Hey, guys!
I never put up a picture of my new car! This is my very first car. Here I am at 24 (close to 25) just buying my first car. Ah well. I am so pleased with it. I had to get something soon and realized that this would be a reliable car that would last me a long time. I wanted four doors. I have always had issues with two door cars with back seats. What if you get in a wreck? I also realized that it was a car that could transition from a college transportation car to a family car very easily. See? An investment into the future too!

Okay, so this is a test because I can't get a big long blog that I wrote to publish so I want to see if this one will first. Hmm.
Hey, by the way. If you check out my blog spot please get my email address and email me. I set this up so that I could get in touch with my old friends, but I have been having trouble getting email addresses.

Hey, Guys! It has been so long since I have posted, actually. Guess now would be a good time to get up to date.
Well, this past semester almost killed me. I promise this is true. There is a class I am considering retaking for my benefit and the benefit of my GPA. *Blush* But we won't talk about that.
I have been pretty NOT busy with work and am on the verge of seriously looking for a new job. I always have my eyes and ears open, but this may start taking on some serious energy.
Christmas was wonderful with all of my family home.
My younger brother Ryan just got accepted into Navy Flight school. We are all extremely excited. This is something he has wanted for most of his life. And now here it is!
Ron is going to be interning in Ohio with GE's aeronautical division. Ron will make them and Ryan will fly them.
I am the odd man out. Starting this spring semester I will be doing a survey with my advisor in the Walls of Jericho wildlife reserve. We are going to be studying the reproductive cycle of the telescope shiner. It is a stream minnow. We are going to be taking several trips up there on Saturdays to collect the fish and keep them at the University. Through the season we will be dissecting them to record gonad development. This will be a great experience for my future knowledge and for my resume.
Besides that, I am collecting data on the birds that visit our backyard feeders throughout the winter months to help Cornell University track bird migration. Along with that I am surveying the number of birds with illnesses and abnormalities. The big issue is Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis. It is affecting finches on a very large scale and they are trying to track the patterns to see if we have an epidemic starting. I have seen three House Finches with it at our feeders. All have been males. I have also recorded a couple of bald birds. This is usually from an extreme form of molting and is temporary. Today I got a picture of an albino Starling. This is considered an unusual bird, not a rare bird. I hope I find a rare bird soon!
Guess that will do. I am posting a picture of the albino Starling.

