Birthday Weekend Update

So, it has been a few days since my birthday weekend....and wanted to give everyone an update. First of all, it was fantabulous, really, it was a blast. My friend Courtney and I have birthdays one day apart....so we made it a joint birthday weekend since we share a lot of friends.

Friday [May 16th] - No Frills Grill - of course, where else ! We were joined by several friends including for Courtney; work friends, Tim, Tea (I know I spelled that wrong), Letty and girlfriend Dina. For me, Charles, my cousin Tom and boyfriend, Kurt. We played trivia and had a blast. Of course, the highlight for me was having my cousin there who has been out of pocket for awhile, it was great seeing him and it made the day for me.

Saturday [May 17th] - Joe's Crab Shack - My sister, niece and nephew came in this day in the early afternoon and we spent the afternoon running errands. For my birthday they took me to lunch and then gave me a card with $20 in iTunes gift cards....and a framed pic of my favorite piece of artwork from Mason. They bought me some hanging plants for my balcony which are a very pretty addition to my patio. We went to dinner that night at Joe's Crab Shack, where we also met some friends of Courtney's for her 30th birthday dinner. We had a great time.

Sunday [May 18th] - Putt-Putt - I bought breakfast for JoLynn, the kids and I....Burger King, woo hoo ! They had a good playground. We were going to go to the zoo on Sunday, but with all the running around we did on Saturday and the heat - we decided to go play putt-putt and video games instead (I'm 40+2 now so I can't do it all anymore) It was me, Courtney, JoLynn, Mason and Morgan and we had lots of fun. With my birthday luck, I managed to beat them, but it was pretty close all around.

As you can tell, the weekend was full of fun , family and friends, just the way I like it !! No movie last Sunday night, but there will be a MIDNIGHT movie tonight with details tomorrow.

Sunday Movie Night : Made of Honor

So, a little late in getting this posted but Sunday before last was our 2nd Sunday night movie night. I went with Courtney and Mandy....to see :

Made of Honor

Starring : Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd,

Synopsis : Made of Honor revolves around Tom (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her "maid" of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.

My Review : I liked it, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. There were a lot of funny parts in it and it kept me entertained for the entire time. I did think there were some predictable parts, but aren't there always in romantic comedies ? One thing that was oddly impressive was at the beginning in the scenes of Patrick Dempsey when his character was in college, they made him look soooo young, I mean it really was amazing.

Midnight Movie review this week - check back on Thursday.

VOTE for me !!!

There is a website that sells a different t-shirt every day, called Woot Shirt....each week they have a "derby" with a theme where people can submit entries.....members vote and the top three designs get sold on the site over Friday thru Sunday.

I have submitted my first design ever to the this weeks contest. In order to vote, all you have to do it register for a free account and say, I'd want one ! - this does not obligate you to buy one in any way and these guys do not send out spam mail.

If you are so inclined, please click the link below to view my design, register for a free account and vote for it, so I can have a chance to win this week's derby !!

http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=16162

Thank you in advance.

EDITED TO ADD : Apparently, you can't VOTE unless you have bought something on WOOT before, so if you have, please vote, if not, thank you for looking anyway !!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME !!

School's Out ... and some other news !

::wipes brow::

Another semester behind me, yay. I'm really fine with the slowly but surely approach to my educational goals; so, each semester is an accomplishment. Looking back, I think this one will conclude with two B's which is just fine by me. Now, moving forward, hmmmm......a year off I think, more on that news to come. Ah, the suspense.

So, my niece and nephew get out of school on May 30th and I know they are looking forward to summer. My niece will be going into the 4th grade next year, I can't believe she will be 10 in the fall, they grow up so fast. My nephew will be starting middle school. He has been in the gifted and talented program in elementary school since the 3rd grade and just found out for middle school that he will be in AP Math, AP Science and AP English - the AP stands for Advanced Placement. I am very proud of him and he is very excited.

Last bit of news, I am super excited that my brother is making the trip to Texas and will arrive here on May 30th...he is mainly coming to see my niece's dance recital but will of course be staying with me a couple days and in Abilene a couple of days. He hasn't been here in awhile so we are all looking forward to having him to ourselves for a few days.

I did have a Sunday Movie night this past weekend and will give you the scoop on that tomorrow. Until then, later.

Sunday Movie Night : Iron Man

So, awhile back I said I was going to start this new tradition of going to the movies on Saturday mornings, it got me up and moving and it was never really crowded. Well, I did that for awhile and then things kept getting in the way; school, trips to Abilene, work, sleep, etc. So, now I have a new plan, Sunday Movie Night.....this is better because I work on Sundays so I am always here and can easily head out to a movie after work.

Last night, was the first newly agreed upon movie night. So, I went with Courtney, Mandy, Brian, Zachary, and Mandy's parents....to see :

Iron Man

Starring : Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges

Synopsis : Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the CEO of Stark Industries which produces advance weapon systems for the U.S. military. Tony's father started the company after WWII, and after his death Tony inherited the company, worth billions. Tony lives the life as a hard drinking, rich playboy ladies man, but he is also a genius who has invented many high-tech items for the company. Tony flies to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapons test to the United States Air Force. On his way back to his plane, his convoy is attacked by terrorists, and Tony is wounded by a Stark Industries missile. Tony is captured and held hostage in a cave with Yinsen, a doctor who saves his life.

Needless to say, he is not impressed with how his weapons are being used and the story continues, don't want to give any more away.

My Review : I thought it was awesome, definitely, 5 out of 5 stars. Robert Downey Jr. did a fantastic job and the special effects were drool-worthy. If you are into live action comic book hero transformation, go see it....maybe twice. And, a small tip, stay all the way to the very end of the credits and you will get a little bonus scene, definitely worth the wait.

Another Sunday Night Movie review next week.

Tag !

I was talking to my friend, Charles, on the phone last night and we were discussing upcoming movies for the rest of the summer. I was looking up release dates on imdb for Dark Knight, which is the new Batman movie coming out in July, when I saw something funny.

On the page it gives all kinds of info on the movie, release date, director, writers, etc. It also lists "tags" for the movie, which basically are keywords that categorize the movie. So, for the new we have LOTS of tags but these are the first 5 that show on the main page :

Violence - Heavy Rubber - Gangster - Gadget Car - Gangster Boss

Then I went to the last movie, Batman Begins, because we were comparing actors/characters from both movies and I noticed the first 5 tags for it :

Haunted By Past - Monorail - Cave - Nipples Visible Through Clothing - Taser

How hilarious is that ? You should check out some of your favorite movies, some of the tags are hilarious.

Do you Woot ?

So, several months ago my brother introduced me to this website called Woot....basically, they sell something new on the site everyday. The item is posted at midnight, and they sell it until they run out. Some things are really good awesome deals, some things are OK and some are just things you probably wouldn't buy on-line.

In addition, they have something called the shirt woot....basically this is a daily t-shirt design. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the shirts are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, from a themed contest they ran the previous week. The shirts are also sold until they run out, I think they do 1000 a day. They are $10 with free standard shipping + tax. I started ordering shirts for my nephew once I determined he can wear a men's small. I'm going to try one for my niece in the smallest women's size once I see a good design for her.

Anyway, both sites are really kinda neat, you should check them out. Now that I've explained it on my blog, you'll probably see me blog when I buy something.

Here are the links :

http://www.woot.com/

http://shirt.woot.com/

Oh, and I bought today's woot, a DVD recorder for only $59.99 - great deal.

By the way.....

