Christmas Recap.....

OK - so here is the Christmas recap.....first of all, of course it was awesome to see my parents even though it was only for a short time. I met them Saturday morning [the 23rd] for breakfast at The Cracker Barrel in Arlington on the their way to Abilene. We had a great breakfast and I gave them my presents to take down with them. I got a tour of the trailer and then they were off. I worked Saturday and Sunday and headed to Abilene at 5p on Christmas Eve. Arrived safe and sound and finished up the thumbprint cookies my dad loves when I got there. The kids were decorating cookies and everything was ready to go.

That evening, we played Mason's 'Show Me The Present' game where he had put together a little present for each of us and then we had to answer Christmas trivia questions. Although Grammy's question was questionably Christmas related. It was a lot of fun and was just another example of how creative he is. We got cookies and reindeer food out for Santa and the reindeer - then I was off to bed out in the trailer with Mason and Dad.

The next morning we all got up to see if Santa had been there and open presents. Here are several pictures from the day.

[before the madness begins]

[emptying out the stockings]

[Mason's favorites]

[Morgan's favorite]

[Morgan's horse jean jacket]

[The Cars tent - taking up most of Mason's room]

[Inside the Cars tent]

[The aftermath]

I got all kinds of awesome gifts from everyone. I got a Playstation 2, some royal blue CROCS, some stereo speakers for my living room to plug my iPod into so I can have music. I got , the KONE, some games for the PS2, some bling for my iPod. I got a lot of ornaments from Mom and JoLynn 'cause my tree needs some work. Overall it was a great Christmas !

Of course I had to work on Tuesday, so I left Christmas afternoon to head back home. And sadly, instead of making myself something to eat when I got home, I went out for a bite. The next day was basically HELL. Somehow, something I ate was not good....and Tuesday was the worst day of 2006 - I was sick and aching all day. It was horrible. I worked for a couple of hours just to get some stuff done but then I was in bed the rest of the day. It was awful. Thanks to Courtney for bringing me chicken noodle soup, crackers and sprite.

Mom and dad ended up coming through town earlier than planned and we had dinner at Steak and Ale where I had some grilled chicken breast and potato - still being careful from my last outing and then they were off the next morning.

Overall - the holidays were great - even though they were short and I didn't get to go back to Abilene to spend time with mom and dad since I was sick. Next year, when I have some vacation time things will be much better and less hectic.

I hope everyone that reads this had a wonderful holiday and was able to spend time with family and friends.

New schedule......

So, this is my new work schedule effective next week - that fits around my school schedule. I am so lucky that I am working for a company that works with me to help accommodate this. I will have Friday/Saturday off also which is great. I worked every weekend for this last 6-months so it will be nice to have one weekend day off.

By the way, the school part of this schedule doesn't start until Monday, January 15th.
I will post tomorrow with Christmas pictures and stories.

Grades !

Just a quick post with my Fall 2006 grades :

TRIGONOMETRY : A
ARITHMETICAL PROBLEM SOLVING : A

What I expected....it was a good semester and I am looking forward to Spring classes.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'.....

...my new company is awesome. Just had to post a quick note to say that. I have been rolling in gifts and accolades over the last two weeks and late yesterday I received this wonderful gift via FedEx !!

I can already tell 2007 will be filled with peace and harmony.

[Ceasar - my bamboo]

Thank you, Cynergy !! Happy Holidays !

Merry ^%$#*@^ Christmas

To be honest, I am titling this blog solely based on this picture :

I went to BEST BUY on Wednesday to look for something. I was in there all of 10 minutes, because of course, they didn't have what I was looking for, and when I came out, I was greeted with the excellent parking job you see here by the owner of this Infinity QX4 SUV. It's hard to tell from this picture, but basically they were parked about 4 inches from the driver's door of my Honda Civic. Needless to say, I could not get in my car. I was livid. I went back in the store armed with the license plate number, etc. and had them paged FOUR times. No one ever came to move the car. Finally, after waiting about 30 minutes at my car....I had some skinny girl that was coming out with her boyfriend, climb into the passenger side and back my car out for me. Let's face it, this bod was not designed for that kind of maneuver. So people, if you are going to be out shopping, LEARN TO PARK !!!

OK, so that is all about that.

Wednesday, I met my friend Charles for shopping first thing in the morning so he could finish his shopping for his family. I think I am a personal shopper to all my male friends, you know who you are. We had lunch at RED ROBIN which I had never been to and was very good for a "gourmet burgers" joint. Basically, the rest of the day Wednesday and all day Thursday were devoted to finishing my Christmas shopping, of course I went overboard this year. Also, had some dinner and trivia at the No Frills Grill one night which was nice. And, I did find the elusive RED wrapping paper at Hallmark. But, of course, I have a beef with it. If I am going to spend the money to buy wrapping paper at HALLMARK, I expect it to be good, sturdy paper. It was not. Two of the presents I wrapped with it, I could see the packaging right thru the paper. So no surprise for those recipients if they look hard enough. I had to use two layers on one package for my nephew so I knew he wouldn't see what the present was.....grrrrrrr ! I'm just saying, Hallmark, get your act together with your paper. We are wrapping them so they will be a surprise, so I shouldn't be able to see thru the paper. Duh !

More tomorrow with family travel updates, etc. and my journey for the holidays. And Season, just FYI, since my whole family converges at my sister's house, we like to wrap our presents basically with the same paper or at the very least, a theme, so we can tell them apart, in other words, what came from who, etc. It's a goofy tradition, but we all do it.

Red wrapping paper......

