June 24th, 2007

Today was our last day at the Disney Theme Parks. We finished Epcot and MGM, but still had Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom to tackle. We began at Animal Kingdom. We were there right when it opened and quickly made our way to the Dinosaur Exhibit. We thought it would be a walk-through, park-like exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs, but we were wrong! It was a ride! It took us through a dark inside replica of an island in the time period of the dinosaurs. It was extremely dark, so there were many unexpected twists, turns and of course dinosaurs! We both decided it was our favorite ride!!! We then continued through the park seeing many other animals like tigers, siamangs, bats, birds and more. We went on one more ride and called it a day. We went back to the resort, took yet another nap and got ready for the next and final park…Magic Kingdom! We were both very excited to go back! Although, I already saw Cinderella’s Castle, I was still thoroughly impressed! We hit up two areas we didn’t go through last time including Tomorrow Land and Toon Time Land. The latter was mainly for kids and didn’t have much for us. We did get to go through Minnie and Mickey’s houses which was quite cute, but the majority of our time was spent in Tomorrow Land. We went on a ride based on Lilo and Stitch where Stitch escapes and is running through the audience (which is in complete darkness). You feel him breathing on you, running on the back of your seat and even burping on you, which stunk like chili fries!!! We also saw an interactive comedy show based on the movie Monsters Inc. and a 3-D show with tons of Disney characters! Both were hilarious and very impressive! Most of the rest of our time was spent relaxing and taking in all the sights. We enjoyed some homemade candy, some shopping and a great dinner at the Plaza Restaurant. The best part of the night (and the best night time show of the trip) was the fireworks display called “Wishes”. Although, I did really enjoy Fantasmic a couple nights ago at MGM, Wishes far surpassed that show! It was amazing! We wondered around for a little bit after the show, but then head out. Dave had to drag me towards the door, all the while reminding me that we will be back one day with our kids, so I didn’t actually have to say good-bye!

June 23rd, 2007

Today was an incredibly relaxing day! We were out the door by about 8:30 heading straight to the resort pool. It’s a gorgeous pool surrounded by rocks, waterfalls and even a geyser! We hung out in the pool for awhile and then switched to the hot tub. It was a perfect time to go to the pool because most people are still getting ready for the day or are off to a theme park. The pool is barely tolerable later in the day due to the huge crowds! After we laid out in the morning sun for awhile, we proceeded to the boat rental area were we found ourselves in a Sea Raycer, a 2 seater baby speed boat! It’s like a mix between speed boat, jet-ski and paddle boat. We were told that anything over 320 pounds would affect speed and we confidently shrugged our shoulders as if that didn’t apply to us. Once we left the dock we realized that it certainly did apply to us! So, although we weren’t able to go nearly as fast as we saw others going, it was very enjoyable! The little lake our resort is on, is very, very pretty and provides a great view of Cinderella’s Castle! Once we finished with the boat, we showered and got ready to head to the Boardwalk! The Boardwalk is actually another Disney resort on a different lake that has lots of little restaurants and of course ESPN Zone (the main reason for our visit)! We decided to eat at the ESPN restaurant and were quickly glad we did. When we arrived the Bears Quarterback, Rex Grossman, was there. Although, we are Packers fans, it was still cool to see! He went into this sound proof, glass room to do an interview which was actually live and being played on tv’s throughout the restaurant. As soon as he left, another celebrity came in…Michelle Kwan! It was so awesome to see her in person! Although I don’t watch ice skating as much as I used to, I always loved her and she’s without a doubt, the most well known figure skater around! I got a few pictures and she walked about 2 feet in front of me, but I couldn’t actually get a picture with her; she was quickly being ushered out. When we were done eating we walked the Boardwalk a little and then came back for yet another nap! Once we awoke from our nap we headed towards Fort Wilderness Campground. It’s a short distance away and we were able to ride a ferry to get there. Once we arrived we made our way to the middle of the campground where we anxiously awaited a campfire. Unfortunately, the campfire pits were really small and the 2 fires were lit without so much a word. The whole experience was very disappointing. Even though we could buy a kit to make s’mores and there was a movie to be played on a huge outdoor screen within an hour, Dave and I decided to leave. It may have been our least favorite and most disappointing part of the trip…we both expected the largest campfire imaginable. We then walked through the trails of the campground back towards the lake and sat down for awhile. We had dinner reservations at the Trail’s End restaurant, which is an all you can eat buffet. We were very pleased with dinner. We both felt like we’ve been surviving on French fries and sandwiches for days, so it was great to get a home cooked meal. The buffet was filled with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni, salad, skirt steak and much, much more! We ate like we’ve never ate before and then headed back to our resort for bed.

