Onetreefam ~ one tree not a forest

Spidey

2010-10-31T23:17:00.003-05:00

My inspiration.

The card I created.

I wanted to make a card specifically for a friend that is moving in the next couple of weeks. This is a good luck, we'll miss you, thank you, congratulations on your new job card all rolled into one. We have a connection through Spider-Man that is hard to explain via blog. Hand gestures are involved. So, I thought it was appropriate to make a Spidey card for him. I drew the web free-hand with a gelly roll pen. I wasn't quite as brave with the spider so I drew it on white paper first, cut it out, glued it on the black cardstock, and cut it out again. I only had to draw it once, thank goodness. I'm not a fan of theme rooms but I sure do like theme cards. Go figure.

html

2010-09-20T22:57:00.000-05:00

I want to add tabs to my blog. Any coders out there with an easy solution?

Time for a new look

2010-09-18T14:15:00.002-05:00

It's a rainy day here in the land of Pears. My plans for today, my one day off this week, were to mow or paint (after getting a little work done). So, instead of mowing I decided to update the long-neglected blog. Thanks, rain. I guess now that the blog has a new look, I should start taping so I can paint. I have a lot of projects started that really need to be finished. Our house is in total chaos. It seems like starting/finishing one room is contingent on another room. The music room is becoming the music room/library (new paint and all). The office is becoming my craft room (new paint color undecided) and the guest room is getting a long overdue cosmetic makeover. I'm still waiting to redo the kitchen...I did install cabinet door knobs and drawer pulls but the goal is to install new countertops (silestone) and backsplash (glass tile). Then, the carpet downstairs is going. Ahhh, wood floors. A girl can dream...

Just another day at the rodeo

2010-03-17T02:16:00.002-05:00

Haircut

2010-01-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

I just had to take a picture since I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get this much curl in my hair on my own! I got about 3 inches cut off yesterday. My hair grows sooo slow. I have lots of pictures to post of cards I've been working on but you'll have to wait until their intended recipients receive them. I'm also making birth announcements for a dear friend this weekend. Lots of pictures to come.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Kemah, TX

2010-01-07T13:00:00.003-06:00

The family was announced today. The makeover is in Kemah...one of the many areas here hit hard by Hurricane Ike. Sounds like a deserving family to me. Check out this article for information about the family. I'm really looking forward to being a part of the volunteer team.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

2010-01-06T23:34:00.007-06:00

Our church was scheduled to be part of a Habitat for Humanity build on Saturday, January 9th. Since I'm attending a photography class on Saturday I was going to miss out on volunteering. So instead, I signed up to volunteer with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Shifts start on Friday, January 8th but all the shifts listed are overnight (9pm-3am and 3am-9am). If you know me, you know I'm a night owl, so the overnight shift is no problem for me. They are announcing the family and location tomorrow but I'm betting on League City since that's where the pep rally was held. Anyway, I submitted my request to volunteer and found out today that I was selected. Only problem is they scheduled me to work this Friday 3pm-9pm as my first shift. I can't work that shift...and it wasn't one of the options when I listed my availability. I'm hopeful that they will select me for another shift. Apparently, they notify you one shift at a time. Cross your fingers that I still get to volunteer. I have my own tools and I'm not afraid to work in cold weather. What more could they ask for?

Unfortunately, we are expecting an "arctic blast" here in the greater Houston area so the Habitat for Humanity build has been postponed until the end of the month. Extreme Makeover is still on - rain, sleet, or snow. Maybe I'll get to volunteer with both.

On another note, I just found out that Jeremy has never seen Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink. Unreal. This situation must be remedied soon.

New Background

2010-01-04T19:35:00.002-06:00

What do you think of the new background? I thought it was appropriate, pear tree, and all. Too bad you don't actually see any pear trees in Pearland.

Made in Texas

2009-12-16T01:50:00.012-06:00

I've been making my own cards now for close to three years. This year, I attempted to sell some cards at our church's annual fall festival and a local school's bazaar. The fall festival was mostly a success but the bazaar was very disappointing, other than a special order for money holders. The first one was easy - pink/brown with a flower. Chocolate chip and pink is one of my favorite color combinations. It is for a 10-yr old girl. The card is the present...just insert cash under the brown tabs and then slide the white card into the pink envelope.

Here's the final outcome.

The next one is for a 13-yr old boy. The request was to use navy/silver and the Dallas Cowboys logo. He is a Dallas Cowboys fan. I am not. I live in Houston. But, I did it. I made a Dallas Cowboys card. I was pretty happy with the final result. The color is more accurate in the second picture.

My favorite card so far is a Houston Astros jersey card I made for a special birthday. It turned out super cute. I swear I took pictures of it but I can't find them anywhere. As soon as they turn up, I'll post pictures of that card. Maybe I can market them to the Astros. I'm getting pretty good at these team logo cards. Especially if they involve stars.

