October!

is so close to December! can't believe it is the season of pumpkin flavored things, and time for christmas music already. we have been really busy!

-we took todd and aaryn out to busch gardens for aaryn's birthday, and went on a safari to feed giraffes. we got to feed flamingoes, and see an elephant get a pedicure! husbandry at its finest. so cool.
-we went to a new (awesome, fancy) dog park a few times. it is bounded by a lake on one side and woods on another and Roscoe has a field day.
-we booked a trip and bought tickets to go see Texas A&M play Auburn in 2 weeks! we are also going to pit stop in Atlanta on our way back home, to go to the Georgia aquarium and the Atlanta Zoo. Did you know they are one of only 4 zoos in the US with panda bears? neither did we!! excited!
-the new college group structure has taken form, and there are a lot of exciting things on the books. We are in the process of making an Alaskan mission trip for spring break!!
-Rhett got to work from home for a whole week while the store was closed, it was so great!
-we have been tutoring one of the high school students in the youth group in algebra and chemistry. woo it is making my brain work!
-I got to surprise mom for her birthday! It was so great, she didn't know I was coming, or that I was the decoy for a surprise party! we got pedicures and makeovers and got to go to the zoo and just hang out. can't wait to see them at thanksgiving! just one month away!
-I have been volunteering for an exotic pet rescue. It is awesome! I work hard, and play hard. I have gotten to muck horse stalls, work a riding lawn mower, go out to pick up rescue animals, feed baby squirrels, clean wallaby houses, its so great.

why I love being married to Rhett:
-after watching captain america, he foams his toothpaste out of his mouth and says Hail hydra like a cyanide pill
-I catch him making shadow puppets on the floor during small group
-I made a new craft (via pinterest) that is a dry erase board on the wall that says "i love you because.." and the responses have been so fantastic
-Roscoe likes to help Rhett work out, and get between his legs during jumping jacks and other inconvenient things
-Rhett sorta doesn't (but says he does) believe me that there is a roach that defends the dog food against me every time I go to fill the bowl. I go out there, and he is sitting on the handle, daring me to try and open it.
-because he comes out of the bathroom saying his chest hurts, and when I ask him why he says its because he was pounding it too hard when he was acting like tarzan


more links for your viewing pleasure:
-oh bless her
-animals are so cute and so smart, 
-LOVE THIS
-about dogs, they are so awesome, and don't you just love those moments when you have stuff to do but the dog wants to cuddle and you can't help but sit still? I like to think that God's personality is more like a dog, and that we aren't so much like Him as a dog is.
-thank you google maps
-love this parody
-various pages about alligators, more alligators, manatees, turtles, penguins, more penguins, pigs

in no particular order.

once again, I'm terrible at blogging. but this time, I actually have a legitimate excuse. For the entire summer, I had a big girl schedule! which means, Rhett and I had the same days and times of day off the whole summer. excellent. sooo I didn't have any time alone at home to blog. not so important when you have that much quality time with the hubby. but anyway, it makes for another catch up post!

life and work events:
-sooo summer camp! pretty much consumed my life. by the weekends we were exhausted, and chilled at home.
-we did attend one very fantastic olympic opening cermonies party. enjoy photos and video on facebook
-4th of july was fun! we went out to a cute downtown place with friends, I even BOUGHT something at a booth! organic and recycled materials jewelry!
-vacation with my family was FANTASTIC. we went to destin for a week. it was soooo fun. we spent time at the beach, ate lots of really really good food, went snorkeling and shelling, went to the air museum and saw the blue angels fly, went to a marine park, and all kinds of shopping and fun stuff!
-killer whale underwater viewing opened over the summer...for the first time since I have worked at seaworld. so. cool.
 -rhett is really busy now with the rush
-I got to go home for a few days, which was really fun. then I got stuck in miami overnight (not so fun, sketch). but I got to fly first class on the new planes.....AMAZINGGGGG
-the turtle trek team got to go to busch gardens on the clock. and feed giraffes. also awesome.

funny rhett quotes (mostly in his sleep):
-"is your owl on the market?"
-"that sucks kiwis"
-after many exacerbated noises in the kitchen I ask "what's the matter?" no response. "what's wrong?" no response. then rhett finally replies "I was pretending to lift weights."
-after getting iphones and spending hours on them the first day, "I don't need food. I don't need anything but an iphone anymore. I bet there's an app for food."
-he explained very in-depth to roscoe how to use the sink so he could fill his own water bowl from now on
-he thinks cinnamon toast is cinnamon on toast. every time. and wonders why it is so gross. every time.
-after explaining to me numerous times about a game he played as a kid (called 24, where you look at 3 or 4 numbers and +,-,x or / to get to 24) he wants to purchase said game. I say, we are not going to buy a game I can make with index cards, or by saying numbers. rhett says: "well we are not going to buy milk because you have boobs."

funny guest and camper quotes:
-me: that turtle is about 290 pounds. mom to child: "that's as big as your aunt dora"
-camper: I went to golden corral for breakfast once and I saw santa in his pajamas. but don't go there for breakfast because their pizza has eggs on it.
-if you were lost would you rather eat a hamburger you found in your pocket, or your own socks?
-after camper completes a craft inside out, I ask: "do you want to take it and color the outside so it will show?" camper: "no it will be invisible art. and decorated on the inside." me: "it will be beautiful on the inside, just like you!" camper: "did you take an xray of me?"
-"seaworld camp tastes like heaven."
-the infamous facebook status one: camper donning poncho: "how do I look?" me: "you look very handsome." camper: "how do I smell?" me: *sniffs* "well you smell like a camper, sunscreen, happiness, outside, and excitement!" camper: "oh well I should smell like a fart, because I just farted."
-after asking for a list of animals that all have big ears, I ask: "so what do all these animals have in common?" camper: "well they all have big ears." touche.
-me: "do you have an pets at home? camper: "I have a pet dead mouse on the front porch."

funny pictures and videos of course:
-about some dolphins we have in the park
-walrus love
-bear love
-dog love
-olympic love
-terrible terribly sad news. but sometimes disaster is necessary for a rude awakening.
-one of my favorite websites in awhile
-God is so creative.
-hilarious
-and more of course, I think maybe this is just a list of things I don't want to forget about.

you know you work at seaworld camp when:
-a kid asks if polar bears can get fleas, and you are impressed.
-you eat shamu bars every friday
-your favorite lunch days are hamburger and hot dog day. *shivers*
-a penguin is in the van that drives you into work.
-you can handle 2 pants peers and a repeat vomiter
-you have a dream that you are jack hanna's personal assistant

losing faith in humanity

surprise, surprise...once again I have failed at blogging. It has now been over 2 months. hopefully I can even recall enough about the last 2 months to make a blog post.

life overview (in no particular order):
*nikki and clay and the boys came to visit last weekend. We went to downtown disney, aquatica, seaworld, a vietnam memorial museum, celebrated the boys birthday, and sent mom and dad on a date to celebrate their anniversary at arabian nights!
*one of my favorite things about roscoe is that because rhett is an awesome husband and takes him on most of his walks, he always acts so excited to walk with me...like "hey mom, look what's been going on since the last time I took you outside!"
*we went airboating with the small group. SO FUN! you can enjoy pictures on my facebook. we saw lots of gators, and I saw my first ever in-the-wild bald eagle (2 actually!) and got to hold a 3 ft gator! I was in heaven.
*Rhett took me to the brevard zoo. also sooo fun. we did a rhino up-close experience where we got to brush them and pet them and give them belly rubs. we also fed giraffes, and took a kayaking tour of their africa section.
*we also went to aggie muster here in central florida. there were about 40 of us there and it was a potluck. really cool to get to meet some more of the other aggies around here.
*funny rhett quotes: while laying on roscoe... "it's a pillow pet!". and "I think we should have bed space divied out by size. I should get 68% of this bed!" and watching a commercial on flea medication after just discussing how it works "oh so that's how it works. a bunch of tiny green ninjas squirt out of the tube and attack the fleas."
*in the same day, "aggies" and "seaworld orlando" were both questions to answers on jeopardy.
*we have a new awesome restaurant called crispers that was introduced to us by the girls in our small group. delicious. we even ran into some of our friends one night when we just ate there. it makes it feel like home here when we can actually run into people that we know when we go places.
*we are officially leading the college group now. we are loving it! the kids are so great.
*I get to see my mommy and daddy and Emily this weekend! yahoo!!! Texas here I come.

