Hello Everyone!
I have linked my site to a new blog that allows me a little more flexibility.I will be posting over there these days. Visit the new blog by using the "New Blog" link.
Thanks!
Here it is July already and I haven’t posted about my June Adventure! Decided it was high time I did that.
This is my new fur child! His name is Wilson and he is three years old. I adopted him from the PetProject pet rescue on June 7. You can check out them at http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/CO106.html
Wilson caught my attention because in his adoption photo he was stretching one arm up toward the camera as if saying, “Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me!” I couldn’t resist!
We had a dog, Pepper, while growing up….got him a few weeks before my youngest sister came along and he stayed with us until he developed cancer at the age of 18. As an adult I have never had a pet of my own. I tell people that my Snowflake Teddy is the best pet a girl could have. He’s sweet and soft and doesn’t eat much…when I offer food, he tells me he’s stuffed!
I have pet sat many times over the years for friends and family. Once I was going to pet sit for a coworker’s new puppy. Turns out it was the puppy, the turtle, the fish and the ferret. When she described the ferret as furry snake with legs she sealed its fate of remaining in the cage the whole week they were gone. I fed and watered it, but didn’t want to play with the snake with legs.
Feeling adventurous after sitting with my niece’s kitty over Memorial Day weekend I began to look for a kitty of my own. My sister sent me to the PetProject site and that is when I found Wilson. His name was Barker and when I first saw him he was being looked at by another family so I thought it wasn’t meant to be. Two weeks later his picture was still on the web site so I sent an email and found he was still available. All it took was one look and one time holding him in my arms to know that he needed to come home with me.
The PetProject folks were wonderful with the whole process. They helped me pick out some food for him since he seemed to have some food allergies. They seemed to really like Wilson and both had to pet him and say their goodbyes when we left.
When I brought him home I had to change his name to Wilson. For those of you readers who may not know, I am a Tom Hanks fan(atic!) Wilson was the name of his best friend on the island he was stranded on in the movie “Castaway.” That is where I got Wilson’s name. Since I liked Barker also, I named him Wilson Barker.
Wilson is a sweet and loving kitty. He loves to play with his toys and I find myself spoiling him with new toys frequently! Right now he is sound asleep on the dining room chair. He knows he’s not allowed on the table but he seems very content to sleep on the chairs.
I now have a very fuzzy little alarm clock. If my alarm goes off more than a couple times (so not a morning person and it is a frequent occurrence for my alarm to ring multiple times in the morning) he will make sure I get up. He begins to walk across my chest. Then he will rub against my face and walk around my head making sure to step on my hair. He will continue this until I get up and get him some breakfast.
Wilson fits in well at my house. We share some of the same interests. He is quite the literary kitty. He loves books and newspapers. He would rather sleep on a book than in the kitty bed I bought for him. I have to remember to pick up the newspaper off the floor and coffee table because he will burrow down in it and go to sleep. The problem is he gets newsprint all over his white paws and belly!
He is a kitty who shares my shoe fetish. If he isn’t sleeping on a book, you can find him snuggling up with any shoes I happen to leave lying around. The bedroom closet intrigues him because the floor of it is currently covered with shoes…yes, it is time for a closet clean out and a trip to Goodwill!
Getting used to being responsible for someone other than me has been an adventure this month. It has meant thinking twice about my schedule since I need to make sure he gets fed and isn’t alone all day long for days at a time. It has meant double checking any food I give him to make sure it doesn’t have wheat or beef in it since he doesn’t react well to those items. And it has meant finding places for my Peace Lily and Pothos plants that he can’t get to since both are poisonous to kitties. Thankfully he has learned that the piano, bookcases, dining table and kitchen counters are no kitty zones.
Still, despite the changes required in my life to accommodate Wilson, I am very glad I took the plunge. He is now a part of my family and he is loved!
In the words of Peter Pan, “I can fly!” For a very long time now I have had the desire to fly. It began with a yearning to learn to fly planes. Then skydiving piqued my interest. For years now I have been planning to skydive; it is after all cheaper than taking flying lessons.
Skydiving is on the calendar for sometime in August this year. In my quest for adventure and new experiences this year I have decided it was time. Still, at the end of May I was able to get a little taste of not only skydiving, but the freedom of floating on air.
Most people have never heard of indoor skydiving. I hadn’t either when I received an email from a friend. Maggie had been invited to a birthday party but wasn’t able to make it. She suggested to the birthday girl that I take her place. Ironically enough birthday girl and I work for the same company as Maggie does and had never met. The company isn’t that large, I just work in a remote office and so our paths haven’t crossed. Christina was very gracious and let me crash her birthday party. “The more the merrier,” she said! Thanks, Christina, it was one of the most fun birthday parties I have ever been to!
Skyventure is located in Lone Tree, Colorado. According to the web site (www.skyventurecolorado.com) this is “a 12 foot, recirculating 1200 HP wind tunnel.” According to me it is just a big barrel of fun!
Our adventure began with a lesson in flying. This short video showed us the proper body position. We also learned hand signals since hearing the instructor inside the tunnel was virtually impossible. Our main form of communication involved signals to bend or straighten our legs, chin up, and relax. However, once I was in the tunnel it took me a while to be able to relax and remember what the signals meant.
During our instructions we were told to take everything out of our pockets and to take off our jewelry. Derrick, our instructor, told us he had a flyer who didn’t believe him when he said if it was in your pockets it would be sucked out once in the tunnel. Apparently this man had about $500 in twenty dollar bills that he didn’t want to part with. He kept them zippered in a pocket inside his jumpsuit; that is until he got into the chamber. The bills were sucked out and sent flying around the wind tunnel. I decided not to test it for myself and took my earrings and necklace off.
We were then suited up in jumpsuits that covered us from neck to ankle. We were given helmets, ear plugs and goggles. Then it was time to make our way into the wind tunnel. The tunnel is an octagonal shaped room with a small room along one side for the flyers to wait their turn. The floor is a metal mesh net and beneath it we could see the equipment that helped power the tunnel. There are two doors, one for entering and one for exiting the tunnel. The chamber is about 12 feet in diameter and I would guess about 15 feet high (at least in the space we were flying in.)
When it was my turn for my first flight I approached the door, brought my arms to my chest and raised my chin. The raised chin was important for helping control flight, but it also was a great reminder to look around and enjoy the experience. I leaned into the chamber and began to move into the proper flying position. Thankfully Derrick was in the chamber with each of us to help because I promptly forgot everything I had learned in our training session.
With his help I was able to experience some flight. That first time though I had a lot of trouble controlling myself. I have to laugh because Derrick was very expressive with his hand signals as he emphatically gave me the sign to relax over and over. I have always had trouble relaxing my muscles like normal people! Toward the end I did get a little better and began to enjoy myself.
The second minute in the chamber I did much better, but still have a way to go before I can really control my own flight. I got to experience some true flight and was really beginning to like it. Then in the last few seconds Derrick grabbed hold of the handles on my jump suit and the instructor in the control booth turned up the air. With Derrick’s help we rose and then descended spinning round over and over. This was sheer ecstasy! I could have stayed there forever soaring and spinning! All too soon the flight was over and it was time to get out.
Indoor skydiving was an awesome time and has totally fueled my desire to do the real thing soon! I also came away with an important lesson for life. No matter what happens, keep your chin up and relax!