Special order, anyone?

Family, friends, and food

2009-11-28T10:30:00.005-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your Thanksgiving was as great as ours. Family, friends, and wonderful food. Is there any thing better??? Jim & Janie arrived on Monday and Matt & Cara arrived Wednesday evening. We kept many of our usual Thanksgiving traditions and started some new ones. Thanksgiving day was fun as always. We really have the timing down as far as the cooking schedule goes now. It used to be a struggle to get everything in the oven in time to eat but now, we are golden. I think every year we forget the cranberry sauce and this year was no different. Thankfully, we remembered in time for the meal. :) Poor cranberry sauce. Always late to the party. I was so busy in the kitchen that I forgot the silverware and had to rush around at the last minute to finish setting the tables. I did snap a few pictures but managed to miss one of the tables and the all important turkey. Next year.

Cupcakes by Cara.

I missed out on these delicious cupcakes until after the post Thanksgiving meal movie. It's Thanksgiving tradition that we fit in as many movies as possible while the family is here... This year, our time was more limited so only two movies made the final cut - The Blind Side and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The Blind Side was the winner for our Thanksgiving night movie. Janie and I each voted twice for it. I love Sandra Bullock and I especially love sports movies. Football and Sandra Bullock. What else do you need? The movie was great. Now, I will have to read the book.

Back to the cupcakes. After we returned from the movie it was time for dessert. I opted for a cupcake. Let me tell you....these cupcakes are soooo good. I actually ate one for breakfast today. Shhh. If you were at our house on Thanksgiving and passed up the cupcakes, you missed out. Just sayin'.

Dining room.

I'm still bummed I didn't take more pictures. I didn't even get a picture of all the food or the other table. Guess I was a little distracted.

Friday was reserved for family time...we visited in the morning/early afternoon and then the family (except for me) went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Spirits & Headhunters: Vanishing Worlds of the Amazon exhibit. I think they were disappointed they didn't get to see more tsantsas (ceremonial shrunken heads). For being unemployed it sure felt like I worked a lot this Thanksgiving. I definitely missed out on a lot of family time. Jim & Janie took off Friday evening for the long haul back to KC. Matt, Cara, Jeremy, and I went out for our second movie - Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is Wes Anderson's first stop motion animated film. Very clever and entertaining. We had fun after the movie trying to name all the Wes Anderson movies we've seen. My favorite is Bottle Rocket. Matt & Cara left early this morning for their long haul back to KC and then Columbia.

The house is empty. The KU game doesn't start until 2:30 pm. What to do, what to do??? Leftovers, anyone?

Cousins

2009-09-22T22:01:00.006-05:00

When in Texas...

...you must eat steak.

Bobby & Samantha

Tracy & Jeremy

Jeremy, Tracy, Bobby, and Samantha

Bobby and Samantha stopped by for dinner Friday night on their way from KC to Galveston. They decided to take a little road trip to celebrate their anniversary. Eighteen years. Woohoo! Jeremy and I are catching up. This year is lucky number 13. We usually try to sneak away for our anniversary but it looks like we're staying home this year. September has been super busy and I don't think October will be any different. It won't be so bad to just have a weekend at home without any plans. We are going to see U2 in concert so that should be fun.

I "borrowed" the pictures from Samantha's facebook. Thanks, Samantha!

Blog extended leave of absence

2009-09-13T21:44:00.011-05:00

Obviously, we have been on an extended leave of absence here at the onetreefam blog. Actually, come to think of it, I don't believe Jeremy has ever posted on the blog. Bad Jeremy. Since I have not been a very good blogger, I'm thinking about turning the blog into more of a craft blog. I have been doing a lot of stamping (with rubber stamps not the post office ones) over the past couple of years, making cards, wrapping paper, and small 3D items (gift bags, party favors, etc.). Basically, everything but scrapbooking although I am tempted to try my hand at that as well. First, I need to take some photography classes to learn how to use my fancy schmancy camera so I have decent photos to put in a scrapbook. I have a good eye but need to learn the technical aspect of taking good pictures, especially inside. If you know of any good photography classes in Pearland or Houston, let me know.

For now, here are a few pictures of what I've been doing in my spare time.

I'm hosting a Stampin' Up! party on Saturday, September 19th at my house. Let me know if you want to come. Carolyn will demonstrate new techniques and you'll make two or three projects to take home...plus, there will be snacks.

