Valentine daze

I was reading the sunday newspaper with my birds. They delight at tearing apart the sales papers and making a mess. Thank God for my handy dandy dust-buster. We can all enjoy the paper in our own favorable way.

I see all these ads for "shop here for all your Valentine gifts" as I peruse through the Walgreen's flyer in search for crest toothpaste on sale. I gag at some of the items they pass off as possible gifts for "your sweetheart".

Teddy bears holding signs that say "hot stuff"

Mechanical apes wearing Hawaii shirts and sunglasses that sing "I'm too sexy"

Boxer shorts with lipstick prints all over it

And the worst, red fuzzy handcuffs with a tag that says"prisoner of love".

Really.

Of course, the worst "Valentine's ad EVER was :"get her what she really wants....VIAGRA!"

I know there are a lot of people out there that hate Valentine's day for what ever reason.

There was even an episode on the sit-com "the Office" about an "I hate Valentine's day" party.

I like Valentine's day.

I like to get cards.

I get funny and cute cards from friends and relatives.

People get all weird about "having to be a romantic couple" on Valentine's day and feel "left out".

Guys feel pressured into spending inflated prices on roses or having to get off the couch to buy jewelry or whatever.

Girls feel pressured into thinking the guys don't care about them if they don't get that diamond bracelet advertised continually on TV by Kay Jewelers.

Or that mystery bouquet of flowers sent by a "secret admirer".

It's kind of strange.

Believe me, I've had some bad Valentine's days.

When I was in second grade I anxiously awaited getting a box full of pretty Valentine cards from friends. This one jerk (David C) stuffed my mailbox with frozen dog turds. As you can imagine what happened when all those turds defrosted on my desk.

Or finding my locker smeared with rotten bananas and "louies" (phlegm balls)

Yes, that sucked.

However, it never really bothered me when I was single and did not recieve any "secret admirer" Valentines or flowers. I think it was because I always got at least one funny or cute card from a girl-friend, or from my mother.

I'm not a hopeful (or hopeless) romantic type.

But I'm not full of shit either I do love getting flowers and little treats from my husband.

Last year, my Mr. Practical husband said to me, "I'm not buying you flowers because it is rip-off". I shrugged and said, "OK, how about if we go out somewhere nice for dinner?"

He said, "OK so long as it wasn't ON Valentine's day because it's a rip-off".

He surprised me by having a pair of sneakers made with pictures of cockatiels all over them.

I loved the fact that he was so thoughtful and had surprised me with something so special.

So if Valentine's day bums you out do something nice for someone unexpectly. Perhaps send an elderly neighbor flowers or fruit. Or if someone you know is sick send them a funny card.

Be nice! :-)

mean Big Brother

The other night I was watching the news with four of my cockatiels perched on me like I do every night. At the end of the broadcast they showed a clip from youtube.com of a woman stumbling into a fountain in a mall.

She was engrossed in texting some message on her cell phone, not paying attention and tripped head on into a water fountain. A security guard was standing by doing nothing, videotaped her falling in and then put it on youtube.com. Instead of helping her out you could hear him laughing.
I was completely appalled.
Believe me, I get annoyed like hell with all the nitwits engrossed in their cell phone haphzardly walking into you. I get this alot while grocery shopping. I want to kick the phone out of their hands but this seems to be the sign o' the times.
Sure the lady was a silly goose flipping into a large pond but there isn't a person on the planet who hasn't done a bone-head move either. It doesn't justify humilating her in front of a zillion people world wide.
I don't even know how to text, but I've had my share of super embarrassing situations that I would hope nobody noticed nevermind blast it across the networks.
It turns out the Big Brother security guard got fired from his post as a result of his cruel misdeed.
Dude, that was mean!
Do unto others as you would have done to you.

Bowling for cockatiels

My husband and I have been trying out this new wii system.

It is an interactive sports game that gets you off the couch. You feel as if you are really playing say, golf , baseball or other sports. The one my husband and I like to play is bowling.

I know it sounds lame but it is actually kind of fun.

Believe it or not you are exercising a little bit as if you are really bowling. It's just like 'real" bowling because I was messing around and "dropped the ball" and it almost hit 'other players" in the virtual bowling alley. My right shoulder and left bum muscle was sore after playing for an hour. It's actually better than "real 'bowling because you don't have to wear those smelly hideous shoes.

