Sunday, January 30, 2011

Animal Crossing

I was sitting in the condo living room a few days ago when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something moving around in the snow out back. We have a nice space beyond our backyard that consists of trees, shrubs, and undergrowth, as well as a small wetland area that boasts a plethora of frogs (or maybe they're toads, I don't know) during warmer months. I figured that it was most likely the neighbor's dog dashing around outside, as the mutt has recently begun to use our yard as a toilet - which is kind of gross, but, in the neighbor's defense, they do clean it up. I was surprised that "Peanut" was so far back into the brush, though, so I took a second look. After closer review, I saw that it was not actually the dog bounding around, but a deer. When I saw a second deer, I ran to get my camera so I could capture a picture of the creatures. I rushed back to the window just in time to see both deer lope away. I've kept my eyes open, and my camera close by, but they have yet to return for a photo shoot.

Update: Jacob and I were driving from Richie's house to the condo Monday evening when we noticed a large pile of something in the middle of the road. As we slowed and swerved around the clump, we saw that it was the bloody, recently-hit carcass of a deer. Bummer.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tweeter's Trek

Whenever we go out of town, we bring Jacob's parakeets, Peter & Tweeter, to Irma's house. She spoils them rotten - well, as much as one can spoil birds. Irma talks to them and sings to them, then leaves the radio on for them if she is unavailable for bird-human interaction. She even discouraged us from picking the critters up last week when we returned home from Colorado because, in her opinion, "it was way too cold outside" for them to be brought the ten steps from her house into our car. Well, it was cold and they are tropical birds, but, geez, we do have heat in our vehicle.

Since the temperature rose to a balmy 30 degrees today, Jacob and I headed over to Irma's to fetch his pets. I refuse to lift Peter & Tweeter's super-sized, heavy cage anymore because a few months back I pulled a neck muscle picking it up and I was in pain for weeks. Unfortunately for Jacob, this means that he has to hoist the bulky thing himself. He is far from graceful, and when he hauls the birdcage, the parakeets and everything else inside get jostled and bumped around mercilessly. This evening, as Jacob was carrying the cage up the stairs at the condo, he tripped and fell onto it, jerking everything forward and thrusting the door wide open. After the jolt, Peter sat stunned on his perch, but Tweeter saw a rare opportunity and hastily made his escape. He flew across the living room and ducked behind the tv. In the mayhem, Jacob began to yell and I rushed upstairs to grab a laundry basket. I know that some parakeet owners allow their birds to fly freely around their houses, but ours have never been out of their cage and I assumed that Tweeter was most likely very frightened. If I could have left the cage door open, I think he would have flown right back in, but in the meantime, I didn't want Peter to test his wings, too.

Jacob was freaking out and screaming during the entire ordeal, and I was shrieking at him to calm down. Tweeter flew confusedly around the living room, occasionally hiding in what had apparently become his favorite spot - in back of the tv. When he finally stopped swooping and diving, and landed on the stairs, Jacob smashed the inverted laundry basket over him with such gusto that it would have surely injured the bird if it had accidentally hit any part of him. We maneuvered the basket next to the cage, opened the door, and Tweeter flew eagerly back into his home. I'm just glad that we were able to corral him before he inadvertently buzzed into the sliding glass door, where so many of his feathered friends have met their demise.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

That's Entertainment

After our Copper Mountain ski trip, Jim, Jacob, and I bunked at Adam's Colorado apartment for a night before heading home. Jacob and I flew from Denver to Detroit on MLK Day. I must say that I certainly enjoy all of the delightful electronic perks that are now available on airplanes. Our last few flights have offered live television, movies, music, games, and the internet. I am a huge fan of in-flight trivia and the live maps that show your current location, altitude, etc., but I haven't yet checked out the aerial wifi. It sounds very intriguing to me, though. Jim winged back to Houston for work, and, unfortunately for him, he traveled on a commuter-sized aircraft with only his iPod and noise-canceling headphones for amusement. Adam stayed put in the Rocky Mountain state to begin his second semester of grad school. Now that the holidays are over, it is back to the old grind for all of us.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Skiing

Jim flew to Colorado on Wednesday night. Adam, Jacob, and I picked him up from the airport and drove to Copper Mountain for a few days of skiing. The weather warmed up perfectly for us after the frigid temperatures we had endured earlier last week. We enjoyed sunshine and above-freezing conditions the entire time we were in the mountains.

Our ski condo had a view of both the village and the mountain.

Jacob and Adam at 12,000 feet.

If you look closely, you can see Adam on his snowboard in the distance.

The boys going up a chairlift.

Both Jacob and Jim bent a ski pole while on the slopes. Jim's pole-mishap occurred during a collision with Adam.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Snow Trip

Jacob and I left Michigan on Sunday to drive with Adam back to Colorado. We were annoyed to discover on Saturday night that a winter storm was heading across not only our preferred route through Nebraska, but also along our second choice through Kansas. After much debate, we agreed to try an untested (for us), northern route through South Dakota in an attempt to avoid the heaviest bands of snow. We did hit snow squalls - about 6 hours of them to be exact - but the freeways always had at least one plowed lane. Since we were heading west on I-90 and passing close to Rapid City, we chose to stop by Mount Rushmore. Adam had been there before, but it was the first time for me and Jacob. It was a very worthwhile decision and we were duly impressed. After leaving the monument, we took some occasionally-harrowing back roads through the Black Hills to meet up with southbound I-25. The only thing that worried me was that the outside temperature was 14 degrees below 0 and the towns were far and few between. Luckily, Adam's Jeep performed admirably and we arrived at his apartment safely on Monday night.

Mount Rushmore looked awesome covered with snow.

Adam and Jacob posed with the presidents.

It was amazingly cold while we trudged around Mt. Rushmore. I'd like to return in warmer weather sometime.

And, last but not least, Irma enjoyed her big day last weekend.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Birthday Shindig

Tomorrow we are having a birthday extravaganza for Irma. She is turning 87-years-old. I remember being at my Grandpa's 90th party when I was quite small, but other than that, I haven't attended too many celebrations for octogenarians. Irma, on the other hand, was reminiscing just recently about a party she went to for her 100-year-old friend. Besides a few aches and pains, Irma is in incredibly good health. Luckily, her mind is also sharp, and she can recall details of things that happened decades ago. She still manages to do her own shopping, laundry, cooking, etc., and keeps herself pretty busy. I'll be sure to snap some pictures of the birthday girl during the festivities tomorrow!

Monday, January 3, 2011

December to January

We took our Christmas tree down this afternoon. Typically we leave it up longer, but Jim is flying back to Houston tomorrow morning and I did not want the responsibility of dismantling & cleaning up all of the holiday decor later this week by myself. Jim is a workhorse when it comes to tidying, so it only made sense to me to get the job done while he was available.

You would think with the end of the Christmas season and the dawn of the new year that our partying would slow down a bit, but we will jump right back on the celebratory bandwagon this Saturday to observe Irma's 87th birthday. 2011 - start it up!

Here are some of the bags that we packed at the food pantry back in mid-December.

The December birthday boys.

Muffin watched his ball roll down the lane during our recent bowling extravaganza.

Adam concentrated on his air hockey game at the New Year's Eve party.

Young New Year's Eve revelers. And Jason.