Say yes to the dress marathon!

Now my ridiculous obsession with watching wedding shows now has a reason!!!  Plus it makes me happy when I have been sick all day.  Nothing is better than chilling out in sweats eating soup and watching tv on a cool fall day when you have a cold.


Anyways this one bride brought her fiance's ex-girlfriend to the bridal appointment.....who does that?  Its like she wants to be put down while trying on dresses.  Crazy people.


So basically that has been my whole day.  On to a new day tomorrow!

I am officially engaged!

After almost 6 years of dating my boyfriend (fiance) proposed.  I went to visit him in Baltimore for my weekend and we spent the one full day I had there going around Baltimore/Fort Meade/D.C. areas.  First we went and dropped off an application and resume for me to the Maryland Zoo and then went to lunch at Chilis.  After lunch we wandered around the mall and then headed to D.C. to visit the national gallery of art.  After getting through traffic and finally finding a parking spot we had 1 hour to walk through the museum so we saw what we could and then drove back to the Fort Meade area to go to one of his favorite sea food places.  It was good sea food and done really well!  After that we went to watch some tv before going to the movies later in the evening.  Right before leaving he proposed and I said yes of course!  Then we left for the movies and it was a torrential downpour outside....oh Mother Nature you make me laugh with your ways of raining on my special days.  Its almost like her way of celebrating with me.  


Anyways pictures!

Nations Capital Building

Side of ring

Top of Ring

Im becoming awful at daily posting...

Well yesterday was a good day...I got to pet another penguin...this time it was an african penguin!  Also my bro and sis-in-law came to visit me at the zoo.  They got to see me in action with a hedgehog and also a ball python.  They got in for free with my guest passes and then I drove out so they didnt have to pay for parking either...total price of a day at the zoo 5 bucks since they wanted ice cream and fed a giraffe...SCORE!  

After work I showed them where I live and then we drove to Kentucky for some Texas Roadhouse....What can I say?  You can take the girl out of Texas, but you cant take the Texas appetite out of the girl.  yum :)

Splinter the east african pygmy hedgehog

Splinter---hes part vampire!!!!

Today was a slow morning....by 10 we had 1 person at the zoo as far as guests go....before lunch another intern and I got trained on several more animals, which is super exciting!  We were trained on:

Honduran Milk Snake

Kenyan Sand Boa

Everglades Rat Snake

Spiny Tailed Lizard

Screaming Hairy Armadillo

I was also asked to spot one of the keepers while they walked the Bennett's Wallaby meaning I held Rocco's teddy grahams and the counter for counting visitors that interact with him.  Bennett's Wallabies are the largest type of wallaby and the only difference between kangaroos and wallabies are essentially the size.

Blatent disregard for rules and kicking adults

Today seemed to be the day that all rules and politeness went out the window at the zoo.  


I saw 2 women smoking at a table in the zoo with 2 toddlers....1st off you shouldn't smoke around children...because you are basically killing them or causing them to have a smoking addiction at a very early age.  And secondly the zoo is NON-SMOKING!  Yes I know you aren't in an enclosed building, but surprisingly smoke travels...SHOCKER!  Well anyway I said "I'm sorry but the zoo is actually non-smoking"  They replied "the whole zoo?"  I said "yes the whole zoo sorry" They replied "the whole zoo?" 


OK I know I wasn't speaking another language, but I wanted to say no just the parts you will be going to today....seriously?


Giraffe Feeding today was atrocious as far as behavior of people goes.  1st we had the normal people who don't listen when we say the giraffe hate to be touched trying to touch their face....and the ones we have to ask to step away from the railing and/or the giraffe...and those trying to break the cracker in half. But I have never been so annoyed by a parent in my life....this woman was asking me a lot of questions, which I am used to and is fine, but then she had kids going through the feeding line and yelled across the deck at them "BREAK YOUR CRACKER IN HALF TO SHARE WITH YOUR BROTHER!!!!"  To which we replied "im sorry ma'am but the cracker has to be stay in 1 piece.  Well she had 4 kids and kinda mumbled about paying 4 dollars for them.....whatever right? no big deal...Her kids got up to the feeding line and I could hear her complaining about not being able to take good pictures since one of the other interns was in the way so I got him to move before the kids fed.  Well she sends them back through the line for some reason and then barges through the feeding area complaining loudly about how we were in her way for pictures and she needed to be in the corral.  She waited at the front of the line until her kids came to the front of the line and then paid the money.  While one of my supervisors was getting change the 8 year old kid tried to run in the feeding area and she said "hold on buddy we have to calm down to feed the giraffes" to which the kid proceeded to pout and KICKED my supervisor.....and the best part?  The mother stood there and said nothing to her kid!  I would have smacked that kid across the face and then said that none of them could feed the giraffe.  Or chewed out the mother for being a complete jerk about it.  If your kid kicks someone you need to smack your kid upside the head or kick them yourself.


Really people amaze me with such oblivious ignorance sometimes.....if you dont reprimand your children they will grow up being complete brats and ruin society....I mean punishment builds character


Ok enough ranting....cute bear pic!

black bear chillin

Penguins and Polar Bears

Today was another fine day at the zoo!  I watched the King Penguins swim around in their enclosure for almost an hour since people don't really come in the Birdhouse in the morning where I was stationed.

The rest of work was pretty uneventful I would say...other than I saw a guy with a very odd beard and 2 piercings on the back of his neck....really the zoo is an awesome place to people watch...lol.  After work I walked to my car to go to the store and took this picture of one of the polar bears...I have seen this happen several times and it makes me smile each time.

sprawled out next to the pool

I also am seeing more and more implications of fall and leaves changing!!!!!!!

Anyways had some really good fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread for dinner yum....thats pretty much the end of my domestic-ness.  Also watched the Sing-off on hulu tonight.  If you havent seen it you should...its a singing competition for a capella groups.  Its on monday nights!

I pet a penguin!!!!

Yesterday was a long day so i missed the blogging experience but here are some pics from sunday:

King Penguin and Magellanic penguin

hey Kimba

Kimba getting the cracker

Tyson the Turkey

Sea Lions!

Today was a really short day work wise.  I started by first PETTING A PENGUIN!!!!!  Finally!  Anyways then I watched the goat yard for an hour to see if anyone wanted to come in and pet the goats....it was raining and 65 degrees...needless to say NO ONE came to the childrens zoo area.  Then we went to the gift shop with Disco our Ball snake for 30 minutes and saw no one again....so we were told to go home for the day.

I also met my boyfriends extended family today....on my own.  I was very nervous about going I mean who wouldn't be nervous, but things went really well and we had chili...yum.  

Ok pictures from today:

adorable skunk going to be used for education

Polar bears playing with enrichment

Giraffe feedings!

I personally love helping with giraffe feedings!  Mainly because it is awesome to stand with a giraffe and feed it crackers to make sure it does not leave before the next person comes to feed.  I get to stand with Tessa the 5 year old female giraffe at the zoo.  Occasionally she licks my arm or shirt trying to get to the bucket of crackers in holding.  I also give crackers to people as they come up to feed and make sure they stay away from the railing and not trying to touch the giraffe.  Occasionally I help with pictures by holding a cracker up so Tessa will stick out her tongue and people can have that in their background.  We also count how many people come through the feedings and make sure no one comes in through the exit.  


At the zoo 1 cracker is sold for a dollar and can be fed to 1 of our giraffe.  We feed them rye crackers as a part of their diet.  Right now we do these feedings 2 times a day since its after labor day, but before labor day it was 4 times a day.  It is a big thing at the zoo for the visitors and its really fun to see how excited people get about feeding them or even just seeing them up so close.  I understand because I still get excited to help out.

Tessa

OKTOBERFEST ZINZINNATI!!!!

I went to oktoberfest today in cinci and had quite a nice time by myself.  I saw weiner dog races, barrel races, and stein holding races.  Cincinnati has the 2nd largest oktoberfest in the world....only 2nd to Munich, Germany.  I went on the preview day which is much smaller but this weekend they will block off over 5 blocks of downtown Cincinnati for it.  Even though I know oktoberfest is supposed to be about drinking....well I think all of the german culture is.....I had a good time not drinking.  I got a funny hat tho and that makes me happy.

After that I went to a Halloween store....mainly because I am obsessed with halloween and I am super sad that I cant do my normal decorations and I will be driving all day on Halloween.  Anyways I bought a little bag of spiderwebs to put up in the room :)  I also bought orange nail polish to make my nails halloween festive!

Oh also at Oktoberfest Norm from cheers was there to kick off the festivities

Free ice cream with sprinkles....yum

Nothing too big happened today, but I got to do a lot of animal encounters with the public.  It made me happy.  I took out 2 snakes, a tortoise, and a skink.


We are now in field trip season at the zoo...where we are surrounded by less than well behaved kids.  I really think 1 adult to 10 kids needs to be changed.  Because 7 out of 10 of those kids are misbehaving probably.  I had to ask kids not to swing on the branches in the Lorikeet area.  And apparently one child tried to kick our goose and when one of us told him not to do that the adult was mad at us for it.  If you are a volunteer adult for a field trip....do NOT reprimand the people who work at a place you came to.  If you cant control the kids....we will.  


Anyways I liked taking out Roberta the Red-footed Tortoise today....I just follow her around while she wanders around the children's area.  And redirect her away from things she doesn't need to get in to.


After work we went to get ice cream and root beer floats at the ice cream place at the zoo.  Yay for working at the zoo and getting free stuff!  It was quite yummy with chocolate sprinkles.

Magpie Goose - one who was almost kicked

Roberta the Red-footed Tortoise

Kermit the Tawny Frogmouth

Im addicted to watching hulu

Seriously that is what I do everyday after work....tonight it was watching the voice...yes I know who won, but I still like listening to the singing.


Anyways today was another awesome zoo day....minus the large groups of grabby children.


I felt bad for our snakes today because while having them out to meet people we were overwhelmed by school groups...and as most people know they only have like 2 people to about 15 kids.  Therefore the kids basically do whatever they want.  I had 7 kids petting, grabbing and literally trying to take the snake from me by unwrapping him from my arm.  This one kid went so far as to rub his face on the snake....seriously child?  We had to yell stop and ask them to take a step back for us.


Then I got to work the giraffe feeding :)  I love the giraffe here they are awesome.  There weren't a lot of people here for the feeding so Tessa kept licking my arm trying to get to the bucket of crackers I was holding.  I was slimed....but its pretty awesome!

Tessa and cracker in mouth

After lunch I worked in the goat yard for a little while and then was called to Lorikeet Landing.  It was pretty slow so during a time when no one was there we were able to go look at the kea...which is a REALLY smart parrot that can actually turn destructive due to boredom.  Later I had a lorikeet take a liking to my hair and shirt collar and was licking it.

The 3 manatees

Wallaby

Kea

playing with my shirt

playing in my hair

licking my neck

lorikeet friend

Sir Francis Bacon

This is Sir Francis Bacon the Red River Hog I got to meet today.  He is part of the Cheetah encounter here at the zoo.  He is pretty awesome.

I dont have much else to say about today other than.....Lorikeets bite....hard


And yesterday I saw a squirrel come out of a trash can with one of the swinging doors....and they arent easily opened....so you go squirrel!  


Also I am ready for Halloween decor and things....I hope the zoo decorates!

September 11th 10 years later

10 years ago I was in 7th grade in art class when the twin towers were hit.  I had no idea what had happened at the time, but the teachers were very nervous and wouldn't tell us what happened.  I lived next to a very large military base and so parents started calling the school to come get their children.  Instead of sending us home the school district put all the schools on lockdown and we had to wait until the end of the day to go home.  All the doors were locked and we had to go class to class in groups.  It wasn't until I got home that I found out what had happened by seeing it on the television.  It was definitely a chilling thing to hear when you are young that your country was attacked and many feared that the military base may be next.  Luckily we were not attacked, but I couldn't help but feel a helplessness and utter sadness for those affected.  


In December 2004 I visited NYC and went to ground zero to see where the towers once stood.  It definitely gave me goosebumps that only happen when I am around areas that have had a large number of human losses.  This has only happened a couple times in my life...another time was walking through a gas chamber of a concentration camp in Germany.  It was a chilling feeling to know that so many innocent people lost their lives at the hands of a few deranged people.  


Now today was the 10th anniversary of the attacks and it amazes me how many people are still thinking about the loved ones who lost people in the attack.  I hope that someday those loved ones may find inner peace about those they lost. 


