Here, birdie birdie birdie...

My spiffy new bird feeder has been up for 2 whole days... And not a single bird has visited it. There are birds near it, in the tree... And some under it, since I scattered some seeds around... But not one single bird has perched upon the feeder to get seeds. What gives??

A Google search of "how to attract birds to bird feeder" really didn't bring any useful results. The only advice I found that may apply would be to install a bird bath... Or some other source of fresh water. But... I'm really pushing my luck by getting the feeder, so I'm not sure how Skip would react to a fancy bird bath showing up at the apartment. Heh. But perhaps I'll try a shallow dish of water?

I'm also trying to pick out a new blog theme, since the one I'm currently using bores me to tears. But sifting through these "free theme" sites is really not my idea of a good time. None of the ones I have found seem to fit my blog. They're either too cutesy or too professional, and some just don't make sense. (Aliens? Ninjas?) I typically have zero patience for this kind of thing, so this is really killing me. Would any of my faithful readers (all four of you!) like to redesign my blog for me? Pretty please??

...I won't hold my breath.

In other news... The scrapbook is coming along quite nicely. I did several pages yesterday, and I'm relatively pleased with them. Well, except for the page on zebras, because I really had no decent pictures to use. Zebras are hard to photograph. The entire living room floor is covered in paper and pictures and other little embellishments... Which is fine, because we don't actually have living room furniture. It's nice to see something other than just empty space. I think I tell Skip at least twice a day that I can't wait for the day when we don't have to move, and we can have a house or apartment full of furniture and belongings... Rather than furniture made of stacked plastic totes and bare walls.

On that note... I really need to get something accomplished today.

--Malaya

"Wild Pets"

So, I bought this today:

...Because I really want a small pet. Yeah, I know... Makes no sense, right? Well, because of this inconveniently crazy pipelining lifestyle, it's super hard to have pets. I'm really pushing my luck with the dogs, so a fish or a bird or a hamster would be a logistical nightmare. (I envision thousands of miles of highway and me with a fish bowl in my lap. Hah.) Enter the birdfeeder. Portable, removable, packable. It attracts birds wherever it is located, and I get the pleasure of watching them from my window. Not quite the cute little beta fishie of my dreams... But maybe it'll keep me occupied for a little while.

I also received 2 out of 3 packages of scrapbooking supplies today... To compile our scrapbook of the Tulsa Zoo! EEEEEE! So excited. I've really missed scrapbooking. It's nice to have a creative outlet that doesn't necessarily require a lot of artistic skill. If you can use a glue stick and peel off stickers, you can scrapbook. Not to mention the awesomeness of the pictures we took... Seriously, the prints stunned me. I had no idea my little camera was capable of such greatness. So between birds and scrapbooking and FarmVille, I should be kept busy through the end of this project. Which is probably coming up sometime in May. :-/

BUT. We're not gonna think about that. Because I don't wanna.

Not much else has happened... Pap has gone back to Fort Myers for about 10 days before he has to come back for another scan and some tests. So, for now, his treatments are done. Just waiting for some side affects to wear off before we really determine what the outcome is. My mom is being Super Pessimist Lady, which is kind of annoying... But I guess I can't blame her. Not like we're strangers to this whole cancer thing. I feel like I could write a frickin' book on it. Ugh.

Anyways... That's all the news that is news for now. Gonna make Skip put up my bird feeder when he gets home and hopefully watch the birds flock to it. Fingers crossed!!

--Malaya

Spring!

Ah, the changing of the seasons. Who would've known I'd fall in love so quickly? Florida's ever-green state will never be so appealing to me as a place where Winter turns to Spring, Spring to Summer, Summer to Fall, and Fall to Winter.

The trees here in Oklahoma are getting their leaves back... And the grass is green and full of all kinds of little flowers. Neighborhoods are full of yards in bloom... Tulips, daylillies, daffodils, crocuses... It's all so wonderful. Spring might just be my second most favorite season, after Fall, that is.

Not much has been going on here... Had an Easter dinner at our place, which was just shy of bittersweet. My grandpa was supposed to come out for the day, but he hasn't been feeling up to it. Actually, he's been hallucinating a bit... We're not sure what's causing it, but it's definitely cause for some concern. He should be finished with treatments by the 14th, and will hopefully be heading back to Florida soon. So we'll see how all that goes.

Wait... Easter! Easter dinner was interesting. I've never cooked for that many people before, so it was definitely a learning experience. Skip helped out with everything, which made it all that much easier. He actually saved the day, when a leaky tinfoil pan tried to ruin my ham... I was on the verge of tears, and all he could say was, "BAAAAAABBBBYYYYY! It's gonna be OOOOOKKKAAAAAYYY!" He did ruin two of my kitchen towels trying to get the mess out of the oven... But I seriously couldn't get mad about it. He saved the day! Towels are replaceable.

I've spent much of this morning researching tanning... Tanning beds, tanning salons, effects of tanning, types of tanning, tips for tanning... And some of the information and advice I was given was sort of startling. The risks associated with conventional tanning beds are really kind of frightening. Skin cancer? No thanks. But yet, so many people I polled on facebook were all for it. I am constantly amazed at how people can willingly do something to their body that will ultimately kill them or cause them great harm. (Smoking? Indoor tanning?) After doing my homework, I've decided to try a spray-on tan. A place in town does them for a pretty reasonable amount, so I'm going to give it a try. I'll risk turning orange rather than getting melanoma. I think there's enough cancer in my family history... Why increase my odds?

I also discovered that the tree outside our apartment is a Sycamore... Which I know isn't headline news, but it's puzzled us since we moved here. The seed pods are really unusual, and it's pretty much the last tree in the complex to start getting its leaves back. I'm thinking about getting a bird/squirrell feeder to hang in it, once it gets some more leaves.

Time to start working on dinner... Dijon Chicken? Sounds good to me. :)

--Malaya