The Post Christmas Blahs.....

Another Christmas has come and gone...64 of em' for me, and frankly, they all seem to blur or morph into just a few....

We spent last weekend with son Hal, Lisa, and Grandson Kasyn, along with most of Lisa's family in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area...visited the Newport Aquarium, ate a meal along the banks of the Ohio River on the Kentucky side, then spent the next 20 hours at the Sharonville(Ohio) Radisson and Co Co Key indoor Water Park....a nice time, the motel and water park were our Christmas gifts from Lisa and Hal, and Patricia and I had a great time, she did especially with the K-Man at the water park....she hit big tube slides on a handful of occasions, I limited mine to one backward slide down, on the back side of the double inter tube with her.  In this case, once was indeed enough.

On the negative side{and there were several}....my neck seemed to get out of whack.  Not sure if it was from the side, the unfamiliar bed, or what?...but 5 days later, it is still out of whack...as is my
weight.  Here I spend from the Kokomo Vietnam Reunion until Christmas week, losing 13 pounds in 3 months, and {no shit} I gained half of it, a full 7 pounds, back in 4 days....and frankly, although I did eat more, and less healthy, than normal...no way I should have packed it back up to 195.

I have been doing well over the past 4 plus years....dropping down from my post {heavy} weight lifting days of 225 pounds, down to 180 in May of 2010...most of those lost in the period from September 2009, when I was discovered to have Pre-Diabetes 2 until May of the next year...nearly 45 pounds.  Back to weight lifting I went...then in 2012 on my 63rd Birthday, I was put under the knife and had Carotid Artery surgery on my neck's right side...eventually I went back to weight lifting and have been pretty steady with that...my weight popped up a bit, back to near 200 by the time Mid-September and Kokomo came around...determined to get back to 180, I began a not-so-radical return to a sane diet{perhaps too much dark ale and beer, but......

what the Hell?}, and was within my goal of hitting the 180 mark by the time I called my first pitch in late to middle March and the beginning of baseball season....this week's set back and next week's New Years Day get together at Rick's place in Indiana, has bumped me back a bit....but I am determined to make that goal....and see no reason not to do just that.

Christmas Eve was held at sister Marty's House....all those family members that were not in Florida, were there....Sam was home from Chicago, neice Mikki in from California, and the rest drove lesser distances from Michigan and locally....Hal, Lisa, and Kasyn, the 95 miles from Centerville...prior to heading across town, we had our gift opening at our house, with Anissa, Sam, Hal, Lisa, and K-Man....we then ate, drank, played cards, and watched the 3 youngest{mom's Great Grandkids} open presents and wear themselves out...before heading home.

Christmas Day we never left the house....and ate some more and watched the annual rite of passes "The Christmas Story" 24 hour marathon on WTBS....Sam headed back to Chicago land at 3pm{had to work yesterday} and Anissa was picked up about 8pm...the only other excitement was a young female cat ran in the house as Anissa was heading out....despite having a flea collar, nobody has yet

claimed her, and she remains in the garage area....another pet I don't want or need, but I won't let it starve either....that is not my way.

Today it's back to basketball for one day...working a Holiday JV Double Header up at Elida...game this afternoon, the 3rd place and championship games in the Junior Varsity division, a nice payday and early home....meanwhile Patricia headed to Centerville and is watching K-man for the day...and part of this evening, as Hal and Lisa will go out to dinner, with the gift that Sam got them for Christmas...

As for me....back on the diet, rest the neck and left shoulder, and see if by tomorrow I can get back in the workout room and do some lifting....but I won't rush it.

back later>>>>

Photos-Various from the Aquarium at Newport, Kentucky, the view from our Ohio Riverside Restaurant, the Co Co Key Water Park, Kasyn with his gifts and the water park with Hal, Grandma Patricia, his golf clubs, snowball the albino crocodile, cousin Luke, trying to out scream each other on Christmas Eve....

The Hawk Makes a Hit.....

Temperature has risen to the low 40s today....first time since Thanksgiving we have been that warm, and with the rain forecast to start tonight...the 10 inches or so of snow on the ground will turn into a muddy, flooded mess...then by Monday we start the road back to winter weather....I would just have rather seen it stay "Winter-Like"....

About 5 or six years ago, a Red Tail Hawk of the Marsh Variety decided to spend it's winters hanging around the neighborhood....every winter the same one{least the markings are the same} comes back around until Spring.  I have seen it feasting on Sparrows, and an occasional Pigeon...while eyeballing the local Squirrels, I have yet to see it make a move on one of them....after all, it's a fight the Hawk would most likely win, but at what cost?  The fuzzy tailed tree rodents, that feed off the birdseed in my backyard, are fat, healthy, and have claws and teeth of their own.

Just before Noon today, I was walking out of the kitchen, and noticed the Hawk in the driveway,
standing in the melting snow, and feeding on "something"...I got out the point and shoot and snapped off a few photos from the landing window, and then pulled down up portion of the window down and asked the Hawk..."Hey, what you got there"?  Mr/Ms Red Tail took a look, sunk it's claws firmly into the carcass, and flew off....I walked out and snapped what was left...some blood, lots of Pigeon feathers, and some undigested corn, not doubt the last feeding the Pigeon was ever going to do.

Wet for the next few days, and temperatures will stick around in the low to mid 40s through Sunday....I've got a Girls game at Wapak tonight, then Boys  JV tomorrow, Junior High Saturday morning, and then Saturday Night, I'm at Cory-Rawson for a boys Varsity game....with the trip to Cincy, Sam coming home, and the family Christmas Eve get together, the next week will indeed be
busy.

