This is all the energy I can muster....a Christmas Greeting:

I wanna sleep for three days

I have been in a flurry of RAPTOR programs, Christmas shopping, general chaos.

Today, I did SEVEN back-to-back talks at a local elementary school. And I will be doing it again tomorrow. This school is in a rapidly growing community, and the kids I am talking to are all in the second grade. In this ONE school, there are 35 second grade classes. Marc, one of our board members, will be taking on Friday for me, so I should be able to speak for Christmas. It's tough to repeat the same talk seven times in a row. And keep it fresh. And keep an eye on the birds.
We do this every year at this school, and it's good money for RAPTOR, but I am SO TIRED.

Some of the kids today said they remembered me from other programs I have done around town. I have a troupe of mini-groupies!

Tomorrow night, after enlightening another 200 little minds, the girls and I will be going to the annual pre-Christmas shindig at my Aunt Kay's house. Click HERE to read about these wonderful women.

7 random things

Considering that just about every post I do is random, and the fact that I have done this once before, I may have trouble with this one. Laura tagged me.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random or weird things about yourself.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have a bad habit of cracking my finger joints. I started doing it when I began learning the saxophone way back in 5th grade. Or was it the 4th? Anyway, it drives people crazy. So I continue to do it. : ) I can crack my toes, too. But just the big toes.

2. I can do a painless blood draw. When I started phlebotomy classes, I really really paid attention to the tips our instructor gave us to keep the stick pain to a minimum. I also learned other tips over time from my patients...the one that seems to help people the most is to take a cleansing breath IN as the needle goes in. It's an acceptance thing. Also, when I tell the patient that I am about to do it, I say "You might feel a little pinch" instead of saying "stick". It's nicer, psychologically.

3. If I am afraid to do something, having someone tell me that I am a wuss or a chicken forces me to do it. I can't stand the thought of being a sissy about anything. And that sometimes get me into trouble.

4. I'm watching "Chicago" on the laptop as I type on the other computer.

5. Pepto-Bismol makes me vomit. Go figure.

6. My first car was a 1980 white Chrysler Cordoba. Looked like this one:It had "fine, Corinthian leather" seats and an 8-track player. Red carpet. And T-TOPS.
I. Was. So. Cool.

7. I hate "dressing up". I am at my most comfortable when in a t-shirt and PJ bottoms.

It's tough to come up with new and exciting things about me. Not that the preceding 7 items were all that riveting.
I tag:
Delia at Beginning to Bird
Jim at Yak Herder Central
Susan at Lake Life
Kathi at KatDoc's World
Amila at Gallicissa
Jess at Riley's Ramblings
Shannon (Best friend of moi) at Witch1208

I'm posting late tonight because I was busy fooling with a new gadget I received. I do online surveys and you can save up points for stuff. I saved for about 2 years and got a free MP3 player. It's not much, but it was free. The manual was originally written in Korean, then translated into French, and then into English. Some stuff got lost in the translation, obviously.

Random photos from the last few days (I am feeling better, by the way):

Quite possibly the cutest fungus evah!

This adorable little thing is growing out of a log in the front yard.

With being sick, and then watching a big snow storm blow through, all I had to occupy myself was take pictures of one of my cuties:





Did I really create this child?


"I whispers sweet nuthins into duckies ears."

Knowing that snow was on the way, I thought the girls would like to help me make a gingerbread house. This was a first for all of us.

They said they wanted to help.

But they just wanted to eat the candy.
Drop that, Isabelle! That's part of the front door!


This is a messy job.
(The pop cans are holding the house up while the icing sets.)
It looked really good, if I do say so myself.

Then I goofed. I moved it.



...and somewhere in Candy Land, a great earthquake shook the little folks and their houses. And there was much wailing and suffering.


Gingerbread houses are not known for their durability. Crap!

"Momma...I think your housie died or sumfin."

I has de froo

(That's a "Little Bear" reference. Little Bear is in bed with a thermometer in his mouth, and some robins land on his windowsill and ask him what's wrong. He says, "I has de froo!")

I spent the entire day on the couch or in bed. The entire day. I still have a sore throat and body aches, but added to my miseries is nasty stomach cramps and not being able to stand up straight. I'm quite a mess.
I think I can keep awake just long enough to show you some pictures I got yesterday, before the froo kicked in:
I was in a nearby town looking for a snow goose that had been spotted a few days ago. No snow goose, but a red-shouldered hawk was there. It was feeding on the ground, eating earthworms. I watched it for about 20 minutes, and I was relieved to see it fly up to a perch, then back down to the ground. But I noticed one of its feet dangled as it flew, instead of being tucked up by the tail. I got very close to it, but I knew there was no way I was going to be able to catch a flighted hawk without a net.

If you are a local reader, and happen to be out at Riverside Park in Newtown, watch for any red-shouldered hawks. This is an adult with no distinguishing marks except for the dangling foot. If you see it, call RAPTOR, Inc. at 513-825-3325 and be sure to tell our dispatch this is a flighted hawk so a net will be needed.
(I will be putting up something on the message board at Cincinnati Birds, also.)

Sore throat....body aches...burning eyes...no energy...

Took Nyquil.....Your Comment Sections have been warned...

Hawks who don't shave their legs

I love it when I run into birders on my excursions. Today, after taking Lorelei to the doctor (she has a ruptured eardrum with gross drainage, completely out of nowhere) we stopped at Armleder to give it one more shot, to get a decent picture of the rough-legged hawk. And we scored. I saw a few birder-types standing and looking up into the trees, and I picked up Lorelei and ran. The hawk gave us a spectacular 20 minute display, wind-hovering, kiting, sometimes hanging mid-air right above our heads.

It perched a few times....

...and then continued its hunting. This might be the first time I left a bird while it was doing something cool, just because I had taken all the pictures I could, and I had finally gotten so many great looks at it.