HungryBird

Phoenix Foraging Rolls is having a wonderful deal today so I went ahead and placed an order! I got a bag of their UnPellet Mix (so amazing, everyone should try it!) and I also got two bags of their new UnPellet Mix for small birds! Suuuuper excited about the small bird mix even though I must say my small birds devoured the regular one with no trouble!

I’m also going to place another food order at some point. Probably pellets. I’m going to be moving around and going crazy and the birds may stay with my parents for a bit while I move (Mom, Dad, hope you aren’t reading this site right now!!!) so I want to make it easy to care for them.

I’m going to use my Fauna gift card this week and get them dry food. Probably some of their special blends. Have Phoenix Foraging Rolls stuff arriving at some point so between all these things they will be fine.

Looking for a place to live! Cheap place, near train station. Any train as long as it goes into the city. Ideal if there were multiple lines to choose from. Cheap place, cheap neighborhood, cheap groceries. Don’t need to live in a cool, hip neighborhood because I’m not cool or hip and I work a lot anyway and just want to save money.

Sending in a job application today for a job I want to get. Hoping everything works out!!!

I’ve been so busy. So very busy. Don’t have time for half the things I want to do.

Looking for a place to live. My animals are not the best thing for finding a place. All I want is a place near a train station in any borough (except Staten Island of course!) in any neighborhood as long as it is cheap.

Everyone is still doing well.

A good friend of mine sent me a surprise gift card to the bird store! Very happy! Going to stock up on their favorite seeds.

Don’t have much time, got to go to work soon. Just wanted to let everyone know I’m still alive.

Potential new job…very exciting. Actually several potential new jobs but one more imminent than the others. If I get a third job I will have more flexibility when it comes to rent money.

So hard to find a place that will let me bring my animals, that I can afford, and it not on the top floor of a walkup. Found one place but it’s a bit more expensive than I would like. Fine neighborhood (in fact 22 blocks uptown from the block I grew up on) and the roommates seem cool but I just don’t know about the monthly rent. New York is disgustingly expensive in case you were wondering. And I have low standards right now, I don’t want anything fancy or a nice, cool neighborhood. Just cheap rent and not a long walk to the subway.

Haven’t been reading Avian Avenue at all but I glance from time to time and found out Quaking Canopy is back!!!!! Also hoping for a Sidewalk Sale sometime soon but it seems to be taking forever.

I’ve been bad about writing. Sorry. A lot has been going on, is going on, and will be going on.

All animals are alive and well. We may be moving yet again. I feel bad. My dog seems to really hate moving. I’m also probably entering that annoying phase where I’ll be moving every year for a while. Or maybe not. I’m going to have to be extra nice to my dog when we move.

My knees are okay. Still walking. Having troubles again but trying to work it out. Thinking about (finally) committing to taking two or three yoga classes a week to stretch out my muscles and hopefully build new ones. No hot yoga, just regular gentle yoga. I’ve seen two places that look promising, one in Harlem and one right by Dykeman. Since I may very well be moving to one of those neighborhoods it will work out well.

I’ll be living with at least one roommate. Not sure yet. They want to live in Manhattan with some interest in Queens or Brooklyn. I was specifically told “not The Bronx!!” so I’ll refrain from looking at all the listings for big, beautiful, cheap apartments up here.

It will be nice to be free. Interesting to be a city gal again. I love The Bronx and wouldn’t mind living in my old neighborhood (I’d love it actually) but at the same time I love the city. West side, uptown, love it. I’d enjoy living in Inwood and have my eye on an awesome apartment up there.

We’re also looking at one of those modern marble kitchen counter apartments in Harlem. Right next to the train station, which is important. All we insist upon is an elevator building (or possibly first or second floor apartment) and being close to the train. I don’t ever want to be more than two blocks from the train. And this apartment is one short block from the train.

I still have my two jobs and am looking for another one. Ideally one where I’m not as mobile so my knees can rest. I’ve been applying to a lot of different jobs and once I get my new Manhattan address I have a good shot at a permanent position in the city that would pay well enough for me.

My birthday is coming up. A big birthday for me. Low key celebration though because money is super tight. Thinking of having a friend of mine show me how to make Korean oxtail. I love oxtail and she says she wants me to try her Korean oxtail to see if I like it as well. I am quite confident that I will because it will be a meal made out of the tail of an ox.

All my time has been taken up with work, physical therapy, fighting with insurance companies, looking for another job, and looking for an apartment. Sleep too, very important. Haven’t been super social but in my own way I am, which is to hang out with one person at a time. My dog and I are the same, we don’t do well in large groups. Once I move I’ll be much more social though since my roommate(s) are going to be going out and I suppose I will as well.

My best friend is getting married this year. Best friend duties require me to be maid of honor. Which means I have to wear a stupid dress and get my stupid hair done and wear stupid makeup. None of which I EVER do. I’ve worn makeup once in my life. I suppose we all must make sacrifices. I already went with her (she dragged me screaming and crying) to try on dresses and we picked one out. A cute little-but-not-too-little light green dress that makes me feel like a Greek goddess. Going to have to get pictures of me in grown up clothes! This is the type of thing that will only occur when my friends get married and make me dress up for it.

Time to go check Avian Avenue and see if any Sidewalk Sales are coming up soon.

My order from Avian Organics arrived!  Several bags of Mayan Gourmet Mash.

I cooked some for breakfast yesterday and added sweet potato, cranberries, carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, and various types of cabbage.

Empty bowls!  Even Malachite, who used to only nibble at Mayan Gourmet Mash.

And Things For Wings seems to have Flagstone perches now!

Just a quick update.  I feel bad that I’m not writing more.  Hopefully I will balance my time better in the future.  I had a huge essay typed up to post but I ended up deleting it.

Started physical therapy at a new place and wow this place is amazing.  Much better than the previous one.  I’m trying not to be too angry at the previous place because they refused to do certain procedures on my prescription and told me I didn’t need anything fancy, just to do exercises.  New place gave me a thorough explanation about what exactly is going on in my knees.

My left knee cap isn’t really moving anymore.  The tendon below it is very, very tight.  Right knee cap moves but right IT band is very, very tight.  Have to work on these things.

I’m thinking of making a site about my knee adventures.

They attach little pads to either side of my knees and run electric stimulation through my knees while they are wrapped in ice.  So I lie down with my legs elevated wrapped in gigantic ice packs with electric shock things going through my knees for fifteen minutes.  The first time it hurt and I was in pain for days but the second time (lower setting I think) it felt pretty good and I almost went to sleep.

I’m excited to go to a place I feel can actually help me.  And I now realize how important it is to pick a top notch place.  This place has electric stimulation (which was written on my stupid prescription and should have been given to me in June but whatever) and they also have a little ultrasound machine.  I’d never seen anything like it, it was like a tiny gun.  They put gel on my knees and rubbed it around with the little ultrasound gun and it helped.  They told me they were using it to break up the scar tissue.

And the stretching…I am in heaven.  I love having someone stretch my legs.  It appeals to every hedonistic and masochistic fiber in my being.  It hurts but it feels good and I can’t stretch my own legs the way other people can.  I had never had certain parts of my legs stretched before and it was so nice.  I wish I could have someone stretch me every morning and night.

I took a yoga class a week and a half ago.  It was nice enough but I’m not sure I can do it frequently.  It was also $20.  I could buy a package deal and save money but I might not use it in time and blah blah blah.  It is also at an inconvenient location.

I’ve been purchasing items from The Body Shop.  I love this store.  They had a few sales and I may have gone crazy.  Worse than Sidewalk Sale shopping.  I recently placed…three orders in 24 hours.  It wasn’t my fault.  They have one body butter that is usually $19 or $20 on sale for $8.  This is the only lotion I’ve ever found that  prevents my skin from breaking out after shaving.  My legs have been hair-free and smooth and quite lovely lately.  Now that I’m going to physical therapy all the time I have to make sure my legs are presentable.  So I ordered a ton of this lotion because I’m never spending $19 on one little tub of lotion.

The next day I woke up to an email telling me an awesome package of hand lotion (same type but for hands) was back in stock.  $33 worth of the best hand lotion in the universe for $11.  Placed an order.  I have a card with them and it has saved me an amazing amount of money so far.  It’s wonderful and terrible because I save money but then I spend more.  They are so smart and I am so dumb.

After placing that order I had a $25 coupon I was going to save.  Was.  They sent me another email about a special three hour sale.  I realized I could get something like $150 worth of stuff for $50.

