Bee Transport

A couple weeks ago I was stuck in traffic on the way to work. I mean I was just sitting there because they had completely closed down I-95. I was behind this truck and I found the colorful boxes rather curious. It looked like it was transporting bees. Well--that would explain the bees buzzing all around the cars.

I snapped this photo as I passed the truck. Yep. Bees. In the boxes. Out of the boxes, but behind the netting. And bees outside the netting. I knew that people shipped bees through the US mail, but I had never thought of them being transported en masse on a truck--but still sort of free to roam about.

Trapeze: Mixed Bag, I'm Sad

Class today was a mixed bag. I practiced my swing and my set whip. My whip wasn't nearly as good as it was on Wednesday (in the photo my chin should be tucked.) I'm not sure if that has something to do with it being so early in the morning. Who knows. Our class has chosen superheros as a theme for our show and I'm going to be Silk Spectre II. I think I have everything in the Amazon cart. I'll buy it all this weekend.

I asked if I could try the set planche and Donovan and Meghan said I wasn't strong enough. I'm really bummed about that. Time to start working out. One of the girls in my class was also doing the birdie, which I have been told is just for kids. To top it off I missed both my catches. I'm sad.

During class today Mandy and Mike (teachers for the Wednesday night class) were practicing a partner balancing/hand to hand routine. I snapped this photo of this super cool balance.

Meagan (a classmate) showed me how to do a Russian climb on the silks. Apparently I have been doing the French. I tried it out, but I didn't have the energy (even at the start of class) to climb all the way to the top. I'll make more of an effort to get video next week--silks climbing and my swing.

Trapeze: Starting to swing.

I forgot my camera, and my phone didn't want to cooperate, so there isn't any video from last night. The bottom line is I caught the set whip again--twice, and started working in hands. I also started swinging. Swinging is hard work. I thought I was tired before class. Wow. After just a couple of passes I wanted to let go and drop into the net. It is hard on the hands, and even harder on the core. Dan said I am picking it up pretty quickly. It will be odd going back to class with Donovan on Saturday. I was actually hoping to pick up next Wednesday, but when I got home it had just been picked up by someone else. Oh well. I still have another class with the Wednesday group in two weeks. And if another class comes up I will probably be a sucker and pick it up.

Terrific Tejal

We got to spend some time with Tejal this past weekend. We ate (at Hut's) and ate (ice cream at Amy's), and ate (at Magnolia Cafe). We also hung out a little bit. 

Ross with his two wives. Twice the nagging, none of the love.

Year of the Zoo: San Antonio Zoo

Fish nibbling stuff off the butt of a hippo.

The grey fuzzies are flamingo chicks--and check out the egg on the mound.

We saw an ocelot chillin' in the heat and I got an ocelot stamp on my hand from the zoo staff.

I managed to snap a photo when the tiger looked up at me.

Zebra eel. It was mesmerizing.

We got to catch up with Monica and Richard while we were at the zoo.

Me on a Cow

That's me on one of the stone cows at the Arboretum in Austin. I look a little blue because they had some lights focused on the cows that kept changing colors.

Amy's: Another Taste of Heaven

Amy's Ice Creams is another Austin must have.  I slipped into the Amy's on 6th and Lamar with the aim to sneak an ice cream without Ross, but didn't find a flavor I had to have. One of the awesome guys behind the counter gave me the phone number to call and request a flavor and also told me about how I could check the flavors at each location online. I didn't get bourbon, but I did get a stout, molasses, and butter beer. Ross chose sweet cream with strawberries, saturday morning cartoons, and the cookie monster combo. Oh, and Tejal had just vanilla with chocolate sauce. Delightful.

BBQ in Texas: Home Sweet Home

The first place we headed to when we touched down in Texas was The County Line. There is nothing like their beef ribs. The view is great and the smell was so grounding. That mix of sage and who-knows-what that signals you are in Texas. Pure heaven.

Set Whip with Catch

I went to trapeze on Wednesday--I had picked up a class from Havala because I need the extra practice. The Wednesday night crew is great. After a couple of turns practicing the set split I tried the set whip. This trick felt very natural, very comfortable. I really think it will be my trick in the show. I will go to Wednesday class again this week. I have to choose between learning the pullover shoot or working on my swing. I think I will work on my swing and see if my regular teachers will let me try the set planche on Saturday.

Thanks to Mandy on lines, Mike on the board, and Dan catching. And the Wednesday night students who were kind enough to video me.

Snakeskin Leggings

Here is a photo to show the details of my snakeskin leggings.

Poodleleg

After a couple of rounds of food, water, and belly rubbing I put Baily in her litter box. She immediately stepped back out, but when I turned around to pretend I wasn't watching she went back in and pooped.  After a brief search I found the cherry pit. Relief! When I took her back to the vet on Wednesday morning she had her IV taken out and didn't have to get another x-ray. She's all better now, but her leg is shaved where they had the IV in. I keep calling her poodleleg.

Bailey Gets X-Rayed

Today has been a bit of a roller coaster for us.  Actually, it all started yesterday. Bailey puked up some clear liquid at 5am. When Ross checked on her at noon she hadn't thrown up, but didn't seem right. He said her tummy was gurgley. Bailey had 5 more episodes of vomiting between 7pm last night and 4am this morning.

When we took her in this morning the Vet said she was dehydrated. We let the vet know that Bailey may have eaten a cherry pit on Sunday night.  We were all bad. I made a cherry cake and apparently missed one of the pits. When Ross bit into the pit he put it onto his plate--then put the plate on the floor. Then (we think) Bailey ate it.

X-rays showed something suspicious in Bailey's belly. The vet said they would keep her to rehydrate her and then do follow up x-rays to see if the spot moved.  If the spot didn't move then Bailey would need surgery.

We came home and fretted until we heard that the noon x-ray was promising--the spot had moved. The 3pm and 6pm x-rays didn't show as much movement as the vet wanted. The good news was that she was taking food and water and hadn't had any more episodes of vomiting. We decided to bring her home. As soon as we got home I put her in her litter box--the 6pm x-ray showed her with a very full bladder. I'm happy to report that she immediately peed.

She ate at the vet's and then she ate when she got home. She's been drinking water. I've rubbed her belly. Now if only she would poop.

Tomorrow morning I will take Bailey back in for a follow up x-ray and they will remove her IV if she's hydrated. I'm just hoping she passes the spot by tomorrow morning.
She's not happy about the IV--even though they wrapped it up in fancy blue coband with stars:

Celebrity Visit

I haven't posted a celebrity sighting in a long time. Last night I had a lot of very vivid dreams. In one dream I had the habit of grabbing a guy's junk--especially when we were going down the stairs. Odd, I know. In the dream I had 4 or 5 guy friends who knew it was just something flirtatious that I did all the time and they were fine with it. One guy thought that my crotch-grab was a come-on. I had to explain to him that it was no such thing. Then a little later (after I had grabbed him again I presume) he really tried to put the moves on me--I'll spare you the details.  When I rebuffed him again he told me that he didn't like me grabbing his junk, and neither did Colbert. That's right, Stephen Colbert. Apparently I grabbed his junk on a regular basis. Stephen walked by, but didn't say anything. I had a whole argument with the guy that if Colbert didn't like it, he should tell me himself. Then I had an argument with myself about whether I should be grabbing Colbert since he was married. Such an odd dream--where I liked to grab guys's junk--including Colbert's.

Set Hocks Off with Catch

Class went pretty well today. Donovan barely holds my belt on the take-offs (to prepare me for unassisted take off) and it feels a little scary. Apparently all my take offs were good except for my last one. We got a bonus round and I chose to practice the set split. Apparently I made a funny face before take off, which always means I'm gonna have a poopy (Meaghan's word) take off. Other than the takeoff the split went well. I think I was just tired. When I landed in the net I was seeing stars. 

I missed my first catch, but Meaghan took responsibility for it.  I made the catch on the second try, but I don't like how it looks. I don't like how this trick looks in general. I'll be going to class on Wednesday, and Meaghan said I can move on. I guess the set planche or the set whip is next. 

I got lots of compliments on my snakeskin leggings--which I got at Goodwill for one dollar!

High Heat Trapeze

Ross, Ainsmar, and I went to an outdoor trapeze class at 10:45 this morning. The predicted high in DC for today was 95, but I'm fairly certain it reached 102 (the car said 106 when we got in it.) The class kinda sucked. It was really hot and the class had 7 newbies.  I think the heat distracted everyone and people were moving slowly--which meant we didn't get as many turns as we normally do. 

I warmed up with the set split, then Donovan set me to work on the set hocks off. I was springing out of my hold, which caused me to rotate. By the end of class I finally got the trick--but I didn't get the chance to try and catch. Joelle, who is in my IFW class, was there and we got to chat some. We are trying to think of a theme for our show in August.

Ross worked on his set straddle, and caught it twice. Oh, and he also started working on the set whip. Next time he needs to try the one handed take-off.

Ainsmar did pretty well. He was able to do all the steps of the knee hang on his first try. It took him several swings, but he did them all. I hope he had fun--despite the heat.

Me after take off--on my last turn (that I had greedily snuck in.)  I tweaked my back just after that. I'm hoping some muscle relaxers and pain killers will help me sleep it off tonight.

 Donovan catching Ross. A pro took this photo.

A pro also took this really awesome photo of Ross just before he hit the net.

Ainsmar's last turn with a great backflip dismount.

Me practicing my set hocks off.

Ross's set straddle catch.

Rockin' Roller Derby

My friend Amy invited us to check out the Charm City Roller Girls with her last night. The first bout was between the Charm City Female Trouble and the Philly Independence Dolls. My favorite roller girl was CC Bang Bang of the CC Female Trouble. She was so tiny, and so tough. Throughout the bout we learned about the pack, the blockers, the jammers, the different ref calls, and the basic rules. We were lucky enough to have Mighty Mite (a rollergirl herself), and her husband explain things to us.

So basically 5 blockers from each team line up as the pack. One jammer from each team starts behind the pack. The whistle blows and the jammers try to break through the pack. The jammer who breaks out first is the lead jammer. She skates around the track, comes back around to the back of the pack, and scores a point for each of the opposing team members she passes. That's a jam.

The second bout was crazy fast action. The Charm City Roller Girls All Stars rolled hard against the Philly Liberty Belles. V. Diva of the Liberty Belles had some kind of teleporting powers.  She'd bust through the pack so fast there was no way we could track her. And she made scoring look so easy. She conserved her energy and would dance through the pack as soon as an opening presented itself. I really enjoyed the second bout. It was fun, and I would definitely go again.

The Independence Doll jammer has broken through the pack. The officials and refs are in the center of the rink.

V. Diva has magically appeared ahead of the pack, which is still jostling at the starting line.

What a jam looks like.

FYI, the Philly teams won both bouts. Oh, and we couldn't understand one word the announcers/commentators were saying. It was ridiculous. At least the music--when we could hear it--was good.

Crappo Set Split with Catch

I caught the set split this week. It was frustrating. I don't know what is wrong with me. I just couldn't get the dang trick to work all the way every time. My second try at catching I had a much better split, but we touched fingertips--no catch--just like last week. Meaghan said I can move on to a new trick, and I'm kind of relieved. I just can't seem to get my straight leg up to the bar and keep it there.

Set Split--with Miscalculation by Donovan

The set-split seemed to be easier for me to get than the set straddle. Everyone said my first try was awesome--of course after that I kept messing up.  It was warm in the tent, and I was doing lots of exercises between turns. We were short a couple of people, so the time between turns was shorter. I was very tired and very sweaty by the end of class. I'm getting better at climbing the silks, I got higher up this week.

I got one try to catch--and we just touched finger-tips. Donovan said it was his fault. He said I had a fast take off and to remind him of that next time.

I really tried to stretch the backs of my legs and pushed myself during Wednesday's yoga class.  I was super sore after yoga, and I'm still sore now, but I think it helped and my split looks pretty good. I may start a new trick next week, I may not. I'm not sure. I really think I need to practice this one more. I need to practice keeping my back leg glued to the bar.

Calluses are forming at the base of my fingers. I'm toughening up my manotas.  At least I haven't broken a nail.  Cello required calluses and short nails.

Dulce de Leche: Manna from Heaven

On our trip to California Tiffany introduced us to this heavenly caramel. We were devouring it on scrumptious slightly-sweet mini bagels, toast, whatever we could smear it on. Tiffany offered to send us home with a jar, but we didn't want to pay 25 bucks to check the luggage for a 7 dollar jar of caramel. This week I was wandering around Wegmans after picking up my favorite English tea--Typhoo, when I spotted this little gem. It has been opened, and I'm not sure how long it is going to last....now if only I could find those mini-bagels.