Death Match in the Wildlife Refuge

I went for a bike ride yesterday down at Tinicum Wildlife Refuge. Halfway through my ride I stopped and sat on a bench for a while to read and contemplate life and such. About ten feet in front of me, protruding from the water, was a birdhouse place by the refuge. There were two little blue birds engaged in mortal kombat for this house. It was inexplicably captivating. They would hit each other in mid air. At one point, the one knocked the other into the water and tried to push it under by landing on it and fluttering it's wings. In the end, one of the combatants flew away and the other stood victorious upon the roof of his/her home. Here's to the champion.

southwest

So many of you know about our recent trip to Columbus and many of you heard about our annoying trip out there. Our flight last Friday, the 16th was cancelled because of the ice. We arranged to go out the next day. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:20pm(boarding at 7:50). We didn't get on the plane until 9:30. We then sat in the plane fore 1.5 hours as we waited to go through the de-icing process. We arrived around midnight. It took us 6 hours to take a 52 minute flight.

This morning, Timmy and I each received a letter from Southwest. They were apologizing for the inconvenience of our missed flight and each letter contained a voucher for $150 for future traveling with Southwest. Sweet. Even sweeter - $300 is more than we paid for our tickets out to Columbus.

2057

I just read on a family blog that my aunt and uncle are celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary. All I can say is wow.

mi querido

My Timmy went back to work on Saturday after a two month healing period. Tonight is his first night shift :( I can't even remember the last time I slept without him. Now, I'm sitting at the computer with the tv on, even though I am exhausted. I have such a hard time getting myself to bed without him.

Spoooooky!

I was just checking out our bank account online, and noticed this strange alignment of automotive universes:

On Thursday, March 22nd I was driving Melissa's car and it was in need of refueling. So I stopped at the Wawa on Chester Pike in Folcroft and put $26.73 worth of regular unleaded fuel into the tank.

On Friday, March 23rd Melissa was driving my car and it was in need of refueling. So she stopped at the Sunoco on Baltimore Pike in Media and put $26.73 worth of regular unleaded fuel into the tank.

Ooooooooooh!!!!!

Two different cars made by different manufacturers and at different levels of needing fuel both take the exact same amount of petrol! C'mon, admit it, you're kind of impressed or something. Yeah?

Zoo Pics

Finally getting around to posting a few of the pics we took at the zoo a week ago. A completely random assortment of animals, really. And conspicuous by their absence are the most glorious animals in all of the Philadelphia Zoo - the giant river otters. They were just too fast to snap a decent picture of. But if you have the means to go observe them, I highly recommend it. I could sit there and watch those critters all day long, to tell you the truth. But I digress. Onto the pictures....








Freaking peacocks. They're overrunning the place.


















Scottish highland cattle. (They look like extras from Star Wars.)
















Some kind of monkeys. About the size of my fist. Fascinating.














Meerkat, on watch duty.
















Obligatory flamingo photo.












Lioness at the new "Big Cat Falls". (The reflection of Missy's leg in the glass kind of ruins the illusion of closeness.)













And lastly, an elephant. The elephants are all leaving the zoo this year. I'm not entirely sure why, but they are.












fin.

Woo Hoo

Timmy and I just got back from Columbus. We had a wonderful time with the Crawfords. We are now both sitting at our respective computers catching up on three days of missed computer time. Three days rest from Snood must have been a good thing because I just smashed my top score on the puzzle level by 35,000 points. I got to level 20 ziggurat; that's like three levels that I have never experienced before. It was great! But now, it may become frustrating to play again if I don't advance as far. But for now, I will enjoy my moment.

i forgot...

So last night Timmy and I went to the Flyers game. Unfortunately, we got stuck walking back in the rain after the game and our car was at the Lincoln Financial Field's lot. When we finally got into the car, we sat there for a few minutes to delay our entering the mass exodus of cars. As we were waiting, I saw something very disturbing. There was a man; our guess is that he was about 20 feet in front of us - not far at all and nothing obstructing our line of vision. I saw him unlock his car, but before he went in, he undid his pants and starting urinating on the parking lot. Eww. It was so gross. I turned to Timmy, "Ew. He's peeing." It was disturbing and even more disturbing is that he really must have had to go because it lasted a long time.

I don't know. Would he have done this if it weren't late at night and it wasn't raining? Why couldn't he have gone to the men's room at the center? Not like he was avoiding the rush. Or why couldn't he have used one of the port-a-johns out in the parking area? And who was he talking to? Is it better if it were a man or woman? I don't know.

Reminds me of this time that Ashlie and I were driving back from a doctor's appointment. There was this heavier woman along the side of the road that bent over and exposed her backside. And I'm not talking just crack, I mean the whole thing.

my dream

Was anyone as upset as I was when they found out that Claire and Peter are related? I had a Heroes dream last night. I was both a participant and an observer. Lots of hiding, chasing, secrets, you know. At the end, Claire and Peter were hiding in some underground safe house. They were sitting on the floor, legs crossed, looking at each other. They were exhausted, having gone through some adventure I can't remember. And in a sweet moment, they looked into each others eyes and gently kissed. Que emocion...until I woke up and remembered that Peter is Claire's uncle - grrr.