.....in regards to the cat. I know my birthday is coming up and everything, but please, no one get me a cat as a present. If I decide to get one, I have to be ready, pet deposits, etc. and I also think pets are kinda personal and you have to pick one out yourself, not get one as a gift. So, please no LIVE presents for my birthday.

Should I get a cat ?

I go back and forth. I am not going to get a dog because personally I don't think it is fair to have a dog in an apartment and I think it would be too noisy with me working at home.

But, a cat, is fairly low maintenance.

Give me some pros and cons. Here are mine :

Tracy, You are not ______. I love you !

Why does that make me feel all warm and fuzzy when I answer the phone and one of the sales reps immediately says that to me ?? I don't know. It just does.

Sorry, ______.

OK - this was fun

There is this website that basically is a slogan generator. You can put in your name or maybe you have a catch word or nickname you use. Here are a few of the slogans it generated for me that I loved :

• Because Tracy is Complicated Enough.
• All Tracy, All The Time.
• Got Tracy?
• I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Tracy.
• When You've Got Tracy, Flaunt It.
• All You Need is a Tracy and a Dream.
• Got a Tracy? You're in Luck.
• Tracy: The Other White Meat. [lol]
• I'm Cuckoo For Tracy.

and the best one....

Lipsmackin' Thirstquenchin' Acetastin' Motivatin' Goodbuzzin' Cooltalkin' Highwalkin' Fastlivin' Evergivin' Coolfizzin' Tracy.

Go generate your own slogans......[warning some may be a little R-rated with your name in them]

The Advertising Slogan Generator

Have fun !

Quit your bitching and moaning......

...it's a credit card machine.

"Can you make the font bigger?"

"Can you put another space between the state and zipcode?"

"Can you stretch the letters out so they are easier to read?"

"Can you make the tip line longer?"

"Can you add our webpage address?"

"Can you make the total bigger and add more space for the signature?"

Just run the DAMN credit card, get an approval, have the customer sign it and wait for your money - it doesn't have to look beautiful. You and the customer are going to look at it for a lump total of about 60 seconds.....sheesh.

Have a nice day.

Headline of the Day and more

No, this is not going to become a daily feature of my blog. Sometimes when I am working there is a lull between calls so I check on the internet for today's happenings. I saw this headline today on Yahoo! News and just had to post it.

Research: Vitamins may increase risk of death

I don't know why, it just made me laugh. Do a search in your favorite news engine and check out the articles on this new research.

So, last night was a new episode of my show Criminal Minds....love that show. It was awesome. I'm not going to do a recap here this week but I can't say it enough. If you have never seen this show - go rent Seasons 1 and 2 this summer and 3 when it comes out and start watching it next year. It is a great show.

Every week, after the show, there is an amazing fansite that does an on-line chat. They arrange to have the WRITER for that night's episode in the chat and we can ask them questions, it is really fun and interesting. Well, last night, we got a surprise....there were TWO writer's in the chat and TWO of the MAIN cast members. The chat was joined by Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Dr. Spencer Reid and also Kirsten Vangsness who plays Penelope Garcia. It was a wonderful added extra and they actually were filming and took a break to talk to us. Very nice.

No real details to give you on what was said, but they answered lots of questions and MGG stayed with us for a little over an hour before he got called back to the set. Oh. I will say this, the funniest thing MGG said when asked about future projects was that he was working on a sequel that sounds like [and I am doing this from memory] - Palvin Pand Pa Phimpmunks - hee hee.

Sometimes I feel like a big dork for spending time in TV show fandoms....and sometimes I feel really lucky. Smile.

Love you ! [Gotcha Dad !]

So, I realized yesterday that I haven't really posted much this semester about school. I don't know why really. I guess I don't have any dynamic teachers this semester that are interesting enough to talk about and God knows pre-calculus doesn't lend itself to much interesting conversation. Classes are going well, I am expecting 2 As this semester - woo hoo ! I plan to take the summer off, as I usually do, because it is just too hard to take classes in the summer because they are EVERY day. It's just too much.

I'm going to Abilene this weekend to see my sister and family. The kids have all kinds of things going on so I will take all of that in..I am going to do everything in my power to remember to take some pics while I am there because this blog is long overdue for pics.

Other than that, nothing going on .... I need to get over my writer's block, that's for sure. More on that some other time. Later.

Birthdays and 2 litre bottles....

So, Monday was my nephew's birthday, he is now ELEVEN - I cannot even believe it. I remember feeding him his bottle when he was just a baby, when he used to sing/hum himself to sleep. I think his best gift was a book my sister bought him that had 1500, yes 1500, FLOOR PLANS in it. He is a budding architect I am sure and he LOVES to draw floor plans. My sister even gave him some house plan software for his computer a couple of months ago and he calls it his house "game". I love that kid. I told her a few weeks ago, not that I needed to, to never hold him back, never keep him from doing something, because I think someday he is going to do something extraordinary and I can't wait.

OK - who buys 2 litre bottles of soda ? I mean, for home. I used to buy them when we had an office party and I flaked out and signed up for drinks, but do people really buy them for every day use ?

Going to the No Frills Grill of course on Friday and then to the horse races Saturday at Lone Star Park...should be a fun filled weekend. Maybe I will take my camera to the races.

Oh, and I saw this on someones blog today and thought it was freaking hilarious :

Anatidaephobia - the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

Later.

Vacation

So, a recap of the vacation. I had a fantastic time. How could I not, the whole family was there with the exception of my brother-in-law, who was missed. I think the best part of the family vacation beyond just being together, is the calmness of it. I mean, we really didn't DO anything.

Each day was waking up and sitting around the campsite just visiting. The kids went swimming most days. We went to the beach a couple of times. We ate out a couple of times and did some shopping but it was mainly, do what you want.

Amazingly we didn't play any cards. Some highlights :

• Visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola - been many times but every time is awesome.
• Morgan ate a raw oyster - for $30
• Took the Gap picture at the beach for Joey
• Shrimp Boil - awesomely yummy
• Played ladders
• Spent one night doing 8 loads of laundry together
• Only opened the laptop a few times
• Mason says I don't snore

Can't wait for the next get together.

My shows are back and I wanna have a party......

YEP - the writer's strike is over. I am so glad that my shows are back and my NUMBER 2 show was back tonight. CRIMINAL MINDS. I don't blog much anymore 'cause I don't think there is any exciting stuff going on in my life.....so I decided maybe I just need to blog about the things that are important to me, even if they don't really matter to everyone that reads this. So, I am starting with that theory now. So, whether you watch CM or not, here is my review of the new episode that aired last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Ed Bernero and team.....definitely one of my top 5 episodes ever.

I have wanted to see Hotch take more of a guardian/mentor role with Reid and I loved their scenes together in this episode. Hotch is definitely at his melting point with all he keeps bottled up inside and behind that 'in-control' exterior.

I think he would have prevailed in a throw down with the serial killer guy but I was more than glad when Reid jumped in - in his moment of terror - to diffuse the situation. I love it when he spews facts like he did and love it even more when in the end he admits that it was probably half made up.

While I think Hotch still has a lot to deal with, I was also glad to see him open up a little with Reid in the car and tell him about the divorce papers. They have a good dynamic and I think Reid was pleased with the interaction too.

I felt bad for Hotch at the end, but I am not a fan of Haley.

I felt the Rossi part of the story was good, it allowed us to see a conclusion to the baggage he brought with him while at the same time served as a lesson to him about being a part of a team.

Best lines

Rossi : Why do you care ?
Prentiss : Because you do.

Welcome to the team, Rossi.