June 22nd, 2007

Well, today started a little different than the previous days. We got up at a decent hour and ate breakfast like normal, but luck wasn’t on our side this time. Our intention was to go to the Wide World of Sports, which we didn’t know anything about. Having “sports” in the title was enough for Dave. So, we excitedly hopped aboard a bus to MGM Studios, as no buses went directly there from our resort. Once there we thought we found the correct bus and away we went. However, when we got there and went inside, we discovered we were dropped off at the “All Sports Disney Resort”!!!! Although I did buy a cute shirt in their gift shop, they had nothing else for us. So, we found out that we should go to another central location to catch the right bus. This time we went to Downtown Disney. We stopped in a store to get a Christmas Ornament I wanted and then were back at the bus stops. We couldn’t find the correct bus, so we decided just to go back to MGM, which is where we intended on ending our day anyway. Unfortunately, they do not have buses that go from park to park so we had to take one to another resort, get off and get on another bus from there to MGM. This last part of the process took about an hour! By the time we got to MGM it was almost 1pm and we felt like we accomplished very little. Despite all this, we had a wonderful time at MGM because it was Star Wars Weekend! This was our main purpose for going, so we had no problem standing in the long lines for photos with famous Star Wars characters! We got pictures with a total of about 7 characters including, Luke, Chewy, R2-D2 (who I kissed), Storm Troopers and more!!! We also enjoyed lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive In, where we were seated in booths that were inside convertibles. The whole restaurant is made to look as if we were in a drive in movie, complete with a huge screen playing parts of classic movies and cartoons! After all this, we were once again pretty beat and although we found the correct bus stop for Wide World of Sports on our way out, Dave decided not to go. We went back to the resort for our daily nap. As we speak it is about 8pm and Dave is still sleeping! I’ll wake him up soon!

June 21st, 2007

Despite setting our alarm for 6:15 in the morning, we didn’t roll out of bed until 8:15. We were way too tired after traveling and our first day of parks to get up that early. After a quick breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom, the ultimate Disney Theme Park. I was in awe when we walked up to see Cinderella’s Castle!!! The very venue you see on all the commercials, the Disney logo and all the merchandise. It was beautiful! And once again, we had great timing as we caught a cool dance show on the Castle stage right when we got there! We continued walking around the park enjoying the scenery and wandering in and out of shops. At this point, I was getting plenty of attention…yesterday, at MGM, Dave bought me Minnie ears with a veil! They are very cute and have provided Dave and I with a bit more attention than we anticipated! We also both were given "Just Married" buttons which provided us with even more attention! While hearing lots of “congratulations” Dave and I made it through about half the park. We rode the “It’s a Small World” and “Peter Pan” ride and saw A Tiki Show starring Zazu and Iago! We also were lucky enough to meet Timon and Rafiki and get a picture!!! Did I mention Dave got me a very, very large Princess balloon??? Yes, he did…and yes, I feel like I am 5 years old and I am loving every minute of it! We then went back to the hotel and planned the rest of our vacation with the concierge. We made reservations at several restaurants for the rest of our stay! We then proceeded to Epcot!!! We immediately went on the very cute “Nemo and Friends” ride and then worked our way around the "world"! Epcot circles a small lake and contains replicas of many historical buildings around the world. Each “country” has authentic shops, restaurants, grounds and even employees from the given country. We stopped at the Nine Dragons Chinese restaurant for our reservation! It was an amazing meal! After dinner we watched the incredible “Illuminations” light and fireworks show! It was one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen! We ended the night with a ride on a Test Track with a super fast race car and another ride on Spaceship Earth with an entertaining look at the history and future of communication. With sore chins, feet and backs we said goodnight to Epcot which we finished in only one afternoon!

