And THIS...

is why I could NEVER be a Republican, and why conservative agendas make me so angry I can barely form coherent sentences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html

I hate living in such a cruel state.

April 13, 2010 - Photo of the Day (Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Edition)

Elvis Poultry has entered the building! This is one reason I LOVE my job at the Zoo. Today, we hosted an event called "Read Across Oklahoma." Sponsored by Target, this event promoted literacy in tons of fun ways! More than 1,200 pre-schoolers and lots of other kids attended a storytime session of "Chicken Dance," a book by Edmond author Tammi Sauer. Below is a picture of "Elvis Poultry," one of the characters in the book. My day consisted of feathers, pre-schoolers and even a genuine Elvis impersonator! Never a dull moment at the Zoo...

April 11, 2010 - Photo of the Day (Weekend Warrior Edition)

Today, I spent SEVEN HOURS in my front flower beds. I pruned, trimmed, weeded (I HATE Bermuda grass), lined my beds with bricks and weed-resistant material, potted some new plants, and installed my new bird bath! It was literally back-breaking work, but I managed to turn

This:


And This:


Into THIS!



And here are my pretty new plants, and new planters for the back porch:





It was a good day's work, if I do say so myself!

April 10, 2010 - Photo of the Day

The Super Big News about today is that this morning I ran for the farthest I ever have - 5.1 miles! I was SO excited and proud of myself. My 10k race is two weeks from tomorrow, so I'm right on track! After my run I spent the day running around with my grandmother, enjoying some good quality time. After she headed back to Ada I took a nice three-hour nap and then enjoyed a date night with Steven. Later on we met up with Lesley and Lee at The Mont and had a nice night outside with a few select beverages. It was a fun day!

April 09, 2010 - Photo(s) of the Day Pt. Deux

Friday night was the scholarship banquet for the School if Energy & Land Management at OU. My grandparents have a scholarship in their honor, funded by NARO, and we attended to banquet to meet the young man who was awarded the scholarship. His name was Austin and he seemed genuinely grateful for the scholarship. We sat with him and his parents at dinner and immediately fell in love with his family. I know the evening was hard for my grandmother without my grandfather there, but it made us both proud to see the Stafford name carried on with such honor.

April 09, 2010 - Photo of the Day

At first glance, you might not be able to tell what you're looking at. It's a ring made of craft feathers and pipe cleaners. This is how wonderfully random my job is. A morning spent uploading photo contest entries and driving a cameraman from OETA around (including to the construction site of our new elephant exhibit, which is looking INCREDIBLE) was followed by an afternoon of creating "centerpieces" for an event using tulle, plastic eggs, pipe cleaners, feathers, spray adhesive and gold glitter.

Tonight I am headed to a scholarship banquet at OU - my grandparents have a scholarship named after them, and it is going to be an evening full of sentiment and pride for me - my grandfather would have been so pleased. My grandmother and I will be thinking of him often tonight.

April 08, 2010 - Photo of the Day

April 08 was a Thursday, and I had the lovely luxury of a day off in the middle of the week (a day I earned by working our Easter event on Sunday). I was torn between the desire to be either incredibly productive or incredibly lazy. I settled for a mixture of both: I slept in a bit, then headed out to peruse the gardening sections at Wal Mart and Lowe's. I found some neat planters and a bird bath at Lowe's, but was unable to buy them because my trunk was full of mulch from Wal Mart. On my way home I stopped at Hastings and bought the above book to give me a slight edge over my complete lack of gardening experience. Once home, I had a nice leisurely lunch on the couch, then went for an afternoon run. I tossed some chicken in to marinade, did a few dishes and general tidying, and ended the day with a long hot bath. Not too bad for a day off.

April 07, 2010 - Photo of the Day

This was the view outside my windshield as I was driving home on Wednesday night. The clouds were moving so fast across the sky, the light was streaming through and there was a wonderful cool breeze stirring the world. With a full day's work and a hard evening workout behind me, a takeout bag from Panera in the passenger seat, and a relaxing evening at home stretching before me...life was good.