SEO Inc. Christmas Party

at a cute litte Italian restaurant in Encinitas called Viggilucci's

raising a toast; my boss on the left cheering a pitcher of beer

THANKSGIVING in St. George with Adam's family

Julia and me puzzling, working up an appetite for the big meal ahead

desert sunset

the groovy twosome back together for one day. you better believe we bought the same great skirt and almost the same earrings.

only part of the amazing view behind MacKay's house in St. George, Utah (Ivins, if you want specifics)

the boys coming in to eat turkey after a wiffle ball game

we made it to the top of some mountain in Snow Canyon!

Back to work the next day...

Oh, by the way (nothing to do with the pics below), I had to go back to work the day after the water pipe broke and flooded half our office building. Currently shoved in a corner in the engineering department, by the back door and by the little fridge containing a forgotten chicken meal. It's kind of fun, actually. Direct communication office-wide has increased because we can just yell across the room. Hope to be back in my spacious cube in Jan.

Jason, Julia, Adam and Grandma MacKay

sitting on the back fence of his Grandparents' yard in St. George

A 20-Foot Geyser Obliterated My Office

I'm working on my headline-writing skills. Did it catch your eye? Well, the story that goes with it is actually true, so read on. So there I was, 10:30 am, Monday. Sitting in my humble cube at 2720 Loker Ave West, Carlsbad, CA ... a little office called SEO Inc. Loreen, the corner cube exchange student from Germany calmly says, Hey Martha, you want to see something? I said, Yes, I do. I walk over to her desk, look out her window and see a little 2-foot high geyser of bubbling water and rocks coming up from the sewer. It's not sewage but it's still amusing to watch it flood the road and think, "What if they cancel work because we can't use the bathroom?"

We all go back to work for about 10 minutes. During that time my brain is thinking, "That's why southern California is dumb. There is no hope of a snow day, typhoon or tornado because the weather is always perfect." Just then Loreen yells and jumps out of her chair. The 2-foot geyser has suddenly turned into a 20-foot geyser, and we watch in awe as all of our windows shatter and crack from flying debris and water. Suddenly there is a puddle near my feet and we all realize it's not stopping. We scramble to unplug computers, move everything from the floor UP.

The water keeps moving, moving, spraying, seeping, dripping. The ceiling is bowed and before someone tells me not to, I run back to my cube and rescue my pictures, frames, lotion and AP Stylebook. One by one, all our offices facing the street are oozing with water and everyone's screaming choice words and some are just going to work. The lights are out and it seems like mayhem on the ship Titanic. We heft monitors, servers, anything with info on it into dry conference rooms in the back. The water keeps coming and coming and spraying and soaking and finally we just have to get OUT. And wait. And watch the geyser shoot with all its might, city workers standing around wondering, "How do you turn this thing off?"

And then came the magic words: You can all go home. Give someone your phone number and they'll let you know when you need to come back. HA!!!! HAHAAAHHHAHAH!!! This is the best day of my life! I rescued my food from the powerless fridge (I did a lot of important rescuing today) and headed to eat lunch with Adam. Maybe I will go on a mini trip. Maybe I will do my laundry before it's dark! Maybe I will cook and eat and read and watch movies. Yes! Yes, I will do it all. Thank you geyser. Thank you SEO Inc. Thank you twist of fate.