Eternal sunshine of my spotless mind

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.16

2010-02-28T11:09:36Z

A brief update on all things buggy...

As of tonite:
Released: 19 Butterflies
Chrysalis: 20 more
"J" Form (ready to change): 4
Caterpillars: 7
Deaths: 2

Fortunately, I haven't brought home any babies! Woohoo! I hope to be out of the caterpillar business by Spring Break. If not, then they'll have to come camping with us.

My mood: wanting to kick myself in the butt for doing a REALLY stupid computer thing. What else is new?

Bare bones

2010-02-26T09:19:00Z

Haven't fully recovered from the computer fiasco the other nite. I still have no pictures loaded on my computer! I have a few butterfly pics to post still, but now I have to see if they're still on the digital camera and then reload them.

S I G H !

Well not much else to report right now. Work is stressful because we're not allowed any substitutes, basically if someone's out, you just make do w/whoever is at work----- which would be mostly me. Me as janitor -- refilling toilet paper and spraying disinfectant; me as library assistant -- working at the circ desk; me as tech -- processing books; and me as me -- doing every other god-damn thing that I have to get done. Doesn't matter if I'm sick, I still have to come in. Ugh. I don't know what's wrong w/me. I seem to have a perpetual cold. Always have a sinus headache or migraine and this stupid cough that has been coming and going since October. Gee, I think that's when the furloughs started... hmmmm. I do like the day off, but the paycheck stinks AND I still have to catch up w/all the work when I get back. I guess I shouldn't complain, cause I'm in the same boat as everyone else.

I should have called this entry BITCHFEST. Okay, I'm pau.

My mood: wishing this damn headache would go away for good.

Stupid Computer

2010-02-23T09:42:04Z

Well I wanted to put in a caterpillar entry, but I have to bitch about my STUPID computer. This afternoon, when I tried to start it, it kept looping up to the Windows screen, then shutting down and restarting itself. Crap! I figure I didn't really have much to lose, so I did a system recovery. BIG MISTAKE. The good thing is that I got my computer working again. Bad thing is that all my files are gone (I was under the impression that they would not go away). I did a backup on my external hard drive a month ago. But I'm sad that some of my digital camera pics of the caterpillar and my child are gone forever. Boohoo! Oh, and my digital iTunes copy of Harry Potter and the half-blood prince -which I didn't get a chance to back up or upload onto my iPod is GONE!!!

My mood: mourning my losses and going to bed.

Moving up in the ranks

2010-02-21T10:37:20Z

Graduation day for Little One. He took his test today for the next belt. Now he's a white-orange belt. I'm pretty impressed with his interest in martial arts. He knows the names of the moves that he does and is very good at it. He tends to be less sure of himself in class because he's watching the other kids and then copies them, but they're usually doing the wrong thing! I'm one proud momma.

Will have a cat/butterfly update tomorrow...

My mood: going to bed

Great Aloha Run 2010

2010-02-21T09:51:39Z

Looked at my results for the GAR. I walked the entire route this year and my results were not that far off from last year. Last year I ran for part of the race. I guess when I stopped running and slowed down, I slowed down a lot. I did better walking at a steady pace. Here's my results and I compared them with last year's.

	2010	2009
TIME:	2:29:25	2:21:13
PACE:	18:20	17:20
OVERALL PLACE:	14129	11335
DIVISION:	F35-39	F35-39
DIVISION PLACE:	792/996	662 / 1100
GENDER PLACE:	6846/9019	5472 / 9452

My mood: tired

Owl vs. Mouse

2010-02-17T09:27:02Z

After the Superbowl we watched the new show Undercover Boss. It was some big boss of a waste management company who went out into the field and discovered things about his company as a low level employee and then comes back to his high makamaka job and then tries to make the world a better place for his employees? Or whatever. It was a pretty interesting show, so I recorded the next one which was the big kahuna at Hooters. Apparently their business has been slower since the economy went bad (join the club) and he wants to see how he can get more business for his restaurants. This one was such a joke. Please, he knows the company has a certain reputation and yet seems extremely shocked to find out that women are offended by the restaurant and that people wouldn't take their kids there to eat. I'm sorry, but your company is named after a slang for boobies? I may have eaten there once in my life, I don't even remember, but I don't think I would ever go there to eat, just because I consider it a bar more than a restaurant AND I would never take my child there to eat. If you want it to be a family restaurant, get rid of the girls and go with large dancing mice. That's the way to get kids...

Released one butterfly today... another girl.

My mood: still coughing, but feeling better. Legs are a little stiff today.

Long weekend

2010-02-16T07:45:39Z

I've had a few days off for recuperating from a cold. I stayed home on Friday plus had a 3 day weekend, but still managed to get Little One to martial arts, soccer, and swimming. Also got to do the Great Aloha Run again. Yeehaw. Yesterday I was at Grandma's house until after 9pm, then went home and got ready for the run. Went to bed at 11:30, but got up every 2 hours because I was coughing and was afraid of oversleeping. Got 4 hours of sleep, then went to the stadium. It was really busy, much more than last year. I couldn't run at all, but I managed to walk at a decent pace so that I think my time will only be 15 minutes off from last year. Go figure.

The butterflies have given me a break, I've had no new butterflies for a few days, although I might have a new one tomorrow (it's dark and I can see wings).

My mood: exhausted and still have that darn cough and 4 days of work to look forward to

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.15

2010-02-13T09:00:27Z

More miscellaneous pictures from today's batch of butterflies...

Setting them down on some plants. Hoping they'll take flight soon.

