I lied!

So I lied to you.  I said that nothing noteworthy has happened.  But that was before my day off.  I decided to go to the bike trail today.  On the way there I met 3 wild turkeys on the road that didn't seem to approve of my music selection (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis in this instant) and ran into the woods.  Once I got to the nature park, it was so warm you wouldn't believe that Christmas is coming in 6 days.

So I hit the trail hard...stopping every once in a while when I saw movement in the trees.There was a pair of cardinals that caught my eye.  I hit the brakes as soon as I saw the flash of red, but if you read about my first bike experience you will know the state of my brakes.  Needless to say, I had to back up.  By then the male had flown to a nearby tree.  The female was still near though, and she would talk the male.  He would "chip" "chip" and then she would "chip" "chip" "chip" right back to him.  Eventually he convinced her to join him safely in his tree.  And I was happy to witness it.  So happy, it was time for a chocolate break.

A Sunny Trail for Riding

Once I completed the beginner's trail, I started on the intermediate and decided that it was a bad life decision.  I think I have either taken too many chocolate breaks in the last few months, or winter automatically makes you lazy and fat.  But either way, I was not a fan of what was happening to myself as I jiggled over roots and around stumps on that trail.  As soon as I saw an access road, I was out of there...and I blamed it on the gunshots I heard in the distance (though I know hunters aren't really in the nature park, I thought it sounded like a good excuse...safety first ya know!)

I had to make the most of the 30 min drive out here, because I felt like I needed more than 15 mins of trail before I took off for another 30 min drive.  So I found myself heading to Brunswick town to read my book on the boardwalk overlooking the river.  Now this was a good life choice....and I felt much better.

UNTIL on the ride back a very overweight squirrel ran out in front of my car!  He was fat and all black with white feet.  I hit the breaks so hard that my bike helmet flew off the seat onto the floorboards before my poor excuse for a "mom arm" could get over there.  Don't worry...no squirrels were harmed in today's events.

So, until Next time... :-) I will leave you while I sip my chai latte at the coffee shop and finish my gradschool application.

Sorry Folks

Sorry Folks that it has been so long since my last post.  Things have been busy.  Though busy, nothing really noteworthy happened.  So it wasn't like I could rush off to blog about my time eating Greek yogurt and honey while listening to Irish Christmas songs and procrastinating on my terrarium maintenance.  But hey!  Here's an update.

• I finished designing and building the terrarium for the frogs.
• I sang in the Christmas Cantata
• I painted my last Christmas present yesterday
• I am still applying for jobs
• I am flying to Ohio tomorrow (by way of La-Guardia and Detroit...wish me luck)
• And...I guess that's all the excitement for one day...haha.

I am sure I will have some terrifying or funny airport story to tell you on Saturday.  So until then, sorry folks!

HOW TO...

…..clean an oyster reef tank while donning a wet suit, snorkel gear, and a couple scrub brushes.

Do’s:

•          Use the toothbrush sized brush for EVERYTHING!  It will take you two hours but your boss will literally say that it is the cleanest he has ever seen the tank. He might even give you advice on how to make it less clean to save you time…haha.
•          Be aware that guests are watching…so try not to point your butt at them the whole time.
•          Move slowly so that you don’t flail around like an overweight seal.
•          Leave a little water in the goggles so that you just have to give them a little slosh to un-fog them.

Don’ts:

•          DON’T PANIC when something brushes up your leg.  It’s just a turtle…and it’s just friendly….too friendly!
•          DON’T try to get the water out of the wetsuit by unzipping your boots at the edge of the tank.  I may have made the tank the cleanest…but I made the floor the messiest!
•          DON’T wear a wetsuit that is too big for you, air bubbles inside will gas off through the cracks at any moment, which will make you want to call, “it wasn’t me!” through the snorkel.
•          DON’T burp through the snorkel…it will act as an amplifier.

What to expect:

•          Parents taking photos of their child next to your butt…haha.  Good thing black is slimming.
•          People to think that you can’t hear them through the water. (Which brings me to my next point…)

Things overheard:

         Teenage Boy 1 – “Look!  Someone is in the tank!”
         Teenage Boy 2 – “Nah-uh. That’s not real!”
  
