What's New, Pussycat?

I'll tell you what's new.

Recently I attended the 4-H Cat Show at the Clay County Fair in Vermillion, South Dakota. I was accompanied by my friends Ben and Courtney. Let me tell you, the 4-H Cat Show is NO JOKE.

It was there that I found the man of my dreams. Unfortunately I was too chicken to ask for his number. Now I will never be able to find him again. Alas, I was at least able to snap some photos to remember him by.

We showed up to the cat show a few moments late and worried we missed some real excitement. We only missed the showing of one cat (the champion prize winning orange tabby) but we were fortunate enough to witness my dream man showing off his cat, Simia. Simia did not seem too amused to be poked, prodded, and publicly humiliated. The disturbed feline is pictured below, nestled in the arms of her handsome owner.

Simia, the second prize kitty cat

Nothing could have prepared me for the next amazing cat. A young girl named Audrey, yes Audrey introduced herself and her cat- BEN. Ben and I were awestruck at the awesome coincidence. Pictured below is the amazing Audrey, and the disturbed Ben the Cat.

Ben the Cat was not interested in being shown that day

After seeing the two cats twisted, turned, and tormented, the cat show was over. They quickly announced the winners. As there were only two participants and three cats shown, there were only 3 prizes given. The champion was the orange tabby shown below:

Ladies, don't even think about it, he's all mine

The 4-H Cat Show was the highlight of my summer. Ok, maybe not. But it certainly did provide a few hours of extreme entertainment for me.

Why I hate cockroaches:

Ok, so I will confess... I am totally 100% creeped out by cockroaches. I am not afraid of spiders, ants, bees,  worms, or any other creepy crawly really. I am bothered by the ones that bite, but overall I am generally ok with the insect world.

Cockroaches, however, are just not OK in my book.

It all started when I worked cleaning houses and restaurants with my uncle. I quickly realized that EVERY food service establishment struggles with roach control, no matter what they tell you. Also, having known plenty of people who work for pest control services, I know way more than I care to about the distribution of roaches.
 
Here is a summary of my least favorite roach moments (in no particular order)

1. Kingston, RI 2002: My dorm freshman year was located immediately next to a dining hall. We had tile floors. The roaches were so big you could HEAR them scuttling across your bedroom floor at night. DISGUSTING.

2. New Haven, CT 2004:  I was cleaning a kitchen at a FANCY New Haven restaurant, when I reached my hand into a cabinet to move a stack of plates, I apparently disturbed a large number of sleepy roaches. I felt something moving, and when I pulled my hand out of the cabinet there were dozens of roaches crawling on my hand and arm. DISGUSTING. I showered twice that day.

3. Oklahoma City, OK 2005: Rachel and I were bickering about the motel we stayed at.  Granted, it was my fault we ended up at a crappy motel 6. She had wanted to stop in Tulsa but I insisted on pressing on a few more hours. My bad. At the time we were not yet 21 years old and the only motel that would allow us was the motel 6. I whined and complained, stating that I refused to stay at a motel 6 because there would be roaches. She thought I was exaggerating until we walked in and there was a roach crawling down the wall. DISGUSTING.

4. Lincoln, NE 2009: While en route from Wyoming to Connecticut, my mother and I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express. In all my years of travel a H.I.E. has never let me down. Wellllll this one did. Mom immediately noticed the GIANT 3 inch cockroach stuck in the vent directly over the toilet. It was still partially alive, turning its head occasionally. I found it difficult to shower knowing that creepy ass bug was watching me. Hotel staff refused to come and remove it. DISGUSTING.

5. Corpus Christi, TX 2010: When I first arrived in Texas, I was thrilled at the beautiful beach, and my awesome housing accomodations. I even had a bathroom to myself. Somewhere around my 3rd day a GIANT cockroach came slithering out of my shower drain while I was mid-shampoo. I won't lie --- I screamed like a little girl and jumped out of the shower. It was DISGUSTING.

