Halloween Hump Day

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Today is halloween, the day when little kiddies usually get to go out in their costumes and collect all kinds of goodies....usually. Halloween in Monongalia County as I'm sure it is in many places has been postponed until tomorrow night due to Hurricane Sandy and the impact it has had on the entire northeast.

Here in Morgantown we were hammered with a great deal of heavy snow, but not as bad as Preston County that had as of this morning 75% of its residents without any power. The good news is this should clear up soon, the bad news is it may take a while to get the power back on in many places.

We were fortunate as we didn't lose power and we were both able to make it to and from work. Both at where Michelle works and where I work were both running on skeleton crews, I was the only one in my office and if it had not been for a meeting that I had yesterday morning on restarting a project, I probably would have stayed home myself.

Cardio and lifting day.

Stay warm and dry.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Hurricane Sandy is hitting the northeast and devastating much of the Northeast, still can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It was 1,691 days ago Michelle and i went out on our first date, the movie was lousy the company I kept around.

* 914 days ago I got down on one knee at 4:00 in the morning and proposed marriage.

* 451 days ago in front of our friends and family we exchanged our wedding vows and partied down at the Marilla Center.

* There are 56 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* Saturday morning Jackie (Barill) Thompson gave birth to a 8 lb 6 oz baby girl. They have named her Willow.

* The Federal Government is supposed to be closed tomorrow due to the Hurricane, I'll still have to go to work due to some meetings with people on the West Coast.

* Trick or Treating that was scheduled for downtown businesses this evening has been cancelled due to the storm.

* Stay warm, stay safe and stay dry if you can.

* Cardio day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Hurricane Sandy is Coming.

Hurricane Sandy is about ready to hit the NorthEast. It's a huge hurricane that is going to hit a cold front coming from the west and it's what we would call the perfect storm that is getting ready to hit.

This could be moisture and wind from a Hurricane accompanied with dropping temperatures that could result in a large amount of snowfall for the Morgantown area. That and adding in the fact that many trees still have some leaves left on them, could create a 2005 type of coinsurance again where many are without power from falling trees.

 If you recall we had a mid October Storm that dropped a foot of heavy snow here while the leaves were still on the trees in 2005. This caused many to be without power as lines were down about everywhere.

This could be a very big problem to the areas of higher elevation. In Western Maryland they are calling for 8"-16" of snowfall over the next 48 or so hours.

Take precautions and prepare yourselves for an unlikely and untimely storm that could very well have a very devastating affect on many people in the area.

Hopefully this does not turn out anywhere near as bad as it appears to be shaping up to be. We were lucky last year by not getting a whole lot of either snowfall or even much winter, today I think Mother Nature may take her revenge for taking it so easy on us last year.

Cardio and lifting day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

After a nice relaxing day yesterday of just running around town, getting our rings inspected, visiting the Farmer's market and just pretty much relaxing, it's back to the normal Sunday grind of grocery shopping.

One thing I am excited about is that the Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1:00 this afternoon. This will be the last early afternoon game that we can watch until after Thanksgiving. I like that 1:00 time slot more than the 4:30 and definitely more than night games. We haven't had too many opportunities this season to watch the Steelers for a multitude of reasons.

It's probably just going to be a relaxing day around the house. We were given a bunch of hot peppers from one of Michelle's co-worker, so we'll be vacuum sealing a good bit today.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again here I sit in a quiet household, everyone is fighting a losing battle to the sandman with the exception of me who is up watching the movie "That's My Boy" on Amazon. Maybe one of Adam Sandler's funniest movies he's ever made.

No football in Morgantown today as WVU is off. The Mohigans did manage to pull out a 35-14 win in the MoHawk Bowl last night. Reading what a couple people put on Facebook, it was absolutely ridiculously crowded and maybe the game needs to be moved back to Mylan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field.

Big surprise yesterday, Hardees on Chestnut Ridge Road, a restaurant that has been here for 30 years has closed their doors. The sign is gone and there is a for lease sign on the building. Michelle noticed it on her way home from work yesterday afternoon.

