Gross polluter...Not!

I get to go to an all-day pollution prevention workshop tomorrow. Should be interesting, maybe.

It's supposed to rain this afternoon, but the skies are still just cloudy and not at all threatening yet. [later addition -- had a two-minute downpour mid-afternoon. So far that's all. It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow.]

K and I are going to go to "the ranch" tonight (our favorite steak place in town). We bumped into the ranch's owner last week at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and I promised to bring him some wine next time we came in, so we scheduled it fast so I could remember!

My desk is covered with shoes right now -- just got our Shoes For Crews order in and am in process of distributing them.

Happy Half-Birthday to Me!

Yesterday, there was big, big luncheon next door of red hat ladies. I've never seen so much purple before! Every inch of parking space (and then some!) was filled up. At lunch, I ran an errand for one of my girls (you know who you are), and as I was leaving I was thinking, "Great! Not only am I giving up my lunch, now I'm losing my parking space!" Amazingly enough, however, my parking-space gift came through, and I found a spot right out in front of my building when I came back. It was probably the only one open in the entire winery!

I found out (from my mother) that my Kindergarten teacher just celebrated her 90th birthday. Since I remember that she was really old when she was my teacher, I was amazed to find out she's still alive!

Cute photo of Alex

This photo was taken at a health fair in 1988. It was about the same time as Alex started kindergarten - late August.


Alex

Lizzie's Before & After photos

She'll probably strangle me for posting these, but I think they're pretty cool. And dramatic! This is what 10+ years of orthodontia and jaw surgery can do.

Before & After

Iva Guy

Still going through lots of old photos -- and stumbled on this one. I think I have her eyes!


My great-grandmother and younger me

Buy two...

At Christmas time, I bought a bunch of bras at Kohl's that were on sale and also had a "buy two get one free" promotion. I was really good, got the forms and proofs of purchases and handling fees in the mail, and then heard nothing at all. About a week ago, I told Catherine that I had learned a hard lesson about making copies before sending stuff off into the blue, because I didn't even know who I'd mailed everything to (other than Lily of France)!

In yesterday's mail, what should appear but my two free bras (okay -- I paid $6 shipping, but that's practically free, isn't it?). I didn't get to choose color, just size and style, so I was expecting burnt orange or monkey-vomit green or some other equally unpopular color, but they're both white which is fine.

Nice people

I took my glasses to the eyeglass shack on the way home from work because the screw holding one of the earpieces on had fallen out. After the gentleman replaced the screw, I was reaching for my credit card. He said, "There's no charge; it's just a screw."

How nice is that! What a pleasant surprise.

Solo act

My boss is out of town for the next week and a half, so I get to solo for the first time. It's already getting a bit crazy, but I expect I'll sure know a lot more before I'm done! I'm running the company safety meeting tomorrow...should be interesting.

Not much going on here (other than work!). I'm stuck at my desk for a few minutes, because there's a gentleman filling out an application and nobody else is up front right now. I can't leave the office unattended. Everything that needs to be done right now is elsewhere. I'm making new emergency wallet cards for our Emergency Response Team, and all the equipment is in another part of the building.

I finally got my RSVP in the mail for Lizzie and Jerm's wedding...so if you were putting wagers on my being the last to respond, you lose!

Blast from the past

Here's a photo that turned up during all the moving activity next door. It was taken at Christmas -- probably 1978 or 1979. Jeannette made the skirt and vest outfit for me.

Some more family

I got to see Wayne, Fallon and Carol (Nancy's sister) today. Fallon and Carol stopped through on their way to Nancy's. Wayne came to pick up a few things and to take a last look at the house.

Wayne got the horseshoe he'd found in the pool yard around 1957 after his parents had it (the yard) disked. Herschel hung it over the door of the lab with the opening down (bad luck!), and the very next day Wayne broke his arm.

Could they have spelt it any worse?

I found this in amongst some old stuff (obviously!).

What does your name mean?

C is for Calm
H is for Honest
A is for Adventurous
R is for Responsible
L is for Logical
O is for Outgoing
T is for Talented
T is for Twisted
E is for Expressive


What Does Your Name Mean?

M.O.B. Dress

Elizabeth and I found the perfect Mother-of-the-Bride dress at Banana Republic in Walnut Creek today. I can't find its picture on the Banana Republic site, but here's the exact dress (different size!) on eBay. I paid $45.99, by the way, so the eBay one isn't such a bargain (starting bid $59.99 plus $6.50 shipping)! Its original price was $168, so I did well. It's silk lined with polyester.


Mother-of-the-Bride Dress

The dress I was originally going to make is Simplicity 5876 View A (the flowered one); however, I was going to shorten it to tea-length. I still really like the dress, but I'm glad I don't have to rush to make it. I hadn't bought any fabric yet, so I'm only into it for the cost of the pattern (I think I got it during one of those "all patterns $2.50" sales).


