Four Square has become one of the most popular games. Four Square is played over the internet on smart phones, such as iPhones and Droids. Basically you “check in” when you go to business, house, or anywhere. The more you go out, the more you “check in” to restaurants and businesses you are awarded with titles (such as mayor). A ton of people have it set to their phone to post where they are on their Facebook wall, or on Twitter. To be constantly posting where you are every step seems a like you are just looking for someone to start stocking you. Posting where you are at does give different restaurants and businesses great free advertisement. I have seen someone check in to restaurants at lunch time and think “wow, that sounds good” and have gone just based on that. Some restaurants even give the four square mayor free food if you show you are mayor. Chili’s gives free chips and salsa. This game has become a huge hit! Everyone wants everyone to know what they are doing from a minute to minute basis. Although I have not got into the Four Square game, but from a business point of view it is a great way to let everyone know that you exist. Many people fight for the most “mayorships” in the game. You compete against complete strangers and can see who all has checked in. you need to have a Four Square account to play, which is free. So get ready to be stocked through your favorite social network, and start playing Four Square with the thousand other East Texans.
Four Square
February 9th, 2011March Shows at the Cowan Center
February 9th, 2011Another month has come and gone and we prepare for March shows at the University of Texas in Tyler Cowan Center. There are only a couple shows this month; “A Chorus Line” and “SF Jazz Collective” are both bringing totally different musical experiences to the theater. You can get tickets for the shows online or in the box office. I hope that no shows will be cancelled due to weather. February’s show “the Color Purple” had to be re-scheduled due to the ice in East Texas.
A Chorus Line will be performance on March 22 at 7:30. The fun musical that shows the dreams of many young men and women come true. The great musical is winner of many different awards including nine Tony Awards for being the “best musical”. This show is the longest running American Broadway musical ever. The story of the musical is about a group of people who try to live the dreams they have always had, to be great dancers. The public sells of tickets starts on February 21. This show has some language and it has adult content.
SF Jazz Collective “The Music of Stevie Wonder & More!” starts selling tickets on February 28. The show will be on the Cowan Center Stage on Friday, March 25 at 7:30. This show presents a group of professional jazz players bringing back the best jazz music to the stage. The men are bringing back the music of the famous winner of 25 Grammy Awards, Stevie Wonder. The fun and swinging music will get your feet itching to move. This will be a night of celebrating some of the greatest names in jazz music.
The March shows are sure to be fun and exciting and there are many great shows to look forward to in the month of April, such as the musical performance of Legally Blonde, the hilarious acts of “The Nobodies of Comedy”, the amazing talents of Pilobolus, and banjo artist J.D. Crowe.
MOPS International
February 9th, 2011Mothers of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) is a great place for moms to come and be encouraged by other moms. Many different churches around East Texas have the MOPS groups meet in their facility. Many times being a mom is so stressful and you just want someone that understands how much time and energy you invest in your family. Sometimes you began to feel discouraged and frustrated. You are not the only person that feels that way. At MOPS moms are separated into smaller groups or tables with a table leader and a table mom. The table leader keeps you informed about each meeting and what the next thing that is going on with the group. She also plans mom’s night outs or play dates with your groups children. The table mom is the mentor of the table. She has “been there and done that”, in other words she has raised her children and knows the struggles of being mom. It is great to get advice and encouragement from someone who has lived through it all.
MOPS started with just a few women in 1973. They simply got together and talked while they had someone come and watch their children. They would eat; do a craft, and a devotional. Soon they started to spread this idea to churches. The MOPS idea spread like a wild fire as churches and women saw a need for a group like this. By 1988 MOPS meeting started taking place outside of the United States boarder and MOPS became MOPS International.
MOPS meetings are at different times depending on the location, and most groups meet twice a month. The MOPS groups that I have attended have all met during the week and in the morning. Every meeting has different tables bring breakfast for the meeting. This is a fun way to start the meeting, eating together and talking to friends. Some groups even have fun door prizes. At the MOPS groups they have speakers come in that give advice to moms and what to do in situations concerning, punishing your children, playing with your children, setting limits, and giving choices. Every couple weeks the group does a fun craft together. Craft days are pretty fun it is just a time you can laugh and talk together with all the other women. One of the greatest things about MOPS is that they have MOPPETS. MOPPETS is a group of wonderful women that volunteers to watch these moms little children while the moms are in the meeting. To join MOPS there is about a fifty dollar fee, but there are scholarships for moms if needed.
