Back To Work

Well all good things must come to an end, and that includes weekends and the fun and enjoyment that they bring with them. It is time to put our noses back on the grindstone and go back to doing what we do all week that makes us enjoy the weekends so much.

We did manage to get a few things accomplished this weekend including getting our raised garden planted on the back patio. We did most of that Saturday so we could just enjoy Mother's day with nothing that really needed done other than an afternoon nap.

The garden was something that started as a small herb garden and turned out to be a 7' x 42" x 8" divided project that included our vegetables that we wanted to plant.

Todsy however is a day that will have a lot less traffic around town, as the students had to vacate the dorms by Saturday evening, meaning the majority of them have went home and traffic will be much more bearable on our morning and afternoon commutes.

Speaking of commuting, hi ho hi ho

Happy Mothers Day

Mothers Day is a holiday that has roots righy here in North Central West Virginia when Anna Jarvis established Mother's Day in a small little area in Grafton, West Virginia.

I would like to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there.

Next I would like to wish my own Mother a very Happy Mother's Day today. Thanks for all you have done and the inspiration that you have given me.

I also want to thank my Step Mother Jean.

To my Grandmothers who have passed and all they did for me and what they have bestowed upon me in the way or morals.

To my three Sisters, and two of my nieces that are all mothers.

I want to wish a Happy Mother's day to my future Mother in Law Susie.

And to the Mother who keeps this household held together, my Fiancée Michelle. I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet house, I think everyone else is asleep and I am in the living room putting my thoughts into my BLOG.

Hopefully the weather holds up today, I finally got the raised garden all set up yesterday on the back patio. It's now loaded with 14 Cubic Yards of top soil and good mushroom compost and is ready to be planted. I think we are going to go out today and get our plants and or seeds that we want to plant. I know we discussed numerous fresh herbs, loose lettuce, various peppers, tomatoes, green beens, onions and maybe some cucumbers on the side. It'll be the first garden that I have since I was a kid and worked in my grandparents garden.

Michelle and I will be hitting the farmers market here in Morgantown this morning, it's the opening of the 2011 outdoor season and we can use a few fresh eggs.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and we're going to have some running around to do, so it should be a good weekend. I know we had mentioned trying the get a WVU baseball game into the mix sometime today also.

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.

Did we actually have a day yesterday when it did not rain? Hope you enjoyed it, it's calling for rain for the next three days. OK, I've seen enough rain, how about we have a little bit of warm weather and sunshine. The May flowers are blooming and in good shape, now we need the weather to clear up so we can get out.

The Morgantown Farmers Market kicks off its official outdoor season tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. Michelle and I are planning on going and picking up a few things.

Anyone notice traffic has cut way down? Yep, this is coming to the end of finals week. In other words, three months of relaxation, way fewer students and less traffic around town!!!!!!

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

It's once again Thursday (Bin Laden is still dead) and I get a chance to look back through my pictures of yesteryear and and reflect upon one of them. This weeks picture is from my niece Amy's 18th Birthday Party a few years back.

This is a picture of Tyler, Amy and Chrissy posing that evening. It was a time when Amy wasn't dating Ralphie, Kaiden was just a hope for the future and Amy was getting ready to finish up her Senior Year of High School. If memory serves me correctly, this was just last week, give or take a decade one way or the other.

Looking at the pictures of the evening, I noticed a lot of people at Terri's to help her celebrate. It was a very good evening and I remember it well.

Anyone else want to share any memories of the night?

Dead Bin Laden Hump Day

Ok I know, I am ecstatic over the fact that public enemy #1 is probably fish poop right about now. I did find an interesting statement from one of my childhood friends yesterday. Donn lost his wife Shelley Marshall during that fateful day. I thought I would share it with you.

We should be a nation united by victory, but political bickering has already started. Finding Bin Laden has been a top priority since 9/11; any president given this opportunity would have taken it; putting troops in harms way takes courage; and it is the intelligence community and the armed forces who did the hardest work with great skill and valor. Partisan shots at this time are, to put it bluntly, shameful. -- Donn Marshall

Yes I am still grinning ear to ear. I am celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden, and I don;t care who does't like it. The SOB caused this nation enough grief, I hope he was begging for mercy when they put the bullet in his head. he showed no mercy on the victims of 9-11, why should I feel sympathy for him.

Hi ho hi ho

Screw You Dead Bin Laden Tidbits

* It's Tuesday, and early yesterday morning I heard the news that I think all Americans have been waiting ten years to hear. Osama Bin Laden has been Killed. What a day to celebrate our country, our President and our troops. Thank you to all involved to mill that sumbeatch.

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead. I know I covered that in the previous tidbit, but I just like saying it.

* It's day 1,145 since mine and Michelle's first date.

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead.

* It has been 368 days since our engagement.

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead.

