Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well the last Monday that I am going to work is behind us, now we can start concentrating on Tuesdays for a while. Still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,531 days ago yours truly was born.

* 3,754 days ago I accomplished a lifelong dream as I earned my degree from West Virginia University, a decision that I have never regretted.

* 2,355 days ago on a cold spring evening, Michelle and I went out on our first dater together. Yes even after all of these years now, the movie still stunk it up to high heaven.

* 1,579 days ago, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage to a remarkable woman.

* It's been 1,116 days now that we have been married. I'm lucky enough to be married to not only someone I love very much, but my best friend and soul mate.

* I have about 6,306 or so days, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I enter into the world of retirement.

* I have 345 days to go until my 4th Wedding Anniversary.

* My Goodbye 2014 Blog, my favorite blog of the year, will be presented in 127 more days. I still have a lot of time to add content.

* If you're getting ready to start Christmas Shopping, you have 121 more days to go. For those of you possibly on a tight budget, Walmart starts their Christmas Lay Away program for 2014 in September. They have signs up now promoting it.

* We are only 12 days away from heading out on our third cruise. Yes two weeks from now I will be out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where the Ocean Floor is about 16,000 ft below us.

* Only 4 more days until the 2014 West Virginia University Mountaineer Football team takes the field for the first time as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. I guess that means this weekend it's officially FOOTBALL!!!!!!

* I had a little unpleasant surprise yesterday morning, I had to stop at Krogers before work and when I went out to the car my Battery was deader than a doorknob. I called Michelle and she helped me jump start it. I drove straight to Advance Auto and purchased a new battery, the battery was dead once again as I tried to restart my car at Advance. Fortunately the Alternator tested out fine and I was able to make it in to work and out out a few unexpected fires.

* The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $79.2 Million as of the time of me writing this blog. That is a pretty remarkable grass roots fund raiser.

* It was announced this past week that the former Jamestown Jammers will be the professional Baseball team that will be playing in the new Ballpark being built in Morgantown and they will begin play here for the 2015 season.

* I'm down 66 lbs so far since May, and 81 since Christmas (and my surprise 50th Birthday Party) last year. Still got a ways to go, but I walked the trails yesterday at work and did the big hill with little to no problem. We're talking about a hill with a 15% grade and me going up that. It's much easier than it was last time I tackled that hill due to all the weight loss.

* The High School Football Week 1 Power Ratings are out. The Morgantown High Mohigans are ranked #5 and the University High Hawks are ranked #9 in the AAA Power ratings.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday Morning

All good things must unfortunately come to an end, and by good things that also means those fun filled things we refer to as weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of work, so we can do the things we like to do on the weekends.

For me, this is my last Monday for a few weeks as I will be off the next three either due to Holiday or vacation that is extended an extra day as we regroup from our cruise. I guess all I have to do is get this week in and to do that we have to go through a Monday.

Looking at my week ahead, there are no Doctors appoints that I have scheduled this week, that's the first in a while for me. I've done everything that I have needed to do other than two more dietitian meetings to fulfill all the obligations on my end to have the gastric Bypass Surgery. To be honest though, I'm down 65 lbs since May 28th and 80 lbs since Christmas, and I am within 15 lbs of being within the high end of the target weight the Dr had set for me one year AFTER surgery. I may be within a few pounds or have reached that by the time I get to my sixth and final dietitian meeting in early October. The odds of me actually going through with this surgery now are getting slimmer and slimmer, especially when I'm doing so without any medical assistance or surgery. I've not been this low in weight in I can't remember when, maybe the early 90's and I've still got a long way to go. There is no finish line, only goals as this is a lifestyle change and not a diet.

The ALS Ice Bucket challenge is amazing in what it can do, it's raised over $70 Million as everyone and their brother are either doing it or donating to it. I can't say I have ever seen a grass roots campaign ever have this much success or be that successful. It's actually quite amazing what it has accomplished.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

Here I sit once again on a quiet Sunday Morning, I'm once again the first to recover from that knockout blow I suffered from that dreaded Sandman yesterday evening and I'm up collecting my thoughts once again. I just got done watching the movie Dodgeball on HBO and am thinking about going back to bed for a while to be honest with you.

We didn't get into a whole lot yesterday, we did go buy a new bathroom scale  yesterday since the one we had was starting to go on the fritz, so I did my research and did one that was a little more accurate and provided a lot more information. This one calculates your BMI, Fat Weight, Water Weight and Bone Mass. It's a nice little indicator of how much farther we can go in our weight loss.

Speaking of weight loss, we stopped by JC Penney's yesterday to try on some new clothes and see how we are doing with our weight loss. I used to wear a 54" jacket and a 46" was almost comfortable yesterday. Jeans which I did buy a new pair were a size I haven't fit into since the 1980's or at least early 1990's. I've went as high as a 46" waist and an now down to a 38" waist as I have now passed another 10 pound increment in my weight loss.

Today's plans are pretty simple, we're heading to the grocery store this morning and doing our normal Sunday Grocery shopping for the week although I did go to Krogers yesterday morning and get all of the vegetables for the week. Laundry is the other thing we have to do today before we return to work tomorrow. The good thing is tomorrow will be my last Monday until September 22nd as the following Monday is Labor Day and the next two Mondays we'll be on and finishing up our vacation which includes our cruise.

A bit of good news, as of yesterday the ALS Foundation due to the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $62.5 Million  compared to the $2.4 Million during the same time period as last year. I took the challenge earlier this week and Michelle took it yesterday  after being challenged by her Sister Chris.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

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 kind of a quiet weekend all around. BOPARC's Summer movie series is over with until next Summer and High School Football don't start up until NEXT weekend as does College Football.

There are really no plans for Michelle and I think weekend, but this will be the last one for a while where we can say that. We're traveling to Ohio next weekend for Michelle's Grandmothers Birthday. Then the following weekend we'll be heading to Baltimore for our cruise that will take place that week. Which leaves us with this weekend to maybe do some last minute planning and grabbing things that we will need for our vacation.

I'll probably be taking it easy this weekend, my gout is starting to attack again. I think that 4.75 hike we did last Saturday plus with what I do on the fitness trail at work during the week is starting to aggravate it a little bit. Michelle and I are looking into getting a treadmill or something along those lines.

I case anyone missed it, I was called out for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge earlier this week. I accepted the challenge and did it and called out my five people as well as making a donation to the ALS Foundation.

Have a great day and enjoy your weekend.

Hi ho hi ho