beachgirl's Xanga

Just for me!

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:24:39 GMT

Hello Friends, Well, Rex, Connor, Trav, and Karl, Trav's best friend, just left for a hunting trip out to our friend's game ranch in West Texas.. so, that means I have the whole weekend ALL BY MYSELF! What will I do? The house is all cleaned and laundry is done.. I think I will have an "Eagles" Saturday and watch their awesome Farewell I Tour video again.. and maybe read later.

The cabinet guy is supposed to be here after noon to finish the hardware installation and final two pieces of wood. It was interesting to watch him because he covered EVERY piece of wood AGAIN with matching maple veneer, so it matched the new doors and drawers. He did an awesome job, but that is what we wanted and paid for.

Or, I can plug in another JAG episode.. One day when I was walking thru Walmart, I heard the song that Tina loaded for me on here.. 100 years to Live. BTW, thanks, Tina! I got Trav to make a CD of my fav hits and this was one of them. So, every morning, when I loaded Connor to take him off to day care, when he lived with us due to his Mom's schedule, I'd pop this in and we'd BOTH sing it on the road. He loves it and sings it to me now, so this is OUR song. I was totally blown over at the final episode of JAG (that Steph taped for me), when Mac and Harm decided to get married, and THIS was the song they played. So, it's sentimental to me for several reasons, but if you listen to it, the words are awesome. Remember, life DOES fly by, so take advantage of every minute of it.

I already walked Rascal and kissed Rex goodbye, so I am off to shower and get moving. I need to run to Dollar General when they open to get a few things and head back here. When I kissed Rex goodbye, I asked him to keep Connor busy elsewhere, if Trav happened to make a kill. That is NOT something he needs to see and would not understand at 7. He has a very innocent, tender heart and can't understand why a big fish eats a little one for a meal. LOL.

Hope to visit some of yall later on. Have a nice weekend.

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

My new kitchen..

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:45:28 GMT

Hello Friends, Here is the new kitchen makeover.. Thank you, Rex!

Old cabinets.. Drawers are gone.

Here are the new ones!

Old again..

New ones - still have to put in two pieces on front and hardware..

I am real pleased with the way they turned out. Looks like a whole new kitchen!

The Board meeting was a good one and I am glad it is over. Tomorrow is Friday and I am wearing jeans to work.. Hurry up 3:30 Friday for the weekend.

Have a nice, quiet weekend.

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

A loafing Sunday...

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:21:21 GMT

Hello Friends, All quiet here. Jackson and Connor are playing in the den, while Rex watches TV. Trav and Steph went off to the movie.

We finally got some good soaking rain last week. Maybe a couple of inches or so over several days, but that was what we needed. Middle of July is here and Rick told me that Garden Ridge is putting out their Christmas stuff again.. Good grief. Lee and Shelby each got a new Christmas ornament.. They are with their Dad until the end of this month.

Alicia, Rick's wife, informed me that she is planning a "vow renewal in early September" and wanted me to ask Steph and Heather to be her bridesmaids.. That whole thing kinda took me by surprise anyway, so I told her to contact them herself, since that should not be a question asked thru a third party.

Have not said much, but Heather is getting married in February to a real sweet guy, Jerry, who has custody of his 12 year old son. So, Heather will be really busy getting that together, since he did not want to elope. She has most of it all planned and a down payment on the dress. Just putting the last of the finishing touches on decorations etc.

Tuesday, we get the cabinets refaced in the kitchen. It should be beautiful and I can't wait. I was pleased with the black granite countertop on the island, and it sure added more prep and serving room. Yesterday, Rex cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and I threw away junk. Boy, we certainly needed to do that - the cleaning AND the tossing out stuff.. All of the stuff we kept is now on the island and table and looks awful.. Now is my chance to reorganize and make better use of the space.

Well, tonight comes on Army Wives again. I love watching Catherine Bell, but hate it that the show comes on at 9 PM CST on Lifetime. Kinda late for us on Sunday night, but we have certainly enjoyed the show. Every Sunday they show the episode the week before at 8 and then the current episode the next hour. Seems she is living in South Carolina, where they are doing all the filming and loves it there.

I ordered JAG Season 6 off ebay and slid in at the 45 seconds and won it last week. Pays to snoop around on eBay.. I am sure that someone that was bidding is mad.. LOL.. The only other show we have been watching is America's Got Talent.. sometimes we DO and sometimes do NOT have talent! I guess it is all about ratings..

