Mom’s Assorted Dried Fruit:

Mom’s Apple Tudes Dude:

Mom’s Banana Chips:

Mom’s Dried Pineapple Chunks:

Mom’s Dried Strawberry:

Mom’s Peach Drops:

Mom’s Plum Plunges:

Keep it here. We'll keep you advised.

Matt Hines, Matt Miller, Keith Monday, Ron Roberts, Mike Shaw and David Young.  There are a few folks here I don’t remember their names.  My apologies.  I’m not good with names.  I really need to work on that.

Adrienne and Mike in the Morning 1996-99

Anchoring at CBS13

Pie Eating Contest

President Bush

Yes, that’s the President. As for my camel hair jacket with purple spot tie? It only proves that I had (have) no fashion sense :-) This was taken when President Bush was running for Governor of Texas.

Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl just a little over two hours away as I type!   Very exciting amidst the disappointment. Don’t get me wrong.  The match up is a good one, but honestly, Tech deserved better.

11-1 in the Big 12 South.   The only loss at Oklahoma.   The same Oklahoma that is ranked number one in the country and will be playing for a National Championship.  Texas Tech went from #7 to #2 when they beat Texas at Tech that fateful October day.  A day that throw the whole BCS in a tale spin!

Mississippi has had a great finish to their season.  They went 3-4 before winning their last 5 games.  Their biggest win was against Florida in the swamp!  The same Florida that is ranked #2 in the country and will play Oklahoma next week for the National Championship.

Texas Tech is a heavy favorite in this game.  Tech is a team that easily should have been BCS qualified, but since Texas and Oklahoma were ahead of them in the BCS standings, Texas Tech is left out.   This is where the danger is for Tech.

Flashback to 2004.  California had just one loss going into the Holiday Bowl.  They had lost out to the BCS rankings and ended up out of a BCS Bowl.  Very similar to what happened to Texas Tech this year.  California complained all over the media and then ended up losing to Texas Tech in that Holiday Bowl 45-31.   It was really fun for this Tech fan to watch!

However, the scenario is too close to this year.   Texas Tech should beat Mississippi.  They are heavily favored.  That means all the pressure is on Tech.  They have to guard against their disappointment of being slighted this year and take that frustration out on the Rebels this afternoon!  Tech cannot afford to take Mississippi lightly.  If they can do all that, they should win.

I’m hoping Tech WINS BIG to make a statement.

UPDATE:  Final – Mississippi 47,  Texas Tech 34

Ouch

The timing was perfect!  Saturday night at Mom’s and wake up Sunday morning just in time to take Mom to Golden Corral for Mother’s day!  That’s where she wanted to go, so that’s where we went.

I was surprised.  The food wasn’t that great.  However, the company was good :-)  We got done in plenty of time to go to church at my friend and pastor’s church, Calvary Chapel Lubbock.

The service was AWESOME!  Pastor Ben is a good teacher and he showed us how Jesus prayed in John 17.   Jesus prayed for ME!  and He’s praying for you right now too.

After the sermon we visited quite a lot and then I took Mom home.  We said our goodbyes and then I went to visit with my friend Don Webster!  We are working on a web site that I will talk more about soon.  His daughter had graduated from Texas Tech over the weekend, so they were all in town.  We went to the Tech campus and took pictures with Kristi and her diploma and all that.  Then Don rode part of the way back to Dallas with me while we talked about family, life, and business.

I even got a Calzone at “One Guy From Italy!”  They are the best Calzones EVAH!

So, now I’m safely in Dallas having a nice family visit :-)

Hopefully I’ll take the time to update throughout the week.  Right now we are getting ready to head to the UT Arlington Campus.  Michael s thinking of transfering there for ROTC and Engineering.  Should be a good day!

Usually when I’m driving 600+ miles, I don’t stop for anything except gas and maybe a pit stop. This day was different! 4+ inches of snow in Plains was awfully perty. Click on a pic for an 800 x 600 version.

Closed for the Holiday

Approaching and leaving Plains, the road was pretty much covered with snow. It was nice of everyone else to make the path in the snow!

Roswell, NM Seat of Justice

Chaves County has an exceptional courthouse. It looks even better in the snow. According to the National Weather Service 7-10″ fell Saturday Night/Sunday AM.

It WAS a white Thanksgiving in Lubbock. When I arrived at Mom’s Thanksgiving Evening, they had about an inch on the ground, maybe a bit less. During the drive, I ran into 2 to 3″ around Plains to Brownfield, but as I traveled north there was less snow. Friday was cold, but no snow. Friday night/Saturday AM about an inch or less fell again on Lubbock. Enough for me to go out and take a few pictures. The forecast for Saturday afternoon was for 2-4″ in Lubbock, but it never happened and the forecast was revised. However, a very nice snowfall occurred south and west of Lubbock. On my drive back to Tucson Sunday morning I ran into 4+” in Plains and 6+” in Roswell! I actually stopped (I NEVER stop when I’m on a long drive!) and took a few pictures :-) Sure, I would have enjoyed more snow, but I am thankful that I was able to travel safely and still enjoy snow on the ground. It is a rare thing to have snow in West Texas for Thanksgiving. I’m glad I got a taste! The best part of the trip was spending time with Mom. Great food and great fun!!!

I’m leaving Tucson on Thanksgiving morning to drive 640 miles to Lubbock to visit Mom. The fun new twist is the forecast. Chance of snow Thanksgiving afternoon/evening! Did I mention I LOVE SNOW! Judging from the forecast it shouldn’t be too bad, so driving shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, it’s still a couple days away and forecasts can change. It would be perfect if it starts to snow in the afternoon, but no real road problems until I arrive at Mom’s that evening with enough for a snowman by Friday!

Texas Tech travels to Texas today for a big Big 12 match-up. What a rivalry! I remember my first year in Lubbock. It was 1994 and Texas was heavily favored to beat Tech. I mentioned to our weekend sports guy that Tech was gonna lose. He let me have it! I ended up eating my words too. Tech won a close game and it was AWESOME! It was also my first game helping the sports department at KLBK shoot the home games. The atmosphere was absolutely electric! The sold out crowd was loud and I remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck more than once as I was shooting the game from the roof of the press box. I have been a Tech fan ever since. There have been some great games in this rivalry. Zebbie Lethridge passing for over 500 yards in a losing effort. Wes Welker scoring two TD’s in 2002 against Texas for the win.  Many more close wins for Tech and for Texas in years past.

Unfortunately, times have changed. Texas has won 6 out of the last 7 (or is it 7 of the last 8?) and many of them have been blow-outs. Texas looks shaky this year, but for the most part have managed to win. They are ranked 14 in the nation, which means this is a great opportunity for Texas Tech. The Texas running game has been looking better the last two weeks. Tech’s defense has trouble stopping the run. Otherwise, Tech would have beaten Oklahoma State in their first Big 12 game this year. Even without a dominating “D”, Tech is dangerous! In the OK State game, if Crabtree would have caught that last TD pass they would have won! No one feels worse about it than him, I’m sure. Point is, Tech has the potential to outscore anyone!

If the offense can get on track, and stay on track, they have a chance. If Texas Tech has ANY chance at a decent bowl game they have to win today at Texas, and they have to beat Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. It’s a tall order. I think today will be a game worthy of Tech/Texas games of old. It should be high scoring and down to the wire. GO TECH!

then say, a 5th Grader?! I LOVE that show! It’s funny and it’s amazing how difficult some of the questions can be. I have the most trouble with 1st and 2nd Grade English! I guess when we were that age, we didn’t use “noun” and “verb.” We used words like “subject” and I don’t know what else. 1st grade was almost 40 years ago, you know!!! Anyway, I have my application in to be on the show. I know it’s a long shot, but you can’t get invited on if you don’t apply! Jeff Foxworthy is a funny guy and perfect host for the show. On the slight chance that I was on, I could share my “You Might Be a Redneck if…” experience.

I had just moved to Lubbock in August, and in October the TV Station sent me to the “Farmer Stockman Show” to do some reporting and live weather on the Noon show. So I’m walking along and there is this HUGE John Deere tractor. About the size of a small house. And there is this family posing in front of it for a picture! Immediately, Jeff Foxworthy jumped into my brain. You know you’re a redneck when you have your picture made with a giant John Deere tractor :-)

Of course telling that story on national TV, I may never be welcomed in Lubbock again :-) It’s a chance I’d be willing to take! Pray that I have favor with the producers of the show, and that they can read my handwriting on the application! I filled it out on my coffee table and the writing angle was weird. I was gonna redo it, but I wanted to get it in right away. Anyway, time will tell. Like I said, it’s a long shot.