Day 299

Luna's victim. Luna likes to chew stuff. Santa was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luna hasn't yet figured out that Santa keeps a list and checks it twice. Doesn't Santa look pissed?

Day 298

On my walk. Bright red leaves sitting among bright green plants caught my eye. I drove back later and took a couple of photos. 

Day 297

Fugly car. Mike bought a Nissan Cube for his business. He's going to have the windows covered with graphics for his business. I think it's just ugly enough not to get stolen.

Day 296

Icicle lights. These blue icicle lights are hanging from the eves. I took the photo from inside the house through the window screen. Kind of artsy.

ps. I just learned that this effect is called "bokeh".

Day 295

Rain drops. It rained a little last night. This morning the tree in the backyard had tons of tiny rain drops hanging on its branches. They looked like little twinkling lights. Kind of magical.

Day 294

In progress. Zac is building a bike for Colleen. A lime green bike to be exact. Who needs reflector tape when your whole bike glows in the dark. (Again, what's with the bike parking in the living room?)

Day 293

Christmas dinner. I like to set a fancy table for holidays and special occasions. I confess that I sometimes set a fancy table other times too, because I like the dishes. Now, if I had noticed that the knife in the foreground was askew, I would have set it right. Can you guess where Eli was sitting?

Day 292

One happy kid! Eli and I volunteered to help hand-out turkey dinners on Christmas Eve at the arena. My co-worker, JD, graciously allowed Eli to drive the golf cart around the arena. It made Eli's day. 

Special note: We had some leftover turkey dinners, so we took some to a couple of fire stations. What a kick. They were so surprised and appreciative. That made MY day.

Day 291

That's a wrap. I finished all of my gift wrapping today. I have this fear that I may have hidden a gift somewhere and can't remember where it is or who it is for. I guess I will know soon enough.

Day 290

Did you read the manual? I had a new navigation/bluetooth/iPod player installed in my new car. It came with several manuals. I hate reading these things. They are not easy to understand. Why can't they just send someone over to train me? Come on. It will only take a day or two.

Day 289

Third Place! Played trivia tonight for the first time since Sac Brew closed down. Chris, the trivia guy from Sac Brew, does trivia at deVeres, an Irish pub, downtown. It was nice to get back into it. It always helps to have smart people on your team to carry you. I did help a little though. 

Day 288

Washer jewelry. Not an original idea, but these are definitely original pieces. I've never made jewelry before. These were fun to make and turned out rather nice. Shhh. They are Christmas gifts. 

Day 287

Thanks Tristan. Tristan knows how much I everything from "Life is Good". He gave this to us as a "thank you" gift. It was so thoughtful of him. 

Day 286

Bon Jour Tristan. Tristan moved to his new host family today. I can honestly say that Tristan is the best exchange student ever! We will miss you tremendously, but I know you are in good hands with Pam, Ken and Hana. 

For some reason, I only took 2 photos. The other one was blurry. Sorry about that.

Day 285

Holiday fun. Got together with some coworkers at my boss's home today. We played Trivial Pursuit. Thank you, Charles, for being so damn smart. Thank you everyone for never letting me forget that it was "John the Baptist", not "Paul the Baptist" who baptized Jesus. 

Day 284

What I've been up to. We had a $1 beer promotion last night. $1 beer promotions are not new, however they are new to us. It took a lot of coordination and cooperation between departments. Our efforts paid off. We upset a few people and there were long lines, but both were planned for and expected. Congratulations to us. Now, will someone buy ME a beer?

Day 283

It takes a village...to fill a dining room.

Day 282

The culprits. I've been housesitting. The very first night, the burglar alarm went off at 4 a.m. I slept through it. (I was actually dreaming that my car alarm was going off). Hana comes into my room and asks if I heard the alarm. I thought she was talking about the alarm clock. When the fog clears and I finally get what is happening, the alarm company calls. Fortunately, I know the code word. They tell me it's the motion sensor in the dining room. These ornaments were hanging directly under the heater vent and directly in the motion sensor path. Mystery solved. Try going back to sleep after that.

