Great Friends, Christmas Spirit, And Other Things
I just realized that once again much time has passed since my last entry. Way too much has happened for me to even begin to mention most of it. So…I’ll touch on the few things I actually do remember.
I had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. It was a bit more quiet than those in recent years, but that was a good thing. I enjoyed it and it was relaxing.
I switched cell phone providers. Goodbye, Sprint! Years of what can best be described a pathetic customer service doomed them. They did all they could to keep me, but as I told the retention representative, it was simply too late to be nice now. What he offered is what they should have done two years ago.
I’m with AT&T now. So far, so good. My internet speed with the new wireless broadband modem I have is great. I don’t care for my new phone, however. I plan to go to the store this weekend and swap it for another. It works well enough and has good reception, but there are certain features about it that suck. The screen goes black after a few seconds, and you’re unable to see how long you’ve been on the phone. And what good is wallpaper if it never displays? Don’t like the phone. New one coming soon.
I had a meeting out of town on Wednesday. Before the meeting, I stopped at a Starbucks to get a frappucino. I’m addicted, but manage to discipline myself to having one or two a month. While there, I bought this really cute polar bear sugar cookie. I almost couldn’t bring myself to eat it.
The past few days have been frustrating with the chamber stuff. I’ll spare the details. But…things are being smoothed over. We’re all reasonable adults. I can be very passionate about things, and as a result refuse to overlook or turn away from what I perceive as a wrong. That can lead to what happened this week.
Speaking of the chamber, we had a chicken fried steak fundraiser recently. When things were wrapping up, I took a guy’s two sons over to feed all the ends of the bread loaves to the ducks. In Taylor, we have a LOT of ducks. With the chamber near the lake, it was a quick walk there. The ducks were happy to see us, and they loved all the bread.
I actually have Christmas spirit this year. It’s the first time in years I’ve actually enjoyed the holiday season. I actually put up a tree! It’s a “teddy bear tree” my friend Winnie gave me a few years ago. It’s nothing near as nice or impressive as what Dee (endlessblush) has in her house, but for me just having a tree up is impressive enough.
I even have other decorations up, like my biker Santa!
Speaking of Christmas, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here. Temperatures have dropped dramatically, and we’ve been in the 30s and 40s recently. We are even supposed to see snow tomorrow. I love it!
My father called me tonight asking what I want for Christmas. I told him I don’t really want nor do I need anything. The only gift I want is peace. I just wish mankind would find a way to live in peace. Now that would be a great gift, wouldn’t it?
I am getting Aubrey (the little girl I tutor) a Nintendo DS and a game called NintenDogs. She said she’d rather have that than a bicycle. It’s not cheap, but this is a girl that really doesn’t have much, so if I can get her something nice…I will! I have already bought all the gifts for the foster child for whom I’m providing gifts this Christmas. I got her a bunch of stuff, and went over the recommended budget they give. But, it’s all good. My friend Nancy loves to wrap presents, so she has them all right now and will not only wrap them for me, but deliver them to the person from the child welfare board for me as well. I have great friends!
Speaking of great friends…my friend Susie baked several dozen cookies for me, and my friend Jessica made 15 pounds of pasta and a number of loaves of garlic bread for me when I made dinner for some 40 high school students on Monday. All I ended up doing was browning 7 pounds of beef and making a ton of sauce. Because of their help, it was really not that hard. Like I said, I have great friends.
My friend Rick just closed on his new house. He lives in the San Francisco bay area. I can hardly wait to make a visit out that way to visit home after he gets settled in. Maybe I can make a drive out to Arnold, California while I’m there and visit Tisha (tjoel2). How cool would that be?
More from me soon, I promise!
I had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. It was a bit more quiet than those in recent years, but that was a good thing. I enjoyed it and it was relaxing.
I switched cell phone providers. Goodbye, Sprint! Years of what can best be described a pathetic customer service doomed them. They did all they could to keep me, but as I told the retention representative, it was simply too late to be nice now. What he offered is what they should have done two years ago.
I’m with AT&T now. So far, so good. My internet speed with the new wireless broadband modem I have is great. I don’t care for my new phone, however. I plan to go to the store this weekend and swap it for another. It works well enough and has good reception, but there are certain features about it that suck. The screen goes black after a few seconds, and you’re unable to see how long you’ve been on the phone. And what good is wallpaper if it never displays? Don’t like the phone. New one coming soon.
I had a meeting out of town on Wednesday. Before the meeting, I stopped at a Starbucks to get a frappucino. I’m addicted, but manage to discipline myself to having one or two a month. While there, I bought this really cute polar bear sugar cookie. I almost couldn’t bring myself to eat it.
The past few days have been frustrating with the chamber stuff. I’ll spare the details. But…things are being smoothed over. We’re all reasonable adults. I can be very passionate about things, and as a result refuse to overlook or turn away from what I perceive as a wrong. That can lead to what happened this week.
Speaking of the chamber, we had a chicken fried steak fundraiser recently. When things were wrapping up, I took a guy’s two sons over to feed all the ends of the bread loaves to the ducks. In Taylor, we have a LOT of ducks. With the chamber near the lake, it was a quick walk there. The ducks were happy to see us, and they loved all the bread.
I actually have Christmas spirit this year. It’s the first time in years I’ve actually enjoyed the holiday season. I actually put up a tree! It’s a “teddy bear tree” my friend Winnie gave me a few years ago. It’s nothing near as nice or impressive as what Dee (endlessblush) has in her house, but for me just having a tree up is impressive enough.
I even have other decorations up, like my biker Santa!
Speaking of Christmas, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here. Temperatures have dropped dramatically, and we’ve been in the 30s and 40s recently. We are even supposed to see snow tomorrow. I love it!
My father called me tonight asking what I want for Christmas. I told him I don’t really want nor do I need anything. The only gift I want is peace. I just wish mankind would find a way to live in peace. Now that would be a great gift, wouldn’t it?
I am getting Aubrey (the little girl I tutor) a Nintendo DS and a game called NintenDogs. She said she’d rather have that than a bicycle. It’s not cheap, but this is a girl that really doesn’t have much, so if I can get her something nice…I will! I have already bought all the gifts for the foster child for whom I’m providing gifts this Christmas. I got her a bunch of stuff, and went over the recommended budget they give. But, it’s all good. My friend Nancy loves to wrap presents, so she has them all right now and will not only wrap them for me, but deliver them to the person from the child welfare board for me as well. I have great friends!
Speaking of great friends…my friend Susie baked several dozen cookies for me, and my friend Jessica made 15 pounds of pasta and a number of loaves of garlic bread for me when I made dinner for some 40 high school students on Monday. All I ended up doing was browning 7 pounds of beef and making a ton of sauce. Because of their help, it was really not that hard. Like I said, I have great friends.
My friend Rick just closed on his new house. He lives in the San Francisco bay area. I can hardly wait to make a visit out that way to visit home after he gets settled in. Maybe I can make a drive out to Arnold, California while I’m there and visit Tisha (tjoel2). How cool would that be?
More from me soon, I promise!