The next best thing to Steve Irwin

After church a number of us went to Sonny's BBQ to get some lunch. Well there was a little bit of excitement going on. When we parked we noticed that there was a truck with some alligator name and it had a trailer with a cage on it. We thought, oh boy, what is going on here? Well I went inside and some of our other party were all excited about the alligators outside. I went out there to look and sure enough, there were 5 alligators in the back of the cage, growling and hissing with their mouths wrapped up in electrical tape. Then there was the alligator hunter himself. He had on a shirt with a picture of a man wrestling a gator and it said,"Fishing is for sissies.". There was a funny bumper sticker on his truck too but I can't remember what it was. Something about gator hide. I didn't see it myself, but apparently he was outside rolling around in the grass wrestling a gator trying to get tape around it's mouth. So sad I missed it.
Well the poor reptiles were to be shot and their hide and meat sold away. They were captured for eating people's dogs in the area. One of them was found in the Sonny's parking lot! I found that quite alarming, maybe it was under our car and we would of never known it. Now, the moment you've been waiting for....a little gator 101, or something like it.

1. I like them alright.
2. They eat dogs.
3. They are transported from Florida to Jordan in the middle east oddly enough.
4. When they lay eggs, the batch is either all males or all females, and that is determined by how hot it is outside.
5. I sat on one once (you'll just have to wonder).
6. And they are the best college football team ever. GOOOOO GATORS!!

The Encounter with Evil

Lately i've been thinking about what my first encounter with a roach will be like since coming home again and what I would do. When I come home on break just about everytime I see a roach and it's always so tramatic. Before bible school it would happen once and a while but I was kinda use to it. Now, coming from no bug land, I have to face the facts and deal with the critters once again. But i'm not used to it anymore! It terrifies me to no end. I keep my bedroom light on at night so none will come out and greet me as I go to bed. I check under my bed sheets. I always check the shower curtains too, that's just a must.
Well that dreaded day finally came. I got home around 11:30 at night and was about to write a blog and I turned on the light and for some reason turned to look behind me. I didn't have my glasses or contacts on so I just saw this black blob on the wall. I just thought over and over "This is it! This is it!". Ew, it was a big sucker too. Now comes the decision. Well for one thing it HAS to die. If I leave this room knowing that there is an alive cockroach out to get me I won't be able to sleep in this house, or at least anywhere near the area where I saw it. So as for the decision, do I grab a shoe, wack it, get smugges on the wall and have a tramatizing experience or do I get the Raid mata Hormigas Y Cucarachas spray, spray it and then have it run off and never know if it actually died to not?
Since the roach was sort of in an incovient spot to easily smack it, I decided to go with the spray. I walked hastedly to the kitchen, walked by my parent's room and wondered if I should wake them up to kill it, I tried to take deep breaths and said to myself, "Come on Lisa your 20 years old, you can do this without mommy's help!" so I kept walking. I got the spray, prayed to God that it would still be in the exact spot where I left it and continued on down the hall. Thankfully it was still there. I sprayed, it fluttered and fell to the ground and scurried behind the dresser no where to be seen. Rats! I thought, i'll never know if it died or not. Well I went out the room and shut the door and stuffed some clothes under the door to block it's way of any escape. My cell phone rang. It was my friend Amber and I was like, "Gotta go kill a roach, c-ya". I went back to the door wished that it would just come out so I could finish it off once and for all and be able to live in peace again. Well low and behold there was a roach on it's back right infront of the barricade of clothes I just set up! I was so befuddled. How did this roach get out here and suddenly die when I turned my back for one second. And then I thought, well maybe this is another roach and it's been here this whole time. Well I sprayed it and it sure enough wasn't quite dead. It sorta leaped in the air and I just sprayed so much that I almost fell over dead along with it. I guess it was the same roach. It just somehow escape and then fell over dead. I personally think it was a God thing. He wanted me to see that it was going to for sure die and he supernaturally placed it out in the hall and commanded it dead right then. Yep, i'm convinced. All I had to do at that point was stand in front of it, look him square in the..um...bent, hairy legs, and say, "I've won this round buddy!".

Roach 101

1. I hate them.
2. Roaches do not see any kind of red light.
3. They can't hear.
4. They DO bite.
5. Their skeleton is on the outside of their body.
6. They can dance and hop.
7. They have all these little sections in their eyes so they can see at all different angles. So that's why they run so fast when they see you coming.
8. Raid spray really works.
9. They even thrive in Israel (especially the food banks) so watch out!

What Not to Wear

I don't know if any of you watch the show, "What not to Wear" on TLC, but I had my own episode with my father. Mom and I have been telling dad lately that it's time to throw out them old, holy clothes. We talked him into going shopping on Friday for Father' s day (his dream come true). Dragged him to the car and headed towards the mall. We went into sears and headed towards the jeans. He didn't say one word. He only groaned a few times as we threw some jeans at him. He quietly followed us up this row, down this aisle and around a few corners. We couldn't find what we wanted until I saw only 5 pairs on a rack and luckily found one his size. Another groan released as he scooted his way into the dressing room holding a pile of pants and a sail boat t-shirt. I felt like I was on the show "What not to Wear". He came out of the dressing room and we either told him what was good or what just looked like his same old clothes that didn't fit.

We decided that he needed some new shoes now. He said that he only had one hole in them and they weren't that bad. He put his finger in the hole in front of about 5 people standing in the check out line. It was kinda embarrassing, and then he refused to put his shoes on so he walked to the shoe section with holy shoes in hand walking on his mismatched socks, that also had holes all over! Phew, we made it to the shoe department. The first shoes he tried on he liked and they worked, Praises be! See dad, it wasn't so painful to go shopping after all. When we got home mom and I went straight to his jean pile and started tossing them out. Actually, alot of them looked in style, they had the worn out lines in the front, the faded dirty look going on and holes at the knee. Now my dad is stylin, actually not quite yet. He won't wear any of it until Monday, the beginning of the week. It's a conpulsion thing. Then when he goes to work his co-workers will yell with delight, "Noss! Look at your new clothes! Get down with your bad self!" Happy Father's day.

Gator Land

Whenever i'm feeling stressed or have a lot on my mind, the best thing for me to do is spend some time in the great outdoors. I'm sure some of you can relate. Nothing can do you better then a brief hike in the woods. Well that's what I did today. My dad and I set off in his miata to go to this canal that i've been going to forever. The sun was low in the clouds so the crickets were buzzing and the mosquitos were biting. The cyprus trees and hanging spanish moss surrounding me siloetted against the setting sun. My dad took me to a little watering hole and then we continued on to the canal. I spotted 3 alligators and they were actually swimming, fast! My dad was bird and gator watching as I picked some weeds (pretty yellow weeds). As I listened I could hear the cars and trucks roaring by on interstate I-75. I tried not to let that tamper with my moment in the open field with the weeds and the gators. Well this was all kinda random but it can be a lil reminder that when things look big just go take a little walk. =)

The Frugal Daughter

"I just love shopping with our frugal daughter", Mom laughs as she shows Dad the $5.00 evening gown that I bought at the thrift store for half off. Maybe for the next cruise to the Carribbean, who knows. =) It got me thinking though. I really am a bargain hunter, and I love it! I've never been big on going to the malls, or any expensive place for clothes. It's just no fun that way. I even got my graduation skirt from a thrift store for $2, but I changed my mind about it because my mom said that I looked like a bag, so woe is me I got a skirt at the mall for $24 instead.
Seeking out deals has been one of my lil joys in life. One recent example, my friend and I rearranged the living room the other week and it got me all inspiried to make some some changes in the room and in the house. Let me give you a little price list. Palm plant, $12. Wall art, $30 something. Lamp table, $10. Two matching bronze lamps $5 each. Well that's it so far. Not too bad if I say so myself. So this is what has been consuming my mind late at night when I can't sleep. How to arrange this and that and how to decorate the living room and this messy guest room I've been working on. So if you're ever in the area stop on by and see our cheap, thrifty home decor, ha ha.

"Oh Miss Lisa"

Today I started my official career as Sunday School teacher. It has been something i've been looking forward to for the last couple of months. Look at me getting involved in the church. Yay! I planned to make sun-catchers with Katie (my only student, or so I thought). I spent a good amount of time shredding different crayon colors so we could use those to decorate the pattern and then you melt the crayons with an iron. Well anyway, this morning I got all the supplies ready but when I got to church I realized one thing, I forgot the crayon shreds! Ugh! I was so mad at myself. Now we couldn't make them. So I went into a little panic because I didn't know what to do for class. If it was just Katie then it wouldn't of been a big deal, but more kids were showing up! Ok well, 2 more kids. My mom suggested that we make father's day cards and I thought that was a great idea. It was lotsa fun. Katie told me every minute what Mrs. Peggy (the just retired teacher) usually has them do at this time. I should write my name on the board, I should do this and that and some other things. One of the boys thought that I should be a student not a teacher because I was so short. The other kid drew killer whales and squids and burped the alpabet for me. The other boy would burp back. It was like they were speaking another language to each other for a long time. Katie just sat there and told me how good she was being compared to these loud boys. Hurray for teacherdom.

Salsa Y Merengue

The other night my friend who lives behind me invited me to a dance lesson. I was scared but I said "hey why not?". I hadn't seen her in a while so I thought it would be fun just to spend some time with her. So we went on Monday and on those nights it's salsa dancing. I kinda always wanted to learn, especially during my high school days when all my friends were Hispanic. I thought I knew how but they always said I was doing it all wrong. Then there was the time I tried to teach Elizabeth in the bathroom of Margaritas, ha, that was unsucessful. Well anyway I had a fun time at the lesson. I quote the instuctor, "I want to teach you so you can all say, "wow! I didn't know my hips could do that." It was all relaxing until the instructor said those dreaded words, "partner up!". My stomach went to the size of a pea at that. It wasn't all that bad, I danced with a instuctor guy so he guided me step by step, literally. We partnered up again and I danced with an older chinese guy. By the end I almost got the hang of it. Tonight there is ballroom dancing and I sooo wanted to be there but my friends weren't able to go, o'well.

Busy Busy

I feel like I haven't stopped in a while. Well maybe for everybody else in the world (especially in New England) this is quite normal. Many people live busy lives, but I was never one of them! What happened?? Well I know what happened. I prayed for this. A few years ago nothing much was on my agenda (except work), it was all go with the flow. That was easy because I hardly ever did my homework and wasn't involved in after school activities. So anyways...this whole being busy thing is very new to me and i'm trying not to be weirded out. Two days after graduation I started summer school, so now I have class 2 days a week along with 6 sections of h/w. Then suddenly all these people start showing up in Florida, which was awesome by the way, but it kept me running, in a good way. Then that group leaves and I get a phone call finding out that i'm suppose to pick up Marie the next day! That was way sooner then expected. So she was here for some of the weekend. Then there is family and suddenly all these church activities (we hardly ever do church activities anymore!). Ok, well maybe my life isn't that busy, but to me, a beginner, life has really been on the move and I'm enjoying every minute of it.