Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all my pictures that I have on my computer. It's a time to reflect upon days gone by that were magically captured moments in time that I can always cherish and share with others. It's one of my favorite blogs of the week to write because it lets me take a little time out and look at my pictures. Sometimes finding that one special picture is pretty easy, sometimes it's not so easy, it's always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back to the very first Thanksgiving that Michelle and I spent together. That year and every year since we gather together with her side of the family at the Cassville Firehall and have a very large Thanksgiving Dinner.

As I even recall, I was driving my Rodeo back then and my wind shield wipers broke as we were leaving the Firehall. That coupled with the fact that it started to snow as we were leaving did not help matters.

That was our first, one that will always be memorable.

Off the Rest of the Week

I've been on vacation this week, but had a couple of meetings I had to go to so I really wouldn't call it a a complete vacation. Now that those meetings are over with it's clear sailing through till Monday for me. This will be Michelle's last day this week and she will be off until Monday as well.

It's been a lazy week of movie watching for me for the most part this week. Taking nice long naps on the couch and finding a movie on to watch or just fall asleep watching.

I get to repeat this once again today but with no interruptions of heading to work, as they are getting a three hour early dismissal today and Friday the place is usually like a ghost town.

Now, what to do with my day =)

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is now behind us, even though I am on vacation I still can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's been 1,712 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date. It's going on five years this spring and I have been a very lucky man since then. My life was changed for the good forever.

* It's been 935 days since I proposed marriage and asked the love of my life to spend the rest of our lives together.

* 472 Days ago in front of our closest friends and family we exchanged our vows and chowed down at the Marilla Center.

* There are 35 more shopping days left until Christmas. Black Friday starts this Friday and we enter the time that I call the Official Christmas Shopping season, although we have a start.

* I'm off again today with the exception of an hour long meeting this afternoon, this will be the second of my two meetings this week and I should be off the rest of the week.

* The twinkies may have been saved, a judge has requested that Hostess and the Union enter to a mediator to settle their dispute. Hostess may still end up selling it off, but I think the snack cakes and their product line is too valuable to just let die.

* Yesterday was the first day of rifle hunting season in West Virginia. I know my boss was helping someone he knows clean one up, but that's the only person I've heard of getting one yesterday. I'm sure I know a number of others who have, just haven't paid attention.

* I do have to say with the students being out of town this week, traffic was not that bad or hard to navigate through.

* Have a great day.

Off All Week

I'll be on vacation all this week, minus a couple of hours or if I am needed to do anything at work. The task numbers are not in place yet, and we can'y bill to anything until they are in place, so I'll have a nice relaxing week this week barring anything unexpected.

I went yesterday morning and got new tires put on the Taurus, I had a flat tire Friday when I got off of work and couldn't get it repaired so I had a couple of new tires put on the front of the car. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday morning and they had me in and out pretty quickly.

Something tells me this will be a relaxing week for me. We're doing Thanksgiving Dinner at the Cassville Firehall like we do with Michelle's family every year. Jim and Chris go all out with it and make it a very special day for everyone.

Have a great day.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Well we managed to get the carpets scrubbed yesterday, we both worked on different parts of the house and went to town. The kids helped move stuff around and re-organize things so we have a place to put our Christmas tree this year. We had placed some shelves in the place we always put it, so we had to make a lot of cookware and some furniture and now we're ready for a tree.

Speaking of the tree, I think we are going to go and get ours later this week. I'm off all week and Michelle is off on Thursday and Friday. We'll be traveling Saturday for her High School Reunion, so we can knock it out on Friday and that should free up one of our weekends before Christmas.

Anyone watch the Mountaineer Game last night. Talk about an exciting game, the Mountaineers fought back late in the game to grab a lead, only to lose in the final minute on a 4th down pass play by Oklahoma 50-49. Tavon Austin was moved from WR to Running back and Oklahoma had absolutely no solution to him as he rushed for a new school record 344 yards on on 21 carries for an unheard of 16.1 YPC average. He also had 82 yards receiving and another 146 yards on Kickoff returns. That shattered the single game rushing record and the All Purpose Yards record for one game with a mind boggling 572 All-Purpose Yards.

The game should have been a blowout for Oklahoma, but the Mountaineers matured last night and found some of that early season magic. Tavon Austin, the most consistent player this season, stepped it up another notch even above what he has been playing at and made it a close game. I honestly thought we were going to pull this game out, and I think this team grew up last night. They will not lose another game this season.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, everyone is fighting a losing battle with the sandman other than me who is up early watching Horrible Bosses in the background.

I had a couple of unexpected events yesterday at work. Our contract is not in place, so my boss wants us to take this week as a weeks vacation. No tasks are in place so there is nothing to bill to, so I'll be burning vacation next week with the exception of two meetings that I have. I was going to take Friday off anyways and even contemplated Wed, but now it appears that with the exception of a couple meetings nest week that I will bill to overhead, I'll be off next week.

As I was leaving work yesterday, I came out and discovered a flat time. Drivers side front tire was completely flat and there must be a hole in it. Michelle brought me a couple of cans of fix-a-flat and it went flat again before I got halfway home. So with Michelle'e assistance, she's a trooper, we changed the tire pretty quickly in the middle of the street to be able to get the car home last night. It wasn't a very good day to say the least. I have 4 1/2 weeks of vacation built up, so no worries there.

Today we are going to start getting ready for Christmas. We have two weekends we will be traveling, one weekend dedicated to the Christmas Tree and one weekend baking Christmas cookies. Today and this weekend, it's time for the bi-annual carpet shampooing. I'll go out here in a little while and get a carpet scrubber and Michelle will run one and I'll run the other one that we have.

Traffic was ridiculous around town last night. We play Oklahoma this afternoon, that and the students had to be out of the dorms yesterday evening created a lot of havoc around town to travel around.

I did learn yesterday what is being built in the Suncrest Plaza. The big stand alone building is going to be Pro Performance Suncrest, I think they are still keeping the facility at Mylan Park open.

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.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football action? Morgantown High at 9-2 travels to play Huntington tonight in their second round action. Clay Battelle travels to #1 ranked Tucker County to play their second round playoff game. If either of these schools win, they will advance to the State Semi-Finals next weekend.

I think Michelle may have broken her hand yesterday at work. It's black and blue after she bumped into a door frame walking down the hallway. Hopefully it's better today, she's hoping she just stoved it rather than have fractured it.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures and find just one special picture to tell a little story about. A lost moment in time I can partially relive on my blog. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that picture, sometimes it's not so easy, but it is always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture does and does not go back a lot of years. The picture itself is from 2005, but the image in the picture is the actual story.

This is the house my Grandparents used to live in in Van Voorhis. It was the house I lived in until I was about 5 years old and thye sold it and we moved beside Drummond Chapel Church.

The window that you see up top here is mine and my grandfathers bedroom window if memory serves me correct, but I won't swear to it. All I remember was it was the last bedroom you came too once you went to the top of the stairs. My Dad's was the first, then my Grandmothers and then ours. 

