Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit yet once again in the semi-early AM. I am the first one to recover from a losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night and I'm watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

I have been up playing with .EXIF data and being able to view it. That's all the metadata associated with pictures you take that you don't see. My camera has a GPS on it so it's nice to be able to see geo-tagged pictures and where we were when the image was taken.

We did do a limited amount of running around yesterday, Michelle wanted to feed some ducks so we went to Pricketts Fort in Fairmont and fed a few ducks. Something very simplistic, but a whole lot of memorable fun.

I did stop by and see the Star Wars Characters at the Shoe Story. It's not too often that Darth Vader is in your town so I wasn't going to miss him.

Have a Great Day

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Well here I sit once again on a quiet Saturday Morning, I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last nigh and I'm up early collecting my thoughts for the day and watching Heat on HBO.

Our plans for the day have kind of been put on hold. Michelle has come down with something called Thrush so we are probably going to give her a little time to recover and not have a Saturday where we make any road trips.

One of the things we may do is head down to the Morgantown Farmers Market as we have yet to be there this year.

If you are a Star Wars fan, Riverside Church will be doing something called Soul Wars where Star Wars Characters will be making a couple appearances around town today. From 11:00 - 1:00 they will be at the Shoe Story on Van Voorhis Road and from 2:00 to 4:00 at Sweet Frog. Head on over to see your favorite Star Wars characters, and make sure you give Darth Vader specifically a hard time. Tell him I sent you =)

I have been semi-productive this morning as I have uploaded an Ohio Christmas Video to youtube.








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!

The BOPARC Summer Fun Series starts next week with their first movie of the season. but the Marilla Pool will be open this weekend with Krepps Pool opening up for the season next weekend.

Well it was a short work week with the Holiday this past Monday, I'm not complaining though as it is now time to start planning our weekend activities. Michelle and I started talking about what we are going to do, but I'll wait until plans are more concrete to share what kind of a road trip we will be getting ourselves into this weekend.

Looking ahead at our Summer I know that Val is going to be having Erica and Josh's birthday party in a couple of weeks, so we'll have plans that weekend. We'll be traveling for her nieces graduation party next month and of course no one can forget the picnic. We have been to a number of places so far this spring, now it't time to start looking for new and exciting places to go.

I swear planning what to do with your weekends is becoming a challenge. LOL

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through all of the images that I have either taken with a camera, scanned or just plain stolen off of the internet through the years. Little lost moments in time that I like to post up, relive and share with everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and believe it or not there are times in which I struggle just to find that one picture. One thing is has always consistently been is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks image only goes back a couple of years, this was the only year that we competed in the Pittsburgh Steelers McDonalds KDKA Trivia Challenge and did not win it all (we have competed 4 times) and came in third place that year. Of course our team Captain said right before the last show "Let's finish third so we can go to training camp", so I'll stick to that story....lol

This picture was taken at St Vincent's College in Latrobe, the home of the Steelers training camp. For finishing third that year, we got VIP passes to training camp and were down on the practice field with the team as opposed to being up in the stands. It was a nice day, they treated us to dinner and gave us a private area with other VIP's to get exclusive autographs. Everyone else was on the other side hoping to get a players signature on something as they made their way to the locker room.

We got Jonathan Dwyer and Cameron Hayward that day as our exclusive players. We had the complimentary training camp hats signed as well as Michelle's Steeler purse that she likes to take to Steeler events.

Have a great day

hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well we are already at the mid point of the work week, and for those of us who were off on Monday it was a short trip to get here. Now it's just a matter of getting over the noon time hump and start concentrating on another fun filled weekend.

There is some good news to my GPS that went kaput, once the battery died down and it cooled off, I was able to plug it into the computer and it is in fact working once again. That's OK, I wanted a new GPS with more features anyways, now I have a couple of them that work. I think I'll use the old one for Geocaching as it has that feature built in and the new one with all it's bells and whistles does not. Got to love Garmin Products, I'm even able to transfer all my information from one GPS to the other.

Michelle did manage to get some really nice video of when we visited the Palace of Gold Monday, I need to start stitching the video together and upload it to Youtube. It was like visiting India but not being far from home right here in West Virginia.

Have a Great Day

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that wonderful three day weekend is now nothing but a memory, as great as it was, it's now gone and we are starting another week of work but with a head start this week. Still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It was a mere 18,804 days ago that yours truly entered this world, a small little army base down South would be the location.

* It was 4,027 days ago that I graduated from West Virginia University, completing a dream that I had had for a number of years.

* It was 2,628 days ago that I took this wonderful woman out on a night on the town for our first date.

* 1,852 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to Michelle.

* It was a mere 1,389 days ago that Michelle and I became Husband and Wife in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center.

