Quiet Christmas

Christmas at our house is always a quiet event. With no family here in Texas, except for the four of us.....it usually is just another typical day. The dinner was great, the weather was cold, and it was sure nice to have two days off and not have to worry that our customers were being taken care of!



Christmas was also alot more fun when these guys were little! Guess I'll just have to wait until those grandchildren come along! :)

A Tribute to Tacos

I'm not much of a sweet eater, but when it comes to tacos -- I can eat them every single day and never get tired of them! As funny as it sounds, I have many fond memories of tacos.

Our family first started eating tacos when I was around ten years old. My mom made some of the best tacos. We moved to New York from Arizona when I was in 7th grade and tacos weren't available there and neither were the shells that my mom used to make the tacos. Being the great mother that she was, mom found a recipe and home made our taco shells from scratch so that we could still enjoy our favorite meal. They weren't the greatest shells in the world, but we were very grateful for her efforts and glad to have our tacos.

Taco memories also consist of our favorite Friday night when we'd go to El Taco and get 20 tacos for 10 cents each and that was our family dinner. Of course that was in the "good old days". I can remember walking home from high school and stopping at El Taco and getting a taco and a Coke for 25 cents.....wow what a deal!

It seems that most of my fondest memories all revolve around tacos. My sister and I used to meet for lunch when I lived in Tucson and usually it consisted of someplace where we could get tacos! So here's a salute to my all time favorite.....THE TACO!

I'm Special!

Well today is my birthday and I feel special.

Now some of you might think that having your birthday on Christmas Eve is bad -- but I'm here to tell you differently. Rumor has it that I wasn't supposed to be a December baby, but apparently I had other plans. I popped into this world at 11:58 pm on December 24th (the year shall remain a secret). Not sure how my mother felt about having to spend Christmas in the hospital, but hopefully she was delighted with the outcome! Now some people also believe that you get "ripped off" having your birthday the day before Christmas. This is another myth. My mother decided that first year that Christmas Eve would be my birthday and we would not mix the two celebrations together. So while I didn't get a day in the middle of the year to open gifts and get a cake, I was the ONLY one in the house who got to open presents the day before Christmas.

To this day I still feel special every time I have to show my driver's license or put my birthdate down and someone says "wow your birthday is on Christmas Eve. I'll bet you got gipped" (this happens almost on a daily basis). Thank you mom for giving me such a special birthday!

Now Hiring: Magic Elves

Dear Elves:

Lately my life is just too out of control and I have too much to do and I'm not getting to enjoy the fun things in life anymore. So tonight when I go to bed you will find a list on the table of the things that need to be accomplished when I wake up in the morning.

1. Please get all my filing done that is almost a year behind
2. Finish all the financial things for PZ that need to be done before the end of the year (I'm only 6 months behind on that one)
3. Get my house nice and clean (no comment on this one)
4. Get the house decorated for Christmas. I'm afraid if you don't do it -- it's not going to get done!
5. Get the rooms painted that need them, clean out the closets, drawers, cupboards, and have that big yard sale that I've been saving stuff for a year to have.

In return, I promise:
1. That I will once again get to do the fun things that I'm missing.
2. Spend quality time with my husband again instead of always having to be doing business stuff 24/7.
3. Hire someone this next year to help me get things done because, no matter what I think, I just can't do it all by myself.

Busy Days and Busy Nights

Wow....I'm almost embarrassed at the last date of my post. While the thoughts have been swirling in my head.....the time hasn't been there to stop and put them here. But on this nice quiet Sunday morning before I begin another busy day -- I'll get some random stuff here so you don't think I've deserted my rambling ways.

First of all.....Thanksgiving! What a fabulous day that was! I've been delaying posting about it because I wanted to get all the pictures edited and downloaded so that I could put some here. But I'm confessing to all of you that the camera is still sitting on my desk and I haven't touched it since we've been home (not enough time). So -- I'll post those later. The best part of Thanksgiving was flying in that morning and surprising my family -- some who had NO IDEA of the plan that my sister and I had hatched. It was great spending time with everyone and it had been a VERY LONG time since the Taggart clan had been together. My sister and her husband were awesome hosts and took such good care of all of us! I also had the opportunity to reunite with one of my bestest friends ever from high school - Carol (Dowers) Chamberlain. We had a great time talking over some of the "good ole days" and meeting each other's husbands. Have to have more times like that. The trip was way too short and we had to fly back home early Saturday morning because duty called! Thank you family and friends for such a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving -- that is what the holiday is all about!

Okay...I'm cheating -- Carol had her pictures posted the very next day so I'm gonna copy hers so that we can have some photos here:




Okay.....time to get back to my real world now!

And the award went to......

Not us! We had a fabulous night anyways! We were a little disappointed, but then we stopped and thought about the great year we've had and how we have been truly blessed. While other businesses and people were struggling, we were able to open a second location (what the heck were we thinking???)

For the banquet we were able to set up a table and spotlight our business. We talked to lots of potential new customers and heard from several people that they heard we had great pizza and were going to try us out! Here's a picture of our table at the dinner.



We had a wonderful dinner, met lots of people, and enjoyed dressing up and spending a romantic night out with my husband. We also were honored to receive a Commendation from the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of our Congressman Kevin Brady. They took pictures of us receiving the award and I'll post them once they send them to us. I think they are possibly voting in the House and Senate on which day would be a good one for Pizza Zone Day, but no decisions have been made as of yet. Now I just need to find more places to wear those fancy clothes......but someone around here has promised me another cruise and another reason to wear that new dress!



Now all I have left to figure out is who took the young Debbie and Paul and put these "old" people in their place!

Not the Academy Awards....but close

Well the big awards banquet is tomorrow night. Of course, being the typical "last minute" people that we are, I waited until this week to get a new dress and shoes and my husband went and got a new suit. This journey has not been an easy one, but after spending 2 days, looking at a minimum of 300 dresses, 2 malls, 10 misc. women's shops......I found the dress. Hope the picture does it justice. It is a nice satiny dress, simple and I feel elegant in it. Dressing up is a big deal for us. Our typical wardrobe is shorts, Pizza Zone t-shirts, and tennis shoes.



Of course you can't buy a new dress without having a new pair of shoes to go with it. So here's the shoes. After wearing nothing but tennis shoes for the last 10 years, should be interesting to see how I do in a pair of "grown up" shoes!



And then there's this next purchase. This was essential for my transformation of "pizza boss" to "award winning business owner" (LOL). I'm not even going to bother commenting on this last item -- it will speak for itself!



Lastly, I was excited to find exactly the perfect decorations we needed to decorate a table for the dinner tomorrow night. We are able to decorate a table to showcase our business -- and hopefully our table will be grand! We plan on displaying our employees working and pictures of our pizzas on the digital frame.



Now everything is in place and we're all set for fun evening!

Peaceful Mornings

What an amazing time to be the first person up in the morning and enjoy the quiet of the house just as the dawn is breaking? Although I must admit I unfortunately am awake long before the sun wakes up and starts it's journey across the sky -- insomina is not a good thing. I do find that I can accomplish so much these quiet mornings and love to sit on the porch and watch the neighborhood "wake" up. It's fun to watch the same people drive by each morning at the same time each day on their way to work. I am so lucky that I can (for the most part) stay at home and work from my office and can even wear my pajamas all day if I want to. Although productivity seems to be lacking when wearing pajamas -- best to get dressed in something equally as comfy, but a tad more professional. Sitting on the quiet porch gives you time to reflect on what needs to be done that day, what didn't get done yesterday, and what will still need to get done tomorrow. And as the sun slowly rises and the daylight softly creeps in -- I thank God for the beautiful day ahead of me and all the unexpected excitement that I am sure will follow.

Thankfulness - WARNING - it's a long one!

With Thanksgiving coming up and my sister Facebooking that we need to post what we are thankful for, I thought maybe it was a good idea to get us all thinking about what really is important to us in life. Trust me I know what it's like to be constantly busy, never having enough time, being stressed and getting gray hair, and not stopping and thinking about all that is REALLY good in my life. Here's this edition of "What I am Thankful For" and hopefully it will insprire you to stop and be thankful for the little things in your life and not focusing on all the negative.

First of all - I am thankful that this picture has not ever been posted on the internet before this or put into one of those "take a look at these people" e-mails! No truthfully, I am thankful to have been raised in a family that cared about us and raised us to be productive and upstanding citizens. I certainly thought that some of the rules were dumb at the time, but now I see why those things needed to be done at the time (although I still disagree with a large amount of them). The world premiere of the Taggart family circa 1976!



Secondly I am thankful for my two sons. Although they have not really followed the "dream" that I had for them, I am thankful that they grew up to be who they are. We formed a large bond for the ten years that I was divorced and had an amazing time "having fun" with the three of us. I cherish those moments and glad that I was able to spend the amount of time with them that I did. Now it's time to boot their butts out of my house and send them off to live on their own!



Lastly, I am thankful for finding the perfect person to spend the rest of my life with! Although he wasn't my first pick, he was the most important pick. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. He makes me feel loved and special each day and I am so blessed to have found him. Some people questioned whether I should quit my "day" job and work with him full time at Pizza Zone. What a great decision that was. Together we have worked so hard, devoted every spare minute, and successfully have built our little pizza shop. Although we work our butts off, we are proud of what we have accomplished together.



I have so many other things to be thankful for, but you all are probably sleeping by now -- so we'll continue this discussion some other time. In the meantime, I am so thankful for all the things that have happened throughout my life to make me the person that I am today!

Long and BUSY days!

Okay.....I need to take a break. These 15-18 hour days are starting to take their toll and I just need to step back a little and take a break! It's great being in business for yourselves, but it is also a lot of work and committment. Just to show you a representative sample -- here was my schedule for today:

8-9am:
*Finished printing, cutting, and stuffing 400 doorhanging bags so that staff can go out and promote new business. Stayed up last night until midnight to try and finish them -- but sleepiness won out.
*Issued check for employee we had to fire this week
*Made signs celebrating today's wacky holiday
*Got paperwork and uniforms for two new employees starting today ready
*Helped husband get out the door (he had an equally busy day)

9am-12noon
*Went to bank and did deposits
*Drove in covertible with the top down (best part of the day) and went to each location and picked up daily paperwork, dropped off things, and managed to squeeze lunch in with some good looking guy I found doorhanging in some neighborhood

Noon-3pm
*Sent rough draft of new menus to printer
*Answered numerous e-mails, random phone calls from staff and husband, and children
*Tried to catch up on daily paperwork and deposits from the stores (still 3 days behind in that)
*Spent time digging through all the paperwork for something the Health Dept had to have at their inspection of our 2nd location today (good thing I found it or they might have shut us down)
*Designed and printed 700 flyers and 700 stickers for a school night fundraiser we are sponsoring next week

4pm-7pm
*Went to the bank and made some more deposits (I am getting caught up!). Also found a moment to run into the grocery store to pick up something QUICK to make for dinner
*Designing another doorhanger my hubby wants to start using tomorrow (I'll be printing that working on it later tonight)
*Organizing the piles so I know what's left to do!
*Sneaking in a moment to blog

I gotta get back to work --- there's still 4 more hours left of work to get done tonight. Poor dog - he can't even keep up with me anymore!

Too busy.....too little time

I know it's been awhile since I've posted.....but there just isn't enough time in the day. Our days have recently been getting up at 4am and crashing in bed at 10pm. I have lots to update, lots to share, and lots to celebrate.....but right now can't take the extra time needed to post here. Keep checking back -- should have some updates for you by the weekend!

Our week in a nutshell

Okay, okay...I know it's been awhile since the last post, but it's been a very busy week. This week looks even busier -- but more of that later.

Last week's highlight was the luncheon for the finalists of the Small Business Award. It was a great event getting to meet all the other finalists, publicity photos, eating a fabulous lunch, receiving accolades, and getting our certificates. Here's ours:



The next step will be to come up with a table decoration for the Awards dinner and getting a new dress for the dinner.

The rest of our week has been spent trying to get the new location opened. I think if I have to write one more check to the electrician -- I'm going to stick my finger in one of those $100 electrical outlets he just installed. The stress level has amped up for this next week as we begin the final steps to completion. Although, if you look at our "to do" list for this week you would think that we haven't done anything for the last couple of months. Oh well, I certainly can't make any claims to my life being boring. Life just keeps rolling along and I'm really happy with mine!

Fun in Austin

What a wonderful two days we spent in Austin. The weather was perfect for driving with the top down.



Which is what we did every chance we had! Now I know that most people would think our itinerary would be boring.....but it was so nice to get away and not think of all the stuff we had waiting at home to do. For two days we did nothing but have fun.

What did we do you ask......well on Sunday we visited the LBJ Presidential Library. Paul decided it was his favorite one thus far. We are always amazed at what we learn after visiting these libraries. We also found an exhibit at the University of Texas celebrating the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. We also visited the Austin Antique Mall, where we picked up a couple of small items and then we finished the day with an exciting meal where we ate.........what else.........PIZZA!

Now Monday's activities are reserved for only die hard restaurant owners. We made a list of several used restaurant equipment stores and spent 5-6 hours visiting them! While this might sound boring to most people, for us it is like discovering golden treasures at bargain prices. We loaded up the Mustang with as much equipment as it would hold and headed back.

Now it's back to real life, stress, and headaches again, but for two days we totally enjoyed our time together away from it all!

P.S. On a side note -- we passed the dreaded inspection by the Water Department today. Only two more inspections to go!

A moment of pride and other stuff too!

An amazing sight over Houston tonight on my way to work. Sitting at a red light and suddenly the sound of helicopters fill the sky. Up in the air are six helicopters flying overhead. It was President Obama flying from Texas A&M College back to Bush Airport. Not that I am a big President Obama fan.....but just the thought that the President of the United States at that moment was flying overhead filled me with pride as an American. It was even more amazing to look around the sky and see many passenger airplanes circling the city waiting for their chance to land. The airport was closed to incoming and outbound flights until the President had landed in the helicopters and had taken off from Air Force One. Bush Intercontinental Airport is an extremely busy airport and the skies get pretty crowded when they are not allowed to land in their typical uniform pattern.

Okay, second subject -- obviously I didn't win the lottery the other night or you would have seen me blogging about all the things I was going to buy. But.....I do have tickets for tonight and tomorrow's night lottery.........to be continued!

With all the stress and working nonstop for the last two months, we did find a couple of days this weekend where we can take off and decompress a little. And while we would love to take a vacation to an exotic location, we have decided to not go far and still do some work on the way. So we're loading up the Mustang and heading off to Austin on Saturday night and coming back on Monday afternoon. One of the featured attractions we will be visiting while we are there will the the Lyndon Johnson Presidental Library. This will be the 3rd Presidential Library that we have visited.....which only leaves about 20 more. I know....we can't help it....we're nerdy people. I'll post pictures of our exciting get away.

P.S. Thank goodness I found a man that shares the same exciting things that I do!

Silly addictions

Felt a little lucky today so made the spontaneous decision to go out and buy a lottery ticket for tonight's lottery. Looks like the jackpot is about $45,000,000....give or take a few thousand. While I was purchasing the ticket I also had to give in to one of my most powerful "addictions"......



an ICEE! Coke ICEE's are just about one of my most favorite things. When it's really hot outside (like living in Texas) they really can cool off your insides! Since I am not an Ice Tea lover -- this is my summer drink of choice. Most recently I have recently discovered the Dr. Pepper Icee. Now I have another flavor to love.

Now back to the lottery tonight. Here's a picture of my Lotto Texas ticket for tonights drawing. Just posting it now so that when I win it will already be a matter of public record.



Come back and visit tomorrow as the blog topic will be what I plan on doing with my winnings!

You know you're a cornball when.....

.....You are excited to get a new toaster. After a couple of weeks of trying to find the perfect toaster -- I finally found it on Amazon the other day. It was as exciting as opening a Christmas present when I got the package in the mail today.







You know you are a cornball when you love to shop at Hobby Lobby and Garden Ridge looking for those perfect items for your newly cleaned and uncluttered kitchen. If you don't have those stores in your area....you are really missing out. These are the best stores to find really different and unique decorating items for your home. I was excited to find these tin canisters on a CLEARANCE rack!




You know you are a cornball when your biggest source of fun is hanging out at auctions with your husband. Unfortunately our house is full of great deals we got at auctions that we were going to turn around and resell and have never made it that far. Every auction is different and fun and always full of surprises.

And last of all - you know you are a cornball when you are up late at night posting pictures of your toaster and canisters. But it is really an important topic and it's about time someone stepped up and discussed it.

Once again we go back to the simplicity of life and the pleasure it brings!

A Movie Star in the Making

Today didn't start out like a typical day in our life. Recently our business was nominated for the 2009 Small Business of the Year Award by Lone Star College System. Part of the nomination process was for us to submit three letters of recommendation by our customers and complete a lengthy essay questionnaire outlining our business success, our future expansion, and our community involvement. Once we completed that process, we were informed that we were one of the 15 finalists of this award. Our next step was to participate in a video taped interview . This interview will be made into a 90 second presentation and shown at the Awards Dinner on November 19th, along with the videos of the other finalists. Paul was chosen as the designated "star" of our video. Here's the pics of him this morning in the studio getting ready. What a handsome guy!

The next step of the process is a Luncheon given on October 22nd. At this time they will take publicity photos and honor all the nominees. Since we were only allowed to send one person from our company, this event will be attended by me!

Our last event will be the Awards Dinner held on November 19th, where five award winners will be announced. This is a very prestigious award and we are excited to have been nominated for it. It means alot to our small business to be recognized for our hard work and community involvement. Cross your fingers.....we'll keep you posted!

Here's the link to the press release: http://sbdc.lonestar.edu/117002/

The end of the week

Another rainy, gloomy, and dark day in the Houston area. Not able to go to the Art Festival today because of the rain and it got me thinking about how you go through life with different levels of joy and excitement.

I remember as a kid the best nights we had were the random times my mom would make popcorn on the stove. We didn't have microwaves, so she did it the old fashion way with a little oil in the pot, popcorn from a bag, and a hot burner. She would shake the pot back and forth until the poporn would push on the top. We'd pour it in a big brown grocery sack and add butter and salt. That was so much fun! Some nights were even made special with just by making Black Cows.....spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream mixed with Hires Root Beer.

Then as a teenager and young adult my excitement needs were greater. I needed amusement parks, fast rides or just doing something to have fun. I certainly didn't want to slow down and enjoy life's simple pleasures.

Then comes the transition into your 50's. I'm once again absorbed in the joy at doing simple things: touring a quiet museum, reading a great book on a rainy day, walking the dog and enjoying the neighborhood. Sometimes I just want to slow down and take a look around me and really see what is there. It seems as if your life really does come complete circle.

Now I've really got to go......I've got root beer and vanilla ice cream waiting for me in the kitchen.................

Friday Stormy Weather

Very stormy day in Houston today and a cold front right behind it. It's going to take our daytime temperatures down to 70......whoopee! Beats the 100 degree+ days we enjoyed all summer. What fun rainy days can be. Curl up on the sofa with a good book or work on my current cross-stitch project. Wish I could spend all day working on this:

I might even have it finished by Christmas......of next year! But no, that is not how I will be spending my day. Instead I have a date sitting at my desk and working on this instead:



But that's the life of owning your own business.....a never ending supply of work to do. It does have it's good points though -- no one to tell me when to do it, how to do it, or where to do it.

The other part of the rain story today is Friday is the busiest day of the week in the pizza business. When it rains -- it gets REALLY crazy busy. You do the math: Rain + Friday = lots of these going out the door tonight:




Guess you know where I'll be working tonight and what I'll be doing. It really IS a great life!

Blogging for Insomniacs

The answer is crystal clear now why blogs were created. It's for all of us who can't seem to sleep at night. I can lay down ANY hour of the day and fall asleep, but let my head hit the pillow and I can't sleep a wink. Maybe it's the stressful days we've been having lately. Our inspection with the Fire Marshall yesterday was the easiest one we were going to have to go through.....or at least we thought. I think he's in cahoots with the Electrician...who has now run up over $5000 in repairs that we had no idea we were even going to have to do! Oh well....they say that through every struggle there's a lesson to be learned on the other side. I've learned my lesson.....sell the darn pizza shops and buy a condo in Hawaii!

Oh I how wish for a long and quiet sleeping night in my comfortable bed!

Stick with my blogging as I get better!

Newbie to the blogging world

Well here I am......after being inspired by reading about the life of others through their blogs...I'm making the leap and trying it myself. My hope is to make our busy lives seem interesting and fun to read by others and maybe provide some entertainment along the way. We certainly have lots to share in terms of living day to day with the unpredictability of running our own business. I think our employees lay awake at night and think of ways to make our life crazier than it already is! So sit back, enjoy this blog, and feel free to share praise or criticism with anything you may read or see here. Hopefully we'll have fun on this journey together!