Goodbye 2015

January 

*  I had bought a converter to convert some old VHS tapes into Digital format. I managed to get everything that was at Jean's and covert it over. I'm still looking for any other old family VHS tapes if anyone comes across any of them. 

* Shame Lyons replaced Oliver Luck as WVU's new Athletic Director. 

* We had some really cold weather days, wind chill got as low as -15° F on a few days. 

* An old friend of mine, Terry Lake passed away. 

* Calvin McClain enrolled in his first Semester in college at Fairmont State. 

* Michelle and I headed up north on a snowy day to try to get a few pictures of my Grandmother's tombstone that she had never seen. 

February

*  Phil ruined my groundhogs day by seeing his Shadow.

* Michelle and I took a little road trip to Springs PA to buy some jellies and other local made goods. 

* We started a search for my long lost brother. I did come into contact with the Mother and she did provide me a significant amount of information. 

* We upgraded our old Roku to a Roku 3. I had one of the original Roku's, so old it didn't even have a number..lol

March 

* Big snow storm early in the Month, so bad that they actually shut down the site where I work. 

* The brother search continued full steam ahead, we made a great deal of progress in March, but that was also about the time we hit a stalemate. 

* We booked our 2015 Cruise, we had originally booked with Michelle's Sister and brother in law, but things did not work out and they had to cancel. 

* Michelle and I took a road trip to Letart Falls to find her Grandfathers gravesite. We also visited the Mothman in Point Pleasant WV. 

* I posted my 4,000th Blog posts in March. 

* Road Trip to New Martinsville and then up to Moundsville. 

April  

* My April Fools Blog was a Photo Flashback Blog on a Wednesday. Jimmy Buffet Concert on June 31st (only 30 days in June) was my topic.

* We had a road trip to Springs PA, went up to Amish Country to stock up on a few supplies.

* A BMW ran into one of Patty's apartments down the road. It was a small one bedroom house and the guy just literally drove his car right into the middle of it.

* Monongalia County Ballpark officially opened. The WVU Baseball team defeated Butler 6-5 in the inaugural game played at the new Ballpark.

* Michelle and I spent an extended weekend in Niagara Falls, we stayed on the Canadian side (we have our passports) and had a great time.

* Michelle and I did lunch at Muriales in Fairmont and were seated beside Mary Lou Retton and her husband. 

May

* The month of May started with a road trip to Amish County with Michelle and my Mom. Mom showed us a few new places that we had never seen before.

* I saw the first signs of something called Bursitis, it's very painful and something I will be dealing with the rest of my life.

* We taped the Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Show that aired throughout the summer. We won the show for the third time being the shows only three time winners and the first team to ever win it back to back.

* Michelle, Pam and I all attended Brittany;s graduation from West Virginia University.

* We took a road trip and visited the Jumonville Cross just outside of Uniontown and Ohiopyle State Park.

* We took another road trip and visited the Palace of Gold just outside of Moundsville. 

June 

* We had a cookout and a surprise Scavenger Hunt for Hayley to celebrate her Birthday. Michelle made steaks on the grill and we had a lot of fun setting the scavenger hunt up.

* My Sister Pam lost her long time family Pet Spike. Spike was St Bernard that she had had for years.

* Val had Erica and Josh's Birthday party at her home, we all attended and had a great time. Michelle and I did a lot of running around looking for green apple sour rings as a decoration for one of the set of birthday cupcakes. Found them right across the street of all places.

* The West Virginia Blackbears began their inaugural season in Morgantown, one that delivered a Championship.

* We had our first scare with Michelle, she had an attack that appeared to be a stroke and scared everyone. They initially called it a TIA or TGA, neither analysis was accurate.

* We had the 2015 Friends and Family Picnic. This was the second year for the event and it was a huge success. 

July

* We surprised Mom and Gerald with a new TV. They had an old one that was almost impossible to see, so all of us pitched in and got them a new flatscreen TV.

* Chad moved out of Fairmont and back in with us for a few months. It was nice to have a 12' Python in the house, it's amazing how big it has gotten. We actually treated everyone to dinner at the Pokey Dot in Fairmont one night.

* Michelle and I took a road trip that covered a few familiar places to us, Hovatters Wildlife Zoo being one of them. We also stopped at Ball's Auctions and found a great deal on a bed for Chad.

* We had another health scare with Michelle, even to this day I don't think we know what causes it other than a complex migraine due to stress.

* Mom bought a new couch and we all gave her a hand moving it into her home, we brought some big strong guys to do all the lifting for us.

* Joyce Aiken passes away. Mrs A as everyone who used financial aide at WVU would call her. She was very helpful in me getting my career started. 

August

* August started out with a Roadtrip to Monaca for a Birthday Party. Chad and Hayley went with us as we went up and celebrated little Jonny's Second Birthday.

* Michelle and I celebrated our Fourth Wedding Anniversary.

* Our shows for the Steelers Trivia Challenge started to air, we won the entire series of shows for the third time.

* Michelle and I with her Sister Chris and husband Jim all went to a WV Blackbears game. Something I think people need to do more of in 2016.

* We made it to yet another Jimmy Buffett Concert. It has been a yearly thing for Michelle and I since we first started dating.

* Road trip to Valley Falls, you can tell we like taking road trips.

* We attended the Johnny Koon Light up Night and Butterfly release.

* Another road trip for Michelle and I, this time to Oglebay Park and a visit to their Zoo. 

September

* Our Championship Round of us winning the McDonalds's KDKA Pittsburgh Steelers Trivia Show aired. Wouldn't you know we won it again...lol

* Michelle and I started out on our longest road trip of the year. It started with a trip to Baltimore and ended with us on our cruise ship to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. I think the entire trip was like 3,600 miles, most of it by sea of course.

* During our cruise, our ship actually had an explosion, but everything was fine.

* We had to put a long time family pet down, Chloe was one pet that I was very attached to, It just got to the point where she was suffering and we couldn't see her suffer anymore. Arguably the hardest I have ever taken to losing a pet, I still miss her to this day as she and I were a couple of buddies. She seemed to always be with me.

* Brad Paisley made a stop in Morgantown to sing Country Roads before the WVU-Maryland Football game.

* The new Phoenix bakery finally opened. 

