Last week was quite an eventful one in the Cermak world. It started out with a pretty cool day at work for me on Sunday; I got to work to find out that one of my coworkers had helped Albany PD finally arrest one of the guys who had stolen from the store recently (we were able to attribute over $700 to him upon arrest!). I finished up the night by finding some of the items on our inventory that the guys had been unable to locate. That afternoon, however, I did receive some bad news - my supervisor texted me to inform me that I would be closing on Tuesday, switching shifts with Brandon. We had a big visit from some way up executives and someone requested some exposure for Brandon during the visit. This meant that I would be closing Sunday after 11pm, opening Monday before 8am, closing Tuesday til midnight, and opening Wednesday before 8am. Phew! I get tired even writing about it! Fortunately, I knew that my cousin Barbara and her two daughters would be visiting on Wednesday and I had that to look forward to. (By the way, our visit went swimmingly and our store was named one of the six finalists for best store in the state!)Meanwhile, Nicole was taking part in her second Photoshop course on Monday and Tuesday. She enjoyed it a lot and I think it gave her a bit of a respite from work. I have to say, though, when I got home on Monday and Nicole's car was gone I was surprised at first because I had forgotten that she wasn't going to work (which she takes the bus for). By Wednesday, though, I think she was ready to be back working on her projects. Nicole also got really excited about our new desk arriving and texted me on Wednesday that the desk would be delivered while we were at work.
So, Wednesday after work, I arrived at home and had just changed out of my work clothes when my cousin texted me saying they were on the Bay Bridge (i.e. five minutes away). I ran out to meet them and help them pull their stuff in and got some nice big hugs. Nicole got home about 20 minutes later and announced that the desk was out front - I had forgotten to check in all the commotion! I pulled the box - all 100 lb. of it - up to the second level and then we were off to Zachary's for dinner! We had a lovely time at dinner and visiting with my cousins; the older daughter, Melissa, is off to San Francisco State in the fall and they had driven up from Orange County for registration day. Then we gave them a quick driving tour of Berkeley - at least down Shattuck and Telegraph - before heading home for the night. Luckily, I had the next day off and all the plans worked out well and I was able to see them off Thursday morning.
That brings us to Thursday... which, ironically since it was my day off, turned out to be the most unsettling day of the week. I mean, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson both on the same day?! Good grief, what a sad day! My Mom was a big fan of young Michael, so I always either tried to think of how he was then or not at all. I actually find myself to be sadder thinking about his talent and how troubled he ultimately came to be than about his actual death. Nicole bought the "essential Michael Jackson" through iTunes and I have a feeling we'll be remembering him through his music for a while. Some of his music and songs were just so amazing. How tragic. We listened to the album during our road trip on Saturday and it just brought back so many memories. Which brings us to...
Sacramento! We had been to Rocklin once for Peter and Michelle's wedding a couple of years ago, but had never really gotten much of a Sacramento experience. Well, our friend Chris had been down to visit us and I figured it was time for a return visit. Plus I recently found out that my high school friend Mario and his wife were living in Woodland. So, we coordinated plans for lunch with Mario and his wife in Davis - it was really great reconnecting with an old friend. I hadn't talked to him since high school, but Mario is such good people and we had an awesome time visiting with them. Then we went over to Chris' place in Sacramento and chatted for a bit before heading out for drinks. We snacked on appetizers and had a couple drinks before heading over to a park (I think it's called The Bloc) where the Kings introduced the new draftees from Thursday. I had no idea before we got there! It was so cool; we not only got to see the three players, but the coach, general manager, and one of the owners!
Even though it was one of the hottest weekends of the year, we had such a great time with our little adventure! We'll have to go again when Peter and Michelle might be in a greater position for a visit. Overall, we were very impressed with Sacramento.
