Butch

You want to know more about elephants? I'll tell you more about elephants! Besides telling you that they are the coolest creatures ever, which we all already know, I will tell you that they have six sets of teeth in their lifetime and once the last ones have been worn down they pretty much have to eat mush and so soon after that happens is when they tend to die but they can live up to 70 years old. Their teeth are crazy looking, sort of like ribbon candy. And they only have four teeth. Two on top, two on bottom.




(these two pics are from the internet but all the rest are from my trip)

This is when we first were greeting Butch and putting him on the washing pad while our guide told us a bit about elephants in general.



Then they had us move away so they could "stretch him out" or make him lay down.





He could probably do this a lot quicker but he likes to take his time and he is always trying to maneuver closer to the mud which is why they need the two workers there to direct him.

When we were washing them the workers were feeding him. This kept him happy. However, he really enjoys being washed and it is really good for him and his skin. The skin has wrinkles that trap the water which helps protect his skin and keep him cool.





This next video is mainly just for Nicki and anybody else that wants to sit through a 7 minute slide show of me washing an elephant! It was my first time using the "scrapbook" feature on my video program so sorry about the weird automatic transitions that they put in. I should also probably apologize for the odd background music choices. Whatever.



My favorite part of the elephant is definitely his trunk. There are thousands of muscles in an elephant's trunk. He does not eat food or drink water through his trunk, he picks up the food with his trunk and puts it in his mouth. He sucks up water into his trunk and then squirts it into his mouth. He can use his trunk as a snorkel when he goes swimming.



After his bath they brought Butch back to the enclosure with the other elephants, the zebras, the water buffalo and the ostriches. There is one elephant who is new and follows Butch around like an annoying kid sister. She is a runt because she has food allergies so she was stunted during her growth period. Don't get me wrong, she's an elephant so she's still really big, but for an elephant she is small. They have figured out what she can eat and she is doing really well there. During the day all the elephants have to eat the certain hay that she can handle (otherwise she would get into their food and get sick) but at night they separate the elephants and they get to eat other food. Also, an elephants skin is too thick (an inch thick!) to do allergy testing so they just have to figure it out by seeing what makes her sick.

He then proceeded to cover himself with dirt. Again, picking it up with that amazing trunk of his and spraying it all over himself. The runt stood right next to him and closed her eyes so that she would get the benefit of the dirt bath without the work!

I'm not sure what else I can tell you. They just have an amazing vibe about them. I love you, Butch!

Monterey

I could get used to living here. I don't say that about many places. I loved visiting Sonoma but I couldn't live there. I sort of hate San Francisco (shhhh!) with all those hills and tightly packed buildings. It seriously makes me feel a bit claustrophobic- what can I say, I am from Illinois and am used to being able to see for miles!

Anyways, I could picture myself living in Monterey, Ca. It's beautiful. It has a bunch of different festivals. Live music. A plethora of good restaurants. Plus I've seen more hot guys here in the last two days than I have seen everywhere else in the last five months combined. It's a little on the chilly side but the ocean and otters more than make up for that.

What can I say? I just really like it here. Perhaps I'll move here and get a job at the elephant reserve.

Oh, the elephant reserve! The place where really nice elephants go when they retire from the circus/ carnivals.

I don't even know where to begin because I know that no matter what I say I won't be able to do it justice. Elephants are just so cool. And smart. When you look in their eyes you can tell they are thinking. But what you don't realize until you are standing RIGHT next to them is how ridiculously big they are. It is sort of like how in your head you know that someone who is seven feet tall is really tall but you don't realize quite what that means until they are next to you.

When I was washing the elephant, Butch, today they made him kneel/lay down and I still couldn't see the top of him!

Their skin is crazy.

But my favorite part is the end of their trunk which has so many specific little muscles that it could pluck a blade of grass. I got to feel it as he sucked the pieces of bread out of my hand!

Anyways, it was actually a lot of work washing the dang elephant but it was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone!!!

This seriously has been the best vacation ever! Yeah life!

shhhhh! I'm a mega freak! Don't tell anyone!

There are some things that I should probably just keep to myself, especially around would-be suitors. People ask me why I'm still single (which, FYI, might be the most annoying question in the world) but the following facts might shed a little light on the subject.

1. I still sleep with a stuffed animal. Um, I just sat here for a few minutes thinking of ways to justify this and then I decided that I don't care. I did not bring my stuffed animal on vacation with me. Nor did I bring it into the emergency room with me, but he did come along for the car ride when I couldn't breathe and was having my panic attack.

2. I LOVE Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. I even had a subscription for a while. Want to freak a boy out? Have him pick you up for a first date and see a stack of wedding magazines sitting in your apartment! I hide them. But I can't help it, it's a great magazine!

3. I get as excited as a seven- year old girl when it comes to stickers! Today I actually got to go on a tour of Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory which is probably my favorite sticker company. Plus I got to shop in their store which has every sticker they currently make! Ah, the mother lode! The factory was cool and everyone who works there is very happy, loves their job and gets to bring their dog to work with them.

I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow and NOT having a hangover! Now, that's an idea! Actually, my hangover this morning wasn't too bad. Yes, I drank a lot at my cousin katie's (very fun!) wedding but then I sweated it all out when I was dancing for hours straight! I reached a point where I was so sweaty and disgusting that I figured that I might as well go all out- and since I won't be doing my usual running workouts this week, I decided to turn my night of dancing into a serious workout.

