Goodbye 2014

January

* William Devault passed away. William was Mark's Dad, the keeper of the Devault family tree and a great guy.

* Due to the Polar Vortex, Wind Chills dropped as low as -24° F. This was as cold as it has been in Morgantown in roughly 20 years.

* Michelle and I sponsored Sidney Switzer, Jane's Daughter,  as she was traveled to Amsterdam to play Catcher for the United States Softball team in the Europe Cup.

* Sheila Eddy pleaded guilty to First Degree Murder of Skylar Neese.

* I wrecked Pearl, I put a ding on the left front bumper that needed repaired.

* Michelle and I retired the Taurus and purchased LP, my new day to day car.

February 

* Phil saw his Shadow, it would have been nice has we ONLY received another six weeks of winter.

* Another snowstorm hit Morgantown pretty hard, making our front driveway a pretty entertaining place to be. Numerous cars ended up in the ditch.

* My Uncle Ralph passed away. I saw my cousins Sharon and Lynne for the first time in a few years.

* We planned and booked our 2014 cruise.

* Michelle and I bought each other our Valentines Day Gift to each other, a Webber Kettle Grille that we ended up using all summer long.

March

* My niece Amy's pet chicken Marvin was run over by a car. Marvin was actually the one chicken that she had that was more of a pet than anything else.

* Michelle and I went to Pittsburgh to have Hayley's iPhone repaired. She had shattered the screen.

* Michelle and I had dinner with an old co-worker/mentor of GIS of mine, JB Churchill. He found a job that was closer to home for him and wanted to have dinner one night.

* The WVU Rifle Team won another National Championship.

* Hayley moved back in to our household, we rented a U-Haul and Chad and Laiah were a big help in helping her move.

April

* We finally officially broke in our Valentines Day Gift of a Webber Grill.

* Windows XP saw its end of life date come and go.

* Michelle and I traveled to Washington DC once again for the Cherry Blossom Festival, we caught them in full bloom this year.

* I bought and installed a personal cloud service for the home, something that would allow me to access all of my files remotely.

* We reserved a Pavillion and started planning our Family Pic Nic for July.

May

* WVU Baseball team played their last games at Hawley Field. The Field will still be around, but a new ballpark will be opening up in 2015, I attended the game where we beat Texas.

* Amanda Paugh (Michelle's Niece) Graduated from WVU with her Masters Degree, we all went out to Oliverios to celebrate.

* We taped the Steelers Trivia Show that we won for a second time, it played throughout the Summer, but it was all taped at KDKA Studios in downtown Pittsburgh.

* We attended not one but two of my nephew Calvin's Graduations.

* Michelle and I "Officially" Started our weight loss journey when we had our first Official Weigh in.

* We traveled to Black Water Falls for a day.

June

* Hayley turned that magical age of 21 (really).

* Michelle had to have a root canal done.

* Former Marshall Football Coach showed up at Michelle's Office not once but twice, he had a picture of him kissing her and telling me that she is now a Marshall fan. (grrr)

* Former Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Chuck Knoll, the winner of 4 of Pittsburgh's 6 Super Bowl Wins (suck it fans from any other team), passed away.

* Michelle and I attended the Rosiak Family 4th of July Party. An event that I have been going to since the 20th Century.

July

* For the first time in my life, I battled Gout. I don't drink, so it was kind of confusing for me to get it, but it is painful to say the least.

* We had a family Picnic at Krepps Park. It was a great day and there was a lot of food. My Brother in law Jim flipped the bill for everyone who wanted to go swimming to go swimming, we need to do that again this year.

* Michelle and I visited Hovatters Zoo in Preston County, the place had grown significantly since the last time I was there and this was Michelle's first trip.

* Roger Powell, a long time family friend had passed away.

* Michelle and I attended the Jimmy Buffett Tailgate, we had tickets to go but never made it in due to an illness that she suddenly encountered. My niece Valarie made her first concert and had a great time.

August

* Michelle and I traveled to Monaca for her Great Nephew Jonny's first Birthday party.

* Michelle and I traveled to Pittsburgh to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates battle Morgantown Native Jedd Gyroko and the San Diego Padres at PNC Park. Jedd drove in the winning run and the Pirates lost 2-1, but we did enjoy a nice fireworks display after the game.

* I introduced Wednesday Wisdom for the first time.

* I was challenged in by Chris Ostein and accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. A number of other people in the family also were challenged and accepted it. It was a great phenomenon that raised a significant amount of money for a very good cause.

* Michelle headed to East Liverpool Ohio for her Grandmother's birthday party, I opted to stay home and watch the football game. I ended up going to my Sisters to watch it.

September

* We had to put Michelle's long time pet of 18 years down. Sadie was suffering and struggling day to day, it was a difficult decision but one that had to be made. We have a memorial to her where she was laid to rest.

* We won the McDonalds KDKA Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Challenge again. This was our third time trying and the second time that we won it all.

* Michelle and I traveled to Baltimore to start our Caribbean Cruise for 2014. 656 pictures were added to Facebook from the cruise.

* We bought a new Treadmill to put in one of the spare bedrooms, just like everyone elses treadmills, it is rarely used. lol

* As part of our prize for winning the Trivia Challenge, we were special guests at the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tampa Bay game. A game that we lost 24-27.

October

* Michelle and I met my long time Smitty and his wife Stephanie at the Springs Festival. This is the third year in a row that we have attended this festival with them.

* Michelle and I took a trip to Moundsville, West Virginia to visit and tour the now retired West Virginia State Penitentiary.

* Michelle, Jean and Pam attended the Taste of Home Cooking Show here in Morgantown. They have done this event a few times and all really enjoy going.

* The WVU Football team upset the #4 ranked Baylor Bears here in Morgantown 41-27. There were a few couch fires around town that night.

* I had the wonderful procedure that you get when you turn 50, the Colonoscopy. I put it off for a number of months, but I couldn't avoid it forever and had it done.

November

* College Gameday made their second appearance in Morgantown, we were playing TCU and had them, but we let it slip away at the end and ended up losing 30-31. Couches were safe in Morgantown that night.

* I bought a new scanner for the house and did manage to scan nearly 700 pictures during the entire month.

* Michelle saw her journey to Gastric Bypass Surgery come to full fruition as she had the surgery and started the recovery process.

* We spent Thanksgiving Day with Michelle's family at the Cassville Firehall. It's an annual event that they have there every year and we managed to raise enough money to host next years event. Hayley was accepted into Fairmont State, now both of Michelle's kids (Chad and Hayley) will be furthering their academic careers at Fairmont State University.

* We set up my Mother's Christmas Tree. This is the second year that we have all made customized ornaments and placed them on their tree.

December

* Morgantown was rocked by tragedy on my Birthday, there was a quadruple homicide in Morgantown where four people lost their lives before a deranged gunman took his own life.

* My great-niece Kynlea had surgery. It was a quick in and out procedure and she was honestly being sent home before I could even get an update.

* Michelle and I attended my Companies Christmas Dinner held at the Fujiyama Restaurant.

* Michelle and I traveled to Ohio for her families Christmas Dinner as well as traveling to my Sisters earlier on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas Eve there prior to the chaos that was about to follow in the next few hours.

* We lost both Jean and her brother Mick within a few hours of each other. Jean's official time of death was listed as December 24th and Mick's was listed as December 25th.  A double viewing and funeral was held for both Jean and Mick as well as Gravesite service.

* I have written 411 Blog Posts this year for George's Journal, my eighth consecutive year where at least 400 posting had been made.

Last Regular Blog of 2014

I return to work today and try to get our lives back to normal following yesterdays very emotional day. Now we have reached hump day and are starting to look ahead to another weekend.

This should once again be a short day for me, as we finish up a few year end things that I started on Monday before leaving. I'll be off tomorrow and already have my sauerkraut that we bought at the Springs Festival in October that we are going to throw in the cRock (Thanks Charlie and Sharon, that was embarrassing) pot tomorrow morning as well as a pork roast.

It has been a good and a bad year for me, it's seen it's high points and its seen its low points. We had a family reunion that I knew was Christmas in July so to speak, we went on another cruise and I have said goodbye to three family members that were all loved very dearly, Jean and Mick and my Uncle Ralph earlier this year.

Michelle and I are going to go out for a few hours tonight, we were invited to an Ugly Sweater party and I think we may actually make an appearance this evening. Not sure if I will stay up that far past my regular bedtime, but as of right now we are intending on going.

My Goodbye 2014 Blog is due to post later this morning, enjoy it and we will see you in 2015.

A Day of Funerals

This is going to arguably be the saddest day of my life. I've had sad days before, like when I lost my Grandfather, My Grandmother and the day I lost my Dad. Today is going to be especially though because we lay to rest not one, but two loved ones in Jean and her brother Mick on the same day, at the same funeral home and at the same grave site.  

Jean passed away Christmas Eve at her home and Mick also passed away somewhere around the same time frame although they list his date of death as December 25th, but that was when they made the declaration, his actual passing was between 8:00 and Midnight according to the medical report.

It's hard enough to say goodbye to anyone, much less a loved one. I can't imagine what it is going to be like today to say goodbye to not one, but two very inspirational people in my life. Two people that I consider it the highest honor to have known and loved.

Keep the family in your prayers as this is going to be a tough one.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded Monday is over with, I'm not sure that this is a day I have ever wanted to see, but I'm going to do a tidbits anyways to pass the time away. I'll post another blog later this morning.

* It has been 18,657 days since I entered this world a little over 51 years ago.

* It has been 3,880 days since I fulfilled a lifelong dream and graduated from West Virginia University.

* It was 2,481 days ago that my life changed forever, that was the day that I took a young woman out to dinner at Pizza Hut and later saw a movie. It was also the time we first kissed.

* 1,705 days ago I proposed marriage to Michelle, 4:00 in the morning right in the back yard. It was no surprise as she and everyone else knew it was coming, but it was still very special.

* 1,242 days ago in front of our closest family and friends at the Marilla Center we exchanged our vows and enjoyed an absolute feast prepared by a very special lady whom we are laying to rest on this day.

* I have about 6,180 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there until I finally retire from working.

* There are only 360 more shopping days left until Christmas, I contemplated eliminating this entry from the blog but we'll just make next year a celebration.

* Only 336 more days to go until my Birthday.

* We are 219 days away from Michelle any My's 4th Wedding Anniversary.

* We are 138 days away from seeing my niece Brittany Graduate from West Virginia University.

* We are only 80 days away from SPRINGTIME!!!!!

* We are only a few short days away from the college students returning. Meaning Brittany will be finishing her college career, Chad will be in his fourth Semester and both Hayley and my nephew Calvin will be joining Chad and starting at Fairmont State University.

* We are just one day away from my Goodbye 2014 Blog. It is about 99% written, I just need to finalize the last entry.

* I've got the Photo DVD done and it has been submitted and playing at the Funeral Home for Jean.

* Today is going to be a tough one as we lay two very loved people to rest later this morning. Yesterday was a day of visitation.

* The Steelers have won the AFC North and are looking very good going into the post season. The last time we won the Steelers Trivia Show they won the Super Bowl...just putting that out there. =)

* Keep my family in your prayers today, it's going to be a tough one.

Visitation Day

Today is a day that I am dreading already, it is a day that we start to grieve and say goodbye to not only lone loved with with Jean , but her brother Mick as well. Visitation will begin this afternoon at 3:00 to 5:00 and then a two hour break to grab dinner and then another two hour visitation between 7:00-9:00 with the Parastas Service at 8:30.

To say that this has been a log time has been an understatement considering it has been a few days since the passing to allow family members to travel from out of state. Now the funerals/visitation start to begin. Everyone appears to have been fine the past few days from both sides of the family, just a lot of preparation and getting ready for a day that I'm sure that we are all going to not only be dreading but double dreading.

Something tells me that the next 36 hours are going to be filled with hugs, tears, remembrance, celebration of life and sorrow.

Early Sunday Morning

Here I sit once again in the early AM, after a good nights sleep for the first time in a few days I'm up early collecting my thoughts for the day and just surfing around a little bit on Facebook. It should be a regular day for us today including our grocery shopping and finishing up the weeks laundry before week get started.