Hump Day Sports

Well that's two down, now if you look up over that noon time hump, just on the other side of a Photo Flashback you'll see the dawn of another weekend off in the distance.

Well I have to say this is not the school year to get your hopes up as a Mountaineer fan. The football team has been horrible over the past four games with Oklahoma on the bill next. On top of that we have had three players who have started this season quit the team this week. That's not a good sign, especially after being nine games into a season.

There is always basketball, but the Mountaineers started their season yesterday morning with the worst loss in a number of years to the team that took us out of the NCAA Tournament in Gonzaga. It was a dismal 34 point loss where everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

Is it baseball season yet?

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is now behind everyone, it was easier for some of than others, with that being said I still can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* It has been 1,705 days since Michelle and my first date together.

* 928 days ago I got down on one knee and proposed marriage.

* We have been happily married for 465 days and counting now.

* There are 42 more shopping days left until Christmas. Wow is Christmas really only six weeks away? I know people who have already put up their Christmas trees.

* Ran to Comcast yesterday. Had to exchange a DVR receiver and exchanged my modem to grab a faster one. Everything seemed to be a little outdated, so I exchanged them and even got a better package and more features for a cheaper price believe it or not.

* This is only going to be a four day workweek due to yesterdays holiday, next week we are both taking off Friday after Thanksgiving to make it a four day weekend for us.

* Michelle's High School Reunion is that weekend.

* Over the next coming weeks there are some things we are going to be doing including our bi-annual carpet steaming, putting up a Christmas Tree, baking cookies, heading back home for Michelle's reunion, heading back for her family Christmas, Christmas shopping and probably a few other unexpected things.

* Hi ho hi ho

Veterans Day

Yesterday was actually November 11, but today as a nation we officially celebrate Veterans Day as the Federal Holiday. If you have not already thanked a veteran or anyone who serves in the Military, take this time out today to just say thank you for all you have done or all that you are doing by ensuring our Nation remains Independent and self Governing.

I'm fortunate, I'm a Federal Contractor and I get all Federal Holidays so I'm off of work today thanks to these brave young men and women. Whether our opinions are different or similar, it has been their sacrifice that has allowed us to have those differences.

From my Grandfather to served in WWI, to my father who served to my Nephew who is currently serving and is an Iraqi War Veteran I would like to thank them for their service.

Sunday

I think I have always loved early Sunday Mornings, it always seems to be the most quietest and peaceful time of the week. I've loved Sunday mornings for years, I used to work 60-70 hours a week and Sundays was my day off to get things done around the house. I guess that has carried on some years later to today.

With that peaceful thought being said, What in the world has happened to the WVU football team. We've lost the last four games with Oklahoma on the horizon and this defense has let up more points this year so far, with three games to play mind you, than any Mountaineer Football team ever fielded.

Oliver Luck may have made a huge mistake by going and getting a young Offensive Coordinator with no Head Coaching experience and then turns around earlier this year and gives him a bigger contract. Coach Holgorson in turns turns around after the rest of the previous staff leaves and hires his drinking buddies.

Oliver Luck has started whoring out this program to the almighty dollar since he's been here. From the surprise $20.00 to park at the Coliseum on game days, to destroying the Big East and putting us in a conference that we have no natural rivals, to killing the Pitt Series, to alcohol sales at the Stadium to doing about anything he can to whore this once Proud University out.

I blame Oliver Luck and Oliver Luck only on this mess. This alumnus is not happy with what has happened to my Alma Mater.

I never thought I would ever say this, but bring back Rick Rodriguez.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, everyone here is fighting a losing battle with the sandman except yours truly. I'm up watching something or another on HBO and warming the house up by fighting with the furnace.

Yesterday turned out to be a long day. After work, dinner and shopping, we ended up going to Arrons last game for University High. The hawks dropped a 24-23 heart breaker last night about Clarksburg Liberty. A team they had beaten 35-7 earlier in the season. The loss finishes the Hawks season at 8-3 on the year.

I think we are going to get a load of firewood this year. We haven't used the fireplace the last couple of years and have had it sealed up due to how inefficient it really is. We discussed it and I think if nothing else we like the aesthetics that a nice warm fireplace delivers. As a matter of a fact, I'm getting one started right now to remove some of the chill that is down here while the furnace tries to warm the place up.

Nothing planned for us today other than maybe watching a football game or a movie. We have a few weeks before things start to get real busy for us again until the first of the year. With the Holidays and traveling and shopping coming up, we're going to be busy until the first of the year.

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 and a three day holiday weekend for me.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football playoff action this weekend? The #6 University High Hawks lead will play host to the #11 ranked Lewis County Minutemen at their field. Both teams come in 8-2 on the season and look to extend the year one more week. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 the #5 Morgantown High Mohigans will play host to #12 Pt. Pleasant whatevertheyarecalled's at Pony Lewis Field. The #8 ranked and 9-1 Clay Battelle Cee Bees will play at 7:30 tomorrow night and will host # 9 Valley Fayette. I would assume the game will be at their field, but I seem to recall they started to tear it up for construction after the last home game.

Arron Hill-Rosiak will be most likely be playing his last home game unless there is a bog upset down south.

Looking for some college Football? Well the Mountaineers will travel to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Oklahoma. After seeing the last three weeks, and knowing we are 9 point underdogs in this game, something tells me this might not be pretty. We will be playing at I think 3:00 or 3:30 on FX or Fox.

Lifting and Cardio

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback ThursdayO

It's my photo flashback Thursday, but I ran across this picture today and just had to share it as my blog today.

Hump Day

That's two days down, now if you just look over the noon time horizon, off in the distance and on the other side of a flashback, you'll see the dawn of another weekend. Today it's up and over that hump.

I really can't speak about the Presidential election, as of the time of me writing this all of the polls are still open and no on has won any state. However if you don;t know who has won yet, you can always go HERE and get the results from yesterday.

I did however go and do my civic duty early yesterday morning and Michelle did so after work. Polls were crowded early on when I went. Michelle said they were just as crowded when she went in the afternoon, so I'm going to guess that there was a very good voter turnout overall just based on that quick personal assessment. We'll have to see if I was right when this posts, you should know the answer.

The WVU Men's basketball team played an exhibition game last night against Glenville State. Just like the election, I can't talk about what hasn't happened yet at the time of me writing this.

Lifting and cardio day

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well once again Monday is now in our rear view mirrors and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, still can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's been 1,698 days since Michelle and I went out on our first date, I set a new record every day for my longest relationship. =)

* 921 days ago we became engaged.

* This is our 458th day of wedded bliss, 458 magical days since we were forever joined in the bounds of matrimony.

* There are 49 more shopping days left until Christmas. That's seven weeks until Ho ho comes.

* It's elect day here in the US. Today is the day we either grant President Barrack Obama another four years as President or select a new one. I'm voting for another four years, I really like President Obama and I don't hide that fact.