work things:
*Rhett's sell for summer and buyback for spring both went really well. and they had a kickball game and ice cream social to celebrate!
*yesterday I celebrated one year working at seaworld. loving it!
*I was selected to be summer camp staff at SeaWorld! I am so psyched. I can't WAIT! training starts next week.
*survived my first sleepover! so awesome.
*I got to meet Julie Scardina. look her up. she's basically my hero.
*turtle trek grand opening has come and gone. turtle trek 1 monthaversary has come and gone. ask me if I like it?
*so excited that SeaWorld eliminated plastic bags from all their parks! I get so excited (and am sure to tell people how cool it is) whenever I see the new paper bags.
*I got to see klondike (polar bear) swim from underwater viewing for the first time!
*I got to see a harbor seal pup! by the time I got here last year, they were already weaned.
*junior (sea turtle) is target trained. which means he comes up to eat when they put his target pole in the water! crazy cool to watch.
*I got to touch an otter named Boris.
*I taught an awesome class of homeschool kids about the polar regions. best group of kids ever. all ages. all smart. man if that's not a reason to homeschool I don't know what is.
*I took a visually impaired girl around the park for about 10 minutes opening up all of our biofact bins so she could touch everything that we have about the animals (bones, teeth, etc.) it makes you appreciate just how much we take seeing for granted.
*I got to touch a skunk on my lunch break. saweet.

reasons why I am losing faith in humanity. ok, not really. but bless the tourists for having a case of "vacation brain." or let's hope that's all it is:
*turtle trek. enough said.
*girl: "we have 5 sea turtles at home." educator: "are you sure they're not river turtles, do they have claws?" girl: "no I'm sure, my daddy got them from the beach last year and now they live at our house." umm. super illegal.
*a 2 year old boy walking around seaworld drinking from a 2 liter bottle of coke.
*a lady pouring out her bottled water into the stingray pup pool.
*a boy walking from planter to planter uprooting a plant and dropping it into the next one.
*after looking at my nametag which says
Krista
Texas
asking me if my last name was Texas.
*anytime that anyone, anywhere says the words "is that it?". what do you mean "is that it?" have you ever seen a manatee this close before? it's only boring to you because your heart is turned off or something.
*kids and parents literally throwing their trash down at my feet while having a conversation with me at the dolphin nursery. repeatedly. eating starburst.
*ahh the plaza. "Well I guess I will just have to ask for a refund if all of your tours are booked up...what else am I supposed to do all day?"
*"I would like a refund because I didn't look at what time the park closed and I have only been here for 3 hours."
*at 9:30 pm: "I came 1000 miles to see a dolphin and you are telling me they are closed?" you came 1000 miles and waited all day long and did it last thing?

lots of links:
*funny animal pictures
*best dog ever. oh this one too. ok I just love dogs.
*once again, proud of this.
*it's cool to live in a new place and learn about new native species. except when they're endangered. *can you spot me? there are lots of me floating around on the internet lately. videos too.
*I don't have links...but recently was introduced to kaitlin videos and target lady videos from snl. enjoy.
*cool story
*cool video

yeah. hopefully one day I will make good on my commitment to get back into this. I expect a lot of good kid quotes coming up on summer camp so I'll have to keep up!

this is becoming a trend.

so it's been over a month. and, once again, I find myself with a daunting list of things to tell you. hopefully the entertainment value of these posts keeps you reading and not totally bored to death by longness. I don't even know where to start! I would also like to preface this post with: yes, there are a lot of links on here. no, I swear I am not on the computer all day.

pet things:
*I swear roscoe can sense when I am blogging. we keeps putting his face on the keyboard and typing. I also promised him a trip to the park today...I think he knows that too.
*we relinquished our kitty to the dermatologist. we know she will have a better life with the vet techs who wanted to keep her. the poor kitty. we had her for 7 months and she was on medication in a cone every day of it. I was upset when I dropped her off, and a man I had never met tried to pay our outstanding bills. I lost it.
*before she left, she made us laugh a few more times. she had a signature pounce move, just like in the lion king, where she would shake her hiney and pounce! she also appeared as if she might attack our dining room chandelier on more than one occasion. luckily, her judgement indicated that she didn't think she could make it.
*roscoe snores. loud.
*when rhett was out of town, I made roscoe dinner. sad. I made him his own scrambled egg with cheese. lonely much?

