From the Inside Out

This was a fabulous weekend — stress free, fun and thoroughly enjoyable. Why don’t I have more of these in my life?

• Haunted houses: We kicked off the weekend with dinner and local haunts with good friends.
• Voting: I exercised my right to vote and cast my ballot on Saturday afternoon. It’s done…now I just hope and pray that others who share my views will cast their votes too.
• Shopping: With all the financial woes being suffered lately, I decided to do my part to support the economy by pumping money into the hands of the retailers at Northpark. Oh, who am I kidding? I just love shopping, and it was a blast.
• ALC: God continues to amaze me. Even in the midst of trouble, He shows up in a big way. His presence flooded ALC today during both services. It brought healing, peace, strength, courage and joy. When you feel like all hope is lost, just breathe His name. He will be there.
• Dallas Cowboys: Another win….finally! It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. Yeehaw!
• Whirlyball: Here’s another reason why I love ALC. We had a LifeGroup party for the entire church at the Plano Whirlyball/Laser Tag facility. Umm, yeah…it was a blast!
• Grimaldi’s Pizzeria: After Whirlyball, I spent the rest of the evening with my favorite person in the entire world, my husband. We drive to Watters Crossing to check out the new pizzeria, Grimaldi’s. If you haven’t been there yet, I highly recommend it. Their pizzas are cooked in a coal fired brick oven which gives it great flavor. They serve traditional thin crust pizza, “white” pizza (a sauceless pizza — Gary’s favorite), and pesto pizza. Everything we sampled tasted great. We’ll definitely be back.

Well, that’s my weekend in review. The only bad thing is that it’s over now…have a great Monday everyone!

It’s week two of our haunted house tour, and we went to Thrillvania for tonight’s festivities. Thrillvania features the famous Verdun Manor as its main attraction. It also includes 7 smaller haunts along with midway games, food and music. Thrillvania is located in Terrill, but it’s worth the drive. All attractions are packaged together into a single pass with an attractive price when compared to the cost of most standalone haunted houses. For more details, check out the website here.

In the past, my biggest complaint about Verdun Manor was that it didn’t have enough people working inside the main house. The manor is known for its complex scenes and special effects, but that isn’t enough for me. I want real people jumping out at me — that’s where I get my “scare”. I’m happy to report that Verdun did it right this year. There were plenty of people working inside the haunted house and outside in the elaborate paths that lead up to the house. It made the experience delightfully frightful — just the way I like it…aha, aha!

The Trail of Torment was very well done. You walk down a dimly lit path in the middle of the woods and stumble upon various sets filled with haunted scenes, monsters, and some surprises. Oh yeah…you may also see a few guys with chainsaws. Oh how I love to hate those guys! It’s a fun trail with some scares thrown in along the way — a must see.

The other attractions are fair to average in my opinion. They aren’t too noteworthy, but it’s all covered in the cost of your ticket, so you might as well check them out too.

All in all, Thrillvania is a fun experience. It’s not as good as the houses in Ft. Worth, but you get a good value for your money, a thrilling environment, and a fun evening.

Rating: B+

Experts are suggesting that 2008 will be a record year for voter turnout. Some are even predicting that it may surpass the 64 percent mark from 1960. A record 213 million people are eligible to vote this year, and if early voting is a good indicator of election day turnout, this could be the election in which we see the largest number of voters in the history of our country.

It’s truly a historic year. In addition to record voter turnout, we will have either (1) the first black President or (2) the first female VP. The great thing is that you have a say in what happens. All you have to do is show up and mark your ballot.

Google has made it easy to find your voting location this year. They have introduced a handy 2008 Voter Map. No matter where you live, you can type in your address and Google Maps will show you exactly where you need to go on Nov. 4th. And if you’re using a mobile phone, you can check out the mobile version at m.google.com/elections.

If you choose to vote early, you can refer to the specific Election Information websites for the county in which you live. For those in Collin County, you can find the early voting locations here.

I prefer early voting — it allows you to skip the election day crowds and hassles. But it doesn’t matter when or where you go…just go. Don’t let others make this decision for you. Let you voice be heard on this historic election day.

Wednesday was my last full day in San Jose. I’ll be heading home tomorrow morning. This trip has been a flurry of meetings, dinners, and late nights. I’m pleased with the progress we made, though. It’s nice to be productive.

Last night I headed to Santana Row for dinner at the Left Bank. It’s an authentic French Brasserie — great atmosphere and great food. I love the Santana Row area. If you are familiar with the Shops at Legacy in Plano, it’s like that…only much bigger, with high end shops and waaay cooler.

Santana Row

Left Bank

More S.R.

I went to downtown Los Gatos tonight for a small dinner party at Cin Cin. We were celebrating the recent promotions of two colleagues. Los Gatos is a small, picturesque town at the base of the Santa Cruz mountains. It offers a nice break from the hustle and bustle of San Jose.

Since most of my team is located in California, I don’t get to spend much “face time” with them. Evenings like this are a delight. The only down side is that they tend to run long. I didn’t get back to my hotel until late, and I still have to pack for the flight tomorrow. That means I’m signing off for the night.

Enjoy the pics.

Los Gatos

Cin Cin

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My trip to San Jose was delightfully uneventful. It’s great having all the kids back in school because it means there aren’t as many recreational travelers on the flights. As such, my DFW to SJC flight was back to its usual quiet group of business travelers. I guess there are some benefits to the end of Summer after all.

The rent car of the week is a Ford Escape. It’s an SUV, so instantly I wasn’t too crazy about it — I prefer cars. According to Edmunds, the Escape is one of America’s best selling small SUVs. It turns out to be a decent rental vehicle. I don’t have anything to complain about — other than it’s size.

Would I rather have a car? Yes, but if I’m stuck with an SUV, it’s not terrible. It could be worse. I could be driving a mini-van (no offense to the mini-van drivers. It’s not personal. I just don’t care for them).

Anyway, it’s late and my meetings begin tomorrow, so I’m signing off.