The Good, The Bad and The Stressful

Well, thank you to my honey for recognizing in the last post the hard work taking care of animals can be. I always laugh when people are surprised that I work weekends... the animals still have to eat... the zoo is still open (and in fact is busier than any other day)... and we still feed them on Friday, which means...well, think about it. :(
Anyway, it seems that the job I love is even more challenging lately. We have been short staffed for quite a long time now and we have 3 employees starting this week and next. We also have zoo crew starting! Zoo crew are teenagers who work a couple days a week throughout the summer with us. It's an amazing opportunity for kids who are interested in the animal field. Finally...some relief! Although, I am still nervously awaiting the results of the supervisor interview!!! I want the position so bad, I can taste it. Despite that, I am not getting my hopes up too far. There are outside candidates coming to visit this week. For me, that is not a good sign, but I am just grateful for the chance to interview and I know I will make it there someday, if not now. In addition, just when we have several animals getting over injuries for various reasons, there's another one. My baby, my little Pygmy Falcon "Zuri", broke his toe yesterday and had to have part of it amputated!!! I was off yesterday and today, so I have not seen him yet. My supervisor told me that they have no idea how it happened. She said he was in good spirits though. I can't wait to see him...I hate not being there for him.
Well, with all the above good, bad and stressful going on, I will end with something good! On Dave's beloved 3 day weekend he came to visit me on Sunday! I have been working with the Sea Lion staff to learn the training necessary to work with our 420 pound male Sea Lion "Roscoe". I finally have enough behaviors down to perform a pretty good show and I was so excited for Dave to come and see it! So included are some of the pictures that he took while he was there!
It's back to work tomorrow and I am ready!

Alas, the beloved Three-Day Weekend!

Finally it is here. MY three-day weekend. I would love to say it is OUR three-day weekend, but Laura just isn't that lucky. It really is a full-time job taking care of animals. Kudos to her!!!

The last couple of weeks down here have been a bit of a whirlwind for us, with work and everything else going on. Laura interviewed for a supervisor position, I signed up to take my Life and Health Insurance Exam for work, my sister went to Colorado with the kids for a mini-vacation. The weather is getting warmer, and the beach is sounding better and better. Only problem is, one of us isn't going to go alone, so we must both suffer in vain. Oh well, soon enough I will have vacation and I can do anything I want.

Speaking of vacation, my parents are officially coming to visit. I have no idea why they have decided to drive, but I have a feeling my dad is regressing to his younger days and wants to get out on the road with his new car and see what it can really do. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited they are coming down here. They haven't seen the new apartment yet, and I really think they are going to like things down here. We'll do a little sightseeing, catch a ballgame (most likely on my birthday), and of course, lots of golf for my dad and I. I hope there's enough left in the tank for me to beat my dad...not that I'm really all that worried.

Less Than Jake came out with a new album this week. "In With The Out Crowd" is by far there most introspective record to date, but not so much that it is depressing and somber. Instead, the usual crunching guitars and sing-along style lyrics are there, but with a depth to it that hasn't been there before. I highly recommend picking this album up and giving it a try. You will not be disappointed. For those of you who like to download music, I know the iTunes store is running a deal where you can download the album and get an exclusive art PDF as well as a bonus track. Why not at least check it out!!!!

Finally, on a sad note, 24 is over for the season. I have to say, while I was able to predict some of the happenings during the 2-hour season finale, the ending COMPLETELY shocked me. I was not ready for that one! All I know is, I really hope the rest of this year goes quickly, because the new season that starts in January is going to be a helluva good one!

To everyone that has a long weekend, I hope you are with one's you love and I hope you are safe. We will probably cook out tomorrow night just for fun, and enjoy the gorgeous nights that we have down here. Be good and have fun!!!

-Dave

Austin City Limits

Double Trouble!

Yesterday, as many of you know, Laura and I took a trip to visit our state capital, Austin. While the weather wasn't necessarily cooperating with us in the morning, it certainly turned out to be a gorgeous day. We left the apartment around 7:00 AM, and we arrived in Austin at about 9:30 or so. From there we started at the capital building, which as amazing! The grounds were beautiful, the layout was incredible, and the scenery was spectacular. From there, we went to a restaurant called The Oasis, which sits atop a "mountain", if you will, and had some lunch. The view was absolutely incredible, and can be rivaled only by that of the landscape in Colorado. Lunch was very filling, and the best part of all, it was only about 12:00! So far, we had driven to Austin, visited and toured the capital, visited the information center, eaten lunch at The Oasis, and gotten back into town.
From there, we went to the Texas State Cemetery. Now I know what you're all thinking, but just give me a minute. The reason we went there was because they have a monument to victims of the attacks on 9/11. There are two beams from the WTC Towers that are displayed as a memorial to those who lost their lives. I can only show a picture of what we saw, but I can never describe the feelings that Laura and I had looking at those two mangled beams. It is something that anyone who comes to visit Texas should go see, and I will do my best to take anyone and everyone there.
Moving on, we found out there was some sort of festival happening on 6th St., which is the equivalent of Water Street, only MANY more bars. Basically there is a bar every other door for about 4 blocks on either side of the road. There were little tents set up on the street and people peddling all of their merchandise. Kind of po-dunk to me, only because I never really enjoyed the whole "flea market" scene. But it was neat to see some of what people had to offer, and I know Laura enjoyed it, which is what was important to me. After walking up and down the street, we grabbed a quick drink at on of the bars, The Chuggin' Monkey to be exact, and decided to head home. Now, the trip home wasn't bad from a weather standpoint like the drive in, but we did get a bit lost, I hit a pigeon, and basically turned a 2 1/2 hour trip into about 3 1/2 hours. Oh well, we made it home!
All in all, it was a wonderful trip, a wonderful time with Laura, and hopefully a wonderful birthday for her. It was god to get out and do something different, and rest assured, we will be taking more trips once we find the time. Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I am going to try to get some posted online somewhere so you can actually see what I am talking about a little bit better than just these few!

The latest...

Well, it seems my brother and I are in the same boat. He just had a post about the fact that the time between posts keeps increasing. I guess the same is for us. Maybe the novelty of the blog has worn off, or we simply don't have that exciting of a life. Oh well.
We have decided to cool off the house search. After going to see one and really liking it, we took a closer look at our finances and feel that it may be best to save up a little more first. At least now we know what we can get and what the process involves. We will probably look again after the wedding. Right now we just want to enjoy the wedding planning process and save up money so we're more prepared.
My baby Pygmy Marmosets are doing great! They are going to be a month old on May 4th! They are getting so big, which for them is about 2-3 inches long now. They have not ventured around the cage yet, they are still enjoying being carried around by mom and dad. We got our first picture of them two days ago; it's the one above. Dad is the one carrying them. You can see the head of one baby and the back and tail of another! Could they possibly be any cuter? I certainly don't think so!
Well, that's about all I have. I hope everyone is doing well and I'll hopefully decrease the time between now and the next post.
Laura