Sunday

Here I sit yet once again in a semi-quiet household, Kiwi and Peanut have stayed up all night playing Cards, I think they are playing Texas Holdem, they also ordered a case of Creme Soda and they had Popcorn, they must have eaten all of that. 

So what is on today's agenda? Not much of anything, probably a few chores early this morning, the ones we do every Sunday morning and that should be pretty much it. 

Michelle already got all of the grocery shopping done, so it's going to be a relaxing day, which might have a nap on the agenda, believe it or not. The older I get, the more I really appreciate 

I'm feeling under the weather, have been since Friday Morning, so my creative juices just aren't flowing.

Have yourself a great day. 

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit on a semi-quiet Saturday Morning, Kiwi and Peanut have been up all night practicing the "If You Don't Know Me By Now" song that mine and Michelle's Wedding Dance, I think they have got their two-part harmony going with Kiwi taking the lead and Peanut doing the melody. They want to surprise her when she wakes up. They said it is Valentine's Day and they want to surprise their Mommy. 

It is Valentine's Day, which means that it is a special day for my Valentine and love of my life. I am so lucky for this wonderful woman to have came back into my life. 

Anyone ever hear the story of how Michelle and I first met? I was driving a route truck for Mister Bees years ago, and I was trying to drum up some new business and went to Patty's Valley Mart to see if I could enlist where I once worked at as a new customer. Michelle was the manager of the store and caught my eye. In a trip that should have taken me 10-15 minutes to set up, I think it took me a couple of hours to actually set the store up, all because of this really attractive manager Patty had working for her. Little did I know it was glimpse at my future. 

Michelle was married at the time and I was just getting ready to start college. Pan ahead a few years, I'm out of college, Michelle's first husband had passed away leaving her a widow and the window of opportunity presented itself once again with a chance encounter at WalMart. That was the year we did Christmas at Klaer Lodge and I had invited Michelle to come and spend Christmas with us. She stood me up, but that's another story..lol

Happy Valentines Day to my lovely wife Michelle and to all the happy couples out there. 

Make it special. 

Big Ole Hairy Friday

Yes, it is once again that time of the week that we all look forward 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 again the dawn of another weekend and a Big Ole Hairy Friday!!!

Kiwi and Peanut are feeling both happy and a little sad. It is Friday (the 13th, mind you), but Phil saw his shadow, which means spring isn’t quite here yet. They’re both clearly ready for warmer days—doors open wide, fresh air drifting in, and that unmistakable hint of spring beginning to fill the air. Kiwi says he can’t wait to see the daffodils push through the soil and make their cheerful springtime debut in the backyard.

This is actually one of my least favorite times of the year. Football and the Superbowl are over with, Baseball really hasn't started, it's still cold and wintery outside and I'm just sitting here waiting for my favorite season of the year, Springtime where everything is reborn. Whoever came up with the acronym SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) was an absolute genius because they just came up with a good technical name for Cabin Fever. 

Have yourselves 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 at some of the 30,000+ photos that I have stored on my computer. Little lost moments in time that I either captured with a lens, scanned, or just stole from somewhere on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up, recalling or reliving the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not that easy, but one thing it has always been a lot of fun.

This is a picture of me actually outside of my office at Frostburg State nearly 20 years ago. By this time I was working remotely from home pretty much exclusively, but still went to my office (about an hour drive) every once in a while. I rarely put myself a the center of these images that often, it was due for an exclusive. 

I was acually looking at the Campus on Google Maps and I have seen a lot of changes that have occured to that campus since I last worked there. The Washington Redskins used to do their training camp here, like the Steelers do St Vincent's College. 

Have yoursleves a great day, make your own memories. 

Hi ho hi ho

Lucy's Journal

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February 11th

Today we made the executive decision—by “we,” I mean Kiwi stood on the back of a chair, puffed up like a tiny green foreman, and screamed until everyone agreed—that it was time to get serious about the backyard waterfall. Fall may feel far away, but according to Kiwi, planning season waits for no one.

So off we went to Rural King, the one place where you can buy chicken feed, fencing, and a tractor part you didn’t know existed—all in the same aisle.

Kiwi rode in like royalty, perched high and scanning shelves like he was pricing materials in his head. Gravel? Approved. Pond liner? Questionable. Solar pump? He stared at it for a full thirty seconds, which I’ve learned means yes but later.

The Quackers, however, did not make it past the livestock section with their dignity intact.

That’s where they saw them.

The ducklings.

Tiny. Yellow. Peeping like squeaky toys possessed by joy.

