parking could be an all-day job with the security and the extra people. I'm sure they will tell us about that later.

Greg said we could rent out our extra bedrooms to protestors and come to understand their point of view. :-) He would actually do this, you know. Better understanding through sharing a meal and a beer . . . it's the American way.

Anyway, here's the story:

Countdown On For G-20 Summit In Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh To Host Next G20 Summit (5/28/2009)

Pittsburgh's recovery from the collapse of the steel industry in the 1970's was one of the main reasons the White House announced Pittsburgh will host a meeting of the G-20 nations on September 24th and 25th. That means in exactly 120 days, our hometown will play host to leaders representing 85 percent of the world's economy. As many as 1,500 delegates are expected to converge on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, along with an estimated 2,000 reporters and an unknown number of protestors.

In April, thousands of protestors tried to disrupt the last G-20 Summit meeting in London. "All the resources of the federal government are going to be made available in order to make sure this is a safe event, and one where people can express their opinions, and do it peacefully," Yarone Zober, Mayor Ravenstahl's Chief of Staff, said.

Dennis Yablonski, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, was thrilled that Pittsburgh was selected to showcase it's recovery to the world. "We've transformed our water, our air, and we now have an economy that's balanced. We've also got a great medicine, and education economy," he said.

The Big Move!


Opa and I were in Columbus for Memorial Day helping Brian and Emily and Katy and David move into Katy's new house. On Saturday, Opa and I helped pack the kitchen and finish up the last minute stuff in preparation for the final truck load on Sunday. We were smart enough to keep out the coffee and the filters for the next morning in anticipation of needing some caffeine to get started. We were not, however, smart enough to leave ourselves any cups to drink out of. So Brian made a run over to Tim Horton's for bagels and donuts . . . and hot cups . . . on Sunday morning.


On Sunday, Oma and Aunt Mel took Katy and David to church and then to Home Depot for flowers. From there we went to the play area at the mall. We ate lunch in the food court and rode the "Oma Toys" in the corner that move when you put quarters in them. Then we visited the Disney store, the toy store, and the candy store before heading home for a much-needed nap!


During the afternoon while David was sleeping, Katy helped me plant and water some new flowers in front of her porch. It was great fun, but Oma's gloves were a little too big. Later, Kate and Dave and Frank from the Home Group brought us a yummy dinner and stayed to visit for a little while.

David is almost walking. Every day over the weekend he took a few more chances with walking between furniture and doorways. My prediction is that he will be running in another week or so. He also LOVES to climb the stairway and to "walk" down with somebody holding his hands. Needless to say, David enjoyed this game long after Oma ran out of gas. Emily and Brian were plotting how to get a gate up at the foot of the stairs on Monday before we left.

We were pretty exhausted on Sunday night. The new guest room is very comfy, and Opa and I were just settling down for the night when the board that was holding the box spring in the frame suddenly gave way and dropped our heads to the floor. After we stopped laughing, we managed to crawl up out of the bed and figure out the problem. Then Opa went down to the garage and found a piece of wood to prop up the frame so we could sleep level again. However, it was a memorable first night in the guest room.

On Monday, things were starting to feel more normal. Once again we had a near emergency with the coffee which had been packed last at the old house in a white trash bag with all the last-minute articles in the kitchen. After about 20 minutes of searching all the cabinets, Emily went into the garage and found the trash bag in the dumpster. She promptly rescued the coffee and the waffle iron and several other critical kitchen items that nearly ended up in the land fill.

Later in the morning, Katy and David were trying out their bikes in the new driveway and getting used to the nice yard with trees and a place for the sandbox. Opa taught David how to do a wheelie, and Katy might just get the peddling thing going on that tricycle now that the sidewalk is longer. :-)

Welcome home, Brian, Emily, Katy, and David! You have an awesome new place.

Look what Susie gave me!!!

Susie is getting ready to move to Thailand in July, and she invited me over today to "adopt" some of her dishes and linens that she can't take along. Part of the stash was this lace tablecloth and some 'dresses' for the backs of my chairs. Aren't they pretty? Wouldn't Martha Stewart be jealous?

Susie also gave me some napkins and a bunch of scarves in AMAZING colors! I am going to be STYLIN'!!!!

Katy's Birthday . . .

We went to Columbus for Mother's Day weekend, and Katy started her celebration of her 3rd birthday with a "friend party" on Saturday. This was lots of fun, and there are some pictures here to prove it! The finale of the party was Katy and her two girl friends wearing princess clothes and performing a dance for us. Jack, who is Katy's BFF and future prom date and current swim buddy, wanted nothing to do with the princess clothes or the dancing. He stayed safely back with the snake cake while this was taking place. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

The famous "Snake Cake" that Katy requested for her birthday!