.....okay, if I were a retail store that carried wrapping paper, when Christmas was close, I would overstock red and green wrapping paper and then get all the Christmas paper in too. But, apparently that is not how others think. I bought some wrapping paper for Christmas, I like to wrap all of my presents in the same paper, and it is red with white snowflakes on it. Very simple and cute. Well, I didn't buy enough, of course, because for some reason my presents are large this year....and I thought, well, I'll just get some plain red wrapping paper to go with it. Apparently, at Christmas no one has any red wrapping paper.....as one might expect. I've seen some red glitter paper some red on red paper but no plain ole red flat wrapping paper. So, my day off tomorrow will be in search of this elusive wrap.

The rest of the week.....finishing the "chore list" - mom and dad drive through on Friday or Saturday and then I go to Abilene Sunday night. I stay for Monday, Christmas day, and then drive back home that night to work Tuesday, then back to Abilene Tuesday night for my two days off. Quite the whirlwind. I'm looking forward to spending what time I can, with mom and dad.

Until later.....

Tag ! I'm too friendly.....

So, Alberto "tagged" me - for all you novice bloggers out there - this means he has taken some quiz or answered some question or list of questions on his blog and now he has "tagged" me to do the same.

So, the question is - what are your top 5 Christmas Songs ??

Well, I go for the oldies but goodies.....the deep ballads and poignant lyrics. So, in no particular order :

1. The Christmas Song [Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire]
2. The Little Drummer Boy
3. The First Noel
4. Silent Night
5. Blue Christmas - sung by Elvis Presley, of course

OK - I tag Courtney, JoLynn and Curtis to list their 5 favorite Christmas songs.

And, guess what, I won the NOVEMBER INCENTIVE contest at work - this is data compiled over the month on lots of call stats, attendance, etc. The only thing I need to work on - I'm too friendly. Who'd a thunk it ??

Winter cleaning......

....well, it is that time of year again. The one time my parents come into town, which means a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious cleaning job is now under way. I have a list of 11 items that must be done before they get here and exactly 11 days until they get here. No problem....however, blogging may be slowing down while this is in progress. I promise at least one more blog this week after I take my final on Wednesday but other than that they may be kinda sparse for the rest of the year. I'll do what I can.

Wish me luck on the cleaning !

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

...I decided to add a little snow to my blog for the winter. In Texas we don't see snow that often so I thought it would be fun to have it on my blog to look at. Let me know if you like it.

End of the semester, finally.....

Well, today was my last day of regular class for this semester. I have one final in Trigonometry tomorrow [yes, Saturday] and another final next Wednesday morning but that's it. I am expecting A's in both classes but will post the final grades here when I get them.

Next semester starts up on January 14th....I am submitting a work schedule revision request to my boss next week to accommodate those classes and will post my new schedule here when I have it. Next semester I am taking :

• Elementary Statistics
• Integrated Physics/Chemistry
• Environmental Systems

No worries.....I am looking forward to it. The two science classes are just overviews of their subject matter - no lab or anything. One of the new friends I made in my Applied Math class this semester, Mandy, is in two of my classes so that will be nice.

More later.

Why I love the NO FRILLS GRILL

Those of you that read my blog on a semi-regular basis often see me mention the No Frills Grill as either a place I recently have been or am planning to go. I have been wanting to post about it for awhile but tonights visit was the trigger. This is a long post but I think it will entertain.

My family has been going to the No Frills Grill since they opened. There are 4 locations .... one in Arlington [the original], one in Ft. Worth [where I go now], one in Mansfield and one in Keller. I have spent time in all but the Mansfield location. It started out as a very simple bar and grill where the menus were hand stamped on brown paper bags and the variety of food was simple and yummy. One draw was the fact that they had NTN trivia and another was that they were right next to a movie theatre. The initial family favorite was shrimp quesadillas but our list of favorites has grown over the years as they have.

Here are some pictures from MY No Frills Grill taken last month :

[The outside of the No Frills Grill]

[Jessica - the favorite waitress]

[The NTN trivia game box]

Being a regular, when I enter the building, I know all of the waiters and waitresses names and they know mine. Without asking, within minutes a diet coke is sitting in front of me. The manager, Dave, may sit down at the table and chat for awhile and when it is a slow night the wait staff may also plop down for a visit.

There are many regulars, even a celebrity or two. Barry Corbin, who is known for his role as Maurice Minnifield in Northern Exposure, as General Jack Beringer in War Games, and more recently as Coach Whitey Durham on One Tree Hill is there almost every night when he is in town, with the 'Brain Trust' as I call them. He is super nice and will take a picture or sign an autograph if you ask. I've also seen local radio personality Kidd Kraddick from 106.1 KISS FM there with his family on occasion.

I enjoy the food, and as I have mentioned, I also play trivia on their NTN trivia game. I have always enjoyed soaking up trivia and quiz type games so I find this an integral part of the fun at the No Frills Grill. And it doesnt hurt when I outscore the 'Brain Trust' some nights.

But, the real reason I love to go to the No Frills Grill is the people. Not just the employees but the customers. I have seen and heard many things at the No Frills Grill. I've overheard loud conversations about sexual habits, I've seen grown men gather in an extremely organized manner to draft their fantasy football team live, I've seen a kid suck the ketchup out of a ketchup bottle while his mom wasn't looking. I've seen drunk people in Halloween costumes, I've counted the number of plastic cups a person has stacked in front of them on dollar beer night and wondered how they were getting home. But tonight was a banner night for observation and experience. Tonight I saw a girl reserve a table for 10-20 of her closest friends to have only 9 show up and that was at least an hour after she shoved 3 tables together. I saw Barry get dragged to the bar by some women holding his hand and shouting choo-choo like a train as she drug him along behind her. I saw a man in the dining room pull a saxophone out of its case and proceed to serenade someone in the bar and in the dining room with Happy Birthday and more importantly, I saw the girl with 9 friends walk around from the dining room to the bar several times with a piece of toilet paper hanging out of the back of her pants like Rapunzel. Here are two "blurry" cell phone pictures for proof, and when I left still no one had told her.

[Sitting at her table]

[One of many treks to the bar]

This is why I love the No Frills Grill.

Carry on.

Elevator Etiquette

I don’t know who raised half [or more] of the population but apparently whoever it was, they did not teach their offspring about elevator etiquette. I am asking you now to learn this lesson and pass it on. When you are waiting on an elevator, make sure you are standing to the side when the door opens allowing EVERYONE on the elevator time to exit before you move forward and step on. DO NOT plow onto the elevator the minute the doors open. This applies to basically ALL forms of public transportation, which an elevator is unless you have one in your home and then you can do whatever the hell you want to. This morning at school as I am trying to get off the elevator three girls plow into me, trying to get in, when there are still more people trying to get off. As I walk by them, they rudely say “Excuse me.” as they knock my backpack from my shoulder in their rush to enter the elevator. Needless to say, we almost had a throw-down.

Be polite. Be considerate. Do unto others.....

Yep, it's the busy season.....

....so December brings in many things, one of which is what I call the busy season. That time of year when I have a million things to do. Sadly, it is the time of year that I usually want to savor and have go by slowly so that the time my parents are here for Christmas seems to last longer and the few days off I have from work seem more restful. But that is never the case. So what is on my calendar this month ?

Well, I did get a couple of things done last week. One, I put a fresh coat of paint on my hair....ha ha ! Yep, those greys were starting to take over. And, yesterday, I finally finished putting up my Christmas tree. I'm still looking for the tree skirt [white sheet] that goes underneath - but here are a couple of pictures for you.

And....this week is crazy.

Monday - Class/Work/Part 2 of Trigonometry test [Part 1 was was easy]
Tuesday - Work/Dinner with the White's
Wednesday - Class/Haircut appointment / group study for Applied Math final
Thursday - Working to have Saturday off
Friday - Class/Work/Review for Trigonometry final
Saturday - Trigonometry final
Sunday - Work

And then one more final on the 13th....and Diabetic training.....I'm learning to be diabetic. LOL ! Actually, on my last Dr.'s visit the results of my blood work showed that I am borderline diabetic - so now I am on yet more meds and I have to go see a nutritionist so she can help me get my blood sugar under control. Another step in my plan for next year to be the year I get my health back on track.

Well, there's an update from me for the next week. Ciao for now !

Don't like the weather ?

In Texas they say if you don't like the weather, then just wait a minute. That saying couldn't have been more true than 2 days ago. On Wednesday, we topped out at a balmy 80 degrees - it was sunshine and shorts all day. I went to the movie that night, around 5:00p, when I came out of the theatre 2 hours later the temp had dropped 35 degrees.....and it was raining.

By the next morning it was VERY cold.....around 30 degrees when I woke up and it actually got colder throughout the morning. From about 10:00a - 3:00p - it was rain, sleet and snow.....yes, snow. The weather person called it a "winter-mix" and it was a mess. Luckily I had no work and no school yesterday so I just stayed in and snuggled up.

Here are some pics from the day :

[the ledge on my balcony]

[a close-up of the ledge]

[my patio chairs]

[my footsteps on the balcony]

[my poor car]

Calling in sick.....

...those of you that know me, know that this is something I rarely do , in fact I have very STRONG opinions about missing work and tend to be judgemental in that regard even though I try not to. Anyway, I found a recent article about it today and this is an excerpt from the article [because if I listed the whole thing, I would be getting up on my soapbox]....when you comment, tell me which one of these made you laugh out loud.

Workers who are chronic offenders may be running out of ideas. Forty-one percent of hiring managers said they have received unusual or suspicious sick day alibis. Sixty-two percent did not believe them, according to the survey. When asked to share the most unusual excuses employees gave for missing work, hiring managers offered the following examples:

1) Employee was poisoned by his mother-in-law.
2) A buffalo escaped from the game reserve and kept charging the employee every time she tried to go to her car from her house.
3) Employee was feeling all the symptoms of his expecting wife.
4) Employee called from his cell phone, said he was accidentally locked in a restroom stall and no one was around to let him out.
5) Employee broke his leg snowboarding off his roof while drunk.
6) Employee's wife said he couldn't come into work because he had a lot of chores to do around the house.
7) One of the walls in the employee's home fell off the night before.
8) Employee's mother was in jail.
9) A skunk got into the employee's house and sprayed all of his uniforms.
10) Employee had bad hiccups.
11) Employee blew his nose so hard, his back went out.
12) Employee's horses got loose and were running down the
highway.
13) Employee was hit by a bus while walking.
14) Employee's dog swallowed her bus pass.
15) Employee was sad.

It was number 11 for me......ha ha !!

Belated Thanksgiving greetings

Sorry, no posts for the last few days, but I have been in Abilene for the last three days on a much needed vacation from work and getting on the computer was the last thing on my mind. Apparently, pulling my camera out of my purse was not on my mind either because I have no pictures to show for my time away.

HAPPY belated THANKSGIVING !!