I do have to start to put the picture DVD for Jean together this afternoon, so I will probably be spending some time going through all of my pictures and pulling out any and every one that we may want to use over the next couple of days.

I'll most likely go into work for a few hours tomorrow so that I can write the monthly report or at least start to get it written, as I will be off the or occupied the rest of the week before the report is due and the visitation and funeral begins.

We did relax at home last night and bought a movie on Amazon, we just got a romantic comedy called Sex Tape that was actually pretty funny. There were a couple other ones in our que to watch later, but those were all more serious movies that may have included people passing and we just weren't in the mood for anything like that right now, so we got a comedy.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the only one up and going on just a couple of hours of sleep and I'm just sitting here with the TV off collecting my thoughts for the day. I'm thinking real hard about going back to bed and laying down for a few more hours.

Well the Funeral arrangements for both my step mother Jean and  Uncle Mick  have both been completed and will coincide with one another at Hastings. The viewings and funeral will be run simultaneously but in different viewing rooms. Monday afternoon from 3:00 - 5:00 and then again from 7:00 - 9:00. Then there will be a viewing on Tuesday Morning between 10:00 and 11:00 with the double funeral beginning at 11:00 followed by a final memorial at East Oak Grove where Jean will be buried next to my Dad with Mick in very close proximity to them and his parents. Both Full obituaries will be available today in the Dominion Post and a more condensed version in tomorrow's edition.

Jean had arranged for her own funeral and written her own obituary in January prior to her having surgery, there were a correction or two that were pointed out but were not published on the website or in the newspaper with the corrections until it was too late and it already went to press. Namely Kynlea Dalton was spelled inaccurately, even though it was pointed out.

I need to make a DVD with Jean's pictures today for the funeral as well as possibly assist Michael in making a memorial video for his Dad.

Have a great day.

A Humbling Day

Siblings Mick and Jean (RIP)

Yes Yesterday was Christmas, however it has to have been the most humbling day of my life. Going on little to no sleep Christmas Eve due to the passing of Jean after her long battle with Pancreatic Cancer, I woke up with a second dose of reality. As I woke up, I found out that my Uncle Mickey, Jean's brother, has also passed away on what we believe Christmas Eve.

No one was able to reach him by phone to inform him of Jean's passing, so first his daughter Sherri and then his son Michael drove to his home late night Christmas Eve to find that he had also passed.

My sister Pam said that Jean started to become real restless in the early AM prior to her passing on Christmas Eve, being these two siblings were very close many of us are wondering if that is when something happened to Mick and Jean just knew it. Her demise was expected, Mick had even stopped in at the hospital Sunday evening to see her and he looked great, so to say that his passing was a surprise is an absolute understatement.

My heart goes out to Sandy and Richard, who lost two siblings and Michael and Sherri who lost their father and Aunt as well as their respective families as well as my own siblings during this time of double loss/grieving. One we were prepared for, the other we were not. RIP Mick Toth and Jean Hall, I am a better man for knowing each of you.

An Inspirational Woman

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is safe and sound and surrounded by the ones that love them on this Christmas Day. It's a magical time of the year where love, peace and understanding should be a world wide thing.

I'm kind of combining a traditional Photo Flashback with a something to reflect upon this day. I saw this picture as I was looking through my videos and started looking at the pictures and just knew this was the right one for today. This is the last picture of me and all my siblings that was ever taken, but I took the color out for a little dramatic effect.

I'll try to get a video out for last night some time today, but no promises as I am going to try implementing videos as well as pictures into this one.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Eve and a better Christmas Day. Michelle and I will be traveling to her sisters here in Morgantown for dinner today and spending some time with her family.

Merry Christmas.

RIP Gloria Jean Toth Hall

Gloria Jean Toth Hall
 8-20-49 - 12-24-14

Tonight we lost a very special person. My step Mother Jean whom I was very close to was called home to be with my Dad on Christmas Eve. She was a remarkable woman and I consider it an absolute honor to have known her and shared much of my life, both the triumphs and tragedies with her.

She was an absolute inspiration to any and all who ever met her and would selflessly work herself into exhaustion for the benefits of those she loved. She is the most remarkable and inspiring person that I have had the pleasure to have known.

We have kept her year long battle with Pancreatic Cancer off of the internet or social median, because she was so selfless that she did not want anyone else to worry about her.

She has touched so many lives, and I can't even explain how inspirational this woman was even after she had a debilitating stoke 16 years ago and never let that slow her down one bit. She was truly a one of a kind woman.

We miss and Love you Jean.

Christmas Eve 2014, the Videos of Years past

Some of my family videos from Christmas Eve's past Enjoy.


2013

2012

2008



I have the 2007 video on Vimeo

It doesn't appear that I did one for 2006.

2005 which is probably my all time favorite one that I have done.




2004



1999 Which was my Dad's last Christmas




I would once again like to do another one for this year, time will tell though if I can get enough pictures and find that right song to tie them all together. Now that I have a good video camera, it may include some video and a little more creativity on my part to put on together.

Christmas Eve

Well all the planning, shopping, preparing, decorating, cooking, wrapping and traveling starts to come to an end tonight for everyone. It is Christmas Eve, actually the day that I look forward to more than Christmas as it has traditionally been the Eve that was more of the celebration than the day for my family.

We have traditionally gotten together as a whole or partial family until on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day is for the individual families to spend together. Tonight will be a night of traveling and celebrating for Michelle and I.

First stop, where ever my Sister Pam is at. She and I have traditionally fought for Hot Sausage Hoagies on Christmas Morning, so I've got 12 lbs of good hot sausage that I am going split up between my two stops and an 18 lb ham that I am taking to Terri's house later on this evening. We'll be putting the sausage on pretty soon and I'll come home early from work to start the ham for this evening. There will also be the traditional Chinese Gift Exchange at Terri's again this year.

For everyone wanting to watch Santa's progress as he zips around the world delivering toys to good little Boys and Girls, NORAD's Santa Tracker is the best tool to use. They have been tracking Santa for nearly 60 years now.

Have a Merry Christmas and please stay safe tonight. Wait till 7:00 and I'll be re-posting all of my old Christmas Eve videos right here.