work things:
*just as a forenote: I have lately been feeling increasingly blessed by my job. I mean, in terms of the world, how many people have the privilege of saying "my name is Krista, this is my first big girl job, and it is my dream job." how many people begin their career in the job they always wanted? I wanted to be a zoo school teacher...and/or work for Seaworld. I am a zoo school teacher at Seaworld. how cool.
*I got a promotion, and got my training. I have done 2 field trips, and can now do sleepovers as well. I also have a REALLY early morning for a special field trip next week (awake at 4:45!!!)
*turtle trek is coming along nicely. due to the structure of the exhibit, we had to audition to be able to staff the exhibit. I found out yesterday that I made the cut! they picked 25 of us (out of about 100) to staff that exhibit. hopefully that doesn't mean that I will be stuck there all the time.
*I took a man and his chidren on a tour...and he does a lot of our taxidermying for us...like our education materials (turtle shells, polar bear pelts, shark jaws). it was cool to get to meet him.
*I get paid to:
-demonstrate how a flamingo walks to a gaggle of cracked-up guests
-watch an otter get an annual checkup
-eat manatee food
-see jack hanna and some amazing animals during my study break
-ride happy harbor rides with my kids
-make dreams come true (a girl cried on my tour when we met a penguin)
-sleep at seaworld (first sleepover in shark tomorrow night!!)
-play peekaboo with a bunch of kids and a beluga whale
*I laugh every day:
-while enjoying my lunch in the quiet of the oyster's secret, a woman asked if "this is shamu stadium." bless her heart. this seats 194 people and holds maybe 30,000 gallons of water. this holds 5,000 people and 7 million gallons of water. oh honey.
-when, bless their hearts, the trainers at dolphin cove hear of sunglasses astray at the bottom of the pool and send a dolphin to go get them. and then the dolphin doesn't. it just guesses what the trainers want. after 10 long minutes the keeper just jumps in and gets them herself. sounds like roscoe.
-when, little boy touches and feeds stingrays then puts his finger in his mouth to taste and mom gives him a digusted look "I am one with nature."
*my drive to work:
-I have discovered the beauty of audiobooks. I am re-"reading" a book on canine assistants because I love it so much. I love the library.
-I always pass a bread factory on my way home at night. it smells torturous.
-these cops on my way to work sometimes have a horribly mean system. 6-7 motorcycle cops sit at a tollboth (where they can hide). one shoots off a radar gun and then sends 4 or 5 out one right after the other to go get people, and then they all come back. don't they have anything better to do?
-before the beauty of audiobooks, I listened to news radio. I think my subconscious was just tired of hearing music all day every day. anyway, I got to hear stories like "a roller coaster in europe is delayed opening, because every cart they send out comes back with test dummies dead or missing limbs. park seeks air force to help resolve the g-force problems" now that you tell me that, I don't think you could pay me to get on that, no matter how many dummies came back alive.
*other reasons why I love my job? see for yourself:
-we care for seaturtle hatchlings.
-we have a penguin cam.
-I got paid to do this. have you ever been paid to get kissed by a walrus?
-we get to see the miracle of altricial marsupial babies.
-we are getting a tv show to show the world what we really do.
*other funny animal clips and videos.
-funny frog.
-animal tracks blog.
-unlikely pairs
-welcome to my life
-I love dogs.

home life:
*rhett went to texas twice for offsites.
*getting ready for easter.
*love this show.
*angie and james came to visit! and on my birthday! best weekend ever. we played tons of games, went to aquatica, downtown disney, ate cuban food, went to a science museum, saw a magic comedy dinner show (AMAZING) went to seaworld, and they stayed an extra day. so glad they came. angie lost her wedding band at seaworld, but was the luckiest girl in the world to find it! and they got me the shamu soundtrack for my birthday. love them very much.
*I love playing with rhett. in the grocery store we pretending like we were harry potter, because now the lights are automatic to come on with motion when you walk past the freezers. yess. then I just ran down the aisle. I also like to pretend that I can close the fridge door with my mind.
*I got a new engagement ring. and a new haircut. both which I love.
*you know you live in orlando when: it is a common occurence to see a clown driving a minivan around town.
*rhett turned to me the other day and said "I wonder where the name underpants came from-oh."
*we went with the thomas family to seaworld...because papa johns bought out the park for the pizza games. we love that family.

ok ok that's enough for now.

blessed.

where to start? once again, I find that I have waited too long to post. 2 weeks have been filled with so much!

and congrats to Em to getting into the grad school at the top of her list!

blessed in life:
*we finally worked out everything with our 2010 taxes (or at least we hope.) they took our money at least. I am also almost finished with 2011. woo.
*I got to see a full rainbow after a rainstorm at work the other day. what a wonderful reminder of God's promise.

blessed by rhett:
*last night, after an incredibly miserable day, rhett had planned a surprise for me after I got home from work. he bought 3 of my favorite foods (spinach artichoke dip, panda express, and cadbury eggs *hooray for easter*) and cleaned the house and set up a fancy dinner. we used real cloth napkins, wine glasses, and he pulled out my chair and served me. my favorite quote: "we have 2 choices for appetizers: spinach artichoke dip or dog's butthole." love him.
*rhett went to and got off work early so we could go to aquatica a few weeks ago. SO fun. we rode 14 rides in an hour and a half. best short date ever.
*blessed to still miss Rhett when he's gone. thank you to my sweet friend Angie for taking such good care of him while he's in Texas this week.
*we celebrated rhett's birthday by going out to eat, and watching Harry Potter (his gift from my parents). love that boy.
*in his sleep the other night, he said "I'm not a storm trooper."
*rhett says: "how do you spell guacamole?" me: "like it sounds." rhett: "so Q-U-A-C" me: "it's guacamole not quacamole."

blessed with pets:
*aggie is still doing well. we are so blessed by her veterinarians, who have poured out love and care to her and to us.
*I think also she is a dog caught in a cat's body. she sits on my lap, chews on my fingers, watches rhett pee, follows us around the house, and plays with everything. her toys include: the collar she can now wear because her cone is no longer a permanent accessory on her body, the bell on her collar, the fluffy collar she sometimes wears, and roscoe.
*roscoe has become so bad about begging that it is almost unbearable, but hilarious. it is, of course, our fault. but still funny. the best thing he has done is bring me a bone and set it on my lap, as if to say, "I'll trade you." and then they smell your breath like it's almost as good as eating it.

blessed by our jobs:
*more cool animal things I have had the opportunity to see in the last few weeks:
-a few months ago I had posted about the octopus shedding her sucker skin. the other day I saw her wipe her arms on the sea urchin to help get the old skin off. so funny. left the urchin kind of skinnish though. kind of like this.
-it was also cool to get to see a second polar bear training session. it was on a behind the scenes tour in the back den, from the ceiling. we saw johnny sit, and stand up against the wall...he is SO huge.
-so proud to be a part of this and this and this and this. all for the love of animals.
-on a penguin tour the other day, we got to see one of the aviculturist's hand-raised chicks chase her around the exhibit. so adorable. for the love of imprinting.
-on a behind the scenes tour the other day, my kids got to see a manatee rehydration procedure. so cool.
*I recently got a promotion! after getting the grades I needed on my tours, I got moved up to an Ed I! So I will continue doing my current duties, and will soon be doing field trips and sleepovers too!
*I came up with a cool idea to get to pick a few families to go get to see the penguins while their habitat is closed. it went over really well! I also got caught in a really great interaction with 2 little boys by my boss's boss's boss. he gave me a ticket for free lunch!
*I have had a lot of tours lately (which is SO awesome), I love getting to know the families and spend the day with them. In 3 weeks of work, I will have 8 VIP tours, 3 small tour shifts, and only 3 regular shifts in the park. I have also been blessed to have the privilege of meeting and "tour guiding" for this gentleman and this gentleman. cool.
*having the privilege to see each show in SW a million times, and it is still different every time. animals are so cool.
*working for a company where extra shifts available include: roller coaster testers post-inspection, and desensitizing stingrays to humans.
*being really excited by things like this. that book would be a great b-day gift idea!