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Ka-ty! Happy Birthday to you."

Jack, Brooklyn, Ella and Katy

While Brian and Emily were running errands and doing some work at their new house, Opa and I had charge of the kids for a while on both Sunday and Monday. It was nice outside, so we played in the yard some of the time. David got to show off some of his almost-walking skills; and he can crawl like an army guy with his cast!

Oma and David in the yard.

David walks well with the push toys, and he takes several steps by himself every once in a while. He will be cruising soon . . . and then running before you know it.

Opa and Katy try out the new Candyland game that was one of Katy's presents!

Show us your cast, big boy!

Opa takes a break from the Walk on the Ceiling game to do some tickling and tumbling on the couch.

Are you ready???? --- Bring it on, Opa!

"Can I hab a cupcake?"

Do I look tricky enough to slip my arm out of my cast? Well, just call me Houdini; because I DID it! After just 3 days, Mom had to take me back to get a new no-slip cast so I couldn't wriggle out of it. Heh Heh!!!

Sojourner House Tea Photos

Here are a few photos from the Sojourner House Victorian Tea on April 25 at Amici Restaurant. There were about 150 people there, and it was wonderful to win some new friends and greet some long-time friends as well.

Honorary Chair Deborah Breslof, me, President of Sojourner House MOMS - Anne Crawford, and Victorian Tea Committee Chair Sandy Hein

Sojourner House Board Members attending the Tea: Renee Randleman, Sandy Hein, Anne Crawford, me, Lynne Chadwick, and Jackie Keiner-Szwarc

Rose Edmondson, Winner of the 2009 Pearl of Hope Award

Rose has been the volunteer coordinator for Sojourner House for over 10 years!

Weekend Update for the first of May!


Greg and I went to our first Pittsburgh Pirates game of the season on Friday night. It rained on us a little bit, but our seats were great and we didn't care. The Pirates played Cincinnati, and although I wore a Pirates hat, it was hard not to get confused and root for the Reds. :-) Old habits die hard. We bought 4 games this season so far from a shared season ticket pair at the office. Maybe we will do some more when people come to visit. PNC Park is the most beautiful ball park I've ever been in.

Before the game on Friday, I looked up the roster on the web site, and then I bought a scorecard at the park. The best way to get to know the players and stay in the game is to keep score. Greg was impressed with my score-keeping ability. Of course, thanks to Dick, I have lots of experience AND expertise in this area. Dick and I actually met when I was the scorekeeper for the company softball team at Specialty Papers. I learned score-keeping from pros. Here are my sheets from Friday. They aren't complete because I had to keep the card under my raincoat part of the time to keep it semi-dry. But you can still tell that the Reds won 4-0. We had fun, though, and got free Pirates umbrellas (made in China) for attending the game.



On Saturday, we slept in. I got the piano tuned in the morning. Dan came and raised the pitch and got my baby back in shape. I spent a lot of time at the piano yesterday enjoying the great harmonies that were now in perfect pitch. It was wonderful. I'll be back up there in a little bit to play some more.

Later on in the day on Saturday, I went for my "April" massage at Massage Envy. I was really relaxed; Bron does a great job when she stretches the muscles. After that I topped off the afternoon with a trip to Joann Fabrics where I purchased some lovely black and gray and hot pink print fabric that Mom would probably call "whipped cream" to make a flowy skirt. (This is all over the island in the kitchen awaiting my attention as I write this.) And on the way home, I stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a new golf bag from the clearance rack. My bag was one that had legs to prop itself, which have long since been broken. The big problem, though is that the pockets aren't big enough. My new bag has a place for your cell phone and an insulated pocket for your water bottle, etc. It will help me keep play moving. I also have my eye on a new hand cart at Dick's; but it wasn't in the budget right now. Maybe next month.
My golf score this week improved dramatically from last week. I was a deplorable 74 for NINE HOLES last week. I got in a sand trap at one point and wracked up about 5 strokes being in the hole. Anyway, this week I shot a 56 and even had one bogie on a par 4 hole. So I am encouraged that I can improve at this game. And it is a lot of fun to play over at Clover Hill with other women and feel safe about being a relative beginner at this game. Maybe I will take a few more lessons after the gardening season gets a little further on and the yard work isn't looming.

Well, I need to go for my walk, play the piano some more, cut out my sewing project, and download my banking stuff into Quicken. Better get busy. Have a great week!