Sometime in the early 1990s during high school I began hanging out at the Beehive Coffeehouse on East Carson Street in the Southside of Pittsburgh. Some of my earlier memories were when it was only one store front wide (now it’s three), and we’d play Galaga in the back room by the leather couch. The female manager had blonde and pink hair, and she’d sleep back there. This must’ve been about later 1990 or early 1991. I know this because I could drive then, and I had my blue Dodge Colt. I remember several months where I’d make sure I came down here once a day even if it was just to grab a coffee and play some video games. In the summer, the doors would be open and it’d be muggy as hell here.

After high school I went away to Penn State , but none of the State College coffee houses could do this place justice. I would return on weekends and summers, and always be here. I knew the people from the locals who hung out here to the baristas (some of whom are still here!). I remember in 1992 seeing Jason Szalla hang work he did at Baldwin High School from the ceiling in the Beehive. I remember the different people who’d flirt with each other, and some of the girls who flirted with me. One of whom, in the late 1990s, I still know. Alicia talked to me one night for hours. She was a Fordham student who loved iguanas and worked at VH1. We still know her, and she is still here.

I remember playing cards here through the mid-1990s. Spades was the game, and each night we’d have several tables going all at once. Elliot was a character, and we can to really enjoy his company. One guy we played with had to run off to not go to jail. I think his name was Fruit. An odd fellow. Another guy was just wild. Donna and I ruled the table by this time.

Occasionally famous people would walk in. I saw Patrick Stewart near the front one night, and another night I met Robert Downey Jr buying coffee. He suggested I read Wonderboys which they were filming nearby. I read it that night at a front table. The whole thing.

I remember grad school. The Beehive was the place to study. I’d walk across the 10th street bridge from Duquesne University, and it didn’t matter if it was -10 with the wind chill factor. I’d still do it. I would sit here and write, read, study. I remember bringing my first laptop down here for the first time.

By this time my mother was hanging out here too. Everyone called her Mum. Even the old people. She was everyone’s mother. The funny thing was when we, her biological children, called her “mum” no one knew we were really the children. Jaime got in with Scott and Z the owners, and he followed them from project to project. I buried myself in books when I had to study and cards when I had some time off.

In the summer of 1998, I was in the Beehive when Donna returned from school for the summer. We were just friends then and nothing was going on. I told her to meet me at the Beehive. I still remember sitting in a large red booth ten feet from where I sit when she came in the door. That was May. By July we were back together, and we spent much of that summer in the Beehive.

By fall I was student teaching at Mt Lebanon High School and Donna was back at Lockhaven for her senior year. One night we went out to Dee’s, and I got drunk. I decided to head to the Beehive to sit it off and get some coffee. One of my students walked in! Not the best idea (although I was of age).

By summer of 1999 Donna and I were engaged and moved to Arizona. Alicia came to the wedding; she framed shots of the Beehive for us. Black and whites of some things we will never forget.

Since then, the first few years we’d try to come in. Slowly, it was shifting. We knew less people. The building expanded to a second nonsmoking room (perfect since it was always smokey in here!). My Mum stopped coming and Meghan moved to Colorado.

Until today now I could not tell you the last time I was here. 2005? 2004? People grow and change, but this place. This place stays the same. It’s always for those memories. Today I sit here. Christmas 2008 wondering when I will be back here. Maybe next Christmas (have no trips planned to PA until then), or maybe it won’t be until Claire is older and I can tell her the stories. We will see.

We flew home last week, and the grandparents sure did spoil Claire this Christmas. For the past several years we’ve stayed at my parent’s house for Christmas Eve, so Claire could wake up and open gifts there. This year Donna wanted a bit of a change, and since now my sister and brother both (including my sister’s boyfriend) were all at my parent’s house, we really didn’t have a place to sleep there. On Christmas Eve we hung out around my in-laws house before heading to my parent’s house for dinner. It was me, Donna, Claire, Dad, Mum, Jaime, Meghan, Jon and Johann (not to mention the ancient mutt under foot and Cheyenne, the orange cow (as Claire calls my dad’s golden retriever who is way TOO Fat!), my mum’s cat, and my sister’s twin black cats. All crammed into a cape cod style house is enough to make my mother demand a new house before Christmas 2009.

After dinner, we three headed to our annual Christmas party at Tom and Paula’s house in West Mifflin where we’d meet up with the in-laws and brother-in-law, Danny. Claire had a great time playing with the little girl who is a year older than her; they only see each other every Christmas Eve and the last two years they’ve been old enough to care about playing with each other. After the group photo and some well wishes, we headed back to my in-laws around midnight.

