Time to Hit the Lake !

Memorial Day Weekend and the weather at the lake was absolutely perfect !

Water temperatures are already in the 70's, so the girls took advantage and jumped in the lake to cool off. Here is Annie jumping off the dock !

It sure feels like summer !

Marion and I got all our summer flowers planted today ... with temps in the high 80s today and not a cloud in the sky, it was a great day to be outside! I know it's only May but it sure feels like summer ! I hope this weather is just the beginning of a great summer season !

Happy Mother's Day !

I want to wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother's Day today !

Today The Scranton Times had a special column written by Joby Fawcett remembering his mom. If you have a few moments, take the time to read it.

Remembering Mom on Mother's Day

There are times when I can still hear her voice. The echoing sound of encouragement from her frail and weakened body came through loud and clear as she sat beneath an umbrella even when there was no rain.

As the finish line grew closer, her words sounded stronger. And even as it hurt, she rose to her feet.

Soon after, to her delight, I would point to her location, and her smile was my greatest award.
Mother's Day is always special. It's a day to recognize the most wonderful people in our lives.
Today, I will visit my mother, Jean Fawcett. I will offer a casual hello, gaze up to the heavens, and put my hands on my daughters' shoulders as they ask questions about their grandmother.
My answer always begins with her being the greatest, most loving person in the world.
I will remember how she would somehow, against all odds, get to Lakeland Stadium to watch me and my brother play football or run track. Or to see my sister cheer.

See, in her life, that was a victory. Because the only thing that could conquer her will was the devastating and debilitating effects of Lupus.

I will continue to tell my two daughters how much she loved her children and how much she loved sports. There were days, oh yeah, there were days when I just simply didn't like to go to practice.

There were many days when running 400-meter sprints for a workout, honestly, weren't fun. In fact, they hurt.

"Hey, running track is supposed to hurt," she'd tell me.
There were days when losing wasn't much fun either. I'd put my head down and pout. And rather than comfort and offer compassion, mom would look me straight in the eyes and tell me to "work harder."

Then came the love.

"Losing is all right," she'd stress, "but accepting defeat is not."
It hadn't occured to me then, that those where the words she told herself with each passing day.
All I needed to do was to watch her at a dialysis appointment, come home, drained of what little bit of energy she had left, her shining hair falling out in clumps, a rash covering but not hiding her movie-star looks, and yet she still insisted on cooking dinner.

That was where I learned about competing, and the value of life.
My battles on the football field and on the track paled in comparison to what she and millions of moms battle with when their health is put at risk.

But in mom's mind, it was all that mattered. That's what I'll tell my daughters as we touch her grave, and celebrate her day.

So athletes across our region, remember your moms today and forget about wins and losses.
Lavish her with flowers. Take her to brunch.Thank her for all she has done, from changing diapers, to wiping your nose, to patting you on the back or kicking you in the behind.
But most of all, if you can, give her a hug.

Because there are many, like me, who will wish they could today.
Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com

Great job Joby ... I know your mom is smiling today !

Corky's 2010

Emily's softball season is again in full swing. Here is hoping for a great season. We have a great bunch of girls and look forward to a fun season. I know by June I will be wishing the season was over but for now we are going to have a great time!!

P90X - Half Way There !!

Reached the 1/2 way point of P90X ... Day 45 ! It's been a pretty good ride so far. I really enjoy the program. I weighed in at 158 this morning, so I have already surpassed my goal of getting to 160 lbs. Even had a couple of people ask me if I had lost weight ... woo hoo !

Looking forward to the second half of this program. Wish I could get Marion to share my enthusiasm :(

P90X Four Weeks Down - Nine Weeks To Go !!

Marion and I completed our 4th week of P90X. Not sure I could really consider this past week a "recovery week", it was just as gruelling as weeks 1-3.

While I did not follow the P90X advice to take measurements when I started.( now kind of wish I did ). I can tell my waist is a few inches less than when I started. I am now pulling my belt 2 inches more than I did fefore I started, and I think I am noticing more definition in my abs, shoulders and arms, although that might be in my head.

Also, I am down 10 lbs. which feels great. I honestly do not want to lose anymore weight, and for that reason I think I am going to switch from the Lean to the Classic program for Phase #2.

