Educational outing: Carolina Raptor Center / Latta Plantation

On Friday, I decided that Courtney and I should finish up our Christmas break with a different sort of outing. The weather was nice, sunny and in the 60s, so I decided to drive down to Huntersville and visit Carolina Raptor Center.
It was very easy to find, the directions on their website were very clear. Once off the Interstate, it was a nice drive with some pretty scenery. The raptor center is within Latta Plantation nature preserve, which I will write more about later.



We were very impressed with the raptor center. It was just 10$ for me to get in, and Courtney was free because she is 4 years old. They have a nice little gift shop area and they also sell some snack foods and drinks. Outside there is a picnic area. We went on a weekday so unfortunately there were no flight shows or up-close type demonstrations to watch, but the self-guided tour of the center was fantastic. They provide maps of the layout which are helpful and prevent you from missing anything. The exhibits are very informative both about the species of bird you are viewing as well as the individual birds, how they came to CRC, and so on. We enjoyed reading the personal stories about the birds even though most of the stories were very sad. Raptor Center is a wonderful organization, this is not just a "zoo" - not a zoo at all, really. They rescue birds of prey who either require rehabilitation in order to be released back into the wild, or who, for various reasons, cannot be rehabilitated. We saw many birds who had been injured by cars and no longer able to fly, wing injuries, etc. the Raptor Center provides a place for these birds to live peacefully instead of dying a horrible death if they were left to their devices in the wild. I think everyone who knows me knows that owls are very near and dear to my heart, and it makes me so happy to know that there is an organization that helps owls (and other birds of prey too of course) in need of rescue, medical care, a place to live. Owls are magnificent creatures and I don't think enough people realize that. (Yes, I am aware how borderline crazy the last couple of sentences make me sound, but I don't care, I love owls!)

A highlight of our trip happened early on. We were looking at the Magpies and turned to walk away when I heard a female voice say "hi....". I thought someone must be talking to Courtney and so I turned to acknowledge the person. There was nobody there. I turned back around and again we heard "Hi.....". After a few confused moments, we discovered it was one of the birds talking!

The trails are very well-maintained and easy to navigate. No stroller was needed, it is a nice little stroll in the woods but not so long that a young child would become tired. It is also worth mentioning that they had very clean bathrooms. Maybe I'm a freak, but access to a bathroom is very important not just because I have a small child, but also because no matter where I am, I want to know there is a bathroom I can use. I'm a weirdo. So yeah, they have clean bathrooms.

Over-all we had a great time, well worth the money, educational, fun...a very enjoyable day!

After we were done at the raptor center, we decided to drive on to Latta Plantation. It was literally about 2 minutes down the road within the nature preserve. It is a 7$ fee for adults to tour the grounds including a guided tour of the house if you so desire. Children 5 and under are free. We thoroughly enjoyed touring the grounds. The provided map is again very helpful and informative...it definitely helped me to seem like I knew what I was talking about when Courtney asked me questions! We took our time walking along the farm, seeing the animals and various buildings. It is a very pretty area and I got some nice photos.

We decided to do the tour of the house since we were there already and there was a tour going at 2:00. It was informative, the guide was very knowledgeable on the history of the house and land. It was interesting for me, but a bit boring for Courtney, who was a good sport anyway. The house itself is not very impressive as plantation homes go, it does not "fit the mold" of the stereotypical plantation home, but it is still neat to stand in a structure that has existed for 200+ years. The stairs inside were rather steep and Courtney had trouble going back down the steps, so families with small children beware of that. A major downside for me was that inside the house no photos were allowed. I don't even know why, because the inside of the house was sparse and not all that interesting? All in all, I was glad we toured the house because we both came away having learned something....even though I think Courtney's most interesting fact about that house was that the family used chamber pots and had no indoor toilet :-P
*Talking of bathrooms, the welcome center does have bathrooms, but beware their seemingly haunted automatic flush toilets that kept randomly flushing over and over again? It was kind of spooky, there was no one else in there with us yet all the toilets, 5 or 6 of them, kept flushing over and over again.
There is also a small bathroom further along the grounds, in a small building which is also surprisingly clean, well-maintained, and heated. Why do I feel like I am talking way too much about bathrooms all of a sudden?

