Happy Birthday Chad Collins

I would like to take this opportunity to with my step son Chad Collins a very Happy 25th Birthday today.

As Michelle is at home preparing for tomorrow she will also be pulling double duty and making up for one of her home made cheesecakes that she has promised him the last two or three years for his birthday. We actually bought the ingredients this morning and she is going to start making one here real soon.

Chad is still in his bedroom sleeping, I never heard a word from either him or Laiah last night, so I'm guessing they were out celebrating his birthday.

If you see Chad today, make sure you wish him a very Happy 25th Birthday today.

Happy Birthday Chad.

Birthday Party

Today is picnic number two of the weekend for me, have I ever said how much I love Summertime, when I will be going to my nieces to celebrate a couple of birthdays.

Erica Jean and Josh will once again have a duel birthday party today as Val does every year. One bigger party is so much easier on everyone, but it is also one of the highlights of my summer.

Unfortunately Michelle will be at home today, she is having a procedure done tomorrow and she has to prepare her body for it and it may put her in some uncomfortable moments so she will be staying close to where she may need to be. She is preparing what she needs to do all day today as we speak.

I have been told Josh wants some kind of truck and Erica wants something called a pillow pet. I think this can be pretty easily arranged sometime today. I first have to go and do a little bit of grocery shopping and then I'll be heading up to Val's in the early afternoon.

Have a great day, camera will be in tow.

Rosiak Party

Well so much for my normal Saturday Morning Spiel, Michelle got up the same time that I did this morning, she's already drinking her first cup of coffee probably waiting on my to make my world famous "How U Do" breakfast sandwich for her. She's going to go to Southern States this morning to get a propane tank filled for Val's party tomorrow.

This afternoon, we will once again be bringing out the big squirt gun for its annual bit of fun as we attend the Rosiak Family 4th of July Party.

The picture you see is the board they keep adding to every year, but this picture was probably taken ten years ago and is much larger right now. As you can see yours truly is very well represented on these boards. I look forward to going to this every Summer, I think the last one I did not go to was in 1997.

I've watched Arron grown up from a young one to a 6'7" pretty large individual. I've watched the makeup of almost the entire party change, and kids grow up. I've seen new people come and go and have always felt more than welcomed there.

I think this is my 16th one, but my math may be off.

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.

Surprisingly BOPARC isn't doing a whole lot of movies this summer for some reason. They are playing some, but not as many as they have in years past. Not that I really ever went too many times or that the weather has been very cooperative at all so far this summer.

Tomorrow I will be going to I think my sixteenth (I've lost count) consecutive Rosiak Family 4th of July Pic Nic. Pat, Frank and Trish have made me feel more than welcome through the years, it's been one of the highlights of my summers for years and I will be once again breaking out my Super Soaker for the big water battle that takes place each and every year. Pat decided to do it the weekend before the 4th this year.

Sunday Val is having Erica and Josh's birthday party at her house. This is one cookout where most of the family does make it to one location at least once during the Summer. We need ti all get together and plan a cookout someplace so we can all get together for something other than someone's birthday or a special event.

Hi hi oh wait, I'm off today =)

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the images that I have stored on my computers. Thousands and thousands of little lost moments in time that I have managed to capture with a camera that I can share and write a little blog about. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that picture and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

Yes this picture confirms it, I was such a stylish dresser 40 years ago. Look at that stylish shirt, a fashion statement that has yet to reach its time. The hair, yes that is me with hair and lots of it. This was back in my long haired hippy days of the 1970's.

This picture is actually from Christmas Day in 1973. I was not too far removed from being in a body cast and was just starting to get around a little bit. I was up and opening my Christmas Day presents from my Grandparents. I can't remember what I specifically got that year, but I remember suing that puff basketball ball and hoop for years in the living room. I used to play a lot, especially after grandma went to bed and you can't play nerf basketball without dunking and jumping. Grandma lost a few hours of sleep because of me and that hoop.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that's two days down, now if you just look up over that noon time hump, just on the other side of a photo flashback, you can start to see the dawn of another fun filled weekend.

