8 Inches Of Snow MY ASS

This is just pathetic.

courtesy Washington Post Snowcam
What a huge letdown when I looked out the window this morning and could still see grass.

Flapjacks For The Bird

Cooked to a nice golden brown

© Screaming Pea Productions
It's all about presentation

© Screaming Pea Productions
Another satisfied customer

© Screaming Pea Productions

Happy Retro Valentine's Day

Everybody go make your own Garbage Pail Kids card.


© Screaming Pea Productions

Warm Fuzzies

Last Saturday at the zoo was an exceptionally good day for volunteering. The weather was great, the 10 week old cheetahs made their public debut, and I don't think I encountered a single unpleasant visitor. Early in my shift, I met a boy and his friend and his friend's mom near the entrance of the Invertebrate Exhibit. They immediately took interest in our 15 pound American Lobster and we chatted about him for a bit. The mom and friend moved on to the next exhibit and the boy followed them. He looked at the huge tank of anemones, sea stars and urchins, and then looked over his shoulder to ask me a question. He was probably seven or eight years old, and was truly interested in finding out more about the animals. I love kids like that. It makes my day. The friend and mom were nice, too but not nearly as talkative and just preferred to look. Being that is was early in the day and the exhibit wasn't very busy, I continued to stop at each tank with the little guy and answer his questions and also find out what he already knew about the animals. He was glad the octopus wasn't hiding. He was giddy about the hissing cockroaches. He was way, way excited about the hermit crab. He was fascinated by the leaf cutter ants. The last exhibit in the main building is the Golden Orb Weaver Spiders. He and I began to walk towards it, however, he stopped a few feet short and looked up at me.
"There's no glass?"
"Nope" I replied.
"And the spiders are real?" He was now staring intently at the spiders.
"Yes, they're real."
And I felt a little hand reach over and latch onto mine.

I looked down, smiled at him and assured him that the spiders weren't dangerous. "They can't even see you," I told him.
"Really?" he asked.
"I promise."
And with that he walked up to the edge of the exhibit, towing me by my arm. He asked questions and we talked more about the spiders. He eventually let go of my hand and went back to being the confident kid I met back at the entrance.

The times I wished I was taking time out for myself instead of volunteering...
The times I cursed my alarm clock when I had an early shift...
The times I grumbled about the traffic...
I take it all back.

Sometimes The Free Daily Paper Is Worth Reading

In an article titled "Love Stinks" I came across this gem:

"Cheesetique...sells several washed-rind blue cheeses, some of which will merely make you cry, others of which will drop-kick you into the middle of the street and insult your mother."

I laughed so hard I cried. On the train. People stared. I didn't care. It was damn funny.

Update On Dad

Dad started raditaion yesterday. Five days a week for the next six to eight weeks. Fortunately it will be at least 3 or 4 weeks before he's supposed to feel any ill effects from it. Supposedly it's just a standard preventative measure, but two months of daily treatment sounds like a lot for something that’s not all that serious. I’d be more trusting if Dad was actually open and honest about his health issues, but he tends to keep us in the dark, which is ironic because if I hadn’t told him when I was diagnosed with melanoma and had to have surgery, he would’ve been more than upset.

My Pants Rock!

For those of you who don't know, I'm a dork and am forever spilling things on myself (drinks, food, various household substances, various substances at the zoo, etc.). I just spilled tempura sauce on my Land's End pants and holyshititjustwipedrightoff! O-F-F. Off. No stain. Seriously. I dripped it on myself again (on purpose) just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Not a fluke. So then I tried Cherry Coke and mashed potatoes (separately). O-F-F. Off. No stain. Seriously. Apparently Teflon is good for more than cookware.