Random Stuff

Okay, here are some random things I have to share with you:

After almost 6 months on the Jenny Craig program, I am down Twenty-nine pounds! My plan is to hit 30 by Christmas, which will be a piece of (low-fat) cake & to be at my goal weight by my birthday in mid-March -- both are completely attainable.

I enrolled & registered for my first two 8-week sessions of classes for my MBA at Missouri Baptist University. I will be taking Managerial Accounting from January - March, & Financial Management from March - April. Tuition reimbursement forms have been turned in for work, so I'll eventually get some of the money back.

I have no clue what to get my little bro for Christmas. He already has most of the cool t-shirts from Northern Sun, maybe I'll try T-Shirt Hell. He's so freaking hard to shop for, I spend more time finding "the perfect gift" for him each year than I do on anyone else.

Today's story on how "little" details can change an entire story & a caution about making judgements without all the facts:
Apparently, yesterday my favorite morning radio show, Cornbread on WIL 92.3 got a call or email from an extremely unhappy parent wanting to share their story. "Parent" writes that their middle school child was in the lunchroom reading her Bible, when the Principal came over & said "you can't read that here" & ushered "child" to a semi-detention area "where she could read." This caused a lot of Anti-Principal ruckus with people talking about First-Amendment infringement & taking the separation of religion & state thing too far, "child" is being persecuted for her religious beliefs, etc. People called the school, complained on the radio, DJ said how it was unfair, blah blah blah.
This morning, another parent whose child attends the same school writes in to set the record straight. Apparently, students aren't allowed to have pencils, papers, or books OF ANY KIND in the lunchroom. Suddenly this goes from religious persecution by "the establishment" to a kid breaking the rules. Hmmmmm..... Parent2 goes on to add that Principal is wonderful & does a great job, & that the school board had already met & decided to allow kids to bring ONE book into the lunchroom. Problem solved, Principal was enforcing standard rules, and everyone else ends up with egg on their face. Props to the DJ for apologizing & then asking folks to please have all the facts before calling him with a story like this. When you're that noticeable, it's not easy to admit you goofed.

Okay, that's the end of the story, and the end of this post. I'm off to work, have a great day!

Happy Turkey Day!

Okay, to make up for the sad elephant news, I am going to share with you a list of things for which I am thankful this holiday season. It's not comprehensive, I'm quite sure I'll forget a thing or two, but I think it's important to write it down -- try it!

Top Ten Things I am Thankful For (in no particular order):
- My wonderful family
- My awesome friends
- The fact that I have a job that I like, with people who are (for the most part) fun to work with, that pays the bills!
- My sweet "pretty birds" Chitter & Pod
- All other animals I'm lucky enough to share my life with
- My health, which has improved thanks to. . .
- The support of my family & friends in my weight-loss endeavors
- The great folks I'm lucky enough to work with at the Zoo
- The country I live in -- it's not perfect, and I'd prefer a leader who didn't look like a monkey*, but I have faith that we can all work together to make it what it's supposed to be
- My boyfriend (in a non-sappy way, thank you)


*My sincerest apologies to all monkeys, I meant no offense, but you know it's true.

Sad News

Our baby elephant died in utero. As far as I know, Mom Elephant is okay. This is a sucky, unfair, sad end to a 22-month wait. The complete story can be found here. The dedication & compassion shown by the Elephant Keepers is another example of why we're one of the top zoos in the world. Please send good thoughts to the keepers & the remaining two pregnant elephants.

Zoo Babies!

While those of us here in Saint Louis await the arrival of the first of THREE baby Asian elephants to be born between now & Fall of 2008 (be patient, it takes a long time to make a baby elephant -- twenty-two months!), I thought I'd share with you San Diego's Panda Cam, where you can catch a glimpse of their adorable baby panda, Su Lin.

More info to come when the first baby elephant (a girl!) arrives - which should be sometime this week!

Yay Spongebob!

Thought you would enjoy this pic of the Halloween costume John & I constructed for him this season:

It was a great hit at his friends' Halloween party!

I've been holding out on you . . .

I know, I know -- I've been absent, missing, elsewhere, distant -- things have been very busy, but I still love you. So, I present to you, a string of updates on various aspects of my life . . . and after that, a revelation I've been hiding.

Jenny Craig Update: 25 lbs as of my last meeting, more than halfway to my goal -- here's a picture of the new, smaller me:


Work Update: Work has been busy. I was in charge of organizing the first "Customer Service Appreciation Day" for my office staff, that went very well! Then, I was asked to assist with the display boards for "Maintenance Appreciation Week" -- everyone has said how awesome they look, pat on the back for me! 10/25 makes my one-year anniversary in my current position, and I really can't believe it's been a year already. My boss has suggested that I start looking for advancement opportunities within the company, but most if not all of the positions want someone with a business degree, which I don't have. Which brings me to . . .

School Update: I'm selling my soul for an MBA. Well, not really my soul, and in fact the hospital will pay $3,000 a year in tuition reimbursement, so it's a pretty sweet deal. I get a Master's degree, some "on-paper" business experience, and a chance for advancement where I am. Even better, since I'm not planning on staying here forever & I still plan on pursuing my PhD in Biology, I could then go to an organization like the Saint Louis Zoo & say "look, I have degrees that say I can manage animals, people, and money . . . hire me!"

Those are the current events, and now the promised revelation:
I've been seeing someone. That's right, I have . . . a boyfriend. We've been dating for 5 months which, for reference, is the longest relationship I've ever been in. He is, as my mother describes him, "smart, funny, and only slightly cocky," which is good, because it means that he can hold his own with me. Grandma says if he wasn't a little cocky, I'd eat him alive. He refers to my birds as "feathered noisemakers," but he still whistles at them because he knows they like it. He puts up with my sense of humor, and he has a puppy! That's all I'm going to share right now, but if you're lucky, more may follow.

Math is Fun!

Check this out. One of the guys @ work figured out how it works, can you?