Project 365 - Day 5

There is a little place in Bloomington IL that I like to frequent when I am there. Its just a little hole-in-the-wall kinda place, quaint, and very inexpensive. It is right next door to the Pilot truck stop which is one of our fuel-stops, and I love just parking (when its AVAILABLE) and walking over to this little restaurant and getting Chinese food.

So today, I knew I was going to be passing thru Bloomington, so I had my heart set on Szechuan Three Delight (no broc-a-ree), shrimp lo-mein, and an egg roll...of course, I get to the Pilot to get fuel and park, and the line to get fuel is 2-trucks deep on EACH PUMP (12) and there is NO parking to be had - ANYWHERE! SO, all I could do was take a picture of the restaurant as I left the parking lot...and dream about what was SUPPOSED to be my dinner tonight. :)

So I present to you - Yen Ching Express, Bloomington, IL. I highly recommend if you are in the area!

J-Dawg

Project 365 - Day 4

Yesterday I could **NOT** get my laptop to connect to the internet, and my Blackberry was being a POS - I think it was the weather, because today, BOTH are working just FINE. This is a sunset in Indiana yesterday. I just loved the colors - I wish I had time to pull over and grab my DSLR because I bet a wide-angle would have been a PHENOMINAL catch! Cant really see the colors too well (taken with my Blackberry) but I did manage to get a nice little Sun-burst. Oh well :) Se la vi Such is life and sometimes I cant stop - gonna keep movin! Hammer-down-westbound!

J-Dawg

A Quote I Just Heard

"No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible."
~George Chakiris

J-Dawg

Project 365 - Day 3

When I moved here to Wisconsin, I can tell you that the only time I generally drank wine was when my dad would make home-made wine coolers out of Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Maneschewitz wine. It was delish. Then, one of the local wineries in Door County (its the thumb of Wisconsin NE of Green Bay if you are curious) made a wine called Plum Loco - I FELL IN LOVE with the wine! IT was sooooooooo good! Well in 2002 (give or take) they stopped making it! I found a bottle a couple years later on a back shelf on a mom-and-pop store, and then when I came home, VOILA! THERE IT WAS AGAIN! It has new (and pretty spiffy) logo now, but the wine DOES taste as good as it did before. SO, one of my little delicacies this time home was to enjoy some Plum Loco from Door Peninsula Winery (as well as a couple other of my faves!) Simple pleasures!

J-Dawg

Project 365 - Day 2

Well, today it got to a balmy 7°F for a high, with wind-chills WAY below zero, so today was a Wii day, and we took advantage of it. I should say MY DAUGHTER took advantage of it, destroying me in Wii Bowling! To make things worse, my SON (who JUST turned 4 the other day) ALMOST BEAT ME!

You know you are getting old when kids are beating you at your own games :)

J-Dawg

Project 365 - Day 1

I was reading another blog, and she is doing a thing called PROJECT 365 - a photo a day every day that chronicles your year. SO I thought I would try to do the same thing. Thank you Tracie for giving me a great idea to try. WOW what a commitment - every day a photo! There are some days with my job, i dont even have time to burp, let alone take a photo, but I am going to do this!

So here is my Day 1 photo!

J-Dawg

Battle of the Peaks and Valleys

I think the first thing I thought of when I started to write this was "oh no - here we go again" like it is a recurring theme. I hate the fact that right now, inside I feel like a theme ride at an amusement park. The peaks and valleys of the emotional roller coaster I have been on for what seems like months is not coming to an end. My friend Dawn the other day said something to me that has stuck with me for the last couple of days ... "You cannot control the circumstances. You cannot control the things that happen around you or to you. You cannot control how others treat you or how they act or what they do or what decisions they make. These are all external variables over which we have no say. But you CAN choose how you react and how you let these things affect you. You can choose that part." I have tried to figure out how to react to something that has an emotional tie to it that when it doesnt go your way, brings you down. Maybe its the fact that I never dealt with my feelings before, that I never had a problem in the past. Maybe in the past, the problems were minor compared to now. Maybe my problems now arent as large as they appear to be.

Jan 1st 2010 -- this is a day that I want to remember a year from now and look back and say "I DID IT!" I want this year to be filled with the positives. I want this year to be the year that I can say I put everything into everything I am doing. I have a wonderful person in my life that makes me happy. I have kids that are so wonderful, and I love every moment I get to spend with them. I am blessed to have the love and support of my family. I am blessed to have the love and support of my close friends (you know who you are). I am blessed to have Jesus Christ back in my life where He should have been all along. I am thankful for all the riches I have in my life. There is no way I could be where I am without all of this being in my life.

FOCUSES for 2010

1. New Job - I am actively looking for new work. I want to put my 14 years in transportation and logistics to better use, or be able to put my IT degree to use more than it is being used right now
2. My weight - it continues to be an issue. With my current job, it is so difficult to lose weight, but I know i have to find a way to do it.
3. My kids - I want to have more time with them, and continue to nurture and grow them into the wonderful kids they are today. I just want to make sure they continue to grow in all the right ways.
4. My family and friends - to make sure that the positives I need in my life they also get to enjoy in their lives as well.

This is just a part of what I want to do this year. I hope that you all can enjoy this year with me and be positive not only for me, but also for yourself as well. I know I slip (damn BANANA PEELS!) from time to time, and will find a way to turn that slip into a positive. Here's to 2010 and all that is holds in store for us!

J-Dawg