So tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Again.

How does that happen exactly? I mean it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago we were all sitting here in my living room playing the Wii or enjoying Arizona weather after a satisfying turkey dinner! Do you remember?

A Long Drive

A Little Rock Band

Good Food

A Lot of Playing

All Equals A Lot of Love

Time has a way of moving on whether we like it or not. As I sit here I find myself reflecting and remembering so many holidays of the past. I have strong memories of a Thanksgiving in Preston, when all the Luthy’s came down and we set up a LONG table in the kitchen. I remember Jolene helping me get just the right amount of gravy on my potatoes in a perfect little puddle. I remember the laughter, the fun and the closeness of time with family. I also have vivid images in my head of the first Thanksgiving after little Cidnie found her way to us. I remember eating in the basement of mom and dad’s that year so we could all sit together at one long table. I remember the personalized notes mom wrote to each of us as our place holders, and I remember the one she wrote to baby Cidnie. My heart swells with these memories and I am thankful all over again.

So what do you remember? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory?

A full week’s worth of radiation (7 days)  is complete. And here’s me now:

Oh and I couldn’t be more proud of Knoxville (specifically McGhee Tyson Airport) for making it to the pages of Fail Blog:

see more Epic Fails

“Para ser sincero, acho que nunca agradeci minha banda por todos esses anos de convivio, mas eles nunca fizeram por merecer.”

Jon Bon Jovi

LOS ANGELES (Milken Institute) – Texas metros, led by number one Austin–Round Rock, claimed four of the top five spots and nine of the top 16 in the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index.

Also making the list were Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood (2), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (4), Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown (5), San Antonio (11), Fort Worth–Arlington (12), Dallas-Plano-Irving (13), El Paso (14) and Corpus Christi (16).

Austin–Round Rock was the first metro to ever be ranked number one twice on the index, the last time being in 2000.

But it doesn’t stop there. Nine other Texas metros made the top 25 out of the 124 smallest metros that were studied.

Those were Midland (1), Longview (2), Tyler (4), Odessa (5), College Station–Bryan (14), Texarkana (17), Waco (18), Laredo (20) and Abilene (21).

Leaders in this year’s index, which ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, are all metros that succeeded in avoiding the worst of economic declines driven by falling housing markets and job losses in manufacturing and global trade.

Regional economic factors also strongly influenced the rankings this year, with the oil and gas sector, technology and alternative energy providing stability among metros in Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Louisiana.

Another factor helping Texas metros move up in the rankings is the state’s favorable business climate and its ability to attract jobs and corporations away from higher-cost states.

For more information on building, buying, selling or leasing commercial or residential property anywhere in the world, contact Nicole Tucker, licensed agent with Keller Williams, Dallas Preston Road office at 972-992-8204 or visit my website at http://www.NicoleRE.com.
Nicole Tucker ~ Making Real Estate Real Easy!

I just keep thinking I will wake up as a great and dutiful blogger. And then instead I wake up disheveled, tired and starving for sultana bran.

Sultana bran, you say? That is a generic and British version of Raisin Bran. And I have no idea why, because I generally do not care for raisins, but it’s now one of two things that I eat constantly. Around the clock. In lieu of all other foods. Sultana bran and pretzels. Which I also hate. And which are pretty American (or maybe German- who the hell knows or cares), but we found a decent version in this country.

It’s weird but I actually spend a good part of each day of my life standing in the kitchen, opening the fridge, closing it, opening a cupboard, closing it, repeating each step multiple times, weighing options, calculating things in my head, and then I eat an entire bag of pretzels. Sometimes dipped in humus but often plain. Or I eat sultana bran, unless we’re out of milk. Or out of sultana bran. And then I eat pretzels. I don’t know how it happened that I eat constantly two things I don’t like that much- why I am so obsessed- how this all came to pass. What is ambivalent, repetitive eating? What does it mean? When Bryan goes out of town and I have no compelling reason to cool, it’s like a sultana bran free-for-all up in here.

