2005
Vacation Without a Leash
12/28/05 03:29 PM Filed in: Personal
I'm now more than halfway into my vacation. A week
from today I go back to work after two weeks of
R&R. Well, the first week was filled with
Christmas chores, but was fun none-the-less.
Courtney and I did shopping together and went to
see King Kong (3 hours and 30 minutes of fun and
chills). I also did some solo shopping to find
Tracy the "just right" gift, which I did. Now that
Christmas is over I have been doing a bit more
actual relaxing, watching a few movies, playing a
few games and basically vegetating.
Not that my days are chore free, they aren't. Beyond helping Tracy to keep the house looking respectable, I have also had to run a few errands. For example today I had to go and pick up food for the dogs (truly an exciting experience) and I had to pick-up a special as well as expensive splitter so that I can actually operate two direcTV receivers at the same time. Then at the last minute had to drive out to McKinney to pick up some needed court documents from the county seat. None of this is actually the height of excitement, but necessary and actually not that boring. Besides, during it all I picked up a few DVDs that I will use to entertain myself some before the end of my vacation.
Hard to imagine that this is the first vacation I have actually taken since the summer before I was laid off. True, I didn't go anywhere; but a vacation of just staying home is still a welcome journey away from the constant demands of my current job. I also heard today that because of my vacation and someone else having to carry the long leash (pager) there is a better understanding of what goes into carrying the leash. Good news is that I will take another vacation in late 2006 when Tracy and I go on our honeymoon. Don't know where we are going, but we will be taking a trip and I don't plan on taking my leash with me.
Not that my days are chore free, they aren't. Beyond helping Tracy to keep the house looking respectable, I have also had to run a few errands. For example today I had to go and pick up food for the dogs (truly an exciting experience) and I had to pick-up a special as well as expensive splitter so that I can actually operate two direcTV receivers at the same time. Then at the last minute had to drive out to McKinney to pick up some needed court documents from the county seat. None of this is actually the height of excitement, but necessary and actually not that boring. Besides, during it all I picked up a few DVDs that I will use to entertain myself some before the end of my vacation.
Hard to imagine that this is the first vacation I have actually taken since the summer before I was laid off. True, I didn't go anywhere; but a vacation of just staying home is still a welcome journey away from the constant demands of my current job. I also heard today that because of my vacation and someone else having to carry the long leash (pager) there is a better understanding of what goes into carrying the leash. Good news is that I will take another vacation in late 2006 when Tracy and I go on our honeymoon. Don't know where we are going, but we will be taking a trip and I don't plan on taking my leash with me.
|
Not Just a Good Christmas, But Great!
12/27/05 03:29 PM Filed in: Family
Christmas this year was different and wonderful.
Last year I had Brion as a visitor so I wasn't
alone, but this year I have Tracy and Courtney
here, I have a family of my own; and the family did
up Christmas.
We rose early, but not as early as many. We had a breakfast to attend at my aunt's sister's house, so we had to dress and be ready and open our presents all before 10:00. So we started off the morning by dressing for the day, then we enjoy Tracy's annual cinnamon Rolls. They weren't homemade as she probably would have preferred, but were of the sugar free variety so that she could enjoy them all the more. Then we sat down to open presents.
There was no lacking for presents this year. Courtney probably had the "best" Christmas if you only speak of the actual presents she received; her Christmas was very much an "electronic" Christmas too. She received not only an iPod and computer speakers, but also an HP notebook. It was a musical Christmas too, as she received an acoustic guitar from Tracy and myself and an electric guitar from her father. She received plenty of other items, but those few items will be what she remembers in the months to come.
Tracy had a good Christmas too, with her big present being a right hand ring that I got her. That happened to be one of her big "wish list" items; just not one she published. She also received several of the Sims 2 games for Christmas and some of her favorite musicals like Gigi and My Fair Lady as well as one of the greatest movies of all time, Gone with Wind.
As for myself, well Christmas was good to me too. I don't even count my Christmas presents as why it was good to me; as the best Christmas gift I could have received was the presence of Tracy and Courtney in my life. For the more curious of you, my presents were equally great. My primary gift this year was a ring from Tracy to replace the ring I have worn since I left Korea in 1998. That ring isn't going anywhere, but this new ring also counts as an engagement ring of sorts from Tracy to me. It is a gorgeous black onyx ring surrounded by small diamonds. I also received a wonderful humidore to keep my growing collection of cigars.
Christmas wasn't just good to me this year, it was great. Next Christmas should be even better as I won't be a man celebrating Christmas with his finance and her daughter, but I will be celebrating Christmas with my new wife and step-daughter. Considering only a few years ago I assumed I would celebrate most of my Christmas alone, things have most assuredly changed for the better.
We rose early, but not as early as many. We had a breakfast to attend at my aunt's sister's house, so we had to dress and be ready and open our presents all before 10:00. So we started off the morning by dressing for the day, then we enjoy Tracy's annual cinnamon Rolls. They weren't homemade as she probably would have preferred, but were of the sugar free variety so that she could enjoy them all the more. Then we sat down to open presents.
There was no lacking for presents this year. Courtney probably had the "best" Christmas if you only speak of the actual presents she received; her Christmas was very much an "electronic" Christmas too. She received not only an iPod and computer speakers, but also an HP notebook. It was a musical Christmas too, as she received an acoustic guitar from Tracy and myself and an electric guitar from her father. She received plenty of other items, but those few items will be what she remembers in the months to come.
Tracy had a good Christmas too, with her big present being a right hand ring that I got her. That happened to be one of her big "wish list" items; just not one she published. She also received several of the Sims 2 games for Christmas and some of her favorite musicals like Gigi and My Fair Lady as well as one of the greatest movies of all time, Gone with Wind.
As for myself, well Christmas was good to me too. I don't even count my Christmas presents as why it was good to me; as the best Christmas gift I could have received was the presence of Tracy and Courtney in my life. For the more curious of you, my presents were equally great. My primary gift this year was a ring from Tracy to replace the ring I have worn since I left Korea in 1998. That ring isn't going anywhere, but this new ring also counts as an engagement ring of sorts from Tracy to me. It is a gorgeous black onyx ring surrounded by small diamonds. I also received a wonderful humidore to keep my growing collection of cigars.
Christmas wasn't just good to me this year, it was great. Next Christmas should be even better as I won't be a man celebrating Christmas with his finance and her daughter, but I will be celebrating Christmas with my new wife and step-daughter. Considering only a few years ago I assumed I would celebrate most of my Christmas alone, things have most assuredly changed for the better.
Alas, More Photos
I thought I had all the photos in the media room. I
have about 100 or so on my desk and a few hundred
more in a box under it. Well, apparently there are
more... much more. Tracy was in one of our closets
and noticed another box. She pulled it out only to
discover that it is filled with photos. I'm not
sure how many, but I am guessing upwards of 1000. I
haven't even begun to sort through those yet. I
have looked at every photo in the first bunch and
have an idea of which I will scan, but with this
whole new box the big job just go that much bigger.
I also learned that mom has several boxes of Fox family photos with her that I will get to sort through when Tracy and I get up there sometime next year. From what she says, she has many more photos than I thought she did; some going back to my great grandparents. While I love the idea of more photos... that's just a lot of scanning.
I also learned that mom has several boxes of Fox family photos with her that I will get to sort through when Tracy and I get up there sometime next year. From what she says, she has many more photos than I thought she did; some going back to my great grandparents. While I love the idea of more photos... that's just a lot of scanning.
Christmas Eve 2005
12/24/05 03:30 PM Filed in: Family
As I sit here in bed with Tracy lying next to me
sleeping, I think how my life has changed these
past few years. I have always been lucky with
friends. Early on I had Brett. In college and after
I had Kim. In Korea I had Joanne and upon my return
to the states I befriended Jessica. I keep in touch
with all of them to varying degrees. Each of my
friends is very important to me and in no way can
any of them ever be totally replaced. Only Joanna
is so far away, England, that anything resembling a
traditional friendship is just impossible; but the
rest of them are near enough that we can have good
and solid friendships. Tracy though is the person
that I have decided to share not only friendship
with, but the rest of my life. While friendship is
important and all of mine I believe strongly are
for life, marriage is one of those promises that
exceeds the normal fair.
So, as I sit in bed next to the woman I will marry in November I am hit by the fact that this Christmas is special in a few ways. First it is my last Christmas as a single man, at least on paper. It is the first Christmas that I will wake-up to and share every minute of the day with someone special and know that I will do it again next year with that same person. It is the first Christmas that I have had the opportunity to buy gifts for a child so dear to my heart. Most of all though, it is the first Christmas that I have gone into knowing that I wouldn't be alone come Christmas morning.
You see, I have spent many a Christmas eve and Christmas day alone. Back in Korea it was just common place for me. I didn't get to spend Christmas with those close to me, they were spending it with family. When I returned to the states I spent Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle, and while they made me feel at home and it was all very enjoyable; it wasn't "my" Christmas. I was always a little of an outsider. It was just me I brought and while no one else felt awkward, I always felt it a little. Of course when I left, it was often to go to home to an empty apartment or house. Often times I had friends to share Christmas Eve with or Christmas night, but it wasn't a permanent plan and if they had someone special that year they spent that time with them not me.
The age of the lonely Christmas is over though; but I can't help but think of those who find themselves walking the same path I was walking only just last year. I have friends in fact who don't know who they will be sharing the glad tidings of next year's Christmas. It's a lousy feeling to have, no matter what the circumstances. Christmas is a wonderful time of year, no matter what a person's personal circumstances might be, but no matter how wonderful Christmas might be, it's never fun not knowing what the next Christmas might bring.
For me that fear has subsided. I may not know the particulars of each Christmas yet to come, but I do know that I will not be alone. Life won't stop changing, but the path leading up to Christmas won't be as lonely each year as it has been. That's a wonderful Christmas present right there.
So, as I site here next to my sleeping fiance I say a prayer of thanks and I say a prayer asking for all those, friend and stranger alike, that those who sleep only to wake to a lonely Christmas be blessed with the strength to know that their patience will be rewarded and the loneliness of Christmases past, will be rewarded with joy and happiness during Christmases yet to come.
So, as I sit in bed next to the woman I will marry in November I am hit by the fact that this Christmas is special in a few ways. First it is my last Christmas as a single man, at least on paper. It is the first Christmas that I will wake-up to and share every minute of the day with someone special and know that I will do it again next year with that same person. It is the first Christmas that I have had the opportunity to buy gifts for a child so dear to my heart. Most of all though, it is the first Christmas that I have gone into knowing that I wouldn't be alone come Christmas morning.
You see, I have spent many a Christmas eve and Christmas day alone. Back in Korea it was just common place for me. I didn't get to spend Christmas with those close to me, they were spending it with family. When I returned to the states I spent Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle, and while they made me feel at home and it was all very enjoyable; it wasn't "my" Christmas. I was always a little of an outsider. It was just me I brought and while no one else felt awkward, I always felt it a little. Of course when I left, it was often to go to home to an empty apartment or house. Often times I had friends to share Christmas Eve with or Christmas night, but it wasn't a permanent plan and if they had someone special that year they spent that time with them not me.
The age of the lonely Christmas is over though; but I can't help but think of those who find themselves walking the same path I was walking only just last year. I have friends in fact who don't know who they will be sharing the glad tidings of next year's Christmas. It's a lousy feeling to have, no matter what the circumstances. Christmas is a wonderful time of year, no matter what a person's personal circumstances might be, but no matter how wonderful Christmas might be, it's never fun not knowing what the next Christmas might bring.
For me that fear has subsided. I may not know the particulars of each Christmas yet to come, but I do know that I will not be alone. Life won't stop changing, but the path leading up to Christmas won't be as lonely each year as it has been. That's a wonderful Christmas present right there.
So, as I site here next to my sleeping fiance I say a prayer of thanks and I say a prayer asking for all those, friend and stranger alike, that those who sleep only to wake to a lonely Christmas be blessed with the strength to know that their patience will be rewarded and the loneliness of Christmases past, will be rewarded with joy and happiness during Christmases yet to come.
Family Photo Archive
12/23/05 03:30 PM Filed in: Family
Several months ago while visiting my dad I came
into possession of a couple of boxes of photos.
Apparently Dad had found them and had sorted
through them. He asked me if I wanted them. He said
some of them were of divides family and asked if I
would forward those to them. I agreed and brought
the photos home with me. I thought I would find
time to sort through them myself, but unfortunately
I didn't; until now.
Being on vacation has allowed me a bit of free time and yesterday I began sorting through the photos myself. I also began scanning in the ones I liked or thought were important to hold on to and make available to other family members to see. The project isn't a small one. I have already scanned in nearly 80 photos and that isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I have sorted through most of the ones of David Edwin Spore and his side of the family and I am planning on boxing those up and sending to him in Maryland. The rest are of Dad's branch of the tree.
Tomorrow I plan on digging through the rest of the photos to get an idea of what is there and then begin scanning the best of them. Once they are scanned I make them available in a slide show on my KellsWorld.net website. I also plan on adding them to my SmugMug account so that any of the family can order prints if they like. It will also ensure they are safely backuped.
The photos range from the mundane to the very interesting. So far I have mostly been surprised by how out-of-focus many of the photos turned out to be. I'm really not sure why. Maybe the camera technology of the day didn't give many in focus shots. However, as the photos become newer they seem to get progressively better.
Keep an eye on the site as more photos should be added over the next week or so.
Being on vacation has allowed me a bit of free time and yesterday I began sorting through the photos myself. I also began scanning in the ones I liked or thought were important to hold on to and make available to other family members to see. The project isn't a small one. I have already scanned in nearly 80 photos and that isn't even the tip of the iceberg. I have sorted through most of the ones of David Edwin Spore and his side of the family and I am planning on boxing those up and sending to him in Maryland. The rest are of Dad's branch of the tree.
Tomorrow I plan on digging through the rest of the photos to get an idea of what is there and then begin scanning the best of them. Once they are scanned I make them available in a slide show on my KellsWorld.net website. I also plan on adding them to my SmugMug account so that any of the family can order prints if they like. It will also ensure they are safely backuped.
The photos range from the mundane to the very interesting. So far I have mostly been surprised by how out-of-focus many of the photos turned out to be. I'm really not sure why. Maybe the camera technology of the day didn't give many in focus shots. However, as the photos become newer they seem to get progressively better.
Keep an eye on the site as more photos should be added over the next week or so.
Starting Family Photo Archive Project
12/22/05 10:21 AM Filed in: Family
This is going to be one of my major holiday
projects. I have a box filled with family photos
that date back as far as 1942, so far. My plan is
to scan many of the better photos so that I have a
digital archive that I can not only use to clean up
some of the photos but also make them available to
the whole family through the website. The section
for these photos will be called Family Archive. I
have scanned some of the photos in and will make
those photos available shortly. I'm not sure how I
cam going to categorize the photos and it may very
well change over time. Probably the best way will
be to do it by people, or special events. To start
off with I will probably just put up one gallery
with what I have and then expand from there.
I Have Video Working
12/18/05 05:00 PM Filed in: The Web
I now have video working on the site, not that I
have any content to show. The two videos I have are
just samples to prove to myself that it would work.
In the next few weeks I hope to add a few short
videos of my own, possibly from Christmas. Maybe a
few photo slideshows with music. Keeping coming
back, who knows what will happen next.
Oh, I added a new entry to my personal blog over at KellysWorld Times. No rest for me.
Oh, I added a new entry to my personal blog over at KellysWorld Times. No rest for me.
Free Holiday Videos (Two Ways to Get Them Free)
12/18/05 03:30 PM Filed in: Technology
| The Web
I found this new service for on-line videos called
4Flix . They
are going to attempt to go head to head with
Apple's iTunes music store video collection. While
iTunes Music Store offers up short videos, TV shows
and music videos for $1.99 each, 4Flix is planning
on having full length features at a $1.99 each.
Guaging from their holiday collection these may not
be the best movies ever made, but then NightRider
wasn't exactly TV's best either.
If you are interested in seeing what they have to offer and the quality (be warned it is still best watched on a 5th generation iPod, commonly known as the iPod Video) then all you have to do his go to their site and buy one $1.99 video and then you can get the rest of the holiday videos for free or you can subscribe to an iTunes video podcast and they will deliver one video a day for free. I just got Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (a very old version, but in color) and it looks pretty good considering the age of the original print and the resolution, designed as I mentioned to be viewed on an iPod screen. So check out the article at MacNN and then head over to 4Flix.net. If you do you will be experiencing a taste of Christmas Yet to Come... oh, there is an old Vincint Price TV version of A Christmas Carol available.
If you are interested in seeing what they have to offer and the quality (be warned it is still best watched on a 5th generation iPod, commonly known as the iPod Video) then all you have to do his go to their site and buy one $1.99 video and then you can get the rest of the holiday videos for free or you can subscribe to an iTunes video podcast and they will deliver one video a day for free. I just got Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (a very old version, but in color) and it looks pretty good considering the age of the original print and the resolution, designed as I mentioned to be viewed on an iPod screen. So check out the article at MacNN and then head over to 4Flix.net. If you do you will be experiencing a taste of Christmas Yet to Come... oh, there is an old Vincint Price TV version of A Christmas Carol available.
Introducing KellysWorld 3.0
12/18/05 03:30 PM Filed in: The Web
If you haven't visited KellysWorld.net recently,
you may not have noticed that it has a whole new
look and feel. I call is KellysWorld 3.0; as this
is the 3rd major revision to the site. What you are
reading now, KellysWorld Times, is a sub-domain of
KellysWorld and not actually the primary site. The
actual domain of KellysWorld was pretty much
stagnate for much of 2005. It was just unwieldy to
work on and not much fun. I had more fun working on
KellysWorld times and wrapping my brain around CSS
(Cascading Style Sheets) in Blogger, the tool I use
to make edits and changes to KellysWorld Times. I
enjoyed working in it so much I created a few other
"blogs" for the family plus one for our upcoming
marriage. Those sites though aren't KellysWorld and
as someone who enjoys doing a little web editing
and playing with new features and tools, I really
need to have a fully functional website.
You won't find any fancy features and while the look is new and much improved over the old site, it isn't anything super special. I won't lie to you, it is a template. You may actually see other sites on the web sporting a similar look. Who knows, they may make better use of it.
You will find in KellysWorld the standard fair. There are links to the various family blogs, there is a gallery of photos, a place to send me a quick e-mail, a place to store useful files and even upload some you feel are useful and even a page dedicated to just telling you what's new with the site itself. The gallery is especially cool making use of Flash technology so that all you have to do is sit back and watch the slide show. Having videos on the site should be great in the near future once I have produced a few.
All-in-all it should be a much better site and I hope updated more often than before. For the most updates you can continue to come here, so feel free to bookmark KellysWorld Times; but to say you have actually been to KellysWorld, you will have to go to http://www.kellysworld.net. It's really not that hard... go ahead... you know you want to!
You won't find any fancy features and while the look is new and much improved over the old site, it isn't anything super special. I won't lie to you, it is a template. You may actually see other sites on the web sporting a similar look. Who knows, they may make better use of it.
You will find in KellysWorld the standard fair. There are links to the various family blogs, there is a gallery of photos, a place to send me a quick e-mail, a place to store useful files and even upload some you feel are useful and even a page dedicated to just telling you what's new with the site itself. The gallery is especially cool making use of Flash technology so that all you have to do is sit back and watch the slide show. Having videos on the site should be great in the near future once I have produced a few.
All-in-all it should be a much better site and I hope updated more often than before. For the most updates you can continue to come here, so feel free to bookmark KellysWorld Times; but to say you have actually been to KellysWorld, you will have to go to http://www.kellysworld.net. It's really not that hard... go ahead... you know you want to!
Yay... Done With Basics
12/17/05 02:28 PM Filed in: The Web
I'm finally done with the basics of rebuilding
KellysWorld. I finished adding back what was
missing, the Christmas lists and added in some more
photos. I still have some more albums to add and
spruce up the text some, but the basics are
complete. Not really saying much it is a pretty
small site. Of course the next step is the
recreation of Eternal Magic, if I indeed decide to
recreate that site. A lot of work went into it, but
since I am using a different HTML editor, not sure
how I will proceed. I can continue to use the HTML
editor I did to originally create it, but that
would be a bit of a serious pain since I will have
to keep updating it from time to time for a full
year. I will have to think on that.
More Changes to Site
12/14/05 11:07 PM Filed in: The Web
Okay, I have made some more minor changes to the
site. I discovered that the photo slide show was
too big for Internet Explorer on Windows and
therefore made the images smaller. That seems to
have done the trick and it now appears as it should
on IE. I also played around with many various color
and style variations and like the black one, I
believe the theme or "skin" is called Magnesium. So
far, So good. All seems to be looking up.
Still need to add the actual Christmas lists as well as a few more galleries. COMING SOON...
Still need to add the actual Christmas lists as well as a few more galleries. COMING SOON...
New Site Up
12/14/05 12:10 PM Filed in: The Web
Today I debuted the New And Improved KellysWorld.
It is my hope that this new site will be easier to
use, nicer to look at and simpler for me to keep
up-to-date while allowing me to include the kind of
features expected in a website these days. That
isn't to say this site is a marvel of HTML coding,
far from it. Simply put, as are the skills, so go
the site. I will play around with the look and feel
of the site, but I do believe I will finally be
able to make occasional updates without going nuts.
A few items may have been lost with the debut of this new site, but I will identify those items and add them. The only thing I can think of that I had in my 2.0 site that I don't have now were the Christmas lists for 2005. I just need to add those back in. I also have noticed that some images that were on some of the blogs are now missing and I will need to fix those problems. All-in-all it should be easy to fix.
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. I will be looking at what other features I can offer and possibly expand what I am doing here. The meat of the site will most likely remain the "blogs" or the personal journals of Tracy, Courtney and myself; but the site proper will include photo galleries and other less transitory items.
Enjoy the new and improved site... KellysWorld 3.0.
A few items may have been lost with the debut of this new site, but I will identify those items and add them. The only thing I can think of that I had in my 2.0 site that I don't have now were the Christmas lists for 2005. I just need to add those back in. I also have noticed that some images that were on some of the blogs are now missing and I will need to fix those problems. All-in-all it should be easy to fix.
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think. I will be looking at what other features I can offer and possibly expand what I am doing here. The meat of the site will most likely remain the "blogs" or the personal journals of Tracy, Courtney and myself; but the site proper will include photo galleries and other less transitory items.
Enjoy the new and improved site... KellysWorld 3.0.
Weather Outside is Frightful
12/08/05 03:31 PM Filed in: Personal
That depends on, of course, who you speak to. DFW
had its first run in with winter yesterday. A cold
front from the North ran into a bit of
precipitation from the South and by night fall the
roads were icing over. In some parts of DFW,
especially in the Fort Worth area the sleet started
falling with the rising of the sun, which created a
bit of panic across the entire metroplex.
I can't think of anything that illustrates that better than the mere fact the DART parking lot (the light rail system) in Garland was busier than usual with folks apparently wanting to try and beat the crazy traffic that comes with warnings of icy roads.
While the weather really didn't get bad in Dallas until late, a lot of companies and schools closed early and you can't fault them for being cautious with people's lives and vehicles. In fact my company closed down at lunch to make sure everyone could get home before the weather could get bad. We were also told that if schools were closed or running late, that we would also run late and open between 10 and noon. Tracy's firm decided to stay open, but then their operation is 24 hour in nature and international to boot. They did let people out though with plenty of time to get home before dark, when of course the roads typically get really bad.
Tracy and I met up at Mockingbird station around 4:30 and headed home. By the time we got to Garland station the sleet was beginning to fall. Luckily the weather really never got bad our our way, but the rest of Dallas apparently didn't fair so well. While Wylie and many of the other schools on this side of town were opening late, many more districts across DFW were closed for the whole day.
So today is starting off slow for us. Tracy and I are waiting to take Courtney to her bus stop then we too will head out to battle the roads and weather. It's cold outside to be sure, about 21 degrees, but we have no idea how bad the roads will be between here and Garland station. The good news is that we only have a 10 mile drive. Last year when we had similar conditions and I was driving to work, it took me nearly 2 hours to drive the 22 miles to my office and there was barely a patch of ice.
So while we won't be staying home sitting by the fire singing Christmas songs, we did get a bit of a break from the regular fast paced routine of daily life. It's nice actually, but of course when we get to our offices the paperwork will be waiting just the same. Oh, and I am taking off tomorrow, so I have that much more work to do. Come to think of it I won't miss the fast past, I will be knee deep in it; I still have half of my work from yesterday to do! Oh, the weather may not be frightful, but it sure is annoying!
I can't think of anything that illustrates that better than the mere fact the DART parking lot (the light rail system) in Garland was busier than usual with folks apparently wanting to try and beat the crazy traffic that comes with warnings of icy roads.
While the weather really didn't get bad in Dallas until late, a lot of companies and schools closed early and you can't fault them for being cautious with people's lives and vehicles. In fact my company closed down at lunch to make sure everyone could get home before the weather could get bad. We were also told that if schools were closed or running late, that we would also run late and open between 10 and noon. Tracy's firm decided to stay open, but then their operation is 24 hour in nature and international to boot. They did let people out though with plenty of time to get home before dark, when of course the roads typically get really bad.
Tracy and I met up at Mockingbird station around 4:30 and headed home. By the time we got to Garland station the sleet was beginning to fall. Luckily the weather really never got bad our our way, but the rest of Dallas apparently didn't fair so well. While Wylie and many of the other schools on this side of town were opening late, many more districts across DFW were closed for the whole day.
So today is starting off slow for us. Tracy and I are waiting to take Courtney to her bus stop then we too will head out to battle the roads and weather. It's cold outside to be sure, about 21 degrees, but we have no idea how bad the roads will be between here and Garland station. The good news is that we only have a 10 mile drive. Last year when we had similar conditions and I was driving to work, it took me nearly 2 hours to drive the 22 miles to my office and there was barely a patch of ice.
So while we won't be staying home sitting by the fire singing Christmas songs, we did get a bit of a break from the regular fast paced routine of daily life. It's nice actually, but of course when we get to our offices the paperwork will be waiting just the same. Oh, and I am taking off tomorrow, so I have that much more work to do. Come to think of it I won't miss the fast past, I will be knee deep in it; I still have half of my work from yesterday to do! Oh, the weather may not be frightful, but it sure is annoying!