Earth Day(and Thursday)

High tide has been in the afternoon this week so I've been trying to get there as early as I can. I can find shark teeth no matter what but when the tide is low, obviously there is more beach to work with. And I've always liked exploring the tidal pools. There are always some kind of fish or other animal that gets stuck and has to wait for the tide come back in to return to it's home in the waves. Wednesday I expected to run into all kinds of varmints since last weekend's shoreline was full of really deep tidal pools. For some reason the beach was flat that day. But I did find a few live things.

Since it was Earth Day, I have to bring attention to this plastic bag that was washed in. Apparently some anemones had attached themselves to it and were now stuck. I would have detached them from the plastic and given them a good throw back into the waves but unfortunately for them, they were all dead except for one.

This one. So I gave him a good throw and put the plastic full of dead anemones in the garbage. Hopefully this guy didn't get washed back in. I have to preach a sermon here so bear with me. People please do NOT bring plastic bags or plastic ANYTHING to the beach. Sea turtles, that are highly endangered mind you, mistake them for jellyfish and suffocate. So I get livid when I see plastic floating around. Or just plain throw your trash in the garbage. It can't be that hard, probably an extra few steps. I don't go to your yard/neighborhood and throw my trash there so kindly don't do it on the beach please..... or anywhere for that matter. How lazy does one need to be who can't clean up after themselves? This is disgusting. When I see people doing that, I can only imagine what their home looks like and whether or not they keep themselves clean. This really shouldn't be an issue. This is the only planet we have to live on. Remember that.

<

Ahem, ok moving on I found this shark egg case. And you know it made me really happy. It was empty so hopefully that means it hatched and will grow into a big shark whose teeth I will someday find...

Turning it over, I saw that it too had an anemone attached so, of course I threw it back into the water. Actually my day was full of that: finding stranded anemone and sea cucumbers, feeling sorry for them and throwing them into the ocean, hoping they they don't get washed back in before high tide. To do otherwise would have made me feel bad. What can I say, I'm a big softie for animals, even the ugly ones.

According to my field guide, this is Green Fleece algae which I had mistaken for Dead Man's Fingers. The latter name sounds more interesting doesn't it? But I like the shape even if it is a little slimy.


This looks like a pile of throw up. It is actually what's left of some kind of tube worms. That yellowish spiral shaped looking thing are egg cases-unhatched. It looks disgusting doesn't it? Yeah, I threw it back in the water too, gross. I had no choice. The tide was coming in at this hour but what if it didn't come in fast enough to keep the eggs alive? I would have felt responsible.

Another shark egg case or stingray egg case. And yes, I was happy about this one because it was empty too. I've heard them called Mermaid's Purse, which is a cute name. You can see dead tube worm remnants attached to it too. No anemone so I left this one alone.

These next few pics have an interesting story. As you can see in the first 2, this in an osprey that has caught himself a really big fish. He was having trouble holding on to it when I noticed and started taking pictures.

You can barely see in the one above but I used my computer to zoom. You can see how huge this fish it caught was.

Too bad, he dropped his big fish. Here he is looking for it. I love ospreys. The black stripe across their eyes make them look so badass. I imagine they work as sunglasses to help with the glare from the water while they are fishing. There's a pair who live in a pine tree across the lake from my building that I'm always watching. I wondered if this was one of them.

I was so busy admiring his beauty, as I always do, I almost didn't notice an even bigger fish or small dolphin jump out and I'm assuming grab MrOsprey's dropped fish.

I looked around to see if anyone was there so that I could say OMG!DID YOU SEE THAT!?? But, as always, there's never anyone there when stuff like that happens. I wrote later in my journal that every time I get a private glimpse of nature's beauty like the one I had Wednesday and I realize I am the only person on Earth who got to see that, how thankful and privileged I feel. Of course it would have been better had I been quick enough with my camera. dammit

< I stood there for a long time smiling, hoping that big fish, which was either a small shark or juvenile dolphin, would jump out and flip again but no luck. But the only ones who missed out were you guys because I left that beach with a huge smile on my face which lasted for hours.

These pics were taken Thursday. This is a juvenile Willet. My guide says they "probe for coquina clams and mole crabs" and there plenty of those around.

