The shock of a life time.

WHERE IS BOREDOM!? WHERE IS PEACE!? I feel like every week there is a new crisis, happening, or something. This week was the biggest. Tuesday night (about 11) Nigel was playing in his favorite drawer. He had a hard time getting out. When he got on top of his cage I noticed that his bottom was really swollen and he was pushing hard. This freaked me out. I called an emergency vet here in town and asked if they had a avian vet. She said they did and I rushed Nigel there. When I got there they told me they don't treat birds. I told them that I had just called and she said "Oh I thought you said evening vet". I lost it, I was stressed anyway and had hit every red light in town, now she tells me that. Thankfully I was too upset to say what I was thinking which was "if you are a 24 hour emergency vet, why would I ask if you had an evening vet"? They told me about a place in Post Falls which was about 20-30 min. away. I took off. There were many prayers said on that drive. We made it there and they took Nigel back (notice I only said Nigel). Finally the Dr. (who was not an avian vet but at least she was willing to look at him) came out and said that he would need a x-ray and a blood test. After quite a wait she said the x-rays looked good. She found a couple things amiss with his blood work but nothing that screamed to her. She thought that Nigel might have a infection and some diarrhea so she gave us antibiotics with vitamins and something to help his digestive tract. We finally got home at 3 am.

Later that day I called an avian vet and was able to get Nigel in today (Thursday). Over the day+ in between he was not getting any better, actually it looked about the same if not a tad bit worse. I got off work early today and we went to the vet. The ride there was pretty unadventurous. I noticed at one point Nigel moved from the side of his travel hut to the center but did not think a lot about it. While at the vet's office waiting for our turn to go back I noticed that one of Nigel's toes was up at a weird angle. I reached in and felt something under the towel that I had in the bottom of it. I knew I had not put toys in there and could not figure out what it could be. I lifted up the edge of the towel and found an egg! I was in shock and said "Wow, this is new". The front desk lady looked at me and I picked up the egg and showed it to her. I then looked at Nigel and said "no wonder you felt bad, welcome to the worst club on Earth". The rest of the vet visit went very smoothly now that the problem has been identified he did a few checks on her and that was about it. He did say that Nigel was a little on the skinny side. He....she eats like a horse I don't know how she metabolizes it so fast (wish I did though). Thankfully that huge stress is over. Thanks to Jerry starting about 2 years ago I know what to watch for now and what will happen. Hopefully now it will be the first good nights sleep in 2 nights.....for both of us. They are not fertile so there will be no babies.

And as for her name.....I am leaving it as Nigel. I mentioned to one of the vet tech's that I did not know how to make Nigel into a female name. She said you don't, she answers to Nigel, and she does not know it is a male name. I agree. I will probably call her Nigie more often now. I have called her that for a while but it does sound a bit more feminine.

The white nightmare has returned!

It hailed, snowed, and rained yesterday. The rain snow mix was actually kinda cool. The drops and flakes were huge. What was not cool was waking up this morning and seeing that all-to-familiar glow from behind the mini-blinds. I had to look, it is kinda like looking at an accident scene. You know it is not going to be good but you cant fight the need to see it. There it was about 3 inches. I am not even going to post a picture of it. I have posted way too many of them. Oh and as I sit here and watch last nights news the weather man says that we are supposed to get more rain and snow today. Yippee! I miss my beautiful desert, brownness and all.

What a great week....finally!

This has been quite the week. Last Sunday I started a wonderful weekend with a bit of a scare. I woke up and found a large lump on my face. This is an artists rendition (OK it is actually just a drawing I did on paint). I did not want a picture of it so this is good enough to get the point across. Anyway I tried not to let it freak me out but by Friday it was starting to get to me because it had not gotten any better. I HATE medical things. I did not know if it was one of those deep pimples, a big bite, or some kind of growth. Of course I was NOT going to go to the doctor, if I wait it out it will be OK. Messed up logic I know but lets go back to that statement "I HATE medical things". I decided to get online and look up bug bites. They said that it can take 7-10 days to "start to heal". Good enough for me I still have a few days. Saturday morning I got up and it had not changed. I got in the shower and when I got out I noticed that it was darker red in the center and quite a bit smaller. I don't know what happened in that few minuets I was in there but I don't care. Some of the people at work think it lanced its self. Either way it is now about 1/2 the size it was and seems to be healing much to my relief.

From there my week just got better. Saturday towards the end of work a delivery guy came in. One of my co-workers called me over and said it was for me. Me? Who would send me something and why? It was one of those edible arrangements that I love. On the card it said "Happy Easter. Mom, Dad, and Jerry (their bird). Yes in our family the birds are always included in cards, gifts, and such. Anyway I was very excited and it really made my day. Plus they are SO Yummy!!

The final excitement came this morning while trying to figure out what I was going to wear to church. I picked out a black shirt and skirt which I didn't think much about but being Easter I decided it was not very bright and cheerful. In my closet is a suit jacket that I loved the first time I saw it, it was even on sale......the problem is it did not fit. I did not care, I bought it, and it has sat in my closet for the last few years. Someday I thought it might fit. I don't know what made me do it but I pulled it out this morning (still with the tags on it) and tried it on. What was happening....it was not tight across my shoulders and I could button it!!! I was so excited I put the other outfit back in the closet and wore this to church for its debut. It made me feel so good that I almost did not care that I was getting my 3rd calling today and it was one that I was not happy about (single adult rep.). I mentioned it to a couple people at church, they were both women, and both understood my joy. I think it is one of those simple things in life that can make your day.