* It was 50 years ago yesterday that my Mom and my Dad were married. They both divorced and remarried, Mom a couple of times, but it was 50 years ago yesterday that they were married. I'm getting old.

* I spoke with my niece Amy briefly yesterday morning, they are still without power. There are four polls back where they live that are a problem, two are down completely and two are hanging over the road. She seems to think she'll have power by today, but the electric company told her Thursday. The power to the Kingwood Pike has been restored.

* Go vote

* Hi ho hi ho

Weekend Wrapup

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes the fun filled weekends. It's once again time to stick our noses to the grindstone and get back to doing what it is that we do that allows us to do the things we like to do.

I do swear though, weekends seem to just quickly pass is. Even though we turned the clocks back an hour this weekend and it is was an hour longer, it seemed like it just flew by. I think there is something that speeds time up from 5:00 Friday until 7:00 on Monday. Although I have to say as we enter this time of the year when we get less and less daylight, we tend to do less on weekends until we reach the holiday season.

One thing Michelle managed to do yesterday was clean up that monstrosity of a closet of ours. She dug in and started throwing stuff away that really needed to be thrown away. I ran to Lowes and grabbed a new Humidifier as ours had crapped out. This one seems to be a much better quality than the one we purchased last year, I was reading all the reviews for that old one at Bed Bath and Beyond and everyone was giving it a 1 star. This one gives us a humidity indicator that allows up to get the optimum humidity.

Cardio and lifting day for me at work so.

Hi ho hi ho

Trick or Treating last night

Let's talk about Trick or Treating, because our Football team is not worth discussing.

We headed up to East Gate last night for Trick or Treat, which had been postponed a couple of times due to the weather and the recent hurricane.

As we were heading up there last night I told Michelle it would either be feast or famine with the trick or treaters. Either they were going to get swamped as they were the only place doing it last night, or the Football game was going on and people would be at the stadium.

Jean usually get's 3-400 visitors as East Gate is one of the local favorite places to go to for Trick or Treators due to the closed environment, easy access to homes and family friendly neighborhood. Jean lived in the middle of the middle road on the lower loop, which means she gets hammered by kids coming to visit.

Well Jean started with 520 candy bars, Michelle and I added another 200, Pam added another 100 or so and Jerry (Jeans boyfriend) added another big bag. We're talking probably 1,000 small candy bars, not the bites size, but the snack size bars. By 7:10 we were completely wiped out of Candy and they were still coming.

In would call that feast, they were coming out of the woodwork to grab the candied treats. I would hate to make a guess on how many we got, but they were giving a piece to everyone and we ran out before time had expired.

It was good to see Sherri Toth and he Fiancee Chad had made it up for Halloween as well. Amy had previous commitments to help Ralphies Mom with some Music since no one on the Pike has any Electric yet.

Speaking of Amy, they are still without Power up there, they have a generator but cant do laundry, no hot water and can't use the oven.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, everyone has lost a battle with the infamous sandman as I did early last night, but I'm up and have been up for a while. I zonked out on the couch yesterday, when I start to get tired, that's all she wrote I am done for the day.

Trick or Treating is finally scheduled for east gate this evening, I think with all the headaches and delays that have been associated with it Jean is getting a little fed up with it this year. She's got a new man in her life so there are other things that she wants to be doing, can't say that I blame her. If she is going to host it this evening we'll be there with candy in hand read for the trick or treaters.

WVU is playing at home this afternoon. I believe it is either the 3:00 or 3:30 kickoff in our game against TCU. After a couple weeks of disappointment and a week off to try to fix it all, I'm sure fans are eager to see if there have been any improvement at all.

Apple has pushed out a new release of their operating system. IOS 6.01 just got done installing on my phone, it's supposed to fix the problem that I had with my last phone of not being able to connect to WiFi. I exchanged my phone and alleviated that problem a couple of weeks ago, now they seem to have a patch out to fix it.

Have a great day and Let's Go Mountaineers.

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.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football? Well this is the last weekend for regular season games. The #5 ranked Morgantown High Mohigans will play host to Brooke. Morgantown will be trying to secure a second home football game for the playoffs. #7 and undefeated Clay Battelle plays host to #5 Madonna out in Blacksville. A win guarantees the Cee Bees a home football game during the first round of the playoffs.

West Virginia will play here tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 as they play host to TCU. A little over a year ago we were both supposed to be a part of the same conference, but it turns out to be the Big XII rather than the Big East as TCU was supposed to join the Big East this season, but opted for the Big XII with us.

Lifting and cardio

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my digital pictures that I have stored. I like to find just one picture and write a little blog about that captured moment in time. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find that picture, sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a few years, seven in particular to a halloween evening that is now in the past. The year was 2005 and Jean was hosting Trick or Treating at her home as she does every year.

East Gate Manor has traditionally been a hotbed for trick or treating children due to its closed environment and easy access to many homes. Everyone in the family seems to migrate there for those reasons.

This weeks picture is a picture of Jean and her sidekick Erica Jean. This was the first year that Val dressed her up ad took her around seeking all of those candied treats.

Off to WVU for me today.

Halloween Hump Day

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Today is halloween, the day when little kiddies usually get to go out in their costumes and collect all kinds of goodies....usually. Halloween in Monongalia County as I'm sure it is in many places has been postponed until tomorrow night due to Hurricane Sandy and the impact it has had on the entire northeast.

Here in Morgantown we were hammered with a great deal of heavy snow, but not as bad as Preston County that had as of this morning 75% of its residents without any power. The good news is this should clear up soon, the bad news is it may take a while to get the power back on in many places.

We were fortunate as we didn't lose power and we were both able to make it to and from work. Both at where Michelle works and where I work were both running on skeleton crews, I was the only one in my office and if it had not been for a meeting that I had yesterday morning on restarting a project, I probably would have stayed home myself.

Cardio and lifting day.

Stay warm and dry.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Hurricane Sandy is hitting the northeast and devastating much of the Northeast, still can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It was 1,691 days ago Michelle and i went out on our first date, the movie was lousy the company I kept around.

* 914 days ago I got down on one knee at 4:00 in the morning and proposed marriage.

* 451 days ago in front of our friends and family we exchanged our wedding vows and partied down at the Marilla Center.

* There are 56 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* Saturday morning Jackie (Barill) Thompson gave birth to a 8 lb 6 oz baby girl. They have named her Willow.

* The Federal Government is supposed to be closed tomorrow due to the Hurricane, I'll still have to go to work due to some meetings with people on the West Coast.

* Trick or Treating that was scheduled for downtown businesses this evening has been cancelled due to the storm.

* Stay warm, stay safe and stay dry if you can.

* Cardio day.

* Hi ho hi ho

Hurricane Sandy is Coming.

Hurricane Sandy is about ready to hit the NorthEast. It's a huge hurricane that is going to hit a cold front coming from the west and it's what we would call the perfect storm that is getting ready to hit.

This could be moisture and wind from a Hurricane accompanied with dropping temperatures that could result in a large amount of snowfall for the Morgantown area. That and adding in the fact that many trees still have some leaves left on them, could create a 2005 type of coinsurance again where many are without power from falling trees.

 If you recall we had a mid October Storm that dropped a foot of heavy snow here while the leaves were still on the trees in 2005. This caused many to be without power as lines were down about everywhere.

This could be a very big problem to the areas of higher elevation. In Western Maryland they are calling for 8"-16" of snowfall over the next 48 or so hours.

Take precautions and prepare yourselves for an unlikely and untimely storm that could very well have a very devastating affect on many people in the area.

Hopefully this does not turn out anywhere near as bad as it appears to be shaping up to be. We were lucky last year by not getting a whole lot of either snowfall or even much winter, today I think Mother Nature may take her revenge for taking it so easy on us last year.

Cardio and lifting day

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday

After a nice relaxing day yesterday of just running around town, getting our rings inspected, visiting the Farmer's market and just pretty much relaxing, it's back to the normal Sunday grind of grocery shopping.

One thing I am excited about is that the Pittsburgh Steelers play at 1:00 this afternoon. This will be the last early afternoon game that we can watch until after Thanksgiving. I like that 1:00 time slot more than the 4:30 and definitely more than night games. We haven't had too many opportunities this season to watch the Steelers for a multitude of reasons.

It's probably just going to be a relaxing day around the house. We were given a bunch of hot peppers from one of Michelle's co-worker, so we'll be vacuum sealing a good bit today.

Have a great day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again here I sit in a quiet household, everyone is fighting a losing battle to the sandman with the exception of me who is up watching the movie "That's My Boy" on Amazon. Maybe one of Adam Sandler's funniest movies he's ever made.

No football in Morgantown today as WVU is off. The Mohigans did manage to pull out a 35-14 win in the MoHawk Bowl last night. Reading what a couple people put on Facebook, it was absolutely ridiculously crowded and maybe the game needs to be moved back to Mylan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field.

Big surprise yesterday, Hardees on Chestnut Ridge Road, a restaurant that has been here for 30 years has closed their doors. The sign is gone and there is a for lease sign on the building. Michelle noticed it on her way home from work yesterday afternoon.

I think the only thing really on our agenda is to make a trip to the Jewelers for our rings 6 month inspections. We purchased the lifetime warranties with them and have to take them in every six months for inspection. That way if anything happens to them they will be replaced free of charge.

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 if you are looking for a little bit of High School Football action, this is the time of the year that it gets the most exciting. Morgantown High School and University High School will renew it's yearly rivalry tonight at 7:30 at Pony Lewis Field. The is the rival game for these two cross town rivals, I'm a Mohigan but Arron is University High's starting Defensive Tackle, so my loyalties might be semi-suspended this year, but just this year.

In other county football news, Undefeated and 8-0 Clay Battelle will be traveling to Clarksburg to take on Notre Dame High School.

That's it for football in Morgantown this weekend, WVU is off this week getting ready to play next Saturday and trying to figure out what to do with that can;t stop anything defense and the offense that has completely sputtered.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through some of my pictures that I have stored on an External Hard Drive sitting my my computer. I like to select just one photo to write a little blog about and reflect to a captured moment in time and relive it a little in my blog. Sometimes this is pretty easy and sometime it's not so easy to find that special picture, it is however always a lot of fun (and a good excuse to look at pictures).

This weeks pic I have to thank my niece Val for. She texted me last night asking me if we were going to be going to Jean's at Halloween this year. We didn't make it last year due to Michelle being sick as a dog, so we stayed home. This year we plan on being there and seeing all the trick or treaters that come by.

Since this is the last flashback before the next Halloween, I thought I would take a picture of the kids in their costumes from the last Halloween we were at.

After missing last year, I am looking forward to this year.

Hi ho hi ho

3,000

On September 11, 2004 I was introduced to the world of Blogging when I ran across this site and made my first blog post . Now it has been eight years, one month and 13 days. Or you could call it 2,965 days ago. You could call it 423 weeks ago or call it 71,160 hours or 4,269,600 minutes or even 256,176,000 seconds ago roughly.

Since then I have written many blogs and have told many of stories through the years. I've welcomed family members, gotten married, been through a few family feuds, celebrated many birthdays and births. I've shared my highs and lows of my life including when I change or have found jobs.

This is my 3,000th blog post. That is averaging at least one post a day for eight years, which takes a lot of commitment. I'm sure there have been times when my blog has been stale or boring, and there are times when people have been very happy to read it.

Like it or hate it, I have a very detailed documentation of my life over an eight year period. It's a very nice body of work that has created numerous reference points for me in my life. I can't express in words how valuable that is to me, and maybe someday I give future generations something to reference as to what was happening in both my life and my families.

I'm very proud of the fact that I have stuck with this.

here is to my next 3,000 blog posts.

Hump Day Sports

Well that has been two weeks in a row that the Mountaineer Football team has been taken to the woodshed. This past Saturday was one of the ugliest games that I have ever seen this program play. The defense was absolutely horrible, especially the pass coverage and Geno Smith seemed like he has cracked under all the Heisman Trophy talk pressure. They will be off this week, maybe they can get a few things worked out and get back on the right track before it's too late.

The men's basketball team have been practicing for a couple of weeks now. They had a 40 minute scrimmage last Friday that was open to the public. I went to the University High School Football game however.

Speaking of University High, my loyalties are still with my Alma Mater as University High and Morgantown High will square off this coming Friday evening in the annual MoHowk Bowl. I wish Arron a lot of luck, but I'm still a Mohigan at heart and always will be.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday dreary Monday is now once again behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, I can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It's been 1,684 days since Mine and Michelle's first date a few years ago. I can't believe how fast time flies by.

* 907 days ago I got down on a knee and proposed marriage to by beautiful wife.

* 444 days ago we entered into marital bliss.

* There are but 63 shopping days left until Christmas.

* I got some disturbing news yesterday on Facebook, it seems jean took a fall down a flight of stairs and injured her leg. I spoke with her yesterday morning and she seems to be doing better, but the Doctors were concerned with a blood clot.

* We passed our old iPhones down to Chad and Laiah. Hayley didn't want to trade phones and seems to want to buy her own new phone when she is eligible for an upgrade in January. Chad's phone had been giving him trouble so it was a welcome upgrade from the 3GS to the 4 for him.

* Hayley survived her first day of running her own BFS/Gloria Jeans store. She has to be there early every day this week, but the good thing is they don't sell beer or cigarettes because it's University property and they are not open Sunday's or Saturdays unless there is a home football game.

* Cardio day

* Hi ho hi ho

Monday

All good things must come to an end, and that includes the weekend. It's Monday morning, the time when we stick our noses back on the grindstones for a the week of work so we can pay our bills and have our fun on the weekends.

Michelle and I took a trip to the Apple Store in Pittsburgh yesterday to exchange the new iPhone 5 we purchased on Saturday. It was a WiFi connection problem that my phone had and hers didn't the new phone works just fine now ad they exchanged my phone for a new one that works properly.

We made a trip to Tanger Outlets as well, we both bought a pair of boots for the winter and we bought a few other things before heading to South Hills village and having lunch at Red Robin.

Chad and Laiah made it back from Texas last night where they spent the weekend to attend a wedding.

Congratulation to Hayley, she takes over both the BP Store and the Gloria Jeans as the store manager at the transit center today. She goes to salary and is required to put in 50 hours a week, but the good thing is it is not a 24/7 store. It opens early morning and closes early evening and is only open on Saturdays when there is a home football game and closed on Sunday. I would say the vast majority of their clients are people who park in the Van Voorhis lot for the day.

Lifting and cardio so

Hi ho hi ho

Got our iPhones

I have been searching around for the new iPhone 5 for a couple of weeks now, ever since Michelle became eligible for an upgrade I've been trying to find someplace that had them in stock so I wouldn't have to order one.

Yesterday were were going to order them online through AT&T and we were expecting to wait 3-4 weeks to get them. We were at Sam's club and thought what the heck, lets ask anyways and see if they have any. They had two.

Michelle's is working fine, mine is having trouble connecting to WiFi. So I called Apple Care and they have scheduled me a 2:00 PM appointment at Apple Care in Pittsburgh to exchange my phone today.

Tanger here we come. =)

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, Michelle is in the bedroom sound asleep as she didn't go home this weekend after-all. Her kidney's have been killing her and she didn't know if she could ride in a car for that long without being in extreme discomfort.

Last night was Senior night for University High School. Arron walked out on the field with Trish and Pat and I couldn't miss that as I was there with camera in hand. Arron played a heck of a game and University High School beat Preston 59-0. That's one way to leave a nice lasting impression on Senior night.

The Mountaineers take the field this evening in a night game in Morgantown. #3 Kansas State is in town and it looks to be like one heck of a matchup. We had better be on top of our game this evening and not come out flat like we did last week or there won't be any celebrating in Morgantown tonight.

I think we are going to make a stop at the AT&T Store today. I was hoping the new iPhones would be in by now, but demand has been very high. I waited until Michelle became eligible so we could order them together, now it looks like it might be a 3-4 week wait until they actually ship.

Have a great day and Let's Goooooo Mountaineers.

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.

It's all me at the house this weekend, Chad and Laiah are in Texas for a wedding and Michelle will be heading home this weekend to spend a little bit of time with her Grandmother in Ohio since she just had her 95th birthday this past week. Maybe, she's also thinking of staying home because her kidneys are sore.

Looking for a little bit of High School Football action tonight? The 7-1 University High Hawks will play host to a 2-5 Preston team tonight at their field. 5-2 Morgantown takes this week to head to Moundsville to have their turn at playing John Marshall ans 8-0 and undefeated Clay Battelle is off and resting this week.

If you are looking for a little free basketball entertainment, what I thought last week wasn't going to exist this year is tonight. The WVU basketball team will have their Blue Gold debut tonight with a 40 minute scrimmage at the Coliseum. In case anyone forgot, Bob Huggins was coaching Kansas State right before he returned home.

Speaking of Kansas State, the WVU Football team will be playing them tomorrow night. K-State comes in undefeated and ranked #3 in the Country and Geno and the boys look to make up for last weeks manhandling we took from Texas Tech. Should be a good one.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my digital pictures that I have stored on my computer and select just one to tell a little story about. Sometimes finding that picture is pretty easy, and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a couple of years ago at the 4th of July Fireworks on the waterfront. Everyone got together at the same place we usually get together at and enjoyed a night of fireworks.

This picture was of some of my nieces and nephews that night. It's not too often that we can get everyone together and this was an opportunity to grab one of those special moments in time that is now forever captured and never lost.

I had a few more pictures from that evening, but I didn't think it would have been appropriate to post pictures of everyone giving me the hall salute..LOL

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

Well this past weekend wasn't the best for as far as sports goes. The Pittsburgh Steelers lost last Thursday, the Mohigans lost on Friday the Mountaineers got embarrassed Saturday. This week let's hope is not a repeat of last week.

One nice thing is my picture, in case you don't recognize this big behemoth devouring a John Marshall ball carrier, it's Arron Hill-Rosiak #78 from University High. I've been lucky enought o watch him grow up since he was 4 years old. This is our friend Trish's son for those of you who don't recognize the name. Arron has been tearing it up so far this season for the 7-1 University High Hawks. Hopefully some college can get a little interest in him and give a scholarship offer so he can have a free ride to the next level.

The Mountaineers will play host to #3 and #4 Kansas State this weekend here in Morgantown. After last weeks thrashing by Texas tech, we need to come out on fire and try to just light up the scoreboard. Two straight weeks of traveling to Texas seemed to have taken it's toll on our guys last week, as they just were not ready to play it seemed like. Let's see if we can turn that around this week.

There was one funny little video I saw done by a Kansas State fan calling himself the K-State Mask. He's done a video for every opponent that they have played this year and does a little mockery of each of their opponents. I thought it was pretty well done, and actually a little bit funny.

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us, and what a long one it was, I can't think of a better reason that that to do a tidbits.

* Talk about a long day. I woke up yesterday morning around 3:00 AM and stayed up until it was time to go work out at 6:00 and then go to work. 7:00 last night I finally walked in the door for the last time. Talk about a long day, most of it was spent at the hospital with Michelle.

* BTW, we had Michelle at the Emergency Room yesterday. Initial diagnosis was kidney stones, it appears just to be a deep infection in her kidneys.

* Speaking of my lovely wife, it was 1,677 days ago that we went out on our first date.

* An even 900 days ago we were engaged.

* We have been married for 437 wonderful days.

* There are only 70 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* On my workouts I've decided to move my cardio back inside to the treadmills for the winter. I loved the spring and summer mornings of just getting out and spending some time on our trail before I started work, now I'll spend the next few months staring at a screen that monitors everything.

* If she's healthy, Michelle is going back home this weekend and Chad and Laiah will be in Texas. I'll be watching a lot of sports and eating a lot of pizza this weekend.

* Speaking of Pizza, I better start working it off now.

* Hi ho hi ho

Happy Birthday Brittany Dae Cummings

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my Niece Brittany a very Happy Birthday today. If my math is correct, and it is not always correct should I say, this should put her at 22 years of age (I think).

She is enrolled at West Virginia University and I rarely if ever get to see her anymore, I did see her this spring once when she was with her Grandparents when Michelle and I went to Oliverios for dinner.

If you see Brittany today, make sure that you take a little bit of time out and wish her a very Happy Birthday. She is one little girl who is making me very proud by not being too far away from graduating from my alma mater at WVU.

Happy Birthday Brittany.

Back to Work

All good things must come to an end, and that even includes extended weekends. My three day filled, lots of football sadness three day weekend has been completed and it's back to work for me today.