I actually thought the ending of that storyline was a little anti-climactic but in this case I don't think the story was as much about the crime or solving it as it was about the team. So I am OK with it but as someone else said I prefer the episodes to have some level of urgency to them and hope future episodes get back to that.

Overall....fantastic episode. I'm so glad the show is back.

P.S. Joe Mantegna doing the opening quote....not so much.

Do you watch ?

Ready.

I am ready for vacation - past ready. I need to shut my brain down for 7 days. So, only 4 more days of work counting today and then I am off for a week. I cannot wait.

This may be evident in the fact that I was an HOUR late for work yesterday. I know, me, the person who is never late, never calls in sick, etc. I forgot to set my clock forward Saturday night and I was an hour late to work yesterday. I felt like a complete idiot.

So, mentally, I am ready for this break. However, this week there are still lots of tasks to complete in order to be ready to leave on vacation - so that is what I have on the agenda. Laundry, packing, a little cleaning and then I'm out.

Here's where I'll be : Navarre Beach Campground

Maybe one more blog before I leave.

Amended profile

I amended my profile yesterday to add a third favorite TV show to my list : Torchwood

It is a British SciFi show....airs on Saturday nights on the BBC - America channel on cable.

Love it.

Sleepy, but for good reasons

Not much happening on the Tracy front these days....I am soooo sleepy today. Did too much this weekend, or maybe need to do more things every day.

I drove to Abilene Friday, had to be there by 3:00p to pick up the kids from school and pulled into the parking lot at 2:55p - cutting it kinda close but made it. Enjoyed babysitting them for 24 hours....we didn't do much, except stay at the house and play on the computers and watch a little TV, but it is always fun to hang out with them. Somehow, I managed to stay up Friday night until 4:00a though and was feeling it when the kids got me up at 7:30a the next morning.

Got home Saturday night around 7p - tired....managed to make myself go to bed at midnight. Worked yesterday for 8 hours, and was tired.

Last night, I met my aunt and uncle, Jim and Joan for dinner - we ate at The Cheesecake Factory, it was yummy and I now have 4 TO GO containers in my fridge with dinner leftovers and 3 kinds of cheesecake....yum. We went back to their hotel and chatted until about 11:00p and I was tired. Came home and manged to stay up until 2:30a - for some unknown reason and then tossed and turned.

So, needless to say, today I am exhausted.....luckily, so far we have been moderately quiet at work and I have no plans tonight, so I am going to MAKE MYSELF go to bed early.

Ha. We'll see.

My last $20.....

....so, there is this website I go to sometimes and they have this feature called 'Writer's Block' - basically it gives you a question or topic you can write about in your blog when you can't come up with anything. So, here is today's question/topic :

List three things you'd buy with your last $20. One practical, one frivolous and one of your choosing.

OK, I guess I have to make some assumptions here in order to answer this....so I guess I am going to say, this is my last $20 and I homeless, in other words, I don't have all my other stuff.

Hmmm, one practical, probably some kind of container, something I can eat out of, maybe drink out of and carry stuff in. Frivolous, hair clips or rubber bands, I guess...and my choosing, a deck of cards.

What would you buy, assuming the same thing....you are homeless and this is your last $20.

Chinese food, good.

Didn't go to eat Chinese the other night because my friend Charles had to work late. So we went last night, it was yummy. I don't go eat Chinese that often and it is kind of mine and Charles's one thing we still do together I guess. I forgot to bring my fortune home but it was something about working as a team this week.

I started thinking today about what clothes I am going to bring for vacation. I checked the weather.com website for average temp in Navarre, FL for that time of year, and it looks like it could get cool in the evenings. Here are the averages for the timeframe we are there [graphic didn't turn out very good - sorry] :

So this looks perfect to me as long as it is sunny. I think capris and shorts are definitely the casual wear required and possibly a couple pair of pants. Crocs, flip flops and one pair of tennis shoes and I am golden. More planning to come.

Contracts

OK people....I wasn't going to have a topic to blog about today but my customers have given me one, well, one customer in particular.

When you sign a contract with someone, READ IT.

Now, I am not necessarily saying read EVERY word, not many of us do...thus the jokes about the fine print but for goodness sake, read SOME OF IT, like the part that says TERM and the part that says FEES and the part about CANCELLING/RENEWING.

I had a customer call today saying her bank account was overdrawn by $800. Why? Well, I am looking at two contracts she signed with us. One for a retail store and one is for her internet business. Each of them are 3 years contracts, with a monthly minimum fee of $25 and a statement fee of $7. So even if they do not have a single sale, they are billed at least $32 a month. They've been open since 10/2007.

She says she has called in before and cannot understand this and that when she signed the contracts she wasn't really opening her business yet, just getting things in order and never put ANY money in her business bank accounts. So we have been billing her $32 for each location each month for 4 months - we charge non-sufficient funds fees every month, her bank charges non-sufficient funds fees every month and now she is $800 overdrawn from all the fees and she hasn't sold a thing at her business yet.

People, read contracts. Once you sign one, make sure you have money in the bank in case there are fees, which you should know if you read the contract. And, lastly, don't wait 4 months to call and figure it out.

That is all.

About me

I decided it was time to do an update on the "about me" section at the top right of my blog so I revamped it a bit yesterday. I updated the number of years my parents have been married and added a little more about me and what I enjoy and do in my offtime. Any questions ? Ask them here and I will blog you an answer.

Had a fun night at No Frills Grill last night, when Barry [Corbin] got there for dinner there were no booths available [which he prefers] so I waved him over to sit with us until there was one. He did and sat with us for about 30 minutes. He was super nice and chatted with us quite a bit.

It's a rainy cold mess here today - no big plans all day except to hang out inside and then I am meeting Charles later for dinner - Chinese ! - Yum !

Cactus Farmer

So, I am trying to grow cactuses [I guess that is the plural of cactus] - anyway, I bought this little cactus greenhouse. You've seen 'em at WalMart or around. It is like this little plastic container and it has 6 little pots, 6 little soil pellets and seeds. I planted them like 2 weeks ago and so far nothing, not one little bit of life poking through yet and I thought I would see something by now.

My grandfather used to have cactuses in his office, so I thought I would continue the tradition in my home office but perhaps I do not have the cactus green thumb .... we'll see. More cactus updates to come.

Yay, Ouch and Ugh

Yay ! - the writer's strike is over. I'm sure the deal isn't EXACTLY what they wanted but I am proud of them for holding out for something they can live with as fair. PLUS I will now get a few new episodes of my favorite shows before summer.

Ouch ! - somehow, and I have no idea how, I pulled a muscle in my side while I was in the shower Sunday, and now it is like a charlie horse. You know, the pain is gone 90% of the time, but if I move just so, it wants to hurt again. I think I need to start taking a multi-vitamin.

Ugh ! - it's official, I am old. Yesterday, Sony BMG and Michael Jackson released a new album THRILLER 25 which is a special 25 year anniversary edition of the original album which I feel certain was just released a couple of years ago......apparently not.

Here I am....

.....so here I am. Alive and well. Apparently, I have been so busy doing nothing it has kept me away from the blog. So, I am going to school and working.

Recent news :

I'm getting excited about vacation - one week in sunny Florida in March with the whole family [sans brother-in-law] at a campground with mom and dad's trailer and a cabin. Can't wait for a week of rest and relaxation. I plan to visit, play games, hang out, write and generally chillax. I need to add a countdown clock to the blog.

