MSU Orchid Show

Today Paul and I went to the MSU Orchid Society show.
Basically the Greater Lansing Society talks MSU into letting them use a greenhouse on Campus for the show. They have the orchids themselves judged and then there are displays done by the different societies and a couple of sellers.

Here are some of the different flowers that I found interesting. Ok, so I took a ton of pictures and these were some of the better ones.
Currently I am a little jeleous of Paul's digital camera. He can get much closer to the flowers and really get good pictures..



The one on the left here is sort of one that I brought home.
I know, a live plant.. I will probably kill it, but I have a total back up plan..
We will wait until it finishes blooming and then I am going to give the plant to Paul to take care of until either it dies or he manages to get it to bloom again.
LOL
He basically laughed at the idea. Hey, do what you have to to get the plants to live.


In other news, I have a major bite on my left fore finger. It seems that Winslow and I are having a little trouble right now.
He is not enjoying the medication and I think he blames me for everything. Well, He is mostly right. Arg..

SPOILED PIG..... There is nothing else to say... Giant Cage. His own fireplace... (Ok, we share it with him, since I spend a lot of time in the basement.) Yes, that is a humidifier sitting there. That is for his upper Respitory infection, Winslow was breathing REALLY hard the day after I started the antibiotics. I need it as much as he does. It has been 5 days since surgery and he and I are both doing better. We had one day of fighting on the antibiotics, but it seems that if Tom gives it to him, Winslow doesn't fight it anymore.  

Well, it is not the most attractive thing, but I found a use for the ugly pink curtains that used to be in the front room. If you walked by the stairwell you would feel all the heat from the basement quickly escaping upstairs. So, Tom and I took the old shower curtain rod and shortened it for the stair way, and then hung the curtain. You can really feel the difference when you come around the curtain. Which is good, should bring the electric bill down some. 

Rough Week

Ok, ALL of you may not care - but I had a rough day yesterday.

As you know Winslow was neutered on Monday. That part went fine. The problem is that he has an upper respiratory infection. So he is now on Antibiotics. Well, on Tuesday he was having a little trouble breathing. Looked like he had run a race.
For any pet you feel really bad when they are sick, or need some kind of operation. Well, I was just feeling horrible. He isn't even a year old and going through a bit of strife. Well today he seems a bit better. Hopefully I will hear him running the cage tonight.


Other things.
I need to hit the doctors- appointment tomorrow now - I believe I have a sinus infection.. Well, hey if he is on Antibiotics- I probably should be too.
I still have the dang headaches. Really getting on my nerves. Everyday.......
They did a brain MRI or some crap last fall and got nothing overly bad, but I am still not happy. You'd think without school tension I wouldn't feel this bad.. Arg. Maybe now it is the call me for a DANG interview tension.

I meant to put this up last week. FRIDAY - Tom, Paul and I are going to see Cirque de Soleil at Joe Lewis Arena. We are very excited. I don't know that it will be as good as the shows we have seen in Vegas, but it should be fun none-the-less. Paul was willing to pay the over $100 ticket price (and us) because sitting in the back corner does not make for a good show. Paul also said he doesn't see himself going to Vegas anytime soon, so this is his best chance to see what Tom and I have been going on and on and on about for the last 2 years.

I do want to go back to Vegas. They have 2 Cirque Shows that we have not seen. We didn't see the big show "O" at the Bellagio - because they had no power. Then they opened at new show at MGM grand in the last year. It really gives me something to look forward to. I have no idea when we can get back to Vegas, but at some point we will.

Something other than Pigs??

You must be insane.... They are my life.
Anyway - a short update in the life of Guinea Pigs.. Winslow is at the Vet, he was neutered today and at last notice he woke up fine. He needs to eat and poo before he can come home.
The girls are in good shape - Laverne and Shirley. I can tell them apart now- sort of.


Other stuff...
I have applied for 2 jobs at University of Michigan.
The good news is that they do try to keep you informed. I got email giving me an ID number and Email telling me I was put in for the two different jobs. They will call for interviews or email to tell me that someone else got the job. I feel they are very nice for doing all of that.

I spent Sunday helping Tom's parents re-wire their sound in the living room. Dad got a new sound system and wanted to use his original (still very nice) speakers. They officially have 6.1 surround and HD TiVo coming TODAY. I hope the guy hooking it all up doesn't mess up all the work I did.
They made dinner and we all watched a movie. Dad was soooo happy about being able to hear people speak. The last center back speaker is sort of a twin to the one that usually sits on the top of the TV. He bought a BOSE for the same price as another center channel front speaker, so now speech in Movies REALLY sounds good.

