...Barbecue Stain On My White T-shirt...

This week, my friend from work Mayce (the one who's Dad is a real cowboy in west Texas) and I went out to lunch and I asked her to take me to a place that has real authentic Texas barbecue food. And low and behold, in the center of corporate America - Coppell, Texas - there is a place called Hard 8 and man, was it ever authentic! You walk up to the restaurant and there's a guy outside grilling all kinds of meat and you pick out your meat and then take it inside to get the rest of the stuff (a bun, coleslaw, a margarita, whatever.).

Here's a pic of Mayce and I out front at the 'meat guy' station!

Inside, it's exactly what you would expect at a real Texas barbecue place - horse stall doors in the bathrooms, a big bean pot, sweet and unsweetened tea in big barrels with faucet spigets on them - ya know, the regular stuff. hee hee

Here are some more pics (and yes, Mayce was a good sport about me taking pictures in the restaurant and even the bathroom - she wasn't too embarassed). She joked that the very things that I was so excited about were the things/stereotypes that Texans try to escape from - how ironic!!

The last pic of "Waterin' Hole" was just above drinking fountains. Ha! Really, these pictures don't do it justice. It was a one-of-a-kind place that I will take all of my visitors that want this kind of experience. Fun!! And they also have a whole outside area for the night life too. I would like to go back and actually get a margarita - this is no sissy Irving Mexican restaurant - Hard 8 serves Big and Bigger margaritas!! (see the pic below) Woo hoo!!

It's a date

Well, since pretty much all of the comments on my margarita (or lack thereof) post are inquiring about my date, instead of expressing horror at the fact that there was a Mexican restaurant ON THE MEXICAN BORDER that didn't serve TEQUILA or MARGARITAS or CORONAS......(you all have sick priorities!).....I'll fill you in on the date.

We went to the aforementioned Mexican restaurant and were in and out pretty quick (he was the fastest eater I have ever seen). We decided to go to a movie, but the next showing of The Happening was at like 10:15 or something. The movie theater was in the Irving Mall, so we decided to shop a little bit to waste some time. We walked around the mall, which we quickly discovered was a decent, but older mall, that had turned into the ghetto, literally. We stopped at a few stores and checked out a few things, but pretty much we just sat on some benches that seemed relatively safe and chatted to pass the time. We finally went into the movie and it was kind of a disappointment, but it was alright. We held hands in the movie (this was our second date - first date was the night before at Lone Star Park - watching horse racing). After the movie, we "talked" in the parking lot, if you know what I mean. :) Then we each drove home (we met there, so we both had our cars in the same place). I was a good girl.

Needless to say, though, he is not 'the one' - fairly negative and he seems to like gambling a little too much for my taste.

Does anyone else have any good dating stories lately??

Start Spreading the News!

Today I had a great retail experience and I wanted to share it with all of you that are reading this so that you might have a similar experience and so that company gets more business. Lately, I have been noticing that my back driver's side tire seems awfully low on air. I put air in it and that helped for a while, but it was back to almost flat again. Knowing that this isn't good for the car, the handling or gas mileage...I finally dragged myself to a tire place to see what the damage would be. I decided to go to Discount Tire since I had bought tires for a different car there several years ago and was happy with the experience. I had to wait a little while in the waiting room, but I didn't mind because I thought ahead and brought my Glenn Beck book (An Inconvenient Book - it's great, check it out!). Anyway, when they were done, they drove my car around and told me that there was a screw in my tire and that they fixed it and I was good to go now. I asked how much I owed and they said it was free and to come back and buy tires from them when that time came. Agh! There's nothing for free these days - I was so excited!

Morale of the story: There still are good things and people in the world, and buy tires/fix tires at Discount Tire!!!

Be my guest!

