150 Days of Awesome: Volume Four

April 17, 2017 -- Day Sixteen:

Gram and Pap spent the night, so once Pap awoke (around noon -- his normal time) we ate lunch at Eat 'n Park, and then headed to Burlington (Not Coat Factory) to peruse the vast, endless expanse of stuff nobody really needs. Franco found a remote control car on sale, so of course Franco took it home. (Don't look at me. I didn't buy it.) He did tell Gram she would not have any money left over after the weekend because she will have spent all of it on toys. Pretty prophetic, that one.

Sadly, Gram and Pap went home that evening. And Franco fell asleep roughly ten minutes after they pulled out of the driveway. Then, we ordered Nick's Pizza and chilled.

April 18, 2017 -- Day Seventeen:

Effing Tax Day. The greatest adventure had to be one great experiment of how well "someone's" Lexapro worked to combat "someone's" pernicious anxiety. (Verdict: Fair.)

Later in the evening, Franco gave me a tutorial on every one of his remote control cars, new and old. He deemed it necessary as a precursor to our Remote Control Car Race 2017, to take place later in the week. Then, the Penguins lost their playoff game, forcing a Game Five. This day is not going down as the greatest adventure ever.

Effing Tax Day.

April 19, 2017 -- Day Eighteen:

Ice skating and gymnastics day. Franco did really well at each lesson, and he had fun doing so. Afterward, we stopped by Target. Because of course we did. Among the actual items we needed, we found DVD's on sale and came home with Spy Kids 1, 2, and 3 in a multi-pack. (Which means Franco went one entire day without a new item. Good for us.) Then, he watched Spy Kids 1, 2, and 3 and ate a chocolate donut.

Later that night, we commenced Remote Control Car Race 2017 and Franco won six rounds to my three. A rematch is TBA.

April 20, 2017 -- Day Nineteen:

We dodged a nasty downpour to run into and out of the library. We borrowed a new Star Wars Wii game and Despicable Me 2. The rest of the day, Franco waited for his dad to get off work so we could drive to Gram and Pap's for the weekend. To bide his time, he mastered his new game. And asked me when his dad would be home already.

Once at Gram and Pap's, we celebrated the Pens' win and simultaneous clinch of Round One. Whew.

April 21, 2017 -- Day Twenty:

A weekend at Gram and Pap's means a slew of activities. Franco arrives with a mental agenda, and a pox upon us all if he does not meet said agenda. He and Pap played Gabe and Garrett outside in the car (normal) and we taught him new games (normal) and he stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to party (normal.)

April 22, 2017 -- Day Twenty-One:

We all took a sojourn to eat at the awesome restaurant Country Junction in the Amish country of Smicksburg. For dessert, Franco and I tried the most delicious thing ever to be invented: a pumpkin gob. To quote Gram, "Oh, my word." Too delicious.

After stuffing our faces, we walked over to one of the Amish stores to peruse the wares. Much to our surprise, Franco and I found something for which we have searched far and wide for many eons:

                                Not kidding. Not even a little bit. Baby corns are our everything.

(I did mention that not all adventures would be earth-shattering, correct? This might qualify as one such example.)

We returned to watch baseball and enjoy our last night at Gram and Pap's home-away-from-home-which-used-to-actually-be-my-home.

April 23, 2017 -- Day Twenty-Two:

Scott had to drive the mother-bleeping camper to Washington PA to be inspected and who knows what else. We met him there and, once back in the 'Burgh, watched the Buccos on TV.

In the afternoon, Franco and I strolled to the Galleria mall to look around. Then, we took a long walk around the neighborhood. We decided to figure out which house on Ordale Avenue, which runs parallel to Washington Road, shares our yard. We had fun walking the street and peeking through the trees to find our home from its back. (Answer: 95 Ordale Avenue. You can rest easy tonight. You're welcome.) Along our way, we giggled as much as we exercised.

It kind of was the best.

April 24, 2017 -- Day Twenty-Three:

Today, we had the privilege to drive to Washington PA and give our PA license plate to the Mercedes dealer, so the camper could be inspected and who knows what else. Franco looked like this:

                                                Rainy days and Mondays can't get me down...

On our way home, we stopped by Five Below and TJ Maxx. But, the rain made us lazy, and so we just headed home to goof off the rest of the day.

April 25, 2017 -- Day Twenty-Four:

So, I decided (unilaterally, mind you, and without being prompted by anything other than my insanity) to rearrange Franco's room. I don't know why I do this to myself, but here we are. I roped Franco into helping me lug all his toys out of his room and then cart containers up and down from the basement, until we were both sweaty and messy and sincerely as far away from organization as we could get. Thank heavens Ol' Scotty P. isn't as OCD about coming home to an uncluttered environment as I am because if I had walked into the madness we had created, I would have lost my damn mind.