I decided to change up the blog a little bit, I saw this commercial last Wednesday morning and absolutely loved it. I thought it was one of my favorite Geico commercials and they have done a number of them that I have liked, this is just the first one I decided to use in a blog.

Well my Monday meeting at WVU was cancelled because of licensing issues, but it has been rescheduled for this afternoon so I'll be on campus this afternoon. It'll be nice to actually get out and away from the office for a few hours, I think you need that occasionally. Staring at the same four walls and no window kind of gets boring after a while and it's good to get out.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again in our rear view mirrors and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* 1,929 days ago my life changed forever, Michelle and I went out on our first date.

* 1,152 days ago I got down on a knee and proposed marriage to my wonderful wife.

* We've now been married for 689 days and going strong.

* There are only 189 more days left in this year, or until I do my goodbye 2013 Blog.

* 183 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* I have a mere 159 days left in my first half century. I'll turn the big 5-0 this year.

* 75 days and counting until we set sail on the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean again. I swear I could retire there.

* 67 days until the start of the 2013 Mountaineer Football season when we take on William and Mary.

*  I've got 42 more days until until my second wedding anniversary.

* 23 more days to go before we hit our third and supposed final concert of the Summer when we will once again assemble with the rest of the Parrot Head Nation at First Niagra (Star Lake to you older people) Pavilion.

* Well it's going to be more than two months ahead of schedule, but the Mileground Roundabout will open to traffic tomorrow. These guys really kicked butt and this thing was not scheduled to be completed for tow more months. Wow is all I can say.

* For anyone who knew Frank Slavensky, he passed away last month and they are going to have a benefit dinner for him on Tuesday July 16th from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Point Marion Firehall. It is $10 per person, and $5 for children under ten. Dinner includes pasta, salad, rolls, drinks, and dessert. There will be door prizes, give-aways, and raffle baskets. For an additional $10.00 you can enter to win 2 tickets to a Pirates vs New York Mets game. Frank was a great guy, he managed Giant Eagle for years and was a former softball team mate. I always thought pretty highly of Frank.

* The Neeses cancelled a protest in Greene County Pa yesterday, it was an attempt for the Greene County Coroner to release the body but it was cancelled with "No reason to reschedule". Hopefully the Neese's can finally get some closure on this.

* We tied up our green beans last night, they were planted as seeds and they are taking off now. My wife has a green thumb.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday Morning

I Hate Monday

All good things must come to an end, and that includes the weekend as Monday's always seem to follow a good weekend. Now it's time to stop all the singing, dancing and enjoyment that we look  forward to on the weekends and time to stick our noses back on those grindstones for another week of work.

This was a pretty awesome weekend for me that we are now leaving, got a few things we wanted to get accomplished, accomplished and got to see the second and biggest of our Concerts for the 2013 season. Next up is our yearly Jimmy Buffett Concert next month.

Now it's time to get back to work. I'll actually be at WVU this afternoon for a geological model demonstration in Petra, a software that we don't have but the Department of Geology and Geography does. We're going to see a specific model that pertains to a project we are working on.

Looking at the week ahead on my personal calendar I see nothing coming up, but that's not my work calendar. I do have a couple parties to go to this weekend, one being the annual Rosiak 4th of July party and the other being Erica and Josh's birthday party.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, being the first sand only one here here who has recovered from a losing battle with the sandman from last night. I'm thinking today might even have a nap associated with it.

We got home a little earlier this morning than we did last week, which was a little bit of s surprise considering the crowd size and the fact that there were four acts performing last night.

We had a great time, we parked at Station Square and rode the Gateway Clipper over and back. We were able to jump on the Parkway pretty easily and we enjoyed a nice, non invasive tailgate.