Did I mention we got a electric fireplace for the basement?
Yup, hopefully better use of electricity. I managed to keep the gas bill down this past month, but will the electric bill go up way too much to compensate??
Tom's parents are looking at the Corn Burners........
Might be an interesting option for us. It would go right in the FirePlace and replace the REALLY CRAPPY gas logs that do nothing other than look pretty. It costs too much to run the regular fireplace (gas) and all we really get is the pretty flames (no heat.)
I MISS HEAT coming out of a fireplace....
Do you remember the insert that was in my parents house in Monroe? You could feel it from the Kitchen Table. Don't stand too close or your leg hair would burn off.. Oh how I miss that.
So, maybe in the fall we'll get one installed. Cut down on the Gas we use for sure.

Ok, off to get ready for school....
I want to pick up Winslow, but they are keeping him for observation for a few hours. Tom may have to get him after work......

Oh No!!!
What do we have here??? I think it looks like 2 little pigs.
They are sisters and probably about 6 weeks old. (of course they didn't know - I hate that.)
Monday everyone is going to the vets. Winslow is going to get neutered (poor guy). The girls have never seen a vet, so they need to go anyway.
WOW, are they talkers. If I get near their cage they start talking, not sure if it is defense or if they just want to know where the other one is the whole time. They look to be about the same size as Winslow, but man they don't weigh a thing. I picked them up and one is lighter than the other, but they seem ok. I can't tell them apart...
Still don't have names.... Have to work on that....
Have a great night...

Wacky weekend.......

I have to tell you it was a very busy and FUN weekend.
Friday, Tom and I drove to Rob and Naarah's. We went out to cracker Barrel for dinner and enjoyed that. We were near the fire, but a little closer to smoking than we would have liked. Then we played Mario Cart. Ok, Nintendo is old school, but they have really upgraded much of what they do. The game was fun. Then we played Mario Party cruise or something. It came with their box. You actually have to use a microphone for part of it.
We think Naarah lost a round because the Mic picked up one of the birds squawking.
Anyway, I had a good time holding Monty (guinea pig) and lots of other animal petting going on.

Saturday, Tom decided he wanted the pork roast done, so we worked on that. Of course we invited Paul to partake with us, and then we played Triominos. Not nearly as involved as Dominos can be, but fun all the same.

Sunday, I just did not want to get up. But finally I did and whirlwind day it was. Naarah even called to say - hey you are later than expected - what's up??? Joel (Ritz guy) wanted to go shoot cemeteries. Some of you are thinking, "WHY"? Well, there is really cool architecture in cemeteries and we went to the fanciest one I have been to in Michigan. Woodlawn - Anyone watch the Rosa Park's Funeral - yup, that is where they took her.
unfortunately, she was unavailable for pictures. It was Sunday and the Chapel they have her in is locked up on that day. We'll have to stop by during the week or on Saturday to see where she is for the moment.
I think they are trying to figure out what to do. Woodlawn has some REALLY fancy mausoleums. I have never seen such big ones before. Sure I have been by a few fancy cemeteries down south, but this was impressive. Dodge has Sypinx's sitting on the front steps, and some guy named Wilson has this huge pink thing that reminds me of the old Ford Auditorium. The really fancy one that burnt down. ( I see pictures of it all the time at art shows.)
There were three Ford crypts that were really boring. I think the big guy is buried somewhere else. Of course if you look around you can recognize so many famous names from Detroit. All those streets you drive on, well the guys they are named after are buried at Woodlawn.
The weather was nice, just enough snow to make things look cool and plenty of sunshine to make the stained glass look great. Enjoy a few pictures. I forgot to put one in, so I'll add it to this...

This is almost my first picture of the day. I was very surprised to find so many mausoleums in a Detroit cemetary. Well, I forget that we had so many rich and influential people in town. We found, Dodge, Ford, Gratiot, and tons of other names that one should know living in Detroit.

This is a statue near the Front of Woodlawn cemetary. I would guess that she is bronze or copper from the discoloration. Hey - my mother-in-law is always saying that all she wants is a 6 foot tall blue Mary. I think I found her. 

I LOVE the moss growing on this one. I'm not sure what they made the top out of, but this is the only one in the whole place like this. It reminds me of the type you would see down south or in the British isles. 

We were impressed by the number of stained glass windows in the many mausoleums. Most had recently added (20-30 years) security bars over those windows, but when you looked through the front door you could get a great view of the windows. I took a couple pictures from the back also, but they are not as artistic.

Mel pointed out to me the very 20's art deco stuff all over the place. This is an extrememly nice example of that. It's on the family headstone. The detail is nice and it is in great shape. 

This was really the only copper/bronze crypt thing they had. I'm not sure anyone was in it. But the family is buried all around it and birth dates went all the way back to 1837. There are some cool figures on this peice. Maybe Naarah or Joel will put them up. 

This was near the end of the day. Can you see my reflection in the glass. Of course you are not "supposed" to get that. But I thought it was cool. Make whatever comment about Me and Jesus that you wish. :~) 

Is it just me?