The Quackers froze.

All four of them.

One whispered, “Haven’t we… been here before?”
Another swore they remembered choosing ducklings once.
The third looked deeply unsettled and muttered something about “the timeline repeating itself.”
The fourth tried to adopt one before I could blink.

Full-blown déjà vu hit them like a feed-bin to the soul. For a moment, I genuinely thought we were about to relive history in aisle seven.

Peanut, observing from the cart like a judgmental gargoyle, seemed disappointed we weren’t bringing home chaos in a cardboard box.

Eventually, we regrouped in the lumber aisle. Kiwi began outlining the waterfall design by knocking small boards onto the floor in what I assume was a very advanced engineering language. The Quackers recovered enough to debate whether the waterfall should have vibes or mystical energy. Peanut voted for “something fish-adjacent.”

We left with pond stones, tubing, and a suspicious amount of zip ties—because every project requires faith and zip ties.

No ducklings followed us home.
The timeline remains intact.
For now.

Kiwi spent the evening staring out the back window, already imagining the waterfall. I swear I heard him whisper, “Fall is coming.”

I believe him.

Wednesday

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Monday is over with good reason to do a tidbits. 

* It has been 22,693 days since I was born, that is 21 years using my new,  new, new, and improved 1,069-day Calendar. mom is at 30,347 which would make her 28 according to my new and improved calendar. 

* It has been 7,945 days since I graduated from WVU with a Degree in Geography. I love what I do and am thankful to still be working in my field. 

* 6,539 days ago Michelle and I had our first date together. Life has been much better since then. 

* 5,743 days ago I proposed to Michelle in the backyard at 4:00 in the morning. I've been the luckiest guy since that fateful day. 

* It was 5,780 days ago in front of our closest friends and family, for the most part, Michelle and I became husband and wife at the Marilla Center, it was a great day with friends and family. 

* I have now lived 2,918 days longer than my Dad did and I'm still going strong, slowing down but still going. 

* Michelle has been living a clean and productive life and beat that alcohol demon 1,572 days ago today. 

* My older Brother Jonathan lived 21,273 days, I've now outlived him by 1,435 days, making me Senior Supreme Sibling once again! 

* Old roommate Gregg proposed to his fiancée 150 days ago, I'm happy for those two. I asked him a couple weeks ago if they set a date yet, he said we would be the first to know. 

* I have 2,199 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred days here or there, but I love doing what I do. Who knows, though, doing what I do I may never retire.

* 357 more days until Phil steps to center stage once again for Groundhog Day. I'm still mad at the damn rat

* 324 more days to go until my Goodbye 2026 Blog is posted. 

* There are 317 more shopping days left until Christmas 2026. 

* There are 294 days until I hit the age of 63. Yeah I know, I'm really older than 21. 

* There are only 178 more days to go until Michelle and I will celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary......maybe

* There are 37 days until my favorite season begins, a lot of people love different seasons, I am a Spring person who loves the Springtime. 

* It has been ∞ (infinity symbol) days that I have hated both Pitt and Penn State.

* I have written 8,244 blogs in what is now 21 years of Blogging. 

* Progress on my Selfie in Space, right here. We are ready for liftoff and holding. 

* I need to get some new bullet points. I like to keep a certain number that are regular, I need some more count downs or count ups. 

* This is my favorite TikTok, I love prank phone calls and this one is hilarious. 

* Have yourselves a great day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end—but if you’ve got to wrap up the weekend, today’s a pretty exciting way to do it. Now it’s time to take our collective noses and press them firmly back onto the grindstone of life. Back to work, back to the hustle, back to doing our part to make this spinning rock a better place.

Kiwi and Peanut could be heard giggling as Michelle and I prepare to walk out the door, getting ready to go to work. No idea what they are up to, something about a poker game and toilet papering some of the neighbors' cars. Maybe I need to invest in an indoor camera to keep an eye on these two during the day. 

It's not official yet (no start date) but Michelle got her offer letter from Swanson Industries and will officially transition to them officially after the typical pre-employment stuff. Drug screen, background search, paperwork filled out and submitted and a sample of her world famous butterscotch cookies. She will be an Administrative Assistant, they were really impressed with her during her temporary assignment with Express Employment who she worked a contract through for Swanson. I am very proud of her I'll let everyone know when she officially transitions. She has been looking at the Swanson-branded gear the past few days that she is now eligable to buy at their price. 

Have yourselves a great day, hope the animals don't wreck the place. 

Hi ho hi ho