Back to School

Annie started back to school today, 1st grade already. Here she is with mom before heading off to class.

Bye Bye Red Sox !

The 2006 Boston Red Sox Season Imploded over the weekend. They are done. The Yanks destroyed them taking 5 games in 4 days. Long live the Evil Empire !

New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Here are Marion & I in New Smyrna Beach, FL ... aka: the shark bite capital of the world !


That is the one minor detail they failed to mention in the travel brochure.

Penn Staters - The Next Generation

Here are the Sokoloski & Yurgosky kids beeming with Penn State Pride in the heart of Cane, Gator & Seminole Country. Luv Ya Lions !

Bathing Beauties !

Next Stop ... the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Here is Annie & Emily laying in the water at New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Perfect Sunday

Today was a perfect day. It was about 80 degrees and no humidity. Picture perfect ... couldn't script it any better. The water temperature in Newton Lake was 78 degree. Annie and Emily had a great time swimming. When we moved to the lake it was because of days like today.

So-Called Americans in Beirut

I am aggrevated as an American Tax Payer that money is being spent, and our troops put in danger to evacuate idiot American's from Beirut. If you chose to go to that part of the world ... find your own way to get back ... and use your own money ... not mine ... or better yet ... stay there :(

World Cup Moron !

I watched the World Cup Finals today. Italy won in OT. I am not a huge soccer fan, but it was very exciting to watch, and it is easy to see how people can get caught up in the euphoria surrounding it. As an American ... we found just another reason to dislike the French when their captain head butted an Italian Player and was kicked out the game, during a 1-1 tie in overtime. This guy is a moron ... to make a cheapshot play like that with so much on the line, he let down an entire nation. Here is a link to a video of the head butt.

In other news ... fished again this morning ... the fishing isn't the same since we got all that rain, but we did manage to land these two nice bass. The bass are definitly starting to fatten up.

Murphy's Law of Fishing

When you catch your biggest fish ... nobody will be around to see it.

I caught this 4 lb bass today while fishing by myself. The Gatorade bottle is 8 inches long ... this was a big fish.

Is Ken Lay Really Dead ?

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way. If I had $100 million in the bank and I was looking at spending 20+ yrs in prison. I'd be gone. A little plastic surgery, a little bungalow on an island in the South Pacific. Why not take the chance ? So what if you get caught? What are they going to do... send you to jail for 20+ yrs ? Ken Lay didn't make all that money by being stupid.

Congrats to the Fawcett's

Congrats to Shannon & Blaine Fawcett who added a daughter Zoey to their family.

Here is a picture of Shannon and her 3 girls, Riley, Zoey & Molly. I guess this makes Shannon a MOAB ... Mother of All Babies !

We should have built an ark ...

This is the same view as taken 3 days ago ... you can see how much the water in the lake has risen. I measured 16 inches of water in my boat!



This boat and our dock didn't fair very well.

Rain, Rain, and more ####### Rain !

Great summer we are having here in NEPA. Flooding is becoming a major problem.


Here is the Lackawanna River spilling over its banks in Carbondale PA ... and...


This is photo taken on the Poplar Street Bridge in Mayfield PA.

Check out this video that shows the speed of the rushing water.


Here at Newton Lake, the lake has risen over a foot since Sunday ...docks are busting all over the lake. :(

Another great day for fishing !

Blaine Fawcett took this shot of Newton Lake at 5 am this morning. Another perfect day for bass fishing.

The Queen Bee

I keep spraying this bee, but it keeps coming back. It is quite a pest.

Annie the Athlete ! Yikes

2006 Kurtz Excavating Tee Ball Team



Here is Annie ready to make a play

Check out this video of Annie in action !

Nancy Grace fabricates Hugo Selenski story

I just wasted the last hour of my life watching Nancy Grace on CNN. The only reason I watched was because the show was about Hugo Selenski, our favorite NEPA mass murderer. She was reporting on her show that there was "breaking news" that 10-18 bodies had been buried on his property. I then watched our local news stations at 11:00 pm and their was no mention of Hugo Selenski.

She totally fabricated this information. To date 2 bodies had been found and bits and pieces of 3 more. This is old news. In an attempt to grab viewers attention she totally made things up. She should be kicked off the air for this. What a scum bag.

