Congratulations Pops

Pops decided to go back to school in 1994 and get his Ph.D. He loved teaching and that was the only way for him to have a permanent contract at a university. He did this when our children were 7, 10, 13 and 15. At the same time, we started being foster parents to newborns. Our life was a little crazy to say the least. He graduated 10 years ago this month.

He has never slacked off on his research and publications and has worked really hard even as he was doing his administrative job and travelling all over the place consulting. He is a gifted teacher and has always gotten great evaluations from his students, along with several university awards. When he was hired at UD in 2000, he was hired in as an Assistant Professor. 3 years ago, he was tenured and moved to Associate Professor. This week, because of all of his hard work, he was promoted to Full Professor. That is the highest you can get. A lot of people never make it to this point and if they do, it is usually after many years.

Pops, we are so very proud of you and love you very much! Congratulations.

Crazy Week and Much Need Vacation

Pops and I planned to go to Tampa for a meeting this past weekend. We come home today. It usually takes me a couple of days to get ready for a trip because I always feel like I need new clothes and a few other items. I planned to do this on Thursday because we had graduation and a dinner on Friday.

Thursday night, Jennifer went to the grocery store and when she got home, she left her purse in her car. Unfortunately, the garage door was left open for a couple of hours. During that time, a rotten little thief came into her garage, took her purse and had a heyday. Within minutes, he started using her cell phone to check balances on gift cards and credit cards. He had a $200 shopping spree at Albertson's and Quicktrip. Where he made his stupid mistake, he also called a friend.

On Friday morning, when Jennifer realized her purse was gone, she started her detective work and found out where her cards had been used and got her cell phone records. I got in detective mode and called the "friend." She was cooperative eventually and gave me her mother's address. I proceeded to make a little visit to mom. She gave me information that was turned over to the police.

Jennifer made the rounds to Albertson's and Quicktrip and talked to the people there who either remembered the transactions or had video tape. Jennifer's purse was found on the side of the road by the BPD. With all the information and work of the EPD, the suspect was arrested, wrote a confession and is in jail. Funny thing is that we know the officers of both PD's who are brothers and our friends. They worked very hard to solve the case using our information. Since the PD's are so busy, I don't think this would have gone to a detective until a couple of weeks later and it would have been too late.

All this detective work made my travel preparations delayed, but I got them done. Bottom line to thief's, don't mess with us because we will not stop until you are caught. It is very satisfying to take control. Since the thief came into the garage, it is being charged as a burglary of a habitation which is a 1st degree felony. Maybe this will stop him.

After this drama, my trip to Tampa has been wonderful. I am a little nervous about the flight home because there are severe weather alerts. I am hoping we don't have any delayed time on the runway. I might have a claustrophobic heart attack.

La Joya Fine Mexican Dining

We found a new restaurant last week. Pops was driving down MacArthur Blvd. in Irving and spotted the sign. Since it said "Fine Mexican Dining", he wanted to check it out. His favorite restaurant is Javier's in Dallas.

We went right after the storm on Friday night and it was empty. I hope that it is only because everyone was scared to get out. It was great and we are hoping it will stay open so it can become one of our regulars.

The chips were very good and came with a red sauce and a green sauce. I have gotten into the habit of adding a little sugar to my hot sauce, but since we ordered Dr. Pepper and there was no sugar on the table, I decided not to ask for it. I didn't want the waiter to think I was weird.

We ordered the "Queso Fundido" for an appetizer. It was Oaxaca and Cotija cheese served in a hot (and I mean hot) lava rock Molcajete. The cheese was still bubbling after about 15 minutes. I had homemade chorizo in it and was served on homemade tortillas.

For my dinner, I ordered the "Pescado a la Mexicana." It was Red Snapper fried and served with chipotle-lime butter sauce and garnished with a tropical pico de gallo salsa and cilantro white rice. The sauce was hot and sweet and delicious.

Pops had the "Crepa de Pollo con Mole", aka Chicken Mole Enchiladas. Very rich and very good.

We were so full, but we couldn't walk out without trying the dessert. We had the "Crepas con Leche Quemada" which tasted just like the crepes that we get at Javier's. It was so good.

Pops is taking some students out next week and we are planning on taking them to La Joya. Can't wait.

Crazy Weather

We are so confused around here. We don't know if we need the air conditioner or the heater. Last Wednesday, it was 88 degrees. On Saturday, it was snowing. Snow is very unusual in Texas, but especially on April. There was snow on the bluebonnets. I don't think that has happened in years. But, that is what we expect in Texas. If you don't like the weather, just wait a day because it will change.

We have been hearing about a predicted storm for a couple of days. It was supposed to be bad. I was a little nervous.

I was nervous because both Pops and Justin had flight into DFW yesterday. I had already had a little scare with Justin earlier in the morning. He was in Puebla, Mexico working and when I first woke up, the news was on and there had been a 6.3 earthquake south of Mexico City and it was felt all the way to Mexico City, with power outages. Puebla is south, but he didn't know about it until he heard it on the news. He had told me the night before that he was in a hotel that was built in the 1500. I could just picture him under the rubble - that is what happens when you are a claustrophobic.

Anyway, Pops got in before the storm started and Justin got in afterwards. He landed a 9:00 p.m., but when I talked to him at 10:15, he was still on the tarmac. I would be dying!!!
About 6:00 p.m. the warning sirens started going off and on TV they were telling every one to take shelter in their bathtubs with mattress's over their head. We were pretty fascinated, so we we on the back porch watching the hail. By the time it finished, it looks liked we had had a snow storm. We had hail larger than the size of an egg, but others in the area reported softball size hail. About 8 miles from us, a tornado touched down.



I am supposed to fly out next week, and I am already worried about the weather.

Sprinkles Cupcake Update

Since I have had more of my cupcakes, I decided I needed to give an update.

First, I need to make a correction. After looking at my list, I realized that Landrie probably had the "Dark Chocolate" cupcake. No wonder it tasted so strong. She loved it though.

I tried the regular chocolate with white icing this morning and it was good. Not my favorite, but good. I also tried the pumpkin with cinnamon cream cheese icing. It was probably my favorite. Very moist. I think I need to go back next week and check out the other flavors so I can give a complete report!

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Oprah had a segment on her show awhile back about her favorite foods. Of course that quickly got my attention. She talked about a place in Beverly Hills called Sprinkles. Sprinkles sells only cupcakes.

Last week Sprinkles opened their third location in Dallas. There have been several articles in the paper and news stories about it, so I have been dying to try it. According to the reporters, the line is usually about 45 minutes long.

It is pretty small, so Jordan and I took turns going in. She went first. She was interviewed by a reporter from WBAP radio while she was standing in line. I don't know if her interview made it on the air, but I am hoping if it did, they didn't use her name. They asked her where she first heard about Sprinkles and she said, from "The Girls Next Door." For those of you that don't know, that is the reality TV show about Hugh Heffner's (aka Puffin) girlfriends. I have to admit that it is one of my regularly recorded programs on my DVR.

Anyway, back to the cupcakes. They come in these cute little boxes. They should be cute since they are $3.25 each. I was a little surprised because they are not decorated very fancy. Pretty plain actually. We were a little out of control, but we wanted to try all the flavors. They have different flavors each day. Landrie chose chocolate cake with chocolate icing. We also got strawberry, pumpkin, chocolate cake with white icing and red velvet.


As you can see, Landrie loved hers. It was way to chocolate for me. I was surprised that she ate it. It was almost pure cocoa powder.



I am a strawberry fanatic. I was really disappointed in the strawberry. If I had been blindfolded, I would not have been able to tell what flavor I was eating. The red velvet was very good. I haven't tried the rest yet.

I will give Sprinkles another try, but it will probably be on a Monday or Thursday. On those days, they have lemon, coconut, and banana.

Happy Birthday Precious Karsyn Alyssa

Karsyn is 1 today. I love her birthdate, 04-05-06. Before she was born, I could not imagine how I could love another little girl as much as her sister Landrie. The minute I held her, I knew it was possible.

She is so sweet. She is always smiling. She wants to be down on the ground moving. I have to keep her in the "cage" because the minute I turn my back, she is headed up the stairs, looking back at me and squealing with excitement.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

TV Hog Heaven

I am loving this week in TV land. It has been kinda slow lately with reruns on Grey's and Desperate. I do love American Idol, although the Sanjaya thing is about to make me have a stroke. Dancing with the Stars has started, but it is kinda boring without Emmett.

My favorite show, The Bachelor, has started this week. I don't care how cheesy it is, I have watched every single episode and still love it. I now have a favorite blog I read that recaps every second. If you have time, check it out. It will crack you up if you are a Bachelor fan.

I will have great TV watching tonight. Last night I was not home, so I only watched a little bit of Idol. I started about 11 and just could not stay awake and give it my undivided attention. Pops has to take someone to dinner tonight, so I will be watching both the singing episode and the results. Can't wait.

PLEASE AMERICA, don't keep Sanjaya any longer. I don't know how much more I can take!