October

* We welcomed a new animal to the household, a kitten we called Fin joined us after Sophie was needing some Kitty Prozac missing Chloe.

* I bought an Apple TV for the bedroom. It was more than sufficient for our needs in the bedroom for TV viewing.

* My Aunt Bonita came in for a visit from Alaska. It had been close to 20 years since she had been back to Morgantown to visit Mom and their brother Robert who came in from Ohio.

* The Morgantown Balloon Festival made a return to Morgantown after a few years absence. They only got one launch off and that was a Friday afternoon, but I was glad to see it return.

* Michelle, Kim and Brittany did a DaVinci and Dessert painting class together, I think that they all had a great time together.

* Amy and Ralph hosted Halloween this year, a tractor ride around their neighborhood and a Wizard of Oz theme was enjoyed by all.

November

* Brittany started a new career job at WVU Hospitals. This was her first career opportunity with advancement possibilities type job since graduating from WVU in the Spring.

* With winning the Steelers Trivia Show we won tickets to a Steelers Game. Our game was the Raiders vs the Steelers which the good guys won.

* Michelle's uncle Ron had passed away after a long battle with Cancer.

* We took a day road trip to Amish Country in Ohio and took my niece Brittany with us. We all had a great time, we showed her our favorite places.

* Michelle, Pam, Kim, Terri and Val all attended the 2015 Taste of Home Cooking Show as VIP's.

* We set up Mom and Gerald's Christmas Tree up for the 2015 Christmas Season.

* Michelle and I spent Thanksgiving at the Cassville Firehall as we do every year with her Family. There was a lot of food and we all had a great time that day. 

December 

* Sammy the Christmas Elf started wreaking havoc in the Household, he broke one of our bowls and laughed about it.

* We took one weekend out and set up our 2015 Christmas Tree as well as doing all kinds of baking (well Michelle baked, I taste tested) for the Holiday Season.

* Michelle's dad suffering from a mid-life crisis, bought a really nice new Ford Mustang.

* We traveled to East Liverpool Ohio for Michelle's family's Ohio Christmas. First stop was her Grandmothers and then followed by a trip to her Dad's.

* We went and seen Star Wars 7, the Force Awakens.

* We had a once in a decade picture taken with all of my siblings on Christmas Eve. That made my Christmas.

* I have posted a total of 409 blogs in 2015 including this one, my final one of 2015.

* See you in 2016.


Our year in Video. 

Goodbye 2015 Photo Flashback Thursday

I'm going to write my last regular blog of the year and reflect back to the most meaningful picture to me in 2015. No looking back through 31,000+ pictures to find that lost moment in time, my special moment was very recent and easy to remember.

All I will say is last year at this time I would never have imagined that this picture would ever have been possible. Idiotic family feuds and some other things outside of our control were preventing this picture from ever happening. We tried to make it happen in the Summer time, but we had to photoshop one of us in as we could not all be at the same place at the same time.

These are my siblings, a picture of just the five of us has happened in 1978 for the first time, I think 1989 at my Sister Pam's Wedding, 1999 at our Father's funeral, 2007 at Christmas and I think 2009 at my Niece Amy's wedding and this year at Christmas Eve.

I have put together a collage of the 70's, 80's, 90's 00's and 10's pictures below.

My Goodbye 2015 Blog will post later this morning. See you in 2016

Hump Day

Well I am still on vacation and loving it, I'll return to work on Monday but for now I am just relaxing and enjoying myself for a few days.

I finally have all of my blogs pre-written for the entire year of 2015 and the first one of 2016 ready to go. I finished up my Goodbye 2015 Blog, a Photo Flashback Blog tomorrow morning that will post, a video of our year that will post along with my Goodbye 2015 Blog and to tell you the truth, this is the last blog that I am actually writing for the 2015 year. Everything else has been completed.

I think I am going to surrender the domain Shitzngiggles.com, a lady who is a stay at home mom and her daughter want a domain to play with and see if they can make money on approached me about buying it. I told her as long as she is not a reseller, that she can have the domain at no charge just as long as she's honest about wanting to develop it. I have not done anything with it in years other than renew the ownership of it, so I'm probably going to dump that domain if this scenario plays out as honest.

I hope everyone has had a great week and are looking forward to winding down their 2015.

Have yourselves a great day.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is over with, time for a Tidbits. =)

* It has been 19,021 days since my birth.

* 4,244 days ago I graduated from West Virginia University.  It was an accomplishment that took a few years to start, but I did fulfill.

* 2,845 days ago Michelle and I went out on our very first date, it was dinner and a movie and the start of the rest of my life.

* It was 2,069 days ago that I proposed marriage to Michelle and we had officially became engaged to each other.

* It has been 1,606 days since Michelle and I had our wedding in front of our closest friends and family at the Marilla Center.

* 5,816 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there of course.

* There are only 2,454 more days until what I am waiting for, WVU vs Pitt in Football is renewed. I miss beating the Panthers.

* There are only 362 more shopping days left until Christmas. It's never too early to start planning and we have a suggestion of making next year an ugly sweater theme.

* There are only 338 more days to go until my 21st Birthday (Using the 905 day calendar) or the 31st Anniversary of it using the 366 day (Leap Year) calendar.

* In 277 more days we will most likely be attending the Springs Festival once again. We missed last year, but I would like to make it again in 2016.

* There are only 257 more days to go until we go on Cruise 2016.

* 221 more days Michelle and I will be celebrating our Fifth Wedding Anniversary.

* There are only 82 more days to go until my favorite season of the year, Spring 2016 begins.

* It's only 35 more days until Ground Hogs Day, Phil so far so good.

* There are only 2 more days until my Goodbye 2015 blog is published.

* I have written 4,309 blogs in the 11 1/2 years that I have been writing George's Journal.

* The Hall Family Tree has 281 members currently in the database and is growing.

* Nothing new on the brother search, but I did have someone contact me looking for lost relatives. His father was Junior Hall, but I don't think that was the same time period as he was quite young.

* Not sure if I have ever mentioned it, but I love this weather that we have been having. Mainly because I Hate Snow.

* Has everyone came up with their New Years Resolutions yet, my family has started a Private site so that we can share ours and support one another in ours.

* I had to jinx the Steelers. Seems like every time I talk about what one of my favorite teams is doing or going to do, I end up jinxing them.

* I finished up my 2015 Video that I am going to post in my Goodbye 2015 Blog later this week.

* I have seen on Facebook that some people are already starting to take their Christmas Trees down. Michelle and I usually wait until after the first of the year.

* Michelle's back has continued to give her trouble, I'm trying to convince her to go and have it looked at. this year.

* Have yourselves a great day.

Monday

Well I almost forgot to write this blog...lol. Like I said I am on vacation this week to burn down a few vacation days before the end of the year. As everyone knows I pre-write my blogs during the week and write live blogs on Weekends.

What to do today, well probably some work on the blog for the rest of the year. I am probably going to do a little bit of work on the Hall family tree to see what I can fill in and add additional information for it. May even do a little long overdue picture scanning that I have put off for a little too long. There are a few things I would like to do this week that I have put off.

Yesterday was a lazy day, but a Sad day. the Pittsburgh Steelers went from controlling their own playoff destiny to laying a big goose egg in losing to Baltimore for the second time this season 17-20. The game may have ended Pittsburgh's post season plans and next week may be the end of the season do to this big disappointment.

Michelle is back to work today after a nice long and relaxing Holiday weekend. I'll try not to bug her too many times today...lol

Have yourselves a great day.

Sunday

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from getting my butt kicked by that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up watching Hoffa on Netflix and collecting my thoughts for the day. Fin in is up getting into a little mischief as always though.

I'm off of work this week I have a good deal of vacation hours that I have built up and my Boss wants me to burn them down to finish the year up and that started a couple of days before Christmas. It's also a contract thing and they are trying to transition from one contract to another in the next few months. I nor really anyone else has any idea what is going to happen in the next few months. So, I have the next week to relax so to speak.

Today's plan is our typical Sunday grocery shopping and watching a little bit of football this afternoon.

I do have to start putting the finishing touches on a couple of projects associated with my Blog, one being my Goodbye 2015 Blog which is traditionally my last blog post of the year. It's about 95% written and this year I am thinking of closing it out with a video of our year and travels which is also mostly completed. This has been an eventful year for Michelle and I especially with the travel and road trips that we have taken.

Have a great Sunday.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit on a quiet Saturday the day after Christmas morning, the Cats are have been up and playing for a while and I just got up to collect my thoughts for the day and surf around the net a little bit.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I know that I did. That once a decade picture I get with all my siblings finally took place on Christmas Eve. It is a very rare occasion that the five of us come together at the same location at the same time, but a little Christmas magic made it all happen this season.

I have to say that the weather has been unseasonably warm this holiday season, not that I am or ever will complain, but our air conditioner has been running the past few days because it has gotten a little stuffy and warm in here. I'm not complaining, I'm just stating that it's Christmas time and my AC is on and I've been wearing shorts.

Today's plans include our Sam's Club Shopping, probably a trip up to the graveyard to see Mick's tombstone, running Chad to work at noon and going over to Michelle's Sisters to see her little nephew who will be in for a visit. We stopped by yesterday for a while, and we are going to stop by again.

I've brought up the idea of a bowling adventure with everyone, Jim and Chris are both very receptive to the idea in the near future.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and you have a great day.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas today, it's that one special time of the year when families are together and enjoy each others company.

I'll be posting a live blog in a little while, maybe put up a video of last night's festivities that I can add to the ones from the years past.

From our family to yours.


Merry Christmas

Christmas 2015 Video

Christmas Videos Past Flashback

Being that this is Christmas Eve, I want my Photo Flashback to really have meaning when it concerns this day. Christmas Eve has always been a very special day to me and my entire family. Enjoy some of ours from years past.

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


2014




2013

2012

2008




2007



It doesn't appear that I did one for 2006, but here is one of the first videos that I ever did to fill in a little.





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




2004



1999 Which was my Dad's last Christmas

Kind of a Hump Day

This is kind of a Hump Day, it's actually Christmas Eve Eve so to speak. I think I may take tomorrow off from work so that I can get some cooking done and run some food errands before we head off to my Sisters tomorrow evening.Update, I'm off today as well. =)

Tomorrows flashback Blog is going to be a series of Christmas Eve videos that I have done through the years. It's just something I had enjoyed doing on Christmas Morning through the years. I've taken a few years off, but tomorrows blog will feature 8 videos that I have done for Christmas Eve's past, plus the first video that I ever did to fill in a little. Make sure that you read this page tomorrow for a little reflection on years past.

Now for everyone who wants to be tracking Santa Claus, NORAD had been tracking him for years and they will once again be doing their Santa Tracker once again this year. They also have an ap for all smart phones if you really want to keep track where Saint Nick is on his journey around the world to deliver all the toys to the good little girls and boys.

Have yourselves a Great Day, it's about time for the Christmas Celebration Season to begin.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded Monday is one again behind us, that always seems to be the toughest day of the week to get motivated for, now we are staring at a Tidbits and a Tuesday.

* Well it has been 19,014 days since my birth, using that corrected 905 days calendar I think everyone will notice that that makes me 21 years old.

* It has been 4,237 days since I graduated from West Virginia University. I started later in life, but it's about finishing.

* It was 2,838 days ago that I took Michelle out on our very first date, 10,000 BC is still one of the worst movies that I have ever seen, but that's OK. You know, it used to be her that kept track of all of these days..lol

* It was 2,062 days ago that Michelle and I became engaged. I proposed to her right in the back yard at around 4:00 in the morning.

* It was 1,599 days ago that Michelle and I celebrated our wedding at the Marilla Center. It was a Caribbean theme or a Jimmy Buffett type theme and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

* I have about 5,823 days to go until I finally retire, give or take a few hundred here or there one way or the other of course.

* In just a very short 2,461 days the WVU vs Pitt Football rivalry will take place again. Yes Panther fans, I am counting the days until we will kick your butts again.

* I have about 345 more days to go until I celebrate another Anniversary of my 21st Birthday, if you are using that 365 days calendar of course.

* There are only 284 days to go until Michelle and I try once again to attend the Springs Festival. We missed it last year due to a few cold and rainy few days.

* There are 264 days to go until Cruise 2016, this will be our fifth one that we will have taken together.

* There are 228 days to go until my wonderful wife Michelle and I celebrate our Fifth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are only 89 more days to go until Spring 2016. Spring is my favorite season of the year.

