Forth Worth Stockyards

Hi All!

After sleeping pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday, I am feeling better. For an added bonus - I don't have to work today so . . . YEAH!

Here is the second installment of the visit with my parents and my aunt and uncle. The Fort Worth Stockyards.

For those of you who don't know, Dallas and Fort Worth are only about an hour apart and these two cities and the suburbs between them are known as "The Metroplex." Dallas is considered to be the more "citified" of the two cities while Fort Worth maintains some of its "cowboy" roots. This doesn't mean that Fort Worth isn't a sophisticated city - it just means that it has kept more of its traditional past alive than Dallas has. This is a good thing since it gave us a good place to visit!

The Forth Worth Stockyards is a sample of what life might have been like in the "old west" when cattle ruled the scene. Every day there is a cattle drive in the Stockyards. Of course, we had to go and see that!

The herd of longhorn cattle were herded through the streets. They are very impressive animals. Just look at those horns!

Then, I got locked up in the "pokey!"

Mom and Aunt Donna got locked up too!

Then Dad got thrown into the slammer!

Here are some longhorn cattle trying their hardest to stay away from people. I am standing on an observation deck and the cattle are on the opposite end of the pen. Smart cattle.

Inside the Live Stock Exchange building Aunt Donna stood beside an antique buggy.

They have a "Texas Trail of Fame" and in the building they have plaques with all of the honorees on them. They were neat to read.

We all spent some time looking and finding some familiar faces and names.

You could get your picture taken on the back of this VERY patient longhorn. We opted to just take Mom's picture in front of him.

Cowboys accompanied the cattle drive (sorry some of the pictures are a bit out of order but . . .). Earlier they were cracking bullwhips. Really!

The cattle do this "drive" twice a day and are pretty content to do it. I don't think that the cattle would have been so docile in the days of the real cattle drives.

The horses were as impressive as the cattle.

It is a good thing that the cattle didn't decide to take offense to the cars parked along the road. Imagine what their horns could do to that paint job!

This marker is one of over 400 which were set in the countryside to mark the Chisholm Trail.

Aunt Donna and Uncle Al sat in the Billy Bob convertible. How fun!

Mom and Dad get up close and personal with "Calamity Jane." Isn't she cute?

There were plenty of touristy shops in this old building which once was used to sell sheep, goats, pigs, and other smaller livestock. The train runs right through the middle of the building for easy loading!

We found some neat shops. My personal favorite was the Ernest Tubb music shop where I found some good local talent CDs!

Speaking of Earnest - here is his star on the Texas Trail of Fame!

We all had a fun day at the stockyards. We ate at Riskey's BBQ (I am hoping I spelled that right!) and had good food. Then we set off for the new Dallas Cowboys' Stadium. That will be another post for another day!

Trisha

Voice Update: Huskier than normal due to the cold but doing well - all things considered!

The Rainforest Cafe

Hi All!

My visitors have headed north to Oklahoma for a few days so I have some time to actually blog!

I have been having a lot of fun taking my parents and my aunt and uncle around to "touristy" places. Not something I regularly go to see!

The first place we "hit" was The Rainforest Cafe. My parents and I have been here before and thought Aunt Donna and Uncle Al might enjoy it.

We sat at a table right next to Baba. He was a great host! For those of you who don't know - the Rainforest Cafe is a restaurant decorated like the rainforest. There are a lot of animatronic animals around the restaurant who "come to life" every five or so minutes. Every twenty minutes the whole restaurant "thunders and lightnings." There is also a starscape where shooting stars streak every so often. The place is a bit loud but it fun to eat at and the food is pretty good too!

This is Mom - she is getting her camera ready for some good shots of the cafe.

Here is Aunt Donna. I love her smile - if you look closely there is a HUGE iguana over her shoulder.

This is Dad - doesn't he look thrilled? For some reason, he looks odd in pictures at times.

Uncle Al - he had fun but didn't really say a whole lot.

This parrot was near our table - it didn't move but was pretty anyway.

The elephants move - they trumpet and shake their ears and raise their trunks. The last time Mom and Dad and I ate here we sat right next to the elephants.

A big dragonfly - they are huge in the rainforest!

There are also massive fish tanks around the cafe with colorful fish. It is fun to watch them swim around.

Mom took this show with me in it.

Does this stool make my but look like a duck butt?

Trisha

Voice Update: My voice is doing pretty well. It didn't really like the loud atmosphere of the Rainforest Cafe too well but . . . that is just a sacrifice I make for family!

Acorns!

Hi All!

Well - my parents and my aunt and uncle are here safely and we are having fun! I have been taking pictures and I will show you some in a while - today I just had to show you this.

I know you all have seen acorns. Mom and I were walking this morning and found these two examples of acorns to share with you.

Even though this is a dark picture, I think these should look familiar. They are just normal. In fact, they are a bit small. They come from a Live Oak tree.

Have you ever seen acorns like this? I have no idea what kind of tree they come from other than it is an oak and it was a small tree. They look like they have fuzzy caps and there is one other thing . . .

They are HUGE! HUGE!

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Mom and I were amazed by the size of these acorns - and from a small little tree!

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Isn't it amazing what you see when you go walking?

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Today is going to be a day of getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow. The turkey is defrosting and we will be baking up a storm!

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I hope you have a fabulous day!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Other than talking too much and getting my voice worn out - things are going well!

They're Coming!

Hi All!