Pattern

A fun discovery

My sprinklers don't reach my entire lawn, and I'm trying to keep it green because K's handyman is doing such a nice job taking care of it. So, yesterday I was out with a hose sprinkling around the edges for a few minutes. I discovered a volunteer rosebush right at the west edge of my front lawn -- I guess it's from my neighbor. I feel silly that I didn't notice it until it was nearly three feet tall and IN BLOOM! Goodness!

Lizzie and I are going shopping tomorrow afternoon -- she's found some fabric that sounds like it will make a nice mother-of-the-bride dress. I already have a beautiful pattern, so I'm going to be pretty busy getting that made. I just read in her blog that we're going to be looking at some other wedding stuff as well, which sounds fun! I haven't done much (actually, anything) to help her, so I'm glad to be able to do a teeny, tiny bit.

The Big Date

K & I had a lovely evening. We went to dinner at Wine & Roses in Lodi. That's actually the first place we went to dinner together a year ago. I had a Napoleon made from mushrooms as an appetizer, pear and endive salad, and kobe beef with scallops.

One Dozen Long Stemmed Romance Roses

Just delivered to my desk. I'm so spoiled! I'll try to post an image shortly.


roses


Here's the catalog description: As gorgeous and romantic as the perfect sunset, these wonderful bi-colored Ecuadorian roses can be enjoyed long after the sun goes down. Includes One dozen fresh-cut, long-stemmed bi-colored orange and yellow roses accented with Baby's Breath. Measures approximately 20" tall. Flowers are hand-picked and tied, then shipped directly from our grower along with your personal message.

They're from K via ProFlowers.com.

Here's an image of the candles I found for K at Ross: Wine Candles. They're also available at Linens 'n Things.

It worked!

I had zillions (okay ... maybe 30 or 40) of slimy snail shells all over my flower beds and planters. I didn't have time to put on gloves and gather them up, so that exciting task awaits me.

This morning I had some lab work done (annual stuff), and thought I'd be smart by getting there right when they opened. Surprise, surprise. There was already a line and I was about tenth in it, which means I waited about 30 minutes. I forgot the book I'd intended to bring, so I read Baby Talk magazine. And nursed my "lack of caffeine" headache, since I'd had to fast.

First thing I did when I got to my office was down about 20 ounces of coffee and scarf a quick bowl of cereal.

A little catching up

I went to a wonderful book art show last Sunday at Mills College before Accordion Works. Julie Chen is one of the performers in the group and book art is what she does for a living. Visit Flying Fish Press to see her work. It's amazing -- of course, it's much better in person.

Today, I went on a shopping marathon which sorely tested my patience. First stop was Ross. I managed to find a picture frame -- I've taken an of image of K and me and combined with some art from the American Greetings website that says "May we always remember the good times and always make more good times to remember!" I also found a nice set of candles in miniature wine glasses. Ross just drives me nuts, though. Well, not the store itself...just many of the people of shop there. There were children running loose, merchandise dumped on the floor, argh! Then, there weren't enough checkers, so all the lines were interminable. The lady in front of me was 25 cents short, and had to call for one of her friends (in another line) to rescue her.

After surviving Ross, I headed to Orchard Supply. I was planning to buy some tulips along with some snail bait so I could foil the critters who'd helped me murder the tulips K gave me! I found the snail bait, but no tulips. My Orchard experience was fine; however, I want to remind everybody that if you shop with me, choose a different line than I choose, because I have a "gift" for choosing the slowest moving one.

Next, I headed for Safeway, where I did my weekly grocery shopping. Did you know it's hard to find a regular-sized candy bar anymore? I made some cute candy wrappers (also for K, and also from American Greetings), but the only regular-sized candy bar I could find was Hershey's Milk Chocolate. Again, I chose the slowest line, but I didn't mind too much, because I had all the tabloid covers for entertainment.

I knew Trader Joe's would have the right size of chocolate bar, so I headed there next. I got a package of three dark chocolate bars which are the perfect size. AND Trader Joe's had some lovely potted tulips on sale, so I was able to take care of that challenge, too. Once again, I picked the slowest line.

And now I'm home, the groceries are put away, the tulips are transplanted and booby-trapped against snails, and I'm ready for a nap!

Hale, hale ...

Or is it hail, hail?

In any event, it's coming down really hard and there's some significant thunder and lightning. We also heard there was a funnel cloud about a mile from here. Time to duck and cover, I guess ... and shut this puppy down!

Blonde moment...for somebody

Last week, I was nearly back home from a walk to Jitterz for a nice cup of latte and some reading, when I saw my next door neighbor getting into his car. He noticed me and said, "Are you leaving?" I must have looked at him with total "huh?" all over my face because then he said, "Are you leaving, or are you staying?" I answered with something like, "Ummm ... I'm staying?"

I was completely in my house before I figured out he must have been asking if I was ALSO selling my place and moving.

It was so strange, because when I was walking toward my house with my keys in my hand and he asked if I was leaving, all I could think was, "Does it LOOK like I'm leaving?!?"

It was sort of like asking someone, "What time is it?" and getting the answer "Orange." Only backwards. Random, truly random.