I’m getting ready for Europe, as I leave today!!! Woohoo! Fricking France!!! I’m going to eat so much “bon poulet”, its going to be awesome!
In the meantime, while I’m gone: Enjoy this amazing image I found of a Green Iguana female, swimming..
Just like a little adorable Navy Seal. hehe! (click on the photo to go to the site where I found the pic)
As a random aside, did you know that iguanas can hold their breath for 20 minutes?
In 1 week I will be in France…. In 2 weeks, I will be in Spain…. In 3 weeks, I will be in the Netherlands…. And in 4 weeks, I will be in Italy. I’m super excited! (except about the us dollar to euro exchange rate. That’s gonna utterly blow.)
Currently though, I’m in Seattle and there is some crazy wierd April weather going on, involving snow, hail and rain. D’s work contract is up next week and is currently job hunting, so he has a place to work once he gets back from our trip. Also his laptop just broke. Plus he’s having issues with his car’s brakes, meaning he has to take it into get fixed this week as well. And i have a crazy week of emotionally draining 10 hour workdays to wade through to before we leave.
SO yes. I have a busy week ahead of me. Work is still good. Still really depressing at times…. Devon has cut me off from letting me tell him any of the depressing parts of my day. He still tolerates the good stories though… Like the fledgling hummingbird that we got in, that is smaller than the size of my thumb… Uber cuteness.
But yeah. I’m pretty boring now… Just working and sleeping mostly. Today on my day off, I’m wearing pjs and have plans of trying to clean out my Tivo’s lineup. 
A lofty goal, I know.. But I think Fifi and I are up for the challenge.
Alright. So i know that D and I went to Albuquerque a week ago, but with the whole job thing I’ve been falling behind a bit with my blog updates.. SO here we go.
Last weekend, D and I went town to Albuquerque to see and for me to meet some more of Devon’s extended family. We went to a 80th birthday brunch for D’s Gram. We visited the Native American mesa topped settlement of Acoma. We took a tram up to Sandia Peak while freezing our butts off. We went The Albuquerque zoo with D’s cousin Mathais (who amusingly reminds me a smidge of D when I first met him…with the all black wardrobe, driving like a bat out of hell, and being into all things mechanical). We also gorged ourselves on Sopapillas and your other general New Mexican fare… So much so that by the time I retured, I was desperately craving leafy green vegetables and anything that wasn’t fried.
For the rest of my photos, you can go here.
For Devon’s extensive blog post about our trip, you can go here.
For Devon’s photos, including ones from Acoma, you can go here.
So, I’ve had my job for about 3 weeks. I really love it, although parts of it are really sad. But It’s totally fascinating. I’m learning so much… How to deal with wildlife pest problems and concerns, bird identification & adult vs. babies, animal handling, public relations, geography of Washington state, referrals to other wildlife rehabilitator’s around the state and the country.
Parts of the job are really hard (I see lots of suffering and dying animals that are brought into us). U feel like I’m tireing out Devon and my parents when I tell them how my day is…. Some stuff really bothers me and I need to get it off my chest.. While other times I feel that it’s easily dealt with and I see the situation as a learning experience.
I work with some really amazing people. The wildlife receptionist who trained me, I feel, is a walking encyclopedia. She really seems to know the answer to any crazy situation. Our naturalist, Kevin, is a guy who I can go to with any animal question. For me, most birds in general tend to look the same, while our naturalist is able to identify different bird species when they are all naked nestlings. It’s really quite amazing. Our rehabbers are also really awesome. They know lots about human-wildlife cohabilitation, as well as animal identification, in addition to being able to figure out an animals problem with in a few minutes after coming in.
I really feel that PAWS wildlife center is doing something really great, and helping so many animals that wouldn’t have a chance otherwise. Although, like most non-profits, I wish that we were better funded so we would be able to more extensively help more animals….
However stories like this make me so happy to go to work, and make my work feel super fulfilling…. even if the hours suck.
(BWT, the raccoon mentioned in the above story is so beautiful. When I was a volunteer, I loved cleaning her cage just so I could see her. The situation broke my heart, as she seemed so fragile at times. Everyone at the center was so ecstatic when she was deemed able to be released, because we had all feared that she mightnever make it. But she was a fighter, and she now she finally has been.)