Our New Orleans Trip

April and I had a nice trip. We left a little later than we wanted to on Friday morning but still made it to New Orleans with plenty of time to get to our piercing appointments. When we arrived at the shop we were asked to choose our jewelry and the piercer came out and looked at my ear. She told me I have a shallow daith top and she needed to assess it a bit more thoroughly to determine if it was piercable. After measuring and looking, she determined that she would feel comfortable doing it, but she used a larger gauge ring and it is larger in diameter as well. She told me there is a chance that it could migrate and that it will take an entire year to heal, so I will just baby it as much as I can, avoid sleeping on it, and hope for the best. She looked at my tragus and found that it was still open from the last time I had it pierced, so she just used a taper to open it and inserted jewelry into it. To be honest, it hurt worse than the daith piercing, and it is still sore at the three day mark, but once it stops hurting, I won't have to deal with the healing process, so that will be nice. It also saved me $30 not having to get it repierced. After it heals up really good, I will get a smaller hoop put in.

I didn't get a picture of April's trio piercing. I'll have to have her send me one. It turned out really cute, but of course it was pretty sore. After we finished with our piercings, we checked into our hotel and then we went to eat sushi. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to get some pop for April and we picked up a couple of bottles of liqueur to make 'buttery nipples.'The ghost tour provided buy one get one free hurricanes, but they were expensive and we found it was cheaper to buy our own alcohol. We each had a drink before we headed to the tour. The tour was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. We weren't out ghost hunting, but rather the tour guide walked us around the French Quarter and pointed out old houses where weird things are purported to happen. There is a lot of history in New Orleans, so I paid more attention to that rather than the ghost stories. We got back to the hotel after 10:00 p.m. and I was beat. We had walked over 18,000 steps, which wouldn't have been bad if I was used to walking, but I have been lazy for the past several months. Many of the sidewalks are tilted because they have settled. New Orleans is built on silt and sits below sea level, so it is essentially sinking. Things have to be built back up regularly. Walking at an angle made one of my knees hurt, and I compensated with my other foot, so I was sore on both sides of my body and very tired.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and walked back to the French Quarter. We ate lunch at Cafe Beignet because you can't go to NO and not eat beignets. We also ate a veggie sandwich that was surprisingly good. The line was long, so it took us a good hour and a half to get our food and eat. After that, we walked around a little, but there was nothing either of us was interested in looking at and we were still worn out from the day before, so we decided to just head home. We got home around 4:30 and I hung out with April and Ben for awhile before heading home. I ended up going to bed around 10:00, so with the time change, I got a good night sleep and felt much better yesterday. I made a trip to the grocery store to get some healthy food because I decided it's time to get back on the WFPB way of eating. I need to lose about 10 pounds (maybe 15 to feel really good) and the only way I can maintain my weight loss is to eat mostly plant food. After I purge the highly palatable foods from my diet for a week or so, I really enjoy eating that way. It's just so much easier to eat junk food like bean burritos and tortilla chips. I have been eating vegetarian all along, but I have been a junk food vegetarian, which is why I have gained some weight. Thankfully I haven't gained much, but I can't wear my jeans right now, and that is my goal.

Well, I am off to cook some rice and sweet potatoes. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Time to Start Planning for the Holidays??

It doesn't seem like it's been a month since I last posted, but timestamps don't lie. I completed my last assignment for my last class and my two week break flew by, and I already submitted my first assignment for my current class yesterday. It is basically a repeat assignment, so I just modified my last paper. Technically I am not supposed to do that, but since this is my dissertation topic, it's difficult to write a brand new paper. I think my next assignment is a PowerPoint that I have to present to my professor orally. I am not looking forward to that. I hate oral presentations. But I will do what I have to do. This class ends right at the end of the year, which means I'll have submitted my last assignment right before we take our cruise on January 2^nd.