I did enjoy my time in Abilene and always love spending time with my sister and her family. We did some shopping, had some great meals at home and out. Played school, Monopoly, Life and Phase 10 and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal over at my sister's in-laws house. We did some craft "chores" that have been building up and then just hung out. The weather was amazing....in the mid to upper 70s the entire time I was there and I slept good most nights even though my brother-in-law had the heat on in the house. Of course, I got my sister in trouble for making a comment about it. Oh, well. The bottom line, a grand time was had by all.

Back to work today and for the weekend and then next week on my days off I am planning a movie marathon.....stay tuned for more info on that as the days get closer. Have a great weekend.

To Abilene and back......

OK - so yesterday was spent on a 24 hour road trip to Abilene, Texas to see my niece, Morgan, in The Nutcracker. She has been taking ballet for several years and each year she participates in this holiday production. This year, as indicated by the picture below, she is a white mouse.

There is no flash photography allowed during the performance so these pictures are as Morgan calls it......"behind the scenes" :

First, getting the white leotard and body suit on......the front,


And the back,

Next comes the hair, mommy works hard getting that ballet bun just right.....

And then the hairspray.....tons of it,


Next is the make-up - I think this is Morgan's favorite part,

And the finished make-up,


Lastly, the rest of the white mouse costume,


And, after all that work, mommy and her little white mouse,

I joined, Mason, Sam and Memaw in the theatre to get ready for the performance and here is a picture of Mason reading his program before all the fun began.

Now, it is back to Abilene for me tomorrow night to spend a couple of days for Thanksgiving.

The Merchant Chronicles

As most of you already know, I work as a tech support/customer service rep for a credit card processing company. Basically, merchants (business owner's) that have credit card machines in their business call me when they have technical issues or customer service related issues. They each have what is called a Merchant ID Number.....it is a unique identifier for them and it is the first thing I ask for when answering a call. Here are some excerpts from real calls.....

Tracy : Can I get the last six digits of your Merchant #?
Merchant : 0594561
- - - - - -
Tracy : Can I get the last six digits of your Merchant #?
Merchant : How many ?
Tracy : The last 6
Merchant : 291000000436519
- - - - - -
Tracy : Can I get the last six digits of your Merchant #?
Merchant : The last 4 ?
Tracy : The last 6
Merchant : 0401001

You gotta love 'em.

Off tonight for a quick turn-around to Abilene to see my niece, Morgan in The Nutcracker. Be back tomorrow night with pictures. Ciao

Fingernails, weather and camping.....

...just a few updates and comments. I am still NOT biting my fingernails....and they are getting longer. However, I am realizing they are not very strong. So, I broke THREE on my left hand last week - which is very annoying because now those three are short again. Not as short as when I bit them but still.....grrrrrr. I'm going to buy some nail strengthener this weekend.

As you may have noticed, I added a little weather module over on the right side. I like having current weather on my blog. And there is a cute one a lot of people have that is a girl wearing weather appropriate outfits, etc. and it displays the weather.....but they don't really have a girl that represents a 40-year old chunky white chick so I decided to go with the generic weather channel version.

Lastly, camping.....not the traditional kind - the dorky kind. Oddly, now that I have said I am not going to put a picture on every blog, I now have pictures for practically every blog. LOL ! Here are some from yesterday :

[This one is at WalMart and this guy is about to start throwing a football with his buddy.]

[These two are, obviously, at Best Buy...looking at the bottom one, notice
that the tent on the far right has a hanging plant out front.]

Yep, you guessed it. Dorks, camping out at a WalMart and Best Buy waiting for the Playstation 3 to come out. I guess I missed the profiteering bandwagon though - they are selling on eBay today for anywhere from $1500 - to $5000+ - oh well, I'll remember that for the Playstation 4.

More updates tomorrow.....

Well, I was wrong......

... awhile back, I had a post that said "Bring two scantrons." was the worst three words you can hear from a professor. Well, that may be the worst three words but now a new sentence with eight words may be headed to the top of the list of things you don't want to hear from your professor, and those eight words are : "The test will take place over two days." Yep, my trigonometry teacher informed us this week that our third test [and it's not the final] will take place over two days. Great ! She also said some of us will come in and be done with each part in 30 minutes and then there will be some of us that she will have to "pry the test out of our hands" when the hour is up. I'd like to happily be somewhere in the middle please.

Resolution, Fesolution and New Blogger.....

The picture on every blog resolution is out. It's too restrictive. So, I will revise it to say, I will be trying to put MORE pictures on my blog, but not necessarily on every one.

OK, so today I switched to the "new" blogger...not really sure what that did but when I logged in there was a message from blogger telling me it was time to switch so I did. We'll see if anything changes.

Since my last post......I got a 94 on a trig test, I went to the doctor and my niece and sister came for a visit. School is going well. I have only 4 weeks left of this semester and one of them is Thanksgiving week so basically I have 3 weeks left. I registered for Spring classes last Friday, I am taking 3 - all at UTA and I think they will be okay. One is another math class and two are basic science classes....NOT Biology. I've put that one on hold for the time being. I have to be done with all but 15 hours of my pre-education classes in order to start the program in the fall so taking 3 classes in the spring and 2 in the summer will put me right on track.

Went to see Dr. Jennings the other day - just the first check-up since I got insurance again. My blood pressure was good and he took blood to check everything else so I should be hearing from him on those results this week. My weight is still an issue - he didn't say it but I know it and working from home is not helping. So, I'm going to work on getting in that "mode" over the next six weeks and then in 2007 I am finally going to get my act together and do something about it. Stay tuned for that because I will probably use this blog [or create an additional one] to keep track of that little project.

Speaking of watching what I eat......JoLynn and Morgan came in last weekend for a visit and I think all we did was eat. They got here Friday night and we hung out deciding on our plans for Saturday. Saturday we got up, went to McDonald's for breakfast - went to the mall, specifically the Build A Bear store and got Morgan some new clothes for her cat, Sydney. Morgan's birthday is the 17th so she had $50 from her parents and $30 from my parents to spend. So, it was a shopping spree to say the least. I think she spent $50 in the bear store and the other $30 in Claire's buying earrings and lip gloss [the only "make-up" she can wear] and when it was done we were tired. We went to On The Border for lunch and here is a picture from that - some serious coloring going on here :



After than it was off to Old Navy, Recollections, Michael's, JoAnn Fabrics and a few more of our favorite places. I wanted to go see a movie and get out of my apartment for the evening since I am there all the time working but Morgan had other plans so we came home for a brief rest and then headed to Chili's so Morgan could have some baby-back ribs. On the way home we stopped for a movie - Chicken Little and that was it for the night. I needed a nap and about a 10-mile walk to get rid of all the food we had eaten that day. Overall the weekend was a blast, and even though the first words out of Morgan's mouth Friday night had been "We're here without Mason !" - her first words when waking up Sunday morning were "I'm ready to go home and see my daddy and my bubba." So, off they went at about 7:45a to head back to Abilene.

More life updates tomorrow.......

Hmmm, not doing good with the new resolution.

OK - so the November resolution to post a pic in every blog is slowing my blogging down and it seems I am only posting when someone sends me a picture. I need to work on my picture taking.

Well, so here is a blog about my parents new travel trailer. Growing up I have very fond memories of going camping A LOT. We had a travel trailer, well, several different ones actually and we would go on weekend trips mainly to go swimming in the summer. But, camping itself was a blast. I've been places like Turkey Run, Indiana, Disney World, Jekyll Island, GA, etc. all camping. Fun, fun, fun !! As we got older and we had an in-ground pool built into our backyard, camping kind of went by the wayside, as did the travel trailer.

So, it was no real surprise that yesterday, my father emailed me pictures of a new travel trailer he and my mom bought last week. They have been wanting another one for years. I am really excited for them because they love to go camping and love to camp when travelling. Here are the pictures that my dad calls optional equipment for his car. Ha ha !

Resolutions

So, I know that January is typically the month of resolutions but I say why wait ?? If you have a resolution to make, make it. So, for the month of November, I resolve the following :

1. Never get the "best" full service car wash. I went to the full serve car wash today because my car is filthy and I needed an oil change. I get the oil change and a transmission fluid flush and as I pull up to the car wash I decided to get the daily special - the "best" wash. $ 24.99 What a ripoff ! My car doesn't look any better than it would have if I had got the normal Basica Wash which is $10.00. And, when I buy the best, I want to get the best. I don't want to need to walk around the car and tell the guy all the places he missed.....and trust me there were plenty. So, no more "best" car washes for me.

2. As I mentioned last month, every blog starting today will contain a picture. What better way to start that resolution than by posting a picture of my world's best dad - dressed in his Halloween costume. I love it !! Love you, Dad !!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!

Enjoy your tricks and treats !!

Flip-flops.....

OK, so it is evident on the college campus, the flip-flop is the footwear choice of many. I think this choice will prevail through rain, sleet, snow and all seasons. This is fine with me. If people want to wear flip-flops year round - more power to them. Certainly, their choice.

But alas, a word to the flip-flop wearing population ... and at first, I thought this might apply only to men but now I know it applies to ALL that choose this footwear. PLEASE, do not wear flip-flops if your toes/toenails look like they have recently been thru a wood-chipper. Trust me, no one wants to see that.

If you are going to put your feet on display - then by all means make the effort to make them presentable. A pedicure by you, your mate or even a professional is well worth it. Some lotion and some polish [ladies] even if it is clear or non-discript is much appreciated by those around you. And, why, you may ask am I looking this closely ?? I can't help it when you work in my group or prop your feet up in front if me in class or in the library.

Please.

Masonisms

A Masonism is basically something Mason does that is so darn cute you have to write about it. Sometimes it is just his interpretation of something. Here is an instant message conversation with my sister about one.

JoLynn says: I have a masonism for you to blog
Tracy says: ok
JoLynn says: we were at target and he was looking at computer games for his christmas list and he found a game he wanted
JoLynn says: it was one where you design houses and then you get to look at them in 3-D
Tracy says: ok
JoLynn says: do you not get it?
JoLynn says: it was software for people to design their homes - like architectural software for adults to use
JoLynn says: he thought it was a game
Tracy says: Oh, LOL ! I guess I didn't get it. Since you said it was a game, I thought it was too. LOL ! Now, we have a Tracyism.
JoLynn says: right
JoLynn says: LOL

Love that kid.

VW Beetle

For those of you that don't know me that well....I feel certain, if I can swing it, that my next car will be a VW beetle. Hopefully, I can get one before they quit making them but I don't see a new car on the horizon for me anytime soon. I've always thought that if I got one, I would get a custom paint job at some point too. I've kept these two pictures on my computer for years to give to the paint place if I ever get one.

However, today I found a new picture of a custom paint job that is making me reconsider. What do you think about this one ?? Is it me, or what ??

It's official.....

