My Apartment

It looks like I will not be homeless after all come August! I have a great apartment in Delaware, complete with a swimming pool, fitness center, and a balcony! It is supposedly surrounded by trees as well, something completely unknown to me after living in Kansas and New Mexico for the past 2 years. Although, I am slightly distraught by the fact that the next time I move, I won't be able to fit everything in my car.

Art Festival

The Art Party 2005 was a great success, with great entries including a K-9 ranger dog, melted crayon ranger, bat-shaped photo montage, duct tape creations, ticket stub earrings, a superintendent ranger stuffed bear, a cheesecake, an interpretive dance, guitar performances, and custom made mad-libs, among others. I made a screen for the TV which looked something like this (this isn't mine exactly.) For this I won the "Most Creative" award, which was a paint-by-number stained glass elephant (from the Dollar store.)

Although, I have to say that the real fun was had towards the end of the evening when the dinosaur puppet came out. I truly love a place where grown people can play with a dinosaur puppet openly. As a certain person always says, "Failure to grow up is a victimless crime."

I'm not Dutch

Every once in a while, I'll encounter someone who's logic I cannot grasp. Take the following conversation, which took place on a cave trail with a 60-year-old man.

Man: So, what's your name again?
Me: Sarah.
Man: Oh, so are you Dutch?
Me: Um, no, I'm not.
Man: That's weird, because my mother's name was Sarah and she's Dutch.

He must not get out much.

I'm An Idiot

In general, I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. The desert sun, however, has appeared to have clouded my judgement.

The other day, while I was home for lunch, I brillantly decided to work on a crafty magnet project using superglue. And of course, I manage (almost) to glue my fingers together - I opened them in time, however did not escape without coating my fingers. Going next door to your 18-year-old EMT neighbor with the question "Do you have anything that will remove superglue from human flesh?" is slightly embarassing.

Oh, it doesn't stop there. Later in the day, while cleaning helmets from a caving tour, I discover that a battery has exploded, leaking acid everywhere. So what do I do? Why, stand there, of course, letting the acid slowly seep into my bloodstream while staring blankly at my hands. Luckily, the same 18-year-old EMT was there to save me once again.

The night before, I had embarked on a baking adventure, floating on a recent high of cooking successes. So, I must have believed myself infalible when I read "Not to be used for baking" on the back of the "light" margarine stick and decided they didn't know what they were talking about. Um, they knew what they were talking about. Cookie crumbs, anyone?

Remembering Kansas

Yay, I can post pictures now! Ahh, Kansas. The memories of that strangely half-rusted man-shooting-on-a-horse are quickly fading.

Fire!

Just so you know, if you are a guy, and are wearing firefighter gear, you automatically become unbearably hot. Well, hot as in sexy, hot not as in you're standing next to burning things.

There was a fire! Ok fine, some grass was on fire in bat cave draw, but enough so my dashing firefighting boy could put it out with the fire truck. 2 other rangers were on site kicking the ass of the fire, while visitors milled around wanting to get their picture taken with the firefighters. That's probably the extent of the excitement for the summer, but how cool (or hot) is that?

The fire was first noticed right before the bat flight, so I wonder . . . how many visitors walked right by it and said nothing? Note to park visitors: if something is on fire, with a lot of smoke and visible flame, and no park employee is standing around, it's not a good thing. At least call 911, really.

Here is Jason standing by the decorations I put up for his birthday. Then, while I was at work, he took them all down and re-installed them in my room. As my friend Karen said, we deserve each other :)

Poncho

The poncho trend is getting out of control. So, for the benefit of fashion at large,

"I swear on the head and/or the grave of my sainted granny to never wear, buy, knit, crochet, or fashion from the old throw rug, the poncho. And if the poncho it is given to me as the gift, I will graciously thank the giver and then, when she has left, put the poncho into the dog's bed and/or the trash as the case she may be. Only by doing these things faithfully can I help end for the good of the humanity the scourge that is the poncho. "

Weather Trick

Today it is 78 degrees in the great state of Kansas, a big trick because next week it's going to snow once again. I really need summer to happen - winter used to be my favorite time of year, but that was before I lived on the plains.

I'll be going up to Nicodemus to work at the end of April - my main draw wasn't really the work experience, but rather the government-paid hotel room. Cable! I'm really sick of only watching NBC. Having a bed that doesn't suck you down into it every night and a shower that's not rusting is also a plus.

Got a letter from Mongolia yesterday - I thought Kansas was bad, but living in a place where your spilled milk freezes before you can pick it up is a lot worse.