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Two Words
Those rather poor photos represent my two latest life birds: the black-capped vireo and the lesser prairie chicken. I got both of them while attending The Woodward Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival in Woodward, Oklahoma. This small-sized birding fest is a keeper. And the birds are stupid ossum.
I'm going back for better chicken photos tomorrow, if the weather gods comply. Got great looks at both species, though, and that counts most of all for me. Just love being out here in the land of the big sky—it does one's heart some good.
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at 7:44 PM,
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Restaurant Update...Pass the Knick Knacks
Okay am I the only one out there who is so glad it's Friday they wanna marry it? This week went by in a blur of boxes piled everywhere, hectic days at work, the car locked in the garage, and yesterday morning a gas leak. Yes friends I said gas leak. Just what I need: to kick off in the confines of my own home without one last swig of Don Julio on a Friday night.
Seriously though: gas leak = no bueno
Thankfully it's all fixed, however the car is still in the garage. One thing at a time, Carrie - this has become my mantra. I do believe the Chef and I are chanting it in our various locales throughout the day. He's up to his eyeballs in renos and building codes and inspectors, so it's been a wild one. Here's to a light at the end of the tunnel for each of us. In the meantime here are a few pictures of what's going on. This was very early in the week and I kinda got wound up in the artifacts so this is less progress and more me making a mental note of things I wanna cart out of the place. Is there such a thing as Asian boho chic when discussing interiors?
Seriously though: gas leak = no bueno
Thankfully it's all fixed, however the car is still in the garage. One thing at a time, Carrie - this has become my mantra. I do believe the Chef and I are chanting it in our various locales throughout the day. He's up to his eyeballs in renos and building codes and inspectors, so it's been a wild one. Here's to a light at the end of the tunnel for each of us. In the meantime here are a few pictures of what's going on. This was very early in the week and I kinda got wound up in the artifacts so this is less progress and more me making a mental note of things I wanna cart out of the place. Is there such a thing as Asian boho chic when discussing interiors?
Here's what it was....
Aaaaaaand....
Here's what's left of it. Pretty much cleared out.
They primed the ceiling today so I have to get in there for some more update pictures.
And to make sure no one runs off with (read: the Chef is persuaded to sell)
that dragon. Not sure where I'll put him, but he's pretty cool.
As is this fabulous screen. Mother of Pearl! On the screen and also one of my
fave expressions however that alone may not be grounds enough to escape with it.
Here's what's left of it. Pretty much cleared out.
They primed the ceiling today so I have to get in there for some more update pictures.
And to make sure no one runs off with (read: the Chef is persuaded to sell)
that dragon. Not sure where I'll put him, but he's pretty cool.
As is this fabulous screen. Mother of Pearl! On the screen and also one of my
fave expressions however that alone may not be grounds enough to escape with it.
Whatever the case may be hopefully I'll have time to bust over there and get some more updates before the end of next week. What do you guys have planned for the weekend? Saturday will find me glued to the maison as I try to get the clutter out from in front of the television so as to resume the 30 Day Shred. I'm actually terrified of the pending pain of diving back in. *ouch* *ouch* *ouch* Perhaps I'll make time to take in some fresh air, but that would involve taking a shower and readying myself for public and right now I'm all about a nap. Have a great one whatever you do. Oh and if you're going to Coachella - steer clear of the vomit piles and don't forget your deodorant. Good luck with that!
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at 12:10 AM,
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A Page From The Past
~My Grandma, Grandpa and Mom on the day of her wedding to my Dad~
I guess it's nostalgia week here at the bird. I can't tell you how long it's going to last so it might end up being nostalgia month before we know it. Change does that to me. My mom called tonight to let me know my uncle's daughter ripped down my grandmother's house to build a new one in its place. In an instant I was overcome with sadness - dare I say grief - and immediately transported back through time, standing in her kitchen by the old coal stove while she lifted the burners to stoke the fire. My mom and her 8 brothers and sisters grew up in a one bedroom tiny house on the prairies in Canada. They came from humble beginnings, but their house and family was always overflowing with love, laughter and acceptance. My grandma was the kindest most generous person I've ever known and it pains me greatly to think I'll never step foot in her tiny home again. For some reason I can't stop thinking about the wonderful, cold glasses of water she used to give me in the bubbled drinking glasses she pulled out from behind the dark yellow stained-glass cupboard doors. It hit me tonight - I can never go back in time to that time again - as much as I know it and live it daily, it just really sunk in. Those days are over - a thing of the past. This aging thing is really getting to me...I'm thinking about mortality - mine and everyone else in my family - and time seems to have sped up exponentially. Is this a mid-life crisis? Is this where men duck and run to go buy a sports car in order to feel young again? Whatever the case may be - I just love this picture of my gram (and mom and grandpa) - she was chic to the fullest in her lace dress and hat. I have a feeling those really were the days -- I know they were.
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at 12:08 AM,
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The Grass Is Always Greener
Do you ever just feel like you're going on about your day...do de do de do de do when wham! (not george michael) you get hit between the eyes by the sheer incompetence of those around you? I often find myself wondering how on earth it is that people are employed.
Take for example my recent run-in with Verizon. I have what they call the Triple Bundle: phone, internet and television. One would think that when you transfer service all 3 pieces of that TRIPLE BUNDLE package would automatically be activated at the new residence, no? Oh it transferred all right. For 2 days until someone over there in Verizonland decided to change the status of my order from 'complete' to 'pending' causing only the phone service to go dead. Why? No one knows - isn't that interesting? Three hours and five different departments later, apparently no one over there is 'authorized' to change that one little word back to its appropriate status - COMPLETE. Someone took the authority to eff it up, but no one wants to man up and take the authority to make it right. At least not for 24 to 48 hours. Why? Who knows? No one - that's who. So in the meantime I'm trying to recruit without a phone. Effective, isn't it? It's like being at a standstill in the dark. Everyone knows where the switch is, but no one who can reach it will turn the bloody thing on. Good grief.
Speaking of dark: the electric company decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and just kill the power to my old apartment rather than transferring it back into the owner's name as has been done since, oh, the dawn of electricity. Oh no that would be too much like, say, proper procedure. Instead I am now without wheels and a prisoner in my own home due to the fact that my car is parked in the garage that can't be opened because the garage door opener is, you guessed it, electric and on the same account as the one they gloriously (dripping with sarcasm) turned off! Even better? There is apparently a rash of electric company switch turn-ons this week so they can't get the account reactivated - and my car out of the garage - until...wait for it...MONDAY. Pardon me while I spontaneously combust.
Can someone please turn the lights back on? I'm just trying to keep moving forward and avoid lingering in my former, well put together and much loved abode where everything had its home, was organized and wonderfully decorated. A place where I could get in and out of the garage with ease. Those were the days.
Take for example my recent run-in with Verizon. I have what they call the Triple Bundle: phone, internet and television. One would think that when you transfer service all 3 pieces of that TRIPLE BUNDLE package would automatically be activated at the new residence, no? Oh it transferred all right. For 2 days until someone over there in Verizonland decided to change the status of my order from 'complete' to 'pending' causing only the phone service to go dead. Why? No one knows - isn't that interesting? Three hours and five different departments later, apparently no one over there is 'authorized' to change that one little word back to its appropriate status - COMPLETE. Someone took the authority to eff it up, but no one wants to man up and take the authority to make it right. At least not for 24 to 48 hours. Why? Who knows? No one - that's who. So in the meantime I'm trying to recruit without a phone. Effective, isn't it? It's like being at a standstill in the dark. Everyone knows where the switch is, but no one who can reach it will turn the bloody thing on. Good grief.
~J.Crew Military Vest, Free People Tank & Tube, Siwy Hannah Denim, Brandy&Melville Bag,
J.Crew Ballet Flats, PANYC & Motif56 Bracelets, Target Sunnies, Random Necklaces~
Speaking of dark: the electric company decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and just kill the power to my old apartment rather than transferring it back into the owner's name as has been done since, oh, the dawn of electricity. Oh no that would be too much like, say, proper procedure. Instead I am now without wheels and a prisoner in my own home due to the fact that my car is parked in the garage that can't be opened because the garage door opener is, you guessed it, electric and on the same account as the one they gloriously (dripping with sarcasm) turned off! Even better? There is apparently a rash of electric company switch turn-ons this week so they can't get the account reactivated - and my car out of the garage - until...wait for it...MONDAY. Pardon me while I spontaneously combust.
Excuse me stranger? Can I get a ride? Is that a moth in your hair? Oh, no thanks.
Onward and upward, my friends. I smell Friday and a nice long NAP.
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at 1:00 AM,
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ID Quiz: Birds on a Wire
Yes these birds are in silhouette (sorry) and yes they represent four separate (bird) species.
The first person who can correctly identify these four species AND write a separate (and proper) haiku about one of them, wins a copy of my new book Hummingbirds and Butterflies (which I wrote with co-author Connie Toops).
Deadline for entries is Saturday, April 16, 2011. May the best birder/poet emerge victorious!
