Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

I always post Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on Halloween. But this Glee version is just so amazing. So I had to post it.



But I still needed my old school fix.



Enjoy!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Lights, Camera, Pictures!

As I mentioned previously, Carolynn is taking a photography class this year. Last unit she took some contrasting pictures. You can see them here. This unit it was all about lighting. Here we have her final pictures.

Top Light


Back Light


This one is also a back light photo. She realized she already had taken one after she spent 20 minutes trying to get that haunted house candle holder just right.


High Side Light


Under Light


Front Light


Check out her full portfolio on Flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/carolynnd











Saturday, October 29, 2011

Tissues Standing By

This week I finished reading the book P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. It was pretty good, but a little sad. Basically, it starts with the death of the main character Holly's husband. He has died after a long battle with cancer. And she is devastated. Then she gets package from her husband. He had sent it before he passed so she would have it after. Inside the package there were envelopes. There is one for every month for the rest of the year. Each one had a little something he wanted her to do to help her to move on. First, was buying a new bedside lamp since he was no longer there to turn the lights off for her. That way she wouldn't have to try to find the bed in the dark. Then came everything from singing karaoke to looking for a new job to cleaning out his stuff. There was even a surprise vacation for her and her friends.

It was actually pretty predictable, but it was a nice story. Her husband's letters as well as her family and friends surround her and help her to start living again. It was an easy read. They made a movie out of it and I haven't seen it yet. But it has Hilary Swank.

Now I am reading Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. David loved these books and he has read them all. He insisted I read it too. I have read about 50 pages, and so far it's not my thing. But we will see how it turns out.

Friday, October 28, 2011

A Day In The Life

Have You No Decency?

I was sick. I didn't want to admit it, but I was so sick. Yet, there I was, at work. Dumb, I know. I was sitting in the control center with another officer. I felt worse for him. I way praying that he didn't catch whatever it was I had. He had a couple of small daughters and a pregnant wife to go home to. So I disinfected the place three of four times. And I tried to stay away from him the best I could.

In control there is a lot of stuff going on. Staff and inmates coming and going. We control the doors and make announcements. We control the equipment. On weekends, we allow visitors in and out. It was a Saturday, so this is what I was doing. I was letting visitors through and watching the cameras.

A visitor lady came through and her outfit was a little questionable. It was a yellow dress. It was very pretty and it looked lovely on her. It was not low cut and really, it looked like a dress she might wear to church on Sunday. However, it was a little bit more north of the knee than it should have been. She had a couple of kids with her, one boy and one girl ad they looked to be between 7 and 9. I was sick and she didn't look too bad so I let it go.

I was sitting watching the camera. I noticed the same lady sitting in the visiting room across from her inmate. The inmate was holding the boy and kind of curling him up to his chest making him laugh. The little girl was at the vending machine. There was something odd about the way the lady kept fidgeting in her lap. A lot of contraband comes in through visiting. I motion to my partner to take a look with me.

He adjusts the camera so we can she what she is doing. No contraband, but every time the inmate curls the boy to his chest, the lady spreads her legs. And that's when we realize she isn't wearing any panties.

No way.

He calls the visiting room officers and asks them if they see what we see.

They do.

As we watch, the inmate puts down the little boy and the little girl comes back. The lady has pulled her skirt way down and closed her legs. She says something to the girl and gives her a little bag of change. The two children run off to the vending machines.

The lady hikes her skirt all the way up and starts touching herself. Seriously. She really did it. We got it on camera.

I was sick and livid. There were kids in there, two of them hers. I get on the phone and ask the visiting room crew to make it stop. One of the officers goes over there. As soon as she sees him coming she stops and pulls her skirt down. The visiting crew was all men and they didn't want to tell the lady what we saw. The inmate could have accused them of looking at his girlfriend/wife the wrong way. He could get violent. The lady could start claiming harassment. They needed a female touch.

So I decided to go have a few words with her myself.

I marched myself right to the visiting room. The visiting guys had already removed the inmate and had him waiting in the back. I walked right up to the lady and asked her to join me in a private room. I told her I saw what she was doing. She said she wasn't doing anything. I told her not to mess with me, I saw and I knew and I was not about to tolerate it. She said she was just adjusting her dress as it was riding up a little. I again, told her no, I saw her on camera. I saw her lift her skirt and give her inmate a nice peep show. I told her that I would be reporting this to my supervisor. I told her I couldn't believe she would do that with kids in the room, including hers. I was so mad.

I walked to the back room to have a few words with the inmate. I walked in there and just glared at him. The nerve of some people. I tell him I saw what they were doing. He starts to deny it, but I cut him off and tell him not to bother. I tell him he disgusts me. He breaks down and admits to it. He says he is so sorry and he has a long sentence and he was just getting a little thrill.

I go and talk to the lieutenant and he says as long as they don't do it again, they can go back to their visit. I went back to control.

They didn't do it again.