P90X Yoga ... Again

Did the P90X Yoga tonight ... I have to admit I am doing much better at it then when I started. I still find it somewhat repetitive and boring. However as I learn the positions I don't have to keep stopping to look up at the screen to see what Tony Horton is doing. That makes it much easier and obviously more beneficial. Some of the stretches at the end of the program are awesome.

So on to Core Synergistics tomorrow as I work through my "recovery" week. I hope everyone has a great week !

P90X 3 weeks completed !

Finished our 3rd week of P90X ... did Kenpo today ... what a workout! I was dripping in sweat. Went off the diet tonight ... rewarded ourselves with a little chicken parm.

Considering we hadn't done any sort of exercise in approx 20 years ... we felt we needed to treat ourselves for working out everyday for the last 3 weeks.

Back at it tomorrow with the recovery week. I am really noticing a difference in my abs ... I can't believe the changes come so quickly. Kudos to Tony Horton and Beachbody Team ... they really have developed a great program !

March 22 - 170 lbs

April 11 - 164 lbs

Motivation

Anyone looking for motivation to continue working out ... here it is. Obviously much better to have muscle than fat . That photo grosses me out. In my 3rd week of P90X and while I haven't lost any weight ( not actually trying to ) I do feel a lot better and I think I am already seeing results. ( not feeling as flabby ). So even though I am still pretty sore I am going to push on through and see where this takes me.

"Pain is just weakness leaving your body"

I saw this quote, "Pain is just weakness leaving your body", and I thought how fitting it is for Marion and I as we are working through P90X. After doing the Legs & Back workout we are both experiencing a lot of weakness leaving our bodies. Two days and numerous Motrin's later and we are still sore. Obviously that is not an area we have exercised in a long long time.

Two weeks down .. and we are still alive !

The world lost a good man :(

I have a heavy heart today :(

Just found out my good friend Frank Sylvester was killed last night in a motorcycle accident. Frank was one of those guys you could always count on if you needed him. I am pretty sure he had no idea how many friends he had and how much he will be missed.
















So to my friend Frankie, I say "Salute" ! Never again will I drink a glass of homemade wine without thinking of you!

P90X - One week down !

Well.. finished week 1 of P90X ... its hard ... considering I haven't done any sort of physical activity in years. I have to say my wife makes a pretty good work out partner. Married 14+ years and I learned something new ! ha ha !

Hopefully early to bed tonight and rest these aching muscles !

Yoga

OK... I gotta tell you I got very bored with the P90X Yoga. It could use something to break it up in the middle ... I was ready to start shooting the Warriors and upward and downward dogs.

I am not saying it doesn't work ... just saying it bored the hell out of me.

P90X

OK ... After realizing I am getting seriously old I have decided I need to try one last attempt at getting back in shape. I also realize there is no short cut here, the only way to change is through hard work. So like millions of others I am going to try P90X. Everyone I have talked to said it is brutal. That is what I need ... somebody to kick my ass. Tony Horton you get to be that guy. I am not doing this to lose weight as I am currently at 170 lbs, I just need to get healthy.

So here I go ! Wish me luck !

Buried !!!

Well it seems like it has finally stopped snowing. This storm really lived up to the hype... as of 9 pm last night I was totally shoveled out and this morning there seemed to be another 18 inches. Although the wind is so strong its hard to tell exactly how much snow we got. The drifting is amazing.

I am totally shocked we never lost power. Typically if somebody sneezes here in Greenfield Twp. our power goes out.

Storm of the Century !!

Forcasters are calling this the "Storm of the Century" or a Hurricane with snow ... a Snowicane !! Regardless ... the kids enjoyed the day off from school. Spent a great day hanging out with friends and being snowbound. One of the nice things about living at Newton Lake is the close proximity to our friends... being snowbound really isn't too bad.

Soprassata Saturday !!

First for me today ... assisted in the making of soprassata ... never realized how involved the whole process is. But it was a great time and hopefully in a couple months we'll find out if all of our work was worth it!

Mancave continues ....

Made a little more progress on the mancave... still lots of work to do !!

Searching for the Perfect Tree !

Once again the Sokoloski's & Yurgosky's took to the woods in search of the perfect family Christmas Tree. Maggie & Ty made their first trip a good one... as both of them brought good luck to our search this year !

Progress!

Framed out a bathroom for my future mancave ... feels like I have accomplished something !

