I didn't even pay attention at the time that I took this picture....I was more interested in the upward draft appearance of the cloud. Once I took a second look at the picture this evening, I just about rolled onto the floor!

And WOO-FRICKIN'-HOO!!!! My Fresno State Bulldogs pulled it off Monday! They beat #18 Virginia in the 2004 MPC Computers Bowl! (Formerly the Humanitarian Bowl). We won in OT 37-34! GO DOGS!!!!

But what is it with all of the corporate named bowls now? What happened to the plain old "Orange Bowl" or "Cotton Bowl?" Now we have to have bowl games carrying the names of corporate sponsors....it irritates the hell out of me.

I'm not ready to take my tree down just yet....probably on Friday I'll take it down. I hope it rains like a sonofabitch that night, so the idiots won't be able to light their damned firecrackers at midnight.

Sounds like most everyone had a good Christmas. It's hard to believe it's here and gone. And I'm already seeing VALENTINE'S DAY decorations and cards! I had to run to Wally World this morning, and they are getting their card displays together already. Geez, it's not even New Years yet!

Barbies were also the order of the day....I bought 3 of them, and Mom/Dad bought one of them. I got the usual Holiday Barbie, and I jumped on the #2 Hard Rock Cafe Barbie, learning my lesson from not getting the #1 HRC Barbie when they were available. I also got a couple of the "Lounge Kitties" Barbies...they are so cute...but I was rather pissed when I opened the packaging holding one of the Lounge Kitties....the box managed to get bent during shipping, so I'm rather pissed about that:

Christmas Day dawned as a very foggy morning:

My brother had invited us to go with him and his wife up to one of the local tribal casinos for the day earlier in the week, but Mom didn't really feel like getting out on the road with all of the fog, plus it's getting really hard for her to walk, let alone her heart pains when she overexerts herself. He called us at about 8:30 Christmas morning to give us one last chance to go, and Mom declined....at first. After she hung up, we talked about it, and she said that since it was getting late to get a turkey into the oven, we'd take a drive up.

This particular casino is one we haven't been to yet...it's been open for a couple of years, but the road to get there isn't the greatest....for those familiar with the road to Yosemite from Fresno (Highway 41), you already know! But the fog gave way to BEAUTIFUL sunshine as we drove:

I tried to get a clear shot of the snow-capped high Sierras, but this was the best I could do in a 60 mph moving car:

We arrived at the casino at around noon, and it's a really pretty place - they have a hotel, and they have some rather big name entertainment that swings through.....this would be a KILLER place for a Lep concert...LOL....it may not be as glitzy as Vegas, ladies, but who cares when LEP is involved:

We played for about a half hour, and then we went to the buffet for something to eat....it was actually very good. A dessert bar to die for! After that, we went back out to play some more, and Mom hit $300 on a quarter machine. I didn't win squat. We found my brother, and he hung around with us until we left. It was a fun way to spend Christmas.

Then, this was the SPECATCULAR sunset that we had on Christmas night:

Man, I'm turning into a photoblog, aren't I? LOL! But that was my Christmas....I can't wait to hear about everyone elses! Now, it's time to get ready to meet Kathy at Starbucks at 9 this morning......SHOPPING is the order of the day!!!

I want to wish everyone out there a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! May you have a blessed day with your family, and friends.

Oh, Rhonda....the Christmas card I mailed to you a couple of days ago came back....seems I forgot to put a stamp on it. I'm dropping it back in the mail today...hopefully you'll receive it before Christmas!

I walked down the street yesterday evening, and took a couple of pictures of some of the other Christmas decorations. No one is really decorating this year in our neighborhood. Usually there are alot of lights, but not that many this year.

We had a little baby shower for one of the girls at work yesterday, but the turnout was rather paltry. But there were a couple of people who were out of the office, and the others....well, they're just chumps, so that's for them to carry. But we had fun with the small group that was there.

If you're heading out for your holiday travels, BE SAFE! Have a very Merry Christmas!

In this picture, you will see my computer terminal (duh, as if anyone needed an explanation as to what that black box was). On top of my monitor are a couple of stuffed toys, and the American Flag to the side. Up in the upper left hand corner of the cubie wall are pictures of my best bud, Kathy and I, and of Kathy and her daughter Heather, taken when we went to the Balloon Fest here in September. Even though the picture is not clear, under the 98 ROCK bumper sticker there is also a picture of my brother when he was in Afghanistan. And, of course, a picture of JTE graces my wall....along with my many pictures of Steve Young (*sigh*):

This next picture is of the other side of my cubie....my phone, my Christmas decorations on top, assorted pictures I've taken during my travels to San Francisco, New York City, and Reno; and oh, yeah....a picture of some group:

So that's my home at work...quite the mess...but it's mine.

