Make Room for Crazy Winners

Remember Make Room for Crazy? Anybody? Hello?

Yes, that.

Way back before the stink bugs had invaded, before the Steelers lost a quarterback . . . or two or three, even before Chester and Hannah had dusted off their running shoes, Virginia and I had found ourselves on two very different sides of the Pirates Baseball fence. She had loaded up her bandwagon and was convinced that with a margarita or three, she could be sure that they would FINALLY have a .500 or better season. I, the voice of reason and sobriety, knew it would never happen. Not that I didn't want it to happen--I did. It's just that I had finally reached the point of recognizing the one-sided abusive relationship for what it was. The Nuttings don't care if the Pirates ever win. They have no interest in changing their ways. I could walk away, or I could continue to stand there and take the abuse.

I walked away.

But, there were some days that I wondered if maybe Virginia was right. OK, so there was like one day, way back in April. But! But! I really did think it would be sort of close, right up until it was painfully obvious that I must have caught a whiff of all those margaritas. Contact drunk, if you will.

Frankly, the battle lost all of its joy several weeks before Virginia finally admitted defeat and drove that burning bandwagon off a bridge and into the Monongahela. I wanted to be wrong.

There will be no gloating. Remember this moment--I'm not gloating. I did not lead you astray. I'm here for you should you need someone to talk to. I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT. (The reason for this blatant moment of butt-kissing will become obvious very soon. DON'T FORGET THAT I LOVE YOU BESTEST. Ahem.)

Anyway, the only potential for joy still remaining in the Pirate's season is to hand out prizes to those lucky enough to win them. At least somebody is winning something. Ahem. So, I took names of all of those who donated to Team No, made random.org do a little magic, and came up with 25 winners of fun and fabulous prizes. If you're one of them, you'll be getting an email from me in the next 24 hours asking for your mailing address or confirming your contact information. Emails will be going to whatever address you have listed on your PayPal account. You'll have 48 hours to reply before I go find somebody else to give some loot to.

The winners are:

Scarehouse--Ghost Hunters RIP package
Winners: Jessica B

IKEA-Pittsburgh--One POANG chair
Winner: Kayla D

Pittsburgh Glass Center--One two-hour workshop for two people
Winner: Nicole T

Tan 360--$50 gift card
Winner: Jen L

A Pirates Fan Pack (courtesy Dineen)
Winner: Kimberly Z

MLB.com/PittsburghPirates.com (courtesy Ex-Pat Pittsburgh Girl)--$50 gift card
Winner: Nicole K

Bocktown Beer and Grill--$25 gift card
Winner: Karen D

Las Velas--Two $25 gift cards
Winners: Bobby M, Deanna C

Access Closing Group--Bonfire Gift Pack (all the fixings for s'mores and roasting hotdogs and such)
Winner: Mike P

TGIFridays--15 Prize Packs
Winners: Leslie C, Brian M, Amy H, Mark C, Jennifer M, Alandra K, Alecia M, Jara D, Anthony N, Jack P, Jim S, Jan O, Lisa J, Melissa D, Kenneth C

Huge thanks to each and every one of our sponsors for making this moment of happiness possible, and a huge thanks to all of you who donated to Make Room for Crazy. You guys are the real reason Virginia and I are able to continue to make some magic for kids all over Pittsburgh.

Good Morning and a $100 Visa Gift Card

We have many rituals in our house. They are a cog in the machine that is our life. Each is required in order for everything to move smoothly.

If I don't ask Alexis what she is going to dream about when I tuck her in for the night, she will abruptly realize I have erred an hour later. She will march her little butt to wherever in the house I may be hiding to insist that I correct my error.

To continue reading and for a chance at a $100 Visa Gift Card, hop on over here.

As We Cross This Bridge

Lately I feel as if we are standing on a bridge. It's a rickety bridge, poorly made and liable to go crashing down at any moment. Sometimes we move forward on the bridge, sometimes backwards, and sometimes we just hold on for dear life as it sways back and forth in a storm of change. Alexis is working her way across that bridge, dragging us along for the ride. She is finding her way across the bridge between Preschooler and Kid.

Some days she's firmly in the land of preschooler innocence. She trusts everyone and is full of joy, hope, optimism, and curiosity. It's then that I worry. She doesn't understand that sometimes older kids will trick her into doing things just to get her in trouble. She doesn't realize that not all people are good. She fails to see the dark side of humanity. As we cross that frightening bridge, I worry about how she will learn about reality. I hope that she will learn it without feeling the brunt of the pain that disappointment and heartache can bring. And, yet, I know there is nothing that I can do to stop it from happening.

As we cross that bridge, I begin to see the consequences of different parenting styles. While in the Land of Preschooler, it was easy to dismiss complaints with a simple, "Some mommies have different rules than I do." It was easy to pick up Alexis and carry her outside of the reach of bad behavior and other kid obnoxiousness. It was easy to just ignore that not everyone is on the same path as us. Now the explanations are harder, the consequences more painful, and sometimes there really is nothing to be done. Bad ideas are planted, annoying habits are found, and innocence is lost. She becomes less and less the person created in the bubble of our home and more a reflection of her entire universe.

Looking towards the future, I know the Land of Kid will bring great changes. Not only will this space become weighted with the privacy rights of a girl whose life is unique, it will have to adapt entirely to accommodate that unique. And, really, the changes that will happen here are the least of my concerns. It's the changes in the "Real World" that keep me up at night.

Yet, as we cross that bridge, good things infiltrate our lives. Greater independence brings newfound time for the adults. Maturity delivers fewer concerns about safety around the house. And improved communication skills offer up daily laughs. I wouldn't trade our daily conversations for all the money in the world.

As we cross that bridge, I am left to hope that the innocent joy that lives in her eyes stays right where it is, even as she becomes more and more the beautiful person she is soon to be.