Weekend update

Spending my Sunday around the house! Yesterday was a big day at work celebrating National Estuary Day. See the front page article in the Naples Daily News. We had over 1200 visitors, which is a super record- the next closest event was when Prez Bushie visited Rookery Bay in 2004 and 700 people attended. I'm so glad I didn't work there then, what would I have done if I had to shake GW's hand?

Other accomplishments of the day include: trimming the bougenvilla bush outside the back door (yes the one that gave me the Flintstone foot a few weeks ago) since it had grown so much that you could hardly open the door. This time I wore shoes, but the son-of-a-gun thorns still scratched up my arms and legs! I am proud of myself for shedding a little sweat with the hacksaw this morning! Susan was in the front yard trimming our "jungle" of ferns and flowers that had creeped their way onto the sidewalk. I've also hung up a few loads of laundry on the clothesline- its goreous outside!

Meanwhile, the menagerie are having a lazy day. Otis is enjoying his fruit salad. Bailey and Payton are finally becoming civil with each other- I caught them playing for the first time yesterday, it was so cute.

My-Four-Thousand-Dollar Smile

Nice relaxing weekend visiting Ben on Little St. Simons Island! We rode bikes to the beach, went on a history tour of the south end of the island, and enjoyed some good fixin's from the 5-star chef. I probably won't be having so much free time since I'm starting a second job on Wednesday, so it was a bit of a vacation before the rush to make some money begins! My new dentist has diagnosed me with over $4000 worth of work that needs done to my teeth so I figured that I could be more productive with my free time and waitress my butt off to earn a buck!! I'm now employed by a local country club that's just 2 miles down the road, so I think it will be a pretty good setup. I start work at 4pm and should be home by 8:30 or 9, so its just about perfect for me. On Sunday, they are open just for brunch, which means that I can still get some beach time in on the weekends!

A Pelican's Point of View

I've been helping with this project at work on pelican rescue techniques- its an eight-minute film on what to do if you catch a pelican on a fishing line. My role is as a teacher who is instructing a class of fisherman and law enforcement officers. Then I'm in a scene at the beach where I actually catch an injured pelican and take him to the Conservancy for rehabilitation. After four days of shooting, we're finally done and it should be out soon. The video will be shown on the education channel, public access, and produced into a dvd to be handed out to fisherman throughout the state. It was a very interesting experience. The director was a real jerk and cameraman not much more accommodating. I guess that's how it is in Hollywood, haha. I had to go to make-up where they painted my face with crap and made me look like a clown! There was even a teleprompter so that I could read the lines, very fancy. And you know what else is fancy... I was wearing those crazy white sunglasses! A Pelican's Point of View, coming soon to a theater near you...

Slight Flight Adjustment

International Coastal Cleanup was on Saturday so I helped out at Cape Romano and picked up trash all morning. We really didn't have that much trash to pick up, which was good, but we did win the prize for the most unique junk: a port-o-potty! Don't worry, it was only two sides of the structure, that had been wrapped around some trees by the waves. I hate to think what happened to the toilet part, gross!

I also wanted to announce that freaking US Airways changed our flight in October, so now the dates are Wed. October 24 thru Fri. October 26. It seems like they are always cancelling that flight to Pittsburgh whenever I am home. I am really looking foward to our trip! This will be Ben's first visit to Pennsylvania, ever. He's excited to see our tiny little town with one traffic light :)

My FAMOUS boyfriend :)

Good times in Naples! Ben visited for a few days and brought me a copy of Charleston magazine which features him in an eight-page article on the writer's recent visit to Little St. Simons Island. There are three pictures of Ben giving tours and teaching naturalist lessons, its so cute! He totally captivated this family and didn't even know the mom was a travel writer! One of my favorite quotes is: "...sweet Claire [age 6] fell head over snake tails for Ben, the attentive, blue-eyed naturalist sporting a Ghandi tattoo." And the best was when the writer mentioned that she hoped she had met her future son-in-law, haha. We will be bringing the magazine on our October visit home so everyone in Waterford can see his stardom :)

Ben also brought me flowers for our anniversary, what a sweetie. We went to the beach a bit, had a BBQ on the fancy new grill, and even did some shopping. It was really good to have Ben here! Check out the rainbow that we saw. I never saw one that was an entire semi-circle. No pot of gold, but good times nonetheless.

Bailey and Bisque

The new roommates are all moved in- Susan brought her cute little cocker spaniel, Bailey. Payton doesn't quite know what to think of the little fluff ball. He kinds of wants to play but then he's not sure if Bailey is a toy or not, so he's spent most of him time lounging around on the cool tile. Bailey, on the other hand, is checking things out every second- he never sits still! He's brought me all kinds of toys since I've been home from work. They are still getting to know each other but I think they'll be best of buds in no time. While they are getting acquainted, I've been busy cooking! I made the best Tomato and Mushroom bisque, and it was so easy. Check it out:

1. Saute 1 cup mushrooms with some chopped onion, minced garlic, and butter.
2. Remove mushrooms and whisk in 3 tbsp flour and 1 can of broth with the butter, etc.
3. When thickened, return mushrooms and add 1 can of diced tomatoes (the kind with the oregano, basil, and garlic already in the can) and some fresh ground pepper.
4. Heat for about 8 minutes and its ready! Mmm, delish!

Oregon Wedding

The wedding was gorgeous, just like everything else on this vacation! It was at this place called Black Butte Ranch, which is just outside of Bend. The ceremony and reception were outside which was beautiful but forest fires (the same ones that we could see from Broken Top) were threatening the area so it was pretty crazy. When we arrived, we heard that the wedding had been moved because everyone had to evacuate but it turned out to not be true! The mountains in the distance looked eerie as the smoke rolled in over them.

It was really fun to meet lots of Ben’s friends and we all had a really good time. In fact, two of his friends are getting married in Bend next August and invited us back so maybe we can make this an annual visit :)

All of our Oregon photos are available for your viewing pleasure at Flickr.