Everything You Need Right in Texas

Not a lot is going on right now. It's been a pretty slow week at work with everyone getting settled into classes and schedules set. My days at work are pretty boring other than 2 post-op rehabs (had 3, but one is already released--YEAH :) and she did all her rehab at home over Christmas, I love compliant athletes). We started classes on Tuesday. I only have classes on Monday & Tuesday nights (well technically Thursday nights as well, but it is my boss' class, so I only go on nights that I have to teach) so only had that one night this week :)

I received this in an e-mail and thought I would share it. I think people from Texas and Missouri (and whoever else reads my blog) will all enjoy in. Pretty humerous actually. All of these places are actual towns (can't quite say cities for most of them) in Texas, they even provide zip codes for most of them.

Need to be cheered up?
Happy, Texas 79042
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987
Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?
Sun City , Texas 78628
Sunrise, Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270
Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray, Texas 79086 (I actually lived here for 2 years)
Sunny Side , Texas 77423

Want something to eat?
Bacon, Texas 76301
Noodle, Texas 79536
Oatmeal, Texas 78605
Turkey , Texas 79261
Trout , Texas 75789
Sugar Land, Texas 77479
Salty, Texas 76567
Rice, Texas 75155
And top it off with:
Sweetwater, Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all
Detroit , Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Denver City, Texas 79323
Klondike, Texas 75448,
Nevada Texas 75173
Memphis , Texas 79245
Miami , Texas 79059
Boston , Texas 75570
Santa Fe , Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861
Reno , Texas 75462

Feel like traveling outside the country?
Don't bother buying a plane ticket!
Athens , Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613
Egypt, Texas 77436
Ireland, Texas 76538
Turkey, Texas 79261
London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460

No need to travel to Washington D.C.
Whitehouse , Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth , Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!
Texas City , Texas 77590

Exhausted?
Energy , Texas 76452

Cold?
Blanket , Texas 76432
Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?
Santa Anna , Texas
Goliad , Texas
Alamo , Texas
Gun Barrel City, Texas
Robert lee, Texas

Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670

Men are from Mars, women are from -
Venus , Texas 76084

You guessed it..it's on the state line..
Texline , Texas 79087

For the kids...
Kermit, Texas 79745
Elmo, Texas 75118
Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783
Winnie , Texas 77665
Sylvester, Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas, to make you smile.....
Frognot, Texas 75424
Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Hogeye, Texas 75423
Cactus, Texas 79013
Notrees, Texas 79759
Best, Texas 76932
Veribest, Texas 76886
Kickapoo, Texas 75763
Dime Box, Texas 77853
Old Dime Box, Texas 77853
Telephone, Texas 75488
Telegraph, Texas 76883
Whiteface, Texas 79379
Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas 75662

And our favorites...
Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gun Barrell City, Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas
Ding Dong, Texas
and, of course,
Muleshoe , Texas

I'm sure there are more that could be added, I just put what was already in the email.

My Small Town Tour

I must pre-warn you....this will be a lot of rambling, but hey my life has been VERY uneventful lately.

Yesterday, my dad and I were supposed to go watch Canyon & Palo Duro play at PD, but he had a meeting come up in Lubbock and our trip got cancelled. (Side note: the game was a great one, PD was up at half, Canyon ended up winning by 3....87 straight wins in district, pretty impressive if you ask me). So me being the bored and random individual I am, I called Laine and asked her what time her girls played that night.

So a little background information would probably help in this story. Once upon a time before my parents were married they both were coaching & teaching in a little town called Hamlin. Well they both showed interest in each other--my mom showing much more than my dad. Well there was this couple in town, David & Janice Wade. Being a small town, everyone knows everyone and there aren't many secrets. Well my mom and Janice would be considered "stalkers" at the time and would drive around town in different vehicles searching out David and my dad. So maybe it wasn't as stalkerish as it sounds, but long story short, they finally started dating and got married, so David & Janice have always gotten partial credit for my parents being married. Well nearly 2 years later I was born. David & Janice have a daughter named Laine, who was in high school at the time. In fact, my mom told Laine she was pregnant before my dad. So needless so say, we are very close family friends, and I have always considered David & Janice my other set of grandparents and have spent a considerable amount of time with them. Laine married her high school sweetheart Brad, and they have 3 children, Wade who is in his 3rd year of college at Angelo State and twin girls, Samantha & Shalaina who are seniors in high school.

So now you are caught up. I called Laine about 2:30 and she told me that the girls played at 6:30 in Stamford, so I do the math and figure out I can be there in time for the game, so I ask my parents if they care if I head that way and they look at my like I'm crazy. So I pack my bags and head out the door. Now this is a 3 hour trip and while driving I realize I am definitely on a small town tour....so just bear with me through this. Most people in Texas don't even realize some of these places exist. So here's the list of the booming metropolises that I traveled through:

Tulia (pop 5,117)
Lockney (pop 2,056--random fact: their high school burned down on Sunday night....keep them in your thoughts, 2 15-year-old students of the school have been charged with second-degree-felony arson....they were hoping to get better equipment & facilities; the school was still smoldering when I drove by today)
Floydada (pop 3,676--this is the largest town I pass through)
Cone (no pop listed & no school)
Ralls (pop 2,252)
Crosbyton (pop 1,874)
Dickens (pop 332---no school here either)
Spur (pop 1,088)
Gilpin (no pop, definitely the smallest "community" I pass through, there is one little tiny farmhouse thing between the two signs; obviously no school here either)
Girard (no pop, no school....)
Jayton (pop 513)
Swenson (no pop, no school, biggest building in town is the First Baptist Church)
Aspermont (pop 1,021)
Sagerton (no pop, no school, biggest building is the Faith Luthern Church--or the school that has been turned into the community center as with most of the towns where the school has shut down)
Stamford (pop 3,636)
Hamlin (pop 2,248)

Not a Sonic to be found other than in Tulia and my somewhat final destination of Stamford, have no fear I survived. It was great to spend some time with David, Janice, Laine, Brad, Sam, Shakey (even though she will alwyas be Laina to me) & Mercedes (she's friends with Sam & Shakey--her mom used to work for David & Janice and she has an older sister that is the same age as Emily & they lived across the street from D&J for several years, so we grew up playing with them). To my surprise this morning Wade had come into town the night before and I got to spend some time with him today. All in all it was a GREAT trip. I hadn't seen any of them in about 2 and a half years so the trip was long overdue. The girls won their game so that was a plus. I got up early, ate breakfast at Drew's (a long standing tradition with David), who has watched me grow up, spending time with Wade, morning coffee break with Janice and the ladies she works with, lunch with Sam, Shakey, Mercedes, Jaylen, David & Janice; going up to school to see Aaron (Drew's son, who is a few years older than me, that I grew up with and went to undergrad with) & finally getting to see Laine & Brad's new house (it was finished like 2 years ago). It was a quick trip, but definitely worth it.

And I made it back in time for date night with mom, so that is always a plus--can't skip a great meal at El Sarape. Tomorrow I am headed to Lubbock to hang out with Katie and go see my friend Jeri & her precious baby girl Jorja (and maybe her hubby Clay). My time at home is nearly to an end, which is bittersweet. I am bored out of my mind & ready to see my friends in CoMo, but know that when I leave I will miss my parents.

Well the game...

didn't quite turn out like we would have liked, but I had a great time while in Dallas. When we got to Dallas we headed to an alumni pre-game party on Thursday night. It wasn't anything spectacular and we hadn't eaten, so we decided to head somewhere else and watch the games that were on tv. So we ended up at a Hooters eating wings and watching football. Before the game on Friday we did a little tailgating as we joined up with Tate, Kelly, Tyrell, their girlfriends and some other friends. It was good to hang out with those guys, they are always fun. At the game I got to see several of my friends who I hadn't seen in a while. I met up with Valerie, one of my good friends at halftime. While talking to her, I ran into Danny Amendola, who was a receiver while I was at Tech. He was on the practice squad for the Cowboys this year and is headed to Philadelphia soon. During the 4th quarter I looked up and saw Toby Cecil, a former offensive lineman from Tech who I was a good buddies with. It was great to see them all. After the game we headed to a place called La Hacienda Ranch. It was soooo good. I highly recommend it. Saturday we slept in, then Becky, Debbie & I headed shopping. We didn't have a lot of time, but went to World Market and then to Southlake to shop. My friend Becky from undergrad met up with us and then joined us for dinner. We decided Pappadeux was a great choice, so we went and got everyone else and headed there. It was so great to see everyone that I hadn't seen in a while as well as hang out with some special people for the weekend. Like I said, the game didn't turn out like we would have like at all, but it was a fun weekend.

Headed to the Big D

Happy New Year to you all! As for me, I am headed to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. My other loving family, the Chapmans, have invited me to go with them to the Cotton Bowl this weekend. How could I pass up a basically free vacation especially to see my alumni school play?? Free ticket, free ride, free place to stay (we are staying at Becky's brothers house, he won't be there)...and hopefully see a great football game. I am so excited to finally get to watch Texas Tech play in person this year. It is extra special for me because this is really the last year that I will know numerous guys on the team. Many of the seniors were my good friends in undergrad, so I am happy to see them play their final game at Tech. And I will get to see several friends from undergrad, some of which I haven't seen in several years.

I know the weekend will be a blast (duh, I'm going!!). Richard, Becky, Katie, Mike & Debbie Criswell & I are haeded out in about an hour for the Big D. Tonight we are going to an alumni party which I am pretty excited about because I expect to see several people that I know and haven't seen in years. Tomorrow morning we are headed to an alumni tailgate I believe and then it's game time. GO TECH! Saturday I think the girls are going shopping and the guys are just relaxing, then it's back on Sunday.

So it's back to my Red Raider blood this weekend...GUNS UP!!!