Thursday, December 31, 2009

happy new year!!


a happy and prosperous new year to all!

*update: per request - my apologies for not giving a name... this is a friend's dog named Baby!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

time to get busy!!


seems with all the work i've been doing on the inside of the house, i've neglected the outside... it's looking pretty bad and could use a coat of paint. and it looks like THIS could be a year-long project =)

this is actually a house near downtown greenville, tx. it's a big house, but i'd be afraid to see the inside if the curbside view is any indication...

One of my resolutions in 2009 was to paint my house (not this one). Which was accomplished for the most part - there are still some parts of the back of the house to go, but we did get about 80% of the house painted this year. I was quite proud of the result - it made a huge difference, IMO. Now for 2010 I resolve to finish the back of the house so it doesn't start to look like today's photo!!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Spell check, please!


I understand you're not able to respond, but are you responsible?

Today's photo is a sign for the cart return space at Big Lots in Terrell... they apparently need some QA work at the sign company before final production =)

I'm still working on my list of resolutions for 2010. Looking back, I only had 2 resolutions for 2009, and I've managed to keep them all year. My first was to invest in the stock market - which always interested me, but I never understood. The second was just to stick with my exercise program that I'd started in 2008 - and I kept up with that one too!

My will-power seems to be getting stronger as I age, and turning 40 in 2009 helped to keep me motivated... the focus will remain on self-improvement in 2010...

Christina over at Obvious Insight has a cool post about resolutions. I think spending more time with family and friends will definitely find a space on my list for 2010. I didn't make it up to Missouri at all in 2009, and I need to make sure 2010 includes a couple family visits to make up for the past. Chris also provided a link to the 50 worst gadgets of the last decade - some sound interesting, and quite a few are just ridiculous. Definitely worth a browse though.

Welcome back Obstructed Views, who took a short hiatus from blogging and is back full force with a link-filled blog post! =) One item of note is the healthcare costs for inmates housed in the county jail. Should we be paying $14,000 per month for dialysis treatments for a prisoner?

One final item I was looking into as an option for my resolution list was 'micro-lending'. I'm looking into the Kiva organization specifically, whose mission is " to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty." Basically, for as little as a $25.00 investment, you can select a recipient of your choice - a low income entrepreneur who is in need of a loan to start a business.

Through Kiva's website you can track the money you loan, and the recipients repayments... and when the loan is paid back you can then re-loan that money to someone else, donate it to Kiva or you can actually get your money back.... So for a few dollars normally sitting in a savings account somewhere, you can help someone better themselves with the option of getting your money back at some point in the future...

I'm back at work tomorrow, depending on the blizzard conditions =) Wow, I can't believe it's almost 2010!~

Monday, December 28, 2009

frosty attacks - grandma!


today's first photo is frosty attacking the new catnip-filled toy that he got from grandma for Christmas!

i had today off work and decided to take grandma to the casino up in Oklahoma. i know most people think of the sweet little old grandma; but for me, my grandma informed me her new year's resolution was to stop being nice to people. She's gonna tell people how it is and she doesn't care. She's the mean grandma! =)

So i went to pick her up today, she saw my camera and then she stuck out her tongue. She always acts like she hates it when I post her picture. I told her I would post this one and show everyone what she's really like and she said she didn't care. So, we'll see if I get cussed out later.

Happy New Year to all those mean old grandmas out there!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

thinking about resolutions




as the new year approaches, i'm still thinking about changes to make in 2010. i've got a 5k and 10k down, and along with the extra exercise comes eating healthy. Maybe.

I've always been of the mind that if I'm working out, I can eat or drink whatever I want... including beer. But I'm considering all kinds of changes for 2010. Not committing to giving up beer just yet, but it's in the mix of options =) at least on a regular basis... sigh....

Saturday, December 26, 2009

frosty!


still a little wide-eyed from all the cat-nip that grandma gave him for Christmas....

Friday, December 25, 2009

Friday night brews


happy Christmas evening... time to wind down from the festivities with an adult beverage - my choice, a Guinness Extra Stout...=)

as a beer lover, I normally prefer a regular 'ole macro-brew (coor's light) - but I also enjoy a good dark beer every now and again... and if it has my name on it, it can't be all bad! (no, my real name is not Guinness)....

I hope everyone enjoyed time spent with family and friends this week, and lots of food! I came home with plenty of leftovers, so I'm prepared if another snowstorm blows through! =)

Merry Christmas!


