Chi..ca.go

So tonight I landed in Chicago.  Everything was fine from Seattle, that is once I got off the road from the crazy drivers who can't stand a dusting of snow.  I made it from front desk to terminal in only 15 minutes.  I was really shocked today when my watch set off the metal detectors, it is titanium, but it has never done that before!  The flight was actually early getting in and instead of renting a car I opted for a shuttle service.  It is always great when they say, you will be picked up by a black sedan, isn't that what 90% of them are anyway.  It was a nice relaxing ride out into Bloomingdale, IL, to the Hilton Indian Lake Resort.  I will try to get some pictures of the outside of the hotel, it is very interesting, definitely not square what so ever. (you will see by the photos I did take, mind you they aren't great quality b/c I was tired and just snapped).

I ordered me some dinner through room service and thought I would head to "The Cave" the lounge that is in the center of the hotel under the atrium.  As the evening drew on and my belly was full the full brunt of my exhaustion hit me.  So I curled up in bed watching tv.  I finally turned off tv and promptly fell asleep for a half an hour.  And then?!? I have been wide awake since.  I finally gave up laying in bed and thought I might do something that would encourage me to sleep again, web surf, play some words in scrabble on facebook, write a blog, yadda yadda yadda.  I think it may be working b/c I am feeling a bit sleepy again. I will most likely take some advil before I head back to bed (I think part of the problem is I slept badly last night and my shoulders hurt something fierce).

Okay onto the pics from today.

View out my hotel window.  I unfortunately am on the first floor.

My room aka my bed

The vaulted hexagonal ceiling.

The maze of hallways, I will have to get a better picture of this tomorrow.  But out my door are 3 different passage ways, one is the emergency exit (so I guess that makes me in murder central in csi speak for the room closest to the exit).

This is the first floor.  I am on the upper right side, below where it says  the second e in level 1.  See how the rooms are arrange. I am curious about the other floors.

My mini servings of bathroom supplies.  PS they have a stocked mini fridge in here, but if you even move an item, it registers electronically and adds it to your bill.

The center of the hotel floor 1, looking across the atrium, the cave bar is smack in the middle.

My mini serving of ketchup for my fries.

Okay that is about it for me for the night.  I should try and lay down to sleep again.  I would be lucky to get 5 hours sleep at this point.

brrr....

So you may want to know how I spent my day in the big city... Well since I woke up today to this:

Snow falling!

White stuff all around.

Light big fluffy flakes.

I can only say I did not feel like making in ventures out.   Not that I haven't ever driven in it before it just was something I didn't feel like dealing with.  That and the fact that we think there is a new "Penny's curse" for my brother's house- the heater will randomly kick off.  It happened when I was home in December, and hadn't happened since.  But twice today it has completely shut off.  I have been snuggled under a blanket looking at the gas fire and snow fall all day.  Other than that. Not much more.  

I did run to the grocery store to get some items to make dinner.  The roads weren't bad but I know that it started to pick up again this evening.  I could hear the icy little balls hitting the windows.  I really was hoping to get out of the house and seeing a friend I haven't seen in a very long time.  /sigh  Anyway, today basically became a photo op for my cats and just other small things.  I hope you enjoy.

Onyx stole Mark's chair when he went into his office.

Aww.. even they got snuggly by the fire (and as close as you will ever find them).

Midday I opened a box that had dishes for my brother.  Of course someone was excited about the peanuts.

What happens when 2 people take a picture at the same time from opposite of each other and one has the flash on??

Looks guilty

Back into the box.

She thinks she is part of the xbox accessories.

The next set of photos I took yesterday.  Guess what kind of birds my brother has out behind his house?

I love this, there are actually 2 wholes that have been "drilled" clear through.

Look at the very top left of the tree you will see another notch out.

Another tree

hmm.. anyone guess woodpeckers.... you would be right.  I see a large number of Northern red-shafted flickers, but I have also seen a few yellow-shafted, as well as a few downy and/or hairy.

Okay I should be off to bed since time jumps forward an hour tonight.

Trip down

So, today I rose and shown early, 6:30 am, to catch the 8:05 ferry off the island.  I am spending a few days in Seattle, okay North Bend, before I fly out Monday to the NWRA Symposium in Chicago.  The morning was very brisk and I had to start my day by scraping my windows before I could head to the ferry landing!  Once the sun came out the temps started to go up.  The sun was very bright and beautiful this morning.  I lead to some really good photo ops today.  

Once on the water, Mt. Baker was visible in all its glory.  Even had a lovely little cloud cap right over the peak.  I saw many grebes, gulls, and loons on the water.  I also got to see a harbor seal skim the surface before diving.  That isn't the most exciting part of it.  The exciting part was once it was in the dive turn, I saw a flash of red on the rear left flipper!  This means that is was one of the boys that Wolf Hollow has released, that WAS the exciting part.