         Child –“¡Mira!”
         Papa –“¿Que haciendo?”
         Child –“No Sé”
 
         Little Girl –“Look mommy!”
         Mom –“Yes, she’s cleaning.  That’s her job.”
         Little Girl –“ I want a job here someday”

A Quote and Some Noonday

“Processing and planning: these two activities

occupy the majority of your thought life. We spend so much

time processing and planning that we forget that we are

supposed to be living. The only time we actually think

about the present is when we are complaining about it,

and complaining about the present once more pushes us

back to the memory of better days gone by, or forward to

the anticipation of better days to come.

What we fail to recognize is that the two vehicles

which enable our time travels are called shame and

fear. Shame takes us into the past where we continue to

relive things gone by, and fear takes us into the future

where we continue to pre-live things to come. We long

to be clairvoyant historians who have mastered both the

past and future, and we spend our lives in pursuit of this

goal because we think that if we could just work through

the stuff of our past and fully prepare ourselves for the

happenings of our future, we could secure our happiness

once and for all time. But this is a myth! Happiness is not

found in the past or future; happiness is only found in the

present. Until we learn how to be present, we will never

learn how to be happy. And until we gain the authority to

quiet our minds, to hold them still long enough to drink

in the present, we will never discover the central reality

that pervades our lives from beginning to end: God is

with us, and he is with us now!”

~A quote from Pastor Benjamin Robinson, A PATH THROUGH MIGHTY WATERS

Lately I have been quite the busy bee, but in addition to my typical exploits, I have been learning to drive stick shift (which is a whole other blog post to come) and I just finished my Noonday Fundraiser.  Noonday is a program that supports artists in third world countries and helps them to rise out of poverty.  The best part is that it is not a hand-out but an investment.  The goods we buy support a program that not only trains people to start their own businesses, keeping workers out of sweatshops, but also funds adoptions and helps individuals in ways specific to each location.  Below are some of my items and their stories. 

Tagua Seed Bracelet- Ecuador

Peru: The Alpaca Wool gloves are made by artists in a very rural section of Peru with very little employment opportunity.  Because of the Noonday program, these women can work at home and still care for their children.

Ugandan Rolled Paper Bead Necklace

Ecuador:  Made from Tagua seeds this bracelet is a prime example of a product made by artisans who see the importance of good business practices.  These particular artists not only rose out of poverty, but now they are providing jobs for other locals in the area.

Uganda: As these male artisans rise out of poverty to a new level in society, they are given a certain status.  These new Christians have taken it upon themselves to use their new status not for themselves but instead they started classes on how to be a Godly man, which includes lessons such as “how to not beat your wife”.

All in the power of a purchase!

For more on Noonday see this site: http://www.bethbernhardt.noondaycollection.com/artisans.html

Operation Bald Eagle

For a while we were told to keep it quiet, and I sat on the information that Bald Eagles were coming to our rehab center.  They didn't want crowds, especially with all the federal regulations, and with the crazys out there, the actual birds would have to be under lock and key.

Yesterday I decided to forgo sleeping in since I don't know how to do that anymore, and instead I went to the shelter to give my boss some hawk feather earrings I made.  I also collected some crickets for the cattle egret (which I am happy to see eating seven crickets at one sitting.  He didn't have an appetite for two weeks...so it was good to see him eat.)

When I got there, my boss came outside to meet me, after donning the earrings with a smile bigger than Christmas, her unbelievably big smile got even bigger as she said, "Are you ready?"  She leads me to the back pen where a beautiful eagle sat.  Such a pristine, beautiful bird, a symbol of such hope, lay battered on the ground.  It hurt my heart a little.  BUT, a wildlife vet all the way from Maryland came down bringing us supplies and instructions on the basics such as suturing.

The bird was found on a beach living on the dead things it could find there.  It lacked an eye and the wing needed stitches.  No one knows what happened to her.  The vet sedated her with a liquid from a vial and brought her out to the table.  It was important to sedate her, because her talons, in addition to being sharp can squeeze with 115 lbs of pressure (that Red Tailed Hawk that grabbed me a few posts before only grabs with 20-30 lbs of pressure....and we all know what she can do to a mouse.)

Once she was under, I was sent to get warm soapy water and some ointment.  I came back to see him pulling fatty scar tissue out of the wing wound.  Then I stood by her good wing and watched.  The wound was cleaned and sutured before the vet moved on to the eye.  As he cleaned around it, she started to stir...which required me to gentle restrain the good wing so that she wouldn't beat that one up.  At that moment, I touched a Bald Eagle.  The symbol of our nation and hopefully a future success story on how we can save a critter from extinction.  Whoa...life moment!

The talons are tricky work!

  The eye was completely gone, but the tear duct worked well enough to keep the area flushed.  So we left the eye as it was.  She will never be released because she will never be able to hunt with that eye.  Her depth perception will cause her to bang up more that just that wing.  AND thus begins our hunt, we need to find her a permanent home.  No zoo will ever take her since she is not "a pristine exhibit species" without the one eye.  So we would need a facility that wasn't interested in display but still has the proper permits.

Wish us luck!

(Ps. The reason I don't have to keep this a secret anymore is because for some reason a reporter from the local paper managed to pop-up during the operation.  The command to keep it quiet is out the door when the press arrives...haha)

Spiritual Fitness

This blog is titled after a Podcast from New Philadelphia church.  I started attending New Philly when I was teaching in South Korea.  While attending this church I learned about my personal identity, forgiveness, confidence, and freedom while experiencing more breakthroughs than I could imagine.

Anyway, I was listening to a podcast of theirs the other day and I decided it was high time to share it.  The speaker has an interesting method of preaching, but he is sincere and jovial.  The breakdown is as follows:

To grow in life, we need a balanced diet; protein, fruit, veggies, dairy, and yes even carbs.  But just as we need to be concerned with our physical fitness, we need to also be concerned with our spiritual fitness.  That also is consisting of a balanced diet.  Without a proper serving of fellowship, spiritual teaching (sermons), prayer, bible reading, and meditation, our growth as Christians can be stunted.

I asked God, what am I lacking?  "Where am I malnourished?"  And the response was direct.  It's the only thing I don't actually do.  Meditation.

My first thought is, "What?  Meditation is for yogis and is not part of seeking the one true God." But it is in the scripture.  I typed meditate in into an online site that finds the word in the any version of the bible.  It appeared 18 times in the Old Testament.   The word meditation was found an additional six times.

Examples include-

           Joshua 1:8

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

          Psalm 48:9

"Lord, here in your Temple we meditate upon your kindness and your love."

          Psalm 145:5

"I will meditate about your glory, splendor, majesty, and miracles."

Needless to say.  I had a lot to think about.  And especially meditate about.  But where does one start?  Why, in the family perhaps.  My spiritual father is my pastor from New Philadelphia. His spiritual father is Pastor Benjamin Robeson from California, and he has his own spiritual father Pastor Daniels.  There is a lot of security knowing that the people you trust and look up to are accountable to other people, who are accountable to other people.  Ha ha...but I digress.  Pastor Benjamin wrote a book on meditation.  It is free to download at this link.

I have just started the book, so I am not sure how things will go.  I do know that I have the attention span of a gnat, but I am ready to see myself free to grow as I work on my spiritual fitness.  

Photos from the Secret Lab!

Ok...the title may be more exciting than the actual post.  But remember the water quality lab with the best view and the microscope worth the price of my first born child.  Yeah, I got some photos from up there.

The Microscope...and view.

The view up close.  Love that!

Getting ready to break the vacuum tube and test the copper.

YAY!  I am a blue shirt now!!!!

Yep...it's official.  I have completed over 100 hours at the aquarium, which means I lose my white volunteer shirt and get a nice blue polo that doesn't divide the volunteers and paid staff.  SO HAPPY!

What Happened to October?

No, really...what happened?  One second it was September, and now it's dark at 5:30pm.  This is unacceptable!

I didn't mean to let so much time pass since my last blog.  I guess things have gotten away from me both at work and on the volunteer fronts.



