Squirrel Momma Drama

Elliot and I went home for lunch yesterday. When we walked outside to leave, we noticed a little commotion on top of the hood of my car. On closer inspection, we saw that a baby squirrel had wedged its head underneath one of my windshield wiper blades.

I've never even seen a baby squirrel in real life before! It was tiny and the poor thing was so scared. It had a very high pitched cry.

Elliot and I saw the momma squirrel running away. We decided to just leave the baby alone. But after a few minutes, we could see it was in a lot of distress and couldn't free itself. Elliot went back and lifted the wiper blade.

The little squirrel was too tiny to hop off of the car. I'm not even sure it could walk well on its own. The momma squirrel was in a tree nearby, watching her baby, but she wouldn't come back for it. We waited 20 minutes and then called the vet. The vet's office said that we need to wait a few hours before we can be sure that the mother won't return.

Elliot and I decided to go back to work. We put a big rock next to the wiper blade that was proped up, to make sure it didn't snap back down and hurt the baby squirrel. We never touched the baby, so we were hopeful that the mommy would return.

After a couple of hours at work, I was beside myself, worrying about the squirrel. I was afraid that the momma wasn't coming back, that a bird got the baby, that it was too hot on top of my car and the squirrel was roasting. I asked Elliot if we could go check on it.

We drove back home, preparing ourselves for the worst. But when we got there, the baby was gone. There was no blood or anything to indicate something bad had happened. I'm very hopeful that the momma came back for her baby. Good thing we were home to get the baby's head loose!

AirZooka

This is one of Elliot's favorite toys. The AirZooka. It shoots a big puff of air out of the barrel. It doesn't hurt-- mostly it surprises people. Elliot was playing with Aimee and William the day this picture was taken. They were blowing bubbles and Elliot was shooting the bubbles (and the kids) with the AirZooka. The kids loved it. Elliot loved it. Good times.

Bye, Aimee

Aimee went back home today. It's strange how much quieter our house is now!

I'm kind of afraid that we'll never see her again. Her new family seems extremely uninterested in maintaining ties with people from her past. Personally, I think that's a very bad decision, given the fact that there are a lot of good, positive people that have helped her along the way. I hope they change their mind.

Congrats to Laura & Thomas!

My baby sister got engaged today! No date has been set yet, but as of right now, they're talking early next year.

Aimee is visiting us for a week!

Yay! Aimee gets to stay with us again! Her new family is taking a trip to another country and they didn't have time to get her passport processed before they leave. So we get to do respite care.

It's so funny to see her and William back together again. Here's part of a conversation they had at dinner last night:

Aimee: My best friend is Evan.
Me: Is Evan a boy or a girl?
A: A boy.
William: Evan's a girl.
A: No, a boy.
W: Girl.
A: Boy.
W: Girl.
A: Boy.
W: Girl.
A: (Bugs Bunny-style switcheroo) Girl.
W: Boy.
A: Girl.
W: Boy...

Just an average work day.

I consider my work day to start when I leave the house with William and my wife. When I leave the house I usually find some mildly interesting nature on the ground.

Today, it's cute little mushrooms.

Then Mary and I drive William to school and ourselves to work.

After we park we head in opposite directions.
I enter my building through this door.

I like to walk through the shop to get to my office.

Here we are. But before I start working...

I need to eat some breakfast.

Rice Krispies with almond milk.

I used to eat un-frosted mini-wheats, which I like more, but I ran out and had to use up the Rice Krispies.

Ok ready to work; hey what's that message say?

Another day another error. No problem; by the time I try again, it's working.

First things, first: I check my email.

Then I code fixes to the problems I just heard about in emails.

Eventually, its time for lunch, which Mary and I often eat together.

Then more programming, this time on long term projects.

Sometimes I take a short break to look at my picture.

Eventually I have finished a new application or website or fix and I start on a new project. At the end of the day, I leave. On the good days, my work life is as simple as that. I like helping out and creating things and solving difficult problems. Lucky for me almost all of my work falls into one of those categories.

P.S. Sometimes there are meetings.