.....I'm PINK ! As I mentioned, last night I went to the No Frills Grill where I play a game they have called NTN trivia. You can become a Player's Plus [PP] member for free and when you do then you rack up points for every game you play...and more if you win the game among the others playing. So, if you are a PP member then you have a little colored plus [+] sign next to your name and the color represents how many PP points you have. So, last night, my plus sign turned pink because I passed the.......drum roll please......750,000 PP points mark. Yes, it is official, I am a dork.

"Bring two scantrons."

These are the three most dreaded words from a professor to any college student before a test because this means there will be MORE THAN 100 questions on the test. Ugh. Well, in my case, it may not matter....after another dismal showing in my most recent Biology test [sorry, Tom] - I am about 95% sure I will be dropping the class this week. The thing is, I got my associates degree with a 3.87 grade-point average and I really don't want this class to mess that up. I mean, if I have to re-take it, fine, but no sense lowering my GPA in the process. It was probably too much to take on with my other two classes. Lesson learned.

I printed out the schedules for Spring and I am in the process of trying to put together my schedule so I can get something together for a work schedule starting in January too. I had one-midterm test today in my Applied Mathematics class and I think I did good. It was a little "more" than I expected but I felt good about it. I won't know my grade on it until the end of next week because there was a take-home part too that I turn in on Monday.

Weekend plans .... well, No Frills Grill tonight. Oh, and I found a website for the them - click HERE to see my favorite place, I go to the Eastchase location. Also on the list for the weekend, buy a new printer, do a WalMart BIG run and clean the apartment. I got some new shelves for my office that I also need to put together. Big fun.

So, that's it - I'll probably blog some more this weekend. Ciao.

Heidi, my jeweler....

First, hurray, JoLynn - starting her new job today. She hasn't been working for 6 weeks and I know she is thrilled to be getting back into the swing of it. And, I can already tell she is super happy with the new experience and opportunities.

So, the holidays are fast approaching, and with a new job, I have no idea what days I am going to be off and which days I am going to work. It would be nice to have some time off from both work and school but one never knows. I'm going to send a message to my bosses today so that they can start working on my schedule. I am kinda unique because I work the weekend so we'll see what they come up with. My preference would be to work more days around Thanksgiving and less days around Christmas because my mom and dad will be here.

Of course, we all want my brother to come down too but he is holding out saying he needs to stay and work, etc. Last night I was talking to him on the phone and he wanted to know the next time I was going to go to Abilene [my sister's] - he wanted us to go to this silver store near my sister and get him some rings. He said "I'm going to have Heidi, my jeweler, measure all of my fingers so you guys can look at rings for me." His jeweler ?? I laughed my head off at that and said, "That is so going to be my blog title tomorrow." At which point he laughed. Yet, here it is. Anyway, I hear my mom in the background informing him that my sister told her the place was closed. He said "What? Well, there goes your 1% chance of getting me down there for Christmas." So, if anyone else knows a good place to buy silver by the ounce in pre-made jewelry items, please let me know. I'm hanging on to the 1%.

November Resolution

So, my parents and my brother bought me this awesome digital camera and printer for Christmas last year but it seems lately I have not been using it much. So, I am making a November resolution to include a picture in EVERY entry I post in my blog.

I think with my busy schedule and my lack of trips to Abilene the picture taking has come to standstill but that is about to change. There are still some pretty random things I see on a daily basis while going from home to school to home and back again. I'll probably start adding some pictures this month to get into the habit.....but next month, there will be one on EVERY post.

Stay tuned.

Way to go .... Morgan Le !!

So, my niece, Morgan entered a contest among 2nd graders to create a poster for National Fire Prevention Month. No one even knew she was doing it and the next thing you know she won for the whole 2nd grade at her school. Here is a picture of her with her poster and another picture of just the poster.

She went to an award ceremony last night where all of the other winning posters from other 2nd grades at other schools came together for an overall contest. She didn't finish in the top 3 but she got to ride in the basket of the firetruck - you can see her peeking out here :

She also won a bicycle and all the protective gear - and here it is in a picture with Morgan and her teacher Mrs. Phillips.

Way to go, Morgan Le !!

The Library

No, not the bar in downtown Ft. Worth....the REAL library. I need to read, read, read on my biology so I think when I get off of work tonight at 5:00p, I am going to go to the library. I could read at home but I always get distracted by something. Normally I would have biology class tonight, but we don't due to some personal thing my prof had to do tonight for his daughter. So, I think I will go read, at the library.

Nothing else going on this week......just more school and more work. If anything notable happens, I'll let ya know.

Where to begin.....

...this is what happens when I don't post regularly.

So, in school news......my trigonometry teacher has shingles, but she is managing to teach on. I had shingles many years ago, and basically I can tell you it is a re-emergence of the chicken-pox virus that manifests itself as a rash and ALOT of needle-piercing pain. Ouch.

Still dissecting the fetal pig in biology lab.....I was going to post some pictures of our pig which we have named 'Wilbur' from Charlotte's web, but I decided you guys probably wouldn't want that much information from my biology class. No tests this coming week, but probably the next week.

On Wednesday, I stopped by the new class of Cynergy Data's remote agents. Several of my friends from old jobs were in the class and I hung out with them for a couple of hours after delivering a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. After class, I took the two instructors out to Grapevine Mills Shopping Mall for some shopping.

Thursday morning I had a weird phone call with someone asking for "JoLynn" - which oddly is my sister's name. I told them that and they told me they were looking for a JoLynn Jennings which is not, nor has it ever been, my sister's name. It was very weird considering I had only had this number for a month and someone calls asking for a JoLynn, which is obviously an unusual name, and they get me, someone with a sister named JoLynn. Freaky.