It's official - I'm welcoming my first guest in a few weeks: Allison!! On July 11th, she will fly to Dallas and we are going to hang out for a long weekend in the extreme heat! I'm super excited to see her and I need to start planning some fun activities for her very first trip to Texas. :) I cannot say that Maggie is as excited as I am - she's still a little upset about the yellow doggy raincoat Allison sent her....hee hee

To commemorate her upcoming visit, I dug up some old pictures of our glory days in college - where I met Allison in September 1995 when we started college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire!

Picture #1 - During college freshman orientation - we just met! I can't believe it's been 13 years!

Picture #2 - Homecoming 1996 at the Phi Sig house, making the float for the parade.

Picture #3 - Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority formal - 1996

Fast forward 10+ years of fun:

Pictures #1 & #2 - Tri Sigma girls reunion weekend in Chicago - May 2005

Picture #3 - Allison's wedding in Apple Valley, Minnesota - November 2007

Wow, was that ever fun digging through the old photo albums looking for pictures that I could actually post on this public blog!

Confidential to Allison - Just be glad I didn't post some pics from the Shaft Mixer, the Mickeys in Cancun or your 21st birthday!!! hee hee!

Jimmy Buffett would be horrified!

I had an experience (a date, actually) on Friday night that I need to write/vent about. The guy I went out with suggested a little mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant for dinner and I thought that was a great idea (I'm currently looking for a good Mexican restaurant that could rival El Camino in Toledo - it's going to be REALLY tough). We were seated at a table and when the waiter came by and asked for our drink order, I asked if they had frozen margaritas. He said they DO NOT SERVE ANY ALCOHOL, INCLUDING MARGARITAS!!! Isn't that a crime or something?! What is the point of Mexican restaurants if they don't have margaritas to enjoy with the yummy salty chips and salsa?!?! Apparently the story is that liquor licenses are city-by-city around the Dallas/Fort Worth area and there are some cities that are "dry" and some can only serve beer/wine and some that can have everything. However, I have gone to restaurants in this same suburb (Irving) before and had a drink. Weird.

Hound Dog (times 3!)

Well, August will bring not only my 31st birthday, but it will bring a week of wiener dogs invading my house! The 2 wiener dogs that I met at Tammy's house back in March/April need a place to stay for a week in August while their owners are in St. Martin......soooo.....I'll be doggy-sitting for Tyson and Stretchy, along with Tammy's sheltie named Katie. I will have 4 crazy pups in my house and Maggie will be in absolute wiener heaven!!

One problem I've been having, though, is with Maggie and the doggy door....She's great with the door and goes in/out as she needs to when I'm home - day or night, rain, wind, whatever. She just takes care of business and I don't have to let her out at all. However, when I leave, she thinks she can't go outside through the doggy door without my permission. So.....if she has to go potty while I'm not home, she tends to have accidents and that just defeats the purpose of the doggy door. But how do I train her to go potty outside when I'm not home if I'm not home to train her to do that?! Any ideas?? Janis?? Maybe it'll be a super good thing to have these other dogs here to show her the ropes....All 3 of them have doggy doors of their own, so they are very well-versed in the concept....

Texas Tornado on a Louisiana Saturday Night

Every state I've lived in has had a border battle amongst its people. I just figured out that in Texas it is no different. Apparently, the people of Texas and Louisiana have terms of endearment for each other:

Texas people call Louisiana people "Coon *sses"

Louisiana people call Texas people "Sh*tkickers"

Ha! I thought those names are funny! At work, our office is filled with LOTS of Sh*tkickers and only one Coon*ss. :)

Speaking of 'coons.......I just had a friend tell me that I need to get a rabies shot now that I live in the south! (that was for you, LTL)! Ha ha!!

Armadillo Mania!

OK, so the other day I saw the GROSSEST roadkill I have ever seen - a DEAD ARMADILLO!! I posted some gross armadillo carnage just to illustrate my point. But in telling my co-workers about my disgusting roadkill experience, they said it's pretty common and to stay away from armadillos because they carry lots of diseases and will burrow huge holes in your yard too. Anyway, I was looking for the pics to put in this post and found that armadillo roadkill is quite the novelty in Texas - they even have chili recipes named after it! (see below) These people are INSANE!

http://www.caddylakgraffix.com/texas_road_kill.asp

https://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/faq.html

http://www.manzanita-jam.com/armadillo_chilli.htm

http://www.graffitiworx.com/stickers/sticker-detail.asp?item=STK0200

I'm officially a sort-of-Texan!!!

