– This is my 1ST walk around my neighbourhood in 29 days.
– I meant to walk on Veterans Day morning, but I slept in.
– Then I meant to walk on Saturday morning, but I slept in.
– This morning I awoke right after 6 AM, and 15 minutes later I was out the door.
– I walked for 40½-minutes – 17 minutes of which were before the sun rose.
– That’s another 2.2 miles towards my goal of a marathon.
– It was a nice and cool and comfy mid-November morning.
– The winds were stronger than the 3 MPH indicated above.
– I could feel those wind chills well into the 50s along the west perimeter road.
– Cat Sighting – A yellow and white feline crossed my path.
– She knew that I was a friend of felines – not a foe.
– After a nice 2.2-mile walk nothing felt better than the taking of a hot shower.
– This was my first Sunday morning (before church) walk ever !
– It was a great way to kickstart my day !
– As I walked I prayed for my neighbours that they would know and follow God.
– Next weekend I’ll be in cold N. Texas, so I may need earmuffs for my walks.
– These walks are dedicated to the memory of my Dad – William Lesley Day.
Saturday November 13TH 2010
Volume 3 / Number 10 / Edition 107
Back during the Summer of 2004 I was living in my current home and driving around in my current car, but things were a bit different back then than they are now.
At home I had a vibrant cat by the name of Boots following me around and loving me. On the road I was driving around in my fairly new (one-year-old) car. On one particular road trip that Summer I drove further west than I had ever previously driven in my entire life – all the way to New Orleans and back. It was my very first visit ever to ‘The Crescent City’, and I got to see and experience it a full year before Hurricane Katrina damaged it.
Back then my Mom and Dad were healthy and living and working in Jacksonville Florida, and my brother was still married to his first wife and living near Columbus Ohio. My Grandmom died that Summer in Maryland at the age of 88. I got to see her one last time during the Summer prior (in 2003). It was my first visit back to the Washington D.C. area since 1996, and I haven’t been back since.
The more things change – the more they stay the same. My cat died. My Dad has passed on. My Mom is now retired and living in Fairview Texas about 5 miles away from my brother. He’s been happily married to his 2ND wife for the past 3½-years, and they have a beautiful 7-month-old daughter (my niece). Still living with them – Buddy – the dog that was featured on my blog post from last night. I’ll be there in just about 5 days to enjoy the holidays with all of them !
When I look back at the Summer of 2004 I hear this song in the background. It seems so long ago. It seems like I lived it in a previous life.
I’ve found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is You.
2004 FACTOID OF LIFE – Myspace replaced AOL as the hottest place to hang out online. It began AOL’s long descent from its lofty peaks of 2002 that continues to this day. I was dragged onto Myspace in 2007 – and then quickly abandoned.
LET’S KICK IT with another ‘Weekend Blast-Off’ here on my big bad blog !
WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
This afternoon I kicked-off my weekend at Southland Mall. I saw “Unstoppable” at the Regal Cinemas. This is its first day at the box office. Due to a whole bunch of reasons I don’t go the movie theatres nowadays as often as I used to, so seeing a movie on its very first day of release is definitely rare for me. This is only the 7TH movie that I’ve seen in 2010. At this point in 2009 I had seen 12 movies (the same in 2008). I wish Hollywood made more movies like “Unstoppable”. This was a suspenseful ‘edge-of-my-seat’ action-packed thriller from start to finish. My eyes were wide open during the course of the movie, and I never once looked down at my watch in boredom. I was rooting and cheering on the heroes to come through, and I had moist eyes at the end of it all. I was also exhausted at the end of it all. It was as if I was on the runaway train myself. It was truly a total 95-minute adrenaline rush !
There was only one thing to do after all of that intense action – EAT !
BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD: … And so I did just that – right there at the mall at the Buffalo Wild Wings. I discovered this jumpin’ joint up on International Drive In Orlando about 5 or so years ago when I used to hang out up there on a regular basis. I was so happy when they opened up a location much closer to home. If they were located in Homestead then I’d be there every week enjoying my usual meal of 12 traditional wings spun in Honey BBQ sauce, a regular order of potato wedges, celery sticks with blue cheese dressing, and Coca Cola Classic. Yeah ! Come On !
BUDDY DAY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY OF THE MONTH CLUB: Buddy Roosevelt Day is my brother‘s dog. He bought him from a pet store in Orange Park Florida right around ‘9-11’ in 2001. He went to the pet store, saw Buddy, took an instant liking to him, and then walked away from him. He got in his car, and he drove away from the store. After getting a couple of miles away he made a u-turn and returned back to the store. He bought and adopted Buddy right then and there. Today Buddy is about 9½-years-old. I refer to him as ‘Old Man Buddy’. This picture was taken this past Halloween.
Buddy - The Day Family Canine
THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:
BLATANT PROMOTION:
At this time next Friday night I’ll be settled in at my brother’s and sister’s-in-law home sweet home in Allen Texas, as we enjoy 8 days and 8 nights together as a family celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas combined (our annual feasting and gift-giving tradition). I’m looking forward to it. This will be my first visit to Texas since the 4TH Of July holiday weekend. I left there just 13 days before my Dad passed on. I’ll be tweeting all throughout my upcoming holiday vacation, so you can always follow me to see what I’m up to out west. I’ll also be blogging next weekend with an all-new ‘Blast-Off’ on Friday and ‘Retro’ on Saturday. Tomorrow night on the 107TH edition of my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’m flashing back 6 years ago to 2004. Until we meet again my friends have yourself a safe, productive, and fun November weekend. Make it memorable.
WEEKEND GRAB BAG O’ THOUGHT:
November has arrived. Winter has arrived here in South Florida. The cool and dry weather is finally here. It will actually be a cold Saturday with wind chills starting out near 40°F at sunrise. We’ll be stuck in the 60s all day long with wind chills in the 50s at times. This brief cold snap will stick around until about 12 noon on Monday, and then a rapid warm-up begins. 80°F temperatures return on Tuesday afternoon. This is also the weekend in which we ‘fall back’ an hour, as we say ‘good-bye’, ‘so long’, ‘adios’, and ‘get out of here’ to Daylight Saving Time. It’s done and over with at 2 AM on Sunday morning as we return to Standard Time. That’s my favourite time of the year – the real time zone. Everything just seems right when the Sun rises before 7 AM and sets before 6 PM. That’s just the way it’s supposed to be. I wish we stayed on Standard Time all year long. In a perfect world Daylight Saving Time would be abolished !
BEST LUNCH OF THE WEEK AWARD: This past Wednesday I enjoyed Lunch at Red Lobster, and it was all over after that. I was cheerfully greeted at the front door by my regular greeter, and I was enthusiastically served at my regular table by my regular waitress. It’s like a home away from home for me. I belong. The food was hot and delicious as usual. I enjoyed a Caesar salad, the Crunch-Fried Fish, the Fried Bay Scallops, and a couple of melt-in-my-mouth Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I’ll be back for more sometime next week !
PUMPKIN DAY PHOTO OPPORTUNITY OF THE MONTH CLUB: This picture was taken this afternoon by my brother in Fairview Texas.
Pumpkin - The Day Family Feline
THOSE CRAZY CRAZY CATS:
BLATANT PROMOTION:
25 years ago this weekend I flew from Northern Virginia to London England to begin 2 years of my young life in a foreign country. Tomorrow on my ‘Saturday Night Retro’ I’ll look back at that first month of living in the U.K., and I’ll feature the music video of one of my favourite rock songs of that month (and year). During the day tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be out and about on Miami Beach enjoying the South Florida International Auto Show. I’m also planning to spend some quality time with the animals over at Jungle Island. It’s gonna be a great weekend here in South Florida to take advantage of the great outdoors, so let’s get to it. Be safe. Be smart. Love all.
CountUp 