The hottest week of my life

Whew what a week! Let me explain.  There is too much to explain, let me sum up.

Monday we did just about ever big and important thing a person could do, all in one day.
  We enrolled Alex into PA Virtual Academy, an online charter school where I will be her 'learning coach' (it's homeschool), this was a huge adventure because the meeting was in the most obscure and hidden room possible inside the cafe of the Carnegie Museum of Art- and it was hot outside.
   We learned this week that above anything else, the thing that makes Mommy irritated the quickest is heat.  We lived through some 100+ days in Utah just before leaving- 80 degrees in Pittsburgh with humidity is so much worse- you can't escape it.
  After the meeting we drove downtown to get our PA drivers licenses (because we couldn't buy a car without PA drivers licenses (dumb rule)).  Imagine taking your 3 kids to the DMV, now add onto that the stress of not being able to find parking, for 45 minutes.  Then throw in 90 degree heat with humidity which makes it feel like 103.  It was fun.  Especially when Alex started to talk and ask questions about all the black people really loudly, and there were a lot of them.  Awkward!
   After the DMV was bagels for lunch and then a meeting with the car insurance people.  Then we went to the car dealership, check in hand, and bought a Honda Pilot!  Returned rental car, went home, assembled high chair for Quinn so she can join family dinner, and then went to the Zoo because it hadn't been a full enough day.
   

There is a super tall escalator that takes you from the front gate, to the actual Zoo.  It is located inside a glass tunnel, that intensifies the heat and humidity.  I rode it once, and will never again in the summer.  The girls on the other hand could ride it all day.

We decided to hit up the aquarium part of the zoo that day because Pittsburgh was suffering through a heat wave and we desperately needed to be somewhere with some AC.  The shark tunnel was cool.

 The whole zoo is really great and we especially love the aquarium part.  The greatest part of the zoo is that we live 2 minutes away.  The zoo stops letting people in at 4:30, so we go at at 4:15 and have the place to ourselves until 6!!!  It's also great because there is no need to kill yourself seeing all the animals  in one day (the zoo is on a big hill so you have to hike up and down and all around to see everything).

 The rest of the week was spent doing a million things I can't think of.  We are still unpacking and at this point I'll be happy to live here forever if it means I don't have to move again.  Although give it 2 years and I'm sure- like childbirth- I will have forgotten the pain and be willing to pack up once again.

Some of my favorite things about Pittsburgh.  Square milk.  We couldn't find the milk at Costco because it wasn't in cardboard boxes, and it's a giant rectangle.  It makes me happy every time I pour milk- except that i'm always spilling the milk because the opening is huge and has a tiny lip, and spilling it makes me mad.

Also, weekday Costco is amazing!!!!! In fact, weekday anything here is amazing!  It's not like Utah where there are 100,000 people just like us- students with 3 kids who go to the store on Tuesday afternoon.  Here there is so much diversity-  We had the ONLY baby in the entire store and I only saw 3 other kids there!!!!!  If fact the whole place was practically empty, we parked RIGHT BY the front door!  At IKEA too!  The kids went into the play area and there were 5 kids total.  TOTAL!

 Unfortunately Quinn doesn't like shopping, and halfway through our "moving in" list, she decided to cry, LOUDLY.  This is what happens when you are focused more on the baby than the shopping list- you have to go BACK to Costco a few days later to return the 50 pound bag of powdered sugar, to get a bag of regular sugar- and yes we do anticipate this lasting us the rest of our lives.
   Shopping carts here are called buggies.  Loving it.

 Here we are on the front porch, new car in the background.  Before Pittsburgh, Tyler was a really calm driver, not aggressive at all.  I have to say that changed really fast here!  There are so many sudden lane changes and streets peeling off here and there that you have to be on your guard all the time.  You can't just u-turn later or go around the block- if you miss your turn you are done for-  it will take a good 20 minutes to get back where you were suppose to be.  I've driven once.
   The drivers are actually really nice here though.  Besides everyone going a standard 10 over the limit, any and everywhere- people will always let you in to change lanes or do whatever.  There is something called the Pittsburgh Left where when a light turns green the oncoming traffic will usually let a car or 2 turn left before they go straight, even with no green arrow.  Very kind and courteous drivers in a zipping around 'can't believe we've only seen 2 wrecks' sort of way.

 The end of the week was torture.  The electricity went out Wednesday evening around 4, and it had been in the 90's all day.  Once the air conditioners were off the house heated up like a sauna.  We went for a walk with the neighbors to an abandoned school so all the kids could ride bikes on the blacktop.  I was sitting in the shade, not moving at all, and sweat was pouring off my face, down my legs and arms.  It was miserable.  We took cold showers and used candles to get to bed after staying downstairs as long as possible.  at 4:30 am the power came back on.  Glorious.

Thursday it happened again, and we went to the Zoo.  Even the tiger was hot.

 Alex's hair is pretty poofy with the humidity, as is mine.  Our hair is just poofy and wavy and weird.  Heidi on the other hand has stick straight hair- but she seems to sweat 4x more than Alex.  My child.  Thursday we had dinner with the neighbors and the power cut out again.  It was so much worse that we left the house at 8pm to go shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond (bedtime is usually 7).  We even looked into going to a 9pm movie just to sit in an air conditioned room.  We set up beds on the downstairs living room floor to try and survive the night and just then the power came back.  I've never been so grateful for electricity and ever since then I feel wasteful just having a fan on or opening the fridge.

 About Friday Quinn doubled in size and is now a giant baby.  She is as tall now as Alex was at 6 months.  She loves attention, especially from the girls (when she is in a good mood and they arn't attacking her).

I tried to get a few shots so you could imagine what was going on.  Heidi climbs on the bouncer, braces herself and takes them both on a wild ride.  Quinn thinks it's a hoot.  Unfortunately the video camera, along with everything else I want to use right this minute, are still misplaced in the move.  

So far I've been very impressed with the people here.   Strangers in the neighborhood stop you to talk, and I mean talk!  Everyone is so friendly and genuine.  My theory that everyone in Pittsburgh talks like a telemarketer (that distinct accent) still holds true and we are definitely not in Zion anymore.  

While leaving the zoo, I overheard a mother of what looked to be a newborn and a 7ish year old say "First one's crying, now both are crying- an you wonder why I drink?!"

The kids have to point out every person that smokes, and our neighbor seems to enjoy cigars.  Not the exact scent I would like wafting in the toy room window.  

Everything is so green and it's been raining about 1/3 of the days- but not terribly (all the time).  The kids love the bridges, and going over them.  Most of the places we shop are at least one bridge crossing away and that is fun.  Our Pilot has great AC and is so big and roomy- we are so happy with our purchase.  But the GPS we bought is crazy and takes us the most obscure ways to get even the simplest places.

I like it here although I don't know if I could stay- I don't like feeling like I'm being watched every second I'm outside- with the number of people crammed together, and the way the old ladies hide on their porches- I'm pretty sure we are.  I feel safe in our neighborhood, but there is plenty of graffiti at the playground and strange people at the bus stops.  I miss the wide open spaces and the privacy a bit, but I think I'm going to love Pittsburgh for the next 2 years.