Moved

I've moved over to

http://lifeloveandpickles.blogspot.com/

No differences between the two, it just bothered me that my address was different from the title. I know, I'm an odd duck, but things like that bug me. :)

Study Day

Oh boy, I get to study today. How exciting.

Both my Victimology and my Drugs class have their first exams tomorrow. Victimology I'm pretty caught up in, but the textbook for Drugs is mind-numbingly boring.

So I'm procrastinating by cleaning the house. I suppose if I must procrastinate, cleaning is a pretty good side effect, right?

Yeah. I will just keep telling myself that.

Remembrance

Nine years ago today I was a freshman in high school. I had a math test in first period. When the bell was a minute or two off, the test was finished and my teacher started to walk over to my desk. She did not look happy, and was probably going to fuss at me for not turning in my homework. I remember being relieved when another teacher ran into the classroom and started talking quickly and quietly with my teacher. I slipped out without a tongue lashing.

Next up was science, maybe marine biology, I remember the teacher much better than the class. He was Mr. Warren, a tall, soft-spoken black man that worked part-time at a local diner that my friends and I (and everyone else in town!) absolutely loved. He was, and probably still is, a fantastic teacher.

He was sitting at the front of the classroom, in a chair he had pulled up in front of the tiny TV that we sometimes watched documentaries for class on. I stopped just inside the door and looked up at the TV, because it was unusual for it for be on. I remember being confused at the recordings of the burning buildings. I've been to New York, but it was after 9/11, and I honestly didn't recognize the buildings on sight.

When the bell rang, Mr. Warren got up and told us what had happened (though many students apparently got the news in first period). He let classwork go that day, and most of us just watched the news feed. All the teachers let classwork go that day, except my band director. He felt that we needed to be distracted by work, and he was probably right.

Think about where you were when you found out that terrorists had flown into the Twin Towers. Think about how you felt. Now hold that in your mind, and think about it on the anniversary of 9/11. None of us will forget but sometimes we don't really remember.

Puppy Love

Guess who spent the night last night?



What a smile.

A week ago she was very close to being euth'd at a high-kill shelter. Today she is well on her way to her new home.

We had the privilege of picking her up in Georgia yesterday, keeping her overnight, and transporting her to the next leg of her journey today. It is such an honor when we can be involved in Border Collie rescue.



Although I should note that the boys are completely relieved she wasn't a permanent house-guest. Diocese was nice enough to her, but he very obviously did not want any of "his" attention to go to her. Endymion is just a snarkface. ;)

Rawr Goes The Tortoise

We added some new seed to the tortoise house outside. It was growing beautifully earlier this summer, then we ended up staying with my parents for a month so all the lovely seedlings died. Awww.

Tortoise house, you say? What on Earth is that?



That is our tortoise enclosure, or as we call it around here, Koopa's House. Koopa is our young Hermann's Tortoise.



He was a teeny tiny baby when we got him, and is about the size of my palm now. Hermann's aren't one of those tortoises that get really big and eat you out of house and home, no worries. He'll max out at a little less than a foot long.

In fact, he is probably the lowest maintenance of any of our animals. He just needs water and chopped up dandelion greens to be happy. Oh, and the sun. Which is why he stays outside unless the weather is incredibly, horribly bad, or we go on a trip. Then he gets to hang out in the far less glamorous fish tank with an overhead lamp. He hates that.

I love turtles. They remind me of dinosaurs. I always wanted a pet dinosaur. Rawr, Koopa, rawr!

Out of town

We visited my parents over the weekend. Originally we planned to go to Dragon*Con like the gigantic nerds we are, but decided to attend my mom's birthday instead. Usually when we are in PC we stay at my parents' house, in my old room. Sometimes I forget how gorgeous the view from my room is.



The dogs had a blast of course.



My horse fever is attacking with a vengeance. Yeah, I know you horsepeople know what I'm talking about. Thankfully, this semester is settling down so I can get out and track down a barn to start up lessons again.

Time to get the Taco Soup in the crock pot. We've made it several times before and can't get enough of it.