Tuesday, October 25, 2011

T-minus 48 hours

Today marks 2 days until we arrive in Texas. after months of planning and plan changing, we will finally arrive and get to enjoy the fruits of our labor. we get to see our BFFs, play in college station, see my mommy!!!!! eat delicious Texas foods that we have missed out on for 7-9 months (aka Chicken express...florida how do you live without it?), meet our nephew, and celebrate thanksgiving and christmas with the grimes side of the family.

That means that today (aka my day off) is filled with vacation preparation. conjunction junction. and to make my life even more easy, I signed up to take a test to progress at work tomorrow (so I have to study for that as well). But I have found ways to break up the day (thank you new episodes of toddlers and tiaras on netflix). I will defeat you suitcases and cleaning. I also already foresee myself missing Roscoe while we are gone.

last but not least, thank you to Alex Thomas who is the new best person I know. He agreed, without hesitation, to housesit for us....cat medication/baths and all. Alex Thomas: I appreciate you more than I could ever express to you in words. You are a really great young man, and we have loved getting to be a part of your family. Thank you for showing us love!

other news in the grimes household:
-we lowered our energy bill by 50%! how awesome is that! best month ever.
-once upon a time the catroom (guest bathroom) stunk bad. of course, there is a litterbox in a tight space, but it was an unbearable stench. after scrubbing and replacing all the litter, I discovered that the box could not be the source of the stench. low and behold, the toilet of stagnant water was moldy and disgusting and had gone untouched for over a month until it became disgusting. glad I discovered it finally. now it just smells like cat in there. bearable.
-I beat rhett in fantasy football last week.
-I made a strawberry cake on sunday night...and rhett's compliment for how it smelled/looked was "oh man I am going to do nasty things to that cake." A similar comment about my taco dinner last week was "oh man Roscoe I bet you wish you were a human right now so you could eat these tacos." his compliments make me giggle.
-I love it when I catch Rhett rewatching football games online that LITERALLY just ended on real TV.
-There was a particularly gross moment where the dog yawned, then I yawned, and he licked inside my mouth (gross enough, right?). well then Rhett felt compelled to say to me: "oh that's so gross, he was licking the bottom of my feet last night!". gag me.
-We have been taking morning walks together before work. It is easily the best part of my day.
-our friends the Somers finally brought home their 2 boys from ethiopia! What a glorious and celebratory week for them! We can't wait to take them to Aquatica for their first ever waterslides when we get back from Texas!
-a normal discussion in the grimes household: how much would someone have to pay you to lick your own armpit? can you even reach your own armpit?


other news on the pet front:can you spot her?
-we went to the dermatologist. the bill was depressing and the news was less than shocking. we are continuing treating for the things we already treated for. this better work dadgommit. I am so done with treating the same things with no results. fix my dang cat already!
-Roscoe has started quickly emptying and bringing over every toy in his toy bin any time he wants any attention at all. it makes for a very uncomfortable couch.

also in the news:
-what the what? did anybody see the man in Ohio who let 56 exotic animals (grizzlies, lions, cheetahs, bengal tigers, camels) free and then killed himself? good job guy, it's all your fault that 18 out of the 2500 remaining tigers of the world are now dead.
-matt wertz and michael buble both released christmas cd's this week. what to do?

and last but not least, everyone's (I'm sure) favorite: work stories and guest quotes:
NEWS:
-I had the privilege of staffing the sea lion area minutes after a sea lion pup was born. (then of course closing the area for a quick check up.) but still, awesome. seeing a 10 minute old sea lion= check.
-the word "penguin" is not in my phone. how can you be a zoologist's phone and not know the word penguin?
-I officially gave my first dolphin tour, first penguin talk, and second penguin talk all in the same week. a week of firsts, and a week of fun! so exciting!

these are a few of my FAVORITE THINGS:
-spray sunscreen: as much as I love your convenience, I would equally love a disclaimer on your bottle stating "lack of regard for other persons downwind or within a confined space may result in injury" thereby making it acceptable for me to throw punches.
-seeing a grown woman reach her foot over a 4' wall into a dolphin pool. classic.
-when a daddy says "look at all the mantas" to a child. we have not a single manta in SW.
-clearly, squirrels are the most awesome animals on the planet. because guests will turn their back on a manatee feeding to get one step closer to a squirrel.
-earlier in the week I opened up a drawer in our riddle box to discover....a roach. which then proceeded to scamper away. SICK. hopefully the nearest child wasn't traumatized.
-trick or treating at halloween spooktacular. bookoos of free candy.
-settling bets and dividing families: "is it a dolphin or a whale?"
-talking to little kids as they lather themselves in sunscreen, with no social regard for how silly they look lotioning themselves.

QUOTES:
after seeing a woman duck under a rope barrier at an overlook across the sea lion pool, I made my up to the overlook to tell her: "ma'am, I'm really sorry this area is closed off right now." woman says: "oops." like she stumbled across a closed area. it's not like you made a concerted effort to dodge the rules.

woman: "what will I see at dolphin cove?"
me thinking: 'dolphins.'

me holding a polar bear pawprint: "can you guess what animal this is from?
little girl: "a monster."

boy: "how do dolphins sleep?"
me: "they sleep half of their brains at a time, so they are always halfway awake. can you think why that might be important?"
boy: "so they can check for monsters under their bed?"

me: "do you know what polar bears eat?"
boy: "root beer?"

and I overheard this last one from a lifeguard. it's nice to know we are not the only ones who deal with silly questions.
man asked: "why did you breed dolphins and penguins?"

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