6. Vermillion, SD 1 hour ago: I am laying in my bed innocently watching Cosby show re-runs via Netflix for iPhone when a cockroach falls out of the A/C vent above my head and lands on me. DISGUSTING.

7. The movie "Joe's Apartment".  What the hell MTV? Don't try to make movies. Ever again.

8. The song " The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnatti". Dad used to play that song on one of his old Dr. Demento tapes. I found it disturbing even as a child.

Lean On Me, When You're Not Strong..

(Notice the difference in wing chord and height). 

Last week, we banded a brood of plover chicks on the Niobrara River. One of the chicks was much smaller than the others. At one point in the banding box, we caught one of the bigger siblings with his wing around his baby brother. 

The runt of the litter is growing but can't seem to catch up to his siblings. When we recaptured them a few days later, the same bigger chick (we can identify individuals by their bands) was caught with his wings around his brothers again. 

The runt doesn't seem to mind his brother's arm around him, but the other larger chick does not seem interested in the group hug.

Of course we know that these chicks aren't actually hugging or even trying to protect each other, but how can you resist the urge to anthropomorphize them when they are being so adorable??

Charadrius melodus

Adult Piping Plover at Griswold Point on 7/19

My whole life revolves around this little bird... the Piping Plover. It's probably not normal for a person to spend all of their time stalking adorable little birds, but that's okay.

Can you feel the love?

I've decided that being surrounded by people who love you is never a bad thing.

The 5:30 a.m. wake up ...

During the work week I wake up at 4:30 am (5:30 eastern time).

Ordinarily, this is a good thing. I wake up, I have some tea, do some yoga, and am ready to face the day ahead.

On days off and VACATIONNNNN it would be NICE to be able to sleep in a little. I have tried staying up extra late, taking Tylenol p.m. , drinking wine, not setting alarms, etc. but noooooo. My body still insists on waking up at 4:30 (5:30 eastern) It is sad when sleeping until 6 is considered "sleeping in".

Moral of the story- I am on vacation, and don't have to be anywhere at 6 am, so why can't my body cut me some slack and let me sleep???

It is currently 5:30 am here in Providence, Rhode Island. I should be sleeping in and relaxing but instead I am wide awake writing on this damn blog. At least when this happened yesterday in CT I had some company. My favorite 5 year old in the world also has problems sleeping in. He tends to wake up very early on his own. When he came down at 5:30 we both tried to sleep in a little more. When that didn't work we watched some videos, made breakfast and laid on the couch together. Not only did I get to spend some quality time with my favorite 5 year old, but I had some company during my early morning insomnia period.

Any helpful sleep extending suggestions people???

I Believe I Can Fly

Today was my first Zipline experience. Jen and I ventured out to Barnardsville, NC to check out the Navitat Zipline Canopy Tour. We had read all the information provided by Navitat, and watched all the videos. We were (almost) totally prepared.

As it turns out, wearing Vibram FiveFingers is not allowed. Fortunately, Navitat had some loaner shoes and socks for me to wear. Unfortunately, they were black velcro sneakers that NO ONE under the age of 85 should ever wear. C'est la vie... I still got to play on the zip lines!

Everything we experienced today was exactly as it was outlined on Navitat's helpful website.  You start out with a safety talk, proceed up the mountain in some sweet UTV's and then begin the "practice" zip lines. They are two shorter lines, not far above the ground. Through out the course, the lines get longer and the trees get taller. But the progression feels natural and soon you feel like an old pro. The guides are extremely helpful, and super friendly.  Jen and I had a great time. You even get to rappel twice, and cross 2 rope bridges.

Apparently I am not at all afraid of heights or jumping from 200 foot tall trees. I loved every second of it and so did Jen :)

I would definitely go back in a heart beat. My next trip to Asheville will definitely involve a trip to Navitat, and most likely at night!

If you ignore the ugly-ass shoes it's a great picture!