In the mail yesterday was a bunch of junk mail, but at the bottom of the pile, disguising itself like regular white-envelope-with-pre-printed-information was............MY NEW TEXAS DRIVER'S LICENSE!!!!!!!!! I'm officially a Texas citizen and I'm even registered to vote as well (too bad Glenn Beck isn't on the ticket for November - damn)!!!! However, even though I have all the legal documents to prove my residency in this great state, born-and-raised Texans still don't consider people like me Texan - and they probably never will, even when I'm 80 years old. The guy who I bought my bedroom furniture from at Ashley even told me so (and he's a cowboy type from west Texas - he said 'fixin' and everything). He was very nice about it, but said that "true" Texans don't like to share their state with us imports, at least as far as saying you're a 'real' Texan. Oh well - I'll be a fake, born-again, artificial, transplant Texan (whatever you want to call it) - that's fine with me!

Roll On, 18-wheeler, Roll On!

T-minus 3 days until Season 2 of Ice Road Truckers starts!!! Woo hoo!! I hear it was filmed in a different location than Season 1 because of commercial cameras not being allowed on the ice road this year. But who cares - it will be the same cut-throat drama and ya gotta love Hugh Rowland ("The Polar Bear")!!

Who's with me?! Stacie for sure!

Exploring the Lone Star state, one ranch at a time

Well, I am finally kicking myself out of the house this weekend - at least for an afternoon or so. I have been spending pretty much every weekend working on the house (installing smoke detectors, doorknobs, handymen doing work, painting trim, etc. etc.) and not exploring this great city/state that I was so obsessed with moving to! So.......this weekend I'm kicking myself out of the house on Saturday (after I set up my new patio swing in the morning before it hits 800 degrees) to go exploring.

My first two ideas for places to go are:


1. Old Red Museum (the historic huge courthouse in downtown Dallas - across the street from the grassy knoll/Commerce St. where Kennedy was assassinated) http://www.oldred.org/

2. Southfork Ranch in Plano, TX (about 40 minutes from me - it's where the TV show "Dallas" was filmed) - the Ewing mansion/estate. http://www.southfork.com/

Anyone who's been to Dallas have any other ideas for my adventures? I promise to post pics. I'm a total tourist, so I'm all about these things - both exciting/flashy and historic.

Medical Mystery

OK, if there are any medical professionals out there that can explain this phenomenon, I would really really appreciate it:

I have lived in Dallas for 2.5 months and I have had 3 very bad colds and now this week I have a very painful ear infection. I have NEVER had an ear infection in my life! And prior to moving here, I had only gotten maybe a cold or two a YEAR. Is there something to the climate change affecting the immune system?? Why would my immune system be so messed up because of a temperature change (especially when I went from a cold place to a warm place)?? I have never had a 3 month stint in my entire life where I was sick this much!

What's up????

PS - I suppose I should add that the stress level in these 3 months has been quite high, but still...

Lots of wieners!

Per Janis' request, here are live-action shots of my doggy door that I had installed for Maggie. She has mastered it and enjoys the freedom. The window is shut down on top of the doggy door and then the remainder of the width (to the left of the doggy door) is a piece of plexiglass cut to the perfect size.



Iris - here is a SECOND location of the Wienerschnitzel franchise that I found in Arlington! I had to take pictures this time. Can't wait to eat spaetzel with you and laugh uncontrollably about the Marienplatz!! (However, notice in the 3rd picture that they are promoting an "italian" sausage in a restaurant that screams German!)

Random Texas Observation - When several freeways all come together at a big complicated mess of overpasses and cloverleaves, that is called a "Mix-Master". I love it!

