the building that cried "FIRE!"

admittedly it is a new building. and admittedly there is a LOT of construction still going on. but the whole false fire alarm is getting out of hand. to top it off they have decided that it isn't safe for us to wait around and see if they tell us it is a false alarm and have to evacuate just in case. SWELL!!! so today we were halfway down the stairs (from our 8th floor office) when they announced it was a false alarm. does that count as my exercise for the day?!?!?

and in an update from yesterday.......my nose and throat have become a full blown cold. but, I was able to get the lost memory card images back. whew! but sadly, LM is still down. one out of two isn't bad I suppose! lol!

i know things could be worse.....

But honestly that doesn't make it much better!

No LM
I woke up with a runny nose and sore throat.
No LM
I lent a memory card to a lady at Fire Camp. I got it back last night. This morning I went to look at the photos and the card was empty!!! Most of the photos on that card weren't Fire Camp. I am hoping the images are on her computer but she is having computer problems.
No LM
I found out today that one of the baseball games I bought tickets to is at 11:35am on Weds! Who can go to a mid-day game on a Weds?!?!?

But I must remember......things could be worse!

R wants to be a fire fighter......

and this week he has been getting to practice at it:

Fire Camp

check out image 79!!

doing my civic duty today......

I have/had jury duty this week. my county has a 1 day or 1 trial service so most people end up being there a day. today was mine. I was called for the 3rd jury group and was then drawn for the first group of those interviewed for actual service. I ended up at one point being "juror #4." I truly thought I was finally going to get the experience of serving on a jury. I even started to get a tad anxious realizing that I would ultimately have to help decide someone's guilt or innocence. THEN they called up another set of potential jurors and I was excused by the defense. still not sure why but I somehow think it was because I was female. J said it was because I was obviously too smart and no defense wants a smart female. not quite sure but I think that was a compliment! lol! needless to say, I got a long long lunch and hen spent a couple hours back in the jury pool not getting called before I was sent home.......done with service for atleast the next year. (though prior to today I thought it was once every 2 years)

the cool thing was that since I took public transportation, they gave me a replacement pass for the one I used in the morning and one to use to come home. and I ended up catching my regular train home!

12 of 12 July summertime break weekend edition

hello and welcome to this month's edition of 12 of 12! with inspiration from Chad, the idea is to take 12 photos of your day on the 12th of each month.

this past week was a rough one. unhealthy air, long hours at work and taking a horribly torturous notary class and exam, and the fact that J and R were gone to Scout camp left me not sleeping well. so this morning I was thankfully able to sleep in this morning......until.........

Tessa decided to bark at something and woke me up......... but hey! it WAS 3 1/2 more hours of sleep than I had been getting! and a week of exhaustion had resulted in me actually sleeping quite well finally! lol!!

but.....since R was gone I had to feed Stubbs........Princess Stubbs. I couldn't resist trying to snag a few photos. sadly I couldn't get a shot that wasn't ruined by some stuff on the side of the cage. I think it is the vitamin stuff we dust the crickets with before sacrificing them to the Gecko Goddess! lol!! (be thankful I missed the shot of her snagging her prey. has taken me almost an entire year to be able to watch her)

D fed Tessa. too bad this isn't a video so you could see her nosing out the *inferior* nuggets so she could eat her favorites......... those little golden squares. in a few minutes there are pieces strewn around the her food area and all the golden squares are gone.

I did my daily Webkinz and even helped a friend a bit. course, got myself a cheesy price for my own spin...... but she'll be happy to know I got her a Wish Token.

then I took some time to clean the fridge. oh boy oh boy what fun! lol!! it actually looks pretty organized now......and hey, I needed a food shot since I didn't show you my breakfast (that I forgot to eat! lol!) after cleaning the fridge I decided we have WAY too many pickles and mustards! there is half a shelf of pickles and a door shelf full of mustard. insane! totally insane!

after my cleaning I finished up work on a recipe swap I am doing. these were a whole lot more work than I expected them to be......but I think they came out cute!

yeah! finally J and R got home from camp. be darn thankful that this is not Smell-O-Vision because they STUNK!!! they were freakin' STINKY!!!!

so after they were showered, we headed out to Weiner Works for dinner. here D is posing at our table while we wait for our food. as you can see, the walls are covered with photos and writing, etc. you can see some of it on the side.

FOOD!!!!! these guys make the BESTEST french fries!! this is a large order.....just ONE large order! lol!! we rarely finish them....though this particular order seems a bit larger than the normal large! and you can't believe how wonderful those hot dogs are!

since I had taken the two photos here with my cell phone, R wanted to try and take one......so I got a good smoochie phone of me and dh! much better kissing him now than before his shower! lol!

the traditional odometer shot. my mileage is going back down now that I am not doing carpool in the morning. even better than before I think since I don't have my car at lunch I don't use up gas running errands. and hey, Light Rail is $4 a day......less than 1 tank of gas!

as for the temperature........ the high was only 91 degrees today. earlier this week it was over 110! so much for drama. not that I LIKE blazing hot weather, but it would have been a lot more exciting to post a photo of it being that hot instead of a boring 91! lol!!

ah shoot! I didn't even think about changing the orientation of this next photo. another one I took from my phone. and maybe now is where I should mention that our desktop is having a Zone Alarm problem and I can't get on the internet with it. so I am doing all this on the laptop.....with no photo program.

anyway........don't be too fooled by this photo. prices have been dropping the past week or so. this is the lowest I have seen....probably the lowest in all of Sacramento. I was excited to pay $4.25 a gallon earlier this week courtesy of my 10 cents off at Safeway.

Dairy Queen has Thin Mint blizzards. we had them tonight for dessert. we deserved them, right? another sideways one...... sorry!

anyway......that was my day. I think I actually had 13 photos.....but between using the camera phone and e-mailing them to myself and rigging up the camera to the laptop to try and use, I was thankful to have any!

don't drink the water and don't breathe the air.....

that was a song that I remember from my childhood. yeah, my parents were odd. we listened to a radio show called Dr. Demento that played a bunch of funny songs. Weird Al got his start there too I am willing to bet.

anyway........Northern California is basically getting smoked out! seriously.....I am beginning to feel like a smoked sausage......or a 76 year old chain smoker. about 2 1/2 minutes after walking out the door my throat is insanely sore. and I have spent the past 3 days with an intense migraine. I am sure the 110+ heat hasn't helped either!

but what brought this up really was seeing a few people wearing masks recently. they are just wearing the more basic masks like painters wear.....or dh wears while mowing the lawn. they tell us that we are ruining the air and water......but the smoke has been SOOO much worse than the pollution has been. does that mean we are getting better about emissions or that Mother Nature wants to beat us to the punch?!?!?

guess that was really all I had to say......