of a birthday filled with flowers, family, and llamas.

Another year, another birthday.  My parents decided to make their annual migration to NC to spend a couple of days with us and we had so much fun!  This trip we decided to pass on the usual suspects, like the mountains, and try something new...mostly bc it was 139 degrees outside and none of us felt like climbing any mountains.  We found a list online of the top things to do in Charlotte and decided to give some of them a whirl.  First on the list that we wanted to go see was the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, it was so beautiful!

 

 

I must have this in my house someday~!

  

 

Since it was pretty hot out, we decided to do something that would require less time outside and I am utterly shocked that none of our friends told us about a place called the Lazy 5 Ranch!  It is a place where you drive in your own car and animals come up...and when I say this, I mean stick there head all up in your grill...and eat out of feed buckets.  We were literally crying with laughter when we first drove in, we will be taking anyone willing back, however we have to bring a video camera and possibly alcohol next time!

Imagine you looking out another window and then turning back to see this....things of nightmares.

My dad thought the feed buckets were for him.

On the lookout.

Chris didn't want these cows near his car...I wonder why?

Love is a terrible thing.

I can see the resemblance.

I forgot to mention that I made my birthday cake again this year, now don't get all crazy, I wanted to make it myself.  It came out of the food network kitchens cookbook of favorite recipes, it is a Chocolate peanut butter pie and looked like this after it was made:

The crust is made in two layers, the bottom is only crushed up peanuts and butter, then bittersweet chocolate.  The rest is filled with all kinds of peanutty goodness and then whipped cream..........I think I gained 5 pounds over the past couple days.  Overall my birthday was super fun~!  I got some great gifts and have tons of memories of my special day!  Thanks everyone for everything, I am so lucky to have family and friends like you!

This is for your dreams tonight....

of the letter 'A'

Grades.

They are commonly used to measure things, like beef, or alcohol.  It has been some time since I have been graded.  Spring semester has just ended and I am feeling quite confident that I am fully back into the swing of things.  Even though I only took two classes (Physical Geology + the Lab) it brings back that good feeling of accomplishment.  After all of the assignments and tests have been graded it turns out my grade is an "A."  Fiesta!  After my final this week I opened a bottle of wine and had a small peanut butter cup ice cream....nefarious, I know, however if you had to learn about rocks you would be worn out also!  The next round of excitement will have to wait until the fall, bc most all of the summer courses meet every day of the week, and unfortunately that type of schedule does not mesh well with the petco.  It will be nice to have a couple of months off though, I can focus more on the gym, and stuff that I really want to do.  For instance, this coming Saturday, I will hopefully be going to do the beginning flameworking class.  It will be with a 14 year old kid, but hey, it will save me $50 and I can see how much I really enjoy it.

The fall semester is looking like I will be able to actually take more than the two classes, which makes me quite happy.  It will be a little challenging with working the same hours, but I am so ready to get it all done.  The classes that are up for selection are:

Earth History + Lab
Fluvial Processes + Lab
Meteorology and Climatology

I am thinking of doing 4 total, so class/lab combo or something along those lines.  Times are not ideal, and will most likely determine my decision for me in the end.  I am more leaning towards the top for sure bc it is more related to geology and since I just came out of that, I feel I will be in better shape with the material.  My advisor mentioned that I could take some approved electives like Calculus 2..........yeah, thanks for the joke information.  I mean, who would willingly put themselves through more math?  I am done, leave me alone mathematics, go solve your own problems.

I do have to say though, that starting classes again has really made me feel old.  There was a girl sitting next to me all semester and we got along just fine.  I noticed one day that she had a big 19 written in her daily planner, when I asked what that meant she said it was her birthday............yep. 

Anyhow, I will keep you all updated on which classes I take.  Ta-Ta dearies!

of food from the earth.

My veggie garden is coming along great!  I am very pleased to announce that the potatoes and green beans are growing like champs right now!  I cannot wait until they are big enough to eat! 

I will be able to update more after next week, finals, so I am a little occupied with rock knowledge...aren't you jealous.  

Ta-Ta for now~!

of Condragulations!

So, in case you missed it...and shame on you if you did...the winner of season 3 of Ru Paul's Drag Race is...............Raja!!!!  I wanted her to win, she was definitely the best drag queen on there! 

Clearly a winner!

of an unwelcomed intruder.

The title basically says it all...I was sitting on the couch the other day, minding my own business, watching 'Rue Paul's Drag Race' on tv and I notice that Scooter is standing in front of the half bathroom downstairs just watching.  I figure that there is a leaf blowing outside and that he is just listening to its every move...for those of you that know Scooter, his exceptional hearing, followed by barking shouldn't be groundbreaking news...anyhow, I shrug it off and continue to watch the drag queens.  For those of you that have not seen this show (it's on VH1) it is absolutely hilarious!!  Essentially, it is a competition-type show, like 'American Idol,' or 'Dancing with the Stars,' except, well, there are drag queens!  They have mini challenges, and then compete in full drag and at the end of each episode someone has to, "sashay away."  Honestly, check it out, you will be rolling with laughter.

I digress, I have been ignoring Scooter for about 15 minutes now and am beginning to think something else it up.  I leave the queens and go to investigate.  I start my search and...nothing.  "Stupid dog"  I return to the "ladies"  however, Scooter is still there.  He isn't all up in my grill or insisting that he should sit in my lap, I should be happy, but that fact that he is just sitting there looking dumb is bugging me.  So, the queens get paused again and I go show Scooter there is nothing there.  I open the cabinet and show him the toilet paper that is there, get on my hands and knees and crawl behind the toilet...........and then....

Screamed as if I was one of those drag queens and Rue Paul just popped one of my fake tits!

Sitting behind the toilet was a baby mouse!  One would think, that I see these things every day, I work at a pet store for Elton John's sake!  It may have been that I was caught off guard or that I never would think to see that in my house, maybe it was the fact that I had just spent the past hour watching drag queens style wigs and have cat fights...but that mouse truly scared me.

Of course, by now, I am freaking a little.  How is there a mouse in here?  What the hell am I supposed to do?  Well, I think the mouse...lets call him Franklin for the sake of this conversation...sensed my moment of confusion and decided this was his chance. 

Franklin bolted past me. 

*Insert another queen scream*

I rush to grab Scooter and Moose, because I don't know what this thing has and if they were to eat it or something they could get f-ed up!

By now, the dogs are contained and Franklin is lurking in the kitchen somewhere.  I can feel his presence...watching me.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see something move...he is beside the bar, lurking in the shadows.  I slowly reach over to the counter and grab a bowl, and take up position beside the bar.

I am stalking my prey.

A few moments pass, and I am sure Franklin thinks he is safe, oh, he couldn't be more wrong.  A small furry nose and whiskers emerge from the shadows, swaying from side-to-side, almost victoriously announcing his victory.  His mouse body creeps from the safety of the darkness and as his head turns up to look, I could almost see the fear in his eyes as a giant bowl slams down on all sides around him. 

Checkmate.

There is nothing he can do now, the bowl is replaced by a tupperware with a lid, his new prison.  From this cold and sterile environment he can only look in horror and think of his fate and what will become of it.  As the prison moves, his tiny heart beats with a new-found fear.  Two dogs bark and taunt from cages themselves...if large animals like that were kept in cages, what will become of him?  To the other side of the prison another shock awaited him...a drag queen half in drag with full eye makeup and a long wig, but in need a shave is frozen in time giving the "uh uh girl!" finger and sassy stance.  What is this place he thinks?!  Then darkness...Finally, the dungeon of terrors slowly becomes more natural...trees, plants, grass.  This is the outside!  A rush of fresh air blows through his fur as the lid opens.  Something type of language is said and then utter weightlessness. 

Am I dreaming he thinks?  Those trees and bushes are now flying past me like I am flying.  The breeze feels nice and carries with it the smell of home.  I can finally relax he thinks, I am safe.

It is often said that reality is a dish best served cold; well that is exactly how that ground would have felt as Franklin hit it after being thrown over the fence in the backyard. I see two possible outcomes from this.  The first is the most obvious option, in which, he is eaten by an opossum.  The second is a little less likely, however still plausible; he learns to outsmart his stalkers, watches every move that is made from his secret underground lair, and then one day, when he feels he has learned all that he can, will attempt to enter that place of horror again and put all that he has learned to the test...

Until that day Franklin...until that day...

of what is good and what is far from it.

Movie review~!

On Sunday, we went to the theater because it had been a coon's-age since we had been to see anything!  We got tickets to see "I am number four" got our usual, large popcorn and drink...I gave Chris my normal half angry, half keep going glare when he was squirting butter on the golden kernels and delicious, and then headed to our seats.  The movie has been out for a couple of weeks so the place was not that packed, but for some reason we had a whole cast of characters in with us.  We had a fag and his fag-hag right behind us chatting away and commenting on every preview that came and went...that lasted until the movie started when Chris turned around and "politely" told them to "shut the hell up."  They were quiet the whole rest of the movie...I think our double gay was much stronger than his single gay, even with a fag-hag to help him out. 