First of all, I know you are dying to hear about scrubbing the tanks at the Aquarium in my official volunteer wet suit.  It didn't happen, but hey, the tank will just keep getting dirtier.  There is hope yet!

I did the color run 5k.  Have no idea what time we made because I was too excited to get pummeled with color to remember anything else.  I have to thank epic blue man for the nice starting line photo.

On completely unrelated notes:

1).  My pirate costume for Trick or Treat Under the Sea at the Aquarium was a hit...but it also forced me to get dinner from the drive-thru of (don't judge me) taco bell.  Yikes, ya know...you get cravings sometimes.

2). I went on my first road trip where I learned valuable lessons about gas consumption, attentiveness to the road, and how to speed without speeding.  This trip involved hiking, apple picking and eating Ethiopian food.
3). I am starting the Job search since my contract ends in 2 months.  I do have the ability to extend bi-weekly after that point until I get a job.  Applying currently to a few different things, the most exciting being a educational animal curator in the Sonoran Desert.
4).  Because the Desert Job requires more raptor experience, my boss at the shelter gave me some raptor training training.  Ha ha.

Who is schooling who?

Aquarium Excitement

Today at the aquarium I was introduced to the world of Marine Chemistry and it was amazing. It started off with simple tank-side tests of pH and salinity.  The tools for those recordings I often work with at my day job so the excitement was minimal.  BUT, once I collected all that data, I asked my boss if he needed the nitrates tested. (I knew this was my chance to get into the elusive 3rd story lab, only accessible by a special key).

He looked at his watch and said, "Yes, I think we have time for that."  Inside my head: "YEEEEAAASSSS!!!!"  Party dance to music.  Real life response:  Stupid grin.

We head up and I see the best view from the aquarium.  Behind a fancy microscope with was probably worth my future firstborn, was the most serene and colorful tidal creek, dunes, and ocean scene I have seen in a while.  Once I got focused on the actual lab, my boss began instructing.

Nitrate testing is very time sensitive.  You break the tip off of a vacuum-sealed vial with power inside the liquid you are testing.  You shake it for 1 minute.  Then you let it rest for 5 minutes while you zero out the testing machine with some of your water sample.  Then at exactly 5 mins you run the sample, a wave of light passes through and a number appears on the screen.  Easy as pie...but time consuming.  So each volunteer makes up their own way to run multiple samples at once in a ballet of movement all based around timing.  I however could only run 2 samples at once before blowing up my brain.

I had just broken the tip off of two vials when the real excitement started.  An aquarium worker busted through the doors to the lab!  There was a flashing light behind her and a siren (neither I could sense due to the 1hr firewall that surrounded the lab) .  "We are evacuating the building!", she called out.  I looked at my vials.  I didn't think we could get out and back in 5 mins and I didn't want to leave my experiments.  "Do I have time to finish my tests?", I asked thinking only of the stopwatch ticking away.  "NO!", was the reply as I was hurried down a stairwell.

Once outside, we learned that a over-zealous worker pulled the fire-alarm when a machine started smoking up a pump room.  But by the time the fire-marshal declared it safe to return, my stopwatch was well above 5 mins and my samples were toast.  BUT, it was exciting!

Next week should be equally exciting if my boss follows through on the promises of this week.  He says that I will don a wet-suit and snorkel in our estuary tank scrubbing oysters with a toothbrush.  Um!  SNORKEL IN THE AQUARIUM!!!!  YESSSSS PLEASE!  Fingers crossed that he remembers.

Hello Helo-Ride!

The Photos I promised "Y'all" (you guys!):

Little Miracles

I thank God for little miracles in my life.  I was over-joyed to share the following with my community care pastor over email this morning:

xxxx,

I had a little miracle happen today.  :-)

I volunteer sometimes at an animal sanctuary and rescue for birds.  I went there this morning and ended up helping with the Red-Tailed Hawk.  She's a beautiful bird, but a dangerous one.  God made it as a hunter and a fighter.  Her sharp talons are for tearing flesh, and each claw can grasp with 20lbs of pressure.

We were putting her into a transport cage in the car when she suddenly turned and attempted an escape.  Mary Ellen (the expert) had her by a leather foot strap but nothing else.  She was flapping wildly and to help I tried to grab her too.  In my mad grab to pin the wings down, I ended up grasped by a talon, BUT it was so gentle.  Things were happening fast and wings were pounding and everything flailing, but my hand was protected.  What should have torn through flesh and muscle simply left a pin-prick of blood and zero pain.

I  don't know if God had His hand on mine, or if He told the bird not to squeeze, but either way, I PRAISE HIM!!!!
Just a thought for today,

Caroline R.

~Ps.  I think I will blog about this and share the Good News!

And thus, I shared with you.

Sooo.....

Soo...the Helicopter ride didn't work out yet.  Engine trouble the morning of our ride.  At least it wasn't engine trouble the moment of our ride... O.o

Sooo... I went to the store yesterday for some necessities.  As I entered the Laundry Detergent Isle I found a middle aged man and an older woman staring blankly at the rows upon rows of colorful bottles.  So I stepped into the middle of them and did the same.  My thoughts, "Wow so many,  do they all do the same thing?  I want the one that cleans the best but costs the least....and it should smell good too."  Continue blank stares.

There was movement on my right, the older lady leaned in to read the Purex a little closer.  Then stepped back again.  The man on my left is still motionless....baffled even.  So I take the opportunity to speak.

"Do you think perhaps they gave us too many options?",  I say.  The woman shoots me a semi-dirty look and grabs the ALL before leaving.  The man on my left says, "It's like Jeopardy, looking at the stuff makes you feel dumb."  Then he turns around to face the fabric softeners with a look of enlightenment.  "Ah, there they are!"

He grabs a bottle and leaves as well.  I decided that using my sense of sight wasn't working through this problem, so then I started smelling them until I came to one that worked for me.  Still don't know what brand I bought...but I am not sure it even matters.

NOW, don't get my started on toothpaste.  First of all, shouldn't they all protect from cavities, I mean the very nature of brushing your teeth is for that specific purpose.  So, what makes a toothpaste worthy of the mark, "Cavity Protection."  Then, everyone claims to whiten the teeth, but surely some whiten more than others.  Maybe we could have a Whitening scale.  Like, this paste kinda whitens while this other one extremely whitens.

I was at a loss since I couldn't sniff or taste the paste.  Instead I tried to find something unique about one so that it stood out to me.  I ended up with some sort of Aquafresh micro-foaming paste...because nobody else claimed to make little bubbles...just saying.



A RANDOM POEM TO FINISH US OFF:

I may never be an effective shopper

or fly around in a helicopter

But I think I would be a hog

if I didn't make a video blog

for my dear friend Eliza.

The Video blog is coming soon dear, thank you for your patience.

Over-Time

Work has been crazy!  We are in our busiest two weeks of this year.  Classes need to be taught everyday, and evening lessons as well.  I just got off at 9:15pm tonight.  But that doesn't mean I get to sleep.  Instead, I come home to the place where I am pet-sitting only to find kitty-vomit on my bed.  Adding "kitty" in front of vomit doesn't make it any better...so needless to say, I had to get a load of laundry in before the night is out.

Pet-sitting has been nice.  It's good to have a real kitchen for the first time in a while, and it's lovely to rest with the animals after way too many work hours.  Also, I like that it pays, because it helps me with my painting addiction and any other adventures we choose to partake in.

Speaking of adventure, I am going to have one this week.  My co-worker and I are taking a helicopter ride over our campus and neighboring towns/islands.  I have never been in a chopper and it is on the to-do list.  Trust me, I will take a TON of photos with that new camera I won from the video contest.  :-)  Will post them soon!

Beaufort, Blessings, and Beauty

The phone conversation with my momma went as follows:

Me:  I am sitting at the beach...because people say it's relaxing.  I work here though, so I don't think it is...what I really need is to get away.  I always liked the idea of Beaufort.

Momma:  You should go.  It's Labor Day weekend, you may not get another chance.

Me:  I can't justify spending the money right now.

Momma:  What if I promised to pay for your B&B in town?

Me:  Then I would promise to go.

