My first card making class

I recently went to a card making class. It was really fun! The good thing about this class was that it removed the most difficult part of card making- the creativity. I went to the location and she had 6 card stations set up with a display. She had all of the stamps and ink right there. Here is the collection of cards that we made.
The women there were really fun and I actually had met two of them on the bus when I used to ride to school. Small world.

Here is a close up of my favorite card that we made.

Blood alcohol -vs- the breathalyzer

Last weekend, I was made aware of a court ruling that could have me visiting the courtroom a lot more in the upcoming months. It turns out that the breathalyzer is under fire due to the company that manufactures them. They apparently won't release the breathalyzer's computer software that the courts are requiring in certain cases. Here is a link to the Star Tribune article. To combat the potential of dismissed cases, local precincts are now opting to do urine or blood alcohol tests instead. Hmmm, I wonder who does the blood alcohols? Yep, you guessed it, lab personel. This past weekend, I worked my overnights and I drew 3 legal alcohol levels. My coworkers each drew 3 as well. That is 9 total. I don't mind doing them as I know I am helping the cases, but it takes officers off the street for an extended amount of time versus the breathalyzer and me away from the lab work I am doing for 20 minutes. The actual blood draw only lasts about 5 minutes but the paperwork for chain of custody takes an additional 15 minutes. More importantly what I don't want is another piece of mail like I got last week.

This is my subpoena, I am to appear in court for this case. There is still the chance that it will settle out of court, but they have to send it to me anyway. I have never received a subpoena before, but apparantly what they ultimatley ask is how I drew it. For instance, the ask about the expiration date of the kit, they ask whether I checked to make sure the required powder was in the collection tube, and whether or not I used an alcohol pad to disinfect the area. Simple questions, but a little nerve racking never the less. I guess I just have to think of my willingness to do whatever it takes to help revoke the drivers licenses of the guilty!

Fondue

We had Ardella over to our house last week as a thanks for watching our house while we were on vacation. We decided to fondue! Brian was in charge of the oil fondue and I was in charge of the cheese fondue and dessert. We dipped steak and shrimp in the oil. Brian also decided to try cheese curds in the oil, but they really didn't work too well.

In the cheese fondue we dipped potatoes, bread and cauliflower.... Well we really didn't dip them in the cheese as the fondue pot was a candle pot and didn't really keep it that warm. As you can see from the picture, it was a little gloppy. You might also be wondering why it is pink. Our recipe calls for a dry cherry liquor. We only had grenadine, so we get pink cheese! I think it is prettier than plain light yellow cheese anyway.

For dessert, we had chocolate covered strawberries. We didn't have another fondue pot, so I had dipped them earlier and placed them on a plate.


Here's to good food, good company, and good fun! Thanks Ardella for taking good care of our house!