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at 7:33 AM,
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Stages (and a Fitness Winner)
I've come to the conclusion that moving is a cathartic experience - and that I have become someone who no longer likes change. In my 20's I was a leap off the edge, risk taker, change seeking kinda gal - moving far away, taking chances, moving even further away, oftentimes not even looking before I leapt. Over the weekend I realized I don't think I'm that person anymore.
On Saturday a friend came over in the morning to help with the move. He and his wife are relo'ing to Texas this weekend and throughout the course of conversation he said something that stuck with me all day, "sometimes you need to shake things up." Later in the day a couple more close friends rolled in to assist with organizing and along the way one of them asked how long I'd lived in my other place. When I responded saying six years - he looked at me and said, "it was time for you to make a change." I laughed saying, "oh yeah big change I moved upstairs," but he stuck with it saying he really felt I had needed some sort of change to keep moving forward. Even though I didn't say anything in response, I've been thinking about it ever since.
On Sunday it donned on me, as I walked through my old apartment, that this is the longest I've lived anywhere in 20 years. And then the strangest thing happened - I got really sad and had to swallow a sizable lump in my throat.
On Saturday a friend came over in the morning to help with the move. He and his wife are relo'ing to Texas this weekend and throughout the course of conversation he said something that stuck with me all day, "sometimes you need to shake things up." Later in the day a couple more close friends rolled in to assist with organizing and along the way one of them asked how long I'd lived in my other place. When I responded saying six years - he looked at me and said, "it was time for you to make a change." I laughed saying, "oh yeah big change I moved upstairs," but he stuck with it saying he really felt I had needed some sort of change to keep moving forward. Even though I didn't say anything in response, I've been thinking about it ever since.
On Sunday it donned on me, as I walked through my old apartment, that this is the longest I've lived anywhere in 20 years. And then the strangest thing happened - I got really sad and had to swallow a sizable lump in my throat.
Isn't it funny how when you're in a situation you don't see how weathered and worn
it's become until you remove yourself and look at what's left.
This was my favorite room in the house - it has the best natural light and I'll really miss it...despite the fact that it clearly needs a new paint job in a bad way.
I lived in every room of this place - no space was under utilized as evidenced by the wear and tear.
I lived in every room of this place - no space was under utilized as evidenced by the wear and tear.
Even though you can't see the full size, this was my office. I'm an Executive Recruiter for anyone
who doesn't already know. I burned my voice out on the phone, counseled
people into and out of jobs, laughed my head off, cried my eyes out, and ripped people
a new one in this room. I learned just how strong I am in an 11x11 space.
I couldn't fit the entire bedroom in this picture - it's much wider and has big windows behind me.
What I'll remember most is the light streaming through the windows, the amazing deco
detailing on the walls and ceiling...and the door that provided escape when the
place was broken into in the middle of the night. (See here).
who doesn't already know. I burned my voice out on the phone, counseled
people into and out of jobs, laughed my head off, cried my eyes out, and ripped people
a new one in this room. I learned just how strong I am in an 11x11 space.
I couldn't fit the entire bedroom in this picture - it's much wider and has big windows behind me.
What I'll remember most is the light streaming through the windows, the amazing deco
detailing on the walls and ceiling...and the door that provided escape when the
place was broken into in the middle of the night. (See here).
Even though I'm nowhere near unpacked, organized and situated one thing I know I'm going
to love about the new place is all the soft warm light that streams in in late afternoon.
When I was sitting on the couch yesterday afternoon I happened to glance outside the door
to the lanai (that's what my Hawaiian friends call it and it sounds so much better than deck, don't you think?)
and notice the tops of the palm trees in the distance. Sigh
This is a win-win-win for all three of us. Two of whom may just be
even more traumatized by the simple change than I am.
But we all made it in one piece.
Onward and upward to the weekend when hopefully there will be many spare moments to get things in order. I am most definitely having an existential crisis which is probably a good thing, otherwise how does a person take tally of where their life is and if it's even on track? Pardon me while I go locate the track.
On a lighter note - Winner of the Fitness Giveaway is #57 - Bella Gets Real! Email your information to me and prepare to Shred and Pilate, my friend. I shredded once over the weekend, but with moving to a place that requires me to climb 15 stairs multiple times per week I feel toned legs are on the horizon. My lats are screaming from all the lifting and my calves are tight as ever. Bring.it.on. I'm so far behind on the shred I fear everyone's moved on to Level 3 and left me in the dust. cough cough
Posted by Unknown
at 12:16 AM,
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