I can't believe that the holidays are right around the corner. I need to figure out what I am going to do for Thanksgiving. Since we are vegetarian/vegan, a traditional turkey is not on the menu. I was looking to buy a tofurky, but by the time I had it shipped to me, it would have cost nearly $100, so I will have to start looking around on the internet to see what other vegans do for Thanksgiving. I know there are a lot of options. I haven't even started thinking about Christmas yet. I think part of the reason for that is because it just doesn't feel like winter is coming. Right now it is 72° and I have my back door open, while it snowed in Omaha last night. Everything is still green and flowery, which is not very Christmasy. I'm not complaining, though. I do not miss the snow and cold at all!! At any rate, though, I probably ought to start planning when I'll put my tree up and where I will put it. The spot I had it in last year is unavailable this year, so I might just put it out on my screened in porch. I won't really be able to see it out there, though, so I don't know...

April and I are taking a mother/daughter trip to New Orleans on Friday. We will leave early on Friday, spend Friday night and come home late on Saturday. So far all we have planned is a trip to a body piercing shop and a ghost tour. I'm not super excited about the tour, but April enjoys things like that, so I'll go for her. When we were in Omaha in July, we went to the piercing shop we used to go to when we lived there. It is an Association of Professional Piercers (APP) member shop, which means they use specific cleaning methods that help prevent infection in new piercings. I got my nose and helix pierced, and April got two dermal piercing on her chest. APP members are tough to find. The nearest one to where I love now is in Slidell, Louisiana, and I was going to make a trip there just to get pierced, but then I decided that a trip to NO with April might be fun, and there are two APP member shops there. I made an appointment at the one that seems the least scary, lol. I am planning to get my left daith and tragus pierced and April wants a faux industrial. I'll post pictures below.

The first one is what April wants to get done, and second picture shows what I eventually want my left ear to look like. I already have two lobe piercings and the helix. I probably won't do the third lobe, but I do like the two forward helix piercings, so I may do that in a year after the daith and tragus heal up really well. I'd also like to get a rook piercing on my right ear, so that ear will look something like this when I am finished:

I already have the conch piercing, which is the hoop right above the lobe piercings. I've had it done for nearly 9 years and I love it. I am going to get a prettier hoop or a stud put in it when I go to the piercer. I have a plain silver one like in the picture, and I am ready for something nicer. Good jewelry is expensive, but since it's well healed and I will likely wear the new jewelry forever, I don't mind spending a bit for it. Merry Christmas (and happy birthday) to me!

Well, that is about all for now. I hope you all have a great week!

A Long Overdue Update

I am very sorry for my lack of updates. I have come here several times and started writing, but my heart just hasn't been into blogging. I haven't felt like myself for awhile. Quitting my job was much harder on me than I thought it would be. I have felt depressed and just blah. I actually asked Dan what he would think about me going back to work if/when there is an opening, and he said I need to do what makes me happy. I worried that he'd get on my case because he would be stuck at home all day with the three birds I brought home, but since they all get along so well and are relatively independent, he is ok with it. He said he is glad I was here to get them adjusted. Well, of course this is all contingent on Wendy hiring me back, so I texted her to express my interest, and I got no reply, so I fretted for days and worried that she was not interested in having me come back. However, a couple of weeks ago I went up to CSU to have lunch with Billie, and afterward, she invited me to come up and say hello to my old coworkers, so I ended up staying an extra hour and a half making the rounds. Wendy wanted to see me before I left, so I stopped into her office, and she told me she would hire me back once a position opened. I was SOOOOO happy! If I had known how much I would miss working there, I never would have resigned. It would have been difficult to get everything done for my oral exam, but I would have found a way to do it. Anyway, it's hard to say when someone will move on, so I will just be patient until it happens.

Speaking of my oral exam, I took it on Wednesday at noon and I was finished by 12:30. I passed with flying colors, according to my professor. I was so stressed out, but she and Dr. Wesolek, the other examiner, went pretty easy on me. They asked me about my study and how I plan to carry it out. I assume that since I was able to respond to all of their questions easily, they decided not to ask the basic questions. My guess is that they assumed that I was well prepared for anything they could throw at me. I am just so extremely happy to have that roadblock behind me. I have one more assignment to submit for this class and then I have two weeks off. I think a trip to the beach is in order for Sunday.

