Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Yardsale fever

So lately I've been doing lots of cleaning. Matt's neighborhood yardsale is the 26th and if I'm going through the trouble of selling items at the yardsale, I might as well go through everything I own and find as much as I can to sell. Maybe my yardsale will be so huge that I make a thousand dollars. Matt has been doing jobs around his house, so I figure I might as well take the time to get my own room and house organized and in better shape. 
Yesterday something awful happened- my elephant nose fish (who had been looking pretty skinny like he wasn't getting enough to eat) had white fungus on him, and I think his slime coat was wearing down or peeling off him, and he was lying upside down on the bottom of my fishtank. I poked him once, and he moved a bit. He looked like he was on the verge of death for a few hours. Later, I poked him with the net again because I thought for sure he was dead. He didn't move. I scooped him out, and dropped him in the toilet. As soon as he landed in the toilet water i saw him move a bit. It was too late, he was already being flushed. I felt/feel TERRIBLE. That's probably one of the cruelest things you can ever do to a fish. Plus, he was one of my favorite fish. 
My digital camera hasn't been working. I haven't been able to take any pictures lately, so I don't have any visual support to my blog posts. I can't wait until my birthday for a new one. 
Last week Matt and I preserved a few small animals that we found dead in his yard that had been killed by natural causes (or cats). It's become a weird sick obsession of ours to collect animal bones and furs, and taxidermy in general. Gross but the end results are so fascinating. I feel like a scientist examining the bones and witnessing the dissection. Last week we found a dead rat, mole, and bird. We tried to save the rat's fur but animals got to it in the middle of the night. We've only been able to save bones so far. 
A couple days ago my dad helped me to clean out the pond in my backyard so that I could put my turtles in it for the summer. When I was trying to put the lid back on my turtle tank in my basement (After my turtles were out) the light slipped into the water. I went to grab it and felt a shock in my arm. The light started smoking, and I quickly unplugged it. Hopefully the light still works, I haven't tried it since then. My turtles have gotten SO BIG since I got them. Hard to believe they were ever so tiny. 


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Memorial Day!

I've been so excited to start blogging since Memorial Day. SO- Memorial Day (Monday) was a fun day. Matt and I decided to go for a swim. We couldn't get anyone else to join us, but we blew up an inner-tube and took it to the Delaware River. There were so many people trying to swim/engaged in water activities at the river! People were kayaking, canoeing, swimming, partying on the shore, partying on the islands, boating, ect. Swimming in the river kind of creeps me out, I just keep thinking about river monsters. And I know there are really deep holes randomly throughout the river and I keep thinking a giant catfish will swim up from a deep spot and bite my legs off. We just swam a bit, and cooled off and Matt rode the inner-tube through a small spot of rapids. The river bottom had a lot of rocks, and  the rocks were all slippery with algae and I found it hard to walk/move quickly without sliding and almost falling. We were in the river for about an hour, then we decided to head back to Matt's house. When we got in the car, Matt had a text from his brother saying 'Margarita Monday.' The sky was getting dark on the drive home. We got to Matt's and Chapin and Hannah were there, and Doug arrived shortly after we did. We all starting drinking Margaritas in the backyard when the sky opened up and a pretty intense thunderstorm hit. We moved to the side porch but the wind was blowing rain all over us. Matt's family was trying to cook on the grill, and had to keep running into the backyard with umbrellas. Finally the storm lets up, and the sun is shining. We go for a walk around the block to see what kind of damage has been done. We get to the end of the street and see a giant tree down. We start walking back and hear a loud crack. The sky is getting dark again. We make it back to the house and find out the sound we heard resulted in the power going out. Then the storm starts up again, even worse than it had been before. Real intense thunder and lighting, heavy rain, and even HAIL this time! Finally the storm slows up, and Doug went home. Then my mom calls me and says that my dad is planning a cookout at my house. So I go home and get ready, and my dad is angry because no one is home and he's trying to cook. Matt comes over with Chapin and Hannah, my mom comes home from Lindenwold, and Joe comes home with his girlfriend and her sister and her boyfriend. So we all have a nice cookout, then Matt Chapin Hannah and I all head back to Matt's. The power is still out, and we sit outside with candles. Hannah went home, and the power was still out. Matt had to shower by flash light, and just as he's getting out of the shower the power comes back on. We decided to go to Isaac Newton's for a beer because it's so hot, and we decided to go out before the power came back on. We tried to go to the Millhill, but it was closed because of the storm. The dead tree in front of my house damaged another neighbor's car- the tree keeps ruining cars and the city won't respond to our complaints. MAKES ME SO ANGRY! 
Tuesday I worked in the morning- it was so slow and boring. In the evening I cleaned my dresser off, and reorganized my jewelry and cleaned my bathroom. 
Wednesday I had ceramics class. I don't like it so much this time because it's rushed (only 3 weeks, twice a week) and we can't even use everything because school's almost over and a lot of the supplies are cleaned up or put away. I made four bowls but the clay was really wet and kind of thin, I hope they come out alright. After ceramics it took forever to get paint swatches and gas. Luckily my brother drove, but it was too long of an excursion I couldn't wait to get home. In the late evening Matt, Chapin, Hannah, and I went to the Continental Tavern. We got a little bit of food, and a couple drinks. Then we headed back home. I had to drop my car off, so Matt and I did that, and on the way from my house back to Matt's house we noticed that some of the lights were out on Hermitage and West State Street. When we got back to Matt's, the power was out. The same houses were affected on Wednesday that were affected on Monday. Matt's neighbors came out and were hanging out and talking with Matt's dad. Black outs bring all the neighbors outside. It was just around midnight when the power came back on. 
Today my grandma woke up and was really confused. While I was using the bathroom a mouse ran along the bathtub and I watched it run into my bedroom and under my dresser where I keep all of my shoes. I hope it found its way out. I finally finished reading Snuff- guess it's time to the buy next book in Palahniuk's collection. Here's to hoping that the rest of today is more exciting than I'm thinking it will be.