Monsters ** "'She is not the monster that police and prosecutors are making her out to be,' said Mike Heiskell, Mallard's attorney. 'She was simply a frightened, emotionally distraught young woman who had an accident, panicked and made a wrong choice.'"

Um, I call bullsh-- on your ass. Exhibit A:
"The tipster said Mallard drove home, had sex with her boyfriend, then went back to the garage to find Biggs still alive, according to the arrest warrant affidavit."

And Exhibit B:
"Mallard told investigators she removed the car seats and burned them because she was afraid of being caught and going to jail, according to the affidavit. She planned to burn the car and buy another one after receiving her income tax refund, according to the affidavit."

Rot in jail, I say.
Posted 2:38 PM by Kerry O.

Friday Five ** Here's my Five.

1. What makes you homesick? Being away too long from the comfort of home and my family. I love to travel, but after a few weeks, I start missing home.

2. Where is "home" for you? Is it where you are living now, or somewhere else (ie: Mom & Dad's house, particular state/city)? I'm living where I was born, so Phoenix is it. I lived in Seattle, and homesickness was 90% of why I came back.

3. What makes it home for you? People? Things? People, definitely. Now I have a house, but I haven't left it for long yet. My entire immediate family is here, and so is Joe's. If I could travel more with my mom and Joe, it would probably take much longer to get homesick.

4. Where is the furthest you've been from home, miles-wise? 5,813 according to Jeeves. That was Prague, Czech Republic. We were there for about an hour. We couldn't find a parking space, got pulled over by a Czech cop for going the wrong way on an intentionally mislabeled street, bribed him to get off, and high-tailed it back to Germany. :-)

5. What are your plans for this weekend? Getting rid of citrus on Saturday so we don't get rats. Sunday we're going to Joe's aunt's church for the first time (she's a minister locally, but we've just never gone), and having lunch with Joe's grandmother. Other than that, just cleaning and recovering from the wedding!
Posted 1:46 PM by Kerry O.

Pure Art **

Posted 9:22 AM by Kerry O.

Just another day in Paradise ** Nothing - Nothing - tops the smell of rain in the desert. It's heavenly.
Posted 8:27 AM by Kerry O.

Weird News of the Day ** This has to be the strangest - and sickest - thing I have read in a long time.

Hit-run victim left in windshield to die, police say

"By Mallard's account, as told to police, she had been drinking and using Ecstasy that October night and was driving home when she struck a man. The impact hurled him headfirst through the windshield, his broken legs protruding onto the hood.

She panicked, she said, and with the man lodged in the windshield, she drove a few miles to her home. There, she parked her 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier in the garage and lowered the door.

Biggs pleaded for help, she told police.

He got none. Not then, or for the next two or three days, as he remained lodged in the windshield, bleeding and slowly going into shock, police said.

Mallard told police she periodically went into the garage to check on the man. She said she apologized profusely to him for what she had done but ignored his cries for help."
Posted 4:20 PM by Kerry O.

Rat-a-tat-tat ** I basically live in Arcadia (1/2 block), which is a neighborhood of Phoenix known for its proximity to downtown and upscale amenities, rapidly increasing property values, and charming older homes. Well, now we're getting to be known for one more thing: roof rats. Aren't we lucky? I think we'll be joining the efforts this Saturday and spend our day picking all of the 57,000 grapefruit off of our trees and sealing everything just a little better than it currently is. Our house is in great shape for being built in 1954, but it could use some new screens and vents. That'll be fun. Going to Home Depot in the midst of this frenzy ought to be a joy too.

Of course, the problem could be worse. This is the first time I've experienced being lumped in with an upper-class dilemma and I'm not liking it much. I don't want rats in my attic, but I think the people of south Phoenix have a point. Besides, I have an adventurous puppy. I dare the rats to come into my yard.
Posted 3:00 PM by Kerry O.