We missed the first act, and saw most of the Eli Young Band. We were there for the entire Eric Church and Kenny Chesney performances. When Chesney hit the stage it electricity was in the air and they crowd was already pretty pumped up. I think my wife had a great time last night, I think I created a memorable moment for her with this concert.

I did manage to get a few pictures last night from my iPhone and they are all located in my Facebook Album.  I heard a rumor that our traveling gnome was was it last night and was drinking some beer in the Burgh.

Chesney has been in Pittsburgh seven consecutive years, so I asked Michelle situation permitting would she like to see him again next year.

I think we're also going to try to hit a few more concerts at Stage AE next year.

Have a great day,

Summertime

Well I bought tickets fro todays concert clear back in early December when they went on sale. That has to be the earliest I have ever purchased tickets for a concert, seven months in advance.

Today is the day and we will be going to see concert #2 of the year when we once again head north to Pittsburgh and Heinz Field to see Kenny Chesney, arguably this summers hottest concert tour this evening.

He will be joined by Eric Church, Eli Young Band, and Kacey Musgraves for what should be one mega show in a 70,000 seat arena, not including seating on the stadium field.

We'll be heading up earlier this afternoon than we did last week and plan on tailgating since this is such a large concert. Instead of parking on the North Shore I think we're going to park across the river and take the Gateway Clipper  over to the North Shore. It docks right at the edge of Heinz Field and will bring us back so we can jump right on the Parkway after the concert with little trouble.

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 today is the first day of Summer for 2013, it's official today. Now we go from my favorite season of the year to my second favorite season of the year.

I did find out some bad news a couple of days ago. My Mom's long time dog Gabbie tool ill and passed away. Mom had her cremated and has a paw print of her.

Well we are one day away from seeing our second of three concerts this summer. Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field is up next for us on our concert schedule. We;ll have one more scheduled after this one, but this will be the biggest one of the year.

Have a great day

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out to look through all my pictures and select just one special moment in time that was captured through the lens of a camera and relive that moment in my blog. This is one of my favorite blogs of the week to write as it causes me to take a little bit of time out and reflect on days gone by. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and finding that right picture is simple, sometimes it's not very easy and I struggle with brain farts to find something that I haven't done before and is memorable. One thing it is however, is always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a few years, back to the end of an era in my life. This was the last group of guys that I played softball with. My 26 or 27 seasons at BOPARC had come to an end and my body wasn't able to do what I wanted it to do anymore, so this was my final team. A great group of guys that I still consider part of my extended family even to this day.

We didn't win any Championships nor were we even a playoff caliber team. We were about middle of the pack but had some tremendous talent on the team.This was the final MiHaley's team and the end of my career playing a sport that I had loved so much.

There are days that I wish I could be at the ballpark, at least watching the guys I used to team with or just watching a good game being played. I haven't been back since I retired, but maybe I should go catch a a game or two.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

That's two days down, now if you just take a look up over than noon time hump, just on the other side of a Photo Flashback you can see the dawn of another weekend just off in the distance.

The picture you see is one taken by WVAQ's Lacy Neff, they are starting to set the stage up for the Kenny Chesney concert his weekend. We'll be in section 535 so we'll be looking at it from the other side. I know Michelle is really looking forward to it. We were there last weekend, but we were at Stage AE.

Our backyard garden is really starting to takeoff. The Tomatoes are growing and Michelle's green beans are really growing still. The green beans were all plated from seeds but have just spurted up in no time. I'm waiting to see the squash and zucchini start to take off as well. We'll just have to wait and see which one survives the battle of the creeping plants.

I'm ready for another weekend =)

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Erica Jean Nicholson

I would like to take this opportunity to wish a very special little girl named Erica Jean Nicholson a very Happy Birthday today. Erica is mt Great Niece and is the daughter of my niece Val.

Val and Bobby have a birthday party planned for both Erica an Josh in the very near future, as in in about 11 days from now at her place.