It's a low impact activity to do in the winter right after dinner rather than plopping down on the couch like a sofa spud. You probably burn the same amount of calories as if you were going out for an after-dinner walk.

We also created "avatars" of ourselves that are the players which is kind of funny.

No, they are not those "cool" avatars because it is not that advanced. If it was, I'd fashion myself after Laura Croft. HA!

So when we started "bowling", we yelled at the screen when we did gutterballs, failed to hit the pins or if we did a strike. The birds heard all the commotion in the living room and had to investigate. One by one, each of the nosy cockatiels flew in to check out what we were doing by landing on each of us. One would be on my head another on my shoulder. They would squawk everytime we swung our arm to "roll the ball".

After awhile "Button" (one of my lutino females) would get bored and decide that chewing on my gold necklace would be a more interesting thing to do. Every once in awhile she would pinch my neck causing me to miss my target roll. "Fresh Baby" (another female lutino) would spread her wings while sitting on my husband's shoulder and squawk at him because she wasn't getting enough attention. After playing four rounds, my shirt was completely covered with bird poop. "Eddie" (normal grey) was happy just sitting on my head regardless of my movements. You can just imagine what my hair looked like.

After we finished playing, we switch the channel of wii system onto it's internet connection feature. We put on http://www.youtube.com/ . We can now watch youtube on our TV. The birds delighted in this because we clicked onto "mitso the budgie". Mitso is a hilarious chatty parakeet.

Yup, so we found something that not only my husband and I could have fun with but also the cockatiels during this long cold winter.

the Wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 19

I just cancelled my non-essential dog walking customers. What I mean by "non-essential" is that the owners are at home and not away on a trip. We are getting bonked with yet another massive snow storm so I got finally got smart and decided to call in -"a snow day". There is a 4 foot ridge of snow and ice in front of my driveway so I can't get out anyways. If I can't get out to get the newspaper and or go running then you know it is bad out.

I have been seeing less and less of the pigeon population out at the beach. I've left food out for them thinking that they probably come out later in the morning but the next day it remains uneaten. This is odd because I've feeding the pigeons for years now and I have not had this issue even in the winter. I saw "Craow Dum" up at his nest but he refuses to leave it even though he sees me (and recognizes me) holding the white food container. Ocassionally I saw "Brownie" a few times appearing from a long haitus around Thanksgiving but I have not seen any of the "regulars" since Christmas. And "Brownie" has disappeared again.

Sadly, I found a few remains of pigeons on the sidewalk either from hawk attacks or causalities from storms.

Oddly, just recently, there has been this one solitary pigeon who has been hanging around on my back deck.

My arms and shoulders are sore from, it seems, non-stop shoveling. I shovel off the walkway and back deck. I keep the back deck clear so that the heavy snow accumulating (along with ice) will not weigh the deck down causing a collapse of structure. I also like to keep the deck clear so I can get on it to refill the bird feeders. We have this huge population of goldfinches that live in the pines that feast at our feeders. I have to refill the feeders twice a day. I just started to leave left over seed on the deck for the lone pigeon. I do not know where the pigeons go and where they can find food in the snow.

Poor pigeons.

* here is photo I took of "Brownie" last fall.

delicious shoes

Ok I just finished reading "foxindetox's" blog about her latest handbag acquisition(s)

I totally agree with her method of shopping by scouring thrift shops and antique shops for high end "scores". I think I've beat my donut addiction but my shoe addiction is on full throttle. And internet shopping can be really dangerous.

Since my last (October) post on my "confession of a shoe addict" post I've added five more

(or so) pairs to my collection.

A pair of leopard print mules by "rampage" I scored at a thrift shop (new) for $3.50

A pair of royal blue suede shoe boots for $15.00 at Aldos boot factory store during their after Christmas sale.

My wonderful husband allowed me browse the shoe department at JCPenney and even let me buy a pair of light blue sky high spike heel shoes. They are totally hot.

A pair of rain boots similar to the photo above during the after Christmas sales for mere $16.00 at TJMaxx.

AND...my for my total indulgence, those yummy purple sparkle shoes pictured above that I bought on the internet. They were definitely more than I usually pay for shoes but they are magnificent. I walked around the house for an hour wearing these shoes. My husband asked me if they were comfortable and I just smiled.

Spike heels are not suppose to be comfortable.

Puuulease.

That's a part of my penance.

Yes, I am one well-heeled hotty of a saint.

blizzard conditions

On wednesday, the east coast got hit with a blizzard.

On my back deck, I measured two feet of snow accumulation. And of course, the drifts measured at 4-5 feet high.

Thankfully, I did not have any customers that were away on vacation during this time. It would've been a nightmare to have to go out and drive on the roads-especially if it was out on Plum Island. When we get storm warnings mixed with the season's super high tides you can not get out on the island because the bridge in under water.

In the past years, I've had to go out a few times of day while owners were away to feed and let their dogs out. The biggest problem was the owners failed to plan for snow removal when they were away.

One lady asked me if I had shoveled her driveway. (No way, Jose)

I had another customer ask me routinely on the worst days ever to pick up cat food and kitty litter "on my way over".

Are you shitting me?

I never even got a tip for my extra services.

For awhile, I was getting calls last minute to come over to take care of their animals because the owners were stuck at work.

Let me tell you, what a pain that was.

When the government announces that"nonessential personnel should not be out on the road" you know it is dangerous out. One time I got pulled over by the police asking what I was doing on the road since no one was out except for the plows and sanders. I had to explain that I was a pet sitter and the owner was not home to feed and care for the animal.

My husband and I spent hours clearing the snow. The aggravating part of the whole thing is after we finished our job some asshole with a plow would plow us in with a mountain of snow. I swear they do it on purpose.

Luckily, last wednesday and thursday, the owners were home from work and I did not have to go out. The "boarder" birds were warm and comfortable in my home. I had my husband light the pilot on the gas fireplace just in case we lost electricity due to the heavy snow and ripping NE winds. At least one room would be warm if we lost power.

I still have to be careful walking dogs and driving around after the storm. Snowbanks are piled high and people drive around curves going too fast talking on their cell phones.

The roads are still really slippery. The dogs tend to pull on their leads to sniff that tempting patch of yellow snow over an icy spot. The salt splattered haphazardly all over the roads is painful for some dogs to walk on. They tend to get it stuck between their paws.

It's just awful.

I want to scream when I see "let it snow" decorations with stupid smiling snowmen.

God...

I hate the F*&^ing snow.

week 34 on WW

I don't weigh myself every week.

I've waited over a month before weighing myself a little afraid of what the results would be. Despite of all the holiday/winter/comfort foods all around I did not submit to eating any cookies or, my beloved donuts.

I still weigh 110 lbs. I fit in a size 4 comfortably.

It's been 34 weeks since I've had a donut.

Thirty six weeks without a single donut.

I have stopped by dunkin donuts and honey dew donuts on occasion for a coffee but I have not had a donut. I know if I had so much as have one donut the avalanche of bad habits would resume. I just stare at the donuts on a shelf lined up on that pretty pink paper like a pervert leering at all the naked lady magazines at a smoke shop.

My body is undergoing some "changes" as I age so I have to keep ahead of it by exercising routinely and eating foods that won't pile the pudge on.

Since New Years, I've started stretching for a good 5 minutes before I go running. I was very good about doing this years ago but for some reason I had stopped so I am back on track again.

At night, when my stomach feels a little "itchy' for something sweet I eat a 100 calorie bag of craisens. I am actually surprised that this actually takes the itch away. I generally would've eaten a half a box of captain crunch cereal.

If I indulge at lunch by going to a restaurant I will have a big bowl of soup later at night.

I know yogert is suppose to be one of the 'super foods" but it makes me gag. I just can't stand the feeling on my teeth. Yuck.

I've developed a workable routine that is working for me. I think that this the hardest part about a "diet" is finding that workable program that you can stick to for life.

For me, staying away from my "no fly list" foods, staying away from "bad fats", staying away from white flour/yeasty carbs, eating lots of fruits and veggies, working out 5 days a week in "cell block #9", running every day (possible) and now, adding 5 minutes of yoga stretches daily.

And drinking tons of tea and seltzer water.

