Hi There. I thought maybe I should let you know I’m on baby watch. Not the human kind, but it’s sort of exciting anyway. We have a nesting Canada Goose at work. I call her Mother Goose.

She built her nest right in front of our building and right next to the handicap ramp. At first we thought she was crazy — that nest seems to be totally unprotected. But, in doing a little research, it seems that Canada Geese prefer to have their nests completely out in the open. It gives them a clear view of any pending danger.  (Awww, look, she’s resting her head on the wall.)

Talk about being a devoted mother.  I see her several times a day when I’m in the stairwell and she’s never off of that nest.  The gestation period for goose eggs is between 24 and 30 days, depending on which source you read.  We’re going on week three and she’s faithfully tended that nest through all kinds of crappy weather.  I read somewhere that the mother will frequently turn the eggs so that they will properly develop.  And sure enough, I hung around by the window one day and caught her turning the eggs.  She’s ever so gentle while she turns her head completely upside down to carefully roll the egg.  It’s really fun to watch.  I zoomed in on one of my pictures and it looks like there might be eight eggs in the nest.  Eight!  Supposedly they leave the nest within the first 24 hours — I so hope we’ll be able to see them before they’re gone.

Life is precarious for those little goslings though.  The first week Mother Goose was on the nest, we saw a hawk flying in circles above her.  Probably scoping out a future meal.  When her nest was first discovered, rumor had it that the DNR had been called to move her.  I think it was just a rumor though, as it’s illegal to disturb nesting migratory birds.  Her biggest threat might be those pesky engineers.  They’re all too lazy to take the stairs — everyone uses the handicap ramp.  She seems to be used to them by now, although, it’s been said that if you stop to look at her she’ll hiss at you.  You don’t want to mess with a mother goose.  (There goes a smart engineer now — look down, don’t make eye contact.)

And where, you might ask, is the father?  We rarely see him.  I’m guessing (well, hoping) he might spend a lot of time on the roof (where we can’t see him) watching over her.  Occasionally, we spot him patrolling the parking lot.  We’ve never seen him up on the grass next to her.  Slacker. I always wonder how she eats or goes to the bathroom.  It’s really pretty amazing.  (Did you notice Father Goose in the parking lot picture?  Here, I’ll point him out.)

So, that’s the excitement around here.  I know I’ve been fairly absent, but I’ve been plugging away at the Yoyos. Yoyo Count: Yoyos: 135 Me: 733.  Netflix, as always, is my yoyo companion.  When Upstairs Downstairs ended, I watched Daniel Deronda (fun to see Downton’s Hugh Bonneville in a different role) and then decided I’ll take a BBC break.  There seemed to be some blog excitement over the return of Don Draper, so I checked it out and I’m now officially hooked.

Yum-Yum!  Off to yoyo now –Yipee — it’s almost the weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Yipee! It’s the Weekend. Here’s a little randomness from my week:
1. Yesterday was Pi Day — did you partake? I made Pecan and Cherry Almond pies for our little party at work. I found this pie crust idea on Pinterest (aka Cute Idea Mecca). My crust is wonky due to the almond glaze, but, oh well.

2. And, in keeping with the “day” theme, today was Match Day! (Every year on the third Friday of March, 4th year medical students across the country learn where they’ll spend their residency. It’s the exciting peak of all those years of hard work. I think schools probably do their programs a little differently, but here, each student is randomly called to receive their envelope. They can choose to open their letter privately, or open it in front of everyone and announce their exciting news (usually with their spouse and children by their side). Another fun part of the tradition, medical students place $1.00 in a container as they announce their results. The last person called gets to keep all the money as a reward for patience in the face of high anxiety.)

Our family has been beside ourselves with excitement this week! The festivities started at noon today and TheManoftheHouse and I tuned in to the live streaming video right on time. Which was a good thing, as TheFirstChild was the very first student (out of 300+, I think) to read the big news. He got his first choice for residency — WOOHOO! He’ll be about 8 hours away for the first year and then only two hours away for the following three years. (Look out Gurney, he’s headed your way.)  We’re SOOOO excited for TheFirstChild and SweetiePie!!!

3. Like a lot of you, I was surprised by the news about the demise of Google Reader. I’ll be looking for a replacement. I’ve read a little about Feedly and Bloglovin’. Any other suggestions? (Random Snack of Choice Picture.)

4. Becky at Piece O’ Cake posted a link to this interesting article the other day. It’s all about manners in this new age of digital media and it’s a good read. Digital media manners are a whole different animal to societal manners. The one that really caught my attention is that it’s considered rude to send an e-mail just to say thank-you, because it causes the other person to waste time opening up and reading the e-mail. I’ll be thinking hard on that one and will probably try to improve my manners. Which means if you leave me a nice comment, but there really isn’t much to say other than “thank you” — well, I probably won’t reply anymore. That way you won’t be wasting your time. Sound good?

5.   Yoyos: 658, Me: 210.  (Note, safety pins have now replaced the basting gun.  ;-D)

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

XOXO,
Anna