Busy at work again so I didn't get a chance to blog until just now.

Rant - Busy at work. Surveys, files, reports. At least we got a treat on Monday. In addition to our bi-weekly lunch (this week we got food from Pomodoro *yummy*), we got cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (banana cream and vanilla bean)--*yummy, yummy in my tummy*.

Rant - Here in the Bay Area we have Spare the Air days--hot days when air pollution is unhealthy so we need to reduce the amount of air pollution. Last year they started a new program were most mass transit is free on Spare the Air days. Last year we only had one. This year they had budgeted for three, but they were used up early in the season and consecutively. They added three more and unfortunately they were used up this week. I like the idea of trying to get people to take mass transit instead of taking their cars. But it seems like people who didn't plan to travel anyways are taking advantage of the "free" rides and go to the city. On Spare the Air days I've noticed that trains are fuller on my commute home mostly because of families and teenagers. It's so annoying. Thursday someone had almost jambed the door. If the door failed to close we would have been stuck at the Embarcadero Station and wait 15 or 30 minutes for another train to arrive. And Friday, the trains were late. And it was almost 7 o'clock when it is unlikely that trains run late and cars are not packed. Annoying. More stories later.

Rave - Went to gym on Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. And Friday. Friday I got to the gym around 9 pm after getting a pint of White Chocolate gelato (yummy, yummy not yet in my tummy), watering the plants, and getting dinner (filet-o-fish and water from McDonalds). Got on the the scale and I was surprisingly pleased to see that I have finally lost 5# compared to when I first started going to the gym five months ago. Yeah!! I was so happy I wanted to work out longer. Spent 31 minutes on the Treadmill, 15 minutes on the StairMaster, 350 crunches, 12 laps in the pool. I finally left the gym a little after 11 and didn't get home until close to 11:30. And now I'm blogging.

Just got back from watching fireworks in Benicia! Why Benicia? It's tradition. In the almost 20 years since I moved to the mainland, I've probably spent 75% of my July 4ths there--except for 1988 and 1994 because I was in Guam, 1992 because I went to Great America with James and his friends, 1996 when I went with Scott to the city and ended up watching colored clouds (it was foggy), and 2004 because I didn't have a car.

I love going to Benicia because I can see the Martinez show across the Strait as well as bits of the Concord and Pleasant Hill shows if I turn my head. This year didn't seem to be long though, but at least it was longer than Martinez (they started after Benicia and ended before Benicia's). I met Liz & Brian there and lugged my blanket, beach towel, and backpack filled with snacks. I told Liz & Brian that I was surprised that they decided to go to Benicia and not Martinez...at least they'll see some of where their tax dollars are going. Liz was on the phone with Annette when Liz told her what I had said and Annette said but Cora's not going to watch where her tax dollars are going. Oh well. But I did see some of Concord's because they started 30 minutes before Benicia. There were lots of people there. The crowd seems to get bigger every year. Most of the people were families with children. But there were also high school kids hanging out with friends.

I love the Fourth of July. I'm proud of being an American citizen and given all the opportunities that I have. My life would be so different if I were born in the Philippines. I'd probably be poor, married to a cheating husband, and have kids (probably at least four). But I digress... The other reason I love the Fourth of July are the fireworks. Fireworks are so romantic. I love the ones that sparkle, the ones that split into smaller ones, and the spirally ones. I enjoy the high large ones as well as the ones that look like flowers (pink/red with green), hearts, and smiley face. Leaving Benicia can be pain. There's so much traffic. But I did see a cute Benicia cop. He's probably married.

It's weird having July 4th fall on a Tuesday. I wish I could have taken Monday off but it's just way too busy at work. Oh well. I'll probably take a Summer Friday in a couple of weeks (on a week we don't have to do HW04). I'm also looking forward to taking my birthday off. Maybe I'll go to the batting cages like last year. I'd like to go to Fenton's or Claim Jumpers.

What did I do before going to Benicia? Woke up at 11am. Late by my standards but I just wanted to stay in bed daydreaming. I had planned to do some cleaning and gardening but I figured I can just do it on Saturday. So I woke up, showered, got dressed and did some weeding. Then I went to Walnut Creek to see if they had white chocolate gelato. They did! Yea! Then I was craving a ribeye sandwich (hadn't had one in a couple of weeks) so I drove to Kinder's but they were closed. On my way home I decided to just get something at Goldilocks and had lunch. Then I went home and did more weeding and watched TV. I watched Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. Mike Rowe rocks! He's soooo funny. Too bad he no longer works for Channel 5's Evening Magazine...I'd watch him everyday. But he's great hosting "Dirty Jobs". Also watched the Giants/Rockies game.

BTW, Giants lost to the Rockies. Started watching the game in the beginning but after a couple of errors the Rockies scored 2 runs and changed the channel. After a while I started watching it again but then there was a rain delay.

It's July 2nd 1:10AM. That means it's one more month until my birthday. As usual, I'm not looking forward to it. Another year will have gone by where I haven't found that special someone. I thought for sure this would be the year. There was Whim, SBEhim, LDhim, and BPhim. Unfortunately none of them panned out. But good news though, I barely think about James.