I think the only thing really on our agenda is to make a trip to the Jewelers for our rings 6 month inspections. We purchased the lifetime warranties with them and have to take them in every six months for inspection. That way if anything happens to them they will be replaced free of charge.

Have a great day.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

Well if you are looking for a little bit of High School Football action, this is the time of the year that it gets the most exciting. Morgantown High School and University High School will renew it's yearly rivalry tonight at 7:30 at Pony Lewis Field. The is the rival game for these two cross town rivals, I'm a Mohigan but Arron is University High's starting Defensive Tackle, so my loyalties might be semi-suspended this year, but just this year.

In other county football news, Undefeated and 8-0 Clay Battelle will be traveling to Clarksburg to take on Notre Dame High School.

That's it for football in Morgantown this weekend, WVU is off this week getting ready to play next Saturday and trying to figure out what to do with that can;t stop anything defense and the offense that has completely sputtered.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through some of my pictures that I have stored on an External Hard Drive sitting my my computer. I like to select just one photo to write a little blog about and reflect to a captured moment in time and relive it a little in my blog. Sometimes this is pretty easy and sometime it's not so easy to find that special picture, it is however always a lot of fun (and a good excuse to look at pictures).

This weeks pic I have to thank my niece Val for. She texted me last night asking me if we were going to be going to Jean's at Halloween this year. We didn't make it last year due to Michelle being sick as a dog, so we stayed home. This year we plan on being there and seeing all the trick or treaters that come by.

Since this is the last flashback before the next Halloween, I thought I would take a picture of the kids in their costumes from the last Halloween we were at.

After missing last year, I am looking forward to this year.

Hi ho hi ho

3,000

On September 11, 2004 I was introduced to the world of Blogging when I ran across this site and made my first blog post . Now it has been eight years, one month and 13 days. Or you could call it 2,965 days ago. You could call it 423 weeks ago or call it 71,160 hours or 4,269,600 minutes or even 256,176,000 seconds ago roughly.

Since then I have written many blogs and have told many of stories through the years. I've welcomed family members, gotten married, been through a few family feuds, celebrated many birthdays and births. I've shared my highs and lows of my life including when I change or have found jobs.

This is my 3,000th blog post. That is averaging at least one post a day for eight years, which takes a lot of commitment. I'm sure there have been times when my blog has been stale or boring, and there are times when people have been very happy to read it.

Like it or hate it, I have a very detailed documentation of my life over an eight year period. It's a very nice body of work that has created numerous reference points for me in my life. I can't express in words how valuable that is to me, and maybe someday I give future generations something to reference as to what was happening in both my life and my families.

I'm very proud of the fact that I have stuck with this.

here is to my next 3,000 blog posts.

Hump Day Sports

Well that has been two weeks in a row that the Mountaineer Football team has been taken to the woodshed. This past Saturday was one of the ugliest games that I have ever seen this program play. The defense was absolutely horrible, especially the pass coverage and Geno Smith seemed like he has cracked under all the Heisman Trophy talk pressure. They will be off this week, maybe they can get a few things worked out and get back on the right track before it's too late.

The men's basketball team have been practicing for a couple of weeks now. They had a 40 minute scrimmage last Friday that was open to the public. I went to the University High School Football game however.

Speaking of University High, my loyalties are still with my Alma Mater as University High and Morgantown High will square off this coming Friday evening in the annual MoHowk Bowl. I wish Arron a lot of luck, but I'm still a Mohigan at heart and always will be.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday dreary Monday is now once again behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, I can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's been 1,684 days since Mine and Michelle's first date a few years ago. I can't believe how fast time flies by.

* 907 days ago I got down on a knee and proposed marriage to by beautiful wife.

* 444 days ago we entered into marital bliss.

* There are but 63 shopping days left until Christmas.

* I got some disturbing news yesterday on Facebook, it seems jean took a fall down a flight of stairs and injured her leg. I spoke with her yesterday morning and she seems to be doing better, but the Doctors were concerned with a blood clot.

* We passed our old iPhones down to Chad and Laiah. Hayley didn't want to trade phones and seems to want to buy her own new phone when she is eligible for an upgrade in January. Chad's phone had been giving him trouble so it was a welcome upgrade from the 3GS to the 4 for him.

