This is it

I still have my passion for writing.

Unfortunately, there's no longer the time to do it.

So, I'm sad to say.....this is the end of this written journey of my life.

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.  I love looking back at all the fun things in my life I get to do. 

I'm not sure if I'll be back or not (but if you all write me and beg me to continue I will).....but for now I think I need to spend my time and energy on other things.

Check back......you never know when I'll pop back in.

The power of positive thinking

18th Wedding anniversary

Knowledge to grow our business

Time off......oh some glorious time off

Okay.......they say if you dream and want it enough...it will come true.

This is what I'm putting all my positive thoughts into:

Hope I hit the jackpot and we get to go this year!

A little time out and a little time off

I have worked 4 nights this week (so far) in the store.  That's insane.  We have been crazy busy and I haven't had to work so much in the store like this for a long, long time.

I needed a break so I thought I would entice you with some of the pictures that we've been snapping lately.  I still have a lot of catching up to do on my travels......but just don't have the time right now.

So on my TIME OUT.....I'll give you a little picture pleasure:

Here's some of the art work we bought at the art fair a few weeks ago.  I've been busy framing and getting these hung up around the house.

Last nights dinner.  This salad is just so beautiful I had to photograph it (Spinach, Arugula, Blue Cheese Crumbles, Green Onions, Pomegranate seeds, and Balsamic Vinagerette).  A little baked potato on the side and you've got yourself a meal.

We went to the Barbara Bush library the other day to see our name inscribed in some kind of heavy metal.  This plaque is in the main lobby as you walk into the library.

Isn't this awesome?

Okay.....now for the TIME OFF:  husband is on his way home and we are planning a night out with friends to see one of our favorite bands.....The Chromatics (80's music all night long).  It's been a long time......we are really looking forward to it.

Today I have received the news

I've been waiting for two people to tell me what they are going to do.

Well today they finally let me know.

Aaron and Shaylene will be coming to Houston for Christmas!  Yay!

Well kind of coming for Christmas.  They'll actually get here on December 26th and stay until January 3rd.

Whoa.....that means I have a TON of things to get done before now and then.  Dang it.....I finally have to clean the house.

The biggest priority was to get that bathroom upstairs cleaned up and painted and made all purty.

This is the bathroom that I stashed everything in while I was painting and fixing up the guest room.  I had cleaned up some of it......but as you can see by the pictures below, there was a lot of work that needs to be done.

I'm so embarrassed about this mess, that I'm not even going to make the pictures big for this story. 

Next weekend my agenda includes painting this bathroom and getting it all beautiful and useful again.

Lordy....lordy do I have a ton of work to do or what?

Can't even think of a title for this one

I've been working, working, working and just enjoying my random thoughts. 

I was just thinking tonight thought about how long it's been since I printed one of our personalized travel books.  I have SO MANY, MANY, MANY photos of trips that need to be documented and put in albums along with my little souvenirs I get along the way.  I also like to print those little books of my favorite photos to remind us of some of our journeys.

We are so ready for a journey again.  I think one might be coming up soon......hopefully.  I really missed traveling with my favorite guy.  It was fun, but just not the same.

I still have lots of pictures to post from some of the adventures we've had lately.

So.......to keep you entertained, here's a couple for you.

Even when I think my life is boring, I can look back at these memories

and realize how darn lucky I really am. 

Why does time fly?

Remember when you were a kid and how it took FOREVER for Christmas to come

Now, as an adult, it seems like it's ALWAYS almost Christmas.

It also feels like it when I have so many things to write down and share about my life. 

There are so many ideas and pictures and stories and titles floating around in my head.....I just don't always have the time to get them chronicled here.

Life is good.  I've been having so much fun these last couple of weeks.  I want to get it written down here before I forget all the details.  I actually have been feeling absolutely wonderful lately (except for all the darn panic attacks I had in New Mexico....but that's going to have to be another topic.).

Business is good.  Really it is so busy anymore it's hard for us to find a spare moment to try and plan things.   How could you ever complain about having a successful business?

My kids are amazing.  I am filled with so much pride about those two.  And yes, I am going to take most of the credit for what amazing men they have become. 

My husband is amazing.  How in the heck did I ever find the most PERFECT person for me in this whole big universe?

I need to promise myself that I will find the time this week to sit here and remember all the great fun I've had the last couple of weeks. 

Thank goodness there are lots of pictures to help jog this old memory!

It's getting real

.....and I'm excited!

The youngest child is calling me everyday with the countdown until I get to Santa Fe.

I'm so glad he is excited to see me.  I think he's really going to enjoy having me all to himself.

Only 3 more days......gotta start getting the suitcases ready.

We don't really have a plan of what we are going to do.  He has planned a trip to the mountains to ride the ski lift.  There are also plans for momma to cook up a bunch of chimichangas for him.....since he always misses them when I cook them here.  There is also plans to watch the Texans game on Monday night.  And we also get to enjoy the lovely presence of Ms. Shaylene to hang out with us on Sunday.

Can't wait!

Counting down the days

Got lots on my "to do" list before I get to take off and enjoy my Santa Fe adventure.

I'm so thankful that the husband is gifting me some time off to go and enjoy it with my son.  I have some special Facebook fun planned for while I'm away to keep him entertained.  Stay tuned to my page while I'm away.

I received a phone call today from the youngest son who asked me if I was excited to come this weekend.  "OF COURSE" I answered.  It made me feel so good to hear him say that he was excited as well.

I figure this might be the last time I get to spend some one-on-one time with him.  Once he and Shay move in, she will be with us (and I will be glad to have her).  Also, I usually don't like to make plans without the husband  He's still my #1 travel buddy.

But this weekend, I shall go off and have some fun with my youngest son.  It will be nice to spend some time together just the two of us doing things that we love (drinking beer, eating, and hanging out in casinos).  Ha!

We're trying to get bigger

Not us personally (even though we are).....but our little teeny tiny 1200 sq. ft. pizza shop.

Sometimes I just sit back and am totally amazed at what we've created.

I think back to how scared I was when we all of a sudden made the decision that we were going to buy the equipment, Paul was going to quit his job, and we were going to open a pizza shop with Alan and Tricia.  Well, actually it wasn't quite like that. 

All of the above is true, except that I was not for it.  I was afraid that we were jumping into something too soon and we weren't ready.  It was scary.....the husband quitting his job and I was going to have to be the sole income provider for the family (if the business couldn't pay him a salary).  Not only did I have to go and work full time during the day, I also had to work nights and weekends in the pizza shop so that we could get it off the ground.

Almost 15 years later and look where we are:

In 2003 I was able to quit my full time job and survive off our shop (wow....that was a little scary).

In 2009 we were nominated as a finalist for Small Business of the Year (that was exciting)

We opened a second shop in 2009......which we were so thrilled and proud about.

We finally hit a million dollars in sales in 2012, 2013 and on course to do it again this year!

Our customers voted us Best Pizza in Houston in 2012, 2013, and 2014

We sold our second location in 2014......which we were thrilled about.

And now we are looking at expanding our first store.  We're cramped.  The customers on busy nights are cramped waiting for their pizzas.  The drivers are cramped trying to get their deliveries bagged up and get through the mob of customers.

And after meeting with the contractor again this morning to discuss all the plans for our expansion.......I'd say that me and the husband have done a really great job together and that we are an amazing team.  I'm just really looking forward to retirement and not have to work as hard!

Wow......if a fortune teller had ever told me that this would be my life, I wouldn't have believed her!

Rough weeks are hopefully behind us

Wow......it's been a rough couple of weeks.  The husband has closed 8 nights of the last two weeks and has worked every single day.

I personally have worked in the store more in the last two weeks than I have in the last 6 months.

Remember that weekend get away trip that I was getting all excited about?

Yeah......well you can forget that.

No, really it's not that bad.  The husband doesn't want to be gone away from town so that he can keep close tabs on the store and go work if he's needed.  Although, we did write the schedule with the intention of being gone this weekend......but what can I say.....the guy is really really dedicated.

With a new manager starting and our "so so" shift managers coming back from their 2 week vacation, we're hoping that we're a little more staffed to handle our extremely busy busy business.

Our plan now is that we are still going to make every attempt to be off Saturday and Sunday and have decided to try and do things around the house......we're talking LONG NEGLECTED items that are on our "to do" list.  I'm not sure if we really know how to act like homeowners that have weekends off and do things around the house.  That's not us.

Probably what's going to happen is we're going to be bored just being at home and we'll think of someplace that we need to go.  The weather this weekend is supposed to be awesome and good convertible top down days.

Boo on doing things around the house.  I just wanna have fun.

We REALLY REALLY REALLY need a couple of days off.  But you know what....no matter what we do, it will really be nice to spend some time with the husband.

Glorious glorious days off are coming soon

Hallelujah.....there is a light at the end of our long dark tunnel.

We are going to try to take Saturday and Sunday off because our last day off was August 14th.

Whew.......we need a vacation.  Gotta be someplace close and somewhere we can drive.....so that we are in control of our own schedule.

I'm thinking about this place:

I love this city.  It's so beautiful and it would be so relaxing to get a hotel on the Riverwalk!
Yes, this is San Antonio and a short 3 1/2 hours from Spring.

The great news is that we hired an Assistant Manager.  He has a good pizza background and we're hoping that he's going to jump right in and do an awesome job from the start.

Then.......we are really trying to take a few days off and get some much needed time away.  I know it sounds crazy, but this is the next destination that we have in mind.

I was going to try and make you guess the location, but since it's printed on the picture you don't have to be much of a detective.  Yes......we want to go to Branson, Missouri.  Where else is there so much music in one place and tons of shows to go see?

And since we'd like to really make this another adventure.......we've talked about going there in once of these:

We could rent one of these babies and travel in style.  The drive from our house is about 10 hours.  But we really do like road trips......and who wouldn't like a road trip in this?

So once again, it looks like we might be able to get a little time off and enjoy ourselves.  Of course, I am lucky enough to be able to take a trip to visit Santa Fe in 3 weeks.

Oh how we've missed traveling!

You just gotta do what you gotta do

It's been a long day that began early this morning with an interview for a possible Assistant Manager.  Good news is: it looks promising........but no decisions yet

The rest of the day has been spent picking up posters, first of the month stuff, bank deposits, new employee stuff, and blah blah blah blah blah.

The husband won't be home until 10:30.

It's 9:46 and I'm still working.

Here's the proof:

I'm drinking a cold beer and printing and cutting up boxtoppers.

Oh yeah I forgot......I also have a whole lot of signs that needs to be put together in frames and stuff

But you know what.....life is good!

Where have all the good people gone?

We've run an ad for Assistant Manager and Delivery Drivers for about 2 weeks now.  We've advertised on Craigslist, the GreenSheet, a couple of places on the internet.

The applications we get are weak.  When you do find one and set up an interview.....they don't call you back or they schedule the interview and don't show up.  The one that did show up expects us to pay him $50,000 a year and he has no experience in a pizza shop.

Seriously dude.......good luck finding a job.

It's so frustrating.  We're busy.  We're tired of working long hours and so many days without a day off.  Where in the heck are we going to find our STAR employee.

I'm so tired of all of this right now.  Gosh darn it......I need a vacation.

Taking care of business and working overtime

Wow.....what a crazy couple of weeks it's been.

Remember all those glorious days earlier in the year when we were able to take off and travel?

Well, those days are long gone for the moment and there's no vacation in sight.

Back to school meant losing 80% of our "A" team going to college and only able to work weekends.

And to make matters worse, our only two shift leaders who we were counting on to fill in the majority of the gaps.....took off for 2 weeks to visit family.

Then as if that wasn't bad enough......we seem to have a major epidemic of people calling in sick.

So......guess who has to cover all these shifts......yep, that's right. we do.

My poor husband is going to be working so many hours these next couple of weeks (even though he's been working his butt of these last couple of weeks).  I've even had to work......GASP!  I've been making pizzas and delivering.....and looks like I'm going to have to put even more hours in working at the store.....GASP!

In fact, remember those Tom Petty tickets I won awhile back?  Well unfortunately, there is no way in **** that Paul would be able to go and now it seems as though I am not able to go either.....boo hoo!

So, as I remember all those fun days that I had traveling with my husband.......I long for a vacation once again.  (lucky me gets to go to Santa Fe....and my poor husband has to stay behind).

But while we are working these long and crazy hours.....we can't forget that business is BOOMING and we keep setting record breaking days. 

Cross your fingers.......that we get some really good candidates applying to fill our vacant positions so that we can get a MUCH NEEDED day off!

How can this be logical?

You sell your one location......you should only have to work 1/2 as hard as you were working.....right?

Well how come we're working DOUBLE?

Because sales are crazy, crazy, crazy.  We've broken about 7 records this year for daily sales and weekly sales.  We brought a daily record last Friday......and we broke it again this past Friday night.

Ok.....I'm certainly not going to complain about how great business is.  But I am going to complain about people you count on to run the store who take turns calling in every other day.  And driver's that don't show up.  And other driver's that make up stupid reasons why they can't come in and you know they're not telling the truth.

But anyways.....that's the way it goes sometimes.  We're on a full media blitz right now trying to get a new Assistant Manager and some drivers hired.  We also need some pizza makers.....it's hard for us to keep up.

In the latest creative arts department news.......

PZ is donating a gift basket for a silent auction for a benefit next week.  I'm kind of proud of the little "pizza lovers" basket I put together.  It's also going to have a $50 Pizza Zone gift card in it.

The other great news of the year is, this is the first weekend in FOREVER that I didn't have "gotta get the taxes done" hanging over my head.  I turned the taxes into the accountant on Thursday and he's going to have them ready by Monday.  Whewwwwwww.......what a big load that is off my shoulders.

Except now I need to start working on getting caught up for this year so I can actually turn my tax stuff in on time next year.

Yeah right.

A successful tunafish experiment

Last night we were going to have tuna sandwiches for dinner, mostly because I had just grown a jar of Sprouts and they are delicious on tuna.

Well Mr. Brilliant came up with the idea of doing tuna melts.

Here's the details:

 It all began with the bread.  He chose Pumpernickel and I chose Wheat

 Toasted it in a pan with a little butter and added the tuna and the cheese.  We also added fresh jalapenos just picked in our garden.

A side of chips and add some freshly grown sprouts.  It was so delicious that there are no words to describe it.  This will definitely be on our menu again very soon!

Joy to the World and a trip to Beaumont

It's a well known fact lately that Paul and I love to go to concerts.

When I saw Three Dog Night was touring.....I knew we had to go.  The closest they came to Houston was Vinton, Louisiana to the Delta Downs Casino.  I was on a mission to get tickets.  It was a difficult task and then one day the Heavens opened up and I found some tickets someone was selling online.  Couldn't have asked for better seats: 11th row, seats 1 & 2 Center Aisle.

Yes, we were going on another vacation!

Well actually, this was only a mini overnighter.  Things were just too wild and crazy for us to take time off.  And Vinton, LA isn't exactly a destination city.  In fact, the only hotel in town was at the casino and they were charging a premium rate to stay there.

We got up early on Saturday morning, August 16th loaded up the Mustang, and headed east.  We made the decision to take the "back" way to Louisiana, which is small County and State roads through the little towns.  So much more scenic than the traditional route along I-10.

Our plan was to make a day of traveling to Orange, TX, which is where our hotel was (and only 20 minutes from Vinton, LA).  We were going to explore the downtown areas of the small towns along the way and find interesting things to do to spend our time.

First small towns were Liberty and Dayton, but neither town earned a stop from us.  As we were travelling down the highway we saw a sign to Sour Lake, TX.  Well it just so happened we knew a couple of people from there, so we made a small detour to see what this place was all about.

We found an awesome place that had 3-4 antique shops.  We LOVE to peruse old shops and see what kind of treasures we can find.  We ended up with a stack of paperback books and a picture to hang in our "breakfast" room.

We hopped back into the car and headed to Beaumont.  Lunch was next on our agenda and we found a place called Gino's. 

Our initial plan was to have a pizza.....but we ended up with a Stromboli and Caesar Salad instead.  It was good.....not great. 

Our next destination in Beaumont was a huge garage sale that Paul found on the internet.  It actually ended up being an old warehouse in DESERTED downtown Beaumont.  But, it was huge and filled with all kinds of interesting treasures and JUNK. 

Paul did find some interesting small  brass animals and a display box that he liked.....so that was our purchase there.  I even got him to try on one of the weird hats they had for sale.

On to the next destination, which is actually something we've driven by so many times on our way to the Louisiana casinos.  We always say "the next time we drive by here we should stop".  This time, we did.

The Babe Dedrickson Zaharias Museum.  She was a native from the Beaumont area who was an accomplished world athlete in Track and Field, Golf, and Basketball.

 

Not sure what this fighter jet had to do with the Museum, but I had to wait for Paul to use the facilities so I thought I would snap a picture of it!

Well....it was hot and we were tired.....so we hopped in the car and did the 30 miles to Orange, TX, which is also not a metropolis by any stretch of the imagination.

We still had a free hotel night......so we stayed at the luxurious and upscale Hampton Inn in Orange.

It actually was a nice, clean, and quiet hotel.  So while the husband took a nap before the big concert, I decided to spend my time relaxing and swimming in the pools.  It was really refreshing after being so hot and sweaty.

The concert was amazing and what was even more amazing was that we were practically the youngest people there.....lol.  The Three Dog Night were AWESOME!

After the concert, we tried a couple of casinos.....but we just weren't feeling it that night.  We ended up buying a 6 pack of beer and some pretzels and headed back to our hotel and watched a movie on HBO.  (I know.....you can't believe that we didn't want hang out at any casinos).

Slept in Sunday morning and took our time headed back to Houston.  We took the back way once again and stopped and had Mexican food for lunch.

It was a nice, quiet, relaxing and fun time spent with my bestest friend!

A bunch of Randomness

Just going through the Dropbox today to see what pictures we've been taking on our phones.  It's fun to see what Paul is up to and then he takes just some random photos.

Here's a "behind the scenes peek" of the kitchen at PZ.  Can't tell you why these pictures were taken.....only the "mad scientist" knows.

And then there was the weird randomness earlier this week when I texted a picture of my lunch to Aaron and he texted back that he was in a restaurant and had just ordered Green Chile Mac and Cheese.  That was so random.  (His lunch looked WAY better than what mine was).

Can't wait until I get to Santa Fe......Aaron and I are really going to enjoy eating, eating, and then some more eating.  I'm glad he finally has outgrown only eating mac and cheese and chicken nuggets.

Then late last week we enjoyed the randomness of GIANT food.  These porkchops were purchased at Sam's Club and I didn't realize how thick they were.  Oh, but they were so delicious!

Then Cris brought me these GIANT jalapenos.  They seriously were 3x normal sized.  This picture does not do them size justice!

My little jalapeno plants have been producing enough to keep us in jalapenos all summer.  We have thus far harvested 30 peppers and right now there is a little growth lull......but we have 18 in various stages of new growth with LOTS of new little flowering stems.  However, my jalapenos were no where near this size.....but they were 10x more delicious.

This next picture is to address my sister's random comment the other day that my dinner choice sounded like something from Applebee's.  Well here is a picture of this deliciousness:  Grilled seasoned chicken breast topped with melted Monterrey Jack cheese and homemade pico de gallo.  Served with a side of cheesy rice.  The husband loved it.....it was seriously delicious and WAY better than something from Applebee's.

Last night after a BUSY BUSY BUSY night, we rushed to the bar and got a chance to hear our favorite musicians.  Enjoyed the music, a couple of beers, good friends, and a break from working.

And this last picture was a random picture I found in my e-mail today.  Tucson 4th Avenue - July 2013.  Ahhhhh........the memories of looking at all this randomness.

Miami Beach.....Part 3

I warned you a very long time ago that there was going to be LOTS of pictures from Miami.

I really have to honestly say that it's one of my top 3 cities......it was absolutely beautiful.  We have talked a lot about where our next place to move would be and 10 years ago we stated Fort Lauderdale.  That still is so true with me.  I love love love that area.

So onward with the rest of our day in Miami. 

After taking the city tour.....we jumped off our bus and onto another bus which was going to take us on a beach tour.  I have to say.....this was the most beautiful part of the tour by far.  We decided that we were just going to stay on the bus and not get off (haha.....that didn't last too long).

As we crossed the bridge over to Miami and South Beach......we passed private islands with big old fancy houses on them.  We also passed the cruise terminal which was loaded up with ships when we first went by.......and was empty when we came by a couple of hours later.

I have never seen more places of residences in the tallest and most congested place ever along the waterfront.  It was crazy.

We stayed on the bus for awhile and then decided we wanted to hop off at South Beach and see what it was all about.  We found lots of souvenir shops......so we finished off our shopping list and just checked out all the wonderful beach shops.  We spent about 90 minutes at our stop and caught the next bus by to see all the beauty of Miami Beach!

 Gorgeous......gorgeous.......gorgeous view!

 This was a gorgeous view as well.......love ya honey!

 

 This, however, was not very gorgeous.  It was some fat chick on the top of a double decker bus in 90+ degree heat.  But I was having a very good time!

What a beautiful sight!

Our bus tour ended about 6:30 so we headed back to our hotel to freshen up with a shower and catch a little nap before the evening's entertainment would begin.

We knew we were going to a casino, so it was decided to head back to the Jai Alai casino since it was close.  Dinner consisted of hot dogs and cheeseburgers at the snack bar and we enjoyed a couple of hours throwing our money away.

Had to get up fairly early because we had an early flight.  The trip home was uneventful (especially after all the trouble we had getting on this trip......).

We had such a wonderful time.....but only wish that we had gotten that extra day, as we had made plans to drive down through some of the Keys.....oh well, there's always another vacation that will need to be taken!

I love Miami!

She's got a ticket to ride

Just bought my ticket to Albuquerque.  Going all by myself to hang out with Aaron for a few days.

Now you all know I love my husband more than anything in this world.......so it's really strange to go on this trip without him.

But it's a win-win for both of us.

I get to go and hang out with Aaron and get some "me" alone time.

Paul gets the whole house to himself to do whatever he wants and won't have to hear me bitching at him to shut the lights off.  He also will get a wife for the next 6 weeks who is going to go wherever he wants to make up for his understanding and letting me take this trip alone.

But in the meantime.......need to get some things done!

Day Three in Miami (Part Two)

The blog on our journey to Miami sure is dragging out.  I hope I can remember all the details to get this latest installment done. 

So......we last left off as we were boarding the bus after our stop at Vizcaya (the magnificent mansion built on Biscayne Bay).

We waited briefly for the bus and when it stopped we were excited to find that we had our same tour guide as when we had left. 

The tour continued on through Coral Gables and other interesting sights in Miami.

Here are some of the pictures along our way:

Well.....I have no idea what this picture is.  We were sitting at the back of the bus and I must have thought it was interesting at the time

 

This is the famous Biltmore Hotel.  Extremely beautiful.  Extremely expensive.  Maybe we'll stay there on our next visit!

This was the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables.  Built in 1924 in a coral rock quarry. 

Gorgeous pool in a gorgeous location.

 

We had been staying on the bus since our last stop because we had a destination in mind.  Little Havana.  We certainly could not come to Miami and not eat Cuban food.  Apparently 3/4 of the people on the bus had the same idea as us....as the bus emptied at this stop. 

After getting a good restaurant recommendation from the tour guide....we headed to El Cristo Restaurant to eat......and we were really hungry!

 

 Paul chose a combination pleate which included rice, black beans, picadillo, and some other things I have no idea of.  However, I did sample a taste of everything on his plate and found the picadillo to be my favorite.  I myself, picked the Cubano sandwich and the "julienned fries" (which were actually shoestring potatoes....lol)

After eating our delicious lunch we spent our time waiting for the bus by buying souvenirs for the managers and taking cheesy tourist pictures.

Isn't it nice that he'll pose for these and let me snap a picture of the memory?

 

But of course, I had to have my turn too!

 

 

We even found a park near the bus stop that had a group of people spending the afternoon with competitive games of Dominos and Chess

 

 

 

And of course, the Chess Master was enthralled with all the chess games happening around him!

 

We had a lot of fun hanging out in Little Havana...and then the bus came and it was time for us to continue on our scenic tour of this beautiful city

 Did I tell you how HOT it was while we were there.......not a flattering picture.....buy hey....it was really really hot on the top of that bus (but it was also very fun too)

 

More pics of Little Havana!

Our bus tour of downtown, Coral Gables, and Little Havana had finally reached it's end.....but that was not the end of our tour.  We had to change busses and finish our tour with the Miami beach tour which included South Beach.

But.........that is just going to have to wait for the post of Miami.....Part 3.

I promise..........it's coming soon!