Three Names You Go By:

1. Kim
2. Red
3. Kimmy (If you value your life, you WON'T call me this).

Three Screennames You Have:

1. Fourt9rkim
2. Fourt9rkim
3. Fourt9rkim (do you really think I'm going to divulge all of my screen names???)

Three Things You Like About Yourself:

1. My work ethic
2. My love of animals
3. The wisdom I've gained over the years

Three Things You Dislike About Yourself:

1. My smile - although others disagree

2. My hips

3. My hatred of change

Three Parts of Your Heritage:

1. German

2. Cherokee

3. Irish

Three Things That Scare You:

1. Fire

2. The Dark

3. Rides that go upside down

Three of Your Everyday Essentials:

1. Music

2. The computer

3. Clothes

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now:

1. Black pants

2. A green sweater

3. Shoes

Three of Your Favorite Bands/Artists (at the moment):

1. Def Leppard

2. Fuel

3. Shinedown

Three of Your Favorite Songs at Present:

1. Slang - Def Leppard

2. 45 - Shinedown

3. Poundcake - Van Halen

Three New Things You Want to Try in the Next 12 Months:

1. Meeting someone

2. Winning a big jackpot

3. More concerts

Three Things You Want in a Relationship (love is a given):

1. Honesty, first and foremost

2. Physical Attraction

3. Great sense of humor

Two Truths and a Lie:

1. I'm a brunette

2. I'm blind

3. I'm a native Californian

Three Physical Things About the Opposite Sex (or same in my case) That Appeal to You:

1. A fantastic smile

2. A sexy voice

3. Sensual eyes

Three Things You Just Can't Do:

1. Twirl a baton

2. Eat broccoli

3. Go on carnival rides that go upside down

Three of Your Favorite Hobbies:

1. Surfing the 'net

2. Shopping

3. Gambling

Three Things You Want to do Really Badly Right Now:

1. Get some cool air in this office - it's FRIGGING HOT in here!

2. Go over to the coast

3. Stuff a Kleenex up the asshole's nose that I have to listen to all day at work

Three Careers You're Considering:

1. Photography

2. Storm Chaser

3. Professional Gambler

Three Places You Want to Go on Vacation:

1. Vegas

2. New York City

3. Lake Tahoe again

Three Things You Want to Do Before You Die:

1. Find the love of my life

2. Build a happy home life

3. Win a big jackpot

I'll be glad when New Years Eve is over....people around here act like idiots, shooting off firecrackers, bombs, whistler fireworks...the poor dogs go nutso. Aren't you supposed to stay indoors and kiss the one you're with at midnight?

Have a safe week, everyone!

The little guy was a fighter, though. But he probably wasn't right to begin with, because Mindy kept trying to 'discard' him by bringing him out of the box onto the floor.

He's at the Rainbow Bridge now...playing with all of the other little puppies. This was the last picture I took of him on Saturday. Be free, little one....we loved you so much.

I can't believe it...the Niners actually WON a game yesterday! This has been a year to forget, that's for sure.

And damn it....I need to get my car smogged this year. So I know what I'll be doing this Saturday, since I only have until the 28th to get it done.

Not much else to say this morning.........

I also found a cute Liz Claiborne purse at Macys marked down to $15.00. I could have bought alot more, but I'll wait for the after Christmas sales. Kathy and I are going to the sales the day after Christmas, so that should be fun!

Other than that....it's foggy as hell outside, and it's a wet fog. Bleh.

I took this picture of the sunset last night....it was freakin' awesome! The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I'm sharing it anyway:

I showed this to our Assistant Manager, (who is clueless about how I perform my job) and all she could say was, "Well, doesn't "Y" make mistakes, too?" "Y" being our float clerk, who was the batch clerk before me. Yes, she has made mistakes, but at least she LISTENS when I explain things. This friggin' moron cuts people off with "Yah, yah, I understand, is ok." GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

And just think....he gets to cover my desk again in a couple of weeks when I'm on vacation during Christmas. Just f-'in jolly.

Here's some of my photos...mind you, it was 14 years ago, and my hair was ALOT shorter then. If anyone else has had your Cover Shots done, let's see them!! Unless, of course, you're hiding behind an alias and you're too chickenshit to show your face.

We finally get the destination number figured out as the old number, after several phone calls back and forth. But, she'd already generated my reports in the meantime where she was, in Livermore. Well great, can you fax them to me, I ask? She said there was at least 50 pages. So she had to send them interoffice mail, which meant they wouldn't be in Fresno until Wednesday or Thursday. F'ing great!

Once I get that taken care of, I'm sorting through the work my 'back-up' did during my absence. Mistakes! I corrected those, then proceed to tackle the bankcards from the weekend.

Tuesday, I come in, and the damn pharmacy reports for Monday are BLANK!!!! So I call the help desk AGAIN, and had the reports regenerated.

Tuesday, I also try to print another report I needed on the printer next to my printer. Now, I could print my reports FINE before vacation....this week, NOTHING! But that wasn't as big a concern as not getting my other reports.

By Wednesday, I was finally starting to get caught up, except for waiting for those weekend reports to come by interoffice mail, which happened on THURSDAY! Damn good thing, because today, Friday was month-end!

Combine that, with puppy/family worries/stress AND PMS'ing, and it's been ONE HELL OF A BAD WEEK! But hopefully the weekend will be smooth.

And as if the internet drama going on right now wasn't enough.... home drama is getting on my nerves now! I won't expand on it here, but let's just say you can measure my stress level by the condition of my cuticles!