On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Nature Center, which is free to visit. It didn't have much but there were some interesting exhibits such as snakes, frogs, a large window for bird watching, etc. Courtney enjoyed it and the girl at the front desk was very friendly. They also had a large picnic area, access to hiking trails, and a vending machine.

We had a wonderful day out and I would recommend these destinations to anyone who wants to have a relatively inexpensive (but still fun) day out. We plan to go back in warmer weather and explore the walking trails!

I'll be your Chillow...

Oh yay, product review!

So I got one of these for Christmas:



Per their website, a Chillow is described as this:

"The Chillow is like an oasis for your pillow... cool, soothing and relaxing. This added comfort increases your chances for better, more restful sleep. It's like sleeping in the shade with a gentle breeze."

I immediately wanted to try this product because of its name. Chillow. How fun! It sounds like a chinchilla and an armadillo got together and had a monstrously ugly baby with an adorable name. So after a day of walking around randomly saying "chillow" and amusing myself with things like "I saw an armadillo, sleeping on its chillow!" and "It's a chillow! it's a pet! it's a chillow pet!", I decided to get down to business.

The directions intimidated me because it looked confusing. Lots of pictures, bold font (thankfully not Comic Sans), and specific instructions. I read them carefully and it actually turned out to be very easy. Pour the water in carefully and then smooth out the air bubbles. What you wind up with is a vacuum packed looking flat "pillow" with what looks like a gel pack inside. Then you store it in a cool, dark place for 3-5 hours and it will be ready to go.

I tried it last night. The verdict? It will be wonderful in warm weather, or if I ever run a fever/have a headache. It feels nice, but it was too cold last night to be of much use. I am soooo excited to try it again under warmer circumstances!

Edited to add: I had a headache Wednesday night and my chillow was a godsend! I highly recommend that everyone get a chillow.

Best Buy

I took a trip to Best Buy this afternoon to research laptops and netbooks. When I walked through the doors, I was instantly put off by the aroma of body odor with a hint of Indian food. Body odor curry. Yikes. Suggest Best Buy do something about this such as insist their clientele take showers before coming to their store.

Ants: Menace to society

Anyone who knows me knows I suffer from a mild to moderate phobia of ants. It doesn't consume my life completely, but it has a strong hold on me, especially in the spring and summer months. It is a gripping fear which influences my decisions on footwear, outdoor excursions, and other things. I am somewhat obsessive about ant poisons (shout out to Amdro Ant Block for being the greatest product of all time. OF ALL TIME.)
I was just writing an email about my fear of ants and how much I hate them. I recalled an incident from childhood and wonder now if this was the event that created The Fear.
I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Carefree.
I was playing in my backyard, a supposedly safe place. I had a swing set with attached slide. I was climbing up the slide ladder when I spied an at at the top of my slide. More annoyed than fearful, I flicked it away. Callously, carelessly. I continued my ascent towards the top of my slide.
When I arrived at the top, I sat down, ready for a super fun trip back to the ground.
Instead, a black ant, suspiciously similar to the one I had recently flicked away, came running up to me and bit my hand. I was shocked. Was this the same ant I had just battered? Was it one of his friends out for vengeance? I'll never know. But I know I have hated ants for as long as I can remember.
And I always will.

