Did You Miss Me?

I’ve been out of town on a business trip for several days, in Dallas. I believe our actual location was Frisco, Texas and it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. I noticed a lot of road-building and new retail construction, and communities of cookie cutter houses just off the highway and now I know why:

According to the census, Frisco has been one of the fastest growing cities in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s . This is due to the fact that Frisco is currently at the edge of the development in the fast growing suburbs north of Dallas . With the amount of land available within the city limits, Frisco will likely reach an ultimate population of over 250,000, similar to its neighbor to the south, Plano, Texas. Like other Dallas suburbs, Frisco is accumulating a tremendous number of retail properties including Stonebriar Centre, a 165-store regional mall. In addition, the Dallas area is home to a large number of corporate headquarters. Just south of the Frisco city limit, several major corporations are headquartered in Plano, including Frito Lay , JC Penney , and the Ross Perot -founded EDS . Frisco has notoriously strict codes for property development.

The Texas League minor league baseball team Frisco Rough Riders is based in Frisco. The Dallas Stars National Hockey League team practices in Frisco. The Dallas Burn, a Major League Soccer team currently in Dallas' Cotton Bowl, plans to move to Frisco in 2005.

Because we arrived well after dark on Monday evening I couldn’t see much out the bus window as we rode (or should I say we were herded) to the Westin Hotel (excuse me, Westin Stonebriar RESORT). What is the difference between a hotel and a resort, you ask? Evidently it’s the fact that there’s a golf course located on the property. There wasn’t a pool, mind you, but there was golf available. (Obviusly catering to business people, not families with kids!) Anyway, it was an interesting place to visit (very flat, no trees), we had decent food, I met some new people and most importantly, had uneventful air travel to and from. But there’s no place like home, and I’m glad to be back in my own bed.

While I was gone Kelly had first semester exams – she studied SO hard leading up to this week, and kept on going during the week, re-writing notes, reading and re-reading notes and hoping that she was studying the right things …. She was most worried about A.P. European History and Chemistry, and a little bit about Geometry. Her hardest class by far is the Euro class, and to make matters worse she just really does NOT like history of any sort. But its all over now, and she waits impatiently for grades to be posted on-line. We hope she comes through with high grades because she has worked incredibly hard and certainly deserves them. I am so proud of her study habits – she’s self-disciplined and driven, no nagging needed. Way to be, Kelly.