* Hayley survived her first day of running her own BFS/Gloria Jeans store. She has to be there early every day this week, but the good thing is they don't sell beer or cigarettes because it's University property and they are not open Sunday's or Saturdays unless there is a home football game.

* Cardio day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, and that includes the weekend. It's Monday morning, the time when we stick our noses back on the grindstones for a the week of work so we can pay our bills and have our fun on the weekends.

Michelle and I took a trip to the Apple Store in Pittsburgh yesterday to exchange the new iPhone 5 we purchased on Saturday. It was a WiFi connection problem that my phone had and hers didn't the new phone works just fine now ad they exchanged my phone for a new one that works properly.

We made a trip to Tanger Outlets as well, we both bought a pair of boots for the winter and we bought a few other things before heading to South Hills village and having lunch at Red Robin.

Chad and Laiah made it back from Texas last night where they spent the weekend to attend a wedding.

Congratulation to Hayley, she takes over both the BP Store and the Gloria Jeans as the store manager at the transit center today. She goes to salary and is required to put in 50 hours a week, but the good thing is it is not a 24/7 store. It opens early morning and closes early evening and is only open on Saturdays when there is a home football game and closed on Sunday. I would say the vast majority of their clients are people who park in the Van Voorhis lot for the day.

Lifting and cardio so

Hi ho hi ho

Got our iPhones

I have been searching around for the new iPhone 5 for a couple of weeks now, ever since Michelle became eligible for an upgrade I've been trying to find someplace that had them in stock so I wouldn't have to order one.

Yesterday were were going to order them online through AT&T and we were expecting to wait 3-4 weeks to get them. We were at Sam's club and thought what the heck, lets ask anyways and see if they have any. They had two.

Michelle's is working fine, mine is having trouble connecting to WiFi. So I called Apple Care and they have scheduled me a 2:00 PM appointment at Apple Care in Pittsburgh to exchange my phone today.

Tanger here we come. =)

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Michelle is in the bedroom sound asleep as she didn't go home this weekend after-all. Her kidney's have been killing her and she didn't know if she could ride in a car for that long without being in extreme discomfort.

Last night was Senior night for University High School. Arron walked out on the field with Trish and Pat and I couldn't miss that as I was there with camera in hand. Arron played a heck of a game and University High School beat Preston 59-0. That's one way to leave a nice lasting impression on Senior night.

The Mountaineers take the field this evening in a night game in Morgantown. #3 Kansas State is in town and it looks to be like one heck of a matchup. We had better be on top of our game this evening and not come out flat like we did last week or there won't be any celebrating in Morgantown tonight.

I think we are going to make a stop at the AT&T Store today. I was hoping the new iPhones would be in by now, but demand has been very high. I waited until Michelle became eligible so we could order them together, now it looks like it might be a 3-4 week wait until they actually ship.

Have a great day and Let's Goooooo Mountaineers.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday.

It's all me at the house this weekend, Chad and Laiah are in Texas for a wedding and Michelle will be heading home this weekend to spend a little bit of time with her Grandmother in Ohio since she just had her 95th birthday this past week. Maybe, she's also thinking of staying home because her kidneys are sore.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football action tonight? The 7-1 University High Hawks will play host to a 2-5 Preston team tonight at their field. 5-2 Morgantown takes this week to head to Moundsville to have their turn at playing John Marshall ans 8-0 and undefeated Clay Battelle is off and resting this week.

If you are looking for a little free basketball entertainment, what I thought last week wasn't going to exist this year is tonight. The WVU basketball team will have their Blue Gold debut tonight with a 40 minute scrimmage at the Coliseum. In case anyone forgot, Bob Huggins was coaching Kansas State right before he returned home.

Speaking of Kansas State, the WVU Football team will be playing them tomorrow night. K-State comes in undefeated and ranked #3 in the Country and Geno and the boys look to make up for last weeks manhandling we took from Texas Tech. Should be a good one.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my digital pictures that I have stored on my computer and select just one to tell a little story about. Sometimes finding that picture is pretty easy, and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a couple of years ago at the 4th of July Fireworks on the waterfront. Everyone got together at the same place we usually get together at and enjoyed a night of fireworks.

