Zach @ Work

This week I was horrified to hear a customer offer to "squash that thing" for me. What was he talking about? A praying mantis nymph riding my shoulder. He was there for over an hour before I finally made him get off into a tree. It was hilarious! It took him a while to get used to me, but once he did he still did not like other people.

When other people would approach me he would rear up and start waving his claws at them menacingly. When, at last, I decided Amber would probably not appreciate such a creepy and crawly pet I took it to a tree. Once there he tried to hide in my shirt. When I tried to force him on to the branch he waited until I backed off enough that he could fall and fly on to me again. He finally gave up, though, and went where he belonged.

My crab is obsessed, my dog is weird, my teacher is a huge honkin' dork.

I am sure Amber will add pictures later but... I guess I will start by explaining the title, then get to what's been going on since last we posted. In order. Fair?

We got a fiddler crab and a loach for our tank because the last time we messed with the rocks we found out how messy it really is. Since we have been trying to set up the tank so the crab can get out of the water on occasion if it wants. Ever since our latest setup it has been spending the majority of it's time on the leaf we put in there for it to perch on.

Why is Shadow weird now? I was studying and playing music from Kingdom Hearts. When Shadow heard the intro, Dearly Beloved, he perked up and wagged his tail-stump. Then when the next track he started he cocked his head as though he had remembered something, and looked at Zoey with his hate-face on, hardcore. It took me a moment to remember why: Zoey ate our last PS2 controller. Seems Shadow liked that game a little too much.

My teacher is a dork because on an exam he had the following true/false question: "Your teacher could make a great living as a stand-up comedian." Do I brown-nose? No... Not in my nature to do so. Best to be honest and circle false. Could I lose point? Perhaps. Maybe this was discussed the day I missed class? But it is such an opinion-based question that it is not exam material. If I get it wrong I will argue it either way. Maybe this is just an opinion poll disguised as free points?

As for what we've been up to: Netflix and Halo3. Not to put too fine a point on it. We re-discovered the joys of XBox Live, started buying meats other than ground beef and chicken, and spent more money than we should have. Broke? No. Hurt our bank account enough to where Amber might not want me to talk investments and retirement funds right now? Definitely maybe.

In other news I had a neat idea in class and was writing it down. The teacher looked down and noticed this, but did not notice me noticing, and decided it was time to call on me. Without missing a beat I said "hold on a moment, don't want to lose this thought" finished writing it down (it only took literally 3 seconds) and started reading. Next time, find a "victim" who can only focus on one thing.

Techno Zoey dance dance dance

So as you may have already heard, we adopted a new little heathen...I mean puppy. She is about 3 months old and is almost as big as Shadow. She was dropped off on someone's doorstep and the people took her to their local no-kill animal shelter where she waited, contracted kennel cough, and was just plain sad. So we picked her up, got her microchipped, and are in the process of getting her all better. She and Shadow are getting along pretty well considering Shadow doesn't like other dogs due to being bitten by one. We made a smart move, it seems, by taking them to Herritage park and introducing them there by throwing around the ball. At first Shadow was completely oblivious to her and then he finally starting sniffing and she nipped at him. He didn't know what to think so I fed her a piece of hotdog and then him one...and ohh man. Every time she got a piece he KNEW he was getting one, so he seems to think SHE is the bringer of tasty things now. All that's important is that they get along, which they do...mostly.

Zoey started a new game called Keep Away from Shadow in which the thing being kept is his chewy bone. She has her own bone....and about 3 pig ears laying around, but she finds it more entertaining to take his and make him mad. Also, she is a HUGE bed hog. She'll take the bigger of the two beds, which is meant for a full grown lab, and streeeeeeeeeetttttttcccchhhhh across it making Shadow lay on the floor or the smaller hand-made pillow/bed. BTW if anyone has old pillows they're looking to get rid of, call us. I found they make EXCELLENT dog beds. Especially when you stuff some cedar chips in with the old pillow stuffing.

I love my new job

So because this weekend is a holiday, I get paid double time and a half for 8 hours, then I get paid 8 hours on Monday even though I don't work, and I get weekend pay, and I get my raise for being trained as a monitor tech. I am able to afford our camping trip this year! I'm SO EXCITED!! I've wanted to do this since I was a little girl.

Okay I should probably tell you where we're going. We are going to Lake Glendale Stables. Basicly for 3 days and 2 nights we get a horse and we can go riding all day. They'll lend us some saddle bags and we can pack food, find a cool cave, and eat lunch somewhere. The most technology we are going to have is our phones, which will be off for the most part to save the battery. There are no outlets where we're going :D

I can't wait!

Lemon Ice a la Amber

3/4-1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2-4 tbsp of lemon zest
3 1/3 cups sugar
1-2 tbsp of vanilla

put water and sugar in pot on high heat until dissolved and boil for 3-5 minutes
let cool 20-30 minutes
add lemon, lemon zest, and vanilla

pour it all into a shallow container, cover it, and put it in the freezer for about 2 hours

after 2 hours take the contents and put it into a blender and blend until slushy

transfer the slush back into the container and freeze for 2 more hours.

To serve, scrape the top off with a spoon into a bowl.

I haven't finished trying this out, but I will let you all know how it turns out and maybe post a picture of the finished product. I'm going to try and make a lemon-mint version where you let fresh mint leaves (since I have several of them growing wild) sit in the hot syrup while it cools for 20 minutes.

To get enough juice I used 2 medium lemons. Just so you know the original recipe called for only 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice...I LOVE lemons so I'm making mine extra lemony :D

Pain.....everyone has it...except those with congenital insensitivity

So I took a lovely trip to ER a little while ago. I thought it would be just like going to work, but it was really weird. It gave me a chance to look at healthcare through a patient's standpoint. I really think it made me into a better person.

I know for sure I will NEVER stand by a patent's door and talk to them. I honestly used to do that so I could listen for call lights going off. My doctor did that and it was SO irritating. I felt like he didn't care.

In other news I finally got my new hula hoop! I haven't had the chance to upload the pictures because my computer is close to the end of it's life. My hoop is all sparkley and has blue traction tape on it so it stays on my hips a little better. I haven't gotten a chance to use it much because it hurts too much. Hopefully I'll get better and I will be able to use it. I tried to get shadow to jump through it but he's too scared. He'll just whine at it.

Happy...the happiest fish I know

So I work up at 0400 this morning for really no reason. We decide to have baked french fries for breakfast. I decide that today is just going to be weird. We get bored and it's raining outside. Like a true nelson, we decide to go to Wal-Mart ('cause that's what grandma nelson used to do daily). We walk around looking at stuff, then we walk past the pets department. I see this fish among the dead/ugly fish...looking at me. Then he begins to dance. I INSISTED we buy this fish, 'cause he's happy. I need happiness around the house, so we find one of the grumpy ladies that works in the area and tell her to pick him out. She gets him in the bag and he literally jumps for, what I can only assume is, joy (most fish die at walmart...wouldn't you be happy?). Even the grumpy lady smiles and says, "yeah that is one happy fish."

He loves me, you can tell:

I just imagine him saying, "HEY, HEY, hey...hey....hey.....I love you"