* I have around 6,033 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* There are only 219 days left to go until my Goodbye 2015 Blog is written and posted, this will relive my previous year according to my blog.

* If you haven't started your Christmas Shopping yet, you still have 213 more days to go to both start and complete it.

* There are only 189 more days to go until my next Anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* Michelle and I will set sail on our 2015 cruise in a mere 110 more days from now. Now comes the hard part of seeing everyone elses beach pictures waiting on our time.

* WVU will face Georgia Southern in 102 more days to open up the 2015 Football Season here in Morgantown.

* Once again we will be going to see Jimmy Buffett in just 79 more days, our tickets are in hand and now we are just waiting and counting down the days.

* Michelle and I's 4th Wedding Anniversary will be in a mere 72 more days.

* The 2015 family picnic is just a mere 33 days away!!! Come one come all.

* There are only more days to go until the "Official" Start of Summer although yesterday was the unofficial start of it.

* I have written 4,064 blog posts for George's Journal. Something I just wanted to "try out" some 10 1/2 years ago.

* No updates on the brother search this week.

* The Hall Family Tree saw little to no work being done to it this week. I did update a few Find A Grave entries with a few pictures. Mainly at the Arnettesville Cemetary.

* We had a nice and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend, most of my pictures are located HERE.

* I did get a rare phone call from my brother Gary a couple of days ago, he just wanted to BS a little.

* Anyone notice the traffic around Morgantown this weekend? There was none and I love it!!!!

* We did finally get our garden planted this year. Mostly Cucumbers and a number of spices. We haven't had a whole lot of luck with anything other than Cucumbers and a bunch of peppers that we have frozen in the freezer so we decided to limit it this year.

* I did give Michelle a rare opportunity to sleep in yesterday, we are usually up at 4:00 AM during the week (every day for me) and she slept in until 9:00 which is the latest she has slept in in a while.

* We ended up visiting the Palace of Gold yesterday. We just wanted to go out and get lost, so we did.

* Speaking of getting lost, my Garmin Nuvi 1350LMT died on us while we were somewhere on RT 250 coming home. It was a great GPS but the screen just went green and died. On the way home we stopped and bought a new GPS since we depend on it so much. We got a Garmin Nuvi 3957 LMTHD to replace the original one. I wanted to upgrade my outdated unit, but not because my went kaput. I'm very happy with the new one, many new features that I wanted, I got in this one.

* I know it is back to work today, but we do have a head start.

* Have a Great Day

* Hi ho hi ho

Memorial Day

As we take a little bit of time today to relax and enjoy ourselves with BBQ's Sunshine and Family, let us not forget the reason that we get to take a little bit of time off and enjoy ourselves.

Today is a day we take out and honor those who not only served, but died doing so as we celebrate their sacrifice and service today, Memorial Day 2015.

I was going to run around to all the graveyards and stick new flags upon all of my relatives who have military service during times of conflict and are no longer here with us for one reason or another.

You've always heard me talk about my Grandfather who raised me, while he himself was a WWI Veteran, this year I am going to honor my Mom's Father Donald for his service. I believe he served during WWII and Korea, but don't quote me on that. I was only fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times, my Sister Terri probably knew him the best followed by my Sister Kim.

As we relax and BBQ today, take a little bit of time out to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us so we can live in a free country.

Have a Great Day.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household. I'm the first one to recover from that losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up watching Grandma's Boy on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

Had a great day yesterday starting off with a visit to the Jumonville Cross. This was the first time Michelle had ever been there and my second. We stopped by Jumonville Glen first, but we were looking for the cross which was a couple hundred yards down the hill.

After leaving there we went to Ohiopyle State Park. It's been a couple of years since we have been up there and if you haven't been up there since then you should take a trip up as it was more than worth it. They made a lot of changes around the main falls area and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's more than worth the trip and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there in a while.

Today we are going to do our normal Sunday Shopping and are probably just gonna fire up the BBQ grill in the back yard. Michelle is going to make a funeral home visitation this afternoon as one of her sisters neighbors has passed away and I'll probably head to Lowes to get some new flags for tomorrow. I'm going to be visiting three grave yards tomorrow and replacing flags on family gravestones that I know were Military Veterans. I did it last year as well, so I'll just be replacing what I put up last season with newer flags.

Other than that not a whole lot planned for the day other than just enjoying it.

Have a great day and fire up your BBQ's!!!

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, I'm the only one awake with something or another on the TV. I'm up collecting my thoughts for the day and just realized this is the first live blog that I have written in a few weeks. I usually prewrite them during the week and write them live on the weekends, but last weekend was rather busy and they were pre-written ones.

First of all I would like to say Happy Birthday to my Brother from another Mother George McClain. He and Pam both had birthdays this week as well as losing their long time pet Spike earlier in the week. They had spike about 10 years and he was a big lovable puppy to say the least. That have now gotten two smaller dogs that they have rescued this week to try to fil Spikes big shoes.

As far as Michelle and I, it's Ohiopyle bound today. Taking the small gas grill and some meat to grill upon it and heading to one of our favorite private picnic spots to enjoy the start of our Memorial Day Weekend. We have also talked about stopping by Jumonville as Michelle has never been to the cross.

Going to be a great day, I hope you have one as well.

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 a Three Day Memorial Day Weekend!!!!!!!

Well we are wanting to get out and about this weekend, maybe head somewhere on another road trip and either take our little portable gas grill or a bag of charcoal and the chimney and head somewhere for a little bit of a cookout. We still have not decided where, we are going to have to decide real soon on this so we can plan it out.

We had talked about running to Ohiopyle this weekend with Michelle's sister Chris, but Amanda is finishing up school and they are moving her back home this weekend. She has just finished her first year up of PA school and is returning home to do her clinical work for the next year.

I did text with my Sister Kim a little yesterday, Brittany got a new car as a Graduation gift from her Grandparents. She is now the owner of a brand new Toyota Rav4.

In order to get this three day weekend party started we have to get today in so you it...

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all if the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years. I like to find just one lost moment in time and briefly relive it right here for everyone. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing that it has never failed to be was a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic is a picture of my Birthday Girl Sister. It was the picture that I was going to use for my Happy Birthday Blog, but since this goes back till probably the 1970's I thought that this one would be a little more appropriate.

Not sure what year this picture was taken, I just know it was in a big stack of pictures that Jean gave me last year to scan and scan it was what I did.

I'm thinking and or guessing that this was taken either in the late 70's or early 80's and I have no real way to place a time stamp on it. Make sure you wish the Birthday Girl a Happy Birthday today.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Pamela Sue Hall McClain

Pam McClain (left)

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my youngest sister Pam a very happy Birthday today as she celebrates her 21st Birthday again just like I do every year.

Pam is always the one you can count on and is always there for anyone and everyone who needs anything. You could not draw up a blueprint for a more lovable sister than my Sister Pam.

I'm not sure what George has in store for Pam today or if they will just wait a few days and celebrate their birthdays together since his is on Saturday. My guess is that the two of them will get together and celebrate them together.

If you happen to see Pam today, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday as she most certainly deserves. it.

Happy Birthday Pam, I hope that you have one of a great day.

Hump Day

Well that's two days down, there are two more ahead of after today, now if we can just get up overt this noon time hump we are on the downhill towards another weekend. Tell you what I'll even do, we'll even make this a three day Holiday Weekend just for all my loyal readers. But Wait, we'll even call this the unofficial start of Summer! What a dead.

So much for a comical opening, at least I tried. We are looking at Memorial Day Weekend coming up this weekend, even though it does seem early, this coming Monday will be the last one in May for 2015.

What are everyone's plans for the Memorial Day Weekend? I know Michelle and I have to talk about our plans, I know we mentioned to her Sister about going to Ohiopyle, but that is when we both thought that there were a couple of weekends to go to get there and not this weekend.

Last year we went to Blackwater Falls, so who knows what exactly we will get ourselves into. All I know is I want to eat something coming off of a grill someplace and somewhere. After last weekend and all the running around we did you would think that we would take it easy, but that's just not in our nature.

Let me know what you are doing this weekend in either of the comment sections.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well after a great weekend, that thing we hate to do (go back to work on Monday) is now behind us and we can start concentrating on Tuesday. I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It was a mere 18,797 days ago that I was born.

* It has been 4,020 days since I Graduated from West Virginia University (That means Brittany has 4,018 days to go to catch me..lol)

* On a early spring night some 2,621 days ago, Michelle and I went out on our very first date.

* It was 1,845 days ago that I wanted to make our dating a little more lasting, so I proposed marriage.

* 1,381 days ago in front of our closest family and friends we had a wedding and a feast at the Marilla Center.

* I have about 6,040 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* I have 226 more days of content to go before my Goodbye 2015 Blog posts. This is where I relive my previous year according to my blog.

* There are 220 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* Only a mere 196 days to go until my birthday

* Our cruise sets sail once again in just 117 more days. Woo Hoo, we're almost getting to a double digit countdown.

* In 109 more days the WVU Football team will open their 2015 season with a game against Georgia Southern.

* I never thought this day would come in 2015, but there are only 86 more days to go until we see Jimmy Buffett in concert again. We really thought he was going to bypass Pittsburgh this year.

* In a mere 79 more days Michelle and I will be celebrating our Fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* The Summer Picnic is a mere 40 days away. I'm hoping to get a better turn out this year, last year was a blast but we are trying to top it.

* Only 33 more days to go until Summer!!!!

