in the room the women come and go

DUDE. Remember how excited I got when I thought Mike Rowe was coming to the aquarium?

This is so much better than that.

Sweat Pea our shark ray is celebrating her third anniversary with us, and there's a big hullabaloo birthday thing going on all month. Hannah Montanna look-a-like contests, High School the Musical karaoke, special sing-a-longs in the diveshows, stuff like that. As my aquarium anniversary coincides with her arrival into the big tank (and my birthday also falls within this month) I tend to take it all in stride and allow myself a little yay me moment whenever we celebrate her stuff. This year is most likely going to be overly annoying...with one exception. Itinerary for the 19th:

See the amazing, giant, four-foot long Sweet Pea cake specially prepared by Ace of Cakes. Plus, Chef Duff Goldman – star of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network – will be at the Aquarium to present the cake. Final details and times to come.

Chef Duff. Is coming. To my job. And he's bringing a cake in the shape of a shark ray.

...

Oh, hell yeah! I am so there. The best part is? I don't think the rest of the staff knows about that part yet. So, if I play my cards right and pimp myself out to work some of the less appealing jobs these next few weeks, I may be able to get in to meet him. *crosses fingers and bounces a lot*

OMG I wrasseled an alligator today! And I still have all my fingers! *wiggles them alluringly in your FACE* (Do any of you know how to grab an alligator? Show of hands? Anyone?) I've done it before, but only once or twice and not for about six months. The encounter animals have gotten bigger in that time, so it was like handling an entirely different animal. And he was pissed about it, too, all tense and grumpy.

I also learned how to properly bag a red tailed boa, and how to handle a sand boa (TINY AND AWESOME), a bearded dragon (PRICKLY AND AWESOME) and a leopard gecko (AWESOME SQUARED) as per our new AZA guidelines. I'm also cleared to take out the tarantulas, scorpions, and white's tree frogs, too, though I think I'll give a pass on all but the latter. ;)

Happy January 1, everybody!

For New Year's I...did pretty much nothing, as I am low with some sort of throat thing. It's not the debilitating wish-the-world-would-swallow-me-whole thing like strep is, but it's kept me out of work the past three days. My voice has been hoarse the whole week, and I showed up on Thursday barely able to squeak "hello" to my supervisors. It was quite comical. They were both complaining how they didn't want to get sick this holiday and when I spoke their eyes got huge and immediately sent me home with orders to not speak the rest of the day. It got worse before it got better, and now I can talk (mostly) audibly for about ten minutes on end. That said, I spent tonight hanging out with mom (who has a bit of a cold), watching Ace of Cakes, and playing my new Guitar Hero, which is every bit as addicting as its reputation proclaims.

Not only did I get Guitar Hero, several cd's and dvd's from my mom, and more clothes that won't fit me, ( but I also got this from my dad... )

So Christmas was fun this year, if a little different. We usually spend Christmas Day and New Year's with Grandma Laake but she was just released from the hospital after a quadruple bypass (it was scary and unexpected, but she's doing fine and on the road to recovery, so we're all okay now) so that was a no go. In fact, I got sick the day after I visited her at the hospital. Hmm. Let this be a lesson to you, children: always where a coat in the rain, regardless of the unseasonably warm weather on Christmas Day.

2007. Man, that seems like a lot, doesn't it? I've been out of high school for seven years, and college for two. This past year we've had car accidents, heart surgeries, graduations, a new bathroom, our first family trip in years, and all manner of odds and ends that make one shake her head. Still, we're all alive, happy, and (mostly) healthy.

It's been a good year. :)

Our penguins are painters, did you know that? ( Apparently one fancies himself a Picasso. )