< It was as if she knew I was taking her picture because she turned around and stood up straight.

< Thursday's tide line was full of tide pools this time, which makes looking for shark teeth a bit less challenging because the water acts as a magnifying glass. I saw what would've been a really pretty snail shell(Lightning Whelk) to add to the collection on my window sill. But as you can see, it already had an owner.

< Another person would have simply detached this guy and took the shell home and I'm glad I didn't. Because I looked it up in my field guide and this is a hermit crab anemone. These 2 species live together in cooperation trading travel for sting protection. The hermit crabs they live with are known to take their anemones with them when they upgrade to bigger shells. They are total BFFs

< I didn't see any legs sticking out of this shell but it's highly likely there was a hermit crab in there so I'm glad I put them back in the tide pool. I took a pic in case no one believed me. It was a pretty shell but I'm not that selfish.

<

As you can see my shark teeth finds were not wonderful but so what?

Peanut is everyone's favorite nap partner

Speaking of naps. No nap for me today even though I only slept 3 hours last night(because I want to go to the beach). In fact for the past week or so I haven't been sleeping much either. I beg the heavens that I don't fall into the hell that is insomnia. I get a little neurotic when I know I'm not sleeping enough because I'm still a little traumatized from when I was 17 and was only able to sleep 3 or 4 hours a night. It lasted a few months and was only cured when we had to flee what we thought would be a head on hit from a really big hurricane. So we drove up to to West Virginia to visit my Grandparents for a few days. The hurricane ended up in the Carolinas, as most hurricanes did that year, unfortunately for them. And my insomnia went away, fortunately for me. Odd, you say? I had a similar experience the summer I turned 14. I. COULD. NOT. SLEEP. It lasted about 2 months. At the end of the summer just before school started, we went to visit my Grandparents and somehow it just went away. I was able to sleep again. Are you sensing a pattern? Obviously being around my Grandparents made me feel relaxed, peaceful and I just fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But they are no longer in this world with me so I can't just buy a ticket to West Virginia and cure my insomnia as before. What should I do? I don't sleep well when I'm on vacation either, in case anyone was going to suggest a trip.(I would like to go on vacation though...there's a river in Central Fl where I can dig for megalodon teeth.) There is only one other place where I always sleep like an infant. That is in Canada, in my mother-in-law's guest room. BUT, my damn passport is expired and anyway, a ticket there costs a damn arm and leg because you have to catch the special plane from Montreal to get to MrPea's hometown whose airport is smaller than a 7-11(which, strangely, is why I love that place so much). You know the kind with the propellers that you can't bring heavy luggage on? Yeah that one. It adds about 4oo dollars to any cheap ticket anyone could find and I'm too scared to drive on the scary, bumpy mountain road. Sigh.


And I feel like I need to note that the 3 hours I did sleep last night were filled with horrible nightmares. I'm not stressed out, I don't think, so it can't be that? I don't eat at night so it can't be that? Maybe the beach will cure my problem.

Anyone have any ideas? The non medicated sort....what do you do, Internets, to help yourself sleep when you need the rest?

(Oh! And Happy Earth Day btw. Pictures of how I celebrate our Earth Home tomorow)

Take a nap!