Part one of job changes, I am getting a new schedule effective IMMEDIATELY - I am now working 8a - 5p CST Sunday thru Thursday [off Friday/Saturday] - this still fits with my school schedule and puts me back on days, which I am actually happy about....other than I have to adjust my sleeping and quit staying up until 2am....more on this later.

There was a coupon in the paper this weekend for M & Ms, for Valentine's Day, they are selling bags of ALL GREEN M & Ms....ha ha !

That's all I got right now.

I love THE DAVE

What is THE DAVE you may be asking. Here it is :

There is this store called IKEA which is a home furnishings store - kinda, I don't know, Swedish style I guess, they name stuff weird names and this is my new laptop desk - called THE DAVE. I bought it yesterday and I may never leave my apartment again. I love it.

OK - so, what else. Last week I spent getting my major switched over to Math and now I am registered for Spanish I and Pre-Calculus for this semester. Once I get thru pre-calc, I can sign up for all kinds of math classes to get the show on the road.

I'm trying to figure out a unique and creative way to get in on the textbook buying selling thing, because surely when you sell me a book for $108.00 and then you buy it back for $18.00 there is money to be made, right ? UGH.

Classes start this week - I'll post a schedule some time this week. All of my favorite shows are winding down on new episodes, only one or two weeks to go - very depressing. I hope the writer's strike is resolved soon.

Check ya later, calculators.

If they are singing, it is not scary.......

Okay, so a few days off from blogging and I am back again, you haven't lost me yet.

First off, I'd like to send a shout out to my friend Jeffrey, who after reading the tragic news that I was out of candles at home, quickly lit two in his to put me at ease. Thank you, Jeffrey.

So I worked New Year's Day - BY MYSELF - and it was supposed to be a SLOW day since last year we only had 6-8 calls. Well, guess what, I had over 25 and I am sure some dropped, it was crazy. No more working by myself.

So, now my friend Mandy [Hi Mandy!] gets to be on my blog.....a few weeks ago, we talked her into going to see 'I am Legend' with her husband...she was worried it was going to be scary and we told her it really was not scary.....a few things jump out but it is predictable, so not scary. Well, it "scared the crap out of" her - her words. Whatever.

Last night, at No Frills we were all talking about movies that are out that we want to see and she wants to see Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp.....and I am like I am Legend scared you and you want to go see a movie about grisly revenge by Benjamin Barker, a man unjustly imprisoned by a lecherous judge. It's subtitle is The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and it's rating - R for graphic bloody violence.

But, apparently, it is a musical.....so I guess if they are singing, it is not scary. Who knew ?

I hope you are sitting.....

..because not only have I blogged three entries in a row in less than five days....but also,

I am candleless.

I know.

I have no candles in my apartment. So, number one on my list of things to do when I am off on Friday, is to go to Garden Ridge, IKEA, Target, Pier 1, somewhere and get candles.

A moment of silence, please.

New Year's Resolutions

What is the end of a year without New Year's resolutions ?

So, I looked back to see if I blogged any last year and I did not. Here are mine for 2008 [in no particular order] :

1. Eat healthier
2. Increase movement [nice way of saying exercise]
3. Get a clear focus on school goals and timeframes
4. Spend more time with friends and family
5. Be a better blogger
6. Keep writing [semi-secret guilty pleasure]

I have two weeks of vacation this year and I am already in the planning stages on using it for number 4 on the list.

Let's see....this week. I am working a short shift on Monday, New Year's Eve. No plans for the evening. Working New Year's Day.....by myself. Supposedly this is a slow day and I will be able to get stuff done around the apartment. Yay !

I know this blog entry is lame, but I am trying to get back in the habit. Stay tuned in.

P.S. You may have noticed I also added a new banner header to the top of the page, I really like black and white nature pics.....hope you like it.

I think I will blog......

So, before the inevitable New Year's resolution to blog more, I will post one more 2007 blog entry.

Of note :

• Thanksgiving was at my sister's with mom and dad there
• Mini-Christmas with mom and dad at Thanksgiving
• School is done for the semester.
• I am changing my major, yet again - to Math
• Christmas Party at Jeffrey's
• Came in 2nd on the Fantasy Football League
• Real Christmas spent in Abilene - not the same without mom and dad
• Morgan and Mason are now addicted to Guitar Hero - lol
• I am still addicted to Ugly Betty and Criminal Minds
• No Frills Grill is still a Friday night ritual

Most recently, had a great time spending Christmas in Abilene. Although it wasn't the same without mom and dad there, it was still fun to be with family. I got great presents, including a beautiful new quilt for my bed made by JoLynn's mother-in-law. I think everyone was pleased with their gifts.

Joey, Dina and I got Morgan and Mason, Guitar Hero III for their new Playstation 2, this is the game of the stars, as I read everywhere that celebrities play this game all the time. Here are some pics of Mason and Morgan rocking out :




And, if you thought I was kidding about this being a celebrity thing, here is a pic of Matthew Gray Gubler [Dr. Spencer Reid] from Criminal Minds rocking Guitar Hero, also.

So, another year about to be behind us. I will post once more before year end with some New Year's resolutions and we'll see how the year goes.

Happy Holidays !

Writer's Strike

So, today began the first strike by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years and it will disrupt everything from late-night talk shows to soap operas. The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.

So, for now, most, if not all of the late night talk shows and daytime talk shows will go into reruns. And the next fall, will probably be soap operas and then depending on how long the strike goes [ the last one was 22 weeks ] - prime time will run out of scripts also and we will be left with reality TV. YUK !!!

I don't really know the specifics of what everyone wants and what the stumbling blocks are to get there, but it seems the writer's are trying to get more of a share of profits from the alternate forms of media distribution, like DVDs, internet, etc. and that doesn't sound entirely unreasonable to me as long as what they are asking for seems reasonable. Whatever happens, the results will likely be used as a guide for talks with actors and directors, whose contracts expire next June.

So good luck to both sides in coming up with a solution that makes them happy and I hope it won't take long.

Uh, did I say November 1st ?

Okay, so I am off by a few days. Sorry.

I am also sorry about my non-blogging, an apology many of you regular readers, the two of you there are, have heard me say before. I don't know, sometimes I feel my life grows so routine and mundane that there just isn't anything I have to say. Nobody wants to read about my obsession with the TV show Ugly Betty, nobody wants to read every week about my trip to the No Frills Grill, nobody wants to read about school when all there is to say is that I went.

Well, now the holidays are approaching so perhaps there is some more to be said. First of all, let me give you an update on the last several weeks. I have started a new ritual of going to the movies on Saturday mornings. I just wasn't seeing the things I wanted to see in the theatre and I decided to change that.....I've seen Sydney White, Hairspray, The Kingdom, Dan in Real Life and American Gangster....with this new little venture, so I feel it has been a success.

I went to the state fair with my friend Jeff....it was fun. I like walking around and seeing everything and watching people. He tried the new fried item of the year, fried guacamole, while we were there, I have some pics, I will try to post tomorrow of that. We also had free tickets, free parking, free skybox tokens, etc. so overall it was quite a low-cost adventure.

I think I've been to Abilene at least once since my last blog.....had lunch with the kids at school, took them to see a movie [The Game Plan] and spent Saturday with them while their mom was off scrapbooking.

So, coming up....JoLynn and Morgan are coming over this Thursday night, hopefully at a time that does not interrupt Ugly Betty.....lol. And then we are having lunch at the American Girl Bistro at the Galleria on Friday and then going to Country Peddler on Saturday. The following week, my parents are flying in on Friday for Thanksgiving.....so lots of stuff coming up.