The next day, I stayed home. I tried to work the day after that, but they sent me home. So I stayed home the day after that too.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Autumn Smells Good

It's my favorite time of year. Autumn brings all my favorite stuff. The weather is finally cooler after all that summer heat. (Checking black roofs on the top of prisons in 113 degree heat does not rock.) The leaves start changing colors. Holidays are coming. Halloween is so fun. There is a lot of candy. There are all of my cool decorations. The kids get awesome costumes. Then comes Thanksgiving. That's my favorite part. I love me some Thanksgiving dinner. Actually, I love all the fall foods.

We have been making all kinds of autumn foods. We baked banana bread and pumpkin bread. We baked some regular bread. We made potato cheese soup and vegetable beef stew. We baked cake and cupcakes. But one of our favorites this fall is bread pudding. The girls just can't get enough of it. And it is so yummy and so simple.

When my grandpa was little his dad worked in a grocery store and his uncle had a farm nearby. They didn't have a lot of money, but they always plenty of eggs, milk and bread. So bread pudding was one of his favorite treats.

You can make bread pudding with any bread. I really mean any bread. I made it earlier this week with leftover hot dog buns, see picture. With some eggs, milk, sugar, and cream and you can be enjoying this yummy treat. The kids like it with maple syrup. And since it is bread with milk and eggs and you can put maple syrup on it... They eat the left overs for breakfast.


Jennifer's Bread Pudding

Ingredients

2 Cups of Milk
¾ Cup of Cream
4 Eggs
½ Cup of Sugar (Plus some extra to sprinkle on top.)
1/3 Cup of Nut Flavored Liqueur (I used Di Saronno. But if we are all out, I just leave it out and it still tastes yummy.)
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
½ Teaspoon of Salt
2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
7 ½ Cups of Diced Bread (Any bread will do. But if your use cinnamon bread leave out the cinnamon.

(I like mine plain, but you could add nuts or raisins or any other dried fruit mixed in.)

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together everything but the bread. Then pour it over the bread. Let it soak for 15 minutes.

Spoon it into 6 ramekins. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. Place the ramekins into a large roaster and pour hot water into the roaster, filling the roaster with water half way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to spill water into the puddings. Place the roaster in the over and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Take out of the water to cool. Let cool at least 30 minutes. We like to eat them with maple syrup.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

All Your Fault

I was going to write you some amazing blog posts today. They were going be awesome. You were going to be shocked and emotional. They were going to make you feel. They were going to make you laugh. They would have made you cry.

But I didn't write them. I couldn't.

There were zombies on my lawn.

Zombies. They were coming.

I had to do something. You weren't going to deal with them. Nope. You were sitting around waiting for me to write you something.

So I was fighting zombies. Planting plants as fast as I could to combat those pesky zombies.

Because you just weren't helping.

Don't worry. NaBloPoMo is coming. Then you can be amazed by my daily writings... with some help from the girls. Keep a look out. It's going to be awesome. I swear.

But today, no. There were zombies on my lawn.

I have to go now. I think I hear them coming again.

Friday, October 07, 2011

A Day In The Life

Without Warning

One day I was working in this fabulous housing unit inside a prison somewhere. In the morning and in the afternoon during the week, we do a census check. Basically we check that those who are supposed to be at work are. So here it is, time for the morning census.

For the census, the inmates are not necessarily locked in their cells, but they are instructed to return to them in order for the officer to complete the check. So I walk out into the middle of the unit and announce census. The inmates start moving toward their cells.

Well, most of them.

I am standing in the middle of the unit waiting for all the inmates to take their places. But there is one inmate who I still sitting in front of a computer sending email. I walk over and tell him again that it is census. He tells me I can wait. His email is more important than census.

Um... no.

Again I tell him to return to his cell and he slowly walks to his cell, mumbling under his breath.

I begin my census. About 2/3 of the way done I come to a cell and no one is there. That's when an inmate comes running up. I ask him where he was and he tells me he was on the phone.

Really?

He wasn't on the phone when I started. He must have gone down to the phones when I was doing census and when no one should be moving.

Two cells down, the same thing happens. Except that inmate comes running out of the shower. Where he was not when I began the check.

I said nothing. I just finished my census.

Then I wrote them each incident reports.

I sent the reports to the lieutenant who calls for them at lunch. They go down to the lieutenants office and receive their reports.

Apparently they were stunned.

They come back and and ask me why I didn't give them a warning.

I inform them they had warning. None of them were new and were well aware of the rules. We do census twice a day every weekday. It's not like it was a surprise. And finally, I asked them to return to their cells and they refused.

They didn't get it. They went on and on about how they should have been warned.

Oh well.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Contrasting Carolynn

Carolynn is taking photography this semester. Her first unit assignment was fun. And here is her work.

Gibby's Tennis Ball- Extreme Close Up


Gibby's Tennis Ball- Normal


In the Front Yard- With Flash


In The Front Yard- Without Flash


Serenity and Adrienne- Direct Light Portrait


Check out more of Carolynn's photography on her Flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/carolynnd



Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Not A Dry Eye

At the end of the last school year, Catherine sang in her final choir concert of the 6th grade. The final event of her elementary career.