On another note, my flock is complete and has been for awhile. Phoenix (not Harley, it just wouldn't stick) came home on August 23^rd and Jack came home four days later, so they have both been here for an entire month already. It worked out well, because it took Rio a few hours to warm up to Phoenix, but when we brought Jack home, because he'd already had his world rocked, he wasn't phased, and Phoenix, being so new, wasn't phased either. They have become very good friends over the past several weeks, and they are all sharing a sleeping cage now. Things really went so much better than I could have hoped they would.

Well, I should press the post button before I end up back here in two weeks revising this blog post yet again. Now that I have the stress of my oral exam behind me, I should be able to focus on other things. The next step in my doctoral journey is writing my prospectus. That will occur in my next (and last) class. After that class, I am on to my dissertation classes. My journey should be over in less than a year, although they have me scheduled for another year's worth of classes. I am hoping to have my dissertation completed by next June, but I guess I'll have to wait and see how quickly they are willing to let me progress.

Harley (Phoenix) is Home!

So, Phoenix came home on Friday, and today we decided to change his name to Harley. Dan was having a hard time remembering Phoenix, and honestly, I had to think about it more than I should have. Now I will have to see if Harley sticks. He is a sweet heart! He came right out of his carrier and almost immediately acted like he's been here forever. Rio was not super fond of him the first night, but we got home kind of late and it was Rio's bedtime, so I put them to bed and the next morning, they hit it off immediately. Last night I put them in the same cage and they did great. Today they were together almost all day, preening and playing together, so I think it is safe to say that they are going to be BFFs. They are biological brothers, after all, so I really wasn't worried, but I am happy that it was such an easy transition.

I got an email last Tuesday saying that my blue crown conure is ready to come home. After I got the updated pictures, I decided that I want to change his name, too, lol. He just doesn't look like an Indie to me, so I am going to call him Jack. That name has always been on my list, so I am excited to finally use it. He is scheduled to come home on Tuesday of this week, so I am going to be busy. Dan actually shocked me tonight and told me that he thinks we should get another blue crown since Jack will be a fifth wheel. The breeder I got Rio and Harley from also breeds blue crows and thinks she will have some this winter, and I am already on her wait list, so when she has a boy available, I will snag one up from her. She does a great job with her babies.

I spent a good chunk of the weekend with April, which was really nice. Since I don't see her every day at work anymore, I have to make more of an effort to get together with her. On Friday I went to CSU and donated blood with her. CSU sponsors blood drives about three times a year, and I try to give most of the time. After we donated, we went back to her apartment for lunch and ate chili. Then after we got Harley home on Friday night and settled into his cage, Dan and I went to her apartment and had dinner with her and Landon. Actually, we ate junk food, but it was fun. Last night I invited her over for pizza and she and I went to Office Depot on the way to pick the pizza up. I will see her in the morning, too, because I have to drop her off at work. Landon had to borrow her car to take to Pensacola to take a test because his car is leaking oil. I am so thankful that God gave me a daughter and that we are as close as we are.

Well, that is about all the excitement I can think of at the moment. I took a benadryl because my allergies have been crazy all day, so I think I am going to crawl into bed and play on my iPad before I fall asleep. I hope you all have a great week ahead.

Long Overdue Update

I am sorry it's been so long since I updated. I have just felt kind of icky lately. My first excuse for not updating was that I had to finish my previous classes and then I was out of town for a week visiting my mom. After I came back I finished up my work days, and that is when things got really funky. I took three days off my last week to be with Rio because Dan was out of town, and I really enjoyed those days at home. I cleaned and hung out with Rio and thought that adjusting to now working was going to be a breeze. I found out on my last Friday that it was not going to be that easy. I cried most of the day, most of that evening, all weekend, and then up through Wednesday of this week. I felt a bit useless and depressed. I missed getting up in the morning and having a purpose. I missed seeing April every day. I missed helping students. I was a mess. On Wednesday I met my Success Center team for lunch and I told Wendy, the director of the SC, that I would love to do my job part time, and she told me that she might be able to make that happen. I have my doubts, but it made me feel better to hear her say that the door was not shut and that maybe one day I would be able to go back to work there. I think that as time goes on I will get accustomed to being home and will not want to work in an office setting any more. I already feel better.

Phoenix is ready to come home. I am just waiting for a decent day to fly him in. It has been really hot here. Yesterday the forecast said that Monday's high is only supposed to be 84°, but today they bumped it up to 89°. I asked his breeder about shipping him on Monday, but she never got back to me and now I'll probably need to wait anyway, although it will not cool down substantially for at least a month, so we will need to find a day in the not-too-distant future. This is the newest picture I have of him. He looks a lot like Rio did at that age. Rio's cheeks are getting much more orange/red now. He is a beautiful boy.

I also have another surprise. I put a deposit down on a baby blue crown conure. I have wanted one since I first saw the movie Paulie years ago, but at that time I thought having a bigger and louder conure would never happen. Now that I have a bigger and louder conure, and since I will be home again, I figured, why not? Phoenix was hatched on May 28^th and Indigo was hatched on June 13^th, so Indie is just a couple of weeks behind Phoenix and should be home in the next couple of weeks. I hope that being about the same age and coming from environments where they hang around with other birds will help to ensure that they get along with each other. Rio might have a harder time since he's been alone for awhile, but since he's so laid back, I am sure he will adjust pretty quickly, especially to another sun.

Other than all that, I have been working on my second-to-last class of my doctoral degree. I have to pass an oral exam before I can move on to my last class, which means I need to be adept at explaining statistical tests, research methods, and theory. I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks, but I think I will be ready. After I pass my next class, I will be ABD (all but dissertation) and I am hoping to be finished with everything by next June. It helps to have a PhD sitting five feet away from me! And on that note, I should go and start working on the assignment I have due on Monday so I can do some house cleaning a bit later. Have a wonderful Saturday!

More Changes

I hope you all had a happy Independence Day. Mine was nice. April, Landon, and Ben came over and I made a bunch of bean dishes for dinner. We ate and drank MangoRitas and beer and played Apples to Apples. I hated having to go to work the next day, but at least Friday was a short day, so it wasn't horrible.

Bubo went to his new home on July 4^th. I put an ad on Craig's List on Monday and within about 15 minutes I had an inquiry. The lady who took him almost fell through, but in the end she decided to drive the hour to come "meet" him, and she left with him and a few supplies that I gave her. She seems happy with him so far, so here is hoping that they bond and become the best of friends.

Rio is so much more relaxed now. He has been more vocal the last couple of days and his real personality is starting to come out now. My favorite thing he does is when he climbs onto my chest, rolls over on his chest and falls asleep. He is definitely one of the sweetest birds I've ever met.

I have been looking for a picture of Jasper when he was a baby. He was so ugly that I was sure there was something wrong with him. I even told the breeder that I wanted my deposit refunded. He finally convinced me that Jasper was fine, and I fell so in love with him over the six years I had him. I cannot find that picture now, but as I look at other pictures of him, I realize that my heart is finally mending. It took six months; a month for every year I had him and a Rio to get to this point, but it is nice to see him and not sob. I still miss him so much, and I suspect that I always will, but I really want to bring his pictures out and put them on my mantle next to his cremation box. I think Bubo being gone helps too. He was a constant reminder of what I lost. Rio is a reminder that there is, indeed, life after sorrow and intense heartbreak. I pray that Phoenix will be a good complement to Rio, because I want Rio to have a friend.

I got some updated pictures of Phoenix tonight. OMGOODNESS, he is so cute! He looks a lot like Rio. He is definitely a sun and not a sunday conure. I pray that his personality is similar to Rio's. I will be beside myself if they get along like Jasper and Avery did!

Dan is working on a play stand right now. Our next door neighbor cut down a chunk of his crape myrtle tree, so we asked if we could snag the branches. We went to Lowe's and spent about $80 on the things we needed that we didn't have, and today he got it mostly assembled. His plan is to make two larger stands and a couple of small portable ones, so the $80 price tag is not bad. They sell for over $150 for one on Amazon and Ebay, so that price for two is a bargain. I'm lucky to have a handy husband.

My final piece of news I have is that I officially gave my notice at work yesterday. I gave an entire month notice, and my last day will be August 9^th. I really do have mixed feelings about leaving, but I am sure that once Monday the 12^th rolls around, I will be thankful that I don't have to fight morning traffic (as light as it tends to be) or fight Rio when I try to get out of the house. I am also looking forward to having time to cook healthy meals, clean house, and work on my dissertation--oh, and go camping! I will also have time to go to the beach and take walks again. There are only a few things I will miss about working. I will miss seeing April every day, I will miss Billie, and I will miss helping students. It really does give me a sense of accomplishment. But in time, I will have a teaching job again and I will pick up where I left off.