Time to Rodeo

2009-02-23T22:57:00.004-06:00

Sunday, March 1st: Grand Entry Set-Up/Practice

Tuesday, March 3rd: Rascal Flatts

Wednesday, March 4th: Alan Jackson

Thursday, March 5th: Clay Walker

Friday, March 6th: Gladys Knight/Solange (Black Heritage Day)

Saturday, March 7th: Trace Adkins

Sunday, March 8th: Jonas Brothers

Monday, March 9th: Lady Antebellum

Tuesday, March 10th: Toby Keith

Wednesday, March 11th: Reba McEntire

Thursday, March 12th: Brad Paisley

Friday, March 13th: Clint Black

Saturday, March 14th: Josh Turner

Sunday, March 15th: Ramon Ayala/Alacranes Musical (Go Tejano Day)

Monday, March 16th: Darius Rucker

Tuesday, March 17th: Keith Urban

Wednesday, March 18th: Gary Allan

Thursday, March 19th: Pat Green

Friday, March 20th: Taylor Swift

Saturday, March 21st: Brooks & Dunn (Rodeo Finals)

Sunday, March 22nd: ZZ Top (Xtreme Bulls)

Bold = I'm scheduled to work.

Italics = I'm planning on attending.

Fenced In

2009-02-14T11:24:00.005-06:00

We are finally making some headway with Hurricane Ike repairs, after many delays with insurance. First up, the garage door which was replaced with no problem. It's actually quieter than our original garage door ever was...so that's a bonus. Plus, it's just nice to park in the garage again. We've been parking in the driveway since September. My car prefers the garage!

Next, the roof. What a hassle that has been. We had a company all lined up but they would only complete the work if insurance would pay for a new roof. After meeting with the adjuster and contractor a couple of times, we were denied and had to settle for repairing the roof. So, we had to find another company to do the repairs. You'd be surprised how many companies don't return calls. You'd also be surprised how wide a range of estimates different companies will give you for the same amount of work. Or how quickly a company will drop their price when you politely say "no thanks"... I got the final quote reduced by over 50%. I do like to negotiate. They ended up scheduling the work when I couldn't be home, so Jeremy made arrangements to be home. They never showed...or so we thought. They were at the wrong house, repairing the wrong roof! Seriously. Jeremy eventually got them to our house and they made the repairs only they didn't complete all the work we agreed on so I had to call the company and schedule them to come back to the house. They came back later in the week, never knocked on the door to let me know they were there, just did some work and packed up. Luckily, I was home. I went out to check on the work and sure enough, they still did not complete all the work. I politely knocked on their truck window (they hadn't left yet, thankfully) and requested they finish the job. ;)

Next, the fence. We got a recommendation from our neighbors across the street. Again, insurance would not pay to replace the fence. They wanted us to replace certain posts but save the pickets and reuse them. It was not worth it to me so we opted to fork over the extra money and replace the whole fence. One neighbor quickly agreed to pay 50% of the cost of our shared fence (a small amount in comparison to the total cost) while the other neighbor said no. We really thought it would be the other way around. The neighbor that refused to pay has always been easy to get along with and not caused any problem (not with us anyway, she is a busy body and is always in everyone else's business). Anyway, we asked if they had a problem with us replacing the fence anyway and of course they said no. Who would turn down a free fence, right?!? So, the new posts get installed and the crazy neighbor lady (my new name for her) goes psycho. I could her hear yelling outside even though I was inside our house. She was obviously not happy about the fence posts...something about calling her lawyer and "they're going to have to pay to fix this" and "they moved the dog house", etc. All I know is the new fence is in the exact same place as the old fence although the posts are now 5' apart instead of 6' apart. We did not steal any inches from her yard if that is what she is insenuating. I watched her try to move one of the newly installed posts. I'm telling you, she's losing it. I waited for her to come over and talk to me but she never did and we haven't heard a word out of them. My theory is, her husband came home, took a look at the new fence, and told her it was 10x better than the old fence and they're lucky we paid for it. Idiots.

So all that's left is some sheetrock work in the garage. At least we don't have to deal with any neighbors to get that done. Next house, no neighbors.

Here are some pictures of our awesome new fence (almost completed - it is now finished). Now would you complain if your neighbor paid to build this? I think not.

Good neighbor.

No neighbor - backs up to a county road.

Bad neighbor.

Ice, Ice Baby

2009-02-03T21:58:00.004-06:00

Frozen branches...

So pretty.

Who needs an electric fence when you have an ice covered wooden one?!?

Casa Myers all in white.

Dad & Jean enjoyed a beautiful ice storm in Kentucky last week. Well, it's easy for me to say enjoyed and beautiful since I'm in sunny, hot Texas and didn't have to deal with the ice and lack of electricity. But the pictures are pretty, right? Not to worry, Dad & Jean, we will save this lovely sunny, hot Texas weather for your visit in March. Hopefully it doesn't rain as much as it did last year. Get ready to rodeo!