OMG! Where did the time go? My baby is already in junior high. And next year she will be an official teenager.

Anyway, the concert was cute. They sand a bunch of songs. Did some cute little dances. It was fun.



At the end they had a special surprise for one little girl.

They gave a salute to our military at the end. They were singing and the principal called for someone special to come out. It was a little girl's dad. He was in the army and had returned from the Middle East that day. He had just made it to the end of the concert and wanted to surprise her.

She was so surprised.

And there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Including mine. And David's.

Monday, October 03, 2011

Valley Of Nuts

Recently, I had my very first week of vacation. 2 ½ years later, finally. And I was so excited. But what was I going to do with a whole week? Sure, we had stuff to do. Catherine's birthday fell in there. There were school appointments and house cleaning. But I wanted to get away. So we decided to go visiting.

My step mom Vicki made the girls and I some absolutely beautiful quilts. And we had never even met. Plus she was having a bad few weeks with her father passing away and we thought she could use some cheering up. So off we were to Fresno.

I had never been that far north in California before. Once I drove to Santa Barbara along the coast. But I never drove through the central valley before. So it was going to be an adventure.

We left on a Sunday morning. We drove through Adelanto. That is pretty much a whole lot of nothing. Except we passed what I believe was an elaborate Buddist Temple. It looked so cool. I would have stopped to take a picture, but there were tons of cars and Asian people.

Next we came to a huge solar plant. From far away it looked like a big blue lake. But when we got close we found out what it really was. We are to dopey to have taken a picture.

Next we came to a giant flat nothing called Boron. Ask Carolynn what comes from Boron and gets your whites the whitest. (See Carolynn's Science Project.) Then more and more desert and nothing and boring. OMG!

We were starting to get hungry. So we stopped in Tehachapi. We ate lunch at the McDonald's. Then we started up over the mountains. It was so brown.
I bet it looks really pretty in the spring when it's all green and lush. As we came over the hills, the brown began giving way to green. We saw cows and fields. Then trees. Fields and fields of trees. Pistachio trees, almond trees, citrus trees. And the eucalyptus trees that lined the highway were huge.

There were lots of little farm towns along the way. Eventually we came through Bakersfield. You know, that was kind of a crummy looking city. Or maybe it was just the parts you could see from the freeway. After that came more little farm towns. More cows. More nuts.

Finally, when I didn't think my behind could take much more, we were in Fresno. Fresno is a pretty little town. Except for it's not that little. My dad says it is the 4th largest city in California. But it doesn't feel like a big city.

My dad's house was nice.The front living room is the girliest room I ever saw. Pink walls. Doilies. Lace. Candles. A cute little bear wearing a dress. It was like a tea party. It was awesome. The bathroom matched. It had beaded towels. And there was a pink sewing room too. I loved it.

Vicki was so nice. She made excellent spaghetti. Very similar to mine. Amazingly enough, we had the same teacher.
My dad was happy to see us. He and Vicki bought Catherine the largest amount of scrap booking supplies ever. She had a great time making a few pages.Carolynn got to play with my dad's cool camera.(P.S. I want a camera like that.) She took lots of pictures. My dad has a cool collection of bonsai trees in his back yard. She took quite a few pictures of them.

On Monday, my dad so kindly fixed my car. The battery had started to wear and I wanted to replace it before I drove it back. And since he's the dad, he wanted to do it. So I let him.
He took us to breakfast at this cute little breakfast place. They had excellent food. We just hung around the house for the the day. David got to check out my dad's stingray. (Which is clearly the coolest car he has ever been in.) I took Carolynn to buy some scrap booking stuff of her own. And she bought none. Because she is nuts. But I did buy some cool stuff for Catherine. And for me.

Vicki had to work, but when she got home, we went to dinner and this funny little lumber jack restaurant. The food was good. They put dried cranberries and walnuts on their dinner salad. Which I thought was weird. That is until I ate it. It was awesome. I actually made it at home a few days later. The only thing that was bad was it was freaking cold in there. If your food is good, but you need a parka to eat there, you might want to think about that.

After that we had to head home. The drive home was so peaceful. It was so dark in the fields and you could see every star. You could also smell every cow. Not as awesome, but not something we get at home.

Anyway, it was a fun adventure. Carolynn said it was great to find people who get our humor. Where did she think I got it from?

Saturday, October 01, 2011

How Did This Happen?

This is my cousin, Taylor. (And his girlfriend Mandy.)


Today is his 17th birthday.

Wait.

Did I say 17?

OMG!

How did this happen? Just yesterday he was a tiny baby who drooled all over me and I was 17 and I thought that was so gross.

Just yesterday I was pulling him around the yard in a wagon. Again. And again.

Just yesterday he was telling me that he couldn't do homework because parakeets hurt his ears.

Just yesterday he was trick or treating in adorable costumes.

How can he be 17?

How can he be graduating from high school this year?

How can he be driving?

How can he have a girlfriend?

I don't understand.

Happy Birthday Taylor.