Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Colorado by Surprise - June 2011

Day Surprise - Friday, June 17, 2011

The adventure began at 6am, when Kris, Wayland, and I all awoke to begin the journey to Colorado. The guys were gearing up for their summer hike, and I was tagging along for the ride to surprise my sister for her birthday. She had no idea...I had worked it out with her husband, Jason.

Sadly, Jenny was at home dealing with a feverish Aubree. I sincerely hope my surprise is a good one and not a stress on her.

We made Wayland break out of his shell and didn't let him get a salad at McDonald's. We went and got salads from Wendy's instead. He had to step outside the arches for dinner too, and he got a salad from Chik-Fil-A instead.

We saw a volcano on the ride:



We stopped for the restroom, and I found a gas pump graveyard behind it.



There was also a helicopter that passed by carrying something I could not identify.



Later on, we saw forested areas that appeared to be heavily affected by fires. Maybe the helicopter was carrying water?





Finally arrived at Jenny's at 7:30pm. Jason and Aubree were waiting for us.

Jenny arrived a bit after 9pm. I hid in the stairwell. I was going to jump out and say boo, but sleep deprivation (or, at least that is what I am blaming my ineptitude on) made me miss my cue. She saw my stuff before she ever saw me.

Day 2 - Saturday, June 18, 2011

Today Aubree was still not feeling well. Jason brought us Rumbi for lunch, then Bonnie and Jim came over with gifts. Jenny opened (or rather Aubree and Lily opened) some birthday gifts from Bonnie and Jim and Jim opened his Father's Day presents.

Later, when the girls were down for a nap, Jenny and I went shopping.

Jason and Jenny made a fabulous breakfast for dinner of french toast, bacon, eggs, and fruit.

We are now watching The Other Woman, which I am not sure if I like. Lily is a bundle of energy. Kayna should be here tomorrow.

Day 3 - Sunday, June 19, 2011

Jenny's birthday was a good day.  We took the girls to the park before Kayna got back.  Jenny opened birthday gifts, and Jason opened Father's Day gifts.  Good day with the family.

Day 4 - Monday, June 20, 2011

Aubree was feeling better, so we went to Pump It Up for a few hours to let the girls jump and slide to their hearts content.  We had lunch at Red Robin and took time to shop today.

Day 5 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Another great day with the girls.  Just spending time reading books, playing, enjoying each other, eating good fun, eating good ice cream...great visit!

(I'll update the photos soon!)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Denton CAD and Recycled Books - June 2011

It is always so much fun to protest your property taxes. Finding comparable sales in our neighborhood is especially difficult since there are few homes selling in our neighborhood. Most of the ones that do sell are foreclosures.

Using Zillow and the Denton CAD home sales, I prepared an argument that our property has been overvalued this year. Fingers crossed that we will win.





In the meantime, I sit here in Denton at the Denton tax office.

They called my number at noon.  We met in the middle.

Then I headed over to Recycled Books in Denton.


This awesomely huge recycled books and albums store is located inside the historic purple Opera House of Denton and is 17,000 sq. ft. of wow.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, June 10, 2011

Frisco, TX Calaboose - June 2011

I travel a lot, but I rarely visit the places in my immediate area.  Sharon, a co-worker, brought me to the old Frisco, Texas historic calaboose today.  

It was the first Frisco jail.  It was two cells, slightly built into the ground, and very basic.  I had to squat down when inside, so it wasn't very tall.


Now it reeks of trash, has graffiti inside, and is crumbling, but it's nice that it's still there.  I think I enjoyed my stay more than any of the prisoners did.