Friday, class and work and trivia at No Frills Grill.

Yesterday, I had to meet up with the Cynergy Data instructors again for some training on some new stuff I am going to be doing at my job. The training was in the morning and then we had lunch. I had the rest of the day off which was nice.

Today, I am reading biology and doing some spot cleaning and organizing in between calls. I'll try to be more diligent with my postings this week.

Ciao.

Hurray !!

I made a 97 on my Trigonometry test.

School Update.....

....I've been avoiding this public update on school because I know my cousin is going to go ballistic.....but he is in Florida right now, so even if he reads this [which I am sure he will] - he won't be able to throw anything at me.

Everything at UTA is going well, my two math classes there have so far been a breeze. I've taken 2 quizzes in Trigonometry - got a 95 and a 100 on them. My other math class is mainly just in class work - our first test is October 20th but everything in there is also going well.

Now.....Biology. I'm really working hard at it and I will not give up, but, so far we have had one lecture test and one lab test.....I've made a 73 and 70 respectively. Now, that is a C average....which I am not happy with but it is not failing which for me in a science class is a good thing. The average score for all of my professor's classes on the lecture test was 64 and on the lab test was 54....so I am above average. But, I am still not happy about it. I have been spending more hours reading and studying since these tests and I am incorporating some new techniques into my studying so we will see how it goes. Yesterday in lab, we dissected a fetal pig which was pretty interesting and I felt like I understood it all. Next lecture test will probably be a week from Tuesday and I'm not sure when the next lab test is.....but I already know it will have over 150 questions. Sheesh !!

HMMMMM : Teacher Fighting For Job

FRISCO, Texas -- An award-winning teacher in Frisco is fighting for her job after an approved field trip to a Dallas museum has upset parents.

Fisher Elementary school art teacher Sydney McGee came under fire last April when she took 89 fifth graders on a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. Parents raised concerns over the field trip after their children reported seeing a nude sculpture at the art museum.
The parents had signed permission slips allowing their children to take part in the field trip.

Now, McGee, who was honored with a Star Teacher Award two years ago, is on paid administrative leave until her contact with the school district expires in March.

Other parents are worried about the future of the art program at the school, which they cite as a reason for moving into the neighborhood.

"Our main concern right now is what's going to happen to the children and what's going to happen to the art program at Fisher Elementary. It is the best art program. That's the reason we moved to this neighborhood. It's because of the teachers," said Shannon Allen, parent. "It was a principal approved trip. What's the big deal."

Officials with the Frisco school district declined to comment on the matter.

I just think this is ALL kinds of wrong. This award-winning teacher took her students on a field-trip that was approved by the school and she was granted permission from each individual student's parent. It is an art museum. There might be nude paintings, sculptures, etc. If you didn't want your kid to go or had concerns, that was your choice.....but she should not be losing her job over this when everyone approved.

Am I wrong ?

Pictures

First : HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM !!!!! LOVE YOU !!!!!!

I must start carrying my camera with me everywhere. I need to find a winter purse that has some kind of pocket for it. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have class from 8:00a - 10:00a - due to parking, I try to get to campus at 7:00a. I bring some milk and a granola bar with me for breakfast and I listen to news radio and eat breakfast until class time. Today I left my car at about 7:30a to walk into the building and as I walked thru the parking lot I must have passed at least 3 cars with people sleeping in them. And I don't mean, leaning back in the seat resting their eyes....I mean SLEEPING. One girl was in the back seat of her car with a blanket and pillow. One was in the passenger seat fully reclined back with a blanket. What does this mean ?? Do they live in their cars ?? Are they getting a good parking space for a 10:00a class or an afternoon class and they are just sleeping until then ?? Wednesday I am taking my camera and then you can be the judge.

Celebrities.....

First of all, I went Friday and got yet ANOTHER cable box and all seems to be working OK now. I am fianlly able to see the guide and record two shows at once. Hurray !

I just wanted to make this short post....I was watching Jay Leno the other night, Friday I think, and Calista Flockhart was on. You may or may not know her, she was on Ally McBeal and she is dating/married to Harrison Ford AKA Indiana Jones. Anyway......Jay was asking her what her 5-year old son Liam liked to play with, etc. He asked her if he liked Legos to which she replied "What are Legos?" - this is why no celebrity child can have a 'normal' childhood.

And the conspiracy continues......

...so, yesterday I went to the TIME-WARNER store to trade in my single-tuner DVR for a double-tuner DVR. This change is so that I can tape one show while watching another, just FYI. I come home with the new tuner and plug it all in. It plugs in a little different than the old one so I call the cable company to make sure I have it right. I do.

Now, the way it hooks up, my TV has to be on VIDEO1 in order to watch cable....which means everytime I turn the TV off and back on I have to change the TV to VIDEO1.....I don't like that.

Secondly, I turn it all on and the on-screen guide is BLANK. Everything says TO BE ANNOUNCED and the time on the screen says 12:00m. I think nothing of this and am sure that it just needs some time to update after being hooked up. I wait one hour. Same thing. I call the cable people, again, they ask me to turn it all off and they are going to send a signal, wait 15 minutes. I wait 20 minutes. Same thing. I call again, now they are sending a stronger signal, wait 30 minutes. I wait an hour. Same thing. I leave everything off and go to school. I get home, same thing. I call again. They have me do a 'cold boot up'. Same thing. They talk to a level 2 technician. He asks if it still says 12:00m. I say yes. He says, the box is defective, you'll have to get a new one.

And the conspiracy continues......

Cable conspiracy.......

