It's not beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Ugh!!! This is just a complaint that it is way too hot for Christams... It's November for goodness sake!!!! It's not supposed to be freakin' 80 degrees!!!

Ok...I'm better...it will be a-ok.

Thanksgiving Week/end

Happy Thanksgiving people. Are you turkeyed out yet? I'm not. I didn't get any turkey sandwiches, but that's my fault.

ANYWHO!!!

I had a wonderful week/end spending time with family. Let's just start on Wednesday: My plan was to leave work at 12:30pm and arrive at Jason's parents at 5pm. Well that didn't work. There must have been a huge wreck about 50 miles north of Waco because cars crawled at no speed - snail pace for about 2 hours and we barely got 3 miles. THAT was fun. But I made it in one piece to McAlester, OK. Funny that Jason and his Dad got stuck in traffic going to pick up deer meat. Hee hee... Had a relaxing Thanksgiving Day with Jason's parents and his sister Ruth and Cliff (her husband). I think I've watched enough football to last me for about two years now.

I drove us to Fayetteville on Friday and had no problems getting there. Baked a pie and waited until the bro, sis-in-law and nieces came over. Fun times! Turkey...goood! Arkansas losing to LSU....BAD!!! We'll survive...somehow... Saturday was a lazy day...it was great. Showed Mom what I wanted for Christmas and went over to Drew and Mandy's for hamburgers with Dad and Grandma. Good to see them. Drew took me for a spin in his new Mustang...laid some rubber on the road too.

Now the trip back to Waco wasn't all that bad because I had the fore thought to pick some alternate routes that saved me some time. Except for the wreck that held up traffic outside of Waco. Fortunately I was at a place where I knew some back roads to get to the apartment. Yeah! I got home about 7pm. All in all the trip was excellent...now I can't wait for Christmas. I'm thinking of taking a whole week off, which will be really nice. I got to get crackin' Christmas is around the corner!!! Which leads me to a dilemma. Should I get the tree out and decorate or no b/c no one but me will see it? It's always a quandary. Below are a few pics of the fam:

Ok, this isn't of the family.
I took a picture of the grass waving in the wind while I was stuck on N-I35E.



Jason's Dad carving the turkey!

Awww...Jason and Emma



Alex and Drew



Princess Alex

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!!!

Don't get me wrong, Christmas is very important too. But the commercialization of Christmas has gotten out of control. I love Christmas music but for goodness sakes, don't start playing it until AFTER Thanksgiving, please! I confess I have listened to a little bit but after hearing the same song three times in one day, that's when I gotta listen to the iPod! Anyway, I wonder what people in other countries think Chirstmas is supposed to be when they observe us. I can't imagine! This is how I see it. Instead of the birth of Chirst being the center of the season, it seems to be Santa Claus, reindeer and how many lights you can put on your house. It looks like we worship the wrong gift giver. Santa Claus. Based on a true person, giving gifts to the poor? Maybe, and honorable but it seems we are on the wrong side of the worshipping. We beg and plead to get what we want, especially when we're kids. Do you realize we live in a society today that we can get what we want whenever we want it? Several decades ago it wasn't like that. It was all people could do to save enough to buy something special at Christmas. I love to give gifts. It's fun. I like to receive gifts but not half as much as giving. Seriously!! In reality this is the time to be thankful again to God who gave us the ultimate gift of redemption through his own son. I think that's why we are supposed to give gifts to one another. Almost like a mini sacrifice of money for family, friends and those less fortunate than ourselves.

WOW what a tirade!!! and I haven't even got to Thanksgiving yet!

Why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday....by Jessica Harris; Grade ?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because the air is cooler and the leaves turn different colors (alas, not so much in Texas). It's a time to gather with your family and just be with them. Food is always involved and I like to cook too, so that's a bonus. It just gives me an excuse. I love leftover turkey. I also love to lay on the couch and snooze or watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Not all of it because it's too long...just another excuse to snooze on the couch. Granted some of the time I help with the meal, but that really should be left to the matriarch of family, shouldn't it? At my house, it's tradition to go see a movie on Thanksgiving day and if there's enough of us, we play Trivial Pursuit (guys against girls). Anyway, I love that Thanksgiving is a time where we can be thankful with out all of the hullabaloo during Christmas. That's probably what I like best. The end.

Ya'll, be thankful for what you have and don't take it for granted! Ever! We don't know how lucky we truly are.

God bless...

PS: I'm also thankful that FOX has decided to cancel the TV Special with OJ Simpson!!! Thank GOODNESS!!!

Stupid, stupid, stupid....

Ok there are two things I just HAD to blog about...

1) OJ Simpson.


I just had to have a moment of silence for the stupidity of this man. I might sound harsh (for me) but give me break. How stupid IS this guy? Honestly, have you heard the latest? Yeah, he's gonna be on TV to discuss the latest. Here's a quote from CNN, just because I can't bring myself to write down:

Fox, which plans to air an interview with Simpson Nov. 27 and 29, said Simpson describes how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, "if he were the one responsible."

There aren't any words to describe the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Fox must really hard up for things to air AND/OR OJ must be feeling pretty lonely to get this kind of attention. My Dad said he thought OJ couldn't profit off his ex-wife's death according to the court ruling. So I'm wondering about OJ's motivation. Bored? All I can say is.....DEE DEE DEEEEEEE!

The other sad thing about this is that a lot of people are going to watch this and buy the stupid book... BOYCOTT IT!!!! Why are we so fascinated with this crap?

2)Playstation 3.

No, I wasn't in line. Did you hear some teenagers held up a line of people who were waiting to purchase the PS3 and shot someone who refused to give them money? I know people do very strange/stupid things, but I'm sorry, when did a game box become so important that you need to rob and shoot someone to buy it (I'm assuming that's what they were going to do). Why does it cost so much freakin' money? Ok, it's the latest in graphic technology....yada yada yada. But don't we better things to spend our money on than something that can cause us to ignore the world around us? I can say this because I've been caught up in the gaming world. I've spent hours and hours on Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (love that game) and computer games when I could have been doing so much other productive stuff, like, I don't know, cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, being outside, getting an education...

Watch the episode of South Park where Warcraft is the storyline. I think it's a pretty accurate picture of what part of our society is coming to. Just to further convince you we are going the way of the Dodo bird, here are a few more articles on the wonderful actions of crazy people after a game box:

Launch-Day Frenzy

• Customer shot while waiting outside a Connecticut Walmart. (Article - ABCNews.com)

• Three PS3 campers robbed at gunpoint outside Springfield, OR Circuit City. (Article - KMTR.com, Oregon)

• Two gunmen rob a GameStop store in Elk Grove, CA, steal several PS3's. (Article - CBS13.com, Sacramento, CA)

• Several customers shot with BB guns while waiting outside a Central Kentucky Best Buy. (Article - WKYT.com, Kentucky)

• A dentist in Columbus, GA hired 60 temp workers to wait inline for 15 systems for his grandchildren. He later ditches plan after complaints from other customers. (Article - ledger-enquirer.com)

• One customer quits job to wait in line. Another postpones buying engagement ring for his girlfriend in order to afford PS3. (Article - TGDaily.com)

• Pregnant mother ignores contractions while camping outside a Secaucus, NJ Best Buy. (Article - NJ.com)

• Various Stories (Article - Newsday.com)

P.S. on the Razorback Game...

Top Five Tips while attending a Razorback Football Game:

• Check the weather, it could be cold.
• Sub tip - wear warm clothes when cold
  
• If you do get a chance to sit down, bring something to sit on.
  
• Check the best possible and easy accessible parking spots (and alternate routes to get to them).
• Leave in plenty of time...you never know how long it will take you to climb the ramp to get to your seats in the nose bleed section.
• MOST IMPORTANT TIP: Try not to wear the opposing team's colors...you could get your head smashed in...when in doubt...wear red.

These tips are brought to you by people who have experienced the weather, sitting arrangements, parking, climbing and wearing of inappropriate colors. (Jason was most unfortunate to have in his possession a Norman Tigers coat, which happens to be orange, which happened to be the color of the Tennessee Vols, who we happened to be playing at the time.)

How 'bout them HOGS!!!!!

Well what can I say...I think they won because we were screaming at the top of our lungs. Yup, my sibilings and their significant others, as well as my own, all went with two other cousins to the Arkansas (ranked #7) vs. Tennessee (ranked #22) game last Saturday. It was awesome! Maybe not the fact that we were probably 5 rows from the very top of the stadium and way on the end, but hey, you can't really quibble with free tickets to a huge game! We were fortunate enough to get a decent parking space. Thanks to the Daggets.

It was a short but excellent trip. Jason and I met in Indianola at Jason's parents and spent the night before going to Fayetteville on Saturday. I got to see where Jason grew up and went to school. Very cool. We dropped by Dad's and said hey and then went on to Mom's where Aunt Becky and Robin were showing off their shopping purchases. Got to see the brother, which was great.

It was really fun to be there with the bros and Mandy and Alex. I think we all had a good time. It's been fun being adults talking and joking around. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I have a wonderful family and there just isn't enough time in the day to visit as long as I would like without going insane. I'm also looking forward to spending time with Jason's family too.

OHHH!!! Jason called me early yesterday morning letting me know he was in a car accident. Not his fault but did do some damage to his car. He's ok, a little sore, but sad about his baby. Pray that he'll feel better and that everything goes smoothly with his car insurance and getting his car fixed.

Check out the pictures from the game. We rock...HOGS all the way, baby!

"A" is for Arkansas



Go Hogs!!!

J & J

Mandy & Drew



Patrick & Alex



Becky & Robin



The Arkansas Razorback Marching Band!!!



Patrick, Alex, Drew, Mandy, Jason, Jessica, Becky and Robin

NASCAR is.........LOUD!!!!

Well, I had an eventful weekend. It really was a FUN weekend...I don't know why I'm surprised by it. Everything went well, which I was nervous about. For Jason's birthday, November 1st, I got tickets to see the NASCAR race yesterday....Let me back up a little... I have never been in to stock car racing...ever. There are some sports I will watch, like football and really only when the Razorbacks are playing. And of course, it's always better when you are there live. Now Jason loves sports and NASCAR and I have grown to understand it and actually there is a lot to it. It's also funny because it's like a soap opera...seriously.... You just have to be there and see it to believe it. Boos and cheers. I think people like Dale Earnhardt Jr. because his main sponsor is Bud. (Nah, it's probably because of his Dad.) Anyway! Jeff Gordon is Jason's favorite and I asked him who his second favorite was and he said Tony Stewart. Cool.

The thing I was nervous about was the weather. It was already raining when we got there and then it was sporadic. I bet I looked good in my 86 cent poncho. Woot woot! (By the time the race was over I was pretty much damp and everything I had.) We walked around looking at everything. And then lo and behold there was Ricky Bobby's trailer!!! It was awesome!! I got my picture with a gianormous Ricky Bobby. We found our seats (on the second row on the 1st turn) around 11am and waited. It wasn't too bad because there was so much to see. Dr. Phil was there! We watched the jet engine dryers mounted on trucks drying the track off. We were still wondering if there was even going to be a race. Well it looked like it was a go. The race was delayed about an hour but they did race. It was awesome and very loud. Thank goodness we brought earplugs. There were several wrecks, but the two major ones I missed because I was either 1) in the bathroom, 2) waiting in line at the ATM machine, 3) souveniers or 4) getting a subway sandwich. It's ok, I'll live. :D

Well it was pretty dramatic at the end with a checkered green flag and a restart. Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson were almost neck in neck but Jimmie Johnson couldn't catch Tony Stewart and he won!! It was pretty exciting. There were over 150,000 people there. The population of Waco. That is NUTS!!! The race was over around 7pm and then the heavens opened up and let the water spill out. It thunderstormed like you wouldn't believe. I've heard horror stories about exiting the race but it wasn't too bad really. I took Hwy 156 all the way to I-820 and then to I35W to Ft. Worth. The traffic on the Interstate wasn't bad either. I got home about 9:30pm and was asleep by 10:15. Gosh I was tired. Jason wasn't so lucky. He hit some construction just 12 miles outside of Norman...he didn't get home until 11pm. He texted me and I replied but barely remember it. Poor guy. But hey, he got free tix to something he likes and a pretty darn good blackberry pie, if I do say so myself.

Trying to park the cars at 9am.



One of Tony Stewart's cars.



Me and Ricky Bobby.



Jeff Gordon's car is the one on the right. Neon orange.



Awwww...two NASCAR fans...and earplugs.



Blackberry pie...yeah, I'm pretty proud of it.

Long Time, No Blog...

Whoa, it seems forever since I've blogged!!! I need to catch ya'll up on stuff! Let's see, what has happened? On the weekend of October 21st I went to Jason's sister's wedding. It was beautiful. She was definitely a princess! The wedding was between Comanche and Duncan on Highway 81. The drive was great. It was nice to see different scenery and drive with no one else on the road. Sweet! I met a lot of Jason's family, including his Grandmother, and a lot of Cliff's family too. Cliff was the groom. All in all, a good time was had by everybody!

So that was the weekend. What else has happened? On 10-24 was our third annual Dr Pepper oUT oF tHE oRDINARY gOLF tOURNAMENT. The turnout was ok but we made basically the same amount of money as last year. We need more players...if you are interested in golfing, our next tournament is on 10-24-07. It's always on 10-24 (weekday permitting). Because, of course, you drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4!

ANYWAY!!! What else...ummmm well my Mom is scheduled to have surgery on November 6th. It's outpatient surgery indirectly related to her cancer treatments. Her next BIG surgery in on December 20th.

Last weekend was fabulous. Friday I took in a matinee. The Prestige. Pretty good! About two magicians duking it out to be the best. On Saturday I got to sleep in for once in a great while. I slept probably until 9 and then read in bed until noon. It was great. Then I went to see the movie The Departed. Pretty good, people! Based on one of my favorite films from Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs. If you get a chance to see it, do so.

Sunday started a week of busyness. Sunday was the Chili/Gumbo cookoff, which we helped set up and take down for...Monday I worked and then represented Cottey College at the HOT College Fair that night....Tuesday night was Fall Festival at Church. (Not Halloween, mind you, but you could still dress up and get candy...what's the logic behind that?) I helped serve pizzas in the concession stand...Wednesday night I represented the country China at church for Mission emphasis week and then helped Angie cook a chicken casserole for a family with an illness. Thursday for lunch I ate at La Fiesta and listened to women talk about their mission experiences. It was good but I'm TIRED!!! So tonight I'm not gonna do much...maybe pick up a few things here and there in the apartment and watch Pride and Prejudice. Gosh, I love that movie.

The next two weekend are going to be action packed, so look for a blog posting next week on NASCAR...yeah, that's right, NASCAR!

Signing off....J

Jessica the Pirate (at work)


Work gang at lunch...on Halloween...duh!
It's not usually how we dress...usually....