Sunday
We arrived around 4:00pm. Dan got to meet my dad and the rest of the family for the first time. To my suprise, dad had a new puppy, Juliet. Sweet little pitt bull mix. Brittany was nice enough to give us her room so we settled in. In the evening we hung out in the back yard, played pool and drank some beer.

Monday
The only day my dad had to work. He gave us the Chevy Suburban to meet him and Keith for lunch. Afterwards Dan and I went to the mall to watch all the crazy people frantically buying last minute gifts. I love people watching. One woman saw the ants tattooed on Dan’s leg and literally jumped back, then laughed at herself. It was pretty funny.

Monday night Dad, Dan and I went to see Lord of the Rings, which I thought was really good except that it had a few too many endings. After that we went to Hooters for a light meal and came up with the idea of “Pecks” or “Wankers” - the male equivalent to Hooters. Wieners would be the hot item on the menu.

Tuesday
Dad, Alexis, Dan and I went to the Houston Space Center. It was pretty neat. We saw just how small of a space the astronaut’s live in - I could never do it, I’m too claustrophobic.

Wednesday

Christmas Eve - Alexis, Dan and I made cookies for most of the morning. Then Dan and I helped Mary prepare some food. Around 6:00 Mary’s family arrived. We had introductions, then ate and finally the gift exchange. First all the children opened their presents. Then the adults did a “Chinese Gift Exchange“, where everyone buys one present for $15. Everyone draws a number and gets to open a present in that order. So you can open a new present or take someone else’s gift, then they have to open a new present. A present can only be taken twice, then it is dead and that person gets to keep it. At the end the first person gets one last take. It was pretty fun to see everyone trying to get what they wanted and planning on swapping afterwards.

After most of the guests left a few of us played a couple rounds of Taboo. It’s always fun to see people play that game.

Thursday
Ah, Christmas Day - We had to wait for Ricky, Keith and Danielle to arrive around 11:00 before we could start opening presents. There were soooo many gifts under the tree! I think that everyone had a great time opening the gifts and for the most part liked them all. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We watched The Grinch later that evening.

Friday
I gave my dad his other present - a tattoo. Then in the evening Dan and I went to see my dad’s band play at the Turtle Club, which is located on a boat. I was a little worried that I’d get sick, especially while drinking, but it was fine and I didn’t even notice. The band was great and the crowd just loved them.

Saturday
In the afternoon Dad took us on a little tour of downtown Houston. He showed us his friend Bernie’s house - which is actually a warehouse that he and his wife turned into a home. The entire place is about 5,600 square feet. It’s still in the works, but it’s awesome. We also saw these huge sculpted heads of the presidents and where Mary works. When we got home I gave Mary a tattoo.

That night Dad had a gig at a 16-year-old’s birthday party, so most of us loaded up and headed out to see them. I think we brought as many people as she had for her party. Again, the band sounded awesome.

Sunday

Ah the sad day, we packed up our things and left for home. My mom and aunt picked us up from the airport, and when we got home we discovered that we didn’t have a key to get in. We tried calling the dog sitter, but he wasn’t home. So I crawled in through the kitchen window - thank goodness I hadn’t locked it! Once my mom and aunt left we felt a little weird - coming from a house full of people to an empty house of two. Yeah the dogs were there, but it’s just not the same.

Xmas Picture Gallery

Removing Frames

When a web site uses frames the user cannot bookmark specific pages. For example, if a user is on the About Us page and decides to save it for more thorough review later, the bookmark will be created for the frame instead of the entire site instead of the specific page. If the user goes back to that bookmark at a later date it will take them to the front page and they may forget why they saved the site and move on.

Search engines will only record the framed page not the entire frame, so when it is clicked on from the search result the page will only display the information, which will not include the navigation or sometimes even the company name located in separate frames. The user then has no way to move around the site.

Frames can cut off navigation as well. If the user�s browser window isn�t big enough to display all of the navigation links, then some of them may be cut off beyond reach of the user at the bottom of the page. The user may be missing pertinent information that sits at the end of your navigation list.

