A friend of mine sent a "Funky Sock Exchange" letter to me a few weeks ago. It was reminscent of the "Dish Towel Exchange" many of our mothers did during the 70's and 80's. Similar to a chain letter without the threat of bad luck, death, or involving money of any sort, this exchange, should someone decide to participate (optional, of course) would yield 36 pairs of funky socks from all over the place within a few weeks.

So far I've received two pairs of socks - one from San Antonio, Texas and another from San Ramon, California. This is the first time I've ever participated in one of these and it's been surprisingly fun!

If you'd like to participate, please send me an email at jeanette337 at gmail.com. Please keep in mind that funky is meant to mean "cool" or "stylish", not foul in odor.

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funky

adjective
1. offensively malodorous; "a foul odor"; "the kitchen smelled really funky" [syn: fetid]
2. (of jazz) having the soulful feeling of early blues
3. stylish and modern in an unconventional way; "she likes funky clothes"; "we did it all in black and white in a very funky sixties style"
4. in a state of cowardly fright

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Gerald Ellison, Ph.D., director of Psychoneuroimmunology Services at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is another proponent of friendship for managing stress. He observed,

"Friends keep us from becoming isolated and lonely; they offer encouragement and support; and they help keep our thinking in line with the real world... When we're missing friendship, we experience isolation and loneliness. These feelings are associated with illness, discomfort, and general ineffectiveness as a person... Having friends can also be especially helpful if you're already seriously ill... Friends--if supportive and encouraging--can increase our hope when dealing with illness and trauma. And increased hope is associated with higher levels of immune system functioning."

Summary:
Friendship is a sound prescription in times of stress, for both our emotional and physical health. Dr. Ellison's statement seems a fitting summary:

"Friends--if supportive and encouraging--can increase our hope when dealing with illness and trauma. And increased hope is associated with higher levels of immune system functioning."

oh geez, I think I'm turning into one of those crazy bird people... This is Lucky taking a bath in Naoki's hands. He seems to prefer that over using the bird bath we purchased for him at a recent birdshow.

He usually takes a little time to psych himself up a bit by walking back and forth before he goes in for the plunge. It's really cute to see him close his eyes and stick his tiny face under the water, all the while flapping his wings to get them wet as well. When he's finished, he'll keep looking up at the white tube (see pics) to be set upon it to dry off.

Lucky Rupert Hada is a Fancy Yellow-sided Greencheek Conure. He is the smartest and best bird I've ever had.

I'm not sure how clearly you can see these photos (taken with a Treo phone), but the tiny dinosaur looking creatures in the first photo are parrotlet hatchlings and the second is of Green Cheek Conures. They're different than Lucky, who is a "Yellow Sided Fancy Green Cheek Conure". His coloring is a mutation (a good kind of mutation that is..).

After spending time at the birdshow, we came home with Lucky's new toys and immediately showered and washed the clothes we attended the show in. We then washed all of his goodies and set them outside to dry.

Our friend Chie purchased a conure of her own. She found Takeshi, a Rosie Fronted Conure, from one of the breeders at the show. We helped her find a suitable cage, which needed to be large enough for him to roam around in, a large play gym made from a manzanita tree branch, and a Happy Hut for him to sleep in.

Making a Difference One Person at a Time

The Starfish Story:

There once was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore, as he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man, and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something, and very gently throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, “Good morning, what are you doing?” The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.” “I guess I should have asked; why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?” “The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw them then they’ll die.” “But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!” The young man listened politely, then bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

-Author Unknown-

There is something special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our visions, the power to shape the future. We must each find our starfish, and if we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will be blessed.

This is Lucky, formerly Rupert, and he is a 3 month young Green Cheek Conure. This little guy has the best personality and is really energetic! I almost couldn't leave PetCo earlier today, but we had to return home to place our new purchased guppies into the fish tank before they ran out of oxygen. (yeah yeah, they're sort of cute too.). As soon as we arrived home, both Naoki and I jumped online to check the lifespan, care and noise-level of this breed of bird.

The Green Cheek Conure (which doesn't have green cheeks, go figure) has a lifespan of 25 - 30+ years with proper care, is the smallest of the Conure breeds, and makes the least amount of noise. That's not to say they don't scream or squawk - it's just not as loud.

So far, he has walked around the condo, shared a pluot, pear, and apple with Naoki, gotten familiar with his huge cage, and is now relaxing in the office. I will purchase a few toys for him tomorrow. A few sites mention that they love baths, so I might look for a large bird bath for him as well. Melanie, the one that did a wonderful job of raising him at Petco for the last month, told us not to overstock his cage with play items or let him ride on our shoulders, as he might develop dominance issues. The last thing I'd want is a spoiled and bossy bird, so we'll probably follow her advice.

Wish us luck on taking care of this sweet tiny bird!

Dogs provide us with unconditional love, help lower our blood pressure (unless they're misbehaving), alert us when there's someone at the door, and keep us company when we're lonely. In a recent article in Prevention Magazine, there are dogs that have the ability to use their keen sense of smell to detect certain types of cancer. More research is being conducted to see how this can help early detection without the pain of invasive tests.

On the way home this evening, there was a beautiful spot of rainbow near the setting sun. It was around 7 p.m. I'm not sure if this image shows it very well. It was very pretty to see something like this nestled in the clouds. Curiosly, there wasn't any rain on this day..

I'm so relieved about passing the exam. It was only 30 questions, but it's been a long time since I sat through any type of test. The requirement was to pass 70%, not getting more than nine answers wrong. The instructor was informative, but confused us a little bit with her stories. The next step is to get my live scan fingerprints and background check completed and then file for the required insurance. My commission (stamp) should arrive six weeks after the check is cleared.

Today we headed to the Farmers Market at Santana Row. Thankfully the crowd was light, as I believe most people were swarming around downtown San Jose for the Grand Prix racing event. There were quite a few certified farmers there and a handful of organic vendors as well. We left with decent sized bags of delicious white peaches, white nectarines, shiney red plums, juicy strawberries, and one crisp, j-shaped Armenian cucumber - all organic of course!

Afterwards we made a quick stop over at the Great Mall in Milpitas for something to eat and to get a bit of exercise in. Window shopping at a mall that's the size of four football fields definitely counts as exercise.

This particular mall has a mix of really cool and some seriously junkie stores. I usually have a lot of fun visiting the accessory shops that sell all types of sparkley stuff. It's a bad case of "Magpie Syndrome", being attracted by things that glitter and catch the light. Maybe it was from being full or from shopping the day before at the Gilroy Outlets, but I couldn't find anything to purchase even though there were some excellent sales going on.

http://www.balletsanjose.org/

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49752

and

http://roachbrooch.com/