Anyhow, the project which I thought might take an afternoon had clearly morphed into a week-long adventure. Yippee.

As a bonus, though, we did get to use the extra bedroom (AKA Gram and Pap's room) until we can find Franco's bed again under the immense pile of nonsense....

April 26, 2017 -- Day Twenty-Five:

Skating and gymnastics awesomeness, obviously. Franco had two extremely great, fun lessons, and left both proud of himself and exhausted.

Afterward, we headed to the rec center to buy our pool passes for the summer, which is bittersweet when you used to do this instead:

Just remember how much cheaper it is not to have a beautiful pool in your backyard. Tell yourself that. Again and again. It's not really working, is it? I didn't think so.

The Lebo pool does have two waterslides and a rock climbing wall, though, so there is that.

Once done, Franco played on the playground for a while before we went home to lament our still disorganized state of affairs which is Franco's room. Ugh.

April 27, 2017 -- Day Twenty-Six:

Have I mentioned that our house is torn apart? I did? Oh, well, then, I guess you know what we did today!

And then......the Penguins' first game of the second round, against none other than the dreaded Washington Capitals. Uncle Dr. Chad texted Scott beforehand that "Ovechkin is a dirty little bitch" and then added "but Franco probably already told you that." (Touche.)

We all held our collective breath through much of that one. Yikes. But, somehow, Bonino-Bonino-BONINOOOOOOOOOOO came through at the end! It just so happened that I had put a 50-pound Franco on my hip (to quell some anxiety) right before that third goal, and so clearly had to keep him there for the rest of the game. Because logic. We are toying with the logistics of how I can hold him throughout all the rest of the games in the series. We will do what we have to do, believe you me, if that's what it takes.

Scott texted Uncle Dr. Chad to tell him that Franco screamed an absolutely filthy, expletive-laden cheer (which he spelled into the text, but which I will leave to your imagination) about that AWESOME game, to which Chad replied, "Wash that kid's mouth out with soap. My kids are in bed."

Permissive parenting? Check. Penguins' victory? Check. We're all winners.

**To Be Continued....

150 Days of Adventure, etc.: Volume Three

The whirlwind of last weekend kicked our collective patoots. We are only now recovered. Here is the recap:

Friday, April 14, 2017 -- Day Thirteen:

We spent nearly all day in anticipation for the puck drop. Auntie and Uncle Steve arrived at our home, and we all headed downtown on the T. We stopped by a hotel tailgate for a beer/ginger ale, and then headed into PPG Paints Arena.

                                       Get in the fast lane, Grandma! The bingo game's ready to roll!

We were all too ready for as awesome a game as Game 1, so I naturally prepared myself to be bitterly disappointed. Because that's how I do. Ol' Scotty P. went full-on financial amnesiac and purchased us great seats, pretending like we could actually afford it a few days before tax day. (He's either a prince charming or straight-up lunatic, depending on my state of sobriety when I make the call. And only I make the call.)

He did a great job. We are now sufficiently spoiled.

                                                 Warmups. With Fleury in the cage. Perfect.

The Pens played an amazing and exciting game, Sid and the kids showed up and showed off, and we won, making the series 2 games to none. All in all, we had the most fabulous time. Franco added to his cheer of, "Keep on suckin' suckers! We're unstoppable!" by pointing to the Penguins logo on his chest and screaming, "See this? This is professional hockey!" I don't even know where he got that. It sounds professional wrestle-y, and I most certainly NOT wrestle-y, professional or otherwise.  But, we're keeping it. Feel free to pay homage yourselves.

Afterwards, Franco stared at the scoreboard reading Pens 4 -- Jackets 1 and proclaimed, "I could just stare at that score all night long."

                                                                 Same, Buddy. Same.

The walk through the city to the T station was filled with cheers and the buzz of champions. After a very eventful ride home on the T, where we had to listen to some joker complain about teenagers using the F-word ("Heavens to Betsy!!"), we made it home to revel accordingly.

Saturday, April 15, 2017 -- Day Fourteen:

Everyone took naps. (Although Franco resisted until 7:00 PM. Most kids call that bedtime. We clearly have no structure. Carry on.) Then, we put out our baskets, laid out a lovely carrot, and dyed eggs in anticipation for the guest of honor. Franco stayed up well past 1:00 AM because his excitement would allow nothing otherwise. (Also, see his aforementioned "nap" time.)

                    I can't be 100% sure it is not technically Easter Sunday at the snap of this photo.

Sunday, April 16, 2017 -- Day Fifteen:

Easter Sunday! Franco woke up to find that, indeed, the Easter Bunny had come to bestow upon him a ridiculous amount of candy, a remote-control Mickey and the Roaster Racers car, and The Good Dinosaur on Blu-Ray, for which he was especially grateful because, as he stated, "My mum's too cheap to buy that because it's never on sale." (All true.)

The only rule on Easter Sunday is there are no rules and you can eat candy all day long, if that's your thing, as long as you drink some milk along with it.

                                                             Don't mind if I do.....

Later that morning, Franco and I went upstairs to take a rest before our next big holiday outing that afternoon.....

                                 I've been waiting since "Ring of Keys" on the Tony Awards!

We got dressed up to meet Gram and Pap for dinner downtown and all sauntered over to see Fun Home at Heinz Hall. Franco critiqued at the end, "Well, that was a heckuva show!" His favorite parts were when the little kids hid in the coffin, the dance number under the disco ball, and when the set got "fancy." (He also found it remarkable that Gram took off her coat AND fleece during the show.) The night did feel pretty overwhelming.

We had a grand evening, only marred by the knowledge that Game 3 of the Pens' first-round series happened simultaneously. Thank goodness for DVR.

Once home from a wonderful, heartfelt musical performance, we all settled in to watch the game. It took a while -- and especially took us a while, since we were on a substantial delay -- but the Pens pulled it out in overtime, and thus another holiday centered around a Pittsburgh sporting event went our way. Thank heavens.


***Around this point in time, it crossed my mind that this little "project" of mine, which I made up and participate in purely on a voluntary basis, could be a tad ambitious. Too late now because of the blog. If I had only kept my big mouth shut. Story of my life.

To be continued.....


       

150 Days of Adventure Yada, Yada, Yada: Volume Two

Adventures still going strong! Sometimes we might be exhaused. However, we persist.

Friday, April 7, 2017 -- Day Six:

Ol' Scotty P. had to take a tooth class downtown, so Franco and I had the whole day to ourselves. We did this:

                                                             And it was awesome!!

Afterward, we spent the rest of our Chuck E. Cheese tokens and bought a cotton candy.

Winning.

Saturday, April 8, 2017 -- Day Seven:

Another day to ourselves because teeth. Auntie, Uncle Steve, and some of their friends (on their way to the ballgame) invited us to lunch on the North Shore, so we obliged. We rode the T (and played our traditional game of "I Spy") to the Carnegie Science Center for a few hours of playtime.

                                                        Future engineer? Obviously.

That afternoon, we took a sunshine walk along the river to meet at Bettis' Grille. We ate, drank beer (or, conversely, Shirley Temples) and reveled in the Pirates' opening weekend energy.

When we parted ways, Franco and I walked over to a Pittsburgh sports store and bought the book Good Night Pittsburgh as a companion to Good Night New Orleans. Our two favorite cities together at last!

Franco slept on the T on the way home. Once there, we watched baseball and played and relaxed. The Pirates won. We all did.

Sunday, April 9, 2017 -- Day Eight:

At the end of the morning tooth session, we all headed out for a collective life goal:

                                                         Beauty and the Beast. Splendid.

We laughed, sang along, Scotty P. definitely cried, and we soaked up a lovely afternoon. On the way home, we stopped by BRGR for burgers in the cool evening breeze. Not bad for a Sunday.

Monday, April 10, 2017 -- Day Nine:

Franco and I made a Peep Diorama a few weeks ago, and the library held the second annual
"Peep-le's Choice Awards" this night!

                                                We made this. We had fun. We did not win.

                                         
But everyone got a Peep-shaped smelly soap and a certificate anyhow. Luckily, Franco is not James Harrison's son and I allowed him to take home his "prize." Appropriately, we "won" this:

                                 Franco's excitement at our "Best Dog!" superlative continues.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 -- Day Ten:

Unfortunately for literally everyone, we had to spend a good deal of this day on tax stuff. It made some of us anxious, and others just bored. But, Franco and I did manage to take a side trip to Toys 'R Us to stroll around in awe of all the stuff out there we could buy if we did not have such a large tax bill. (Joking. Kind of.)

Wednesday, April 12, 2017 -- Day Eleven:

On Wednesdays, Franco takes an ice skating lesson in the morning and heads to gymnastics in the afternooon. It is quite grueling, and also a good built-in adventure. He enjoyed both activities, and afterward, took a well-deserved nap.