I will be on my own this coming weekend, Michelle is going back home to visit her grandmother for her birthday. Chad and Laiah will be leaving Thursday to head to Texas for a wedding. They'll be flying out Thursday afternoon and won't be back until Sunday.

After this week of work, this might be a football filled weekend for me. =)

Hi ho hi ho

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Watched the football game yesterday, all I have to say in Texas Tech absolutely schooled us in about every aspect of the game in their 49-14 hammering of us.

The Defense looked confused, unprepared and having no idea what was going on, but that has been par for the course so far this year for them. The Offense tried for waaaay too many home run balls that just were not there.

I thought the offensive play calling was atrocious as we would try one home run throw about every set of downs it seemed like. All you have to do is move the chains and they didn't do that. Texas Tech was giving us the underneath stuff, but we didn't want that. We were trying to go down field too much too often. To the point that they seemed to be getting desperate as if they had something to prove.

Next week we have a top 5 Kansas State coming to town, might even be as high as #3 with us and South Carolina both losing, we better be a whole lot more prepared than this.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again so much for my only one up spiel, Michelle hasn't been feeling well the past couple of days and was actually up way before I was. We did our Sam's Club thing last night and have the freezer pretty much stocked up on pork and chick for a while. She bought a big container of Hot Sausage last week that she orders from work, so maybe next week I'll get a nice big sirloin tip and have it cut up into a couple of steaks and some roasts.

It's gameday today as the #5 Mountaineers travel to Texas once again, this time to one of Dana Holgorsen's old schools that he worked as an Offensive Coordinator as they invade Texas Tech. Hopefully our team will come out ready today and if today's game is anything like the last two, this should be a very exciting matchup.

Heading out this morning to give Abdul and Farida a ride to a function that they want to got to. Nick has to work and he doesn't want them to have to take a cab, so I agreed to go and pick them up and take them wherever they want to go today. Nick told me what it was they wanted to go to, but I seemed to have forgotten.

With absolutely no hoopla this year, unlike in years past, WVU Basketball season has started. Usually they do a Mountaineer Madness or something along those lines, the past couple have went down hill and there was none this year for some reason.

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 and MY three day Holiday weekend since I was in training Monday.

You looking for some High School Football? Morgantown High is at home to play Ohio Powerhouse Steubenville. The Hawks travel to Moundsville to take on John Marshall and Clay Battelle tries to make it 8 in a row as they play host to Cameron this evening in Blacksville.

The Mountaineers play tomorrow afternoon in Texas against the #1 Pass Defense in the country when we play the Texas Tech Red Riders. Something tells me they won't be the #1 pass defense after this game is over as Geno Smith and the Air Raid Offense will be the opponent.

I'm off today. Monday was a federal Holiday and I was in training on Monday at WVU, so I'm going to take my there day holiday weekend this weekend instead of last weekend. It helps that the Steelers were playing last night if you know what I mean.

Have a great day.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my digital pictures that I have stored on a here. I like to select just one picture and write a little bit of a blog about that picture. Sometimes it's pretty easy to find one, and sometimes it's not that easy. It is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks picture takes us back a few years, back to when my Nephew Moke was coming home after his basic training from the Military. He was flying into Pittsburgh and Pam and Ang and I drove up to pick him up when he arrived.

I took them all out to Primanti Brothers after we picked him up, it was the first time any of them had ever been to one.

Funny thing is, after it was all said and done and Moke talked about that day, he would have just rather have had Ang pick him up and get a hotel at the airport if you know what I mean. We were all very happy to see him, but he explained to me some time later that not seeing his GF for a while, he was extremely in need of some private time with Ang so to speak.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

I'm already a couple of days into this week and still have yet to make it to my office this week. I would say that qualifies as this being the over the hump day. It also makes for a short week of work too.

I think I am still riding high on cloud nine after watching the last two Mountaineer games this season. We started Big XII play and both games have been nothing short of exciting to say the least.

In the pre-Heisman poll on ESPN, Geno Smith has garnered all 15 First place Votes and is still the clear favorite to win the Heisman Trophy this season. he has put up mind boggling numbers in leading the Mountaineers to their start and a #4 and a #5 ranking respectively.

The Mountaineers are on the road this weekend when we travel back to Texas to play Texas Tech. This will be our third straight opponent that is from Texas. If and that is a big IF, we get past Texas Tech, next week in Morgantown looks like it could be one heck of a showdown as a pair of top 5 teams will be battling and jockeying for poll position when Kansas State comes to town.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesdays Tidbits

* Well the Holiday Monday is now behind us, I still for the life of me can't think of a better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* 1,670 days ago Michelle and I had our first date. It was a lousy movie and Pizza Hut, but still a good night.

* It's been 893 days since I got down on one knee and proposed marriage.

* 430 days ago my bachelorhood ceased to exist anymore.

* There are only 77 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* Today is day two of the ArcGIS III training. There was one thing that I wanted to learn how to do and have been trying to figure out how and it was one of the exercises yesterday. It was setting up a domain within a spatial database. It's a very useful tool, and I've been trying to set one up recently, I guess this ends my search for support on this issue.

* Looks like I may be all by myself in a couple of weekends. Michelle is going back home for the weekend to spend some time with her grandmother and Chad's going to Texas for a wedding the same weekend. It'll be me, the dog and a couple cats getting into some trouble on the home front.

* I got fooled yesterday on Facebook, my niece Amy checked in in Key West Florida. I bit it hook, line and sinker. She's really in Hawaii.

* Michelle and I have been planning out a whole weeks menu at a time for the past few weeks. Makes it a lot easier to prepare for instead of trying to figure out what we want to do early in the AM so we can set what ever we need to set out out.

* Hi ho hi oh wait, I'm back at WVU again today.

Columbus Day

Today is a Federal Holiday, usually meaning that I would have the day off due to the fact that I'm a Federal Contractor. NETL where I work is closed today and everyone is enjoying the extended Holiday Weekend, providing their individual companies recognize the day which mine does.

However I will be at WVU both all day today and tomorrow at the Department of Geology and Geography getting a refresher course in the ESRI software that I use. I use the software every day and sometimes it just helps to hone skills that you may have forgotten about or been changed due to upgrades in the software. This training is in three phases as we did not need the first two phases, we're doing the final phase which is meant for seasoned users.

So I'll be down there today and Tomorrow and be back in the Office later on Wed for a meeting and Thursday, possibly taking Friday as my holiday just a little bit late.

Hi ho hi oh wait, I'm going to school today.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

here I sit early in the AM, this morning I am the only one that is not losing a battle with the sandman. I'm up and have been up for a little while.

Did you see the game last night? WOW. WVU in from of 101,851 fans at Darrell Royal Stadium, the largest crowd ever in Texas history, the Mountaineers managed to pull out a 48-45 win against the undefeated Texas Longhorns.

