Staff Sgt Jason Ross - Marine

This morning began with Jackie jumping into bed with Grandma and Grandpa, at about 06:00 this morning. Personally, I would have rather she delayed her excitement for another half hour or so, but she didn't ask me. She was wanting to get things going so she could get back to school, as today was first day back from Christmas break. Now Stacy, on the other hand, wasn't all to eager to get up this morning, and we had to convince her that it was important for her to go back to school. Funny part is that once she was up and dressed she got almost as excited as Jackie was. We actually managed to get to their classes about 5 minutes earlier than usual, and I'm guessing it was because of Jackie's early start on the day. Jason had a couple of things he wanted to get done this morning, with one of them being an appointment, so he was up and out of the house by about 09:30. When Linda and I returned from taking the girls to school we both decided to get some exercise in, and I w...

We had a nice Sunday, and other than going to church this morning, we pretty much stayed home. We did go to Costco to pick up a few things and I went for a nice 15.25 mile bike ride this morning. It took me just over an hour and I tracked it with my new Runtracker App. A friend of mine, Bill B. suggested it and so far it seems to work pretty well. It runs on a smart phone and reports to you as you are moving along. I wear a backpack as I ride, and keep my cell phone at the top of the pack. This way I can hear it as I go along, and it tells me the pace I'm keeping. I was actually hoping to get a little better time, but traffic lights don't always cooperate along the route. Anyway, that was before church, and I got back to the house with plenty of time to not only get myself ready, but I also helped get the girls ready, with time to spare. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and playing with the girls. Linda is still working on getting things reorganized around here, an...

Jason and I did make it out to the International Auto Show, and we spent most of the time helping Anthony Netto at his Stand Up And Play Foundation booth. We spent about five hours there, and we headed back to the house about about 14:00 (2pm). There were some very interesting cars on display, and we had some time to just walk around and look at some of the various vehicles and items out for the consumer. In the area that the Stand Up And Play Foundation booth was located, they had an obstacle course set up for people to try, while riding in a wheelchair. It was fun watching the people attempt to maneuver the obstacles and then shoot a basket. Very few people made the shot, or even get through the course without bumping into things. I hope it was as educational, for them, as it was fun for us to watch. Some of the cars in this same area were hand-control cars, with a couple of them actually set up for racing. Not far from us was a truck that could have been the twin to Jason's curr...

I got up at about 07:20 today, and decided to go for another bike ride. It was again, about 43 degrees with clear skies and almost no wind. Except for being so cold, it was just about perfect riding weather. A friend of mine, Bill B. suggested an App I can put on my phone that will do the tracking of my rides and some other stuff, so I'm going to be checking it out in a couple of days. I don't have a plan to ride tomorrow, so it will just have to wait... maybe until Monday. I took the girls over to ride their bikes and both of them had a great time. Both of them even fell, or maybe a better description would be lost their balance, and got right back up and on their bikes. I was very proud of that - and happy. I let them ride for about 45 minutes, so they not only have some fun they also got some exercise in, and I think that is a good thing. We all need to get more exercise. Not much else going on today. We basically just stayed home, and didn't even have to start the c...

Wow! That was the first time for me to use 2015 for an official indication of what the date is. Then again, I didn't write or record anything today, so I guess it stands to reason. Anyway, Happy New Year to all! I hope this coming year is a great one for all of you and that you find joy and happiness in all your endeavors. We let the girls stay up until after mid-night last night (this morning?) and we all saw the new year in. It was a very small "party" but it was none-the-less, fun. Stacy told me this morning (late this morning) that she had fallen to sleep pretty quickly - imagine that. As it was, I was up at a little after 07:00 and decided to get up to go for a nice bike ride. Linda was still very much asleep and I wanted to let her sleep in; the rest of the house was quiet; so, I figured it would be a good time to go. I went down stairs and into Jason's room, where he was watching some program on things that COULD go wrong, with the weather. Actually it was ...

Well, another morning without the bike, so I went over to the gym, again, to get some calorie burn in. To be honest about it, it was raining out so I don't think I would have gone out anyway. On top of the rain it was pretty cold, especially for this area. Only a few miles up the road (up I-5) they had some snow. It was on Camp Pendleton, and some of Jason's friends sent him a couple pictures, along with posting it on FB. Funny part is that while I was on the treadmill, listening to the weather channel, they said that 2014 will go down in the record books as the warmest year on record. Just struck me funny that they would say that, right after talking about the snow. We made a few last preparations for this evening, and the girls even helped me clean the floors (they helped by staying in their room while I swept and mopped). I kept working on sections of the floor and then would let the girls come and inspect and they could play there, while I went on to the next section. I g...

We only have one more day left this year and in my humble opinion, it went way too fast. I remember last Christmas and thinking, wow a new year coming and now, here it is, nearly a year later and that year is just about gone. So much has come and gone and we've had some ups and downs, with ups being way ahead - - - fortunately. I probably won't be posting tomorrow, unless I happen to have some time that allows me to. We have already told the girls they can stay up until the end of the year (midnight) so I expect them to either be full of energy and excited or zonked out on the couch. Today began with me heading over to the gym. My bike is in the shop so I have to do something else to burn those calories. This holiday season is no different from others, and I have struggled to avoid a bunch of extra calories. I dropped about 20 lbs. coming into Thanksgiving, and now, at the end of the year I have put about five of those back on. Come January, and a repaired bike, I should be a...