* I have written a total of 4,056 blogs for George's Journal. It's taken me about 10 1/2 years to do this, but I'm quite happy that this has been something that I have stayed with.

* There were about 40 names added to the Hall Family Tree  this past week, but was basically the website doing the work for me and me just confirming it. That's 199 people who have been entered so far and that is growing.

* There was a little progress on the Brother Search this week, Carol finally got the paperwork from the Red Cross and she has submitted it to them to get their records. Just waiting on the results before we move forward.

* I have to confess, I pretty much wrote all by blogs up until yesterdays post last week. I knew I was going to have a very busy weekend so I made some generic posts with information to keep it up to date. Sometimes it does a little good to take a small break.

* When Steelers Trivia airs this year, we will be on the fourth weeks show and then go from there. I'll keep everyone updated as to when each show airs. I'm thinking our first show will air August 8th (week 4) and if we win there it will be September 5th for the Semi-Finals and September 12th if we make it to the finals again. Those dates are not set in stone and are just guesses based on a few factors.

* We switched e-mail clients at work this weekend, we have used Groupwise since I have been there and they just switched everything to Office 365. Overall it was a smooth transition, I'm just hoping they can restore my archive that I may need down the road. I tend to archive everything to cover my butt.

* Congratulations to Angela McClain who also graduated this past weekend, next up for this young go-getter is Radiology School.

* Happy Birthday to Trish Rosiak, we miss you.

* Carnival has made their internet plans on boats much more affordable now including the boat that we are going to be on.

* Have a Great Day

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work

Well it's time to stop all of that fun, celebrating and enjoyment of the weekend and concentrate on putting our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week at work so we can keep doing those things on the weekends that give us so much pleasure. I guess without the work week, weekends would just be another day.

It was a very busy weekend for Michelle and I, traveling to Pittsburgh, the Trivia and of course my highlight of the weekend was Brittany's Graduation and everything that took place around Morgantown yesterday. I guess my city can get back to normal for a few months now...lol

Overall it was a great weekend, yesterday started with us in Pittsburgh duplicating what we did last year (that means yes we did it again(that's 3 times),  but I can't tell anyone so shhh). We did make it just in time for Brittany's graduation, but traffic was absolutely horrible like I had never seen before.

We are very proud of her, and THAT was the highlight of my weekend.

Have a Great Day

Hi ho hi ho

Congratulations Briitany Dae Cummings

It seems like only yesterday that I was showing my Niece Brittany around the WVU Campus. It was 2009 and she was just an incoming Freshman trying to figure out where everything was located on campus as she was getting ready to start her collegiate academic career.

Well it has been a few years and she has stayed dedicated and focused on achieving her degree and joining me as an Alumnus at West Virginia University today.

To say that this makes me very proud is an absolute understatement. I've had three nieces/nephews start college, but she will be the very first one to earn her degree and both Michelle and I will be there with cameras, tripods and camcorders in hand to try to capture the days events.

I was trying to surprise her, but she already knows about it for one of the Graduation Gifts that we are going to give her. Just like I did with my wedding, I've worked with my Congressman and will obtain  one of the flags that flies over the US Capital today and it will be shipped to her probably tomorrow. I knew that there was plenty of time and knew that this is a special day, so I obtained something special for her day for her to remember this day by.

Congratulations Brittany, both Michelle and I are tremendously proud of you and what you have accomplished. Until you have completed your walk down the hallowed hallways and completed the journey it's hard to understand the time, commitment and sacrifice that it takes to achieve this. Brittany, from the bottom of my heart I am very proud of you.

This is your day girl, savor every last second of it as you have earned it.

See you this afternoon.

Pittsburgh Bound

It's another road trip for us this weekend, we're heading off to Pittsburgh to tape the McDonalds KDKA Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Show this weekend at KDKA studios.

This will be the fourth time we have competed in the tournament and have won it twice including being the defending Champions. We came in third two years ago, but Chris wanted to go to training camp and we stumbled out of the blocks that year.

Who knows what this year contains for us, but we will be taping our first round game this afternoon against only one other team so far and that will be Porter's Posse. If we advance then we will be taping again tomorrow morning but we are staying in Pittsburgh regardless this evening. We'll actually be staying in Greentree at our hotel, so that will be easy access on and off the parkway so to speak. It's a new hotel and we are getting a free room with my IHG annual rewards as I get one free night a year and they resets some time in early September before our cruise.

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 this is going to be a very busy weekend for us to say the least. Tonight will probably just be our normal Friday routine of dinner and Sam's Club after work. Nothing out of the ordinary except maybe packing a suitcase this evening.

Tomorrow and the rest of this weekend is going to be very busy. We'll probably wake up early and do our Sunday chores on Friday night and Saturday Morning so we can clear up our later morning and afternoon. Then it will be off to Pittsburgh as we are taping Steelers Trivia this weekend. I may be jinxing our team by getting a hotel tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, but just in case we make it out of the first round we got one.