Now being from a military town I want to thank all of those who went to protect this nation in its time of need.  Many many people from my town left to go fight in the war and are still being sent overseas to fight for our and others' freedom.  I want to thank their families for giving these sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, and wives to the United States government and for supporting our troops through it all.


I never thought I would be one of the families who had to graciously give one of my own to the government, but I will support PFC Doherty until the end.  I love you babe!


September 11th 2001 the day that changed the face of America, the day we will never forget, the day America became united as one.

I MET AN ELEPHANT!!!!!

Today was especially exciting because the interns were allowed to go on a behind the scenes tour in the elephant house.  We all met Mai-tai a 38 year old female asian elephant.  We also had our pics taken with her...but I didnt take the picture so.....ill get it soon.  

Mai-tai!!!

After that experience we went to work for the day.

I began in Manatee Springs with Star the ball python....were basically besties.

1 thing I love about working with snakes is seeing how many full grown men are terrified of them. :)

I then took out a pygmy hedgehog with another intern where we put out a playpen in the grass and let the little guy roam around on the ground.  Its much nicer than having to hold them because they at best feel like pine needles...at worst a pin cushion with the needles sticking outward.  So definitely not a pleasant feeling and then they ball up and hop a little which only makes it more prickly.  

Things to know about hedgehogs:

1.  They are not baby porcupines

2.  They are not cuddly or soft

3.  They have hair not quills like porcupines

4.  They have razor sharp little teeth

5.  They eat insects

6.  No you can not hold them.

After lunch I had the usual Lorikeet/Goat bonding time.  So basically I poured nectar, gave out seed sticks, and took birds off of people.  Then I made sure goats weren't escaping.

I then was able to do another animal encounter at entry with my buddy star again.  He and his twin are probably my favorite guys to take out....super calm.

Black-capped Lorikeet

again

walking 

staring me down for food

Star the Ball Python

Yay for off days

I know I never actually did a blog for wednesday....but it was actually rather lacking in exciting material....it rained...no one came to the zoo....went home early.


Ok weekend time!!!!


Thursday I woke up and went to Newport on the Levee to see the 1st showing of crazy, stupid, love...I liked it a lot...plus its always nice to be the ONLY person in the theater.  See I felt the need to go early because movie theaters screw people over now on prices....so to get a decent price I have to go to the first showing which turns out is still 6 dollars....then after that until 3:30 its 8.50...after 3:30 its 10.50.  I am not paying 10.50 for a movie....I am still used to my college pricing of 3.50 all the time....it was amazing!


Then I found this pizza place called Dewey's so I decided to try it.  It turns out it was a sit down nice restaurant....and I was eating by myself...which doesnt bother me, but I may have confused the servers and other customers....whatever I had a really good calzone that I had to finish later for friday's dinner.


After that I went to Kenwood mall again and wandered around....bought a charger for my car for my lovely ipod...really dont know why I havent already bought one....its a pretty practical thing to have.  I like to window shop basically so then I wandered over to Barnes and Noble and skimmed through the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden History book...its pretty interesting actually....they had native americans live on the zoo grounds for one summer....and of course the major passenger pigeon thing....if you dont know...which I would assume most dont but Martha was the last living passenger pigeon ever and she lived at the zoo until she died in 1914.


Anyways Friday I went to Union Terminal here in Cinci which has 3 museums and a Cleopatra exhibit....along with being a major amtrak terminal.  I went to the History Museum for Cinci, the Cleopatra exhibit, and the Natural History Museum.  I am basically a sucker for museums....and really anything family oriented....zoos, aquariums, museums, amusement parks.....


I really enjoyed walking around learning things and even got to wander through the largest man-made cave in america....doesnt compare to the real thing...but still fun.


Pictures of my adventures:  sorry all of them arent great...had to use my phone...left my camera at home

Union Terminal - or as I was told it is the Hall of Justice for the comics Justice League

inside of union terminal

inside of union terminal

historical mark

stalagmites inside manmade cave

mummy

never heard of this cat

lion

saber tooth tiger!!!!

you could turn a wheel which opened and closed the bottom jaw

Jefferson's Ground Sloth

Elk-Moose

see below picture

also called Brontosaurus

armored fish thing...thought its face looked funny

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY WEEKEND!!!!!