Oh, yeah, by the way ** You know how you're not supposed to trust the results of a pregnancy tests 10 minutes or more after you take it? Hypothetically, if a woman (not me, of course *ahem*) took one, hypothetically, and it hypothetically showed the minutest, faintest, have-to-be-looking-for-it line several minutes after you're hypothetically supposed to look at it (so, hypothetically, close to 10 minutes), what should that woman hypothetically do? I'm thinking she - hypothetically - should take another one in a week or so to make sure it wasn't just a dud. Hypothetically.
Posted 1:41 PM by Kerry O.

I'm a joiner, baby ** Well, not usually. I went to my first Phoenix Celiac meeting. Up until the very point when I left to go to the meeting, I was still debating not going. I was very afraid it would be some sort of psycho support group (a la, "Hello, my name is Kerry, and I have Celiac." {clap,clap,clap, "Hello, Kerry" in unison}). Fortunately, it wasn't. It was about 15 people talking about what new products were out there, what they'd like to do as a group (coordinating with local restaurants to have awareness and cooperation), etc. I don't know why, but I enjoyed it. There were a variety of people there. Two men, the rest were women, not surprisingly. A couple of the women didn't have Celiac, but were there because their kids do. There were about 3 who were close to my age (mid-20's), maybe 4 or so in their 30's, 5 in their 40's and up. It was interesting hearing people's stories and adventures. I think I might actually go back next month. They also had probably 10 different kinds of cookies that members had baked and brought in. Mmmmmm, coooookies. They were wonderful, and I picked up a bunch of catalogs for yummy treats I'll have to get sometime.

That, coupled with some completely unexpected Grandma generosity really made my night last night.
Posted 8:53 AM by Kerry O.

Nevermind that the Governer's plane costs $500,000 a day ** Sorry, but this sort of thing just irks me: Could budget cuts result in messy Capitol? And state employees haven't had raises for 13 years. Oh, but you can add a second fuel tank to your Suburban for "alternative fuels," never actually use it, and get the entire cost of your brand-new vehicle back as a tax refund. Sure, they cancelled that after a gigantic scandal and millions of lost dollars, but the point (and the refund) remains.
Posted 2:57 PM by Kerry O.

Risk-Free Babies ** What do you all think about this? Joe and I watched it on the news this week, and it's quite thought-provoking. I don't have a terminal illness, but I do have a chronic, permanent and annoying one. If I could snap my fingers and prevent my unborn baby (no, I'm not pregnant yet, btw) from having Celiac, I would. I know it's not as easy as snapping your fingers... yet. But I also recognize and agree to an extent with the detractors.

Kind of like every other complicacted social and medical issue we face these days, I guess I feel like the perfect answer is the unattainable one. If we could do a little medical magic and give an infant a better life, with no physical side-effects and no long-term Darwinistic effects on the human population, and without advancing the technology to the point where we're picking skin tone and eye color, I'm all for it. But we're human. And as Tom Brokaw said about the whales last night, it's not likely. Humans can't leave well enough alone.
Posted 2:05 PM by Kerry O.

Strong and silent type ** Sorry so quiet lately. I was ridiculously busy yesterday catching up, and today they have me training someone. This is a big deal here. Not everyone gets to train people, and it looks good "down the line" when I want a promotion. In fact, my boss told me yesterday that she wants me involved in a handful of projects (presentation at team meeting tomorrow, part of a Six Sigma focus group on Friday, and training this year for a Peer Auditor for ISO), which give me a very strong inclination of her confidence in me. So, it's buckle down time. Less Blogger for me this week. Sorry! I'll still be around for updates once in a while and try to keep up on everyone else's blogs too!
Posted 1:47 PM by Kerry O.

7 things for which to be thankful **

For Chelsie's wedding being (hopefully) everything she's dreamed it would be.
For getting the opportunity to make it that way for her.
For not completely screwing up my toast in front of 110 people.
For massive puppy kisses after 2 days of puppy daycare at my dad's.
For having that cup handy in my car when Joe'd had a few too many.
For not having any more weddings planned by anyone I know, period. None.
For coming home to my warm, soft, comfy home with my warm, soft, comfy husband.
Posted 10:05 AM by Kerry O.