* Only 42 days to go until  Ground Hogs Day, I have to send Phil some liquor, a few female companions and a veggie tray for Christmas. Remember me in February Phil.

* Only 9 more days to go until my Goodbye 2015 blog posts. As of right now I have a little over half of it written already.

* There are only 3 shopping days left until Christmas, mine and Michelle's shopping is done, but there is still time for the procrastinators.

* I have written 4,301 Blogs in over 11+ years writing this particular blog. That is a lot of entries, a lot of thoughts and a great deal of information concerning my life.

* Doing a little work to the Hall Family Tree, 281 people currently in the database and a significant number of people to still add.

* Nothing new on the Brother Search again, we need something to happen but I have faith that we will get there.

* Not sure if I have ever mentioned it before on my blog, but I Hate Snow.

* Star Wars 7 basically crushed all the records for opening day and opening weekend for a movie.

* On a recommendation I ordered and plan on reading the book "That Dark and Bloody River" from Amazon. A very good historical perspective of how this entire regions developed. I am a little bit of a history buff, especially when it comes to places I am familiar with like Morgantown. I remember for my Senior Thesis I researched the history of Dorsey's Knob. I can remember tracking George Washington in our county on the other side of the Cheat River, but he never crossed it.

* The Steelers are 9-5 and have won 5 or their last 6, that streak started when we went to see them play the Raiders. I think they can bring home number 7 this year.

* I still need to come up with some music to do this years Christmas Video. Anyone have any suggestions? I think my two favorite that I have used were "Let it Be Christmas" by Alan Jackson and "Christmas to Remember" by Amy Grant.

* I have a funny feeling it is going to be a very slow week at work, but that is just my hunch.

* Have yourselves a great day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end and that includes awesome weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for a few more days before we celebrate the Christmas Holiday.

Well I was able to talk my lovely wife into going with me to see the movie Star Wars 7, The Force Awakens. If you have not seen it yet, I suggest going to see it and if you do go see it, splurge the extra couple of bucks to see it in 3D if at all possible. If you even remotely a Star Wars fan, this is a must see movie and even if you are not a Star Wars fan, this is a great movie. The Cinematography was the next level, JJ Abrams and Morgantown High Alum Lawrence Kasden  knocked this one out of the park. It's more than worth the price of admission and I've seen where a few people have actually went back to see it again and I can't say as I blame them. I'm already to see the 8th movie in the series..lol

With Christmas coming up this week, it's going to be a short week for everyone. I'm not sure of my schedule yet, I might just take off Christmas Eve to get a few things done and started cooking. We have our Hot Sausage and a big ham that all needs cooked that day and I may just be the guy to do it..lol

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Rambling

Here I sit in a quiet household, scratch that Fin is chasing Sophie through the house. I'm still up early watching Licensed to Drive on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day. Sammy and Yoda Claus are sitting on the other side of the room relaxing together and hanging out, I think they may be up to something later today.

Got my Christmas Shopping done yesterday, I did get an early, early start and then met up with Michelle later on to finish it up. I think she has a few small things to pick up, but other than that everything is done and in place. Now it's just a matter of the wrapping and the organizing.

I left early yesterday morning and we had our first covering of that dreaded White Stuff on the ground, I'm  not sure if I have ever mentioned this before, because I tend to not speak of weather related issues, but I kind of do not like snow. It's not my favorite thing in the world, you could almost say that I Hate Snow. The roads especially around the Coliseum yesterday morning were nothing but an apparent sheet of ice. Now if I were about 16 years sold and had a VW Bug with bald tires and a big parking lot to insure that I wouldn't do any damage, then I may have a different viewpoint of it all.

Today's plans are simply do our weekly shopping. We have our Hot Sausage and a big ham for Christmas Eve already, now it's just a matter of filling in the weeks menu and replacing the perishables that we replace on a weekly basis. The Steelers play the late afternoon game today, so unless I can convince my wife to go see Star Wars with me today, it's going to be a pretty uneventful day.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a semi-quiet household, with Fin around it never seems to be absolutely quiet anymore. I'm up watching the Last King of Scotland on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

I'm thinking about doing a little early morning Christmas Shopping. Head out to WalMart when no one is around and do a little shopping may be on my agenda in the next few minutes. I'm a very bad procrastinator, but I still have plenty of time and may just let Michelle sleep while I'm out shopping.

In years past, in the early AM is when I used to do all my shopping, the stores are always empty and not crowded, and being that this is the last Saturday prior to Christmas, something tells me the stores are going to be jam packed this weekend.

Other than that I'm hearing some pretty good reviews for the new Star Wars movie, I would like to see it in the near future. Yes I am a big Star Wars fan as it seems like just yesterday when I was a kid and Star Wars first came out. I have many fond memories of going and seeing all of the movies, I can remember being 5th in line to see Return of the Jedi on its first showing. We drove to Fairmont and by the time the doors opened, the line was a couple of hundred yards long if not more.

And BTW, I HATE SNOW. We got our first covering last night.

Have yourselves 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 we went a couple of nights ago and picked up the Hot Sausage for Christmas Eve. We buy a box or two from a supplier Michelle uses at work every year, it's the kind that is served at fairs and carnivals and if you were at our wedding, the Hot Sausage we served then.

We had our company Christmas Dinner last night, we all went out to eat at the Fujiyama and all went very well.

Our plans for this weekend, the last weekend before Christmas, do a little Christmas shopping around town. Mainly for the young kids and for my Sisters Chinese Gift Exchange on Christmas Eve. Other than that, no big plans this weekend. Maybe do a little more development on the Hall Family Tree, but we'll have to wait and see.

I hope everyone has 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 some place on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been is a whole lot of fun.

I'm not exactly sure when this picture was taken, I'm guessing it was in the early 90's and to be perfectly honest with you I can't seem to remember exactly what this picture is. I'm guessing this was Val's birthday party, as I see my sister Terri with a cake in her hands. I see most of my Nephews and Nieces that were alive at that time, but not all of them. This was a time prior to Calvin being born if you can believe that.

This one really takes me back, back to a time when we were all younger, and I don;t just mean the kids...lol

Have a great day

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Well here we are once again, in the middle of the week and me with nothing to really say. I swear this has to be the hardest day of the week to come up with any content for.