My Board meeting was changed from tomorrow night to Thursday night and that works for me. I still have 6 vacation more days to take off before 8/31.. I don't want the pay, I'd rather have the time off from work.

I hope that each of you will keep Queen Tina in your prayers, as she has her weight loss surgery tomorrow AM. She has already lost almost a 100 lbs on her own just by dieting. Tommorow is her rebirthday, so Sissy, congrats to you from your family in Texas..

The Eagles are coming to Houston in September. Rick bought me their new album and I am not impressed. Their tour is the name of their new album, Long Road out of Eden. As much as I'd like to go, I don't want to sit there and listen to music that I don't like. Their Farewell I tour had awesome music and was kick ass, so I just plug that in when I wanna hear some good tunes.. Rick and Trav are planning to go, I think.. Haven't decided if I will or not. Since the arena only holds less than 20k people, it may be sold out in a few minutes. Time will tell..

Time to get off here and pop around to visit peeps.. Have a great relaxing weekend and stay out of the heat! Maybe two more months until some cooler weather??

If you get the chance, stop by Lilbit's site. One of the officer's wives was diagnosed with breast cancer, so all of the guys in the dept shaved their heads in support of her and took a group pic. Since Heather's wedding is in Feb., she couldn't do that, so Jerry, her fiance, did instead! Awesome!

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

Another day off..

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:06:22 GMT

Hello Friends, Rex and I decided to take the day off together. Since Connor did not have anything planned for today, we scooped him up last night for a 3 day weekend with us. Just like next weekend will be.. Works for me. GLAD to be off today, since the stress at work has been awful lately.

Got the second load of laundry done and my sheets in the dryer. Den is all cleaned and kitchen is, as well. We went by Walmart last night for odds and ends again.. I swear.. There went another $100 and for nothing really special or a basket load of meals - NOT. I am glad we don't have a family of kids to feed. I don't know how my brother, Jimmy, feeds his 5 kiddos. He complained the last time I talked with him about how high even hamburger had gotten. He and a buddy at work were talking about fattening a calf for the freezer and splitting it to feed their families. I don't blame him. I also told him to find a meat market close by and check their package specials. Sometimes you get really great deals.

I don't know where the rain is, but it is NOT here. It comes close and fizzles. The TV radar shows rain over us, but it never hits the ground, that is now powder dry. Our county is under a burn ban. We could sure use several days of slow drizzling rain. I have to go water my parched plants and even with the watering many have just shrivelled up and died. I feel sorry for the people in the Midwest, who have too MUCH water.

I finished my quarterly reports at work yesterday and can't believe half of the year is gone again. I am just happy to be one day closer to fall and some cooler weather.

Not sure what our July 4th plans are, but that is my brother Ricky's birthday. We may scoot down to Texas City and party for a while and head back here. Just being off that time will be nice.

Summer TV has been the pits. About all we watch is America's Got Talent. Some of it has talent and some DOESN"T.. LOL..

Well, got to change the washer and dryer. Hope y'all have a GREAT weekend and keep it safe.

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

Connor's birthday party

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:06:00 GMT

Hello Friends: Well, Connor had another awesome Beach Party birthday complete with HUGE slide and a lady clown. A lot of his little friends and some of our family showed up. We had a great time even tho the heat was just horrible. The food was great and Heather went out of her way to provide burgers, hotdogs, dips and fruit skewers for everyone. This took up most of the backyard. Even the fence was decorated as you can see in the far right corner and in the pic below.

Here is Katy Mae the Clown. Connor one upped her show with the magic wand.

Here is Jackson staying cool in the little kiddie pool..

Here is the "cupcake" birthday cake.. No cutting.. Just grab a cupcake!

Here are the fruit skewers and they were so delicious.. Top one is apples and melon slices with grapes underneath and bottom one is strawberries, pineapples, grapes and canteloupe. Aunt Stephanie worked her magic to help Heather put this all together.

Ever seen an ice chest like this?? She had 3 of these and they were neat.

Fence decorations..

The tables and chairs were rented with the slide. Smart idea. I bet that guy makes a killing.. The moonwalk/slide only takes 5 minutes to blow up.. The kids loved it.

That is Connor in his Hawaiian shirt talking to fellow officers of Heathers.. Gotta feed the police!

Here is Mary, my sister, holding sweet little Miss Katie.

Here is Heather and Jackson, who is eating grapes!

Here is Connor and his snake balloon made by Katy the clown..

Connor is leading the Happy Birthday song..