Today I watched an old Oprah episode that was on my DVR - about puppy mills. Have any of you seen this show?? I was bawling my eyes out when they showed the Fort Worth Animal Shelter and they filmed them picking out which dogs would get euthanized in the morning (about 20-40 per day get euthanized). They put a big red "E" on their cage card and then they filmed the process of killing the animal and showed them stop breathing peacefully. Oh my gosh - I was crying so hard. It was so sad.

Blame It On The Rain

Well, without further adieu, I present to you.........Maggie in a raincoat! This is the cute little rain poncho that Allison sent me in the mail right after I moved down here. Maggie pretty much hates it, but I got her to stay in it long enough to take a few pictures. :)

Isn't she just an adorable wiener - thank you, Allison!

OK, this next picture doesn't even need an introduction (at least I don't think so....): SERIOUSLY??

Today, thanks to those wonderful land rigs (natural gas - shale) around here, I just made $3,683 in about 10 minutes. Mineral rights are a big deal down here and it is very common for property owners to sign 'gas leases' - basically giving gas companies the right to use your property underground (WAY underground) to get to shale/oil. I just signed up for the gas lease that is happening in Southeast Arlington right now. It's a 3-year lease and the $3,683 is a signing bonus, then when they are set up and have started drilling in about 2 years, I will get anywhere between $50 and $150 per MONTH just for the use of my little yard (about 1000 feet under it - unbeknownst to me)! And if they don't start drilling in this first 3 years, then they have to re-up and pay another signing bonus and start over! There really aren't any risks - it's basically free money for the use of your yard to run pipes through - at a deep level, so I won't even know they are there! Woo hoo! I think I'm going to get another massage to celebrate! GOD BLESS TEXAS!! Merry Christmas to me!!

Let's See How Far We've Come...

Well, history was made this week (well, in my small world it's history!) - I finally got Texas license plates on my car and today I got a Texas driver's license!!!!! Agh!!! I have wanted this day to come for 6 years and it is finally here!! This is very exciting for me and kind of a rite-of-passage on to my new life away from past hurts and experiences that I would rather not be reminded of. I absolutely love Texas and everything about it (except for the sticky heat - it was about 94 and super muggy today). This heat thing is going to be the death of me if my body doesn't start adjusting soon. Hopefully my immune system is getting stronger again so that I don't have to get cold after cold anymore!

Update on my fabulous electric/cordless lawn mower - IT'S AWESOME and I LOVE IT!! I love it so much that I bought the 'matching' edger/trimmer. It's also electric and cordless and was super easy to setup and I've already used it. They are amazing and I would recommend them to anyone that doesn't want to deal with the maintenance and has a small property.

I continue to explore the area and 'get lost' on purpose - or just take alternate routes to different places so I can find where all the cool stores are.

Confidential to Iris Took - I drove past a fast-food restaurant called Wienerschnitzel and I thought of you and your GAF obsession. When you visit, we can go there and have fun with the German-ness!! Remember when we went to Fritz & Alfredo's? That was the most bizarre experience - chips and salsa, and then some speitzel or whatever that was!! HAHAHA!! Remember the Marienplatz?? It's where the Glockenspiel is - just so you know.

OK, a while back I indicated that there was a condom store near my house - I drove by it a couple days ago on my way to the Walmart with longhorns on it. Anyway, the name of the store is "Condom Sense" - ha ha! Isn't that funny??

Maggie continues to enjoy the warm weather and the doggy door freedom, I am dealing with her thinking she can go poo in the living room right after I leave the house. It's been something that we're dealing with this week and I'm trying to break her of this silly habit. After all, she has full access to the yard at her leisure. I think she's just mad at me for leaving her alone all day - she IS an attention whore.

