Making The Sign of the Cross

Do you all remember the saying that Catholics sometimes use to remember the sign of the cross? You know, "Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch"?

Well, with the events of the last couple of weeks, each of those have been on the forefront of my mind.

First off, I got new glasses!



I needed them even though I've had contact lenses for the past few months. I didn't really have an adequate pair of glasses to back them up. I decided for these because I wanted a different look and I feel like they look cool.

I don't care what anyone else thinks, y'all can keep the negative comments to yo'selfs!

As for the second token in the phrase, Emily and I have had many discussions about them (or as one of my brothers-in-law call them- "Thing One and Thing Two"), and we decided it was time to "take me out of the gene pool" (As sung to the popular baseball tune) so to speak.

A week ago Friday I got the deed done and have been walking like I got kicked by a horse ever since. No exercise, no lifting and no relations of the husband and wife type for at least a week.

Ugh.

Things are slowly progressing and I'll be returning to some semblance of normal, and work, next week.

As for the wallet, it seems that things keep grabbing for mine lately. New tires for my car, new TV console, We almost needed a new TV because I PULLED THE CABLE ATTACHMENT out of our TV, but my Father-in-law had me check to see if there were the red,white and yellow Audio/ Video ports back there and now the picture actually looks better than it did before.

And as for the watch, well, TIME FOR SUMMER VACATION!!!! School's out til the last week of August when I start at U of Utah. I hope I fared well in my classes, but I'm ready for a good vacation and hope I'll get to do/ see everything/ everyone on my list.

YAY!

I Got In!!

I've been waiting for the news for a while and it finally came today!

I got accepted to The U of Utah! Woo Hoo!!! I start in the fall and should (hopefully) be done by December of 2011!

Ode To A Gentle Giant

Even though I moved almost a year ago, I still keep up with some of the happenings around the Q. Every few days I'll check the news websites and whatnot, just to see what's up. It's pretty interesting to me to see the contrast between the types of news that gets reported in NM versus SLC.

I was perusing the usual channels when I came upon this story.

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1481058.shtml?cat=516

To say the very least, I was appalled. I can't even imagine how desensitized a person has to be at their job to do such a thing to any animal, let alone magnificent creature like a GIRAFFE!!

The reason I bring this up is that, just before Em and I moved our little family up to Utah, My family took a nice outing to the zoo. I took a couple hundred pictures (literally), and a good 40 to 50 of those were of Kashka and her 2 DAY old calf. She was calm but protective of her little one, and at the same time she seemed proud to show off her progeny. She was captivating.

There was something that seemed to connect me to her, as I had witnessed the birth of Henry only 3 weeks earlier. Something inside me seemed to feel like she knew I was in the same boat, looking out for my little one as he was learning the ways of this new existence.

When I read the article this morning I knew right away that it was her. I looked up my photos to check, and yes, those were the same markings. I wanted to cry. She was one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet and someone was so wrapped up in taking the short route to get done with his day that he desecrated her body for the sake of saving himself a bit of time.

I know she was already gone, but what does this say about how this person cares for the living animals in his charge? I know this is an isolated incident. I've met many of the zookeepers there and they are almost as passionate about the animals as they are about their own children.

Kashka was a great being and I know this world was made better by her being in it.

It's Been Fun, But...

Well, it was a fun ride. I enjoyed the time together, but now I must bid adieu to the hills of the dancing sun. I wasn't expecting it to end this quickly, but I received a something better.

In other words, I have a new job.

I got a phone call on Wednesday morning from FedEx saying that they wanted to set up an interview. What? I applied more than two MONTHS ago, before I got the fire starting job, and hadn't heard anything back at all. I had the interview later in the day just before work. It went well and the interviewer said that, pending a background check, they would offer me a position.

I told my manager at work later in the day that I would most likely be quitting, that I would miss the work up there and that I was thankful for her giving me the chance to work for her. She said that she didn't like me anymore. Not really. She was glad to have me for as long as she could and understood that I was doing what's best for me and mine. She also said that she hoped she could find someone half as dependable and quick-learning as I was.

*gush*

Well, I started FedEx Saturday morning at 3AM, and then went to work at 2 in the afternoon. This will last til April Fools Day. Fitting.

The hours will be less, but the pay will be the same, if not a bit more. Also the schedule is Tues-Sat, meaning NO MORE WORKING ON SUNDAYS!!!

More for less is good these days.

The sights, sounds and smells of wildlife.

I've told a few people about some of the interesting wildlife happenings at work a few weeks ago, but I figured I'd share with everyone since I haven't been on in a while.

It seems like most of my encounters happen after dark. The first one I had was with a momma moose and her yearling calf.

I was on the way home from work after 11 o'clock in the evening when I came across a couple of cars going RRREEEAAALLLYYY slow on the winding road from the resort. I was about ready to go around them when I spotted Momma and her not so small son. They had been fixtures on the upper portions of the canyon and they decided to take a shortcut down the road to get to their next destination.

The funny thing (well, not so funny for the person in the truck nearest to them) was then when truck closest to them tried flashing their brights at the beasts, momma got mad an gave a love tap to the hood of the vehicle. Eventually they tired of the raucous and detoured at about what seemed to be a 90 degree up slope on the canyon wall. (Spider-man has nothing on these guys)

Then, about 2 weeks ago, I was headed toward the van at about 10:30pm and heard a couple of owls hooting to each other, seeming to signal that spring is right around the corner. It sounded just like out of the movies.


Lastly, on Friday as I was finishing with one last request before heading home, I was talking to Em on the phone when I smelled the odoriferous emittance of a skunk. I asked her if they hibernate for the winter and she confirmed that they did.
Smells like spring is in the air...