.....I swear if it is not one thing it is another with this new cable company. So, for those of you that don't know.....I did not get DISH Network at my new apartment because my apartment complex charges an additional $300.00 for a deposit if you have a satellite. Which to me is just flat out wrong. First of all, they require you to have like $50,000.00 of renters insurance before you can get it. So, why a deposit ?? If anything happens, that is why I have insurance.....and you can't tell me that a couple of screw holes in the balcony railing requires a $300.00 deposit, come on. Well, I have yet to give in.....but, I am getting close.

So, I have TIME-WARNER cable....which means, I can only have cable in my living room, not my bedroom because there is no cable outlet in there. It also means I have no SoapNet which I'm not happy about. And, then there is yesterday.....yesterday at some early hour, TIME-WARNER decided to change it's cable channel line-up ... so basically what was on channel 15 is now on channel 5, etc. So, everything I had set to record yesterday, recorded something else. Not to mention, all future recordings I had set up were now all jacked-up.

Then, while looking on their website, I see that their DVRs [digital-video records] of which I have one....are supposed to be what they call dual tuners, meaning you can record one show while watching another.....or record two shows at once. Well, guess what, mine isn't !!! So, I call customer service about it and they apologize and really have no explanation as to why I got a single tuner. So, now I either have to wait for 2 weeks for them to come swap it out or I can take mine to one of their centers to swap it out.

Enough already.......feel free to mail me donations to the 'TRACY WANTS DISH NETWORK FUND' to help defray the costs of the $300.00 deposit.

I'm back.....

First of all, I must say :

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR JOEY !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!

Also,

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JOLYNN AND SAM !!!!

So, my week......busy. School and work keep me very busy every day. I am always running from here to there and back again. I manage to get in at least one trip each week to the No Frills Grill thank goodness, where would I be without my trivia. Ha ha !! I finally unpacked the last box in my apartment which seemed to take forever. You never have the same kind of place to put something that you had in your old place. The extra storage on the patio has been a blessing and I am finally organized. I'm happy because living out of boxes and having a busy schedule were tiring.

My company just hired a bunch more people to be home based employees. I am looking forward to working with some of my former co-workers from First American Payment Systems and Encore Payment Systems. After a great review last week, everything is going well on the job front which is very nice.

Lastly, just a comment.....I was walking out of a CVS pharmacy the other day and a man was walking in. He had this white t-shirt on with a BIG picture of Mickey Mouse - so you know it caught my eye - and then in the upper right corner it said "Las Vegas". Now, what on earth does Las Vegas have to do with Mickey Mouse and vice-versa !!?? Nothing. Do not put pictures of Mickey Mouse on shirts from states/cities that have nothing to do with Disney ! Please.

That is all.

I REMEMBER - RAYMOND R YORK

2996 is a coalition of bloggers brought together by D.Challener Roe to pay tribute to the lives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. You can find a list of participants and tributes here.

I am remembering forty-five year old Raymond R. York who was a 20-year veteran of the New York Fire Department. He is survived by his wife - Joan and their four children.

From the New York Times :

"He Always Was My Hero"

Raymond R. York spent nearly two decades fighting blazes and loving the New York Fire Department when a shoulder injury 18 months ago forced him into light duty. But he found a second calling, teaching children about fire safety at the Fire Zone at Rockefeller Center. There, he was "Fireman Ray" to the youngsters whom he captivated.

But on Tuesday, he learned of the World Trade Center attack from a television crew that was doing a story on the Fire Zone, jumped onto a nearby fire truck and headed downtown. After traffic held him up, he hitched a ride on an ambulance and reached the Fire Department's command post at the trade center.

"We're so proud and we just want everybody to know what a great guy Ray was," his wife, Joan, said. "Everybody's saying, 'He's a hero, he's a hero.' He always was my hero. Now the world knows he's a hero."

She described her husband as a man in love with life, a man who insisted on flying the flag. "He was a Little League coach, he was a scout leader — when it came to his kids, he was there for everything," she said. That included building an ice skating rink in the backyard of their Valley Stream, N.Y., home when his son, one of four children, wanted to learn how to skate.

---Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 17, 2001.


From the Chicago Tribune :

"Raymond R. York"

Raymond York, a 20-year veteran of the New York Fire Department, had every reason not to be in harm's way Tuesday. The 45-year-old husband and father of four had been placed on light duty with a shoulder injury and was giving a TV interview at Rockefeller Center when he saw the first airliner strike the World Trade Center on the camera crew's television. York headed for the scene, hopping on an ambulance. He had just reached the fire command post when Tower Two collapsed. York is presumed dead. "He saw that this had happened and he couldn't sit still," said York's mother-in-law, Rosemary Abruzzino.Abruzzino said her son-in-law had a passion for life, his family and his job. "I know people say only good things about people after they die, but in his case, we don't have to embellish anything," she said. "He was a great man and a tremendous father to his children." Among York's interests was kayaking, and he had planned a trip Wednesday. He had started a kayaking club for firefighters and dubbed it "Blazing Paddles."

- Liam Ford (The Chicago Tribune)

( picture courtesy of RaymondYork.i8.com)

A Fireman's Prayer

When I am called to duty, God, whenever flames may rage;
Give me strength to save some life, whatever be its age.

Help me embrace a little child before it is too late
Or save an older person from the horror of that fate.

Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout,
And quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.

I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me.
To guard my every neighbor and protect his property.

And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life;
Please bless with your protecting hand, my children and my wife.

Additional Tributes to Raymond R York

http://raymondyork.i8.com/

http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=93194
(great comments and thoughts by family and friends)