Pony Tails!

Last weekend I went to Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie to see some horse racing action - something I haven't done since that first summer when I moved here 3 years ago. This visit happened to be opening weekend for the 2011 Thoroughbred Season!

The front of the park is very pretty - this was out by the ring where they show the horses before each race.

And here we are on the track - right in front of the finish line, waiting for the first race.....

Track Condition: FAST (well I hope so!)....

Here's the view of the track from along the fence.....It's very wide for how many horses race - and they are all bunched together anyway....

Here they come - almost to the finish line!

This is the view from the track - up at the stands. You can get general admission tickets that are just for the outside seats on the bottom, or you can get box seats inside. And the top levels had chairs with computers at each one - for the SERIOUS betters.

Another close finish...

In between races - just hanging out...

This one was a photo finish - they had to replay it to see who won...

After each race, the horses just kind of mill around....

Look at this sweet little cowboy! Hat and boots!

There were 9 races that night - all were different lengths on the track, some were grass and some were dirt.....so they had to keep moving the mobile starting gates around based on how far from the stationary finish line they needed to be.

The starting gates are pulled by a truck and they just move it in between races, depending on the length of that particular race. So weird!

And there it goes! They drove it to the other side of the track....

I thought this shot was neat - it has the trumpeter (in red). He hung out back there and then headed out to the track to signal the start of the race.

This is the same area, but before it got dark. Before each race, they parade the horses around the circle so the betters can see them up close. The jockeys are also back there walking around. Very interesting!

List Friday

Top 10 Favorite Concerts I Have Attended

1. New Kids On The Block - Minnesota State Fair

2. Bruce Springsteen - "The Rising" - Fargo, North Dakota

3. John Mellencamp - St. Paul, Minnesota

4. Bruce Springsteen - "The Seeger Sessions" - near Detroit, Michigan

5. Pat Green - Billy Bob's - Fort Worth, TX

6. Bob Dylan - Madison, Wisconsin; St. Paul, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

7. Arlo Guthrie & Livingston Taylor - St. Cloud, Minnesota

8. Toby Keith - Minnesota State Fair

9. The BoDeans - Minneapolis, Minnesota

10. Alanis Morrissette - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Thankful Thursday

This week's Thankful Thursday is kind of boring, but I have to say it - I'm thankful for my health. While I have had a bunch of minor health annoyances lately, I am crazy blessed to have a pretty healthy body.

I just had to have my annual physical and they ran routine bloodwork while I was there. Everything came back normal from my physical and I could just file that paperwork and move on.....but I want to specifically be appreciative and grateful for a clean bill of health.

There are always things I want to work on in order to keep myself healthy, but I am so glad that I have the ability to get up each day and do what I want to do - free of major pain, disease or other big problems. Not everyone is that lucky, and I need to remember that and appreciate what a gift I have in the ordinary things I am able to do that I take for granted all the time.

OVER Serviced

OK, I haven't done a pet-peeve post in a long time, so I'm getting on my soapbox today......bear with me...

This 'issue' that I am going to complain about is something that has bugged me for a long time, but seems to have gotten worse lately. When you are in a restaurant, typically you are there to talk to other people you are with and enjoy their company, right? OK, well then when you get an attentive, great server at your table, you are glad, right? OK good - we're on the same page.

Here's where it derails for me.....

When you are sitting across the table from someone, carrying on a somewhat deep/involved conversation and no less than 3 different staff members come up to your table to ask how everything is. Now I know, too much service is a stupid thing to complain about and I would normally agree with you. Everyone has experienced bad service and a disappearing server - it's terrible.

But I'm serious - when did restaurant management start making the rounds on a stalker/clingy basis??? I have a server, I don't really need you to fly by in your polo shirt or shirt/tie and very formally ask us the same questions our server just asked us. Yes, we're FINE, for the 150th time. Our glasses are full, we are actively eating our food and we were just asked how we were doing by our server no less than 3 minutes ago. GO AWAY. I'm not interested in having a deep conversation with you, I don't need you kissing my butt and no, for the 150th time, I don't need more water in my 3/4 full water glass!! UGH!

This is probably a super dumb thing to complain about and especially blog about, but it was on my mind and it has been happening a LOT lately at all different restaurants. What gives?! Sometimes LESS is MORE!

Welcome To The (Flower) Jungle

Today I am featuring some of my favorite flowers/plants from the Dallas Arboretum! SOOOO many to choose from and I couldn't soak it all in...

Here are some gorgeous snapdragons - they had every color there!

This was a fun little area - it was called 'potted trial plants' - things they are trying out to see if they want to plant them for real.

Ha - poppies! They are my birth month flower (August).

I think these are pansies - I know they are pretty common, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE that deep purple color.

I am not sure what these are, but I loved them.

And some more pansies with different patterns on them.....

Fantastically gorgeous!

This isn't a traditional gerbera daisy, but something similar - neat!

Here are some hollies - gotta love those berries! But I was surprised to see them in the spring....my holly shrubs only get red berries around Christmas time.....

And of course, the classic rose. The one below struck me as "perfect" when I looked at it!

And here are my absolute favorite flower - the gerbera daisy! I wish they would've been anything but pink (preferrably RED, of course).

My Mom really liked these flowers with the benches set back in them.

And here's a cute little duck taking a nap standing up on one leg!

I love love loved this path - it had a green border of monkey grass. It looked so cool!

Mom and I had a fun time at the Arboretum........and then the next day, we went to DFW Gun Range and shot her new pistol!

Here she is getting ready to fire.....

She had a great time and feels more confident with that gun in her hand. Watch out, intruders!

She was a pretty good shot by the end of the outing!

Dallas Blooms

During my Mom's visit this past weekend, I took her to the Dallas Arboretum for "Dallas Blooms." She is an avid gardener and flower person, so I knew it would be right up her alley.

The grounds were just beautiful - perfectly manicured!

And one of my very favorite types of trees were all over the place - crape myrtles. Here's a huge one:

They had a little area for the kids to explore - Texas Pioneer Adventure. I wanted to go in, but they were only letting field trip kids (of which there were a billion) in....dang it!

I just couldn't believe how well cared for everything was - the grass was insanely perfect!

This is the Crape Myrtle Alley - my FAV part of the arboretum. They lined it with pumpkins in the fall. It's just spectacular.

Here's Mom in Crape Myrtle Alley...

And of course, we found some fountains - I am obsessed with fountains! These were 4 frogs that were basically having a spitting contest!

What IS it about moving water that is so mesmerizing?!

Here's Mom and the frog...

Everything was pretty lush, despite the lack of rain - we are SO in a drought this spring....

This is the 'poetry garden' or something like that. I loved it - it reminds me of Shakespeare and Romeo & Juliet or one of those stories. SO PRETTY.

More water features - YAY!

When we first got there, they had about 50 workers in this area, planting all of the flowers here. When we were getting ready to leave, they were already done!!

It was out of a storybook fairytale!

Very peaceful......

And amongst the beauty, there were many John Deere tractors and workers keeping this place 'in bloom'!