After work, Scott had to go to sprawlingly un-appealing Cranberry township for a meeting. Once Franco awoke, he and I made tuna melts and talked about our day. Luckily, Scott emerged unscathed from the northern concrete abyss. Once home, we all watched the Penguins playoff beatdown of Columbus together, as a family. As it should be.

Thursday, April 13, 2017 -- Day Twelve:

I am not even joking that I received two texts at precisely the same moment (12:44 PM) from separate folks.

Scott: "Check your email, surprise"

Rebeccah: "will you guys be around friday/tomorrow? Steve managed to score pens tickets....."

Suffice it to say, Scott forgot all about any financial tax burdens and bought playoff tickets for Game 2! And we obviouisly were to have house guests as well! Later in the day, Franco and I had lunch at Panera, shopped for groceries, and put in all the important weekend requests to the main bunny.

                                                                Chillin' with the EB.    

The following weekend ended up to be a whirlwind.
To be continued.......

                 
              

150 Days of Adventure, Give or Take a Few Days: Volume One

W. Franco Stark Poling is officially registered for kindergarten. So, we have approximately 150 days to get him mentally prepared for the structure of a half-day curriculum. We practice letters and numbers when we get around to it, we play-act scenarios about which he may be anxious, we talk about social skills and being in a classroom, and we stress -- daily -- that he absolutely has to clean up his dirty, filthy trash mouth. More or less, we are going to need those 150 days.

Most importantly, and onto the fun point, we have vowed to have at least one adventure a day for the next 150 days. This is the last haul before his life changes forever. He and I have determined to soak up the memories. There are no rules for what the adventure may entail, who may participate, or how lavish or simple the event.

I realized that, while we embarked on this plan, we did not tell anyone or post it on social media. Which means, it may or may not be real. Pics or it didn't happen, right? So, I have decided to share, for you. Also, kind of, for us. Here goes....

Sunday, April 2nd -- Day One:

Scott, Franco, and I attended the Penguins hockey game at PPG Paints Arena. It was Franco's first live Penguins' game, and just so happened to be against the Carolina Hurricanes. That opponent is not cooincidental. We did not just stumble into a possible beatdown of a team which hails from our old homestead. (Because Scott and I attended a playoff game in Raleigh and were heckled and we wanted sweet revenge on our home turf. But, we only saw, like, three whole Canes fans in attendance and just felt bad.)

Anyhow, the Pens made it super exciting and we had a blast. Franco screamed, "Keep on suckin' suckers! We are unstoppable!" every time we scored, and I swear that he made that up on his own, despite the conspicuous lack of cuss words. The Pens won, and we left perfectly elated.

Monday, April 3rd -- Day Two:

We went all the way up the road to Barnes & Noble so Franco could play on the train table, and I could finally get my hands on The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark. ('Cuz I am a damn Yankee through and through, but I love me some Trae, Drew, and Corey. Them fellas hit for me in a big, big way.)


Tuesday, April 4th -- Day Three:

Franco and I have become addicted to the public library. Or, more technically accurate, I have successfully indoctrinated Franco into my addiction. The library has historically been one of my happiest places, and this library takes first place honors for most awesome. Every Tuesday, the children's library hosts "Crafternoons" where kids hear an art-related story and then make something related to the tale. (Did I mention how much I adore this place??)

This day, they heard Klimt and His Cat about Gustav Klimt's work, and then they all made a work so inspired.

Wednesday, April 5th -- Day Four:

Scott texted me from work to say, and I quote: N Vermin the Mess.

Followed by: Wanna see Bin Jovi tonight?

Ol' Scotty P., master of the English language. Anyway, I understood the first to mean, "Nevermind the medicine." And the second to mean, "Hell yes I want to see Bon Jovi tonight! I mentioned this for months, but you said 'No' because Richie Sambora is not with them, and I said, 'Well it's not my problem he can't get off his drunk ass.'"

So, we last-minute decided to go to the Bon Jovi concert in Pittsburgh. And we do not regret it.

We did not, however, decide to let Franco know that without Bon Jovi's New Jersey album and a copious amount of Bud Light, his parents would likely never have gotten together and he would not exist. (What can I say? I have always been one classy lady.)

Thursday, April 6th -- Day Five:

Franco woke up sniffly and congested, so we took it easy. We then headed out to Chuck E. Cheese in the afternoon. After careful consideration, we parceled 15 tokens from our stash. Once those were depleted, he I decided to throw caution to the wind, grabbed another 20 tokens, and we tore. It. Up. Afterward, we hit Trader Joe's for some samples, a pretzel roll, and some blood orange soda.

A better alternative to a rainy, blistery Pittsburgh Thursday simply does not exist.


*****To be continued.......