Or did I really forget what it was like to have a cold????
I have been sick since Tom got back from Arizona. That would be at least 2 weeks ago now. I am still sick. Not dying in bed, I want mummy's chicken noodle sick- but the runny and blowing nose that scares people kind of sick. The kind where you don't want to sneeze on someone, or just don't want to get out of bed.

So, for most of the time, I feel sort of ok. But if I get cold, or tired - forget it, you don't want to be near me.

I know some people are saying, geez - does she talk about anything other than the pig???
Come on, what else really do I have to tell you about? I found some dark chocolate that I liked at Trader Joes, and some decent priced Salmon that wasn't bad..
My mother is finally painting her kitchen, I saw it in phase one - bottom coat of paint.
Tom locked his keys in the Minivan today and I had to drive all the way to Chrysler to let him back in the dang van. No, don't get someone to Jimmy it, call your wife to drive 20 miles one way.
He took me to lunch and to the humane society to see if they had any guinea pigs. They did not. They had a cute dobe/hound mix. He had dobe color points, but certainly not a dobe body. The sign said he CHEWED things. No way was I taking him home. Needs excitement all the time, I don't have kids so that wouldn't work for him.
Mom tried with a dog like that once. She was pure dobe and she ATE everything. A pair of dad's cowboy boots, my Garfield the cat (scratched his wood eyes all up) and anything else she could get a hold of. I think she even went through the screen door of the doorwall. Needless to say, I know better than to bring home an animal like that.

Mostly Winslow has been learning to escape from his cage. I can understand the wanting to see everything, but the lengths that he is going to is just amazing to me.
I think we have managed to minimize the possibility of him getting out. Raised the walls and made it so he cant use the bottom pieces to leverage himself up. He needs a friend at this point. I am working on it, but am not having that much luck.
I keep finding cute ones that are already spoken for. Just not down off the internet yet.
So, that's life.
Going to bug Rob and Naarah tonight.
later

Here is Tom using zip ties to keep the inner pannels against the wall, so he can't use them for leverage. We have also added more cubes to make the walls higher all the way around. I only put them up when I am not going to be home. Hate to have him get out and into something. He was really climbing the corner cubes trying to get out. The problem was he was in the back corner. I don't know where he was going to go when he got to the top. 

Yes, I know, my blog is currenlty all about Winslow. Considering that I spend most of my time with him, yes the blog is about the Guinea Pig....... 

If you haven't heard yet. Winslow has managed to escape the cage with 14 inch high walls. And how did he manage that? Well, it seems that he used the inner board the get himself up to the high point in the cage and then pulled himself over. Earlier I had a square in that corner that he lept to and tried to slide down the outside of the cage, between the cage and the wall. Almost got himself very stuck...  

Things I have learned....

Things I learned today.....
1. Guinea pigs, want to lay on your chest, not in your lap. Too far away..
2. They refuse to lay on the towel for this purpose, they must be able to put their hair on your clothes.
3. No matter how many times you pick them up they will run.
4. If you want them to sit on you, pick them up when they have been napping, not when they are running around the cage. (play mode)
and 5. they are the cutest things on the planet..

World according to Winslow

Even though my own world tripled in size in the last two weeks, it seems that I am still missing out on so much more space.
Each time that a she giant picks me up, I always try to get to the floor in order to check out the whole space. I have seen some of it, before she puts me back into whatever place I'm living in.
Last night the world got much bigger.
I found this pink thing in my cage and decided to check it out. The door on it closed and I found myself floating in the air. It was a slightly queasy sensation, they kept giving me carrots and celery. Mmmmmmm (crunch)

Well, it seems we went for a "Ride" at least that seems to be what she said, and I woke to find myself looking at my smaller space, but with food and my toys in it. The air smelled different, but it was my stuff. There were more large "people" around and lots of noise.

They ate food and even shared some with me. Spinach, carrot, lettuce and some red stuff, I liked all of it. They sat around and moaned, I think they were full. I just enjoyed all the new green stuff that kept showing up.

But then, something horrible happened. They took me out and were trying to take my toes off. I was extremely unhappy about the whole situation. I bit the big she at least once and then chewed on this really bad tasting big he hand. (I think he was wearing a thing called a glove.)

They finally put me back in my space and left me alone. They laughed and I heard weird snoring and that TV thing making noise. (I had some big huge tan and white animal try to stick their nose in my face. I was pretty much ignoring them. Didn't smell very interesting.)

After a while the big she stuck me back in the pink thing. When we went out, it was really dark. I could barely see to eat the celery they gave me to eat. I sort of curled up in the corner to relax when hurray, I was moving again and found myself looking at my blue floor. I could see the water bottle and even my piggloo. They left me alone finally. Sleeping was a good thing....