Grumpy Santa's Christmas Countdown

Grumpy Santa says:

"Back off, Fluffy.
I haven't even had my egg-nog yet."





34 Days 'til Christmas

On the Canal: Fall Foliage

Ok, so we don't really have any fall foliage here, but you could

Take a walk along the bayou.



Stop and smell the Hibiscus.


and do some bird watching.


Yup, fall is in the air

TS Gamma and Planning Ahead

It appears TS Gamma will miss Florida, though the storm has been a tough one for Honduras this morning.

Over breakfast this morning John and I discussed how we will handle a future evacuation. While we felt storm prepared Pre-Rita, when it actually came time to pack and run we left a lot of things behind we could have/should have brought along. We felt unorganized on the actual day with John hammering boards and me grabbing precious family photos off the walls and shelves. Maybe there is not an easy or perfect way to load your life up into a couple of cars, but next year we vow to do it better.

The Apprentice

Just for fun, two more personal sites.



Dr. Randal Pinkett joins the list of those candidates with a
"book forthcoming".
And
James is looking for a job.
I guess the links marked "video" and "press" are also forthcoming.

Grumpy Santa's Christmas Countdown

Grumpy Santa says:

"Beat it, fish breath!
It's not even December yet."



36 days 'til Christmas

Shopping: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

I LOVE these things!

I hate the smell of cleaning products, heck I hate cleaning, but these wierd little sponges work great. You just wet it and the magic solution inside goes to work to clean up all that hard to clean up stuff on the stove, counter, floor.....you name it.
No odor, no mess.
John was struggling with Fanastic and a rag on the stove the other day and I said, "No use the magic thingy".

Well, he got on a cleaning splurge after that, even the toaster and fridge got hit.
I laughed and asked him did he like those sponges and he said,
"well they don't hold up very good."
Oops, I forgot to tell him they are supposed to disappear as you clean.
Then you can buy more, you see....magic.

Weather: TS Gamma

Tropical Depression 27 and regained strength and been named Gamma.
TS Gamma could hit the Florida coast as early as Monday.
Unbelievable.

In the News: This will make your hair curl

A new pill has been invented to make curly hair straight and straight hair curly.

As someone who doesn't even like to take a sinus pill, I find that a little freaky.

Star Jones on The View this morning wondered how this pill knows what on which part of your body you want the hair to be straightened.

Now that's funny.

Friday Cat Blogging: The "eyes" have it

I wanted to take a picture of Rafe's pretty blue eyes.



Of course Rhett saw the camera and



wanted his picture taken too


For more camera friendly pets visit the Friday Ark.
and
Sunday's Carnival of Cats will be hosted at Scribblings.

The Apprentice

It's week nine of the 13 week job interview for our remaining 6 candidates.



The firing of two last week left the corporations lop-sided.
Clay volunteered to join up with Randal and Rebecca at Excel.
I think he figured he had worn out his welcome with Capital Edge.

I guess I should throw in that the teams got to meet Miss Universe, though I'm not sure what the point was except to remind viewers that the Trump Organization owns her too.

The task was to write and produce a song using a new talent for XM Satellite Radio.
I have to admit I was really was not into this task.
Is The Donald going to buy a radio station or something?
I just don't see the point, unless it's to give George something to talk about.
I like George.
Anyways.....
PM Rebecca quickly finds Clay difficult to manage and PM Felicia is excited about not having to manage Clay.
After all, it's all about Clay.

Well, both teams found interesting artists to work with and the songs did not sound too bad at least to me. Keep in mind, however that I listen to Barry Manilow, Madonna, and No Doubt in my car so what do I know.

The execs at the radio station are not happy with the edgey song Excel has produced and even more not happy that Randal's poster was printed with the wrong station number.
Like they were going to use it anyway....picky, picky!
After hearing opinions from station listeners on both tunes, Capital Edge is the clear winner.

The winning trio of Adam, Felicia, and Alla tour the Manhattan Skyline with Trump.
Trump tells him about all the stuff he owns and they are/act properly impressed.
Meanwhile, the losing duo of Rebecca and Randal prepare to throw Clay under the bus.
I say duo because Clay has not really been part of any team since day one.