Guess who else enjoyed the Death by Chocolate cake for the adults?? Look at her face.. Rick was teasing her.. Katie loved it! Cruella de Airhead would not let Rick have Lee and Shelby, so they missed the party, but Aunt Heather saved their goodie bags, beachballs and all kinda goodies for them.

Here is Connor opening his gifts.. He loves Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese cat, who does not know he is a cat.

Here is Officer Connor in his new uniform from Granddaddy and I.

Here is my old countertop..

And here is the NEW one! Black galaxy granite.. Plenty of room on this one.

Thanks for stopping by.. Have a GREAT weekend..

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

Happy Friday..

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:43:21 GMT

Hello Friends: Well, Happy Friday. The weekend is almost here and we get Connor this afternoon. I sure miss the little guy when he is not here and Rex REALLY does..

Heather is in full swing for Connor's Beach Party birthday next weekend with a huge slide coming and a clown to do magic tricks and animal balloons. Gonna do burgers and hot dogs.. Course, Airhead the Bitch won't let the kids come down, so they will miss the party. She will keep them July 4th weekend as well, so Rick and Alicia will not be able to take them on the special trip to San Antonio they had planned and can not be rescheduled for a different weekend. My only hope is that some day Uncle Sammy will call her HUGE student loan due and she can't make the payment and they take ALL her checking account.. The mean, cruel people of the world HAVE to pay the piper, sooner or later..

Boy, it is powder dry here, but humid and drippy. We need rain, so badly. Everytime bad weather comes our way, it parts north and south and we get nothing but thunder and ugly clouds.. Showers would be nice because my poor plants are parched and sitting on the porch in the shade..

The mama killdee bird's eggs started hatching in the gravel parking lot at work. She has two eggs left of four she laid, and ony tiny bird appeared yesterday. I think the other egg is due to hatch today. I have been giving her some bird seed and water. I put two logs around her nest so people would not drive over it and someone stole one of the logs. The other log is still there to help protect them.

Not much happening at work, since the Board meeting is done. Now things are quiet again.

Hope everyone has a nice, peaceful weekend. Stay cool and dry. Remember the Boy Scouts and their families in your prayers along with all of the others that have had to endure the wrath of Mother Nature and her terrible weather storms. Count your blessings, folks..

No worries, Mates! What is on your weekend agenda???

Beachgirl

Back home again.. Pics ADDED NOW!!

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:24:13 GMT

Hello Friends: Wow, this past week has been crazy, but loads of fun. Last weekend we visited some friends in Junction, TX that have an exotic game ranch. They have fallow deer, scimitar, black buck, seka and of course, the five pet llamas, two horses, Baby and Patches, a paint horse, a four horned sheep named Wooley Bugger and Benjamin and Bernadette, the burros. It was amazing to see the three hummingbird feeders being swarmed all day long. Just sitting on their front porch in the evening after putting out feed corn, I was in awe of the over 3-4 DOZEN animals that come to feed and get a drink of water each night. Just amazing. The peace and quiet was wonderful and the clear night skies let you see all the stars out there.. Here are the pics below..

Connor had a ball with us and even found an arrow head! We went swimming Saturday at the YO Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Texas. It was originally 550,000 acres, but now it is down to 40,000 after the kids inherited their part and began selling it off. They have wildebeests and giraffes there among the horses and TX longhorn cattle- in separate areas, of course.

Saturday night after supper, we made Smores in the fire pit on the patio out behind their home and Connor fed the burros apple pieces. Connor proceeded to tell us his legends and ghost stories by campfire.. Very interesting to hear his impromptu stories.. We have Jim Carrey in the making! He had a ball riding each evening in the Kawasaki Mule and putting out the corn. When you honk the horn, the animals come running. It was hot there, but with the low humidity you didn't really feel the heat until we got home Sunday at noon.. Welcome to humidity that sucks the life out of you..

I got all the clothes washed and went to work Monday, while Rex enjoyed his last day off.. Tuesday afternoon, I picked up Heather and Connor and we all headed to Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston for my financial conference again. Rex met us there for both nights. Tue night we met up with all my brothers and sister except Jimmy, who was busy. Wed.- H & C did all the exhibits and shows at Moody Gardens and after my class we all did IMAX Sharks by Jean-Claude Cousteau, Jacque's grandson. It was family oriented and not violent at all, but H did not like it. I did.. 3D makes you feel like you are swimming with them.. Awesome feeling.. We got home late Thur afternoon and we all went back to work on Friday, where I scrambled to finish getting the meeting together and agenda posted.

Today, I already watered the plants and fed the birds outside and I am just loafing. Gas is $3.75 a gal here and I have done all the running I need to for a while. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but we have ordered a black granite countertop for the kitchen island AND all new cabinet hardware, drawers, doors and exterior wood for resurfacing the kitchen cabinets. It should look awesome when it is done.

Well, I am off to visit a few blogs. Maybe it will get my mind off of Airhead the witch, that won't let Rick have his kids this weekend.. GRR..

Have a nice weekend and stay cool..

No worries, Mates..

Beachgirl

G'Day!

Fri, 23 May 2008 15:50:10 GMT

Hello Friends: G'Day, mates! Things just keep on getting better.. NOT.. Another dental visit produced a crown that really doesn't fit my bite right. Dentist will remake it if I come back ~ for more dental work because he is not happy with the fit or quality of it.. I'll pass and just make do.. At least it is in back where no one will see it. I don't see anything wrong with it, it just feels weird..

Work is settling down, but will be hectic after I come back off vacation. Rex and I will both be off together next week for some quiet time.. I hope..

I went home at lunch and while I was walking Rascal, I heard rattling in the trash cans. I looked over and there was a BIG possum staring back at me! So, I took the can across the street and let him loose on the 40 acres over there.

I am going to Galveston again for a conference on June 3, 4 and 5. Rex will meet me down there and Heather and Connor will come along and visit Moody Gardens and swim in the pool while I am in class. My family will meet with us one night for dinner there. The timing for this conference is really bad.. It is the week I should be preparing for my Board meeting, so I will get to do that on Monday, June 2nd! Let's hope that works out ok, because I will come back on Friday the 6th to scramble and get the meeting finished and agenda posted.

I paid $3.75 a gal for gas this morning. Not good. More than I have EVER paid, so for $75 I got about 20 gallons. Glad my driving is minimal.

Anybody watch the NCIS season finale on Tuesday night? It was the pits. That certainly falls in line with the rumors Rick heard that they are shutting down NCIS for good. I hope not. It is the only show we enjoy watching.

Connor will have a long weekend with us. It was 80 degrees at 7 AM this morning and hot as blazes outside now. I guess summer is officially here.. Yuck! Hurry up fall and the "first cool front".. The one from last week left me with a nasty sinus infection again.. Grr..

Have a safe holiday weekend and stay cool.

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

Sigh of relief..

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:00:50 GMT

Hello Friends: Well, the election at work is over and went off without a hitch AND both lady incumbents won! The one with the opponent won by a 3 to 1 landslide vote. So very glad it is over..

Had the Board meeting Monday night and now that is finished. Have another short one Fri at 7 AM to swear in our re-elected ladies and reorganize the Board. Things have begun to settle down.

Mother's Day was nice. Rex gave me a card. One that is too cute with the Chicken Dance Music playing when you open it. Got roses and tulips from Heather and Connor and Katie, Rick and Alicia. Trav, Steph and Jax got me Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive DVD that is awesome. Love the soundtracks.

Mary, James and Carson came by Sunday on the way back home from New Braufels. It was a nice visit with BeachgirlsSis! We don't see each other that much and need to do it more often..

Here is hoping for a nice, quiet week now and a peaceful weekend.

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl

Interesting info...

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:11:44 GMT

Hello Friends: Still nuts here, but got the dentist visit out of the way yesterday. GLAD to be out of pain. Got a root canal, temporary crown and two cavities filled and I did not even need an aspirin last night! Yea!!

Got this interesting email and boy, did it make my blood boil..

In Just one year - - -

This email comes in three parts:

Part 1

In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following:

A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 ½ year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!
Remember, it's Congress that makes law not the President.
He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day........'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.' -- Barack Obama

Part 2:

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.

www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

Taxes under Clinton                     Taxes under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400               Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000             Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250             Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800           Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000           Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750         Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates
It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above
think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest
President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they
will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that
fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is
like the movie, The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of
some money and they don't even know what happened.

PART 3:
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:
Boy, am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS. I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again Where ouuntil they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

verify at: http://wwwcis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US .
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border; also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, 'estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .'
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. Are we THAT stupid? If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message.

If, on the other hand, it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative in Washington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof.

It just goes to show you that we have an OUT of CONTROL bunch in D.C..

Anyway, got to get the Board meeting finished and agenda ready to post for Friday. Gonna be in the sweltering 90's this week. I guess summer is here. I'd love to fast forward to October..

Have a great Hump Day!

No worries, Mates!

Beachgirl