I am flying home (or to St. Louis actually then driving home) in two days and am VERY excited about it. I am looking forward to many things including....
- Seeing my family because they are soooooooooo awesome and I miss them a bunch.
- Eating real home cooked food....I've basically lived on peanut butter and butter sandwiches for lunch and mac n' cheese for dinner with some other food from cans or boxes thrown in. That is besides the times once a week when I walk to the gas station nearby and buy the greatest bacon cheeseburger and fries on earth. OHH, THEY ARE SO DELICIOUS!!!!
- Chillin' out on my sister's hammock while reading all the new books that have been out since last time I was home.
- Drinking all things coconut from the most best coffee shop ever. THE FANTASTICAL KALONA COFFEE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
- Hanging out with my friends, especially because I only have about a week with one of them. :(
- Being apart of S.O.P and stealing cookies from the freezer with my inside connections.
- Watching the 4th of July show at Shiloh.
- Seeing Rexy, our new vehicle that we bought in March after spring break, so I've yet to see it.
- Hopefully, getting my driver's license.
- Going to a Cubbies vs. Cardinals game for my dad's birthday.
- Riding on the roller coasters and other fun rides at Six Flags and seeing the St. Louis zoo!
"That's All Folks!"
Have you ever had one of those days, where it seems like you one of the biggest klutzes on earth? I know I have. Some days I can be extremely clumsy and klutzy and today was one of those days.
The first klutz moment of the day occurred when I went in to work at MARC early this morning. I was preparing the feed for the harbor pups and trying to stretch out the fish gruel, so we wouldn't have to make a new batch before the feed. So there I was at the counter using a spatula to get out as much fish gruel from the containers as I possibly could. Then....SPLAT!!!!! ...the measuring cup with the fish gruel fell of the counter and splattered the floor, my boots, and my pants. Needless to say, we ended up having to make a new batch of fish gruel. Then only a for minutes later while still preparing the feed I had a second klutz (or just plain dumb) moment. Some of the seals get 1g of salt added to their food, so I was trying to do that. However, instead of adding the 1g baggies of salt, I added the 5g baggies of salt to two of the feeds before noticing my mistake. Thus, those feeds had to be emptied and new fish gruel poured. Not my brightest morning mind you.
Then my klutziness came back this evening when I was making dinner. I was making mac n' cheese and trying to pour the macs into my bowl of water, but while opening the package proceeded to spill part of the package on the counter. But wait there's more...after the macs were cooked I poured the powder into the bowl and came back to my room, plopped on by bed, and settled in for dinner. I then tried mixing the powered around to complete the mac n' cheese. However, the genius in me spilled powder all over my comforter. After cleaning that up, I proceed to drop macs on my bed, on my desks, and on my shirt multiple times. Yeah, it takes a REALLY amazing person to accomplish all of that.
Well, that was my day of klutziness. Hopefully I will be better for the rest of the night and next few days. There is one good thing that comes out of all this: it provides great amusement for me and the people around. :D
Hope y'all enjoyed my stories and if you’re brave enough tell me all about some of your favorite klutz moments it will be greatly appreciated. I know I have way more than just today's, but I'll save those for another day.
"That's All Folks"
P.S. The countdown for being home is now at 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello everyone, long time no talk (or write I guess). Since the last time I posted I have stayed very busy, but have been having lots of fun. This summer so far has been filled with seals, seals, and more seals. As y'all know from a previous post I have finally started to work at MARC . Let me tell you, it has been a completely amazing and awesome experience. I've learned so many new things and have had the experience of a lifetime.
So in case your not really sure what MARC is, let me first clarify what MARC is before I ramble on about my time here. MARC stands for the Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center and on the beautiful UNE campus in Biddeford, ME. MARC takes in stranded marine mammals and rehabilitates them to get them back into the wild. They rehab four types of seals (Harbor, Grey, Harp, and Hooded), three types of sea turtles (Kemp's Ridley, Green, and Loggerhead), and Harbor Porpoises. It opened it's doors in 2001 and received it's first animal in 2002. Ok, now that you know what MARC is, I will start my ramblings about this summer.
I work four days a week at MARC (or should say did because I only have two more days left working there this summer before I head home).My work involves a variety of things with a one of the largest aspects being cleaning. We clean each room thoroughly once a day and hose it down quite a bit to clean up the messes that the seals leave behind. Sometimes there are giant messes because they have use the bathroom just like in nature. lol. They is also a lot of dishes that we have to do and laundry because when the seals are younger we give them towels to lay on. Then there is also making the formula and fish gruel that we feed the seals before they start eating fish. The food is a lot of oils with vitamins and other nutrients to increase the seals weight (and of course fish gruel include blended up pieces of fish). Then of course the most fun parts are actually being around the seals. I've got to restrain them, tube them, supervise their swims sometimes, stick fish on tongs/string in front of their face trying to get them to eat it, and kennel them for different purposes. It is so much fun because each seal has its own personality: some are very snappy, some very liking of people, some more peaceful, and some annoyingg. Of course, we are always very careful around the seals because they do have teeth and claws that they will use (WARNING: if you ever come across a seal, even a pup you think is distressed DON'T go near it. It can be dangerous for both you and the seal. If you think it needs help call a stranding hotline). For protection we wear bibs and gloves when handling the animals.
Then a couple afternoons a week and two other days I help two grad students with research. The one project I talked about in my post "Wrestling with Seals". The other project is watching videos of the harbor pups that are at MARC. I watch videos of when they are in pools and record when their nose goes underwater and then when it comes back up. It is to record how long they are "diving" for. The videos can definitely be amusing and I have been having lots of fun with both those projects. I also help my advisor with some of her research on the behavior of harbor pups. All of these definitely been interesting experiences. I even got a chance to head out on a boat with my advisor and another research helper to look for seals on different islands right of the coasts. We ended up finding some seals on some of the rocks which was really cool because it was a chance to see seals in the wild.
So as you can see (or read actually) my summer has been filled with lots and lots of seals. Thus it has been a sealtastic summer.
"That's All Folks"
P.S. I will try to be better at posting
P.P.S. Check out my photoblog for pictures of my boat adventure