Geno Smith who many are considering the front runner for the Heisman trophy this season was 25 of 35 for 268 yards and 4 Touchdowns and no INT's. Andrew Buie however was the start of this show with a 207 yard rushing performance with a couple of TD's. he had 66 yards receiving to go along with it and would have had a receiving TD at the end of the first half as he caught a wide open pass and had nothing but paydirt in front of him and tripped over his feet. Tavon caught 10 passes for 102 yards and a score and Stedman Bailey caught 8 passes for 75 yards and 3 Touchdowns.

This win moves the Mountaineers and 5-0 on the season with quite possibly our biggest game on the road if not the season now behind us. It doesn't get any easier, but we play Kansas State in Morgantown in a couple of weeks and Oklahoma next month in Morgantown as well.

Excitement is an understatement this season. Hold on.

Springs Festival and Football

Well I can't say that I'm the first one up this morning, Michelle was already awake when I fighting the battle with the sandman, her and cloe the cat were both up and watching television.

This morning we'll be joining John and Steph and heading to Springs PA and the Springs Festival. I've never been to this, but enjoy when we go to Amish Country in Ohio. I've heard about the Festival and Steph loves to go up there to pick up her bulk foods and spices. John and I will probably be venturing off on our own to find some food and listen to some music.

Later this afternoon, or should I say 7:00 this evening I'll be watching the Mountaineers play the University of Texas. This will potentially be the largest live audience we will have ever played in front of as they have a 102,000 seat stadium.

If this weeks game is anything like last weeks (Texas has a better Defense) this should be a memorable one.

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!

If you are looking for a little bit of High School Football action you can travel to Bridgeport and see if the undefeated Hawks can extend their winning streak to seven games on the season. Morgantown High travels to Wheeling Park this evening, and Clay Battelle travels to Van meaning that absolutely no football team in Monongalia County will be playing at home tonight. Couple that with the fact that the Mountaineers are playing at Texas tomorrow night and there is not any live football in Morgantown this weekend. Bummer.

Tomorrow Michelle and I will be joining my old Buddy Smitty and his Wife Steph and traveling to Springs PA for the festival that they are having up there. We should be back mid to late afternoon, in plenty of time for me to watch the Mountaineers play Texas tomorrow night.

It's kind of an extended weekend for me, Monday is a Federal Holiday, but I will be at WVU taking a refresher course in ArcGIS Monday and Tuesday.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures that I have stored on an external drive to my computer. They are images I have taken or scanned through the years and have kept. I like to find one special picture to blog about and talk about. Sometimes this is pretty easy and sometimes it's not so easy to find that one special picture. It is however a lot of fun.

This weeks picture goes back a few years, back to the first time I took Michelle and Hayley to the Rosiak 4th of July Party a few years ago. I think this is the only one Hayley has been to if I am correct.

Every Rosiak party there is always a historic water battle that always seems to take place. This year was no different, we were getting ready to start the battle. As I recall, everyone got wet, actually at a Rosiak party that is pretty much a given, but as you can tell by this picture the battle has not started yet.

Hi ho hi ho

Hump Day Sports

 Take me home, Country Roads. I swear seeing this brings a tear to me eye, knowing that 60,000+ fans were still in the stands last Saturday, including the Baylor fans to sing the beloved John Denver Hit.

Something I pointed out last week was that there was going to be an amazing gigapixel picture taken at the game this past week. I said that I would share it on my blog when it became available. well, here it is. It's a 360° high definition image were you can zoom into about anyone who is in the stadium and see a close up of them, It's a remarkable picture. What's even more amazing is the video board behind where you start, will play the games intro video if you click it. What an amazing gift.

The Mountaineers travel this weekend to play in a match up of a couple of top 10 and undefeated teams Saturday night when the Mountaineers visit the Longhorn State and 102,000 screaming Longhorn fans. We'll show them there is only one Austin that matters, and it's not their city, it's Tavon.

Well the Pirates have officially extended the longest streak of sub .500 seasons in all professional athletics to I believe 20 years now. I thought they would break this streak earlier this year, but there is always hope and hanging on to yet another "next year". They were very exciting to watch this summer.

The Steelers fresh off of a bye week will host the Philadelphia Eagles at 1:00. This will be a battle to determine who the best team in the state of Pennsylvania is.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us and we are staring straight down the barrel of a Tuesday, I can't think of any better reason than that to do a tidbits.

* It was 1,663 days ago my life changed forever. Michelle and I went out on our first date.

* 886 Days ago in the early AM, I got down on one knee and proposed marriage. Fortunately for me she said yes.

* 423 days ago we tied the bounds of matrimony in front of our closest friends and family.

* The countdown continues, there are only a mere 84 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* 39 years ago today, on a flag football intramural field on Van Voorhis Road where a regional Rehabilitation Hospital hospital sits, I broke my leg playing football. It was a greentree fracture to my left thigh that needed surgery to have a pin drilled through my leg, a month in the hospital in traction, 6 weeks at hoke in a body cast, a month of recovery followed by another 2 weeks in traction because I never gained full range of motion followed by two more additional weeks in a straight leg cast to learn to walk again.

* On a happy note, Happy 40th Birthday to Chris Ostien. We celebrated it this summer when you weren't expecting it.

* Congrats to mark Devault. He's left Mantech and is now working at Mylan. He'll be in the IT department I would assume, since he is one heck of a programmer.

* Michelle has been hitting the elliptical pretty hard in the mornings and evening.

* I'm back to working out every morning before work like I was. I slacked off a little due to a broken toe, but we're back at it.

* Speaking of.....hi ho hi ho

Monday

If there is one day of the week that most people in American can agree on that they like least, it has to be Mondays. Yes it's once again that time when we stop having all the fun that we have been having the last couple of days and stick our noses back on the grindstone for another week of work. It's Monday.

Looking to the week ahead, Michelle and I are planning on heading to Springs PA this weekend to attend the Springs Festival this Saturday with Smitty and Stephanie. I've never been there other than stopping in at the Springs Store, Steph asked us a few weeks ago if we would like to go when we got back from Amish Country Ohio.

Nothing planned for me and Michelle during the week. Although I want to start hitting the gym hard again as I've been half-assing it since a couple of days before we went on Vacation. I've broke a toe on my right foot somehow, so my gimpy ass hasn't been doing my full cardio workout, that changes this week.

Have a good day and let's get through this one.

WOW

The West Virginia Mountaineers played their first Big XII game yesterday and WOW is all that I can say. I've spent a lifetime watching the Mountaineers and it would be hard to find a more exciting game than we witnessed yesterday.

Two high flying offenses and they did not disappoint in what turned out to be a 70-63 Mountaineer victory in a match up of two ranked teams and two offensive Juggernauts.

Geno Smith put up numbers tat you put up playing a video game, not a real football game and at the Division 1 level. He was 45-51 in passing for an unbelievable and a school record that will probably live forever 656 passing yards. Prior to yesterday the school record for overall team yards was 655 total yards that we put up against Marshall earlier this year which eclipsed the long standing record of 654 Total team yards set in 1993. Geno passed for 656 yards as the team put up a new school record of 807 yards of Total Offense. Throw in 8 Touchdown passes he threw and his boxscore looked like this. 56-51 8 TD's O INT's 656 yards.