I also have some wonderful African black soap and shea butter that are not from The Body Shop but from the street vendors.  Never buy shea butter anywhere else.  The guy I got this particular tub of shea butter from is going to be my main guy because this tub is the highest quality one I’ve seen.  Very nice stuff.  I covered my entire body with shea butter last night before bed and it felt great.  My feet are like baby feet again.  The black soap is great too.  It’s almost gone though so I will get more next time I’m down there.

I really miss Quaking Canopy.  Day At The Beach was my favorite soap of all time.  Please come back and make 500 bars!

I did place a bird order by the way.  Avian Organics.  Few bags of Mayan Gourmet Mash.  Little Juliet will be so happy.

Squeaky has always hated hands.  I’m pretty sure someone used to smack his cage around with him in it.  He would happily let me pet the top of his head with my (enormous and beak-like) nose but never with my fingers.  The other day he let me pet his head with my fingers for a good while.  I was really excited and he was kind of amazed that he let that happen and his head didn’t fall off.

I’ve been busy. So busy. And a million and one things are all going on at once. It’s like a social fireworks show.

I’ve been working too. And doing my knee exercises and taking my supplements and NOT taking any medicine anymore, which makes me happy.

But overall not happy yet. Getting better. 2012 was a really bad year and 2011 was almost as bad. So after two bad years I am looking forward to having this one be a good year.

It’s been cold here. Not the coldest it’s ever been but cold enough to make me want to crawl back under the covers until April.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone. I spent Christmas Eve with my extended family and thought about how we’re all going to start having babies in the next decade or so and our family will grow so much. It will be nice to watch my kids, my nieces and nephews, and my cousins’ kids (first cousins? not sure) playing together. Or fighting. This is how you can tell I’m getting old.

For New Years I actually, gasp, went out and did stuff. I went all the way to Astoria to see a good friend who had been hibernating (refusing to come outside and see anyone) since last March. This is the same friend Squeaky loooves. He would scream with joy if he saw her now. It was very nice to see her again and I had missed her quite a bit.

What else? A good friend of mine is about to have a baby. It’s very exciting for me. Haha, her too I imagine! She is my first friend to have a baby. I’ve had “friends” who already had babies and I’ve had friends who have gone on to have babies once our friendship has expired but she is my first real, close, good friend to have a baby. A baby that I feel I will get to watch grow into adulthood because we will always be friends. She is having a daughter and I can’t wait to meet her.

I can’t really predict which friend will be the next one to have a baby. My lifelong friend is getting married this year but I think she’s planning on waiting a while before having a baby. None of my other friends are married or engaged.

I’m definitely not having a baby right now. My knees would hate me. Can you imagine? They’re just starting to feel better and then I ask them to carry the weight of a squirming watermelon? I think they would snap as a form of protest. My mind would also snap because I am nowhere near ready to be responsible for another human. My dog is bad enough and he can’t get anyone pregnant or drop out of school or get arrested. I should make sure to have kids with a very stable and normal man so they at least have a chance of being good people.

I’m thinking about jobs too. I’m applying for some positions at companies I can do well in. I’m probably going to take a Biology class next semester. My knees made me unable to go last semester so I’m just going to sign up for one class.

I’m not moving to NJ. If you know of a super cheap place to live let me know. You can get free pet care for at least a year!

Speaking of pets, I got two adorable ID tags for dogs custom made. One for my mom and one for me. For our dogs of course! Just wanted to share the link with you guys in case anyone was looking for a unique dog tag. They came out very nice and the one I got for my dog is so light you can hardly feel it. I got my mom a copper one and I got an aluminum one for me. Very happy with these purchases!

Dog ID Bars

What else? Avian Organics had a special so I ordered some Mayan Gourmet Mash. No other bird orders. I’ll post pictures when I get them.

Oh yes, I moved everything out of my old apartment for good because the lease ended. I had a few boxes of bird stuff and I decided to take a picture of one of them. This is after I already brought a bunch of bird stuff the first time!

I’m still alive. Just working a lot. It hurts my knees. I’m also exhausted. Today is the last day of work. I’m not sure whether to go back to work tomorrow or sleep the day away.

I should probably take one day off or I’ll run myself into the ground. My alarm went off for over an hour this morning before I finally woke up.

I should stop by Fauna and see what I am inspired to get.