There are many things I hate about ants. Their legs, their bodies, their faces. I hate how they travel with their posse at all times. They have no qualms about showing up at your house with their entire family, and making themselves right at home. "Oh hi, we're in your kitchen drinking the water out of your sponge. Hope that's cool."
They have no fear of humans. An ant will come right up to you, look you dead in the eye, thump its own chest and be like "And whut? Whutchu goin' do?" They don't care. Any other insect will crawl/fly away. An ant will pull a switchblade on you in a heartbeat. Do not be fooled by movies and programs that attempt to make ants loveable or even "cute" (A Bug's Life, ANTZ, Ms. Spider's Sunny Patch Friends.) This is crap and propaganda. Ants are not cute, they are vicious and heartless. They do not have souls.

do not be fooled by this. ants are not cute, they are not capable of smiling, and they are not your friends. they will eat you alive if given the chance.

Want to know the scariest thing about ants? they can bite over, and over, and over again, and nothing happens to them. a bee, if it stings you, is going to die. they commit one act of revenge or self-defense, and then they die. a spider? a spider is not going to mess with you unless you make it fear for its life. it doesn't bite purely to be a bastard, it bites for a reason.
ants? they bite just because. they're crawling across your leg? "oh, let's randomly bite this person for no reason. they didn't do anything to me, but I'm going to bite because I'm an ant" Ants are jerks. AMDRO ANT BLOCK FOR LIFE.

I leave you now with some original art work. I know, I know, raw talent....should be in a gallery....hear it all the time....but I do it for the art. And the hatred of ants.

Random observations from recent weeks...

I haven't been using my blog lately and as a result the only real collection of my thoughts comes from my Facebook in the form of status updates. So I've decided to pull a few of them and compile them into one blog post. Maybe I will do better with updating this, it is always somewhere at the back of my mind. The way back. Covered in dust and spiders. It's scary back there.

Without further ado, my life in the form of Facebook statuses (stati? I never know which is correct?)

November 25th, 2011: so I just taught Courtney how to lock/unlock the doorknobs throughout our house. i kind of feel like i'm in that moment of Jurassic Park where the people have realized that the velociraptors can open doors.


November 19th, 2011: tonight when I was walking my dog, Murray ,he snagged and carried with him some trash. I assumed it was a fast food bag or some other paper product. He carried it for about 2 miles and when we returned home, I took it from him to see what it was. It was a bunch of ruled notebook paper, soggy with Murray slobber. Upon further inspection, it was a collection of love poems very obviously written by a teenage girl (complete with text style misspellings and dotting her "i" with a big dumb circle) for a boy. I'm sad to say the boy must have thrown her anthology out on the street for Murray to find and drool on, and for me to read out loud. Thanks Murray!!!! ♥

November 16th, 2011: while watching Oswald with my daughter this morning before work, she turned to me and said "I don't like that rabbit" - the character is this weird creepy rabbit that doesn't talk. He always kind of freaks me out too, but I never said anything. I asked "Why don't you like him?" and she turned to me with eyes big as saucers and said "because he never, ever talks, and waves with his ear." When I asked if she thought he was creepy, she said "YEAH!" lol i was so relieved to find another person who finds that rabbit unsettling!!!
(note: only appreciated if you have small children and are very familiar with Oswald)

November 14th, 2011: a rogue ant just crawled across my bedroom wall. this is november. why??? at least now i know my heart is working, because i'm pretty sure it stopped beating for a second before it went into absolute hyperdrive. sooo scary :( was able to recover from the paralyzing fear enough to smash it with a notebook but now i am totally freaked out. they aren't supposed to be around in the fall/winter, they terrorize me all spring and summer and i think that's enough. i need 2 seasons of the year where i can live without fear, that's all i ask.

November 9th, 2011: for those who have had falls and accidents and such, i can top them all. i mopped the kitchen floor tonight. i was aware that a mopped floor would be wet and therefore slippery. i gave the floor what i thought was enough time to dry, and eventually went back to the kitchen to put a bag in the garbage can. i walked into the room at a normal pace and the floor slipped out from under me. i crash-landed in a decidedly not-so-graceful manner. my ego was severely bruised during this fall, and my clothes were wet from the definitely NOT dry floor. also I may have broken my toe, no big deal.

