Tracie's World

If all goes well, one of Tracie's long-time dreams will be coming true this summer.  That's right, the baseball Gods are going to be kind to me, and Operation Dream Come True is underway.  Hooray!!!  I've made the hotel reservations, convinced Janeen and Inge to come along, so now it's just a matter of how to get there, what game to purchase tickets for, and what else to do while we're there.  I'll provide further updates as more arrangements are made.

I'm sure I've talked about that I'm - shall we say - a "bit" of a TV addict.  The boob tube is on pretty much on all the time, whenever I'm home.  And I've talked about a few of my favorites, NCIS, The Closer, anything on TCM, ESPN, etc.  But over the last several months, I've discovered a new favorite, and would like to take this opportunity to thank HGTV for bringing it to me.  My new show is - drum roll please - "Holmes on Homes".  It's this Canadian contractor who goes in and fixes another contractors screw-ups.  His motto is "Make it right."  He's buff, he's blonde, he wears overalls, and he knows how to use tools.  Why wouldn't I want to watch?

So it probably comes as no surprise that I'm pretty conservative in my thinking.  I like to think that I can get along with most people though, and am comfortable hearing other opinions.  But yes, I have for some years been a registered Republican.  HOWEVER...apparently the State of Utah publishes their voter registration lists.  To which I'd just like to say as sarcastically as possible, "thanks ever so much".  Because the (despised) Republican National Committee has taken to calling me - EVERY SINGLE DAY (including SUNDAY)...sometimes MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY....sometimes LATE AT NIGHT.  Say I get 3 or 4 calls a day, it's a safe bet that 2 or 3 of them are from the RNC.  I know this thanks to the wonders of caller id. Frankly, I have had it.  I recently had to re-register because of my move.  Thanks to the CONSTANT calls, add to that a dose of RNC hanky panky and other shenanigans on the taxpayer's dime, let's just say that my party affiliation has since be

Got home from Church today, just in time to watch the end of the Masters Golf Tournament, and to see Phil Mickelson win (Tiger Woods finished a distant fourth).  The Masters is the most prestigious of all the major championships.  I love the game of golf, and from what I can tell, winning a major takes both a tremendous amount of skill and a lot of luck.  Not only do you have to be at the top of your game, but things basically just have to go right for you for the entire four days and 72 holes. So I was especially caught by the events that unfolded this weekend, and especially today with Phil Mickelson's victory.  The story lately for most golf fans has been all about the indiscretions and bad behavior of Tiger Woods.  The news was hopping with the story when Tiger took time off to deal with the repercussions of getting caught.  So it was sweet justice this year in particular to have the winner of the tournament be someone who is the complete opposite.  By all accounts, Phil Micke

In honor of our love of the Triple-D experience (that's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" for the uninitiated), Angel, Inge, Janeen and I went to Wanship today to visit the Spring Chicken Inn.  Wanship is a very tiny town between Park City and Coalville with not much to recommend it, other than the Famous Spring Chicken Inn.  They've been around since 1930 and specialize in, what else, fried chicken.  It was a beautiful day in the mountains and according to the owner, today was the busiest they've been in 8 months.  We filled ourselves with chicken and fixins', and because of the long wait, the server was gracious enough to not charge us for our drinks.  We had a fabulous time.  Some of our friends were aware we were heading up there, and in fact, Brian even called while we were there to ask us to bring some chicken back for him. After that, we went back in to Park City to do a little shopping at the Outlet mall and had a little too much fun at the Coldwater Cr

So ready for the weekend this week.  Finally, the weather is good, and I've got a bit of spring fever.  The clock hit 4:30 and I couldn't get out the work door fast enough.  Ran home for a few minutes, then met Pinky, Inge and Amy at Spaghetti Factory (it's our absolute fave place when we get together).  Had a great dinner (we always order the same thing - for me, it's the Manager's Special with Mizithra Cheese and Clam Sauce), then off to The Gateway to see "How to Train Your Dragon".  Such a cute movie.  I loved it. Today, lots of chores (it is the day we get ready for Sunday, after all).  Laundry, car maintenance, yard work, groceries, etc.  Then the girls and I are meeting up to drive up to the Coalville/Wanship area.  We're planning to pay a visit to The Spring Chicken Inn and have our Triple D experience for the week.  Then perhaps another show after. I love the weekend.  Now if I can just make myself go back into work on Monday.

It's that time of year again.  The time-honored tradition known as the opening day of Major League Baseball season!  Hooray!  Not only does it mean 6 months of my favorite team sport, but it means that summer's not that far away (which if you've been in Utah lately, gives me hope). The day didn't exactly start off right for the Boys in Blue, though.  Last I checked, they were down by 6 runs to the Pirates.  The Pirates?!  Sheesh! Thankfully, there's 161 games left and plenty of time to turn it around. (Plea to the Baseball Gods: Please let this be the year I finally get to have a Dodger Dog...)

So this week has been one full of inconveniences and annoyances, some minor, others not so much.  The funny thing is they all started out with me having the best of intentions of doing something nice, and ended up making me look pretty ridiculous instead.  It all started Monday, when I thought I'd bring in lunch for my work meeting.  What was meant to be one two-foot sandwich turned into two of the most massive meat-filled sandwiches I've ever seen, neither of which turned out to be very tasty, and which turned out to be more expensive than expected.  Then there was Wednesday, when I was scheduled to make a presentation to my Director.  It turned out to be a technical nightmare, with me unable to get the document to appear on the overhead display, and finally having to print copies for everyone, forcing the presentation to start 25 minutes late.  There was also Thursday, when I drove some of the co-workers downtown for the team lunch at the fancy restaurant.  I found a great pa