June 20th, 2007

Well, the day started early as we headed to Animal Kingdom, our first Disney Theme Park of the vacation. We were able to get in early due to the “Extra magic Hours” offered to Disney resort guests! We ran to the back of the park for the Kilimanjaro Safari! We were taken on an interactive “safari” in a large jeep through the African forest and savanna! We saw rhinos, giraffes, impala, lions, hippos and much, much more! Then we continued through the park stopping for other animal exhibits including gorillas. My favorite part was the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” 3-D show inside the beautiful Tree of Life! We tackled half the park and came back to the hotel for a short nap. We’ll get the rest done on Sunday. After our nap, we headed to Disney’s MGM Park. As we walked in the entrance, a parade had just begun…great timing! We saw characters like Woody, Buzz, R2-D2, Darth, the Disney Princesses and many more! We went to several shows including Indiana Jones, Muppet 3-D and Star Tours! We stood in line for longer than I can remember for the big show of the night…Fantasmic! Despite the long wait, this water, light and character show was well worth it! To my amazement, a Disney employee convinced Dave to try the Aerosmith roller coaster!!!! For someone who LOVES Aerosmith and roller coasters, this couldn’t be a better combination, but Dave doesn’t like roller coasters, heights OR Aerosmith!!!! I was very excited he gave it a try and survived to talk about it! He says it was bland and too short, but that he would do it again! WOW! Maybe I’ll get him on all the roller coasters now!

June 19th, 2007

We were on a plane by 6am heading to our honeymoon location…Orlando!!! Relaxation here we come!!! Once we arrived at the airport we were greeted by “Magical Express” employees who told us that we didn’t have to even worry about our luggage. It would arrive at the resort later in the day! Talk about convenience. We then took the Disney shuttle to the Wilderness Lodge resort! It is absolutely beautiful! Our room is on the first floor over looking a calm and very quiet little pond. We have a patio that leads right to the pond! We were visited by ducks very early in our stay! We have much exploring of the resort to do over the next several days. After a nap, we got ready for Downtown Disney! We started by eating out at Planet Hollywood. Our VIP pass lead us straight to a table, avoiding the half hour wait! We had a wonderful meal and took home 2 souvenir glasses and 2 t-shirts. We then proceeded through the rest of the shops, buying more trinkets along the way and stopping for many photos! We will be going back later in the week to experience Downtown in the daylight! The night ended with a bottle of wine, balloons and a congratulations card from Mickey and Minnie waiting in our room! It was a wonderful first day!

Our Wedding Day

All the planning...all the appointments, phone calls and fittings and it is all over in less than a day! The good news is that it was all I ever dreamed and so much more! Dave and I could not have been happier with the way our day turned out! Everything down to the smallest detail was perfect! We pray that all of you that were able to make it enjoyed yourselves! I can't begin to describe the amazing feeling of having all our loved ones with us for such an important event!

I am not going to go through all the details of the day; all I am going to say is that it was the best day of my life! I am so in love and will never forget the day I married my best friend!

First Day

Well, today is my first day in the primate department! I am very excited, but of course nervous too! It's like starting a whole new job! I already have good news though, and I haven't even stepped my foot in the door yet! I heard over my weekend that the Pied Tamarins had babies! Mom gave birth to twins! So, although I'm leaving my Pymgy babies behind (whom I will miss like crazy), I still have these new bundles of joy to keep me happy!!!! I'll let you know how the day goes! Wish me luck!

Laura

P.S. And yes, their heads are supposed to look like that! :)

A long time coming.

Man we suck at this whole "blog" thing. I'm sorry it's been a while, but things are getting intense down here with the wedding planning in full effect. I won't bore you with any of the details, I'll leave that to Laura, but I will catch you up on the happenings of late.