Ready to Rodeo - updated with my work schedule

2009-01-13T21:01:00.005-06:00

Sunday, March 1st: Grand Entry Set-Up/Practice

Tuesday, March 3rd: Rascal Flatts

Wednesday, March 4th: Alan Jackson

Thursday, March 5th: Clay Walker

Friday, March 6th: Gladys Knight/Solange (Black Heritage Day)

Saturday, March 7th: Trace Adkins

Sunday, March 8th: Jonas Brothers

Monday, March 9th: Lady Antebellum

Tuesday, March 10th: Toby Keith

Wednesday, March 11th: Reba McEntire

Thursday, March 12th: Brad Paisley

Friday, March 13th: Clint Black

Saturday, March 14th: Josh Turner

Sunday, March 15th: Ramon Ayala/Alacranes Musical (Go Tejano Day)

Monday, March 16th: Darius Rucker

Tuesday, March 17th: Keith Urban

Wednesday, March 18th: Gary Allan

Thursday, March 19th: Pat Green

Friday, March 20th: Taylor Swift

Saturday, March 21st: Brooks & Dunn (Rodeo Finals)

Sunday, March 22nd: ZZ Top (Xtreme Bulls)

Bold = I'm scheduled to work.

Italics = I have tickets or am planning on attending.

I will probably trade Gary Allen for Darius Rucker which works out since I need the 18th off and I had planned on going to the rodeo the night of Darius Rucker anyway. I'm a little disappointed in the shifts I'm working but frankly I would work any night of the rodeo so I'm not unhappy, just disappointed. Last year I had more shifts but I think we have more people on our committee this year so we each have fewer shifts. Still, I can go any night I want so that's a bonus. I'm ready for March. Almost...I still need to find a new pair of boots. :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T19:44:00.006-06:00

Well, poo. I wanted to post videos from our New Year's Eve celebration at RJ and Tiffany's. I think we had 7 couples there and almost everyone participated in Rock Band. I participated by being a groupie. No one wants to hear me sing. I recorded a brief video of the girls' performance and then another of the boys' performance. Too bad blogspot is not letting me upload the videos. You will have to use your imagination or ask me next time you see me...I have them on my new handy dandy phone. Everyone had a great time socializing, playing Rock Band, playing Apples to Apples, and socializing some more.

We slept in late on New Year's Day. I met up with Carolyn and we headed to Katy for an impromptu sushi lunch and then to our actual destination, Archiver's. It's probably a good thing Archiver's is in Katy and not any closer to Pearland. That store is awesome. I restrained myself and just bought cardstock and other items for a project I'm working on. I did buy a cute stamp set that will come in handy for next year's Christmas cards.

I have finally succumbed to the technology frenzy. Jeremy and I both got new phones. He really needed one, me not so much. But I had a large credit on my account and was able to purchase a Blackberry Curve for less than really should be allowed. Thanks Sprint. Jeremy has wanted one for a while and I was holding back...but now that we have them, I'm really liking it. It's like a mini laptop. Fair warning, I am going to cancel our land line. So if you don't have our cell numbers, speak now.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe New Year's Eve. Here's to all the good things to come in 2009.

Cheers!
~T

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

2008-12-12T22:19:00.003-06:00

Christmas came early at our house this year. It SNOWED on Wednesday night. What a sight to see. I have seen a lot of snow in my time but not during my time in Texas. It has now snowed twice since we've lived here...Christmas Eve 2004 and December 10, 2008. We have officially survived a hurricane and a blizzard in the span of three months! Okay, we did survive a hurricane. That much is true. Wednesday night's blizzard may have only consisted of enough snow to cover the ground but for southeast Texas, that counts as a blizzard. Work with me people. All of Pearland and the greater Houston area was outside enjoying the snow. I took a few pictures to document the special occasion.

It's starting to snow.

My car's first snow.

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

I just want to play tennis...

2008-11-30T19:42:00.008-06:00

November 16th. It started out like any other Sunday...morning spent at church. Then Jeremy raced home to play two tennis matches to finish his season with flex tennis. The first opponent was a no-show. If only the second opponent would have been a no-show. Long story short, Jeremy went up for an overhead shot and when he landed he heard a loud snap. Not a good sign. His right ankle immediately became swollen. His opponent just so happened to be a physician and advised Jeremy to go to the emergency room since he thought Jeremy's ankle was broken. Jeremy went home instead. After some discussion....Jeremy went to the emergency room. They determined that he had two torn ligaments. No fracture. So Monday was spent visiting the orthopedic surgeon and getting fitted for an aircast.

You can't really drive with an aircast, so I became Jeremy's personal chauffeur for the week. He went back see Dr. Fukuda on the 24th for a check-up. Things weren't looking better, so off to radiology he went. Again, no fracture. Jeremy got downgraded to a hard ankle brace and off we went. About 20 minutes later, Dr. Fukuda called and said she looked at the xrays again and thought there was a fracture after all. So, a CT scan was scheduled for the next day. Luckily, the CT scan showed that there was not a fracture. Fracture? No fracture? Decide already. So, back to the ankle brace for three weeks and then hopefully rehab.

