Extreme Shrub Makeover!

Well, today I worked from home so that I could have some landscaping done to the front of my house. I met Pedro and his helper friend (who didn't speak a single word of english) at Home Depot at 6:55am (store opens at 7am) to pick out my shrubs and stone edging. Let the fun begin! Pedro had all the answers, so it didn't take very long to pick out everything and formulate a plan. We then headed back to my house and they got to work. They just now finished the job around 4pm, so that's not bad time - considering they had to trim a bunch of 2-story dead branches off my trees, cut them up, load them on their trailer and clean up the yard too. I'm happy with my new front landscape and I need to diligently water the shrubs every single day for 2 weeks and then I can go to every other day after that. It's so hot here, that I want to make sure the plants get a good drink of water daily.

Here's a pic of the glory of working from home - 2 laptops going at the same time!

And while I was working upstairs, Pedro and the mystery helper were transforming the front of my house!

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

And as of a few minutes ago, here are the AFTER pictures:

It will take a while for the green Buford Hollies to grow to their mature height - up to a year, but then I can make them into a pretty square, boxy shape. Right now they are just babies, so I have to be patient and gentle with them.

Somehow, the transformation just doesn't seem official unless Ty Pennington screams in a megaphone "MOVE THAT BUS! TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR NEW HOME!" (But really, Maggie's ears wouldn't like that anyway....)

I've got the Handyman blues/Tribute to Dad

This past week has been an extremely frustrating one, as far as the house goes. I am looking for a landscaping company to trim some dead tree branches and also dig up my front shrub area (it's rock-hard clay in there - believe me, I bought the tools and tried to do it myself) and plant some new foliage and do a little stone edge wall around it. Anyway, I got an estimate from Pedro, the guy who some of my neighbors apparently use and he quoted basically $1,000 after I bought the materials. Agh! Just to trim some branches and plant some shrubs! Today another company is supposed to come over and give me an estimate.

I also called a handyman service to do some little jobs around the house (install some light fixtures, change out the bathroom faucets, etc.). They quoted me 6-8 hours of work and I have to pay by the hour (which means they will work REALLY SLOW) - it would be around $800 just for some little jobs that don't even need to be done by a licensed trademan!!! What is the deal?! My co-workers think I'm getting screwed over by these quotes, but I cannot seem to find a reasonable person/company with reasonable prices. Apparently I have a huge target on my forehead that says "Please, come and do this job, I am stupid and will pay ANYTHING!"

I guess what I really need to find is a great man to date that is handy around the house - or some great guy friends that I can "pay" with pizza and beer! UGH! Where is my Dad when I need him??!! He could do these projects in no time and do it right the first time. All kidding aside, it's times like this when I do miss my Dad the most (for those that are reading this that don't know, my Dad died suddenly about 5 years ago) - he was so good with this stuff and soooo smart (I'm not even being biased - other neighbors would tell me that when I was younger - that I was so lucky to have such a smart Dad that could fix anything). When I had braces as a pre-teen and the wires would poke me in the back of my mouth, he would even clean off the metal cutters and cut them off himself so it wouldn't hurt.

I have had a very frustrating week with all of this, and I know it may seem trivial to some of you reading this, but when I'm down here alone without friends that I can really trust yet and no family, I really feel isolated and scared when everyone has their hand out for money and you don't know who you can trust and who's trying to screw you over. I have been trying to make the best decisions I can with the information I have, but it just seems that with this house, there are things that I just have to trust the experts with and hope for the best. I am a control freak about my stuff at times (I get it directly from my Dad - for sure!) and so it makes me crazy, wondering if I'm making the right choices or doing the right thing. I look for signs from my Dad (usually it's pennies that he leaves for me - I'll post the penny/angel poem in a minute) and I know he's near. With the last week being so frustrating, I have been looking for a 'sign' from Dad that he's around and watching over me....yesterday I was at a barbecue/pool party with my realtor/friend Teresa and in the bathroom was a penny on the floor. Miss you Dad!

Here are some pics of the master at work!!

And here's the Penny Poem:

Pennies From Heaven

I found a penny today,

just laying on the ground.

But it is not just a penny,

this little coin I found.

Found pennies come from heaven,

that's what my Grandpa told me.

He said Angels toss them down,

oh how I loved that story.

He said when an Angel misses you,

they toss a penny down.

Sometimes just to cheer you up,

makes a smile out of your frown.

So don't pass by that penny

when you're feeling blue.

It may be a penny from heaven,

that an Angel's tossed to you.

And I Will Call Him...MINI ME! (And to think he got his 'big break' in Arlington!)

Verne J. Troyer, a.k.a. Mini-V, is best known for his role as "Mini-Me," Dr. Evil's smaller and more concentrated pure evil protégé, in the hit comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). Although the thirty-year-old, 32-inch-tall actor has just recently become recognized as a "Big Man in the business," Verne has been working in show business as an actor and stuntman for several years. Troyer, born on January 1, 1969, in Sturgis, Michigan, had always dreamed growing up of getting into showbiz. Shortly after his high school graduation in 1987, Verne moved with some friends to Arlington, Texas, where, in 1993, he got his first break into showbiz as a stunt double for a 9-month-old baby on a film called Baby's Day Out (1994). Over the next few years, Verne made several film and television appearances, often portraying animals or small children.

Greetings From Under the Bed

Maggie just wanted to say hi....from her most favorite place in the house - under my bed! She is turning into a cat!

...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.