Coming Soon: Another New Baby

So far nothing has changed at work. I am adjusting to my new arrangement, but the fact that leadership does not seem to care that I am isolated from the rest of the groups makes me angry. I have decided that I will stick things out for awhile longer, but I may elect to quit at the end of summer, maybe after Labor Day. I really should quit so I can focus on my dissertation, anyway. I finished my two classes today and now I only have two left before I enter the dissertation phase. In my next class, I will be required to take a comprehensive exam in which I will be required to answer questions about a research article and be able to explain the statistics and research methodologies. I have about three months to prepare, so I should do fine, but it is a bit nerve racking to think about it.

I found out today that Bubo is pulling Rio's feathers out. I noticed that he was missing some feathers on his neck and today I caught Bubo red-beaked. Dan had decided that he didn't want to give Bubo up, but today he said it would be best to rehome him. I am sad that he is so high strung and won't calm down. He can be sweet, but he is really an odd bird. Rio is so sweet and laid back, and I think he would do great with another bird that has a similar personality. The other day Dan told me that he wants me to get another sun conure from the breeder I got Rio from. I messaged her to ask if she had any suns left, and she said she had a new clutch that had not been DNA tested yet. She also said she had a waiting list, but since she likes to choose her birds' homes based on quality rather than place in line, she said she'd bump me to second place for a boy. Well, the DNA came back and there was only one boy out of the four, but the person ahead of me who originally wanted a boy decided he or she liked the hybrid sun/jenday instead, so she let me put a deposit down on the boy! I am very excited. He will be ready around the end of August, which is a horrible time to fly a bird to the South, but I am hopeful that we will have at least a few nicer days at the beginning of September. This is a picture of my new boy (the one being held). His name is going to be Phoenix.

Rio is doing great. He seems to be all settled in and happy. He also eats really well. I made chop last weekend and he eats it like a champ. He really likes the mung beans I sprouted, so today I mixed them in with the chop and after he ate the beans, he went to town eating the veggies. He ate most of what was in his bowl and bunch that was in Bubo's bowl. He is such a clown, too. He loves to roll over on his back and have his belly scratched. He just doesn't do it often because he doesn't feel safe with Bubo around. I try to give him plenty of alone time so he can relax. Fortunately, Bu doesn't mind being alone.

In other news, we finally were notified that our camper keys were in, so we drove a half an hour to pick them up, went to the camper to try them out, and voila! THEY DON'T WORK! I knew exactly why, too. We have a keyless entry lock and the keys the ordered are for a standard RV lock. The key we had before was closer to what we needed than what they ordered. I actually found a supplier on Amazon that cuts RV keys for the lock we have and ordered a couple. I pray this words, because if it doesn't, we will have to buy a new lock.

I am looking forward to the short week. Things should be fairly quiet at work this week because we are between sessions, but the new session starts on Wednesday, so next week will likely be normal again. Our two new specialists started on Wednesday and hopefully they will be trained up with a month. Until then, I will just put my head down and trudge forward.

Moody

I think I am going through menopause, and although I generally feel normal, I have noticed that I feel a bit more weepy than normal over really stupid stuff. Obviously, since the first of the year I've cried way more than normal, but after bringing Rio home, the water works shut off for the most part. He is exactly what my heart needed to start healing, and I am so thankful for him. But at work yesterday I teared up several times. We have gotten really busy in my department, so leadership finally secured a new position. But then a girl I worked with quit, so they hired two new people. There are currently eight writing specialist and a supervisor, and there are 10 cubicle spots in the area. With two new people coming, that makes 11 people and only 10 spots. There was an empty cubicle on the math side, so leadership asked me if I would be willing to move there. I told them that was fine (what else could I honestly say?), and so I moved there Wednesday afternoon. Thursday and yesterday, I felt miserable. I am not an extrovert by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel so isolated and lonely over there and I cried a few times. The director asked me how it was going yesterday and I told her I don't like it. She said she was going to talk to the assistant director, but I told her not to make a fuss. After all, someone has to sit there. There were two better choices besides me in my mind, though. One is the supervisor. Rarely do supervisors sit with their teams; they are usually in offices. The other is a writing specialist who helps out with the Office of Disability Services (ODS), and the cubicle I was moved to is right next to the ODS specialist.