From my B&B porch swing

After my volunteer shift at the aquarium on Sunday night, I drove north with my borrowed GPS and high hopes for my adventure.  I enjoyed the sunset just as I drove over the bridge to Beaufort.  The B&B I pulled up to was the best in town, I am sure! The Innkeeper's son was playing at a restaurant in town so I dropped my stuff and headed straight there for dinner.

Bad move, I ended up paying WAY too much money for the worst crab dip I had in my life!  (It was probably just cream cheese with fake crab sprinkled on top)  Perhaps I am a crab Nazi being from the eastern shore...but that stuff was not worth it.  So to justify it I waited 2.5 hours for the band to come and play.  Sleepily, I sat for two songs then called it a night.

The next day I started off with a taxi boat out to Shackleford Banks to collect some shells, but as I was walking I started to grab litter up off the ground.  It's nearly impossible for me to ignore litter.  And one piece turned into two...then three...then twelve.  Two hours later, I am sweaty and sunburned, with a jacket full of trash and three seashells.

This aint the half of it!

Upon returning to the mainland, I disposed of all my litter and headed to the Maritime Museum where surprisingly I got to touch a whale heart and see the poo tube from Blackbeard's ship.  (No really...it sank off the coast there and they claim that the sewer pipe on his ship might be the closest link to Blackbeard we have.  Given the conditions of the time, he probably spent a lot of time in ship's potty...)  GROSS!  There were other relics from his ship and overall the exhibits there were great.

I also went to Fort Macon where I was assured by the park ranger that I did indeed go to the restaurant with the worst food in town for dinner last night.  And she helped me correct the error with a much better suggestion for the night.  After a delicious meal at Finz complete with desert, I was able to walk it off in the historic cemetery and head home.  A pleasant trip indeed!

Grave Marker reads "Little Girl Buried in Rum Keg"

Shackleford Banks

With ALL that said, I feel very blessed.  I am training for my Color Me RAD 5k, I am taking random painting classes, and I am surrounded by the most beautiful nature and even more beautiful people.  I am blessed!

Photos from Around Here

Where to start...

I don't quite know where to start and what to say.  There has been quite a bit on my mind.  Maybe I will just throw them out in bullet points because it is easier to read than my mental spewing that would cover you with paragraphs.

• I smelled fall in America for the first time in FOREVER!!!  Asian fall smells different and I truly missed the smell of this country in Sept.
• I bravely took apart my bike to fix the tire which afforded me the chance to go riding at the nature park again.  It went about the same as last time...complete with tree hitting.  (For last time's account see Bike Adventure)
• I am attempting to shake off what is called the poverty mentality.  It means I always feel in lack...but God has been so good in His provision.  I mean SO GOOD!  I am surprised at all He has done in these past few weeks.
• I have finally started in the Aquariology dept. full swing at the Aquarium, which means a lot of food prep and poo cleaning.  Not all the glory that it seemed....BUT I still love it because I work with the seahorse babies!  AHHHH SO CUTE!!!!
• Though I skipped out this week, last week at the Bird Shelter, we released an Egret that we were rehabbing after he was hit by a car.  It was great to see him all better and flying off into the marsh.
• Had my first art class with acrylic paints....and loved it!  Hint hint hint for the Christmas gifts...art classes would be great.  :-P
• Lastly, made friends with Fred and Tim (the old crusty fishermen on the pier) and they showed me how to filet fish and kept giving me freebies.  

Video Blog!!!! Yay!

                                                                Goofy Laos Video...

Wait...what...it's August?

Wow!  I can't believe we are halfway through August.  BAH!

Anyway, my trip with my brother went great!  I don't even know if I can share everything...too much to write so I will pick my favorite things an post photos.