Hopefully, this rush of activity will help me keep my blogging on track - and as always, please comment so I know you are reading.

Until next time.

Hiatus

For those of you that have been bugging me for an update on the blog, I am kind of on a blog hiatus for the month of October. Blogs will resume November 1st, and I will give an October update summary at that time.

Stay tuned.

Paul Potts

I just saw somethng about this guy a couple of days ago.....I have never been to an Opera in my life but I love listening to Josh Groban, and others sing it. It brings me to tears most of the time.

Anyway, below is a link to the AUDITION of the guy that won Britain's Got Talent reality TV show. Like I said, he ended up winning the entire competition but this audition video brings me to tears every time I watch it - you'll notice it has been viewed OVER 12 million times :

I'm crying just posting it.

I'm back......

So, school has been going on now for about a month and all is well....the classes I am taking are pretty low-maintenance so that is good. I am excited because the new fall schedule for TV is starting next week. I already saw the new KELSEY GRAMMAR show this week and I think it is going to be good.

Not much has been happening lately. We went to the No Frills Grill last night and of course you never know what you are going to see....last night it was two women arm-wrestling...alrighty. This picture was taken with my camera phone so not too great but I think you can see them.

Working today and then off tomorrow....looking forward to resting and doing a little fall cleaning/reorganizing.

Later.

I REMEMBER RAYMOND YORK

Last year, a coalition of bloggers came together to remember those we lost on September 11, 2001 and I was fortunate enough at that time to be given forty-five year old Raymond R. York who was a 20-year veteran of the New York Fire Department as my tributee.

Although, the coalition does not have as organized an effort this year, I have still been thinking about Ray as the date approached and I wanted to remember him again this year. Periodically, I check his Legacy Guest Book when I am notified that new entries have been made by those that also remember him throughout the year.

So - this entry is for Ray and all of the others that lost their lives that day. My blog will again be silent for one week in honor of his memory.

(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)

Ugly Betty, Criminal Minds, CSI : Miami.......

.....and more. I am ready for my shows to come back on. My two favorite shows are Ugly Betty and Criminal Minds....one premieres on September 26th and the other on the 27th. I can't wait, let the countdown begin. I don't really consider myself someone that watches a lot of TV, I think I have mentioned that before....but I do have favorite shows I watch pretty much weekly. They don't tether me to my apartment or anything, I tape them if there are more entertaining things to be done.

Returning shows I am planning to watch/tape in the Fall :

Ugly Betty
Criminal Minds
Law and Order : SVU
CSI : Miami
Boston Legal
Grey's Anatomy
Men In Trees
Numbers
Desperate Housewives
24

I don't do reality TV - I might flip over to Dancing with the Stars just to see one person dance or if my normal show is on a re-run but I don't usually stay on there for more that 5 minutes. I used to watch CSI and Heroes but I got behind on them and they kinda fell off my radar.

For the first time in a long time there are several new shows that look interesting. Here are some new shows I am going to try out this year :

Carpoolers - love Jerry O'Connell
Pushing Daisies - just looks interesting
Private Practice
Big Shots - love Michael Vaughn
Women's Murder Club - I've read the books

So we'll see if these survive the cut and stay programmed on my DVR as the season progresses. What are you looking forward to returning ? and new ?

P.S. The ONE show I am boycotting - Cavemen - oh, hell no.

The Greensheet.....brings you buyers

So, Friday night was the usual outing to the No Frills Grill.....it was Courtney, her mom and I when we first got there. Irritatingly, there was no booth available in our favorite waitresses section so we sat at a table to wait. Once we did get a booth, we moved over and settled in for the night. The previous residents of the booth left the 'Greensheets' behind. This is basically an independent classified ads paper. I decided to flip through and glance at the ads and lucky for me, there were a few worth blogging about....

100 8-TRACK TAPES, music from 1960-70s, $50 all.

2 SMALL STANDARD JENNY DONKEYS. 1 broken to ride.

COWBOYS 1994 SUPERBOWL. 17 Millers, 13 Cokes, $25. Unopen.

LARGE/EXTRA large adult diapers: Trade for vacuum cleaner.

This may become a regular feature of the blog, maybe once a month. Enjoy.

P.S. If you are interested in any of these items, click the link above for the Greensheet and search by one of the key words in the ad to get the phone number.

School Update

So, school started on the 27th.....I decided to "cowboy up" and take three classes this semester. It's funny how people always remind you that you "aren't 25 any more" when they think you should do MORE and also when they think you should SLOW DOWN.

The classes I am taking are as follows [and they sound much more daunting than they are] :

ENGL 2350 : INTRODUCTION TO TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
MATH 1332 : FUNCTIONS, DATA, AND APPLICATIONS
GEOL 1426 : EARTH HISTORY

I have class and/or work Monday through Thursday from 8a - 830p and class on Friday from 8a - 12n. It's busy but even though I am not 25 anymore, I can still handle it and it is good exercise....plus, I am not 25 anymore, so I need to get on with it.

Oh, yes......folder colors :

ENGL 2350
MATH 1332
GEOL 1426

More later.

Vacation Update

So, I got back from vacation on the 19th and have been going non-stop since then. I had every intention of updating my blog while I was gone....but, amazingly, other than using my computer to help with the crossword puzzle every night, I didn't get on-line much at all.

The time was mainly spent at my parents house....doing nothing. Mom, Joey and I ran around a few days and had lunch out several times but mainly we just hung out together at home. No theatre movies, no card playing, no bingo.....just visiting and relaxing. We did watch a couple of DVDs while I was there; The DiVinci Code which mom and dad had not seen yet and Firehouse Dog which was cute.

Also, we did take a trip over to Disney World for 3 days to camp. I always enjoy going out in the trailer for a camping trip and Disney is certainly a fun place to do that. It was VERY HOT and humid and I am not in good shape for all day walking but it was great exercise and I loved every minute of it. As long as I stayed hydrated, I was fine. The trailer was very cool in the evenings and I slept good. Joey and Dina came along on the trip as well and it was fun having time to spend with them. Next time I will go in cooler weather and I'll work in being in better shape for walking.

I did take a few pictures at Disney :

[Dad, me, Joey and Mom]

[the above two pictures are the Jack Sparrow
additions to The Pirates of the Caribbean ride.]

[The hula girls on It's A Small World....
these were my Granddaddy's favorite.]

[Living with the land at Epcot - I love it.]

So, that's it for the vacation update. More later this week about school, etc.

Ciao.

Why ?

Why do people clap at the end of a movie ? Who are you clapping for ? The only people that can hear you are the people in the theatre that are trying to have a conversation with their friends about the movie but can't hear anything over your clapping. Stop clapping.

Sisters Weekend

So, my sister needed a vacation from her vacation....she came over last Thursday night and we had a sisters only weekend...no kids or anything. We met at one of her favorite places, Mama's Pizza for dinner Thursday night when she got here. It was yummy and we chatted about what to do the next two days.

Friday, we got up and went to Frisco, Texas where we shopped at Sam Moon and IKEA - it was a lot of fun and nice to get out and really do some walking - I was hot, tired and my back was a little achy but I sooo needed it so it was nice. We came back to Arlington in the afternoon and shopped a little more, even without the kids, we found ourselves at Toy R Us at one point. A quick stop at the scrapbooking store to sign up for the midnight crop Saturday night and then off the to the No Frills Grill for the usual Friday night hang out......I ended up winning the big trivia game that night but only because JoLynn's box FADED on the last question and she couldn't answer.

