fun at subway in arlington

Just poppin' in for a quick story time, then it's back to work counting down the minutes to seafair and refreshing weather.com every 12 minutes imploring the weekend forecast to improve. What's seafair? only the most amazing time of the year in Seattle... better than christmas! More on that later.

About last night.

So my lil bro Gabe and I were on our way back from sarvey after 5 hours of fun times with wild animals. I managed to make it out of there with only a little raccoon shit in my hair, so it was a good night.

We pulled up to Subway for dinner at 9:58 pm, just two minutes before they closed. We still had a good hour long drive ahead of us. Gabe and I wait patiently to order our subs while, likely reeking of God knows what... but then (I kid you not) the large man in front of us orders his sub: white bread, cheddar cheese, olives, ranch dressing and 3 chocolate chip cookies IN THE SUB. *Don't think that's what Jared had in mind... just saying*

The kids behind the counter were struggling to keep it together, as were we. ... Strangely this made me feel a little bit better about our smell :-)

Anyway, we get our sandwiches and while Gabe's paying - his treat! - I head out to the car... only to discover *SHITSKITTLES* the doors are locked. With my keys (cell phone, money, ID, etc. etc.) in the car.

I never lock my car door. In fact, as I type this my car is sitting outside unlocked with the keys inside of it. Call me stupid, but unless I'm in the city or a sketchy part of town, I don't lock the door. Definitely not for a 5 minute stop at Subway.

Well, Gabe felt pretty bad. Yes, my 14 year old brother locked me (us) out of the car over an hour from home... past my bedtime... in Arlington. You may have heard of Arlington as I'm pretty sure it was in the news recently when a man suffered fatal injuries after having sex with (being penetrated by) a horse. Yes, this confuses me too.

Anyway, Subway Boy said he might have a SlimJim to get my car open. When I think SlimJim, I think:

Apparently, a "slimjim" is actual a tool that criminals use to break in to cars. Why Subway Boy had one... well, I didn't ask.

I told him to give it a go, but he clearly didn't have much practice with it - good boy - so I called AAA. And by I, I mean Gabe, because I did not have my trusty BB with me (for shame!) and I am about as useful a chocolate teapot with his alien music touch phone thinger.

They tell me it's going to be an hour, so I tell them I am going to cry. Seriously. I said that...

I said, I'm going to cry if it takes an hour because I have nothing but a t-shirt on (I forgot to mention pants - oops!) and it is cold out and we're hours from home and there's nowhere to go...

A little exaggeration never hurt anyone....

So, AAA calls back to tell me they have a closer company who'll be here in 10. I Win!!!

Less than five minutes later, a tow-truck rolls up and Mountain Man, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, jumps out and immediately gets to work on the car. No hi, how are you, who are you. Nada. Mountain Man finishes the job before his cigarette (and strangely I never saw him remove it from his mouth to exhale the entire time... this must be a finely developed skill... quite impressive).

And we're off.

But not before Subway Boy tells me, "Be sure to come back next week, it was great to meet you."

Well, I guess if things with Joe don't work out, I know I have options!

wish i could give all my moola to sarvey!

Disclaimer: If you don't like wild animals or are a fan of Sarah Palin, you probably won't like this post. Actually, you probably won't like me either. Just saying...

I haven't played in a long while, but this week Miss Kelsey my amazing IRL friend who does her thing over at The Seattle Smiths used *my* idea for Wishful Wednesday.. so even though I'm a day late and a dollar short, here goes:

 

"I Wish" I had never ending funds 
to donate to Sarvey Wildlife

Sarvey Wildlife is a wildlife rehabilitation center that takes in injured or orphaned wildlife - from starlings to black bears and everything in between - and cares for them in hopes of ultimately being able to release them back into the wild. It is a small non-profit run exclusively on donations and the hard work of volunteers.

All images from www.sarveywildlife.org

I first learned about Sarvey when I was around 10 years old. My family was in a park when a baby Grey-Horned Owl fell out of a tree. It was going to be attacked by dogs so since it clearly couldn't fly, my mom grabbed a towel and scooped it up. Shortly thereafter the mama owl swooped down and put her talons in my mom's back so needless to say we hurried to the car with the big fluffy basketball baby owl. After several phone calls we made our way 90 minutes north to bring the baby to Sarvey. It was spring time and they were so slammed when we got there, a lady begged us all to help with the babies. What did they have us doing, you ask? Oh, just bottle feeding and "pottying" baby raccoons... a never ending supply of baby raccoons. We later learned the baby owl was released several months later in the same park, and well.. that was the beginning.

When I was in highschool I did my senior project up there, working full time as a volunteer "intern" for a month. Sarvey is a very special kind of place where, in just a few hours, you may be cleaning crow shit from a cage one minute, and hiding food for a bobcat the next. One of my most memorable experiences there happened late one night when it was just Sarvey's founder the late Kaye Baxter and me in the clinic. She was hurriedly working to hydrate and remove bullet fragments from a gorgeous golden eagle that had been shot (who does that?) when a baby deer came in that had been hit by a car. It had a huge gash on its head. The golden eagle obviously took priority, but Kaye told me to fix up the deer... Say Whaa?? I didn't even know where to start! Kaye was very calm (or totally out of her rocker!) and told me it was just like sewing a hem. Well nevermind that I didn't (don't) know how to do that either... I gave it my best effort. It was probably the best sewing I've ever done :-) I don't think that baby deer lived, but in that moment I was so... alive! Anywhooo...

Nowadays I don't have much money, but I still make time to go up to Sarvey to volunteer. Last year my brother turned 13 and started bugging me to bring him. The age minimum is 14 but we fudged a little bit on the volunteer form and now brother and I go up pretty much every week!!! He keeps me company on the long drive and is becoming quite the little caretaker! I love spending time with him working up there, and we have had some amazing, some hilarious, and some not so funny experiences.

• Towel drying river otter pups... they are just like puppies, and you haven't lived until you have seen what otter pups do with a towel!!!
• Surprises when "pottying" baby raccoons. I will just say this: PROJECTILE.
• The time I held the hawk while Gabe tube fed it and somehow the food missed the hawk's throat and went directly into my eyeball.... Not fun.
• Chasing the escape artist squirrels all over the clinic.... It's a fun little game!
• Sneaking a peak at the "off limits" black bear cubs... they couldn't see us, so it was ok :-)
• Chopping up frozen rats... not pleasant!
• Bottle feeding wobbly baby deer... precious!

Gabe and a *fat* river otter pup after bathtime

Gabe's first time 'catching' a bald eagle for meds

So if I am MIA from blogging Wednesday evenings, it's because I'm probably being pooped on by a baby raccoon, sorting through frozen rats to feed the raptors, or maybe stitching up a deer's head!

Disclaimer: They are much more professional now than a decade ago, and they would never just be like.. go sew that deer. But truly, it happened!!

If you can't tell, I'm a major animal lover... and like I said I don't have much money, but I do donate (not my time but my beer fund) to a few other awesome charities as well:

Conservation International
World Wildlife Fund
National Resources Defense Council
American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

and my favorite...

Defenders of Wildlife
because Sarah Palin and her aerial wolf hunting can go to Hell makes me want to vomit.

The only downside of these $10 here $20 there donations? They put you on massive mailing lists and now I get junk mail from every NPO from here to Timbuktu... and address labels. I have a lot of address labels :-)

blog bling!!!

Soooo yay!!! My first "blog bling" - at least, that is what I will be calling Blogger Awards from now on.

I received two blog awards in the week or so, but I feel like I've been soooo slammed so here goes (and I'm going to do a little combining action, since they're pretty similar.. oh and I don't have enough "blog buddies" to link to yet!)

First up, thank you Abby!!! Abby over at Keeping Up With The Krecks gave me the Kreativ Blog Award :-) This is my first award ever, and apparently all I had to do it was follow Miss Abby - such. a. hardship. to. follow. someone. so. ridiculously. awesome! But seriously, go check her out. She rocks!!

 

So here are the rules for the Kreativ Blogger award:

*1*  Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
*2*  Grab the button and place it on your blog.
*3*  Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
*4*  Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
*5*  Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
*6*  Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
*7*  Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Next up, thank you Ashley!!! Ashley over at Kiwis and Cocktails gave me the Sugar Doll Blogger Award :-) Ashley, her Kiwi husband, and adorable pup Piri have quite the life - so go check it out... You're sure to be entertained!!!

The rules for the Sugar Doll Blogger Award are the exact same except you name 10 things (or "tid-bits") about yourself... so that's what I'm gonna do now.

And as a side note: I'm not gonna lie I think these blog award names are pretty silly... maybe I'll make one like the "Most ridiculous story" award, but I'll play along!! I love.Love the idea of them anyway :-)

OK, moving on...