'Yer Age

Whenever I catch myself doing or saying things that when I was a kid I swore I would never do, I feel like such an Old Hagggis. For example, my nephew is nearly 20 and I still treat him like a baby. Since I was the baby of the family I HATED being told I was too young for something or treated like I was a complete idiotic and naive child.(I'm still treated that way and I still hate it BTW) When my nephew was born, I was 12 and felt completely grown up so it seems that I would probably feel more sisterly towards him than like an Auntie but that's not the case. He is to me, the son I would have asked for if I had had the powers. I try very much to regard him as a grown up but it's impossible. Last week, he came over for lunch and I found myself reminding him 3 times not to touch the pan because it was still hot as if he were a total dumbass without the skills to notice that on his own. I still refer to him as "Little B--" which is what we called him as a baby since he shares his father's name and his father was then called "Big B--" Recently I asked him if it bothered him that we(meaning mostly me) still called him that and if he knew that we would most definitely be calling him "Little B--" even when he was 80. Didn't bother him and no, he said he likes it. This was funny for me because I've told my family several times if anyone tries to refer to me in one of the nicknames they came up with, no one would get an answer from me. I will only answer to the name I was baptised with thank you very much. But that's the difference between he and I. If he told me it bothered him, I would make a better effort to stop.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic-that's a post for another day. For sure, one of the things I SWORE, PROMISED, SET IN STONE FOR ALL TIME that I would NEVER do was utter any sentence that began with the words,"When I was your age......." Because when I was young enough to be so cursed as to have to listen to those kinds of sermons I still remember thinking how much I could give a flying rat's ass about "yer age," and what everyone did or didn't do at "yer age." Or what everyone had or didn't have at "yer age." I didn't give a featherweight's care about who had to walk to school, stay after school, clean the school, make dinner, couldn't wear their hair the way they wanted, got slapped if they talked back, got soap in the mouth, had to eat everything on their plate, never wasted anything, had to plow, had to finish chores on time, rode horses, never heard of computers nor needed them.....you get my point. Still, I have begun to catch myself saying those very words to my own beloved eldest nephew. As in, "When I was yer age, we didn't have ipods. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" Just shoot me now.

Put your ear here

Hear anything?

I found this big whelk shell the other day and it was like Christmas for me. Not so much because of how huge it was but because I happened upon it whilst thinking of a drawing I've been working on but hadn't quite been persistent enough to finish. There it was rolling in the waves when I saw it and ran towards it before someone else saw. The barnacles are dead by the way, otherwise I would have given it a good throw back into the ocean so as not to commit "barnacide." And lucky for me. It's now gracing the tile floor next to our fire place.

My drawing was based on this photo I took back in September when I found this whelk shell in very much the same way I found BigMama up there.

I was so inspired, I finally finished it last night.

As you can see I took some licence in aligning the horizon because I felt like if I drew it as it is in the photo it would look, well, badly aligned. I couldn't fill in the rest of my hand because I'm not good enough at doing hands thus that triangle of empty space but it's my drawing so I don't really care. I also need to get a frame that covers up my thumb because I was told that it would look too much like a male naughty part to those with dirty minds....do you like?

Here's the rest of my find from that day in case anyone was full of suspense. That diamond shaped thing is actually a bone from the head of a Sheep's Head fish-I think. I'll have to look it up. And as you can see I found a Great White tooth so double happiness for that day.

I couldn't end this post without showing you peeps the dead jellyfish which is, by now, the tradition over here so here you are.

Still on the mend

I really was starting to feel better Saturday when I posted. Then Sunday I woke up and my throat felt swollen again. I thought it must be allergies but I just started to feel worse and worse. Finally last Tuesday I broke down and saw my doctor who told me I had a sinus infection and double ear infection. So I've been on antibiotics since then and I feel so much better this week. I can't go in the sun though so I haven't had any beach time but I've been too tired for all that anyway. Last night was the first night in about 2 weeks that I got a really decent sleep. So I'll be good to go in a couple days. I'm beginning to feel like an indoor cat though.



MrPea has been lucky enough to avoid catching my germs and getting sick(knock on wood!) himself. I only have two days left of antibiotics which is good because I keep forgetting to take them on time.


I'm thinking about changing pharmacies and I'll tell you why. One of the pharmacists who works there talks really loud about people's personal issues. Last month when I went in to pick up my birth control pills, he exclaimed upon printing out my receipt,"Look! You have a coupon for free pantyliners!" Then last week when I had my antibiotics filled, he told me,"You should go next door(grocery store) and pick up some yogurt. It may help you to avoid a yeast infection." Now mind you there are about 5 senior citizens standing behind me who, I'm sure, don't want to hear about my hypothetical yeast infection. Mistaking my wrinkled nose as a distaste for yogurt(which I do have but that's not what it was for) he said,"Oh well, if you don't like yogurt that's fine. You can always pick up a box of Monistat from right over there if you end up with a bad yeast infection. Oh and don't forget to put on sunscreen." Wonderful fun isn't it. I'm not sure if I should just put up with it because I like the Head Pharmacist or flee like my arse is on fire to another Drug Store next time. He does this to everyone and I can tell some folks like it as a lot of the seniors in my neighborhood will talk to me, a total stranger, for hours about the matters of their colon and hysterectomies and all kinds of personal health issues. I'm more of the variety that likes NOT to talk to people I've never seen in my life about regular bowel movements, fiber intake and vaginal health.


While I'm on the subject of yogurt, I took Mr.BigMouth's advice and bought some. It was my first time and ohmigosh ya'll, it's as disgusting as I had suspected all my life so much as to avoid it for 32 years. Gross! My husband loves the stuff which is surprising to me as usually I'm the healthy eater and he hates all things nutritious in our household. He told me since I love sour things such as lemons, Key Limes, tart mangoes and sour candies so much that I should love it. NO. I. DID. NOT! Here's why: those above mentioned fruits and candies are supposed to taste that way. Because they are fresh. Yogurt tastes sour because it is milk that has gone bad. Do I sound like an 8 year old who won't eat her corn? Well in so many ways my culinary tastes never evolved past that age and I'm not ashamed to admit it. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I would rather get a yeast infection than eat yogurt. Yep. Sorry Yogurt lovers, I couldn't get on that bus with you guys. I tried and it just didn't happen for me.

Now I laugh like a hyena everytime a yogurt commercial comes on tv. All those women look like me. I am their demographic. Well I can tell you, I was not making all kinds of orgasmic faces and giggling blissfully, spoon in hand. And have you noticed they are all usually doing yoga or wearing a yoga outfit? An advertising exec somewhere out there probably got promoted for coming up with that. "Yo-ga, Yo-gurt. Hey it's almost the same word! Women will be pushing down the doors for this stuff!"

I hate when people tell me,"Oh honey, you just need to get used to it." Why would I ever need to get "used" to something that tastes repulsive is beyond my intelligence level. Next time someone says that to me, I will ask if they could ever get used to being slapped in the face. No? I didn't think so.


BTW if this post sounds like a rerun, it pro'lly is. But as I've said, I am MsKitty looking out the window, not being allowed to go out into the wild like I so want to so creative thought has escaped me for now.

I've been in a drug induced haze

But not the fun kind you're probably thinking....I'm finally getting over a cold that started last weekend. Usually I don't like to take anything because cold medicine either knocks me out completely or makes me extremely nervy. But luckily this week I had nothing on my to do list so I wanted to get as much rest as possible. It wasn't that nasty of a cold but everytime I start to think I'm feeling better, get up and start to do something, I suddenly feel exhausted and weak so I've been trying to just do as much "nothing" as I can. Did you miss me? I thought so.


I got some more info on my new volunteer task. It's twice a month for one hour. I go in and read a couple books to a kindergarten class in the school library and then sort of hang out with my little kids helping them pick out books to take home. There's only a couple months left in the school year so if I decide I hate it I don't have to to it next year. But I'm sure I won't , I love reading to squirmy little ones. I even like doing the funny voices and sound effects. I'm waiting for my background check to be done. I've never committed bank robbery so I should be approved soon. I'm excited.


I was a little hurt because someone had made a comment about my volunteering at a school where the children already come from well to do situations. That I should be volunteering at a "worse off" place where more help is needed and implying that I was being a hypocrite for not doing so. But I don't feel the least bit guilty as I'm not quite sure that criticising a person's choice to volunteer at all is even called for. Sure a homeless shelter or food bank probably needs a lot more help than a well funded elementary school but location and transportation was the bigger issue. I could volunteer at a place that really needs an extra pair of hands and not really be able to commit because I can't be sure about whether or not I can really be there. Or I can volunteer at a school within biking distance and show up every single time they need me, giving an already overworked and underpaid teacher a small break. Does it really matter so long as I'm actually doing something? Or should I just say that I'm going to do something in front of everyone at a political meeting but do nothing but complain and criticise?! Who's the hypocrite?( and I know you're reading this even though you pretend that blogs are so beneath you....)

Ahem. Moving on, I'm feeling much better but I have that weird cough I always get after a cold/flu that takes forever to go away. I stopped taking cough medicine. I think it's messed up my thyroid hormone pills because I'm hot all the time. The only thing that seems to work is really strong Starbucks mints.