Ahh... the long awaited day is here. Merry Christmas to all!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

more snow!


well, we're getting a little more snow tonight, so hopefully there'll still be some on the ground in the morning for pics! in the meantime, here's a blurry shot of snowflakes falling tonight. I know every snowflake is unique, but in this photo they all just look round =)

a little snowfall in terrell!


it was a long wait for the 'snow event' to make its way to Terrell today... a small wave of snow blew through in the afternoon but nothing stuck to the ground. Then another 'blizzard' came through right at nightfall - that was just enough to dust everything with a light cover...

and now we're waiting on another, larger band of the storm system to see how much more we get =) the radar at this moment appears to show the storm just to the west of Forney and heading for Terrell!! If we get any accumulation I'll go back out and brave the cold for more pics!

Merry Christmas to all! Also, if you haven't voted yet for my picture of the year - please look over in the right hand column and log your vote!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

2009 Photo of the Year Choices!

The 'Photo of the Year for 2009' theme for City Daily Photo Blog is scheduled for January 15th, which means I have about 20 days to select a favorite photo for 2009!

Jim and I decided to do something different this year - I went through all his posts for 2009 and gave him a number to choose from as favorites, and he, in turn, did the same from my posts.

The following photos are his selections - and I've got a poll with links to larger pictures in the right hand column. (you can also click on any photo for a larger view!) Pick your favorite, and take the poll on the right!!

Hop over to Jim's site and check his 'photo of the year' choices and vote in his poll too!

Merry Christmas!

Here are the 5 choices from my site:





Tuesday, December 22, 2009

calm, relaxing thoughts


one more day til my Christmas holiday and the long weekend begins! c'mon Calgon, take me away!

the photo for today is the faucet for my new tub that I had installed this year. It was financially painful to have the bathroom remodeled, but well worth it in the end... in my opinion. i'm pretty sure i've already used the clawfoot tub more in the last 2 months than i ever did the jacuzzi tub in 7 years =)

i hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday! we've decided to hang around terrell instead of getting out and travelling anywhere. the weather is supposed to get nasty over the next couple days also, which is all the more reason to hunker down and try to keep warm! merry christmas!

Monday, December 21, 2009

angels


Ok, this will be my last Christmas post for at least a day or so =) i'm definitely feeling an overload of Christmas on the site, so I'll have something different tomorrow! The first photo above is an angel lamp post silhouette and the photo below is a closeup of the same one...

I was kind of OK with the outcome of Survivor last night - I'd wanted Russell to win, but he was getting way too arrogant in the end and got some bad karma that came back and hit him upside the head =) a million dollar lesson for the guy who was already a millionaire.

We get a short week at work - the big boss gave us Christmas eve off in addition to Christmas Day - so tomorrow's hump-day!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Christmas Overload!


After looking over my posts from the last few weeks, it looks like Christmas has thrown up all over the place! =) I love Christmas and it's always been a magical time of year for me since I was a kid, but it can get to be a little overwhelming... and of course too commercialized.

Receiving presents (or money ;)) is nice, but the baubles and decorations are temporary - people are what matter, and they'll be around a lot longer than the stuff we give to each other or put up around ourselves to 'feel' the season.

Take a moment this season to tell those important in your life what they mean to you. It's a small gesture that can really mean a lot to someone who needs it! Merry X-mas!

My first photo above is a nutcracker from a window display in downtown Terrell. I caught the reflection of the old First National Bank with a deep blue sky reflecting off the window too =)

Tonight is the 3 hour finale of Survivor! It's always sad to see a season end - but it means we're that much closer to the Season/Series finale of LOST starting in the new year too! The 2nd photo below was taken at the Survivor auditions last weekend in Ft Worth....

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Christmas Shopping




I decided to finally get out and make my way through the crowds to get a little Christmas shopping done today. I have an aversion to crowded parking lots and pushy people, but I was running out of time and had to make some progress!

I heard from Michael over at Obstructed View that a few new stores are coming in to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Terrell - the first one being a Crocs Shoestore! I've never owned a pair of Crocs, but I did hold some of their stock(CROX) for a while this year. Now that it's coming in locally to Terrell, I'll have to re-invest in them and go out and buy a pair!! Our outlet mall is kind of small, so it's good to see new stores coming in and making sure the spaces aren't vacant!

Terrell has some great places to shop, but for the things I needed I had to go north to Rockwall - which has a much wider selection of stores to choose from, and a lot more people and traffic as well.