Benefits:

• More user friendly
• Easier to bookmark
• Search results link to a complete, proper page
• Navigation won�t get cut off

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
Many web designers are moving their techniques towards CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets. There are many advantages to using CSS. The pages will be more accessible to users with disabilities because of the way CSS allows the designer to set it up. For the same formatting reasons, search engines can then record and store the information for better more accurate search results.

And, if you redesign the site now, decide you don�t like it, the designer can easily change the entire design through one page � the CSS page. In the long run it makes web design a much more simple, usable, accessible process.

Benefits:

• More user friendly
• More accessible
• Page loads much more quickly
• Search engines can record the page more accurately
• Easy to change design of entire site

Usability and Accessibility
The standard for web design moving forward involves making sites more user-friendly or usable and accessible.

• Usable means that the site is intuitive, easy to use, easy to navigate, and the user doesn�t get lost.
• Accessible means that a person with a disability can operate and navigate the site, for example with quick keys or a screen reader.

Why do these things matter? Because you want your users to have the best experience possible on your site in order to keep them coming back for more. And you want them to be able to use it, no matter how they need to use it.

Benefits:

• More user friendly
• Easy to navigate
• User doesn�t get lost
• User can utilize quick keys and screen readers

Dynamics
Why would you want your site to be more dynamic? The number one reason is readership. You want your users to keep coming back for more, the more they come back the more familiar they get with you and the more likely they are to buy, donate or collaborate with you.

Here are just a few things you can do to make your site more dynamic:

• News � add news to your site, best placed on the front page. It can be updated daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, but it must be maintained so as not to let down your readers.
• Events � do you have events, meetings, seminars, workshops, important dates that your users should know about? Put it up on your site, the easier for them to find this information the more likely they will keep coming back to you.
• Mailing Lists � a good way to keep in touch with your users is through a mailing list. Whenever you post news or events, send out an email letting them know that more information has been placed on your site. This can be treated the same way you treat your company newsletter � only you�ll be saving a lot of paper!
• Guestbook � do your users have a lot to say about? Well find out! Some of their comments may help you win more business. Even if you get a bad comment, you can use it to your advantage and learn where your company needs improvement, make the adjustment and let your readers know that you have fixed the problem and that you care about what they have to say.

Benefits:

• Keep users coming back
• Build readership and relationships
• Give users a way to interact with you
• Keep your users informed

Here are some pictures of me with my very first brand new car - a 2003 Ford Focus SVT. So exciting! And sooooo fun to drive!

This means, however, that there will be no more adventures in the Rover, because we traded it in and they’ll probably just sell it as parts. R.I.P. little Rover! Now we’ll be adventuring in the SVT!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day

My first “new” family holiday. My half brother, Keith, and half sister, Danielle, came to stay with me for Thanksgiving weekend. They flew in Thanksgiving day.

I picked them up from the airport around 3:00 while my ex-husband busily cooked dinner on one leg (he injured the other playing soccer). Our grandma and grandpa also joined us for dinner that day.

Grandma and grandpa hadn’t seen Keith and Danielle in quite some time, so it was a nice litte reunion for us all. My brother and sister are very quiet just like me, so the conversation at dinner time consisted of smiling and looking around the room mostly. My ex-husband and his friend John filled the air with talk of work.

Friday

On Friday Keith, Danielle, and myself mostly just hung out. We drove around, went to Borders for coffee and discovered how quiet we can really be.

Saturday

We spent most of Saturday at our aunt Tammy’s house. We celebrated the November birthdays - Danielle, our cousin Mickey and myself. We played pool and some other games and had a pretty good time.

By the end of the day we were a bit more talkative, getting used to each other and a little more “warmed” up.

Sunday

On Sunday we decided to go to the Nightmare Before Xmas concert, put on by Xtreme radio. We saw Korn, Offspring, Adema, Ill Nino and Crystal Method. I think Offspring was the only band that played well in a live environment, the rest of them didn’t seem to be quite so together. But we all enjoyed it.

Monday

Then Monday Keith and Danielle left for home. I can’t wait to go down for Christmas and see them again, along with the rest of the gang!