At Last!

I have been going to the Frisco Lakes functions for several months. They usually have door prizes that are given away by a drawing. Until last night my name has not been drawn. Last night I went to the Flix and Mingle event. Finally my name was drawn. I won a $25 gift certificate to Josephine's, a nearby restaurant. I have never been to Josephine's, but I have heard several people make favorable comments about it.

 

The movie last night was The Queen. Helen Mirren is an excellent actress. I watched all seven of the Prime Suspect series on PBS. Mirren played Jane Tennyson, a London police inspector in the series. I think that series was where I first saw her. I would like to see her Elizabeth I movie, too.

Week's End

I am going to sit in my recliner most of the day and catch up on the TV shows I missed this week. I have a craving for nothing.

 

Thursday evening I went to the camera club meeting. I enjoyed seeing the flower pictures. A computer was attached to the projector and we were able to see the flower pictures that some members of the group had taken. Some people in the group are natural-born photographers. Even though several only have point and shoot cameras, they have an instinctive sense for composition. I, on the other hand, have studied the technical aspects of photography, but I do not have the artistic aptitude to know what makes a good picture. The computer that was attached to the projector had Internet access. I told the group that my pictures of the Dallas Arboretum were online. They projected my pictures from the website. I wished I had kept still because I do nothing think my pictures compared favorably to some of the others. We then discussed plans for future meetings. There is a man in the group who works for Canon. He has already made one presentation to the group, but he is going to have a session on Photoshop Elements the next time. When I got home, I checked my calendar and found that my trip to Granbury in May is on the same day as the next camera club meeting. I am really disappointed.

 

I have been going for several weeks without a wristwatch. The batteries in both of my watches are dead. I took one watch to the Wal-Mart jewelry department, and the clerk was not able to get the back off my watch. I think it must have been damaged by the clerk at the Wal-Mart in Beaumont the last time I got a new battery. My other watch is twenty years old. I decided it was time for a new watch. I started looking at watches on Amazon.com. I have always been fascinated by the Movado Museum watch. It is the one with a black dial and a single dot at the twelve o'clock position. I have heard many people complain about this watch because it lacks numbers and dots. I decided I would give it a try. I ordered a stainless steel model with a black leather strap. Of course, I checked Pricegrabber.com and several other sources before ordering from Amazon.com. Amazon had the best price.

 

I finally got my haircut yesterday morning. I went in a half hour earlier than I had been going on Wednesdays. The traffic on Frisco's Main Street was much heavier. The half hour made a big difference. There are two city parking lots near the beauty shop. Street construction has one partially blocked. I went to the other lot. It, too, was blocked. There was a fire truck and an EMS unit. I was able to drive through a gas station and get into the lot from another street. I told my hairdresser I wanted to go back to Wednesday for my appointments. She was glad because Wednsday is a much busier day for her.

 

Yesterday afternoon I went to the beginners' bridge game. I struggled through the session. The lady who has been teaching the bridge lessons was there and decided there was one more topic she should have covered. Next Wednesday I will have one more lesson. I think I need many more lessons. I need to sit down and memorize all the rules that have been covered.

 

Tonight is the Flix and Mingle event. I did not remember to find out what movie they are showing. It is going to be a surprise.

 

It will be two weeks tomorrow since I plant my caladium bulbs. I am just about ready to go to a nursery and buy bedding plants. There are a few green leaves popping up where I planted the bulbs, but I think they are all weeds. Only one of the bulbs that I planted had roots growing on it. I have one little green plant that is different from the others. I think one bulb may have sprouted.

Are We Having Fun, Yet?

Yes, we are. Monday I went to the canasta game. Some of the people were talking about family members being sick with the assortment of ailments I had last week. I had been wondering what I could have eaten that caused so much misery, but now I am convinced it was a bug that is making the rounds. I did not do as well at canasta this week as I did the previous week, but you cannot win them all.

 

The cooking demonstration and wine tasting Monday night were very entertaining. Karen is the name of the lady who does the cooking demos. Her day job is vice president of Pulte Finance, but she is very good at the cooking demos. She said she would have a place to vote on the Frisco Lakes website where we can choose the type of cuisine we want to see next month.