If you get the opportunity to see Erica today, make sure you take a little bit of time out and wish this very special little girl a very Happy Birthday today. I'm not sure what her schedule is today, but I'm sure it probably either involves swimming or spending time at Anmaw's house/

Happy Birthday Erica Jean.

Tuesday's Tidbits

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

* 1,922 days ago, I was blessed with the ability to go out on my first date with a woman who would forever change my life. 

* 1,145 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman. 

* 682 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, we exchanged our wedding vows. 

* There are only 190 more shopping days until Christmas.

* 82 long days before we depart once again on our cruise, but that number is starting to dwindle noticeably. 

* 30 days until we see Jimmy Buffett in Burgettstown. 

* 4 days until we party down with Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field for our second of three concerts this year. This will be the last weekly countdown entry for this item.

* 3 days until it is Summertime. This also will be the last weekly countdown entry for this item. (Summers here)

* Michelle bought a batch of Grape Tomatoes yesterday, we ended up vacuum sealing six large bags of them and stuck them in the freezer. 

* Something tells me we will be looking for recipes that use Grape Tomatoes in the next few days. Anyone know of any? 

*  We're starting to look for another camera this year to snorkel with. Michelle bought a Kodak last year and it got wet and tanked the first day we were using it under water. 

* Hi ho hi ho

Weekend Wrapup

The weekend is over with, there are a few things that I wanted to touch on that I didn't get a chance to because of Father's Day and the Peter Frampton concert. To say it was a busy eventful weekend is an understatement.

The picture that you see is of my Nephew Calvin's foot. He was cutting firewood with an axe not wearing any shoes much less not wearing the steel toed boots that he had in the house to cut firewood with. It ended up in 13 stitches and if you ask me he was very lucky as it could have been much much worse.

I did get a chance to visit my sister Pam, Calvin and my Nephew Moke (who is also recovering from semi-recent foot surgery. They stopped by and we sat on the back porch BSing and doing a little catching up and joking about Calvin being polish and that being the cause of his foot being injured.

We got a heck of a deal on a rug scrubber. This thing was still basically new in the box and we picked it up for a small fraction of the price. Someone who Michelle worked with bought it new and then installed hard wood floors before she ever really used it. We were contemplating buying that model anyways being that we have a 17 year old dog that sometimes can't control herself. She usually goes in the bathroom where we have tile, but she has her accidents. This will keep the carpets fresh.

We bought a new TV for the bedroom a couple of weeks ago, it replaced the big bulky thing that had the Wii remote put through it a few years ago. It had sat in our bedroom as a dust collector so we recycled it and replaced it. We hung the new TV up high so it could be easily seen, however that started to interfere with the built in WiFi because there is a huge steel I-beam running down the center of the house for support. It was giving us a sporadic signal because of the interference of that I-Beam so I just ran Cat-6 wire to it and wired it up. No problems losing a signal now. Chad had previously ran Cat-5 wire to his computer due to similar issues a few years ago. If there was no I-beam there probably wouldn't have been any problems, but this house was built solid. I also bought a good surge suppressor and mounted it to the wall to hide any and all unsightly wires.

It was a good and memorable weekend, we have another bigger weekend coming up this weekend which includes seeing Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field. We did forget to take our gnome with us this weekend, but we'll get some pictures of his this coming weekend in the Stadium.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Concert #1 of the year.

Well concert #1 of 3 is now in the books. Michelle and I went to State AE last night and saw Peter Frampton. It's a nice venue right beside Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

We were able to get into the venue quickly, the concessions were fairly priced and easily accessible. There were plenty of more than adequate rest room facilities and the arena had a good acoustical setup that enhanced your experience.

As night fell you got a beautiful night view of the City of Pittsburgh.

The night started with the Robert Cray Band who came out and did a 45 minute set while the sun was still up. He kept us all entertained for about 45 minutes or so with some of his hits.

Peter Frampton took the stage about 9:15 an d did not disappoint. He demonstrated why he is one of the true guitar gods with an assortment of some of his work through the years. He was joined on stage by Don Felder, one of the men who made up the Eagles who also rocked the stage. For the encore I had a member of the Eagles and Peter Frampton playing the Beatles While my Guitar Gently Sleeps.

Overall it was a great show and I would definitely do it again. We didn't get back home until after 1:00, so it's been a short night of sleep for me.

Funny story though, we went into Jerome Bettis' bar that was across the street to use the restroom. Strangest restroom I have ever used. Upscale bar, the restroom was rather dark and the Urinals were right in front of a two way mirror. So as you were standing there doing your business you are standing right behind one of the bars looking out over the bar. It was just weird, unique but weird.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's out there, both living and past. The two men you see posted here in this picture are the two men who were the most influential in my life.

On the left was my Dad, George Hall Sr. This was a man who was loved by all that met him and left a lasting impression on each and every person he met.

On the right was the man who raised me until I was 13 in my Grandpa Hall. A musician and a man who had a very big influence on me and my life.

Both of these men are no longer with us, but the lives that they lived and the things that they did still touch my life each and every passing day.

So on Fathers Day, a holiday that like Mothers Day was founded locally here in Fairmont West Virginia in 1908, despite Spokane Washington getting credit for it two years later. I would like to wish these two men who have lived their lives and have moved on, a very Happy Fathers Day.

Do You Feel Like We Do

It's finally here, a day when I get the chance to see the man whose album I have probably listened to more than any other artist in my life.

Peter Frampton is one of my all time favorite artists, someone who I said I would love to see before I died. Well, the opportunity arose this year and I Jumped on it. I missed one a couple of years ago when he appeared at the Meadows Racetrack and we were right across the street at Tanger Outlets. This year thanks to Groupon making me one heck of an offer to see him, that I could not pass it up. Ticket's went on sale initially for $150.00 each, that was a little rich for my blood. Prices for the lawn dropped to $25.00 plus like $8.00 in fees and I was about ready to pay that for two tickets, but when groupon made them available for $17.00 a pop I could not pass that up. Great timing on their part. =)

I've never been to Stage AE yet, but it is an amphitheater that is in the parking lot of Heinz Field where I will also be in seven days to see Kenny Chesney, but that will be at the stadium.

Have a great day, I plan on it.

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.

I'll be the only one in the office today, seems like everyone else has either went on vacation, taking a weekend trip biking or traveling for the weekend so it'll be just me today. It's going to be a short day anyways, so I should start my weekend in the early afternoon as I do our Sam's Club shopping for the week.

On our agenda this weekend? Concert number one of three at Stage AE when we are going to see one of my all time favorite artists Peter Frampton with Robert Cray, someone else I really like and Don Felder of the Eagles. Should be a fun night if the weather holds up.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all the pictures that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time captured for a brief instant with a camera so that we can all forever relive them as I write a little blog about one of them. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that one special picture and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun for me.

This weeks pic comes from one of those Marilla Park George Hall family BBQ that we used to have so often. Days gone by that everyone seems to remember and have very fond memories of. Whether it be one of my Sisters or Brother, or anyone else who took part in the events they were days that we all look back on with fond memories.

I think what I remember most, other than all the food my Dad and Jean used to serve, was the epic battles that took place soon afterwards. It always seem to start with an ice cube or a squirt out of a squirt gun and escalate from there. They started slow, but grew to the point where I can remember a large chunk of raw hamburger meat getting thrown. Jello seemed to be the worst, because it stained your clothes.

These are some of my fondest memories of my family growing up. There was never a stranger, no one ever went home hungry and it was always memorable.

Hump Day

Roundabout on Mileground

Well that's two days down, now if you peek up over that noon time hump, just on the other side of a photo flashback you can see the dawn of another weekend off in the distance.

For those of you wondering about the new traffic patterns you will experience on the Mileground later this summer when  all the construction is completed, here is a little information  for you to know about schedules, phases and what is happening up there. It is a major headache right now, but once this is all finished this should greatly help the flow of traffic on 705 and the Mileground.  Hopefully it will make the afternoon less congested and keep the traffic flowing a little better and smoother. I know I've had a number of people ask me lately what was going to happen up there. I would say they are well ahead of schedule and are really kicking butt up there.

If you are looking for things to do this summer (I'm a little late on this), HERE  is BOPARC's calendar of events for the summer. Seems they are only doing three movies this summer and I've already missed the first one of the year.

Have a great day

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well once again that dreaded Monday is once again behind us and we have the week just a rolling along. Can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* 1,915 days ago Michelle and I went out on our first date. The movie was horrible, the pizza was good and the company was a keeper.

* 1,138 days ago I asked that keeper if I could keep her.

* 675 days ago we started our life of wedded bliss together.

* There are only 197 more shopping days left until Christmas. It's never too early to start planning or to start shopping either.

* 89 more days until we set sail once again on our second cruise.

* 37 days away from seeing Jimmy Buffett in concert again. This will be our sixth annual trip to see Jimmy together and my seventh time seeing him.

* We have 11 more days until we see Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

* That means it's only 10 more days until SUMMERTIME!!!!!!

* Peter Frampton, our first concert of this year and the last time he will appear in a Tuesday's Tidbit Count down this year is only 4 days away.

* I ordered another cheap EZ Up. We bought one about three or four years ago and it's starting to become a little weathered. It was hard finding a replacement tarp, so I ordered another one like we already had. I could have bought a much more expensive one, but this one suits our need and is all we really need.

* Our garden is still doing great, the green beans are really surprising me and as a personal note, never sit down on a wet lawn chair when checking your garden.

* We have a couple of house guests for a couple of nights. We have a couple of friends coming in from out of town and staying while one has surgery tomorrow morning early.

* Michelle said she has her first Wrap Party scheduled with WrapwithChelle.

* Hayley came down for dinner last night, we surprised her with some birthday cupcakes.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back To Work

All good things must come to an end, and that even includes that thing we look forward too during the workweek, the weekend. It's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another week of doing what it is that we do that allows us to enjoy the things we do.

We did have a nice relaxing day yesterday, we went to Pricketts Fort to feed the ducks all of our old bread that we had. We've saved and froze it for a while just to feed the ducks. Let's just say Michelle and I are friends of the Geese. They promised not to poop on our car and to poop on the cars of our enemies (if we ever really had any).

We did get the TV hung up, but I managed to drop the drill on Michelle's foot and that didn't feel too good. It made me feel pretty bad that I let it slip on my baby's foot. I let her take a nap yesterday afternoon to make up for it, I know I'm a nice guy.

Now it's back to the grindstone, not too sure if I have anything major coming up this week, but I know I'll be going to see our first of three concerts this summer this coming weekend when we go and hear Peter Frampton.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning

OK so much for my morning spiel, I slept in a little bit later and Michelle is already up and about to drink a nice hot cup of coffee. We're watching the end of This is 40, a movie that we both like and I own on Amazon.

Yesterday's baby shower went well from what I hear, Laura got a number of nice things that she was wanting. Michelle, Hayley and Laiah all went up and helped everyone else pull this thing off yesterday.

I went across the street and helped Patty set up a little bit of a virtual network. One machine she can log into and do all of her work on from anywhere, that way there are not multiple copies of files in multiple locations. When this happens, especially with financial records you can have a whole lot of wasted man hours and headaches. Hopefully this will make her life a little easier and will prevent her from crossing the same path time and time again.

It's going to be a relaxing home day for us. We're traveling or have things planned the next few weekends. Maybe try to mount the new TV in the bedroom and doing a little cooking out on the grill. We got our garden planted last weekend and the green beans are starting to come up. My wife has such a green thumb.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again here I sit in a quiet household, I'm the first and only one so far to recover from a losing battle with the sandman last night. I'm up early collecting my thoughts and watching American Reunion on the Boob Tube behind me.