Photos-The Hawk and his "victim" the Pigeon and what was left when the Hawk took flight!

and below:  The Full Moon in the Vapors{Jet Trails} above Celina last night..

37 Years...well actually 40 Years Ago...

December 18th in 1973...Patricia and I first met, and were married 3 years to the day later, 12/18/76....yesterday oldest son, Sam, turned 32....time flies indeed!  Nothing special planned, she is working, I have no game tonight, will get with Nick as we measure up the Kitchen floor, in hopes of fixing the mess that the water leak created 18 months ago...???  Yea, I know, what the Hell is with that?

Patricia and I will go out to eat, probably next week....this weekend, on Sunday, we will head to Cincinnati, and spend a couple days on a mini vacation, with Hal, Lisa, and grandson, Kasyn...Sam will be heading in from Chicago, and arrive Friday night...he then will head to Columbus to stay with old Ohio State day friends and his old roomate, we will all be back in Celina for the Family Christmas Eve bash at sister Marty's house...the rest of this week remains busy with basketball.  I worked my first Varsity game of the year last night,  some 60 miles north at Cory-Rawson HS, a game won easily by the home girls over visiting Lima Perry...I thought the 3 of us did a good job, although I do admit to making one real weak call early on that put the Perry center on the bench with 2 fouls....she came back soon after and played the rest of the game foul free, so that call by me, as bad as I think it was, didn't affect the game at all.

Tomorrow WBL JV Girls at Wapak, then boys same at Lima Bath on Friday...on Saturday I drive 35 miles to Versailles for a boys Junior High game at 10am...come home, quick shower and a bite, then drive the 60 miles back north to Cory-Rawson for a boys Varsity game, thus completing a busy week...things will then back off with only a double header Holiday Girls Tournament at Elida on December 27th, to finish out the 2013 sports year....January however, will be my busy month in roundball....with no less than 22 games on the schedule.

Merry Christmas....If I don't post before then!

Honoring a Murdering Marxist...

The Media and Political Hacks, left and right, are all over each other since the death of Nelson Mandela last week...from the usual suspects, Obama, NY Times, MSNBC, to the so called conservatives from George Bush II, Ted Cruz, Allen West, and Fox News...the praise heaped upon the dead 95 years old South African Communist Dictator is something to behold....in fact if I watch much more of it, I would be forced to hold a Air Sickness Bag.

To top it off, our own Communist Dictator Wannabee, in the White House, has ordered the American Flags flown at half, in honor of the Dead Communist...who, by the way, last I looked was not even American{of course, neither is Obama}.  So here we  are...honoring a dead Racist and self proclaimed Communist in an effort to be politically correct and appease the unappeasable among us?  How low have we sunk?   To answer my own question....pretty Gawd Damn low.

Happening over the weekend....

We headed south to the town of Lebabon on Saturday and took the Christmas Train with grandson Kasyn this weekend....now two years old, he really started to figure out what was happening...and despite the frigid weather, we had a great time, topped off by supper at Max and Erma's in Springboro, after the train excursion.

On the way home I listed to the Ohio State/Michigan State Big Ten Championship game, and got home in time to watch OSU battle back from a 17 point hole to take a 24-17 lead, only to blow that in the 4th quarter and lose their shot at the National Championship, by a 34-24 score.  MSU will go to the Rose Bowl, meanwhile the Buckeyes will take on Clemson in the Orange Bowl on January 3rd....at 12-1 the season is none the less, a major disappointment.

Better news for a couple of local football teams...both Marion Local and Coldwater added to their state championship hardware...The Flyers took the D7 crown, winning their 3rd straight title(after winning in D6 the previous two seasons} and the Cavaliers won their 2nd straight Division 5 title...in Basketball, Celina got a big early season win, knocking off the usually powerful Lima Senior Spartans 84-68 on the road at Lima.  Celina moves to 2-0 on the young season, while Lima falls to 1 win 2 loses.

Cold and some icy weather continue....most of the schools, including Celina, have cancelled for today, not so much from snow, but the lite mixed precipition has left the streets and roads slippery....not much of a warm up is in sight for the next week or so....

Dartball tonight, then basketball on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday(morning} will keep me busy for the remainder of the week.

back later>>>>

Photos-Mandela, no doubt roasting in Hell together with his fellow dictator smelly Yes Sir Your a Fart....and the Midwest Athletic Conference{Ohio High School} hoists two more Football Championship....

Enter December 2013....

Below Normal it has been this last half of the Fall of 2013.....so much for the Global Warming alarmists{fake science beliving fools they are}...but the photos from our 13,000 acre swap called Grand Lake {St Marys} are still pretty nice, despite the lake's problems of the last few year....snapped about 40 sunset photos along Windy Point Sunday afternoon....and will post them as I get the chance:

December 2013....a new month begins

 Survived hosting the family Thanksgiving get together, of course Patricia and the other women folk fixed the meal, I just played with the camera, and grandson and grand nephew and niece...Then started off the Basketball Officiating Season with Boy HS games on Friday and Saturday Night, despite a bit of bitching from fans{when don't the idiots complain?}, I'm glad to be back on the floor and getting a workout.

Patricia and I, after Anissa left to head back to her house, took a 4 mile trip to my old hang out from my high school days, as I caught a few Sunset Photos along Windy Point on the south side of Grand Lake near Montezuma, Ohio: