Randomness - Late February Edition

I'm back with a random catch up on all the little things that have happened in the last two weekends.

• Way back on the day after Valentine's Day Dan and I took a little trip over to Illinois.  We first stopped for lunch at Schlaffly Bottleworks which is not in Illinois.  Then we headed to our destination in Maryville... Corbett Birds.  Where Dan put a deposit on a Yellow Crowned Amazon.  I know a lot of people aren't big bird fans... and probably find them silly... but honestly him getting a bird, and one as cool as a Parrot (this guy will be able to talk and you'll have him out of the cage) - I am really excited about getting to learn more about owning a bird and such.  The babies were so stinking cute... and ugly... but so ugly they were cute.  Here's a picture of them when we saw them.

And here's a picture of them just one week later - it's crazy the difference a week makes in bird terms.

They have feathers now!  It's still going to be about 6-7 weeks before he's able to come home... but I'm betting that time will fly by!  Dan requested a male, but there's still a change we'll get a female.  Although they tell me there's not a whole lot of difference between the two.

• On Saturday we had a pretty low key day and then hung out with my cousins that night.  Dan is really enjoying the cousins, so we've been spending a lot of time with them.  I always have a good time with them, they are funny, fun and not uppity in the slightest.  Plus, Andy's son Ari loves Dan... probably b/c he let him play with his phone, but it's like super duper adorable.
• On Sunday we decided to take a random trip to the zoo.  It was on the the cold side - but we were able to find street parking and it wasn't too crowded.  We got to see a lot of animals.  My favorite to watch is always the otters - they always seem to be playing whenever I'm there.  Dan spent a fair amount of time looking at the parrots... go figure.
• I ended up having two more days off past Sunday... so on Monday I hung around the house and was mostly lazy, but had a nice dinner with Lindsey and Mom.  On Tuesday I forced myself to do something more productive and since the weather wasn't too cold - I cleaned out my car.  In that process - I killed my battery... womp womp.  I ended up calling AAA and they came out and replaced my battery right there in my drive way... so in the end it worked out as good as it could have!
• On Wednesday after work I finally got my hairs cut.  I've needed it for a long long time but I'm lazy and always end up putting it off... and until recently I was really enjoying having really long hair... but then the ends were so dry and damaged it.  I made an appointment with my mom's stylist... I knew having an appointment I would actually go instead of putting it off any longer.  I snapped a couple of before and after photos...

 

Here's the before look... I didn't straighten my hair that day... but if it was straight it would be even longer!

 

Here's the after photo - quite a bit cut off... I took this pic when I got home, but since then I've been wearing the bangs more to the side and liking it a lot.  I'm really happy with how it all turned out and I'm so glad to have all that dry, dead hair removed.  I'm excited about the bangs too!  She also did my eyebrows which I think look really good too

• On Thursday we had quite the winter storm pass through and I got to work from home yay.  And it was so bad I got to work from home Friday too (although I think I would have made it in).  I don't think I'd like the working from home all the time thing.  It's nice to have some motivation to get up and get ready and put on clothes and all that jazz.
• Friday I went over to Dan's and we had a low key night... it was strange for me working on a Friday... and feeling worn out even though I worked from home... strange.
• Saturday was something that I look forward to all year long - VA Trivia night.  We really missed having Keith on the team (he just knows everything) but we still made a good effort.  Our team this year was - Me, Dan, Andy, Susan, Michelle, Dad, Janet and Sarah.  It was a wonderful time as always.  Dan made some rice krispie treats with Captain Crunch - they went over very well!  My mom does such a great job pulling it all together.  After trivia Dan and I went back over to Andy's house and hung out.  We are always there until late at night.
• On Sunday Dan subjected me to one of the most boring sports ever... and I use sport very loosely in that statement... NASCAR... although I do have some more knowledge about it and I 'get it' more than I did, I still can't get over that not much changes... there's not like passing all the time, it's just watching people drive around in a circle... and hope for a wreck... woohoo.  The other weird thing (to me) about Nascar is the in yo face advertising... I mean... it's all over the place and when they interview any of the drivers or whatever they are always pimping out whatever company sponsors them.  I mean, I understand the point of it and all... but I still find it pretty strange.  The other impressive thing is the amount of cameras they have to broadcast that stuff - I mean they are everywhere... and all the drivers are miked so you can hear their conversations... just strange for a "sport" in my opinion.  Let's hope that Nascar doesn't become a normal part of my weekends!  I can handle it for a big race like the Daytona 500, but I'll pass for an every weekend tradition.

Well, that's what's been up with me in a nutshell, I'll be back soon with another book review and another thing I have going on with one of my favorite television shows.