Monday

All good things must come to an end, and that does in fact include those fun filled fall football weekends that we all kind of enjoy. Now it's time to put those games behind us, head into the office so we can talk about those games and start another week of doing what it is we do for a living.

Would you believe that today is kind of an accomplishment for me as a blogger. While I am coming up on a milestone of 5,000 blogs written which should be coming up later this month, today actually marks the 13th Anniversary of my very first blog post. It was 13 years ago today that I heard someone say "I'm a grogger not a blogger", that I had to find out what a blogger was. I knew what a grog was, but I had never heard the term blogger so I investigated and the rest is a daily documented history pretty much of my life over the last 13 years.

I have to say that for me, someone who loses interest in things after a while, that 13 years of writing about things in my life is a pretty remarkable accomplishment for me. It's a great way to document times and events of things that have happened in my life. It's documented my time with Michelle, job changes that I have made, births, deaths, travel, purchases, what I am watching on TV, and things in my life and the lives of many people who have been around me for those 13 years.

I try to keep it simple with a few simple rules I have adopted over the years. Never air out any dirty laundry on my blog. I have a few times, but I have found it is better to remain neutral. Keep it PG rated, I have been known to cuss worse than a factory worker at times and I have tried not to carry it over to this format. I've made very few political posts and that has been by design. I do strongly hold my opinion, but putting it out there for the whole world to see while I am employed as a Government Contractor is probably not the smartest move so I just don't do it. I try not to angry post or say anything derogatory about anyone. I learned a long time ago expressing your emotions is one thing, expressing your emotions and documenting them on the internet or Social Media (which this blog also posts to via Twitter and Facebook) is something that you could very be more trouble than it was ever intended.

There are other rules, but they have all been pretty simple and easy to comply to. I have been threatened with lawsuits by lawyers for my blog a few times. Specifically the cash for gold scam whose attorney's sent me multiple letters to cease and desist, but they are lawyers and not a judge and I stood by first Amendment Rights.

I can been a wonderful 13 years, it's been fun documenting them and I take a little time out every once in a while to go back and review them. It's been tedious at times, but I don't regret becoming a blogger and it really has been a whole lot of fun for me.

Have yourselves a great day today and here is to another 13 years of Blogging.

Hi ho hi ho

It all Started 10 years ago today

It all started ten years ago today, a co-worker made a statement of "I'm a Grogger, nor a Blogger" (Thank You Evan Fedorko) and I knew that a Grogger was someone who was a beer drinker, but at that time I had absolutely no idea what a Blogger was. I googled it, because that's what college graduates did back then when there was something they didn't understand, and quickly saw the blogger site. It came up first in my search engine results, probably because Google owned both of them, so I decided to start one.

I had seen that blog stood for weB LOG, an online Journal that people use to track their lives and events. My sister Kim had been doing something like that on her website and was honestly the first one to start blogging. She's had about 10,000 different or better different variations of blogs (she likes change) and I started with one concept and called it George's Journal as I made my very first Blog post ten years ago today at exactly the same time that this blog is going to post.

It has been an honor and a privilege for me to share my life publicly over the last decade. A lot has changed over that decade, I had just recently Graduated a few months earlier and was still working for peanuts at the NRAC and through this blog my career has blossomed. I went from a single guy looking for love to marrying a very special lady. I've blogged about births, deaths, events, TV shows, vacations, come up with a number of themes to allow me to do this daily and have learned a few lessons about how to be a blogger the hard way. Never air out or disrespect anyone through your blog, that doesn't go away and no matter how mad you are, nothing like that needs to last forever.

So here is to ten years and the start of my second decade writing George's Journal. I think I'm going to continue to celebrate our Steelers Trivia Championship at my favorite place in the world with my wife.

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading and allowing me to share. It is all of you that have given this blog life. And to my midget porn loving Mother, thank you for so much feedback through the years. This blog has your fingerprints all over it from things you did and did not like.

Here's to (at least) another ten years!!!

Five Wonderful Years

Your regularly scheduled Big Ole Hairy Friday has been interrupted this week to celebrate a milestone in my life. It was five wonderful years ago today that my life was forever changed.

It was five years ago today that Michelle took hours to get ready to go and grab Pizza at Pizza Hut and go and see a movie at the Theater.

I have to say that the dinner was good and memorable, so much so that we are going to repeat that experience this evening for dinner. I've always loved Pizza Hut and it's where we went to dinner on our first date.

After the dinner we headed out to see the Movie 10,000 BC. Arguably one of the worst movies that either of us have ever seen, neither one of us have bothered to watch it again and tonight will not be any different.

However after the movie I did get my first smooch from the at the time future and current day wife.

It was a day that has changed my life for the better ever since and a decision that I have never regretted. I have been very fortunate that she has not only entered but shared my life together with me.

I love you Michelle, Happy Five year Anniversary of our first date 1,827 days ago.

First Anniversary

It was one magical year ago today that my life changed forever. It was a day that I'm sure many people in my family had wondered if they would ever see, a day that I some times even wondered if I would ever see.

One year ago today I married my best friend, my lover and my soul mate. The person who has helped me bring my life into perspective and made me realize that I had just wandered around like an empty soul for the first 47 years of my life.

It was one year ago today that our lives were forever joined as husband and wife. A day when I finally felt complete for the first time in my entire life. I have my wife to thank for allowing me to experience this feeling that had evaded me for my entire life.

It's been one magical year. We have had our ups and downs just like every married couple, mostly ups with a rare down. She is the love of my life, the one who I chose to spend the rest of my life with.

To my beautiful wife and best friend Michelle, thank you for saving me. It was you that rescued me from a life of loneliness and unfulfillment. We came a long with in the time we dated and we have come a longer way in the past year. I only look towards the future with anticipation as to the tomorrow we are building while cherishing the yesterdays we made. I love you with all of my heart.

Happy First Anniversary.