What was my life like PRE-Buffett tailgate? It must have been pretty boring.

Today was the Buffett concert. I've never done Buffett Dallas style. Let me tell you something - they didn't let me down!

There were Parrotheads, Land sharks, Parakeets, there were Tiki Bars as far as the eye could see! There was the bimini ring toss, giant slabs of ice to pour shots down (we had to stand at the bottom of the ice and catch the shot in our mouths as it trailed down a winding path) portable pools and portable potties. There was even a couple of guys on top of a raised cherry picker - sand, grass skirt and palm tree included!

As the Parkers, Dave and I wandered through Wal Mart late the night before the concert, we filled the cart with lots of fun stuff for the party. "Hula for a Shot" was born in the Grapevine, Texas Wal Mart. The rules were simple and few - if you wanted to take a shot (or two) from our liquor filled squirt guns, you had to hula. The most asked question was "How long do I have to hula?" - that was kind of easy - if you got it around your waist once you got a shot. One trip to the porta johns yielded almost 10 hulas as we passed the cars and trucks. I had to tell a lady she had to stop because she was so good at it but I had to GO! She was like the Energizer rabbit! At the porta johns people hula'd in line as we waited our turn. Towards the end of the party people were coming up to US to hula for a shot.

It was - WAIT FOR IT - LEGENDARY!

(Thanks for that gratuitous set up, Barney!)

As usual my quest to fill my "hot guy diary" yielded a lot of good pictures with people I wouldn't have otherwise approached. I don't know that this concert I spent time looking for the "hot" guy but rather new friends, new faces and fun pictures. I certainly got plenty of great pics out there this time! (although I'm not sure I want to be seen with that guy wearing the RED SOX HAT!!)

We weren't there long before it started to pour. Fellow parrotheads provided shelter under their canopy for the duration. I still wandered in the rain. That's half the fun. I got halfway across the parking lot when it started to thunder and I think I even saw a little bit of lightning. Later on we made friends with some people in a big RV; we hung around their tiki bar (where the clock was strategically stuck on 5 o'clock!) and had fun doing the hula and our own karaoke. Dave even got his picture taken and it landed on page two of the Dallas Morning News!

The parking lots as they were set up probably held a fraction of what I'd experienced in Philly last year. Around 6 we headed into the Smirnoff center to get to our seats and settle in for the show. Mr. B came out around 8:15 and put on a super show. We got to hear some new tunes he's working on for an album coming out later this year and we got to hear a song or two from his new film, Hoot. And he played his oldies but goodies - Volcano, Changes in Latitudes, Pirate Looks at Forty, Fins, and the list goes on...

Of course he graced us with the one song that brings us all together - Margaritaville.

"Where is Margaritaville? It's in the tropics somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder, but no parallels of latitude or longitude mark the spot exactly. You don't have to be a navigator to get there. Palm trees provide the camouflage. Ocean Breezes bring the seaplanes and sailboats, tourists and travelers. Passports are not required. Island music rules. There is a beach and a thatched roof bar perched on the edge of the turquoise sea where you can always find a bar stool. There are lots of lies and loads of stories. It's a comical concoction that blends together like tequila, salt and limes. Where is Margaritaville? It's in your mind...."

Well, here it is, another year, time for another Buffett concert. I went to both Philly shows last year and am headed to the Dallas, Tx show tomorrow. I cannot WAIT!

I think they should change the mantra to "Whatever happens at the Buffett concert, STAYS at the Buffett concert." I officially started my "hot guy diary" at the second show in Philly last year. Okay, so maybe my judgement was a bit clouded by a margarita or two (or ten) by the time these guys came along but they were fun just the same! They hammed it up with me in front of the camera and had a good time.

Below is the guy that started it all. I was minding my own business, checking out this guy's huge pirate flag and whammo - this hottie stops me and says, "Takin' a picture of my flag? Don't you want to take a picture with ME?" I am not exactly sure but I THINK my response was, "hummina hummina hummina" Then my friend Lisa took the shot...

I don't think I've ever had this much fun in my life. We got to the parking lots at 10 a.m. The show wasn't due to start until 7:30. It was sunny and nice when we set up camp and about an hour later, it started to get windy then the clouds rolled in and it poured. We huddled under our huge umbrella with about six other people that had run under to try and stay dry. Me? I didn't care. I was having too much fun.

We took some time during the day to walk around the parking lots and see the sights. There were small, medium and large fins. There was beer pong, golf, hot tubs, tiki bars as far as the eye could see. There were hammocks and sand and inflatable sharks tied to the tops of SUVs. Music blared from every car. People stopped you randomly and either asked for a shot or offered a shot. For one day there was a world of Parrotheads that took over an obcene amount of real estate. I'm so glad to have joined the ranks.

I don't think there's a proper name for the place where we all go right before Bubba takes us away...some call it Margaritaville, some call it Paradise, some say it's "somewhere between the port of indecision and southwest of disorder..." I saw tons of disorder this day when we went to see Buffett in '05...and tomorrow I will surely see more!

Good MOOOOOOOOOOOOO-rning!

Okay, three months here and I STILL can't get over the cattle that greet me at the fence each morning as I'm leaving the neighborhood!!!

Aaahh....baseball. A time honored American tradition. This past weekend I went to a Texas Rangers baseball game for the first time. I'm a local now so I've got to check out the local teams. We arrived at Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas and got to our seats as they were throwing out the first ball.

Baseball is baseball, right? You go to the stadium, you get a beer, a hot dog, maybe some peanuts and you sit back in your seat and you enjoy a game. This game, this night, I felt homesick for the first time since I'd left Pennsylvania. I was happy enough to spend an evening watching some good baseball but I missed home. I know it's new, I know it's different. I don't mind change. I LIKE change. But this wasn't Citizens Bank Park in Philly nor was it Veterans stadium. There were no cheesesteaks, no Bull's BBQ, there were no shopping cart pretzel vendors, and there was no Philly skyline in the distance.

I had a good time. The people who sat next to us were friendly, talkative people. In Philly about the only time you ever talked to people was if they were in your way or they pissed you off in some manner. The game was pretty eventful. As the players came up to bat, Dave picked out all of the ex-Phillies there were on each team (there were quite a few!) which made me feel more comfortable in my Phillies baseball cap. I don't want to commit to a new pink Rangers hat until I am ready to move on. And right now I'm not ready. Even though the Phillies aren't some great team, they were the team I went to the stadium and cheered on for five years. I can't quite let go of my favorite right fielder, Bobby Abreu or my favorite left fielder, Pat Burrell (the best tush in baseball in my opinion!) and my new love, 2nd baseman Chase Utley. I'm also happy to note after reading the news the past couple of weeks, that my boy #25 JIM THOME is doing well for the White Sox. It's been awesome to read that he's healthier than he's been in a year and that he's knocking those homeruns out left and right. GO JIM!

So goes my induction into the Dallas - Fort Worth sports scene. Even though it wasn't the Phillies, the Rangers put on a good game. We enjoyed our hot dogs and big pretzel just like at home and after the game an impressive display of fireworks as we sat in our seats. I'm sure I will go again and maybe, like Philly, the more I go, the more I'll know the players and I'll start to pick out the ones for which to cheer. And maybe I'll even pick up a new pink Texas Rangers baseball cap...

Now here I sit in Texas.

I love it here.

The people are really nice.

It’s hot.

The roads are busier.

I’m in territory un-chartered by me.

I sit at home and think of all the things I could be out doing in the world. There are so many things to see and do. I can’t possibly do it all. I don’t ever remember thinking this way about Pennsylvania.It‘s only April and yet I went to Dot and Winston‘s to swim the other night. It was hot. We swirled around the pool talking about our houses, our jobs, our new lives. The inevitable happened. The talk subsided and we pondered our life choice silently. We looked to each other and smiled, leaned back against the side of the pool and said, “I’m so happy we moved to Texas.” Sometimes I feel guilty for saying it but it’s true.I can’t put my finger on the reason why I’m happy.

In general, I’m a happy person. There isn’t much in this world that brings me down. I live my life without regret and know that I am lucky to be alive. Life is too short to be sour and angry or sad. Those who know me know that my father passed away three years ago - to this day I can sometimes find myself down and out and all I do is think of his huge grin, his booming laughter or a joke he used to tell and it lifts my spirits. I think of all the happiness he brought to people by just being him and I know that I want people to remember me that way as well.

People ask me if I’m lonely or sad being on my own. I don’t know why but this week has been particularly hard. I’ve been missing my family and I’ve been missing “home.” I haven’t gotten weepy or sad but I do feel a tug in my heart when I think of people. But I don’t think I made a wrong choice; I’m glad I’m here. For 12 years I bounced around from house to house and roommate to roommate without a thing of my own. I am forever indebted to those who took me in and made me a part of their lives but I needed to be on my own. I needed something for me. I needed this life. So I’m happy to be on my own.

It was both a happy day and a sad day when I received a job offer from the new company.

This was my chance to break away and make something new of my life. A lot of people harbored such anger for what had happened with our company. I only saw it all as an opportunity. At times I am annoying - I tend to be a "glass half full" type of gal. I can't help it.

The new company's headquarters are several states away - Texas to be exact. When the word was out that some of us had received job offers, feelings were hurt. Friendships were strained. Relationships started to crumble. I don't know who was more hurt - those staying or those going. I tried my hardest to put their feelings before mine. I know it had to hurt like hell to sit and watch friends packing up their lives and moving 1500 miles away.

People close to me questioned my reasons for leaving. Sometimes I think they questioned my decision more than I did. I had a week to say yes or no to the new company. Believe me, I used every second they gave me to make my decision. A big part of me knew instantly that I was going to say yes. But there was still a tiny part of me that wanted to stay and stick it out.

One evening a friend of ours (HI KIM!) sat with us and talked with us while we mulled things over in our minds. She looked at Dottie and she said, "Dottie, I wish you didn't have to go, I'm going to miss you so much!" and she smiled. She turned to me then and she smiled that same smile and said, "I'm going to miss you too but you have to go." At first I wasn't sure what she meant. I mean, here we are, having a girls moment and she's telling me to just GO! We had a good giggle at that point and then it got serious.

Kim knew that I had to go. She knew that my life was kind of at a stand still. She knew that I was itching for something new. While others were upset that I wasn't sticking it out and giving it another chance, Kim knew that it was something I had to do with my life. I was grateful for that extra push from Kim when I was thinking things over.

Without the strength of my friends and family behind me, I never could have made this move by myself. I feel lucky. I haven't had too many down moments since I've moved on with my life. People have kept in touch with me and in turn have kept me company here in this big house. I miss my friends in PA like hell but I'm not sad. I'm making new friends every single day. The people here in Texas are so incredibly friendly.

Did I mention that I feel lucky?

April 18th, 2005 was a very hard day for a lot of people.

I was sitting in my cube early that morning trying to wake up. I hadn’t made my usual morning trip to the cafeteria for “the juice” as Nonnie and I liked to call it - my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper. My friend Dottie stopped in my cube on her way to the cafeteria.

“Go to the web and go to our page in Yahoo Business!” she said hurriedly. I quickly pulled up the web page and looked up our stock symbol.

I sat back in total disbelief. I rubbed my eyes, sure that they were still foggy from lack of sleep. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t stuck in dreamland somewhere. There on the page before me was an announcement that our company had been “acquired” by another. Dottie stood in my cube with me and neither spoke a word at first. I just looked up at her and shook my head in silence. I couldn’t find words within that first five minutes. I was heartbroken. I had been with this company for 14 years! Later I would have difficulty deciding if I was upset because our company would be no more or that in only another few months I would be eligible for a 4th week of vacation!

That was a strange day. People walked around the building like zombies. In an instant a major part of our world had come crashing down upon us. Our jobs on the line and our futures uncertain. The office was a buzz with a mixture of hope, sadness and fear. What would happen to us? There were many theories about the future of the business as the months droned on after the announcement. Would they close one office? Would they ask people to stay on? How long would we have jobs in that location? The list went on and on.

Life got hard. No, I wasn’t poverty stricken or maimed in any way but it did get hard. I wasn’t worried about impending unemployment or how I would survive because I knew that I would. I was worried about my friends. I was worried about the relationships I had built in that building, working that job for so many years. Never mind the fact that they had decided to close the office, that people left to find other jobs, that the a big part of what had made that company tick for so many years had lost its collective heart. I had built a life from that job; I had made tons of friends and many were considered family by this point.

There were group vacations, birthday celebrations, summer barbeques, parties for no reason (remember the double keggers we used to throw, Mel? The Dr. Suess hat?! Caps?! SHOOOOE! Where are those girls??) bridal showers, baby showers, weddings…we did everything together once. I hope that someday in my new home I will have that closeness of friends again. Those days may be in the past but the memories will be with me forever.

I got this window from a friend of mine (Hi NONNIE!) when I lived in Pennsylvania. A lady at work had been giving them away and she had picked on up to do something crafty. By the time I had come looking for one myself, the pile was empty so Nonnie gave hers to me. I had an idea to fill it with an enlarged picture of the surf at one of the beaches I had visited in the past few years but with everything that went on with the job last fall, it never came to fruition.

It traveled in Elaine and Mike's moving van from Pa. I had been reading a copy of Simple Scrapbooks and someone had taken a smaller window and filled it with pictures. I decided that I was going to do the same. I wanted something unique to sit above my couch - something that reminded me of the things I like to see or do. At first I was going to hang a large black and white print of Central Park in the spring (although I wasn't quite sure how I'd tell it was Central Park in the spring if it was in black and white *giggle*) Then I thought I'd use some black and whites of New York City I had taken on our last trip this past Christmas and make 12x12 framed pages of them and hang them. All I know is that I wanted it to be something special, something different, something simple yet something that would catch someone's eye when they walked into the room. Mainly mine since I live alone and well, the dog, he's pretty smart but I really don't think he much cares about anything but those new Alpo treats I got him and taking up most of the bed.

I'm bragging when I say I'm pretty proud of the end results. When I get excited about something I did right, I want the whole world to see! :)