Nothing too new at work for me. Laura has applied for a position in another department at the zoo, and there is no doubt she will get it from what I hear. The move is long overdue since her department is going to hell in a hand basket if you ask me. Inept supervisors and cliques the likes you haven't seen since grade school are making it a truly unbearable place for her to work. When did it stop being about the animals and start being about the people?

FINALLY watched X-Men 3 the other day. I know it's been out forever, but I hadn't gotten around to it. All I can say is, as soon as I watched it I went to Target that night and bought the trilogy! I thought it was the best of the 3, and being an X-Men kid, I was very happy with the way it went. Even though there was a director change in X-Men 3 from 1 and 2, which usually spells disaster, it held its ground and I can't wait to see it again.

My dad will officially begin his retirement work this spring for the Milwaukee Brewers. Yup, he'll be one of the guys that stands in the stadium and tells you where to sit. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours if you ask me, especially if the Brewers play to expectations this year!

24 is alive and well in our household. Some early observations:

1. Milo isn't that bad
2. Chloe looks good
3. Morris is a pansy
4. President Palmer is believable
5. No sign of Audrey (thank you)
6. Welcome back, Logan!
7. Nina is still dead ( yes dad, she is)

I think that's most of the big stuff. If I think of anymore I'll be sure to have Laura hop on here and talk about it. Until then, I hope you had an enjoyable weekend, and if you are watching the Oscar's tonight, enjoy!

Dave

A mommy again!

Well, great news! Many of you may remember when I blogged about being a new mom of twin Pygmy Marmosets (very small monkeys, for all non-animal people). We also have a second pair of Pygmies and they had a baby yesterday!!!! We were prepared for a birth, but had no hope anymore that she was actually pregnant. She looked pregnant, but stopped gaining weight about 2-3 weeks ago. This is unusual in the last few weeks of pregnancy. We were starting to worry that she had a health problem that had caused her to gain all that weight in the first place. Fortunately, we were proved wrong! I found the baby yesterday morning clinging well to Mom's back. Twins are very common, but she only had one. We are actually very happy about that because they are both first time parents; so, having only one will significantly increase the baby's chance of survival. Also, the baby is much larger than normal because it didn't have to share any of mom's nutrients with a brother or sister. In fact, it's so large that I'm not sure how mom lived through it!!! Both mom and dad (Botilda and Bobby) are doing very well. The first week or two is especially critical, so please cross your fingers that our new baby makes it! A baby monkey has 2 jobs...nurse and hang on for dear life! As long as the baby does that and mom and dad don't drop her, we should be in the clear! I'll keep everyone updated and pictures will follow soon!
Laura

And so it starts...

Realizing that we only have about 6 months until the wedding, Laura and I have decided we aren't too happy with the way things look, so we are both going on diets! Laura's diet is quite simple, in that, it is mostly fruits and vegetables that she can eat. It's called 'The Fat Smash Diet'. Mine, on the other hand, is the better-known 'South Beach Diet'. I can't stand vegetables, and couldn't live on just fruits alone, so I think this is the best for me. I can eat meat, cheese, and fudge pops...what's not to like! We are currently on Phase I of both diets. Laura's lasts 9 days, and is more of a "detox" (as they call it in the book), whereas mine is 2 weeks, and it's more of training the body to eat simpler every day. I'll let Laura fill you in more in a few paragraphs, because I have more exciting news.

Yesterday was my "Christmas"!!! You see, come the original Christmas Day, I had no presents under the tree. Only a letter that said I would receive my gift at a later time. Turns out, that time was yesterday. Laura somehow surprised me and was able to get a day off of work for me, even though I was on the schedule. Everyone knew but me! I then opened two gifts, one was a bucket of beer (I'll explain in a minute), and the other was golf balls and tees. Turns out Laura had made a reservation for her an I to go golfing! Granted, I did most of the golfing, but Laura took a few swings, and was my unofficial putter for the afternoon. I don't know, but if this zoo thing doesn't work out, she may have a future with this game.

Back to the "bucket of beer". Basically, when you go to certain 'establishments' down here, you can order what's known as a 'bucket'. They bring you a tin pale that is filled with ice, and usually six beer bottles. Why I wanted one I think is obvious, but I wanted one even more once I saw Kohl's had Miller Lite buckets. It came with four beer glasses and at least 2 dozen Miller Lite coasters, along with the pale that has the Miller Lite logo on it. Very good stuff!!! OK, here's Laura...

Well, apparently Christmas was a success! It was fun golfing, but I doubt I will have any type of future in the game! Thanks anyway, honey! My favorite part of the day was just being outside with no real distractions. No tv, no internet, no radio, no other people, etc, etc. We certainly talk openly, like any healthy couple does, but you never realize how much fun you can have with the other person until you remove all the external elements. Dave makes me laugh on a daily basis, but yesterday was different. I felt like I was on a first date with a life long friend! I got the whole butterfly in my stomach feeling more than a couple times. Without getting much more mushy...it was a wonderful day!

About the diet... I'm not sure what else to say that Dave hasn't. We both found diets that work for our lifestyles and taste buds and we are very determined to stick to them. Neither one is about losing weight quickly. It's about changing your eating habits which we certainly need to do! No more corn dogs and french fries for dinner, with a vanilla malt for desert! We will keep you updated on our progress!

Alright, off to watching more 24 on dvd. We are now half way through season 4. I am completely addicted and am counting the minutes til season 6 starts! If you have never watched it, start now! Then try to beat my record of watching 16 episodes in 2 days! It truly is that addicting!

Hope all is well with everyone!

The Year That Was...

Well everyone, another year has come and gone. I can't believe it's almost 2007 already! Is it just me, or do all of the 'elders' know what they're talking about every time they say, "As you get older, time moves quicker." Either way, it was a year filled with ups and downs, but for the most part, it was a year that made us appreciate everything we have. Let's take a look at what we had:

-Lost a grandparent (Late December of '05, technically)
-Almost lost a dad
-Had a 60th birthday party for said dad
-Finalized MOST of the wedding plans
-New TV and sound system
-PS3 arrived (hint, hint, Laura)
-Laura went to her first NFL game (sorry it wasn't a real team)
-Had our Christmas package stolen
-Got a digital camera
-Won an iPod (still trying to get it to work)
-Laura became addicted to 24 (more addicted than Jack was to heroin in Season 3)
-Visited our beautiful capital city
-Wedding rings!

I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting, and that will be filled in when Laura reads this, but those were a few of the highlights (and some lows), from our year. All in all, it was successful, stressful, and satisfying all in one, and realistically, what more could you ask for? What's there to look forward to in 2007 you say...well, only the biggest party of the century coming in June, but I'm sure everyone will be kept up to date on that! My final prediction as we close out 2006...Packers over the Bears 24-10. In case you don't like my pick, try this one on for size:

Packers (+3) over BEARS
For all you college kids reading this, we implore you, do not play ANY form of the "Let's drink every time Brett Favre gets mentioned" game on Sunday night. You will die.

We're not very good "bloggers"!

No excuses...It's been a long time...no good reasons why! :(

Wedding planning is going great! I've said that before, but really we have very little left to do. We got a lot done the last time we were in town...taste testing, cake ordering, tuxedo fitting, meeting with the officiant and my maid of honor to figure out ceremony details, meeting with florist, trial make-up done, meeting with the dj, etc. etc. etc. Anyway, a lot was accomplished. Last night we figured out the dates of our vacation/honeymoon, so we can get our requests off to our supervisors! Looks like a total of about 2 and a half weeks off! I don't think I've had that much time off since I started working at the ripe age of 14! I can't explain how excited I am! Everyone says this is so stressful, but Dave and I have really done a good job at keeping stress to a minimum! We are thoroughly enjoying the planning process!

