It’s not the best picture I ever snapped, but it’s still cool to start the day with a new lifer – the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

I counted as many as 15 goldfinches Saturday morning either on the feeder or waiting nearby for a turn.

I’ll have some new bird pictures for you later today or tomorrow.  It was Grand Birdy Central in my yard on Saturday – swarms of goldfinch – and yesterday we hiked in Mason Neck State Park and got a few shots of new feathered friends.

Also, I want to correct something I said last week… this book I’m reading, Escape by Carolyn Jessop…. Last week, I said that it a different branch of the same sect that was raided a few weeks ago in Texas.  I was wrong about that.  It’s the same group with the same leaders.  The author’s ex-husband, Merril Jessop, in fact, was leader of the group during the raid.  I thought it had to be a different group because in the book they’re located in Colorado City, AZ.  I don’t know yet how the group re-located to Texas, but it’s the same group right down to the prohibition against the color red.

Finally, I want to point out something I just this morning discovered.  Urea, as you may know, is a component of urine.  Some of the atoms contained in the urea molecule are aspartic acid, an amino acid.  Aspartic acid is also a main ingrediant of aspartame. 

Now, I’ve never liked aspartame.  It doesn’t taste good and even one swig of a drink ‘sweetened’ with it gives me an awful headache that lasts for hours.  It’s nasty awful stuff.  And that connection to urine sure doesn’t endear it to me, either.

Several things were going on yesterday.  The most unhappying thing was that my desktop computer wouldn’t boot up completely.  And it wouldn’t take any mouse or keyboard input.  When my husband got home from work, he did some computer geek magic and got it running so he could check the error logs.

Watchdog detected dead controller.

That was the error message.  We have no idea what it means.  But my husband did some more computer geek magic and determined that something was wonky with the USB connections.  He unplugged many of my devices and says my computer is on probation.  It’s running for now, but the diagnosis and prognosis are still unclear.

Other unhappying news:  for the last… I don’t know… maybe a month?… we’ve been getting non-stop automated calls from Citigroup and Citibank Universe.  Like, 5 times a day from each place – early, late, all day.  I know because my caller ID tells me it’s them.  I don’t answer the phone.  No one leaves a message.  But it’s damn annoying for the phone to go off up to 10 times a day – and that’s on top of the other telemarketing or campaign calls.  WTF ever happened to that “no call” list I signed us up for?  I’ll be gladder than a madder hatter when their computers decide our number no longer works and we’re deleted from their  memory.

Anyway, I spent a few hours at the library yesterday, then came home by way of the Wild Bird store where I bought a new hopper feeder for the deck, birdseed, suet, then I spent the afternoon refilling all the feeders and basking in the warm sun while watching the birds.

Saw a catbird today for the first time this season.

Also, I don’t know where Baby found it, but this afternoon she had the remains of a dead bird on the deck.  I don’t know whether she killed it (doubtful) or found it or if she ate any of it.  She gave it up easily enough though.  I put the poor little guy in the trash.

Other than that, there were just the ubiqitious sparrows, cardinal and robins.

And if you’re at all interested in the sect in Texas that was recently raided, I’m reading this book which is about a different group of the same branch of Mormons.  It’s a fascinating glimpse of how religious ideas can evolve into absolute beliefs and how people go along with them no matter how crazy they are.

Last night I observed a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class at the gym.  Everyone there was very nice and encouraged me to join.  There were about 20 men and 2 women.  I decided it wasn’t the sport for me, though.  There’s no punching.  It’s all grappling on the ground.  (I knew from reading about it that it focused on grappling, but didn’t get that there wasn’t anything else to it.)  It did look like hard work and many of the people had sweat pouring off them during the class, but it just wasn’t the sport for me.

I’ll keep looking though – find a Tae Kwon Do class or Karate class to observe.  Kickboxing or boxing would be ideal, but I haven’t seen any resources for those yet. 

I did my boxing drills yesterday, but I’ve had to cut out jump roping for the time being due to shin pain.  My shins didn’t hurt from my treadmill work, but jumping rope was becoming too painful.  So it’s out until I lose more weight.

So far, since January 1, I’ve lost 17 pounds.

Right now, I’m just doing the treadmill and boxing on Mon, Wed, Fri, – but next week I’m going to add back in some cardio on Tue and Thur as well as some strength or power training that will supplement the boxing.  I may add the kicking back into the boxing drills, too (ie, kickboxing) just to break up the monotony.  I took it out because it was straining my knees, plus it’s damn hard work, but I’m ready to add it back now.

And Powerhouse still isn’t open.  Or at least, they’ve not sent out the email telling anyone they’re open.  It’s ridiculous.  I signed up with them in February because they were going to have all this wonderful new equipment (including boxing stuff) and be opening very soon.  I’m still waiting. 

Happy Earth Day everyone!

This weekend, we celebrated the 21st birthday of our youngest child, our son.  A fun time was had by all. Friday and Saturday we had wonderful weather, but yesterday sucked, with rain all day, pouring heavily at times, and our son and his friends probably drove in rain all the way back to their college in Tennessee.

