Batey the Beta Fish

Our neighbors left Gainesville for a couple days and asked if we could watch their son's beta fish for them while they are gone. We said yes since we will be in town starting classes again on Monday (how hard could it be?) and here is the note the dad left us... I have had less extensive contact information from parents when I am caring for their actual children...

Mango, Mango

Laura and I are very different when it comes to food. I could eat leftovers for every meal of every day and I will eat the same thing for two or three days in a row without any problem at all. Laura on the other hand finds great amusment in creating meals and trying out new things. For example, this week she brought three mangos back with her from home - mangos are never something I would choose to pick up at the grocery store (in her defense, these three in particular were given to her by a neighbor) but I was curious so I gave one a try (it was quite tasty) and she showed me how to cut it. When I was done we were left with a mango seed that Jess and I decided to plant in the front yard. We assured Kacy that it would be out of the way and she wouldn't even notice it until it was producing tropical fruit for her to eat. We looked online to find out where to plant it and how big it would get and this is what we found "Mango trees make handsome landscape specimens and shade trees. They are erect and fast growing with sufficient heat, and the canopy can be broad and rounded, or more upright, with a relatively slender crown. It is ultimately a large tree, and can grow upwards of 65 ft. The tree is long-lived with some specimens known to be over 300 years old and still fruiting." Hmm... not quite the cute little tree we were picturing but whatever. More importantly, Jess rode over to Kacy's house on a bike she has borrowed from a friend for the summer and I cannot begin to tell you how jealous I am. I have been a runner for the past eight years but I am kind of getting tired of it so I have been spending more time working out on stationary bikes in the gym and swimming laps in the pool. Unfortunatley the gym is closed this week (because we are in the break week between summer terms) and I haven't been able to bring myself to go on a run in the 90+ degree heat. I have a beach cruiser and a mountain bike but they aren't very good for riding long distances. When Jess came over on this thing I was immediately jealous, #1 it looks cool (and looking cool is the best incentive to work out) #2 I can pick it up with two fingers #3 it has cool gears #4 it has a water-bottle holder and last but not least #5 it has the little foot strap/cage thingys (sort of another branch of the looking cool department). Needless to say I want one, a little more incentive to get that first job ;)

The Riddler Roundup

Kacy's house is being painted by Brett (her boyfriend) and a guy who works for Kacy's dad, named Guy. Yes, his name is Guy and he is a painting machine who likes listening to hard rock (like Marilyn Manson) while he works. Guy also helps Mr. Taylor out on his farm (called 'The Lindsey') which is about 40 minutes outside of Gainesville and right now it is birthing season for Mr. Taylor's cows. One of the cows had twin calves recently but she isn't big enough to feed them both so Guy asked Brett to go out to the farm with him to pick up the smaller calf which we named 'The Riddler' because the markings on its forehead look like a question mark. I am on a break in-between summer sessions at school so I rode out to the farm with them in the hopes of seeing one of the other cows give birth (which I did, it was gross). I also had the opportunity to catch the boys in action:I would like it noted that after you see Guy running in slow motion, it cuts immediately to the shot of him holding The Riddler. Why don't I have him catching The Riddler on film you ask? Well that is because it turned out that I was the one who caught him! The boys wore themselves out running around in the field (you can see the mom cow chasing Brett into a big pile of manure) and then when the herd went to run through the gate to the next field I cut The Riddler off and pinned him against a fence until Guy could come grab him. We transported him in the back of Guy's van (his idea, don't ask) and The Riddler got a little nervous about his first car ride so he pooped in the back all over Guy's stuff (that is why Brett is making a face at the end). Don't worry about The Riddler, he went to live at Guy's mom's house with another calf who's mom couldn't feed him. What a nice Guy. Ha.

Molly's Rap Video

Right to Bear Arms

I got an airsoft gun a couple months ago and decided that it would be cool if I knew how to shoot the real deal so today (Saturday) I took a 10 hour class at the Gainesville Gun Range called "Basics of Pistol Shooting". Needless to say it was awesome, I got to use a Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic and I shot about two hundred rounds by the end of the day. The instructor asked if they could take some pictures for the website (I guess they don't get many girls) and I liked this one because you can see the ejected casing flying through the air over my right shoulder...

Mr. Romantic

We were cooking dinner tonight when Brett aka Mr. Romantic asked Kacy if she wanted to go sit with him in the swing and have a beer - Kacy replied with a "Isn't he so dreamy?" to me and joined him for some canoodling in the new tree swing/bench thingy that got put up as part of the Club 1616 makeover. I of course had to go out and make sure they weren't getting out of hand and we decided that we could take some practice Christmas card photos. This one is a bit blurry, but it was the only one where all the dogs were looking...

Its No Secret, She is My Favorite

Maggie really seems to be having a hard time adjusting to Kacy being at work all day.

K. Taylor, RN

Kacy reminded me that until she passes the boards it is technically "K. Taylor, GN" (graduate nurse) BUT since we all know she will pass I thought I would go ahead and jump the gun. For the last two weeks Kacy has had orientation for her new job in the Pediatric ICU here in Gainesville, but today was her first official day of work! Scrubs, nametag and all... doesn't she look so professional? I felt healed just looking at her. I also felt compelled to point out that yesterday was her last day of summer vacation until she is 65 years old (a bit depressing if you ask me) to which she quickly responded "at least I will be done six months before you are".

Fried Chicken

The traditional Sunday meal at Camp Illahee consists of fried chicken, wild rice, broccoli smothered in cheese sauce and rolls topped with butter and honey. Since I am trying to hold off feeling sorry for myself that I am studying about psychiatric nursing instead of getting payed to play in the mountains, I made (as close as possible) this meal for myself during my study break tonight. It didn't have quite the taste of food that is prepared in mass quantities but I enjoyed it none the less. The campers usually have this meal for lunch so that the kitchen staff can have the evening off. Instead of a hot meal for dinner, the girls make sandwiches and everyone sits outside in their crazy creeks listening to James Taylor and practicing their skits for the Sunday night campfire. In the interest of tradition I ate my dinner on the back porch and I even listened to "Carolina on My Mind" by James Taylor while I did the dishes ;)

shiskebabs

I don't think anyone really knows how to spell that word... in fact, I'm not even convinced that it is a real word - but we made them tonight. Kacy overestimated a bit when she was grocery shopping and we ended up with enough food for about eight people but they were very tasty and Gus, Maggie and Molly were kind enough to help us out with some of the excess.

Kacy as a Monkey

Brett was messing around with all the different photo options on Kacy's Mac laptop and managed to catch her off guard in this one - it was our favorite because she looks so much like a monkey (look at her little monkey hand). Direct Brett quote "it looks like you just called 'Hey monkey!' and she turned because of the noise".

Blade, Brett Blade

Brett got a new suit so of course we made him model it as soon as he got home. We were watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which explains the secret agent glasses) and he could have easily passed for Brad Pitt - trust me, it looks P.I.M.P.

Opening Day

I have been a counselor at Camp Illahee for the past four summers. This summer I am stuck in Gainesville but today is the first day of the first camp session of THIS summer and I couldn't help but pay tribute by dressing up in my Sunday whites. This is the uniform that counselors wear on opening (if you look closely you will see that I am wearing my nametag) and closing day and it is also what everyone in camp wears on Sunday mornings for our version of church. We wear white shorts, white polo shirts embroidered with the "CI" symbol (for Camp Illahee), blue ties (it is tradition, this camp has been around since 1921) and tennis shoes. My tie knot is held together by a "CI" pin that is given to counselors who return for a second summer at Illahee. The campers can earn a pinetree pin by coming back for their fifth summer at Illahee and it is pretty cool to see how many campers wear their mom's or grandmother's old pins from back when THEY were campers at Illahee. All the kids were dropped off by ten this morning in time for some break-the-ice/getting-to-know-you games before lunch. This afternoon they will get a tour of camp (so that they will know where all their activities will meet tomorrow), they will take a trip to the Wishing Well (the nurses' cabin) for a lice check and they will get a chance to go swimming in the lake. Tonight after a traditional Sunday meal of fried chicken they will have an opening night campfire where the counselors will perform skits welcoming them back to the Heavenly World (that is what Illahee means in Cherokee). Tonight at 9:30 Taps will be playing (at camp AND in my room) to signal that flashlight time is over and that the summer has officially begun.

Stalking the Wild Kacy

Kacy had to get a whole new round of vaccinations for her job in the pediatric ICU. One of the shots hit a nerve and when she came home from the hospital that day, her shoulder was hurting her enough that she was favoring it and couldn't move her arm very far from her side. I was very amused by this because you would be suprised at the number of activities of daily living that require reaching up (like washing your hair or reaching across the table for a dinner roll or driving) and every time she would try to do one of these things she very closely resembled a T-Rex with tiny little arms that can't reach very far. While we are on a Kacy post I would like to share with you a little gem that we found strolling down memory lane today. When I met Kacy she had this picture on display in her bathroom, she was living in a condo at the time so we were pretty good friends by the time I used her bathroom (since there was another one for guests) and it quickly become one of my favorite pictures. I won't say which one she is and we'll see if you can pick her out. Kacy, you know I love you and you know I (and every other awkward teenager) had an outfit exactly like that so I am not laughing at you (or your shoes) I'm laughing with you.

They Like Me Best

We were watching TV last night (me, Kacy and Brett) and this is where the dogs chose to sit. Coincidence? I think not.

Brett Loses It

Kacy has lived off campus for her entire college career and (out of necessity) has become quite the chef. I however have been enjoying the easy life in the sorority house and, as a result, have about four meals in my repertoire. Coincidentally, NPR just ran a story for new grads about easy-to-make meals that can be made in small amounts (like one serving instead of four) and in an attempt to expand my horizons I downloaded a couple of the recipies. We tried the first one (Chicken and Snow Peas Ginger Stir-Fry) out tonight... well actually Kacy tried it out because I was at the gym when she started cooking, but you get the idea. I got home in time to help chop up the last of the ingredients and take a couple pictures of Kacy in action. Brett had just finished a day of painting (Club 1616 is getting a makeover) and was making fun of me for taking pictures of such a seemingly mundane task so I tried to take a video of him dancing to spice it up a bit and he got a little camera shy. Oh Blade, you are one of a kind. Don't worry, he is just joking...

Captain Chaos

We went out to the Mud Bogg again this past Sunday but this time I convinced Brett, Kacy and their friend Austin to come along and spend the day with some of Florida's finest. Kacy agreed on the grounds that if she is going to be a good nurse practitioner, then she is going to need to understand why the children are all so dirty. As 'Exhibit A' I would like to present this picture, yes those are two children swimming BUT instead of thier parents taking them to the beach or to a nice clean lake on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, their folks decided that it would be OK to just let them take a dip in the local mud hole. Instead of 'adult swim' like they have at normal pools during the summer, every now and then one of the giant trucks would rev its engine real loud and the kids would wade over to the edge 1) to avoid being squased and 2) to jump in the truck for a ride. Brett filmed and narrated one of the trucks mudding, you can hear him say "kids in tow" refering to the 8 children in the cab of the truck and if you listen closely you can also catch a "shiver me timbers" going along with the pirate theme from my last post ;)