Ho ho ho ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing that we refer to as Monday is now once again behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, other than Penguins at the beach I can't think of a better reason for a tidbits.

* It was 18,650 days ago that my Mother gave birth to me, the first of three Children she had and her contribution to a better world.

* 3,873 days ago I fulfilled the better late than never dream of Graduating from West Virginia University,

* 2,474 days ago I had the opportunity to take a recently widowed Mother of two out for a night on the town, the movie was horrible but she must have forgiven me as we are still together.

* 1,698 days ago I figured I made this wonderful woman wait long enough and proposed to make our relationship a permanent one.

* 1,235 days ago in front of our closest family and friends, we became Husband and Wife.

* If you are waiting to do your Christmas Shopping, you better get a start on it as you have only 2 days to go. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so you better be getting to it.

* Only 8 more days to go until my Goodbye 2014 Blog. Where I relive the highlights of the past year month by month in one blog post. I have everything written except for the last few entries of this month where I am still adding content.

* There are only 87 days to go until Springtime, since we are now officially in winter. Yuck.

* In 145 more days my niece Brittany will graduate from West Virginia University.

* In 226 more days Michelle and I will celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary.

* There are only 343 more days to go until my 52nd Birthday -)

* I have around 6,187 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I retire. Still a long way to go, but it is actually getting closer. I guess I'm no longer a spring chicken.

* This is my 3,890th post that I have written in over a decade of Blogging for George's Journal. It's amazing that I have managed to stick with it for that long, but it has provided a nice journal for me to use as a reference tool in my life and events surrounding it.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers are now officially back in the playoffs for the first time in a few years. With a 10-5 record, they will host the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night for the AFC North Division Title. Winning this game guarantees them a home playoff game next week, a loss would put them on the road during the first week of the playoffs.

* It doesn't appear like we are going to have a White Christmas here in North Central West Virginia this year, it's going to be a little too warm on the only day of the year I actually like to see snow.

* I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned this before, but I Hate Snow.

* I'm thinking about writing multiple blogs for tomorrow, I know one I want to do is going to be once again posting all of the Christmas Eve videos that I have done from years past up again which will include last years video. A way to reflect on years gone by. That will be my second blog of the day following my normal posting for the day.

* With the day after Christmas now a Federal Holiday this year, this is going to be a very short week for me at work. =)

* The Mountaineer Basketball team is off to a good start, this may be one to watch come tournament time because I think they can go far.

* Speaking of going far, the last time we won Steeler Trivia they won the Super Bowl that year. They are looking awfully good right now and are pretty much healthy.

* I'm so ready to watch a Christmas Story a couple dozen times this week, I usually watch it until my wife gets sick of it.

* Michelle and I made our weekly trip out to the new Baseball Field being built, it's looking good and there are now lights up. I'm getting excited for Baseball already.

* Have a wonderful day no matter where you may be.

* Hi ho hi ho

Back to Work

All good things must come to an end, unfortunately for us working stiffs that also includes those fun filled things that we like to look forward to all week called weekends. Now it is time to put our noses back on the grindstone for yet another fun filled week of doing what it is we all do that allows us to live like we do on weekends.

Got some really sad news yesterday, WVAQ's quiz master of the Morning Show Ernie Cook died in a car accident Saturday evening in I-68. I was fortunate enough to have known Ernie and met him a few times in the real world, I was a big fan fan of his "Are You Smarter Than.." and he liked my updates on Josh Judy and his journey to the Majors as Ernie was a big Cleveland fan. Ernie and I first met online through Facebook and later we identified each other and had the chance to meet in the outside world a few times. He will be missed. Michelle first saw the news feed and I quickly asked Kevin if this was Ernie and unfortunately it was. Condolences to Ernie's family during this time of loss.

Yesterday was also the shortest day of the year as we have now seen the Winter Solstice  and the shortest day of the year. It was also the shortest day of the year and now days will start getting longer up until the Summer Solstice in June. It's officially winter. =(

Looking at the week ahead, I hear that NORAD is starting to gear up to track that fat guy who lives at the North Pole and likes to fly around the World giving all the good little boys and girls gifts once a year. Christmas is getting closer.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

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

We had a great day yesterday, I manged to get a number of pictures and videos that I will have to piece together and edit before I publish for everyone to see. Got to get the creative juices going to see if I want to do it with the regular audio or overlay it with some Christmas music. A big thank you goes out to my beautiful camerawoman (My lovely wife Michelle) for the great job that she did.

Today will be kind of a back to normal day after getting home late last night. The weeks grocery shopping as well as laundry is on our agenda for the day before we return to work tomorrow. We'll probably have to get Hayley's gifts from yesterday to her as she ended up getting sick and didn't make the trip with us.

A Thank You to first Julie and Denny for being such great hosts yesterday and to my Father In Law Dave and his wife Karen for providing us a late snack before we got on the road and headed back to Morgantown.

Have a great day.

Travel Day

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to awaken from the losing battle with the Sandman last night and I'm up watching the Devil's Advocate on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

Today we will be heading north for Michelle's family Christmas in East Liverpool. We do this party every year, but up until last year they were held at her Grandmother GG's, last year and this year her cousin Julie is hosting the annual get together.

It's a day filled with fun, food, family and the annual bingo game with prizes that everyone just seems to love. They are always memorable days that we all highly enjoy.

After Christmas at Julies we will all pack up and head to neighboring Calcutta Ohio to have Christmas with her Dad and his wife Karen for another meal and gift exchange. We visit with him for a while before all packing back into the car and heading home for the day.

The long day of traveling and visiting start this morning when we go over and pick Hayley and her friend Dusty up to travel with us today. Michelle has prepared her Broccoli Casserole to take with us and we will start our trip sometime mid morning.

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.

We had our company Christmas Party last night at the Fujiyama Restaurant, the dinner turned out well and it was the first solid meal that Michelle has eaten since her surgery. We didn't have a party last year due not being able to get any reservations anyplace that could accommodate all of us, so we took a different route this year with Fujiyama. I highly recommend the place, both Michelle and I were both highly impressed.

Michelle and I will be heading to East Liverpool tomorrow, it's her family's Christmas dinner that we used to have at her Grandmothers. Her cousin Julie will once again be hosting the party at her house taking the pressure off of her Grandmother.

Other than that, I'm off today and just doing a little bit of shopping of the Sam's Club variety. Nothing too exciting planned, just our routine stuff while Michelle is at work.

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Hayley in Sweeney Todd

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out to look through all of the pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years and find just one to write about. One little lost moment in time captured through a lens of a camera to be be shared and relived here once again. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task, and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

This picture goes back a little over four years, back to a time when Hayley was a Senior in High School and decided to venture out into the world of the stage for a Production of Sweeney Todd that was put on by the local theater company.

This picture is from her on stage during one of the shows nights that it played, Michelle, Chad and I went to the Met Theater to see the play. The one thing I do remember from that night was the cast as part of the play ran out into and through the crowd, Hayley managed to run right behind us and in one swift and effortless motion managed to swipe her brothers hat off his head and kept on running. Chad is not an easy one to get anything over, but she did that night.

Hayley currently lives in South park with her Boyfriend Josh, she has been accepted into Fairmont State and actually meets with the school today to see if Financial Aid could be arranged for her to start attending in January.

Have a great Day

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well here we are once again, two days under our belts, now all we have to do is get up over this noon time hump and we should be able to see the dawn of yet another weekend just on the other side of a Photo Flashback.

West Virginia University students should be finishing up the last of their finals, if they haven't already, and heading out of town today. I guess this means that the short period of time when Morgantown is the emptiest all year since there is so much going on in the summer is about to commence. Traffic should be manageable and as it was months ago before we got invaded.

Enjoy the peace and quiet, for come January 12th classes will restart and we'll have the student population back around town. I remember this was the time that even the grad students from foreign countries even went home. They all tended to stay and study during the Summer sessions.

Michelle should have her first regular post surgery follow up today. This is when she will be moved to Phase III of her diet where she can start eating solid foods officially. She has slowly eaten some things like chicken, but she has had to cut it up real small and has taken her time in consuming it. She will also weigh in today and this will be the first time she has stepped on a scale in a while. She has been avoiding it so as to get that sticker price shock in her weight loss.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing that we refer to as Monday is over with, now that we have the week started and we are looking ahead to a Tuesday, I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 18,643 days since I entered this world, and I am thankful for each and every one of them, especially the last 1,228 of them.

* It was 3,866 days ago that I fulfilled a dream of mine, one that I started later in life but still accomplished. Graduating from West Virginia University.

* 2,467 days ago, Michelle and I went out on our first date. Dinner at Pizza Hut and a horrible move called 10,000 BC was the beginning of it all, I'm thankful for this date as it changed my life forever.

* 1,691 days ago, at around 4:00 in the morning, I proposed marriage to Michelle.

* 1,228 days ago in front of our closest family and friends we became husband and wife as we all feasted and partied at the Marilla Center.

* You have 9 more shopping days left to go until Christmas, if you haven't started yet you have plenty of time, but time is starting to run out.

* We have 15 days to go until my Goodbye 2014 Blog. My favorite blog of the year where I reflect upon the last year as seen through my blog. It takes a while to review everything and sort everything out like formatting and content. All of my formatting is done and I'm well over half way in filling in the content.

* There are only 94 days to go until Spring, notice I don't do a countdown for Winter.

* In case I've never mentioned it, I hate snow.

* My niece Brittany graduated from WVU and joins me as an alumnus in 152 more days. She messaged me and let me know that she is done with her finals for this semester and thinks she did pretty well. One more semester to go.

* There are only 233 more days to go until mine and Michelle's anniversary, this will be our fourth and I'm happy to report we are still going strong.

* Only 350 days to go until my next birthday.

* I only have about 6,194 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there, until I finally enter the world of retirement. I still have a long way to go.

* This is my 3,883rd Blog post for George's Journal. A blog that I am now starting my second decade writing. Talk about putting your life story out there, this blog has most definitely done that.

* I ran into Danny Bell a couple of weeks ago and inquired about Daniel. He has provided me with his contact information and I have finally gotten off my lazy butt and written him.

* Michelle has a post surgery follow up tomorrow, they will be moving her to Phase III of her diet which will include soft whole foods. She is doing great and we are taking weekly pictures to document everything once she hits her goal. I need to get back on the diet wagon, but the holidays are a time I battle with girth issues lol.

* Company Christmas dinner later this week, I'm kid of excited to try this restaurant as neither Michelle or I have been there before.

* Traveling to Ohio this weekend, looking to do Christmas with Michelle's family.

* Speaking of Christmas, I have the Hot Sausage for Christmas Eve all ready to be cooked. 12 lb box of it is sitting in my freezer.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers final two games this season are at home, they control their own destiny and already have 9 wins on the season. We need to bring these next two home to win the division and guarantee a playoff spot.

* The Mountaineer Men's Basketball team won the annual Capital Classic Sunday in Charleston.

* Have a Great Day

* Hi ho hi ho

Back To Work

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes those fun filled things that we call weekends. Now it's time to put our noses back on the grindstone and head back into work for yet another fun filled week of work.

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day, Chad messaged Michelle and told her that his TV went kaput. We bought it for him a few years back, so we went out and found a real good deal on a 40" Smart TV and delivered it to him and Laiah in Fairmont. His other one just would not turn on at all, so we decided to surprise him with a new TV. See the video at the end of this blog post.

Chad had his snake (pictured here) in his spare bedroom, it's around 11'' for and probably weighs a good 35-45 lbs. It has been a while since I have seen the snake, so the amount it had grown both length wise and size wise was a little bit of a shocker. It is a friendly snake and a tame snake, Chad takes it to some of the schools and the kids absolutely love it.

For Michelle and I, it's back to work after watching bits and pieces of the Steelers beat the Falcons yesterday 27-20. My company Christmas dinner is this Thursday evening, and we are due to travel this Saturday back to Ohio for her family's Christmas dinner.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning

Here I sit once again in the early AM, I've always been an early riser so this is nothing new for me to be up before the roosters. I've got Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer playing in the background, since I recorded it last night and I'm up collecting my thoughts for the day.

