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One of the biggest dilemmas that I faced while pregnant was my clothing options.  I didn’t find out that I was pregnant until late November and I was due the beginning of August.  I would have to go through THREE seasons worth of clothes before the baby came and I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a wardrobe that I would only wear a few months.

One of the first things I purchased was a belly band.  Several stores carry them (such as Target and Motherhood Maternity).  This helped me get a few more weeks out of my pants.  It also helped towards the end of my pregnancy to give extra support. 
The next things I purchased were all items that could interchange and get multiple uses out of them.  A simple black dress, a pair of jeans, a pair of khakis and multiple t-shirts.  I found deals at Gap Maternity and Old Navy Maternity.   Old Navy Maternity is great, especially online because you can check out all the clearance items.  I was able to get a swim suit for $10.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.

As the weather heated up, I purchased a few pairs of cropped pants and few pairs of shorts.  While I couldn’t wear the shorts to work, they came in handy on the weekends.  I also found a few good deals at Target.com for sundresses.  I was disappointed by the selection at the Target store itself.  It seems as though they only have one to two racks of maternity wear.  So the selections were not great, but they still had a few items here and there.  Also note that Target’s maternity clothes do not always follow your usual size as many brands do.

Hello AcrossRossers and visitors,

I wish you and yours a very wonderful New Year and New Decade.

May you be safe, happy, content and healthy.  I will add to that the thought that the promise and hope of a new decade is a wonderful ocassion for dreaming, daring and achievment.  So whatever it is that you aspire to do or be in the next ten years, go get it. Don't wait. The next ten will get here sooner than we think. So seize the decade.

At this point, I should cue Auld Lang Syne... "Should old acquaintances be...." (Be thankful this is not an audio posting... I am not much of a singer)

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Matthew J. DeReno
AcrossRoss Managing Editor

With the holiday shopping season over, there are still a few days left for returns, to say nothing of all the post holiday deals and discounts, and everyone knows it.  This is the prime time for the ‘shady’ characters to come out of the woodwork, much as they have during the height of this year's holiday shopping season.  Those that steal other people’s gifts, hold them up at the malls or worse.  They will be out in full force in the next few weeks as they were all throughout December.

People are out with wads of cash, to say nothing of gift cards, trying feverishly to get the best deal they can or return a gift they simply didn't like.  They are careless, not watching their surroundings or putting items in their cars and leaving the gifts out in the open instead of in the trunk.  Just like the thieves knew that December 26th is almost as big of a shopping day as Black Friday, they know that there are still plenty of post-Christmas shoppers out there.  You need to be on your guard against them.

Hello People of Pittsburgh and Ross Park.

Five years ago, in November and December 2004, my father served as the Santa Claus at Ross Park Mall.  When his seven weeks as the Ross Park Santa ended on Christmas Eve, he drove to the Pittsburgh Airport to pick up my mother so that the two of them could drive home to Georgia on Christmas Day.  On their way back to the east side of town, Dad did not feel well and he pulled over at a restaurant - hoping that washing his face and getting something to eat and drink would help him to feel better.  Moments later he suffered a fatal heart attack....