When Donna and Danny were younger the family supposedly opened presents later, but now that Claire’s here, she was up and at ‘em relatively early (not as early as I liked to open when I was young!). She got some outfits, several toys (mostly educational type things), and some other gear. I bought her a blue and pink Timbuk2 customized tote, which she always told everyone were her favorite colors (until this week, when she says she now likes purple and green! Ugh). Her old swim bag was falling apart, and these bags are so well made that she can use it for years to come.

As for the wife, she’d been asking for a new digital camera. Her old one was a few years old and really sluggish. I’d been searching for the perfect one for a few months, and I finally got a great deal at CostCo. Personally, I’d been drooling over the MinoHD Flip video cameras. Donna had shown interest in one on Black Friday, but I knew for a little more I could get the nice HD model. This gift had been near the front of the pile of gifts since I’d been eager to give her one for weeks! She loved both gifts and the other little things. My in-laws got me Ebay gift cards, which’ll work well for a new sleeping bag. Danny got Donna a gift card for Sprint to buy the new purple Lotus that she keeps drooling over (she’s not gotten a new phone since 2004!). I can’t wait to get him to take her to Sprint.

Later after lunchtime, we went to my parent’s. Claire fell asleep in the car so we all opened “big people” gifts for awhile until she woke up. Donna bought me the Charlaine Harris’ (TrueBlood) vampire books; I didn’t know they came in a box set so I was totally stoked when I opened them. I got her a Timbuk2 gift card so she could order herself a bag, since she really wanted to pick her own. My parents got both of us Apple gift cards (Donna towards a new MacBook and me towards maybe Bose earphones). Claire got dolls, some clothes, etc… She got the blue cat (from Mama) and the pink doggie (from Auntie Meghan via Santa), and she was totally stoked.

Meghan and Jon made out with Wii and Rock Band 2. We hooked up the Wii and played Rock Band late into the night, but we have no idea how to unlock the codes. (Comment below if you do know. We have to cheat codes, but can’t figure out HOW to input them.)

Christmas was a blessed day with thoughtfulness, happiness and family.

Merry Christmas. Here’s my father singing O Holy Night in Karaoke. LOL.

Untitled from Devon Adams on Vimeo.

I wanted an awesome Stillers (that’s Steeler for yinz who don’t come from the ‘burgh!) sweatshirt on Black Friday from Penney’s but they only had Cowboys (terrible!) and Cardinals (go figure, we’re in AZ!). I finally convinced catalog to order me up one, but the makers were gonna have to mail it straight to my house. This was fine with me since I live 10 miles from our local Penney’s.

After about 2 weeks I was pissed my shirt hadn’t come so I called to complain. Yesterday Penney’s catalog told me it was currently on the UPS truck to be delivered that day. My only package at home that night was a gift for a family member, so today while we were cooking dinner, I was complaining to Donna about Penney’s. I said something about the awesome Steelers sweatshirt for under $30 that I had ordered and hoped to wear to work while they’re in the playoffs.

She gave me this odd look and started laughing. Yesterday a package had come in her name. She’d opened it when I was out of the room and quickly wrapped it for me. She thought she had forgot and bought me a new Stillers shirt for Christmas!

In late May 1994 after I had just finished up my freshman semester of college at Penn State University, I’d planned on hanging around all summer. My bother, Jaime, and I headed to a party with these people we’d just been getting to know. At some point in the evening we played spin the bottle. A young woman with torn jeans, red wild hair, and glasses spun the bottle and it landed on Jaime; he kissed her. Later in the evening I spun the bottle and it landed on her. I moved in with all the charm I could muster. I reached forward across the center circle, and went for it. Needless to say we quickly forgot the bottle, but we never ever forgot that 14 years ago today my brother kissed my wife before I kissed her!

To keep the traditions alive, on May 20, 1999 I had just finished my Master’s Degree at Duquesne University and Donna had just now finished her degree in management from Lock Haven, and we had much to celebrate. I decided to pack a cooler of KFC chicken and a couple Sobes before driving Donna out to South Park south of PIttsburgh. We roller bladed around the park before heading up to the "Stone Shelter" where my parents always said they made out when they were our age. So sitting up there, I was very nervous, and eventually I just went for it. I leaned in, pulled the small box out of my pocket, tossed it into her lap and asked loudly "Wanna Get Hitched?" This proclaimant and several feet of green phallic graffiti behind us on the wall was I needed to woo Donna to marry me.

