Meet the education animals part 4

We have three new arrivals in the zoo's education department.

This is a screech owl. He has some neurological damage that causes his head to be turned, so he was taken off exhibit. He hasn't been handled much at all so he is pretty skittish. Guess who gets to start working with him tomorrow? Yours truly. Woo Hoo!

This is another ball python. He is the same kind as Monty, but has a different coloration. He is also younger and smaller. Here, he is showing where ball pythons get their name. They curl up into a "ball," and hide their head.

(Monty)

This is a corn snake. He came over from the herpatarium and promptly bit the Education Coordinator the first time he was handled. An intern (poor guy) has been assigned the job of handling the corn snake to get the snake to calm down. It's been two weeks, so I thought I would give the corn snake a try. He did not bite me, but was definitely twitchy.

If you missed the other education animals, you can still view part1, part 2, and part 3.

This week has flown by. We're all doing well here. I'll be back later to post some pics.

Last post about Amanda

David had hand surgery yesterday so he wasn't able to attend Amanda's memorial service with me and KJ. The service was a beautiful tribute to Amanda's life. Please keep my sister, Sherry, in your thoughts or prayers. She is going through such a difficult time. Here are a couple of links about Amanda if you're interested.

Obituary

"Light Went Out" story

Thanks everybody for all the warm wishes and condolences. They are much appreciated.

On a more cheerful note, here is a video my sister, Staci, sent me of my niece, Emily, singing.

We'll miss you, Amanda.

David, KJ, KJ's girlfriend, and I went to Austin yesterday to hang out and shop. We had a nice day overall until a little before 5:00. I got a call from my mom telling me that my niece, Amanda, had been in a bad traffic accident in Brownwood. Amanda had lived with my parents this summer while her mom was in basic training for the National Guard. About 6:00, she called back and told me that Amanda was being flown to Scott & White in Temple. David dropped me in Temple with my Aunt Olene and returned to Waco to deliver KJ's girlfriend to her parents. Olene and I sat at the hospital with my sister, Sherry, and some of her family. (Sherry is my half-sister from my dad's first marriage.)

We knew Amanda was critical with a long list of graphic injuries, but still had hope. She had made it through the first surgery, but the docs couldn't get the internal bleeding stopped. I was soooo exhausted, that Olene drove me back to Waco a little before midnight. My parents had arrived about 20 minutes before I left. My mom called me half an hour after I left to tell me that the neurosurgeon had come in and said that Amanda had no brain function and was bleeding out. They had already given her 20 units of blood and her brain pressure would not come down. Amanda was on total life support. At 3:00 am, my sister made the decision not to continue trying to keep Amanda's blood pressure up. A little later, she decided to take Amanda off the vent. Amanda passed on shortly thereafter.

She was 17. She was supposed to graduate in 3 weeks. She had a boyfriend with marriage plans. She was supposed to join the military like her mom. Amanda lived everyday to the fullest and always had a plan A, B, C, and D.

All these pictures were taken this summer.

I'm bored

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could. Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most. But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you? It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low. What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth

Could You Be a Vampire?

I'm alive

I'm feeling MUCH better now. I think the surgery screwed with my brain chemistry, because I was really struggling with depression this past week. I had a couple of middle-of-the-night crying episodes where I really missed Wanda. Now, however, I'm full of energy and relatively pain-free unless I sneeze. Sneezing is very, very bad. I still can't lift over 10 pounds for 3 more weeks which is actually turning out kind of nice. "Honey, could you carry these baskets of wet laundry outside so I can hang them to dry, please?" "KJ, I need you to change the litter in the cat's litter box, please." "Could someone please drag the trashcans down to the road?" (Note: I usually do all these things myself.)

I would also like to announce that David bought me a dishwasher! It will be delivered Wednesday. Yes, I'll use electricity to run it, but it will use much less water than I do when hand washing, which of course means less electricity heating up the extra water. It should all even out in the end, and I won't be near as stressed about housework. Dirty dishes are the bane of my existence.

With the mood I've been in this week, you wouldn't want to read anything I write. Surgery sucks.

I survived the surgery and am now gallbladder-free. Too tired to post anymore now.