2 For The Price Of 1

Alternate Title: 3 Hours East, 10 Hours West (This might become a habit)

So last weekend was our annual family reunion / Thanksgiving. It was a good time and we enjoyed seeing family that we only get to see once a year. We even had family from Arizona and California come in for the festive event.

My only complaint was that there were no deviled eggs. I felt shorted! What if we didn't bring pumpkin pie? Deviled eggs are a holiday staple (in my opinion).

We didn't have the turn out that we were looking for, but maybe next year. Don't get me wrong, all the "regulars" were there. However, we were trying to entice the younger crowd to start visiting and meeting others in the family.

So then after a busy week, (I feel like I worked five days in the three that we had to), it was time to head West.

After driving all night, we arrived at the in-laws for more turkey, dressing and deviled (wait for it) . . . . . . . . eggs. That's right, I put in a special request to make sure I wasn't shorted twice in one week. Of course, after the big meal of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings; once we were full and all resting, it was brought to my attention that the deviled eggs were left in the refrigerator. DOH! So after some pumpkin pie I HAD to have a couple of deviled eggs. FINALLY!!

So this Thanksgiving was a special one in that we got to enjoy visiting with lots of family from both sides.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as enjoyable as mine.

And That's What I Think.

Happy Thanksgiving

Fun Filled Full Weekend

Alternate Title: Jenny Saved Us $10,000!

FRIDAY
So our computer has been acting up. Mostly not wanting to boot-up. After a few attempts and choice words, it eventually joins us in the here and now. So Friday night we eat dinner and head to Fry's, (they always have an 8 page ad in Fridays paper), with the intent to buy a computer. After we get there and see the one in the ad and then talk to "the guy", I realize that we should splurge on the newest and fastest available. The thinking being that our current one is about 3-4 years old and we'll probably wait that long again the next time. So I'm sold on the idea, but now I want to "shop around" prices. So we head home instead of doing our usual Friday night grocery shopping. The kids are anxious to see the "Cars" movie we picked up earlier in the week.

SATURDAY
Saturday morning I have a meeting at work. After that I head home to get "the gang" and off we go to the Girlscout store to get Lacye her vest and patches and book, etc. From there we headed out to Plano for a Time Share presentation with a stop to Best Buy to look at computers. Now, I'm not at all interested in owning a time share, I've known people in the past who have had them and they just sound so bogus. To get us there they offered all kinds of freebies ($25 visa card, airline tickets, hotel accommodations, etc). So for a 90-minute presentation I'll take $500-$600 in freebies! (Yes, I know there is probably a catch, thank you). So time-share has really changed! You now buy a deed that can be sold, traded or willed. You own it. You can vacation at any of their 44 properties or with their joint venture, you can go anywhere in the world. The initial offering was way out of our price range. The down payment was up there and the monthly payments were high. (Cool, an easy way out). Come to find out, you can trade in your old deed to upgrade or put your money toward a retirement lot and they have these "old" deeds for sale. This offer "sold" me. The down wasn't too bad and the monthly payment would easily fit into our budget. I was ready to sign away, but I wanted to talk it over with Jenny and get her opinion. She agreed that they have an awesome concept (points system) and the prices for the "get-always" were great ($179/week for Hawaii) but the cost of getting all four of us to the destination is what would kill us. So we declined the offer, even after they tried to entice us with a free cruise. Thanks, Jenny. She was right, although I wasn't 100% sure at first, I am now. It just didn't fit into our lives right now. We left there and went to Micro-Center to look at computers.

The kids did a great job for us during our "90-minute meeting", so we decided to take them to the Rainforest Cafe. We tried to take them there a year or two ago and Johnnie freaked out about he animals. This time he was ALL into it! They had a blast! The food was pricey, but delicious and their popular dessert was the "Volcano", you get three brownie wedges leaning against scoops of ice cream to form a volcano mountain, topped with whipped cream and a "lit" sparkler on top. This particular item was more for the show than the taste, however. Still no groceries.

SUNDAY
Sunday we got up and went to one of my favorites things, a coin show. There was a coin or two I had my eyes on and got out of there with out dropping too much money. The kids liked seeing the different coins and always get a coin or two from kid friendly vendors. From there we stopped by Comp USA to look at computers and then headed to an estate sale. You never know what you might find. We picked up a few things. After that we headed for the circus. We always go to the Shrine Circus and the kids usually enjoy it. Lacye's only problem is the human cannon ball. She's doesn't like the "BOOM!" Johnnie was the same way, he actually wanted to leave early (we didn't, of course) and says he doesn't want to go back next year. Maybe we'll skip next year, time will tell. By the time that was over, we headed home thoroughly exhausted.
Still no groceries.

MONDAY
Monday I got up and HAD to go get groceries. We didn't have anything left to eat and couldn't fit it in otherwise. So the weekend finally ended!

And That's What Happened!

Texas Continues It's Downhill Slide

All the election results are in and Rick Perry is again the governor. He received about 40% of the vote.

This means that 60% of Texas wanted a change. However, there were too many candidates to choose from and thus split the other 60 % of the vote.

What this means:

1. 40% of Texans are die hard Republicans and don't realize that a change is needed
2. Education reform will continue to sit on the sideline
3. Stem Cell research will continue to be non-existent
4. Coal power plants will continue to pollute our state

A governor that has a 40% approval rating should be a lame duck, however the state congress is mostly Republican also. As the rest of the country swings toward Democrats and change, Texas has it's blinders on.

I hate to say it, but I'm no longer proud to be a Texan!

And That's What I Think.

ABC - Must See TV

Did anyone see Desperate Housewives last night? OH MY GOSH !

This was by far THE best episode of all three seasons! When Nora got shot, I laughed, she deserved it for what she's been doing to Lynette. But I didn't think she would die. WOW!

Here's some trivia for you, the guy who threw the can at Carolyn played her boyfriend on Roseanne and the guy who played Carolyn's husband was a former boyfriend on Roseanne. A regular Roseanne reunion.

This show is getting closer and closer to my number one favorite show, LOST. LOST is again the best show out there.

LOST is unparalleled in cutting edge drama. A fresh new idea. J.J. Abrams is fantastic. I just found out that J.J. Abrams will be directing the 11th Star Trek movie. I look forward to his work in yet another of my interests.

And That's What I Think.