Farewell Ferd

Ferd, our lovebird, pried the lock off her cage and flew into Muppet's open jaws of death.

She wrote her own one-way ticket to the great lovebird luau in the sky. She is notorious among the bird community for her vast lock picking abilities, which is why her cage doors are double locked. Alas, she still managed to fly the coop.

Ferd bird, you little turd
sprung yourself free of this not-so-easy
lifestyle of nest and seed. Goodbye Ferd.
Despite your evil, biting and self-mutilation
we loved your color permutation
greens and greys and adorable head
yellow golden smile
peeking out from your tee-pee bed.

Trips to the vet, when you laid your first egg
Ferd's a female? Unbelievable
it's not too close to Easter and a practical joke.
Shots and hormones, they popped you with your own anti-ferd...
it was always you who killed yourself. Absurd.

Little Fird, stupid bird
kiss kiss baby bye-bye
we'll miss you and forever
Maverick will be calling your name
as we all say good night.

Weather Update

... it's raining again.

It's Sunny in Seattle!

I feel the weather is blog-worthy. After many, many, many days of rain, the sun is finally out in Seattle! I see blue sky!

Hello spring fever. Hello Home Depot! Time to plant some plants in the yard.

Woo-hoo!

Seahawks- A Happy Ending

Finally, a Seahawks story with a happy ending! We got tickets, a miracle! Our seats turned out to be at the very top of the stadium. And yes, the staduim is LOUD and my ears were ringing by the fourth quarter. My voice was/ is horse from hollering. "Su-per-bowl! Su-per-bowl!" Lauren and Cameren were going nuts. This is what they live for. I was just taking it all in and obviously, I was snap-happy. See photos below.

Approaching the Staduim- Adreneline Rush!

Group Shot

Tailgaters

The Competition- Panthers Fans

Die Hards

View from the Staduim- Seattle, Washington USA

National Anthym

A view from heaven.

We Won!! Next stop, Superbowl!

Go Seahawks!

My hubby got tickets for the NFC Championship game tomorrow.

I'm not a huge football fan, but the last time the hawks made it this far was... 1983. They lost to the LA Raiders in their first and only attept at a Super Bowl championship. They haven't won a play-off game in 21 years!

Seahawks fans are loyal and relentless. I understand that we have one of the loudest stadiums in the country, so the game should be insane! I'm even a little excited to go.

B got 4 tickets. We're taking my best buddy Lauren and her man, Cameron. They are HUGE hawks fans, so it will be fun to watch them get riled up.

Blurb

I feel like I’m in my own little world. No muse to speak of.

This whole “Rain 24/7” thing is ok for April, but can really get to a person during the dark days of January. I literally had spring fever the minute the Christmas gifts were opened.

Out with the old! I want spring flowers and sunshine!

Yesterday, the sun came out for literally 30 seconds and I grabbed my co-worker. She and I basked in our sudden dose of vitamin D and then before our eyes, the clouds returned and it started raining again.

Ecology-Tech Haiku

Sunday night jitters
Must log in, so much to do!
Exchange server down?

Did that email go
away like a windy branch?
Does it limbo dance?

I can’t get there now
Interference blocks my gaze
If only I could

Get information
Process quickly while smiling
Never fast enough

Pretty martini
Heavy and dizzy
Just like I’d hoped for

You waited too long
No sad eyes apologize
Dumbstruck moon stares back

I have a plugged ear
Water like the ocean, swish!
Did you say something?

Splish splash on the ground.
Will it ever stop raining?
pour down forever!

Tired, late eyelids
Making money is hard work
My bed is calling

Good night wasted time
Close the notebook, fall asleep
Raindrops take me out

I can read!

Most bloggers post what books they read.

I started "The Da Vinci Code" and I'm on page 39. I haven't touched it since December

I have since started and finished "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. It's a NY Times bestseller about a little girl who accidentally killed her mother and lives with her abusive father. It's set in 1964 when the Bill of Rights was signed. The girl runs away from home with her black nanny and they shack up with some black sisters who keep bees. I liked the book and I have no rants to speak of.

Now I'm reading "How Dogs Think" by Stanley Coren. Muppet and I are communicating better already. Here are some fun facts about dogs:

• An average-sized dog produces a pint of mucus every day. The mucus helps them collect odor molecules which helps them smell things better.
• Dogs sweat through their feet. When they are overheated or stressed, they can leave wet footprints on a bare floor.
• The equivalet of a human fingerprint in a dog, is their nose print. All dog nose prints are unique.
• Dogs can smell 1,000 to 10,000 times better than humans.
• Dogs see fewer colors than humans do. Dogs see in blues, grays, yellows and browns. To dogs, red appears as black and orange appears as yellow. When you throw an orange ball into green grass, it's camouflaged to the dog. It scans for the outline of the ball, rather than the color.

Bad Idea

Don't eat much all day and then at 3:00 pm, have a meal from KFC.

Gut bomb.

Responsibility Bites

Forgive my monotony, but I’m still hyper-focused on my Japanese Garden.

During the 30 seconds today when it didn’t rain, I zipped up some wire for my clematis plants. I got excited and maybe it was a coffee buzz, but I called my Brazilian gardeners and asked them to swing by.

Last time they quoted me around $10k for the retaining wall and copious amounts of flagstone for my little slice of heaven. I reconsidered certain aspects of my garden; less flagstone, more grass, and I drew a color-coded picture of my new Asian oasis. I was willing to spend $5k on this project, up from $3k.

Ignorance is bliss.

Skip forward one hour after the gardener arrived (one hour late) and I still found myself with a $7,300 quote. Ouch.

He even offered to let me make the payments over 60 days. Sorry dude, but I’m not having a payment plan on grass and rocks.

Depressing.

So, instead of saving my money for my Asian creation, I did what I should be doing. I made a payment on my school loans with my hoarded stockpile of cash. And now, after a nice peach martini, I feel better about paying up. It makes me feel more responsible.

I really have to buckle down regarding my school loans. I’m just dangling my Japanese Garden out there. Someday I'll be debt free and have a place to hang out in my kimono and drink green tea next to my cheap-o Buddha repro and my under-climitized palm tree.