Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Fall why you come so fast?

For some reason, this is just always a crazysuperbusyholyshit time of year for me.  I am blessed that 75% of that crazysuperbusyholyshit time of year is spent with friends, though! 


This past weekend we hosted our 7th Annual Geocachers Campout.  This event is where I met many of my friends, years ago.  I love this event, and for probably the first time in its history, we had great weather for it.  save a few rain drops.


This year it seemed to take on a different meaning, and I don't know why.  All I can think is that because we had a smaller group than we have in the past, we were able to get cozy around the campfire, toss back a few drinks (not enough to get hammered) and just...get to know each other more.  And I freaking loved that.  I learned a LOT about some of my very best friends that I hadn't even known yet.  When all the "getting to know us" was done, it dawned on me that it had been sprinkling on us the entire time, and none of us even noticed.  We were just that in-tune with each other, and that is pretty damn cool!


We ended the weekend by hosting a C.I.T.O. in the park, which is basically just a "geocacher volunteer day", where we donate our manual labor to the park, as a thank you for all they have done for geocaching.  (www.geocaching.com)  We spent our volunteer time clearing lanes for our upcoming Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Season.  (www.projectowlnet.org)  Today, Brad, Carl, Paul and I went back out and attached the nets to the poles.  It's getting CLOSE!  This means I need to catch up on my sleep now!  I certainly won't get any after we begin.  Owls fly at night, and we work during the day, so it's some long...sleepless months for us.  (forgive my future grouchiness and temper tantrums!!!)


This weekend I go to Angola to visit with Brads mom for my early birthday lunch.  I look forward to seeing her, she is one of the sweetest, kind hearted women I know.  Then the following weekend I head right back there for a weekend with my friends, camping in Katie and Freds yard, and hopefully a bonfire with some more "getting to know us" chat sessions.  It's how I will be celebrating my 6th Annual 29th Birthday, and I can't think of a better way to do it!  




So...I don't know how much time I will have to blog the next few weeks, but I will try and sneak some time in there somewhere.  Though, with the severe sleep deprivation, it might just be best I don't.




Amber






(Amber, why is it you choose to stay up all night and play with....owls?  That's simple...who could resist this face?)  


Fully grown Northern Saw-whet Owl
(photo copyright Amber Edwards)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Owls and puppies and kittens, OH MY!

Had a pretty busy weekend...kayaking with a group of friends, and then Wizard of Oz Festival with the kids Sunday.  You'd think I'd have a ton to blog about, but my mind had just drawn a blank, which is what usually leads to me abandoning my blogs early on.  Then it hit me...

While at work tonight, I decided to take my friend Katies son, Jeremiah, on a photo tour of my work.  I work at an Animal Hospital, and I know a lot of kids find what I do "interesting" and "cool" and, well...fun.  We board animals at the clinic as well, so we have a constant flow of furry traffic through our doors.  While we have our "regulars", we have new faces every day.  I love my job.  So in tonights blog, I am going to share with you who we have with us as of today...and introduce you to each one....fasten your seatbelts.


This is the photo that started it all.  I'm always a bit excited to see an owl come in, sadly it's always because they are injured.  This is a Barred Owl, and all I know is that she was a HBC (hit by car) case.  We think she has head trauma, but we are hoping we can treat her and release her.



These are Max and Cooper.  They are brothers.  Turns out, Max is a bit "anxious".  He runs in circles, all day, all night.  Last time he boarded, he managed to eat his tail, nearly off!  His brother is much calmer, but HATES water.  Any time I turn on the hose to fill ANY water bowl or clean a kennel or floor, he freaks out!  I feel bad for him, because we use the hose a lot!  Both are VERY sweet dogs!


This is Merlin.  Merlin is with us through a Shar Pei rescue group, boarding until she is better and can be adopted out.  She is suffering from a stomach parasite right now.  When Merlin first came to us, she had been in a Chicago shelter for several months.  She was obviously abused, and had wounds from fly bites, as well as an imbedded collar.  She also tried to eat me.  And Dr. Steve. And she terrified me.  Merlin was just very scared.  We moved her to a larger kennel and she is MUCH happier.  She is still very scared around new people, but she bonds VERY quickly with those she sees often.  She has perked right up and is one of my favorite dogs now.  She has learned "sit" and "shake" and is just so full of energy and excitement and just loves to be loved!  


This is Bella.  She doesn't want to be here.  She is the only dog I've ever seen that has managed to whine WHILE eating too.  She is SUPER sweet, but man she wants to go home!


Molly is a sad case.  She has been with us since September of 2010.  Her owner is terminally ill, and goes back and forth from the hospital to hospice.  Molly is VERY old and suffers from several medical issues, including severe arthritis.  The owner elects not to use humane euthanization, and instead for her to continue to board with us.  Molly gets TOTALLY spoiled, as evident with the little sweater we keep on her so she doesn't get a chill.  You probably can't see it too well, but both sides of her kennel are lined with different foods, just to keep her happy.


Belle and Butter.  They are just....awesome!


Bo and Cassie, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.  I always wanted a dog of this breed.  They are SO cute, and soft, and loving, and, well...I just wanted one.  Until I got this job.  Then I learned about all the medical issues associated with this breed, and several other reasons.  So now I get to love all over the ones that board with us, and I am perfectly alright with that!


This is Lily and she hates us.  She hates being here.  And I have NO clue what Lily actually looks like because she hates it here so much that she will never, ever, come out of that corner.  I feel bad for her.


Kitty Kitty.  He hangs his head in shame, because his owner had nothing more clever than "kitty kitty".  He is a cool cat though!


