After you enter Abilene's zoo there is a short concrete wall and next to it is a large rock with a etched giraffe. Everyone gets their picture taken there, well. . .everyone except for Katie. We have been to the zoo several times but I have always resisted posing Katie at the over-used photo op, but Katie wanted me to take a picture. I believe that Katie likened the wall to a stage because as people enter they tend to look at the person on the wall. And Katie L.O.V.E.S. being on stageOh, Katie was in her glory. However, without further explanation here is Katie with the etched giraffe.

 In the photo below Katie was being a very scary lion.

 So there you have it, the run-of-the-mill picture from our afternoon at Abilene's zoo.

Boston "Long Time"

"It's been such a long time. I think I should be goin'. Time doesn't wait for me, it keeps on rolling." And isn't that the truth. It appears that each time I turn around another week has gone by and I have not posted.

Of course we have been busy. Rick started traveling to Illinois' Dept. of Criminal Justice. Rick thought the contract was 160 hours; however, he discovered that it is for 800+ hours. Springfield will be his second home for the rest of the year.

Hobo, the Great Pyrennes, is still calling our place home. The other night I heard him barking and he was right outside the guest bathroom. I turned on the porch light and spooked Hobo, but I didn't see anything dangerous. He was probably barking at some type of wild life, such as an armadillo. This morning he woke me up at 4 am with his barking. This time he was down at the shop. I do feel more secure with Hobo here and with his early warning system. Now Cody, he doesn't understand the concept of barking at intruders. Yesterday I was outside with Cody and Hobo. The farmers behind us were plowing the field and it was really loud. Hobo started barking and Cody, wanting to be like Hobo, barked too which made me laugh. Max, one of the White German Shepherds that we owned, would do the same thing. If Eric barked, the other WGS, Max would too; however, Max never barked on his initiative. Yeah, Cody is a Max, but goofier.

Cody on his way to Hobo who is sitting on top of the missile silo.

Katie was on spring break last week. We did a couple of fun things including the zoo. I had packed a lunch and we picnicked by the giraffes like we did last year. We also got to hear the male lion roar and let me tell you it was loud and very eerie. I cannot image being on the African savannah and hearing that. However, I do know that I would pee my pants.

 I always take pictures of the flamingos because they are so vibrant. Did you know that flamingos get their color from the food they eat, such as shrimp? Also, flamingos stand on one leg to keep their circulation working properly.

 The view from our picnic spot.

 Running to see the roaring lion.

Last year I had planted petunias in some of the planters and lo and behold they came back this year. Yesterday I bought a few more petunias to fill in the holes. It's a tad early to be planting flowers, but the spring spirit over took me when I was in Wal-Mart.

Our new living room TV has internet connections to Amazon and Netflix, just to name a few. I use Amazon quite a bit to watch movies because I am an Amazon Prime member, so a lot of the movies are free. We also had a trial membership to Netflix and it turned out to be horrible. We did not watch one movie via Netflix. The service kept on informing us that our internet connection was down, which it wasn't, and kept on rebuffering. Not sure why because the other services on the TV had no problems. I was surprised to find out that the selection of streaming movies was miniscule. So word to the wise, at this time Netflix is not worth money if you want to stream movies.

Many of you know that I am a Desperate Housewives fan. This past Sunday they had the funeral for Mike, one of the main characters. I cried! This is the last season for Desperate Housewives and I will miss it dearly. It is the only TV show that I watch. Another word to the wise, do not call me Sunday evening between 8 pm and 9pm CDT. I won't answer. Well, at least for the next few weeks. Speaking of last episodes, I typically don't like them. They always seem to entail the characters literally moving on. Often the last episode leaves a bad taste and negates the entire series. Here's crossing my fingers that they don't totally dismantle the residents on Wisteria Lane. I want to think that they still live on after the show ends.

Katie only lost one cube this past week. She was told to stop coloring and she did not. We actually met with Katie's teacher (our request, not the teacher's) two weeks ago to discuss Katie's cube losing abilities. Katie is not the best in the class, nor the worst when it comes to obedience, but she was continually losing cubes for talking when she was supposed to be silent and horsing around in the bathroom. Our new strategy is that if she loses a cube, we take away one of her cherished possessions. If she doesn't lose a cube, she gets back one of those possessions. (We recently got a garbage bag and took and bagged all of the items on her bedroom floor. This was after she was told repeatedly to clean up her room.) So far, the strategy is working. Fingers crossed.

That's about it. Nothing earth shaking, but busy all the same. I have to get ready for a baby shower. Ciao!

The Weekly Recap for June 6--11, 2011

This past week Katie and I went to the zoo between the morning and afternoon taekwondo classes on Thursday. I didn't think we would spend the entire break at the zoo, but time flew and we were there for 4 hours. Once again her favorites were the giraffes and the pink flamingos, however, this time I could not keep her out of the Creepy Crawly pavilion. She was fascinated with the snakes. She liked a black cobra.

Yesterday Katie tested for her High Green Belt in taekwondo. She was great and tested strong. She also broke her first board during testing by stomping on it. We had to make sure that Katie understood that it is good to break a board in taekwondo, but at home it's not too good. Anyway, Katie had a few instructors sign her board and we will put it in a place of honor in our home. It is hard to believe that she has been in taekwondo for almost a year now. How taekwondo has changed Katie and her attitude! I am sure some of it has to do with age, but taekwondo has been a great influence in her life. I hope that she continues to be enthusiastic about taekwondo because having a black belt in a martial arts looks impressive on a college application and on one's resume.

Other than that, it is still stinking hot here in West Texas. Every friggin day it reaches at least 100 degrees and more often than not a few degrees higher. We also have had strong winds for longer than I can remember, which is good and bad. Good because it helps make the great outdoors bearable, but bad because the fine dirt gets in the house. I cannot keep the top of the fireplace, which is granite, clean. There is always a thin layer of dirt on the black surface so it is very noticeable. And don't get me started on the glass coffee table. Another problem with the winds is that the fire danger is extremely high and if a fire does start, the high winds would help the flames eat 100s of acres rather quickly.

Rick bought me a 10'x12' green house. We were originally going to put it on the patio where our outdoor living area is right now, but Rick is rethinking that idea. Because of the wind, we need to anchor the greenhouse to concrete. It would be easier to do that by pouring new concrete forms into the ground rather than driving lag bolts into the current concrete. So I have some more time to plan my green house plantings.

Rabbits . . . UGH! I bought plastic chicken wire to encircle the flower bed around the tree in the front yard. In tiny printing on the label it stated, "some aggressive rabbits might chew through the wire." And of course I have aggressive rabbits. Time to get real chicken wire and pray that they are not psycho rabbits and chew through that. It amazes me that we have 170 acres and they continue to destroy one tiny patch of flowers. I guess flowers, especially petunias, must be a treat for them like Belgian chocolate is for humans. The cayenne pepper worked, but I washed it off every time I watered the plants. I was spending a small fortune in cayenne pepper. I was going to try a plastic owl in the flower bed, but the jury is out on whether they really work. We have an owl that frequents the Quonset Hut that we call Woodsy. I suggested to Rick that we shoot it, stuff it and plant it in the flower bed, but he just laughed. I have considered getting some plastic flowers but our aggressive, plastic chewing rabbits might eat them. What to do, what to do, what to do.

Speaking of destroyed flowers, Meatball (Cody) dug up the big planter by the front steps not once but two more times. Once was when I was standing right there. I gave him the what-for so I don't think he will be digging in the planter any time soon, but I fear it won't stop him from digging in another planter.

Below are the zoo pictures. I saved them for last because there are quite a few and if you are not into pictures of wild animals penned up you can skip the rest of this post.

 Katie waiting for the zoo's train. The train takes you through the zoo and the conductor relays interesting facts about the animals as you pass by them.

 Katie on the train in the blue car. We were going to wait for the next train because Katie wanted to sit in the blue car, but a sweet mom and her kids moved to a different car so Katie could have her wish.

 This is a puma/cougar/mountain lion. We have a few lurking around our home. Look at that big, bloody piece of meat and bone he is snacking on for lunch.

 Katie and her beloved giraffes. We ate our picnic lunch on a shaded bench that gave us a great view of the giraffes.

 I patiently watched this lady drink water so I could see how the heck she was going to get her feet back together. She shifted her weight from leg to leg and would move one foot slightly until her legs were back together. Did you know that giraffes have a special valve in their upper neck to prevent too much blood flow to the head when they drink water?

 We purchased crackers to feed the giraffes. Their tongues are gross/weird. They are extremely long and a blackish purple. However, that didn't bother Kate.

 Here's Papa Lion and his two cubs. One of the cubs wanted to play and kept on clamping on his father's mane. Finally the grumpy daddy lion roared/growled and the play ended. The cub in the back cracks me up. He seems to be looking to the heavens. Was he thanking God for his father not eating his frisky brother?

 I don't like to take pictures through the wire mesh, but I had to get one of this White Bengal Tiger. He is sound asleep in his concrete watering hole. It was hot that day . . imagine that.

 I cannot remember what type of bird this was, but it was absolutely beautiful. We were in the Texas pavilion so it is native to Texas, but I have never seen one in the wild. However, Texas has several different climates and this bird could be a coastal bird.

Another of Katie's favorites, pink flamingos.

So there you have the weekly update. Ciao!