This picture was of some of my nieces and nephews that night. It's not too often that we can get everyone together and this was an opportunity to grab one of those special moments in time that is now forever captured and never lost.

I had a few more pictures from that evening, but I didn't think it would have been appropriate to post pictures of everyone giving me the hall salute..LOL

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

Well this past weekend wasn't the best for as far as sports goes. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost last Thursday, the Mohigans lost on Friday the Mountaineers got embarrassed Saturday. This week let's hope is not a repeat of last week.

One nice thing is my picture, in case you don't recognize this big behemoth devouring a John Marshall ball carrier, it's Arron Hill-Rosiak #78 from University High. I've been lucky enought o watch him grow up since he was 4 years old. This is our friend Trish's son for those of you who don't recognize the name. Arron has been tearing it up so far this season for the 7-1 University High Hawks. Hopefully some college can get a little interest in him and give a scholarship offer so he can have a free ride to the next level.

The Mountaineers will play host to #3 and #4 Kansas State this weekend here in Morgantown. After last weeks thrashing by Texas tech, we need to come out on fire and try to just light up the scoreboard. Two straight weeks of traveling to Texas seemed to have taken it's toll on our guys last week, as they just were not ready to play it seemed like. Let's see if we can turn that around this week.

There was one funny little video I saw done by a Kansas State fan calling himself the K-State Mask. He's done a video for every opponent that they have played this year and does a little mockery of each of their opponents. I thought it was pretty well done, and actually a little bit funny.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us, and what a long one it was, I can't think of a better reason that that to do a tidbits.

* Talk about a long day. I woke up yesterday morning around 3:00 AM and stayed up until it was time to go work out at 6:00 and then go to work. 7:00 last night I finally walked in the door for the last time. Talk about a long day, most of it was spent at the hospital with Michelle.

* BTW, we had Michelle at the Emergency Room yesterday. Initial diagnosis was kidney stones, it appears just to be a deep infection in her kidneys.

* Speaking of my lovely wife, it was 1,677 days ago that we went out on our first date.

* An even 900 days ago we were engaged.

* We have been married for 437 wonderful days.

* There are only 70 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* On my workouts I've decided to move my cardio back inside to the treadmills for the winter. I loved the spring and summer mornings of just getting out and spending some time on our trail before I started work, now I'll spend the next few months staring at a screen that monitors everything.

* If she's healthy, Michelle is going back home this weekend and Chad and Laiah will be in Texas. I'll be watching a lot of sports and eating a lot of pizza this weekend.

* Speaking of Pizza, I better start working it off now.

* Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Brittany Dae Cummings

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Niece Brittany a very Happy Birthday today. If my math is correct, and it is not always correct should I say, this should put her at 22 years of age (I think).

She is enrolled at West Virginia University and I rarely if ever get to see her anymore, I did see her this spring once when she was with her Grandparents when Michelle and I went to Oliverios for dinner.

If you see Brittany today, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday. She is one little girl who is making me very proud by not being too far away from graduating from my alma mater at WVU.

Happy Birthday Brittany.

Back to Work

All good things must come to an end, and that even includes extended weekends. My three day filled, lots of football sadness three day weekend has been completed and it's back to work for me today.

I will be on my own this coming weekend, Michelle is going back home to visit her grandmother for her birthday. Chad and Laiah will be leaving Thursday to head to Texas for a wedding. They'll be flying out Thursday afternoon and won't be back until Sunday.

After this week of work, this might be a football filled weekend for me. =)

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Watched the football game yesterday, all I have to say in Texas Tech absolutely schooled us in about every aspect of the game in their 49-14 hammering of us.

The Defense looked confused, unprepared and having no idea what was going on, but that has been par for the course so far this year for them. The Offense tried for waaaay too many home run balls that just were not there.

I thought the offensive play calling was atrocious as we would try one home run throw about every set of downs it seemed like. All you have to do is move the chains and they didn't do that. Texas Tech was giving us the underneath stuff, but we didn't want that. We were trying to go down field too much too often. To the point that they seemed to be getting desperate as if they had something to prove.