Saturday started out perfect....we were going to meet Charles for breakfast and I managed to leave my cell phone at home. The place we were going was a little more off the beaten path that we expected and while JoLynn and I made it there - Charles never did and I had no way to call him with no cell phone and I didn't have his cell number memorized - I do now. We headed back home disappointed an hour later. We went home and sorted family pictures for our big scrappbooking night.....it was ALL JOEY !! Germantown, Tennessee, 1979-1983...ugh !! Lot's off good bribery pics though.....let's just say....spiderman underoos and a corncob pipe and leave it at that. We ate a nice lunch at Pappadeaux's and then came home to finish the pictures. We shopped a little more and then went to the crop - it was very productive as usual - I think JoLynn said we got 28 pages done.....the two ladies sitting across from us got 4 pages done each .... in SIX hours ... pathetic.

Anyway, JoLynn wore me out and spoiled me all weekend and she got her vacation from vacation so it was all good. I am leaving for vacation tomorrow and I will try to post one more time tomorrow before then. Until then....ciao !

P.S. This time tomorrow, I will be on a plane.

My brother - the M & M

Nothing going on......

.....sorry, no blog this week so far. There really hasn't been anything going on. I've worked every day since Sunday. Monday and Tuesday were SUPER busy at work - I think I took close to 60 calls both days which is a lot. Today I work during the day and then my sister is driving in tonight, by herself, I think she needs a vacation from her vacation.

We don't really have any plans while she is here other than maybe going thru some family pictures and of course the usual Friday trip to the No Frills Grill. I will probably start packing for my vacation on Sunday which will really make it feel real. I can't wait.

Until later....

Movie Review : No Reservations...and more

Since the last blog, worked a couple of days and was off a day. Thursday I worked my new 8a - 5p schedule which was nice. I met Charles to see Harry Potter, he had not seen it yet and I wanted to see it again. After the movie we went to some place called Flip's Grill in Grapevine for a lite dinner. Sadly, I saw two waiters from the No Frills Grill there and they looked at me like I was some kind of traitor eating somewhere else.

I was off on Friday and didn't do anything at all. I stayed around the apartment most of the day. Of course, we went to No Frills Grill that night but other than that nothing. Some times it is nice to just stay home especially when it is very hot out.

I worked Saturday so that I could be off today to go pick up my sister and her family from the airport. So when I got off work last night, I headed to the mall to buy my Disney Hopper pass for my trip that is coming up in a couple of weeks. It was a lot of money but it was worth it and I had worked 25 hours of overtime to pay for it so it was all good. I also managed to get the elusive Haagen Daz gift card while I was there.

After shopping, I met my friend Courtney at Mercado Juarez for dinner and then we headed for the chick flick, No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Here is a recap :

No Reservations [4 out of 5 stars]

Brief Synopsis : A top notch female chef's life is turned upside-down when she must care of her niece after her sister is killed. She now has to adapt to a different lifestyle and uses food as a means to express her roller-coaster life.

My Review : I thought it was very cute. It was your typical romantic comedy with all the typical elements. If you saw the movie Raising Helen with Kate Hudson - this was VERY similar with just the chef twist. All of the actors were good and the storyline was good. Basically, it is no Oscar winner but to be honest I had been missing the romantic comedy movie lately and this one fit the bill.

Until next time.....ciao.

It's obvious, I need a vacation.....

.....because lately everything is getting on my last nerve.

• I went to Haagen Daz at the mall this weekend to get a giftcard for a friend's birthday. Of course, there is one person working who is barely 16 and doesn't speak English very well and they have no idea what I am talking about even though they had at least 10 signs advertising gift cards.
  


• I went to Steve and Barry's to buy a pair of tennis shoes, the only one in my size is the display shoe, I ask the sales person where the pair is and she says their display shoes are all singles.
  


• Monday I am working and at about 9:00a maintenance in pounding on my door wanting me to move my car because they are paving the parking lot. A note on my door the day before would have been nice.
  


• Today I came into work and all of our systems are up and down, I just wanted to toss my hands in the air and go back to bed.

14 more days.

Lindsay Lohan, just say NO !

So, my weekend was fairly uneventful - after my 12 days of working in a row, I was very glad to have two days off. I went to lunch Friday with my friend Chrissy and then got a haircut that afternoon. Of course I went to the No Frills Grill on Friday night. It was fun as usual.

Saturday morning I got up and headed to WalMart to pick up my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows....I ran a few more errands in the morning and then made it back home around 1:30p that afternoon. I sat down at 2:00p to read. After a couple of stretch breaks, I finished the book around 9:00p that night. I thought it was VERY good. She was able to wrap it all up, explain some things, etc. I'm not going to post any spoilers here but if you want to talk to me about it - please email me.

Sunday, I was back to work. JoLynn and family came in around 11:00a for me to run them to the airport for their vacation to Florida and I did laundry and cleaned my apartment all day. After 12 days of being at home, it was a mess.

Nothing else much going on - there is nothing decent on TV these days other than The Closer and Psych so I am wearing out my Season 1 CRIMINAL MINDS DVDs every night. I love that show.

Oh, and as far as the title for the blog.....I hope she gets some help.

P.S. Dad - I can't specifically change the color of the words in my countdown clock. I'll try some other colors for the overall clock later today to see if that helps. Sorry.

Chatting with Joey......

Joey says:
I was dieing laughing because I ordered something from newegg.com and I tried to use their online chat to ask a question about the order and the chat finally answered and said:
Joey says:
Thanks for contacting newegg.com. This is Jesus, How can I help you?
Tracy says:
lol
Tracy says:
you MUST blog that
Joey says:
I thought WOW talk about getting serious help.
Tracy says:
right
Tracy says:
way to go right to the top
Joey says:
lol
Joey says:
exactly, how did they get Him to and nobody else did
Tracy says:
lol

Yikes.......

I wasn't going to blog today but I just went out on the patio to refill all of my critter food and saw this across the parking lot.


So, I called down to the apartment office and they said, yes they knew about it and were the ones that actually put cones around it. They haven't talked to the resident yet to know if the tires were stolen, taken off on purpose or if it was a repo.

Yikes.

I am approaching zombie state.....

.....after 10 days straight of working. As I mentioned I picked up two overtime shifts last Friday and Saturday so I am non-stop working. Now, don't get me wrong, I actually like to work, but I must admit, I have had a enough. I'm tired and I am burned out.

I've been wanting to go by and take pictures of the new Dallas Cowboy Football Stadium to put in my blog but I haven't made it over there yet. Hopefully, Friday when I am finally off again.

I have the movie RV in my DVD player but haven't watched it yet to give a review. I really have just been working, relaxing and trying to stay cool. Not very exciting.

Later.

Playing movie catch up

OK - so I have been trying to play movie catch-up. I don't subscribe to HBO, Showtime or any of those cable channels because to be quite honest I think it is a waste of my money. They end up playing the same old thing over and over again and then never when I want to watch it. Anyway, I know some people like those channels, so no offense intended, they're just not for me.

So, I belong to BLOCKBUSTER on-line. I have created a queue of movies and I can have 2 out at a time. This way I can catch up on all the stuff I feel like I haven't seen in the last 5 years...ha ha ! I'll start letting you know what I watch.