my recent catastrophies

So, yesterday I was on my way to class. I was coming from the Sprocket and headed down Sparkman past technology drive (where dad works). As I was trying to get into the far right lane I noticed a package or something in the far left turning lane. On second glance I discovered that it was a duck. He was just sitting there in the turning lane. I figured the duck must have been hit since they don't just sit in traffic. Since there was no traffic directly behind me and the turning lane was stopped at a red light, I pulled across and stopped the car across the two far left lanes, put it in park and hopped out to get him. He just sat there watching me. So I walked over, grabbed him and he squirmed out. He was smart enough not to walk into oncoming traffic, but he walked under the back side of the van in front of me. I watched and realized that I could shoo him out and grab him. Taking note that it would be better to get a good hold of him and forget about trying not to hurt him, I lunged and grabbed him by the throat and wing and bear hugged him over to the car. After unsuccessfully trying th back door I just opened the front and threw him in. He and I were both noticably shaken, but I think the lady in the black car behind me enjoyed it tremendously. He sat on the front seat all fallen over and panting while I drove, on my new diverted route, to class. The whole way I was trying to decide where to get a box and how to explain to mom and dad why we had a new pet for a while. I really wanted to keep him- Dad, let's move to the country. So, as I was nearing the school, he started standing up. I had rubbed his neck and back at a stop light and it didn't feel as though he were unsound. He walked about the seat for a while and about the time I got to the building I take the class in, I felt free to rub his head as he had been standing staring at me for a fairly long time. This did not bide well with him and he turned and flew up against the passenger window. Feathers everywhere. I reached over and pushed him down, turned to look into my left hand turn and noticed a blond haired girl laughing at me and my teacher staring blankely. Great. So, I decided if he was so strong and sound enough to flap his wings like that then he could go back to the lake where he came from in the first place. When I finally got him to the lake, I opened the door and expected him to rush out. Instead he sat there. Large amounts of coaxing did not move him, so I eventually had to just scoop him out. He ran for a few paces and then walked in a dignified way on his way to the lake. His only symptoms were a bloody face, so I think he is fine. It might have been worse.
Well, this morning it got worse.
I got in the car after my Microbio class and lab and was alarmed by the atrocious smell that had ousted the usual semi-pleasant airfreshener smell I am used to. Something had fermented. Didn't take very long to place the smell. It was apple cider in my Coast Guard bottle (semper paratus). Three days old. I found out that the top of the bottle leaks when I tried to shake it night a while back. It leaked in the car too. Alot. The day before it had fallen into the container under the armrest up front. I think there is a law that if you have something that is really disgusting, you have to dump it in the hardest to clean spot in the smallest enclosure you will spend extended time in; like a Ford Taurus. So I spent about an hour cleaning out all kinds of nasty things that have been hanging out there for a very long time I think. All were now soaked in fermented apple cider. On top of that, the center seat belt was wrapped in that container and was soaked too. And there is a fake carpet material in the bottom of the container to catch and grow any stuff that you drop down there. Yuck. I really Really REALLY wanted to throw up. I was lucky and found that the container is removeable and spent at least twenty minutes in the bathroom soaking and soaping and scrubbing it and it just refused to come clean. But eventually the water came out kindof clear and I still have a future appointment to further scrub the seat belt, but it is looking better. I sprayed Bruce's two air fresheners to try and aleviate the pain of the smell. One is mountain fresh scent. I used to aspire to mountain climbing. The other is new car smell. It smells like a public restroom. I am serious, too. At least it does to me! SO right now the car is sitting with the windows down. I think it is getting better in there. But I still have to vaccuum out all the feathers.
I'm blaming the duck for all this.

Funny quotes

Hey, guys! I've got a couple of really funny quotes here!:

Hey, Loren?... um... I was thinking... and then another thought came into my head... and I was wondering...- Nicki

These shoes aren't too bad... unless you do something stupid in them... like... stand...- Becky in the shoe store

Affirmative action: Brilliantly fighting discrimination with discrimination.

When I was your age, Pluto was a planet!

Um, I had a question, but then it went away.- random Space Camp Kid. yeah, they do that kind of stuff all the time.

So, you're a girl, huh? How's that working for you?-one of Ronny's coworkers to another.

Ron's gone for a time

Well, Ron is gone. He has been co-oping with Roper corporation, a division of GE. Ron is currently taking an undergraduate course in mechanical and aerospace engineering. He is currently out of state and will be until Christmas. Luckily he is close enough to come home on the weekends if he likes, so that is nice. I miss him, though. If you recall, we were together most of the time at Northland and he was always my date when we had an artist series. I'm glad he can get some hands on training with his major, but there is a gap when he is gone. He is a lesson in kindness to me and that example is gone for a time.

Summer School's out!

Well, I jus spent ten weeks of my summer doing school. I got 11 credits done in a hurry, but I wouldn't advise it, really. Next summer I will take only a few classes. My fall semester will be starting on August 23, so I have two and a half weeks to work and replenish the funds. Unfortunately, the hours are down at work, so I will not be getting the 40 hours I was hoping for. Yet, I am not very sad about it. I am really rather excited to be getting a wednesday and a saturday off next week. I don't know what to do with myself! I talked to Ron and we may go down to Pensacola. I will make a second post to tell you guys how Ron is and what he is up to.
My advisor tells me I am about half way through my junior year, so I am wildly extatic. yet, I still have a ways to go, and I have to do a great deal of trusting in God to overcome the stress of school. It is so lonely at times! I miss the fellowship at Northland. My major is Biology and I will be trying to get a certificate in education.
This seems long enough. Please drop me a line!

Here we are!

Hi, I am trying to figure this blog site out. It might take some doing, but I will get it. My main goal is to get back in contact with all my friends from Northland again. I found this site on a random whim while I was at school. (I was supposed to be studying for a mid term) Please contact me through this site. I would be so thrilled! ...more to follow... Oh, and, Ron is doing fine too.