Christmas came and went. It was lots of fun this year- the anticipation of Christmas with two kids is very entertaining!
I made my first A in grad school. And still two weeks of a break. I am thinking of trying to find a new book to read for the rest of the break.
Our company sold yesterday. They've eliminated all benefits for our part-time employees. No personal time, no vacation. They've removed a week of vacation for the tenured employees with 10+ years. They say we are now more in-line with other companies in the industry. Hmm. I am sure there are more changes to come.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Christmas is in two weeks. It has snuck up on me! My final is tomorrow. Once that is done, I'll be able to knock everything out!
We tried a new restaurant, Bocaccio Cafe, in the Brownstone Village in Arlington. It was pretty good. They don't have their Alcohol license yet, but luckily there was also a great wine tasting store located right next door. This is where we spent the remainder of our evening. (When we were supposed to be Christmas shopping.)
Also went to the Cowboy game last night. It was brutal. Not the weather- the team. But we had great seats on the third row. I can't say that I will go back to the nasty stadium again unless I have good seats again. Our chairs were pretty gross and the facility is so outdated.
We tried a new restaurant, Bocaccio Cafe, in the Brownstone Village in Arlington. It was pretty good. They don't have their Alcohol license yet, but luckily there was also a great wine tasting store located right next door. This is where we spent the remainder of our evening. (When we were supposed to be Christmas shopping.)
Also went to the Cowboy game last night. It was brutal. Not the weather- the team. But we had great seats on the third row. I can't say that I will go back to the nasty stadium again unless I have good seats again. Our chairs were pretty gross and the facility is so outdated.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Black Friday
I finally experienced Black Friday. Never before have I taken part in this craziness. We didn't quite get into it like some, but here's what we did see:
We got out of bed, loaded up with coffee, and headed to Stop #1: Best Buy, around 7am. The parking lot was crowded, but not full. Once inside, it was packed with 'deal' displays, lots of employees, and many customers as well. We are in the market for a new video camera, so we headed that direction. The section was full of people and most of the 'specials' were already sold out.
A woman behind us was Very upset that the digital camera she wanted was sold out. Apparently, someone made the mistake of actually telling her that the item was in stock, but that vouchers had already been given out to those people who waited in line at 4 am. She said that she was there at 4am as well, but had to leave. She repeatedly told the manager that she was 'here now, and ready to buy' and even though there were others in the store with vouchers, she should have the right to the camera because she is ready to checkout first.
All of this sounded like nonsense to me. Isn't this what she expected? I big hat's off to retail management personnel who have to deal with dumb people.
We proceeded to find a camera for ourselves. Of course, the one we came to look at was already sold out- but we expected this might be the case before even leaving the house. We also found a High School Musical playstation game(which is all the rage in our little Disney channel daughter's world) for a bargain price of $10 and a 'Now 23' CD. I was a little embarrassed to buy this CD, but for $5.99, it's cheaper than iTunes.
Stop #2: Lowe's. Everytime I've driven by Lowe's/Home Depot at 8am the parking lot is usually full of what I assume is contractors buying supplies for the job of the day. The lot looked about the same today as any other day.
Our goal here: a new vacuum. Luckily, no problems getting the super special savings here. We also picked up some 6 inch Poinsettias for $1.49 (steal!) and some Christmas storage needs.
Stop #3: Radio Shack. The store we visited did not carry all of the items in the advertisement. This didn't seem like ethical advertising. But at least we didn't spend alot of time and effort to get there.
So, that concluded our minimal experience of Black Friday. We may not have doven in head first (like going to Toys'R'Us) but we saw all we wanted to see. We had breakfast at LaMadeleine and ran across another Radio Shack which had the items we were looking for. All in All a very successful morning. And we didn't even have to throw the gloves off!
Oh, we later discovered that many of the stores advertising 'Black Friday' savings offer the same pricing for online purchases with free shipping!
We got out of bed, loaded up with coffee, and headed to Stop #1: Best Buy, around 7am. The parking lot was crowded, but not full. Once inside, it was packed with 'deal' displays, lots of employees, and many customers as well. We are in the market for a new video camera, so we headed that direction. The section was full of people and most of the 'specials' were already sold out.
A woman behind us was Very upset that the digital camera she wanted was sold out. Apparently, someone made the mistake of actually telling her that the item was in stock, but that vouchers had already been given out to those people who waited in line at 4 am. She said that she was there at 4am as well, but had to leave. She repeatedly told the manager that she was 'here now, and ready to buy' and even though there were others in the store with vouchers, she should have the right to the camera because she is ready to checkout first.
All of this sounded like nonsense to me. Isn't this what she expected? I big hat's off to retail management personnel who have to deal with dumb people.
We proceeded to find a camera for ourselves. Of course, the one we came to look at was already sold out- but we expected this might be the case before even leaving the house. We also found a High School Musical playstation game(which is all the rage in our little Disney channel daughter's world) for a bargain price of $10 and a 'Now 23' CD. I was a little embarrassed to buy this CD, but for $5.99, it's cheaper than iTunes.
Stop #2: Lowe's. Everytime I've driven by Lowe's/Home Depot at 8am the parking lot is usually full of what I assume is contractors buying supplies for the job of the day. The lot looked about the same today as any other day.
Our goal here: a new vacuum. Luckily, no problems getting the super special savings here. We also picked up some 6 inch Poinsettias for $1.49 (steal!) and some Christmas storage needs.
Stop #3: Radio Shack. The store we visited did not carry all of the items in the advertisement. This didn't seem like ethical advertising. But at least we didn't spend alot of time and effort to get there.
So, that concluded our minimal experience of Black Friday. We may not have doven in head first (like going to Toys'R'Us) but we saw all we wanted to see. We had breakfast at LaMadeleine and ran across another Radio Shack which had the items we were looking for. All in All a very successful morning. And we didn't even have to throw the gloves off!
Oh, we later discovered that many of the stores advertising 'Black Friday' savings offer the same pricing for online purchases with free shipping!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I took what my mother-in-law calls a 'personal mental health day' on Monday and stayed home with my hubby. We went on a nice mountain bike ride around Lake Grapevine. This ride wasn't as difficult as Cedar Hill so I was able to actually ride a bit more. However, I am still pretty sore from carrying my bike up a few hills. It was fun. I'm trying to figure out how to work these personal days into my schedule every week.
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