Come to MOPS and be encouraged by other moms and by great speakers. Have fun and make new friends here. There all churches all over East Texas that has opened their doors to MOPS groups. There is also a group called Teen MOPS, for teen moms facing similar situations and struggles. To find a MOPS near you or a MOPS that meets at a time convenient to your schedule you can search at www.mops.org. I find myself looking forward to these meetings, I love having time to have an adult conversation with people who understand me, and many of these with kids the same age going through the same things. If you feel like there is a need of a MOPS or a Teen MOPS group at your church, there is all the information you need to start a group on the MOPS website.
Where Is the Global Warming I Was Promised?
February 8th, 2011
Where is the East Texas Spring I know and Love? The past two winters have been incredibly cool and snowy! In fact one of the reasons I moved home to Tyler Texas from up north years ago, was because I was ready to escape the hostile cold. But the last month here has brought us a couple rounds of snow and ice with potentially more of the same coming in the latter half of this week. You know, a certain former Vice President has made quite a career and a considerable amount of money on the promise of coming global apocalypse due to warming temperatures (or of course global warming). I realize by the way that it’s terribly cynical of me to imply that there might be a financial benefit to convincing people that the world is ending. “Climate change experts,” will try to claim that global warming is responsible for both the cold and miserable winters and the hot and humid summers we’re experiencing. To which I respond emphatically No! You don’t get to claim both extremes as evidence for one of them! As far as I can see the trend seems toward climate cooling rather than warming. I realize come August it may be easier to concede the opposite, but summer heat is a part of the Texas lifestyle, snowy winters (at least on this regular a basis) are not.
The fact is I remember when East Texas could go years and years, without a single snow fall! Local schools were so desirous for time off that they began looking around for excuses to close their doors for a day or two. This winter we’ve had a couple instances just since January of snows closing local schools and businesses. Local weather reports are warning of potential winter storms again early Wednesday morning and continuing off and on through Friday! I guess we might as well make the best of it, because come summer it will be a fond recollection of cooler days gone by!
Super Bowl Party
February 5th, 2011People across the country are preparing for one of the most popular parties of the year, the Super Bowl party. If you are throwing a Super Bowl party in East Texas this weekend, you really only need two things, good food, and a big screen television.
I highly doubt people are looking to buy a brand new television just a few days before the Super Bowl, but if you are looking to get a new television set there are a lot of places that are having big sales. When it comes to technology it seems that if you wait a year after the product comes out there will be something new and you can save a huge percentage of the cost of the original product you wanted. 
Most television companies are starting to move their technology towards doing more 3D television and extremely thin televisions. If you walk through Wal-Mart stores you will see flat screen televisions for a third less than they were last year. Wal-Mart has great prices on their televisions but the employees that work there do not really know what the best deal is. If you want a great staff to recommend the best television for the big game I recommend that you go to Don’s TV & Appliances or to Best Buy.
Now that you have your television ready, is it time to start with the food. This is one of the times of the year that junk food is expected. The most popular foods at a Super Bowl party are the barbeque chicken wings, chips and cheese dip, and fruit and vegetable trays. If you have no desire to cook for your party, there are great places that will provide your party with the necessary food.
Most places will do catering, but the most popular restaurant during Super Bowl has to be Wing Stop. It is amazing how many wings are sold on Super Bowl Sunday. But who does not love Wing Stop? They have the best flavors no matter what flavor you prefer. I am not a big fan of spicy flavors, because I get the worse heart burn, so I love the Hawaiian wings and the lemon-pepper wings. Wing Stop has great flavors that come as regular chicken wings, boneless Wings, and chicken strips.
If you are up for the challenge of cooking for the hungry crowd, you probably have been into the grocery stores and seen the many displays of junk food advertising the Super Bowl. But instead of just throwing a few barbeque wings on the grill, why not do a Super Bowl theme? I know it shows you as being cheesy but really when it comes to food how can you go wrong?
In this year’s Super Bowl the Green Bay Packers will be battling against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you have seen one Green Bay game, you know the food that they are known for, cheese! Wisconsin likes to be known for their cheese, so why not do a bunch of trays of Wisconsin Cheese? Trying to figure out what to do for the Steelers was tricky until I found out that Pennsylvania is know to be the snack capital of the world.
It was the first place to introduce pretzels to the United States. The state of Pennsylvania is known for the Hershey Company and many more chocolate companies. Have fun with different cheeses, chocolates, and many other snack foods as you watch these teams fight to be the 2011 Super Bowl winners.