One exciting thing that is going to happen in June: I'm going to meet a bona-fide-real-cowboy-that-wears-cowboy-jeans-and-a-big-belt-buckle-and-lives-on-a-farm-in-west-Texas-and-has-horses-and-cows-and-wears-a-cowboy-hat-for-it's intended-purpose, not-to-be-trendy-and-who's-kids-call-him-"Daddy"-for-their-whole-life. This unique experience is courtesy of my co-worker Mayce who is this cowboy's daughter. He is "daddy" to her, but he will be Dwight Nanny to me - or we have now dubbed him "D-Nann". Mayce has the THICKEST Texas accent I have ever heard and I could just listen to her talk all day long. When she is frustrated with something, she will say "Cuss and murder!!" - a phrase that is courtesy of her Grandma. Ha ha ha! I CANNOT WAIT to meet good 'ol Dwight!!!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend - stay safe and have fun! Miss you all tons!!

Lazy days of summ----oh wait, it's not summer yet!

...but you'd never guess it wasn't summer yet if you were in Dallas on Saturday - it was 94 degrees and very humid. Gross! I feel sorry for Jenna Bush (no matter what you think of her father) because her OUTDOOR wedding was just a couple hours from here and it was soooo hot and sticky. But the weirdest thing is that the next day, Sunday, it was about 75, no humidity and beautiful. The weather here is bizarre - it can swing so much from day to day. Maybe that's why I have had 3 bad colds in 2 months. My immune system is sooooo messed up!

OK, this blog post will be a random mix of weird stuff......

One cool new business that I found recently (thanks to my co-worker Marie) is Massage Envy. It's a franchise brand of massage places that have massage plans that mimic tanning packages, cell phone plans, etc. Basically, you sign up to pay $49/month and you get 1 massage a month and anything beyond that 1 massage is only $39 (1-year contract)! I tried it once and it's a very nice place with soft lighting, relaxing music, clean and private rooms with super soft and comfortable bedding - just like a super fancy salon. My massage was great! I'm thinking of joining, but I'm just going to hold off through the summer and see how my air conditioning bills go. :) Check it out in your city - it was great!!

Random Texas Observations:

1. It is very hard to find lots of low-fat, low-calorie, low-sugar or fat-free food options in the grocery stores. I am going to Kroger here, just like in Ohio, so it's not that the brands or variations don't exist - I bought them in Ohio. I guess Texas people don't care about looking at labels and choosing better options for food....

2. When you drive around the suburbs here, you will see oil rigs - little ones that you might mistake for the center-tall-structure on the Tilt-A-Whirl or some other ride at Six Flags! The first few times I saw them, I honestly thought they were rides of some kind and I thought it was weird, but now I understand. And with gas prices the way they are, I don't understand why gas isn't SUPER cheap here in Texas since there's no transportation costs - we could just pull right up to these rigs and fill up! (Just kidding - I know it's more complicated than that, but a girl can fantasize....)

3. My new public library (Arlington Public Library system) has the most awesome check-out system! It's very techy and my library card actually has a gold square on it, indicating there's some sort of chip in it. When I am finished searching for good Books-on-CD for my commute, I proceed to the check-out area and I pass my card across this square pad (don't even have to scan a bar code!) Then I just pass my books/CDs across the same square pad and it just senses the item, beeps and then shows the item in your list on the screen. It's like the self-checkout at Kroger or Walmart - amazing and wonderful!!!

4. In Arlington, we have 2 garbage days per week - Tuesdays and Fridays. I've never heard of TWO garbage days! My only guess at an explanation is that in the summer it's sooooo hot that you want to get rid of garbage RIGHT AWAY because if it sits in the garage for more than a day, you will actually choke and die of the stench when you go out to your car. YUCK.

Anyway, I have been putting off blogging for the last few days because I have been crabby and frustrated and I didn't want to get on here and just puke my negativity on here. I'm not exactly sure why I'm crabby, but it may be that I'm just very frustrated with not knowing very many people yet and being lonely sometimes. I knew this would be difficult, so it's no shock to me and it certainly won't last too long, but sometimes you just need a hug from a friend or your Mom and that time is right now. Any and all e-hugs are welcome and very much needed and appreciated!! I love and miss you all very much - now come and visit me already!!!

