Book Plug

The Month of May is "Better Hearing and Speech Month". I couldn't let the month go by without acknowledging this illustrious celebration. So, I am promoting one of my favorite books that I share with my speech kids. ADORABLE. Go immediately to your nearest library and check it out. Don't tell me you're an adult. Don't tell me you don't have kids. Don't tell me that you can't read. Just go get it and read it. It will bring out the Inner Passive Aggressivist in you.

And don't we all want that?

Description: Poor Rodney Rat can't pronounce his R's and the other rodents [wodents] tease him mercilessly. But when Camilla Capybara joins Rodney's class and announces that she is bigger, meaner, and smarter than any of the other rodents, everyone is afraid. It seems she really is bigger, meaner, and smarter than all of the rest of them. Until our unwitting hero, Wodney Wat, catches Camilla out in a game of Simon Says. Read along with Wodney as he surprises himself and his classmates by single-handedly saving the whole class from the big bad bully. Children will delight as shy Rodney Rat triumphs over all and his tiny voice decides the day, R's or no R's.

Duckling Update

So, as I heard in an early morning email report from a co-worker, the ducklings were "shoo-ed" out of the courtyard yesterday and down to the lake on the school campus. Unfortunately, four of the babies didn't survive the weekend (get your tissues!), and their little bodies were removed before the students came to school. One of the little duckling is missing (revenge of the crow?). But Mama and her five remaining little ones are happily ensconced in their new home.

Second Snake of the Season

I went down to the creek a few minutes ago to survey the flooding results from Thursday night's storms. But I wasn't alone! This little fella moved on his branch and startled me...and then I was jumpy from then on.
As it was with March's Snake of the Month, this one looks bigger in the pictures than he actually is. Hmmm...maybe about 22-24 inches? It's some kind of water snake, so it's bigger than the worm snake I shared before, but smaller than our average black rat snake.
Alan was "playing" with it, and it slithered off the branch into the creek. I did see one swimming in the creek yesterday. I'm hoping this is the same one. Jerry (remember Jerry from the Bats post?) told me this week there are probably only 2-3 snakes in all of our backyard. So, just one more out there, right?

Make Way for Ducklings

My lone window in my office at work looks out onto a triangular courtyard. The courtyard is totally surrounded by the building, but it's a nice spot for the students to hang out or eat lunch or practice presentations for class (as I've also witnessed before). It's also evidently a good place for a Mama Mallard to have some babies.
My office neighbor was the first to notice her on her nest a couple of weeks ago. Her brown feathers camouflaged her in the pine straw. We thought she had nine eggs. Tuesday when I went back to work, I noticed an egg shell beside her on the nest and wondered if something (one of those humongous crows??) got to the eggs...or...if our babies were here. When I saw her stand up, all of a sudden these little fuzzy golden-brown heads started peeping out from under her. Oh my. They are so, so cute. There are ten little ones, and they are just precious as they peep and toddle after Mama. She's very protective and gentle with them. It's been difficult to get much done this week...students and teachers visit my office to check out the babies, and doggone it...I have to keep watch to make sure they're OK, right? Teachers have put out pans of water (babies obviously can't fly out to the pond yet) and there are signs on the courtyard doors to keep the students out. The current consensus is that the babies will fly out when they are ready. Thank goodness it's the end of school and therapy is winding down...because who wants to work when there are babies to admire?

No Vacancy

Wow. It's been, what? Two weeks since our last critter in the house? Other than the humans and cat and (guinea) pigs, of course. So, yeah. It was probably time. I've been noticing these bird poo-like droppings - only shiny - on the window sill outside our bedroom. From previous visits from our local, favorite pest control folks (who are like family now and are invited for Thanksgiving...well, kidding, but not really), I deducted that this is actually bat poo, not bird poo. Jerry, Squirrel Eliminator Extraordinaire, came by today and checked out the attic for us (window sill is directly under the gables). And guess what? You might want to sit down for this...there actually were NO bats there. Inside or outside the gable. Which makes for quite the mystery. Why did "several female" (from the amount of 'guano', Jerry says) bats choose to hang out for a while under the outside of the attic vent and then take off? Jerry says this is atypical. But I know better. It's just like 7th grade all over again when your girl friends hang out with you for a few weeks and then decide suddenly that it's not cool to hang out and then you're cool again. Only, you know, with these bats leaving, it's OK. I don't think I will have residual emotional scarring.

By the way, the picture above isn't actually our house. I just thought you might enjoy the battiness of what we unwittingly hosted.

No Wonder I'm SO Tired!

This was an incredible weekend! Alan and I drove to Washington, DC (sans kids: thanks parents!) to be a part of my friend Jennifer's wedding. The whole time we were there, the weather was gorgeous, and we were able to stay very cheaply right behind the Capitol (the grey rowhouse was ours...we were on the fourth floor...the little window at the top above the front door). Jennifer had arranged for us to watch the President take off in the helicopter, Marine One, on Friday. It's pretty incredible when the President of the United States is waving to you from about 30 feet away. Later in the morning, we had lunch in a private dining room in the West Wing (the "Wardroom"). VERY, VERY nice! Alan and I fit in a visit to the Jefferson Memorial and the WWII memorial (we hadn't been to either one before), as well as a short trip to the Newseum (recently relocated...really, really good...I wish we had had more time!). The wedding: Jennifer looked G*O*R*G*E*O*U*S, and the ceremony and reception were like something out of a very classy magazine. At the same time, it was also lots of fun. Jennifer hired a bluegrass band as a surprise for her father at the reception. They left the reception under a tunnel of sparklers to depart for their honeymoon in Egypt. It was the most fantastic wedding I have ever been to. What an honor to be a part of it! The photographer is this very talented 19-year-old, and if you want a glimpse of some of the wedding pictures - mostly taken at the Capitol - check out her blog. Alan and I were so, so tired by Saturday night...we ended up sleeping 12 hours. We had to be refreshed for our personalized West Wing tour Sunday morning! We saw inside the Oval Office, the Cabinet, the staff dining room, the "Situation Room", and the Press Room. It helps to have connections! It was pretty amazing to me to see all of these famous places that I have heard of or seen on TV. The drive home felt long, as we were both pretty ready to see our boys again. After we picked them and the pets up, S.S.P.Q.o.K. (Su Su Prettiness Queen of the Kitties) had to drive us home. Now it's back to my real life. Laundry and dirty dishes await! Not every day can be one in which you wave to the President!

May Day

Happy 9th anniversary to us! I’m sure Alan would say that it has been nine years of unmitigated bliss! And that living with me is a piece of cake! Ha ha! Honestly, he is a caring, thoughtful husband, and I couldn’t ask for better. God knew exactly who I needed. I could go on and on about all of his wonderful qualities, but suffice it to say that we complement each other in many ways. We have been fortunate that the past nine years have been so easy, and that our marriage just continues to grow stronger. We are now at the stage of life where instead of attending weddings and bridal showers, we are listening to friends whose marriages haven’t survived. It’s heart-breaking actually. But it also reminds me how precious what we have is. I’m looking forward to spending some QT with my hubbers this weekend.
And, no question: there is no one else with whom I would rather be Marcia Brady! Love you, honey!