Tennis will just have to wait.

Mistaken Identity

2008-11-14T23:48:00.005-06:00

I received the following email today:

Hi Tracy Wood,

My name is Tracy Wood! No, this is not a joke or SPAM. As you can see, my email address is only one letter different from yours. I'm writing to tell you that I have TONS of emails sent to me that were meant for YOU!Since I have not checked this email account since literally 2006, I'm only just finding these "lost" emails today. Sooo, have you experienced anyone saying "I emailed that to you, did you get it?" Now you know why! Well, I'm very sorry for this inconvenience. If you'd like me to forward any messages to you, I'd be happy to. Incidentally, I'm just curious, whereabouts do you live? I'm just outside Washington, DC.
Best, Tracy

I wonder what emails are awaiting me and how she figured out they were meant for me. Our email address is off by one letter, my middle initial. I'm sure there are quite a few variations of my name used in said email address. Should be interesting to read the emails she forwards to me since some of them are from 2006. If you sent me an email and I didn't respond, now you know why! My email address is my first name, middle initial, last name (at) gmail (dot) com. The middle initial is very important, people. :-)

Trip Down Memory Lane

2008-11-05T20:15:00.003-06:00

We made a quick trip to Kansas for my Grandma's 80th birthday party. I uploaded pictures to Flickr. I'll provide a narrative later...but for now, check out the pictures here.

Followers

2008-11-01T17:12:00.001-05:00

Let us know if you follow our blog - over there on the right...Onetreefam Followers. It will be good incentive for me to update on a regular basis.

Oh Baby!

2008-10-19T00:27:00.014-05:00

Happy parents-to-be.

What a day! I think the baby shower was a success. We had a great team pulling everything together. I finished the party favors this morning...I was fairly pleased with the way they turned out even if everyone wasn't sure what to do with them. :)

I put a package of daisy seeds (Jennifer's favorite flower) and a package of sunflower seeds in an "envelope" made of cardstock. I crimped the ends of the envelope and then tied a ribbon around it. The baby shower had a garden theme...hence the flower seeds. Here's a picture of the final product.

For prizes, I bought some small garden tools and put them in a clay pot along with more flower seeds and fertilizer spikes. I put a cute ribbon around the clay pot and used spanish moss as filler for the pots. Here's a picture of the prizes.

The decorations and food were awesome. Everything looked really great and the weather was amazing (the baby shower was outside in our prayer garden at church). Emma's arrival is only a month away. I think her parents received a lot of great gifts today to help them prepare for her arrival. More than that...they received a lot of love and support from their family, church family, and friends. Here are a few more pictures of the baby shower. I'll get the rest uploaded to Flickr soon (hopefully tomorrow). Big round of thanks to Amber, Caroline, Carolyn, Jeanette, Tiffani, Beverly, and Caryn (in no particular order - well actually, in alphabetical order by last name) for everything they did. Today was truly a joint effort. We are blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Mmm...lollipop garden cake.

It's a butterfly!

It's Emma Ruth!

Butt paste!

Future Astros fan!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-10-15T00:37:00.005-05:00

It's a couple of days late but...Happy Anniversary to us. Twelve years! This is the first year in a long time that we didn't take a trip for our anniversary. We didn't officially take a trip last year. But we did leave the house and stay at a swanky hotel (last year). This year, we stayed home. No trip. No swanky hotel. We're saving our money for the deductible(s). Two deductibles. Both are for our windstorm coverage. Homeowners insurance won't cover anything associated with hurricanes.

The insurance adjuster was out last week. He said it will take about three weeks to hear anything final. He did say we should replace the garage door now. It was bent during Hurricane Ike but still worked. Of all mornings, the garage door broke the morning the adjuster was here. He actually stayed to help me get my car out so I could go to work after he left. :) Overall, it went well. Most of the repairs will be in the garage (new garage door, replacing sheetrock, repainting, etc.) and repairing/replacing the fence. He wants us to repair most of the fence. I think it would be easier to replace it. We have to replace some shingles but it sounds like the ridge vents are in good shape. Our leaks in the house came from the ridge vents. Not sure about the office yet. We already fixed the trees. So now, it's time to start getting estimates. We have to get three estimates before getting anything fixed. If you know of any reputable roofers, fencers, garage door repairmen, or sheetrock repairmen in the Pearland area...let me know.

What did we get for our anniversary, you ask? We're buying a new garage door! I've always asked for power tools for Christmas. Why not a garage door for our anniversary. :) It's not exactly the traditional gift of silk, the modern gift of linen, or the alternate modern gift of pearls but hey it's our anniversary, our rules. I do like pearls, though (for future reference).

Craftiness Abounds

2008-10-09T22:24:00.005-05:00

Craftiness - the quality of being crafty

(not the quality of being disingenuous and lacking candor)

This is the invitation I made for Jennifer & Matt's baby shower. Click on the picture to get a better view. I got the idea from a gift bag we made at Jennifer's house. Carolyn came over, I told her my idea, and we got to work. We got everything done in a few hours over a weekend with the exception of the printing. There were some issues with the date/time that had to be worked out. Once that was settled, I printed the text on vellum, cut them down, punched the border, and attached them to the cardstock with ribbon. I think they turned out pretty good. I really like the stamp set. It might be my new favorite. The party favors were just delivered this week. I need to decide how I'm going to dress them up. I bought everything for the prizes and just need to put them together. I will post pictures of the party favors and prizes later. I can't tell you what they are just yet....don't want to spoil the fun.

Broken Links

2008-10-06T20:32:00.002-05:00

Apparently some of the links I set up weren't working. They should be fixed now. Click away.

Brandon Backe Arrested

2008-10-05T23:39:00.004-05:00

My favorite Astros player was arrested! I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding. The baseball he autographed is displayed on my dresser. I hope it doesn't become a Brandon Backe autographed baseball, pre-conviction. The article says a FEMA coordinator was also arrested. This all took place on Galveston Island at the San Luis Resort. Tasers, pepper spray, oh my. What has Hurricane Ike created?

Update 10/7/08:

Here's the latest article on Brandon Backe's arrest. It sounds like the Galveston PD has some explaining to do...

Post Hurricane Ike

2008-10-05T01:21:00.003-05:00

Things are pretty much back to normal for us post Hurricane Ike. We're both back to work...I missed two days of work post Ike, Jeremy missed two weeks! His school was without power until the 27th or 28th. My office, a whole five minutes from Jeremy's school, either never lost power or regained power by the 14th. Lucky me. :P We're finally able to purchase gas without waiting in line. We're even able to buy bread, milk, and eggs again. It's wonderful. The windstorm adjuster is scheduled to come look at the damages next week. I'll be glad to move forward and make final repairs, especially the fence. It has already fallen over once since Ike. Thankfully, we haven't had any rain since Ike so no more leaks. I just hope the rain holds off for another week or so. The trees are holding up fairly well. Not quite vertical but at least they are still alive. We may try to straighten them a little more but when we straightened them the first time, I got smacked in the mouth with one of the metal stakes. That left a nice cut on my lip. Not fun.

It's been a busy few weeks. I made programs for Jeremy's musical (Birds of Paradise), invitations for Jennifer & Matt's baby shower, and a couple of important birthday cards. Happy Birthday Dad! Happy Birthday Jean! Tonight, I made about 20 Christmas cards. My goal is to actually send out Christmas cards this year. Send me your address, I'll send you a card. :) At least leave a comment, so I know someone's still reading this blog. October resolution...blog more.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-12T22:54:00.007-05:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onetreefam/sets/72157607256873478/

We still have electricity - barely. It has been flickering off/on now for a while. I can't believe it has stayed on this long. The wind is really howling now. Not the most pleasant sound I have ever heard. I am not looking forward to listening to this all night. The eye is still two hours away. And then we get to do it all over again when the other side of the outer bands come through. Joy.

Max sustained winds are 110 mph, only 1 mph away from a Category 3 hurricane. Here, we are expected to experience North wind 55 to 75 mph, with gusts as high as 95 mph. I have opened the door and all I can say is the wind is strong! I think it's only about 40 mph now according to the news so I know we won't be opening the door for the 75 - 95 mph winds. We're losing electricity pretty often now...probably about 5 times while I've written these two paragraphs. I'm shutting down if I get to post this.

For now, we're experiencing a lot of wind and rain. The wind is angry. I've never heard anything like it. I really feel for everyone in Galveston and Surfside. They will not have much to go back to. I wish everyone in the mandatory evacuation areas would have listened and left before today. Before Ike even hit, there were ~65 rescues and at least 150 rescue calls. People all along the water thought they would just ride it out. Really?!? Time to pray for Galveston and all the areas along the ship channel.

I'll post more tomorrow. We are safe. Doing well. Hunkered down as they are saying. :P

Be sure to check our flickr page for pictures. I posted some before pictures of our house and will post some more tomorrow. We have a curfew for the unforeseable future - 6pm to 5am. No one is allowed to be out and about. Lots of time to blog.

Love to all.

We're not in Kansas anymore....or maybe we are

2008-06-22T15:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had a tornado in Pearland, Texas! I didn't see it but a few of my friends did. As you can see, it wasn't very big and didn't pack too much punch. We did enjoy a lot of rain, wind, and a beautiful double rainbow after it was all over. We lost power a couple of times during the day/evening for extended periods which is notable since we NEVER lose power at our house. Even when the rest of Pearland is in the dark, we'll still have power. We are on a good grid. It just didn't stand up to the storm yesterday.