Every one is different. As I said, the hardest part is figuring out what works for you.

Al Gore redux

I kind of kid around with my cousin remarking on anything and everything environmentally friendly or conservation-wise as being "Al Gore friendly".

Those spiral energy efficient bulbs I call them"Al Gore bulbs".

The reusuable shopping bags I call them "Al Gore bags".

Water saver toilets are "Al Gore toilets".

For Christmas, my cousin gave me a membership to the "Trustees of Reservations" of Massachusetts where you can visit and hike around specific conservation lands. On the gift card, my cousin wrote, "Maybe we can explore some of these places together! An Al Gore gift, ha ha!"

Al Gore has therefore become an environmental icon. I suppose that is good thing to be stereotyped and made a symbol of the environment and conservation.

Hey, it is a heck a lot better than what Monica Lewinsky's name has been reduced to and been symbolized as.

As much of a political conservative I am I still regard myself as an environmentalist. I liked Al Gore because of his pro-environmental voting record. Although I could not align myself in the 2000 election with him because of his affiliation with that dirty cheating pig, Bill Clinton.

Oops...I'm getting off topic.

OK back to "Al Gore stuff".

Last week, I bought an "Al Gore energy saver shower head". I have to honestly tell you it was terrible. I ended up having to return it. The shower head just spit water. I was cold and I did not feel clean.

I had seriously thought of getting an "Al Gore compost bin" but I just can not collect garbage and coffee grinds in a container awaiting to be transported outside because it just totally grosses me out.

Every month I check the gas bill and check it with the following year to see if there is any changes. I've done alot of what I thought energy efficient changes such as redirected vents to be more efficient, sealed door cracks, changed a door that was better insulated and use thermal lined curtains for the sliders. I keep the temp at a steady 68 F . I wear sweat pants and fleece tops in the house to keep warm. However, I noticed the heat bill that I was using a higher amount of units more than usual than from the previous years. This didn't make sense, or so I thought.

I then realized I was washing and drying clothes more often. In the summer, I would line dry the clothes so I figured I would try line drying for the month of January to see if that made a difference on the heat consumption. (I have gas heat and use a gas dryer) It will be an interesting experiment to see if it makes a difference.

I think Al Gore would be proud.

sci fi

One of the most remarkable classes I had taken as an elective in college was "science fiction 101". It was a humanities study of great science fiction writers. Science fiction, at least for me, helped me see things in the abstract.

As a result of having to take such a course, I can now really appreciate a good science fiction novel and movie.

Some of the sci fi movies I have seen have been "thought provoking", humorous, and some are just downright scary and F*&^ed up.

My favorite sci fi movie of all times is "Jurassic Park".

I've listed other fav sci fi movies, in my opinion, that are worth seeing.

OK here goes.

"Planet of the Apes" (Ya gotta love Charlton Heston in a skimpy loin cloth even though the movie scared the crap out me. Hey, I was only 8 years old when I saw the original)

I also liked the newer version of the "Planet of the Apes" with Mark Wahlberg. It got you thinking about religion and it's mass manipulation implications.

"A.I" (This movie was a train wreck but you just couldn't stop watching it. I've seen it twice.It is totally f*&^ed up)

"Alien" (OMG..Alien 1, 2 and 3 were by far the scariest movies ever. "Predator" was pretty horrifying too)

"The Island" (It was kind of scary and creepy)

"Demolition Man" (Ya gotta love Slyester Stallone. I liked "Judge Dredd" too!)

"Pitch Black" ( I know, I know it was kind of bad but Vin Diesel is fun to look at)

"Surrogate" (Weird)

"Deep Blue" (Completely stupid and campy but funny in a sick sort of way.

"Splice" (I just saw this movie. It was completely F&*^ed up. It kind of makes you think of how stem cell cloning can go wrong)

I am sure after I finish writing this post I will remember other classic sci fi movies worth mentioning, but this is all I have for now.

*Sorry folks, I'm not going to list "Star wars" or Star Trek". To me, these aren't science fiction movies but just silly costumed fantasy flicks for nerds and geeks.

Hey, feel free to comment on your fav sci fi flicks. :-P

conspiracy theories

I was shocked to read in the news about thousands of red wing blackbirds that had fallen from the sky to their death on New Years day in Beebe, Arkansas.

Yesterday, the same thing happened in Labarre, Louisiana. Over 500 birds were found dead on the streets.

In the Lousiana bayou thousands of dead fish died in the canal.

There had been many theories to why this has happened. One veterinarian who examined the birds said the birds died from 'blunt trauma".

Aaaah huh!?!?

When birds fall from the sky and hit the ground that to me that is blunt trauma.

All these other retarded theories of hail storms and fireworks don't fly with me.

Something toxic is going on either through radioactive poisoning or toxic fumes.

Just from looking at the anoxic blanched gills of the deceased fish photos I can tell you something sucked the oxygen out of the water. This time of year where the water is at it's coolest peaking of oxygen something released a massive toxic leach into the waterways. Perhaps it is chemical buildup of some kind of residual toxic shit from the BP oil spill.

Who knows?

It's a bloody sin, really.

I know pet birds can drop dead instantly from invisible fumes from overheating teflon. This can be from a cooking pan, an iron, a coffee maker and a self cleaning oven. This nonstick substance is in almost everything. We tolerate it with our large capacity lungs but birds do not have lungs. They have sensitive light weight air sacs instead.

My theory is that something was in the air and enveloped the birds. It's still floating around in the air causing other massive bird kills.

A terrorist test preview of chemical warfare?

Illegal pollutants emerging from a factory?

Is it something residual from the BP spill microbursting in the air?

Or is this just a "funky" isolated incident?

Something to me, doesn't feel right.

Since the New year, I haven't seen any of my pigeon friends. I left food out for them but the food remains untouched. Coincidence?

Yes, I am paranoid.

I just don't think "officials" should ignore what nature is telling us.

This is quite disturbing all around.

New Year priorities

Happy New Year!

Last night we went out with my cousins for an early dinner and a movie.

They are on the same wave length as us. They want to go out for the evening but want to stay close to home and come home early. They have pets like we do and have to get up at the crack of dawn so planning an evening out with them works out great.

We had a nice easy enjoyable night.

We talked about the "highlights" and "bummers" of 2010.

The "Highlights" of 2010 for me, were:

1) Our trip to Atlantis.

2) Our trip to Bonaire celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversairy.

3) I lost 20 lbs by not eating donuts. I've religiously kept up with a workout program since May.

4) I've successfully completed two icon paintings.

5) I've recently added "Patches" (the rescue cockatiel) to our flock

6) I've started (this) blog and continue to write.

7) My pet sitting business is still afloat after four years.

The "Bummers" of 2010 for me:

1) I had to take a customer to court for nonpayment of services. I chock it up as a learning experience. I am happy to say that my regular customers are nice and normal. I think it is a normal part of owning a business that every once in awhile you run into a "bad apple".

2) It was tough to watch both my sister and a cousin suffer through the painful process of divorce.

3) It's scary to watch your parents age. I go into major panic mode whenever one (or both) has an injury. They tend to hide stuff like this from me which puts me more on "worry wart' mode.

My cousin and I also discussed what 'goals" we had in store for 2011. It's funny though, the goals I had when I was younger are much different from the goals I seek today.

Only just a few years ago, my ambitions were on turbo-charge focusing solely on what I wanted.

Those goals, such as starting a competitive productive business, have been reached. I have scaled down a bit focusing mostly on my health and do not let myself to be stressed by over working.

Another goal I had was to do extensive traveling by picking exotic destinations with the most challenging places to scuba dive. I've now been to most of these places. Sometimes I like just hanging around spending time with my birds.

I've always wanted a fancy car but I am just satisfied that my American made car( soon to be extinct model) keeps on running. Sure, I'm a "material girl" but I buy my designer duds at consignment stores. At the same time I am more generous with my favorite charitable organizations. (The Oasis foundation, The Gabriel foundation, (local) ASPCA, and the (Salisbury) Pettingil house)

I am just hoping this year sustains the status quo.

I want to make sure I can keep the weight off. I hope my business can stay afloat. I hope to do a little more local scuba diving and bird watching. Probably my biggest concern is that I hope my parents remain healthy and self sufficient.

I may take another art class or enroll in yoga class.

Who knows? I'm just going to take in one day at a time.