The boardroom in Carolyn's own words was a tough one.
Mr. Trump says he must look at the history of these candidates.
With a stern slap of the table, Trump fires Clay.
Rebecca and Randal both visibly wince as though they are waiting to see if they are going home as well. Randal grabs Rebecca's bag so she can get herself and her crutches into the elevator.
Shouldn't she be in a walking cast by now?

Clay heads off to the cab wear he....well you know.

Bu-Bye Clay


Jamie at the Eye of Polphemus says Excel missed the mark.
Ann Althouse thinks Trump is a lot harder on contestants this season.
and
you can hear the featured songs at Yahoo: The Apprentice

The Texas Real Estate Commission

has approved my application to test for my license.
Now I just have to pay my fee, take a prep class and schedule the test.
Oh.....And pass the test and find a job.
But hey, one thing at time....Right?

Shopping: Photo Christmas Cards

I almost ordered cards from ShutterFly but thought $1.43 each seemed a little high, so decided to check around first.
Walmart Photos offers photo cards at a very low price along with the choice of having them mailed to your home or picking them up at your local Walmart.
I ordered a few using this last year picture of Rhett just to see the quality.



The style I chose was only 33 cents per card and I chose home delivery for $2.10.
I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Update: the cards came today, 11/22. They look nice but are printed on that slick photo paper all over and will be hard to sign. Maybe I can just sign the back or something

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Templates

I'm playing around with a couple of different looks for my blog.
I would like to have my own graphics on here at some point but
1.I'm not sure how to do replace what is there and
2. I am not feeling very creative right now.

Update: What a pain. I had to re-install the trackbacks and redo my side bar.
I guess I thought the new template would auto-absorb my stuff.
That's what I get for thinking I guess...haha.
I won't be doing that again for awhile.

Weather

Ooh, it's a little chilly today.
Time to break out the fuzzy houseshoes!


Rhett says: MINE!

The Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Grand Jury Duty

Well, the mail has arrived for today and still no word from either of these two all important entities.

Yet another day in limbo I guess....Sigh.

In Dallas

Chandra spent her 3 day weekend in the Big-D
and had a nice visit with the girls

Our sweet Sydney


And Aunt Channy's little clone Kelsey


Say Cheese!

The Apprentice

Just for fun, a couple more personal sites



There is very little content on Adam's site.
I'm thinking he just threw it together just to have one while being on the show.
And
Recently fired Marshawn features a flashy intro that says "Fired and Fabulous", rotating glamour shots, and nothing at all on the the link labeled "business".

The Apprentice

NBC says: You just don't fit


Martha's Apprentice will finish the current season, but the network has not picked it up for another. I caught it a couple of times and am not surprised at this bit of news

Shopping

If shopping in Super Walmart and waiting in those long lines is not annoying enough......
Our local store has mounted video monitors in every aisle forcing the customer to watch the same holiday commercials we are already bombarded with on TV.
Ugh!

Weather

TD 27 has formed with only 19 days left in the hurricane season.

The storm will be named "Gamma"
should it reach TS strength

In Houston

The Houston Museum of Natural Sciences is featuring
Diana, A Celebration now through Feb. 5th.

Although we felt it was a tiny bit overpriced, we made the trek up to Hermann Park to check it out.

I would recommend this heartlfelt tribute to anyone,
even John enjoyed it.

The official site contains photos from this traveling exhibit

In the news....

Ginny the rescue dog will be honored at the Westchester Cat Show in White Plains, NY.

The Apprentice

Week Eight finds our Apprentice contenders exhausted and stressed out. That is the only explanation I can come up with for the suicidal crash of Marshawn.


The much hyped "Star Wars Episode" begins with Alla and Felicia predicting the hissy fit that is bound to occur should Clay escape firing and return to the suite.
Of course they were correct.
Clay is quite predictable at this point in the game after all.

This week's task is to set up a display promoting the sales of a DVD and video game.
The movie is Star Wars revenge of the Sith.
The store is Best Buy.
The clips of Trump interacting with Star Wars characters are hilarious.

Brian is the PM for Excel. He has never seen a Star Wars Movie. Luckily Randal is a big fan.
Clay is the self chosen leader for Capital Edge.
He feels slighted after the last board room.
Felicia and Alla can only roll their eyes and sigh.

Both teams were given the chance to meet with Lucas Flim executives.
Capital Edge had a productive meeting and feels confident.
Excel on the other hand missed their meeting......yup missed their meeting.
Brian misjudged the amount of time needed to get there and they just flat missed it.

Over at Capital Edge, Alla is stepping up as leader.
Clay seems unorganized in thought and appreciates Alla taking over the photo shoot and planning. In fact he pretty much left her to do it alone.
Alla is having a great time doing Clay's job, but Felicia wonders if she will get Clay will give Alla any of the credit.
Having missed the important meeting where they would have received valuable information on how to acheive the task......Excel is floundering....big time.

The presentation:

Marshawn is chosen to present the "good vs evil" theme Excel chose to go with.
She has been pouting the whole task and now pretty much refuses to go through with it.
This is not the Marshawn we have seen in weeks past.
Rebecca senses the impending train wreck that may follow should Marshawn be forced to perform. She says she would like to do the presentation herself.
She did OK with what she had to work with, but the team clearly missed the mark by not featuring Darth Vader in the display.
That goes back to missing the meeting...umm Brian?

It's all about Clay Day at Capital Edge.
Clay is taking the credit for everything Alla did.
Alla tries to interject and Clay cuts her off.
No one seems to notice the neat costumes Felicia and Brian are wearing, but Capital Edge is the clear winner. They do not exempt Clay from being fired next task, however.
The group enjoyed spending the day with Bill Rancic as their reward.

In the Boardroom:

Trump cannot believe the team missed their meeting with the Lucas Film/Best Buy excecutives
He holds Brian responsible, after all Brian is a New Yorker himself and should have been aware of the amount of time it takes to travel around the city. Next Marshawn is questioned on her decision to back out of the presentation. She tries to defend herself but clearly she has no explanation.
There was no second boardroom tonight.
Brian and Marshawn were both sent walking.

Bu-bye



Jamie offers opinions and recaps each week at the Eye of Polyphemus.
Sage Lewis thinks Marshawn was set up to fail,
and Mike Barer posts that the stupidty did not end with the firing of Markus.

Friday Cat Blogging

Do you ever wonder what cats talk about?








For more talking pets, visit the Friday Ark
and
Sunday's Carvinval of Cats will be hosted at Curiouser & Curiouser

Jury Duty

Well, every day I check the mail and wonder if this is the day I am selected for the Texas Federal Grand Jury, Southern District and every day there is no news from those folks.
It has been some time since I was told to mail those all important papers back.
Return "within 10 days" the letter strongly suggested.

Well now I am wondering if....

1. They keep the questionnaires on file for future use (hello?)
2. I was really not chosen (not likely)
or
3. My summons got lost in the mail, I missed court,
and now there is a warrant out for my arrest.
(Yikes)

Shopping

My $1.00 box from Midnight Box arrived today!

Well, actually is was a midnght envelope and not a box at all.
It rattled a little and I was worried if something had gotten broken in there.


Here is what I got.

A popsicle maker thingy, a tiny radio and a teeny weeny flashlight

Rhett was really hoping for a real box though, sorry buddy

Update: the little radio not does not work....*pout*
I posted my pics on the MB message boards and someone
was disappointed they did not get a kitty in their
mystery box/envelope....too funny!

Voting....

Well I am off to the polls.
It took me about an half an hour to find out where to vote.
They are complaining on the radio about the low turn out, but gosh there aren't very many polling places available. Mine is about 10 miles away. I can see why so many do not bother.


Update: The book for my precinct was pretty big yet I only saw a handful of signatures as she turned to my page. I really thought Prop 2 was going to be a big draw....Go figure.

In the news....

Yet another reason for using the "hover" method in public restrooms.


Man glued to toilet seat, sues store






Update: Has he tried this before?

Rafe says......

Guess what?

The Carnival of Cats is hosted this week at
Pages Turned. Go check it out!

Real Estate School

I am finding my 40 something year old brain is having a hard time retaining the necessary data to pass this all important test I have coming up. My college age child suggested flash cards, so Rhett and I are busily trying out this method.

Rhett says: Can you name the 7 sources of Texas Real Estate Law, Mommy?

Struck me funny...

Have YOU seen this man??









Not funny that he is missing but funny that......

Three days after convicted murder Charles Thompson escaped from his jail cell in downtown Houston.....reporters continue to ask residents to keep an eye out for him and warn not to try and apprehend him themselves
.
People, do you really think this dude is just wandering around Houston streets?
If he had help getting clothes and an ID, I'm sure he also had a ride to whisk him out of town.

I mean...Really!

Update: Thompson was apprehended Sunday in Shreveport, LA.
Guess he didn't run far enough.

On the Island....

Galveston Island is rumbling!
Island streets are packed with bikers, vendors, news crews......and wannabees.
It must be time for the 3rd annual Lone Star Ralley.

Shopping

Midnight Box is once again featuring a $1.00 mystery box.
(plus $5.00 shipping of course)
They claim the box could have up to a $999.00 value so I thought I would give it another try.



Strangely, rival site WOOT is offering something they call Random Crap also for $1.00.
Sadly, Woot has sold out today or I would have purchased one of those as well and
compared my prizes.

I guess the early birds got the worms today.

Update: Midnight Box has sold out!

The Apprentice....

Week Seven finds our dwindling teams awaiting word from the board room. Alla and Felicia are cuddling on the couch like little girls and declare that at midnight they will decide no-one is returning....ya think?


The next morning The Donald confirms their fears and invites Excel to take a member of Capital Edge over to help even out the teams again. They quickly choose the popular Randal and are off to the next task. The teams are sent to The Learning Annex and are instructed to plan and present a new class. The students will rate the class and the team with the highest ratings will be the winner.

Adam steps up to be project manager at Capital Edge. He is ready to lead, he has watched the players and knows their strengths and weakness, he says. Markus as usual becomes an immediate distraction to the rest of the team during the brain storming session. Adam takes Markus aside and tries to explain the issues the team is having with him.
"Don't put a leash on me" Markus whines...Hey Adam....how about a noose instead?
Finally the team decides to go with a Sex in the Workplace theme, though Adam is clearly very nervous and embarrassed by the subject.....ummm who is the PM?

Over at Excel, PM Randal chooses a topic he calls "Standing Out".
Rebecca is concerned that it is not exciting enough....Ok she said..."We're Screwed"

The task:
Excel's class seems to be going well.
Clearly Randal is an excellent speaker. There was a lot of interaction with the students and they all appear to be having a good time. Marshawn took some time at the mic too. They made a great team.

Capital Edge is in the classroom as well.
It is a disaster in there.
They have not planned a structured classroom experience.
With no scripts to follow, it is a free for all and Clay is the star.
The rest of the team is obviously uncomfortable with Clay's remarks about being gay.
Adam's obvious reaction of disgust after Clay refers to him as a"shy, tight Jewish boy" leaves the students uncomfortable too.

In the boardroom:
Excell is a clear winner.
Carolyn read some of the comment cards from Capital Edge's sex class and they were rather harsh. Excel is sent off for a shopping trip and personal styling session at the famous Michael Kors studio.
(Wow)

Back in the Boardroom:
After a brief discussion of "what went wrong"..Adam, Markus, and Clay are invited back to the boardroom where someone will be fired. Adam is still offended by the Jewish remark Clay had made on stage but admits to Trump that he does not think Clay is anti-Semitic.
Markus still cannot put two words together without it turning it into 20 and Trump realizes that he could never have someone like that in his employ. Even though Markus himself did not make or break the task, Trump says......Markus-- your fired.
No surprise to me at least that Markus did not leave quietly.
He was railroaded, Markus surmised.
Yeah....Whatever dude.

About Markus:
How did this guy get past the pre-interview process?
If ABC brought him in for some comedic relief, he did provide that.
I'll kinda miss the guy myself.

bu-bye Markus

The Apprentice on Yahoo TV includes deleted scenes from each episode.
Randal is the favorite at both Eye of Polyphemus and HeavyMinds
and...
Sage wonders if Markus was "on something"..hehe.....didn't we all?

Friday Cat Blogging

Some of you may have heard the big news.
Rhett caught his very first mousie!

Aside from stalking live prey,
our little hunter also protects his family from common household items.

This is (I mean was) one of those little soft scrunchy shower thingys.







Rhett says....MINE!

See more blogging pets at the Friday Ark

The Apprentice

Vote for your favorite Star Wars Clip here.

On the Island....

A new baby penguin conceived during Hurricane Rita was hatched at Moody Gardens.
The hatchling will me named Rita or Cane after they find out the sex of the new baby.
How cute is this little birdy!

Happy Halloween

Some pics of our little ghouls, I mean girls


Kelsey

Gelsey



Sydney



and baby Lezley