To relieve some of the stress from shopping, Jim and I stopped down at the Harbor on Ray Hubbard Reservoir to snap a few shots... it was a beautiful sunny day, with deep blue skies - amazing!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - last shopping weekend before Christmas!

Friday, December 18, 2009

lady tigers





tonight i went with jim to photograph the terrell lady tigers basketball team... still working on my sports/action photography skills... and still have a long way to go =).

I've been using the 'vibration reduction' feature on the lens - but I think I'm holding the camera steady enough that the feature may be overcompensating. Or maybe I'm overly jerky and the vibration reduction can't compensate enough =) either way, i'm taking notes and will be trying something different next time!

happy weekend all!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Aldinger-Cartwright Christmas


Tonight I have a night shot of the Aldinger-Cartwright home located at 505 Griffith Street in Terrell. It's always been one of my favorites, and has gone through some major restoration in recent years.

The home is currently owned by Tom and Nancy Aldinger, who have a blog - they also have a Shutterfly slideshow at this link that includes historic photos of the home and a lot of photos taken during the restoration work recently done, before and after.

And finally, a photo of it during the daytime. Yeah!! Tomorrow's Friday!!!!


fountain


Here's one more photo taken down in Ben Gill Park last night... This is the fountain at the small lake in the park, and the lights of a nearby apartment complex are lighting up the sky behind the trees...

happy thursday! this will be the last weekend before Christmas!! =S

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

blurry xmas


No, I didn't hit Scotty's tonight and stock up on drinks! But the days do seem to whiz by lately in a blur, and the time keeps slipping closer and closer to Christmas and the end of the year!

I wish DART would build a commuter train from Terrell to Plano, so I could make productive use of the hour that I spend driving to work every day...

I went down to Ben Gill park tonight to practice taking some night photos with the new camera. Tonight's photo didn't turn out 'perfect' - but it does kind of reflect how I've felt of late.... with work and the holidays and time slipping by so quickly! In the photo I was trying to take a quick shot of Jim from Terrell Daily Photo, but had the shutter on slow and he was moving, and then I moved... and hence the blur =)

Tomorrow night is the last Survivor til finale on Sunday night! A little more than a month til the last season of LOST begins! Which both excites and saddens me at the same time...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

holiday cheer!


this time of year often finds people needing to stock up on some adult beverages, or finding that perfect gift for the drinker in their life =)

my first photo above is Scotty's Party Pak, located at 1607 W. Moore Ave. Below is Scotty's entry in Terrell's annual Christmas parade from last weekend (aka Scottie's :) ).

Jim at Terrell Daily Photo has some great shots from the parade, click over and check them out!

10 days til Christmas... i've done no shopping... and i'm behind on organizing pics and making my calendars for 2010... ack!



if you're out in the forney area, don't forget to stop by and check out the Forney Light Show! It only costs a couple can goods, which will go to a local food pantry, and the lights and show are definitely worth seeing!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Season's Greetings...


and merry christmas too! just a quick post of a shot from the other night. i'm headed out now to see what i can find lit up! =)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Christmas Decorations





this batch of photos is from the vacant lot in downtown Terrell, across from the Hard Bodies Training Center.

I'm not a huge fan of the plywood cutouts, but thought they turned out kinda cool in the pics =)

Christmas Parade





a few more shots from the Christmas parade yesterday. jim has some photos from the parade and the forney light show also - click over and check them out, and he's promised more later from the parade too =)

I have more photos posted on the Texas Daily Photo Facebook page!

If you look closely at Dr Nix below, you'll see that he and his family are in need of some dental services =) you'd think with his dental office and all, they'd have perfect teeth!



ok, and finally -- here is a video of the Terrell High School Marching band from the parade yesterday too!!

forney light show



here are a few quick pics of the big x-mas tree at the forney light show. the light display is pretty amazing and worth checking out! Jim has a neat photo of the whole yard posted over on his site. My first photo above, with just the tree, was taken with my old camera - the bottom photo of the whole yard was with the new nikon =)

the 'charge' for viewing the lights is just some can goods that will be donated to the local food pantry. Last night they also had the Santa Cops out accepting toy donations for Christmas...

Stop by and check out the display, and help a good cause at the same time!! Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

jolly old st nick


santa's handlers were escorting him to his ride - atop the first Terrell firetruck making it's way through downtown!

more photos to come! Happy weekend and merry Christmas!