I will admit that I'm not a particularly graceful or skillful dancer. But I more than make up for that with my enthusiasm! :) As my mom said to me this morning, "Well, at least you're a happy drunk!"

Anyways, we finally got home and decided to hang out and watch the stars for a while in the hot tub. (Have I mentioned lately just how much my life rocks?!?) That seemed to take care of the rest of the alcohol in my system. I woke up the next morning just a bit dehydrated and with REALLY sore calves. Apparently running does not prepare you for a hard core dancing session.

Anyways, there has been lots of drinking the past few days and each morning (similar to Senior Week in college) I wake up swearing that I will never drink again. But by the afternoon (again, like college) I was right back on the horse. Who am I to say no to good wine?!?

And I've been drinking LOTS of good wine. I'm letting my dad plan all my vacations from now on. He has found some great vineyards for us to hit up. Not only that but we also got to do a special food and wine pairing. We also stoppedby the Coppala vineyard which is a but on the cheesy side but still fun. The man we had pouring our drinks there was named Remy Martin (which he swears is not a stage name!) and though I didn't ask, I'm pretty sure he was a member of the Coppala family.

Today we visited Verite where I learned more about wine than I thought possible. These were super high end wines. One of their 2007 wines scored a perfect 100 from Robert Parker. That is only the 36th perfect 100 rating that he has given out in the last 30 years (for all of you keeping track at home.) We, however, were tasting the 2006 wines which only had ratings of 92, 94 and 96.

It's a rough, rough life, I tell ya!

Anyways, after a delicious home-cooked meal out on our back deck and only a couple of glasses of wine this evening, I am ready to soberly head to bed so that I can wake up bright and early to head to Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory. (OMG!!!!)

I don't think I'd want to live here permanently but for a couple of days Sonoma is a damn nice place to be!!!

worth it

Do you ever see things that are so beautiful they make you want to cry??

I know that in theory the stars in the heavens are glorious and awe inspiring. But sometimes, living in Chicago, you forget that. In Chicago you can see approximately 10 stars. Maybe thirty on a really good night. And the color of the night sky?? Orange. I'm no expert but even I know that's not right.

Last night, looking at the stars here in northern Calufornia, I was floored. Millions of them. You could even see the Milky Way.

We were joking about how God told Abraham that his descendants would multiply and be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. In Chicago that's almost an insult! Here, that actually means something!!

It's one of those things that you have to see to appreciate. And it's one of those things that you appreciate no matter how many times you have seen it!! :)

thank god!

Thank god for massage. (side note: it's weird how phrases like "thank god" are in my lexicon, and how I just use it as a general expression, not to actually thank God. But the phrase works so well.)

Anywho, thank god for massage! Giving a good massage and really connecting with a client can just turn a whole day around. Am I really going to be able to give this up and get a real job?

I'm not going to think about that now.

I'm going to think about me. And wine country. And one glorious week of livin' the good life.

Do you know what the only bad part about going to Napa Valley is? (Besides spending WAY too much money!)

The roads! I get so car sick driving around on all those tight, curvy, hilly roads.

I live in Illinois for Pete's sake! I can't handle curves! And curves mixed with hills?! Save me!

I remember trying wine (a sip at the dinner table) as a kid and HATING it. Now I love it. I wouldn't say that I was a connoisseur (nor would I say that I know how to spell "connoisseur"- it took me three mistypes and eventually using auto-correct to spell it right!) but I definitely can distinguish between different reds and I know what I like.

Which makes me think that maybe I should give beer another shot. I drank it my freshman year of college, no problem. I could learn to drink beer. I could learn to like it. Even thoroughly enjoy it. Which would be good because sometimes it is just too hot out to drink wine. And while I can drink red wine with ANYTHING, there are times that even I have to admit that beer would go better with a meal.

My friend told me that she sometimes puts grenadine in her beer. That sounds rather delicious- I might have to try that!

I just wish that it didn't make me burp so much.

Is there a trick to drinking beer in a certain way so that it doesn't make you burp?

Maybe I just need to drink it from a glass. I only drink pop from a glass because pop in a can makes me burp. Aha! This deserves some experimenting, me thinks!

Any suggestions of beginning beers for a non-beer drinker? I currently tend to stick with Miller Lite and Bud Light simply because they taste the least like beer! We'll have to do a progression to get me up to drinking Guiness!

snarl

Time to go take a nap so that I can wake up on the right side of the bed.

Today has not been going how I wanted.

What happened to my love fest?

I sometimes feel like every time I open my inbox I get more bad news. Which I know isn't true. I needed to stop focusing on the negatives. But it is hard because my uncle was just diagnosed with liver cancer and my aunt just had back surgery that had bad side effects and now she won't be able to make it to her daughter's wedding this weekend! How bad does that suck??

But good things happen too! I must remember that! My mom is so greatly improved that she no longer qualifies to get a defibulator (sp?) put in. Go Mama! And my friend finally quit her job so that she can do what she really wants! Way to be so brave! And other good things are happening.

We just need to talk about the good things more. Too much attention to the bad.