We've been telling each other for weeks that this year would be pretty quiet; basically, Santa might skip our house. Now, I can't not get my parents anything. I wouldn't feel right. Could I get them silly little things I think they might enjoy? Sure ( Read more... )

The fire alarm went off briefly this morning. My boss never even left his chair. Rarely is it ever a true emergency, so after peeking my head out front and not seeing anything of note, I was walking to look out the back door when the alarm stopped. Fine. We don't know what happened but at least it wasn't anything important ( Read more... )

Yesterday started off strangely. I pulled into the complex and immediately saw a car parked facing the wrong direction in the little driveway between the buildings. I looked to the side and the parking lot was packed, with a woman heading into the bakery. ...Of course! It's Paczki Day! No wonder it's so busy over here. We'd hear from multiple ( Read more... )

Sigh ( Read more... )

Last week was pretty busy in a lot of ways ( Read more... )

Apparently I missed some excitement yesterday while at the concert ( Read more... )

It's never a good sign when helicopters are hanging around your house. And when it's about ten o'clock at night, and you've already heard a good five minutes of sirens, having a helicopter hovering for about a half-hour not too far away is disconcerting. For whatever reason, it's not making the news, so either it's not major enough or news hasn't ( Read more... )

There's yet another round of wildfires happening in California, only this time, it's hitting home--the main city the fire is near is one where my aunt lived for a good three decades. She moved a few years ago, but whenever I hear the city's name I automatically think of her. Three decades ago, when we spent Easter vacation with her, that was the ( Read more... )

Sometimes I think Friday the 13th gets a bad rap. Sometimes, though, it's pretty well deserved ( Read more... )

The beeping started probably around 5:30, maybe 5:15. I didn't bother looking at my watch or the clock because I was trying to ignore it, hoping someone else would attend to it. I mean, really, the past two times the smoke alarm informed us that its battery was dying, I had to take care of it. Yes, yes, I was the only one home one of those times ( Read more... )