Wilma.  She is another HBC, but she lives at the clinic.  She only has one eye, and she can't see out of it.  She is the sweetest cat, and TOTALLY spoiled.  To the point that she gets the window kennel, to see the birds...yet, she is blind?  She has her own special bed in the pharmacy so that she can be around people all day too.


Yo...dats Tom.  Tom Cat.  He got his nails did.


Azreal.  He is having surgery tomorrow, but I didn't look to see what for.  He is another super friendly cat, despite his grumpy face here.




These are the resident Chinchillas.  Zilla is in the top photo, Chewy in the bottom one.


Geezer, the resident Bearded Dragon

Elenor and Tooter.  The OTHER resident Bearded Dragon and our tortoise.

Pebbles and I can never remember the other name...Resident Tortoises.

So, this is what I get to work with every day.  It's a fun job, despite some of the messes, and as you can see, I always have PLENTY of company!




edited: Per Ms. Katies request, this is the crazy beatch that works there:


gotcha again, katie













Friday, September 16, 2011

Freezing my ascot off...

Tomorrow I will (wo)man my flotilla and head down the St. Joe River, on our annual "Caching to the Max" geocache run.  It's a series of geocaches placed on islands down the St. Joe River.  Obviously, the only way to get to them is by boat, or in our case, kayak.  There is a group of us that go, and we always have an incredibly good time.  I just don't ever remember it being this damn cold when we do it!  We usually take water guns, water toys, swimsuits....make a day of relaxing and keeping cool on the river.  This year I'm trying to figure out how to rig a battery up to my space heater to keep me warm in the kayak!


Which brings me to an interesting season.  I HATE COLD WEATHER!!!!  I hate EVERYTHING about it, except one thing.  This is the peak of my geocaching season, and it's when all the "get-togethers" with my caching friends happen.   September and October are booked solid of gatherings of cachers, and I couldn't be more excited about that.  It's what I have to look forward to each time the leaves start to fall.  Time with friends, laughing, telling stories, hanging out and just being....friends.  True friends.

And that is one of the things I love most about my relocating to another state.  Geocaching has introduced me to a group of friends that are probably some of the closest relationships I've ever formed in my life, and if I wouldn't have moved to Indiana, we probably never would have met.  

I just wish that they lived somewhere warmer....

Got a couple pints to spare...why not...

Today is the blood-drive at work, and this got me to thinking about something.




I recently made the pilgrimage to the drivers license branch to renew.  The guy asked me if I wanted to be an "organ donor." Here in lies my story with that...




All of my "thinking" life, I've been against organ donation.  Not by others, just by me.  I don't know if it has something to do with my fear of needles, or my just overall not wanting to be "all cut up" when I die.  I know they say we have no idea what is being done when we die, but, who really knows?  It's not like someone has survived death to be able to tell us if we can feel our organs being harvested or not!  I have always, VERY MUCHLY, wanted to be buried with all my parts, thankyouverymuch.




And then it slipped.  I said "yes".  Looking at it now, I wonder if my quickness to say "yes" was just because I have this incredible desire deep down inside me to be married again, in a faithful, loving, romantic, Rapunzel throw down your hair, I'm certainly not getting any younger, kind of relationship.  Complete with white picket fences and kittens in the barn and the kids on a tire swing, and well...you get the picture.  Holy shit, I said yes.  As quick and breathlessly as I would a marriage proposal by Adam Levine. Or Toby Keith. Or Vin Diesel. Or...at this point, just about anyone.  SHITSHITSHIT, I said yes.  How am I gonna look this poor DMV guy in his sad brown eyes and explain "sorry dude, that was a big fat mistake?"




And I left.  I finished what I needed to finish, and I left.  Without a word to them about my fake "yes".  And then I forgot about it.  Until my updated ID came in the mail, and I saw that "telltale heart" (not the creepy Poe one)", and I thought, "ya know...I'm kind of stinking proud of that heart!"  How selfless of me to be willing to give a piece of me, that I no longer need, to someone who does.  If my heart can mean a few more years of someone holding their children, or skipping rope with them, or bungee jumping, or camping under the stars....if my kidney (after 6 years of Geobash, I don't think they want my kidneys), or liver, or lungs or eyes, or...anything they need, can give someone even just one more day, how could I not?  Because I know I would want the same offered to one of my children, should they ever need it.  And how can I be so selfish to expect what I am unwilling to offer?  


And so now, 29ish years later, it's finally hit me that organ donation is pretty damn important, and my hope is that someday EVERYONE sees it the way I now do, because we need to give to survive.




Now, if I could only not be afraid of the needle long enough to donate some blood!





Thursday, September 15, 2011

Is this our "un" lucky day?

 I've said for some time now that I've wanted to maintain a blog, mostly out of boredom, but some out of my love of writing.  I'm not incredible with words, and I'm horrible at spelling, but I just love to...write.  I haven't done much of that in the past 6 years, since moving out of my home state.  Oddly, it's not because I haven't been inspired.  My life has taken an incredible journey since I've left Michigan.  My children have grown so much, I've made some pretty damn remarkable friends, I've made some tremendous memories with both.  I've discovered new passions, new hobbies, new "pass-times", and...I've become a young grandmother.  So, I should have a LOT to write about, right?


  The truth of it is, I have a hard time "committing" to anything.  My ex boyfriends could probably vouch for me on that one.  I try something for awhile, and it gets, well, boring.  I forget about it, it goes on the back burner for awhile.  When I finally decide to get it back out, I get impatient.  I have to remember log-ins and passwords, and how to's and, well, I just give up.  


  So, here I am, attempting again.  We shall see what becomes of this one.  Hope you enjoy the ride, however short lived it may be.


Oh, and just so you know who you are dealing with....this is a picture of my kids:  





And these are my crazy friends: