Halloween Weekend!

In my last 2 days in ohio we tried to cram as much halloween type things in.  Friday night we carved pumpkins.  Saturday we went through a giant corn maze ate at noodles and company and then got prepared for trunk or treat at my brothers church.  Tomorrow begins the long drive back to Texas.

All packed and ready to go...

Yesterday I went to go see a movie:  The 3 Musketeers.  I thought it was good....but i would have rather seen it in 2D.  Paying 3 extra dollars for 3D effects that really don't change the movie at all for me depresses me.  I even had my own glasses and still had to pay.  


I walked around parts of the zoo that I hadnt seen before....yeah after 10 weeks there were still areas foreign to me.  I think I have finally seen everything now.  I am definitely going to miss walking around the zoo and seeing all the animals everyday.  


Today was spent packing and loading my car....with bits of laundry and cleaning in there.


Pictures from thursday:

Stellar Sea Eagle

Bactrian Camel

Mother and daughter Gorillas

Eurasian Lynx

Martha's memorial: the last passenger pigeon

last carolina parakeet memorial also

Martha's body is in ice in the smithsonian in DC

What the passenger pigeon looked like

Komodo Dragon

baby Pallas Cat.....ok they look full grown now...and it was mad i was so close to the window

Come back to Texas......

I will be heading south in a few days...meaning I will be getting home to some of my favorite restaurants. YUM.


Things I will be eating asap:
Freebirds
Whataburger
Logans Roadhouse
Fazolis
Sonic Happy Hour


Also I cant wait to see my frister since I havent seen her since May!!!!

love the leaves in ohio

ghost whisperer

im pretty much addicted....i have watched the show a lot before but i found a channel that plays it all afternoon and most of the night......SCORE!!!!!


It was a pretty slow day today at the zoo.  This was good since I found out we actually hit 12000 people yesterday at the zoo.  I was in the manatee house all morning then in the afternoon i was in lorikeets and then went to manatee house again.


2 work days left...its crazy!

adorable lemurs

hehe cutest walk ever

betsy the manatee

pigeon from australia

gorgeous colors.....our pigeons are boring

Last day of hallzooween was today

The last Hallzooween weekend was yesterday and today...not sure why they dont do it next weekend when its actually closer to halloween...but whatever. There were over 10000 people at the zoo today!  It was pretty ridiculous trying to walk anywhere at all especially with a cooler.  I was called a giraffe today and then the lady was like oh wait are you a lion? yes yes ma'am i am in fact a lion.  Another person thought my lion ears were horns....intelligence of the masses scares me.  


Helped a lady find her missing child today.....description of child....he is dressed like spiderman.   yeah that basically could have been 200 kids in the zoo.  


I really like hearing what kids think the snake feels like.  Today I got that my ball python felt like buzz lightyear or woody (kids in the same family), I was told that it DOES NOT feel like a basketball, another intern was told one snake felt like a bagel, and another felt like a rock.  Children really have no idea about textures it seems....another child smelled the milksnake I was holding and said it doesnt smell like anything!


Also grown men need to stop acting macho and going straight for the head.....lets teach your children to touch everythings face....i think thats a great idea!


Finally thank you to the parents who make sure their children behave!!!!!!!  I sincerely love that!


Meanwhile...cool costumes....parents were zookeepers children were an elephant, giraffe, and lion.  I also really wish when I was younger that they had full animal outfits.  Skunks, sharks, giraffe, zebra, lions, tigers, penguins, peacocks.....its ADORABLE!!!!  I also really like when the whole family dresses up.  I had a dad and son come to look at the snake who were mario and luigi.

Polar bear chillin with his pumpkin

pumpkin carving

manatee pumpkin

peacock pumpkin

you've heard of bomb dogs....well how about a bomb aardvark.  jk she was just checking out the gator

Last week of Cincinnati internship

began today.  4 more work days.  Then its back to Texas with my mom.

wedding venue.....CHECK!

I finally decided on a venue and a date!!!  Now I just need to get some save the date cards sent out!


It was cold, rainy, and windy today....so I impulsively bought a scarf and a hat with ear flaps.  Its kinda like going to the store hungry....I went to the store cold.


I also saw Real Steel with Hugh Jackman today....I really liked the movie!  Also I was asked about Harry Potter information by 2 random ladies in the theater.  Harry Potter really is universal :)

view from my wedding venue :)

Captive Animal Crisis....in Ohio

Dont own exotic animals!!!

This link takes you to a story that recently happened in Ohio....meaning happened today.  


In Zanesville a man owned a wild animal farm and was found dead on the property.  All the enclosures had been opened and the facility had bears, wolves, tigers, lions, camels, and giraffe.  So far the bears and wolves have been shot and killed.


I know a lot of people will think this is cruel to shoot the animal, but the reality is that trying to tranquilize an animal when its adrenaline has kicked in is pointless.  By the time you get enough into the animal to get it to go down...chances are its enough to kill the animal anyways.  Law enforcement has the priority of the people in the area not the animals so they are going to shoot to kill.  


Moral of the story.....DO NOT OWN EXOTIC ANIMALS!!!!!

beyond frustrated

it was a long night......being in a divorced family sucks.


thats all

Hallzooween Round 2 and Dayton

Yesterday and today was the 2nd weekend of Hallzooween.  I absolutely love seeing kids dressed up for halloween.  My favorite costume so far is the kid dressed as a washing machine (top loader) complete with knobs and clothes coming out of the top....he gets a 10 for creativity.  Then yesterday I saw a toddler dressed as a cheeseburger.  I also applaud those who go with the zoo theme as a costume.  I have seen monkeys, alligators, elephants, lions, tigers, giraffes, a shark, a butterfly, and peacocks.  Then there are the barnyard animals....cows.


I have had my lion ears and tail on for both days....and yet I get about 10 comments a day on it.  One kid told me i was "lion" about being a person and I was really a lion in disguise.  A girl said "Hi lion" to me today....another said "look at the tiger"....yeah.  And then there are the full grown men......"hey you grew a tail did you know?"  "I like your tail" or "look at that lion tail".  Please if you are with your children or family dont comment on my tail.....because i know thats not what you were looking at.  


I went to Dayton to visit my future inlaws and see the historic Carillon Park.  It reminded a little of my brothers old job at Barrington Farms in Texas where he worked on a colonial style farm and had to adhere to the colonial times in everything he did.  Also its where a lot of inventions from the dayton area are showcased such as the national cash register.  


Did you know that the term "to be fired" came from the president of the national cash register company because when he would let someone go he would put that person's desk out front of the factory and literally set it on fire.  The person would come to work and see that they had been "fired".  Neat tidbit of info. 


Anyways also saw the Wright brothers inventions including their 3rd plane made and several of the bikes they made.  Also rode a carousel that had where the "horses" were actually inventions from the dayton area....i still rode a mule.  


After getting back to Cinci I went to King's Island with the other interns and a few workers for Halloween Haunt.  We went through 8 different "haunted" houses and rode 2 different roller coasters.  At one point one of the workers that is paid to scare people followed me around for about 5 minutes.  I said "you know you are touching me right?" he said "yep"  I said "You know you arent supposed to touch me right?"  he said "yep" I said "ok well we are going over here if you want to continue following me.  After about five minutes he said "I bet youve never been followed by a black guy before..."  I wanted to say "they usually arent in costume" or "not a short black guy no"....but I didnt I just laughed.

covered bridge in Carillon Park

I liked the sign about speeding

inside bridge

look below

look above

carousel

new phone.....i think it outsmarts me

Today I finally upgraded my little phone to a smartphone.  I bought the new blackberry torch 9810.  I am pretty excited about it...just one problem....I was lost as to how to use it for a few hours.  I think I finally have it mostly figured out.  Just need to download some upgrades and some fun games.  I also need to get a case for it so I dont hurt it.  I am just glad to have a phone that actually works with my car....oh how I have missed my bluetooth in my car.


Tomorrow is lunch with my future grandparent inlaws.....maybe thats what they are called?  Then later going to Halloween Haunt at Kings Island with my zoo friends!!!


I cant believe I only have 2 weeks left here in Ohio.  Ill definitely miss it!  


New picture from my lovely new phone!

I just love finding cool little things on a gloomy fall day

Hot glue disaster

I may have accidentally injured myself yet again....this time involving hot glue in a large electric skillet set to a temperature of 350 degrees.  Lets just say it hurt...a lot.  And you know when you burn yourself you try to automatically wipe it off on something?  Well that something was my other hand....not a smart choice at the time.  Luckily a water faucet was nearby so I could run my hands under water to allow the glue to solidify.  Then pulling the glue off I lost a large section of skin on my finger and the other hand had a blister bubble of liquid.  


So that was the beginning of my day....great start huh?  The rest of the day my hands were stinging unless I put pressure on them...which was a little odd.  You would think pressure on a burn would hurt...but no.


The rest of the day was spent in the goat yard with 2 stints of taking out animals.  


I also told this guy to please not smoke in the zoo as we are completely non-smoking and his response...ok im going up to the entrance to leave anyways....and walked off.  I was like ok but you still need to put it out.  He walked off trying to hide it in his hands....like we wont notice smoke coming from your hand?  ugh


Also a mother was in lorikeets talking to her daughter and was like "oh honey did you hear the big bird flying overhead?  You could hear the wings".  The daughter responded "mom that was a helicopter"  Mother looks up "oh so it is"             


I also found 2 really cool leaves today.

Missing my cat....

Just realizing its been 5 months since I have seen my cat Kahlua.  I cant wait to have her back living with me.  Hopefully it will be soon.  


Im watching the Kim Kardashian Wedding Special right now....yes i know its trashy tv.....but whatever.  I am kinda super excited to begin planning my own wedding.  I hope its not as stressful as this show portrays though.  Maybe I will handle it better.


I am also 2 and a half weeks away from going back home for a while.  Then hopefully in January I will move to Baltimore.  


Ok thats my random thoughts for the day...

Whoop! Gig'em Aggies

We beat texas tech today!  45-40!  Thankfully too because they had karma come back and bite them after they decided to vandalize the aggie buses with animal poo and spray paint some choice words on the side.  Its really disgusting that texas tech fans behave in such a poor manner because really Lubbock isnt a bad town.  I have met lots of really nice people there, but the actual football fans are the lowest.


Anyways enough about my texas football....except longhorns lost too :)


Hallzooween started at the zoo today.  I had lion ears and a tail on....now when a 40 something year old man says I like your tail....do you take him seriously or feel a little creeped out?  I was a little creeped out.


Tomorrow is day 2 of the hallzooween weekend number 1.  I will be wearing my owl masquerade mask.

exhausting weekend

Drove to columbus wednesday night after work and had fettuccine alfredo with broccoli and shrimp at my bro and sis-in-laws house.  It was good.


Thursday I woke up at 5:30 am to leave by 6:15.  We were helping my cousin move into their new house up in ohio.  We actually worked from 8 am till 6:30 pm.  4 people and a 26 foot trailer packed with lots of heavy furniture and appliances.  Also a 2 story house on top of climbing steps up to the yard.  Lets just say my calves are still burning and so are my glutes.


Friday my bro and I went to the Columbus Zoo!  Overall I really liked the zoo.  They had several areas that you could walk into with birds not only with lorikeets.  They also had a yard with Kangaroos and you could walk in the area with them as long as you stayed on the path.  The polar bears were probably my favorite though.  They were really quite the hams...I loved it!  Also they had a lot of trees so naturally being fall it was gorgeous!

I just happened to be standing right where the polar bear popped out of the water and jumped up and down

rubbing its chin on the glass

who knew polar bears could walk on water

Im under a polar bear!

It looked like a nice tiger

flying foxes

languir

Gorilla eating popcorn

orangutan

Kangaroo

Adorable Koala