Each Day Already is a Challenge

Hodgepodge

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping with $105 in my wallet. My goal was to get what I needed and spend $100. Alas, when I went through the check-out line I discovered that I had spent....$100.36. I love it when I can get that close! And I did get everything I wanted...without a list.

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I was searching for a good picture of Pittsburgh that I could use at the beginning of my blog. Those snowmen are cute, but the way they're arranged, they look too much like a Christmas tree. And Christmas is over.

I decided that a picture of the Duquesne Incline would be great. (For those of you who don't know, I grew up in Pittsburgh.) There aren't that many inclines left in the world. The Duquesne Incline is in the Mt. Washington area of Pittsburgh, and that's where I spent my high school years. In fact, that incline is just steps away from the church I attended.

While searching, I discovered that USA Weekend named the night view of downtown Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington as #2 of the top 10 most beautiful places in America. I have to agree. In fact, when I married my first husband, I wanted to get married on one of the observation decks in the early evening with downtown Pittsburgh as the backdrop for our pictures. Alas, his mother thought that was the most stupid idea she had ever heard. She won, and if I had been a bit older and wiser, I would have realized that we never should have married. Not when his mother was going to win over important decisions. Oh well. New picture(s) coming soon.

I also thought about including pictures of other places I've lived, but instead I'll probably create a special place just for those. A few years ago, I determined that I have lived in about 37 homes in 50+ years. I lived in Pittsburgh for the longest time - 21 years. But while there, I lived in the communities of Mt. Washington, Brentwood, Baldwin and Crafton. I lived in St. Louis, MO the shortest time - about 6 weeks, I think. I've also lived in Michigan (Jackson, Rapid City and Midland), Texas (Houston and Lake Jackson), and Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Seminole, Largo, Belleair, and Lake Wales). Ooops. I just realized that my shortest time was actually at California State College (in California, PA) - 3 weeks. That's quite a story...

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At one time, I had relatives in about 40 of the 50 states, and one in Canada. That was back when my mother did monthly newsletters for the Mackenzie and Zitzman sides of our family. Everyone sent news to Mom and she did monthly newsletters for us. There were so many aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides of the family that writing to all of them was impossible. But writing to Mom/Sister/Aunt Ellen was something everyone could do - and did. She would type up the newletter, then run off to the local office supply store to copy pictures that everyone sent to be included. Many of the aunts and uncles sent money to her to help with copying and postage costs. She stopped doing the newsletters right about the time everyone got computers and started using emails. Unfortunately, none of us have kept up with news about relatives since. Some of us email a few relatives, but no one took up the task of writing a monthly newsletter. I miss knowing what all my relatives are doing.

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A few weeks ago, I asked Budroe about the stastics for his blog - "Invalid Item" . I've been trying to help him promote his blog ever since I discovered it. A few days later, he informed me that 12% of the hits to his blog had come from mine. Today as I was checking my stats, I discovered that 6% of my hits have come from TexansBeatTheMiamiDolphinsBy3 's blog page and 5% from Bud's. Oddly enough, two hits came from a search someone (or two someones?) did at answers.com about Philippans (yes, misspelled!). Turns out I had misspelled Philippians in my entry on October 30. "Relationships"  (When I'm through here, I'll change the spelling. Maybe I'll get even more hits with the right spelling.)

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I warned you with the title to this entry that it would be a hodgepodge and so it has been. I still have not remembered the profound thought I had a few days ago. It may be lost forever. And that, my friends, is a message for us all. When you have a thought, do write it down.

Bye for now. And God bless.