Dave's parents were just in town over Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time! I think the more they visit, the more relaxing the vacation becomes. Of course Dave and I find new tourist spots to show them or new places to eat at, but for the most part, we just relax! No schedules or itineraries. We watched movies, ate out, got lots of ice cream, went shopping, grilled out and simply just spent time together! Dave and Ron went golfing twice (once with Ruben-who did a great job I hear) and Yvonne and I shopped til we dropped (literally)! We also went to a Texans game-my first official NFL game! It was too warm for football and there were no cheeseheads, but other than that it was a great time! We tailgated afterwards which was also a blast! One of the most interesting things we did while they were in town was going to the Holocaust Museum. It's probably not something that most people would think of doing on a vacation, but it was incredible. You learn a lot more about the hardship and the killing, but you also learn about the strength of the human heart, the people who stood up and fought and the people who put their lives at stake in order to save complete strangers. It is a part of our history that I can only pray doesn't repeat itself.

Thanksgiving was wonderful! We went to Martha and Ruben's house in Crosby. There were about 30 people there! There was great food and great company...we couldn't have asked for much more. Although I deeply missed my parents, Michael and Traci, I am very happy that they were able to spend the holiday together in Champaign this year!

Well, that brings us up to today. Not too much going on. I'm getting together with some of the girls from work tonight for a Christmas cookie decorating party. I think we'll also be watching some movies and ordering pizza! And it just so happens that tomorrow night a different group of girls from work are having a girls night too! More movies and possibly more pizza! It'll be a great weekend! Sorry honey, but I was specifically told that "no intact males are allowed". Spoken like a true veterinarian...good work Dr. Lauren!

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving! We will try to blog more often, so you don't have to put aside a half a day to read it!

Floating Away

Well, many of you have been concerned that Dave and I are flooded and floating away into the streets of Houston...you can be assured that we are safe, however, the damage is incredible. The other day, when talking to my brother, I told him that the news makes it look worse than it is. This is true, however, I found out right after the phone call, that 4 people have died!!! And just this morning a mom and her child died when they tried driving through a flooded street. It turns out that the water was 10 feet deep! Thankfully, most of these streets are far away from our apartment and both of our commutes to work. Although, I did drive through several streets that had maybe 6 inches of water across the whole width of the street! All the animals in the zoo now have pools in their exhibit, and being their caretaker is a muddy mess. But, all in all the flooding has only been a minor inconvenience to Dave and I. Hopefully, for the sake of all the people affected by this it will be over now. The only positive thing that this "tropical depression" has brought us, is cooler weather. Through all of it we've had humidity worse than I have ever felt, along with heat in the upper 80's/low 90's. Today, much to our relief, the humidity is gone and we will be having highs in the 70's and lows tonight will be around 55 degrees!!!

I will be spending this cool night in a huge line (no doubt) waiting for a Haunted House and a Haunted Maze with many of my co-workers! I can't think of a better place to be on a cool October night!

Oh Crap

Alright, so there are times in my life that I am not sure where my 20's have gone. I feel like I come home from work and collapse on the couch and whine about work, money or some other thing that is completely frivolous...well, at least right now it feels frivolous! Yes, you are correct...I am hungover. I'm actually not sure how I am able to write this right now. All I can say is..."oh crap". I am back in my 20's...I have to work at 7am (in 1 hour from now)...my job requires me to pick up animal poop, and I am not quite sure how I am going to do that without throwing up! Last night it seemed like such a good idea to drink as much as I did, but now...not so much! How is it that one second I am fine, and as soon as the guests leave the house I feel like I am going to die. Does your body really know when everyone is gone? It secretly waits and says, "I am not going to let you know you are drunk until everyone has left and you drank so much that there will be nothing you can do about it"! And then a measly 4 hours later, you wake up for work and feel like you're going to die and say the classic phrase in your head..."I will never drink that much again"! Yeah, right, until next time! Anyway, I am off to McDonald's, because nothing solves a hangover like greasy food in the morning.
To my family, (or Dave's family), I hope I have not disappointed you! In fact, if you can help me think of ways that I can sober up before picking up that monkey poop, I would be forever grateful! OK, bye...have a better day than me.
Laura

No more perm!