We didn't get into too much yesterday, we did make a trip to the mall and get another beater blade with a scraper for the kitchen aid that we broke when we were making Christmas cookies a couple of weeks ago. The mall was an absolute madhouse, a good reason to completely avoid anything commercial next weekend as the last minute shoppers are out doing their thing.

Today will be grocery shopping and the rest of laundry on our agenda. The Steelers play at 1:00 and the Mountaineers play Marshall at 4:30 this afternoon, but I might go into the back bedroom to watch that game as I won't make Michelle watch sports all day long..lol

Michelle woke up yesterday morning and actually wanted Tudor's biscuits and sausage gravy minus the biscuits so I went out yesterday morning and got her some. She was able to finish a whole side of the sausage gravy for breakfast. I was a good boy and as much as I wanted one, did not have one of their delicious biscuits.

Pam, George, Moke, Ang and I would assume Calvin and his girlfriend all were going to head to Wheeling yesterday. She has never seen the Festival of Lights  and wanted to go and see them. I hope they took my advice and went up early to avoid the ridiculously long wait this time of the year. I gave them directions to DiCarlos Pizza and mentioned Cabellas. I haven't heard if they did go or how it went yet. Hopefully they had a great time.

Speaking of a great time, you have a great day.

Saturday Morning Rambling

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. I'm up early watching American History X and collecting my thoughts for the day.

My Great-Niece Kynlea had surgery yesterday morning. I called Amy mid morning to see how she was doing and she told me that they were actually home from the Surgery, they were out of thee by 8:30 she said. Kynlea wasn't going to go home until she had Tudors Biscuit Worlds Biscuits and Gravy. Amy said it was the first time that she personally had ever eaten from there.

No plans today for Michelle and I, which is actually kind of nice for a change. It may be a day of movies and napping, you know one of those lazy days that you wish you had a little more often. I'm not saying those will be our final plans for the day, but it may be a safe bet.

My Brother in Law Jim will be having his End of the Year Blowout Bargains auction this evening at the Cassville Firehall. He has a number of items up for auction, and I'm sure he will have some of the same sellers that will be part of the auction as well. So if you are looking for something to do this evening, a trip to the Cassville Firehall may be worth your time.

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.

Unlike years past, where we had to set aside a number of weekends to get everything done for Christmas, we're pretty much done with everything (most of shopping, all of baking, most of wrapping, tree's up, etc.) and pretty much have a relaxing weekend ahead of us. Although next weekend we will be traveling to Ohio.

The Hot Sausage for Christmas Eve is in and in one of my freezers waiting to be pulled out and cooked that day. I'll be splitting it up between two of my Sisters homes as we visit on Christmas Evem of course I will have to have one set aside for me for Christmas morning. My Dad started this Hot Sausage thing years ago, and I think we just fell in love with it and made it a tradition. The styles of cooking have changed, but it has been a staple on Christmas Eve for probably 40 years now.

I'm going to be off once again today, I have some errands to do (Sam's Club) but it shouldn't be too stressful of a day. I still have a good bit of scanning to do and as soon as I finish that up I'll start addressing the Family Tree site again.

Have a great day and a better weekend.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look back through all of my pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years. Little Lost moments in time relived and the story retold right here on my blog. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

This picture goes back to Christmas Day 1983. What you seeing my sit in front of was the first computer that I ever really used. Yes that keyboard was the computer and the monitor was the black and white TV that was in my and Gary's bedroom.

It was a Tandy first generation computer, one that had (get this) a 2 Kilobyte's of memory that we expanded with an additional 15 kilobytes of memory. This is old school computing, it was a time when Macintosh was debuting their apple computer, there were no operating systems, everything had to be programmed in Basic and the only way to save anything was to hook a cassette tape recorder up to it and hope that it saved. It was all text based and very tedious.

We all did love it though, I would go buy books that had programs in them and we would all go and program them to get the end result. Sometimes it was a clock, sometimes it was a mathematical daredevil game and sometimes it was just the simplest of functions. I know know that we all loved that thing, not as much as the intellivision, but it was the Hall Family's introduction to Computers. We've came a long way since then.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well that is now two days down, now if you look 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. Now we just need to get up and over the hump.

We have scheduled our Company Christmas Party. We've done it at Oliverios in years past, but we're taking it to a new place this year. Next Thursday we'll be dining at the Fujiyama Restaurant in the Glenmark Plaza. I've never eaten there before, but I'm hearing some pretty good reviews from those who have. It will be next Thursday, the day after Michelle goes and sees her Dr and moves to the Phase III of her diet, meaning some solid foods. She can't have steak yet, but she will be able to eat seafood hopefully.

She is doing very well and recovering very nice, I'm not saying that she is 100% back yet but she is well on her way to getting there. We have managed to take a number of pictures from before and after that she wants to see. It'll show the weekly progression during her weight loss from 4 different angles. I can really tell that she has made a lot of progress, but she doesn't want to step on a scale until after she meets with her Doctor next week. I'm sure she would like to know, but not as much as she wants to hear a number that showed a lot of progress like she will get next week.

Dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse just may be a way for her to celebrate what she has went through for the past month or so.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that ever so dreaded thing called Monday is now behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, other than an Orangutan getting a pedicure I can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* This is my 18,636th day on this earth. I consider myself a lucky man to have had the opportunity to not only live, but to have the life that I have.

* 3,859 days ago I graduated from West Virginia University.

* 2,460 days ago Michelle and I went out for a date, dinner at Pizza Hut and to see the movie 10,000 BC. As bad as that movie was, she gave me a second date.

* 1,684 days ago I got down on one knee in the wee hours of the morning and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 1,221 days ago in front of our closest family and friends, Michelle and I became husband and wife.

* There are only 16 more shopping days left to go until Christmas, if you haven't started yet, now might be a good time to think about starting.

* I have 22 more days to go until I publish my Goodbye 2014 Blog. I said last week I should start setting up the formatting, I have not done that just yet.

* 101 days to go until SPRINGTIME!!!!!

* In 159 more days my niece Brittany will join me in the ranks of a WVU Alumnus.

* 240 days until mine and Michelle's fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* Only 357 days to go until I will have a year completed for every card in a deck of cards (52).

* I have about 6,201 or so days, give or take a few hundred here or there until I retire.

* This is my 3,876th Blog that I have written for George's Journal, now starting to work on my second decade as a blogger.

* Michelle found a great deal on Tires, we're having four new ones put on Pearl this morning preparing for the winter ahead. She saved us probably a few hundred dollars on a compete set that we are getting.

* My wonderful wife has bought me a Camcorder for Christmas. The Sony CX 330  is what I will be trying to shoot movies with now instead of my Nikon P530. The camera is great for stills, but not so much for video. The camcorder does HD video and is light and compact, I Love it.

* Looks like I am going to have to start moving my video editing skills from beginner to novice in the coming years.

* Have I ever told anyone that I Hate Snow?

* The West Virginia Mountaineer Football team will be playing in the Liberty Bowl on December 29th. The game is on a Monday and at 1:00 in the afternoon. Might be a good day to come home a little early...lol

* The Hot Sausage for Christmas Eve should be in today.

* Found a Social Media iPhone Ap that I like, Yik Yak is a hilarious ap that allows people around you to basically speak anonymously about anything. Being that I live in a college town, it makes the ap very interesting.

* I wonder if my Mom has finished all the cookies we gave her? I told her Moderation.

* For anyone interested, this Friday's 50% Friday is for the iHop.

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that also includes those fun filled things that we work all week towards, the weekend.

It was a great weekend, we got a lot of shopping done as well as our holiday baking for the season. Michelle's famous Butterscotch cookies are in the house, I just have to remember to snack on them in moderation.

Looking at the week and weekend ahead it doesn't appear to be too busy at work, but that can always change with one simple phone call as I have come to find out over the years. The weekend looks to be pretty much open for us, most of our shopping is done and our baking is done, we usually reserve that over two weekends but we've had a very productive weekend and that is all mostly done. We will travel in two weeks.

Michelle ordered Hot Sausage like the kind I bring to Christmas Eve and it should be in this Tuesday. We get it from one of her suppliers and it seems to be a big hit. I'm thinking this Christmas Eve we will be doing what we did last year when we hit two of my Sisters homes and split the sausage up between them.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit, waaay to early to wake up even for me, wide awake in the early AM suffering from what appears to be insomnia. I've been up for a couple of hours and am wide awake, which is rare for me at this time of the morning.

We ended up doing Christmas Shopping yesterday instead of doing our Christmas baking which we are putting off until today. Ran to Tanger Outlets and a few other places to get some Christmas Gifts.

Hayley and Josh stopped by last night and brought the newly groomed Gracie with her. She's not one who likes to sit still, but I did  manage to grab this shot of her.

Hayley did manage to put a few pictures up of her Christmas Tree. I think it looks really good, and the Santa Hat that sits atop of her tree was one that her Dad used to wear. We used to put it on top of Rich's ashes on our Mantle, but I think it has found a new home. I think her tree looks great, and we are also appreciative of her and Josh coming over when we were at work and decorating ours.

Today will actually be our baking day here at the household. Like I said yesterday we are not going to over do it this season, but it'll be nice to have some of my favorite cookies that I wait all year for in the house. It's just a chocolate chip cookie with butterscotch chips instead of Chocolate Chips. I love them and they are my all time favorite cookie.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit in the early AM in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from getting knocked out by the Sandman last night. I would say I just woke up, but to be honest my gout is acting up and my foot is absolutely throbbing. So I might was well write my morning blog.

Today I think we are going to do a combination of things, including a little bit of Christmas Shopping and possibly baking our Christmas Cookies. We are not going to go hog wild on them this year like we have in years past, mainly due to the fact that I tend to eat them all, so we are going to moderately make a few cookies today so that I can enjoy them during the Holiday season. So rest assured that it's not going to look like our 2009 cookie day as I have pictured here.

I did get my Christmas Shopping actually started yesterday, and fortunately Hayley came over last night to wrap some of her gifts and I let her wrap what I bought yesterday. Now we actually have some gifts under the Christmas Tree. I know Michelle hinted that she wanted to go out and do some shopping this morning so I may as well.

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 only High School Football this weekend is the State Championship Games that will be played in Wheeling. No Monongalia County teams advanced quite that far this season, and WVU is done with their regular season, so it's time to concentrate on the Pittsburgh Steelers exclusively as far as football is concerned.

To my knowledge, no plans this weekend but it's early and I'm sure that can and will change on a whim. There is still shopping to do to say the least as well as some baking to do. That is between this and next weekend as the following weekend we will be traveling to Ohio for Michelle's family Christmas.

Might be a good weekend to stay home, relax and watch a few movies.

Have a great day, as my weekend has already started.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time of and look through all of my pictures that I have either taken, scanned or stolen off of the internet through the years and write a little blog about it. Little lost moments of time of days gone by and forgotten except for right here and now. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task to find that special picture and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a whole lot of fun.

Since it is my Sister's Birthday, lets take this back to a time of yesteryear. A time when all five siblings posed together for a picture for the very first time. Between the five of us, we all basically grew up in different households and didn't get to see each other all the time. This was the first time that we were all together and in front of a camera.

I put a date on this picture at probably the summer of 1978 judging by the Elvis shirt (I had a lot of them) I was wearing. This was a pic nic and my Grandma Hall's house (where I was raised), Kim was visiting from Pennsylvania, Terri visiting from across town and Pam and Gary were there with my Dad and Jean.

I always joke that there was a time when I was tall and skinny and Gary was short and fat. This is that time, but we've kind of switched places since that time oh so long ago.

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Kim SanJulian

I would like to take this time out and wish my younger Sister Kim a very Happy Birthday today.

Today is a magical birthday for Kim, she reaches that magic age of 20 (since I'm 21) years old today.

I'm not sure what her husband Robert or Daughter Brittany have planned for her today, but my guess is that it is something special especially since she is reaching that magical age. Welcome to the club of 20+ year olds =)

If you happen to see Kim today, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday Today.

Happy Birthday Kim.

Hump Day

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

Michelle has asked me the question that I do not seem to have an answer to. "What do you want for Christmas?" I tried to tell her I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model BB Gun. What does she tell me? I'll shoot my eye out kid. I guess it is time to put the thinking cap back on and come up with something that I would like Santa to bring me this year.

