Holidays Are Never Long Enough !!!

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

Aaron and Brandon had their first visit to Dallas in May and stayed for three weeks.  We had a great time here by the pool, had some nice dinners out and also spent one week in Aruba!  Never go to Aruba for one week.  It simply is not long enough.

We stayed at the Costa Linda Beach Resort.  The pools were warm and the resort was really clean.  The beach was miles of white sand and the ocean was warm and crystal clear.  We only had a few light rain showers throughout the day that did not last very long.

Aaron and Brandon named the Kreepy Krawly "Katie" and the yellow rubber ducky is "Harold".  They are their new brother and sister.  For the most part, Katie and Harold are well behaved.

Aruba... We'll Be Back !!!

Dung Beetles !!!

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

Dung Beetles are members of the cockroach family. They arrived here in April and are completely disgusting!

They come out at night and they can fly and are attracted to light. So, I stayed inside when it was dark out and we do not turn the pool light on. Normally they are active in May/June, but the bug guy said this is an off year and they are early in the season.

I forgot to turn the pool light off one night and the next morning, there was a nice surprise in the pool.  I stopped counting after 60, but there could easily have been about 100 floating in the pool.  Good thing the pool guy was on his way to clean up that mess.  Just talking about the Dung Beetle creeps me out!

The Dung Beetle mainly eats pooh!!!  See what I mean - they are gross!  They roll up pooh into a ball and then bury it in the ground, lay eggs in it, and feed off it.

Some people eat these awful creatures.  I suppose if our planet did not have the Dung Beetle, our world would be a stinkier place!

Dung Beetles are Gross !!!

Southfork Ranch

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

In April, we also had the opportunity to attend a corporate function for Kevin's company. It was held at the Dallas Southfork Ranch which is about 10 minutes from our house.

We enjoyed cocktails, food, live band, and a tour of the Dallas House on the Ranch. The Ranch is quite large, but the Dallas House is much smaller than it appeared to be on the prior Dallas TV Series.


There was a casino set up with "play" money and prizes were given away. Unfortunately, we do not gamble and did not win a prize.


One of the main singers/guitarists in the band works with Kevin. He is also a geologist. It seemed weird to see a geologist jumping around on stage and singing his heart out. One of his colleagues told him to quit the day job as he was better as a musician (ha, ha).

In case any of you folks are fans of the Dallas TV Series from years ago, guess what? A new Dallas TV Series will be coming out on TNT Summer 2012!!! JR, Bobby and Sue Ellen are back!!!

Click on the link below for a Sneak Peek!

Sneak Peek - New Dallas TV Series - Coming to TNT Summer 2012

Who Shot JR ???

Ring Ceremony

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,


Aaron finally did it!!! He graduated from the University of Calgary with a BSc., Mechanical Engineering and started his full-time job on June 1, 2011.  We are very proud of him and excited for his successes.


We attended Aaron’s Iron Ring Ceremony for his Mechanical Engineering Degree graduation.  It was about two hours long with about 1,000+ graduating Engineers.  The place was packed with two to three audience members per Grad totaling about 4,000-5,000 people. All graduating Engineers had to pledge an oath to perform the best work possible, etc.


The organization that hosts the Iron Ring Ceremony is a Canadian Organization and is sworn to secrecy for the most part (no photos taken during the ceremony, do not speak to the press, only speak of the ceremony to family and engineering grads/professionals).   It was quite awesome.

                                           

Congratulations Aaron !!!

More Tid Bits...

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

We have had a couple of busy months, so my apologies for not blogging since February.

Here are some more Tid Bits to share with you.  Enjoy!!!

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Dallas Transit

The transit here in Dallas is called "the Dart".  Apparently, you do not have to wait long and it is NOT packed with standing room only.  Unbelievable!!!

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Sales, Sales, Sales!!!

I saw an ad the other day from Bachman Pawn & Gun Shop.  By the way, they were having a discount and you could go to the Fire Arm Center to Pick Your Own Gun.  That won't be happening.  EVER!!!

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Fine Dining!!!

We visited an Italian restaurant a while ago and we were chatting with the Owner.  Our "accents" give us away as we admit to being Canadians.  It turned out that the owner's son played hockey in Saskatoon.  T'oon Town invasion!!!

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Winter in the Big D!

I know winter can be pretty ugly in some places.  However, we did get a pretty ugly week or two of winter in Dallas in January.  The problem was that the snow melted during the day and froze over night and we woke up to a 4 inch skating rink on our roads and sidewalks.  I did go out to buy a shovel, but shovels do not exist here in Texas.  What I needed was an ice pick.  Seriously, our news showed people ice skating on residential streets.  Skate in the Texas State!!!

There are good things about winter... NO BUGS!!!  Stay tuned for the Spring Bug Thing!!!

Shoveling with a Dust Pan!

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More Silly Stories to Follow !!!

The "Investor"

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

Kevin was leaving the office the other day and encountered a stranger in the elevator. With the two of them in this compact space, a conversation began.

The stranger, obviously checking out Kevin, asked if he was an "investor" as Kevin was dressed in his immaculate business attire minus the tie he would have normally worn in Calgary.  Not being an "investor" brought further curiosity to the stranger...

"Well, who do you work for", asked the stranger.  Kevin explained that he worked for XYZ company in partnership with ABC Company.  The stranger then asked if he was British and Kevin proudly said that he was Canadian..

"Oh, that's good.  We like Canadians", said the stranger who was casually dressed in a plaid button shirt, khaki pants, casual shoes, and wore a ball cap that was clearly too small for his head..

After a proper introduction of names, this "stranger" turned out to be the CEO of ABC Company - dressed like a fisherman!  The ABC Company is up for sale, hence, Kevin being mistaken a possible investor.  The CEO said that Kevin was dressed too nicely to be an ABC Company employee (keep 'em guessing Kevin...)..

They shared discussions of hockey... The Dallas Stars versus the Edmonton Oilers was the most recent game (which Kevin was fortunate enough to attend and sat in the ABC Company Box Seats - spoiled brat), and the CEO told Kevin to call his Executive Assistance to request any other games he wished to attend.  Dallas Stars versus Calgary Flames is in mid-March and there is a good possibility Kevin will be able to go and sit in the Box Seats yet again.  Life is rough for Kevin....

Hockey Anyone !!!

Ouch !!!

Dear Fellow Blog Followers,

This is a caution to all fellow shoppers who spent much time rushing around the malls this past Christmas.  Shopping can be a dangerous activity and may require a chaperone at times.

Seriously, this could happen to anyone.  Be honest with yourself, has it ever happened to you?  It happened to me in a Dallas shopping mall and looks similar to the attached video.  I really hope the store owner did not review his store videos and put the clip of me on You Tube!

Click on the "play" arrow and watch a similar video of this event (this is not me... it's someone else).

Ouch... Embarrassing!!!