I am not an animal! I am a human being!

I have a slight eye infection and have been amusing everyone at work by emailing them pictures of myself. Don't be alarmed, I've been to the doc and am taking antibiotics and should be as good as new before long. ~JM

112 isn't hot in Baker

I rode with my friend Susan from Orange County to Las Vegas. I made her stop in Baker, CA (yes - that Baker - the "Gateway to Death Valley") because it had been 127 degrees the previous week. Well, to my extreme disappointment, it was only 112 and in the picture I took of the giant thermometer, it only registers as 111. Like 111 degrees is supposed to be hot?
If you want to see the other pictures that I took (which include some in Devore), then click here

It's pronounced Lom-POKE

So, I went to Lompoc last week. It is in Noooorrrrthern Santa Barbara county. While is was in the 90's in LA, it got down to 59 degrees as I was driving through the mountains. I had to put on a cashmere sweater for most of the morning...in July!! I must say, it was the most beautiful drive. I tried to take some pictures but it seems like I never picked the best places to pull over.

Who ate my cheese?

I was eating cottage cheese for lunch and left to take a phone call. When I got back, someone had been in my container of cottage cheese. Caj swears it wasn't him. What do YOU think?

Dinner and a Wedding

My friend Sherri and I went to have some drinks (yes, I had a mojito) in Belmont Shore on the beach and we got to watch the cutest wedding on the beach...

Oh, and we then went to Bono's on 2nd Street and it was awesome. I know I shouldn't have (especially since I just went to Fred's last night in HB) but I had lobster fettuccine. Delish...

Awesome Bridge pics

Jessica and Tinu took tons of great pictures while in Florida. The first set that I've downloaded is the bridge from the earlier post. Jessica just had to take Tinu over it! Click on the picture to see all the photos. These pictures are the best I've seen of the bridge. You really get a feel for how high it is and the drastic incline. Way to go J&T!
Note: I fixed the broken link!

Random Beach Pics

As usual, I barely took any photos during this vacation. If Mother and Tinu share their photos with me, I will try to add some better ones.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Jessica and I went to the most fabulous outlet mall in Tampa. We went in pouring rain and had to go over the tallest bridge I've been over yet (including all the CA and Miami ones!) I almost peed in my pants, I was laughing so hard as we went over. Jessica was TERRIFIED! We took a picture while going up the bridge with my camera phone but it was raining and dusk so it didn't come out that well. I've attached a stock photo next to it so you can really see it. Also, in case you are interested, here is an article about the disaster that happened in 1980 when part of the previous bridge was knocked down and many people died. It really was horrific. Mother said she remembers seeing it on the news.

*Note: Jessica took Tinu back over the bridge before they went to the airport. She said that it was much less scary with him. I'll see if I can get a quote from her to add here...*

Eating and vacationing...

We had lots of good eats while in Tampa. I took a few pictures with my camera phone but unfortunately, all the pics were taken after I had my frozen cocktails (so yes, they are a little blurry - sorry.)
Tinu, Jessica and I went to Crabby Bill's. It was awesome. Jessica had a Crab Trap and an Ultimate Sunburn. I can't remember what I had...though I did have my first ever conch fritters *yummy. There was a gift shop and Jess & I bought cute, crabby stuff. (Shocking, I know...)


Then ALL of us, yes Langston too, went to PJ's Seafood Restaurant. Again, great food and ambiance. Langston entertained us all with his scary eating of the honeycomb things. Again, these pictures were taken by me with my phone after a banana daquari and a pina colada (I think those were the drinks I had...).

Langston eats real food

Well, by real food, I mean food with utensils and not a bottle. I was so mesmerized with his "feeding" that I just kept clicking my camera as he ate. I've downloaded them all into another Flickr album. Click the picture for the link...(How soon until he can eat Peeps?)

Big Cats

One of the really cool things that we did while we were on vacation in Tampa was to visit a place called the Big Cats Rescue. It was amazing. I think I may have to go everytime I am in Tampa. I would highly recommend it. You get so close to the cats! And to hear the stories of how they came to be rescued is just heartbreaking. (Yes, I teared up many times.) The pictures that I got are not so great but if you click on the lion picture above it will take you to the album. Hopefully, I can get pictures that Tinu and Father took and add to the album.
I bought a few things in the gift shop as everything goes to their non-profit organization. I bought the two cutest key chains pictures below. One is a snow leopard (for my snow leopard, Miska) and one is a lion (for my lion-cut Caj). I also bought a little goodie for my cat-sitter's cats to play with. I would highly recommend visiting there if you are ever in the area.

If you click on the key chain picture, it will take you the their website. It is chock full of info!