In a desperate attempt to expand my breakfast repertoire, I recently asked Bryan to make me toast. When he brought me the slice I asked why he only buttered the middle. “It melts”, he said. I am pretty sure that’s not how butter works- at least not the physics involved with toasted bread. I really hate when the outside is not delicious.

So the point was I am a lame blogger. And that’s one of my favorite topics to blog about. Anyway, sorry. Sorry sorry sorry.

There’s a lot I should be writing about. But this post is coming to you while my family is currently living la bonne vie en France. My mom, Micah, Janelle and our little threesome are all in Paris seeing the sights, showing Jonah how to be a world traveler. Also we are looking hard for mini-berets.

Then we all had back to London for a proper American Thanksgiving. I am shocked by how available and heavily marketed American Thanksgiving products are in London. No, no I am not.

It will be a wonderful beginning to a happy holiday season that we are looking forward to in London. Big changes. Bryan has accepted a job with a new company to start in the new year and so now we are firmly entrenched in London for a time. Or forever. Who knows. Only adonai. And Miss Cleo.

Hey guys! I’m back!
Since i have like a ton of pictures
I’ll blog on parts.
This is part 1

16 Nov 2009
Okay so on the first day
we all met at 6.30 am at changi airport terminal 3!
Narelle and I decided to meet up cuz the teachers
did not tell us where to meet.
So we said the night before that we would text each other when we reached

Only Daddy and Ah Gong sent me off on that day
Ah Gong to drive me to the airport
and Daddy to command me on everything!
hahas.
We left home at 5.45
and then reached the airport around 6.
Narelle just smsed me when we got into the carpark
Saying that her dad drove them (her and her mum) to
the arrival hall! LOL!

She was eating breakfast there.
Then I waited for her
and we met our other friends.
She told me her luggage was the same size as mine
(she came over to my place to see it)
However when I saw it,
It was WAYYYYY BIGGER than mine.
HAHAHHA

Mine’s on the left.

So we checked our baggage in.
Mine was 11.2kg!
Hers was 13 i think or 15. lol

Then we said goodbye to our parents
And got into the Departure hall!
We then camwhored over the area.
Since each of us had a camera,
we took one photo with each camera.
I only have one the photos(:

After this picture (mine was the last)
We went to this Butterfly park in T3
Boarding time was 7.30
However we just went to the gate at 8. LOL!
So I called Bryan since he made me call him.
Haha.

After the call
I let Narelle read my blog post
and his blog post
then we boarded the plane!
I was flipping through the KrisFlyer magazine
and found out there was Bones on the plane!
HOWEVER it was season 3 episodes. -.-”"”

So on the plane i watched like Land of the Lost,
500 days of summer and the time traveler’s wife.
I just watched all of them halfway
was sleeping the rest of it. Haha.

OH and my seat was the one second from the window seat
AND I had a difficult time
because in front of me, there was this ang moh person
who reclined his seat back so much,
Behind me, there was this SJI boy (whom i found out later was JOEL TAY)
who was kicking me chair because he claims that his legs
are too long. -.-”"”

We landed and it was like freezing cold you know!
My phone had no signal!!!!!!!!!
I thought it was because it was in a new country
so i gave it another hour.
I finally gave up on it and used Mrs Low’s handphone
to sms my parents.
I stated that my phone has problems,
dad, fix it.

around 5 o’clock i restarted my phone and it worked!
Apparently my auto-roaming wasn’t turned on.
Because my plan didn’t have it.

We then set off for the Peak(:
We took a train to the station,
took a bus up the hills,
and took tram back down.
Now let me bombared you with pictures of there!

Walking to the platform

Waiting for the train

Our lovely Miss Leong from SJI. Ex IJ-ian. (:

Waited 30mins for the bus.

UP WE GO! Me and Narelle were scared like hell! Haha

All the way up!

Houses on the hills

The view from the top(:

The wind up there was like FREEEEZING!
I was like jumping non-stop to keep warm.
After the peak
we went to the wax museum!
ITS DAMN COOL MANS!