First, I have a gripe about the queue. I have a movie on my list that shall remain nameless, alright, it is Xanadu [I want my niece to see it], and it is NUMBER ONE on my list. So I returned a movie the other day fully expecting to get my number one movie next. But, no, they sent me my number two movie. Now, what's up with that ?? This is their official response :

BLOCKBUSTER Online® is committed to keeping your rental experience uninterrupted. Because our goal is to ship movies as quickly as possible in order to meet an estimated shipping time of 1-3 business days for delivery, the system reviews all "Available" titles in your Queue and determines which movies are ready for shipment from your nearest distribution center. If the estimated shipping times for your top selection(s) fall outside an acceptable shipping window, they may be skipped over for other DVDs further on your list.

Even though some of your selections may get skipped, continue prioritizing your movies in the order you would like for them to be shipped. We do our best to continuously distribute copies among our distribution centers based on demand.

Now, if I didn't want it next I wouldn't put it next, so I think they need to honor my list especially, since the movie's status was AVAILABLE and everything. I returned another movie yesterday so we will see what happens this time.

Next, a movie review. For those of you that know my daily insanities.....you know I tend to get obsessed, maybe that's too strong a word, how about attached, to certain actors when I see them in a role that I like and then I want to see EVERYTHING they have ever done. My current "attachment" is to Matthew Gray Gubler, currently playing Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds. He played a background character, INTERN #1, in the movie I am reviewing today. He had like two lines and an awful perm, but here's the review.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [ 3 out of 5 stars ]

Brief Synopsis : Steve Zissou, sea-film amateur a la Jacques Cousteau, has reason to be melancholy: his partner has been eaten, perhaps by a mythic jaguar shark, his wife may be taking up with her ex-husband, a young man appears claiming Steve is his father (Steve hates fathers), his most recent films have tanked, he's having trouble raising money for his venture to revenge his partner, and he's attracted to a pregnant reporter who prefers the pretender. At sea, in pursuit of the shark, will he escape pirates and mutiny, forge the bonds of fatherhood, place his arm around his wife, find the monster of the deep, re-establish box office hegemony, and discover a reason to smile?

My Review : Now, before watching this movie, everyone told me it was weird. Basically, that is the word everyone used......weird. I like weird. So, with that in mind, I watched the movie last night. I thought it was.......weird. But, in a good way. I was entertained. I don't really know how to describe it much better than the synopsis above and all I can say is if you enjoy the off the beaten path, take a chance, weird kind of movie, you might like it.

Later.

Eeekk....I don't want to fall behind again

So, here is an update.

I went and saw the Harry Potter movie and thought it was very good. An odd thing happened, as I was watching it, I felt like I had already seen it....kind of a deja vu moment. But, I think it was because I had recently [in the last nine months] re-read the book. So, I guess what that means is that the visuals I got in my head while reading the book were just how they made the movie. Pretty cool. Of course, there are things missing from the movie that were in the book and that is expected but I thought it was really good.

I picked up two overtime shifts this week, today I am working 1oa - 7p and tomorrow I am working from 8a - 5p so that will be nice extra $$ on my check before I go on vacation and I might now be able to get my ticket to Disney. Woo hoo ! But, the downfall is that I am working 12 days in a row.....ugh.

As you can see, I added a VACATION countdown to my blog above. This is my annual trip to Florida to hang out with my parents and brother. I haven't had a vacation since May 2006 so I am really looking forward to it. I will be gone for 11 days. My sister and her family are going before me....and they leave in 9 days and will be there for a week. When they get back it is just 10 days until I go.....so my parents and brother are going to be busy with visitors for almost a month.

No big plans for the next few days except work, but I am going to try and post a picture blog sometime this weekend. Stay tuned.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Eeeee.......I am going to the midnight movie tonight and I am already tired. I have to work at 8a tomorrow morning and will probably get to bed by 3a if I am lucky. I'm going with friends, Courtney, Mandy, Brian and Zachary.....should be a blast. I'll let you know how great it was tomorrow while I am sitting at my desk with my eyelids propped open with toothpicks.

CUJO squirrel

OK - here are some pictures I've taken in the last 6 weeks that might also help catch you up on my life since my blog hiatus. This first one is of my bird feeder. As you can see, I have a tree right outside of my patio and I wanted to hang a bird feeder since I am home all day so I could watch birds.....I know, pathetic.

Now, enter CUJO SQUIRREL :

He looks harmless. But, after only having my bird feeder up for a few days, he tore it to shreds.

Now, I don't think you can really appreciate it unless you see the bird feeder in person, but I am going to post some pics a little further down.

After ripping the feeder to shreds, I decided when you get lemons you make lemonade, so I brought in the bird feeder, bought some squirrel food and started feeding the squirrel as seen in the picture above.

I keep thinking I will get another bird feeder that is squirrel proof, but nothing yet. So, without further anticipation, here is the destroyed bird feeder [please note, I lifted the green lid off and back from the top] :

Enough said.....bastard squirrel.

My DVD Library......

Like a lot of people, when DVDs became the norm, I started buying them. I bought my favorite movies, like The Matrix, Gladiator, The Abyss, Harry Potter, Spiderman, The Shawshank Redemption, National Treasure, Lord of the Rings, etc. but you know, I never watch them. I mean, half of the ones I have in my collection are movies that I can see almost any Saturday on a regular channel. So, I think I am going to get rid of my collection.

I can rent anything I want to see and once you've watched the deleted scenes or the blooper reel or whatever might be on the bonus features of a DVD, you've watched them.

I do think however, that I may start a collection of TV shows. There are some TV shows that I like that aren't shown on TV anymore or are rarely shown. Also, I think I am more likely to re-watch a TV show than a movie most of the time.

So, if anyone is still reading this thing.....do you collect DVDs ?? And, if so, what kind ??

Where oh where has my little blog gone......

So, it's been a little over a year since I started this thing and lately I have not been updating as I was so passionately reminded of by my mother last night. I don't know why. And, the thing is that once you stop for a little bit, the amount of information that you have not been relaying becomes overwhelming.

A BRIEF recap since my last post :

• My mom came for a 16 day visit to Texas where she spent half of her time with my sister's family and half with me. It was really nice having another human around the apartment while I was working and I think she got a lot of reading done. I tried to hook her on UGLY BETTY but not sure it worked.
• I colored my hair. [dark chocolate brown]
• I went and saw my niece in her ballet recital - she was in 3 dances; tap, jazz and ballet and she did a great job and was super cute.
• I registered for FALL classes.
• I passed ONE MILLION Players Plus points on NTN trivia at The No Frills Grill.
• A 'cujo-like' squirrel ripped my bird feeder to shreds.

Other than that, I went to a few movies, read a few books, wrote a little bit and basically just hung out with friends or my laptop.

So, on the calendar for the next few days......tonight, I am going to see the movie TRANSFORMERS with friends and tomorrow I am going to a STAR WARS exhibit with my friend Charles at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

I will try to use these two activities to jump-start my re-entry into blogging. Stay tuned.

I miss cookouts.....

I've been on the phone this week with co-workers and customers and everyone is asking what I did over the Memorial weekend. And, I, of course, worked. People keep telling me they had cookouts or went to friends houses or whatever. I never go to cookouts anymore. I need to get some friends together on the next holiday and have a cookout. I mean, cookouts are fun. You stand around in the backyard and you grill and mosquitos bite you millions of times and everyone just laughs and has a good time.

I miss cookouts. Who wants to have one next holiday ??

If the milk's chewy throw out the hamburger.....

...seems like sound advice coming from a former student of the Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts. Last Thursday, my power went out at around 3:30p when it had been raining or was about to rain but wasn't actually raining at the time. It didn't come back on until 1:00a - Grrrrr. I missed taping the Ugly Betty pilot -my current and for the foreseeable future TV obsession. I missed the 1st night of 'So You Think You Can Dance' - the one reality show I watch...and I missed the reappearance of 'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip' .. needless to say I was quite irritated. Apparently, though, since my milk has not gone chewy - my fridge items are safe.