Outer Space Random

We watched the shuttle go up last night from our patio. I didn't think to get my camera until it was already gone but here you see the trail it left. I have to say last night's launch was the prettiest I've ever seen because the sun made the exhaust glow red. The screen is in the way but I was too lazy to walk downstairs. Enjoy.

I have been asked by some new friends at my new church to read stories to kindergartners for an hour twice a month. I said yes since the school year is almost over so if I end up hating it,which I'm sure I won't, I'll only have to do it a few times. I'm not sure why I'm feeling so shy about it but I am. I tried to talk myself out of it but everyone told me it would be a perfect volunteer opportunity for me and easy. I'm still waiting for the details but wish me luck in the meantime peeps.

The weather's been great so I have been at the beach every spare moment I have. It's not quite warm enough yet to just walk around in a bathing suit even though I do see some tourists swimming(!) in that cold water. But it's sunny enough to get a few more freckles if you're not careful. I've been using SPF85 but the freckles still come. Nothing wonderful report regarding my shark teeth finds, I loathe to admit. My finds have been meager. Yesterday MrPea and I went to the beach together. Normally this isn't something notable since we go all the time but we usually go to a different beach where we can park since MrPea doesn't have his own bike. We both went on my bike and I'm sure you're not wondering who was lucky enough to ride on the handle bars. It was cold so we had to huddle into the sand when the sun was behind a cloud and he made me promise not to go off and look for shark teeth just for that one day. I'm assuming he thought if I started looking while he waited, he'd be there 5 hours later watching the south horizon for me whilst freezing his behind off. He'd be right. I was dying though. There was a lady a few feet away from us digging around and I was pouting,"She's finding stuff, I know it. She better not find anything!" I'm selfish. When we left I walked past the hole she dug to see if there was anything of interest for me. Nothing. I'll probably be like this until the water is warm enough to wade in, this is how I find the good stuff. My friend Dee thinks I should seek some help.


I've started a new drawing. I'll show ya'll later.....


So what's new with you guys?

I can't think of a title for this post

Who needs one for a day like this anyway? Can you see a few people stole my idea and are looking for shark teeth. HAHA! They went the wrong way though. All the shark teeth were to the North, and I got them all for myself.

This speckled crab appeared to be stuck. Actually at first I thought it was dead but I noticed him moving when I came to take a picture. I tried to help him but I didn't want to get pinched. I thought best to let the tide do it's job with this guy. What a beautiful pattern.

I don't know if he was really a male or female but I was too scared to pick him up and look. He was ornery so I designated him as a male myself :O)

I found more teeth than this but I took this picture during my snack break and I was too lazy to take another pic so you'll just have to take my word for it.

My Husband Meme

Someone sent this to me on Facebook a couple weeks ago and I figured I would do it now since my anniversary is on Saturday.


1.He’s sitting in front of the TV: what is on the screen?
Depends on what time of the day it is. Regular day hours during the week usually the news, sports, or shows we watch together-war,history documentaries, HBO series, stuff like that. Nightowl time, usually CNBC or real estate shows.

2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
He never orders a salad but I would say vinaigrette depending on the restaurant on the rare occasion he gets one.

3. What is one food he doesn’t like?
Fish

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order?
We don't really go to bars so I don't know um, Jack and coke?

5. Where did he go to high school?
in Quebec, Canada

6. What size shoe does he wear?
10 I think. I've never bought him shoes

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Does money count? He's not really a 'hobby' kind of guy. OH! I know electronic stuff.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
He's not really a sandwich kind of guy either. Maybe a French Dip, I guess.

9. What would your Husband eat every day if he could?
Pasta or Pizza, actually he does.

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Honey nut Cheerios or Honeycombs

11. What would he never wear?
Oh he's picky about clothes like I am. When we go to the beach he's barefoot. I've never seen him wear flipflops, as much as he surfs-go figure. I'm pretty sure spandex goes without saying but I'll just put that out there too. He dresses good, I'll just leave it at that.

12. What is his favorite sports team?
College teams-Miami Hurricanes, Florida Gators

13. Who is his best friend?
That's such a highschool question! So I'll answer it with his Highschool
best friend: his name was Roger and he was troublemaker. Pronounced Ro-jay in French. Just say that name around my mother-in-law and she'll start rolling her eyes and thanking the Virgin Mary that they are no longer hanging out.

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
He says all the time that I'm too smiley and that's why I attract so many weirdoes but I don't think he would want me to stop being smiley. He thinks I'm too nice to people.

15. How many states has he lived in?
5-Florida, California, Louisiana, Colorado and Hawaii but he didn't grow up in the US obviously

16. What is his heritage?
French and his family name means "strong as a Turk" because his ancestors were crusade era warriors...I don't remember how I found this out but his dad was pretty pleased when I told them this.

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind?
I'd rather bake him a pie. His mother's Brown Sugar Pie recipe is usually my go to for special occasions.

18. Did he play sports in high school?
No, he went to an all boys Catholic school and there were no sports in this school. But I think outside of school he played basketball and baseball...I think.

19. What could he spend hours doing?
Surfing.

This didn't ask me what my favorite thing about my husband was. One of my favorite things about him is the fact that he is secure in his masculinity. He's not concerned about whether certain things make him seem "manly enough" or not "manly enough". He's also not one of those types of guys who are embarrassed in front of his friends when it comes to his feelings for me. I can't stand guys who act one way in front of his friends and another alone because he doesn't want to be accused of being "whipped". Sounds highschool don't it? That's because it is, but there a lot of people out there who still behave that way and I'm glad I'm not married to one of them. I also appreciate the fact that he cares about his appearance even though I tease him about his vanity.


Feel free to tag yourself. Add Boyfriend if you're not married, no one will punish you :O)

My nook

I am not an organised person. MrPea is an organization freak. I'm a creative dreamer. He's an analytical thinker. Most creatives are kind of on the messy side. And most engineer types are pretty OCD when it comes to organizing. Do opposites really attract? In this marriage, yes.

It has taken me a long time to get my little work corner nice enough to actually do some work in. It started out like this when we first moved in:





Then somehow I figured out that I needed to clear some things away. As if this looks any better. Obviously this was still not a space conducive to creativity. Who in the world would want to sit there and work? Not I.

Finally, I have just the way it needs to be. MrPea bought me this on Valentine's day. Are you imagining all the masterpieces that will be created in this space? Eventually I will get a new desk but until then, I feel like I can sit there all day without getting irritated at the way everything is falling all over the place.

If only I could get him to clean up after me everyday. Is there a button for that?

No thanks....

Sunday afternoon we had an appointment to see a condo for rent. Condo is just a glorified word for apartment, I'm not quite sure why people still get all excited over those kinds of words but, ok. Anyway, the lady showing it to us described it over the phone as spacious, immaculate, gourmet kitchen, sunny and honestly she used the word beachy at least 4 times. So she opens the door and the first thing I noticed was a smell. No it did not smell like dog, I have a dog. It smelled like spoilt milk. The "spacious" rooms could all fit into my living room and the "gourmet kitchen" was well.....let me put it this way. If you're reading this, stand up right now. Put both your arms out all the way. Spin around. That's how small it was. Yeah, it was beachy. Meaning you would want to spend all your time at the beach and not in this tiny, dirty, smallest kitchen in the world, overpriced condo.


Oh and by the way, she said it was on the first floor. It was not on the first floor, it was on the second floor.

I'm pretty sure I've already done this

But someone sent me these questions and told me to answer them. I'm in a 'follow the directions' type of mood so.....




1. Do you like blue cheese? hell no

2. Have you ever smoked? Yes what a junior high question! But not since I was 20, now I think it's disgusting.

3. Do you own a gun? This is a trick question....if I say no, all the psychos out there will know I don't have one....if I say yes, all the psychos out there will know I have one. That's about as much answer as I'll give.