 

On Tuesday I went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Matisse collection. Frankly I thought the statues were ugly, but we ate in the museum's restaurant called 1717. The food was excellent. I had pecan-crusted chicken breast. Again we were under a tornado watch. It rained all day, but we were back to Frisco before the severe weather was unleashed. My NOAA weather radio alarmed all night. There were tornado watches, flash flood warnings, severe thunder warnings. The satellite lost its signal. I think my area got over four inches of rain, but we did not get high winds.

 

Yesterday I went to the bridge lesson. I found out that was going to be the last bridge lesson. I have been tossed to the wolves and told to go play bridge. There is a group that meets on Friday afternoons. I was assured that they are all beginners. I feel like I need more instruction.

 

When I got home from bridge, I found the package from LL Bean on my doorstep. The tee top that I ordered was called purple clover and looked very purple on my computer. I was disappointed to find it looked more lavender than purple. I did not think it would be suitable for the Red Hat luncheon next week. This morning I decided to check out the store in Frisco called Rebekah's that the Queen Bee had mentioned. I found the store. In a corner in the back of the store they had purple clothing specifically for Red Hat ladies. I found a purple top. It is a long shirt made out of sheer purple rayon with silver threads woven in and red hats scattered all over it. They only had one is size small. It is sufficiently tacky to be appropriate, but not so extreme that I will be embarrassed to be seen in it. I will wear black slacks with the new tee and the sheer purple top with the red hats over the tee. Now I need some purple decoration for my hat such as ribbon, flowers or feathers. I also could use some flashy jewelry. Well, I have done enough for this month. Maybe next month I can add to the outfit.

 

Tonight I go to the photography group meeting. People are supposed to bring their flower pictures from last month. Since I did not attend last month's meeting I will just be observing. Tomorrow morning I finally will get my haircut. I changed my regular appointment because of the bridge lessons. I hope I am able to go back to the Wednesday morning appointments. On Saturday night I am going to the Flix and Mingle event. I keep forgetting to find out what the movie is going to be.

 

Another Busy Week

Yesterday morning my friends from Beaumont arrived. They were the first visitors I have had from Beaumont since I left. I have made new friends here in Frisco, but it is not the same as being able to visit with people who share my experiences over the past years. Yesterday I realized how much I miss that. We had a busy day. After they inspected my house we went for a short drive around Frisco and then went to Stonebriar Mall to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant which is one of my favorite places to eat. I had a herbed salmon fillet. I cleaned my plate. I ate more than I had eaten since last Tuesday when I was ill. At last I can say I am back to normal and really enjoyed my meal. After lunch, we came back to Frisco Lakes. We toured the village center and then went to the sales center. It was quite a workout to go through almost all of the model homes. My friends drove back to Beaumont yesterday. They left a little before four and planned to reach Conroe by dark. They said they were very familiar with 105 from Conroe to Beaumont and did not think driving that road in the dark would be a problem. I admire their stamina. Last year when I made multiple trips between Beaumont and Frisco I never drove any of it in the dark. I always devoted a day to the drive and did not attempt other activities.

 

This morning I am going to sign up for a day trip to Fossil Rim Park. I had never heard of the place but did some searching on the Internet and found reviews and pictures. I read about the animals they have in the park and decided it would be safe. I think it will be a good opportunity to test the longer focal length lens I bought for my camera.

 

This afternoon there is the usual Canasta game and tonight I am going to a cooking demonstration in the village center. I do not know what to expect from the demonstration. Tomorrow I am going to the Dallas Museum of Art to see an exhibit of Matisse painting and sculpture. On Wednesday morning the bridge lessons resume. Thursday night there is supposed to a photography group meeting, but I have not received an email announcement. Friday morning I will finally get my haircut. I rescheduled my appointment and am really in need of a haircut. Finally I think I will have a couple of days of rest, but it will be time to play catch up with shopping and housework. I also have to send out the email to the Frisco Lakes Red Hat ladies to remind them of the luncheon next week.

Vista Rant

This morning I read an article about the incompatibilities of Vista and how slowly software publishers and hardware manufacturers are releasing updated products. I also read that Dell has announced they will again start offering Windows XP to home pc buyers. Vista doesn't look very different from XP on the surface, but there are major changes under the hood. I have had IE 7 freeze twice in the last two days. This morning not only did IE 7 lockup, but the whole computer locked up. I could move my mouse pointer, but nothing happened when I clicked on an application or the start button. I finally tried the control-alt-delete combination. This no longer brings up the end task window. I was presented with a list of actions. None of them said restart. I decided to try logoff. That worked. I logged back on. Now I was able to restart the computer in the normal manner. The next problem was after the reboot, the WiFi connection was not working. I then did a complete shutdown and restarted. Since then everything has been normal. After spending so much money for a new computer, I really do not want to have to contend with all the bugs. It is not as if the problems happen all the time. They do not; but when they do it is very irritating. I also read that the CEO of Intel inadvertently leaked that Microsoft plans to release Service Pack 1 for Vista by the end of the year. I hope the service pack will fix many of the bugs.

 

I also read on the Notebook Review forum that someone had tried to install Windows XP on a computer like mine and was unable to do so. Sony refuses to support a computer that does not have the original operating system.

Slowed Down

Tuesday I went to the Red Hat Society meeting at the village center. The Queen Bee is going to be a close neighbor. We discussed places to go for future meetings. I think I am going to enjoy this group. I like the idea of a group that has no purpose other than to have fun. I went home and found the Red Hat Society website and joined. This morning I was looking at the websites that sell Red Hat clothing. Then went to LL Bean and typed in "Purple shirt" in the search field. It came back with several items. I found a purple tee that was on sale. It is a cotton modal blend which is the same as my travel clothes. I think it is a great fabric. I can wear the purple tee with my black pants and not feel too foolish.

 

Tuesday evening I did not go to the presentation on the Frisco water situation because severe weather threatened. It was I a good thing I didn't go out because an hour later I started to feel ill. Little did I know I was going to have one of the most miserable nights of my life. It has been years and years, if not ever, since I was so sick. I spent a good part of yesterday sleeping. This morning I resumed my normal activities, but I don't seem to be moving as fast as usual.

 

I went to the new Wal-Mart. The roads around the store are a detriment to my going there. I had read on the Frisco Online forum that the store has the upscale format that Wal-Mart introduced in the Park and tollway store in Plano. There were some nice features in the store. There is an expanded book department. The employees were dressed in khaki with navy shirts instead of the usual blue Wal-Mart vests. I did not find several items on my list. I was a little miffed when the checker overloaded my bags and one of them tore when I was putting my purchases in the car. She must have been instructed to save Wal-Mart's money and be stingy with the bags.

 

I then went to the Home Depot and Sam's Club on Ohio Dr. Those stores are farther away, but I feel like I can get more accomplished with the stores being grouped close together. I came back home and placed an order with Amazon.com for the things I could not find while out shopping. It is so much easier to shop online instead of driving and driving and then walking and walking. I also ordered a new pair of sandals that I had seen in a catalog. Shoemall.com offers free shipping. The catalog wanted $9.95 for shipping. I did a little Google search and found a Shoemall code that allowed me to save an additional ten percent. It always feels good to save money.

 

I checked yesterday and found that the checks I mailed to the IRS last week have cleared my bank. It is a relief to know that my payments got there. One year I wondered why my check had not been cashed. I finally got a letter from the IRS that said my payment had not been enclosed, and they charged me a penalty. I even had a scanned image of the check I had sent. It was no use. I paid the penalty.

Update

I keep thinking things are going to slow down, and I can sit in my recliner and catch up on the TV shows on the DVR that I have recorded. It isn't happening. Sunday afternoon I planted my flowers and caladium bulbs. We may have another round of violent storms this afternoon. Hail and heavy rain would destroy the little plants. I am doing a little house cleaning. I have found it is better to divide the cleaning into small tasks and work for an hour each day rather than trying to do everything all and once.

 

Yesterday afternoon I played canasta. I had a good afternoon. My luck finally turned, and I accumulated my highest score to date. More and more people are turning out for the canasta. The game does not take much skill. It is just fun.

 

This afternoon is the Red Hat tea. My lavender outfit is all laundered and pressed. Rain may be pouring down during the time of the meeting. I want to keep my new red hat dry. Yesterday morning while I was ironing my lavender outfit I also finally pressed the new clothes that I have received from L.L. Bean. This was only the second time I have used my new iron that I bought in February. I hate ironing and manage to avoid it even though I have a fancy new iron.

 

This evening the Frisco Director of Public Works is going to give a presentation at the village center on the current water restrictions. On April 1 the ban on car washing was lifted. It is now all right to wash your car with a garden hose and nozzle. I am hoping that they will eventually ease the restrictions on lawn watering. Right now we can only use the sprinkler system on trash day, and there are restrictions on the hours of watering. Last September it was so hot and dry. I really was worried that my brand new landscaping would not survive with so little water, but somehow it did.

 

The Frisco Lakes travel committee has planned several trips. I am thinking about signing up for a trip to Branson, Missouri, in June. I have never been there. They are going by motor coach and leaving from the village center parking lot. That is very appealing. I could leave my car in the garage and wheel my suitcase there if necessary, but I am sure someone would give me a lift.

Red Hat and Other Things

A Red Hat group has been formed at Frisco Lakes. I did not attend the first meeting, but I got another invitation for a meeting this Tuesday. I accepted this invitation. You are supposed to dress in purple and wear a red hat. Last week I remembered I have a lavender outfit. There are purple violets on the skirt. The only problem is I bought this outfit before I lost weight, and it really is too large. I decided it will have to do because purple is not my color. I am not going to purchase a purple-colored outfit until I decide if I really want to continue with the group. Here it is only two days before the meeting, and I had no red hat. I started searching on the Internet. I found J.C. Penney's had a suitable hat, but it would take a minimum of four days to get it delivered to the local store. I searched several other big chain stores and found nothing. I then found several sites that specifically sell red hats for the Red Hat clubs. I had overheard some ladies here at Frisco Lakes saying Kohl's had red hats. I went there this morning. They were well stocked with red hats, and they were considerably cheaper than what I had seen on the Internet. When I went to check out, the clerk told me there would be additional savings if I charged the purchase on my Kohl's card. I told her I did not have a Kohl's card. She told me I should get one. I told her I did not want one. I was ready to tell her it was the first time in my life I had ever been in a Kohl's store, and it was going to be the last if she did not get busy and check me out. Anyway I finally left with my purchase and was greatly relieved that I did not have to go from store to store to store searching for a red hat. Now I am going to wash my lavender outfit and hope that it shrinks.

 

Winter returned yesterday. After the violent weather on Friday evening. a cold front came through. The temperature was in the forties most of yesterday. The temperature now is finally in the low sixties. The Del Webb people delivered two flats of flowers to each house on Thursday. In a little while I am going out and plant them and at last I am going to plant the caladium bulbs. It must be six weeks since I bought the bulbs. I have not opened the box and have no idea what I am going to find inside. I do not have a green thumb. It is going to be interesting to see what happens.

 

I thought the coming week was going to be less hectic than the past few weeks; but after checking my calendar, I see that it is shaping up to be very full. I keep finding excuses to avoid house cleaning, but somehow I am going to have to fit it in this week. I do a little dusting or a little vacuuming but do not seem to be able to go through the house and give it a thorough cleaning. I am afraid my advancing years are taking a toll.

This is a link to my pictures: Dallas Arboretum.

Busy Week

It was a very busy week. There was the usual canasta group play on Monday. On Wednesday I had my third bridge lesson. My head was spinning after that session. On Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment. He said fluid was accumulating in my middle ear and gave me some samples of an allergy medicine in hopes it would clear up the problem that I did not know I had. I guess it explains why I have been turning up the volume on the TV.

 

I managed to get my email from Sears printed and picked up my pliers. I went home and found that their cordless grass shears were on sale. I placed another order online and again had to print out an email so I could pick them up. This time I went to the Frisco Library and did my printing. The library's printer did not print the bar code that was in the email. I went on to Sears and found that their machine gave me the choice of scanning the email or swiping my credit card. The machine recognized my credit card. The man who brought the package to me checked the email and all was well.

 

On Thursday I took my car to David McDavid Acura in Plano and got the annual Texas safety inspection and an oil change. I was impressed with the customer waiting room. They had Starbucks coffee, complimentary snacks and cold soft drinks. All Classic Acura in Beaumont had was coffee. Both dealerships include a free car wash with service. Classic Acura also gave the ladies a long-stemmed rose which I always enjoyed. There was no rose from David McDavid. The car passed the safety and emission tests. I asked them to put on my registration sticker while they were putting on the new inspection sticker. I always have a problem getting the sticker on straight. Now both stickers are on nice and straight, and I am all set for another year. I also mailed my federal tax return and first quarter estimated tax payment. It felt so good to have the burden of the car inspection, registration and tax preparation all complete.

 

On Thursday evening Del Webb had an appreciation event for the Frisco Lakes homeowners. They had a large tent with tables. The place was decorated in a western theme. They had burgers, baked beans and potato salad. There were many nice door prizes. They also gave away a golf cart. There was a contest to see who could hit a golf ball the farthest. The prize was a golf cart. I am seeing more and more golf carts around here. A couple of my neighbors on the cul-de-sac have bought the carts. Every garage has a plug for charging a golf cart.

 

Severe weather was predicted for Friday in Dallas. The trip to the Dallas Arboretum was on that day. I had really been looking forward to it. I expected to get a call telling me the trip was canceled, but that did not happen. I went to the Frisco Senior Center. Everyone was asking if the trip was still on. They said they had prepaid the tea in the Camp House and it would not be canceled. I expected to be caught in a terrible downpour, but it did not happen. The sky was very gray. I went ahead and took my pictures. I uploaded them to Smugmug this morning. We got back to Frisco before the storm arrived. My car had sit out all day, and there had been enough rain mixed with the dust from the construction going on at the senior center to really make the car look dirty again.

 

Last night the storm arrived. Tornadoes did touch down in the Dallas area, but Frisco was spared from the storm. I have already experienced much worse weather in Frisco than last night.

No Printer

The lack of a printer is causing a great deal of inconvenience. Yesterday I got an email from Amazon.com that said the Canon AIO laser printer that I have ordered will be delayed five days. That means I will not get it until the first of May. Yesterday I placed an order with Sears online. I have to print out an email from them before I can pick up my order at the store. Microsoft must have put something in Vista that is making it very difficult for the printer/scanner manufacturers to produce a Vista compatible product.

Cold

The weatherman got it right. It is only 38 degrees this morning. The temperature is to supposed to remain close to 38 all day with rain and snow. Then it will drop to 32 tonight with more rain and snow. The Easter bunny won't like this.

 

Now I have to go to Plan C for garden tool storage. I went to Lowe's yesterday and bought the Black and Decker long-handle garden tool storage stand. When I got home and opened the package, I found one piece was missing. I took it back to Lowe's and got a refund. I really did not like the stand very much. The only problem now is that I do not know what Plan C is.

 

When I came home and drove into the garage, I thought I must be in the wrong house. It is so nice to see everything neat and organized. I have had to look at the mess for months. I like to stand in the garage and just look at the nice cabinets and the lack of clutter.

 

My Palm PDA decided to go on daylight savings time this morning. On Saturday mornings I take my weekly Actonel tablet and have an alarm set to sound at 5 AM on the Palm. The alarm went off at 4 AM this morning and woke me. Palm has a patch for the problem, but I can't install it because it can't be transferred to the Palm with Windows Vista.

 

 

Getting Things Done

Yesterday morning the temperature was very pleasant in the garage. I was able to keep working until I had all the things picked up off the floor and put away in the new cabinets. It really feels good to look around and see an organized garage. One of the cabinets is only 24 inches wide. It was my intention to use it to store my long-handle garden tools. I did not realize that one shelf was fixed in place in the center of the cabinet to provide stability. Since I can't put the long-handle tools in the cabinet I have to resort to Plan B. I searched for some way to store the tools on the Internet yesterday. I do not want a rack that has to be mounted on the wall. I finally found a stand that sits on the floor that is made by Black and Decker that is designed for long-handle tools. Lowes carries it, and the website indicated the Frisco store has it in stock. I will buy it the next time I go that direction.

 

As far as I can tell, all of the garage items are present and accounted for except for an old pair of slip-joint pliers. My father gave me those pliers. It is silly to be sentimental over a pair of pliers, but I felt bad that I could not find them. I found that Sears has a set of pliers on sale. I will order them and pick them up on my next shopping trip. I used to buy quite a bit in the way of tools and garden equipment from Sears. I would order from their catalog. When they discontinued the catalog, I stopped buying from Sears. I had not been into to their store for a number of years until last year. I bought a new shop vacuum which I really like from them. Then I bought the washer, dryer and refrigerator from them. Now I have my garage cabinets. I think Sears has treated me very well. All of their deliveries have been on time. They were nice about exchanging the defective washing machine. I am beginning to understand how their Internet sales work. If you have an item sent to your home their delivery charges are much higher than I am willing to pay; but if you pick up the item at the store, you can avoid the delivery charges.

 

The temperature is supposed to drop into the thirties tonight and the high will only be in the forties tomorrow. The warm weather that we had last week almost tempted me to plant the caladium bulbs that I purchased. My email friend told me to wait until April 15 to plant them. It looks like she gave me good advice. My email friend is now my neighbor. She and her husband moved into Frisco Lakes on Wednesday.

 

I got more new clothes from LL Bean yesterday. I have received four packages over the last few weeks. I am getting ready for warm weather. The trouble with getting mail-order clothes is that arrive with lots of wrinkles and have to be ironed. It seems like no matter how hard I work I can't catch up with my chores,

Update

The days are flying by. Monday morning the garage cabinet installation was finished. I am extremely happy with the way they turned out. I owe the man who installed them a great deal of gratitude. There was a tremendous amount of work involved in assembling and securing them to the wall. On Tuesday I started putting things on the shelves. I worked for a couple of hours.  Tuesday was very warm, and I had to limit the amount of time I worked.

 

On Monday afternoon I played Canasta. That is the fun group and well organized. Wednesday morning I attended the second Bridge lesson. We have a very good teacher. If I don't learn how to play a respectable game of Bridge it will be my fault, not our teacher's. Yesterday afternoon I went to the Mahjongg group. After the session, I went home and resigned from the group via the computer. They have started playing for money. I do not object to gambling on moral grounds, but I know the odds are against me, and I just find it stupid. I try to limit my stupid behavior.

 

On Tuesday morning I ran errands. I went in the Denton County Government office in The Colony to find out exactly what is required to change the registration on my car. I had changed my address last fall on the computer and received the renewal notice in the mail. I took the renewal form in, and the lady that I talked to said all I had to do was show my proof of insurance and pay my money. She let me run out to the car and get my insurance card. I paid my money and walked out with the new sticker. I had called Denton County right after the move. They told me I had to get the car inspected and bring a form from the inspection station to the tax office. Well that was not corrected. I made an appointment o take the car down to the Acura dealer in Plano next week for periodic maintenance and the safety inspection. That is no different than Beaumont.

 

I then went to the Wal-Mart in The Colony. I really do not like that store. I was only able to find one of four items on my list. The new Frisco Wal-Mart is opening on April 18. It is a very nice looking store from the outside. After it opens there will be no more visits to The Colony store. The greeter at The Colony store told me there was a copy machine at The Colony post office. I went there, and there was no copy machine. I did mail a letter. Then I drove to the Frisco Library and finally made a copy of my income tax return. I am going to wait until closer to the due date before I mail it since I owe money. Anyway I came hope feeling good that I had made the copy and taken care of the car registration.

 

A cold front came through and the temperature is in the 40's this morning. I am going to do more work in the garage this morning, and then I have to start cleaning the house. I have neglected my dusting for too long. The amount of dust in a new house is quite large. I have been told it will decrease after a year. I did change the air filter this week, and I think the amount of dirt on it was less than the last one.

Big Brother Is Watching Me!

Yesterday when I uploaded my pictures to my computer I used Windows Photo Gallery. I had taken the CF card out of my camera and used my USB card reader. Immediately a message popped up that said an update for Windows Photo Gallery was available that would allow the program to properly display Nikon's raw file format. Almost instantly Microsoft had recognized that I was uploading pictures that were produced by a Nikon camera. That is rather scary. It explains why I have not automatically been offered the update that fixes one problem with the Apple iPod. I have not yet attached my iPod. I bet I get the patch the first time I attach the iPod. Microsoft is watching me. I did install the Nikon Raw Codec and all went smoothly.