At first I thought about doing a Wisdom post, but that would actually require me to come up with something semi-intelligent to say and I just don't feel up to the challenge this morning...lol

I have finally started to write my Goodbye 2015 Blog for the end of the year. It's a simple blog but requites a little bit of formatting to meet years past, that's all done now I've come to the fun part for me and that is reading the content and deciding what will make the year end post. It allows me to relive how boring my blog has been over the past 12 months and get a chance to recall what Michelle and I got into. The weekend road trips and events that may have happened.

It is by far the funnest blog of the year for me to write, but I only get to write it once a year and now I'm populating it.

Have yourselves a great day and remember if you are tired, depressed or feeling down, it could be SAD which I think I'm battling as we are heading towards the shortest day of the year.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded thing called Monday is now once again behind us, now it's time to start concentrating on a Tuesday, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 19,007 days since my birth, using the 905 calendar that puts me at about 21 years old and about right.

* It has been 4,230 days since I graduated from WVU.

* 2,831 days ago I made a second attempt to take a very special lady out on our very first date, this time she did not stand me up...lol

* It was 2,055 days ago that I got down on one knee in the early AM and proposed marriage to this wonderful woman.

* 1,592 days ago in front of our closest family and friends Michelle and I had a little thing we called a wedding.

* I have about 5,830 days to go until I retire, give or take a couple hundred here or there obviously.

* Well it didn't work out in the Bowl game this year, so we have 2,468 days to go until WVU vs Pitt in Football. Yes Panthers we are counting the days until we whoop up on that ass.

* I have around 352 more days to go until we celebrate another anniversary of my 21st Birthday, or until I have to make a revision on the 905 day calendar.

* here are only 291 more days to go until the Springs Festival, we missed it last year due to the rainy weather.

* There are only 271 more days to go until Cruise 2016!!!

* Michelle and I have 235 days to go until we celebrate our Fifth Wedding Anniversary.

* Phil will have his day in 49 days as we celebrate Ground Hogs Day. However with the weather we are having, not so sure Phil will be significant this year.

* I have 16 days to go until my Goodbye 2015 blog is written. I need to at least start formatting that very soon.

* There are only 10 more shopping days left until Christmas. It's creeping up on everyone quicker and quicker.

* I have written a total of 4,294 blogs for George's Journal in the 11+ years since I started writing it.

* Nothing new on the Brother Search this week, not giving up but pretty much at a dead end for now.

* The Hall Family Tree now currently has 281 people in it and still growing. It's amazing to me how far back we are able to trace some of this information.

* We had a great time this weekend traveling to Ohio for the inlaws Christmas Celebration. We managed to grab a couple hundred pictures, Chad was taking pictures of everything. I did put the significant ones up on Facebook.

* My niece Amy did a great photoshoot for Moke and Ang's upcoming baby. I think she did a great job as usual. She has a wonderful Photographer's eye. You either have it or you don't she does.

* Congratulations to my Brother Gary and his Girlfriend Tonya, they just celebrated their first year together.

* Michelle has ordered the Hot Sausage for Christmas Eve. It's been a long time Hall Tradition of having Hot Sausage Hoagies on Christmas Eve. My Dad and jean started it, My grandparents did not do this, and Michelle and I have just moved it to another level by changing the style in which it is cooked.

* I love this weather, not sure if I have ever mentioned it here before but I hate Snow.

* Have yourselves a great day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

Well all good things must come to an end, that includes those fun filled and relaxing things that are referred to as weekends. It's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of doing what it is we do for a living.

Well we had a great day visiting family in Ohio yesterday, I'll have all the images up probably this evening. It was a great time with a great group of people.

Looking at our week ahead, my Company Christmas Dinner is going to be coming up this week. We are going to once again do it at the Fujiyama Steakhouse where we had ours last year. It was the first time I had eaten there and I was really impressed. It is Morgantown's best Japanese Steakhouse and it's always a real treat and they always seem to put on a great show.

Friday at Michelle's work, they are going to do a Christmas BBQ. She's taking our Coleman Grill in and they all want to have a BBQ for their dinner. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs are on their menu for the day.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Travel Day

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, I'm the fir one to recover from a losing battle with the dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up early watching Gasland on some channel and collecting my thoughts for the day.

Today we are hitting the road and headed to East Liverpool Ohio for a couple of stops today. First stop will be Michelle's Grandmothers House where this years festivities have moved back to after a two year absence. Her Cousin Julie has hosted the last couple of years, but this year it is going back to her Grandmother Ruth's.

After that we will head across town and spend a little bit of time with her Dad and do a brief Christmas Celebration with him and Karen at their home, and of course we can't forget Spencer the 28 toed cat.

After that we will be heading back to Morgantown as we will both be returning to work tomorrow. Sadly this year the travel day is on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday, with Michelle working ridiculous hours and being there by 4:00 pretty much every day, this may be a shorter day of visitations than normal so we can get her some rest.

Have yourselves a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

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

Sammy was back at it this morning, he's been messing with Santa and dropping deuces all over the place. The good thing is that Sammy is a Christmas Elf and his deuces are actually made of chocolate kisses and are easily disposed of.

There really is no college football today other than the one big end of the year game when two schools representing a couple of our service academies get to take center state in the annual Army-Navy game that will be played in Philadelphia. Navy has hand painted all of their helmets for this game and have to be some of the sharpest helmets to ever be worn in a college football game. My prediction, Navy over Army this year 28-21.

Well since Michelle and I are traveling tomorrow, today will be a day of our Sunday Chores. Grocery shopping, menu planning for the week and laundry.

It's finals week here in Morgantown, WVU students started Finals this past Thursday and they will run through this Wednesday. After that they 30,000 pain in the butts will head home for almost a month during Winter Break. This is honestly the one time of the year when the University actually clears out, foreign nationals go home and Morgantown is actually kind of quiet for a few weeks. They should all be gone by Thursday this week at the latest other than Winter Commencement next week.

Have yourselves a great day today.

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 Sammy has been hanging around the house this week, getting into all  kinds of things. I found him this morning sleeping in one of the stockings above the fireplace. I think him and Fin are working together to wreak havoc on our Christmas tree.