Sigh....I think that says it all.

I woke up about 7 this morning to see a weird glow coming from behind the blinds in my room. I looked out and saw.....








There was no snow when I went to bed last night. It had snowed part of the day but had quit long before then. I guess this is a good reason to stay home today and get some stuff done.


A while back I blogged about my car being broken into. It is finally over. The car came back from the repair shop a few weeks ago. I tried to get the insurance to cover it. They found a loop hole that made it so that they would not have to pay a dime. Because of a $40 repair to the body they (the main company) were going to raise my deductible to $500. I called my agent (Sarah) and said this was a joke and she agreed. She said she would make a call. Next thing I know the rep from the company was calling and said that "it was only right" (no kidding) that they give me the $100 glass deductible and not the $500 body deductible. I about passed out that the insurance company was going to do what was right and fair. I should be getting a $200 chinck in the mail in the next few days. Thank you Sarah at Bain Insurance!

"I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful!"

I am sitting here watching "What about Bob?". I have seen it MANY times but it still cracks me up! This week has been my I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful week. Not only does the calender say it is spring but the weather has decided to follow. We did not break the snow record (which I guess technically there is still time) but I am fine with that considering the change in the weather (sorry weatherman). It has rained like crazy but it has been warm. It has been so warm that I was able to drive home the last 2 nights with my windows down. This is a "wonderful" event for 2 reasons. Not only does that mean that it has been warm but my car is fixed. The drivers side window has not worked for months. This may seem like it is not a big deal but think of how often you roll down your window....the bank, fast food, talk to someone, etc. They also fixed the back window that someone felt the need to break out.

I was sick with a head cold on my day off but I decided that I had to do something. On top of being sick and a little weak I think I must have also had some gunk in my brain because I decided to lug boxes of books up from the basement and sort through them. While going through the books I found my old high school Physics book. That next year they were getting new ones and told us we could keep them. I loved Physics so I kept it. It still had the paper bag cover on it with all my teenage scribbles. When I took that off to put it in the sell pile I saw something that stopped me dead in my tracks.Shelly Gale is one of my best friends. As you can see Shelly and I were not in high school at the same time. I knew of her because she was one of my friends sister, but I did not know her. We met again many years later and have since become friends. I know it is not an Earth shattering thing to find but it was surprising. It put a smile on my face.

At the beginning of this week one of the ladies at work and I went out to breakfast and went shopping. Sheri's birthday is the 2nd of Feb. and mine is the 14th. We wanted to go celebrate but things kept happening and we did not get to it until this week. There is a antique place on Ruby that has a bunch of metalwork outside the buildings, they are going out of business so everything was 1/2 off. They have everything from fencing, to sculptures. They once had about a 9 foot tall chicken. I wanted it so bad, I would have put it out in the front yard. Anyway I found a few things there that I could put to good use. My front steps have no rail on the side right by the door. I have been waiting for the day that I back off the edge and fall on the grass below. Knowing my luck even though it is only 3 steps high I would probably would have broke at least one bone. I loved this piece. I know it will not support any weight but at least if you step too far back it will touch you and warn you.

I also found a cool room divider that I am going to make into a faux headboard for the guest room. I got and incredible price on it and loved it. Of course it has birdies on it.

Now that the cold has gone away, the rain is washing the allergens out of the air, and I have dealt with the the car and books....I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.

The good, the bad, and the silly

The Good........

Last night one of my favorite restaurants (The Melting Pot) was having their 1 year anniversary and had a buy one get one free meal deal. I forgot to take pictures until the end of the meal. It is a 4 course meal. The first course is cheese fondue, we got fiesta cheese fondue. The second is a salad. The third is a raw meat tray with veggies. You cook them in a broth. The final course is CHOCOLATE. I got pictures of the remnants.

That is chocolate mixed with peanut butter...yummy! I went with some of the ladies from work.

Cindy and her daughter Alexus,

Linda and I, and my stain. Crazy I know but I could not feed myself to save my life. There was no real way to cover it so you might as well acknowledge it.

The Bad.....

I woke up this morning to.........................

SNOW!!!!!!

In case there is any question left, I really do hate snow. Especially on my day off. I blame the snow on the weather man that I watch. He seems really focused on beating the record set in the winter of 1949-50. I don't know if that will make him a better weather man, get a bigger paycheck, or if he is just a nut. Last I heard we were 9.5 inches from the record. Thankfully the measurements are taken out at the airport and they seem to get more snow than I do up here. Hopefully this gets him closer to his goal and we can be done with it. Last night when I got home (before the snow) there was almost no snow left in my back yard.....not so much anymore.

And The Silly.....

I just had to put this in here because sometimes a nutty bird helps you forget the stupid snow.

Mom brought Nigel a big paper tube that he loves to chew on. I guess it is easier to turn it on its side and stick your head through it because that is the only way he will play with it.

SPRING, is that you??

Not much has changed, but as I was walking back in from taking out the trash and something caught my eye and perked up my spirit.............

THE CROCUS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!