No wonder her boyfriend had himself killed ... I would have too if I had to date her.

Dance Recital ...on Father's Day :(

Went to Annie's Dance Recital today, yes they have it on Father's Day, stupid I know, anyway, ... she did great.



...of course, we already knew she could dance :)

1st Day of Bass Season

Today was the 1st Day of the 2006 Bass Season and the lake was pristine at 5:30 AM



Al Guari caught a nice smallmouth to get us started.


I followed up with a nice bass to get the ball rolling.


Later in the evening, my brother-in-law, Ed Lupyak caught one to end a great day of fishing at Newton Lake.

1-2-3 KURTZ !

I wonder if this is how Charlie's Angel's started ?

Here is Annie, Molly & Elisa after a hard fought tee ball victory !

what a crew

Princeton University Bound !

Leah, Tony, Brad & Joellen



Congratulations to my nephew Brad. He graduated from Lakeland High School tonight, and is now headed to Princeton University. Best of luck to you !

Great fishing weekend !

Had a lot of fun catching bass this weekend ! Here is a sample of the 8 bass I caught today !

Kindergarten Graduation !

Congratulations Annie ! Graduated from Kindergarten today ! Great Job ! Have a great summer !

WOW ! you even got a kiss from the principal, you must be pretty special ;)

Great Job Emily !

Emily graduated from pre-school today ! It was a long, long year ... we didn't think you'd make it ;)

I have a delicious bass for you !

another nice smallmouth taken at Newton Lake (all fish are caught and released)

Saturday morning fishing !

nothing better than coffee and bass fishing !


Paul and Keith with the twins !

Fishing with Gramps !

Annie and Emily went fishing with Gramps ... and look what they caught !

MOAB Fishing & Drinking Club

The inaugural meeting of the MOAB Fishing and Drinking Club was held last night. A good time was had by all.

St. Patrick's Day in Scranton

Just another great St. Patrick's Day Parade day in Scranton this year. Weather was warm, the crowds were huge.


Everyone had a great time, including this guy...even though he won't remember.




Only 52 more weeks until NEPA doesn't suck again.

Dancing with the Stars ... not quite

Here is a link to some future contestants for Dancing with the Stars!

PSU Orange Bowl - Instant Classic !

One of the most intense, and nerve wracking football games I have ever watched. It reminded me of a Yankees - Red Sox playoff game.

Congrats to PSU ! Nice to finally see you playing football in January again !

...in a sad note... my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Coal Miners who were killed in West Virginia. What a crappy way to start 2006 :(

First time on Skates !

Annie went Ice Skating for the first time today and had a blast. She didn't fall once !

Happy New Year 2006 !

Another year in this hell pit of NEPA. YIPEE !

Shoveled a little today ... I am sure we will now get 2 ft of snow in the next week.
;)

Skate-O-Rama !

Went rollar skating yesterday for the first time in about 20 yrs.

Last time I went it was at Skate-O-Rama and the music was My Sharona !

Thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee !

For Red Sox fans... this has got to hurt !

JohnNY Damon - Captain Shaveman !

Look who is the latest Red Sox to jump ship and join the Yankees ... none other than JohnNY Damon.

This is great ... now we can watch as the Boston Press and the Red Sox front office start a smear campaign against him, as if he was the worst player to ever put on a Sox uniform.

Funny how Boston's stars always want to come to the Yankees, but you never see the Yankees star players wanting to join the Sox.

My guess is for $52 million Johnny Damon will be able to afford a really good razor now.

SNOW DAY #2

Another day off from school for the girls. Snow and ice last night, so school was canceled. Could be a long winter at this rate.

Annie & Emily were not complaining !

SNOW DAY !

Had a Snow Day today ! No School or Work ! Mother Nature dropped off a foot of #$%@(_+^ snow last night. So we took this opportunity to make our annual trek with the Sokoloski's to find the perfect Christmas Tree. Once again...we failed ! Marion and the girls had fun while I trudged through the snow looking for the tree. ;) ;)

PA Bear Season

Beer and Bear ... Pennsylvania Hunting at its best !

Congrats to Al Guari for getting his first bear on 12/3/05 !

Bear Steaks for Everyone ! ;)