So, I think I finally got the last inches of my perm cut out of my hair last night!!! I have been disguising it for months now and am very happy not to have to worry about it anymore! Almost 2 years later...no more frizz! All I can say is anyone thinking of getting a perm...DON'T! I've gotten 3 in my life and hated 2 (for my family-remember 5th grade?). You would think I would have learned by now! Oh well.
Short and sweet blog, but for me a 2 year war has ended! :)

Zuma Family Crap

So, last night my co-worker Vicki planned a little fun night out for all of us. My supervisor's sister was in town from New York, so she wanted us to get a chance to hang out with her. We all decided it would be fun to go play mini golf. Vicki found a place that not only had mini golf, but also batting cages, bumper boats, go-karts and more video games than you could ever play! It was called Zuma Family Fun. And so our story begins:
We waited outside for our whole party to get there. That is when we first noticed the smell of dirty diapers. Sara quickly told me that if I want to use the bathroom I should use "this bush, it's much cleaner than the restrooms". Well, ok then, luckily I went before I left the house. Once we all arrived, we went inside. The first thing I went to do is find an ATM or try to buy tokens, etc. with my check card. The guy at the cheesy prize counter told me that their only ATM was broken, so if I wanted to get money I could go to the concession stand. OK, so I ask if I can get money to play the games from this 14 year old girl behind the counter and she says "no". But, I was just told to come over here! She said sorry, and I said, "so you're telling me I can't do anything at your facility because I can't pay with a check card and you don't have a working ATM as an alternative!" She then told me that yes, I could buy the tokens that I needed, I just couldn't get cash from her. Well, alright, you should have said that in the first place. So, Vicki and I played for our mini golf and I got enough tokens for the batting cages to ensure very sore shoulders in the morning. The young girl walked away and came back with 1 golf ball. She told us that was all they had. What!?!?! How is it possible that you only have one golf ball!? So, I said, "you're telling me that you can't get any more balls, so anyone who wants to play tonight, can't?" She then asked me if I wanted my money back. I started to say, "well obviously", when Sara asked if we could talk to a manager. She went and got him and when we explained the loss of balls issue, he handed some keys to an employee and said "go to the course and get some more balls". Wow, rocket science! What does the girl do when the register runs out of singles? I can hear it now, "I'm sorry sir, I have no change for you. You cannot have your money." So, 15 minutes later, we get a handful of balls and the rest of the group pays for their round of mini-golf. Besides the fact that all the balls were wet and dirty, we were ready to go.
We had 3 different courses to choose from. We chose "Cactus Junction" and began our game. The course was extremely dirty and not taken care of. It had a huge waterfall (a staple at any mini golf course), but this one was gray and we had finally found the source of the earlier dirty diaper smell. At around hole 10 an announcement came over a horribly poor sound system saying that they were closing in 20 minutes. WHAT!? The internet says they are open til 10pm! It was only 8:40. So, we hurried up the rest of our game and ignored the announcement that said they were "now closed". Once finished we went back to the building and walked in. Sure enough, the video games were all off and the staff was cleaning up. No Skeeball. No batting cages. No Go-karts. We once again asked for the manager, complained, and got our money back for all our unused tokens. We also got few passes to come back and play golf again. Great maybe I can master the hardest hole which consisted of a wagon wheel in front of the hole! Yeah, I can't wait! He also told us that he has never been to their website and he'd check it out to make sure the closing time was correct. As soon as we left, we laughed it off knowing we would never go there again! We ended the night playing almost 3 hours of Catch Phrase, a high paced, fun guessing game! A rum and coke and some good friends and a game that was not dirty, wet or smelled like diapers...the night was redeemed.