It’s supposed to rain most of today and tomorrow, too, and be chilly.  Which sucks.  I hate rain.  I hate chill.  But my days of chilly rain are limited now as we’re entering the final stretch before our long-planned move to San Antonio, TX.  We’re looking at the move happening in the summer of 2010. 

Today, I’ll have a boxing drills workout this afternoon.  This evening, I’m going to observe and get more information about a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class I’ve found out about that takes place at my gym. 

Any of you familiar with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?  What should I watch for during the class?  What should I ask about?  Any advice?

Isn’t the English language – for all its difficulties – a wonderful thing?  I can use a word normally a noun as a verb and still be understood.  English is very versatile, if not THE most versatile language on the planet.

But I’m not just fascinated with the English language – oh no.  After all, that’s just one thing.  I’m a woman of many interests.  I’ve been called a Renaissance women, just recently, by someone who had no coaching at all to say so.

Perhaps to those of you who don’t birdwatch, sitting for hours observing birds, or trekking through miles of wooded trails, just for the chance to see something you haven’t seen before…. maybe you don’t get why someone would do that.  So I thought I’d take a few minutes to give you an idea of why it’s so fun.

Put aside for the moment the tree-hugging delights of simple being outdoors, in nature, among trees and other living things, in fresh air, or near a lake or river or stream.  That’s a big part of why I enjoy birding, but it’s not all of it.

And put aside for the moment that birds are beautiful creatures, often colorful, and with pretty songs that can identify the bird before you ever see it.

And put aside for the moment that just having something new to learn is fun in and of itself.  Each species of bird (and there are over 10,000 of them in the world; about 1000 in North America alone) is a new combination of colors, song, physical attributes, feeding, habitat and habits to learn about.

But here’s the clincher:  Birding is like a treasure hunt.  I can have a nice long hike, with my binoculars and/or camera, and I never know if, when, or what I may see.  Oh, I may have an idea that I’ll see many of the usual suspects – sparrows, grackles, cardinals, blue jays.  And sometimes I’ll not see any new birds at all.

But often, there will be one new and unexpected surprise that just pops up in front of my lens.  In Iowa last summer, it was the red-winged blackbird and cliff swallows.  Two weeks ago it was the tree swallow.  Last week, it was the yellow-rumped warbler (and me without my camera!).  This weekend, it was the ruby-crowned kinglet.

Yes, I took this photo.

It’s a treasure hunt.  And the treasure I get out of it are all those things I mentioned above.  As souvenirs, I take photos when I can and I get to see and learn new things.

Then I get to play with the photos on the computer, add them to my websites, or use them to make other art.  And that’s all goodness, too.

Today, I’ve added Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, White-Throated Sparrows, and Dark-Eyed Juncos to my Bird Compendium.

I made some decisions about my exercise focus yesterday.  There just isn’t time and energy enough for me to do running, weightlifting, and boxing equally, so something had to give.  For the next six months, I’m going to focus on running and boxing.  These will burn fat and increase my aerobic capacity.  Then over the winter months of next year, I’ll maintain those and shift the focus of my training back to weightlifting and put on muscle again.

The boxing room at my gym had the lights on yesterday, too, so I was able to do some punching and get a full, very happy-ing, workout completed.  Afterwards I sat in the steam room, then showered, and came home feeling great.  Endorphined-up. 

I called Powerhouse yesterday, too, and learned that they’re still waiting on a couple of permits before they can open, but it should be soon.  Yeah, right.  They’ve been saying that for 3 months.

I created a couple of food and exercise journals – and my (former, most recent) trainer has suggested that I make a custom cover for her so she can use them with her clients.  Plus, I’ve also made contact with a local massage therapist who needs her client intake forms redone.  Wild Pines Press is getting some work, which is very cool.

Anyway, the sun is finally shining again here in Northern Virginia and that alone makes it a happy day.  On my agenda: Wal-Mart, Groceries, Pet Supplies, and tonight… the Biggest Loser Finale!  Go Ali and Kelly!

This morning, we went for a 5 mile walk about Burke Lake.  We saw Herons, including one up close and personal which was really cool, Cormorants, Wood Ducks, Mallards, and – joy of joys – a Yellow-Rumped Warbler which was a complete surprise, a new lifer for me, and very cool.

(photo borrowed – not mine)

Then we had lunch at Red, Hot, & Blue.  I had Jambalya – yummy.  The only downside was that the people sitting in the booth next to us were non-stop talkers and it was annoying, but then after we left we got to make fun of everything they were saying, so that turned out fun after all.

(And let that be a lesson to all you talkers…we make fun of you behind your backs, since you give us so much ammunition.)

This weekend’s movies were: 
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (fell way short of what it tried to be),
The Mist (oh man, those monsters were something else! – really good movie with a tragic ending) and
Dan In Real Life (a wonderful romantic comedy – not sappy at all).