November 6th, 2011: i don't want to brag, but i have a sneaking suspicion that i am some kind of technological mastermind as i have just successfully reset both of my digital watches to reflect the time change. don't hate on these mad skills.

December 17th..wool overload

just returned from a feeble attempt at winter clothes shopping. currently suffering from PTSD [post traumatic shopping disorder].
it was awful. sweaters everywhere. so much wool.
I tried on a replacement for the Granny sweater but my oh-so-helpful 4 year old kindly informed me that it made my butt "not look good" (it was a long sweater) so I hung it up on the rack of shame. There was a shirt I liked, and she told me it didn't look good. Usually when I am in a dressing room I am left alone with my embarrassment. Shopping with a 4 year old ensures that anyone else trying on clothes nearby can share in my humiliation! Oh joy!

She said she was playing a game. A game where she told me what looked good, and what didn't. I think it was more like a "How low can Mommy's self esteem go" game. Self esteem limbo!!

Kind of funny...

That my last post was about wanting to become a better writer, and I never wrote again after that? I forget this thing exists. I should make an effort to do better, a lot of times I really don't have anything much to write. Or I think of things but I am nowhere near a computer so I don't think to post it to here. I'll try to come back to this later!

A few links for writing help

In an attempt to become a better writer, I've found some help:

http://grammar.about.com/od/topicsuggestions/a/causeff07topics.htm
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55697/501-Writing-Prompts

http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html

When I feel stuck, I will more than likely pull a prompt from one of these sites. Just wanted to put them in here so I can access them easily while writing, and in case somebody happens to be reading this and has trouble coming up with ideas at times, like me.

I realize that the last link is intended for school-age children, but some of the questions on there could be applied to adults.

recent photos...

Considering the last batch of photos I posted on here are over two years old, I felt like I should include a few newer ones.


Zoo trip 2011:




Our 2nd cat, Bridget, who we adopted in August 2010. Mittens was a little upset at first, but now they are best friends (most of the time).

Boring update

I have spent the last 4 or so years getting my life together.
I have put behind me my late teenage years and early twenties. I have put away dreams of traveling the world. My priorities are firmly in place. I bought a house as I have mentioned here before. I have owned not one, not two, but three cars in my short lifetime. I have reached a hallmark of Grown Up life by purchasing a lawn mower and actually being excited about that.

I'm a mother to my own child and surrogate-for-the-day "mother" to ten little boys and girls every day at work. It is stressful at times, but I enjoy them, sometimes it is the kids who make me feel like maybe I am worth something after all. I am able to get out of bed and go to work. I am able to smile and laugh. I play pretend that everything is fine, and sometimes it really is.

Update

I haven't forgotten about this blog, but stopped updating it for no reason. So, two years later, here is a recaplet:

I am still at the job I switched to mentioned in the previous post.
Courtney is going to turn FOUR in August.
I have yet-another "new" vehicle. The Catera I mentioned in my last post turned out to be a bomb, with problem after problem. I drove it a couple years before I was finally able to sell it and get a Jeep Cherokee.
I am still in the house I bought of course.

Things have been going relatively well, with some issues that I do not feel like mentioning at the moment, but everything is OK.

Courtney is, as always, fantastic. She's a great kid. Very bright, funny, kind, opinionated. She's awesome, I'm extremely proud of her.

This weekend...

We went to a birthday party on Saturday! On Sunday we carved a pumpkin. Actually....I carved the pumpkin. She was not too thrilled with the texture of the pumpkin guts, and after a few moments of watching me, she went off and drew with chalk on the driveway.

It's been six months!!

Wow, I haven't done very well in keeping up with this thing. Let me re-cap the past six months....

I switched jobs in July.