Anyway, I saw Wendy talking to Jonathan and Crystal (the assistant director and the supervisor), and afterward, Crystal came and talked to me. Rather than saying they were going to try to move me back, she assured me that I was welcome to come to the other side of the wall and join the conversation anytime I wanted to and that if I really hated it after a few days, they would put a table in the back for me to sit at. That did not help at all. I sat at my desk hardly able to work and contemplating giving my two weeks notice. I know it's irrational and that I will eventually adjust, but I cannot help but feel like I have been relegated to time-out for being naughty. I figured I was chosen because I am low man on the totem pole, but the new people are getting better seating arrangements than I have and it makes me feel neglected and unappreciated. They told me they chose me because I am independent, but I think that is a load of crap.

Billie has been awesome, though. She came and talked to me several times and asked me if I wanted her to switch with me. I told her no because she is the training coordinator and she has to be on the other side to train the new people. Then she asked to switch her lunch so that we could go together. I have sat next to her for a year and part of me was happy to get away from her because she often keeps me from being as productive as I could be, but I was less-than-productive yesterday and the day before. I miss her way more than I thought I would.

Last night Dan and I went to dinner with April, Landon, Ben, Nicole, and Peter. Nicole is a writing specialist and Dan and Peter work together on faculty stuff and are friends. Anyway, I told Nicole about my experience and she told me that she overheard Crystal talking to Brett, the only guy writing specialist, and she thought that maybe Crystal was asking him if he would be willing to switch spots with me, although she wasn't sure because she had her headphones on. I do not know what came of the situation other than Nicole thought he said he wouldn't mind, but I am afraid to get my hopes up too much. I think Wendy will definitely try to get things changed for me, though. I honestly do not want to quit my job. Never in my life have I had a job that I wanted to hang onto until now. But being relegated to the outer darkness is very depressing, and if I am doomed to stay there, I will quit sooner than later. I may wait until the new people are trained and then give my notice, which should be a little over a month from now.

I have no idea if it is hormones or just my personality, but I really hate feeling this way. 2019 has not been a kind year to me. It has been unkind to a lot of people, and I know a lot of people have bigger problems than I do, but I am ready for 2020 to get here. I pray that the end of 2019 isn't as horrible as the beginning has been.

Rio is Home!

And I am in love! <3 <3 <3 He is super sweet and smart. He already flies to me when I call him (and often when I don't, lol). He follows me around the house and lands on my head. When we first brought him home, he wasn't quite ready to come out of his cage. He hissed at me and gently grabbed my finger, so I let him come out on his own. From that point, he just flew between my and Dan's head. It did not take him long to feel comfortable with us. I did not introduce him to Bubo until yesterday, and it did not go well. Bu just wants to bite him. I have been keeping them separated because Bu will not leave him alone. He is the most high-strung bird I have ever had. In the five months I've had him, I have never felt love toward him. In fact, he has made me cry more often than given me feelings of affection. I hoped that Rio would give him the companionship he was missing and mellow him out, but I do not think it is going to happen. I know these things can take time, but Bu's personality is what it is, and I realized just how bad he is after bringing Rio home. Dan suggested that we give him to someone who wants a breeder bird, and Dan is always one to give the benefit of the doubt. Sadly it is something that I am seriously considering, and I do not take decisions like this lightly. I love birds with everything in me, but Bubo is just a really bad biter and he rarely just settles in without using his beak to inflict pain. We call him Dracula. I have three days off work, so I am praying that a miracle will occur. If not, then I will start looking for a new home for him.

In other news, we took the new camper out last weekend. Everything went pretty smoothly, which was very good for Dan because he needed to build some confidence. The truck pulls it really nicely, and I think it will be pretty easy to travel with it.

