Still no baby dolphin. Yes, the staff is really frustrated. Just have that darn thing already, Rio. I am completely trained on all of Semo’s behaviors now. His breach (huge impressive jump where he lands on his back) was finally taught to me today. I got to do it twice. It’s a crowd favorite.

Memorial Day is great. All though everyone else in the country had the day off, I worked. The zoo was packed. During lunch I got to enjoy the sun, and then when I got home, I got in my bathing suit and laid (so Josh, I probably also put the form of this word wrong, but you’ll have to get over it. Just face the fact that I will never understand some grammar rules) out for a while. Ryan grilled us steaks so we sat outside and had those and salad and baked beans. Yummy yummy. Then the neighbor girl (16 years old) and her dad came over and we played two games of PIG (which I won) and two games of around the world (I won one, Ryan the other). Now we are waiting for the family to get home from Star Wars so we can get going on a poker game.

whom thinks me bro is an nerdy teacher of english? OOHHHH! Me do!

Still no baby dolphin. The ultrasound showed the baby is still breech. Sometimes Rio is completely normal, other times she is a very snotty. Who knows when that calf will come. Today I was answering questions after a show I did and a little girl came up to me and said, "you are really pretty." How cute! And a couple weeks ago at Ryan's school one of his students said to me, "you are really pretty." To have a high school student say that to your face was strange. And then one of his students told him in class, "your wife is pretty. If you tell her will she let me pet a dolphin?" Nice try. Anyway, it was a much needed confidence booster.

The zoo is still going good. I am almost all done learning Semo's behaviors. I've also been learning Spree's behaviors. Yesterday I was getting trained on Chinook, who I was surprised to learn. They told me my first day I wouldn't learn behaviors on him. Oh well. I'm not complaining! I have learned how to do observations, which is fun since we couldn't do them as interns. We had a pregnancy scare last weekend. Rio was acting like she was going to have the calf anytime. She was showing all the signs of early labor. So we all got calls to give us the head's up, then she started acting completely normal again. We know the calf was breech, so we were thinking when Rio was acting strange, the baby was flipping around. They are doing an ultrasound today, so I guess we'll find out. Now I am full time at the zoo since we are on the 24 hour observation schedule.

Josh, as to that comment from that guy...I have no clue.

Ryan and I have been trying to attend some of the events at the high school that he is subbing at. Last week we went to a play called "the lady pirates of captain bree" or something like that. Very enjoyable. Tonight we went to a talent show with singing, dancing, poetry, etc. There was a lot of booty shaking. I don't think that stuff would have flew in my high school. And teachers saying "damn" and that they got lucky on their prom night. It's like a completely different world then how I grew up. Besides the initial shock, it was very entertaining.

Tomorrow Ryan, Matthew, and I head to a Twin's game. I have become quite the baseball fan, which for those that know me, that should be a shocker since I usually hate sports. Once I get my pink Twins t-shirt, I will be all set!

If you are reading this and do not have my new cell phone number, either e-mail me or reply to this post so I can e-mail it to me. I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb enough to post it on here. What do you call eternity? 4 blondes at a 4 way stop. Tee hee hee.

This past weekend I got to go to the Brookfield Zoo to the IMATA conference. It was good to see the trainers and animals again. And I learned some stuff at the conference. It was a quick trip, but it was good.

I started working at the zoo on Monday. I was getting trained on all of Semo’s behaviors…cues, what the criteria are, etc. I got to dive with the three females to clean the pool. It was a crazy experience. You can’t make eye contact with them and can’t interact in any way. When I was cleaning around the edges, they left me alone, but once I started swimming across the bottom, Spree was showing a lot of interest in me. I was once bumped by someone’s rostrum, but I don’t know who the culprit was. Rio also had a hissy fit during the dive, but Lynne, the other diver, was watching to make sure I was safe. Later that day this metal speaker cover rusted and fell off in the pool so Lynne and I had to dive again to put a new one back on. This was about 5:00 pm, and the lights are almost out in the stadium and it’s getting darker outside. We had to put these nuts and bolts on this ring. Since it was hard to see, Lynne used the Jedi force and closed her eyes to help her feel her way to putting the nuts in. It was pretty silly. On Tuesday I went over more behaviors and also went over observation stuff for when the calf is born. I also got to sit in on a staff meeting for once. I also got to do a show. Diane stayed by me and bridged my behaviors (blew the whistle when Semo did the correct behavior). I think it went really well. The girls are in the back pools so it is just the Semo and Chinook show.

Today at Vanity was my first day opening by myself. No problems. Tomorrow I close by myself for the first time. Fun stuff.

I ended up getting job offers from both Bath and Body and from Vanity. I chose Vanity because of more steady hours and it is a guaranteed job past June. Plus at Vanity I am part-time management, so that is always fun. I am considered a team lead, which is the position I had when I worked at Vanity before. I will be in charge of openning and closing, as well as the normal duties. I went into work on Saturday to do paperwork and today is my first 8 hour day. I also will work 8 hours tomorrow and Wednesday. On Thursday I am heading down to Chicago for an IMATA (international marine animal trainer association) conference at Brookfield Zoo, where I did my first internship. I will be staying at my mentor's house. I am really excited to see everyone again. The girl, Becky, who interned with me will also be there so it'll be fun to be with her. At least there will be two new trainers there. I get back from that on Saturday. I have training at the zoo on Monday and Tuesday. I will be working there one day a week until the calf is born, then I'll work 40 hours/week there. I am really excited to see what I get to do. Robyn said I will be doing shows, which now we have 4 shows a day. Fun fun! Gotta get ready for work.