To our right was a rather boisterous, large, African American family that liked to say things like, "ohh no girl" and "mmm hmmm" when certain things happened throughout the movie...I didn't mind this that much bc honestly, that was pretty entertaining.  The odd thing is that the woman turned to her side and put all the leg rests up to the seats beside her and laid down...There was still one whole empty chair between me and her feet, if there hadn't been, we would have exchanged words...I mean, I am all for comfort, but to lay down and watch a movie like that?  It seems they should have rented something and then they could have stayed home and made a bigger indention in their own couch.

Anyhow, The actual movie was really good!  The first little bit was a little slow, but once they got that whole story bit out of the way and focused on the main guy without a shirt on and had some explosions and special effects...things got better :)  Overall, I would recommend it, if you weren't looking for something super serious and just to take your mind off things an..."mmm hmmm!"

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

We then came home and made dinner and really didn't have much on the tivo to watch so we looked on Netflix and said, "hey, there was a lot of hype about 'Where the wild things are' lets give it a whirl!"  If you have seen this movie, I'm sorry, if you want to watch this film, dont.  You can see the same thing by going to any mall and watching some child with A.D.D. have a meltdown with crying and flailing arms and everything else associated with that.  I just don't see how they thought it would be a good idea to take a 20 something page childrens book and turn it into a long movie.  There was a lot of things that didn't make sense, with stupid story, and that annoying kid that did what he wanted and made a lot of mistakes.  At the end, he went home and ate cereal...so its not like he had some great life lesson!  The movie was just crap, I would only recommend this movie to a someone that is thinking of becoming a guidance counselor or psychiatrist.

On that note, I think I will take my leave. 

Good day.

 

of the chains that no longer bind me.

I am happy to report that with my tax return ( thanks Cat!) I am able to totally pay off my the rest of one of my two credit cards~!  See ya, Banana Republic, I have worked as an indentured servant long enough!  I feel as though I should be singing songs of freedom or sneaking away in the night to pay my final payment. 

What's next you might ask?  Well, the only other debt I have is my actual credit card, and then my car loan.  The rest of my tax money is going toward that and I feel as though by this time next year I will hopefully be able to stop farming rice and polishing the masters fine china...maybe I can even vote! 

I was planning on using a little bit of the money to buy a pair of undies or two, but I think the chance as freedom will override that desire. 

Three cheers for freedom!

of what is new and what has yet to come.

It seems that I am normally starting most of my posts with explaining why it has been a while since I have blogged last...well, you all should know by now, I am not an everyday blogger.  Think of it as, I want to save my blogging strength to make sure that when I do blog, that it is something worthwhile and not just my talking about my coffee from that morning. 

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, the news...WE GOT A NEW DOG!!  It has been a week now since we adopted him from the Charlotte Humane Society.  They told us that he is a mix between a German Sheppard and a........Chihuahua.  So, I think they are a little crazy, he is small, however he is also a puppy.  His feet are not big so he will stay on the small spectrum, personally I think he is going to get taller rather that larger.  This guy is Chris' dog, so he would have preferred a larger breed but once this little guy made eye contact it was all over!

Now, as you can see he is super cute...but nameless.  Since this is going to be Chris' dog, it is his job to name him.  We all know Chris...we all know how "busy" he gets with work, so he has been able to narrow his choices down to a few names so please give him a hand. 

Possible names ( in alphabetic order)

-Chomper
-Cody
-Little Bit
-Moose
-Tater

To be fair, I thought of 3 of the names because he was just taking too long.  Little bit is actually what I have been calling him since he does not have a name yet and it is actually growing on us.  Here are some more pictures of him.

These were all taken with my phone, so not the best quality.

He is so freaking cute!

Had to get this picture~!

In other news, my classes are going pretty good.  I got a "B" on my first test in Geology which really pissed me off.  I mean, it was two points away from an "A" and truthfully, Geology does not, in fact, rock...I swear by then end of this class I will hate all rocks...mafic or felsic.

Ok, I have to go let out the nameless dog now so he does not pee on the floor...ah, the joys of a new puppy in the house................

FYI - from the look of the cooled lava around this volcano, I can tell you that it is produces mafic rocks and is mainly basaltic, it could most likely is driven my magma plumes or hot spots and will erupt much slower and less powerful than its felsic cousins...........yeah, I am that cool.