Next week we have a top 5 Kansas State coming to town, might even be as high as #3 with us and South Carolina both losing, we better be a whole lot more prepared than this.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again so much for my only one up spiel, Michelle hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days and was actually up way before I was. We did our Sam's Club thing last night and have the freezer pretty much stocked up on pork and chick for a while. She bought a big container of Hot Sausage last week that she orders from work, so maybe next week I'll get a nice big sirloin tip and have it cut up into a couple of steaks and some roasts.

It's gameday today as the #5 Mountaineers travel to Texas once again, this time to one of Dana Holgorsen's old schools that he worked as an Offensive Coordinator as they invade Texas Tech. Hopefully our team will come out ready today and if today's game is anything like the last two, this should be a very exciting matchup.

Heading out this morning to give Abdul and Farida a ride to a function that they want to got to. Nick has to work and he doesn't want them to have to take a cab, so I agreed to go and pick them up and take them wherever they want to go today. Nick told me what it was they wanted to go to, but I seemed to have forgotten.

With absolutely no hoopla this year, unlike in years past, WVU Basketball season has started. Usually they do a Mountaineer Madness or something along those lines, the past couple have went down hill and there was none this year for some reason.

Have a great day.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday and MY three day Holiday weekend since I was in training Monday.

You looking for some High School Football? Morgantown High is at home to play Ohio Powerhouse Steubenville. The Hawks travel to Moundsville to take on John Marshall and Clay Battelle tries to make it 8 in a row as they play host to Cameron this evening in Blacksville.

The Mountaineers play tomorrow afternoon in Texas against the #1 Pass Defense in the country when we play the Texas Tech Red Riders. Something tells me they won't be the #1 pass defense after this game is over as Geno Smith and the Air Raid Offense will be the opponent.

I'm off today. Monday was a federal Holiday and I was in training on Monday at WVU, so I'm going to take my there day holiday weekend this weekend instead of last weekend. It helps that the Steelers were playing last night if you know what I mean.

Have a great day.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my digital pictures that I have stored on a here. I like to select just one picture and write a little bit of a blog about that picture. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find one, and sometimes it's not that easy. It is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture takes us back a few years, back to when my Nephew Moke was coming home after his basic training from the Military. He was flying into Pittsburgh and Pam and Ang and I drove up to pick him up when he arrived.

I took them all out to Primanti Brothers after we picked him up, it was the first time any of them had ever been to one.

Funny thing is, after it was all said and done and Moke talked about that day, he would have just rather have had Ang pick him up and get a hotel at the airport if you know what I mean. We were all very happy to see him, but he explained to me some time later that not seeing his GF for a while, he was extremely in need of some private time with Ang so to speak.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

I'm already a couple of days into this week and still have yet to make it to my office this week. I would say that qualifies as this being the over the hump day. It also makes for a short week of work too.

I think I am still riding high on cloud nine after watching the last two Mountaineer games this season. We started Big XII play and both games have been nothing short of exciting to say the least.

In the pre-Heisman poll on ESPN, Geno Smith has garnered all 15 First place Votes and is still the clear favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this season. he has put up mind boggling numbers in leading the Mountaineers to their start and a #4 and a #5 ranking respectively.

The Mountaineers are on the road this weekend when we travel back to Texas to play Texas Tech. This will be our third straight opponent that is from Texas. If and that is a big IF, we get past Texas Tech, next week in Morgantown looks like it could be one heck of a showdown as a pair of top 5 teams will be battling and jockeying for poll position when Kansas State comes to town.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesdays Tidbits

* Well the Holiday Monday is now behind us, I still for the life of me can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* 1,670 days ago Michelle and I had our first date. It was a lousy movie and Pizza Hut, but still a good night.

* It's been 893 days since I got down on one knee and proposed marriage.

* 430 days ago my bachelorhood ceased to exist anymore.

* There are only 77 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* Today is day two of the ArcGIS III training. There was one thing that I wanted to learn how to do and have been trying to figure out how and it was one of the exercises yesterday. It was setting up a domain within a spatial database. It's a very useful tool, and I've been trying to set one up recently, I guess this ends my search for support on this issue.

* Looks like I may be all by myself in a couple of weekends. Michelle is going back home for the weekend to spend some time with her grandmother and Chad's going to Texas for a wedding the same weekend. It'll be me, the dog and a couple cats getting into some trouble on the home front.

* I got fooled yesterday on Facebook, my niece Amy checked in in Key West Florida. I bit it hook, line and sinker. She's really in Hawaii.

* Michelle and I have been planning out a whole weeks menu at a time for the past few weeks. Makes it a lot easier to prepare for instead of trying to figure out what we want to do early in the AM so we can set what ever we need to set out out.

* Hi ho hi oh wait, I'm back at WVU again today.

Columbus Day

Today is a Federal Holiday, usually meaning that I would have the day off due to the fact that I'm a Federal Contractor. NETL where I work is closed today and everyone is enjoying the extended Holiday Weekend, providing their individual companies recognize the day which mine does.

However I will be at WVU both all day today and tomorrow at the Department of Geology and Geography getting a refresher course in the ESRI software that I use. I use the software every day and sometimes it just helps to hone skills that you may have forgotten about or been changed due to upgrades in the software. This training is in three phases as we did not need the first two phases, we're doing the final phase which is meant for seasoned users.

So I'll be down there today and Tomorrow and be back in the Office later on Wed for a meeting and Thursday, possibly taking Friday as my holiday just a little bit late.

Hi ho hi oh wait, I'm going to school today.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

here I sit early in the AM, this morning I am the only one that is not losing a battle with the sandman. I'm up and have been up for a little while.

Did you see the game last night? WOW. WVU in from of 101,851 fans at Darrell Royal Stadium, the largest crowd ever in Texas history, the Mountaineers managed to pull out a 48-45 win against the undefeated Texas Longhorns.

Geno Smith who many are considering the front runner for the Heisman trophy this season was 25 of 35 for 268 yards and 4 Touchdowns and no INT's. Andrew Buie however was the start of this show with a 207 yard rushing performance with a couple of TD's. he had 66 yards receiving to go along with it and would have had a receiving TD at the end of the first half as he caught a wide open pass and had nothing but paydirt in front of him and tripped over his feet. Tavon caught 10 passes for 102 yards and a score and Stedman Bailey caught 8 passes for 75 yards and 3 Touchdowns.

This win moves the Mountaineers and 5-0 on the season with quite possibly our biggest game on the road if not the season now behind us. It doesn't get any easier, but we play Kansas State in Morgantown in a couple of weeks and Oklahoma next month in Morgantown as well.

Excitement is an understatement this season. Hold on.

Springs Festival and Football

Well I can't say that I'm the first one up this morning, Michelle was already awake when I fighting the battle with the sandman, her and cloe the cat were both up and watching television.

This morning we'll be joining John and Steph and heading to Springs PA and the Springs Festival. I've never been to this, but enjoy when we go to Amish Country in Ohio. I've heard about the Festival and Steph loves to go up there to pick up her bulk foods and spices. John and I will probably be venturing off on our own to find some food and listen to some music.

Later this afternoon, or should I say 7:00 this evening I'll be watching the Mountaineers play the University of Texas. This will potentially be the largest live audience we will have ever played in front of as they have a 102,000 seat stadium.

If this weeks game is anything like last weeks (Texas has a better Defense) this should be a memorable one.

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes it is once again that time of the week that we all look foreword to, when we can take time to cease the labors for the week and take a little bit of needed time out to enjoy the fruits of those labors. It is once again the dawn of another weekend, and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!

If you are looking for a little bit of High School Football action you can travel to Bridgeport and see if the undefeated Hawks can extend their winning streak to seven games on the season. Morgantown High travels to Wheeling Park this evening, and Clay Battelle travels to Van meaning that absolutely no football team in Monongalia County will be playing at home tonight. Couple that with the fact that the Mountaineers are playing at Texas tomorrow night and there is not any live football in Morgantown this weekend. Bummer.

Tomorrow Michelle and I will be joining my old Buddy Smitty and his Wife Steph and traveling to Springs PA for the festival that they are having up there. We should be back mid to late afternoon, in plenty of time for me to watch the Mountaineers play Texas tomorrow night.

It's kind of an extended weekend for me, Monday is a Federal Holiday, but I will be at WVU taking a refresher course in ArcGIS Monday and Tuesday.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures that I have stored on an external drive to my computer. They are images I have taken or scanned through the years and have kept. I like to find one special picture to blog about and talk about. Sometimes this is pretty easy and sometimes it's not so easy to find that one special picture. It is however a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a few years, back to the first time I took Michelle and Hayley to the Rosiak 4th of July Party a few years ago. I think this is the only one Hayley has been to if I am correct.

Every Rosiak party there is always a historic water battle that always seems to take place. This year was no different, we were getting ready to start the battle. As I recall, everyone got wet, actually at a Rosiak party that is pretty much a given, but as you can tell by this picture the battle has not started yet.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

 Take me home, Country Roads. I swear seeing this brings a tear to me eye, knowing that 60,000+ fans were still in the stands last Saturday, including the Baylor fans to sing the beloved John Denver Hit.

Something I pointed out last week was that there was going to be an amazing gigapixel picture taken at the game this past week. I said that I would share it on my blog when it became available. well, here it is. It's a 360° high definition image were you can zoom into about anyone who is in the stadium and see a close up of them, It's a remarkable picture. What's even more amazing is the video board behind where you start, will play the games intro video if you click it. What an amazing gift.

The Mountaineers travel this weekend to play in a match up of a couple of top 10 and undefeated teams Saturday night when the Mountaineers visit the Longhorn State and 102,000 screaming Longhorn fans. We'll show them there is only one Austin that matters, and it's not their city, it's Tavon.

Well the Pirates have officially extended the longest streak of sub .500 seasons in all professional athletics to I believe 20 years now. I thought they would break this streak earlier this year, but there is always hope and hanging on to yet another "next year". They were very exciting to watch this summer.

The Steelers fresh off of a bye week will host the Philadelphia Eagles at 1:00. This will be a battle to determine who the best team in the state of Pennsylvania is.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, I can't think of any better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It was 1,663 days ago my life changed forever. Michelle and I went out on our first date.

* 886 Days ago in the early AM, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage. Fortunately for me she said yes.

* 423 days ago we tied the bounds of matrimony in front of our closest friends and family.

* The countdown continues, there are only a mere 84 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* 39 years ago today, on a flag football intramural field on Van Voorhis Road where a regional Rehabilitation Hospital hospital sits, I broke my leg playing football. It was a greentree fracture to my left thigh that needed surgery to have a pin drilled through my leg, a month in the hospital in traction, 6 weeks at hoke in a body cast, a month of recovery followed by another 2 weeks in traction because I never gained full range of motion followed by two more additional weeks in a straight leg cast to learn to walk again.

* On a happy note, Happy 40th Birthday to Chris Ostien. We celebrated it this summer when you weren't expecting it.

* Congrats to mark Devault. He's left Mantech and is now working at Mylan. He'll be in the IT department I would assume, since he is one heck of a programmer.

* Michelle has been hitting the elliptical pretty hard in the mornings and evening.

* I'm back to working out every morning before work like I was. I slacked off a little due to a broken toe, but we're back at it.

* Speaking of.....hi ho hi ho

Monday

If there is one day of the week that most people in American can agree on that they like least, it has to be Mondays. Yes it's once again that time when we stop having all the fun that we have been having the last couple of days and stick our noses back on the grindstone for another week of work. It's Monday.

Looking to the week ahead, Michelle and I are planning on heading to Springs PA this weekend to attend the Springs Festival this Saturday with Smitty and Stephanie. I've never been there other than stopping in at the Springs Store, Steph asked us a few weeks ago if we would like to go when we got back from Amish Country Ohio.

Nothing planned for me and Michelle during the week. Although I want to start hitting the gym hard again as I've been half-assing it since a couple of days before we went on Vacation. I've broke a toe on my right foot somehow, so my gimpy ass hasn't been doing my full cardio workout, that changes this week.

Have a good day and let's get through this one.