Not quite ready to go yet.

Needs some coaxing.

Needs more coaxing, only made it to blankie.

Checking out the basil plant.

Checking out the bushes in the front.

My mood: better, but a little dizzy

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.14

2010-02-13T00:28:36Z

Aha! Finally a boy butterfly:

You can tell it's a boy because of the two spots on the bottom wings (scent glands). It is our one and only boy so far.

Butterflies 7 & 8 have come out this morning. We'll let them go later on today. Here's Little One enjoying his new friends:

They really can't fly until their wings are dry. We tried putting him back on the branch and he lost his grip, fell off, and was like a turtle overturned. She couldn't get herself back upright without help. Here she is drying off with butterfly 8 (not sure if its a he or she yet).

My mood: sick and at home.

Not a butterfly

2010-02-11T08:36:39Z

No, this is not an entry about butterflies, but I was inspired by them. For Little One's 100 day project we folded 100 paper boats and then set them afloat on a blue river of ribbon. I was thinking of the Mariposa hanging at Nieman Marcus. We finished pretty early. Mostly because I folded the last 45 boats by myself (it was way faster).

My mood: good, but have a cold.

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.13

2010-02-10T09:14:01Z

Well, Don is officially DAWN. Here she is right before we set her free:

Female butterflies have a rather thick line in the mid-section. Male butterflies have 2 spots on their lower wings. If I get any males, I'll make sure to post a picture.

Here's the count as of today:
Number of butterflies set free: 3 girls
Number of times Little One cried when we set the butterflies free: 2
Number of chrysalis: 7
Number of deaths: 1
Number of caterpillars getting ready to change: 4
Number of caterpillars eating like crazy: ???
Number of caterpillars I brought home today: 2

I don't know if this cycle will ever end...

My mood: sniffly and headachy AGAIN

Mommy homework

2010-02-09T08:23:12Z

Okay, I have become one of those parents who do their kid's homework for them. Okay, not entirely, but I did more than half the job because it was too hard for him to do. It's his 100 day project. We decided that we would fold origami boats (I know, what was I thinking???). First we were going to paste them onto a poster board, then the boats were too big to fit on the poster board, so I had the brilliant idea of stringing them up and making a mobile. I know, I'm crazy and obviously the work is not all his. But he did help me fold a lot of the boats AND he did help me string up the boats onto the ribbon. I should have picked something easier, but I just love to make my own life difficult because I have not enough things to keep me busy as it is...

Plus I need to make something for the party at school. Plus I need to buy valentines day cards for him to give out at school.

Caterpillar update tomorrow??? I'll try...

My mood: really tired. I feel another cold coming on.

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.12

2010-02-07T18:06:52Z

The Arrival of Don (or Dawn)

This morning I went for a walk (trying to prepare for the Great Aloha Run) and when I came home I cleaned out the caterpillar poop. When I glanced at the chrysalis container, I found Don emerging! I missed it, but I managed to get my battery back into my camera just in time to catch a picture of him just after he popped out.

Newly "hatched" Don

Don w/his wings spreading out (he might be a DAWN and not a DON, I don't see the spots on his/her wings)

Now comes the hard part, convincing Little One that we need to let Don/Dawn go after his/her wings dry off. That, and figuring out what to make for Superbowl party today!

My mood: happy!

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.11

2010-02-07T08:54:45Z

Caterpillars 9 & 10 decided to chrysalize themselves today. I was able to see it! Hooray! I spent 2 hours peering in on them every few minutes to make sure I didn't miss it again. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't get any good shots of it because 9 decided to adhere to the side of the container and 10 was on a branch, but my camera was being screwy (I messed with the settings) and then I couldn't get a clean shot of it. Crap.

Cat 9 decided to stick himself to the side of the container so I couldn't get a clear shot of him changing.

The next set of images are of Cat 10 and his transformation. I did make a movie recording, but it's super long and probably not worth posting, although it was pretty cool watching it happen.

My mood: tired and going to bed

Caterpillar Chronicles, pt.10

2010-02-06T05:22:13Z

The only update I have is that I think one of the chrysalis is dead. How do I know? On Tuesday, they took a field trip to school. 2 chrysalis, 2 caterpillars in the "J" formation, and 2 little hungry guys. Little One forgot to bring them home, so when I dropped him off at school on Wednesday, I brought them home so I could clean out the container and give them fresh leaves. As I was done cleaning the container, I glanced inside and noticed a silvery thread hanging from the littlest chrysalis. Dangling from the end, was this whitish blobby thing. When I examined it closer, it looked like it was moving (or pulsating). Then from the top of the chrysalis, there was another pulsing blobby thing coming out of the chrysalis and then I realized that it was alive! GROSS!!! I jumped on the internet and discovered that they were actually maggots from the Tachinid fly (do they even live here?). Apparently, the fly lays eggs on the caterpillar when it is alive and then when it becomes a chrysalis the eggs hatch and they feed on the caterpillar. Then they come out of the chrysalis. UGH! It was not something I ever want to watch again. But look, I took a picture! The chrysalis look pretty cool when they're blue (reflection from the flash?).

Chrysalis count: 7 good chrysalis, 1 dead? chrysalis. Our first chrysalis, Don, is 9 days old now. Hopefully he'll emerge from his chrysalis this weekend and we'll get to see it.

Caterpillar count: ??? who knows, I just inspect each leaf thoroughly before I toss it out. I have 2 more that will probably change into a chrysalis tomorrow.

My mood: needing to do more walking if I don't wanna hurt after the Great Aloha Run