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.