Bye Bye Birdie

2008-05-17T20:25:00.003-05:00

Today is cleaning day. Inside and out. Jeremy was inside cleaning while I was outside cleaning. I mowed the yard but am leaving the weed eating to Jeremy. The weed eater is not my friend. I also pulled a few weeds and added a little mulch to the front bushes. The yard looks good. Our trees look really good even though we basically leave them to their own defenses. Our neighbors add all kinds of "tree food" to their trees and still can't get them to grow. I think sometimes you just need to let nature do it's own thing.

Speaking of nature...

I cleaned the front door and wanted Jeremy to see how good it looked. He came out and admired my work. (btw, I used this stuff called Awesome and let me tell you, it is Awesome...cleans anything. Thanks for the tip, Jean!) Okay, back to the nature part. Jeremy was either still admiring the newly clean front door or doing something else outside, when he beckoned me to come outside. We had a visitor. A bird was at our front door. In the corner of our entry way, facing the brick. Poor little thing looked disoriented and out of breath. I sat down on the door stoop and the bird came right up next to me practically climbing on my lap. Then birdie tried to get between me and the door. I got up and birdie flew (barely) away, just past the sidewalk, and started flopping from side to side. It was very upsetting. I stood there and watched this poor little bird take it's last breath. Ewwww. I didn't see any injuries so I'm not sure why it died. Luckily, Jeremy did the dirty deed and took the birdie away.

Bye bye birdie.

Update Coming Soon!

2008-05-02T17:23:00.003-05:00

I've been a bad blogger! It's nice to know that someone (even two people) rely on this blog for updates. So, as requested, I will update. Soon. Tonight even. Now, I just need to leave the office and head for home.

Here's a fun picture to keep you entertained in the interim...

Thanks for checking in. Stay tuned!

Preparing for the New Year

2007-12-14T16:48:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-13T00:09:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-10-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-11T02:09:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-03T00:43:00.000-05:00

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.

US Open 2007

2007-09-16T00:57:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-16T00:44:00.000-05:00

Who's the reader from Fort Pierce, Florida?

New Photos

2007-09-15T04:11:00.000-05:00

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

~T

Weekend To Do List

2007-09-14T22:37:00.000-05:00

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

~Tracy

I've Been Published

2007-08-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-17T00:12:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

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

2007-03-03T21:49:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-25T14:56:00.000-06:00

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.

Sprint Review 3

2007-02-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-22T22:49:00.000-06:00

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.

Sprint Review

2007-01-10T18:19:00.000-06:00

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

2007-01-01T22:25:00.000-06:00

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.

Wish List

2006-12-27T16:44:00.000-06:00

I updated my Wish List. It's still a work in progress but usually I update each December so while it's still December...

~Tracy

Here's your one and only chance to see me sing and dance!

2006-12-15T18:50:00.000-06:00

Elf Tracy

Slacker

2006-12-12T18:09:00.000-06:00

Work has been keeping me busy....but I promise to update soon. Of course, I haven't gotten any comments so I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this...

In case you're wondering, this is what I've been doing while "working" - flying over pipeline right-of-ways and my house!

My mode of transportation for the morning.

The pilot even let me fly the plane, luckily he took over before the landing.

Our house is the 4th one on the left.

It's the one in the middle. Keep in mind, this picture was taken last week (December 5th) and our grass is still green (slightly brown in areas)...no sign of winter.

More to come soon. I have to fill you in on Thanksgiving, Janette's wedding, my birthday, my work Christmas party, all of Jeremy's performances, and so much more.

~Tracy

Are you gooder at grammar?

2006-11-28T22:29:00.000-06:00

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

~Tracy

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-21T18:06:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We are celebrating Thanksgiving at the Wood Casa (as has become tradition). We even did our grocery shopping early this year and didn't wait until the night before like we usually do... I should be at home now cleaning instead of blogging but I can't blog at home and the dirt will still be there when I do get home. We expect the fam tomorrow evening (Jim, Janie, Matt, and Marsha). Judi and Marcell (from church) are also going to join us and maybe Paul and Caryn if they decide to stay in town. If you're in the area, come on over...the goal this year is to eat around 2:00. So, we'll probably eat around 4:00. There will be plenty of food, I assure you.

Rhapsody had her check-up today. She passed the post-surgery check-up - good flexibility, range of motion, etc. The only problem, she has a couple of open wounds apparently caused by the bandages rubbing on her skin. Not so good. I'll take pictures as I'm sure you would like to see the wounds!