The Flu Sucks

So, my off days this week (Mon and Tues) were ripped away from me...the culprit? The flu! I'm not sure how it all went down, but to the best of my knowledge, this is how it happened:
It started with a sore throat and massive headaches and quickly led to me feeling like a 90 year old women going through menopause! Now, I am fully aware that this is not possible, but if it was, I know exactly how it would feel! I sit now on the computer chair with a pillow behind my "bad back". The fan is on high and my sleeves are rolled up as far as they can go, but I have no doubt that in a few minutes I'll be back in my sweatshirt and jogging pants under the down comforter. Believe it or not that was the scene about an hour ago despite our 90 degree weather outside and the 78 degrees inside! It is a highly confusing illness...am I hot, am I cold, am I young, am I old? Who knows! Yesterday I reluctantly called into work, leaving them short handed beyond belief! We just lost one of our employees to San Francisco, another one to college, and a third to a different department within the zoo! I felt very guilty, but in my field, it is much more important not to go to work, not only to not get any fellow co-workers sick, but the animals too! Primates can catch everything we can (obviously, since we too are primates), so we take that very seriously. I would not have been able to work in my normal area, nor would I have been able to touch ANY animal's diet, so what does that leave...not much! Feeling guilty of course, I tried to go to work today and they promptly sent me home. I was told I look like "poop" (I beg to differ, although it really isn't pretty) and I think the fact that I was sweating profusely was the other kicker. So, a half hour after I got there, I was on my home. More episodes of The View, Montell, and of course The Price is Right!!! Yipppeee! So, I had to break from those award winning shows (sarcasm) to type one of the most boring blog entries to date! So, be thankful you are not a 90 year old women going through menopause!

On a happier note, thanks to my Dave for taking such good care of me and for not getting too annoyed with my complaints and requests of the application of Icy Hot to my back! Thanks sweetie!

MUST READ!!!

Now, I don't usually endorse other people's writings, but this article you HAVE to read. For anyone that's been to Wisconsin and enjoyed anything the state has to offer, you are required by law to read the entire thing. It's an article from ESPN.com's Bill Simmons. Now, I love Bill because he, like I, is a die-hard Red Sox fan. Once I started to read this, I could not stop laughing, and remembering everything that made Wisconsin great. The beer, the brats, the weather...it's all there. So please, enjoy and take a look into what it's like in the Great North!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060825&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

What Could Have Been?

I always love watching golf on Sunday afternoon for many reasons. One, to me it is completely relaxing. Two, if you ever watch a golf match, there are some amazing commercials to catch. If you watched any of the PGA Championship, there were a number of commercials with kids playing golf and not exactly loving it. One girl says she hates the game, while an older man walking with her tells her to be calm and swing easy. The moral, hate never works on the golf course! It's a life lesson. Golf is a life lesson. It teaches people that no matter what happens on the previous shot, there is always another one to make up for a mistake. For others, it teaches them how to relax and enjoy the talent that they have. In my case, every round, every shot and every winner reminds me of what I could have done. Many people have said that I am extremely talented when it comes to golf, and maybe they're right. But for me, it was never about the competition. I never liked competing when I was on the golf course. For me, in later years, it was a chance to get away from the world. You see on the golf course, if you're good enough, you can make any shot go anywhere at any time. In life, you'd be lucky to have one thing go your way in any given day. But not golf. Golf turns men into children. Don't believe me? Go play golf with your friends, and watch as one of the chips in for an eagle or drains a 45-foot birdie putt that dipped left and right. Watch them jump up and down and shout until everyone else is done. Listen as they taunt you for the rest of the afternoon with every chip or every putt. Feel their emotions come pouring out for at least 10 minutes. The beauty of it all; it can all change with one swing. That friend of yours that just made the miraculous shot, well, he's also the one that just: lost a ball, hit a duck, missed a 2-foot putt...TWICE, broke his 9-iron on a sprinkler head and drove the golf cart into a sand trap. You see, it's not about winning or losing, it's about who comes away with the most balls after 18 holes. Bragging rights only go to a certain few on the golf course, and if you're one of those lucky few, than my friend, you deserve a drink. So if you haven't tried it yet, go play. Play all day and night, and who cares if you lose a few balls? Who cares if you shank a few shots here and there? Most of all, who cares if you've never even been out there? If people don't want to wait, let 'em play through. Enjoy every round, every shot and ever minute of the beautiful game. Trust me, what you learn on the golf course will stay with you for the rest of your life if you're lucky. If it doesn't, let the others play through.

-Dave

P.S. When you're ready, come talk to me and we'll see just how good you think you are. I mean, people think I'm talented for a reason!