Day 281

Welcome Colleen. Colleen, Zac's girlfriend, is staying at our house until she gets settled back into town (i.e. job). She loves to cook. Tonight she made Saltimbocca. She can stay as long as she wants.

Day 280

Perspective. Eli and his friend, Hana, went to the Kings game tonight. After the game, they came down to the court and played around a little. Eli stood under the basket to get an idea of just how tall those players are. 

Day 279

Wow! That's a lot of lights!

Day 278

Tinkerbell. I'm house sitting, kid sitting and dog sitting. Here's the dog. She's so tiny. I hope I don't actually sit on her.

Day 277

Want buns and calves of steel? Run these. I vary my workouts now and then. Today I decided to run/walk the stairs in the arena. It took me 45 minutes to run all the upper level stairs. My legs were shaking when I was finished. I will NOT do it again tomorrow.

Day 276

Frozen. The forecast called for snow. We never get snow here. I think it snowed a little overnight, but alas, no snow on the ground when I woke up. It would have been a great photo opportunity. Of course, it did freeze. 

Day 275

I don't get it. Our friend, the landscaper, came by to mow the new lawn. (He likes to mow it the first time for his clients.) He, apparently set the mower to cut short. What I don't get is why he changed the setting after cutting a couple of rows. Maybe he started cutting and then decided it was not cutting short enough, or maybe he started in the middle of the lawn. I don't know. I suppose I could ask him. I wonder if he said to himself, "Maybe they won't notice."

Day 274

We both got caught. I was stopped at an intersection near my house, when I saw this lady holding up one of those store signs. She was using the sign as a windbreak (it was cold) and and smoking a cigarette. She would peek through the gap at the traffic. I thought it was interesting so I pulled out my camera and took a picture. Just as I was going to take a second photo, she looked at me. I put my camera down and she turned her sign toward me as watched me through the gap. Of course the whole thing would have been even more interesting if she had pulled out a flask and took a swig. That's what I would do if I had her job.

Day 273

Cuties. They are especially good when someone else peels them for you.

Day 272

Hello Luna. Mike decided to get another dog. He wanted a watch dog and a friend for Ezzy. Luna is an 8 month old miniature German Shepherd mix. She came from the pound and is a little skittish and not yet house broken. She promptly peed on Tristan's jeans. What were they doing on the floor is my question?

Day 271

Foggy morning. This is a shot over our back fence to the empty lots behind our house.  The fog hides a lot of imperfections.

Day 270

Photo Op. Simon, a French foreign exchange friend of Tristan's, Tristan and their Belgian friend, Linda attended the Kings/Pacers game tonight. Simon jokingly asked to have his picture taken with the dance team. He couldn't believe it when I arranged it. He was one happy exchange student. So was Tristan.

Day 269

In the dark. My new car has this little neon orange circle that lights up when you open the door and stays on for a little while to help you find the ignition in the dark. The problem is it won't hold still for a clear picture. Or is it me?

Day 268

Kickin it up a notch. I've added fins to my swim work-out. You would think that fins would make the work-out easier, but that isn't the case. They actually work your legs harder; something that that was lacking in my swim routine. A nice side benefit is that they also make you go faster. I may finally be faster than those senior citizens who walk in the pool.

Day 267

New car. After months of shopping and driving car salesman batty, I finally decided on a car. I am fickle about my cars. I've owned three new ones in the last eight years (Lexus RX 300, Honda Odyssey,  Acura TSX). I kept each one for a progressively shorter and shorter time. I've had the Acura for less than 2 years! I'm confident that this car is one I will keep for a long time. Why I believe that when I've owned it less than 24 hours, is anyone's guess. It's a Subaru Outback.

Day 266

The exception to my theory. Remember my theory about the inverse relationship between the amount of theatrics to the amount of talent a band possesses (i.e. KISS)? Trans Siberian Orchestra is the one exception to that theory. They put you on sensory overload from the beginning ballad to the last laser light display. It's my all-time favorite show. Ok, I admit it. I do have a kind of cool job.

Day 265

Black Friday. My fun and fabulous friend Vickie and I ventured out early this morning to take advantage of the sales. We did our part to stimulate the economy. Shopping together is dangerous, because we enable each other way too much. 

Day 264

Happy Thanksgiving. So I should have taken a picture of the nice table setting or the turkey, but I forgot, so you get Ezzy instead. Now, Ezzy has this very bad habit of climbing onto the dishwasher door to lick the dirty dishes. It drives me crazy. I'll yell at her to get out. She obeys, but she returns a few minutes later as if nothing happened and starts in again. Thankfully she can tell if the dishes are clean vs. dirty and doesn't bother with the clean ones, because it would not be pretty.

Day 263

What is that? It's a chalk marker. For games and concerts we have to mark seat locations on the floor in some areas. Several years ago, one of my staff came up with this nifty invention. It's a golf club minus the head fitted with a rubber holder and large railroad chalk.  It does take practice to write well with such a long stick, but it's well worth it. No more bending down to mark the floor. Thank you Clete, wherever you are. By the way, that says Section 107, Kings Row 1.

Day 262

Day of Giving. Chef Gary and J.D. are the key to success in our efforts to provide a Thanksgiving meal to our less fortunate neighbors. Gary coordinates the food and JD coordinates everything else. We fed somewhere between 700 and 1000 people tonight. It's always fun getting together with coworkers and feeling like you've done a little good. 

Day 261

View from the dentist chair. I usually close my eyes. They really should put some pictures on the ceiling. Maybe Sudoku puzzles, or Where's Waldo?. Something.

Day 260

Someone enjoyed a Heineken here.

Day 259

Ode to Refs. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad. Sometimes they're only 15 years old. Sometimes they ref in the fog and sometimes they ARE in a fog. But if it weren't for refs, the games wouldn't be games, so thank you refs.

Day 258

Another sad day at work. The Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA folded today. Here is a photo my 2005 championship ring as a reminder of happier times. 

Day 257

KISS Alive 35. KISS joined us for a very loud concert this evening. Lots of pyro, lights, theatrics, and of course, makeup. My theory is there is an inverse relationship to the amount of pyrotechnics and the amount of talent a band possesses. I did catch this shot of the lead singer, Paul Stanley, flying to the B stage. 

Day 256

A cool thing. Eli gave me a waterproof ipod player for my birthday. It's awesome. I can listen to music while I swim laps  I, however, cannot sing along...I would drown. 

Day 255

Nutella. Nutella, that delicious hazelnut spread, does not last long in our house. 

Day 254

Birthday lunch. Had lunch with some work friends. Melissa and I share the same birthday (only 18 years apart) and Tara' birthday is Wednesday. A November birthday is a prerequisite to work in my department.

Day 253

Happy Birthday to me! My family, including Hannah via Skype, celebrating with breakfast, fun presents and even a game of cards. 

Day 252

It's probably wrong. I joined my friend, who was shopping for a new bra. While she was browsing, I found myself drawn to these huge bras.  I was fascinated. They have sizes up to "F". I remember being excited when they came up with a "Barely B" and it fit me. I couldn't help it. I snapped a picture with my cell phone. I was trying to be discreet, however, I don't think I fooled anyone pretending to be shopping. No one asked me if I needed help either. They were probably thinking, "Go back to the pre-teen section where you belong."

Day 251

Huh? Dear City Worker, You lose all credibility when you put up a sign that clearly doesn't apply. 

Day 250

Navigation. I really like having a navigation system in my car. I use it everyday. Well, I turn it on everyday. Since I mostly drive just to and from work, I guess I don't need it, but I like it anyway.