Sure wish there'd been such a policy in place at the stores in which I've worked:

Oy vey, and likewise, aye carumba! 

Today's Dallas Morning News has a story about the seat licenses for the most favored seats at the new Cowboys' stadium, due to be completed in 2009.

Can you imagine having to pony upwards of $150K just for the privilege of being allowed to then pay $3400 for a seat? 

Must be some nice stadium.  Hope the team's playing lives up to it.  People pay that kinda bucks to watch a team, they've a right to expect some pretty good football to be played.  They certainly don't pop that many bucks to see 'em lose. 

Actually, I didn't even know there was an International Downtown Association, but by jingo there is, and its "Downtown of the Month" is Fort Worth.    

The announcement on the above linked page reads:

The
success story in Downtown Fort Worth continues with growth in virtually
every facet of the center city. As the 18th-largest and fastest-growing
city in America, Fort Worth is in the midst of a remarkable renaissance.

 
         In 2006 and 2007, Downtown Fort Worth was named the strongest
central business district office market in the U.S. by Moody’s
Investors Service. Strong demand has led to new construction: more than
a million square feet of high-quality office space will become
available next year.

            Downtown is also experiencing
record residential growth. Thousands of people currently live downtown,
and many more are certain to be attracted by the numerous developments
underway, from small lofts to million-dollar condominiums and town
homes.

Both
citizens and visitors are spending their extra time and dollars
downtown. The myriad restaurants, shops, nightclubs and entertainment
venues – along with annual festivals and concerts – draw people of all
ages and backgrounds. Sundance Square, a historic, pedestrian-friendly,
35-block development in the heart of downtown, is one of the most
popular attractions in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

           
Fort Worth’s hospitality offerings are improving, too. Several downtown
hotels have reopened after extensive renovations. A new Omni Fort Worth
Hotel adjacent to the downtown convention center will open in 2008,
allowing Fort Worth to host larger meetings than ever before.

 
          Even bigger plans are in store for the coming decade. The
Trinity River Vision – a $435 million dollar project – will provide
necessary flood protection, create a beautiful urban lake and offer
exciting new development opportunities to the north.

*********************
Pretty sweet, eh? 

Here's a dandy site:  Jigzone

What I like about it is the pieces need not be rotated, and there is a wide variety of cuts available (though I'm dull as dirt and pretty much stick with the 48 piece classic).

If one has a Facebook page, one may add the Puzzlebee application, which is also good.  I especially enjoy the ability to upload photos from my computer and create puzzles myself.

It's turned into winter all of a sudden.  This morning was chilly but clear, then clouds began to move in.  After the Thanksgiving lunch at Elaine's house I drove Brianna and Bridgette back to their home, and was surprised beyond measure when I realized the pinging sound I heard was sleet hitting the windshield!

Driving home along the Trinity river there was not only sleet but snow.  Amazing!

A couple of photos from today's Thanksgiving; first, my sister, Jeanne, holding Bridgette:

And here's one of Dmitry chatting with his Aunt Jeanne, with his eldest brother, Jonathan, at far left, who is talking to my sis-in-law, Mary, and on the right is our host (i.e. Elaine's husband), Hal, talking with Dad:

Here's a picture I took yesterday morning (Brianna and Bridgette had spent the night with us):

Note the missing two front teeth.  Say...!  Isn't there a song about that? 

Last night I decided to make a Thanksgiving dinner, having seen a recipe for an apple-cranberry glazed turkey that looked enticing.  The turkey turned out fine, but that's likely to be the last time I try to glaze a turkey, at least with a glaze applied the last 20 minutes of cooking.  The taste doesn't seep into the turkey meat, and while it makes the turkey look pretty, it makes the had-been-crispy skin all limp.  Who the heck wants to eat limp turkey skin? 

Jeanne's nephew, Evan, came in town for the holiday; he was the one who visited here briefly last spring on leave from Iraq.  Well, his deployment is over (presumably for over a year....we'll pray so!), and he came home safe and sound, thank God.  He and Justin (Jeanne's youngest son) visited the family for a little bit prior to heading off to Texas Stadium for the Cowboys-Jets game.  Justin had the makings for a tailgate party, the Cowboys are winning, so barring the cold and wet, a good time is surely being had by them.

Hope y'all's Thanksgiving is as nice as ours!

She was here Saturday night and Sunday while Jessica worked (and will be back tomorrow night, along with Brianna, so Jessica and Jason can get him over to Baylor/Dallas early Wednesday morning for his back surgery):

[dotingly]  Isn't she a poppet? 

Late this afternoon the sound of heavy machinery intruded, so I went to check and by jingo, the town homes directly facing the street were being razed; here's the view from my porch:

No permits have been filed with the city, so no one knows what's going to be built on the site. 

Congratulations, Alexander!  

He's now a Musician Second Class, if you please. 

Meaning he got promoted to E-5 rank. 

This afternoon I took Dmitry, Carolyn, and Ravinn to the Moslah Shrine circus at Will Rogers Coliseum, and a good time was had by all.

Lions and tigers and monkeys, oh my! (They didn't have any bears.) Oh, and elephants:

My phone's camera couldn't handle the lights very well, washing out most photos. Most annoying. The elephants were available for rides for $7, and my goodness, that was a popular thing to do! I tried to get Dmitry to ride one ("Think of Sveta's reaction when she sees a photo of you on an elephant!") but he proved disappointingly reluctant to cooperate.

There were my favorite acts, the dude who runs on the outside of a twirling wheel ("The Wheel of Death (or Terror, there's some disagreement about the exact name)"), the motorcycle that rides to the top of the coliseum on a wire, plus the motorcyclists who zoom madly around inside a ball. How they keep from smashing into each other, beats me. The finale, naturally was the Human Cannonball. Below is a photo of the zooming-motorcyclists-wheel with the cannon behind it:

My phone's camera had trouble with quite a bit due to the lights, but by golly, I managed to get the Human Cannonball:

Wanna hear something depressing? That guy's 65 years old. =8^o

We had a super time, though, with the girls deeming the circus "awesome!" ;^)

The town homes directly behind Dairy Queen are being demolished!  Don't know how many are going to go, as there are people living in the ones closest to our house.