I Got Your Pictures RIGHT HERE!

It's so nice outside, I had to go sit on the front porch for a while. Try to enjoy the pretty without noticing the dead leaves and ugly stuff. OK? Good. Here we go! (Oh, and click on an image to make it bigger)

Blue Hyacinths:

A lonely little flower, in the middle of nothing else. I love her attitude:

These are pretty!

Dearest Hawkeye, I love you SO much!

What do you hear, buddy?

The big rock, in the middle of the little rocks? I have NO idea where it came from, but I guarantee it came from a kid. Still, it looks lonely.

Kevin decided to lie on the ground and give his dog a good scratch. Hawkeye approved.

That's my guy:

Hawkeye fell asleep, it felt so good.

So, that's my evening. We won't TALK about my day, OK? It was a good evening. The end.

The Race...NOT

So, on Sunday, I posted on FB that I couldn't wait to see my first NASCAR race in HD. I was stoked. When they postponed it for rain, my TX friend David mocked "How does a wet track look in HD?" He's an ass hat like that.

Then, someone pointed out that I had DVR now! I could RECORD the race on Monday, and watch it after work! SWEET! The guide didn't update, so I set it to record every show during the time that the race should be on. I had it covered. I thought.

Last night, I got home and checked recordings. Ahem. Apparently, my dear, sweet, darling 12 year old decided to tell the DVR to ALWAYS record Hannah Montana. Yup, you got it. NASCAR race? Nah. Hannah Montana? I got it in spades.

Crappity Crap Crap

I guess I'll see a race in HD in 2 weeks, since they don't race on Easter weekend.

Crap

Neglecting the Blog

Wow, no update in a week. There has been a lot going on this week, I just haven't updated. Twitter and Facebook has made me lazy, I guess. It's so quick and easy to do a little blurb as something is happening, leaving me without the desire to blog about much.

We're enjoying DirecTV. Still learning stuff about it. We see a HUGE difference with HD. When I watch the TV in the bedroom, it looks lame compared to the other one. LOL

I had a three day weekend. Friday night, we went to a concert and had a ball. Saturday, we decided not to attend night 2 of the event, since the prediction was hours of waiting outside in the rain. Nah. Pass.

Instead, we had my BFF and her hubby over for BBQ. Brett was here Friday night to watch Natalie for us (Monica was at a friend's) and he had Kameron, so we got to enjoy her Saturday, too.

Today has been very lazy. My race was rained out, all of my normal shows are reruns, and I napped for nearly 2 hours. What a slug! An early bed time sounds good to me, but the nap may have ruined it for me. We shall see.

This week is to bring temps in the 70s. Of course, this will be while I'm at work, and it is to rain again next weekend. Typical. Oh well, it beats the heck out of freezing on my way to work.

A Change to TV

Direct TV will be here in the morning to install. When we informed Dish Network that we were canceling, they said they'd send a box for us to return their equipment. The outside of the box warns that "this equipment BELONGS to Dish Network and MUST be returned!" Oooh, Scary.

You'll get it all back. Get the you panties out of a wad.

Frankly, I wasn't unhappy with Dish. Their CS was fine, and the programming was up to par. When we asked about HD, and they wanted $140 for the total install price, I got ticked. I don't like to be robbed.

Direct TV will provide HD, DVR and several other perks, included in the standard install. With the savings for the first year, we'll be winning. I don't think the channel selection will vary much. It's like cell service: They all offer the same thing, but a new customer can get a GREAT deal. Existing customers get the shaft.

I hope the guy who installs tomorrow isn't too put off by the wire maze in the living room. 6 speaker wires to a receiver, DVD player, TV and satellite. Yeah, there are a lot of things going on under my TV. My worst nightmare is that he'll throw the receiver in, hook it to the TV, and ignore the rest.

Oh, I can hook up the rest. I've always handled that part of the household. I'm the electronics hag. I just don't want to do it on a Monday evening. We shall see. I hope he's a good guy and hooks it all up.

I'm just sayin'.

Catfish Charlie's

Kevin called while I was on my way home tonight. He asked if I'd like to try Catfish Charlie's. "Sure," I said. I'm all about supporting a locally owned business, and since they're new, we hadn't tried them yet.

They are opened during the evenings on Wednesday through Saturday. Anywhere you go for dinner on a Friday night, you can expect a wait, so that didn't bother me too bad. We waited. They didn't have a sign telling us to wait or seat ourselves, so Kevin finally caught a waitress rushing by and asked. If you see an open table, it's OK to seat yourself.

We sat down and waited. We waited a LONG time. I think it was 20 minutes before we ordered drinks, but the drinks were brought over instantly after we ordered them. When she brought the drinks, we ordered, just to make sure we got the chance. Then, more waiting.

At least they had butcher paper on the tables, so we could doodle, draw, and write. We came up with some funny stuff, too. And we waited. We knew almost everyone working there. We didn't know them like old buddies, but we knew them from the community or the school. These are good people. They were VERY busy people.

By the time they brought our food, they offered to comp. the bill. It had been that long. They brought our food over as Kevin walked over to tell them that we wouldn't let them totally comp. the bill, maybe we could split it. They seemed appreciative.

And then, we ate. Oh my sweet cellulite, it was fabulous. We all tried bites of each other's food, and everyone thought everything was awesome. It was fresh, tasty, and just what we'd hoped for. Sure, I gained 10 pounds tonight, but I am FULL.

When it came time to pay, they gave 50% off, per Kevin's suggestion. I wouldn't feel right eating that well and not paying anything. We were there for 2 hours between waiting and eating, so I didn't mind a discount either.