blessed with laughter:
*me to penguin tour group: "so what do you think they use that fire hose for?" kid: "to put out fires?" touche kid, touche.
*seeing poor girl at aquatica wearing her swimsuit top upside down. that sweetheart neckline is for cleavage honeychild, not sag.
*seeing families with an obviously new camcorder, filming everything. including purchasing ice cream.
*why do fish live in salt water? because if it was pepper water they would sneeze all the time.
*why do flamingoes stand on one leg? because if they picked up the other one they would fall over.
*what did the judge say when the skunk entered the courtroom? odor in the court!
*this is funny.
*also, as plaguing as these have been lately, I still find them hilarious. here are a few:



blessed by family:
*we are looking forward to going to Destin with my family this summer!
*willie and carol (our adopted family) are such a blessing to us. they took us out to eat this past week, and we love them so much. prayers for them in this trying time of their lives.
*we are blessed by our small group, whom we had the privilege of sharing valentine's day with playing the newlywed game. we love you. we also got to celebrate the superbowl with some too!!

blessed by the Lord.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." -James 1:17

this might be torture.

sooo....obviously it has been a long time. at first, we were just busy. then, my list of things to blog became just too unbearably long and I kept putting it off. which of course made the list longer. so this might just be torture to read because it has been over a month, but enjoy anyway.

life news:
-we went and saw big miracle. I can't remember the last time we saw a movie on opening night! it was pretty cute! it's no dolphin tale though.
-we bought dolphin tale. and I watched it a million times. so many times, in fact, that when I was at work and saw a dolphin swim, I thought it was weird to see a dolphin swim with its tail up and down.
-rhett's rush went really well! and at the time, I was still working 5 days a week, so I hardly noticed he was working so much! both of our schedules have finally slowed down, and we are enjoying some much-missed down time at home together.
-angie and james called...and are planning to visit us next month! we are so excited!! what a fantastic birthday present.
-rhett's birthday is this thursday! 24!
-gianna and stuart came to orlando for a convention, and we are so glad they called to hang out! we went to seaworld and fed dolphins! what a great day.
-we have invented a new game...whoever solves more wheel of fortune puzzles in an episode gets to choose the pajamas!
-rhett forgets that he is taller than me, and when digging for something in the fridge/pantry will take stuff out and put it on top of the microwave (unreachable for me). when stuff goes missing, that's where I look. including little debbies cakes.
-we saw a rocket launch!! one night, while watching wheel of fortune, the local news split screened to show it...at which point we were able to sprint out the door and see it take off! and a night launch too! I finally did it!
-we saw a builboard for a titanic dinner experience. sooo...while eating they fill the room with freezing water? I mean..who would want the sinking experience?
-this is hilarious.
-more things rhett says in his sleep. "nostrils." & "they should strap a helmet cam to shamu" & "paper or plastic" & "I'm a pilot. I fly a stealth helicopter."
-have you seen this? funny.

pet news:
-the cat has left and come back! she lived at the vet for about 3 weeks where they compassionately slammed lots of medication into her, on our budget request, in a last ditch effort. she has now had 3 full days with no cone. so far so good.
-roscoe has started doing this cute thing where he goes and sits by the garage door when he hears rhett pull into the garage. but somehow we can't get him to do it on command. we are working on it. yesterday was the first time we have been successful.
-both animals very much find it concerning when I have on a band aid. they can't peel that thing off my body fast enough. they both kind of nibble at it, as if to say, let me kiss it!
- I am training roscoe to lick rhett's nipple.
-video soon to follow...when the cat has on her cone, she can't groom herself. so she licks roscoe's leg and then grooms herself with it. awesome. he is such a good brother.
-whenever anyone sits down, it is suddenly a target for both critters to sit on/under/or behind. especially when food is involved. makes it discouraging to sit down.

work news:
-I was informed the other day, that a fish I have never seen and told guests wasn't in the pool (there is a sign for it) is, in fact, in there. apparently it only makes an appearance about every 6 months.
-I am getting excited about this. the other day I heard the music that played in the old manatee exhibit and it made me miss them! from what I've heard, the new one is going to be nothing like the old one!
-I gave a dolphin tour the other day with 1 person on it. weird, but really special for her!
-I had a particularly frustrating evaluation a few weeks ago, which was made up for by an incredibly opposite evaluation experience the following week. consistency is not the name of the game here.
-you know you have an awesome job when, one day, it involves cleaning up penguin poop!
-a coworker and I had a discussion about how we sometimes find trash shoved really far into the bushes, wondering why a human would go to such effort to litter. later that same day, I saw a squirrel carry a food wrapper into a bush.
-one good thing about orlando roadways is the "time alert" signs. luckily, I pay attention to them. I avoided being late one day because I noticed a 20 minute delay on the roadway and could avoid it.
-it sometimes happens that, while narrating, a guest comes and asks me a question. I mean, I invite them to! but coming up to me, while talking, saying "bano, bano, bano" (like repeating it would make me understand if I didn't already know what it meant) and then coming up to me a second time saying "balea balea balea" is not a way to get your questions answered.
- I have been able to see some cool things working at aquatica, as much as we complain. a bald eagle, african fish eagle, roseatte spoonbill, tawny frogmouth, black and white tagu, mali uromastyx, prehensile tailed skink, kookabura, nene goose. the funniest part about it is, when they bring those things out, people don't even see them. there could be a bald eagle 5 ft from their face and they just walk on by. look up people!!
- I can also add a walrus fart and a frisky beluga to the checklist of things seen at seaworld.
-I have found that I also have a "no portugese smile" similar to the no english smile I described in an earlier post.
-I have almost killed 2 young children and their parents for feeding cheetos and sunflower seeds to a hawaiin nene geese. "junk food makes geese obese" is a obviously not even a cute enough sign for the most ignorant guest.
-I am now officially trained so I may handle the reptiles at aquatica! makes the day go by faster.
-I had the incredible privilege of piloting a tour at work one day. I can't tell you what was on it yet, because it hasn't been released yet. but to get paid to take this tour...incredible.
-in case anyone was wondering, the company that makes bathroom stalls is called "hiney hiders." haha.
-I have made friends in other departments, which is really exciting to get to hear about their side of the job, and some insider information that they get to hear that has to do with their jobs! I didn't know we used to have one of these!
-I had the privilege of watching a polar bear training session in the exhibit the other day! so cool! they had him come, sit, and open his mouth for the trainer!

some funny quotes:
-"roll out grandpa."
-me: "let me know if you have any questions."
guest: "ok you too."
?
-"why is the polar bear upset."
me: "he's not. why do you think he's upset?"
"well he looks upset."
me: "well bears just naturally kind of look intimidating. and he just went swimming so you can see through to his dark skin around his eyes."
"well he looks upset."
me (thinking): well how long have you studied polar bear behavior now?
-"you're uniform is so pretty"
me: speechless.

physics: the simple, the improbable, and the impossible

well in honor of emily applying to grad school...here is a post filled with physical improbabilities. or physical laws which tourists sometimes forget. eitherway, they are quite entertaining.