Diana!

Shakespeare!

OBAMA!!!

Yao Ming! (:

In the tram

The view coming down.

Okay I can’t even squeeze in two days in one post
Apologies, I have to do it day by day. Sorry!
I’ll continue tonight I guess.(:

No More Pape- Pen combination to write the Diary…

Diary…

Wherein write your daily journal on everything… That whatever you have written when read by someone, will trespass your privacy…

Here come’s blog…

Post it on the Web… Let everybody read it… non sense or not, they are published there… What you have posted is not private… You want to share it to everyone…

Diaries on the other hand will only be morally allowed to read  when you’re gone… We’ll it’s cool, specially when you become famous… They’ll see your life as a big struggle and maybe they will make a movie out of your diary… That’ll be awesooome… What if your nobody… Your diary is trash… Yeah for real..

People want to read your diary is for the reason that they are just curious… “what’s in that diary, that /heshe don’t want us to read?” that sucks…

Anyways… Hope you read every nonsense here…

Again this where you can find, CONVERSATION WE NEVER HAD,.,,

I would like to share some useful information to those seeking REALTOR® advise or know someone they can pass it along to.  If you would like the rest of the  information all at once give me a call or email me.

Trying to sell your home may seem to be a daunting task, however with some proper prior planing the process can run smoothly and the financial rewards will be greater.  We will concentrate in the following six areas:

1. REPAIRING
2. CLEANING
3. NEUTRALIZING
4. SPACE MANAGEMENT
5. ATMOSPHERE
6. STAGING

Ninety ways to help sell your home will be covered over the course of these six categories.

REPAIRING

1. The rule of thumb is, if something needs repairs, fix it!  There are probably a few things in your home that you have simply become used to over time…things that you have been promising yourself that you will attend to.  Well, NOW is the time!  The buyer will mentally add up the cost of repairing all those minor flaws and end up with an amount that is generally much higher than it would cost you to do the repairs.

You might be saying to yourself, “these repairs aren’t a big deal.”  But the buyer is thinking, “If the owners didn’t care for these little items, then what about the roof and the furnace?”  Needed small repairs and perceived owner neglect will either lower the purchase price or lengthen the time required to sell.

     2.  Check all walls for peeling paint and loose wallpaper.

     3.  Large repairs…Repair any problems with major systems or offer an allowance for the buyer to make repairs after closing.

90…87 Steps to go. Now get to work.

Talk to you soon,

               -Marcos

After almsot 16 hours of deliberation over two days, a Brazos County jury found Dana Munyon not guilty of Injury to a Child.  I only was able to watch a few minutes of the case so what I know is limited to what was in the media and what I picked up from talking to people at the Courthouse.

Long story short, on April 3rd of last year, then 14 month old Alexis Verzal was dropped off at Ms. Munyon’s daycare.  The media has repeatedly said that she had run an unlicensed daycare of several years.  I have no idea what the licensing process to run a day care is, and if it’s even illegal to run one without a license.  But that’s neither here nor there.  At some point during the day, Alexis was rushed to the hospital with bleeding in the brain.  According to the paper, to this day she’s unable to walk, speak or use one of her arms.  It’s a tragedy and sounds like one of those cases where nobody wins.

The State claimed Munyon was responsible.

Multiple doctors who treated the child testified that Alexis suffered from head trauma that they believed was caused minutes before Munyon called 911.

Prosecutors Shane Phelps and Kara Comte made no attempt to prove what happened inside the house, but suggested that Munyon had to be the cause of the injuries because she was the only adult there.

Munyon testified that the child collapsed while being placed on a blanket on the floor.

As evidenced by the result, the jury felt differently.  The jury was first deadlocked at 7-5, then 10-2, then 11-1 before the not guilty verdict came back around 7:30 last night.  When I heard the jury was at 10-2 then 11-1, my gut said they were getting closer to a conviction.  Clearly, I should not go into the business of picking juries, or horses.

And as you can probably imagine, the case has generated quite a bit of media attention and controversy around town.  And nowhere was that more evident than in the comments section of The Eagle and KBTX.  There are plenty of people who “KNOW” that Ms. Munyon is guilty and this is a miscarriage of justice.  With these people, who are able to read a story in the paper and no whether a person is guilty or not, who needs the jury system anymore.  A sampling of comments.

Rene Munyon knows what she did and her judgement day will come. She not only severly injured a child, she also lied on the stand several times. The jury let her get away with a terrible crime. We know that at least 5 of them changed their votes from guilty to not guilty. They took the easy way out. It’s a shame justice was not served. Alexis has permanent brain damage because of what Rene did. She doesn’t get a second chance.

…She was not proven not guilty; she just wasn’t proven guilty. There is a big difference. I do know her parents and know that they did not hurt their daughter. Rene admitted in court that Alexis was normal the morning of April 3, 2008 when they dropped Alexis off at Rene’s home. Medical evidence shows she did not fall. She was shaken and then thrown. Rene knows what happened that morning. It’s too bad she lied on the stand before her peers and before God. Justice was not served yesterday. How lucky Rene is to now be able to go on with her life when Alexis and her family are left to suffer for the rest of their lives. Justice was not served yesterday. If Rene has a conscience, she will at least feel remorse and guilt for the rest of life. Then her judgement day will come and God will be the judge.

I stand by what I said. Yes, the verdict was not guilty but that doesn’t mean she didn’t do it. She did. I know she did. The doctors know she did. The Verzals know she did. God knows she did.

How can she be proven not guilty. When she knows what she did was wrong, along with the family of the little girl, knows that she did that too their little girl. At least the little girl is a miracle child and a angel from God, that God has provided lil Alexis comfort, and a lenghty healing process.

I was at the trial every day and think that this was probably the dumbest group of 12 people they could have ever put together for a jury. Apparently you can’t get away with murder in Brazos county but you can get away with hurting children. Just sad. The jury and defendent will have to live with their actions. They both know in their hearts that what they did was wrong.

I can not believe she got away with that! And that you people are siding with her. The Verzals were at work when they got the call that their baby was being life-flighted to Temple. Why don’t all of you supporters leave your children with Renee Munyon? Mine will NEVER be 10 feet near her.

im in shock how this woman got out of this its crazy this goes out to the so called law put your self in this baby’s shoe this baby went threw something terible with no one to help her this is what i call ya a joke so who protect’s us family i advice this is your baby i would fight it do it for her my prayers are with you

I was at the trial daily and also believe the 12 jurors have to be the most incompetent people around. Hey jury & all you Renee followers – if you have kiddos Renee has openings!!

Yup.  Who needs juries when you’ve got these people that know what happened.

Our friends Bryan and Thy visited Tokyo last weekend, and stopped by the pottery studio to make chopstick rests. Bryan surprised the teachers and me by saying he wanted his to be in the shape of severed fingers, as an homage to Japanese yakuza. The teachers helped him create his first ever pottery, a full set of severed fingers.

Thy, like some readers of this blog, did not realize that the idea is that yakuza who have made a “mistake” chop their own finger to show remorse to their bosses. I am glad they both had fun making ceramics.

BTW, the student ceramic show begins this Saturday for five days. I’ll be there on Sunday and Wednesday.

Intanto, dopo il recupero di ieri a Scafati, Udine partirà per la Puglia con la classifica che non si è accorciata.

Crispin, ex Nba e di famiglia baskettara da ben tre generazioni, nella terza d’andata di questa Legadue a Casalpusterlengo ha addirittura uguagliato con 10/10 nelle triple il record italiano di McIntyre.

Hanno tirato con la squadra e si sono incontrati con il gm Alibegovic e il responsabile dell’area comunicazione e delle giovanili Davide Micalich.

Oggi, alle 18, nella sala Ciro di Pers del Comune di Majano al convegno Educazione – integrazione, l’educazione all’integrazione nella scuola e nello sport per la Snaidero presenziano Davide Micalich e capitan Donthe Mathis oltre a Lorenzo Bettarini.

Fonte:
http://www.basketnet.it/news/117170/snaidero__a_brindisi_attenta_a_quei_tre__crispin

Radiation treatment 4 of 20 is now complete. The good folks at the treatment center took a few extra x-rays today which gave me a little more time to stare up at the radiation source and ask myself yet again, “How did I get here?” No answers were forthcoming.

The techs are very nice. And I really appreciate their cheerful attitude and good humor. But we seem to be having the same conversations over and over again. Maybe by treatment #10 we can move past where I work, was I ever in the military, etc.

How it’s done

I’ve gone back and read a few more of the personal stories posted at the Testicular Cancer Resource Center web site. I was looking at one this week by another TC survivor named Arlen who is a chiropractor in Texas, who, like me, had seminoma. He asked his surgeon about how exactly the orchiectomy (removal of the testicle) is performed.

I then asked him something that was concerning me strictly due to my knowledge of the male anatomy. My entire right side of the groin was quite sore and I knew that the testicle had to have been taken back up through the inguinal canal. Knowing this, my question was simple. “What do you use to get something about the size of a walnut up through a canal only the diameter of a pencil?” His answer was equally simple–“What do we use? We use force.”

All I can say is….

Bryan, upon fixing the broken dishwasher: Yeah! Why don’t you blog that shit?!

We know in an instant this is going to be an unusual show. The first image we see is of an endless field of bright yellow flowers capped by an impossibly blue sky. A narrator with a deep, storyteller voice tells us that the little boy and his dog running through the flowers are Ned and Digby, along with their ages, down to the minute.

Digby is dramatically run down by a truck, but when Ned touches him, more with curiosity than sadness, the dog jumps up fully alive. Ned, we are told, has the ability to bring dead things back to life. Now pay attention. His mom is struck dead by on the kitchen floor by an aneurism. Ned brings her back to life. Exactly one minute later, the man across the street drops dead. The dead guy’s daughter is Chuck, the apple of Ned’s eye. When Ned hugs his mom good night, she dies. Again. It’s a complicated gift, and if you missed this first three minutes, I doubt you would make much sense out of the show later on. One touch brings someone back to life, a second kills them. If the person is kept alive for more than one minute, someone nearby dies is his stead.

Fast forward to present day. Ned (Lee Pace) owns a pie shop. Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), a customer and a private investigator, has recruited Ned to help him investigate murders. It’s a big—and refreshing—leap from the normal cop-with-an-unusual-partner show. Kristen Chenoweth plays the adorable waitress Olive, who has a thing for Ned.

Soon, we see Ned and Emerson in action, as Ned sets his watch alarm for one minute and wakes a dead guy to find out how he got that way. Bam, the mystery is solved, and the audience has a sense of how the show will go.

Things become more complicated, however, when the next murder victim turns out to be Chuck (Anna Friel), Ned’s childhood crush. He wakes her; she’s spunky, she’s charming, and reveals that the two of them were each other’s first kiss. Awww… Ned can’t bring himself to re-kill her, so after a minute, she is stuck between life and death for good. What really sucks is Ned has found the love of his life and he can’t touch her. Great dramatic tension, if difficult to believe.

The rest of the pilot (titled “Pie-lette”) involves solving Chuck’s murder, and protecting her aunts, Vivian and Lillian, from the killer. The aunt’s back story is that they are former synchronized swimming stars until one lost an eye, and now they are agoraphobics with a penchant for cheese.

To love this show requires buying fully into the premise. You have to treat it like the beautiful storybook that it is and not over-think reality. The characters talk at Gilmore Girls speed, and plays on words fly back and forth like ping-pong balls. Every detail matters. There is a sort of 1950s aesthetic in both the language and the look. Color in this show is a character in itself. Everywhere there are brighter-than-life hues, from the bulbous cherry red lamps in the pie shop to Olive’s floral print wallpaper and matching pajamas.

As with creator Bryan Fuller’s other shows, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls, not enough people apparently got it. It was, however, nominated for several Emmys, winning for Directing, Editing, Music Composition (2008), Art Direction, Make-up, Costumes, and Best Supporting Actress—Kristen Chenoweth (2009). Honestly, it was one of those impossible to sustain premises, much like in the aforementioned shows, that couldn’t work forever. But the Pie-lette is delicious.

Radiation treatment #1 was uneventful…for the first couple of hours. But as the night wore on, let’s just say things changed. Especially right around 2 a.m. It’s very difficult to compare the sensation of your body reacting to radiation to anything else. It’s like a hybrid of having a your foot fall asleep (only all over), getting shocked by a 9 volt battery, and getting a mystery bug that attacks you in the middle of the night. Now, this may all have been in my head. But it felt real in the wee hours. I was able to get back sleep, and by 6:30 a.m. I woke up feeling good enough to head into work.

In fact, I was feeling pretty good by the time the clock struck noon, which of course meant it was time for me to go grab a quick bite to eat and do the radiation thing all over again.

Irony defined

Anyone who knows me well has probably heard me say more than once what a fan of irony I am. Well, I got to see irony defined when I got to the treatment center. While I was sitting in the car catching a little of the Tony Basilio Show on 1180 AM before going inside, I noticed that the driver of the car next to me was SMOKING A CIGARETTE before going in to the CANCER TREATMENT CENTER!! Are you kidding me? I had no choice but to take a picture. Click it for the larger view.

Not quite a thousand words

I decided to take a few pics of the center just so that those of you who may never have the joy of visiting a cancer treatment center on a first-person basis can get a taste of what it’s like. Click any of the pictures to see larger versions.

The outside of the Thompson Cancer Survival Center on Sherrill Blvd.

The front entrance. Notice the sign saying “These grounds have been deemed smoke-free. Thank you for your cooperation.” They should change it to say, “No smoking on these grounds. Or anywhere else for that matter unless you want to spend a lot of time here.”

The machine. I lie on this table and it raises me up to move me closer to the circular section at the end of the big arm. That circle blasts me for about 13 seconds from above, 13 seconds below, and one more shorter blast from the side.

So it’s two down, 18 to go. I’m no math major, but I think 2 of 20 equates to 10 percent (hence the title).

Tony-T przygotował już swoje drugie combo video do Tekkena 6. Tym razem w jego wykonaniu możecie podziwiać juggle do Bryana.

źródło: forum TekkenZaibatsu

Well it’s not really a trash the dress, because the dress wasn’t trashed. But I didn’t know what else to call it. It’s not a day after session either, because it wasn’t the day after. So I’ll just call it the Fashion Session.

Thanks to Bryan, Stacy, Irish, and Jojo!  It was great working with everyone! This is our work!

This boxing shot is dedicated to Manny Pacquiao.  He’s the greatest boxer of our time. He is also my inspiration in many many ways. Good job and congratulations to him and his team during the Cotto fight. I look forward to seeing the Pacquiao and Mayweather fight next year.

I hope to work with all of you guys again!

Today was Day 1 of my radiation therapy. My appointments will be at 1 p.m. each day, so this morning I went in to the office first and put in a half day of work before my first session. When I got to the treatment center, I was greeted not only by my wife, but also a man-sized dog wearing overalls. That’s right, Rover the Faith Dog came to see me, along with Alan Edick, the children’s pastor at Cedar Springs Presbyterian.

It was kind of weird seeing Rover, not just because it was a dog in clothes, but because last year I was the guy in the suit each week playing the part of Rover as part of the TEAM Kids teaching team at church. I don’t know who was in the suit, but the bark sounded a lot like Mike Green. I’m sure that was just a coincidence.

And what was really cool was that Rover and Alan brought with them a stack of Get Well, Rover cards made by the kids at church.

Once I went inside, the treatment went pretty much as expected. I went back to the radiation room, sat down on the table, dropped my drawers and hiked up my shirt, lay down and let the machine do its thing. The whole process, as promised earlier, was less than 10 minutes in duration.

When the fun was over, Kimberley and I met with Dr. McDonald which we will do every Monday to talk about how the whole process is going. Today he wrote me a prescription for an anti-nausea medication and the techs suggested I start taking it an hour before treatment each day to head the pukes off at the pass.

So, 1 treatment down, 19 to go. The place is closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday so that will push me a little later for my wrap up date. If I don’t skip any treatment days, I should be done Dec. 15. Time to man up.

Oh, and there’s this other little thing that came up today. I got the bright idea after my treatment to start a video log to record myself talking about my treatments and track my progress through radiation. Seemed like a reasonable idea. Lots of people do video blogs. We’ve all seen them on YouTube. Well, when I watched what I had recorded, all I could say was, “WHY DIDN’T SOMEONE TELL ME THAT I HAVE GARGANTUAN PIG NOSTRILS AND GROSSLY CROOKED TEETH…AND I’M FAT??!!” Thanks for nothing, everybody.

I would like to share some useful information to those who want some REALTOR® advise or know someone they can pass it along to.  If you want the info all at once give me a call or email me.

There are some simple steps that homebuyers often miss when looking for their new home. Taking the time to consider these steps can save you thousands of dollars, but more importantly, can smooth the process of buying a new home, saving time and money, as well as alleviating stressful situations in advance.

#1 of 7

Begin by being up front and honest with your REALTOR® and lender about your credit history. Your credit, whether good or bad, affects everything from your down payment to your interest rates. Your REALTOR® or a professional mortgage consultant can often advise you as to how you can get credit problems cleared up or completely eliminated from your credit report before you apply for financing or make an offer on a new home.

Hope this is a good starting point for you. Talk to you soon.

-Marcos

Last week whilst in College Station for some meetings, qb hustled over to downtown Bryan to check in with the good folks at Los Nortenos.  The “Brent Averman Special” (see previous post) costs $7.99 now instead of the $1.92 that qb paid when it was a la carte, but the plate is bigger, it still comes out steaming hot throughout, and it tastes as wondrous as it ever did.  All of my eating companions loved their Tony’s Specials and the carne guisada.

And no, qb gets no kickbacks or royalties.  He pays full price, even when he pays with a credit card.

It’s on S. Main St., across from the LaSalle Hotel.

—–

For qb’s “Brush with Greatness” file:

This old porch is like a steaming, greasy plate of enchiladas

With lots of cheese and onions

And guacamole salad

And you can get ‘em down at the LaSalle Hotel in old downtown

With iced tea and a waitress, and she will smile every time

Lyle Lovett, “This Old Porch”

—–

In case you’re interested, the double-meat, double-Death burger at the Dixie Chicken still rocks.  Be sure and sweep your billiard table before you play, though…lots of little shards of chalk in inconvenient places, especially around the side pockets and along the rails.

No, we are not ready just yet for the addition to our family in the form of a Barley baby; however, we are ready for the addition in the form of a Barley puppy!

We have been doing lots of research lately and have determined to the best of our knowledge that we are ready for a pup! We are going for a Chocolate Labrador Retriever. We have found a great breeder who has been wonderful to work with so far.

Our little pupster is 3 weeks old today! Happy 3 week birthday puppies! She is one of 6 girls in the litter and a sister to 3 males! We get to go pick her up on December 4th and we are so excited! At this point, we can only imagine the difficulty in having a puppy in our lives but we are looking forward to it either way.

This is a picture of our puppy’s mama. I know I am clearly a bit partial here but I think Rollie is just beautiful!!

Here is a shot of Tucker, the young Dad.

The pictures are from the breeder’s website-Bentwood Labradors. He sent me some 2 week old picture and pictures from today but of course, I cannot figure out how to add them here! Just trust me-they are little darlings!!

So, now for the practicality of having a puppy-any tips on training??