Sunday will probably be an early start taping the Semi-finals and finals if we advance that far, we just don't want to run ourselves ragged like in years past that we taped this tournament. We used to run back and forth and back and forth both days and that got a little bit old plus we have other things to do this weekend. We should finish up early enough on Sunday to allow me to get back to Morgantown and to the Coliseum in plenty of time for Brittany's Graduation.

It's going to be a busy weekend to say the least.

Have a great day and a better weekend.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out, time to look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or just stolen from the web through the years. Little lost moments in time that were captured and allow me to share and relive that moment briefly. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and there are times that you do struggle, but one thing it always is is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back way before I was even born, so I'm not going to know a whole lot about the image itself or the circumstances around it, but I can make a good guess.

The man playing the fiddle in the front is my Grandfather Ellis Hall. That looks like his old guitar player Bill Adkins when they were the Green Mountain Boys recording on the RCA label, but there looks like there is a second guitar player in the picture whom I can't identify.

It is my Grandfather however playing the Fiddle (I think you sophisticated types refer to it as a violin) as that was just something he did and did well.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy 70th Birthday George Hall Sr

George Hall Sr

I would have loved to have taken this opportunity to wish a very special man a very Happy 70th Birthday today. This would have been the day that the man I call my Dad's 70th Birthday.

Sadly, he left us in 1999 at the young age of 54 so he has missed a great deal since then. Six Grandchildren Graduating from High School, a Son Graduating from WVU, a Granddaughter just days away from graduating from WVU, 4 Great-Grandchildren, 5 Marriages including my own, the passing of his wife and her battle with Pancreatic Cancer and his legacy of picnics and get togethers that we all remember him having.

These would have been his golden years and that I and a number of other people whose lives he touched would have loved to have shared them with him. There are a number of people from the next generation that would have loved to hear how many times he cut his finger making the potato salad every week, but my Sister Pam has a little tribute set aside for him at the picnic this summer.

Happy Birthday Dad, we miss you.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing that we all hate so much and call Monday is now behind us, my bursitis is starting to come more and more under control and I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It was 18,790 days ago that the world celebrated my birth, well at least my family celebrated my birth, the rest of the world was too busy doing other things.

* It was 4,013 days ago that I graduated from West Virginia University with a Degree in Geography specializing in Geographical Informational Science.

* 2,614 days ago Michelle and I went out on our very first date, a day my life forever changed.

* I wanted to make mine and Michelle's relationship a little more permanent, so 1,838 days ago I proposed marriage.

* 1,374 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, we exchanged our wedding vows and became Husband and Wife.

* I've got about 6,047 more days to go, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I enter into the world of retirement.

* 233 more days to go until Goodbye 2015 is posted. This is the blog that recalls my previous year according to my blog.

* There are 227 more shopping days left until Christmas, you still have plenty of time if you haven't started yet.

* There are only 203 more days to go until my birthday.

* In a very short 124 more days we will be once again heading to Baltimore to set sail on our cruise.

*  In 116 more days WVU opens their 2015 Football Season up against Georgina Southern.

* Jimmy Buffett is coming back to Pittsburgh in only 93 more days. We have our tickets and we plan to party down with the rest of the Parrot Heads this year.

* There are only 86 more days to go until mine and Michelle's Fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* The family picnic is getting closer, it's only 47 more days away. I'm starting to get excited.

* There are only 40 days to go until Summer!!!!!! I STILL hate snow!

* In the last entry for this countdown, there are only 5 days to go until Brittany Graduates from WVU. Michelle and I plan on being there.

* This is my 4,049th blog that I have written for George's Journal. Make sure you tune in tomorrow for a very special blog written to a very special person.

* No work on the Hall Family Tree, It's on hold until probably this fall and the weather gets cooler.

* Nothing new on the brother search this week. It's been idled for a couple of months, maybe I need to start actually researching again and quit talking about researching.

* Michelle and I are going to have a very busy weekend this coming weekend. Not only is Brittany Graduating on Sunday, we'll be at KDKA Studios all weekend taping Steelers Trivia. We usually drive up and back on Saturday and then do the same on Sunday, this year however being there is only one opponent in our opening round game and we are a pretty good team, we've booked a hotel in Pittsburgh Saturday Night and will be staying up there rather than driving back and forth. We should finish up taping on Sunday with the worst case scenario and be able to be at the Coliseum for Brittany's Graduation with only a return trip from Pittsburgh that we have to worry about.

* I think my bursitis is under control now, too busy of a weekend coming up to be hobbled around by it.

* Once again I have to send out a Thank You to my wonderful wife, I have no idea what I would have done this weekend if there was not someone there to help and assist me at the times I was most feeble.