So far it has been a pretty eventful week here in Morgantown. We had a nutjob go off and kill four different people at three different locations on Monday before taking his own life. You have to wonder what runs through some peoples minds, the excuses that he used on Facebook don't really seem to add up to anything but someone pretty mentally unstable if you ask me. You're girlfrind cheats on you so you kill another tow truck companies owner, then drive to your ex girlfriends and kill her and some other guy that you wasn't one of the people you named that she cheated on you with and then drive back across town and take out someone who you claim stole money from you....Nutjob.

Michelle and I were listening to the scanner when all the police kept saying "Merry Christmas", we thought that was a little weird, until not too long later an official announcement came out that the shooter was deceased. Strange week so far to say the least.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded Birthday Monday is over with, I want to Thank everyone who expressed Happy Birthday wishes to me, if I inadvertently failed to respond with a Thank You my apologies and Thank You, now I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* I have been here for 18,629 days now, I count my blessings as that number continues to grow.

* I graduated from WVU (better late than never) 3,852 days ago.

* It has been 2,453 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date together. Pizza and a Movie.

* 1,677 days ago I proposed marriage to my wonderful wife, being that I refer to her as my wonderful wife that should not keep you in suspense as to her answer.

* It was 1,214 days ago that we were joined in marriage.

* There are only 23 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* I have 30 more days to go until my Goodbye 2014 Blog posts. This has to be my most favorite blog of the year, I have the first 11 months worth of content, maybe it's time to start formatting and writing.

* Spring is only 108 more days away, I know it's not winter yet, but I'm ready for Spring.

* My niece Brittany Graduates from WVU in 166 more days.

* In 247 more days Michelle and I will celebrate our fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* Only 364 more days to go until my Birthday.

* 209 Facebook Birthday wishes and thank yous.

*  I have around 6,208 days or so, give or take a few hundred here or there, to go until I enter into the world of retirement.

* This is my 3,868th blog post for George's Journal. A blog that I started a little over a decade ago and am still writing today.

* Have I ever mentioned on my Blog that I hate Snow before?

* Yesterday in Morgantown was a tragic day, 4 murders at three locations before a self inflicted gun wound took the shooters own life.

* Putting Mom's tree up was a success this past Saturday, now it's just a matter of getting ours decorated. It has sucked down the water since we trimmed it up, so I guess that is a good sign that it will remain healthy even after Christmas.

* Michelle is doing fine and actually back to working like she was pre-surgery now. I wouldn't say that she is 100% just yet, but she is well on her way to getting there.

* As for my own numbers, I'm down 103.5 lbs since last Christmas and 88.5 lbs since May 22nd. Still have a few more pounds to go to reach my goal, but I'm getting there. It's just that Holiday season and well.....

* I have set up my printable 2015 calender at work. Wow is that time consuming.

* Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday To My Hubby

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my best friend and husband a very Happy 51st Birthday.

If you see or talk to George "ED" today make sure you wish him a very Happy Birthday. I love you Ed and I hope you have a great day:)

Back to Work

It's a back to work kind of Monday. It's time to put our noses back on the grindstone and get back to doing what it is that we do to live the lifestyles that we live.

We brought our Christmas Tree inside yesterday morning, although we have not started to decorate it just yet. I figure we'll either take time during the week or we will wait until the weekend to start putting the lights and decorations on it. It has been purchased and it is inside, so the biggest part of it has been done, now comes the fun part of it by decorating it. We're moving the location of it this year, as we have a bunch of food shelves where it used to sit. I guess the Christmas Season is now officially started in our household. We grabbed the tree on Saturday and sat it out that night.

Michelle and I are once again switching cars back this week. She is able to drive the Forester now and use its clutch, I'll go back to driving my Legacy. She drove the Forester yesterday morning with little to no problems (from her surgery), so it looks like everything is about back to normal.

Looking ahead towards the next few weeks, we have three more weekends prior to Christmas. One will be Michelle and I traveling to Ohio for their family Christmas, I'm sure one will be our baking and the other will probably be our shopping if we don't combine two activities in one weekend. We're not going to overdue the Christmas Cookies this year, but we're still going to bake, but no where near as many as we have traditionally done.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to semi-recover from a losing battle with the Sandman last night. I'm semi-awake and contemplating on going back to my nice warm bed after I write this and sleep a little bit more. TV's not even on and I just woke up to use the restroom and catch some college football scores from last night.

Well we got my Mom's tree set up yesterday and all decorated. Some of the customized bulbs for 2014 have been added, we're just now waiting on the rest of them, but people can add them at their own convenience between now and Christmas. The tree itself is set up and ready for the 2014 season.

Michelle and I also purchased our tree yesterday, it's still sitting outside letting the branches fully get ready before we bring it in probably today. We have all of our decorations ready to go and sitting in a spare bedroom, but that is as far as we have gotten. I bought Michelle a cute little snowglobe yesterday, it plays a variety of Christmas Music as well. She fell in love with it, so I grabbed it for her.

Normal shopping day for us, maybe bringing the tree in and moving a few things around to set it up for 2014. Nothing special planned other than maybe watching the Steelers this afternoon.

Have a Great day.

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again in the early AM, I'm the first one to both lose and recover from a losing battle with that Dreaded Sandman last night. I'm up early watching Clerks 2 on some mid tier channel and surfing the net collecting my thoughts.

Today will be a Christmas Tree kind of a day. I think we are going to go and pick up ours this morning and set it up outside. We won't be decorating it until later, but we'll open it up and let the branches spread out.

This afternoon we will be heading out to Mom's and setting up her 2014 Tree. We also need to make our 2014 customized bulb to add to it for this year, I'm kind of excited to set up this wonderful tree for them for yet another season to enjoy. I think Christmas Trees add so much life to a household, being single all of those years I never had one, I guess I have come to really appreciate their beauty thanks to my wonderful wife.

If you're looking for a little WVU Sports today, the Football team is at Iowa State to take them on at noon and the basketball team plays at home this evening at I think 7:00 PM.

Have a Great Day