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite? Purplesaurus Rex but they stopped making it so then it was cherry.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? That they are disgusting.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Charlie Brown but it's not really a movie.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee in the winter, orange juice in the summer.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes but not that many.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I don't really care about jewelry that much but I guess it would be my pearl earrings my husband bought for me in Hawaii. They are kind of heavy and make my ears bleed sometimes because the posts are too big and I hardly ever wear earrings anymore. But they came in a red Cartier box with some official looking paper and I know big names appeal to his elitist tendencies so he was pretty happy to buy them for me.

11. Favorite hobby? reading, looking for shark teeth, still art....Hobby is such a weird word you know? I like doing stuff but I feel like an 92 year old using the word "hobby" for some reason. Let's just say I like doing "stuff" then.

12. Do you have A. D. D.? No....why am I giggling?

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? No

14. Middle name? Marie


15.. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? My feet are effing freezing. I don't feel like doing dishes. I need to exercise today.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? water water water

17. Current worry? Economic meltdown banking crisis. Seriously. The fact that my husband works for a major bank should be all the reason I need to be in a state of worry.

18. Current hate right now? I already told you guys this but :The guy who lives downstairs is always revving his loud, obnoxious motorcycle all the damn time and especially every single time I decide to have a nice peaceful cup of coffee on my patio. And for reasons only known to him this noise needs last 20 minutes thus ruining my peaceful patio fun time. But hate is a strong word. I don't hate him, he just gets on my nerves. Hate...hate who/what do I hate? I hate carpet, there you go.

19. Favorite place to be? Looking for shark teeth. Canada's nice too. Miami's kind of fun.... now see this isn't good question for someone like me because I don't really have many favorites. If I like something, I just like it. And I don't put things in order of how much I like or don't like.

20. How did you bring in the new year? Kissing my husband.

21. Where would you like to go? Anywhere. Back to Hawaii I guess. OH I know. Remember when I told you guys about my Grandpa's plane being shot down in WW2 and he and his mates survived on an island for a long time with the help of the native people? I don't really have a desire to GO there but it would be nice to maybe say thank you for taking care of my good Papa to someone-anyone who may be old enough to remember. Yeah that would be pretty cool.

22. Name three people who will complete this: Whoever. Wants. To.


23. Do you own slippers? Yes but they have holes so I have to buy new ones.


22. What color shirt are you wearing? Cream

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Um. I don't know. Probably not, that sounds too 70s tacky for me. Do they still make those?

26. Can you whistle? Yes and when I first learned how I used to get on everyone in my family's nerves because I would just whistle all the time. I was 5 so....

27. Where are you now? In front of a computer of course!

28. Would you be a pirate? Well being as I'm not a big fan of pillaging and plundering, maybe not. The clothes and boots are kind of cute though.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Marvin Gaye is fun to sing in there but pretty much anything.

30. Favorite Girl's Name? I don't know yet

31. Favorite boy's name? I'm superstitious about names, I just am so I'll just say I don't know yet for this one too. Again with the favorites thing...

32. What is in your pocket right now? phone number for a real estate agent

33. Last thing that made you laugh? don't remember but it happens all the time Oh wait I remember but you guys are going to think I'm mean. Ok I'll tell you anyway: Last night me and Mr.Pea were watching House Hunters and we started making fun of the houses they were "hunting" for and the way one of the guys on the show was swinging his arms around. It's dumb I know but that's what I was laughing at. My husband has a smartass sense of humor that sometime rubs off on me.

34. What vehicle do you drive? SUV


35. Worst injury you've ever had? pulled leg muscle(knock on wood) oh yeah, does spider bite count?

36. Do you love where you live? Yes but there are different ways that answer can go like- do I like this area/town/state , yes. Do I like where I live as in structurally? That would be a not really.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2


No one is tagged and I feel lame for even doing this because I'm positive I did this before.

Who's laughing now?!!

I never leave home without a camera. This is something I get teased about a lot because I like taking pictures and I guess it gets pretty old hanging out with someone whose either constantly pausing to take a snap at any little silly thing or constantly in your face to take a snap of you. But I'm glad I do because:

Look who decided to grace my church parking lot with his presence this morning....

