Reflecting back on 2011 part #1

A post Christmas white "event" occurred overnight, at least in Celina...south a few miles in Montezuma, the event was rain....north 20 miles towards Van Wert it appears that it was all snow, while we, with a half inch of slushy white snow on the ground, had a mix of rain and snow.  That snow however won't last, rain today, then back to snow tonight, so by tomorrow we may have another dusting of winter.

Back to basketball tonight, and the aging body will work 7 games, 4 of them on Thursday{what???}this week....the four on Thursday might be a mistake, but, I will work two in the AM and two more in the late afternoon, a combination of Girls JV and Boys Junior High games....I will need the New Year and weekend break again.  This morning I awoke with a stiff neck, big time, and despite getting out of the house early, moving around, it refuses to go away....

The week after Christmas and before the new year has usually be reserved on this blog for looking back at the year past....so here we go:

2011....Looking Back part 1

Despite my dire predictions and thoughts about the coming year, 2012, last year, 2011, was a pretty decent year.  Despite my Cholesterol being listed as "High", and the 30 pounds I had lost since the fall of 2009, now being more like 17 pounds...health wise I felt pretty good over most of the year.  I got back into weight lifting, which resulted in some of the gain I am sure....because the diet really wasn't changed much since the previous months.  I also got back into a walking routine, and that added with the 150 to 200 games officiated, has kept me in pretty good condition, at least in my mind, over the past 12 months.  No major injuries working the games, and I have noticed that other minor things, skin infections, etc, have lessened.

2011 began as usual with a trip to Rick's place...but this time it would be the new home on 17 acres in Northeast Indiana, a few miles from their old homestead, where we had celebrated New Year's Day by drinking and eating too much....Rick, Clint, Rick's boys and me, spent New Years Day and that night, eating, drinking, and watching football, smoking some cigars, and generally doing not much else....next week, this time January 2nd, because that's when the bulk of the Bowl Games are played, will, I am guessing, see much of the same.

By the end of January, it was time to begin preparations for the coming marriage of youngest son Hal, and his fiancee' Lisa...they would get married at a resort of sorts in the mountains of West Virginia in February ...but prior to that, there would be a Bachelor Party for Hal on the Ohio River.  First a day at a southern Ohio/Indiana Ski Hill, then to the Kentucky Side of the River, where we would stay....that followed by a night in Cincinnati, where way too much booze was consumed.....however, we all, Hal, me, Sam, Lisa's dad and brothers, and Hal's Celina and Dayton friends, would all survive....a couple of guys got lost, but were found by Sunday afternoon.

Fast forward to West "By God" Virginia, the first weekend in February.....

Hal and Lisa had decided to get married in a private lodge in the mountains near the Great Gorge in central West Virginia.  We had two large lodges, where the families would stay....the wedding would be on a Saturday evening, with the reception back in Dayton two weeks later.  In West Virginia, we would have a pre wedding dinner on Friday night, then the boys and the dads would head for a Ski Hill on Saturday afternoon, with the wedding and dinner to follow...Sunday Lisa's dad Tim and his mate would fix us a Sunday Breakfast Buffet, then everybody but the bride and groom would head for their various homes.....it was an outstanding weekend.

The couple were hoping for some snow for the wedding, but other than the Ski Hills, there was none, at least until we headed home for Ohio, where there was plenty here in the flatlands.  Patricia and I had a rented SUV, which Hal and Lisa had paid for as a Christmas gift....the big Ford worked wonders for the trip.

I came home to finish out the basketball season, and prepare for the beginning of baseball...all-in-all, the winter was bitter cold with plenty of snow.....with the spring thaw, and Easter, we would find out that we would become first time Grandparents.....

more on that tomorrow....back later>>>>

Photos-2011 started off with Hal and Lisa's wedding and reception....here are some from the Wedding in West Virginia and one of me and the boys on the Ohio River for Hal's Bachelor Party in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati....