more baby pics

The differences in personality and behavior are already showing: Mal hangs out on top of the bedding in the terrarium, chills on the branches, sleeps in the coconut house; TBD [she still hasn't named herself], being an albino, instantly buries herself in the bedding and you have to move it all around and fish through it to find her.

But once you bring them out, TBD is crazy active and curious, crawling and climbing and sniffing and stretching; Mal is a bit more relaxed, explores a bit, then just kind of settles in and watches the world go by. It's really interesting to see the differences between the two.

Will got some pics of the two of them today...his is the albino [with some beautiful yellow coming in], mine is the darker red/brown one:

baby on board

My first!!

The dark one on the log in front is mine, the albino one in the far back [behind the candy cane one] is Will's [this pic was taken at the pet store before we brought them home]. They are 3-5 month old corn snakes, about 12" long right now and a little thinner than your pinky...they'll grow to about 4 to 6 feet long [how cool is that??].

I've named mine "Mal", both as a nod to the most awesome rebel Browncoat Malcolm Reynolds and to the snaky Malfoy family from the Harry Potter series. Double dork snake. :^)

A pic of Mal exploring his new home:


The freezer at the store had broken, so they didn't have any food for the snakes that day; since it was the day they normally got fed, we got to feed them ourselves after we got them home. We bought some frozen pinkies [teeny tiny frozen baby mice], popped a couple into a ziploc bag, and submerged the bag in a container of hot water to warm them up. An hour or later, we put a nice and warm mouse into a small plastic bin, add a baby snake, then sit back and watch the show.

It was *awesome*. So frickin' fascinating to watch this adorable little snake snarf down a mouse bigger than its head. Nature is astounding sometimes.

Will's snake is a beautiful white/pink, and a bit longer than Mal. They make an awesome pair with their contrasting colors, Mal with his deep reds and Will's currently-unnamed snake with its pale pink/whiteness. I'll try to get more pics of both snakes, once they are done digesting their dinner in the next day or two...

confirmed: will = awesome

He surprised me with this last night:

Guess how we spent the evening? :^)

painfully cute

Seriously, my teeth hurt from the sweetness that is 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On'...check it out:

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

epicness

Still love this song, and this version [with special guest] is extremely awesome [I posted it once before, in fact]...and this video turns an already awesome song up to a nigh-epic setting:

another year goes by

This birthday was a rough one. Will managed to get time off for a long weekend for me, but the poor guy was sick for most of it, so we spent it giving him time to recuperate. A bummer...but the hardest part was this being the first birthday without Dad.

He always sent flowers...every year, without fail, there would be a bouquet, a vase, a live plant, something from Dad. Flowers from Dad, a phone call from Mom, year in, year out. Those were the two things that meant the most to me on that day of mine. I'm not much of a "my birthday" person...it's another day, I don't expect fanfare and folderol, but Mom and Dad were the two people I did celebrate it with. Then Mom died, and I had my first birthday with just Dad...and this year, he was gone.

Like I said...a rough one.

gonna be a long night...

please shoot me

blegh

why do cats insist on snuggling when...

...this is the current temperature in my living room??

behind the scenes

Went on a private tour of NorCal TRACON at Mather Field with Will, Tom, Greg, and Steve today...quite awesome. It's the air traffic control center that handles pretty much all of northern California air traffic, keeping the air space running smoothly and handing off to local towers [found this guy's blog entry that says it all much better than I could].

Our guide Tori was quite teh hawsum, spending as much time with us as we could have wanted, and making sure we got to see everything we could and ask as many questions as we wanted. We got to talk with the controllers, some awesome conversations and people...it's amazing the amount of information they need to know and juggle in their heads. Next time I start to feel a bit overwhelmed, I just have to think about what they deal with every day. Somehow dealing with a dying computer just pales in comparison...

frickin' laser bean

[yup, that's a pun]

little monsters

Saw Lady GaGa at the HP Pavilion last night. Hell of a concert, actually...I was expecting super cheesy, and instead got a lot of show and quite a bit of theater. I described it as "Cirque du Soleil, dance style" ...costumes, sets, a "storyline" running through the whole thing. It was way over the top, of course...wouldn't expect anything else from her. But I ended being impressed by her voice, her repertoire, and her personality...she seemed surprisingly genuine when just talking, which is doubly amazing given the "GaGa" persona. I didn't think I was a "Lady GaGa" concert goer, but it was a blast and I'm definitely glad I went.

fair enough

So I recently got called out for "ignoring myself" and "pretending everything was okay"...and they were right. I've been putting on a happy face, making mundane posts about regular life, acting like everything is business as usual. Not sure why...part of it is habit/reflex, don't let them see you cry, keep your pain private. Part is probably a hope that if I act like things are okay, then they will *be* okay. And a big part is just not knowing how to deal with things...I'm in a weird place right now, and it's not something I have a clue on how to work through [other than "one moment at a time"].

I know it will take time. And I do see a bit of an up-curve from where I was a while ago. But I'm impatient, and frustrated with myself, and scared and overwhelmed and a bit lost. I want answers *now*. I want resolution, comfort, peace. So until I get there, I'll keep up with the "all is well, pay no attention to the Stacey behind the curtain, these are not the droids you seek" exterior, and keep working things out internally as best I can. I guess "the best we can" is all any of us can do...