*1*  I did competitive gymnastics for many years as a girl. I saw the Goodwill games in 1990 when I was 7 years old and decided I wanted to be one of those girls. Never really looked back. I was never the best or anything like that, but I busted my butt. And it sure did keep me out of trouble!! When other girls were at the mall, I was in the gym. In Middle School training was about 4-5 hours a day 4-5 days a week with meets on most weekends. I miss those days, and when I'm drunk tipsy I like to do handstands, back hand-springs, etc.

*2*  I have had lots of surgeries... the first after I snapped (audibly) three ligaments in my ankle tumbling during my freshman year. It.hurt.like.hell. Then again about a year later when I broke too many bones to count in the same ankle vaulting. That was officially the end of my gymnastics "career". Then again I had ACL reconstruction from a basketball injury my senior year of highschool. Then again (same knee) I had ACL reconstruction from a wakeboarding injury the summer before my sophomore year of college. I think over those 5 years I may have spent about 1/3 of my life on crutches. Fun times.

*3*  Purple is my favorite color. I know, I know... "When I'm old I shall wear purple." But whatevs. I like it.

*4*  I volunteer as often as I can at Sarvey Wildlife - it's a wildlife rehabilitation center in Arlington, WA. They operate soley on donations and take in all injured or orphaned wildlife... everything from bears and cougars to raccoons and starlings. I've learned sooo much working there over the last 8 or so years. It's not glamorous work, but I've had some incredible experiences there. Like... bathing baby river otters; stitching a fawns head; tube feeding a bald eagle; "pottying" baby raccoons (that's a post in and of itself); and much, much more! Here's two pics of my lil' bro Gabe first with a Bald Eagle (look closely!) and second with with a baby river otter after bath time. This past summer I finally brought him up and he LOVED IT!!! Yay :-)

*5*  I love Christmas and everything about it. I have purple stockings hanging from my fireplace right now (see #3). I  love cheesy Christmas music. I love finding the *perfect* present(s) for my close friends and family.

*6*  I never almost never splurge on full price "brand name" items (I do, however *heart* Nordstrom Rack) but I have an unhealthy obsession with Marc Jacobs. I feel like everything Marc Jacobs is so adorable, even if it totally.is.not. Anywayyy, one day I will have a really expensive Marc Jacobs purse. And I will never lose it. I swear.

*7*  Speaking of purses, I almost NEVER carry a purse. When I go to work, I pack all my shit in one of those reusable plastic bags... my current ones I got from Word Wildlife Fund and they have adorable pics of endangered animals on them. Why do I not carry a purse? I find them annoying... I can never find what I need. Oh, and the one time I bring a "nice" purse out... like the nice little white Marc Jacobs clutch my mom got me for xmas 2 years ago, it gets fucking.stolen.  (Or lost, I've done that once a few times too...) So usually I go out with my ID and debit card in my back pocket and stash my phone, etc. in my coat pocket or with a friend. That way, if I lose something, I can generally minimize the damage. HA.

*8*  TV Obsessions: Almost everything Animal Planet (except those shows where the animals turn on you, don't like those ones); Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice; Law & Order SVU; Daily Show & Colbert Report; South Park; Entourage & Dog Whisperer (even though I no longer get HBO); and occasionally AI/SYTYCD.

*9*  Bondi. My almost 4 year old half-papered Doberman / half- whatever dog knocked his mama up dog is my LOVE. I would do anything for him. Oh, and he's tested me on this!!! Remember the whole 'almost dying' thing here? Well, if know me, or heck, even if you follow my blog, you've probably gathered that by now. NUFF said.

*10*  I am in love with my boyfriend Joe. Like, totally in love. Even when I'm more.than.annoyed with him... like right meow!! But we won't discuss.. because that would be, what do you call it????.. airing dirty laundry.. and I'm not gonna go there. So I'm sitting here doing this "Blogger Award" thingy I've been procrastinating, with a bottle of [yellow tail] SHIRAZ, and I'm starting to feel a little better.

OK, and now for nominations (in no particular order)... Please just disregard if you've already done this shiznit:

* B is for Brown

* burlap condoms
* CURIOSITY
* Everyday Delights
* Float On...
* Oh Lord!!
* Saving the Best for Last...(fingers crossed)
* Simply Smithwick
* The Bobby Pin
* the future mrs. smith

 Much love peeps!! On to better days, like Tuesday:-)