This is a brand new business in a town without a lot of dinner choices. They'll work the kinks out of the service. I'm confident in that. If they keep serving up food like they did tonight, they'll be fine. One more waitress and a bit more planning, and they'll have people driving here from towns all around.

Thumb's up, Catfish Charlie's. Thumb's up.

BIG 2010, volume 1

The customer service team at H&H is pretty tight. We go through good and bad together. We've supported each other through mild things like an ugly phone call, and major things like the death of a coworker.

We deal. We talk it out, move on, and keep going. The customers (many of whom are VERY good friends of mine) need us to be "on" when they call. They need answers, we give answers. We're tight. We're friends. We are a team.

We have this thing called BIG. It's "Beer In the Garden" and it means that we'll meet after work, in the garden, for a quick beer before heading home. It's NEVER more than an hour, and some folks leave after 15 minutes, but we're there.

We laugh and tell stories and generally enjoy the HECK out of that short time with no phones, no computers, and no problems. These are my people. We're there for each other, and no matter what happens, we back each other up.

I got a text from Connie this morning, explaining that we needed an emergency BIG. Usually, there is almost a week's notice. She explained, in the text, that we needed it, since the weather was so perfect.

So, we gathered, we drank, we laughed, and 2010 BIG has begun.

Thanks, coworkers, for also being my friends. I love you guys.

Driving 101

If you drive a vehicle with an automatic transmission, there is NO reason for your left foot to be involved in your driving.

Let it relax. Let it sit to the side, doing nothing. Your right foot has got it covered.

I'm just sayin'.

41st Birthday, Day 3

And on the third day, I rested.

Good golly, what a birthday! It was incredible. Kevin went above and beyond, as usual. I had food, friends, drinks, entertainment...it was all you could hope for.

I kissed a few toads, but I found my prince.*

Thank you, Kevin.

*I didn't kiss any toads this weekend. We were too busy. I was talking about my past.

41st Birthday, Day 2

Yesterday was fun, too. I think day 3 should be spent relaxing, since I'm exhausted. Too much fun can wear you out! Thanks to my buddies that came over for BBQ and spent my Bday with me.

These are my buds.

41st Birthday, Day 1

Kevin and I get 3 day birthdays. It's a pretty sweet deal. I had plans for today, and they worked out just dandy.

We left home this morning and headed to Independence, after a quick stop at QT for coffee. Our first non-coffee stop was World Market. Love.That.Place. After that, we headed to Salty Iguana for lunch, which was yummy. From there, we checked into the hotel and went straight to Ameristar.

Later in the day brought a trip to Harrah's. My money went WAY faster there, and I know why everyone says they like Ameristar better. Anywho, if you spend 30 minutes gambling, you get a free buffet, so we stood in line to eat. We happened to be behind the mother of a high-school classmate. Ms. Brown was awesome, and we chatted with her and her eldest daughter the whole time we were in line.

There are no pics from most of our day, since casinos don't allow cameras, but here is what I have:

This is our suite, bought with reward points from work travel:

A king bed? What the heck?! The whole family could sleep on this thing.

Our view is incredible! Or not. It's a wall and another hotel. Whatever. Close the curtains, honey.

And finally, here is our room number, in Braille.

See you tomorrow!

A House Full and a New Fence

Kevin's mom (Grammy) and grandma (GG) came up for the weekend, and I stopped to pick up Kameron on my way home last night, so we have a house full. We're really enjoying visiting, and watching Kameron walk around chattering. She's talking more every time we get her.

Today will be a relaxing kind of day, and tomorrow, we'll BBQ and add Mom, Dad, Pat and Charlene to the mix. Woo Hoo! It's so nice that it's warm enough to BBQ without scraping snow off the grill.

They guys from Pyramid Fence were back here at 7:30 yesterday morning. By noon, they were done, and we had a fenced yard. That amazes me. Hawkeye isn't sure what to make of it, but he sure was happy to relax outside in the sun yesterday afternoon.

Here are some pictures that Kevin took of them finishing up:

OK, I'm off to enjoy my company!

The Fence is Going Up!

OK, so I got home on Tuesday afternoon, ate a Subway sandwich, and promptly fell asleep at 4:30. Humiliating, but quite nice. After 12 hours of sleep, I felt much better. Conventions wear me out! It was a good one, though.

Last night, I helped the girls with a project and went to bed at a decent time. This morning, I was halfway through my morning routine when Kevin asked, "Did you oversleep?" I thought he was crazy until I looked up and saw the time. My alarm was set an hour later than it should have been. Oh well. I was still at work in plenty of time.

On to other things: Hawkeye got arrested last week. He now has a record. We're concerned that he'll never be able to find a job. It's quite disheartening. Anyway, we have wanted a fence since we bought this house, almost 5 years ago. We can do it now, it will raise the value of the house, and Hawkeye the Wonder Dog is an important part of our family.

The guys from Pyramid Fence were supposed to start work next Monday, so you can imagine our excitement when Kevin informed me that they arrived this morning to start work! They set the posts today, and will come back tomorrow to finish the job. I told Kevin that my camera was at home, and he should take some pictures for me. I think he did a good job.

They laid the posts out in the yard along the perimeter.

We've gotten approval from the neighbors (CooKoo) for where it will be. They aren't happy that Kevin sometimes mows one line through their yard. *sigh* So much for being neighborly.

This guy was using auger to dig the post holes.

Close to the house, they're leaving a post un-set, since the walk-out gate will go there. Got to get to the grill, you know.

Yup, it's coming along nicely. This time tomorrow, we'll have a fence! WooHoo! Go Pyramid Fence!