* Book our Hotel for Saturday, we'll be staying in Green Tree for FREE. I'm an IHG Rewards member and get a free night every year and this years free night was going to expire prior to our cruise, so it was use it or lose it.

* Have a Great Day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

Well that fun filled thing that everyone else refers to as the weekend is now over with, it's now time to stick our collective noses back on the grindstone and get back to doing what it is we do for a living.

It was beautiful weather this weekend, but this bursitis has been getting the best of me. I'll be honest I have tried to take it as easy as possible, taking lots of ibuprofen and using a lot of ice packs just to handle the pain. I thought gout was bad, this is definitely something you want to avoid if at all possible.

I have to give a special thank you to my beautiful and wonderful wife. I don't know what I would have done without her this weekend, I hate being at a point where I am basically useless and can't help out, I'm just very thankful that I am not only married but married to such a wonderful woman.

I'm going to try to take it easy today, so have a great day and

hi ho hi ho

Happy Mothers Day

Well this is a special day here in West Virginia, a day that has it's origins not too far from Morgantown in a neighboring county and a town called Grafton. It was a Holiday started by Anna Jarvis and first celebrated in her home town.

It's Mother's Day. And I would like to take this opportunity to wish my very own Mother a very Happy Mother's Day today. The picture that you see was one that was taken just last weekend as we all visited Amish Country.

My hopes are to get out to see my Mom this morning and maybe stop by the graveyard to see Jean, but this that all depends on how my bursitis is feeling. I just woke up and took both prescription as well as over the counter Motrin and and sitting here with an ice cold ice pack on my hip trying to numb it so I can go back to bed for a while. I'll have to wait to see how I feel, I'm very thankful to have the wonderful wife that I have as she has taken great care of me during all of this.

A Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in the world out there, if it were not for you special ladies, none of us would be here.

Happy Mothers Day Mom.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again, the first one to recover from that losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night. I just woke up and the TV is not on, but I'm starting to collect my thoughts for the day.

Well originally Michelle was going to go home this weekend, but that changes as Holly (who she was going to stay with) had some family health issues that took precedent, so they have postponed it until another weekend.

Then we made plans to go to Ohiopyle today, but that might even be put on hold due to a health issue that I have been battling the last few days.

I have been in extreme pain the last couple of days, I've been battling Bursitis of the Hip and waited until Thursday when it almost crippled me to go to the Doctor and get a diagnosis. Yesterday I really needed Michelle as I couldn't even put on my socks or shoes due to the extreme pain in my right hip. There are a number of factors that could have caused it, one of which very few people know about me and that was due to a childhood accident where I broke my left leg and spent a few months in traction and body casts. I'm a half inch taller on my left leg than I am my right and this must have taken a toll the last 42 years.

It was a radiating pain so much that I got about 2 hours of sleep Thursday night and was actually in tears coming down the stairway after visiting the doctor. I think it took about 10 minutes and a whole of of grimacing for me to make it all the way downstairs. I thought the gout was bad last year, this started on my right hip joint and just radiates from there.

So our plans may be on hold today and we may be here at home to allow me some time to recover. I do feel much better today and actually was able to get a great nights sleep last night,but I've been using ice packs and ibuprofen to battle it. Hopefully this bout doesn't last much longer, the next step is going to Sports Medicine and getting injections of steroids into my hip.

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 our original weekend plans may have changed. Michelle was going to travel back home this evening and spend the weekend with a girlfriend of hers, but there have been a few things come up that have delayed those plans and most likely not be happening this weekend.

This means my sweetie will probably be with me this weekend and if you know us that means one thing. Roadtrip tomorrow...lol. We've already discussed it and the weather is supposed to be absolutely beautiful, so we're going to pack up Pearl and most likely head to Ohiopyle tomorrow morning. We love it up there and we'll probably pack up the small grill and head there. There is a certain place we like to go to BBQ, so we'll probably be grabbing that nice shaded spot and setting up our mini camp for the day. It has been a number of years since we have been there, so we were both thinking of Ohiopyle once we learned of the chance of Michelle's plans changing this evening.

Other than that, the weather had been beautiful and looks like it may actually get close to 90° on Saturday, so being in a nice shaded and cool place might just be the place to be for the day.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

One a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through my pictures that I have either taken with a camera, scanned with a scanner or just simply stolen off of the internet through the years. I'm thinking at last count I have a little over 30,000+ images to choose from. I like to select just one lost moment in time to post up and share with everyone. Sometimes as you know this is pretty easy and sometimes it's a pretty difficult task. One thing that it always is is a whole lot of fun.

This weeks pic is one that is very special to me and Michelle. This was actually a group photo of everyone at Mine and Michelle's Wedding. We had everyone get up on the walk way that goes across Marilla Park and got our picture taken as a group.