Geno wasn't the only one that lit it up, Stedman Bailey caught 13 passes for a new School Record 303 Yards a another new school record 5 TD receptions. All-American Tavon Austin had a modest 14 receptions for 215 yards and 2 Touchdowns. JD Woods had 13 catches for 113 yards and 1 TD. Andrew Buie carried the ball 25 times for 82 yards and 2 Touchdowns.

I could go on and on about this game, it had to be one of the most exciting football games much less a Mountaineer Football game that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

No time to relax, a top 10 matchup in front of what may be the largest live crowd we will will have ever played against is up next week when we visit Texas and their 100,000 seat stadium next Saturday Night. Hopefully I can catch my breath by then.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, a household where everyone with the exception of me is in a land of somber and dreams. I'm up early once again with the movie Good Burger playing in the background collecting my thoughts.

We made it to the University High game last night but left at halftime, those metal bleachers were doing a number on a part of my body so without our ass cushions it was not very pleasant. The Hawks went down 13-0 but managed to pull out a big second half and win 32-13 for a Homecoming win. Arron was playing Defensive Tackle and was playing against someone just smaller than his some 6'6" 280 lb frame and was beating him on every play.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have assured the streak of non winning seasons will continue last night. They lost their 81st game of the season in less than honorable fashion. Throwing our ace he held the Reds to a 7 hit game and 1 run, however Red's pitcher Homer bailey threw a gem that we refer to as a No-Hitter against the Pirates. A no hitter is a rare piece of work, we had a couple of friends attend yesterdays game including a co-worker of Michelle's who is a big Red's fan. I think I would have only enjoyed this if Josh was up with the Reds but he's not.

Mountaineers will be playing today at noon against Baylor. There will be an added treat, during the first quarter they are going to take a Gigapixel photo of the game. This is a very high resolution picture that will basically let you zoom in to see about anyones face in the crowd. Should be quite the treat and WVU will have one. I'll share the amazing link after when it becomes available.

Let's Go Mountaineers!!!

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!

If you are looking for some good food, the Preston County Buckwheat Festival is in full gear right now. Head on up to Kingwood and grab yourself some Preston County made Buckwheat Cakes. Last year we stopped at the United Methodist Church in Masontown and there was no big lines and no big crowds if you are looking for the cakes.

High School Football, undefeated and #2 University High will play host to 2-2 Fairmont Sr. Morgantown will travel to Preston County to take on Preston and undefeated Clay Battelle travels to Wetzel County to play Valley Wetzel in tonights High School football action.

The Mountaineers start the Big XII portion of their schedule tomorrow at noon when they play host to the Baylor Bears. Hopefully Geno and the boys can win what looks to be a heck of a shootout.

Not sure what Michelle and I will be getting into, Arron is playing tonight and we want to get our Sam's Club shopping done. I would like to be able to get our shopping done and get over to see him play some time this season.

Anyone want to order some popcorn for a good cause. I know a certain little boy (Christopher Toth) who is selling popcorn to earn a badge for the cub scouts. If you're interested in buying some popcorn and having the money go to good cause, let me know.

Photo Flashback Thursday

Once a week I like to take a little bit of time out and look through all of my pictures that I have stored on my computer and look for just one special picture to tell a story about. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's not so easy, it is however always a lot of fun.

This weeks pic takes me back to right after I had graduated but was still working at the NRAC at WVU. I had just saved up and bought my new camera that I was pretty excited about and took it into work one day. One of my co-workers grabbed this picture of me ij the office.

I didn't make a lot of money at the NRAC, but the things I learned there gave me an advantage in getting a head start on my career. I worked with some very talented people and did some very challenging projects.

I spent about four years there as an undergrad and even after I graduated.

Hump Day Sports

I have to love this ESPN Gameday commercial. The Mountaineer standing in the bushes staring down Lee Corso and loading his gun. Maybe you would have to be old enough to remember the 1993 season when WVU was undefeated and ranked #2 and #3 in the polls. Florida State was 10-1 and was ranked #3 and #2 in the polls. Nebraska was the #1 team in the country and they were trying to decide who should play Nebraska for the National Championship. Lee Corso was the biggest and loudest voice campaigning for Nebraska to play Florida State. The Mountaineer should have popped a cap in his ass.

The Mountaineers will enter Big XII play this week when we host Baylor this saturday., Last year Baylor set the record for most points scored in a Bowl game when they beat Washington 67-56. That record didn't last very long, it didn't even make it until the end of Bowl season as the Mountaineers hung 70 on Clemson just a few days later. Gone from Baylor is 2011 Heisman trophy winner Robert Griffin III, but this is still a high scoring Baylor team. Should be a whole lot of points scored in this contest.

Hats off the the WVU Womens soccer team. Earlier this year they beat #1 Stanford and on Sunday they beat #7 Oklahoma State. They are 6-3-3 on the season thus far.

And as for the Pittsburgh Pirates? What the heck, you were 18 gales above .500 after the all star break and now you're either 2 or 4 games below .500 pending last nights results. Two years in a row the Pirates have played a 19 inning game and watched their season tank after that game. AAAARRRGGGHHHH

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesday's Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us, and would you believe that yesterday was the only Monday I worked during the month of September, can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* Michelle and I enjoyed our first date 1,656 days ago.

* 879 days ago I got down on on knee and proposed marriage.

* 416 days ago in front of of our closest friends and family we exchanged our wedding vows.

* There are but 91 more shopping days left until Christmas.

* I was talking to Terri this weekend and told her if she wanted to do Christmas Eve again this year it was alright by me. It seems to be the place everyone likes to congregate to and have the most fun, and that's what it's all about.

* It's starting to feel like Summer is over with. I hit the trails yesterday morning and it was the first time that I thought to myself "I should have worn a light coat".

* BTW, yesterday was the first time since before we went on vacation that I actually made it to the gym. It was just difficult for me to get back into my routine last week, I'm back in it now though.

* Speaking of the gym, it's a cardio day so

* Hi ho hi ho

Happy Real Birthday Kaiden Dalton

Last week I had my dates mixed up when I wished Kaiden Dalton a Happy Birthday. I guess you can say that I had a bit of a brainfart and depended too much on a script that I entered the wrong date on.

TODAY, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Kaiden Dalton a very Happy Birthday. Unfortunately in an act of another brain fart, Chad had my camera in Pittsburgh for the day, so I had to take a few pics with Val and Amy's camera.

Amy and Ralph hosted a nice large gathering of family to wish Kaiden a very happy Birthday. Weather held up and we didn't have any rain and it turned out to be a nice day.

If you want to see the pictures, you may have to rely on Amy and Val's Facebook account, even though I was the photographer, it was their camera.

Happy Birthday Kaiden.