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.