I used this image last year when I sat up the 2014 Picnic as the background picture on the Facebook invite. There were some people missing from the picture, but you only have one chance to capture the moment and these are all of the people who were available at the time we captured this very special lost moment in time.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is once again two days down, now if we just look up over this noon time hump, just on the other side of a photo flashback, we can see the dawn of another fun filled weekend off in the distance.

No big plans for me this coming weekend, however Michelle is talking about returning home and seeing an old friend of hers as well as spend a little bit of time with her Mother on Mother's Day.  I'll be spending the weekend in town taking care of the the things around the house and most likely stopping by my Mom's this Sunday for a visit.

It should be a quiet week in Morgantown as the students are slowly finishing up their finals and heading back home for the summer. Graduation Ceremonies will be the following weekend, which means we have basically completed another school year here in Morgantown and traffic should start to get more and more manageable as our city's population will take a significant drop for the next few months, but fear not the overcrowding will resume this August...LOL

Our population should start drastically dropping off here for a few months, that is always a great day for Morgantown residents.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing we refer to as Monday is over with and now we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday. Other than Mickey Mouse having a midget porn sex tape I can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It has been a glorious and wonderful 18,783 days since my Mother gave birth to me. I try to be grateful and thankful for each and every one of them and feel blessed with each now one.

* It has been 4,006 days since I Graduated from West Virginia University.

* 2,607 days ago Michelle and I went our on our First Date. Our lives have both changed for the better since that fateful night.

* It has been 1,831 days since I got Michelle up at 4:00 in the morning and took her outside and proposed marriage. OK, truth she told she knew it was coming and didn't sleep that night in anticipation.

* It was 1,368 days ago that Michelle and I celebrated our Wedding in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center.

* I only have about 6,054 days to go until retirement, give or take a few hundred here or there one way or the other.

* There are only 240 more days left until I write my Goodbye 2015 blog. The last blog of the year that I write and I use that one to reflect upon my previous year.

* There are only 234 more shopping days left until Christmas, you have plenty of time if you haven't started yet as I'm sure most of us fit into that category.

* There are only 210 more days to go until my Birthday where I will once again be celebrating an Anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* If you are counting there are only 131 more days to go until we Cruise once again on the Carnival Pride.

* There are only 123 more days to go until the 2015 Mountaineer Football team takes the field for the first time in a new season.

* There are only 100 days to go until the Jimmy Buffett Concert. We got our tickets yesterday morning and will once again be attending yet another Concert by Jimmy. I think this will be my 9th and Michelle's 8th Buffett Concert. There was another year I bought tickets and couldn't make it as well (2006).

* In only a mere 93 more days my wonderful wife and I will be celebrating our Fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* There are only 54 more days to go until the 2015 Picnic at Krepps Park. My sister Pam has come up with a great idea and is going to make some Potato Salad in honor of our Dad. Can anyone come up with any ideas for entertainment?

* There are only a mere 47 days left to go until it is officially Summer 2015. I kind of like the Springtime myself, but I always welcome my second favorite season.

* There are only 12 more days to go until Brittany's Graduation, this is finals week for WVU so if she has to take any finals, they will be this week and then she is done and become a member of the Alumni.

* This is the 4,042nd Blog Post that I have written for George's Journal in the little over 10 1/2 years I have been writing this blog.

* One of the things that I bought this past week in Amish Country was some Bubble Lights. My Grandmother used to have these around her tree at the bottom where she built her village. We were all fascinated with them and I've been wanting some for a few years. I couldn't pass them up and bought a box of them.

* Hayley had a yard sale this past weekend, she is moving and had one to get rid of some old stuff and raise money to offset the moving expenses. She did better on Saturday than she did on Sunday, but she still had a couple of great days.

* Amy and Ralphie will be taking their turn traveling to Amish Country this weekend. She was up there a few weeks ago and had a great time, now they are both returning for a weekend. I know we enjoy ourselves whenever we go.

* My In-Laws, Chris, Jim their kids Amanda and Jon all worked as a tandem and ran the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon this year. Congratulations to each and every one of them as well as a few people I know from Morgantown who ran it.

* Our contract at work has been protested, meaning everything is on hold and extended until August 31st of this year, but it may be extended a little beyond that since September 30 is the end of the Fiscal year and there will be no new Federal Money to throw onto a new contract until then.

* No updates on the Brother Search this week, but I do need to start moving forward on this soon.

* No work on the Family Tree site this week, weather is too nice and I just don't want to be sitting at home in front of a computer during this time of the year.

* With Mothers Day coming up this weekend, Michelle is planning on returning home to visit friends and family and I'll be here holding down the fort and maybe doing the same. I promised her that there would be no Wings Ole for me. The last time she left town and left me here, I ended up with Food Poisoning from Wings Ole and have not been back since.

