Birds

When I got home today I saw 8 White-crowned Sparrows in the yard. 8! It really is bird season & after buying some food for them this past Saturday they have been visiting in droves. Hal has not left his spot at the patio door ALL DAY.

Not much to say

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. today. My only sleep-in day of the week and I fail miserably. I conked out after 10:00 p.m. yesterday on the coach but technically didn't go to bed till after midnight. But, I still woke up and then Hal was coughing up a hairball, and then I started to think about work. So, I gave up and got up to watch T.V. I watched 2 episodes of the Last 10 Pounds and then the Biggest Looser. I ate 5 Oreo cookies and then made coffee. It's now 11 and I have been watching T.V. since I got up so I feel a bit like crap. Ideally I should do some laundry and clean up a bit so maybe I will stop typing and get off my butt.

Babysitting Mayhem and more

On Saturday I tag-team babysat for my friends with Grandma Linda. There is a 3 Year old, a 2 Year old and a less than 1 Year old so you can imagine what might happen. Overall it went well though I admit I was nervous. However, there were a few incidents that are funny enough to share, and this tale comes with parental permission.

Incident # 1: We went outside for about a half hour, before dinner, and the boys ran amuck. Literally and figuratively. It was a blast watching them go to town. Watching the oldest carry big slabs of granite around and place them on top of the glass table made me a bit nauseous but nothing was broken. The middle child decided to go in and colour and then I went in with the baby and the oldest stayed out to play for another minute or so. He then came in covered in mud so I stopped him at the door, took off his boots & jacket & then we washed his hands. I thought he was just playing in the garden but later G.L. found her potted plant newly re-planted in their plastic toy car. Hmmm. The plant survived, so far, and was put back into it's original pot.

Incident #2: After dinner the boys got up and went to wash their hands. Grandma Linda went downstairs and I took the baby out of her high chair and headed into the living room. I saw splashing in the bathroom - splashing onto the floor of the bathroom. And, just in case you don't get it yet water tends to splash when it hits water. So, within a minute of being unsupervised they had filled the sink with water and were splashing each other & the rest of the bathroom. I ran in there and told them to stop and pulled the plug to drain the water - which disappointed them. My feet were soaked because the entire bathroom floor was covered, the toilet paper roll was sopping wet. It was a disaster. They were completely covered in water. So, I went to look for towels and as the boys got down off the stool they were wiping out on the wet floor. By this time I was slightly hysterical and laughing my guts out. I found a couple of towels and luckily G.L. came back upstairs at that point so went in there and cleaned it up. The oldest had also rubbed toothpaste all over his face and chest so it was decided that they didn't need to brush their teeth before bed after all. I watched the baby so got the easy end of it. The boys came out in their diapers and the oldest was going on and on about how 'very, very angry' his Mom & Dad would be. I couldn't argue as I figured they would be once they stopped laughing. If I had been even 10 seconds longer it would have been far worse because the sink was completely full and ready to overflow.

Incident #3: After post-flood playtime we sat and watched a video, Gray Rabbit something or other, and the kids were enthralled. I fed the baby her bottle and after a few minutes she spat up all over my chest. Now, a bit of baby spit up is fine but it was in such quantity and in such close proximity to my nose that I was mildly horrified. Luckily I had packed a spare shirt thinking I might get dirty at the Zoo that morning so changed into that. It pays to be prepared.

After all that I did volunteer to babysit more because it was hilarious & other than the near disasters it went okay. I will however pack another shirt for sure, maybe another pair of socks because they took a while to dry, and I will find out where they keep the towels, etc., just in case.

As a side note, that morning the volunteer group at the Zoo went to Mountain View. It's a conservation & breeding centre for endangered or rare animals and is only open for 2 group tours daily, not like the Zoo. It was great! They had these giant Sarus Cranes, an Andean Condor named Archie ( I forget his mate's name, sorry!), this unusual looking bird called the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, several different Lemur species, Tapirs - Malayan and Mountain, an Indian Rhino named Ivan, a huge group of Painted Hunting Dogs, a Serval which was found living with a lady in her car as a pet (LUNACY!!!), and much more. They try to breed rare and endangered animals in the hope of eventually reintroducing them back into the wild. It was great to finally go there and I highly recommend it as a tourist spot if you have a chance. For more info go to their website:
http://mountainview.squarespace.com/

Well

Not much is going on really. I have been a little lazy, so no big surprises there. I MUST do my taxes before I get taken down by the tax police, or however that works. So, I'm getting a little stressed about it and therefore procrastinating. It's such a predictable cycle. I have started working on the Zoo newsletter which is good, but I'm still waiting for a few things so will hopefully get everything in by next week. Hal has been good with the birds (outside ones) but I did catch him leaping at the feeder the other day. Little f&%#er. Oh, well, it's cat nature. And, I guess the birds are use to predators. I did treat myself to some new music from iTunes. I got Massive Attack's Mezzanine album; the new album by Jason Collette; Talking Heads Best of; and Wintersleep 'cause of the song in One Week. I am obsessed with that particular song "Weighty Ghost". But I also brought the Talking Heads one into Little Car for the ride to work and I'm really glad I got it. It's super peppy and fun and it was only $7.97 or something. Cheap! I am listening to Massive Attack as I write this and it's making me want to brood and maybe have a cocktail, which is all good. I haven't thoroughly listened to the Jason Collette one but I have high hopes from the quick listen before I downloaded it. I also have to get the new K-os album but want the official CD so will actually go out to HMV sometime soon. That's it really, though I have to say that I LOVE wearing my belly dancing pants and fringey wrap. It makes me feel more authentic. We're learning a routine which is really fun though I had trouble with this new box step and had to learn two weeks in one due to the crazy ass flu I had last week. I am however a natural so managed to learn it all! Oh, and Lost...I won't go into detail but OH MY! And, I WAS RIGHT!

Later.

Pain, no gain

I was ill earlier in the week, I even took Monday off from work which is unusual for me. It was some sort of flu or something so lasted only a couple of days but it took a few more days to feel normal again. Yesterday was my first experience of hunger pains after 5 days. I was ecstatic, which may seem ridiculous, but I spent Thursday and Friday eating simply so I could get some energy back and hopefully have a normal bowel movement. But, yesterday I experienced the lovely feeling of hunger, a genuine desire for food. I ate a dried fruit snack and continued on my way. Then I felt hunger again and had lunch. And, then later again. Wonderful. I am back to normal and VERY happy about it. I am not a fan of feeling lame and out of sorts. Granted my whole body is sore because I had to postpone my massage therapy for fear of vomiting on her massage chair, but that's almost normal. I only have to wait a couple more days for my appointment. I also desperately need to visit my chiropractor but that will have to wait till later in the week.

As an aside, I went to "Pho Abbotsford No. 1" Vietnamese restaurant. It was a bit of a dive, location wise especially, so I doubt I would have tried it on my own BUT the food was good and after the meal we got an Aero bar and 2 toffees. An Aero bar. NO business has EVER given me an Aero bar without me grabbing it from the chocolate selection and paying for it. I thought that was it, but after the Aero bar we got a moist towelette. A moist towelette! Then, when we asked for the bill we got two more candies. Two more!!! I felt like giving them a hug for such wonderful customer service. It was like my Air North experience - after years and years of flying crap airlines Air North made me feel surprised and happy with my flying experience. They served fresh local food for the meal, which by the way was free, then I got two coffees and CANDY! It was wonderful. I am going back to the "Pho" and I HIGHLY recommend you do so as well.