Angela, This is for You!

According to www.post-gazette.com, the black bear population is on the rise in Pennsylvania. Once found only in remote northern forests, black bears have recently been sighted near Greensburg, Butler, and even Pittsburgh. The population has grown from around 4,000 in 1970 to around 15,000 today. All that the bears need to support life is an abundant food source (rabbits, groundhogs, opossums, and fish) and the safety to grow to maturity. I would say that, given the heavily wooded areas in and around Erie, it is entirely possible that you did in fact see a bear!

P.S., I tried to find a picture of a black bear to put on this post but I couldn't figure out how to upload a picture from the web.

Enjoying The Barnes Resort

I returned from my vacation to Erie last night, but I was having technical difficulties so I was unable to blog it at that time. I have to say, the Barnes family has a fabulous resort. I highly recommend it to everyone. The neighborhood is so quiet and peaceful that you would never know there were busy city streets just a few blocks away. Their backyard is so shady and full of bird song in the day and fireflies at night that I could enjoy just that part of the resort for days at a time. I am already missing the s'mores!

We went to Niagara Falls on Saturday and it truly is a spectacular sight. Nate really wanted to take the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the bottom of the falls, but he was vetoed. Sorry, Nate!

The first photo is a view of the American side of the falls through the mist, and the next one is a view of the water just starting to go over the falls on the Canadian side. The third photo shows the American side of the falls and Rainbow Bridge, and on the bottom you can see the Maid of the Mist boat heading to the bottom of the falls on the Canadian side.







After we viewed the Falls and ate at a cute restaurant with okay food and terrible service, we explored some of the tourist sights near the Falls. The kids were excited to check out the Guinness Book of World Records Museum which turned out to be a huge disappointment. There were tons of attractions on that street that we could have checked out, but it was extremely crowded so we were content with enjoying an ice cream cone in the park. Liv picked up this cool cardinal walking stick that she had been wanting since her last trip to Niagara Falls.

On Sunday we went out to Presque Isle and Liv and I spent a couple of hours body surfing in the waves. We managed to get Nate, Grandma, and the Beaver out there for a while as well. The water looked really cold, but once you got wet it was fine.

We had lunch at a darling restaurant which we like to refer to as Smuggler's Dwarf at Gobbler's Knob. (It is really called Smuggler's Wharf, and I can't remember what the area is really called.)

Before I left on Monday we checked out the Tom Ridge Environmental Center near Presque Isle and we learned about the formation of Presque Isle and the animals that live in the area. I'm sorry Ang, but it there was no mention of there being any bears in the area. We went out onto the observation tower and looked across the lake and wondered how far it was to the other side. According to Wikipedia it is 57 miles wide at the widest part, and even from our cruising altitude on the plane I could not see the other side. It is one HUGE lake! It was also cool to look out over the suburbs of Cleveland which appear to be almost completely forested. It is a beautiful place, and I am jealous! I miss you all already, and I hope that you will enjoy a s'more for me.

Countdown to Erie

I am packed and ready to go! Nate, I would love to go to Niagra Falls, and I am game to do anything and everything while we are there, possibly even a boat ride. I will bring plenty of Dramamine and some animal crackers to keep my stomach settled. Hershey Store, anyone?

I will be coming into Cleveland on Delta 4188 from Atlanta. I am supposed to arrive in Cleveland at 2:09, but since I am connecting through Atlanta Nate will probably want to check to make sure the flight is on time before he comes to pick me up. I have never had a connecting flight through Atlanta that left on time. I will call from Atlanta if it looks like the flight will be delayed, but Nate, I need your phone number!

Tick is going to be home alone for the weekend, so if any of you want to stop by and give her a pig ear I'm sure she would appreciate it. Jo is going to come by and feed her every day. The food bin and her dishes are under the kitchen counter, and pig ears and biscuits are in the top of the coat closet. Please keep the bags on the top shelf of the closet because if you leave them down where she can reach them she will eat the entire bag in one sitting. She once ate an entire four pound bag of Beneful because I left it down where she could get to it.

I will post pictures when I get back. Barnes family, I can't wait to see you!

Gotcha!

Well, almost. Here you see Marge inside the jaguar skull. She was on her back but she appears to have flipped right-side-up as I snapped the picture. I will continue to stalk her.

Proof that Tick does more than just sleep - sometimes she snacks! Here she is pushing her stupid treat ball around the house. She whines and whines and whines for this thing. Why can't my dog be happy with a non-edible chew toy like Baby?

Not Much

All right, I really have nothing to blog about but I don't want to be the weakest link!

Grandma Joann and I took a trip to Logan yesterday to attend a temple session, then we spent an hour visiting with Aunt Ila.

I spent several hours every day at work last week trying to get my room put together for our open house this Thursday. Jamie will be in to help me this week, and hopefully we will be able to get some interviews done and hire someone before the open house. I realize that that may be pushing it, but I can always hope. I printed off a list of my high school students last week to find that, once again, they have royally screwed things up for me. I had to have one of the counsellors fax the class lists to Marie in Alaska so that she could get all of the students squared away where they need to be. Nobody will let me do that, despite the fact that I have been there for 19 years and I actually do know what is going on.

Other than working I am just waiting for Friday so I can fly out to spend the weekend with the Barnes family.

Random Thoughts

I went to the dump today (thanks for the truck, Denise) and luckily nothing went flying out of the back of the truck on the way. As I approached the dump I saw this sign, which made me laugh.



Nate may be stalking the birds in his backyard, but I am stalking one of the fish in my aquarium. Large Marge is the big striped fish at the bottom of the tank toward the left.

Several times each day as I walk past the door to the guest room I glance in and find Large Marge lying flat on her back inside the jaguar skull pictured below. Apparantly the fish knows that it's behavior is "fishy" and feels sheepish about being caught because the minute I set foot in the room it darts out of the skull and hides in the tree. Yesterday Marge was lying on her back in the skull and one of my little algae eaters was lying next to her. The algae eater was not at all concerned about my approach and did not dart away.

And yes, the glass is covered with algae that I can't scrape off, and my algae eaters are too lazy to do their job.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me?

I went into school this morning to feed my fish and I found a message on my school phone informing me that my assistant Annie has decided not to return to DHS this fall. She claimed that she wished she could have talked to me directly, but she couldn't find my phone number. Umm, are you freaking kidding me? Did she check her cell phone? I watched her enter my phone number into her cell phone last fall, and she has called me on that number several times. Oh, and since her brother did work on my bathroom he has my phone number as well!

So now I am left scrambling to fill her position less than 3 weeks before school starts. We can't even officially open the job until she has turned in a letter of resignation to human resources, and when I tried to call her this morning she wasn't answering. It's always nice to find out that a person who you thought was a friend really isn't.