* 95 days to go until the wedding.

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead.

* Michelle is trying to cut me back to one bowl of Kashi Cereal a morning, lot's of sadness. It is the one I like the most, and it causes an excessive amount of flatulence. There is another one that I also like that doesn't cause me that problem.

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead.

* Hi ho

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead.

* Hi ho

* Osama Bin Laden is Dead. =)

Back To Work

I hate Mondays, they really know how to mess up a good weekend. I guess all good things must come to an end and that includes weekends. Time to reflect on the weekend and look towards the week ahead.

Michelle and I had a very busy weekend. After a road trip to Maryland Saturday, yesterday we headed to our States Capital so that Michelle could see it and pick up some of one of our favorite wines which is not sold in northern West Virginia.

I would say we logged around 600 miles traveling this weekend, yesterday seemed like one long car ride and it basically was. I'll have some pictures to put up soon.

Hi ho hi ho

Had a Great Day

It was nice to get out and away from Morgantown yesterday. Paul and Lynn were great hosts and everyone really seemed to enjoy their visit in Maryland.

Michelle and I did manage to pick up a few geocaches yesterday on our trip down, it was an interstate series of grab and goes. We intended to do more later ion the day, but we just had fun and took scenic route 40 back to Uniontown where we had dinner at some Mom and Pop shop where 119 exits to 21 by the mall that was pretty good.

I did see something out in the wold yesterday for only the second time. A Black Bear. I saw my first one a few years ago on the interstate, this one was a couple hundred yards up the road from the house on Van Voorhis. We were coming down the hill and a couple of trucks were stopped waiting for what initially looked like a black dog. Michelle was quick to note, that was not a dog and was a baby black bear.

Today is a grocery shopping kind of day. Have a good one.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Once again I sit here in a quite household in the early AM collecting my thoughts. Michelle and I went to the WVU Spring Game last night, we had a great parking spot, don;t think I have ever parked so close to the stadium as we did last night.

It started out with an old timers game and culminated with a scrimmage that left most people coming out feeling pretty good about the upcoming season. The offense seemed to have a flow to it that it has lacked for a number of years. I'm hopeful with what the upcoming season presents us, I'm thinking BCS Bowl.

On to today, Michelle and I are traveling to Maryland to do a little bit of possible Geocaching and to help a friend celebrate their birthday with a party this afternoon.

Weather permitting, and it looks like it will be, it's going to be 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 Mountaineer Football Friday.

Yes Football fans, we will get our first chance to see the 2011 Mountaineer Football team tonight with Head Coach in Waiting's Dana Holgorson's new offense that he has installed this season. Michelle and I are planning in being there, but if the weather gets bad I might just be sitting at home and watching it on the internet.

I can't remember the last time I missed a spring game, all I know is it has been a long time since I didn't go to one and I would like to continue the streak this year. I am anxious to see how effective the new Offense is going to be, or even if it is even better than last years. One would assume that it will be, but you also never know.

Hi ho hi ho

Photo Flashback Thursday

It is once again Photo Flashback Thursday, the one Blog during the week when I take a little bit of time out to reflect on my tens of thousands of pictures and talk about one.

This one I will call my last walk. In 2001 I started working at the Natural Resources Analysis Center (NRAC) at WVU. I worked an internship there through college and continued to work there for a period of time after graduation while I was seeking that permanent employment somewhere else.

I would typically park at the Coliseum and walk up past the engineering PRT station to the other side of the Evansdale Library and to the NRAC. I did it my final four years of college and for a year after college. Every day IO would make this walk. The picture you see if from my "Last Walk". This was the last time I made this walk before I started working in Frostburg, Maryland the following Monday.

As I took this walk, I reflected on all my time at WVU and at the NRAC. The friends I had made, the classes I had taken, and the all the times both good and bad that I had at my Alma Mater. It was the end of a transitional period in my life. One that saw me go from steel mills, to the classroom to being a GIS professional. It took me a little longer to get to work that day, there was a good bit of reflection that needed done.

I don't think I will ever forget that walk, because it was my final walk and completion of my transition. It was a very good day.

Hump Day

We actually made it through the first couple days of the work week and if you look over the horizon you can actually see what looks like a possible weekend.

For you football fans, this weekend will have the 2011 NFL Drafton Saturday. I'm hoping the Steelers can get an Offensive Guard, Mike Pouncey would be my first choice, but his stock has risen and he may not be available when the Steelers Draft. His twin brother is our Center and I think Guard is the position we really need to address in this years draft.

Speaking of football, the spring game for WVU is Friday evening, so this coming weekend is going to be one heck of a weekend for this football fan. We're also planning on traveling and visiting some friends on Saturday.

Hi ho hi ho

Tuesdays' Tidbits

* Well Monday is once again behind us and in our memories, and we are looking right down the barrel of a Tuesday, Can't think of a better reason to do a tidbits.

* 1,138 magical days since Mine and Michelle's first date a little over three years ago.

* 361 days since our engagement last year.

* 102 days left until our wedding this August. Plans are going good so far, Michelle met with her sister and Kim yesterday at lunch about a Bridal Shower for her in early July and our invitations should be here some time soon.

* Bill Filcheck has officially made us all feel old when he said he watched Billy Idol in PBS yesterday on Facebook. I started to think about that, didn't Billy Idol use to be on MTV and didn't MTV use to actually show videos? You know the acronym for Music Television (MTV) would suggest they did.

* I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday when I got home, cranky and was running a fever. I'm feeling a little better this morning.

* hi ho hi ho

Back to Work Kind of a Day

Rainy days that we will remember as this weekend are now behind us and it's time to get back to the grindstone and return to yet another week of work today.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my future co-father in law and Michelle's step father Tom Andrews a very Happy Birthday today. By latest count I think he is about 29 years old and holding.

Michelle and I did have a nice Easter Dinner yesterday, she made a beer can chicken on the grill despite the rain and it was quite awesome. She outdid herself with home made bread, deviled eggs, grilled chicken, asparagus, potatoes and Sautéed mushrooms. It was a feast fit for any man and being it was just the two of us, we had plenty of leftovers.

Hope everyone had a great Easter, but now it is hi ho hi ho

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. The Holiest day of the year for those of the Christian Faith.

Michelle and myself will be at home today making a beer can chicken and just enjoying the day. Yesterday we managed to make it up to Amy's for an Easter Egg Hunt that I managed to get one or two photographs from and have posted them online at both my site and Facebook.

The rain did manage to hold off enough yesterday afternoon to allow the kids to have a few rounds of finding Easter Eggs. I think that Erica, Josh and Kaiden had an absolute blast going to look for the eggs. You could see the excitement on their faces when they were told to go and find the eggs. I don't think they cared about the prizes inside, I think they got their joy from just looking for them. Hence why they were hidden more than once.

With our Sunday shopping completed yesterday, today should be a day of relaxation for Michelle and Me.

Saturday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet house with almost everyone sleeping. Hayley is in Pittsburgh visiting family, so the house is nice and quiet on an early Saturday morning.

Maybe it's just me, but I think the water table is in good enough condition that it could stop raining for a while. If April Showers bring May flowers, we should be getting ready for a jungle of flowers coming up real soon. I should just be thankful that at least it is not snow.

Since tomorrow is Easter, we're going to try to get our shopping done this morning so we can try to make it to Amy's this afternoon for an Easter Egg Hunt, weather permitting. If it is raining we probably are going to stay home rather than just crowd inside of her place getting mud everywhere. I hope it stops raining today.

Have a good Saturday

Big Ole Hairy Good 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 Good Friday.

Yes it is the start of a holy weekend for Christians, the holiest time of the year and a time when Peter Cottontain will be hopping down the bunny trail and leaving goodies for little boys and girls for Easter.

Weather permitting my niece Amy will be holding the 2011 Easter Egg Hunt at her home this year. Hopefully the weather will be cooperative.

Haley is going to Pittsburgh for the weekend to stay with her cousins and I think Chad is going to Maryland with Laiah. It'll just be a relaxing easter morning with me and my baby.

Hi ho...er hippity hoppity hippity hoppity

Photo Flashback Thursday

It's Photo Flashback Thursday, the one day of the week when I take a little bit of time and look back through all my photos and relive a small portion of my past life on the internet.

This particular picture was taken just up on top of the hill from where I live now, it was a time when my Mother was in visiting from Georgia and her and Terri stopped in to see me. It was also a time when I had hair and actually tried to grow a mullet (yes this was in the 1980's and they were in style). Might be one of the last few pictures taken of me with a full head of hair, it was later that summer that I started getting crew cuts and having next to no hair.

It was a time when I was working at Sterling, partying my butt off and having as much fun as I possibly could muster. We had some great neighbors downstairs and it was a fun filled couple of years when I met some great people. Most of if not all of them are out of my life now, but it was a time that I think everyone needs to enjoy.

These were my wild and crazy years.

Hump Day

What is up with this weather? If I were a duck I might love this, but I'm not a duck and I think the water table is more than full. It's time to start bringing the sunshine instead of all of this rain. With Easter weekend fast approaching, it would be nice to have a little bit of a break from all this rain and see a little bit of sunshine. Kids do have to find those eggs.

Michelle was sick once again yesterday and stayed home from work. She's usually a trooper and a hard one to keep down, so I know those headaches had to have been horrible. Hopefully she will be feeling better today and will be able to get back to work. I know she is starting to feel a little bit of cabin fever and wants to get out of the house.

Hi ho hi ho