I, unfortunately, did not pass my recent check-up so I'm going to see a cardiologist tomorrow. The echocardiogram is scheduled for 11:30 and I should see the good doctor around 1:00. I'm debating whether or not to return to work afterwards...I have a feeling the office is going to be pretty desolate by lunch time.

If you are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, have a safe trip. And if you are traveling with six kids (Tammie) be extra careful and take lots of movies for them to watch on the way. If you take a wrong turn, maybe you'll end up in Houston! I can hear it now, "she's touching me!" - or maybe that was us when we were little. :P

-T

Rhapsody

2006-11-07T17:34:00.000-06:00

She's not even interested in her treat.

Leave me alone.

Poor Rhapsody. She's not happy with her bandage color and she's all out of sorts from the pain meds....

-T

Tear of the Meniscal Cartilage

2006-10-31T13:08:00.000-06:00

Rhapsody is out of surgery. They said the surgery went well; however, they also discovered that Rhapsody had a tear of the meniscal cartilage in addition to the cranial cruciate ligament tear. This was not the case with the last injury. Both tears have been surgically fixed and now she is in recovery. They will keep her at least overnight and re-evaluate tomorrow. Hopefully, she will be doing well enough to come home tomorrow. If you're like me, you want to know what the injuries entail so here's another website that talks about Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) for cruciate tears. Just be glad I didn't include the link to the site that actually shows pictures from the surgery (during surgery). I was looking at it while eating lunch. I find it intriguing but you may not...

-T

Cranial Cruciate Ligament

2006-10-30T20:29:00.000-06:00

Today was a day of doctors. I went to have some routine lab work done and Rhapsody went to the surgeon for an exam. As feared, she needs to have surgery to repair her cranial cruciate ligament (like our ACL). This time it's the left hind leg. She had surgery on the right hind leg about two years ago. Apparently, this is a common injury for dogs of her age, breed, and weight. It is also more common in female dogs especially if they have been spayed. Smaller breed dogs (score one for Sophie) are less likely to tear their cranial cruciate ligament. Rhapsody is having the Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO), just like before. Here's some more information - Cranial Cruciate Ligament Injury/Repair for your reading pleasure. Looks like we will be eating Ramen noodles for a while....just like the good old days in college.

-T

Pictures

2006-10-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

Check out Onetreefam Photos - I uploaded photos from my trip to Kansas to surprise Ashtynne for her 16th birthday and also photos from our trip to Las Vegas celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. The link is also over there on the right. It's the one labeled "Onetreefam Photos". Or you can click on the title above "Pictures". All three links will take you to the same page. Go ahead, check it out. I'll wait.

Okay, back to me.

See how easy that was.... I'll keep uploading photos so be sure to check out that link, over there on the right, often. I have a ton of New York photos to share but I'm limited as to how many photos I can upload a month so bear with me.

Be sure to smile. You never know when I'll snap a photo. Always better to be the photographer than to be photographed, I say.

-T

Vegas, Baby!

2006-10-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

The boys - Paul, Jeremy, and Matt

The girls - Caryn, Jennifer, and Tracy

-----------------------------------

THE COUPLES

Paul & Caryn

Jennifer & Matt

Tracy & Jeremy

First Entry

2006-10-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

I decided to give blogspot a try. Let me know what you think. We haven't posted in a long time due to an uncooperative computer at home. It finally crashed and I don't have the time or patience to mess with it right now. So, since I can access blogspot from "a place other than home" I thought I would give it a try. Some day we will either fix our computer or give in and buy a new one. Some day.

To bring you up to speed, we recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I know, hard to believe we got married at such a young age! I can't believe it's been 10 years. Time flies. We celebrated by spending a long weekend in Vegas, which is only appropriate since we spent our honeymoon in Vegas. Jeremy surprised me a trip. I knew we were going somewhere for the weekend but I didn't know where until we were on our way to the airport. After many delays, we finally left the Houston airport and eventually arrived in Las Vegas with just enough time to check into our hotel and head to dinner. We were 15 minutes late for our dinner reservation thanks to flight delays. We walked into the restaurant and to my surprise, four of our closest friends were at the table! I had no idea. Paul & Caryn and Matt & Jennifer had flown in the day before to surprise me. We had dinner and hung out for the rest of the night. Paul & Caryn left the next day and Matt & Jennifer stayed until Monday. We had a great time seeing the sites, including Hoover Dam and downtown Las Vegas. It just so happened that my second cousin was getting married that very weekend in Vegas. No, it wasn't a spur of the moment, 3 a.m., Elvis as the minister, Vegas Wedding....she actually lives in Vegas. Anyway, on Sunday, Jeremy & I met up with my family members that were in town for the wedding. What a coincidence that we were all in Vegas at the same time. As soon as I get our Vegas pictures on my computer, I'll post some of them here....

Til then, enjoy.

-T