1) I filled up my gas tank for under $40. holy cow. improbable.
2) in reference to the stingrays: "can we touch their tails?". well, even on the correct assumption that we clip the barbs so you are safe, are you still dumb enough to want to touch them there, or are you just testing me?
3) in reference to the stingrays: "what do they eat?" me: "fish, shrimp, worms, clams..." older woman: "so they don't eat any meat?" me: "well, technically all of those things are meat." older woman:: "but no turkey?" me "....." do turkey live in the ocean?
4) midflight, a bird took a dump directly on my forehead and sweatshirt. DISgusting. during a dolphin tour. I only freaked out on the inside.
5) if you hang a heavy backpack on the back of a stroller, and then lift the child out of the stroller, it will fall over backwards. no matter how many times you set it back up, it will still fall over.
6) stoplights are always green when you are early, and red when you are late.
7) toy story physics are becoming ever more real. a music box nutcracker which resides on our top shelf decides to sing to us every once in awhile. luckily we have both been home everytime.
8) "this water smells cold." ?
9) "is this real water?" ?
10) licking a giant ice wall which 10,000+ other people have put their hands on means you just ate all of their finger jam. sick.
11) drinking and/or washing yourself in water where dolphins live also means you just bathed in their excrement. sick.
12) paedomorphism: retention in adults of infantile or juvenile characteristics. example: domestication in dogs (dogs resemble young wolves). example: 8-10 yr. old kids with pacifiers.
13) dolphins can see equally well above and below water. dolphin can clearly see you don't have a fish in your dangling-trying-to-tease them hands.
14) if you stand behind a penguin (known for projectile pooping and lack of bladder) your chances of being pooped on are very high.
15) "do they ever die?" .....no, our animals are immortal.
16) in reference to stingrays: "how do they sleep?" me: "well they don't really sleep like we do. things with little or simple brains don't need to rest them much." kid: "like popcorn, popcorn doesn't need to sleep."
17) in reference to stingrays: "why do you have so many?" me: "ummm...for you to look at?" I mean, if there was only one in that huge tank you would think that was weird too.
18) "who would win, a cat or a stingray?" me: "well, when would you ever see a cat and a stingray together?"
19) rhett in his sleep: "reindeer have vertical takeoff!"
20) 4 yr old boy: "there's this thing on the iPad where this thing turns into a thing and then something happens." the chances of anyone knowing what you are talking about are slim.
21) coming home every night with more and more mosquito bites...mystery solved! everyone had them after staffing dolphin cove and stingray at night!
22) building a fire on christmas eve with no fireplace? impossible. with netflix: possible.
23) getting dressed in the dark at 6am=wearing underwear inside out all day.
24) obtaining whataburger's new spicy ketchup when florida has no whataburgers? impossible. with friends mailing them some? possible?
25) every restaurant ever getting rid of your go-to menu selection? more possible than you would think. thank you to wendy's for creating a chicken club to replace sonic getting rid of theirs.
26) "is he stuck?" no. in all the 30 years we have been here, wouldn't we know if there was a place where the animal could get stuck?
27)"close enough." I wish lightning would get "close enough" to anyone who uses this phrase when teaching their children.
28) kid to dad: "what are the chances we could get a sea lion and train it?" dad to kid: "you need to teach your dog to pee outside first."

In other work news: I gave my first VIP tour! it was so awesome. I had the sweetest family in the whole world and they were so greatful for everything. I could not have had a better day. I also finally took a penguin tour. my first and last of its kind...my favorite animal officially closes tomorrow! :( we also got an annual christmas ornament. it is a seaturtle and it is adorable *excited.*

also you know you've worked a long time when: 1) you notice when aquarium sticks a new tiny fish into one of the pools. I love finding new animals! 2) also, when you give the tour that you took on your first day. what a cool transition to give the tour that I took 6 months ago on my first day! 3) hearing the narration at the (human) pearl diving attraction "and they can hold their breath for...." and instinctually wondering how long do they live and what do they eat? 4) awkward laughter no longer bothers you when you are talking about the plight of the sea turtles, because you know they speak no english. 5) the question "what do you do here?" no longer brings up any "how dare you?" feelings. your loss if you don't want to learn the cool stuff I know. 6) a kid reaching into your pocket looking for trading cards no longer freaks you out. 7) I don't speak much of any other language, but somehow I have learned a lot of the "no english babble" 8) you can tell the heritage of a family or individual by the way the pose in a picture. unfortunately this is america.


we also got to enjoy rhett's parents being here. we went to seaworld to see the christmas stuff, downtown disney, have christmas, and go to cocoa to see the beach and historic village. work is slowing down now, so I can recover from such a busy season!

rhett and I LOVED our anniversary trip. see more pictures on my facebook. we went to the clearwater marine aquarium (featured in dolphin tale), met winter, busch gardens, christmas in the park, and the tampa zoo. it was SO fun. we fed giraffes and kangaroos, got lots of pictures and pennies, stayed in a hotel, ate our cake, and opened some early christmas gifts (so we could watch home alone!) it was so nice to just get to laugh together, not have a to-do list (my favorite) and turn our phones off. we asked so many questions about the animals and it was just awesome. when we got home and went to unload the car, roscoe jumped in it, as if to say "please don't leave again!" and then the next day rhett made dinner and set it up next to the christmas tree. so sweet. best trip ever. 2012= atlanta!!