Category Archives: Animal-style

Children

We had a meet and greet a work and to break the ice, we played a scavenger hunt game looking for people who have never flown on a plane, own a boat, know more than two languages, have a PhD etc.

One of them was “have more than 4 kids” and one lady said she has 6. 2 dogs, a cat… and the manager disqualified her because, “it has to come out of your body.” Really? So step-kids aren’t your kids and neither are your adopted kids eh? I beg to differ.
Son
son

Daughter
daughter

Whoosh

The second half of this year is just zipping right along. My slow-to-adapt brain is still getting used to fall and maybe October and voila, it’s already time to turn the clocks an hour back. For however long it lasts, it’ll be nice to walk into the office while the sun’s still out.

Ware iz duh ray-zin?
Wooman, put stoopid camera down and bring dry grape snacks.

Not a raisin
Dis not rayzin.

Tastes like raisin
Gimme.

Chinchee pressies

Even though I’d read that they’re hypoallergenic pets, I think I’m allergic to them. Or at least their dirty litter. And no, it’s not because I don’t want to change their litter, but really, I don’t want to change their litter. I’ve always suspected it because lately, I’d been blowing through boxes of tissues, and it’s mostly at home. Last Saturday when we went to my aunt’s house and I saw how some of my cousins’ started sneezing and blowing their noses in reaction to her cat, it made me even more suspicious that it’s probably the chinchees, because that’s how I react, at least until the litter’s changed. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to cook ‘em and eat ‘em. First two to comment get the pelts.

Donkey Dreams

Ever since the County Fair, I’ve been buggin’ to get donkeys of our own. Yes, that’s right. A coupla’ acres out in the sticks, a barn, some chickens, maybe a llama or alpaca, some goats, and a donkey.

Maybe in a few years or so. For now, she’ll have to do.
Donkey Dreams

Assateague Island

Assateague Island is a quick 30 minute drive from Ocean City. It’s a national park with wild horses (or ponies). They are genetically horses but they’re the size of ponies because they’ve adapted to the harsher environment of the island. There are about 120 horses on the island currently and the theory is, they got there because the locals released them on the island to graze so they wouldn’t be taxed for owning livestock. And they eventually went feral. These horses are beautiful.
Assateague Island
And even though they say they’re wild, I think they’re so used to people that they aren’t afraid of going near people. In fact, we saw a group hanging out all around the campers. They probably get treats from the people even though they’re not supposed to.

Assateague Island
The beach on Assateague is a lot more secluded than at Ocean City. I think the water was still too cold though. Not many people went in.

Assateague Island - Marsh Trail
There are also many mosquitoes on the island. We took a quick walk around the marsh areas to look for horses and got bitten a few times. We found a horse though!

Bad Chinchee

Yesterday after changing Gina’s litter, I vacuumed and must’ve left the plug just within reach for her grubby little paws. Today, when I was changing Marco’s litter, I plugged in the vacuum. Zippo. I plugged it into another outlet. Still nada. And that’s when I saw this!
Bad chinchee!

German Engineering

I am going to tell you why this here water kettle sucks.
Kettle
It’s pretty, it’s good in a pinch, but the engineers in Germany didn’t think this one through. But first, a cute picture of Marco being cute and staring at me while I’m sitting at my desk.
Marco

  • The handle is too hot to touch once the water has boiled.
  • The whistling cap is too hot to touch once the water has boiled.

I’m still keeping it though, in case the electric one breaks.  That is what potholders and dishtowels are for.

Relaxing Sunday

Today feels like Saturday because I had to work yesterday and we have Monday off for the holiday. For lunch, we went to the Cinema Drafthouse to see Tangled and have greasy bar food and beer. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a movie in the theater, I think the last one was a year and a half ago. And it was a Disney princess movie! And a new place I’ve never eaten. We had fried mac n’ cheese appetizers and nachos. I loved the movie. I mean ok yeah it’s stupid Disney princessy and the story is all jacked up but still, I just like the fairytale la-dee-da escape from reality! And the mac n’ cheese triangles were dangerously yummy.

This afternoon I attempted to do my taxes. I think I’m done but I’m going to sit on it a bit in case anymore forms come in. Taxes are such a chore. I needed to relax afterwards with some chinchilla-mania.
Marco
Marco’s attacking the water bottle for some reason.
Marco & Gina
Gina (on the left) can’t figure out what the interest with the water bottle is either. I love my crazy chinchees.

I’ll miss the babies but not the cold!

We’re headed to sunny Florida in a couple of days. I can’t wait to get out of this cold weather and dark mornings. We don’t have a lot planned but that’s perfect. Just relax, maybe go to the pool. We’re also planning to see some alligators at a reserve called Shark Alley. No one knows why they called it Shark Alley when it’s really to see gators. Oh well. I’m hoping maybe I can try some alligator dishes.

Marco looking for a raisin
I’ll miss you Marco & Gina!

For the dogs

We spent 4 hours freezing in the cold outside for another dog adoption volunteer event.  I shouldn’t say we.  I wimped out after 2 hours and went into the PetSmart to warm up, hold the puppies, and pet the kitties.  I was cold to the bones!  Even many of the dogs were dragging their butts on the ground when their handlers wanted to take them back outside after a few minutes break in the store.  The dog I got, Jumper, had an interested adopter in less than a couple of minutes.  I think the family had read her profile and came specifically looking for her.  I saw later on the adoptors’ sign up sheet that 2 families were interested in Jumper.  So for the rest of the day I wandered around petting other peoples’ dogs and played with the other dog we walked, Bilbo.
Bilbo
Bilbo is probably a 2 or 3 year old dog.  He’s a lab mix rescued from Puerto Rico.  I think he likes women or he likes jumping on them.  Maybe it’s a machismo thing.  Anyway, he’s 52 lbs and a good dog.  Quiet as can be.  A little shy at first but loves the company of other dogs.  He was making friends there and being such a sweetie.

In the end, 8 dogs were adopted. Bilbo is still available though!

After that, we went to Coastal Flats for an early dinner. It’s a Great American Restaurant, so consistent with their line of restaurants, the menu was simple and the food was good.
Crab Imperial Dip
This crab imperial dip disappeared so fast!

Lobster Roll
We also ordered the lobster roll with acorn squash and sweet potato fries. I’ve never had a lobster roll before so it surprised me that the filling was cold. It makes sense though, I mean all that mayo. The acorn squash was delicious, topped with cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and candied walnuts.

Pecan Trout
And the pecan encrusted trout with couscous. I liked the pecans.