I thought Michelle was going home for the baby shower today, but she corrected me and informed me that it's here in Morgantown at the Church up on the Mileground. I guess everyone from up there will be traveling down here for the shower.

In spent part of the day yesterday over at Sherri's trying to pull the pictures off of the hard drive of her laptop  before it was being sent in for repairs. I used Pen Drive Linux which allows me to access anything on the computer as long as it it working. In this case, her computer can't read RAID-0 so there was no way that I could see the file structure or anything else on that drive.

Rumor has it Dunkin Donuts has opened up in Morgantown. I've heard that the lines are ridiculous and it's a wait to get your donuts. I'll wait till all the excitement has passed or I'll go to Rays.

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 the weather is not going to be as cooperative today as it was last weekend, but that's OK, it's still a weekend.

Michelle will be heading back home tomorrow to help set up for her Nephew and Nieces Baby Shower. Jon and Laura will be having their first child this August and the family is gathering somewhere up there to hold the Shower. Michelle and Hayley will be out early tomorrow so that they can head to decorate before the festivities begin.

I'm off today so it's going to be a Sam's Club kind of day for me.

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday Hayley Dawn Collins

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the best step daughter a man could ask for a very Happy Birthday today.

Hayley Dawn Collins turns 20 today, it seems like just yesterday we were scraping to have a sweet 16th birthday for her here at the house.

Hayley has grown up into a beautiful young woman and is a strong independent woman that both Michelle and I are both proud of.

If you happen to see Hayley Dawn Collins today make sure that you wish her a very Happy Birthday Today.

Happy Birthday Hayley

Photo Flashback Thursaday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of the pictures that I have stored on my computer and write a little blog about. Lost moments in time that were captured for a brief moment and stored for ever on one of my external hard drives. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a number of years to when I used to work for Vargis/Infotech in Frostburg. This picture was taken at our Company Christmas Dinner when I was awarded the 2005 Employee of the Year. I got my hotel paid for and a nice little cash bonus to go with the award. This is me and Mike Dooley, the Manager of the Frostburg Facility when he presented me with the award.

I rarely if ever stayed in Frostburg, but I did stay up there on that night at the Hotel Gunter, a place where all of our H-1 employees from India were staying as they were here assisting us with all of the compilation. Only bad thing was this was a Sunday night and we all had to work the next day. Fortunately for me that day I only had to drive half a mile instead of 60.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well we have got two days in this week, now if you peek your nose over that noon time hump, just on the other side of a photo flashback, you can start to see the dawn of another weekend off in the not to distant future.

Yesterday I did a short blog and today because of my little brother Gary's birthday you are treated to two blogs instead of one. Call it a ROGO (Read One Get One) day for a blog.

Finally got the TV set up last night, all but the mounting that we'll do this weekend, I have it customized to how I want it and have all of my online accounts logged into so all you have to do is select a button or two and select what you want to watch. I did have to take the digital box back to Comcast as the one that I had wasn't working. So I switched them out and got this one working so we can watch the cable channels in the bedroom. I bought it primarily for Netflix and Amazon video.

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Gary Allen Hall

I would like to take this opportunity to wish the best little brother on the face of the planet a Very Happy Birthday today.

I'm one of the few who are lucky enough to call this man little brother, even though he outgrew me years ago. He is by far the best little brother anyone could ever ask for, but I may be just a little bit biased on this one.

So if you see my little brother Gary today, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish him a very Happy Birthday. Better yet, remember the times he blew everyones phones up with text messages? Now would be a good time for everyone to get together and give him a couple hundred Happy Birthday wishes!!!!

Happy Birthday Gary.

Tuesday's Tidbits

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

* 1,908 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date.

* 1,131 days ago we got engaged.

* 668 days ago we were joined together as husband and wife and have enjoyed marital bliss ever since.

* 204 days left until Christmas, it's creeping up on us quickly.

* 96 days until we set sail on the high seas once again on our second cruise.