PS - I 'temporarily' installed Maggie's doggy door myself last night and we practiced with treats and the step stools, but much to my dismay when I got home from work today, Maggie had pooped on the floor not 10 feet from the doggy door. Bad wiener dog. Bad wiener dog. She's keeping her distance right now - she knows she was a bad wiener today. Ugh.

PSS - T minus one week until I get my Texas license plates and drivers license!!!! YES!!!!!!!

Today I am going to sing the praises of my new cordless electric lawn mower from Lowe's! It's wonderful - no gas (which is very expensive right now), no oil, no oil changes. You just plug it in to a charger for a few hours, unplug it, mow the yard and then put it back on the charger. It's environmentally friendly and it's only a 24V charger, so it doesn't draw much electricity. The only maintenance you have to do is sharpen/replace the blade every year or so. That's it!! It's got a mulcher insert, so I don't even have to use the bag and mess with all the grass. It also has a one-touch height adjuster, so you don't have to go around to each wheel and monkey with the A-E levels. Woo hoo! I got mine at Lowe's for $399, but it had a $40 rebate, so $359 total. It's all assembled and ready to go in the box - just extend the handle and tighten, put it on the charger for a day and you're ready to mow! It has an electric start key, so no more pulling that annoying cord trying to get the thing to start - just turn the knob and you're in business. If you're thinking about buying a new mower - get an electric one!!!

Fixin' to PASS OUT!

I hope you all know that I am kidding when I say I'm 'fixin' to do ANYTHING! But I am truly exhausted after a whirlwind weekend. Here are the things I accomplished:

1. Set up my lawn mower

2. Mowed the backyard

3. Watered the backyard and sprayed for pests

4. Went to the public library, got a library card and checked out Books-On-CD for my commute

5. Went to Goodwill and dropped off stuff to donate

6. Attended my homeowners association pool-opening party (got my keycard for the pool gate!)

7. Finished decorating the house

8. Vacuumed the house and cleaned the floors

9. Organized the garage

10. Went grocery shopping

11. Watched a documentary on Auschwitz (Beth - it was really depressing, just how I like 'em)

12. Took Maggie to the vet to get her annual shots

Whew - it was a busy weekend, but oh so productive. I love that - efficient. It's just the Type A/left brain in me. So now that I'm all settled, 'real life' can begin! I'm going to try a church next weekend that my co-workers go to and hopefully I will like it. It sounds like it's a lot like Cedar Creek, so that's right up my alley. I am also having Maggie's doggy door installed next Saturday - yay! Tomorrow I am working from home in the afternoon so that I can get my new garage door and garage door opener installed - YES! I'm excited to get my car in the garage since it's tornado/hail season and it's a pain in the rear to put it in the garage manually.

Well, here's the officially unveiling of my house (pics below):

The new master bedroom furniture that I bought down here.

Here's the guest room, just waiting for a guest........

The office.

This last picture is the future home of the much talked about doggy door. I even have the step stool all ready for Maggie. It will be installed on Saturday!

My job still is great and I'm enjoying it. We have a big conference to put on in 2 weeks, so everyone is very busy preparing. Every employee of the company works the conference, so it's all hands on deck. I'll be working in Registration, the Info booth and I will also be selling merch for the band (Lincoln Brewster). It should be a fun time, but long days - but that's something I'm used to! Actually these 3 days will be much shorter than "long" days I've had at SeaGate - so it should be a piece of cake. :)

The next big step in my journey is getting a Texas driver's license and Texas license plates! I have to get my car inspected and prove that I have insurance on the car and then I can go and claim my plates that I have wanted for so long. I am surely going to bring my camera and make a moron of myself, but this is a symbolic moment for me!

Have a great week everyone and put lots of comments on here - I love reading them (I get an email with your comment every time someone leaves one - yay!). As much as I LOVE Texas and I know without a doubt that I made the right decision and I belong here, I'm starting to get a little lonely for familiar faces and good friends!!