After a couple days of lots of sleep and time to putter around . . . I am ALMOST ready for Thanksgiving! I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought a turkey that is the size of a small child along with all of the "fixin's" for dinner. I am certain that there are things I have forgotten but that will be Hubby's job - to run out to the store to pick up a thing or two!

I did manage to injure myself this weekend. You'll never, ever guess how I did it! I hurt myself putting away groceries! That is right - groceries! And not even the honkin' big turkey! I pulled out a drawer in the fridge and it zoomed out and almost fell out - "luckily" it didn't fall because my finger was stuck under the handle. Of course, the weight of the drawer did a nice number on my finger - think bending the nail back about half way and blood under the nail with a nice sore spot under the nail. Yep - fun!

In other news, I did go out and paint our address on the curb in front of our house. This is something that different companies and charities offer to do for a "minimum donation" several times a year and we never take them up on the offer. However, since I had the outside paint for Hubby's Buckeye sign and my neighbor's bunny porch decoration . . . . I felt the urge to do it myself. Primarily to see if I could actually do it.

Yesterday, after church, I got the paints and sat out in the street - being very vigilant for oncoming cars - and painted my heart out. It is a bit "funky" but - I like it. I will be taking a picture to show you today. By the way - Hubby thought I was a nut case for sitting in the street to paint the numbers but what else is new?

I will also be taking a lot of pictures this week as my guests arrive and we undertake both sightseeing and preparation for Thanksgiving. It should be fun! Oh - that reminds me. I need to stop blogging and check their flight to see if they are coming in on time or not.

I will update you more tomorrow!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing surprisingly well. I think the inhale singing is doing the trick!

Saturday Planning

Hi All!

It is Saturday - the day to sleep in (if you don't have cats who insist that you get up to watch them eat the food they have in their bowls at 6:30 in the morning!) and to recover from the busy work week you just completed.

This Saturday, however, will be different for me. I am planning out my Thanksgiving week with visitors and a huge turkey dinner. This will involve lists of ingredients to buy at the store, lists of things to do while my guests are here, and lists of things to not forget to do so that dinner actually comes out right - and on time.

Don't you want to come and help?

Trisha

Voice: Doing okay. Doing okay!

Four. In. The. Morning!

Hi All!

You remember these two cuddly critters, right?

The brown one is Miss Cleo and the white one is Skor. They are my darling little angel kitties. Just look how nice and sweet they look cuddling on my bed! Who wouldn't want these two cuddled up with them?

Me!

Well - let me clarify that statement. There are times when I am more than happy to cuddle with my kitties. They purr and snuggle and are sweeties. However, things are not quite so rosy when they decide to snuggle and purr at FOUR. IN. THE. MORNING!

That is right. Four A.M.

Last night - or should I say this morning - both of my darling kitties decided that I needed to be awake in time for the thunder storm so they hopped up on the bed purring and snuggling and cuddling. They managed to wake me up quickly because I am a light sleeper. I was wide awake in time for the storm to start.

Then - I tried to drift off to sleep again. Nope. Both kitties worked as a well-oiled tag team to ensure that I didn't get a moment's sleep until the storm and the rain was done. What time might that have been you ask? 6:00 A.M. Just about when Hubby was ready to get up and hop in the shower.

So - I have been up since four this morning. I did manage to get about a half hour's worth of sleep while Hubby was in the shower but then my little "angels" decided - as they do every morning - they they just couldn't eat a bite until I was up and about in the kitchen.

*sigh*

I LOVE having kitties.

Today I am heading to the DAC again after a two week absence. I miss my friends there. Then it will be back home for a nap and more house cleaning in preparation for my Thanksgiving company. I might even start to sit down and plan out the menu and ingredients I need to buy at the store. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Have a super day!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing more inhale and massage seems to be helping a bit. My voice is getting marginally stronger. We will have to wait to see how it handles company over the holiday.

Returning Things

Hi All!

Let me tell you how much I hate, dislike, cringe to think about returning things. I try to make sure that I will like/enjoy/fit into the product I buy before I buy it because I hate returning things. Then - returning things online - just that much worse!

In earlier blogs I believe I have told you about my iPod earbud problems. The original earbuds conked out after about three years and so I went on a hunt for new ones. Because I like the products I have gotten from the website - iFrogz - before, I ordered earbuds from them.

The earbuds arrived and I was thrilled - they look so cool with a neat design on the sides and everything. Plus - they sound good.

However - they really hurt my ears!

Trying to tell myself that I just need to get used to them, I struggled through a week and more trying to "get used to" the new earbuds. No dice. In fact, at times they hurt my ears so much that I couldn't stand to keep them in my ears! Not good!

Well, I stopped by Wal Mart and picked up a cheapo pair of earbuds to see if they were any different. Surprise, surprise, they felt wonderful right from the start and the sound quality wasn't noticeably different (not that I would notice something like that unless it was HORRIBLE!).

The decision was made to return the iFrogz earbuds. Admittedly, I have been putting it off because of my afore mentioned dislike of returning things. However - today I have taken the plunge and have started the process. We will see how it goes. I hope iFrogz is as good about returns as they are about ordering and shipping.

How do you feel about returning things?

Trisha

Voice Update: After a long bout of inhalation singing on my way to work yesterday my voice seems marginally better. We will see if it keeps improving. I think the inhalation voicing helps relax my cords and get them back into a more normal "groove."