Mancave !

Started today on building a room ( mancave ) in my basement ! Wish me luck !

Yankees World Champions !

The Yankees got it done tonight by spanking Pedro Martinez. As a Yankee fan I have to say there is nothing more fullfilling than watching Pedro get smacked around the yard.

A tough week ... living in NEPA there are a lot of Phillie fans here.

I am glad the Yankees pulled it off... and my liver is thankful the series is over as well !

Happy Halloween !

The three ladies in their Halloween costumes ! The kids had a great time trick or treating with their friends.

Let's Go Yankees !

Here we go Yankees and Phillies in the World Series ! It's going to a great series ... if you live here in Northeast PA you most likely are either a Yankees or Phillies fan.

My friends and I are already trying to estimate how much damage we are going to do to our livers over the next week ! Can't wait !

A Sad Day !

Pontoon Boat is stored and covered for the winter :(

For an old beast that we bought at a bargin basement price we got a lot of use out her this summer! Hopefully next summer will be equally as fun !

Football in the Summer !

Had to make our annual trip up to Pocono Mountain (since the AACJF can't figure out how to schedule games ... we have to go there every year ! ). Of course playing football in August the temperature was close to 100 degrees ... kids were actually crying they did not want to go back into the game. It's sad when Jr Football gets to this. Absolutely no common sense !

That being said ... we were proud of Annie and Emily and the other kids for sticking it out, regardless of the poor decisions by adults to have kids play football in July and August :(

A day on the lake !

Spending a great day on the pontoon boat.

Pontoon Boat !

This old beast will be creeping around Newton Lake this summer and hopefully will give us hours of enjoyment !

Perfect !

Spent a quiet day on the lake ! Weather was absolutely perfect today ! Here is Marion doing her best impression of the Corona commercial.

Happy 4th of July !

Spent a relaxing 4th of July on Newton Lake with the Fawcett's and our old beater Pontoon Boat! It was a little windy but the kids had a blast and overall it was a great day on the lake.

Batter Up !

Here is Emily taking some cuts during a recent softball game.

...and here she is in the field.

Summer 2009

Haven't posted here in awhile . Been spending most of my time on Facebook. If you don't have a page there I highly suggest it.

Summer weather here in NE PA has been crappy ... rain and temps in the 70s. I really need to move.

Happy New Year !

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2009 !

Emily made the Paper !

Here is Emily in today's Scranton Times. She was so excited ! Way to go Emily !

Merry Christmas !

From our family to your ... Merry Christmas ! I hope Santa brought everyone what they wanted !

Looks Like a White Christmas!

Only two days to go and it is looks like we are going to have a white Christmas !

You Caught Me !

Maggie was caught red handed tearing apart the Christmas Decorations ! She has been a handful this year, and doesn't really care about the naughty or nice list yet. Maybe we will have better luck next year.

2008 Christmas Tree

After a long and exhausting search in frigid temperatures. Annie and Emily picked out and decorated our 2008 Christmas Tree ... I think they did a great job !

Ahh .. yes ... the holiday lights !

After lots of cursing ... the Christmas lights were put up ... need to thaw myself out for a few days now. Every year I ask myself ... why haven't I moved to Florida yet ?

You'll shoot your thigh out kid !

We need to stop giving idiots like Plaxico Burress money. Is there really a need to carry thousands of dollars and to wear hundreds of thousands worth of jewelry out to go to a club. Who are you trying to impress ? You are already an NFL player on a world championship team. If that doesn't impress people ... do you really think the $$ and jewelry will? Total Jackass !

Maggie's Unique Way to Crawl !

Happy 1st Birthday Maggie & Beck !

Talk about looking like they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Here are Maggie and Beck enjoying their first taste of birthday cake.

President Obama

Barack Obama supporters were partying well into the night for his hard fought victory. Historic in that he will become our nations first African-American President however I think most people are just happy that it signifies the beginning of the end of George W. Bush's presidency.

At least with me ... I was OK with either McCain or Obama ... either way the country wins.

Hopefully this nasty red state, blue state, liberal, conservative crap ends. Its time we all become Americans.

VOTE TODAY !

I did my part . Now do yours . No matter what candidate you favor ...get out and vote !

Soccer Season Ends Today !

Emily made it through her first soccer season. All in all it was a great season !