OSU Does Pittsburgh!


Melanie brought three friends from Ohio State to visit for the weekend, and it has been a lot of fun "hanging out" with them. The group included Melanie's boyfriend, Drew, and their friends Nick and Beth. Drew and Nick are room-mates and also members of the drum line of the OSU marching band. Melanie and Beth have similar majors and have taken a few classes together. And the whole group is part of the Mosaic church on campus. They all arrived Friday night around dinner time, and we ate Bonnie's famous Spinach and Artichoke Dip while we waited for the pot roast to cook. Those potatoes looked a lot like "O's" with their red skins and all. So Drew just had to get creative before finishing off his meal. I wonder if this one will end up on the Buckeye web site. One never knows.

On Saturday we made a trip to Target. I think this is part of "hanging out", or maybe it just made the students feel at home because Target is their favorite store in Columbus. Whatever . . . . We headed into the city in the afternoon to go to the Carnegie Science Center to see the Bodies Exhibit. (The exhibit was very interesting; it makes you appreciate how miraculous it is that everything works so well.) The Sports Works part of the museum is right across from Heinz Field . . . home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since Nick is a sports fan, we took this picture to prove that they were actually in Pittsburgh and nowhere else. It's pretty cool, don't you think?

When we finished at the museum, we crossed the Allegheny River into downtown Pittsburgh and drove through the cultural district on our way to the South Side where we parked at the foot of the Duquesne Incline. We rode the incline to the top of Mount Washington for dinner overlooking the skyline at the Georgetowne Inn. This ride up the side of Mount Washington with dinner overlooking the place where the Allegheny and Monongahela River form the mighty Ohio River is one of the best views in the country. And we had good food and great company talking about our day and enjoying the scene.

After dinner, we rode back down the incline and drove through Oakland so that these grateful Buckeyes could see the home of the Pittsburgh Panthers, who toppled WVU in football to give OSU a shot at the national championship in January. The Buckeyes were impressed with the college and especially the Peterson Events Center. While they didn't get out and shake hands with any of the Panthers, they did verbally "bless" them for their victory over WVU.

This morning we visited the Worship Cafe at Northway before Melanie and company headed back to Columbus. It was an awesome time together. I'm hoping they come back again later so Greg can join us on another excursion. He had to work this weekend, so I was hostess by myself.

This afternoon, I decided to attend a music rehearsal for a musical presentation I was invited to play for at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Sewickley. It was the first time since I have had the Chevy HHR that I needed to transport my bass. As you can see from the picture, it fits BEAUTIFULLY! And it was so easy to get in and out of the car. I'm really happy! Now the car has passed all the tests. I has the LATCH things for Katy's car seat and has worked for that. We have travelled with up to five passengers in relative comfort. And now it has passed the test for musical transportation. I think we're there.

Oh, and I found the Hallmark Christmas ornaments that I bought for 2007! Things are looking up for the rest of the month. Only 16 days until Christmas!