Mt. Baker with the cloud cap (click photo to see larger image).

Once I hit mainland I stopped at The Farmhouse to meet with WDFW officer, Jennifer Bohannan to transfer a dead swan to them.  It was one that had hit power lines back at the end of December and we just hadn't gotten it to them.  She was telling me that number counts were pretty high this year, which is exciting, but it also meant they had had a larger number of power line strikes because they are congregating in areas that they haven't in the past.

Here, next to the left stalk of straw is a killdeer that was playing in and out of the field at The Farmhouse.

The rest of the drive went pretty seamless, except the fact that I had to stop in North Kirkland to use the restroom.  Note to self don't drink a 20 ounce coffee and a 20 ounce pop right before you have no options for a bathroom.  Once I was on I-90 I saw a dark morph Red Tailed Hawk sitting in the median right after I got outside of Issaquah.  My brother had told me about this bird, he has seen it once or twice sitting on road kill or something just off the road.  He looked to be doing well and was sitting on something, but because of the slope of the median I couldn't tell what it was.  

I thought about stopping at Snoqualmie Falls on my way into North Bend, but as got closer I saw more and more snow on the ground and decided to forgo that today, maybe tomorrow.

Mt. Si as I got closer to North Bend.

Mt. Si from the North Bend exit (30)

Mt. Si from the driveway of my brother's house.

Now I have settled back in here (my second home), watched the Jays play  and scream at each other out back, a red wing black bird came through, and of course Dark-eyed Oregon Juncos.    I have also already vacuumed the house, and have listened to my other cat, Fally, crying in the living room-- I don't know for what reason.

I don't have much planned for this weekend, just letting it happen as it happens.

I hope you all have a good day and a chance to enjoy some sunshine!




 

haha

cute raccoon photo

Productive day

I would love to say that today has been the most productive day of the week, but that is far from the truth.  I can say that it was the most productive day animal care.  We all know that I have spent the week painting, stripping floors, waxing floors, reading intern applications, etc.  But when I came in today I had already decided I was going to move the Great Horned Owl to a mew, and that is exactly what I was going to do.  After I cleaned and feed the Cooper's Hawk I talked to Shona about when we thought he could be moved, as he has become very active and actually taloned me twice today through both a hand towel & gloves!  I also got one of the aviaries set up for him.  I also got to play with a new piece of equipment I had recently ordered, a submersible pump.  It was time again to change the pool water in the cage where we are housing the swan.  It isn't an easy task to bucket the water out and to get it away from the cage to avoid over saturating the area around the cage, so I bought the pump.  It took only 15 minutes to get the water all out of the cage.  

Here are a few photos from today's moves.

Cooper's Hawks just don't sit still.  I was trying to get a good photo of him, in this one he was shaking his head back and forth.

Of course we have a tail wiggle in this one.

Better, still has some head movement.

Best pic I think I got.

The Great Horned Owl, chills on a stump.  I took this through the slats of the cage.. he is much calmer than he is below.

Animal behaviorist:  ear tufts back, scared/stressed.

At the end of the day from up above.  Was really fluffed when I first entered with his rat for dinner.  Then calmed down and put his ear tufts back up.

The rest of my day was filled with reading more intern applications, and checking on the critters in their new surroundings.  I have just tomorrow to work before I head down to Seattle before flying out to Chicago for the NWRA symposium.  

I hope you had a good day, now I am off to finish making my dinner, and finish laundry.  aww to have a quasi clean home again.

long day on the islands.

It was a long day, but the first Tuesday of every month generally is.  That is because it is board meeting day. Which I am not a board member, but as a staff member I may have something I need to bring to the table.  Today, I only had a few things and didn't get to share them until the very end of the night.  

My day started at the normal 8:30 time and with all the intern apps, volunteer coordinator apps, and administrative things that needed to be done I was there until just before 5 pm.  I quickly ran home, showered, and grabbed a quick bite to eat (a bowl of honey nut cheerios).  Off I ran to the board meeting where I shared my road rashed/ jean burned knees with everyone from the countless hours I have been spending stripping and waxing the floors.   

After the meeting adjourned I returned home to the next set of 30 intern applications I brought home to read.  This brings my total read to 140 and I know there is 19 more at work, plus what ever I pick up from the mail tomorrow.  The post mark deadline was the 28th of Feb, so there should only be a few more days of them trickling in.  Which is good because I have to have them all read by the time I leave on Friday morning for the symposium in Chicago.

I am done with my "work" for the day, so I am relaxing with some facebook scrabble with friends and family.  But my mind is still racing with work things.  How I need to get my apartment cleaned tomorrow night before I leave for a week, how I need to pick up movies and dishes from a friends house, which enclosure I am going to move the great horned owl into tomorrow, what to do about the Thayer's gull that isn't eating, and how to pack for my trip so I don't have to take a suitcase (extra money, plus I hate having to wait for luggage).

No wonder I have felt so stressed lately.  All these things constantly pushing through my head.  I know my cat can feel the energy; she has been very snuggly lately and as I type this she is sharing my lap with my laptop constantly rolling over and rubbing her head on my hands as I type.

I hope every one of you have been doing well.

somethin...

I really wish I had something to say.....but tonight I got nothing!    No good icanhascheezburger, failblog, or funnyjunk caught my attention today.  No new animals, or funny exchanges between them.  Just watched paint dry, floor stripper work, and read intern applications today (which you have already seen my rant on that "One word of advice".  The temp came back up today after snow just 3 days ago.

Okay, that is it.  Like I said nothing to say today.

in a funk

So I have been in and out of a funk lately.  You remember that this happened a while back and I thought it had passed pretty well, but after V-day I have just been humdrum.  My trip to Seattle was a bust for my mood, I was hoping seeing friend there would pick up my spirits, so to speak, but that didn't happen.  Literally, I didn't seen any major groups of friends even though 90% of them knew I was going to be in Seattle, it was a big bummer for me.  Making it happy to return to the island, but once I came back.. I again felt like I had been forgotten.  It is easier to sit at home and be connected to people just down the street through Facebook/scrabble/chess.  It was tough, b/c of my depressive mood I really needed some face time with someone!  Work has been tough, dealing with extraneous work that just seems old by now.. /sigh  it was tough.

Yesterday after I snoozed after my alarm went off, I was awoken by a text.  I stayed in bed for a bit longer.  Onyx was all snuggly and purring which made me feel slightly better (I have realized recently that what I have to look forward too, the snuggliest of a cat in the morning and that is about it)-- just like she is right now over my right arm.  Shortly after that I was up and heading into town to get breakfast.  After some running around.  It was out to bird watch.  Jason & I headed to Mt. Finlayson to observe the RTH's he has been watching.  One was putting on a show by doing stalls/loop to loops, tucking wings and doing vertical drops.  It was pretty damn amazing.  We headed down the road over by the light house and got to see the other 2 RTH (one we couldn't get a good id on but I will assume they have been hanging out in the area).  We walked to the lighthouse and hung out there for awhile, soaking up the warm sun, watching the sea birds, and listening to the sea lions.     

The rest of the day was pretty much just an lay low hang out kind of day.  I really should be cleaning my house right now especially since I won't be home for the next two weekends, but just don't feel like putting the effort in now.  Here are some photos I took recently:

A fox down by the cape sunning himself.. must be rough.

I think it has ear mites, constantly ear scratching.

The light house from the road.  If you look about 1/4 of the way from the left in the tip top of the not full tree you will see a bird, one of the Red-tailed Hawks.

Our Great Horned Owl patient!  His head even better yet.

covered

I woke up this morning to a covering of snow on the ground and all over my car.  I kind of thought this to be a possibility as there was an icy rain falling when I came home from work last night.  My doors were frozen shut, but not enough that I couldn't get it (I couldn't get into the hatch on the jimmy so I had to climb through the front to get my ice scraper and brush).  I had to throw it in 4x to even get to the post office where I picked up another 16 intern applications that I will have to read through in the next few days.  I was a little on the slow side today to the into gear, but soon I had all the animals fed & cleaned and my everyday projects down.  When Shona told me the Internet didn't want to work.  I tried with my laptop and sure enough it was down :(  She ran out to reset the system and as I looked out the window I saw a light buffy color fluff ball sitting on top of one of the shrubs out front.  I tried to get a photo from the front stoop, but it wasn't a great one, and when I zoomed in he/she flew off mid shot.  There aren't too many birds that are buffy/grayish white in coat, a tinge smaller than a robin, sits upright, and has a black eye stripe.  My guess, as well as Shona's after seeing the picture zoomed in as best I could, a Northern Shrike.  Yippee.

We spent most of the day trying to get my computer to link up to the Internet (our work one would, but my laptop not at all).  So instead I worked on writing questions to ask a potential Volunteer Coordinator, a new sign "Don't be a Fomite" to encourage proper glove wear and hand washing practices for Wolf Hollow, and washing walls in prep for paint.  Whew, all before lunch.  After lunch we had a few different visitors, one being our avian vet who came out to look at the newest radiograph of the Thayers Gull, who has a pellet lodged in the Ulna of the right wing.  The bone has fragmented a bit more, so we thought the outcome was going down hill.  Michelle suggested keeping it wrapped and "wait and see" re radiograph in 2 weeks.  Of course, we also caught up the Trumpeter Swan, who is getting very wise to the whole operation of being caught.  We used laser therapy on the hock again, it looks much better.  But it is hard to tell the how the foot all the weight is on is doing,   I can't say it looks better or worse just different.  We will now have to discuss where to go from here with her.  

Now time for a relaxing night, if the pager stays quiet, and working on laundry.

Hope you all have a nice evening as well.