There are lots of windows for the birds to look out of. We are planning to convert the sofa into a bird cage area eventually. We are going on another short camping trip this upcoming weekend; it will be Rio's first camping trip. He seems pretty laid back, so I am hopeful that the new environment won't rattle him too much.

Rio Update

I got new baby pictures tonight. Rio is ready to come home, but we have to wait for the weather to cool down a bit. The airlines won't ship when the temperature is above 85°, and we have been really hot for the past week. We are sitting under a heat ridge at the moment. I was planning for a week from this Friday anyway, so hopefully by then we will be back to normal temperatures.

Out With the Old

I talked to Rio's breeder on Friday and she said he probably won't be ready to come home for two and a half more weeks, so around June 7^th. That is actually perfect, because Dan is going out of town on the 9^th, so I took the 10^th through the 12^th off work. I will have five entire days to bond with him.

We picked up our camper on Tuesday afternoon and it was quite an adventure. We got to the storage lot and after Dan got parked, he had trouble getting the jacks to lower on one side. After a call to the guy who sold us our camper, we got it figured out and everything worked out. Dan said the truck did fine pulling it, but he was a bit concerned about going any great distance because we do not have a large safety cushion on the weight our truck can pull. The experts recommend pulling several thousand pounds below capacity, and we were too close for comfort. I started looking at other trucks, but there were not a lot of adequate trucks around. Dan found one that he thought would work, so Friday after I got off work we went to a Dodge dealership and talked to a sales guy. We told him our situation and he recommended a truck with a different transmission that was capable of pulling over 20,000 pounds. He then asked us about what exactly we were looking for regarding amenities, and after we told him what we would like to have, he recommended a Ram 3500 with at least the Longhorn package, which is nice but not quite as nice as the one he showed us and let Dan test drive, which was a Laramie. I would have been ok with the less expensive Longhorn, but Dan really liked the Laramie, which has heated and cooled leather seats, dual comfort controls, and a nice navigation and stereo system.

After we decided we wanted that particular trim package, we sat down to crunch numbers, which is always so much fun. They gave us a trade-in estimate for the F 350 and it was way better than we were expecting, so we said that we were ready to have them look for a truck that worked. He asked what color we wanted and we said we weren't too particular but I told him I'm partial to red. They found two red ones and one was in Louisiana, so they went to pick it up and today we picked it up from the dealership.

I also got new pictures of Rio tonight. He is starting to look so grown up. Just a couple more weeks. :)

Resurrecting this Blog

It has been a really long time since I posted here last. I decided to resurrect this blog because I am contemplating giving up my other blog to eliminate the cost of hosting and keeping a domain. I just don't post as often as I used to, and I feel like I am wasting money to keep it at this point. I will miss looking back, but starting fresh isn't necessarily a bad thing.

So, where to begin...This has been an overall crappy year. I lost my two babies and have been heartbroken for months. My "replacement" bird is no Jasper and he brings me little joy most of the time. I know he is just a baby and will likely change over time, but right now it is hard to have a baby that looks so much like Jasper but acts nothing at all like him. I am sad to say that at times I regret getting him. I should have taken my time and considered other options rather than buying one that looks exactly like Jasper, but there is no going back now. In about three weeks I will be bringing a new baby home. It wasn't really my plan; I intended to let Bubo be an only child, but he really needs a companion. I think it's part of the reason he is acting so naughty right now.

Rio is eight weeks old today and his breeder sent me a new picture of him yesterday. Directly below are a couple of pics of him on April 19^th, and below that is the picture from yesterday.

I pray that he is the bird my heart needs to heal. I had high hopes for Bubo, but he is definitely more green cheek conure-like than Jasper was. I wish I could stop missing that little stinker so much. The longer Avery is gone, the more I miss him, too. He was much more standoffish that Jasper was, but he loved me and I loved him a lot.

In other news, we closed on our new 5^th wheel camper yesterday. The dealership still has a few things to do to get it ready for us, so we will likely pick it up on Monday or Tuesday. I scheduled our maiden voyage for the weekend of June 14 through the 16th. Rio should be home by then and hopefully he'll be settled in and comfortable. He and Bu will likely grow up traveling quite a bit, so camping should not be stressful for them. I am looking forward to making some good memories and turning this crappy year around.