Michelle came home a couple of days ago and thought her Dad was having a mid-life crisis. His old car had pretty much bit the dust so he decided to go out and buy a new one. 5.0 Mustang is obviously the answer to that crisis....lol Her Sister Danni had one what was a convertible, but ended up flipping it a few weeks ago so she had to go and get a new car. Dave must have liked that Mustang enough to go and get one of his own.

We will be traveling this weekend, or at least on Sunday. Tomorrow we'll be doing everything that we normally do on Sundays in anticipation of traveling back to Ohio for her family Christmas on Sunday.

I did wake up to some pretty good news, Garrett Bishop, a co-worker of Michelle's has been accepted into Harvard for his MBA  Sidney, Lucas and Ian Switzer, my favorite set of Triplets I know have all been accepted into Cornell University. Congratulations to all of them on their acceptances.

Other than that, not much excitement going into the weekend.

Have yourselves a great Friday.

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 some place on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been is a whole lot of fun.

The two men pictured in this photo are my Grandfather Ellis Hall on the left and the Minister at Drummond Chapel Church (Now Suncrest United Methodist) Harper Callison taken around 1972 or so. Reverend High had left a year or two prior and Reverend Smith had not taken over yet.

My Grandfather was the custodian at the church, so this was pretty much my playground when I was a young kiddie. I'm pretty sure the small church in the background is still there, but our house that we lived in is no longer there. The field that you see in the background, is now a hotel.

My Grandfather and Grandmother were two very hard working people. He would awake and be at work at 4:00 AM and she wasn't much different except on laundry days or Sunday dinner days when she would get up even earlier to start. Speaking of early starts my lovely wife is probably already at work when you are reading this.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Chugging Along

Well that is two days down under our belts, now we just have a couple more in front of us and all we have to do is get up and over the noon tine hump today and it'll be all downhill working towards another fun filled weekend.

As I have said numerous times before, Wednesday's blog is the hardest one for me to write. It is the one single day that I struggle the most on to come up with any kind of interesting commentary. It should be referred to as Brain Fart Wednesday, due to it being in the middle of the work week and nothing is really going on.

What is everyone doing for Christmas Eve? My Sister Terri is once again hosting a Christmas Eve at her home, which is where we will most likely end up. She is going to have her Chinese Gift Exchange that we do every year. There is a $25 limit and it is supposed to be a unisex gift, meaning not specific to a man or a woman and it's usually the highlight of the evenings festivities. I think after last year, everyone can use a positive memory on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day this year.

Maybe after the first of the year it will be time to start planning and selecting an available date for the 2016 Friends and Family Picnic this year. It's a slow time of the year after the new year and that might be a good time to start the planning.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded and dreary start of a week Monday is now over with, now it's time to concentrate on a Tuesday, still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 19,000 days since my birth. That is not an estimate, that is the actual count. Happy 19,000th day to me.

* It has been 4,223 days since I graduated from West Virginia University.

* 2,824 days ago mine and Michelle's lives changed forever as we went out on our very first date. I remember Hayley's advice to Michelle, don't drink pop it makes you burp...lol

* It was 2,048 days ago that Michelle and I became engaged to be married. It's a special time in your life when you find that someone you want to make the lifelong commitment to.

* It has been 1,585 days since Michelle and I stood in front of our closest family and friends and had ourselves a getting hitched dinner.

* I have 5,837 days to go, give or take a few hundred here or there, before I finally retire.

* I'm still counting and there are only 2,275 days top go until WVU vs Pitt in Football is renewed. There is a house beside the stadium that also has this running total going.

* There are only 359 more days to go until my next anniversary of my 21st Birthday.

* There are 298 days to go (estimate) until the 2016 Springs Festival.

* There are only 278 more days to go until or 2015 cruise. This will be our fifth cruise on the Carnival Pride.

* We have a total of 242 more days to go until Mine and Michelle's  Fifth Wedding Anniversary.

* There are only 103 days to go until my favorite season starts,  Spring 2016. Come on birdies and flowers I am willing to sacrifice seeing any snow this year if Mother Nature would be so kind to skip Winter.

* In just 56 more days Phil gets to get a national spotlight on himself once again for Groundhogs Day. I think he's just a showoff...lol

* Only 23 more days of content to write before my Goodbye 2015 blog is written and posted. I will probably start formatting it in the very near future.

* There are only 17 more Shopping days left until Christmas.

* I have written a grand total of 4,287 blogs in my 11+ years of writing George's Journal. That's a lot of words, and if each post has averaged 233 words in it, I'm arguably getting close to one million words written as a blogger.

* There have been a few updates to the Hall Family Website, it's growing slowly but surely. It currently consists of 259 people and is still growing. So far I am at my Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandparents on my Mothers side and I know I can go at least one more generation beyond that.

* Nothing new this week once again on the Brother search.

* Have I ever mentioned my feelings about snow on this blog? I Hate Snow

* I am so happy to finally once again after all of these years to have Bubble Lights again. My Grandmother always had them up under her tree, I am just so thankful that I can once again enjoy these wonderful lights. My favorite Christmas Lights I would have to say.

* It has been announced that West Virginia will play Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl on January 2nd. It's going to be a late start here in Morgantown, but it's a Saturday Night game so that is good.

* As many know, I have a 4 TB MyCloud Drive running at home to back up and serve out all my pictures, movies and music. A co-worker bought one for himself this weekend.

* Michelle helped me find a great site to research old family information in West Virginia. LINK has been very useful to say the least.

* Our Christmas Tree has a few ornaments of people who are no longer with us. My Dad has one and my Grandparents each have one, this year we will add a few more of people who touched our lives but are no longer with us. Jean and Mick's ornaments are both ready to be added.

* Have yourselves a great day

* Hi ho hi ho

Back at it Monday

Well all good things must comer to an end and that does in fact include those short fun filled things that we refer to as Weekends. This weekend however wasn't a run around weekend, it was a get things done around the house and even Sammy was getting on us to get our tree up and decorated which we finally did.

I did set up a small album on Facebook of the weekends festivities. Michelle needs a very big thank you, she busted her butt all weekend with the cleaning, decorating and baking. I ended up being the errand boy, but we still got a lot of baking done and even delivered some to my Mom and Gerald.

Now it's time to stick our collective noses back on that dreaded grindstone for another week of working. Next weekend we are traveling back to East Liverpool, Ohio for Michelle's side of the family, family Christmas at her Grandmothers. The last couple of years we have done it on Saturday, but it's back to Sunday this year which really shortens the time we will be up there. It's about a 2 hour drive home and Michelle walks out of the house to head to work before even the marines get up to give everyone an indication. I'm looking forward to heading up north next weekend, maybe even get a little bit of shopping done.

Have yourselves a great day today

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Well here I sit in a quiet household, I'm up early and am the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night. I'm up early watching Shrek and catching my thoughts for the day and surfing the internet.

Well yesterday was a pretty productive day around here, Michelle managed to get a lot of baking done, we have our tree, we gave the house a pre-decorating cleaning and the tree is up, but just not decorated yet. We do have the TV decorated, but there are a lot of things we still need to do today. We usually do our decorating.cleaning during one weekend and the baking another weekend but since we are traveling next weekend Michelle wanted to try to knock them both out this weekend. So to say yesterday was productive is an understatement.

Today will be our normal shopping and finishing up around the house, but no where as near as intense as yesterday was.

Speaking of yesterday, what the hell was Dana Holgorsen thinking. 4th and 1 and down by a point, we have a running back averaging over 5+ yards a carry and an injured QB who had -10 yards rushing and we call a naked boot leg with the gimpy QB? Yeah we lost a game we were dominating in the first half 24-23 to Kansas State. I think after yesterdays game Dana is back on the hot seat, or at least I don't see any extensions coming his way any time in the near future. At least the basketball team has Bob Huggins who never gets out coached.

Have yourselves a great day.

Christmas Tree Day

Well so much for my quiet household, Fin is going nuts running around everywhere and Sammy woke Michelle up making her some fresh coffee this morning. He brewed her up a cup and stirred in her favorite white chocolate and the next thing I know we are both up. We're watching "Freddy Got Fingered" on HBO and relaxing a little bit.

Well today is our day to decorate and put up our 2015 Christmas Tree, someplace for Sammy to hide in and some place for Fin to probably terrorize this year. We'll head out in a few hours to Southern States to select and pick up our 2015 tree to bring home and decorate. We're about ready to make the Hall household look like Santa Claus threw up Christmas all over the place.

Both the Mountaineer Men's Basketball and the Football team play this afternoon. The Basketball team hosts Keenesaw State at noon and the football team is in Manhattan Kansas to take on Kansas State in the final regular season game of the season before the bowl season begins in a few weeks.

I can't believe Michelle is wide awake at 5:00 in the morning on a weekend when she does not have to work and we are not traveling anywhere. Something tells me there will be a nap in her future after all the decorating takes place.

Have yourselves a great day.

Ho Ho Ho Ho I freaking Hate Snow, Merry Christmas.  

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 both High School and College Football seasons are done as far as local games are concerned for the season, the Mountaineers travel to Kansas State tomorrow for the last game in the regular season (we are already bowl eligible) and all the High Schools are done around here.

Our weekend plans are probably going to be simple. Go buy Christmas Tree. Set up Christmas Tree and start enjoying the Holiday season in our household. Sammy has already been here a while, now it's time to decorate the rest of the house for the season. Other than that no major plans this weekend although we are set to travel to Ohio next weekend.

Have Yourselves a Great Day

Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Kim SanJulian

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my sister Kim a very Happy Birthday today. I am exactly 1 year, 4 days 3 hours and 56 Minutes older than her, so this puts my calculations on her at age about 20 years old, give or take a few years here or there of course.

Kim is a wonderful sister and one who is very accomplished in both her life and career, as she just recently finished up her PMP Certification at work. Not exactly an easy task and one that she should be quite proud of.

I'm not sure what Robert has planned for Kim this evening, my wild guess not knowing at the time of me writing this is dinner at Minards will be on her agenda sometime this weekend, of course that is simply a guess on my part.

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

Happy Birthday Kim

Photo Flashback Thursday

2005 Prime Thyme

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 some place on the internet. I like to find just one and post it up and recall or relive the picture to the best of my ability. Sometimes this is a pretty easy task and sometimes it's not that easy, one thing it has always been is a whole lot of fun.

This picture reminds me just how time flies. This picture is from one of my favorite softball teams that I ever played for, this was the 2005 season Prime Thyme softball team. It was a pretty good team which makes the ability to have fun just so much easier. This team made it to the Championships and finished second in both the league and the post season tournament.

I remember there was one team that absolutely destroyed us in the regular season and were looking past us in the Semi-Finals to get to the Championship against the local police force, I think we won that game something like 23-1 to advance. They were an arrogant and loud group normally, almost to the point of obnoxious. I don't recall hearing a single word coming from them as we just lit them up on every aspect of the game.

Hard to believe that that was ten years ago. A finer group of men, whom I referred to as my Boys of Summer, you will not find. This team just played very well together regardless of who we were playing. We worked as a team ans we worked as a cohesive unit and beat some pretty loaded teams pretty handily. I miss the days of spending time with my Boys of Summer.

Have yourselves a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day

Sammy Breaks Bowl

Well that's two days down, now all we have to do is get up and over this dreaded noon time hump and it will be all downhill as we work towards another weekend. Friday Eve is just over the horizon.

First of all just in case I missed anyone yesterday, Thank you for all of the Birthday wishes. It was nice to interact with so many people that it was a little over whelming. If I missed saying thank you to you for the birthday wishes, it was not intentional and I extend a big thank you to all the well wishers. In 2014 I got 209 Birthday Wishes I had to say Thank You for, this year that number is 234. Thank God for Copy and Paste...lol

 Well Sammy the Elf on the shelf made good on his promise of a rein of terror if I said I Hate Snow in my Blog, which I did yesterday. I guess that this was just his way to remind me that this is the season for snow and Santa needs snow. Notice the smile on Sammy's face? As if to tell me that he was not the one who followed through on his threat. I guess you play with fire, or in this case Sammy, you get exactly what was promised. I still hate snow, that will never change no matter what Sammy tries to do.

My wonderful wife Michelle showed me a site yesterday to do historical vital record searches in West Virginia. I was actually verifying so much stuff Monday night through Birth, Marriage and Death records that I managed to get quite a few updates done to the Family Tree and have the documentation to support many entries. If I could find a site like this for Pennsylvania that would be quite awesome and very much appreciated.

Have yourselves a great day today.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well that dreaded day of the week that we refer to as Monday is now once again in our rear view mirrors, I still can’t think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been a grand total of 18,993 days since my birth, my 21 years (using 900 day calendars) have been good to me.

* It has been 4,216 days since I walked down the isle at the Wise Library at WVU to finish my academic career.

* It has been 2,817 days since I took Michelle out on our very first date, horrible movie and a Pizza. 10,000 BC has to be the worst movie ever produced. Cavemen do not  have perfect teeth and hair stylists.

* It was 2,041 days ago that Michelle and I moved our relationship to the next level with our  engagement. I felt that I had made her wait long enough.

* It was 1,578 days ago that we moved our relationship to a legal status of married as we had our  wedding in front of our closest friends and family.

* I have about 5,845 days to go until I retire, give or take a few hundred here or there.

* I am eagerly counting down the mere 2,482 more days until the football game I am waiting for,  WVU vs Pitt takes place once again. There is even a rumor that we may get to beat their asses in a bowl game this year, that would be cool.

* There are only 366 more days to go until my birthday 21st Birthday (Remember the 900 day Calendars).

* Our next cruise is planned in just a mere 285 more days when we will once again set sail out of Baltimore to the Caribbean, this will be our fifth trip as we are both already Gold VIFP members.

* There are only 249 more days to go until Michelle and I celebrate our Fifth Wedding Anniversary together.

* There are only 110 days to go until my favorite season begins, Spring 2016. I'm ready for the birdies to start singing, the leaves to be reborn and have a the renewal season upon us.

* There are only 63 more days until the Prognosticator of  Prognosticators, Phil the weather forecasting Groundhog will pop his head up for an appearance.

* I have 30 days worth of content to go until my Goodbye 2015 Blog is posted.

* There are only 24 more shopping days left until Christmas, for you procrastinators there is still plenty of time and for you Black Friday shoppers I just have to ask Why?

* I have written a grand total of 4,279 blogs for George's Journal in the 11+ years than I have been writing this.

* No work on the Hall family tree this week, I know I am slacking.

* Nothing new on the Brother search, it seems as thought the whole search has hit multiple road blocks, not only from our side but on the other side as well. Hopefully something will break soon.

* Sammy the Christmas elf is going to be a terror, he's already threatening to do something if I say that I hate snow. I challenge him.

* I Hate Snow. Now let's see what he does.

* I think after the first of the year, I am going to start looking for dates for the Third Annual Friends and Family Picnic. Last year was such a success despite the weather.

* Michelle finally got some help in the Accounts Receivable Department. Her PIC (Partner in Crime) is on a limited work schedule due to her needing to be there for family health related issues and they just needed some help. Yesterday was his first day.

* The WVU Women's Soccer Team finished up a great season on Saturday night, their season ended with a 0-2 loss to Penn State in the Elite 8, I have a feeling coach Izzo is going to bring home a National Championship before she is done.

* The WVU Men's Football team and Basketball Teams were both undefeated during the month of November.

* It seems like Morgantown will be getting a second Taxi Service as Motown Taxi is set to officially open at the beginning of the year.

* Does anyone use Safetown? I know Michelle loves this Ap and every time an emergency vehicle goes by the house she knows exactly what is happening around us.

* As the winter season is getting ready to be upon us, power outages happen all around us. THIS SITE will allow you to track who is without power and when power can be expected to return. It could be a valuable link this winter.

* Have yourselves a great day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Sammy Kind of Monday

Well that fabtabulous thing we call the weekend, and in many cases an extended weekend is now over with. Now it's time to stick our collective noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of doing what it is we do for a living. It's time to get back to work.

Sammy was up early this morning, he found one of the conk shells we brought back from the Bahamas a few years ago and was trying to figure out how to blow it like a horn. I showed him how to do it, but he is just not getting the hang of it. Sammy said that he will pop by time to time between now and Christmas, I'm just curious what he is going to get himself into this week.

I have to say that I had a pretty productive break from work, last week just flew by and we got to spend Thanksgiving with Michelle's side of the family and my Mom on Saturday evening while setting her tree up.

Now looking at our week ahead, nothing major coming up. We are planning on going and getting our 2015 Christmas Tree on Saturday and maybe even do a little bit of Christmas Cookie baking. The following weekend we will be traveling, so time is starting to close in on Christmas and we have a number of things to do before then.

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Well here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from that losing battle with the dreaded Sand Man last night and I'm up early watching the Kingsmen on HBO, but not really paying attention, and of course collecting my thoughts for the day.

Yesterday turned out pretty well, we managed to put Mom and Gerald's Christmas Tree up for 2015 and had a great time doing it.

Kim and Terri were both already there and waiting for me and Michelle when we got there, it was a real nice evening and everyone was a huge help in getting the 2015 tree up and ready for the season. It is a tradition that hopefully can continue to grow and grow more and more with each and every passing year.

Our plans for today are just to do our grocery shopping this morning. The Steelers play the late afternoon game today, so there may be a football game on tap for today. I watched the Mountaineers defeat Iowa State 30-6 yesterday afternoon. So it has been a pretty good football weekend for me so far.

Have yourselves a great day today and Go Steelers.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit yet once again in a quiet household, only me, Fin and Sammy are up. Sammy decided he wants some coffee and has found the white chocolate sauce and wants some in his coffee. Good thing we have more of it, it would be a sad day in this household if Michelle couldn't have her white chocolate when she re-wakes up.

I have seen that a couple of my nieces have already set their Christmas Trees up for the season. This afternoon we are going to take a little bit of time out and set up and decorate Mom and Geralds Tree for the season. This will be the third year that we have put up their tree since they moved to their current residence, the tree gets more life every year. It looks like it's going to be a good turn out this year.

The WVU Basketball team won the Las Vegas Invitational last night with a 72-50 win over San Diego State. Richmond, the team WVU beat in the Semi-Finals beat #14th ranked Cal in the consolation game for 3rd place.

The WVU Seniors get to play one last game at Mylan Puskar Stadium as today is Senior day, the last home game of the season. Today's opponent will be Iowa State but we still have Kansas State to play next weekend and our bowl game, so this is not their last game, it's just the last time they will play in Morgantown. Thank you to all the Seniors for your commitment and helping this team transition into the Big XII.

Have yourselves a great day.