Twilight Zone

Weird Haps at casa de Whisner. So...I put up these bird feeders. These feeders are for finches. They are filled with Nyjar seed. It is this small black seed that Finches think is like McDonalds fast food. It is fun to have the birds visit. The dogs chase them and I like to know that I'm making little birds fat.

Finches by nature are pretty skittish creatures. Sometimes they'll all be eatting (dozons of them on 3 feeders) and I'll walk out on the deck (more than 50 feet from where they are) and they will take to the air as if a bomb has just gone off. It probably doesn't help that the dogs go running and barking at the trees for the shear joy of watching the birds scatter, but what the heck, after all the McDonalds food, its good to get some exercise.

Today I'm refilling one of the feeders. I get the feeder about half full with the rest of the seed I have and am hanging it up (dogs are at my feet) and just as I get the feeder in place (my hand still fastening it to the tree), a finch comes down and lands not two inches from my nose. I yell and back up (as I don't know what is happening) and the darn bird stares at me and proceeds to eat seed. I'm astonished! Astounded! Delighted! Weirded out! Worried! then just Interested. The little creature stares at me, grabs a seed eats it, stares at me, eats another stares at me. All this time, my face is inches from this bird (where's a camera when you need one for crying out loud!). So I put my hand up and the little finch pushes my hand with its head (I can see it thinking, "leave me alone duffus! I'm trying to eat something before the hoard comes back"). Finally after about 5 minutes, it flys to the apple tree and sits there. I went and grabbed the camera and took a pic of it napping in the apple tree.

I am afraid it was sick in some way. It certainly wasn't afraid of me...so maybe it just has good judgement :)

It is still in the apple tree sleeping as I write this. Tomorrow there will be dozens of birds again and I won't know which one was my special bird. I sure hope it is not injured and just a trusting bird.

Later I asked Fin what she thought of the friendly bird and she stuck her tongue out at me. I guess that in itself is a comment on this unusual day.

Time for a Fin growth update

Fin just turned 9 months. Here is her life in pictures:

1 week old with mom. Fin is in the lower right corner all by herself.

At 7 weeks.

At 8 weeks

At 14 weeks

At 17 weeks

Fin Seven months (28 weeks)

Fin Eight months (32 weeks):

Fin 9 Months (36 weeks):

Mud - Too Much of a Good Thing

Well it rained over the weekend; I can almost see the trees grinning.
So yesterday I notice that the pool is getting a little full (after I pulled the lawn chair and the cushion out of the pool. So I do my non-techy solution of sticking a hose in the pool and sucking the other end so the water runs out. I said, "Now Vici, don't forget to pull the hose out before you go to bed." Did I? Nooooooo! Pool is down over 12 inches. ... too much of a good thing.
Finny and Maddie wanted outside so I let them out. I checked on them after about 10 minutes and they were wrestling on the deck (so cute). I let them in after about 20 minutes and failed to notice (because they are black) that they were COVERED in mud. Evidently after the wrestle they went out into the mud and did a little digging. Too much of a good thing.
The Oscars - too much of a good thing.
Reality TV - Bruno vs Carrie Ann - not a good thing...just plain BADDDD.

Ok, so rain is great, rain is good, april showers and all that. But why does it have to rain only on the weekend! WAY too much of a good thing.

It's raining

Well I thought I had gone with a good insurance company. (Health). Here I sit with "tennis elbow" and yet, I don't play tennis...go figure. Doctor prescribes a drug for pain. Simple right? Go to the pharmacy, get the meds, see if they help. Nope.

The insurance company MUST APPROVE the drug. What this means is that even though the doctor who has had I don't know how many years of education has made the determination that I need something, the insurance company must review his notes to ensure that his decision is accurate and I truly need the meds. Who wants to be a doctor nowadays?

I believe it is a conspiracy by the insurance companies to make it difficult for doctors to prescribe meds that are expensive. The doctor is less inclined to give you the medicine he believes should work for you because he doesn't want the hassle. Insurance company makes money. Human being suffers.

I spend over $700 a month on insurance. I hardly EVER go to the doctor (unless a horse dumps me into a fence and I need emergency care, or I slip and fall and break my toe, or I think I'm having a heart attack, or I never play tennis but get tennis elbow - but other than that, I never go).

I think that they should take this into account and just approve me. In the meantime, I have tennis elbow. I can't work out on my upper body. I learned Wed night that I shouldn't grab a 90 pound lab by the collar (cause that really hurts), and picking up my tea reminds me that I have tennis elbow. Doctor says time will heal (isn't that what my mom said everytime my heart was broken as a kid). Time may heal, but for goodness sake, drugs sure help.

The Holidays are Here

Tommorrow will be the shortest day of the year.
Why do they say that Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year? Doesn't it have 24 hours just like the rest of the days. Still, it does feel shorter doesn't it? Today it gets dark at 5:00pm and by 6:30-7:00 I feel like I need to go to bed. Self motivation is a wistful dream while heavy eyelids pull my mind to slowness and lethargy. Comfort food is demanded by my body while dieting is the one thing I should do.
I always look forward to December 21st. Starting December 22 the days get longer, warmer, and the outside is more inviting. Today, even though the sun is out, wind is blowing cold air and demanding hot coco, warm blankets, and a family movie.
I have many things that need to be done this weekend in preparation for the holidays. Wrap presents, prepare food, clean house, and of course brush pups (maybe a few baths are in order as well). I feel confident that these things will be difficult as I really just want to shut my eyes and open them sometime in March....do you think I'll still get paychecks if I don't work? ha!
Since I'm not too inspired to write today, I'll end this entry with a pledge to go exercise. Perhaps with a little exercise, I'll wake up and face the day with a greater enthusiasum. :)

Memories

When I was seven, I fancied myself a hair stylist. My sister Trish was 2 (you know where this is going, I'm sure). Trish was the most beautiful child. She had this cute pixie hair cut with bangs and everywhere we went people fawned over her saying she looked like a little doll. I was a wee bit jealous with my wild hair and crooked eyes. I was supposed to be the star and I had been until this little bit of a girl entered our lives.

I got it into my head that I should cut off Trishs bangs. Now to convince her. Even then she'd do anything for me so convincing wasn't too hard. I cut the bangs right off. When I saw what I had done, I was horrified. When Trish saw what I had done she started screaming.

Parents intervened, punishments were handed out and many years later we still laugh. Best of all, Trish forgave me for my bad behavior...but strangly has never let me cut her hair since.

A Big Shout Out to CoreMark!

Ok, so I've been lax in getting my Blog updated. It's been busy. Between weight training, dog training, putting up with my sister trish and just plain getting ready for the holidays, I'm not feeling inspired to write.

But write I will. Hmmm....I'm feeling nostalgic, perhaps I'll write a story about Trish when she was a youngster...something to do with an embarrassing moment? :)