Preparing for the New Year

I did it...today I turned in my two week notice. So, I will finish out the year at this job and start the new year off at a new job. Talk about a stressful day. I'm glad it's over.

~T

My Samsung Sank

Uh oh. I had my hands full when I came in the door and promptly dropped my cell phone in the dogs' water dish. My Samsung does not float. She sinks. Quickly. I dried it off but the volume is all but mute. The battery was actually dry so I thought I was in good shape...but it seems the speaker got wet. Really. Really. Wet. Hopefully the blow dryer will do the trick. I'm leaving it off for the night just in case. So if you need me, call me at home or at work. Or yell. Really. Really. Loud.

Day Two

We slept in until about 8:30/8:45, got ready to leave, and headed to the car (or so Jeremy thought). We actually detoured to the 2nd floor where two massage therapists were waiting for us. I had arranged for us to get deep tissue massages. Ahhh, relaxing. If I can just find the time, I'm going to go back to school to become a massage therapist. I think I will have to quit my job in order to do it, though.

After our relaxing hour, we headed back to the room to clean up. Then, we headed downtown to the Bayou City Art Festival. I love going to the Bayou City Art Festival and the weather was perfect for it (perfect = below 90 degrees and not raining).

I purchased these three fabulous pieces a couple of years ago and was hoping to find the same artist this year...but he was not there.

I did, however, find and purchase this lovely necklace.

We walked around for a couple of hours and then headed to the movie theatre to see Bourne Ultimatum, finally. I don't go to the movies very often and now I remember why. It is so EXPENSIVE. Good grief. And in Houston, you pay for parking everywhere. To go to the doctor, to the movies, to the museum, etc. Parking is not free anywhere. I'd rather rent a movie and watch it at home. If only our tv was working...

After the movie, we went back to the hotel to change and then headed over to Grotto for dinner. Good italian food. We shared pan seared mozzarella for an appetizer. I had Lasagne al Forno and Jeremy had something other than lasagna... (I remember it was pasta with chicken and peas and some other stuff). I just looked at the menu - it was called Pappardelle alla Campagnola. Clear as mud? We shared dessert and tried to walk off dinner on our way back to the hotel. :P

Sunday morning, we got up early to gather our things and check out of the hotel. Our weekend came to a close all too quickly.

11 Years and Counting...Day One

Day one got off to a slow start since "someone" didn't come home as early as he said he would...but once he did get home we were on our way to Hotel Derek. Jeremy was pleasantly surprised when we pulled in to the hotel, especially since he slept on the way here! Once here, we checked in, dropped off our bags, strolled over to the Galleria for some quick shopping, and then headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. We had a fantastic dinner at Bistro Moderne although it was not exactly what we expected. I had printed the menu in advance so we could at least have an idea what we wanted to order but they changed the menu! Talk about decisions. I had the tasty white figs and goat cheese salad for my appetizer and organic scottish salmon for my main course. Jeremy had the quebec pork ravioli for his appetizer and hanger steak with shallot sauce for his main course. We shared an apple tart with rum raisin ice cream for dessert. The plate was decorated with "Happy Anniversary" in chocolate. Mmmm, tasty.

We came back to a nice cold room. The thermostat is set on 60 degrees. I'm very happy. Jeremy is very cold. I'd be happiest if I could sleep on a bed of ice. Why do I live in the hottest city on earth?

Tomorrow, I have more surprises in store for Jeremy so that's all I can share for now.

G'nite.

~Tracy

Reader Appreciation and Anniversaries!

Thanks for being loyal readers, Dad and Jean! I think you might be my only audience. Let me know if you have any post requests... I just found my New York pictures from our first trip there so I'll add those to my flickr site soon. I'd been wondering where those pictures were hiding. I really need to organize my pictures.

Hi Aunt Sharon and Uncle Butch! I hope you are enjoying your time in Kentucky. I wish I was there with you! Please tell Dad to send me some cooler weather and I will send him some rain.

So, Jeremy and I are celebrating our 11 year anniversary tomorrow. Believe it or not, we are both taking a day off from work. The same day, even. I have a surprise for Jeremy. I could probably tell you because I don't think he reads this blog but just in case he does...I'll wait. It should be a nice weekend. It's the weekend for anniversaries. Happy 1st Anniversary to Erin and Josh. They only have two days and 10 years to catch up!

If I do have any other readers, leave me a comment and let me know who you are...don't be a lurker.
:P

~T

New Photos

New photos from Angela's wedding are posted on my flickr page. Check them out.

Here's one of my favorite photos I took...

On another note, insomnia sucks. I just want to sleep.

G'nite.

~Tracy

Tube-less

Our television is on the fritz. The color went first. Then the picture decided to follow. If you turn the TV off and then back on again, it works for a few minutes (the color isn't right but at least the picture is there). It's kind of like a computer. Just keep re-booting.

So the dilemma - proceed with our anniversary plans or put that money toward a new TV? The TV just went blank again.

Reasons not to get a new TV:

• I have a no new show rule. Most of my shows are off the air anyway. I don't like to watch reruns.
• The Astros baseball season is over.
• I work too much to watch TV.

Reasons to get a new TV:

• We've had this TV for over 10 years.
• Basketball season.
• Boston Legal.

What kind of TV do you have? Would you recommend it? Any advice is welcome.

~T

US Open 2007

We stayed at the Radio City Apartments thanks to a tip from our good friend and former dog/house sitter, Cory. We were very lucky to get a room/apartment since it was Fashion Week and the US Open (tennis not golf) was going on... Thanks, Cory! The location was great. The beds weren't anything to write home about - hard as boards - but, by the time we went to sleep each night, it really didn't matter.

We spent all day Wednesday at the US Open. We had tickets for the day session - Section 305, Row L. We got to see the following matches (winner in bold):

Women's singles quarter finals
Anna Chakvetadze vs Shahar Peer (6-4, 6-1)
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Agnes Szavay (6-1, 6-4)
Men's singles quarter finals
Nikolay Davydenko vs Tommy Hass (6-3, 6-3, 6-4)

We stayed on the grounds to watch the night matches on the big screen but missed most of the Venus Williams vs Jelena Jankovic (4-6, 6-1, 7-6[4]) women's singles quarter finals match due to technical difficulties. We did see the beginning of the Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick (7-6[5], 7-6[4], 6-2) men's singles quarter finals match on the big screen. It was pretty late by the time the match started and since it was a week night, people started to leave before the match was over. It's illegal to buy/sell tickets on the grounds at the US Open but it's not illegal to give someone tickets. So, the first person I asked gave me two tickets. Two box seat tickets! Luckily, we had already discussed the possibility of only getting two tickets with Matt & J-J. We all agreed that whoever got tickets would use them. So, after some persuasion Jeremy and I were off to our seats - Box 197, Row D. Sweet!

The seats were in line with the net. It was great. Luckily, Matt & J-J got two tickets not long after us and they also got to enjoy the rest of the match in Arthur Ashe Stadium. They didn't get box seats but I don't think J-J cared as long as she got to see Federer!

We had tickets for the day session again on Thursday - Section 308, Row K. We got to see the following matches:

Women's doubles semi-finals
Yung-Jan Chan / Chia-Jung Chuang vs Agnes Szavay / Vladimira Uhlirova (6-2, 7-6[5])
Men's singles quarter finals
David Ferrer vs Juan Ignacio Chela (6-2, 6-3, 7-5)
Mixed doubles finals
Victoria Azarenka / Max Mirnyi vs Meghann Shaughnessy / Leander Paes (6-4, 7-6[6])

Thursday night, we headed back to Manhattan to meet up with Cory for dinner at Ray's Pizza, just a half block from our hotel. The pizza was great and it is always great to see Cory.

Jeremy headed back to Houston Friday morning so he could have rehearsal for his upcoming show, Lucky Stiff. I decided to stay with Matt & J-J until Saturday night. Friday, we went our separate ways and I headed to the International Center of Photography museum and then to Central Park where I wandered around for hours. We met up in time to head to Shea Stadium for the Mets vs Astros game - Gate B, Mezzanine Level, Section 10, Row M, Seat 13. I talked Jeremy into going to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees vs the Mets last time we went to New York so I thought it was only fair that I go to Shea Stadium this time. Just so happens, they were playing the 'Stros.

Yes, I even wore my Astros jersey to the game. Those Mets fans don't scare me! Of course, the Astros lost so I was pretty safe from getting beaten up.

Saturday, we went our separate ways briefly. J-J called to say that on their way to the subway they noticed that Broadway was closed and it was lined with street vendors selling their wares. So, I met up with them to do some haggling. I hate to shop but I love to haggle. I got some ties for Jeremy and some belts for me. I also bought a couple of purses and wallets and some wine bottle covers for gifts. It was fun trying to fit everything into my small suitcase for the flight back. Be sure to compliment my Dolce & Gabbana purse the next time you see me!

I almost forgot to mention all the star gazing at the US Open. We met Nick Bollettieri (Agassi's first coach - super nice man) and Mary Joe Fernandez. Nick Bollettieri gave us all a business card and autographed it for us so go check out his site. Mary Joe was autographing head shots. Supposedly they are worth $100 on e-bay. I got a pretty good picture of Patrick McEnroe and Nick Bollettieri talking. We got our picture taken with Nick Bollettieri but I'll have to get a copy from Jennifer (aka J-J). A kind stranger took a picture (of our feet) with my camera! I got a really good picture of Mary Joe - she looks just like she does in her head shot. We saw Jerry Seinfeld entering Arthur Ashe Stadium. We saw Gene Wilder, Tim Robbins, Stone Phillips, Josh Groban, and I forget who else in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Andre Agassi was there but we only saw him on the screen - he was in the press box. Some day I will meet him. Remind me to tell you about the woman with Stone Phillips. I can't believe she is his wife but I'm pretty sure he is married. Let me tell you, she was something else. But that's a story for another day.

Pictures have been uploaded on our Flickr page so check them out. I'll add more when I swap pictures with Jennifer.

Next trip, I fly to KC then drive to Springfield/Nixa/Ozark, MO for my cousin's (Angela's) wedding. Lots of family pictures to follow.

Cheers!

~Tracy

Question

Who's the reader from Fort Pierce, Florida?

New Photos

I posted new photos on our flickr page...check them out.

~T

Weekend To Do List

1. Work on "Lucky Stiff" program for Jeremy's show.
2. Work on charts/graphs to show historical church membership data, etc. for Michael.
3. Create an evite for June's party at my house.
4. Design a baby card/project for Jody's stampin' baby shower.
5. Make a card for Angela's wedding.
6. Clean out my closet.
7. Minimize, minimize, minimize...
8. Buy an edger from Home Depot (gift cards are a wonderful thing).
9. Yard work (mow, weedeat, edge).
10. Mop the laundry room.
11. Blog about our trip to NY (we went to the US Open).
12. Balance the checkbook.
13. Stop coughing!

~Tracy

I've Been Published

You might have to scroll through the pictures to see it but it's there... A photo I took of the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas (October 2006) was selected to be included in the Schmap Las Vegas Guide. Maybe I will become a photographer after all. Speaking of photos, I put some new photos on my flickr site. Check them out. Over there on the right. Onetreefam photos.

~Tracy

Hello...Goodbye

Meet Lucky (his real name).

Not so lucky, apparently he was dumped. His tag was from 2005 and belonged to the City of Houston. We saw him (twice) in P-land. The third attempt to get close to him was a success and he was eager to ride in our car, fleas and all. Since he had a tag we wanted to attempt to locate his owner (it was a city ID tag only). The City of P-Land Animal Control picked him up this morning, took him to the groomers to get cleaned up (I cut his hair last night), and located his owner(s). They say he has been missing only a week but his physical state says it has been much longer. And I'm pretty sure he didn't walk from Houston to P-land, unless he is a marathon dog. The story seems fishy and it is not clear if they will even claim him. They have three days to pick him up. If they decide not to retrieve him, he will be put up for adoption. We, of course, are at the top of the list. Not sure about having a third dog, but he really likes me and I really like him. He reminds me a lot of Sophie, at a much younger age. Rhapsody even liked him. If you are looking to add a precious little white, long-haired (soon to be short-haired) poodle to your family, let me know. We are accepting applications for adoptive parents. He is very friendly (once you get acquainted), is still a puppy (I believe), has great teeth (I checked), and likes to have his belly rubbed.

Do you feel lucky?

IntraLASIK Correction of Nearsightedness, Farsightedness, and Astigmatism Using IntraLase Technology

Glasses No Mas

This morning I had my nearsightedness (both eyes) and astigmatism (right eye) corrected via IntraLASIK surgery. The surgery involves two procedures. First, an IntraLase laser is used to create a flap with laser energy. The IntraLase laser is capable of creating extremely precise flaps by producing tiny bubbles inside the cornea that are 1/10,000 of an inch in diameter. The laser beam cannot penetrate into the eye beyond the cornea. After the flap is created, an excimer laser is used to reshape the eye by removing ultra-thin layers from the cornea in order to reduce farsightedness, nearsightedness, or astigmatism (nearsightedness and astigmatism in my case). The flap is returned to its original position, without sutures.

They gave Jeremy the option of watching both procedures on a monitor. He opted not to watch. Then when I went to the back they asked me if he would want to watch. I said probably not but maybe if they asked him again, he would have changed his mind. He did, indeed change his mind, and decided to watch. I'm jealous. I really wanted to be able to watch.

So, how did it go?

Well, I am typing this without any visual assistance. No contacts. No glasses. Just a little squinting while the 'haze' wears off. I'd say it went pretty well. I have some discomfort in my left eye and a nasty red line that follows the shape of my iris plus a nasty red spot but I assume that will go away with time. My right eye is pretty much pain free and most of the redness has dissipated.

I have four types of eyes drops - two of the drops I have to use every hour, one of the drops every four hours, and the last drop as needed for pain. That's a lot of drops. I can taste the drops after using them. The drops do not taste good.

You have to take valium before the first procedure. I opted to only take one valium as opposed to the two they give you. I'm not a fan of meds and I felt pretty calm so I didn't feel like I needed two....plus, having never taken valium before I was a bit leary of the effects. Valium, anyone?

I'll let you know how the progress goes. My post-op appointment is tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll find out what my new vision is - my vision pre-op was approximately 20/600. I couldn't read the large E on the eye chart although I could tell there was something there. I already know it's improved drastically since I'm sitting on the couch and I can read the time on the DVR. How great is that?!?

~Tracy

I've Been Robbed

I was looking for a particular CD in my CD collection (which is extensive), only to discover it is missing. I've searched my car, the house, and even questioned Jeremy. He says he doesn't have it and since the CD in question is "Texas country rock" I'm inclined to believe him. Although, a thorough search of his car is not out of the question. I brought all the CDs in from my car and started looking through my collection. Keep in mind, I alphabatize our CDs. I like things in order. Anyway, I am now certain that I am missing two CDs. Both are Pat Green CDs - Wave on Wave and Lucky Ones. Funny thing is, I'm sure that I had two copies of Wave on Wave. Not the first time I've purchased the same CD twice. This troubles me immensely. How many other CDs are missing? If you have "borrowed" one of my CDs, now would be the time to return it.

Please.

~Tracy

Update:

I started incorporating the CDs from my car into the CDs in our house. Wouldn't you know it, I found both Pat Green CDs - Wave on Wave and Lucky Ones. In the middle of Dixie Chicks CDs. Not even close to where they belong. Grrrr. And it appears I have two copies of Three Days and not Wave on Wave which is too bad since Wave on Wave is my favorite CD with my favorite song - Elvis. I am still open to searching Jeremy's car; however, since Little Big Town is unaccounted for...

CDs we have in duplicate include:

Coldplay - X&Y
Pat Green - Three Days
Bonnie Raitt - Souls Alike
Rascal Flatts - Melt
George Strait - Honkeytonkville
George Strait - Somewhere Down in Texas

I see a future in eBay.

No Rant, Just Rave

We finally celebrated Valentine's Day this past week by having dinner at Taste of Texas, courtesy of a gift card I received months ago. We decided to share the porterhouse steak for two - "Thirty-two ounces of the king of steaks! Over one-and-a-half inches thick and fall-off-the-bone tender." - split tableside for sharing. Accompanied by two salads and a side order for each person. You can pick out the steak yourself or trust the butcher to pick one out for you. We decided to let the butcher choose for us. We made our way to the salad bar and loaded up on salad and fresh bread (my favorite was the asiago cheese roll). I was still working on my salad when the main entree arrived. The steak was huge. We shared a loaded baked potato and texas au gratin potatoes. I don't eat a lot of meat, especially steak but I have to say this was the best steak I've ever had....especially the filet portion. Super tender and extremely flavorful. I guess you do get what you pay for....this place is not cheap. Thank goodness for gift cards. Luckily, we were smart enough to say no to the offer of appetizers and dessert. I was stuffed by the end of the meal.

Happy belated Valentine's Day.

~T

Sprint Review 3

Don't even get me started. Lets just say, if I could do it over again, I wouldn't. I spent a large portion of my evening on the phone with three customer service reps trying to get my bill straightened out - we are being charged for services we didn't order, request, or approve. We're still not getting Power Vision free. It was supposed to be free for both of us the first month. However, none of the Sprint employees could get Power Vision to work on our phones until recently. So our first free month, we didn't even have Power Vision on our phones! Jeremy's phone was credited for this month but it wasn't even for the correct Power Vision plan. My phone was not credited and I'm getting billed for video mail on top of it. Never asked for it, never ordered it, never used it. Our bill still isn't completely right but I finally gave up the fight. At least for tonight. Long enough to watch the news anyway....to hear them say that Sprint/Nextel has been illegally charging customers a "Texas Margin Fee Reimbursement" tax. I don't have the energy to check our bill for it.

On a brighter note, Jeremy has a rehearsal tonight so I turned off the heat, opened the windows, and turned the ceiling fans on....it's nice and cool in the house now. Just the way I like it.

~Tracy

Sprint Review 2

So we finally got our cell phone numbers transferred to our new cell phones only to discover we couldn't access our voice mail. Another call to Sprint, they fixed our voice mail and off we go. . . except we still can't access the internet (which is supposed to be free for one month - the month is almost up and we haven't used it yet). Jeremy had some free time because his school was closed due to "ice" so he went to the Sprint store to fix the internet issue. Three hours later and still no internet. Three days later, no internet. Finally, Sprint tech support called me and we got both phones working. It was not worth the effort, even if it is free. I have internet at work. I have internet at home. Do I really need a phone with internet access? I think not. Especially when it's not free anymore. I can't believe how much they charge for extras. Grrrr. I was checking our account and I discovered that they upgraded Jeremy's PCS Vision Plan (additional $5.00/month) without our permission or request. I am definitely not pleased with Sprint so far. I can't wait to get our second bill.

Back to the "ice" day. . . Houston pretty much closed for business for the day last Wednesday. Houston ISD closed so Jeremy's school did the same. My office didn't open until noon. Even if they did open in the morning, I wouldn't have been able to get there. . . all the ramps/exits were closed on the highways. I've never seen/heard anything like it. We didn't have any ice in Pearland but apparently Houston (and further north) had enough ice to cause problems on the road. Now, if we could just get some snow. I'm sure Oklahoma wouldn't mind sharing their snow.

Back to the phones, I really can't justify paying for a home phone and two cell phones. So, speak up now if you have any issues with me cancelling our home phone. Most people call us on our cell phones anyway. Except for telemarketers. They still call us at home. I won't miss them. If you need our cell phone numbers, email me at onetreefam at gmail dot com.

~T

Sprint Review

We finally got our new cell phones. We actually received our first bill before we received our cell phones. Talk about not happy. Strike one for Sprint. We were billed from the time we ordered our phones and it took longer than it should have to receive them. They also billed us for two activation fees which were supposed to be waived since I purchased online. Strike two. I called to politely complain (I don't get rude unless the person on the other end gets snippy first...). It took at least four attempts to complete a call to customer service. Either the automated system would drop my call or the person I was talking with disconnected the call (accidentally I'm sure). This should have been strike three but I was determined to get through to customer service. Finally, I got through and they waived the activation fees and credited our account for the first month's bill. I was amazed that he didn't give me any trouble. He just did it. So, if you are patient enough to get through to Sprint's customer service department they are actually very helpful. I transferred our numbers from T-Mobile last night. It was easy. I'm not sure I'm happy with my phone choice. It is very thin but is actually much bigger than my previous phone. The sound is very muffled as well. Almost as if the microphone is too good, it picks up all the background noise. I don't do well with background noise. I'm not sure I want to switch to another phone though. You have to enter all your contacts manually with Sprint. Talk about a pain. Some people didn't make the cut! Our calls are now free after 7 pm so feel free to give me a call after 7 pm!

Here's a picture of my phone:

Here's a picture of Jeremy's phone:

They are very similar but not identical...so we can tell them apart. Now you know all about our exciting new toys.

~Tracy

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I hope your New Year's Eve celebration was fun and safe. We had a very low-key celebration with four of our closest friends. We exchanged Christmas gifts, ate a lot of finger food, watched Indiana Jones, watched the ball drop in NY at 11 pm our time, and celebrated again at midnight. We toasted with champagne but it honestly wasn't very good (I can say that because we brought the champagne) so back to diet coke I went... We were home safe and sound within a matter of minutes since we live only two miles from our friends house. Our new year is off to a good start. We are officially back online at home and can't stay off the computer. It has been months since we've had a working computer at home. Now we are just waiting on our new cell phones to arrive. I ended up ordering service and phones online because we couldn't get what we wanted in the stores and we saved a bundle online. We are switching to Sprint since our current contract has expired and we are hoping for better service (fewer dropped calls). A large number of our family and friends are on Sprint (it was a close race between Sprint and Cingular but Sprint had the better deal in the end) and we are hoping to save on minutes since all calls to other Sprint customers will be free and all calls after 7 pm (instead of 9 pm) are free. Numbers will stay the same so it should be a smooth transition. No resolutions here....plenty of goals but I don't want to jinx them by making them into resolutions. Everybody breaks those.

~T