FAVORITE VIEWS: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, MI

FAVORITE UNEXPECTED THING:  Entering Canadian Waters (using their lock systems)

FAVORITE COLLECTION:  Photos of My Toes in 3 of 5 Great Lakes

FAVORITE HIKE:  Hanging Rock State Park, NC  (Great Lookout Point)

FAVORITE PHOTO:  Crossing the Mackinac Bridge at Sunset

FAVORITE WILDLIFE:  The Butterflies (though we saw deer and turkeys as we hiked)

FAVORITE EXPERIENCE:  Feeding a Baby Bear Fruit Loops. (yes she is real)

FAVORITE TOUR:  Mammoth Cave Lantern Tour, KY

FAVORITE TRAVEL BUDDY:  My Big Brother! (though he tied with mom really)

*Smiley Face*

So, today I am so happy.  I know how blessed I am.  I was looking back on old photos and on this exact day last year I was planting trees with CVA in Australia.

And today, I finished my art commissions, and inventoried our turtle nest...which meant setting free the last few little guys that didn't hatch with the rest last week.

And my brother is coming to pick me up on Friday to go on our road trip up to family and Michigan.  

I am so blessed.

Digging the Nest with our Turtle-Watch team.

Guiding the little guy with our feet.  (Can't touch though).

Commission One

Commission Two (Way outta my comfort zone) 

God Has Got The Future

Remember back in the day when I was learning about being fully present, understanding the power of the now, and being content where I am?  Then July came and I allowed myself to look forward and pick a job for when my contract ends in December.  At that point, I lost it ALL.  I was not content with the now while I was looking forward.  And that was not good.

So, as irresponsible as it seems, I have stopped the job search for now.  No one is hiring this far out anyway.  And it is imperative that I learn the lessons of this season.  If I don’t, one of two things will happen.  I will have this season extended or I will pollute my next season with the struggles of this one.  And I think it is now or never for learning contentment.

I have gotten myself plugged in even further.  In addition to the wildlife sanctuary, I picked up a volunteer job at the aquarium.  I start this Sunday after church.  I also and going to work with the Sea Turtle Watch program to help them “nest sit”.  Keeping busy, as tired as it makes me (fell asleep at my computer yesterday at work while reading about coral), makes me happy.  I am very excited about working at the aquarium.  I feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence in working at the wildlife shelter.  And who knows what I can learn from the Sea Turtle Watch?

One more thing to focus on in the present.  I have my first two actual art commissions.  It's a little nerve-wracking because I have never had to paint per someone's request before.  I want to make it perfect.  But, in reality, it is art...  Anyway, I am working on those as well.  I am in some exciting times right now.

As for the future, let’s not worry about it.  Let’s think more about the present because that is where we are.  God has got the future.

I fed the goofballs one morning last week.  I love these crazy birds!

Work and well....work

So, in addition to work I have decided to pick up a couple volunteer jobs.  One is at the Seabiscuit Wildlife Rehab for birds.  And the other is at the NC Aquarium.  I like the call the aquarium my "testing the waters" experience to see if I like working indoors with wildlife.  "testing the waters"...te he...  Anyway, I go there on Sunday for my orientation.

The bird Rehab has been great.  Here is an status that followed my first day there:

"5:50am - Wake up and grab fishing gear.
6:20am - Pray for Fish
6:30am - Two croakers in my bucket.
7:30am - Giving the fish the mom arm in morning traffic
8:30am - Feed Fish to Pelican in Rehab
9:00am - Wrassel a loon outta a babypool
10:00am - Work Church Bake Sale smelling like loony-fish

I do love days like this!"

I assume that everyday will be this fun at the rehab place.  And so far it has proved itself to be so.  I have gotten to assist in a medical exam of a crow, and feed the babies.  I was feeding some baby birds blueberries and mealworms with tweezers when all of a sudden a mockingbird came out of a tree and sat on my hand...then just helped himself to what was in my bowl.  I FELT LIKE SNOW WHITE!  BWA HA HA!  The wildlife all coming to me...

Anyway.  IN ADDITION to my work and my new volunteer work, I am looking for my next job.  July has arrived, which was the time I was going to start job searching.  And as it turns out, I have a problem.  I just want to do everything.  I want to do an Americorps program and Gradschool...but I can't do them both at the same time.  It turns out that I can get everything I want if only I am patient.  OH BOY!  That is the hard part.  Pray for me as I look into this further.

THE WEDDING and other random stuff...

