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December 17, 2014 - 10:20 p.m.
"phantom fire alarm" or "the annual toys for tots search"

Hey Journal!

This morning I got up and headed off to work as usual. The day was much more peaceful than yesterday, though there was still a lot to do. In the morning, when I got to work, I saw some man creepily standing at the end of the parking lot. HE looked like he was up to something shade so I watched him from a distance.

Unfortunately, my surveillance operation was interrupted when the fire alarm went off in the building. It was a false alarm, though.... One of the detectors in the restaurant was faulty and the weird part was that the bells didn't go off... so the only reason we knew the alarm was going on was that the fire department calls us to verify!

By the time I got back to my surveillance activities, the suspect had disappeared, and his car was still there. I found out later that one of the police officers who park in our parking lot was playing today and it was probably the guy he was playing with. I guess that explains it.

I got to work after that and started chipping away at the mountain of work that was set out before me. Unreal.

Steve came in and had a bunch of stuff to do with his vitamin project. He took more video yesterday in the city so we watched it and imported it to his computer.

The bonus payroll checks came in and I had to sort through them and get everything ready to be handed out, so that took a while, too.

For lunch I opted for the classic chicken and broccoli, and then I left at 4:00 to bring the Toys for Tots.

That's a whole story in itself.... for a few days I have been calling the Toys for Tots phone number for our local office and, same as last year, nobody ever answers. It's ridiculous! I even left a message, and never got a call back. There's no address on the website, so I don't know how they expect anyone to find them.

It was the usual confusion. Then, in the afternoon, I remembered what I had done last year! I had emailed their main office in Virginia and someone got back to me quickly. I did it again, copying and pasting the SAME email I sent last year!

They wrote back, and within a couple of hours, I had the address. I looked it up on Google Maps, and it looked like a dilapidated abandoned warehouse. I knew it had to be the right location.

So, at 4:00 I left work and made my way there. They are always in a different building each year but the experience is always the same. I pulled up and the guys who had been standing outside scurried inside, and left me to get the toys out of the car and lug the bags over to the big bay door. There were tons of black bags full of toys, and I dropped them there. Someone eventually said Thank You, and then I got back in my car and was done with it.

I got home at the usual time, not any earlier... Dan went off to the gym and I got ready to go out to dinner.

Last week, we had made plans with Mike and Josh to go out to dinner tonight. We had completely forgotten until Mike reminded us this morning. This week can NOT get any busier. It's jam packed. I don't think my time leading up to Christmas has ever been this intense.

I was happy because in the morning before work, I put our laundry in the washing machine and set it to go on about an hour before I got home from work. That way, I would have a jump start and be able to put the stuff in the dryer when I got home. Now that we were going out to dinner, this was an even better move!

We went to Branchinelli's at 7:30 and had a nice dinner. Fran was our waitress, and she's really a wild one.

When we got home, I showered up and then we watched Once Upon a Time! It was the winter finale, and so... my comments... First off, the thing with Regina and Robin Hood is getting insane. I mean, one minute she's happy, the next she's not..... Marian is dying, then she's not... then she's dying again, then she's not, but Robin Hood has to leave! I mean, come on!!

Then I really liked the part with Belle! I love that she finally wised up! It was amazing.

And lastly, I thought the introduction of Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella was cool... but first off, wasn't Ursula in a previous episode and wasn't she different? I don't really remember. Also, WHY are they all in NY? I mean, the curse brought everyone to Storybrooke... How did these random villains wind up in a different place? Weird.....

Anyway, now it's time for bed! Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)