Murphy's Law

We haven't washed the Civic in a while because it has become the "work" car. (It saves us a lot of money when Jess uses it on his long drives to and from work what with it's great gas mileage and all.) There's no real need to wash it that often because it just gets covered in dirt again. However, today, I had it all day, and I thought it would be nice to have it washed for the Thanskgiving holiday. Literally 2 minutes after I pulled out of the car wash, it started to rain.

I am so cool!

I just won this week's Fantasy Football Pool for the first time ever, and the best part about it is that I know nothing about football!!

Visiting Old Friends.

I went up to set yesterday to watch the shoot and visit everyone I used to work with and had such a great time. I was nervous at first seeing as how I bring a whole new physique with me that not everyone knows about and it has been a while since I have seen everyone, but it only took about 2 minutes for that to go away. I was greeted with big smiles and lots of congratulations and requests to touch the belly. I felt missed and loved and it was such a nice feeling to go home with. Everything looked great and it looked like they had really been working their butts off which made me realize that I was glad that I had not returned for this season. I do miss the work and the camaraderie of a working so closely with everyone, but the job I have right now just seems so much more important and maybe it took a visit to an old job to see that. Good luck guys... I miss you too.

Ahhhh... Christmas preparations.

The Christmas Tree lot across the street is starting to set up to sell trees. I am so excited!!! Now if I could just get it to snow here!

What a difference an off shore breeze makes.

So the fires are finally under control, the air is clearing and people are heading back to what is left of their homes. The destruction was unreal but the communities seem to be banning together to help out those who lost everything. It is sad to think that Thanksgiving is next week and thousands of people will not be able to sit down in their own homes and enjoy a Turkey dinner. Not to mention all of those kids who are wondering how on earth Santa is going to find them now that they don't have a house. We will be in town for the Christmas holiday and will be finding a way to pitch in and help those families that are just looking for some form of normalcy during a usually festive time of year.

Jesse's schedule has been upside down since those early morning phone calls the other day and is just now starting to work itself out. The ranch that the set is on was directly threatened by the Sylmar Fire and has now become a command post for the local fire crews that are still battling the last of the fires up there. Luckily no structures in that area were effected due in part to the amazing efforts of the fire department as well as the fact that a fire burned up there in 2006 and left little for the current fire to feed on. I am heading up there at the end of the week once the air is completely clear and will be sure to shoot some of burnt brush on my drive.

For now, we are just happy to have the fires more contained and happy to have the off shore breeze back which is making it easier to breath. Hopefully this is the end of the fire season and we can expect some light rain in the coming weeks. Just don't pray for a lot of rain or our winter will be filled with mud slides and that will be the beginning of a whole new set of disasters.

LA is on fire again...

...thank you very much Santa Ana winds. Yes, I am up at 5am on a Saturday morning and have been up since 3am after Jess started getting calls about a spreading fire just north of us that is hindering travel to his job this morning. They have just closed part of the 5 fwy which is going to wreak havoc on the greater Los Angeles area seeing as how it is the only thruway for this part of Southern Cali. so it will be an interesting Saturday morning for anyone trying to go north or south through LA. The fire is growing so rapidly and the winds are so strong that the fire has managed to jump an area of the 5 freeway that is 10 lanes wide. This fire is now heading towards the area that I blogged about earlier and will hopefully stop when it hits the already previously burned areas. Unfortunately it puts my friend Harriet at risk again, and I will obviously be checking in on her at a more reasonable hour. For now, Jess is on the phone calling the crew to cancel the shoot for the day and I am keeping a close watch on the news to see what is happening. Will update more as I know more. For those not familiar with the area, we are safe where we are on the west side of LA which is about 25 miles south west of the fire. Keep your fingers crossed for those people in the fire's path and send good thoughts to those who have already lost their homes this morning.

More for Charlie

It wasn't enough that the company I ordered the shirts for Charlie's Walk from had some of the best customer service reps I have ever dealt with, NOW they have offered to donate money to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation because of the shirts I ordered. I just love it when companies shock the crap out of me in a good way. So here you go - if you have the need for screen printed shirts, please use these guys. They are amazing.

Custom Ink

For Charlie

About a month ago, our friend Kevin and his wife Erin asked me if I could design a shirt for an upcoming event benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Of course, I jumped at the idea and got to work designing just the right shirt to help represent the "Walk For A Cure" that family and friends would be participating in to show support for their 3 year old son Charlie who had recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Naturally the name of their team of supporters is called "Charlie's Angels." I could not resist going a little retro with the design. This is the final outcome from the walk on November 1st and that is Charlie on his mom's shoulders.

Fun for Kitty.

Our oldest cat Paget learned a really neat trick from his cousins Mercury and Mariner years ago while we were living with my brother, and while it is somewhat adorable, it is also quite gross. He tends to think that the water in the toilet is much more tasty that the fresh filtered water in his bowl. When he was a baby he even fell in (it seems Merc and Mar didn't teach him everything and he learned by trial and error) but he was persistent and at 8 years old, he is still doing it. I try to remember to put the lid down, but sometimes 3am pee breaks just don't warrant me caring enough to do it. However, I am quite sure that if we had one of these, we would always remember to put the lid down and Paget wouldn't mind so much that he could no longer get to his precious poo water.

Parental Units

Our parents are hanging out together this week in NY. I just think that is pretty cool.

It's a good week to be stuck at home.

This is what I like to call a gift from a higher power. It makes things worse when you are stuck at home and the sun is out, but when there is a storm coming in and the temperature starts acting like it is finally Fall, getting to watch the clouds roll in from the confines of the couch isn't so bad.