When the cat is away...

or in this case, when mom is away, what do Dad and I do?

Meet up with our friend that works on HAL Statendam when its in port and take her to the zoo.  Love my membership, especially since I can now take someone in with me for free.

Polar Bear Plunge

  While waiting for her we walked around the waterfront and I got a picture of The Kiss.  Some of you are familiar with this statue, for the rest, here's the condensed version.  Its inspired by the famous photo taken in Times Square and the original statue in San Diego was only a temporary exhibit, made out of fiberglass.  It started looking grungy so it was taken down, and a huge hubaloo broke out about the permanent (bronze) replacement.  The San Diego Art Commission rejected it, stating it was tacky and not the look desired for that area of town.  The Port Authority said screw you, we want it, go ahead since its Port Authority property.  The Midway was given 3 months to raise $1 million, which they did in 8 weeks.  Now we have The Kiss back permanently, and it has a 96% approval rating.  Take THAT San Diego Art Commission!

The Kiss

Star of India, part of the San Diego Maritime Museum

Princess Annie got a haircut.  This was only half of what got cut off.  For some reason mom likes her fuzzy, even though she gets dirty faster, she itches more, and is just generally harder to keep properly brushed and groomed.

I went to a Painting and Vino class and made a masterpiece!  Ok, not quite a masterpiece, but I had a lot of fun.  I learned I can't draw straight lines or make a balloon symmetrical if my life depended on it, but I do great with text.

And I've done some stitching.  Horrible picture of Santa's Hamlet, but you get the idea.  I think I want to make some adjustments to the cookie shop and make it a bakery.  The cookies just look strange.

CCN Santa's Village, on 36 ct Light Sand with assorted overdyed cotton floss

Jane Rees finally saw some progress as well.  Not a lot, but I've made it all the way across the top of the chart.  Obviously I was too lazy to take it out of the Qsnaps to take this picture.

Scarlet Letter Jane Rees, on 40 ct Ricamo with HDF silk

Thank you everyone for stopping by and a special thanks to those leaving comments.  I know I've been absolutely horrible about responding back to them.  Please forgive me, and know they're all read and appreciated.

Happy Bastille Day!

I figure I totally missed the American holiday, so I might as well celebrate the French version.  There's been a lot going on, so I'll just try to sum it up and not bore you.

Dad is recovery well from the last surgery, thank you for your kind words and thoughts.

A friend came down to visit the end of June, and I got to play tourist in San Diego.  It was fun, but the friend was annoying, and I was reminded of why I stopped dating him.  I just can't handle people that sleep until 10:30 am, and sit there while the man that just had surgery 5 days prior helps clear the table.  Anyway, we went to Sea World (which I now sort of respect, its not as rinky-dink as it used to be 15 or 20 years ago), San Diego Zoo, and the San Diego County Fair, along with a beer festival that was at the fair that weekend. I had more planned, but time got cut short due to excessive laziness.

The 4th of July was pretty low-key here.  Mom hadn't been feeling well (she was sick with the "crud" for 2 weeks, and got taken to the ER once, and the hospital another time).  We just grilled some food, watched TV, and then went out to look down on fireworks when they started.  Please excuse the blurry photos, I still don't have a tripod to use for night time shots.

Lots of Wimbledon watching took place, and I actually did get some patriotic stitching done!

Chessie and Me "Old Glory"

I finished it as a topper on a hand painted and distressed box, which I lined with some scrapbooking paper.  I think it actually took longer to finish the box than to do the stitching, since there were so many steps involved (sanding, multiple coats of paint, more sanding, yet more sanding, dry time (between 6 coats of paint) and finally furniture wax to protect and give a patina.

I'll leave you with a few photos from the zoo.  Unfortunately I couldn't get any good pictures of the jaguar cubs, but momma must have found her maternal instinct this time, all of them are doing great!

The zoo is having a night time celebration all summer long, and these
dancers are part of it.

The smallest baby is 2 weeks old in this picture, and one of
the other females was about to give birth any day.

I almost forgot, I actually finished my first class for my MBA!  Lots more to go, and I'm still horribly behind where I wanted to be, but it felt great to read the email this morning saying my final project for Human Resources passed and it was one class I could cross off the list.

OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  I think just about every stitcher must suffer from this to a tiny extent.  Admit it, it takes infinite patience and obsessiveness to sit there for hours making tiny little X's.  Maybe some suffer more than others.  I'll admit I'm probably in that more category.  I like things symmetrical.  If my trainer has us do an exercise for one side of the body and then moves on before working the other side, I'm the first in the group jumping up and down and waving my hands.  Ok, well maybe not jumping up and down since I'm probably sweating buckets, but I'm waving my hands and yelling out.

I also like things completed, although from the pile of unfinished WIPs you wouldn't know that.  Maybe not complete in reality, but the potential to be complete.  That's why something was bothering me about Miss Jenny's Spring Sampler.  OMG, the alphabet only goes to S!!!!  I can handle historic alphabets missing letters, that's supposed to be like that.  But only going to S bugged me.  So I fixed it.  We now have T through Z going down the right side.  I won't need to be sent to the loony bin with an OCD breakdown.

Edit:  I received permission from Theresa to provide my charted changes to anyone that wants them.  Why would I need to get permission from you you ask?  Because I was polite, and I had reproduced a portion of her chart to provide frame of reference.

Or at least there will be T through Z when I get done.  Oops, the ironing board cover is showing through on the picture below.  I was so proud of myself for actually ironing this before taking the picture, then realized the light was getting bad.  Bad lighting would also be the reason why I had to do the auto-fix thingy and the red chimney is looking brighter than what it really is.

At least I admit I suffer from OCD, unlike my ex-husband, but that's a totally different story!  Come on, if your tooth brushing routine takes 10 minutes, and you get interrupted, then insist on starting from the beginning, then you have a huge case of OCD (and no, this wasn't a one-time thing).

There hasn't been any stitching other than Miss Jenny going on, and that's been limited to an hour or 2 most evenings. Am I actually turning into a 1 at a time gal?  I doubt it, I just want to get Jenny finished since she means so much to me, and I've promised the chart to a special person.

Mom and Dad got back from their cruise (which they loved) and Dad promptly went into the hospital for surgery, which was scheduled before they left.  What wasn't planned was the second surgery over the weekend to clear up some complications from the first.  He's a horrible patient and invalid.  At least after surgery #2 he seems to using a tiny amount of common sense and hopefully will have a prompt recovery.

I'll leave you with a few photos from the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park.  We went there for Mother's Day and only saw a fraction of the park.  Its really expanded from the last time I was there, over 10 years ago.  If you want to see the full 150 photos I took, they're in my Picasa Zoo album.

Lazy male lion

White rhino ambling down a road

Cheetah decided to get up and stretch at just the right moment

Not really a zoo bird, but he made the funniest sound
when he puffed up.

Smart guy to get his head and huge beak through the fence

This is one time I wish I had a video recorder, it was amazing
watching him stand on his hind legs to get at
the foliage

Zoo Post

No stitching at all in this post, so if that's all you're looking for, feel free to move along to the next blog in your reader!  I had an appointment this morning at the Naval Medical Center at Balboa (my first follow-up with an opthamologist since I moved, for my Thygeson's Keratitis), so I decided to drop by the zoo since its only another mile down the road.

First up was a really interesting plant.  Nope, no photo effects, that really is a bright red "pine cone" in the middle of what looks like fern fronds.  Of course I wasn't smart enough to snap a pic of the label saying what it is.

Next up was a slightly unexpected encounter with the Bactrian (2 hump) camels.  It seems the boy (go figure) was being stubborn and wouldn't go where the keepers wanted him to.  He's in rut right now.

The poor female had a bite wound on her rump (from guess who) and it needed treated.

Next up were some really soft and cuddly sweeties, or at least that's what they look like.  They actually have some pretty vicious looking claws.

This little guy was just snuggled up on his branch taking a nap.

The next picture-worthy animal was Umngani.  She's known for being very photogenic, having the longest tusks, and also being the messiest elephant in the herd.  She was certainly photogenic today, posing right up at the fence so everyone could admire her.

Unfortunately the Zoo is mourning the loss of 2 elderly elephants that had to be euthanized within the last week, Cha Cha and Cookie.  Cookie was 56 and had been suffering from geriatric issues for a while, and on high level of pain medication.  It got to the point where it was just more humane to send her to her next life.  Cha Cha was 43 and had undergone emergency gastric surgery on Christmas Day, and had never recovered.

The 2 lions were hiding on the far side of their enclosure, but both the male and female jaguars were out for viewing.  The male is supposed to be a real people person, and his keeper said he'd come right up to the fence to have his head scratched.

The keeper didn't have such complimentary things to say about the female.  She seems to be a conniving witch that is watching for someone to make a mistake so she can kill them.  The keepers are definitely careful around her.  They're hoping for some jaguar babies soon, with a better outcome than the last litter.  It seems the female is still learning how to be a mother.  She carried the litter to full term, birthed them, cared for them for 2 days, then ate them.  Yep, that's right, sorry I grossed you out, but that's nature, the good and the bad.

I caught the polar bears just seconds before they went inside for their lunch.  No, that isn't a brown bear, its just a very, very dirty polar bear that had been rolling in the dirt all morning.

At the panda enclosure both mom and the 2 year old baby were out.  You saw pictures of mom last time, so  here's a picture of  Yun Zi, eating some lunch.  He's getting pretty big and not really looking like a baby anymore.

On my way out I walked right by a peacock eating his lunch.  I know peacocks are stunning, but this one was really beautiful.  I don't think I've ever seen one with such a bright and iridescent blue head and neck.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I didn't bore you (or gross you out) with animal pictures.  I promise the next post will be stitching.  I'm madly trying to finish up a birthday gift for my mother before she and dad get back from their camping trip.  Right now I need to play with Annie a bit.  She's being very vocal and letting me know I owe her some attention for leaving her alone all morning.

Zoo!

One of my Christmas gifts this year was supposed to be a membership to the San Diego Zoo.  Mom and I went today to get the membership, and to walk around a bit, but she totally lucked out.  It seems I can still get into the zoo for another month for free, and then after that I should be able to get in for free as a volunteer.  Guess she's saving her $88!

It was fun to just pick my favorite exhibits, and not worry about having to see the whole zoo, or "get our money worth."  I haven't been in a while, and I love the place, but the hippos are my favorite.  The baby is almost a year old (Jan 26), and getting almost as huge as mom.  Too bad you can really only see their eyes, and photos through the underwater glass just don't come out well.

And here's a pic of a local free-loader in the hippo exhibit

Only one of the pandas was on exhibit while we were there, Bai Yun, the momma.  Poppa was going through some training, and the 2 year old was AWOL.  But, Bai Yun made up for it by posing for pictures.

After almost a week of dithering around and slowly gathering items up, I finally have all the giveaway stuff packed up and ready to go to the post office tomorrow.  I hope everyone likes what they end up with, if not, just re-gift it!  I'm totally ok with that.