Can't see him? Click on this one. It's almost the time of year when I start seeing them here and there. Although it's a couple weeks early, I've read that they scout around this area for nesting during the month of March...or is it they start hatching in March? Ok I forgot. But it's usually the month of March I see them around, so this one's early for me. But my hospitality knows no bounds when it comes to critters such as these so I'm glad he's early, I hope he stays a long time, and I hope he told all of his Bald Eagle friends about how nice family friendly it is here and they all come and have lots of baby Bald Eagle chicks so I can have more sightings to brag about. Or at least have more chances to get a better shot once I get a better camera. I'm pleased to say that this is the third or fourth Bald Eagle I've seen so far this year and it's only February.

Oh I can't tell you how much I was wishing for a better camera with a good zoom when I saw him. But now no one can say how silly it is to need a camera 24/7. He was so beautiful. See!? I told ya'll Spring was knocking on my door. It's officially Spring for me when I start seeing them, no matter how cold it feels.

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HA!

I got a call on Tuesday about my scan results and....drum roll please...it came out clean!! No cancer tumors, no funny tissues, nothing around my liver, nothing in my uterus. It's about damn time! This was my first clean scan since my surgery two years ago and I can't even express how happy I am not to have to do radiation again. Last year was the sickest I had ever been and I didn't want to do it again. So for this year at least, I can consider myself cancer-free. So you know what that means peeps.....if next year's scan is clean(and statistically, I have every reason to believe that it will be), I can have a baby. A fat bellied, bald headed, chubby cheeks baby. Ok but I'm not going to get all excited just yet. I'm just celebrating my very first clean cancer free scan and the fact that I don't have to have to take the scary radiation pill. I love good news. HAHA!

Anyway, moving on, the stress of it all has really sucked out all my creative energy as I'm sure ya'll understand. But Spring, merciful and beautiful Spring is knocking on my door. Actually it's not, really, but I'm so over Winter and so happy it's almost over, I'm already in a Spring/Summer state of mind. I would have bitched and complained last year but this year just feels different. The fact that it's almost over and I can smell it in the air and the birds are singing a little louder gives me an excuse to just pretend that the lingering cold is merely a fluke in my perpetual Summer. And although I can honestly say this was one of the coldest winters I ever spent in my part of Florida, strangely I can also say it was the easiest. Because in between the below freezing at night/scarves and gloves during the day days, there were a few 70-75 degree days that I was able to go look for shark teeth. And you guys already know that is my raison d'etre. Sort of. Winter did not yield me much in the way of teeth to be honest but that's ok. Who gets to do that in December and January? Me, so ya think I'm going to complain? No thanks.


We have renewed our efforts to find a new place. I'm already having nightmares about it because I hate moving. Last night I dreamt that our new place was actually the lair of a serial killing dentist. I won't go into details lest ya'll begin to wonder things about me but just remember this and you'll understand my anxiety: My 12th anniversary is in a couple weeks. And in these 12 years we have moved...pausing to count on fingers.....ok I stopped counting at 14 times. Um, yeah. But I can't take going up and down three flights of stairs all day anymore. I'm sure when this move happens the posts here will get rather interesting.

Oh my star

I wish I had all kinds of scandalous gossip to report but all I have for ya'll this week are dead things. Enjoy...

Walking on the beach this Monday I found this starfish that appeared to have lost it's arm and was in the process of growing another one before it met it's demise on my shore. Alive, it's color would have been a more purpley-bluish.

Yesterday I nearly stepped on this poor puffer fish. He was not as lucky as me apparently....

I wouldn't be smiling if I were him.


I've always thought these guys were cute, spikes and all so I was kinda sad to run into a dead one. He was bigger than any I'd ever seen before, of course the only ones I've ever seen alive were in salt water fish tanks.

Of course I could not end this post without showing off my finds. However I really don't have much to show off. Low tide is just right but maybe the ocean hasn't been rough enough. Because all I found this week were small teeth and sand tiger shark teeth.


I did find that pretty snail shell. I've mentioned before, I don't usually take those home because once my friend's little daughter took one home and noticed the next day there was a hermit crab living inside. I made sure that one was empty so rest assured ya'll. Yesterday was the first time I was able to wear shorts on the beach without freezing so I'm really not going to mope over how lame my finds this week were. BTW for anyone wondering and didn't see that particular post, we did return that hermit crab back to it's home....