So, the question, what exactly am I doing when I am not in school and I am not blogging. Well, here is a little about me these days :

1. I am reading the James Patterson Women's Murder Club Books.....I am about halfway thru # 3 I think. They are good. I'm not really a mystery reader but I haven't had anything to read lately and my sister bought me the first one for my birthday so I decided, what the heck. I read #2 while the power was out .... a flashlight and some duck tape were involved.

2. I am writing. Some of you, well, many of you, may not know this is actually a hobby of mine. It started, I don't know, about 3 years ago I guess. There is this, I don't know, pod of people out there that write something called fan fiction. Basically, they take characters from their favorite movies, TV shows, etc. and they write stories for them. For example, a fan fiction for one of the CSI shows might be like an actual episode with a murder and them solving the case, or it might be about the hook up of two characters on the show that aren't hooked up. It might be a cross-over between the CSI show and oh, I don't know....Grey's Anatomy. It's mainly about story because those reading them already know the characters. Anyway, I do that.

3. I'm hanging out with friends. I still go to No Frills Grill pretty much every Friday night with my friend Courtney and whoever else shows up. I also try to see movies and grab a bite to eat with my friend Charles as often as our schedules allow but not nearly enough. I'm always pestering my friend Jeffrey and my cousin Tom to get together but alas, they are a more fruitless endeavor....I'm not sure if it is me or them. Who am I kidding, it's them.

That's a good chunk of my time these days along with work. No classes this summer but I will pick up again in the fall. I'm trying to get to Abilene at least once a month - but right now I think that bunch owes me a visit.

So, my mom is coming on Tuesday and I will transport her halfway to Abilene Wednesday night....for a small ransom. She'll be back with me the following Wednesday for a week. We are all looking forward to her visit.

Until later.....adios.

Holla !

OK - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me....as of Friday, I am now 40 + 1. No biggie - I still feel 25, well, maybe 28. Anyway - I headed to Abilene Friday morning for the day and met my nephew for lunch after my niece totally forgot I was coming and ate in her classroom. What-Ever-Loser.

We picked the kids up from school and headed off to see Shrek The Third - it was super cute and funny. The kids laughed thru the whole thing. Afterwards, we went to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner which was VERY nice and no one sang to me - YAY !! We went home and played on NATIONAL BINGO NIGHT on TV and then some Shrek Bingo and I actually won a few games.

Saturday we ran errands and then in the afternoon, Mason and JoLynn had to bowl...I went and watched and we ate bowling alley food for lunch, YUMMY, really. I headed home Saturday afternoon. I met my friend Chrissy for dinner Saturday night at the No Frills Grill and we chit chatted and caught up, promising to get together more often going forward. Yay, another human to interact with..... :)

Checked on-line today and got my grades - Statistics/A and Environmental Science/B - perfect.

That's all the news for me.

See what happens.....

....when school is out and my life becomes even more boring. No new blogs.

Well, let's see. This Friday is my birthday. I will be turning 40+1 - that is how I am going to refer to all future birthdays, in relation to 40. So, next year I will be 40+2. I was going to try and plan a birthday dinner out with some of my friends....but people are busy, as you can tell since they never comment on my blog anymore, so I decided to go with Plan B. I am going down to my sister's where I have at least two people that love me to no end and will shower me with hugs, kisses and I love yous for 2 days....who could pass that up. They will take me to see Shrek 3 and it will be a lot of fun.

I am thrilled to report that my mother has quit her job and will also be coming for a visit to Texas on May 29th.....two weeks from today. Everyone is very excited that she finally got away from an extremely unhappy situation and that she is coming to see the people that will shower her with hugs, kisses and I love yous for 14 days.

I do have some blog topics I am working on and I will get those up tomorrow and Thursday so you have something to read while I am out of town. In the meantime, thanks for always being patient with my lack of blogging. I'm always here.

P.S. Congrats Dirk !! NBA MVP 2006-2007

Movie Reviews, school.....

Well, I was one of the many that went to see Spiderman 3 on opening day and I must say I am glad I did. It was well worth the price of admission. I'm not going to spoil it for those of you that have not seen it yet, I will say however, this one is much more about Peter Parker/Spiderman than it is about the villains, in my opinion. The special effects, etc. were great. Definitely a must see.....I will probably see it one more time in the theatre.

I also went and saw Lucky You this weekend with Drew Barrymore and Eric Banan. It was okay. The movie is about poker and the relationship between Eric Banan's character 'Huck' and his father 'LC', played by Robert Duvall. It's not a comedy, it's not a romance. Although there is a romantic relationship with 'Huck' and Barrymore's character 'Billie', that is certainly not what the movie is about. I would say, this one should be a rental

No more school.....woo hoo !! I took my last final yesterday in Statistics, it was a little harder than I expected but I did okay. We just, in my opinion, had a real poor teacher and I felt bad for the people in our class that aren't math inclined. He teaches high-school by day, and he may be great at that....but his nighttime college gig, left much to be desired. Anyway, I'm sure I came out okay, but it was a tough one.

Not sure what the plans are for the summer yet, I am looking at several things right now. Some changes on degree plans, etc. are probably in the works. Stay turned for more on that as time goes by.

Hurricane Texas-Style

Well, I was out of pocket for most of the afternoon and evening yesterday because we had an horrendous storm here last night....my power was out from 6:00p - midninght. At one point the entrance to my apatment complex was so flooded that to come in, the water was up to some people's car windows. I was on my way home from school when it started and had to pull over into a bank parking lot because of the 70-80 MPH winds and high water.

Like they say, in Texas we never do anything small. Yikes....anyway, of course it is sunny and 75 degrees here now.

Mavericks, Laundry and May....

...and not necessarily in that order. First, I cannot believe it is May already. This is my last week of school with my final final on Saturday the 5th. It looks like I will not be taking any classes this summer. Nothing can fit around my work schedule which is very disappointing. But, I will try to make the most of the summer anyway, maybe I will get a 2nd job.

Well, the Dallas Mavericks pulled off a win last night - the last 40 seconds of the game were quite dramatic. Maybe it took the hometown crowd to get them back in the zone. They still have to win 2 more games to get out of this series alive and their opponents only have to win 1 more....so I am crossing everything and praying for them.

GO MAVS !!

The other night, my brother and I were having one of our many late night phone conversations...and we were both commenting on how we needed to clean our rooms. He started to tell me what his biggest problem is when cleaning his room and I stopped him.....I said I know what you are going to say because it is the same with me...and basically at the same time, we said laundry. Now, please, don't get this mental image in your head about piles of dirty laundry in our rooms. Our problem is CLEAN laundry. Neither one of us likes to fold or hang things up. I pretty much get dressed off of drying racks every day.

About once a week, I have this grand plan to put clothes away. It goes like this, I strip my bed to wash my sheets, etc. Then I take all the clean clothes and put them on my bed. I make a pile for pants that need to hang, shirts that need to hang, t-shirts, PJ's, shorts that need to be folded, towels/washcloths that need to be folded and then one big pile for socks, underwear and bras. Then later that night, I go into my room and start swearing because I realize I have to make my bed before I can go to sleep. So I transfer all piles back to clothes baskets and my rocking chair and then make my bed and go to sleep and the cycle starts all over again.

An update on my plants/seeds tomorrow.