February Theme Day - Wood

The theme day for February over at the City Daily Photo Blog is wood. So my photo is this big tree in the yard of the First Baptist Church in Terrell. A bit of a stretch, but the tree is made of wood!

If you look closely, you can see the squirrel that ran away from me across the grass and up the tree to this perch, where he could keep an eye on me =)

Please click through to see other participants in February's Theme day! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Terrell Soccer

I rode out to Royse City with Jim this afternoon to take some shots of the Terrell varsity soccer team play Royse City.

My fingers and toes are still numb from standing out in the 27 degree weather =P I'm definitely going to look into some hand-warmers and maybe some heated socks for the next cold shoot!

Check out my facebook page for Texas Daily Photo to see more photos from the game!

late night papering

as i pulled out of the driveway for work earlier this week, i saw a present left for our neighbors across the street... toilet paper in the trees!

thanks for leaving my trees alone! =)

happy friday!

for the most part, i don't like to discuss politics on my blog. for those that know me, i'm a yellow dog. but way back in the day i voted for perot in the 90s. and i rode around in a 'bush-mobile' in college back in '88 to get out the vote for H.W.

national politics are so different than local. and locally, there are no dems running in any important primaries in terrell.

I recently attended a forum for Republican candidates running for Kaufman County. All of the people in today's photo were quite impressive. One other impressive candidate missing in my photo was Raymond Shackelford, running for 86th District Court Judge against incumbent Howard Tygrett.

happy weekend all!

please forgive me...

my photo today is a 'forgive me' note that i found laying on the sidewalk in downtown terrell. I've smudged the names to protect the innocent.

Just a few observations:

• cutting one's arms off is a little extreme, G.
• G is a man of few words
• D must not have liked the note, cause she tossed it out on the main street downtown
• i hope D and G worked everything out and everyone is still armed
• G's tired

Pink Cadillac

I grew up in Duncanville, south of Dallas, and Mary Kay pink Cadillacs were always a common thing to see back in the 80's. I was never sure how they got them - but if you want to know click through here.

It's been a long time since I've seen one, and this one is a much better shade of pink than some of the ones I've seen =) I shot this one at the stock show in Fort Worth this past weekend.

terrell v west mesquite

Just a few pics from the Terrell vs West Mesquite game tonight.

Jim has a rundown of the game over at his site.

And in trying to look at the positive side of things, the work week is officially 40% over!

Mismatched again?

Please tell me I'm not wearing different ear-rings?

A good friend from work, years ago, wore 2 different colored high-heeled shoes to work. She claimed to have grabbed one blue shoe and one black in the dark. She didn't realize until later in the day. And then I helped spread the word and brought tours of people by her cubicle to see. =)

Another friend, much worse, actually wore 2 different shoes with heels of different height. So she actually walked into the building stepping up and down. And didn't realize until later. She ended up walking around barefoot the rest of the day (probably to avoid the tours).

I won't name any names - but these people know who they are =)

so long, sunday

A few more shots from the stock show, as promised! It was funny to see how many people were walking their cow around like a pet.

The weekend seems to have slipped by rather quickly again, and now it's time to get ready for a busy week.

I'm still working on my couch to 5k program, and I have one more run to finish week 3 of 9. That should make me about ready for a 5k by the end of February ... nervousing!

i got my eye on you

Just a quick post this morning from the stockyards yesterday. This little fella was in the poultry building =)

I'll have some more photos from the stockyards ready to post later this afternoon. Right now it's time to take Grandma to our weekly breakfast at Denny's and then off to Walmart. An exciting day in Terrell!!

technology is our friend

I made a mistake today. A bad mistake.

Jim and I went out to the Ft. Worth Stockyards to take some photos, and decided to grab some lunch at Riscky's Steakhouse beforehand. The waitress, while taking our drink order, asked if we'd like some calf fries as an appetizer. With some gravy. Cause everything tastes good with gravy, right?

I honestly thought I'd ordered french fries and some gravy to dip them in, but when they got to the table they looked like this - today's photo.

I grabbed one and dipped it in the gravy and ate it. It had a strange consistency and tasted a little like liver. I started to get nervous, and then Jim suggested maybe they were little bite-sized chicken fried steaks.

Fortunately, with the technology of the Blackberry, I was able to Google calf fries and the first thing that popped up was mountain oysters. I know what mountain oysters are. They're testicles. I'd just eaten a calf testicle! ACK!

For some odd reason, I picked another small one and ate it. Then came the sick feeling. I'm a very picky eater, and the thought of what I'd just put in my belly was too much. After realizing what they were, Jim decided not to eat anymore either. They were making me sick just to look at them, so I hid the small plate in the bread basket and covered it with a napkin. The waitress later asked how we liked the 'fries', and both sheepishly admitted that we didn't know what they were before ordering. She claimed to love them, and that's fine - she can have them!

I now know not to order mountain oysters or calf fries ever again.

skywatch friday!

happy skywatch friday all!

to view more sites participating in skywatch, click here.

heifers

we got our eyes on you ... not another step closer!

8 things

I've been tagged! I received notice from Don at Olympia Daily Photo recently and now I need to answer a series of questions ... I'm choosing to participate, but I'm not going to tag anyone to pass it along. I've been a little busy lately and may not be able to follow up with all 8 people this requires, so i'm only half-participating! =) So here are my answers ...

8 TV shows I watch on occasion:

1. LOST
2. Survivor
3. Big Brother
4. American Idol
5. Judge Judy
6. The Mentalist
7. Medium
8. Amazing Race

8 favorite places to eat & drink:

1. Panda Chinese Buffet
2. Napoli's Italian
3. Buffalo Wild Wings
4. Blue Moon Cafe - Choctaw Casino =)
5. Las Vegas!!
6. PIzza Inn Buffet
7. Home
8. Which wich

8 things I look forward to:

1. Coming home from work
2. My first 5k run this year
3. Walks taking photos
4. Trips to the casino
5. vacations to vegas or wherever
6. Weekends
7. The days when i can work less and travel more
8. The day when my house is paid for (28 more months!!)

8 things I love about winter:

1. Snow, snow snow!
2. Icy days at home
3. Lazy Sundays watching a movie.
4. My new clawfoot tub and a hot bath
5. Holiday food
6. Gas prices dropping
7. New Year's
8. Beer (I love this about spring, summer and fall too)

8 things on my wish list

1. A six pack (this time i'm talking abs)
2. The winning lotto ticket
3. A Nikon D300 and more lenses
4. To learn to play the guitar
5. Time to take a few road trips - i'd love to drive to California!
6. To travel more - locally and overseas
7. A Mac Book Pro
8. a swimming pool

8 things I am passionate about:

1. Photography
2. Spouse & family
3. The outdoors
4. Walking/Jogging/Exercise
5. Gambling
6. Music
7. History
8. Reading

8 things I have learned from the past:

1. To never have regrets
2. Look to see if the roll is empty before you sit down =)
3. It's all ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end.
4. You can't change people
5. Don't expect so much from people that you set yourself up for disappointment
6. Let go of the negative, embrace the positive
7. Situations can be viewed from completely different perspectives
8. Honesty will always be the best policy


8 things I want/need:

1. A swimming pool
2. A college degree
3. A tune-up on the old pickup (and inspection, expires jan!)
4. Peace of mind
5. A home-based business =)
6. A piano or keyboard
7. A real vacation
8. A kegerator

jackrabbit

A few more photos from the basketball game last night. Ever get the feeling someone is watching over you, or glaring at you from behind? The Forney Jackrabbit seems a little menacing ... i wouldn't want to run into it in a dark alley!

All of these photos are taken with my new camera, which I'm still practicing with. I have to say that these all turned out WAY better than my last batch; I actually have some things in focus this time. =)

two losses in one night?

Last night I went to Forney with Jim to take photos of the Terrell Tigers playing the Forney Jackrabbits.

I was trying to keep up with the senatorial race in Massachusetts during the game, so I was a little distracted. All in all, it was a disappointing evening across the board. Terrell lost, and Massachusetts now has a nude centerfold model as a senator. Not that there's anything wrong with that. =)

Too Cold to Hold... continued

One last photo from the race this past Sunday.

The gentleman in the yellow shirt and light blue sweat pants in the center of today's photo is Terrell resident Fred Hawn. Hawn finished first in his 70-74 age group, according to the race results posted at RunOn's web site.

I'm still working on my couch to 5k program and hope to run my first 5k in February or March. And I hope I'm still in good enough shape when I get to be Mr Hawn's age to be able to finish a 5k!

Too Cold to Hold 2010

And they're off! Today's photo is the beginning of the Too Cold to Hold race in Norbuck Park this past Sunday, Jan 17. The first place guy is #152, right next to the chicken =)

Jim (located to the far right in this pic, with a camera in each hand) has the 1st and 2nd place winners posted and the first place winner finished the race with only one shoe - and the guy crossing in 2nd place was carrying it. It would've been funny if the shoe that came off was the one with the timing tag attached to it! =)

the race is on!

I went down early this morning to Norbuck Park near Whiterock Lake to take photos of the 'Too Cold to Hold' 5k and 15k. I hope within the next couple months to be participating instead of standing on the sidelines =)

Jim has the beginning of the race posted over at Terrell Daily Photo, and is asking viewers to pick out the winner.

There were only a few people in costumes. Spiderman had a big gut hanging out the front of his shirt, and, well... you can see what was bringing up the rear. Spidey was hanging with a few Elvis in personators! =)

I know I'm old, but the blog title reminds me of this old classic George Jones song!

rainy saturday

just a quick post tonight... i ran up to Audie Murphy's museum in Greenville with Jim today to take a few photos.

then i came back home to file taxes. 2009 was my first year to play around in the stock market. and i have now learned that every single transaction that was opened and closed throughout the year has to be entered individually! yikes! =) now it's time for some beer!!

2009 Photo of the Year! CDP Theme Day!

A final winner has been selected by everyone who voted in my 'Photo of the Year' contest for 2009. The grand prize goes to the 'TDP Downtown Photo-walk' picture. This is a photo I submitted for consideration in the Terrell Photo-walk that Jim at Terrell Daily Photo sponsored last summer.

I was actually taking a photo of Risinger's Western Wear and the Buford Drugs sign, and when I got home to review my photos I saw the old car driving past. Serendipity? Perhaps =) I thought the black and white effect made the photo seem older - and I was going through a 'color focus' phase back at the time, which resulted in my leaving the car in it's original color. It's one of my favorite shots, so I'll agree with the results!

I selected my photo by taking a poll from 5 selected photos posted on my site throughout 2009, and here are the Final Poll Results:

1st. TDP Downtown Photowalk with 19 votes

2nd. THS Cheerleaders with 10 votes

3rd. Purple Passion Flower with 3 votes

Please take a browse through some of the other City Daily Photo sites participating in photo of the year!! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

playing possum

Today's photo is an unusual sight for the Plano business park where I work - especially up a tree! I was afraid to get too close, just in case he decided to jump on me =)

Yeah!! tomorrow's Friday!! I decided for new year's to stop wishing the days away, so this week has been dragging along nicely!! hopefully that holds true for the weekend...

reflections

Another photo from the archives again today. This is also one that was taken in Whitewright, Texas a few months back. An old grain silo, maybe? I'm not for sure =) It's abandoned now, and looks like it's been a part of the community for quite some time.

Looking ahead

Or is it looking behind? Sometimes things can be seen from two very different perspectives.

This photo is one from the archives, taken a while back in Whitewright, Texas, a small town in the way of me and Choctaw!

Local Drive Thru

One thing that seems to be popular around my area is the drive-thru beer barn and tobacco store. =)

It also seems to be a popular search on google, and I get a lot of visitors searching for it because of one of my first posts back from January 2008. Who knew? Today's photo is a different merchant than my last post, just a few blocks further west.

Cause, you know, a town can't have too many places that you can drive thru (with 2-way traffic) and satisfy all your alcohol and tobacco needs.

Riverside is located at 500 West Moore Ave, and more information regarding them can be found here. Personally, I have never driven thru either beer barn - I am kind of old-fashioned; I like to get out and go inside to buy my beer... =)

a year from today will be 1/11/11... i'm a numbers person, so is there some significance to this?

sunday blues

Well, this photo doesn't look anything like the building I saw the other night. I knew I should have gone back to photograph it the first time! I think they had additional lighting on it when I saw it on Friday, and now it just looks ordinary...

I have to agree with several of the comments from yesterday - I like the old post office better too! But I'm kind of nostalgic for the olden days, and a little resistant to change =)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! This week is my time to write annual reviews for employees at work. At the same time I have to update my own performance journal with work projects. I was supposed to update it throughout the year, but procrastination won again =)Wheeee....

Walking on Water

Ok, I didn't make it back down to the post office last night to get an evening shot... so i'll try again tonight.

Although I wasn't able to walk on water in jim's post yesterday, this duck was out to prove to me that he could! He said, just take it easy and place one webbed foot at a time...

Coming soon!

Here is the front of the new post office. They've done quite a bit of work since yesterday's photo =)

Looks like some landscaping is still needed. And badly. The whole front is all dirt right now, but they can lay out the grass in a day with a good work crew.

I'll follow up later tonight with a night photo of the front. They already have some strategically placed lights that really makes the building stand out with these white stones.

New Post Office

Tonight I've got a shot of the new post office that I took back last summer on July 1st. I drove by the building tonight, and it looks pretty amazing with it's rock facade lit up in the night. I'll follow up tomorrow with a photo of the new finished product!

$300g for me!

anybody in the market for a slightly used 12k square foot federal building? This soon to be former post office centrally located in downtown Terrell can be yours for the low low price of $300,0000!

I wouldn't mind having it for a home - it's got it's own circular drive up front and a bank atm right next door =)

gimme a break... or a sign?

ok, since it was my 2nd birthday yesterday, i'm taking one more day off! =) i searched back through the blog and found the version of yesterday's photo that was originally published. Everything I've done with photo-editing has been self-taught. Taking a photography and photo editing class are both on my resolution list for this year!

happy blog birthday to me!

It's hard for me to believe, but today Texas Daily Photo is two years old! It doesn't feel like it's been that long since I started blogging - and even in my first post on January 5, 2008, I pondered whether it would be November or December before I had my 2nd post... =)

Now it's two years later and I'm still plugging away. Some days it can seem like a chore, but overall I enjoy getting out and photographing things around my city and also taking photos when I travel.

I've also enjoyed visiting other places around the US and across the world through the eyes of other City Daily Photo bloggers. I've learned a lot about photography through these other blogs and their pictures; getting ideas for photos as well as techniques for editing the final product.

One of my favorite bloggers, that started his site a few months before mine, just stopped posting as of January 1st. Although I never met him and have never been to Cheltenham, UK, I'll miss Marley's witty posts and photos in 2010... but good luck nonetheless! Strange how one can feel such a sense of loss from the absence of a regularly visited website.

Today's photo is a collage of a few neighboring community city limit signs... it's one that I made back in 2008... =) Happy 2nd Blog Birthday to me, and a prosperous 2010 for us all!!!

Hopefully this isn't my last post this year until November or December. ;-)

santa scarecrow

I know I said no more Christmas photos, but this is an exception. I'm not certain if this was purchased as a santa, or if it was a dressed up scarecrow leftover from halloween and thanksgiving.

Either way, times are tough and you do what ya gotta to do! In the fall you can stick him out in the cornfield to keep the crows away =)

old car

some things can still look good no matter how old and beat up they are. people and cars come to mind =) this old jewel was being transported through downtown terrell... mis-matched tail lights and all. it looks like it's seen a bit of history in its time.