NE Speaks..... Finally!

Well, its 5:46 AM on the east coast (2:46 AM where Sari is) and I just woke up. You know what I mean, eyes blurring, can't really see anything. First up, eat pasta. Need to carbo load a little for the bike ride this morning in PA. I have been trying to stay busy everyday which makes it a little easier not to get sad about being 3,000 plus miles away from my wife. So far, I have managed to stay busy.

The drive out to NJ from Seattle was outstanding and not as hard as I thought. Visiting the Eastern Washington was great and stopped at some farmers stands as I went through. Can't beat cherries, peaches, etc still hot from the sun. Eastern Washington and western Montana were my favorite places to go through. No place was bad to go through (except Chicago) and Eastern Montana and South Dakota were gorgeous but flat, no cell reception and tough to find radio stations (I am more of a radio station person vs CD's..... very opposite of my wife).

Got into NJ on a Thursday I think and then thats when it was getting tough to get stuff. Looked at apartments, found one I loved and started the long tedious paper work. But after several hours, I know had something to call a home. Dad always said "home is where you hang your hat". But damn, I have nothing to hang my hat on :(. First up was to buy a bed. Talked the guy down several hundred dollars but still was expensive. Then got some used furniture.... only four end tables and a recliner chair. Got the worlds smallest TV (which is fine) and I did bring a radio and two craft tables with me from Seattle. Didn't have internet or TV for a few weeks so I listened to NPR a lot which reminded me of my first two years at culinary school.... no TV either.

So I bought a bike.... well a bike that needed a little work. Kept me busy and joined the Philadelphia Bike Club. Awesome group. First ride was an instructional ride in downtown Phili with a lady named Bonnie and other students. Great time and learned a lot. Of course, my balls grew a little and thought "what the hell, I can do more". The first ride with Bonnie was 13 miles. Met up with another group on the weekday and got my ass handed to me. So I hooked up with some other cyclists the next weekend and biked the Skukil River Trail in PA. Twenty Four miles, lunch, a little tour and a wrap for the day which was wonderful (pictures to come). Today's adventure.... same trail but thinking 30 miles. We will soon see!

Disclaimer: I suck at spelling and grammar. We all suck at something... just remember that :)

Lackluster

So I'm still reading the Dresden Files and loving them. And these books just gave me one of the funniest comments I've heard in a while.


“As far as the Council is concerned, the U.S. Wardens are a bunch of mushrooms.”
“Eh?”
“Kept in the dark and fed on bullshit.”

I literally laughed out loud when I read it hi-larious. And wouldn't you know I love raw mushrooms. No. Joke.

Work's still busy (isn't it always) and life during the week is pretty hum drum.

I always find it funny when you're just going along and you suddenly something pops in your head. Like yesterday I suddenly could smell homemade pancake batter and just now salsa and sour cream. (No, still not pregnant, thanks for asking though)

Or like this morning I was listening to Ellie Goulding and suddenly a Colbie Caillat song popped in my head and so I listened to her and then when I was listening to Colbie Caillat an Owl City song came into my head but I resisted the urge because otherwise this morning would have been musical chairs.

And I know I'm hopping around today but that's just where my mind is at today.

This past weekend I also went to the Vashon Farmers Market because they said they missed me and ask if I'd come visit. And they have the best caramels there. I don't know if she does any other farmers market but these caramels are to die for, and you can buy them online. Bonus. You can find her here her company name is King Caramel.

And lately I've been watching the show "How the States Got Their Shapes", it was originally a book and then made into a show. It's really cool and you get to learn a lot about Americana. And thanks Melly, I'm totally hooked on "The Glee Project". :)

And music I'm really looking forward to:

Another Zoo post.

Please blame Carrie if you get sick of these, she made me get the zoo pass. ;) Although next time I need to actually bring my camera. My phone camera is okay but the zoom and the focus leave plenty to be desired. I mean, yes I know it's just a phone. They're working on it.

Anywho. Let's get started.

If you aren't familiar, this is a kookaburra. It's starting straight at me.

This is some other Australian bird that was right above the kookaburra. I didn't retain it's name though.

