i do not know what to say

i promise you, i do not embellish these stories. this is my life. today started out well enough. i was going to hit the mall with my mom and sister to see if i could find that bathing suit. nathan was playing in a golf tourney, so it was going to work out perfectly. we got out early so we could come home for lunch and naps. it took us longer than we thought to get out to the mall b/c of construction...we ended up taking a detour that kept us moving but just took a little longer. so we get there and hit a few stores....i found my suit!! yahoo! then about 12:30 we were pretty much done and ready to head home for some lunch. i figured nathan wouldn't be done for about an hour or so, so i was going to grab something quick. we dropped nic and ava off with mike and headed toward my house. when we got there i was opening the door and dragging the stroller in......hmm? something's not right. nathan's sunglasses were on the floor in front of the door. what??? then i looked at the couch....a frame had been knocked off the shelf and landed there. what in the...???? i had a split second thought that we had been robbed. but the tv was there.....what's going on??? then from the kitchen the beast emerged.

ANOTHER BIRD WAS IN MY HOUSE!!!!!!!!

i turned and bolted out the front door yelling, "don't let connor in there's a bird in the house!!!" my mom grabbed him and i kept running around to the back of the house.

i went around back to open the window....thankfully, for once it wasn't locked. i had just seen the stupid bird fly against my window so i thought for sure he'd fly right out. and i really hoped he would b/c that was the only window open. i waited and waited....nothing. my mom--who doubles as super woman-- said she was going to go in and spook him out. is she crazy? doesn't she know her eyes could get poked out? her hair could get pooped on? she went in the kitchen where we had last seen the feathered freak and he was long gone but hadn't come out the window. she told me there was blood on the window. almost like he was injured or just ran his beak into the window so many times he bloodied up his face. that's my vote. so i waited with the little man in the back yard watching the window....meanwhile, back at the ranch......my mom was searching the house. she found him in the bathroom sitting on the back of the toilet peeking out from behind a basket. she thought maybe she could grab the door and lock him in....so she's practically army crawling to grab the bottom of the bathroom door when dumbo flies right over her head. he thought he could get out the front window....which basically is the length of my front room. well, he couldn't so he pooped all over the back of my couch and got my cream curtains all bloody. stupid bird. then i hear, "CHRISTINA!! OPEN THE DOOR!" so i run to the front while my mom is in the living room banging my hairbrush against her hand. i get up to the door and just then the bird flies against it to try and escape. freaked me right out. then he goes back to the big window. by that time the door was open and he just had to figure it out. it only took a second after that, and he was out and up in the tree across the street.

did i do something yet again to offend the bird mafia? did i bump off one of their leaders? don't they know my old neighbor used to feed pigeons and i helped once??? my papa is a bird watcher for crying out loud. i've been to hawkfest, the sandhill crane migration, bird sanctuaries from here to the everglades! to my knowledge i've never killed a bird...well, i've eaten plenty of chicken, but do they count? i mean, they're like the outcasts of bird society. stupid enough to be penned up all their lives, suckered into laying eggs for a lousy pile of feed, they don't really fly, and quite frankly....they smell pretty bad. i've eaten turkey but i was under the impression we had an agreement with birds of the world: turkey can be consumed on holidays and special occasions provided they are treated fairly while living and given their choice of last meal. so, what's the dealeo?? why am i being harassed by birds? i don't have an answer just yet, but i do know that the minute nathan got home i asked him to please go right to lowe's for a chimney cover. i'm just hoping they haven't been secretly tunneling in.

so besides the fact that i've been cleaning....um....evidence of his visit....it's been a really great day.

spring has really sprung and i'm hoping it stays that way. it is absolutely gorgeous outside. last night we headed out to my parents for some dinner and connor had a blast. he was throwing rocks into the river as fast as he could get his little paws on them. he was loving it, and grampa (or as connor says, "grrrrr....papa"...he's still working on grampa) was shoveling rocks FROM THE GARDEN so connor could throw them in. let me just say....i would have been in big trouble if i EVER tried to throw one of his garden rocks in a river. but NOOOOOO. connor can do whatever he wants. unbelievable.

he loved playing with these....or..maybe i should say, he loved throwing these in the river.

i'll help you, dad

nevermind...she's got candy

first catch of the year!

yeah, i need to celebrate with more candy!

i was thoroughly mocked for my glasses. my dad said they looked like gramma's glasses. i'll take it as a compliment.

um, connor...you blow bubbles...you don't lick them.

oh, i get it.

i was told i was being "over-protective"

hmm...seems i wasn't the only one!

loves his shades

connor and grrrr...papa.

a lovely sunset after a lovely day