She said yes, and we moved to Arizona a few months later. We never looked back. Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Don’t know what to tell you. Here we sit in OUR OWN LIVING ROOM! Claire got so many presents from her family that we had 9 bags coming back from Pittsburgh today. Donna’s father just rolled his eyes and made his comments and moved on. This morning we had to take Danny’s 4Runner and Dad’s Jeep to the airport since we had so much stuff. One bag I had weighed 53.5 pounds and the other was 48 pounds. Danny & I stood there and took out piece by piece, weighing it by hand. Eventually both bags were 50.0 pounds and Danny had a handful of clothes and I had a few DVDs. We were proud of ourselves for figuring it all out, and then Donna showed up to check her and Claire in.

Once we made it on the plane (and yes, the new SOUTHWEST seating orders suck!) Claire fell asleep for 90 minutesl I got three magazines read cover to cover and Donna read her Reader’s DIgests. I can’t believe I took about 8 magazines home to read, and I read three ON the ride home!

Now we’re sitting here at home, unpacking, watching reality TV that we recorded while we were gone, and watching Claire be very attentive to the baby dolls that were sitting here for the last three weeks. She’s got a new babydoll stroller from Mimi & Pap Pap, and she’s been driving them all over the house in the stroller. Back to the grindstone…

2007_Dec_Christmas_7Springs_16.JPG, originally uploaded by nooccar.

Today we headed back to 7Springs, and Uncle Jaime skiied with Claire all morning. He’s a great uncle, and we all had an awesome time.

In freshman year of high school I went into the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, mostly because I wanted to see a friend who was volunteering there. This was 1989. Now, today, we took Claire there for the first time. My father-in-law thought it was a horrid idea at first and wanted to go somewhere he knew, but he acquiesced and we were off. As soon as we got there she was off and running. She dragged us through Mister Roger’s Neighborhood and into the garage (which I recall as the old Buehl Planetarium) and then up to the Water Works and down to the toddler exploration. She went all over that place for about 4 hours. She barely wanted to stop moving, and I think it wore us out more than anyone. She ran from room to room, and had a ball on the 45degree angle room and the slides, the garage where she built walls with plastic boards and wingnuts, and also the water room where she could soak herself through the provided raincoats. This was cooler for her than the aviary! We took her to The Getty when she almost 1 year old, and she was relatively quiet (for a 1 year old), and she through the Pittsburgh Aviary was cool last year, but the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum took the cake!

People look at me strangely when I say I have a friend who’s a bank robber. I think he’d prefer "reformed" bank robber, and since he can pretty much read this blog tomorrow (and learn what a blog is, since he’s been away for years) I think I’ll call him that – RBR. Sounds like Reebber, but not. Yes, he robbed a bank, and it’s a long story that’s for elsewhere. I will just say that I hope I never ever know what it’s like to get out of jail after so many years. I can’t believe he’s never experienced Web 2.0. No one text messaged when he was arrested, and Google was nothing. This whole blog thing wasn’t around really (yes, people like Wil were blogging but the rest of us weren’t). Anyway, he gets out tomorrow. In the morning. About 7 hours probably. Who knows. I wonder how he’s getting to his next destination. It’ll be odd going home for Christmas and seeing him. As far as I know, Donna and I are the only people who visited him while he was there, so this’ll be interesting. I hope he never goes back there, and I am looking forward to seeing him in December.

Yesterday was our last day in Pittsburgh, and my in-laws wanted to take Claire to South Park to play. South Park is … well, it’s a park. A huge park near my parent’s house in Pittsburgh. There are ponds, paths, and playgrounds. They have a "duck pond" which is a Game Reserve in the park, and you know when you return to something years later and it looks littler? Well, the duck pond was smaller, but it really was. It looks like they cleaned it all out, filled the bottom with rock and then made a new pond. They also put in a huge filter with a fountain in the middle. It was cleaner and had a guard rail around it, so you could no longer go down to the water to get attacked by the geese like Jaime did 15 years ago. And the chicken coop? Well, there was nothing there. Just an old beat up building boarded with nails. There were still a few sickly-looking peacocks, too. The deer were still there, but they were now through two fences and we could not get very close. Ducks & rabbits use to chase us around as children, but they were mostly gone, too.

Donna will tell you how proud she is that she got buffalo to come down to the fence to see her. She threw graham crackers at these 1/4 ton animals who slurped them up out of mud around the trough. Claire was most impressed by the geese who moved and flew and quacked. The buffalo bored her and she couldn’t see the deer and turkey well.

Today we flew home and Southwest was good to us, as usual. There were some rude ladies on the plane, and Claire didn’t want to sleep AT ALL but we made it. Ho ho ho…