So the big thing is the wedding...you know the one that I was the bridesmaid in.  Yeah, let's not mince words...here are the photos.

You know from my previous post that I liked my dress...so I took the opportunity to post a twirly photo.

The whole thing happened at a lake house where I did A LOT of kayak when I wasn't doing my weddingly duties.  And I mean A LOT of kayak.  A friend of mine and I paddled 4 miles to dock at a restaurant for lunch, then 4 miles back.  I want to tell the story to my grandkids, "Back in my day you had to kayak 8 miles for a salad...so don't be lazy you young wipper-snapper!"


Anyway, with the bride and groom heading off into the distance on a boat that said, "Just Married", I felt the need to leave the lake house and go sleep in my own bed.

Highlights of the last few weeks:  I have begun working on another field guide at work, begun working on a puzzle at home, was a bridesmaid, drove the farthest I have ever driven, and almost set the bed on fire.  Yes, you read that right.  It turns out that doing your nails by candle-light is not relaxing.  Its hazardous and dumb.  There was a tiny voice in the back of my head that said, "hey acetone and flame is a bad idea."  Unfortunately I seldom listen to that voice.  After I beat the flames out with my bath towel that tiny voice proceeded to say,"I told you so."  Now you see why I don't listen to that smug little voice.  :-P

WHEW!

WHEW!  So I am taking a breath.
It's been a busy couple of weeks...but I think I am getting the hang of it.  Right now I am sitting listening to Owl City in my office and enjoying my evening off.

First off, Henry died.  I thought he wasn't going to make it so long, because of his size.  And oddly enough, the following day, some archaeologists who have been digging in the fort found two baby pigeons who were also blown out of their nests by that last storm.  Even more odd, they were even uglier little birds than Henry (God rest him).  I changed feeding methods with these ones.  I used tweezers and re-hydrated mealworms which seemed to work because they survived pasted the 48 hour mark and were subsequently delivered to the bird rehab place.  (The lady who works there said they looked very healthy...so I gave myself a mental pat on the back.)

Today, I taught a lesson that I developed over the spring.  It was the first field trial of this particular lesson so it went a little shaky.  It's a lesson on bio-accumulation of mercury in marine animals.  And basically it's a food web game. After they play, I inform them that some of the food they ate (cards scattered on the playing field) were TOXIC!  Ahhhh!  They then have to calculate the percentage of toxic to good food they consumed to see if they lived or got sick and died.  Anyway, there were quite a few kinks that needed to be worked out.  The first of all is that the seagulls kept swooping in and eating my paper cards.  The second is that the kids didn't really run as much as I would have liked.  I wanted them to really chase down their prey and get a good bit of energy out, but they just weren't having it.  Not sure how to adjust the lesson...will have to mentally process a little more.

But for the moment, I will attempt to rest in my office...with my music and some snack food that I stole from the kids stash....mwa ha ha. ;-)

Summer Changes Things...

With the arrival of 70 some new staff members for the summer, life has been a little different.  I do enjoy the company of new people to pass the time with, but alas, I find that I have become a sleepy old woman during the winter months...haha.  I do like my quiet time.  :-P

At work we have been busily disassembling shelves, building new shelves, painting, and moving things in preparation for the busy summer that is fast approaching.  Camps start on Monday.  AHHH!  And the lesson I developed on bio-accumulation is finished and ready for testing on the youth who are coming in the next few weeks.  I hope the lesson works, it's a game with a little more math than I personally like..but it's a good thing to learn.

Also, I am now the proud foster mommy to a little ugly bird I named Henry.  He must have gotten blown out of his nest during the tropical storm we had this weekend.  Anyway, the poor thing is still half naked so I thought I would help.  I have been feeding him a paste made from crushed insect meal/vitamins and water with a pipette.  And he greedily accepts it.  I wasn't a fan of getting pooped on during the 3am feeding, but I will take that as a sign of health.  When Monday rolls around I will get him to a bird rehabilitatior, because I have no intention of teaching him how to fly...haha.

Sleepy Henry!

With all that said, I think it's about time for me to go trail riding on the bike again.  Wish me luck because I am pretty sure that I will try the copperhead trail again... :-P