* 44 days until Jimmy Buffett

* 18 days until the Kenny Chesney concert.

* 17 days until SUMMER!!!

* 11 days until Peter Frampton.

* I got home a little late last night, my cousin Sherri was having some computer problems and I went over to assist her. A technician got one of her computers going and another one has a fried hard drive, fried as in doesn't even recognize it.

* Michelle got the new TV in the bedroom set up as I was playing with the computers.

* Short but sweet blog.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back To Work

Well now it's time to stop all of the fun that we have been having over the weekend and time to get our noses back on the grindstone to do what it is we do so that we can live the lifestyles we want to live. I really do love my job, so I honestly don't mind going to work. I do however enjoy the weekends and this one is now behind us.

It was a busy but productive weekend where we got a whole lot of chores done around the house. I've ordered a new TV that should arrive in the near future to replace the one that we had in the bedroom for the past few years. That was the one that my lovely wife put the Wii remote through but still worked somewhat, and by somewhat I mean about 2/3 of the picture and fading. I'm getting a smaller smart TV to mount and open up some dresser space as the other one sat there and basically did nothing but collect dust. I've already recycled that one at Best Buy, now it's waiting fore the new one.

We spent yesterday afternoon attending a funeral. A funeral of someone I never had the honor of meeting in my life, but so many around me were on the same circle. It's amazing that this one person was such a centerpiece of many of people in my life. From Trish, Layla and Arron, to her husband Joe being babysit by her as a child, Michelle'e late husband Richard used to give her a ride to work everyday, to being the sister and Aunt of a couple of long time softball team mates, to our friends Paula and Lynn in Maryland. It just makes you realize what a small world it is and it was a common component in so many of my friends lives.

This is the last day officially for school for kids in Monongalia County, but my guess is attendance is not going to be 100% today as most of the kids have either officially or unofficially started their summer vacations.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, so far I am the only one who has recovered from a losing battle last night with that dreaded Sandman. I'm up once again early, as I am every day, and I'm watching the Clint Eastwood movie Trouble with the Curve. We watched it last night and it was a great movie and it's on again, so I'll watch it again.

We actually got a good bit accomplished yesterday. Got a good early start to beat the heat and changed the brakes on the Taurus. I pulled it into the garage and Michelle was a big help to me. I thought with two torn labrums that breaking bolts loose on the tire would have been very painful as it was last fall when I had a flat tire, fortunately it wasn't and my partner Ray (a nickname Michelle earned working with out brother in law Jim years ago) was a huge help.

After we got the brakes down, it was off to Southern States and Lowes to get our starter plants and a few other things. We ripped a small weed/bush out of the planter beside the patio and are managing to us that area for squash, zucchini and Cucumbers. the three creeper type of plants. In our raised garden we have tomatoes, green peppers and banana peppers in one side and Michelle used the other side to plant green beans.

We'll be out grocery shopping this morning, we usually plan our meals out for the week and then shop accordingly based on what we need. The only meal we haven't decided on is todays and we're thinking about grilling out one way or the other weather permitting, although it is calling for rain according to my iPhone's forecast.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the only one here who has recovered from a losing battle with the sandman last night, and of course I was the first to lose that battle as well. I'm up early trying to find something on Netflix, but have been playing around on the computer for most of the morning so far.

We launched a new website last night, wrapwithchelle.com was born and was done to assist Michelle in her new business venture. If the site does not open up for you, and it should, it's the DNS servers setting and should be 100% functional by the end of the weekend. I would imagine that since it is a new domain it is going to be working now. All I did was redirect and mask Michelle's consultant page so it all appears under her domain name. We're going to do everything we can to assist her in getting this wonderful opportunity going.

I've got to work on my brakes on the Taurus this morning and then I think we are going to plant our garden finally this year. I've held off a couple of times due to cold fronts, now it's time to get it into the ground and growing.

Weather is going ton be nice and warm today, get out and enjoy it.