Totally Ironic...

Is it just me... or does this story just seem so totally ironic to you too??? p.s...this is right down the street from my work.

Breaking: Illegal immigrant raid at new federal courthouse
From NBC12 News
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, raided the new federal courthouse building between 8th and 9th Streets near Broad this morning.

The new building is still under construction.

Witnesses say after agents yelled, "POLICE," workers dropped their tools and started running.

Virginia State Police was on hand to help detain the suspects.
One ICE official says they are processing the individuals right now and will confirm the number of workers arrested later this afternoon.

WRVA is reporting 50 people.

small things...

Have you ever stopped to think about how it can take just a small little thing to remind you of a much bigger thing...

They are taking down a building next to my parking garage. It was a relatively small building--for what you would find on a college campus. Just two stories high. I wish I would have had my camera last week, but here are some pictures from this morning. Every time I walk past this area, I can't help but think of 9/11 and how massive ground zero must have been. I see these guys ripping through the rubble and tearing things apart and then remember how gingerly they were trying to go through the rubble at ground zero: out of respect for the lives lost, and in attempts to recover some of the lives lost...

$5!!!!

Check out my new shoes!! Regularly $59.99.... and I got them for $5!! yup that is right... $5!! Shoe Carnival had all their "non-athletic" clearance shoes marked down to $5 this past weekend! I love a good bargain...now, if only I would love breaking in a new pair of shoes as much! I got blisters on both of my little toes : -(







p.s. This blog is making me sing that stupid Subway song about $5 Footlongs! I have to get that song out of my head... now, if I start doing the hand movements that go with the song, I will be in serious trouble!

Mike and Evan with their "Boom Booms": Part 2

I don't think it can get much cuter than this... Evan would watch to see what Mike was doing and then he would do the same thing. In one of the pictures, you can see Mike with his foot propped up on a log as he is cutting it and Evan is doing the same thing. Hollie says that if Mike gets any yard stuff out and Evan sees or hears it from inside he will scream and cry until she lets him go out to work with Mike. He will scream "boom boom" and "I want Mike"!

A little something to watch on Saturday Night!

My prof. boss saw this on the other day and said it was really good...I am going to try and tune in! Supposedly the rats at the end of the show (the robot rats) have implants similar to my rats!

Modern Marvels : Rats
Airs on Saturday May 03 07:00 PM (on the History Channel)
Feared by millions worldwide, rats are some of the most dangerous, destructive and useful animals on Earth. Ride along with a Terminix exterminator to get face to face with the creepy creature in a near rat infestation and see the great lengths we take to get rid of the pesky pest. Tour the Hacco Inc. rodenticide plant to see how tasty poisons are concocted. At the Taconic rat breeding facility, we'll see how hundreds of thousands of rats are bred and raised in high-tech and controlled environments. Watch rodents compete in the Xtreme Rat Challenge at the annual American Fancy Rat show. We'll trace their history and role as a vector of deadly diseases, but also explore how they have saved countless lives as lab rats. Scientists will show us how a remote controlled rat could be your savior in the near future.

Baby Stachie turned a year old!!

My baby Stachie turned 1 yesterday!! I know... I can't believe it either! He is all grown up now, and this morning... mr. one year old decided he didn't need to get back in bed with mommy and lick/suckle my hand! Over the last year he (and I) have gotten in the habit of getting back in bed after I shower so he can lay on my chest and lick my hand. He screams and cries on the bed if I am running a few minutes behind. Hopefully now that he is an official big boy he doesn't decide that he doesn't need me as much! While he has been a big (well...huge!) cat for quite some time, he has still acted like a little kitten.... I guess he had to grow up sometime. And, he is very pre-occupied with little Emmy right now. Emmy is doing well. She plays with all the other kitties and likes to hang out with us while we are in the bathroom (I don't know what it is about me and cats in bathrooms...even Heidi's cat Wesley would hang out in the bathroom with my while I tinkled??!?!?!?!). She has learned the art of drinking water from the faucet and is quite fond of it. And... for such a tiny little cat, I have noticed I am refilling the food bowls a lot more than I ever did...and that is also backed up by what I am scooping out of the box. I don't know if everyone is eating more now...or if Emmy just eats and poops more than normal cats! It is insane! I am thinking of making a new feeding station with bigger bowls! Another thing to add to the very long to do list.

ok... back to kitties. Stachie turned one yesterday and we celebrated with a big plate of yum yums (wet food) and he got a new super bouncy ball (from the little vending machines at walmart)... he loves those balls. However the yum yums won out last night and the ball rolled somewhere... I'll have to look for it this morning.

Next kitty birthday... Gilbert will be 4 years old on 24th of this month!


Here is a picture of Stachie on the day I rescued him from the hood (he would probably fill up the entire basket now!):


Here is a picture of my big boy--all 15+ pounds--taken last week!

Save your wine bottles!

Ok... so I have found yet another craft project! Hollie (our neighbor) had a really cool wine bottle that had lights in it and glass beads glued onto the front in the shape of a bunch of grapes. Turns out her aunt makes them. She brought us one when she went to visit her aunt last weekend! Anyway... after fully inspecting the bottle and doing a little research online (on drilling holes through glass) I decided I could make them. One $10 drill bit, and a $2 strand of lights later... I was on a roll! I already had all of the other supplies at home! Here is the finished project... keep in mind, this is only my first one (and it is going to be a gift for a co-worker) and I am sure my skills will get better. But, needless to say... if any of you are wine drinkers and come across a cool bottle... save it for me! A little tip if you try your hand at making one of these... hot glue didn't keep the glass beads on. I had to resort to some heavy duty super glue. If you don't include the cost of the bottle or the drill bit, I think that I can make these for around $4!! not too shabby!