Some sort of Australian parrot.

Another Australian parrot.

This is a tree kangaroo, and yes this is all it did when I was there. Not that I was expecting it to perform, just maybe move a tiny bit. It looks incredibly bored.

Some sort of iguana? lizard? Yes I know I should pay more attention at the zoo. I might make enough visits though before I leave I'll remember all the animals by name. Oh and did you know that there used to be two sloth bears? But the female died leaving her mate all alone (not that she chose to die to get away from him... Oh, never mind). I overheard a father explaining this to his son when his son kept asking where the other bear was. Yes, I know, tangent. And an entirely unprovoked story. I guess that's why this is my blog huh?

Apparently these are West African Dwarf Crocodiles. These were plenty large for me. I don't think I need to see a full size crocodile up close.

Turtles. Yes, I know I need to pay better attention next time.

One of the many orchids growing at the zoo.

Some weirdly awesome plant that really is that orange.

Flamingoes.

The best picture I could take of a Giant Red Panda. Still absolute crap. I cursed in my head about why didn't I bring my camera with me. (Apparently I thought my phone was up to the job.)

Iridescent cockroaches that I think are from South America. I was being crowded out of the exhibit too fast to really tell you though.

I have actually photographed Charlotte's Web. See above. There is the pig and above and slightly to the left is the spider. No neat words were written in the web, none of the animals talked and yes that is an actual pig instead of a cute piglet. This is real life folks.



LOOK AWAY JILIAN.

Bunnies!

More bunnies!

The one shot I took with my phone today that I am absolutely in love with. Bronze ravens. Not to be confused with bronzed ravens.

Mountain goat.

A little disappointed by this one. I love how close I was able to get to the bear but the camera didn't even come close to meeting my expectations.

But this one is awesome even if it is grainy and it has noise. Because ladies and gentlemen that's a real live bear claw. (No, not one you would want to eat.) I was so happy to get a picture of it up close.

And there you have it. Hope you have a happy Monday. :)

Now at least when I say I'm a sensation the most you can correct me to is that I *have* a sensation. Instead of just saying no.

So I got a new phone this weekend. I know I just got one last year but both Isaac's and mine were crap. Mine less so than his, but still. I was so excited to get it, you can read that here, (I actually talk about Campbells here tee hee) only to be rather disappointed (Isaac severely so though). Mine messes up all the time, and it's lovely when you're in the middle of something only to have it restart itself with no warning. Or to be using the GPS and it loses the signal and the only way you can get it back is to pull over and restart your phone. No kidding.

Isaac's is actually worse because he has had two phones (one original and one replacement for the original) that functionally stopped working for him. He's on his third one that I just sent to him. He's trying to hold out until T-Mobile joins with AT&T because he really wants an iPhone. I'm in love with droid so I just wanted a new phone.

I was checking out phones in April anticipating that if Isaac got the job I would get a new phone (we made an agreement). I was debating between the Galaxy and the G2x and I had decided on the G2x.

So when I went into the store this weekend and I told them I wanted a G2x I was a little surprised when they said they didn't have any. And they didn't know when they would be getting any in because there have been so many problems with the G2x. It also made me glad that I had waited for it to be out a while  before getting one. But it also left me stuck, I mean I could go ahead and get a Galaxy but I had my heart set on the G2x. So I asked them what they thought and what came back with the fewest problems. They recommended the HTC Sensation. And while I realize it's their newest phone out so they're probably pushing it and also because it's the newest phone out it has the least issues but they sold me none the less.

Here's to hoping no issues. Right?

I *might* be telling Bonnie Raitt to shut her cake hole.

Well at least for a minute. Because I am going to advertise my man. I know I said he would post on here but work has been busy for him, good but busy.

But Friday? Friday he actually helped save a life.

He was out with his friend Tom (who helped him get his current job) tending Tom's bees. They were finished tending the bees in the yard and were on their way back to Tom's truck. It is normal for Tom to take his veil off at this time but sometimes the bees are still contentious.

Friday was one of those days.

They however, got in the car and drove a little bit. Tom told Isaac that he didn't feel well and pulled over and parked his car on the side of the road. And then he proceeded to pass out. It turns out that Tom was stung by a bee in the ear  and was going into anaphylactic shock. (I don't know if he was stung more than just in the ear) Isaac was freaked out but he acted fast. Luckily they were near a house where Isaac called for them to call 911 (Isaac's phone is on the fritz, don't ask. But Isaac also didn't know where he was at.) and the husband came out and helped Isaac get Tom out of the car. They followed the instructions that the 911 operator gave them and an ambulance came to take Tom to the hospital. Isaac followed in Tom's truck and stayed with Tom until he woke up 5 hours later. (None of Tom's family was in town so Isaac was all he had) Once he made sure he was okay he took him home from the hospital.

I know that Isaac doesn't want any praise but his fast acting was critical for Tom. I'm so proud of him, even if he doesn't want to talk about it.

And I should mention that he doesn't want to talk about it because he doesn't want it to be a big deal. He would do the same for anyone.

My week so far...

I've been staring at this picture all week so far but it's not like you think. (And if you know me, well, I don't think normally) I'm not staring at it because I want to go there so I've been delaying flipping my calendar, no. In fact when I look at it all I can think is "that poor palm" because part of it's leaves are in the water and so they've rotted away.

What I need you to do now is look at the date. Which is why I have a calendar in the first place, I think. I've been so busy with work I haven't flipped the day since last Friday. I've been looking at the picture with no thought that this is a calendar and the least I could do is switch the day.

I think I'm a little slow. Not to mention I still have the splitting sinus headache (is there any other kind?) that I've had since this morning when I woke up at 4am. I've been contemplating going home early it hurts so much and if you know me that's not like me.

Here's to hoping it gets better.

An actual post that isn't lame! (AKA the Zoo Post)

So apparently in order to see the most animals you need to get to the zoo right when it opens (OMG, writing that sentence makes me want to write it in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" talk, resisting the urge) Because a ton of animals were out, not to mention I got a killer parking spot (which says something because it's Seattle), and the sun was shining.

I think this however precludes anyone with multiple small children (no offense meant, just an observation) from attending at that hour so I'll let you live vicariously through my photos below. The last two are kinda morbid so stop before that if you're squeamish. However, I haven't counted all the photos so you'll have to guesstimate (I am so generous).

First were the South American Penguins who had just come out for the morning with their two trainers. Apparently if you're able to make it on a Friday morning that's when they feed them the live trout and make them catch their breakfast.

They have a lot of art all over the zoo, (they actually have a downloadable walking map to see it all, here) but I love this piece. Each fish is inscribed with a donor's name.

Because I'm positive you really wanted to see the back of a peacock.

Okay, fine, here's the front.

Jaguar! It was so neat to see the jaguar out and really awesome that I was able to photograph it when it came that close.

(Insert lame Toucan joke here) (Also I think it's a pygmy, so insert lame pygmy Toucan joke here. Do those exist?)

The giraffes didn't come that close but I tried.

All I remember is that the yellow one is a weaver bird. I tried to take a picture of one making a nest but it came out too dark because they build their nests in the trees and the sun was out.

Okay you know the corpse flower? Yup, pictured above, not fully bloomed though so I can't really tell you if it actually smells like a corpse. (someone has to do this stuff for you) I just took a picture of it because the leaves are so cool. All of those leaves come off one shoot. I am not kidding you.

This? This is an actual vanilla orchid on it's way to blooming.

And this is actually a carnivorous plant. See all the black dots? Those are gnats. Still not kidding you.

Okay, fine I'll be nice. If you're squeamish stop reading now, seriously.

I took these pictures because I was astonished to see this stuff. (Although now I don't know why I was astonished, I mean I know animals eat this stuff) But it's what the animals eat so c'est la vie.

Rats. Maybe the only way some people would like to see them.

These are the guinea pigs.

They also had whole baby chicks, whole rabbits and baby mice. I didn't take pictures of those. I figured these above would convince you. I was told they were killed humanely, cleaned and then frozen for storage.

Don't you all want to go to the zoo with me next time? :)