* Have  Great Day

* Hi Ho hi ho

Weekend Reflection

All good things must come to an end and unfortunately that does include those fun filled things we refer to as weekends. Ours was great but now it's time to head back into the office to do what it is we do for a living, but first maybe a little reflection.

Our weekend was great, it included a trip to Amish County with my Mom on Saturday that included a day of shopping, laughing and just having fun. A memorable day to say the least.

Yesterday my nephew Moke stopped over to pay a visit. Ang was playing Bingo and he had no desire to play Bingo so he stopped over to see his favorite Aunt and Uncle. We ended up all going out to dinner at Primanti Brothers once Ang finished up playing her Bingo. That is onlyu the second time I've been there since it came to Morgantown and the first with Michelle.

After leaving Primanti Brothers we saw Trish, Joe and Layla and spent a few minutes saying hello to them. They were celebrating their second wedding anniversary and had just taken Layla to Med Express and stopped and got her some kind of ice cream drink from Tim Hortons.

It was a great day and a great weekend, now it's time for me to stick my nose on the grindstone for another week at work.

Have a great day.

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again in a quiet Household, I'm the first one to recover from that losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up early watching Tammy on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

We had a great day yesterday in our daytrip to Amish Country in Ohio. We discovered a new place that my Mom showed us called Heinis Cheese Chalet  that I think we are going to add to the places we go to as well as a number of places we always hit when we head to the Area.

We started out at Breitenbach Winery, then went to Swiss Heritage Winery before heading to eat an early lunch at Der Dutchman at Sugar Creek as well as Carlisle Gifts before we headed out to Tis the Season then Heini's and finishing up our day at Amish County at the Walnut Creek Flea Market  before starting to head back home.

We did stop by Tappan Lake on our way up and actually saw a live Crane out in the wild. That was the first time any of us have ever actually seen one that wasn't in a zoo or contained in some kind of a habitat. This is the lake that was filled with Lilly Pads the last time that we were there a few years ago.

On our way home we stopped and got some Pizza from DiCarlos for dinner and brought an uncooked one home for Michelle and half a tray that was cooked for Gerald.

It was a great day and a busy day but a very memorial day to  to say the least.  I think my Mom had a great time and really enjoyed herself and I know Michelle and I enjoyed having her with us.

Every time we go out there since we do it as day trips it seems like we always visit the places we like and like to find at least one more place that we haven't been to see if we want to add it to our regular routine. Heini's is a place we will re-visit I'm quite sure.

Today it's back to normal, shopping laundry and preparing for the week of working ahead. I'll be home this coming weekend as Michelle is planning on traveling back home for the Mother's Day weekend.

Have a great day.

Road Trip Kind of Saturday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from that losing battle with the Sandman last night and I'm up early collecting my thoughts for the day and surfing the World Wide Web. Gracie is here and we are up watching Super Troopers and cooking Breakfast.

I'll be heading out here early this morning to go to the other side of town to pick up my Mom and then come back home and grab Michelle and pack up and head out on another road trip this morning.

It's going to be a day trip as we will return this evening and we're heading out to Amish Country in Ohio for the day. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and in the 70's today, so it's a good day for a road trip. This is one of Mom's favorite places to go, so we are going to take her out with us for the day and use her experience of the place to maybe help us learn a few new places that we have not seen yet or been to as well as stopping at a few of our favorite places for the day.

Michelle and I have been there twice, the first was when we went to the NFL Hall of Fame back in 2010 and I believe the second time was the following year right before our first cruise, but we pulled double duty that year as it was a family get together for Michelle's family was the primary reason we traveled there on that day.

On the way home we are planning on stopping at Di Carlos for dinner and even bringing one home. We always bring one home partially cooked then portion it out for Michelle as it is surprisingly one food that she has had absolutely no problem eating son she takes a couple of slices for her lunch at work. Freezing it gives her 8 different means when she desires it.

It's going to be a great day with a couple of special ladies, so I'll have my cameras with me  and our cooler bag ready to go.

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 Michelle's Surgery yesterday was once again a success, this is the fourth time that we have had to do this, hopefully this will be the final time she has to go through this. I know she does get a little nervous each and every time they have to do this to her and it's starting to wear on her.

Our plans for the weekend will involve yet another road trip. We're heading out early tomorrow morning and we'll be taking my Mom with us as we venture out to Amish Country in Ohio for the day. Both my Mom and Michelle lover it out there.

 I know Michelle is planning on returning home to Beaver next weekend for a couple of days and I'll be home to hold down the Fort. The following weekend we are going to be taping Steelers Triva Brittany's Graduation Ceremonies are also that Sunday, so I'll have a Busy weekend to say the least.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho