Tipping

While sitting here trying to catch my breath after mowing the front and side yard (I'm out of shape!), I've been thinking about something. Earlier today, after running a few errands, I went to Sonic for my daily happy hour drink. Now I always give an extra bit for a little tip and have for a long time, but I started thinking...why do I tip there and not at the drive thru at Taco Bell, McDonald's, etc??? Is there any difference? Am I sounding like a cheap skate? LOL! Sometimes I think tipping can get out of hand.... Is it really customary to tip at Sonic and if so, how much? Like on a happy hour drink since that's all I get (well a small for Seth too).

And what about the tip cups that are so prevalent at Dunkin' Donuts (in New England) and Starbucks. I noticed (for the first time), they had a tip cup at Moe's and somewhere recently at the food court at the BX. Do you leave tips in places like this?

And what about hair and nail places...now I always tip, but it seems like with the way the prices have increased so much lately, it always seems like such alot to give a reasonable tip? And by the way...what it a reasonable tip where this is concerned?

For my military friends, what do you feel is appropriate when it comes to tipping the baggers at the Commissary? I'm going to admit, on Saturday, I went through the self-checkout just so I wouldn't have to deal with the bagger (yeah yeah, shame on me!). But in my defense, I had NO cash and didn't want to mess with getting any.

Now at restaurants, TRUE waitstaff deserve at least a 15 percent tip. They make like $2 an hour and they honestly do work for a tip. They truly do 'wait' on you...taking your order, bringing your food to you, checking to make sure everything is ok, refilling your drink, etc. Now if they go above and beyond and are really good, we always give at least 20 percent, sometimes more.

And one more...what about pizza delivery drivers? Do you know that Domino's drivers get a $2 fee for every delivery they make? That amount is added to our order. I didn't realize that until recently.

Ok my friends, share your thoughts, opinions, and if you don't mind, tell me what you do in some of these situations. I'm very curious. :)

He had me at Hello...

David Cook is by far my favorite! I almost hope he doesn't win because I think he could go lots further...just like in recent seasons. I find myself looking so forward to his performance and fast forwarding through much of the other parts of the show. I mean, I guess others are ok, like Carly and Brooke, and my second favorite, Michael Johns, but David Cook steals the show. He's so talented... I love his boldness and creativity with his songs.

Trip to the Caldwell Zoo

Seth found his own little zoo friend. A caterpillar that he took care of nearly the entire time.

This was cute/sweet in it's own freaky way. I'm not a fan of reptiles at all.

These were African penguins...they are much smaller than the ones in the Arctic, but still so cute.

This guy put his face right up to Nathan's hand! He was so friendly.

The cats are my favorite.

These crazy goats LOVED to be brushed.

This past week, Nathan got a couple of days off so on Wednesday, we went to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, TX. The best part to me though was getting ice cream at Braum's! :) One of my best friends just moved from Tyler...like within a couple of weeks of us going there and I'm so bummed we didn't get to meet up. I'm so sorry MP that we waited until now to come to Tyler. BUT...I promise, I'm coming to Dallas very soon. We need a girl's weekend and I need to eat at the Cheesecake Factory!

Nathan's New Purchase

Well just as we get our van paid off, Nathan has to run out and get a truck! ;) No...we really needed it. The Accord was 11 years old and had lots of miles. We were starting to need some work on it. AND...when you have a home, you just need a truck. Nathan really is a truck person and he's been wanting one for some time. Even before I got my van, he wanted one, but we needed a van more then. He got a 2008 Nissan Titan.

Celebrating/ Easter Spring Break

We saw "Horton Hears a Who" at the Boardwalk theater (yeah we were at the Boardwalk alot!)

I took the boys and Jack to the movies. We saw "College Road Trip". It was cute.

My cousin, Jack who lives in AR came to visit for a couple of days. I've always been very close to Jack (and his dad, Mark) and it was so nice for him to come.

Jonathan and Jack having fun at the Boardwalk.

The boys love Jack just like I do! :)

We ate at Moe's...one of our favorite places!

On Monday, March 24th, Nathan's parents and brother, Matt stopped by on their way home. My brother in law, Matt turned 39 so my inlaws took him on a cruise! They boarded from Mobile, AL. We celebrated Matt's birthday on their visit. Matt is Nathan's older brother by 22 months. Matt has William's Syndrome and is extremely high functioning. Matt has worked as a bagger at Albertson's for nearly 23 years!

Now this is sad. This is the only picture (and not a good picture at that!) I got of our Easter dinner with my parents. This is my mom with Jonathan and Seth. It was a crazy day. Immediately after lunch, Nathan and I had to run to my grandparent's home and start cleaning it out. My aunt, uncle, and myself are selling the house to one of my cousins and he's moving in soon. It was so sad being there...I hadn't been in so long. It had changed so much. I was thrilled to get a couple of big boxes of pictures. One of old pictures of my dad and other members of my family...even some of me when I was little. And another box...one of the just things of my boys. My grandparent's great grandsons. My grandmother saved every picture and letter I sent. I know I have most of those pictures, but I will certainly treasure all those handwritten letters and just little momentos that I'm surprised they had saved.

Another one of our traditions, the boys each get a chocolate bunny every year.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

On Saturday before Easter, we dyed eggs for Easter. Now none of us like eggs so they were a waste, but it's still a fun tradition that we celebrate every year.

Jonathan's Spring Celebration/Seth's School Easter Egg Hunt

Having an Egg Race

The kids got to have a Happy Meal Picnic

Jonathan and his good friend, Ryan

Eating their Easter treat...can you tell if Jonathan liked it or not?!

Seth found an egg that is his favorite color

Easter Egg Hunt at Seth's School.

Today

Today would've been my dad's 54th birthday. I miss him so much.

This is wierd...

but I still don't know who was eliminated from Idol last night!! I have it recorded on DVR, but things are so busy I haven't got to watch it yet. Crazy, but I'm not even really that excited about it. I'm going to watch it tomorrow.

Let's see...we are on Spring Break! YAY! Not sure what we are going to do since Nathan can't get any time off. I think tomorrow I'll take the boys to "Horton Hears a Who". Saturday, we'll dye Easter eggs and get ready to go to my parent's for the holiday. I think we are going to my Papaw's church for Easter.

This has been a wild week at work. Let's just say, if any of you know anyone that would just love a job doing what I do, let me know. Or even anyone that I could put on the sub list. :)

I'm still not feeling 100 percent. I get tired easily and I still get that horrible headache and some nausea here and there. My throat is scratchy and I get that bothersome, tickle cough that really doesn't tickle. Someone told me today that since I had mono last year, that it might be harder to get over things like the flu? Is that true? Kelly, my medical advisor, do you know? ;)

Oh and funny story...I get a call from the base clinic yesterday..."Um, Hi Mrs. Bickle, I'm nurse "whoever"... and I have the results of your recent blood tests (hello, tests I did over a week ago) and you tested positive for the flu"...and she starts going into detail about what I should do. She had no clue that I had been in over a week ago and that they did the swab test right then. I was civil and reasonable, but I sure let her know of my disgust with the whole thing. Like honestly do they really care??? And then I questioned why they didn't give me Tamiflu. Whoever this nurse was, I guess was caught off guard. She just kept apologizing and seemed embarassed, but not giving me any answers. I was disgusted that they had waited so long to call, even though I got the positive result from the swab...obviously they didn't know that or why would they have called. It doesn't take 8 days to get blood results for the flu does it?? I mean, I know the flu is viral, but what if it had gotten out of control and turned into something worse (or again, why not give me (and my family) Tamiflu? I guess they think I'd use my common sense...and I would've....and come back if problems got worse or persisted. I don't know... Ugh...I tell you, I should've went with my gut instinct and went with an alternate medical plan. Things like this might be minor, but in the grand scheme of things, it just bothers me.

Be on the lookout for some updates and pictures that I've taken this week. I'll charge the battery and get them uploaded soon. Just random things, but things I want to share.

Forgot to update on Seth

I'm such a bad mommy...updating on myself and not Seth. He had a rough weekend with the knee pain....he wouldn't put any weight on it at all...he as doing a funny kind of crawl all around the house...or hopping on one leg! Anyway, by yesterday, he's walking without a limp at all and he says he's in no pain. We are still taking it easy, but amazingly, he's doing great. Kids are so resilient!!

Look Who Made Straight As!!!

Jonathan brought home his report card last week and he had all As! I'm so proud that he's doing so well at this new school. This move has been a transition for him, but he's embraced all the changes in such a positive way.

Monday and Much Better

I'm feeling much better today...still have a lingering cough and a scratchy throat, but all in all, I'm a new person. I slept pretty much from Friday afternoon until late Sunday morning. I think sleep is the best medicine!

Yesterday afternoon, I even went out and helped Nathan finish the rest of our landscaping. We still need flowers, but I'm going to think about what kind I really want before jumping in with that.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.

I left the base clinic today...

with a positive flu result and a Rx of Phengren (yay). I finally had to call this morning for an appointment because I'm feeling so miserable.

THEN...to make matters worse, Seth woke up with knee pain. He 'thinks' he hurt it wrestling with Dad and Jonathan on the trampoline yesterday. Poor guy couldn't even put weight on it. SO...I drag him to the clinic with me because Nathan is out of town today and tomorrow (thank goodness for wheel chairs there, but it was certainly a pitiful sight!) and then over to Urgent Care for him. Diagnosis: Torn ligament in his right knee.

Why have we had such a time with it since moving here?? And you know I'm going to whine away on this blog! :) Hope everyone else is having a better week than the Bickles!

We have landscaping!

Silly me forgot to do a real 'before' picture so I'll use this one when our house was being built.

Some of the supplies...5PM on a Sunday afternoon (too late to start!)

Oops got these two pictures out of order!

See Nathan's veiny calf muscle!! He'd hate this picture! We (yes I had a shovel, when I didn't have the camera) had to dig out all this nasty red clay and replace with soil conditioner and soil.

The first side finished 8:15PM. We dug out all the dirt/clay at the same time, but planted the other side after finishing this side. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it all, but I'll come back and post one after I get a complete 'after' shot. I still need mulch and we need to put all the border up. But did you see...I finally got to put out my yard flag! I decided on my Warren Kimble fat cat.

Seth 'helping'.

Taking a break...Jonathan and Seth are wrapped up in that nasty moving blanket that I layed down in the van before we bought the shurbs. Oh well...it was fun to them!

We still need to do the area in front of the garage as well as some in the backyard. Then it will be flower time! Oh and we need to get on some weed control in the grass. Do any of you use a lawn service, meaning a company that comes out and sprays for weed control?

American Idol

Simon was right! She was horrendous! "8 Days a Week" was butchered and all over the place!

Any of these could go and my feelings wouldn't be hurt. They are all so boring!

I'm really liking David Cook the best with a close second being Carly and then Brooke. David Archuletta did not do well last night. I've always liked him, but he dropped down on my list. Another thing he does that DRIVES ME CRAZY is that he licks his lips constantly when he's singing! It's a huge distraction.

Crazy week

Sorry I haven't posted any good stuff this week...as most of you know, my step-grandfather died this week; my aunt (dad's sister) had a stroke; I have the flu (I'm sure of it....tummy and respiratory both) and started feeling it immediately after work yesterday. Why do I always get sick at the most unopportune times??? I have a funeral, I need to see my sick aunt, I have work, and most importantly, two boys to take care of.

AND I need mulch! Will update with pictures of our landscaping when I get the energy to get upstairs and download my photos.

Day to myself

Nathan had alot of work to catch up on so he took the boys to his office. The boys love it there! It's a huge office with lots of space to play and Nathan keeps 'special' toys there for them. So anyway, I have a large part of today to myself! What to do? What to do? I feel lost!

Friday Favorites

What's your favorite (mine are in parentheses):

1. Ice Cream Flavor (Hagan Daaz Dulce De Leche or Brahm's Peanut Butter chip)
2. Restaurant...fast food and regular (Taco Beuno and Cheesecake Factory, neither of which we have here)
3. Candy Bar (Kit Kat)
4. Kind of Chips (Cape Cod Robust Russett)
5. Perfume (I'm not a fan of any of it)
6. Bath and Body Works scent (right now it's Vanilla Sugar)
7. Candle scent (Yankee Candle McIntosh)
8. Season (Fall)
9. Place to shop for clothes (Old Navy or Eddie Bauer)
10. Store (Target)
11. Movie of all time (The Breakfast Club)
12. Praise and Worship song (Days of Elijah)
13. Vacation spot (Emerald coast of FL)
14. Salad Dressing (my own red wine mustard vinaigrette)
15. Color Combination (turquoise and brown)
16. Bible Verse (Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.)
17. TV Show right now (American Idol)
18. Cookie (Chocolate Chip)
19. Cake (Chocolate)
20. Drink (Diet DP)

This is a good way to get to know each other! I tag all my readers...go post on your blog and comment here when it's done. :)

Is it or Isn't it going to snow???

I was sure hoping I'd wake up to some of the white stuff. I'll admit...I miss the snow. Now maybe not the gobs of it like we got in Massachusetts (like in the picture above, that was last year) or Wyoming, but occasionally it's nice.

It's crazy I know, but I did contemplate leaving right after Jonathan got on the bus this morning and heading up to my mom's (2hrs north) just so Seth and I could play in the snow...they have a few inches! But my common sense kicked in and I came back to reality.

So are we going to get any here? Even just a little? And I mean sticking or it doesn't count. :)

Update: It's snowing like crazy...big flakes, just not sticking as much as I'd like. Seth and I are going to go outside and check it out!

Who Will Go Tonight...hopefully not these!

He's my favorite now!!! David Cook...who would've thought that a cheesy Lionel Richie song could be done so well! Loved it!

I really like David Archuletta...not crazy about the Phil Collins song he did, but he's still awesome.

She chose a perfect song and rocked it!! I love Carly...really the only girl I like at all.