Reminds me of a couple years back when the Crawfords hosted a Star Wars night - the original three. I had never seen them. Shortly into the first movie, Dave made a comment about "yeah, she's your sister." A few people laughed and someone (maybe Erika) told him that I had never seen the movie. Oops. Everyone was then told not to spoil anymore of the plot. Although it was disappointing to receive that plot twist before the movie had really started, I'm also glad that I did. I totally would have been rooting for Luke and Leia to fall in love only to be devastated that they were brother and sister.

a full year

Que emocion. Today is our first anniversary. We have kept the day very laid back: slept in, lounged around, watched a movie. We went to Stephen's on State for dinner, courtesy of Mom and Dad Kaiser and an offer Timmy found online that allowed us to buy a $25 gift certificate for $10. And can I say: mmm, mmm, mmm. I had the lobster and crab ravioil with roasted tomato and spinach ragout, wild mushroom cream sauce, and shaved parmigiano reggiano. Oh my goodness. I actually cleaned my plate, which is impressive considering I don't really eat vegetables and I hate mushrooms. Timmy had jumbo lump crab cakes with shrimp and corn croquettes, asparagus salad, and lobster cream sauce. He also spoke very highly of it, but not as highly as I spoke of my dish. Then again, I am very dramatic when I enjoy a good dish. For dessert, I had a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake - so good. Timmy had chocolate lava - warm fudge cake with chocolate ice cream - you can imagine. Now, we are back to lounging around, resting for tomorrow - we're going to the zoo :)

my mama

I spoke to my mama yesterday. After the hi-how are yous, she said, "so, you have news for me?" I guess she was just waiting a year before she started the baby questions.

Attack Of The Giant Crabs

I was standing at the seafood counter in Acme last night, purchasing some scallops for our dinner, when my eye was drawn to the crab legs in the glass case. We've all seen snow crab legs (which are pretty gianormous compared to regular Maryland crab legs) and perhaps even the somewhat frightening dungeness crab legs, but on this particular night the Acme was offering giant crab legs.
I'll have to admit, before that point I didn't even know that there was such a creature. These legs must've been at least 4 feet long each. After some research, I believe they may have been from a Japanese spider crab. These crabs can apparently weigh up to 44 pounds and have a leg span of 13 feet. That's horrifying.

At any rate, they were like $20 a pound at Acme, which I'm assuming would probably be 2 legs, so I decided to stick with my scallops. But, you know, just in case any of you independently wealthy crab lovers are looking for a new experience, now you know where to go.

You Make The Call

Yes, I officially have a problem with looking at the SPCA website. But put that all aside and tell me this: is this or is this not one of the most formidable looking felines you've seen?

I say yes.... nay, I say a resounding YES!

If I'm going to have a cat, I want to live in constant wonder as to whether or not that cat secretly plans to take over the world while I'm at work.

gracie

Today Gracie A. made me smile. She makes me smile a lot but today was especially cute. For those of you who don't know Grace, she is the 2 year old daughter of friends from church. I call her my office buddy because after church on Sundays, she hangs out with me in my office while I am preparing my tithe deposit. We have developed another little ritual. The first Sunday of the month is our communion Sunday at church. For the last three communions, Gracie and I drink all the leftover little cups of grape juice, eat some of the leftover Matzos crackers, and clean up the elements when we are done. It's pretty funny: we sit up on the stage or rather I sit and she stands and we pop shot after shot of juice and then stack up the little cups. Cute.

Today, Timmy led worship, so ministry time went a little longer than usual - no complaints on my part :) I sat in the back as a few people lingered in the sanctuary while others got prayer. Gracie walked over to me and said "apple juice" pointing toward the stage. I smiled and told her that we had to wait until everyone was done. She said apple juice again and I assured her that when everyone was done, when he stopped and I pointed to Timmy, we would do it. She pointed to Timmy and I said something I couldn't quite understand, but I could tell she was just confirming what I had just told her. She got quiet and sat next to me.

She sat there for a 2 or 3 songs, looking at the bulletin, asking me the names of various people, pointing out her mom and her sister for me. As soon as Timmy stopped strumming and I mean as soon as he stopped, she looked at me and said "all done." I had to laugh, "okay, let's go." We drank our juice, ate some crackers, stacked our cups, and with no prompting she grabbed the basket of crackers and proceeded to leave the sanctuary (the cleaning up process). She was a little faster than I was since I had to grab the other supplies. When I got downstairs, she was waiting outside the kitchen, looking back for me. She is too cute and so smart. What a great age! Of course, I'm sure she has her moments :) For now, I will enjoy her and the other children around me. They will satisfy any baby itch I may develop.

Happy Birthday!

I want to send out two very special birthday shout-outs! Today Mark-Paul Gosselaar turns 33 years old. During my elementary and middle school years, I developed a little obsession on the boy who played Zack Morris. I would later in my life call him "my great obsession."

When I was sixteen, I met another boy. This time he was a real boy, as opposed to a celebrity boy. For the summers of 96 and 97, Mike Costello was the lifeguard at my apartment complex pool. I affectionately still refer to him as "my lifeguard" and consider him to be "the greatest crush of my life." I'm sure you can imagine my reaction when I learned that Mike's birthday was March 1, the same as Mark-Paul's. It's kismet! Destiny! Fate! It was meant to be!

When it became clear that, in fact, Mike and I were not meant to be, I was convinced that the man who was meant to be would share the same birthday as the two men who consumed my adolescent and teenage years. Again, I was wrong. Timmy's birthday is August 23. However, when I looked at March 1, I smile when I think of how similar it looks to March 11. Less than two weeks away - can you believe it!

So, Happy 33rd birthday, Mark-Paul, and Happy 29th birthday, Mike. I'm glad the both of you were part of my life but am even more glad that I didn't marry either of you :)