My old car died and I bought a new-old car. It is a 1998 Cadillac Catera, and I am unfortunately learning the many reasons why this particular model is no longer made. However, it is a pretty car and probably the nicest vehicle I will ever own, so I am hoping to hang onto it a while (fingers crossed that nothing major goes wrong with it!!).

I bought a house in September. It has needed some minor and aesthetic repairs and things, so I am not fully moved in yet. The electricity has been on, and today I ordered phone/internet service, so I expect to be moved in soon....the furniture gets moved on Thursday after work.

Courtney turned TWO YEARS OLD in August!! She is an amazing little girl. She is so fun to talk to and she is at an age now where she loves doing projects, so we have been doing art projects, nature walks, et cetera. I am very proud of her. I am not her teacher anymore (I'm in the class next door!!!) so I make extra effort now to do projects and stuff with her, so that our time together is more than just time, it's the QUALITY time that all children need. Every weekend I plan something fun and different for us to do, it doesn't have to be anything big. For example: Sunday we took a "nature walk" around the block. I gave her a small gift bag and we collected things from nature. By the time we got home, we had a bag full of interesting leaves, acorns, feathers, etc! Then I helped her paste them onto a piece of posterboard and added lots of glitter! We have it displayed on top of her play kitchen and she is oh-so proud!

Today was her 2 year checkup. I was very proud of how awesome she was in the waiting room, considering we had to wait 20 minutes. Not once did she ask to get down, she just sat nicely beside me and we read her new book, The ABC's of Halloween (great seasonal book, btw). She cried a little during her checkup, but she was still good, and afterward we went to Target so she could pick out a Schleich animal figurine. Being the clever girl she is, she opted for TWO baby animals instead of one adult animal, because 2 baby ones were cheaper than one adult.....as soon as I said she could get 2 baby ones, she was like "baby polar bear, baby elephant!" and the decision was made. I think that makes the total count in her animal collection 6 Schleich brand animals now, and 3 or 4 Safari Ltd. We will have an entire zoo when it's all said and done!

We had a nice day after her check-up. It was pretty late in the afternoon, and we had a special snack out and then came home and played and watched some Yo Gabba Gabba and then read stories before bed.

Oh how I love that baby!

3 great things my daughter did today

• 1.) has heard me say "I know, right?" so many times that she now repeats it, often appropriately, in conversation.

• 2.) was cleaning one of her baby doll's hands and face with a wipe, and then went to wipe the doll's nose, and calmly told it "I'm sorry, I'm sorrrryy" the way I do when I wipe noses for kids at work, which the majority of them hate to have done.

• 3.) she sat still and quietly long enough for us to read a REAL storybook tonight, not just a board book for babies with short attention spans. We read an Arthur book. I liked it because I used to watch Arthur with matt after school, so I know how the characters talk and enunciate particular words lol. She acted like she was following along. I can't wait for the day when she is old enough to sit and read chapter books and long stories with me. I sure hope I'm raising a child who loves books like I do.

God i love this kid. she is cutting 3 teeth and was crabby and a grouch all day, but she still manages to sneak in 3 bullet points of awesome. the only thing in the entire world i've ever TRULY enjoyed is being her mother. maybe i have been rewarded for enduring my crappy life, by being given a child this great.

I am so lucky.

This is not the first time I've realized it. I am lucky in life.

I am so thankful for my daughter, who is healthy, happy, and full of life. I cannot put into words how important she is to me or how she has changed my life and the way I view the world. I am lucky in life and it has taken me a long time to fully grasp that. I have my health, I have my daughter and other loved ones, I have a full time job in this economy, I live in a safe place and have a roof over my head. I have food to eat and access to medical care. When a crisis arises, I have people who will help. Our lives are blessed. I see it more and more every day. I owe a lot of people a lot of "thank yous" for helping me to understand.
Life is so precious and happening so quickly. I have begun to enjoy every minute of every day of it.

From now on, trying very hard to let go of the negative and embrace the future and the positive. I owe my daughter this much.