Bird Bird Biter

This bird came to me in August 2017, near death from heat exhaustion and dehydration. It was mid-heat wave when one of our maintenance guys at work found her sitting on his truck. He wasn’t sure what to do, Oslo I jumped in and, using a gas-stained towel, nabbed her. She brought in no fight, but happily drank from a bottle cap. I only had a small reptile habitat to keep her until I could borrow a cage. A friend quickly heeded my call and loaned me one in a heartbeat.

Surprised she made it through the night, she recouped pretty quickly afterwards. We learned she had no socialization and was downright mean. Cockatiels are either the sweetest things, or will willingly chew your finger to a bloody pulp. She was incredibly fearful of us and would thrash in her cage until we walked away.

Fast forward a year and 5 months later.  We’ve worked with her to earn our trust. She no longer thrashes, but still doesn’t like her space “invaded” by us. She won’t step into our hands, but She will now eat out of them, and we learned she really loves safflower seeds and parsley.

I had a huge breakthrough yesterday, as I tricked her into thinking my finger was part of her bell (that she really likes to hide under), and I was able to give her scritches for a few seconds. Once she figured out it was my finger, she went for blood. Still...progress. Lots to still do, but she’s coming along.

I’m back....

Well, it appears that it’s been about 2 years since I blogged last. Have I been busy!!!  Busy raising big two incredibly active teenagers. They still keep me busy, but I have found that I have a lot to say lastly. Nothing too strongly opinionated, but just jabber. And sometimes jabber is good. 

So, I find myself at the moment sitting outside my hotel in Arizona. It’s 94 degrees, and I’m sweating. I’ve been spitting water at a thirsty cricket who seems to be enjoying my backwash. The sound of his friends all around me is quite melodic and peaceful. Hence, the sacrifice of sitting out I. The heat. Oh, and it’s 9pm. 

It was an interesting day. Went to work, taught my 30 4th graders fun ways to do multiplication, for them setup with the art Teacher,  then jammed out of there before our fire drill, and headed for the airport. I was able to get an earlier flight, so I didn’t have to sit around for 4 hours. I was also rushing to try to make it to the Diamondbacks game with my Principal, but traffic ruined those plans. 

The flight was not my favorite. See, I have anxiety when it comes to flying. I had an 8-minute meditation I was going to listen to, and replay, and replay again, for the hour and a half flight. But that got boring real quick. I ordered a Bourbon and Ginger, which was so strong, I basically had to take it like a shot. The stewardess felt bad, so she kindly told me to put my credit card away since I didn’t get to “enjoy” my drink. Well, the drink did it’s job. I found myself jamming loudly in my earbuds and rocking and swaying, and tapping my feet for the entire descent. The turbulence was manageable, unlike the last time I flew into Las Vegas and scared half the passengers with my screams and tears. 

J made it safely to the terminal, found my luggage, and called for an Uber for the first time ever. Sheesh, have I been missing out! My driver was Enrico, and Arizona transplant from North Carolina. (Totally picked up on the accent).  He was super cool and I asked lots of questions. He showed me the new football stadium and where to go eat, Promising me it was a safe area to walk alone. 

So I did.  I walked across the way to the hotel where my conference is tomorrow, to get registered. Then I walked around to a local little mall that interestingly had outdoor Zumba on the Esplanade. There were a couple hundred people out in the upper 90° heat dancing away. It look like fun, but I was one a mission to find food. 

 I found a little sushi place that got decent reviews on yelp, so I sat alone at the sushi bar. The place was pretty kitchy, but the sushi was decent. I enjoyed my meal, and when I was all done, I walked outside, and there were all the Zumbaers still going.

While riding up today’s blog, I now find myself strewn across the hotel bed staring out the window at the blackness of the desert. It’s actually quite peaceful being by yourself. I thought I’d be bored, but I have yet to get there.

Yesterday, the kids and I spent a fabulous day with a friend and her son at Point Lobos State Reserve. I always see it while driving past it on the way to Boy Scout Camp, and it's been so many years since I've been, I honestly couldn't remember what it was like. I'm saddened that it's taken me this long to get back there. What a beautiful place to hike! From the array of wildlife we saw (seagulls, cormorants, bunnies, deer, harbor seals, sea otters lizzards) to the beautiful flowers blooming and the variety of mosses and lichens. We hung out on Hidden Beach and hiked through a pine meadow to various ocean coves. I was shocked at how blue to water was, and the kids were excited to see some sea foam (we had just watched a "weird natural events" episode on an abundance of sea foam at one beach). It had rained the night before and into the morning while we were there, but once the clouds passed, it turned out to be the most beautiful day. We then headed over the Carmel City Beach to watch the sunset and the dogs run all over the beach. We finished out the day with dinner at Phil's Fish Market.

Hello muffin pan.....

It's the little things... Like pumpkin spice muffins with cream cheese frosting. The little things. Not a full loaf... At least not in this picture. 

It's been 3+ years since I've baked a cupcake. Sure, I got into the sugar cookie craze, but hung up my muffin pan. Until a few days ago. We had a baby shower at work for a coworker, and I was tired of the Costco cake. So I decided to make cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes. With real buttercream frosting. So, so good. Tonight, I whipped up these guys.  Again, for some coworkers. If they stayed home, I might eat them all. But, that's what the loaf and extra frosting are for. 

"He died that day because his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and then was free to leave."
—Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain